A/N: I know there are lots of "Meowth helps Jessie and James to get together" fics around, but I've always wanted to write one for myself.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

A Comedy of Errors

Jessie was sitting by herself a little distance from the campsite. The fire was a comforting little spark of light thirty metres away as she turned her head to gaze past it towards the dark forest behind them. She sighed, rubbing her arms unconsciously as she thought back on the day's events, which had inevitably ended with herself, James, and Meowth blasting off at the hands of the twerp and his Pikachu.

James and Meowth were at the campsite now, no doubt readying themselves for bed. However, Jessie had wanted a few hours on her own to calm down her temper. At first she'd been furious that they'd lost yet again, and had taken it out on her two partners before storming off to sulk. Now, though, she was feeling much better and thought that she could face her friends again.

And speaking of her friends...Jessie could just make out a small figure picking his way towards her through the dense foliage. She did not move, merely watched the shadow get closer.

Meowth.

Just what was the cat doing out here?

She asked him just that when he came to a stop before her, but he only grinned slyly and plopped himself down beside her.

"Well?" she prodded him impatiently.

Meowth turned to look at her. "Was just needin' some space, is all. I've got a lot ta t'ink about."

Jessie snorted a little derisively. "Does your thinking involve why we lost again to the brat? Because we have a lot of thinking to do about why today's attempt failed!"

"Nah," the cat replied easily, "it's ta do wid James."

"James?" This stopped Jessie short. Since when did Meowth need to take time out in order to think about James? "Why, what's wrong with him?"

"What ain't wrong wid him?" Meowth snickered, but sobered again. "An' I'm afraid I can't tell ya dat, Jess. What I hoid was in strict confidence, an' I ain't about ta break da male bonds of friendship."

Okay, this was beginning to sound weird. Since when did James tell Meowth something and not her? Jessie couldn't help but feel a little hurt about it—weren't they supposed to be best friends?—but pushed it aside in favour of ordering, "I want to know, Meowth! Tell me!"

Meowth grinned a little, clearly amused by Jessie's response. "Hey, I have my honour ta uphold here."

"You don't have any honour!"

The feline grinned again, showing off his pointed fangs. "Youse is just jealous dat Jimmy tells me t'ings an' doesn't tell youse."

"As if," she scoffed, annoyed that he'd hit the proverbial nail on the head.

There was silence for a few moments, with Meowth sitting smugly while Jessie internally sulked. Then the scratch cat cast a look back to the little flicker of the fire before leaning back on his paws.

"All right, I'll tell ya," he said, with the air of a feline who was doing her a considerable favour. "But only if ya swear not ta let Jimmy know dat I've told ya any of dis. He'd kill me if he knew dat youse knew."

Why James would kill Meowth if he found out Jessie knew was a mystery to the redhead, but she nodded in a casual manner. "Whatever. It's not like I really care, anyway." Her scheming mind was already thinking of ways to blackmail the feline if he ever dared to cross her.

Meowth smirked, knowing that she was lying, but decided that he wouldn't drag her curiosity out any longer. "Well, I was sittin' dere mindin' my own business when James came up ta me an' told me dat he really needed ta talk ta me about his feelin's."

"Feelings?"

"Dat's right. So's I said, sure, 'cause da poor guy had dis hopeless look on his face…an' ya know what he said?"

"Well, obviously I don't, otherwise I wouldn't be asking you," Jessie said, disgruntled.

"He told me dat he was in love."

It took a few moments for those words to register, but once they did, Jessie whipped her head around to stare at the cat so quickly that she cricked her neck. Muttering a few choice words under her breath, she yelped, "What?"

Meowth inspected his claws. "Youse hoid me."

"But…but James doesn't know any girls, unless you count the twerpette! How can he be in love when he doesn't know any girls?"

"I never said it was a goil dat he was in love wid," the feline smirked slyly, watching Jessie's face pale even further.

"James is gay?" She gasped, her eyes wide.

"What, it's never crossed yer mind before?" the scratch cat asked innocently.

"Well, no, not really," she admitted defensively. "I mean, I know he's never really shown an interest in women, but he's never shown an interest in men, either!"

"Would it bother youse?"

She stopped short. Would it bother her if her best friend was gay? She tried to imagine him with another man, where that would leave her in his life. But, unless he quit Team Rocket (and her stomach gave an unpleasant lurch at the thought), he would still be with her. They were partners, after all. And being gay wouldn't change the fact that he was James—a little dim-witted, weak-willed, and very whiny—the James she had grown to love and trust in a way she could only love and trust a best friend.

"No," she said firmly. "It won't bother me."

"Well, dat's good ta know," Meowth said. "Although ya don't need ta worry."

"Huh?"

The cat hopped onto her knee, sharp teeth glinting in the night. "I mean dat James ain't gay. It's definitely a woman he's in love wid."

"What?" Jessie shrieked, throwing Meowth from her lap and leaping to her feet, fire in her eyes. "Then what was all that stuff about it bothering me if he was gay?"

Meowth rubbed his behind as he clambered back into a standing position. "I was just checkin' dat I could trust ya to still be dere for him."

"You'll be lucky if you're still here for him when I'm through with you!" Jessie snarled in response.

"If ya kill me now, ya'll never find out who James is in love wid!" he choked as the female member of Team Rocket began to throttle him. His claws dug painfully into her gloved hands.

Jessie regarded him with an evil expression, before dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. "Start talking then, or I'll resume. I'm sure your fur would make a handy scarf for winter."

"Sheesh," Meowth muttered, deciding it must be her time of the month. "I'm tellin' ya. Although," he said as an afterthought, "ya may want ta sit down fer dis."

Jessie arched an eyebrow. "Why would I need to sit down to find out who he's in love with?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Unless…unless it's someone like Cassidy! Is that it, Meowth? Is James in love with Cassidy? If he even dares to so much as think about that blond bimbo as more than an enemy I'll murder him, too!"

"Nah, it's not Cassidy," Meowth interrupted before she could fully get into her stride. "And it's not da twoipette, eider," he added hastily, in case Jessie was deluded enough to bring up the carrot top.

"So who?" Jessie was wracking her brains, but she couldn't for the life of her think of another girl that James knew. "Officer Jenny? Nurse Joy?"

"No an' no," Meowth was already growing tired of the game of Twenty Questions. "Look, lemme just tell ya dat he knows dis goil intimately well."

Jessie's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "James has had sex with her?"

The feline Pokémon snickered. "If he has, den he must be bad at it. Dis poor goil ain't goin' around wid dose I just got laid rays."

"But you don't know for certain that he hasn't?"

"Of course he hasn't." Meowth rolled his eyes. "Dis is James we're talkin' about here. He's too noivous ta be forward like dat."

Jessie was straining her memory for the slightest recollection of meeting James' mystery woman. "I'm losing my patience here, Meowth. Tell me who she is right now!"

"As youse wish." Meowth mock-bowed, then backed away a few paces, intuition telling him that it was wise to do so. "Dis goil dat Jimmy is enamoured wid…her name is Jessie."

"Jessie?" the redhead looked completely surprised. "But the only Jessie James knows is…"

"…Is youse," Meowth finished for her.

The knowledge hit Jessie harder than a smack from a Primeape. All she could do was open and close her mouth wordlessly, staring at the cat with huge sapphire eyes. For several seconds, she could only produce choking sounds as she attempted to articulate her next sentence. "You must've misheard him. I know I'm the most attractive woman in the world, but James doesn't think of me like that. I'd have noticed if he did. I'm too smart not to have."

"I know what I hoid, Jess. An' it was most definitely yer name."

"He was probably messing with you."

Meowth rolled his eyes. "He was deadly serious. In fact, he was practically cryin'. I t'ink he's devastated dat he's fallen fer ya."

This had Jessie's temper flaring again. "What do you mean, he's devastated? He should feel honoured to have fallen for me! He wouldn't get anyone better than me!"

"Sure, whatever," Meowth replied indifferently. He was swishing his tail and looking at her oddly.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I was just wonderin' what yer gonna do about it," Meowth said. "Youse love him too, right?"

For the second time Jessie was dumbstruck. Did she love James? It wasn't something she had ever really contemplated before. He was her best friend, the one person she had been able to rely on during their years together. She loved him as a friend, even if it didn't always seem like she cared two Hoothoot about him, but she had never ever thought of him as anything more than that…

…So surely that must mean that she didn't love him?

"No, I don't," she stated, folding her arms. "And this'll probably make things weird between us for a time, but I'm sure we'll eventually be all right again. And…" Suddenly her eyes widened, as though she had just thought of something. "Hey, what did you mean that I don't exude I just got laid rays? What are you trying to insinuate?"

Meowth hopped strategically out of the way of Jessie's infamous mallet. "Oh, nut'in'," he said innocently, making sure he was a safe distance away. "Only dat ya'd be a lot less frustrated if ya let him screw ya."

His red-haired companion was making choking sounds now, her face going crimson. "Why, you mangy alley cat, I'll get you for that!"

The feline grinned, racing off in the direction of their camp. "Ya sure yer not just lookin' fer an excuse ta go an' smooch Jimmy's face off?"

"Meowth!" she screamed after him, and he laughed.

His plan had been put into motion.

Contrary to what she had just said, Jessie had no intention of chasing Meowth all the way around the campsite. Instead, she flopped back down onto her rock, her head reeling with the information that the scratch cat had just divulged to her.

James loved her. James loved her. James loved her.

It wasn't something which was sinking in easily.

Now that she was alone, Jessie dropped the conceited front. She supposed that she was rather flattered that James had fallen for her, but as much as she'd stated the contrary, she knew that this would change the dynamics between them forever. She was not supposed to know about this but now that she did, she could no longer carry on obliviously and pretend everything was just fine and dandy. She did not want things to get awkward between them but if she didn't reciprocate his feelings, she couldn't think of any other alternative ending.

Jessie sighed, tilting her head up to look at the stars. She had never really thought that James would be the type to fall in love. Sure, he'd always been rather romantic, with his obsession with roses and rather philosophical outlook on life, but she'd thought him too immature to truly value what love could be.

Had there been signs that she'd missed? Looks he'd shot at her, touches that conveyed more than they should have done?

How could she have been so blind to this?

It looked as though she had a lot of thinking to do tonight.

James was poking their pathetic fire with a stick in the optimistic hope that it would begin to throw out a little more heat when Meowth returned to the camp. The lavender haired man arched an eyebrow at the feline's large grin.

"What's up with you?" he asked. "You can't possibly be in such a good mood because of Jessie." He was hinting at the fact that the scratch cat had been going to check on their female teammate's considerable temper when they had last spoken.

Meowth winked and waved a casual paw. "Ya have no idea, Jimmy."

This piqued the young man's interest at once. "You mean that Jessie's actually calmed down enough to have a civil conversation with you? That must be a first!"

"Not just any civil conversation!" Meowth snickered. "But an actual civil conversation about emotions!"

"Emotions?" James giggled. "Since when does Jessie like to talk about emotions?"

"Since she told me a real big secret," the cat answered nonchalantly.

This sobered James up at once, and he slipped from his perch on the log in shock. "Hey, wait a second! Why would Jess tell you something and not tell me?"

Meowth shrugged. "Who am I ta question it? I was simply a good friend who listened ta her problems."

"Well, you can be a good friend to me and tell me this big secret!"

"Now dat's information dat I can't reveal, Jimbo," Meowth sighed regretfully. "It'd be more dan my life is woith if I told ya dat."

"You'd still have eight lives left," whined James, patting the dust from his uniform. "It's not fair if both you and Jessie know Jessie's secret! I wanna know too!"

"Hey, it ain't my fault dat Jessie finds me more trustwoithy dan youse."

"I can be trustworthy too!" the lavender haired man insisted.

"Youse is just miffed dat Jessie told me somet'in' an' not youse."

"Don't be ridiculous," James sniffed, internally agreeing with the feline. "Jessie doesn't have to tell me everything. She's her own person."

"So's why do ya wanna know what she told me?" Meowth's voice was sly.

"I'm just curious," he shot back defensively. "I tell you things. The least you can do is return the favour."

"All right, all right," Meowth sighed, as though it was paining him greatly to say this. "But youse've gotta promise never ta repeat what I'm gonna tell ya now."

James nodded eagerly.

"Okay den," the cat said casually. "I'll tell youse."

"Go on, then."

The feline kept his friend in suspense for a few more moments, before finally spilling the beans. "Jessie is in love."

The look on James' face was priceless as he tried to process this news.

"W-what did you say?" he squeaked, his voice jumping several octaves higher than usual. He gaped up at his feline companion.

Meowth could only smirk. "Youse hoid me."

"With who?" If James' eyes got any wider, they'd fall out of his head.

"Do I really need ta answer dat?"

"Yes, you do! You can't just drop a bombshell like that and then not say anything more about it!"

"What, an' yer really dat surprised? Jess is an attractive woman. An' it's not like she's always hard ta read when it comes ta dese sort of matters. I mean, I'd already guessed dat she liked da guy before everyt'in' happened—I'll get ta dat later—but it was good ta finally have my little hunch confirmed."

James was shaking his head, still wide-eyed. "But…but Jessie doesn't know any guys, unless you count the twerps! How can she be in love when she doesn't know any guys?"

"She knows more guys dan you may t'ink," the feline smirked slyly, watching James' face pale even further.

"What do you mean?" he pleaded to know.

"I mean dat she sometimes likes ta go out when yer asleep to whatever town is nearest. She parties a bit an' flirts a whole lot more, an' I guess dat she finally found da guy fer her."

"How could she do this to me?" James sounded hurt. "Why wouldn't she want me to go with her if she was going out for the night?"

"What, yer begrudgin' da goil a few nights away from youse? She does spend almost twenty four hours a day, seven days a week wid ya! An' it's not like she doesn't go wid youse, too!"

"Well, I don't like to think of her out there alone!" he shot back defensively.

"Why because she's a young, vulnerable woman?" Meowth snickered. "Let's face it, Jimmy, she's more likely ta be protectin' youse dan youse are protectin' her."

"Oh, shut up." James blushed, knowing the cat was right. "Besides, where does she get the money from?"

"Da same place she does when youse goes wid her. She steals some, I presume."

Silence for a few seconds. James was pouting.

"Is knowin' dat Jessie is in love botherin' ya?"

He stopped short. Was it bothering him that Jessie was in love? He tried to imagine her with another man, where that would leave him in her life. But, unless she quit Team Rocket (and his stomach gave an unpleasant lurch at the thought), she would still be with him. They were partners, after all. And even if she did meet up with her man sometimes, it still didn't change that fact that she was Jessie—hot-tempered, rather cruel and conceited—the only person in the world who had ever really cared about him and the only person in the world that James truly cared about in return.

"No," he said as firmly as he could, even if his heart sank a little. "It doesn't bother me."

"Well, dat's good, den," Meowth said. "Although ya don't need ta worry."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Meowth hopped onto his friend's knee, his fangs gleaming in the firelight. "I mean dat da guy dat Jessie's in love wid isn't just random."

James eyebrow rose in confusion. "I'm still not following you…"

"I mean dat yer've met da guy before. An' I'd keep sittin' down if I was youse."

"Um…okay…" James said, jigging his leg nervously. He was thinking about the guys that both he and Jessie were acquainted with. "Is this going to make me feel sick, Meowth? Are you gonna tell me it's someone like Biff?" His eyes widened in horror at the thought. "Eww, please tell me it's not Bob, Meowth! I couldn't bear listening to his voice for more than one second if Jessie started dating him! He'd make my ears bleed!"

"No need ta worry, James," Meowth said. "Even Jessie wouldn't stoop dat low."

"Then who? Not…not that older twerp? I know he'd think he'd hit the jackpot if Jessie went for someone like him, but Jessie could do so much better than that! And that would be weird! He's way too young for her!"

"Nope, not him. Aldough I wouldn't let Jess hear ya sayin' dat. She'd t'ink youse were callin' her old."

"Hmm…" James furrowed his eyebrows. "Mondo? The boss?"

"No an' no. Now will ya just shut up an' let me tell ya?"

James obeyed at once, his expression eager. "Tell me, then!"

"Well, youse'll prolly be able ta guess who it is when I say dat he's da only guy dat she knows intimately well."

There was a crash as James slipped off the log for the second time.

"W-what?" he squealed, scrambling back onto his seat. "Jessie's fooled around with him?"

"Well, he's taken whatever she's given him much more maturely dan I ever t'ought he could."

"So she has?"

"Don't be stupid, she ain't like dat," Meowth rolled his eyes. "Youse oughtta know dat Jessie has at least a little bit of class. I can't see her jumpin' inta da sack wid someone just ta say dat she had."

James' head was hurting from the effort of trying to recall an apparently real meeting between him and Jessie's mystery man. "Meowth, you have to tell me who it is right now! I'll get on my knees and beg if I have to!"

"No need ta do dat," Meowth said, for once taking pity on the young man instead of taking advantage of him. "I'll just tell ya. Da name of da guy dat Jessie's goin' starry-eyed over? It's James."

"James…?" James said slowly. He looked like he was about to pass out. "But…but the only James Jessie knows is…"

"…Is youse," Meowth finished with a smirk.

There was a thump as James fell of his log for a painful third time. He did not bother moving from where he'd landed. The pain seemed to have jolted him to his senses again, however, for he no longer looked like he was going to faint. He merely sat there pathetically, gasping for breath like a Magikarp out of water, his eyes the widest they had been all night as he stared up at the cat, those fateful words echoing loudly in his head. He felt like he'd just been punched several times in the gut by a Machamp.

"You must be mistaken," he stammered. "I don't think that Jessie would ever think of me in that way. Sometimes I don't even think she likes me."

"Nuh-uh. I was dere da night dat Jessie decided dat she wanted more—dis is what I was on about a few minutes ago. Da two of ya had gone out ta a bar in da city an' got drunk as hell. Ya stumbled back here in da wee hours of da mornin', an' I can promise ya dat Jessie gave ya da most passionate kiss I've ever seen in my nine lives."

James' voice jumped at least three octaves this time. "What? Jess and I kissed? How come I don't remember this?"

"Like I said, youse was both drunk. But I t'ink ya definitely enjoyed it from da way youse was runnin' yer hands all over her."

"We didn't do anything else, did we?" James squeaked, looking genuinely terrified.

Meowth snickered. "Why, is da t'ought of screwin' Jess really dat terrible?"

James shook his head, hoping the firelight would hide his faint blush from his feline friend. "I just don't want to have to spend my time worrying that I took advantage of her. I don't want her to hate me if she can remember everything and I don't remember a thing. I don't want her to think that she was just a convenient lay."

"Wow, youse actually sound mature fer once. But dere's no need ta worry, Jimmy," Meowth reassured him. "Youse just kissed. An' Jessie knows dat you don't remember anyt'in', an' dat's why she don't wanna bring it up wid ya. She don't want ya ta reject her."

"Oh."

There was silence for a few moments, until James noticed the particularly penetrating stare that the scratch cat Pokémon was fixing him with.

"What?" he whined, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

"I was just wonderin' how yer gonna respond ta Jessie," Meowth said. "I mean, youse love her too, right?"

The sense of feeling dumbstruck was becoming far too much of a natural occurrence this evening for James, but he could only stare at Meowth once again, feeling lost. Did he love Jessie? It wasn't something that he had ever really stopped to think about before. Oh, he knew that she was a very attractive young woman, and most men would've jumped at the chance of getting her between the sheets…but she was his best friend, and on the principle of that, he had never stopped to think about how their relationship could change. The touches, the hugs…they all came completely naturally to him, and he'd never really thought that there was anything more to them but friendship.

So surely that had to mean that he didn't love her as anything more than a friend?

"I-I don't think I do, no," James whispered, as though fearful that Jessie would overhear him. "I mean, she's the best friend I've ever had, but I've never stopped to think about her in such a way. She's just a friend to me. And…" Suddenly he stopped short, as though something else had just occurred to him. "Hey, what did you mean when you said that if Jessie and I had slept together, I was taking it a lot more maturely than you ever thought I could?"

Meowth snickered. "Just dat if youse ever did get laid, I can't imagine youse actin' dignified about it. Ya'd be jumpin' all over da place wid da stupidest grin in da woild, if ya ask Me-owth."

"I would not!" James sniffed, folding his arms as a blush spilled across the bridge of his nose. "Go away before I hit you."

"Is dat how ya'd really repay da pal who just told ya a secret dat could potentially bring about his death?" Meowth said dramatically.

James just raised his fist warningly.

"All right, all right," the cat muttered, holding up his paws. "Guess I'll just go an' see if I can find any more twigs fer da fire."

With that he turned tail, leaving James alone with his tumultuous thoughts.

He slid off the log and lay on his back to contemplate the stars, his mind spinning with the information that the scratch cat had just shared with him.

Jessie loved him. Jessie loved him. Jessie loved him.

He shook his head. Man, that was something that was going to take a while to get used to.

Now that he was alone, James could contemplate this situation more honestly. He wasn't going to deny it, Jessie was a very beautiful, if rather conceited woman, and he was flattered that she found him attractive enough to fall for (although, a small part of his mind boasted proudly, why wouldn't she go for me?). However, this revelation also brought about some rather terrifying alterations.

Like their group dynamics.

Before tonight, they had always been Jessie and James. Leader and follower. Friend and friend. It was a bit disconcerting to know that every time she looked at him she would be thinking about love and perhaps the things she'd like to be doing to him. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant thought…but it was strange nonetheless. He would no longer be able to pretend that everything was how it was before, especially if he'd be able to feel her gaze burning him as he sometimes did when he was carrying out their campsite tasks. The last thing he wanted to do was make things awkward between them, but he couldn't really see any alternative ending—he loved Jessie as a friend, but not as anything more.

How has this happened? he thought, tilting his head back to ask the night sky. I always thought that Jessie saw me as an idiot, an annoyance that's always there. I know that she likes the mushy romantic stuff as much as the next girl…but I never saw her as the type to fall in love. Especially not with me.

And what have I done? I've just lead her on by doing things like kissing her when I was drunk…I've given her false hope. What do I do?

He tried to think back on signs that he might have missed prior to this. Looks she'd shot at him, touches that conveyed more than they should have done.

How could he have been so blind to this?

It looked as though he had a lot to think about tonight.

Meowth hummed to himself as he collected an armful of sticks. It looked like his plan was going to work perfectly. After spending so much time with both Jessie and James, Meowth had come to the conclusion that the duo would make the perfect pair. They got along well the majority of the time—Jessie liked to exert her dominance, but James was meek enough to just allow her to get away with hell. They had many things in common—a scary number, Meowth sometimes thought—and they each accepted the other exactly how they were. On the occasions when they argued, they'd still make up eventually.

However, Jessie and James' arguments were legendary—Jessie's infamous temper always flared to dangerous levels, and James' wasn't much better when he really got going. The two of them could really say some hurtful things to each other, and sometimes it would take them a couple of days to truly get back onto speaking terms with each other.

Which was why Meowth had concocted his brilliant scheme. He'd figured that if Jessie and James could spend a whole lot of time taking their frustrations out with each other between the sheets (or on the grotty forest floor as would be the case most of the time), they would be less likely to spend hours screaming at each other.

"Da t'ings I do fer dose two clowns," he said aloud, waiting for the chaos to unfold.

It was past midnight when Jessie slowly began to make her way back to camp. The fire was glowing brighter than ever, and she was suddenly eager to get back into their campsite and warm up again. The night had been nipping at her with contemptuous fangs for too long, but she hadn't really noticed it until now.

Meowth was already fast asleep when she arrived back, curled up in his sleeping bag. James, too, was snuggled in his own.

Thank God, he's asleep. Jessie breathed an internal sigh of relief.

Which quickly became a gasp of surprise when he shifted to look at her.

"Hey," he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. His face seemed to be glowing red, but that could've just been the firelight. "You were out there a long time. I was beginning to worry."

"You don't need to worry," she told him in a tone that was as offhand as possible, fixing her gaze somewhere near his shoulder. "Thanks for your concern, though," she added a little more gently when she saw his face screw up in sadness. Jeez, Jess, he's supposed to be your best friend. He's going through a really tough time at the moment. You could at least be a little nicer to him.

Oh God, she expects me to say that I can't help but worry about her now, James panicked, feeling himself beginning to sweat. Why oh why did I say something stupid like that?

Awkward silence. Jessie remained standing motionlessly across the campfire, suddenly very interested in the dirty ground in front of James' sleeping bag. James stared straight past Jessie's shoulder, wide-eyed.

"So, um…nice night, isn't it?" James said by means of making conversation. He winced. Is that the best I can do?

"Mmm," Jessie said noncommittally, not raising her gaze.

More awkward silence, which dragged on for what seemed like eternity.

"I think I'll turn in now," they both said at the same time, before blushing faintly.

All James had to do was roll over and contemplate the forest in front of him, drawing his sleeping bag closer to him as he began to shiver. Shivering from the cold, of course. Nothing more.

Jessie, on the other hand, had to walk around the perimeter of the campsite to reach her carelessly discarded backpack, struggling to free her makeshift bed from its prison as her fingers trembled with nerves. Twice she found her eyes wandering towards James' figure, tracing his outline through the hazy firelight, before she realised what she was doing and forced herself to turn away with a feeling of self-disgust.

I'm not attracted to James, she told herself. So stop acting like an idiot and pull yourself together!

With much difficulty, she began to roll her sleeping bag out onto the floor. For the first time in a long time, she did not position it anywhere near James, all too aware of what ideas might begin to run through his head if she was so close to him. She didn't know if she felt entirely comfortable with the thought of James fantasising about the two of them getting down and dirty when she was just a foot away from him.

James was secretly glad for the space. The last thing he needed was the feeling of Jessie's eyes on him whilst he tried to sleep. Knowing that Jessie would probably be conjuring up wicked things she could do to him made him feel funny—from revulsion, of course, he told himself.

Jessie began to pull her nightgown out of her backpack, intending to change into it like she did every other night. However, just as she began to pull her white over shirt over her head, she paused. Stripping in front of James would most certainly be a very disastrous idea. He'd already seen her change far too many times as it was. Doing it again would not only be torturous for him, it would make her feel very vulnerable if she knew that he was watching her every move.

I'll just keep my uniform on tonight, she said to herself, flushing from embarrassment at the thought of exposing her chest to the world—and James, more specifically. Without another thought, she tossed her nightgown to one side and wriggled into her sleeping bag, zipping it right to the neck.

When her shuffling had finally quietened down, James deduced that she was getting ready to sleep. "Night, Jess," he murmured through the darkness at her, like he did every night.

"Night, James," she mumbled back, glad that the darkness was pressing in on her and smothering the heat she could feel in her cheeks.

From the other side of camp, Meowth smiled.

It's woikin', he thought triumphantly to himself, dey're gettin' all hot an' bothered t'inkin' about one anuder! I knew I could do it!

In the end, victory would be his. And Jessie and James would be begging for ways to repay him for his ingenuity.

James awoke early the next morning to the cry of a Noctowl. Grumbling drowsily under his breath, he rolled over and tried to find sleep again. Minutes passed, but as the Noctowl continued its irritating hooting, James knew that sleep would continue to elude him. With a defeated groan, he struggled into a sitting position, running a hand through his mussed hair as he surveyed the rest of the campsite.

The fire had long since died a valiant death, leaving nothing but a pile of charred sticks behind. James shivered a little when a cold breeze danced through their field, and he wrapped his sleeping bag more securely around his shoulders. The cold did not seem to be bothering his two companions, however; Meowth was visible only as a lump in the middle of his own sleeping bag, curled up into a protective ball for shelter from the outside world, and Jessie was slumbering soundly across the other side of the camp, faint snores issuing from her throat, sounds that she would vehemently deny making if James ever brought them up with her. She was in too deep a slumber to feel any cold.

Shaking his head, James tentatively unzipped his sleeping bag enough to grab at his backpack. Fumbling at the catch with clumsy fingers, he searched through the contents until he found his alarm clock. It ticked merrily, signalling that it was only seven fifteen in the morning. With another sigh, James wriggled out of his sleeping bag.

We could always go and attack the twerps early, he reasoned with himself as he rubbed at his arms. He was about to go and wake Jessie, when something stopped him. He remembered the last time that he'd awoken Jessie from her much needed beauty sleep. After walloping him around the head a good few times, she'd yelled at him to never, ever wake her again if he wanted to keep all vital parts of his male anatomy. Something told him that Jessie was not joking, and he didn't want to tempt fate.

He backed away then, deciding instead to get the fire going again and scrounge together what little they had of their rations for a meagre breakfast. Perhaps the smell of cooking would rouse his teammates from their dreams.

There was a helpful pile of twigs lying at the foot of the trees a little way away from their campsite, and James began to gather them gladly, relieved that he wouldn't have to spend his time trying to wrestle them from the branches. When he had a sufficient amount, he returned to the campsite.

As expected, Jessie and Meowth were still sleeping. James rolled his eyes with a little huff and began to sweep the old sticks away in favour of the new ones. When that was accomplished, he ferreted around in his backpack for a box of matches, striking one and watching the sticks flare up. Searching for something edible was next on his agenda, and James managed to pull out a couple of tiny cans of soup. He wrinkled his nose. Soup wasn't exactly his idea of a good breakfast, but he had to take what he could: food was still food, and his growling stomach was not about to protest.

When breakfast was bubbling away on the fire, James looked around for something else to do while it heated. Jessie and Meowth had still not roused from their sleep, the balloon was not in need of repair because they hadn't used it in their attack yesterday, and they'd run out of Pokémon rations last night, so he couldn't even feed Arbok, Weezing, Victreebel, and Wobbuffet.

I guess I'll get dressed, then, he sighed to himself. Breakfast should be done by that time and I can wake Jessie and Meowth up. Then we can get on with trying to capture Pikachu. His cheeks coloured delicately at the thought of rousing Jessie from her sleep. Since it would be a bit later, she might not be as inclined to kill him. And if she wasn't in a terrible mood, perhaps she'd smile sleepily and thank him for waking her in time for breakfast and—

Where did that come from? he asked himself incredulously, shaking his head furiously. Jessie's your friend! Don't even think of taking advantage of her feelings for you!

Rather shaken from where his mind had tried to take him, he slowly rooted around in his backpack for a clean uniform. Frowning, he began to absently strip down, yanking the black shirt that he had been sleeping in over his head and tossing it aside. He picked up the clean one instead, and was just about to pull it on when he heard a low groaning from behind him. He turned at once towards the sound, wide-eyed.

Bit by bit, Jessie was surfacing from the pleasant slumber that she had been in. Stretching out slender arms, she rolled onto her side and opened eyes still smoky with sleep.

She froze.

James was standing there in the middle of the campsite, completely void of any clothing on the top half of his body. His pale chest was strangely attractive, despite the jutting hip bones and the fact that he was too thin for a man of his size. For a split second, she took in the way that his trousers sat teasingly on his hips, the way his nipples had responded to the cold temperature, wondering why she had never notice his appeal until now, before violently shaking that thought away and opening her mouth to shriek. James' own yelp mingled with hers, renting the still air in two.

Meowth was jerked violently out of a pleasant dream about regaining the position of top cat and kicking the mangy, flea-ridden Persian out of the boss' office. With a terrified yowl of his own, he stumbled to his feet and began to stare around in a panic.

"What's happenin', where's da fire?" he said stupidly.

At the sound of his voice, his two partners wheeled around to face him with horror-struck, alarmed expressions. James was still clutching his shirts limply in his hands. Both of them were blushing lightly.

It was then that he noticed the situation in front of him.

"Ohhh," he said, with the air of comprehension, a smirk overtaking his feline features, "I geddit now. Youse two was about ta do da horizontal tango, weren't ya?"

Both Jessie and James shot him venomous glares, which would surely have rendered Meowth dead if they were poison Pokémon.

"No way!" they yelled together, and before Meowth could so much as blink, he found himself sprawled out near the now merrily spitting fire.

"Ugh, dat was uncalled fer," he moaned, seeing Pidgey flying around his head.

Jessie turned back to James, her face twisted in anger. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting dressed!" he whined back at her. "I do this every morning, Jess. Have you got memory failure or something?"

"Well, give me some warning next time!" she yelled back at him. "I don't want to be greeted by that first thing in a morning! It's enough to put me off my breakfast!" Internally, she winced. Wow, that was harsh.

Sheesh, why's she being so touchy? James scowled. "Well, same goes to you as well!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped.

"You know very well what it means! You may think you're gorgeous, but that doesn't mean I want to see you flaunting yourself around!"

It took him almost a full minute to recover from the blow that he received.

"How dare you!" Jessie hissed at him.

With that she snatched up her backpack and stormed off, leaving James alone.

Groaning, he tentatively raised a hand to his head. It throbbed malevolently. "Okay, I deserved that," he moaned, before collapsing onto his back once more.

Meowth struggled over to his side. "Why da hell did ya go an' say somet'in' like dat?" he wanted to know.

James pushed himself into a sitting position with a great deal of effort. "I dunno, pal. She was getting all tetchy with me and I just snapped! I didn't mean to! She knows that, though…right?" He looked to Meowth for assurance.

The scratch cat could only shake his head. "I doubt dat, Jimmy. A goil don't like ta be told by da person dat she's crushin' on dat he t'inks she's cheap."

"Oh, jeez," James whined, running a hand through his hair. "What do I do now?"

"Ya go apologise, of course," Meowth said. "Dat wasn't a nice t'ing ta say ta her, after all."

"Okay, okay…" James sighed, heaving himself to his feet unsteadily. Shaking his head against the sudden onslaught of spots in front of his vision, he began to make his way after his partner. Before he got very far, however, he was stopped by Meowth's voice.

"Uh…Jim?"

"What?"

Meowth gestured to his appearance awkwardly. "Uh…ya might wanna put some clothes on before ya go."

Sufficiently dressed, James continued on his way to find Jessie. He found her at the place where she'd been last night before returning to camp. She too had dressed herself now, and was busy coaxing her hair into its normal gravity-defying curl. She stiffened when she heard him approach, whirling round to face him.

"What do you want?" she growled at him, tone confrontational.

James held up his hands in a sign of peace. "I just wanted to apologise, Jess."

"For being an idiot?"

"Yeah, something like that."

She gave a derisive snort and went back to tugging at her hair. "I'm waiting."

He came to sit beside her, fixing her with his best melting smile. She raised an eyebrow, softening already at just the sight. He knows I'm a sucker for that smile.

Wait…what? Since when had she ever been a sucker for his smile?

She shook her head swiftly, clamping her mouth into a sour line.

"I'm sorry, Jess," James said softly, noticing the look on her face and mistaking it for annoyance. "You know I didn't mean what I said. You're my best friend in the whole world, and I don't want to hurt your feelings. You're not cheap. That's Cassidy."

Those were the magic words. Insulting Cassidy always put her in a better mood. "You're right, Cassidy is cheap. I heard on the grapevine that she was trying to seduce the boss into giving them a promotion. Like he'd ever touch someone like that!"

The two of them smirked together, the silent understanding that the argument was over passing between them. For just a few moments, both had forgotten about the other's feelings of love, and it had been wonderful. No awkwardness. No desperate searching for something to say. Just the easiness that had always been there before.

At length, Jessie turned back to James. "We really should get going, you know."

James nodded in agreement, looking a little reluctant. "Yeah, you're right. Pikachu isn't going to steal itself."

The redhead pushed herself to her feet and waited for her partner to do the same. The two of them began making their way back to the campsite.

"Umm…Jessie?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

James was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Can we eat before we head after the twerps? I put some soup on the fire to warm for breakfast…"

Jessie tried to frown disapprovingly. "Honestly, James, can't you skip just one meal? Maybe if you weren't always thinking about food we'd actually achieve something!"

A loud rumbling interrupted her mid-flow. James raised his eyebrow.

"You were saying?" he said innocently.

Jessie's face was red. "Never mind," she said. "Let's have breakfast, and then we'll capture Pikachu!"

Half an hour later, the Team Rocket trio were meandering listlessly through the air in their Meowth-headed balloon. All three of them were glued to their Team Rocket binoculars, the lenses trained to the ground at separate corners of the balloon's basket in search of the twerps. There was no sign of them yet.

"This is so boring," James whined as he turned his attention from what he was supposed to be doing in favour of watching a cloud shaped like a Dragonite fly by.

Jessie gritted her teeth. He might be in love with her, she thought, but it sure hadn't stopped his annoyingly incessant whining. "Tough! Those brats could be anywhere right now, and we're not giving up until we find them! Today that Pikachu will be ours!"

"But I can think of a million things that are better than getting shocked by an oversized electric rat!"

The familiar vein was pulsing in Jessie's temple. "I've just said that today is going to be different! There won't shocks from that rat today because we're going to capture it! In case you've forgotten, this is our job!"

"You say that every day," James muttered sullenly, before Jessie reached across the balloon and clouted him with her binoculars. Staryu erupted in front of his vision.

"If I hear one more word from your mouth, I'll make sure that you can't whine for a week!" she growled at him and, knowing that she was deadly serious, James kept his lips pressed firmly together, although he couldn't stop the indignant pout from spreading.

"Hey, I t'ink I see dem!" Meowth exclaimed, breaking the tension that had begun to hover ominously between them again. "T'ree o' clock!"

Jessie and James rushed to their friend's side to confirm his words. True enough, there were the twerps. The carrot topped one looked like she was yelling at Cappy whilst their friend puzzled over his map.

"If we fly a couple of miles north of here we should be able to ambush them," Jessie thought aloud, and her teammates nodded in agreement.

"Let's go get them!" James chirped determinedly, grasping at the air with his fist, all pessimism forgotten.

"Pikachu will be ours fer sure taday!" Meowth added, and all three gave a premature victory cheer.

"Go Team Rocket!"

Three hours later, they were still waiting for the twerps to show up. James and Meowth had got to work digging their tried and not-so trusted pitfall trap to capture the snivelling heroes, and now all three of them were hiding out in the bushes waiting for them to show up and fall down. It had already been predetermined that Jessie and James would distract the trio whilst Meowth swooped down and swiped the electric rodent from its master's grasp. When that happened, they'd pelt it back to their balloon and set a course for headquarters. It wasn't the flashiest plan that they'd ever come up with, but when money was tight they had to make do with what little resources they had.

James was busy drawing stick figures in the soil with a twig that he'd found lying on the ground, propping his chin up with a fist.

"Jessie, I'm bored," he whinged. "Why haven't those twerps shown up yet?"

Jessie's temper was shorter than ever due to the twerps forcing them to sit around doing absolutely nothing for such a long time. "Do you think I'm psychic or something? How should I know why they haven't turned up yet?"

"Maybe they're not coming this way anymore," James said. "Maybe you were wrong."

"I'm never wrong!"

"Yes you are!"

"All right, all right," Meowth said, interrupting their childish argument. "Youse know what dose idiots are like. Dey can get lost walkin' a couple of metres. I t'ink we were bein' optimistic t'inkin' dat dey wouldn't get lost travellin' in a straight line."

The trio sighed. It was true. They'd never met anyone with a worse sense of direction than those three kids. It was a wonder that they ever managed to make it to the twerp's sought after gym battles.

James had finished his first picture, a crude attempt at drawing Pikachu being strangled for taking so damn long to arrive, when the sound of voices floated distantly towards them. Meowth's ears pricked up.

"It's dem!" he hissed. "I can hear dat twoipette's voice!"

His friends froze at once. James even dropped his stick.

"Now don't ferget," Meowth whispered, listening to the footsteps drawing closer. "I'll wait here 'til da poifect moment an' den swipe da rat. Ya got it?"

"We've got it," the two chorused in exasperation. "We're not stupid, you know!"

Meowth rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to the road. Any minute now the three unsuspecting children would walk right over their pitfall trap…

There was a crash, and several yells.

"Hey, who put this hole here?"

How predictable.

It was their cue, and thus time for the motto. That always drove them into the right frame of mind.

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie announced loudly, stepping out of the undergrowth and striking a triumphant pose.

"Make it double," James added, crawling out of the foliage on his knees to sit by her side.

"Not you guys again!" the head twerp whined predictably, pushing the peak of his cap out of the way as he glowered up at the two villains.

Ignoring his interruption, Jessie continued on with the motto, punching the air with her fist. "To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation," her lavender haired comrade grimaced, clambering awkwardly to his feet.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" This time Jessie flicked the end of her hair away arrogantly, offering the brat pack a smirk worthy of any Meowth.

"To extend our reach to the stars above," James grumbled, inspecting the grass stain on his elbow. That would take weeks to wash out…

The next pose came to her mind, an opportunity that she couldn't afford to pass up. She'd always liked the little dance routines they sometimes incorporated into the motto to give it more spice, because it reminded her of princesses and princes from the books that she discreetly enjoyed; Jessie could think of no better occasion of when to add one than now, when she would be giving James the opportunity to hold her like he obviously wanted to whilst fulfilling a secret pleasure of her own…

"Jessie!" Jessie grinned proudly, and with that in mind she began to lean backwards, arms splayed, eyes half-lidded, safe in the knowledge that James would catch her because he loved her—

—And James turned to see Jessie falling towards him like a star from the jewelled night sky. Panic seized him. This was like the stereotypical love story that his partner religiously read despite turning her nose up at them, where the beautiful heroine fell into the dashing hero's arms; they'd kiss and then live happily ever after…

With a squeal, James stumbled backwards, just as Jessie fell. Down she went like a defeated Ninetales, landing sharply on her back. She cried out in pain, so winded that she could only twitch her legs and gasp harshly for breath.

Oh, Mew, he thought, sweat accumulating at his temple, and he once again dropped to his knees beside her. "Jess? You okay?"

Her eyes focused on him at once. "Of course I'm not okay!" she said jarringly, lifting her arm to weakly swat him about the head. "Why the hell did you move?"

"I wasn't expecting it!" James whined, rubbing his sore temple. "Why were you doing that in the first place?"

The twerps were completely forgotten now. "It's called a routine, James! Remember those things we always do to spice up our mottos?"

"I know what a routine is," he said grumpily. "I'm just wondering why you'd choose such a ridiculous one!"

Jessie scowled. "You're the one being ridiculous! It's not like we've never done something like that before!" Wow, for someone who's supposed to be in love with me, he sure is acting like a jerk. Why do I always attract the wrong sort of men?

Well, that was back when I thought we were just friends, when I thought there was nothing hidden in your actions. "You're the ridiculous one!"

"Ha! I'm the most rational member of this whole team!"

"That in itself is ridiculous!"

"Why you—"

"Hey, Team Rocket!"

Both Jessie and James turned to find the head twerp standing in a fighting stance in front of them. Noctowl was floating by his head. Damn. In all their fighting, they'd forgotten that the twerp had the owl Pokémon at his disposal.

"Sorry, guys, but I can't wait around all day for you to finish your lame routine," the kid said with an air of obnoxious regret. "You know, places to go, people to see and all that."

"Chu," the rat on his shoulder agreed, and with simultaneously sinking hearts, Jessie and James realised that they hadn't even got around to swiping the rodent because of their sniping.

Double damn.

At once the duo began to plead with the young boy in front of them. "Look, kid, we're just about to leave, there's really no need—"

The twerp grinned, a smile that was far too malicious for his young face. "Well, I'll just give you guys a helping hand. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" the rat chirped happily before leaping from his master's shoulder, high into the air. Jessie and James followed his path stupidly, shielding their eyes as he became merely a shadow in the sun's blinding rays.

"Piiiiikaaaaachuuuu!"

Blinding yellow light illuminated the vicinity. Jessie and James' screams mingled as the ten thousand volts of electricity crackled through their veins, morphing yet again into the most acute white-hot pain they had ever felt in their lives. There was an explosion, and they were flung sky high.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they wailed, before disappearing with a ping.

After congratulating Pikachu for a job well done, Ash shook his head and turned back to the hole. Brock had released his Golbat and was ordering it to pull him out of the pit. Ash sent Noctowl back down to help Misty. Soon all three of them were standing on solid ground, blinking in the sunlight.

Brock was frowning in the direction that Team Rocket had disappeared in. "Well, that was weird."

"I know," said Misty, looking equally perplexed. "They've never messed up during their motto before!"

"Who cares?" said Ash. "I say onwards to Ecruteak City and my next gym badge!" He began to run down the route in front of him, but Misty and Brock continued at a leisurely pace.

"So what do you reckon that was all about?" the older male asked his companion.

She shrugged. "I honestly don't know. But there seemed to be something different about them today. I dunno, it's hard to explain."

Brock was nodding. "I know exactly what you mean. It's almost as if the nature of their relationship has changed."

Misty nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, that's exactly it. And I've got a feeling nothing is going to be the same the next time we meet them."

"Guys, hurry up already!" Ash hollered from way out in front, and with matching sighs of the long suffering, Misty and Brock increased their pace to catch up with their eager young friend.

In the bushes where he had been eavesdropping, Meowth cocked his head thoughtfully. Yes, it did seem that the very nature of their relationship had changed, and that was all thanks to his carefully executed plan.

And Meowth had the perfect next stage to really make sure that the next time they met the twerps that nothing was going to be the same again.

It was almost dark when Jessie and James made it back to their campsite. They were both bedraggled and sweaty. Neither of them had spoken a word to each other since their rather painful landing into the middle of a swamp. As it was, James was still pouting because Jessie had had the audacity to call him ridiculous when she was supposed to be in love with him. Jessie was still scowling because James had had the audacity to call her ridiculous when he was supposed to be in love with her.

Meowth was sitting on his kitten-sized sleeping bag when they entered. He was grinning.

"Glad dat yer decided ta join me again. I was feelin' pretty lonely here. What took ya so long, eh? Too busy playin' kissy-face ta realise da time?"

"Put a cork in it before I do," growled Jessie in reply, stalking past him to strip off her grimy uniform. James just glowered at him in silence before imitating his partner.

Meowth followed them, delivering the killer blow in his plan. "Hey, don't be ashamed ta admit it. It musta bin da real poifect place fer a kiss. Ya know, bein' all hot an' sweaty an' doity…"

Jessie's temper did not hold any longer as she turned and gave the cat the wallop of his life.

"I told you to put a cork in it!" she all but roared, face scarlet with ire.

"Hey, I was only jokin'!" he slurred, stumbling back to his feet. "Aldough maybe youse wouldn't be so tightly wound if youse found a way ta relieve some tension…"

And then a light bulb went off in the magenta haired woman's head. This was it. The answer to all of her problems. She might've thanked Meowth if he wasn't such an irritating furball. Slowly, calculatingly, she turned to her partner. He was standing just a foot away, staring silently at Meowth, still too childishly irritated at Jessie's words to ask if the scratch cat was okay.

"James," she said, and was as surprised as anyone at how calm she sounded. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, he did as he was told, raising his emerald gaze to her steady sapphire one.

"What?" he said, not sounding as sulky as he wanted to, mindful of her ever unstable temper.

"I think we need to get something out of your system, don't you?" Her tone was still too calm.

He gulped, mind whirring for potential directions this could be going in. "What are you talking about? Are you sure you've recovered from that Thunderbolt?"

"I recovered just fine," she snapped, then softened her voice once more. "And I know how to recover you, too."

"But I'm—never mind." He figured that it was best to let her get whatever crazy idea she had out in the open. He could always run if he had to. Jessie was fast, but years of dodging Jessibelle's whip had given him some of the best athleticism in the whole of Team Rocket.

She was walking towards him now, eyes flashing with determination. "Good, glad you're seeing things my way. You'll see how weird the real thing is in a minute, and then everything can go back to normal."

What are you talking about? James wanted to squeal at her, but found himself suitably tongue-tied when she came to rest in front of him, eyes blazing so dark that they were almost navy. Instead, he could only manage a faint choking noise when he felt her warm hands, now sans gloves, sliding up his back to rest on each of his shoulders.

"Just one moment," he heard her mutter, and he shivered as her breath hit his face, hot and dark as temptation itself. He tried to force himself to speak, to pull away from her—anything—but it was as though his entire body was paralysed by just the scent of her; the musk of sweat from their day of work, the stench of the swamp clinging to her skin and uniform, and then the lightest breath of perfume wafting seductively in the wind, ensnaring his senses and caressing his brain, hypnotising him into intoxication. She smelled wonderful, and he could only dazedly wonder how he had never noticed this perfection before.

Just the mere scent of her had made him lose the will to resist her, forget why he'd ever wanted to resist her in the first place.

She was only a couple of inches shorter than he was, but she still tilted her chin up to bring their faces even closer together. From this close proximity James dizzily noted his partner's moist, plump lips, their rich crimson colour. His knees almost gave way when her tongue darted out to wet those lips even further, the realisation that he wanted to kiss her, to smother himself in her aroma, to breathe nothing but her for the rest of his life overloading his mind.

And then those lips closed over his own, ceasing all semi-coherent thoughts right then. Although her mouth was impossibly soft, it was still aggressive, and again he almost collapsed as she pressed against him roughly, her fingertips sinking into his flesh, those lips smothering what might have been a whimper of astonishment, what might have been a whimper of need.

She was giving him no chance to respond to her, keeping his lips firmly closed beneath her own, and he tried to coax her to soften things up for him by slowly running his fingers up and down the vulnerable expanse of her midriff. It appeared to work; with a rather contented sound, she began to pull away. That was all the opportunity that James needed to anchor her more firmly against him and follow her mouth. Now trapped underneath his, Jessie had no choice but to follow his lead. A jolt of pure, unadulterated excitement sizzled down his spine. He tentatively began to dart his tongue at her lower lip, and he was awarded with her gingerly beginning to part her lips for him, presumably succumbing to the same feelings that had overpowered him. He'd had his fair share of sloppy, clumsy kisses in the past, but never anything like this before. He'd never held a woman in his arms and slipped his tongue behind her teeth before—or, as Meowth's words came back to haunt him, certainly not something he'd ever experienced when sober. He could only briefly wonder if it had been this good the first time around. He wished he could recall it. As it was, this was a new experience for him, and certainly something that he'd never expected to share with his best friend ever again, but he was not going to deny that it was the best thing he'd ever felt in his life. His hands slid from her hips to immerse themselves in thick magenta hair, fingers pressing into her scalp, pushing her even closer to him.

Their tongues met for the very first time, and any hope James had of recovering was lost right then, at that connection, at his very first taste of his partner.

However, it seemed to be the jolt that Jessie needed to finally pull away, and James immediately felt a pang of loss from the lack of touching between them. Harsh pants tore the air in two as they gasped for breath, staring into each other's eyes.

Jessie was the first to rediscover her voice.

"What the hell was that?" She sounded furious.

"What do you mean, what was that? You're the one who kissed me first!" James squeaked. He couldn't fathom why she seemed so angry when he'd thought that she'd be overjoyed that he'd responded to her when she was in love with him.

For her part, she was surprised that he'd had the confidence to kiss her like that, to kiss her so senseless that she could barely remember her own name.

"Was I not good enough?" he said nervously.

She ran a distracted hand through her hair, scowling. Of course you were, you bloody idiot…damn, she'd never been kissed like that before in her life, and it was scaring her. He was James. She knew that he loved her, but she wasn't supposed to be feeling the stirrings of want in her stomach; she wasn't supposed to feel anything! "It's not that, it's just…that first kiss should have been enough…you weren't supposed to kiss me again!"

"Wha—" James began, but Jessie steamrollered over him.

"You were supposed to realise that this would be weird—we're meant to be best friends, not lovers!—but it didn't…why in the name of Mew wasn't it weird?"

"Jessie," her lavender haired friend tried to sound soothing, but was failing. "You're not making any sense—"

He ceased talking then because she'd directed that furious, blazing, gorgeous stare on him again, stilling any reassurances with a low, demanding, "kiss me again."

Kiss me again.

There didn't seem to be enough oxygen in the world. He'd casually mused her beauty on several occasions before now—the Princess Festival day sprang to mind most of all, when he'd first set eyes on her dressed up like a foreign princess for the part she'd thought was a beauty contest, and he'd gaped shamelessly at her, internally screaming that she had to win because she was breathtakingly stunning. Right now, she was wild-eyed and proud, with dirt smudging her cheek and her hair frazzled by Pikachu's attack. And yet he'd never once in his entire life been hit with the realisation that she was the most beautiful woman in the entire universe harder than he was at that moment. Even the Princess Festival paled in comparison to this.

Oh, Jess, he thought longingly, how is it possible that I've never noticed you before?

Kiss me again.

And then his mouth was back on hers, moving his lips eagerly and clumsily, twisting the loose strands of her brilliant hair ardently between his fingers, drowning in the essence of her, once again slipping his tongue between her lips, running it along the line of hard, straight teeth—

—Again, seemingly with a huge act of willpower, she wrenched herself away from him, looking more livid than ever.

"This isn't right!" she shrieked, babbling feverishly to herself. "This should feel weird! I shouldn't be feeling like this is the most right thing in the world!"

Desperate to stop the slew of words from her mouth, he leaned in and kissed her once more, drifting his lips over her flushed cheeks before returning to hers. Oh, Mew, he could just stay like that forever, drunk on the taste of her. Why, why, why had he never noticed how right this was before?

She pushed him away for the third time, cheeks glowing a rosy pink, eyes icy fire.

"Stop doing that!" she yelled at him, and he felt his confused heart splinter a little in his chest.

"Jessie—" he tried, but she withered him with a glare, beginning to pace like a Persian in front of him, lithe, powerful, and all-consuming. James could do nothing but watch her go, eyes wide, the taste of her still lingering on his tongue.

"Why didn't it work?" She seemed to be talking to herself more than anyone else. "He should be cured now, everything should be back to normal! So why am I the one who isn't finding it weird, who wants to keep doing it? He's the ill one, not me!"

"Jessie, I'm not ill," James interrupted her, perplexed. "And I don't see how kissing me would cure me of sickness anyway!"

"Not physical sickness, you dolt!" she screamed at him, final nerve snapping. "I'm talking about your heart sickness!"

"Heart sickness…?" James repeated, completely nonplussed.

"Your feelings for me! I thought that if I kissed you, you'd realise that we're better off as just friends and everything that felt awkward between us today would just be a thing of the past! I thought everything would go back to normal!"

She was ranting now, but James still managed to cut across her. "But Jess…I don't have feelings for you!" Not until now at least.

The sound of his words stopped her short.

"What?" she said slowly.

He began to sweat, thinking that perhaps he had worded it a little tactlessly. After all, he surmised, Jessie had feelings for him. He didn't want to scare her off ever admitting it because he was stupid enough to tell her that he didn't love her too. After all, he had felt something good—some spark, some connection—when she'd kissed him, and he hadn't wanted to ever stop.

"I mean, that's not what I meant to say—"

"Wait," Jessie interrupted him. "Did you say that you weren't in love with me?"

His mouth was dry. "Well, I…I don't think so. But that kiss stirred something in me too, Jess—it made me feel like I just wanted to do it for the rest of my life!"

Jessie's face was going through the most alarming colour change he had ever seen. The scarlet it had started out as had drained to puce, then darkened to the scariest eggplant purple, a colour James hadn't even known existed until this moment in time.

"Meowth!" she shrieked, a high-pitched, never-ending sound.

The scratch cat, whose presence James had forgotten about until this point, and who had been watching the exchange between his human friends with a look of undisguised amusement on his furry face, suddenly began to look a lot less gleeful as his red haired companion rounded on him like an enraged Arcanine.

"Hey, dere's a simple explanation fer all of dis!" he said nervously, taking several paces backwards.

"Then start explaining," she growled dangerously, hands clenched into fists.

It was time for him to confess all. "I t'ought dat if ya both t'ought dat da oder was in love wid ya, ya'd be more likely ta contemplate somet'in' more happenin' between ya! Ya'd be so good tagedda, I was just tryin' ta help!"

"Well I don't think telling me that James is in love with me helped much," Jessie snarled. "All it did was make me feel awkward around him and caused problems between us!"

"Well, at least ya got to kiss him!" the scratch cat said brightly. "Now at least ya know dat he can stir somet'in' inside ya!"

Jessie stopped short. That was something she hadn't wanted to dwell on. Dwelling on the fact that it had felt good to kiss James, to have his hands caressing her bare skin, to feel his warmth surrounding her, made things far more complicated than she wanted. She could barely believe that just yesterday morning she had awoken beside the man whom she'd regarded as nothing more than her best friend, had had nothing but how to capture Pikachu preoccupying her mind. Now the black and white thoughts of her relationship with her comrade had been greyed sharply, and she had no idea what to do anymore. She could easily sweep the whole mess under the carpet if she felt so inclined. She knew that James would never dare bring it up again if she told him not to, and Meowth wouldn't either, if he knew what was good for him—but the question burning on her lips now was

(do I want things to go back to normal?)

would she even be able to forget about these events? Or was she now forever cursed

(blessed)

to think of her best friend with the potential of him being something more?

James, meanwhile, was still attempting to catch up with the others. His normally carefree expression had been darkened by a frown, his lower lip caught between his teeth as he tried to process this turn of events, his newly constructed world crashing down around him.

"So this means that Jessie was never in love with me?" he said quietly.

Jessie noted with a lurch of her own heart that James' tone betrayed the tiniest amount of disappointment.

"'Fraid not," she said, mustering a bitter twist of the mouth.

"And…and the story about the two of us kissing after a wild night out was a lie as well?" he said, directing his gaze to Meowth.

"Eh...I prefer ta t'ink of it as a minor fabrication…"

"But it's not true?"

"Well…no."

"Oh." Silence for a moment. Then…"Can I help you kill Meowth?"

A genuine, deadly smirk crawled across Jessie's face. "Be my guest."

As the two humans advanced on their feline companion, Meowth began to retreat more earnestly. All traces of amusement were long gone. "Aww, come on guys! Cut me some slack here! Can't we talk dis over?"

"You did all the talking when you filled our heads with ridiculous notions," said Jessie through gritted teeth, raising a hand.

"Jimmy?" the cat appealed, knowing that he was the softer of the two. "Ya wouldn't hurt yer old pal, would ya?"

"I didn't think I would until you took me for a fool," the lavender haired man answered sulkily, raising his own fist.

This left Meowth with only one choice.

"Yaaahhh!" he screeched, taking off at full pelt, even degrading himself enough to drop to all fours in order to get away more quickly.

Jessie and James watched him disappear into the darkness in silence.

"Aren't we going to chase him?" asked James.

Jessie's expression darkened. "Oh, he'll get what's coming to him. Right now I think we need to clear the air. Besides, it'll give me great satisfaction to know the little furball is probably wetting himself thinking that every sound he hears is us."

"I like the sound of that," James agreed, before self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck. "Umm…what did you want to talk about?"

She rolled her eyes theatrically. "The stars. Use your head, James!"

"Right. Sorry," he said sheepishly.

More silence. Neither of them knew how to tackle the situation. Both of their minds teemed with the heady possibility of a shift in their relationship; their kisses had certainly sparked off something between them. But…

"Do you really think things between us could ever really change?" James asked quietly, his heart somewhere in the region of his throat.

Jessie cocked her head to one side, regarding him steadily.

"Do you?" she challenged.

He was beginning to sweat again. "I…I can't deny that I felt something when you kissed me," he muttered. "All day I've felt weird around you, and I kept catching myself thinking things that I've never contemplated before, like maybe I'd like to try to take things further even though I wasn't supposed to think of you like that, and then it felt as though a light had been switched on in my head when we kissed…like it'd finally given me the final reason why I should just stay like that forever with you." He was beginning to blush now, unable to meet her eye, internally cringing away from the blow that was sure to follow. And then he exposed the last of his heart for her to see, holding it out in his hands for her to do what she wanted with it. "I'm too confused right now to try to figure out how I feel about you, us…but I do know that I'd like to kiss you again."

For the longest time Jessie said nothing at all, staring at James in a way that made him feel most uncomfortable, like she was trying to read his soul. He fidgeted with his uniform sleeve under that gaze, praying that he hadn't said too much and made her hate him. He'd rather live without knowing what might have been than lose her. Her friendship meant the world to him.

And then she spoke, her voice softer than silk and like a balm against a wound. "Then perhaps we should kiss again to makes sure it really isn't weird."

If Pikachu had been handed to him on a plate that read, have a promotion! he wouldn't have been happier than he was right then.

"You mean it?" he said, voice no louder than a whisper.

She smiled, the most brilliant thing he had ever seen. In reply, she stepped closer to him, invading his personal space in the most delectable way possible. Her fingers sifted through his hair before curling on his shoulders. She leaned in so close that once more her delicious aroma tore through his sinuses and overpowered all thoughts.

"I mean it," she breathed hotly in his ear, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose in anticipation.

Before he could say anything, her mouth meshed gently against his, soft and eager. His hands slid to hold her by the hips again, rubbing his thumbs tentatively against her naked sides. He was rewarded with a quiet sound of encouragement, and this time she was the one to slip her tongue between his lips, to begin sweeping her tongue around. His hold on her tightened as his knees began to weaken.

At last they pulled away from each other, resting their foreheads together.

"That didn't feel weird to me," James murmured, his eyes shining.

"Didn't feel weird to me either," said Jessie. She gave a shy smirk-smile, reaching up to tug at the stray strand of lavender hair which fell into his face. "This thing gets in the way, though."

He pouted a little, rolling his eyes up to glare at it. "That always ruins everything."

"I think I can live with it," she said, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth before sobering. "Are we really doing the right thing?"

"What, doing this?"

She nodded. "I don't want things to get awkward between us because of it. I'm sure that at some point one of us is going to freak out over this situation. We've been friends for so long…I don't want to ruin that."

"Me either," he admitted, before hesitantly slipping his hand into her own. "But maybe this will turn out to be the best thing that's ever happened to us."

Wow, he actually sounded mature. "You think so?"

"I hope so," he said softly, and Jessie thought her heart would burst from her chest at the tone of his voice. Feeling uncharacteristically bashful, she turned to him and asked him to kiss her again.

He didn't need telling twice.

Meowth found his way back to the camp in the early hours of the morning, rubbing his eyes. He had been hiding up a tree for the past Mew knew how many hours, certain that at any moment Jessie and James would come bursting into the clearing screaming bloody murder. Now, however, when he couldn't spend any more time sitting in that tree lest he lost his numb backside forever, he'd decided to risk his friends' wrath in favour of stretching his stiff muscles.

Nearing the campsite, Meowth slowed his pace to a creep, eyes darting from side to side. He wouldn't put it past Jessie to concoct a trap. He half-expected Arbok to leap out at him and squeeze him almost to death whilst Jessie delivered a few well-placed smacks, and jumped when a twig shifted in the dying fire. No ambush took place, however.

And then, as he neared the fire, he noticed a piece of paper folded nearly on the ground. Curiosity piqued, the feline picked it up.

Cheers, pal.

He stared. What did that mean? It was written in James' barely legible scrawl and, frowning in confusion, he turned it over to see if it offered him any more clues.

It did, but it only made things more confusing.

Don't think this means you're safe. You're still getting a good smack.

Ah, Jessie's eloquence. Yet her usually meticulous writing was rushed and untidy, like she'd written the note in a hurry. Just what was going on here?

Absolutely mystified, Meowth let his gaze travel around the rest of the campsite.

And that was when he saw it. Jaw dropping in complete disbelief, he made his way over to the place where his two best friends were.

After their previous sleeping bags had given up the Gastly, Jessie and James had ended up buying a double sleeping bag because it was cheaper than two singles and money was tight. Being the sort that could be unzipped and used as singles anyway, no one had thought anything about it.

On this night, though, Jessie and James had zipped the bags back together and had snuggled together beneath them. Their faces bore identical expressions of serenity, and they each had one arm on top of the sleeping bag. Meowth did not fail to notice the fact that their hands were loosely joined. He was immensely relieved to note that their arms were still clothed.

Heh, would ya look at dat, he thought, a slow smirk crossing his face, the note suddenly making all the sense in the world. Seems like I did somet'in' right after all.

Perhaps his way of trying to get them to hook up hadn't been the most diplomatic, but that didn't matter. Not now, when it had worked. He hadn't even needed to fully expose his plan, either, because the two of them had taken his bait beautifully tonight. Evidently, it had brought them together.

"Damn youse guys," he said good-humouredly, padding around to squeeze in the sleeping bag between their bodies. "I only wanted ya to shag after an argument, not ta get inta a full-blown serious t'ing." His smile was enough to belie his words, however, and with a purr that he would never admit to emitting in any of his remaining lives, he settled down to sleep.

The carrot topped twerpette had been right, he mused sleepily, nothing would be the same ever again. But these were changes that Meowth was sure would be for the better, and although this comedy of errors had threatened to backfire spectacularly, everything had eventually gone to plan.

There was something that the corny romance novels Jessie hid in her backpack always seemed to end with, and although the scratch cat would usually giggle along with James over its staleness behind Jessie's back, he thought that at this moment in time, the message was strangely appropriate:

All's well that ends well.