A Truly Icy Escapade The boy fiercely stared down the measly pokemon as it quaked with fear, lying precariously under a maple tree. It was a beautiful summer day, as Rattata rolled in the grass around him, and all sorts of beautiful aquatic pokemon swam through the rushing stream rapids of the forest. High above, Fearow soared through the clear, crisp blue skies and Nidoran roamed from bush to bush, searching for their favorite blends of nuts and berries. Diglett were also few and far between, as they rarely poked their brown, thumb-sized heads to the surface. The Weedle that was cornered to the large tree whimpered and attempted to run, knowing the stare of an "ample trainer who wished to capture you" all too well. Its small, pink, suction-cupped feet were completely out of sticky fluids to climb trees and other vertical objects with, as it had been running from this one persistent... if not a little stupid, boy for a good thirty minutes. It was about ready to be captured, even if it meant to this young black-haired dullard. "All right, Weedle!" The boy said as he fingered his mini-sized pokeball. He enlargened it to normal capturing size. "Go, Pokeball!" To the tiny pokemon, the distance traveled between the end of the green-gloved hand of the kid, through the air, and the hit on its head as it was captured inside was a tormenting eternity. Every inch it wanted to run but could not. Suddenly, in a flash of red beam, it had been captured. Great, The Weedle thought as it tried to adjust to its cramp surroundings. Red and white was surely not the dˇcor it now wanted for its pint-sized home. Not only was I defeated, but I was defeated by 'Village Idiot Boy'. The boy placed his newly occupied pokeball inside the green knapsack on his back, and headed off to the stream. Today would be an excellent day to capture more new and rare pokemon... and a new water type to assist Squirtle was just what he wanted. "Ash! You actually captured a pokemon?!" Ash turned around to see Brock and Misty running up to him. He smiled at the expression on both their faces. "Well, I see no reason why you are so surprised." He braggingly began, holding his jacket so that his badges could shimmer in the dimly lit forest light. Even though it was midday, and the weather was perfectly gorgeous, the foliage of leaves up high blocked off some majoring rays of sunshine. "I've been capturing new types all morning! You should have been here!" Brock changed his expression, and smirked, crossing his arms. "Why wouldn't we be surprised? You haven't transported a new pokemon to Professor Oak for at least three months now. You could be dead in a river for all he knows!" Misty basically ignored the mindless babblings of Brock. "So, what kind of pokemon, exactly, did you catch?" "Exactly," Ash started sarcastically. "I caught ten pokemon!" "Really?! TEN?!" Misty shouted in a shrieking, sort-of-surprised, tone of voice. "What were they?" Ash began dramatically. "They," "Yes.." Prompted an eager Misty. "Were," "Yes?" "A bunch of..." "YES?!" Ash sweat dropped, and hung his head lowly, so that his embarrassed face could be shielded by his lowered cap. "They were all Kakuna..." Brock fell over, as Misty whacked the wannabe Pokemon Master over the head. "God, Ash, you are so pathetic, you have actually inspired me to open a soup kitchen for legal transvestites..." "I'm not that pathetic!" "Then why didn't Pikachu come to your defense just now?" <>"Because the Pikachu and Togepi are still at my mom's house! That's a valid excuse, err- reason. Ehh, besides there was one Weedle..." When no response came from his friends, who just sympathetically stared at him, Ash grimaced. "Yeah, well, at any rate, 'The more the merrier', I always say! You can never have to any pokemon." Misty was completely uninterested in this conversation. "Only dorks continue to collect pokemon they've already caught five-hundred times over!" To this, almost half the children and teenagers of the world feel insulted, as they, too, capture thousands upon thousands of dorky and useless Exeggcute in the Safari Zone. "Well, you wouldn't know, Psyduck Master! It is quite fun to have duplicates of-" "Shut up!" "Cut it out you two! I have an important announcement to be made anyway." Brock separated the two bickering trainers by spreading his arms out wide. "Huh? Yeah, well, make it snappy, twerp!" "What?" Inquired the two males to their companion. Misty shrugged. "Sorry, the Jessie-instinct prevailed...what is it?" After recovering from brain marring confusion, Brock continued. "Since we all agree that it's way too boring in Viridian Forest to properly enjoy our summer vacations as normal preteens do, I have made the wise decision for us to take a short and sweet trip!" Ash and Misty, as if on cue, raised their hands in the air, waving them back and forth. Brock noticed this through his peripheral vision (He's been to the optometrist, and believe me, it's done him absolute miracles...), but simply ignored them as he thought of all the cool girls that would be there. Once again, he was in la-la land dreaming of a girlfriend... "HELLO?" Ash yelled in his friend's ear. This was immediately followed by a frenzy of hand motions and ear pain. "Sorry to interrupt your epiphanies about females, but I do have a question." "What is it?" "Brock, my question is about what makes this such a 'wise' decision?" Brock stood up, matter-of-factly. "Simply put, Ash, I'm the oldest, therefore the obviously more smart, more apprehensive, more-" "We get the picture, man!" Ash exclaimed. "To where?" Misty asked, looking at her watch and realizing that she had already wasted ten minutes of the precious day talking about...talking about crap. "To the ice-cold, arctic regions of the Sandstone Slopes, located right off of Sandstone City. It's covered in gregarious amounts of snow covered mountains, hills, thousands upon thousands of ski slopes, um...." Brock thumbed through the pages of a guidebook until he came upon his desired information. "Ohh, yes, and there's resting lodges, wooden cabins to house in for weeks in reservation of peace and tranquility and there is a legend...of course." "What's the legend, Brock?" Ash asked while adjusting his backpack. He wanted to make sure he had everything for cold weather inside his bag. Brock slammed the book shut loudly, startling a couple of nearby Pidgey who had begun to eye Magikarp in a nearby lake. "I'll tell you later..." Clothes flew out the window as summer re-re-redecorating had begun in Team Rocket base, and, as usual, our favorite bumbling trio, Jessie, James and Meowth, are going to a make an unnecessary production of it. Get the film...Candid Camera could get me famous with a few memorable snapshots... "Meowth!" James screeched as he dove after his Team Rocket suit that the clumsy cat had accidentally thrown out the window. "I just had that tailored yesterday!" "Well that's your fault for being so assuming that you'd need it today! If you had decided to get it fixed tomorrow yesterday, today you would not have anything to lose because it wouldn't be fixed anyways!" Meowth took a breath. "Crap, I've confused myself...again." "Please, shut that yap trap of yours that you tend to call your 'mouth'." He attempted to catch the sleeve, but terribly missed, and found himself more than a little dangling in a precarious position outside the thirty- foot story building of Team Rocket Base. "JESSICAAAAA! HELP!" Jessie ran out of her adjacent bedroom, hearing the shouts of her partner coming in through two layers of paint-coated wall. "James?" She came bursting in through the door, a spray can of blue paint held upside down- blunt objects always do the trick. "What? What's wrong? Is someone assaulting you...besides me?" "DOWN HERE, OOOHHHH!" He yelled from the window pane, where the only thing holding him up was a snag on the back of his pants. Jessie ran over and pulled James up, not helping but to blush at such contact. Sure, one day she'd hoped to do this, but helping him up by pulling in his bottom wasn't precisely the way she pictured... They both fell to the floor, panting in exhaustion...but mainly for James, from mind-wrenching dilemma. He was confused. Horribly, horribly confused. He felt his chest wheeze from lost breath, and he was sure his face looked like he'd seen a ghost. His face was pale white, and his body racked with after-shockwaves of fear. "Jessie, I'm horribly, horribly confused. And tired, for that matter. But...but thank you for saving me." He said, putting his hand behind his head and chuckling lightly. "I guess I owe you one!" "I think dat ya owe her forty!" Meowth chimed in, laughing at the expression on both their faces. They were as pale as sheets. Except for James, who had blush plastered on his cheeks. "Don't mention, James. I just don't plan to make saving you a habit!" "I don't plan to make getting stuck out of a window a habit!" they both laughed sheepishly, each getting an interesting amount of red on their cheeks. "What is your home town, James?" Meowth questioned, peeping over his shoulder as he pecked through the mailbox. "Blasted package still hasn't arrived. 'Promptly on time' isn't a very accurate catch phrase for Slow-Dee Express." "What does my home town have to do with anything?" James inquired. Meowth beamed. "I'm thrilled dat ya would ask dat question, James! It just so happens dat da magazine I ordered from Slow-Dee Express is having a contest! Anyone who can guess the hometown of Fiorello Cappuccino gets a fantastic prize! I just wanted you to randomly guess by saying your hometown, dat's all." Jessie and James popped a pencil and pad from thin air, and began writing down cities and towns in their region. "Just exactly what is the prize, cat?" Jessie asked, desperately trying to remember her hometown. "Da prize is an all expense paid trip ta-" Meowth trailed off as he saw a stack of folded magazines get pushed through the letter slot. His eyes got wide (-err. Wider. His eyes are already pretty big...), as he ran on all fours over to the door. He thrust it open, hearing it swing on its slightly rusty hinges. "MEOWTTTTH! HERE IT IS! DA SUSCRIPTION I'VE BEEN WAITIN' FOR!" The cat yelled as it clawed open the clear plastic that covered the delivery. Meowth was just about to turn around when he heard a voice. A rather geeky, desperate one, at that. "Can I have a tip, sir?" Meowth turned around to see a young postman, extending his hand down to Meowth's. "It's my first day and I-" "Ya want a tip?" Meowth interrupted, feeling relieved his package had come. But still, he was in the mood to humiliate. "Yessir, sir!" "Well fine, here's a tip." Meowth dug into his pockets (Since when do pokemon have pockets attached to their literal body?) and pulled out a coin. "One coin?" The delivery boy asked, a little insulted by the gesture. "Well, Pay Day attacks nowadays aren't what they used to be." The young man stood their, thinking. "Never mind, sir. My life, truthfully, will not gain anything just because you gave me a quarter today." "That's what I thought." Meowth shut the door in the person's face and hopped on the table, spreading lent and beige hair on placemats and silverware. "Eew, Meowth, we have to eat on that tonight!" James exclaimed. "Thought question- what does it mean to eat? For there are several types of nourishment- spiritual, physical, mental-" "Mental." Jessie simply interjected. "For who?" James asked curiously. "Meowth." "Yeah, yeah, you're a regular comedian, Jess." Meowth said, flipping through the pages of the magazine. He placed his paw under his chin, when he felt his body go "Ker-plunk!" against the table. The magazine had been ripped from under him and now his two bumbling teammates had it. They were apparently fighting over who got to look at it first. "I'm the one that should win the contest, Jessica!!" "Don't call me that, Jimmy! Besides, I just saved your butt earlier and this is how you repay me?!" "Jessic-, err, Jessie, I should be the one to win the prize money for guessing that movie star's birth date!" "James, we were supposed to be guessing at his home town, which could only be...what?" Jessie stopped to mockingly think. "Oh yes, only one out of Twenty different cities and towns, that are just on THIS side of the hemisphere!" She said sarcastically. "What juvenile delinquents..." Meowth shook his head in sympathy. He really wondered about those two sometimes. Jessie basically ignored James' eager attempts at grabbing the object from her grip, and let him tackle right into the sofa he was trying to take down her. She mocked as him, flipping through the magazine. After regaining consciousness from his temporary loss of it, James dove at the young red head, causing them both to hit the near wall. The magazine was soon, once again, the object of attention as the pressure of their constant pulling almost tore the lacquered pages apart. Meowth in began to get indulged their cat-fight, when he realized the phone ringing. He promptly ran out. ************************************************************************ A little while later, after Jessie and James had stopped their fighting and indulged in something else. The 'something else' is not worth mentioning... (P.S.- just because it is not worth mentioning doesn't mean that a certain two people decided to play 'Spin the Bottle'...) "I got a call from Da Boss. He wants us ta go ta Sandstone Slopes!" Meowth began, his arms folded behind his back. His usual smirky look was written all over his face. "Where?" James asked. "Sandstone Slopes." Jessie eagerly repeated, her eyes getting glazed over with tears from joy at the very mention of the name. "When I was a young girl, I loved to go tobogganing with my parents there! The weather was absolutely frigid, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Ahhh, it was one of my best years as a kid." "And what benefit came from this more than awkward confession on the pathetic childhood we already knew you had?" Meowth inquired smugly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Shut up, fur ball!" "Why are we going here, anyways, Meowth?" James asked. "Da Boss wants us ta capture him an Articuno." "ARTICUNO?!" They both gasped, clasping on to each other. James began to whine, and Jessie wasn't too far behind. "We can't even catch a Level 5 Pidgey without getting gusted away!" James screeched, still tightly clutching his partner. "How does he expect us to capture an Articuno? Those things are super rare. Though I've heard people have seen them in Sandstone Slopes before, although it's been thought of as a myth. I mean, think about it- the arctic weather, the inclimate temperatures... it's positively perfect for an Articuno, or any other ice-type for that matter!" "Yeah, well, Jess, philosophize later. Let's just get going onto our mission! Hop to it, cadets!" Meowth said as Jess and Jim immediately hopped into their *separate* changing rooms. Meowth fell over on the couch. He sighed, rubbing his temples and mumbling. "I hate snow, I hate water, I hate ice...I hate snow, I hate water, I hate ice..." Ash couldn't help but fidget. This was too boring to be explained in human tongue. Possibly even pokemon-tongue. He was sure that he'd checked every crossword and jigsaw puzzle, read every tabloid, ate at least ten complimentary donuts and drank at the most twenty-five cups of ginger ale and root beer. Now he had to pee, seriously so. "When will this thing take off, Brock?" Ash statement was apparently more so of a complaining exclamation rather than an actual question. And, it was true. If Ash was bored, Misty and Brock would be bored, too. Brock just uttered something without opening his eyes (because, then again, if they were open we still couldn't tell, now could we?), fluffed up the skinny cotton airplane pillows and lowered his seat back. "OW! Hey! Who did that?" Ash at first thought it was the boredom playing tricks with his head, then maybe it was sounds coming from second class behind him. After not finding a source, Ash took Brock's indirect example, and withdrew his slim and frail airplane pillow from the luggage compartment above his head. "Sleep is definitely what a future Pokemon Master needs, eh Misty?" When Ash heard no response, he again called her name. He looked over to see her bobbing her head ever so lightly from side to side as the rhythm of her tape recorder symphonized in her ear. Her eyes were tightly squenched together, as if she were really concentrating. Suddenly, a voice woke him from his thought pattern. Ash turned around to see a steamed off looking pokemon trainer staring down at him. Ash couldn't help but feel a little intimidated, despite his super-macho tendancies. The trainer was at least two feet taller than him, and by his size, stature, and obviously matured features it was apparent he was at least 20 years old. The incriminating young man sported a dark gray and white sports-ski sweatshirt that stuck firmly to his body, outlining the small muscular figure that was forming. Skiing was obviously a muscle-forming sport. He wore dark blue denim pants that were cuffed right before his ankles, overlapping the black, white and light gray heavy-weather tennis gear he wore. His red backpack hung off to one shoulder and his ruggedly trimmed dark purple hair hung around his boyishly-cute face. His deep blue eyes had a tinge of violet to them. Ash almost felt the instinctive urge to battle him, reaching for his pokeball. "Whaddaya want?" Ash asked, feeling one of his cocky modes coming on. The young waved his hands in small warding motions. "Whoa!" he said sweat dropping. "I didn't mean it like that! I was just wondering if you could pull your seat up. When you sat back, you nearly crushed my snowboarding and skiing equipment. That's all, dude." Ash felt embarrassed now. He now appeared to be the biggest jack-ass of them all. "Well, uh sure, I'll just ask my friend over there to move up." "Thanks, pal." The young man began to walk away, until Ash asked him a sudden question. "What's your name?" He turned around and smiled at trainer, extending his hand. "It's Jack, Jack Cappuccino." "Well, my name's Ash Ketchum. You're also headed to Sandstone Slopes?" "Yeah, I sure am. This is my first year for the National Sandstone Tournament, and I'm dying to get that platinum trophy. I've been dreaming of becoming a ski expert ever since my dad used to take me on trips to Sandstone Slopes." Ash brightened. "You're going there , too?! My friends and I are headed their ourselves, as a matter of fact! It's our vacation, and we pretty much got tired of Viridian Forest. I also have a Pikachu that I know would have loved to come with us, but it opted to stay with my mom and Professor Oak. My friend's Togepi would also have loved to come." "What's a Togepi?" "It's like an edible-egg type of thing." "When you said 'Professor Oak', you mean the professor of Pallet Town, right?" "Yeah. But why was that worth asking? There's only one Professor Oak, right?" Jack shook his head. "I think it's kind of like that Joy and Jenny thing..." Ash cocked his head to left in confusion. He was trying to figure out why HE'D never seen any other Professor Oak's. "Anyway, Ash," Jack started up again, trying to provoke more conversation. "What is a Togepi?" "Oh, well...its kind of like an edible egg, except that my friend, Misty, its owner, thinks of it as...well, inedible!" Ash began laughing until he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, followed by the moan of Jack's stomach as well. At the same time they uttered the exact same words: "That made me hungry." "Please Madam, this way." The young woman directed to the next middle-aged woman who needed to be find her flight. This woman's plane coordinates were in section A7 and somehow, here she was down at J5. Whatever... She directed the woman down winding corridors until they reached the lobby where a velvet rope blocked the entrance except for employees. Up above was a metal detection scanner and beyond that was the small outlining off the long-passageway that led to the plane. "Are you sure this is the way, miss. This hallway beyond us seems blocked." The young woman nodded, her bun half way shaking out. She had nodded to so many people she was surprised it had not fallen yet. "I am positive, madam. But, um, first, I am afraid it is skyway regulation to scan one's pokeballs into the machinery. Nowadays, it is becoming quite common for bombs to be faked as pokeballs. This is just a simple examination to test its authenticity." "I assure young lady, my pokemon and pokeballs are all authentic! I am no cheap bidder, have you!" "Well, we would not know that." "And why is that, young lady?" The woman asked snottily. "And whatever you do, be extra careful with my Ninetales and my Vileplume. I will skin the manager's hide myself if a leaf comes off my precious plant! And make it quick! My flight leaves in less than a fifteen minutes." The young woman nodded, again, and trotted away into a backroom. The woman watched the flight attendant go into what seemed to be the 'Pokeball Checking Room.' She wondered why the room was labeled 'Closet'. Inside the Clo- err, umm...Pokeball Checking Room.... "James? Are you in here?" A clear and soft feminine voice asked. A few thuds were heard and a few curses and swears as well. "Yeah, Jess, I'm here. I just can't see a damned foot in front of my face since the light bulb went out." Jessie made a sound of acknowledgment and dug into her blue flight-attendant skirt pocket. She pulled out a small flashlight that illuminated the tiny space. Brooms and yellow buckets were everywhere. Waxes, cleaners, polishers and all sorts of other nice, household cleansing things were stored in small brown cupboards aligned on the floor. Besides that, there were small water leakages from steel pipes all around them, and something smelled like it had died there ages ago. James just seemed to cough, and brush cobwebs out of his face as he came closer to his partner. He looked down to see broken glass scattered around the floor where the bulb had busted. He also noticed the pair of sleek legs that they were placed by. He quirked an eyebrow. "James," Jessie spoke up, checking out their damp and uncomfortable surroundings. James immediately snapped out of his revelry, thinking Jessie had caught him eyeing her. Luckily for him, she was looking the other way. "Did you get the pokeballs?" "Sure did! I got 45! How many did you get?" "I got 27...the people on this wing of the airport apparently aren't as much of suckers as those on your half." Jessie sighed, slightly disappointed with herself. They both pulled out brown leather bags that were each almost filled to the brim with the red and white orbs. "Da Boss will be pleased!" Meowth said, jumping out from behind a dark green trash bag. His business suit had been stained with...garbage crap... and his fake mustache hung limp to one side. "It looks like you got jumped, Meowth." James stated. Meowth just sneered and began to count the pokeballs. "It's not my fault that people don't bother to look down when they walked. I got stepped on at least four times!" *Please, ladies and gentlemen, the flight to Sandstone Slopes is now taking off. If you are not on now...then you better haul some ass! Thank you* the transmission voice came in through the door. Jessie and James both looked at each other, nodded (for what, the ten thousandth time?), and made a sudden dash for the boarding corridor of their plane. "Where are you guys goin'?" Meowth slurred in a hurry. "Boss told us to get to Sandstone Slopes because we need to capture that fantastic Articuno that haunts one of the mountains, remember? We don't want to ruin our good streak!" "Yeah, well, I'll stay here and keep in touch with The Boss, and make sure these treasures make it safely to base." Meowth said, patting the sack of pokeballs. "All right Meowth," they yelled back once they were zipping past him and making a sprint for the airplane-boarding hall. "See ya in a couple of days!" Please, please, ladies and gentlemen take your seats. We apologize for the delay, but our captain has regained consciousness and the plane will be taking off shortly. Please do not feel alarmed at the captain's sudden passing out. This was just an isolated incident. We believe he was seen eating a chocolate doughnut before this occurred. Hopefully it will not happen again, or we will all be in for an unexpected, fiery trip to Hell as we will inevitably plunge into the sea without a captain flying this hunk of junk. Thank you!* The intercom buzzer went off, as everyone put away their electronics and all the flight attendants went back into the cockpit. *Take your seats, as the airplane begins its aerial ascension. Thank you!* Some people made early attempts to jump out the small windows, rather having themselves dead from suicide than being stuck in the same airplane with such a terrible pilot and crew. They were permanently scarred. But just found their butts getting horribly stuck in the windows. "Well it's about time!" Misty sighed as she packed her headphones into her pack. She pulled out her clothes, which consisted of sweatpants and a just-right sized sweater. She got up and paced to the vacant bathroom to change, so when they arrived at their ice-cold destination, she wouldn't freeze her hind parts off. ************************************************************************ Among the cockpit... "Well, since this is you two's first day serving among an actual flight, I'll let you sit in this once. But let me tell you," The co-pilot took a sip of his mug of steaming hot coffee. "Take examples from our more experienced other two..." The co-pilot trailed off as the 'waitresses' edged out of the cockpit and into first class. "Jess, we'll never get pokemon this way. We gotta do something to distract all these people!" The young flight waiter said, smoothing a wrinkle in his black pants. He became quite disgruntled as the wrinkle kept coming back, until he noticed it only crunched up when he took another step walking. Sighing, he noticed the look on his partner's face. It was the look she had when she had a plan. "I have an idea, James." She said, precariously watching to make sure no one heard in on their conversation. She continued. "But this is too conspicuous, we need something-" "Inconspicuous!" James searched for a place where they would not be noticed, somewhere that would be out of the way. His eye caught the sight of a bathroom. Sure, it looked like more of a make-out spot when two people of opposite sex went in there together, but it had potential. He nudged Jessie's arm softly, whispering in her ear his plan. After a few seconds of indecision, they both paced to the bathroom door, only to find... "Occupied?" Jessie asked, looking a little peeved, but not anymore so than would scare a Caterpie. James assumed it was either not that time of the month yet, or that she was really in an unusually optimistic mood. James expected her to usually try to kick that blasted door down. He, not feeling it the time to ruin this good occasion, simply repeated his partner's words, except in a more pissed-off tone of voice. Suddenly, the light-metal door swung open, to reveal a bundled up girl dressed in sweatpants and a sweater. Her orange hair hung shortly behind her head and her green eyes were much lighter than James'. The girl gave a quick 'hello' to the two teenagers standing outside her door and scampered away with a confused look on her face. She seemed to be giggling, but at the same time panicking. Jess and Jim shrugged it off, heading into the bathroom. Of course, they checked to see if anyone saw them going in together. ************************************************************************ Misty went back to her seat, shuffling up her pillow and grabbing her tipped over can of ginger ale that lay on the floor. She sighed when she picked it up, watching as the stain dug into the beige fibers of the carpet. Scurrying around to face Brock, she took a quick sip and began speaking. "You know, Brock, I think I just saw Team Rocket back there." Brock turned around, pulling the shade over the window covering as he did- too much light hurts his eyes. "How do you know it was them?" Misty slightly shrugged in her seat, looking up at the ceiling. "I dunno, I guess I just kinda assumed it was them. I mean, they look so different in their new disguises and everything, but the features of their faces were just too...Rockety to be ignored." "Hmm, I see what you mean." Misty brightened, perking up almost immediately. "You do? I thought you'd never believe me!" Brock grimaced and sweat dropped. "Actually, Misty, I still think you delusional. I was just trying to lively up our conversation." Brock sat back, folding his arms under his head, and closing his eyes (no comment needed...). Misty thought about laying him out flat by verbal abuse, but decided that would get her nowhere. She sighed. "Look, Brock, I don't care if you believe me or not, but-" ************************* *Switch Scenes* ***************************** "-I know I saw the brat! It's a certainty!" James laid back against the toilet seat, groaning and feeling abnormally claustrophobic. "Jess, okay, maybe you did see the twerp. But that's no reason to get all frazzled-up. We have to focus on our plan." Jessie looked confused, to say the least. "Exactly what is our plan?" James seemed to have this comment hit him like a ton of bricks. "I thought you knew..." He said nervously sweat dropping. Jessie seemed to laugh it off, and paced back and forth, her boots clicking against the metal floor. Of course, how can you pace in such a cramped spot? James felt himself getting extremely hot, as the ventilator emitted heat for the airplane. He grunted in frustration, feeling the stuffiness affect his sensitive attitude. "Forget the complicated schemes! Let's just go out there, kick some candy butt, steal their pokemon, and get on with the show!" ************************************************************************ Ash knew his eyes were as big as a Rattata that had stumbled into a mozzarella factory. He let his hand roam all over the smooth, cool metallic covering that formed the base of Jack's snowboard. This was the first time he'd ever seen a snowboard up-close--the only other times were at national games from stands way above the actual action, and from miles away at his home through the miracle of television. The snowboard was now the coolest thing yet. With its dark gray base, its green and yellow emblazoned letters, and the curved-up tip, Ash was more than anxious to ride it when they arrived at their destination. "Isn't it cool, Ash?" Jack asked, taking a bite of the complimentary donuts. The chocolate frosting tasted hot, sticky and gooey. It almost tasted like moist elephant crap! Ash nodded enthusiastically, just imagining how jealous Misty and Brock were going to be. "Way cool!" Ash blurted out, abruptly hearing the sound of puking behind them. People were all of a sudden running for the direction of their air-sick bags, stored up in the storage compartments above their heads. Jack and Ash turned around to see almost all of first class, including Brock, standing up and spilling out their lunches into the paper bags. "Hmm, I wonder what's bugging them out like that." Jack stated, feeling a bit disgusted himself. Ash nodded, and ran toward Brock and Misty's seats. As he saw earlier, Brock was also spewing the contents of his ill-digestion into the paper bag. Ash panted for a second, before grabbing Misty's arm and shaking her. "Misty!" The carrot-head turned around to see her black-haired companion. "Ash? What's up?" Ash couldn't believe Misty's cluelessness. "What do you mean 'what's up'?" Ash took the time to regain his composure. "As a matter of fact, just by looking around you, you can tell that food is the thing coming UP!" Misty nodded, understanding Ash's hints. "Oh, riiight, that. Honestly, I don't know what happened. By my understanding from the flight attendants, all these people had a sample of the complimentary donuts." Misty stopped to think. "But on second thought, I had a donut, too. But then again, the flight attendant did specifically say these people all ate chocolate donuts. "Then why aren't you getting sick?" "I ate a powdered one!" Ash suddenly felt his tummy, too, rumble and churn its contents about. His face was soon filled with throw-up, as his cheeks expanded. "Ash! Ash, what's wrong?!" Misty exclaimed, shaking his paling form. He was able to murmur out a few words before collapsing and running for Jack- Lord knows if he'll make it that far. "Misty, I don't feel too good..." "What, Ash? What do you mean?" Ash felt more fill up his mouth. He quaked with indigestion and nausea, as mush filled his throat and up. "I mean," he said, giving up and preparing to spew it out on the floor. "I had a donut, too." ************************************************************************ "And, flight control, we are headed east, south east, passing over Cinnabar Island at ninety-degrees, approximately." "Your position, Pilot?" "We are approximately," The Pilot halted mid-sentence as his stomach churned. "Approximately...." He trailed off, before collapsing on the floor and struggling for the air-sick packs that were positioned on the lower wall. "Pilot, come in. This is flight control." The pilot-assistant walked into the room, whistling a tune when he sees his superior on the floor, embracing himself by the stomach. "My God, Sir!" he said, running over. "Are you okay, Sir?" The Pilot looked up, his black eyes distorted with blurriness and pain, as he muttered his last words. "Assistant-pilot, my child..." he said, closing his eyes, never living to have the vomit escape his bearded mouth. He breathed in his last pained breath, and prepared for eternal peace. The assistant-pilot cradled the body, crying. "If only I'd come sooner! This would not be! You would still be-" he paused in his speech, having something hit him like a ton of bricks. "Hey, I'm not you child!" "I'm dying, you idiot!" The Pilot yelled, in doing so letting loose his contents into the bag that was over his face. He sighed, relieved, and made a sound of embarrassment. "Nevermind." "NOOOOOOOOO! Pilot, I miss thee already!" The co-pilot yelled, at the top of his lungs. His tear-streaked face was full of anguish and sorrow. "Fool, I'm not dead, anymore!" The superior shouted, feeling like a headache was coming on. A serious one. "Fool? Me? You're the fool! You're the one that forgot- you never were dead!" A beeping noise came across the room through the transmitter. "Pilot, Pilot are you there?" He stood up, gathering his sense, and spoke back. "Yes, yes, I'm here." "Why the hold-up, earlier?" "Donuts- Chocolate ones, flight control. Chocolate ones..." ************************************************************************ After first class has recovered from the wrath of the Chocolate Donut...All hail sacred being, Chocolate Donut.... "Lights!" The lights in first class suddenly dimmed out, as people started shrieking about how loss of electricity meant their impending fate. Soon, two yellow spotlight circles had appeared on the floor right before the cockpit. "Camera!" All eyes watched in fear, as dramatic music was turned on and all their electrical appliances were mute and not functioning. Their attention soon fell on the site unfolding before them, as a bathroom stall flung open, the metal clanking, and startling almost everyone who were becoming used to the silence. "Action!" Two figures jumped out of the bathroom stall, dressed in flight attendant uniform. They were positioned back to back, their certain style in doing things apparent. They had attracted the attention of all the passengers of first class, who had by now overcome Chocolate Donut... "Prepare for trouble!" The woman began, in a clear voice loud enough to be heard by everyone. ************************** *switch scenes* ******************************* Meanwhile, in the further back seats... "Wow! That flight attendant is really cute!" Jack commented, followed by an agreeing headshake by Brock. "I don't even remember seeing her!" "Yeah, Jack, I think you're right about that one!" Ash conceded, feeling his cheeks fill with blush, and his eyes turn into gigantic pink hearts. Brock simply nodded again, a wide smile plastered on his face. "She could serve me anytime!" Jack said aloud, although it was meant to be privately thought. "Oops, I said that out loud, didn't I?" Misty nodded, her eyes narrowing. "I meant food! Serve me food!" Jack said, doing his best to recover. But once he turned his head back around, his eyes got bubbly and big. "Delicious food...Rreeeeooww!" he said, purring like a cat to emphasize his point. Misty just ignored the boys. "She still looks familiar!" ************************** *switch scenes back!**************************** "And I firmly suggest you make that double!" The male added on, keeping his eyes closed and his face down to the floor. "To protect the world from devastation!" "To unite all people within our nation!" The young woman struck a pose with her leg bent in the air and her arm straight ahead of her. "To denounce the evils of truth and love!" The young man did the same, except going in the opposite direction. "To extend our reach to the stars above!" "Jessica!" Jessie said, flinging out her bun of red hair, letting it seductively stream down her back. **************************** *switch scenes******************************* "It's Jessie!" Misty exclaimed. "I knew it!" "BUT SHE STILL LOOKS CUTE!!" Brock, Jack, and Ash announced, drooling at the flowing magenta hair down her back, and the way her skirt accentuated her waistline. Misty grunted, smacking them upside their heads. ********************** *switch scenes back, again...* *********************** "Oooh, sweet!" James said, admiring the same things the three other boys were. Jessie glared playfully at her partner, nudging him in the side. "Oh, I mean," he said pausing, regaining his composure and his masculinely deep voice. "James!" "Aahhh, it's Team Rocket!" Ash, Brock and Misty shrieked, which immediately caused reaction from the passengers. They all jumped up, preparing to fight the two criminals. All kinds of pokeballs were being thrown forward, and almost all the species of pokemon were present, ready for battle. Ash, Misty and Brock, however, were waiting for something else, until Ash nudged him in the side. Jack awoke from his revelry, still bubbly and big eyed, and a wide, goofy grin on his face. "Jack, you missed your cue." Misty pointed out. Jack was puzzled for a second, but then regained focus. "Oh, right! Yes, well... Aahhh, it's Team Rocket!" he smiled to his newly acquired companions. "Better?" "Very much so!" "Wheezing, go!" James threw forth his pokeball into the middle of the aisle. The floating blob of gas cried its name several times before realizing that its usual battle partner was missing. "Don't worry, Jessie's solo this time! But anyway, Wheezing, Smog attack!" The balloon of gas spewed toxic gas from its two heads, the fumes quickly spreading throughout the airplane. Everyone, including pokemon, coughed as the gas seeped into their lungs, either knocking them out, or making them extremely dizzy. James, however, was used to this, being a Wheezing trainer, after all, he had become immune to its lingering effect after awhile. "Wheezing, Haze and Smokescreen attacks!" he yelled, his pokemon obediently following orders, emitting powerful fumes of gas that enshrouded the whole plane. Half the pokemon hit the floor, badly poisoned, fainted or exhausted from lung pain. The Wheezing continued to pour its foul gas on the helpless victims, as trainers now fell to the ground along with their pokemon. Ash coughed fiercely, reaching for his pokeballs, but feeling to disoriented to ever actually grab one. "Misty, Brock, Jack," he paused to cough, stifling it a bit, using his pulled off jacket to cover his nose and mouth. "How are you holding out?" Brock wheezed, falling forward on the floor, clutching his chest tightly. "I don't think I can take much more, Ash." He coughed, trying to pull off his orange vest to use it for the same purposes Ash used his jacket. "Misty, send out one of your pokemon!" Ash strained to yell, the poison making him feel faint, and his thoughts disarrayed. He was too confused to even attempt at a solution. When no answer came, Ash figured Misty had already fainted. He would have liked to help her, but it was hard enough trying to keep himself on track without him having to hunt for someone else. "Go, Pikachu!" A voice yelled. The voice was terribly familiar to Ash, who was steadily losing consciousness. His immune system was wearing thin, as he doubled over on the floor in semi-consciousness. The voice sounded like Jack's. "Pikachu, Agility!" was the last thing Ash heard before all went black and silent, as he joined the rest of his friends in being unconscious. James felt pleased with himself, the only person left standing was a young man about his age who had sent out a Pikachu. James was ready to battle, as he spotted Jessie in the corner of the room, gathering up the last of the pokeballs off the belts of fainted trainers who lay on the floor, either semi-conscious, or completely wiped out. "Wheezing, Smokescreen attack!" The Pikachu's enhancement of speed due to the Agility attack that had come earlier, assisted it in making the first move. It ran toward the balloon gas, stopping mid-way and gathering its power within its red cheeks. It dug deep within itself, scraping together all the power it could muster, as a thunderbolt of energy swept through the plane, knocking out all remaining power, and bursting the windows one by one. An explosion erupted, as the chemicals of gas and electricity tore at the plane. Glass shattered everywhere, scarring and piercing the skin of the. Jack was thrown against a near wall by the powerful explosion, as Wheezing's gas harmlessly was sucked from the plane and out into the sky. James ducked down to the floor, covering his arms with his head, until he heard his partner's cry. He felt the air being forced from his lungs as the height of the plane in the sky and the thin layer of oxygen made it harder to breathe. "Jessie!" He shouted, darting toward his fallen companion who lay helpless on the floor, almost knocked-out, herself. He touched the side of her face, which had a large red whelp on the side. "Oh, Jess," "James, what's happening?" She asked, fading out. James felt his eyes well with tears. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Jess was unconscious, and lying limp in his arms. Perhaps this time, Team Rocket succeeded, but in a way that was possibly too perfect. The plan was mastered, but now, everyone's lives were in immense danger. Suddenly, and hand was on his shoulder. He looked up to see Ash, still visibly delirious, but holding out nonetheless. "I'll help you." "I don't know if there's anything you can do, kid." James said bluntly. Suddenly, the plane rocked with force, as it dove down through the sky and the graying evening clouds. The aerial vessel dove through the heavens and heightening speed, sucking the breathable air from the plane as the atmosphere's layers and the exposed windows took their toll. Suddenly, all went black, as Ash felt a hard force swoop up the floor below him, and James experienced the hard hit of a wall against his back. Everything on the plane was unconscious. But James was sure he saw something before he passed out. Blue. Sparkling blue, and shimmering bright lights. He also swore he saw a powerful, flapping wing. The last coherent thing that went through his mind was a vision of the person that he loved. ************************************************************************ The young man felt a slight slap on his cheek, and the feeling of a hot paper-towel against his aching forehead. He cracked open his eyes, to see him being stared right back at. The first things he noticed were that there was a young woman in front of him. She was extremely beautiful, and the depths of those deep sapphire eyes reminded him of a name. "Who- who are you?" He asked, putting a hand to his head, and slowly feeling the strength to sit up. His stomach hurt, he knew that much. "I have a feeling that I've known you...or at least seen you before." "First, who are you?" She asked back, softly rubbing the side of his face. The way she smiled seemed familiar, too. There was someone else he knew who had that same movie-star smile. But as for knowing his name- the young man felt as if he knew it, but he was unsure. "I'll take a stab at it. Is it...Jay?" She chuckled, brushing a lavender strand of hair from his face. "Actually, it's James." James recovered his memory and proceeded to repeat his name to himself, trying to remember anything else relevant. As hard as he tried, he couldn't remember a thing. "Blue eyes," he began uncomfortably, associating 'blue eyes' to the woman in front of him. "I'm sorry, but even though my being 'James' checks out in my memory, but I can't recall anything about my previous life." The young woman giggled a bit, feeling his arms, his neck, his wrist, and later on the middle of his shin and ankle. James certainly felt his soreness go away in those particular spots, but he couldn't help but blush. While she was doing this, he started remembering things that he had temporarily forgotten. He took note of the young woman's beautiful magenta hair that flowed down her back, and above all things, her curves. "Jessica?" He hesitantly began, unconsciously twirling a strand of her hair between his fingers. Jessica looked up, and smiled that beautiful smile again. "Well, James, I'm glad to see you remember something about your past life." She said, edging close to his form. "I'm really especially glad you remember who I am, though." "How could I forget who you are?" James asked admiringly. Jessica blush and got closer to James' face. As she came closer and closer, he could feel more retrospect epiphanies coming on. A young woman who meant all the world to him... a red headed angel, with deep blue eyes...a girl who often hid her timid nature under a brash and arrogant exterior. "Jessie..." He trailed off before closing his eyes. Jessie nodded and closed her eyelids. James felt his heart slow down to a comfortable, rhythmic beat. He wasn't nervous, as he remembered how for the longest time he'd been waiting for this moment. For what seemed like an eternity, the two's lips came ever closer... Their intimate moment was cut short by the clearing of a throat. The two embarrassed teenagers looked up to see another young man standing in front of them. James felt uncomfortable in this situation, and gently motioned to Jessie for them to separate. They both came to their feet. The young man smirked haughtily and only extended his hand to Jessie, who after a few moments of blushing, accepted it herself. "I'm Jack Cappuccino." He said, flashing Jessie a smile (People sure do smile a lot nowadays, ne?) and a sexy wink. She knew that her face was the same color as her hair by now. "And you are?" Jack added on a bit later. "Jessica Kenjiro. Pleased to meet you." She replied, regaining her composure. "I assume you are related to Fiorello Cappuccino, the big movie star?" "Oh no! My older brother's job is nice, but I make my living as a snowboarder." Jack added on quickly, waving his hands in warding motions. "In fact, I'd love to take you on a personalized tour of this premises." "Well, excuse my being rude, Jack, but what exactly is the 'premises'? I haven't the slightest clue where we are." Jessie asked, feeling more than a little confused. "We're at Sandstone Slopes, remember? Me, Ash, Misty and Brock are here, too." Jack answered. He understood everything we he noticed the conspicuous red 'R' on both the trainers shirts. "Well, I'm sorry to butt in, but my name is James Gregory." Jack seemed to stare daggers at the man who'd interrupted his moment with such a beautiful young lady. "I'm from Team Ro-" "Team Rocket, I know." He said, glaring at James. "It was your organization's fault that we almost got killed the plane explosion!" "Hey, I don't go around trying to make trouble! It was an accident. My Wheezing's toxic smoke just got side-affected by your Pikachu's thunderbolt. It's nobody's fault, really." Jack just sneered and turned his focus back to Jessie. "Your room is on the third floor, Jessica" He started romantically. "- Yours and James' room." He emphasized with a hint of mock disgust. It was only then as Jack began to walk away, that Jess and Jim realized that they were in a large wooden cabin. It was obviously a hotel, as outside they could both here the wind roughly howling over the roof. The floors were polished and lacquered, and there were lobby burgundy sofas and matching loveseats that were around each corner of the room. Small wooden tables about 5 x 5 were squared off of each chair/sofa piece, and little decorations of ski boards and paintings of pokemon hung on the walls. The front desk was to the left of an elevator and to the far left of two pairs of staircases that spiraled upwards to the next floor. Plants were in every free, convenient space and the large windows that were on the wide wall of the cabin hotel gave a good view of the mountain range below. Judging by the way the weather looked, it seemed to be about midday, even though it looked like the evening as the sun wasn't shining its brightest. James ran over to a paining of a particular pokemon that hung on the farthest wall to him. Granted, he had recovered everything from that temporary case of amnesia, but still something was there that he could not exactly remember. The painting had a white, pastel-like background, and a brass frame bordered the outskirts. In the center was the picture of a pokemon- a pokemon James was sure he'd seen before. James had gotten so wrapped up in his intense thinking that he literally jumped into the ceiling when someone tapped in on the shoulder. "Ahh!" He shrieked, turning around to see an old woman behind him. Well, maybe an old woman below him. The woman was only about a little more than a quarter of James' height, no more taller than Meowth. "Can I yell, miss?" "My name is Lorelei, young man, and for your information I was once the Ice-Trainer of the Elite Four." "The same Elite Four that dwells atop Indigo Plateau, Lorelei?" James inquired, seeing Jessie take the elevator in the corner of his eye. She must have been going up to their room. Lorelei sweat dropped. "Well, kiddo, do you know any other Elite Fours? Anyway, it seems that you have a particular interest in my painting, eh?" James was sure he could have doubled-over and laughed! "Your painting?!" He stifled a hysterical outburst. "You- you drew this painting?!" Lorelei took immediate offense at the gesture. James quickly recovered his sensibility about him, and decided to stay on the cool side would probably be best. "I mean, Lorelei, it's a regular chef-d'ouevre. A masterpiece!" "Why I'm certainly glad you think so, young man." Lorelei said sarcastically. "The painting portrayed the pokemon I once thought I saw." She said, her voice softening. James began to pay close attention. Besides, here was a person who had claimed to have had the same experience he had-seeing a pokemon that could have very well been a fake. It could have been possible that someone else had seen the creature he thought he'd seen, too. "It all started when I came here about twenty years ago, in search of a pokemon that many locals had reported seeing. They said it had large, sparkling, blue wings and soft, red pupils that had crystal-clear reflection. Most reported it to be peaceful, and just fly into the clouds, before it would disappear in a string of mist. It was surely the mystery of the decade. Every tabloid that wanted to earn the right to be called 'tabloid' printed a story of the mythical creature." Lorelei took a pause, and shook her head in pity. "So much was made of the sightings, that by using the information that supposed eye-witnesses had gathered together, the Pokemon League had finally authorized the pokemon in this painting to be of legal existence. They called it Articuno, pokemon number 144. That means, in the eyes of the highest pokemon-relevant power, this...creature was the real deal. So, in my late forties, full of life and semi-youthful exuberance, I set off to capture the pokemon." "Why would you want to do that-" "-Because I was an Ice-Trainer, and this pokemon, according to eye-witness accounts, was the ultimate ice type that there was, or ever would be. So, as you can imagine, I failed my quest, and stayed here to live out the rest of my life in dormancy and solitude, not having the strength to face my superiors with the appearance of an absolute failure. I had wanted to make something of myself, but not succeeding opened my eyes." Lorelei took a breath to keep in a quiet sob. "So to make you believe me, yes, I am the illustrator of this work of art. It is a picture of the pokemon that I never captured." "A picture of the pokemon you never captured..." "And of course all the media back at home thinks I'm long dead. And they have plenty of reason. It's not often that a person who's part of the Elite Four doesn't report to work. You make a friggin' ten thousand a day! I mean there was no other explanation for a person not to come to the job every day if you were part of the renowned Elite Four!" James lost all interest in Lorelei's gazes into the past, not that he wasn't he interested. It was just that now he had his own mystery to solve. He began dazing off, into a state off semi-awareness (You know, that place where you dream but your eyes are still open and you wake up to find you were mindlessly staring at things ^_^;; Not quite the Twilight Zone, but hey!). James awoke from his revelry, to find himself slumped against the cold oak of the front desk, above his head on the wall the picture of the mysterious pokemon Lorelei had told him of. Nothing on that blasted thing looked familiar except for the wings- those sparkling, sapphire, shimmering wings. He remembered that he had seen those wings before the plane went down. The plane...the plane explosion, for that matter. That must explain why he'd had that temporary case of forgetfulness. James suddenly felt an overwhelming feeling of unease as he drifted off with the realization that he could have perished in the flames. It was then that the young and handsome bishounen monumentally decided he would find this mysterious pokemon. He would at least have to some way thank it, for now James was sure, by putting two and two together, that this mysterious pokemon, was the thing that had saved his and Jessie's lives. "What a life I lead..." James trailed off, before standing up and walking over to the corner closest to him. He plopped down in the comfy sofas in the lobby, turning off the lights, and grabbing a pillow from the loveseat across from him. "Something must relate..." He said, before snuggling his head into the soft textiles of the cotton pillow. This was the only night in a long time that he had fallen asleep without the comfort of knowing that Jessie was right beside him. In Team Twerp's room... "All right, Ash, you owe me 400 yen. You landed on my land. I'm so glad I bought Japanese Market Square from Brock!" Misty squealed with glee, as Ash unhappily withdrew two blue 200 dollar bills from his depleting wad of cash. Brock snorted from the couch where he lay sprawled out over a pillow, intensely watching the game. "You didn't buy a single thing from me! You just threatened to sick your Starmie on my Onix if I didn't give you the Japanese Market Square!" "Either way, neither of you are the ones giving up money here!" Ash announced, glaring at his friends. "Oh, Ash, it's not Misty's fault you suck at Monopoly." Brock said, yawning. "Just roll the dice." Ash let the two game pieces fall from his palm and saw the number land on '6'. He counted as he moved his car six spaces from the Japanese Market Square. He winced in horrible agony as he landed on another piece of Misty's property. "Aauuugh! Not again!" He grained, falling back on the carpet. Misty and Brock laughed at him, and Ash sighed, defeated. "How much money do I owe you now, Misty?" He asked, picturing his bank account crumbling. "Actually, Ash, from now on, I am not Misty. You will call me 'Her Majesty', since you have just landed in the Dutch Garden's Estate. Cough up 2,000 bucks." "But Misty, if I'm in Sweden, or somewhere where they speak Dutch, then don't I owe you less money? I' sure American dollars are worth a lot more there than over here!" "Not really, Ash. The Swedish economy is not much different from our own, if not by increasing by 2%." Brock explained, admiring the board. More than 3/4 the property on it was Misty's. Ash moaned, throwing his pieces over the board. He fell on the floor, letting his back rest from the constant crouching over the board game he'd done that night. "I give, I give! Fine!" He yelled disgruntled. Just then, the door to their hotel room opened. In stepped Jack, clad in pajamas. Misty got wide-eyed. "Those are your pajamas???" She outlined the white T-shirt and the black boxers. His purple hair was slicked and combed back, and the tattoo on his arm of a pokeball was showing. "Wicked tattoo, man!" Brock announced from the couch, now looking at a good movie or two (Good movie for Brock usually means lots of orgies...). Ash just groaned from the floor, his hands over his face. "What's wrong with Ash?" Jack questioned, sitting on the sofa next to Brock, quickly snatching the remote, and changing the channel. Misty just beamed with pride from the opposite side of the board game. "He's feeling a loss of his masculinity." "Why? Did he get a sex change?" Jack inquired, confused by what was happening. Brock and Misty sweat dropped, but continued to explain. "No, I mean he lost to a girl in a board game. He lost to me." Misty clarified matter-of-factly. Jack looked down at the floor to keep from laughing out loud. He knew if he looked at Ash, all control would be lost. "Well, no, actually I can sympathize with Ash." Jack said softly. Brock looked over his shoulder, patting his friend on the back. "It happened to you before, Jack?" "NOPE! It never did! Ha!" Jack spurted out, rolling on the floor, laughing in hysterics. His hands were folded over abdomen and his legs were kicking about, knocking over game pieces. "You- ha! YOU-ha! You LOST to a girl!! Man, what...what a world we live in today!" Brock, ignoring his friend who was having a critical case of the "giggles (you actually expect me to call those rantings giggles?)", looked over to an embarrassed Ash and Misty. "Well," began Brock uneasily. "I have a confession to make." Misty, Ash and Jack, yes, even laughing out loud Jack, sat up and stared at him. Ash spoke up. "If you're gonna say you like Jessie...we kinda-sorta knew that...no offense." "D'OH! WHAT!?!?! No way you could know!!!!! I mean, uhh, not like there's anything to know about...he he..." "Personally, I think she's pretty cute myself." Jack said suavely, blushing ever so lightly. "I had a run in with Jessica and James back in the lobby. James is so blaze, trying to steal my girl." Ash smirked. "Since when did she become your girl?" Brock, Ash, and Jack all stared at each other for a second before they all yelled: "Man talk! Man talk!" Misty covered her ears before whacking them all upside the head. "Didn't we already talk about this subject back on that fiery inferno we nearly died on?" "It's called 'a plane'." "Exactly! A plane! I have no interest in talking about you all's love lives and your mysterious crushes on another red-head besides me." "You're just saying that because you want to talk about James!" Ash interjected. "Do not!" "Do to!" "Do not!" "Do to!" "Please, please, Ash, Misty! If you want to evenly settle a score, I know what you can do." Jack said, separating the two trainers with a little help from Brock. "HOW?!" They both shouted in Jack's ear. Jack winced in pain and sprawled out on the floor. "My ear..." he trailed off, before coming back. "You can always hold a snowboard tournament off of one of Sandstone Slopes many hills, and the first person to the bottom wins." "Sure!" exclaimed Misty. "That is the perfect way!" "And I'll show you that boys make the rules, and girls always lose! Hahaha!" Ash rhymed, laughing menacingly. "And I'll be in it, since I could always use the extra snowboarding practice. But the main match is still between Ash and Misty. So even is I got in first place, Misty got in second and Ash got in third, Misty'd win, since she's came closest to first. Got it?" Jack announced snuggling under the blankets for the night. "I'm going to win this tournament..." Ash said, before staggering over to the light switch and flicking it off, buckling down into his red sleeping bag. "If...if it's the last thing I do." He said before trailing off, and creating a soft cacophony of snores. The cold, brisk air swept against Ash's face as he closed his eyes and let the snowflakes tickle at his skin. He opened his mouth and felt the small flurries trickle down on his tongue, almost immediately melting into water as they did. Ash brushed his gloves together anxiously and looked over to Brock and Misty. "You guys okay?" Misty's teeth shuddered together. "I'm okay, if you don't count the hypothermia." "Brock? How are you holding up, buddy?" "Actually, Ash, I'm wondering why we even have to go through with this race." "C'mon, Brock! It's all in pure fun!" Ash exclaimed, waving his hands in the air and doing quick stretches. "I for one am enjoying this cool weather...it sure beats Viridian Forest any day!" "I don't think this race has any meaning at all, except for your own stubbornly selfish, personal gain, Ash Ketchum, you never-will-be Pokemon Master!" Misty shrieked, coming face to face with Ash and preparing to spew more verbal trash at him. Ash was ready to do just the same. "Oh, so now you are calling this race arbitrary?" He asked mockingly, pulling down his left lower eyelid, and sticking out his tongue. Misty felt her face become red with anger. "If I recall correctly, it was you who said to do this race in the first place!" "I never said that!" "She's right." Jack said from esied Brock. He was currently contemplating on what tricks to use while snowboarding. "Actually, I said it." "I don't care who said it, regardless! I'm gonna win this thing, and show that boys are better than girls! Brock, Jack, James, are you with me?!" Misty her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. Jack looked up puzzled from his theories. "What were you talking about?" Brock simply stared at Ash, who still had his fist high in the air. "You are a sad little trainer." James, who habitually stood by Jessie, hesitantly broke their temporary kiss and looked to Ash. "I could say something, but it would make you think that you are actually doing something to influence me, and I wouldn't want you to think that for a second." He said, before going back to his business. Misty blushed, looking toward the lip-locked Team Rocket. They had now fallen in the snow, their hands and lips uncontrollable. "Umm, Jess, Jim, could you get a room for this?" She questioned. "Mmm, James, I'm so glad we're out of denial." "Ohh, Jess, I'm so glad I've got a beautiful girl like you..." "Pikachu, GO!" Jack yelled, throwing forth his pokeball onto the snow. The Pikachu hopped out, saying its name repeatedly before letting loose a string of thunderbolts onto the making-out couple. Jessie and James sprung to the feet, bodies completely separated, charred and blackened beyond human recognition. "I can't believe that Team Rocket is actually entering this tournament with us." Misty announced, desperately trying to rid her innocent mind of the perverted thoughts that now ran through it, thanks to what she's just seen Jessie and James doing. In the snow. Misty just couldn't believe Team Rocket would do that! In the snow... "We should all be careful." Jack shook his head in calm disagreement, returning his Pikachu. "Even though protagonists and antagonists are never supposed to get along, I thought since both groups are on winter vacation, a temporary truce could be called." He said. Ash nodded. "Yeah, I see no harm in that, as long as there is a promise to no pokemon battles, no pokemon swiping and no pokemon- whatever bad thing a criminal might do!" "And when Ash said 'swiping pokemon', he meant any other terms you guys may use for 'swiping'." Brock added in, cautiously. "'Permanently borrowing, embezzling our poke-bank accounts, robbing our assets, making off with our 'pokies', and taking our critters' are all included." "Well," started Jack. "Is everyone ready for the race?" Everyone nodded, picking up their snowboards and pushing themselves close to the edge. Ash looked over at Misty. "If I die on this course, Misty, I'll be sure never to forget what a unsupportive friend you were." "And if I die on this course, Ash, I'll never forget what a JERK you always were and always will be." "Jessica," "Yes, James?" "If we don't pull through this bizarre twist of horrible, horrible fate, I just want you to know that I...I...IIIIIIIIIIIIII LOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU..." James screamed as he slipped backwards off his snowboard and went gliding down the slope, his last words to Jessie getting fainter and fainter as his quickening form sped down the snow covered slope. His shouts turned into sounds of glee and words of excitement as he skillfully dodged the small twigs, rocks and pink barricades that were located all over the slope. "Hey, James is going before us!" Ash yelled to his friends, only to find that when he looked to his sides, his friends were already gone, where they were standing just moments ago, trails of upturned snow and the tracks of their boards. Below the slopes, in the forms of tiny, quickly moving dots followed by paths of more upturned snow as they surfed the thick sheet of white fluff, were the five pokemon trainers. Everyone seemed to be in a four-way tie, except for Jack, who was solely in the lead by a few feet in front of Brock. Ash decided that he'd just have to have another opportunity to show off and beat Misty, since starting off now he would surely lose the race. He was already a mile behind them all anyway. Ash plopped down in the snow, really wishing he had his electric buddy with him right about now. Flustered and frustrated, Ash yelled to the top of his lungs. "Snowboarding bites wind!" he felt extremely satisfied with himself, knowing that they all heard it. He hoped it had at least messed up someone's concentration enough to make them trip and fall behind- especially Misty. As Ash stood up, he felt a rumbling from beneath his feet, as he heard his voice make its last rounds off the side of every mountain- top for miles around. Suddenly, Ash violently fell to the ground and began rolling down the hill, not knowing what had knocked him down. As he was tumbling his clothes ripped on several sharp rocks and pine needles, causing him to wince in pain. He continued to roll down the hill, feeling himself get disoriented and realize the quaking getting larger and larger and LARGER by the second, until his fall came to a stop on even terrain of snowboarding path. Ash looked up, his cap on backwards now and his thin black sweater ripped around the shoulders. In front of him was the most massive pile of snow he'd ever seen. It must have been six hundred tons or more of snow that came crashing and rolling down the side of the slope, bowling over trees and the pink barricades. Its sound was almost deafening, and it shook the ground so vehemently that Ash could hardly stand up. To his side, he saw the other five of his friends sprawled out on the snow, some more badly wounded than others. Ash noticed they were at least 7 yards away from him, and the avalanche was approaching with rapid speed, still crushing whatsoever got in its way. Ash decided there was nothing left but to risk it all for his friends. He ran as fast as he could after quickly un-strapping his feet from the snowboard under him. As Ash began to run for them, he realized that his sides ached with pain. When he had come crashing down to a stop after his hard fall, his hard snowboard had been under him, and it had knocked the wind right out of his lungs when it dug into his body from the impact. The avalanche continued to boulder down the slope of the mountain, now only a couple of hundred of feet away from Ash. He panted as he finally reached all of his friends. They were battered and torn, looking as far as he could tell they would have been dead, if he had not seen them moving. Misty, Jessie, and Jack were, however, blacked out. "James, Brock! Get up, and quick!" he yelled to them, forcing them up by yanking at their arms and legs almost pulling the sockets apart from the bone. James stood to his feet, staggering and already knowing what was happening. "Ash, look!" He had to shout three times before Ash heard him. The avalanche was approaching top speed now, only five hundred feet away. James was pointing to a cave that was off to their near right. They would have to climb up the slope just a few feet to get inside. Brock stumbled up after much struggle, feeling a serious pain in his knee. He, too, already knew what was happening. Brock grabbed Jack and pulled Jack's arms around his neck, trudging up the side of the slope toward the cave. Going upward meant walking face forward in the direction of the incoming thousands of tons of bone-crushing snow. Ash swung Misty over his back and walked as fast as he could under her weight. He thought it to be quite ironic that he was doing all this for her, even though they had gone through so many short- comings. James gently picked up Jessie's fragile, pale and limp form, having no trouble at all carrying her in his arms- literally. The avalanche had now approached within one hundred feet of the trainers, and James, Ash and Brock were almost to the cave- only a few more feet. Ash let out a scream as he thought they wouldn't make it, closing his eyes and clutching them as tight as he could, still walking. The sound was so loud his eardrums could have burst right then and there. His body was in so much unbelievable pain. Brock stumbled inside the cave first, tripping immediately from exhaustion onto the ground, letting Jack's still form tumble in front of him. Ash finally came in, following suit. James groaned as he tripped inside the cave, feeling a cold chill go down his spine. As soon as his leg went inside the cave, the masses of snow came crushing down the side of the mountain, almost as in slow motion. The two boys and the young man waited for the sound to subside, feeling grateful that they had made it just in time, a moment later would have been all they needed to be still stuck out there. As James fell to the floor, he made sure he held Jessie in his arms the whole while, not wanting to let her fall from him. He crouched down on the ground of the cave, placing her still form softly in front of him. She looked so peaceful and dormant. This thought of looking 'peaceful' made him want to check her pulse. James wanted to make sure it wasn't a 'deathly' king of peaceful. It was okay, and that was news he wanted to hear. "Good," he said softly, stroking some of her tangled magenta from in front of her eye. Using the back of his hand, he slowly rubbed the side of her soft face. "Everything will be okay. I promise." He talked to her, knowing she would wake up soon when he saw the sign of her eyebrows twitching. Jessie's eyes suddenly opened, and this time when James saw them, they looked even more gorgeous than before. He contently smiled, bending down and kissing her nose gently. She let the corners of her mouth lift in a small, warm smile. She hugged his form. Stretching her arms behind his back and bringing him down to her. They engaged in a deeply passionate kiss. James let his fingers intertwine with hers, letting them overlap as one. She broke the kiss with a small message to say. "I love you." She whispered, kissing his cheek. James knew she was all he needed, but right now, they had to get out of here. "I love you, too, Jess. But we have to get up now, even though I'd love to stay this way forever." He smiled, helping her to her feet. When they turned around, they saw Brock and Ash staring at them. Jessie blushed and James muttered something under his breath, walking over to the young boys. "What is it?" He asked. "We have to figure out how to get out of here." Said Brock, pointing to the entrance where they'd just come in. "That way is blocked. The snow is too thick and compacted to move or dig through. We tried it." Jessie walked over, noticing how dark and undefined this place was. "I think we need some light." She yelled over to the males. James, whose eyes by now had adjusted to the darkness, but still was not good enough to fully see where he was going or what he was doing, nudged Ash in the arm. "Don't you have a Charmander, Ash?" "Yeah, it's a Charizard now. Should we use it for light?" Ash replied, fingering Charizard's pokeball with unease. "Yes, we should use it." Misty said from the corner. The others all gasped. "Misty? You okay?" Brock asked her, not really knowing in which direction to point his voice. "And you, Jack?" A grunt was heard as Jack stood up and felt for the wall. "We're both okay." Jack said. "Hurry up and use the Charizard, Ash." Hesitantly, Ash enlargened the spherical object and threw it in front of him, hoping it didn't it a wall. It popped open, and as soon as the red beam of light was gone, the Charizard materialized, instantly lighting up the room. His large stature of flame lit the whole cave, top to bottom. Suddenly everyone immediately noticed the cave's magnificent features. From the ground and from the ceiling appropriately were stalagmites and stalactites made of pure crystal, and the walls were ice blue, with encrusted diamonds pointing out as candle holders. Charizard had already inadvertently lit all the wicks with its tail flame, defining every crack and detail of the cave. The floors were made of thin, white and light blue ice and on the walls were glass carvings of a particular pokemon. James walked over to the carvings, running his finger over the curves, lines and shapes. "I remember this pokemon." He said out loud, not directly intended for anyone. But of course, Jessie heard him. Using small steps, she lightly skated over the ice to her partner putting a hand on his bent arm and leaning close in to see what he was talking about. "It doesn't look to familiar to me. Was it a pokemon of The Boss'?-" "-No, this is Articuno- pokemon number 144. A person name Lorelei told me about this pokemon." James started. He looked to Jessie to see her staring at him. James shook his head as a 'never mind', but Jessie urged him to continue. "I'm listening." She said, blinking her eyes curiously. James sighed. "Lorelei, you know the one from Elite Four, is now about, like, 67 years old and living in that hotel we were in at the top of the slope. She said she went out in search of this creature but never found it. But she said so many people said they saw this pokemon before, that it was too much evidence to be a charlatan. I even think I saw this pokemon." James again outlined the large, wings on the glass engravement. "These large, shimmering blue wings are the wings I saw before the plane went down." James turned to Jessie grabbing her wrists. "I think it was an Articuno that saved us that day the plane crashed. Right before I passed out, those were the exact same wings I saw. It is possible that this pokemon might have been so large it could have carried the plane to down to the ground for a safe landing." "James, you're not making any sense at all." Jessie said, puzzled. "But, if you think so..." "Look everyone!!" Ash shouted, capturing Jessie and James attention from the other side of the room. They ran back over to the rest of the group where they saw where Ash pointing toward something. "Those pokemon! What are they?" There in front of six pokemon trainers were humongous pokemon, the size of houses. There were two of them, and they were each identical. They had long, sheik bodies of light blue feathers, and dark blue feathers were perfectly placed under their beaks. The first thing James noticed was their long, shimmering sapphire wings. Its eye pupil was red, and reflected all six of them perfectly, like a crystalline mirror. The mythical creatures sat there for moments on end, still perching in there nests and staring down at the perfectly still humans. "ARRRRTIIIIIICUUUUUUNO!" They both snapped before flapping their wings so hard that they knocked everyone into the ice walls and sent Charizard flying to the ground. The Articunos flew up to the very top of the cave, and sent down waves of ice beams, freezing everything in its path. Large chunks of ice and diamond fell from the cracking ceiling, and glass shattered everywhere in sight, only minorly cutting the six of them. Jack, Misty and James ducked to the east side of the cave, and Brock, Ash and Jessie were forced to run deeper into the cave, where there was no light. Brock, who was in the lead, suddenly lost his balance and fell forward, closing his eyes. He was so afraid that he didn't want to see when he hit the ground. But he opened them as he realized this was no ordinary trip over a small stone or twig. He was literally falling...falling off of something like a 100- foot cliff. He screamed, opening his eyes but still only seeing nothing but darkness. Until to the end of the fall, he saw the bright, white light of outside. Brock suddenly hit the hard snow that caught his fall, saving his life for sure. He'd landed in a pile of it, not even feeling any pain. Suddenly, Ash and Jessie ended up beside him, their confusion obviously written all over their faces. "The end of the that cave must drop down to the outside world." Jessie stated, brushing snowflakes from her hair. "Yes, where lucky to get out of here alive, but I wonder what's happening to James, Jack and Misty back in there." Ash said, hanging his head low. "If it wasn't for me yelling so loud that 'Snowboarding bites wind', that avalanche wouldn't have started and we wouldn't be in this mess." "You can say that again." A voice said from behind them. Jessie realized it immediately. She ran over, hugging James and kissing him wildly on the cheeks like there was no tomorrow. "How'd you get out?" She asked. From the corner of her eye she saw Misty and Jack fall into the snow like the rest of the group. "No time to explain, Jess! We have to run!" "Why?" Suddenly, the Articunos tore through the top of the cave, zooming out and flapping their wings, emitted thousands of hard ice beams at the group. The reason for James saying that soon became clear. "They're still after us!" Misty said, running rapidly through the snow and down the continuation of the slope. Everyone followed her example, and was forced to run the remainder of the snowboarding mountain-side course, dodging barricades and pitfalls, trying to avoid the icy wrath of the Articunos that were high in the sun-lit sky, but still very much angry at them. The vengeful creatures flung pile after pile of crushing ice at the six trainers, trying to hit every last one of them. "OH NO!" Jack said wheezing from exhaustion as they ran. "Look up ahead!" Everyone did as he said, and they all saw the problem. They had run the rest of the whole course, and once they got to the very end, which was only a few feet away, there was nowhere else to run but "Down! We have to jump down!" Misty said, looking over the nearing edge. Up in the sky, the Articunos were preparing for their nosedive right on top of them. "There's no way we can do that! This is the side of a mountain! We'll all die if we jump down!" James thought for a moment, before having a strong epiphany come to him and give him the inspiration he needed to think up a valid plan. "HURRY! HERE THEY COME!" Ash yelled, squinting up at the sun and seeing the massive flying figures start their descending dive down. Everyone screamed until James grabbed Ash's shoulder, shaking him wildly in desperation. Their seconds were numbered. "Ash, you have ten Kakuna! We can use their slick, smooth bodies to glide down the side of this mountain!" Ash nodded, and hurriedly took the six pokeballs from his backpack, throwing them onto the snow. The Kakuna materialized, one laying at the feet of each trainer. "Everyone, we'll use their bodies as our snowboards and surf down the mountain side!" Ash yelled, grabbing his Kakuna and pushing off down the side. "Come on, guys!" he yelled to his friends who were still at the top. Everyone got on top of their own Kakuna and pushed off, the diving Articuno missing by a single hair their targets. As the pace of the gliding Kakuna quickened, so did the wing flapping of the Articuno. "They're gaining on us!" Jack yelled, thrusting his Kakuna faster down the cliff side. What the six pokemon trainers did not notice was they were not gliding on snow anymore, they were gliding down thin ice of the mountain side. The ice was the only thing holding them up from the bottomless chasm that was dangerously positioned below them. Jessie looked down at her reflection on the ice, seeing that her face was full of black and gray shadow. As her Kakuna raced on, she realized that this was because- "Guys! There is an abyss below us!" she yelled, causing everyone to look down and shriek in fear when they grasped the fact that she was telling the horrible, horrible truth. The Kakuna stopped in fear, not knowing the screams that were so annoyingly loud were coming from the humans on their brown backs. "No! Don't stop!" "If you stop then we'll fall from the weight!" Ash exclaimed, noticing the small cracks under his Kakuna getting larger and larger until... "Ahhhh!" They screamed, falling into the pit below them. Suddenly, in a flash of red flame and blue ice, Charizard and Articuno spun past them, circling them as they fell closer and closer to the ever-present bottom of the mountain. Ash recalled all his Kakuna in a beam of light, as he closed his eyes and awaited his early death. Suddenly, below his body, he felt something pick him up. Ash thought he was at first imagining things, thinking that his mind wanted to think about anything but his nearing, impending doom. But, when Ash felt his hair moving against his cheeks as if something was blowing against them, and the wind blow into his freshened face, he thought otherwise. Ash opened his eyes, to see Charizard was below him, flying him back to the top. Ash shouted and hooted as his massive fire-dragon flew him back to the edge of the top of the slope, where the race had begun in the first place. He was exhilarated that Charizard was finally listening to him, and the feeling of seeing Charizard's large shadow stream across the shining compacted snow below him was overwhelming ecstatic. Suddenly, Ash came to the realization about the rest of his friends. Where were they? "Oh no, Charizard turn back around! Misty??!! Brock??!!" Ash yelled frantically, cupping his hands around his mouth. Unexpectedly, someone tapped Ash on the shoulder. Ash jumped and turned around, to see Misty, Brock and Jack behind him. "You guys! You're alive!" He shouted hugging Jack, who just happened to be closest to him. He patted Brock on the back, and just smiled at Misty, who blushed in return. "Thanks to your Charizard, Ash." She said, patting on of its wings lightly. Ash laughed, putting his hand behind his head of disheveled black hair, that now had snowflakes peppered everywhere in it. "I told you I'd train it someday!" He said laughing again. Suddenly, he realized something was missing. "Where's Jessie and James?" "WHHOOO-HOOO! We're right here!" James shouted to the top of his lungs. He put his hands in the air, letting the Articuno that was flying him flap its wings wildly. The Articuno and the Charizard raced together to impending top. "This is so much fun!" Jessie squealed in delight, the other Articuno flying her as well. She grabbed onto its neck feathers, rustling them a bit as she did. "Faster, Articuno! Faster!" They all laughed and played with their pokemon the whole way to the top. ************************************************************************ "I've gotten word that there was an avalanche here." Officer Jenny began, pacing the floor of lobby, her high heels clicking against the wood. "Is this true ma'am?" The short, old woman nodded, coming out from behind the counter and walking over to the three children and three teenagers who sat playing a game of Monopoly. "It's Lorelei, and everything's true, Officer Jenny." She started. "Just ask them." The police officer nodded, pacing over to the six people. "Hello?" Jenny asked, sitting down next to Ash. Ash scooted over as Brock soon managed to get between the two, staring wide-eyed at the policewoman. "Is it true that there was an avalanche here?" Everyone looked at each other, debating whether to tell the truth. "Yes, there was." Jessie began, putting her green car in the parking lot, and handing James 300 dollars as payment. He smiled, stuffing it into his pile. "But I don't think we know anything about it." "I have heard rumors that some six people got caught in the avalanche, but I don't know for sure." Jack backed up Jessie's statement, rolling the two dice. "Some even said that the people who got caught in it captured some Articuno." "Like I have said thousands of times, there is no such thing, Jack." Misty played along, winking at him through her wad of money. She turned to Officer Jenny. "It is really all superstition." The officer stood, smoothing out her skirt and brushing off small pieces of lint. "Well, if anyone ever has any information on that Articuno, contact the police headquarters in Saffron City. We're open 24/7, and here's the station's number." She said handing a business card to James, winking. "If you want, cutie, you can have my number, as well." James just sweat dropped, hugging Jessie to his shoulder, and emphasizing his obvious point by quickly pecking her on the cheek. "I want your number!" Brock announced eagerly, offering a pencil and yellow pad to the policewoman. "I want your number!!" He repeated, this time with more enthusiasm. Officer Jenny sighed, and went over to the automatic doors that led outside, turning around on her heels. "It's been nice talking to you all." She said, waving her hand. She motioned for the Growlithe that was sniffing the plants over in the corners to come with her. Once she left, everyone laughed. Lorelei walked over, laughing as well. "You kids today, always lying about something or another." She giggled, adjusting her bifocals. Ash chuckled, doubling-over on the couch. "And to think, she believed us!" James laughed one last time before rolling the dice, and moving his red car three spaces to the right. He grimaced. "No, I am not paying you anymore of my money! You already took all my hundred dollar bills! No more!" "So! I'll give you a 50% discount if you give me my money, no hassle!" Jessie giggled, happily extended her hand in preparation for the money. James snorted. "That doesn't help at all. I still have to pay 400 hundred dollars for the Jynx Love Tunnel!" James shook his head stubbornly. "Since when do love tunnels cost more than twenty bucks?" "Since now." Jessie said, motioning for him to pay up. James sighed, defeated. He fell back on the couch. "Sorry about your bankruptcy." Ash snickered, only then letting his head hang low as a certain realization came to mind. "How come girls always beat guys in Monopoly?" "Because females always manage income and finances in the home." Brock added, pointing to Jessie, who beamed with pride. James just continued his sulking. "But on a different topic, children," Lorelei began, taking a seat across from Misty. "Why didn't you tell Jenny the truth?" They all looked thoughtful for a second, before Jessie spoke up. "Because when we went into that cave and found those Articuno, there were two of them. The way I figure, and this is just me, there must have been a whole flock of Articuno down in those icy caverns below us at this very second. If we had told the police force any credible information about the avalanche, they would have come and started one big investigation for the cause. Eventually they would have found those Articuno, and I don't think it would be right for those poor creatures to live out their lives running from trainers and pokemon poachers who would just want to capture them." Everyone looked at Jessie with amazement. No one really knew she could be that caring- no one except for James. The others contemplated about Jessie's idea. It really did make since for her to not tell the truth when Jenny asked her the first question. "Very well said, Jessie." Misty warmly commented. "It was quite beautiful." Lorelei remarked, smiling. James, Jack, Brock and Ash all got bubbly-heart eyed, staring at Jessie. This was a little annoying to her, and Jessie began to get really fidgety. She liked attention, but not this much...except if it was coming from James. "Yeah," The boys sighed. "It was beautiful, wasn't it?" ************************************************************************ Ash tied the last of his shoestrings and observed himself in the mirror. He liked the way he looked- it was almost macho-cool. He was wearing a snowboarder's outfit of Jack's when he was very young. It was a simply sweat suit, but Ash liked in nonetheless, especially if it was Jack's. Jack had recently become his idol. "There, that's the last of everything." Misty said, zipping up her suitcase and tying her hairpiece in. Jack and Brock came in from the kitchen. "We cleaned up everything in there." Jack said, wiping frosting off the side of his face. "And ate up everything, too!" Brock exclaimed, only to get a bang upside the head delivered by the strong fist of Jack. "You weren't supposed to tell them that!" He said through gritted teeth. Brock sweat dropped, and muttered some quick and easy apologies. Misty closed the cabinets to the bedroom closet and Ash turned off all the lights. They all gathered their things and headed out the door, Ash observing the time as he went. Misty locked the door, and hung the keys on the stoke that was positioned right outside the door. She sighed, hoping they had cleaned everything just right before they left. "I hope we got everything back in there..." She trailed off, thinking about how rude it would be to leave a place where the caretaker had been so nice to them, dirty and filthy. "Who cares?! It's 8:15! Our plane leaves in half an hour! Let's get going!" Ash announced, quickening his pace and dragging a day-dreaming Misty behind him. Brock whimpered. "I don't want to leave here so soon. Our vacation barely started, and even the little bit of fun we had was soon thereafter ruined by calamity and then more calamities, and one life-threatening situation after the next! D'oh!" Jack banged him in the head again. "Don't be a wuss. You sound like my baby brother." Jack continued walking down the lobby corridor, thinking over what he'd just said. "That is, when he wants some milk." Brock just turned red and tried not to feel too embarrassed. Ash walked up to the counter, giving Lorelei the identification tag to the room he and his group were in. Lorelei punched a hole through it, and threw it in a trash bin behind her. "Did Jessica Kenjiro and James Gregory come out yet?" Ash asked, stepping up on the stool to see over the desk. Lorelei shook her head. "They haven't?" "Nope. Sorry, Ash." She said, typing a few words in on the computer. "According to this, there 'get-out' time is Nine in the Morning. It is only 8:20." "8:20?!" He screeched. He then noticed Jessie and James walking down the hallway, also clad in snowboarding suits, as were Jack, Brock and Misty. So everyone is now clad in snowboarding suits!! "What took you guys so long?" Ash asked James, as Jessie did all the legal things with Lorelei at the front desk. "Unfortunately, this morning just happened to be 'that time of the month' for Jessie." James said, blushing. "There was an awful mess in the bathroom we had to get up." Ash sweat dropped. "Did you handle it like a man?" "Does saying 'gross', 'disgusting', and 'buy some protection against those leaks' over an over again count as being masculine?" "Not really..." Brock trailed off, looking down at the floor and kicking his foot and nothing in particular. Jessie came back over into the group and noticed everyone was staring at her, except for James who made it absolutely necessary to look the other way. "What's happening?" "Did you really have a...punctuation mark...in the bathroom this morning?" Misty inquired through closed teeth. Jessie just shrugged her shoulders in confusion. "I'm trying not to say PERIOD!" She shouted, everyone else in the lobby looking at her. "Oops." The other five members of the group sweat dropped. Jessie blushed, and glared daggers at James. "James!! If you don't tell me how this got into the open I'm going to start glaring daggers at you!" She screamed. "You already did!" James said mockingly. "I don't care! This time I'll use the daggers to stab the hell out of you!" "It just sorta...slipped." James explained, backing off. Jack came between the two. "This isn't really necessary is it?" he questioned. Both Jess and Jim calmed down, and Jessie escorted James to his feet. "Just remind to kick your ass when we get on the plane." She whispered in his ear, her words causing him to squeal in delight. "Ooooh!" "I meant 'kick you ass' in a non-Rocketshippy way." "Darn." "Can we forget this abusively sickening love-talk and get to the airport?! How freaking airplane leaves in five freaking minutes!" Ash yelled, running out the door, his last message to Lorelei trailing away as he did. "Nice being here, Loreleiiiii," ************************************************************************ *Calling flight passengers of sector A2, your plane is ready for departure. Calling flight passengers A2, your plane is ready for departure* the intercom beeped once before receiving static and cutting off. James stood up and stretched, starting to help Jessie to her feet, but deciding against it. "I'm not helping anyone who verbally threatens me." He stated matter-of-factly, sticking his nose in the air. Jessie just sneered right back at him, getting herself up with no trouble at all. "James, I was only playing with your mind." "He probably wishes she were playing with something else of his..." Ash trailed off, pouting and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "It's not fair! Nothing's fair in love and war!" "How do I know you're telling the truth?" He asked, walking toward the attendant at the front of the hall that led to the plane. Jessie just chuckled. "You know I'm telling the truth because you know that if I beat you up, it's usually for something very, very naughty." "There she goes again! He's 'being naughty'! Stop talking perverted!" Ash said to one in particular, causing his three friends to scoot away from him in fear for his sanity. "So if I were to beat you up, I'd do more than kick you butt." Jessie said, handing the flight attendant her and James' passport. The flight attendant just stuck her tongue out at Jessie, thinking that the red head's comments were directed to her. "I'd bring your butt in on a platter." "Hmm, Jess, I think you have a point." James said, thinking over her words, then immediately decided to apologize. "I'm sorry for blaming you, Jessica!" "I'm sorry for threatening you, James!" They said dropping their bags to the floor. They violently and wildly began to make-out against the wall, their moans causing mothers to cover their innocent children's eyes, and other male teenagers to hoot at James' score. ************************************************************************ In the plane... Ash sat in his chair, looking through magazines and every five seconds peeking behind him and peeping in front of him. Jack, who sat next to him, bobbing his head to the music in his earphones, glanced at Ash strangely. "Why so nervous, chum?" Ash looked up at Jack. "I have a reason for my madness! One- I'm afraid that James' got the goods and the girl. Two- I' afraid the cockpit will be serving chocolate doughnuts. Three- I'm afraid this plane will blow up again. I'm making sure no Team Rocket agents come anywhere near this plane." "That doesn't make any sense, Ash. If a Team Rocket member were near this plane, they'd have to be in it! We're 30,000 feet in the air! So frankly, there's nothing you can do anymore to stop them if they wanted to come in. Just sit back and relax." "How do I relax?" "You have really gotten weirded-out about this whole thing haven't you?" Ash nodded. "Good of you to be honest." Jack commented, patting him on the back. "Acceptance is the first step to the regaining of your mind." ************************************************************************ Jessie sighed, reaching into her pants pockets and pulling out more change. "These damn telephones only give you 15 seconds of talking for one dollar! That's a rip-off!" "Now you know how I feel when you charge me 200 hundred dollars extra in Monopoly, just because I'm being a pain in the-" "-But I think there's a way I can win!" Jessie cut him off (or did she finish his sentence?). James asked her how, and of course there was a dreadful answer: "I'll use your money." James' eyes widened. "No way!" "C'mon, James! I'll buy you six boxes of pizza tonight!" "No you won't! You're just saying that!" "Ack, fine. Can I at least have ten bucks?" James sighed, defeated. He sighed once again as he realized that for some reason, he seemed to be defeated a lot. Especially by Jessie. He pushed the ten bucks into the slot. "There. You'll at least have, like, two minutes and a half or something." James muttered before taking a sip of his orange juice. Jessie nodded at him and dialed a number. Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen. "Hello, Boss?" Jessie began, causing James to sit up when he heard that name. He spat his orange juice out immediately and appeared on the screen behind Jessie, to show that they both were present. "Yes, Jessica, James? I assume you are calling me to report on the result of your latest mission?" His voice began, full of static, and viciously mechanically distorted. His face was again conveniently shadowed by darkness, which sent shivers up both Rocket's spines. "Yes sir. It was a complete success." Jessie replied, smiling. "But unfortunately, the pokemon we captured escaped." She said, lowering her tone drastically. She laughed out loud in side, because it seemed like in The Boss was falling for it. "What pokemon was it?" He asked curiously. His interest in the subject matter giving Jessie and James hopes of a conversation with him that actually might not involve their degrading and humiliating. "Articuno, sir." James started confidently. The Boss gave a small grunt, and paused the conversation, whispering to himself what decision to make. "Well, normally I'd degrade and humiliate you," Jessie and James glanced at each other knowingly. "But this time is different. Since Meowth brought so many pokeballs back that you two scammed at the airport, this singular pokemon loss will not hurt our organization. You're both promoted." "Wow," Jessie whispered to James. "In a matter of days we've worked our way up from 'non-existent' to 'mediocre'." She said sarcastically. James nodded. "Imagine my joy." He rolled his eyes. The Boss cleared his throat for more briefing. The Rockets quickly paid more attention. "You all have done such a fine job, when you arrive back to headquarters, you will receive a big sack of cash. Good day." The Boss said, before hanging up his connection to the phone. Just as Jessie and James were about to say something to each other, the radio above their heads clicked on. It was the radio that the whole First Class had to share, as it was so loud for all the people to hear it. "Heeeelloooo! This is Don Radericks (!) for Breakfast, and we're here to bring you the latest news. In this weeks edition of Pokemon Magazine Volume III, we asked you people out there 'Where was Fiorello Cappuccino born?" The announcer paused, straightening his papers, apparently. "And only one person got it right! Ash Ketchum, who submitted his vote just this morning!" Everyone in First Class gasped, looking back to him. Ash just waved sheepishly to all of them, and talking in a timid voice. "Good luck to you all." "When could you have possibly submitted that entry form?" Brock asked. Jessie and James turned around from their seats in front of them. Ash opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He slumped in his chair, shrugging his shoulders, staring into space, and looking confused. "I don't know. I think this last part of the plot is having a bit of trouble." Misty and Jack nodded. "And the answer was Celadon City!" Don announced with great enthusiasm. "So since Ash won this contest, he is allowed by the rules to take five extra people with him on his all expenses paid trip to..." Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie, James and Jack all stared expectantly at the radio above their heads. "Beautiful Sandstone Slopes! How super lucky they are!" All six of them grimaced. "I feel air sick." Misty lurched. "I feel tired." Brock said. "I don't wanna go again!" Ash yelled out loud, shaking his fists. Jessie and James began to slowly scoot back into their seat, hoping Ash didn't see them. Ash popped open an eye. "Oh no you don't!" he screeched. "I choose all five of you to come with me! If I go through that crap again, I'm dragging all five of you down with me!" Ash laughed maniacally. "Oh, well, at least we're on vacation." James stated. Jessie nodded sorrowfully, but then suddenly perking up. "Folks, you know something is missing in this terribly ironic twist of fate of an ending." The trainers all blinked at each other before jumping up and joining hands, exclaiming: "Looks like Team Rocket and Team Twerp are off to an icy escapade again!" Jack simply blinked his eyes, confused. "What in the world was that for?" The End, the sweet, merciful end! Thank you! This story had some plot holes, but I don't care! I'm too lazy to do any more to this story! I might get the strength to catch up by other series about Jessie being a pokemon trainer, but right now...rest! Thank you all for reading this fic that I took so long to write. Hope ya enjoyed it Flames, comments, etc... TeamRocket251@aol.com