Chapter Six:

James had never known stalking Ash would come in handy. He knew where Ash lived, his entire schedule, and could even remember the retelling of the story of how Ash met Misty.

Why? Because Ash had told that story so many times over the years while they were listening in (much to most of his female traveling companions' annoyance) and because it was romantic. James was a sap for anything mushy.

Plus if you listened long enough to the story a handsome villain entered. If he was being honest with himself that was his favorite part.

After gathering supplies for his plan, James climbed into a tree, waiting for the twerps to stroll by as planned.

Knowing Ash he would be late.

Growlie sat next to him in the tree, not enjoying being so far from the ground.

"I'm sorry Growlie, but this is an urgent mission."

Growlie whined.

"You just don't understand matters of the heart." James crossed his arms, almost falling out of the tree as he heard Ash's voice nearby. "SH! They're here!"

Growlie gave a hard look to his Trainer, but leaned against his side, peering out with him.

They watched the twerps find the fishing poles that had been laid out by the river. James craned his neck gleefully, not wanting to miss a second of it.

"What's this for?" Misty asked, holding up a fishing pole expertly.

"Er-"

James crossed his arms in annoyance. Of course Ash wouldn't know the perfectly romantic thing to say. He should have written him notes and scripted the entire exchange.

Misty picked up the lure and read the note. "'You catch Water Pokemon the way you capture my heart'?"

Despite the lack of light James could see Ash redden like a Charmeleon.

He didn't have a single shred of romance inside him. That was gold. Pure gold!

Misty let out a laugh. "That's pretty cheesy."

What was wrong with kids these days? James forced himself to remain hidden and not leap out and lecture them about the importance of love.

"Hey, did you notice this is where we met?" Misty removed her heels, dropping them into the grass before slinging her arms around Ash.

"Uh, no. I mean yeah, I did notice."

She rolled her eyes before burying her smile against his neck. "Are you going to jump in the water to act out the whole thing?"

"I'd rather throw you in so you could see what it's like to be fished out by you. I had whiplash."

Misty hit his arm. "That's what you get for stealing my bike."

He laughed.

Perfect.

From his hiding place in the tree above James pulled on a rope which he had tethered to the bush underneath, pulling it back to reveal a bike.

The bike. The bike Ash had stolen, Pikachu had burnt to a crisp, and that Nurse Joy had restored to perfect condition.

James was going to destroy it and Ash would promise that, even when he messes up (which was going to happen every day knowing Ash Ketchum) he would make sure their relationship would be fixed just as he would fix her bike—this time by himself to prove his love and devotion to her.

He should write Romance novels.

A shrill cackle sounded in the darkness.

A shiver crept up his spine. He knew that cackle better than he knew his handsome, flawless face.

Lights flooded the romantic scene he had so carefully constructed. Jessie stood atop a gigantic robot, a confident smirk  plastered onto her face. Meowth sat the belly of the robot, winking at James through the clear glass.

"What do you think you're doing!?" James screamed, leaping out of the tree with Growlie.

"We're here to gloat, of course." Jessie put a hand on her waist. "Show him what you caught, Meowth."

"It would be my pleasure." Meowth hit a button.

The robot's hand opened, revealing an indestructible container containing the one and only Pikachu. "Pika pi!"

"Pikachu!" Ash yelled. "Give him back!"

"Aren't you going to say please?" Jessie crooned. "Where are your manners?"

Misty glared. "Don't you realize we're on a date?"

"With that dress? Please." Jessie rolled her eyes.

"You were ruining an intimate moment!" James yelled.

"This is your last chance, James. Get your butt up here and claim victory with us," Jessie demanded.

"Yeah, Jimmy boy. We should be doing dis together," Meowth said.

Growlie barked.

"I've sided with the twerps now. Nothing can change my allegiance—EEEEE!"

A robot arm grabbed his torso. Growlie tugged at his shoe, but was  thrown off as James was lifted into the sky, landing in a heap next to  Jessie. He scrambled upright.

"Welcome to the team," Jessie said.

"Don't you get it?" he whispered. "Ash is trying to propose! You're ruining his moment."

"I already know that." She rolled her eyes. "Why do you think we're here?"

"To gloat about stealing Pikachu?"

"No, Jimmy," Meowth said. "To save Ash from da likes of your sappy idea. You know da twerps aren't really into dat stuff."

"Which is why we're here to give them a battle they'll remember."  Jessie's eyes gleamed. "We won't let them get Pikachu back that easily."

James blinked. "You're going to let Pikachu go?"

She grimaced. "I'm not happy about it, but you're right. It's time to move on. At least for now."

"Yeah. And maybe once they're married and have kids we can follow dem around and steal their Pokemon," Meowth added. "But until den we're considerin' an early retirement."

James grinned. "Twerps of the twerps. I'm sure they'd have some powerful Pokemon to snag."

"Dat's the spirit!"

Jessie held out her hand. "Are you with us James?"

He grabbed it, holding tight. "To the very end."

"HEY!" Ash screamed from below. "I thought you'd gotten kicked out of Team Rocket!"

James peered down at him. "I thought you would have learned never to trust us by now."

The evil trio laughed.

"Are you ready?" Jessie asked.

James nodded. It would be his best performance.

"Prepare for trouble."

"And make it double."

"To protect you from his attempts at romance!"

"To unite a couple that takes a chance!"

"To announce the truth of Trainers' love!"

"To extend our blessings so you can get rid of—"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, here to make your romance right!"

"Surrender now for our last fight!"

"That's right!" Meowth finished, the robot striking a fighting pose.

James smiled, adrenaline pumping through his system. He'd forgotten how much he'd missed this.

Ash and Misty blinked up at them in shock.

"Well now what are we going to do?" Misty asked, annoyed.

"I don't know. This isn't going according to plan at all." Ash rubbed the back of his neck. "We don't even have any Pokemon to fight them."

"Think again," Jessie said.

Poke Balls rained down from the robot. Ash and Misty caught them, dumbfounded.

"We found dem at Ash's place."

"You should really find a new hiding place for your extra key." Jessie wagged her finger.

"And don't think we're going soft on ya," Meowth said.

"We give to you, you give to us. I think that's more than fair." Jessie winked.

The tiny robot hand shot out, grabbing a ring box from Ash's jacket pocket. "HEY!"

The box landed in Jessie's hand. "Look what we have here." She lifted the lid, frowning. "Not a very big diamond. I wouldn't accept."

"What is that, Ash?" Misty asked.

Ash's face turned red. So much for his surprise.

"Pika!"

The Trainer shook with rage. "You'll pay for that!"

He threw his Poke Ball, Misty following suit. Her Gyarados landed in the river with a splash while Ash's Charizard soared by, letting out a ferocious roar.

"Don't think you'll win so easily. This robot is the best money can buy," Jessie claimed.

"Yeah. We've been upgrading dis baby for years! All Silph technology."

"Nothing can get through this shield!"

"Gyarados, Hyper Beam!"

"Flamethrower!"

Both attacks hit the barrier, not doing a thing.

"How are we going to get to Pikachu?" Misty asked.

Ash glared at Jessie, who shook the ring box and stuck her tongue out. "We'll just have to work together."

He whispered his plan into her ear, trying not to be distracted as his lips brushed against it.

Misty smiled as he pulled away. "You're not as dense as I thought you were. Making a plan that can actually work. Not to mention you recognized James in the restaurant."

He frowned. "You knew it was James?"

"Of course I did. I'm not stupid." She pushed him playfully. "I  thought you'd freak out if you knew it was him, so I kept my mouth shut  since you've been talking about this date for so long. But now I see why  you were so excited about it."

She gestured to Jessie. James was now fake proposing to her, pretending to be a very ditzy Ash. Jessie laughed at his attempts.

Ash studied his very scuffed dress shoes. "And here I thought I was going to surprise you."

Her blue eyes softened. "I was surprised. And that doesn't change how thoughtful you've been. I didn't think you had it in you."

He shuffled his feet, embarrassed.

"My patience is wearing thin though. It should only take a guy so long to propose after revealing the ring." Misty winked, giving him a devilish grin before turning to Team  Rocket. "HEY! That ring belongs to me!"

"What are you going to do about it, ginger?" James called.

"Uh,  guys..." Meowth said warily as Misty stepped backwards onto Gyarados'  head. He raised his body out of the river, towering over the robot, glowing blue.

Dragon Dance.

Misty crossed her arms as her Pokemon continued to power up, stealing Jessie's smirk.

"Since when did she grow up?" Jessie asked, looking at Misty as if she hadn't seen her since their first encounter at the Pokemon Center all those years ago. Back when Misty had tried to use  a Goldeen on dry land. Her red hair still clashed with everything, but it was hard to think about that when she was standing on top of a fully  powered Gyarados.

Another Hyper Beam fired.

Team Rocket screamed as it hit the shield. The ground shook. James and Jessie clung to each other.

A crack formed in the energy barrier. Then another.

"Head inside!" Jessie ordered, beginning to crawl through the escape hatch to safety. James followed, strapping himself in.

All at once the shield shattered, the Hyper Beam blasting the bot into the trees.

James stared at the video feed from the cameras, finding Pikachu's cage still intact, but holding a different Pokemon. He pressed his face to the screen. "Growlie!"

Growlie howled, pawing at the glass. James had been wondering what had happened to his friend.

"Where's da ring?" Meowth asked.

"Right here." Jessie held up her hand.

James stared. "Why is it on your finger?"

"It was a perfect fit, I couldn't just let it go to waste," she defended herself.

The groan of metal vibrated the belly of the robot. Team Rocket froze.

The metal back dented inward before being slashed with a Dragon Claw. Ash hopped inside, Pikachu on his shoulder, his dress clothes torn and sweaty.

Pikachu's cheeks sparked with electricity.

Team Rocket really was in trouble now.

"Give the ring back," Ash demanded, his voice deep.

Jessie laughed nervously, removing the ring and placing it back in the box, tossing it to Ash. "I was just keeping it safe for you. All that flying around on Charizard—you were sure to drop it."

Meowth and James nodded vigorously.

"We were only trying to help, of course. Give ya a proposal to remember," Meowth said.

James continued to nod vigorously.

Ash scowled. "The second I'm out of here you know what's going to happen."

"Of course I do, twerp. I rigged the robot with fireworks. That way when we're gone you can have your perfect proposal," Jessie huffed.

"Yeah, do ya really think we were trying to steal Pikachu this whole time? It was all an act!"

Ash crossed his arms. "If you put it that way I don't know how we can blast you off. Not when you haven't done anything wrong."

"You need to," James said, surprising even himself. "One last time. For all of us to remember."

Jessie went on the speaker phone, "I would like to have you both know that we take full credit for putting you two together! You owe us!"

They could all hear Misty's retort, "You weren't the ones who brought us  together! That was all Ash's stupidity when it came to attacking that  Spearow!"

"She's got a point." Ash shrugged.

"THEN HE STOLE MY BIKE!"

They all winced.

"Are ya sure you want ta marry her? She ain't exactly as easy ta get along with as cat people."

"Yep," Ash said. "She's the one for me."

Jessie rolled her eyes and gave an exasperated groan. "Let's just get this over with. Get out of here, twerp."

"You're all going to be okay?"

"Better than okay," Jessie said. "We have each other, don't we?"

She smiled at James, one of the rare moments she showed that she actually cared. He knew she did, but it was nice to see every once and awhile between the head poundings.

He nodded, ready. "Arrivederci, Ash."

"See ya on da other side." Meowth saluted.

"If you say so." Ash stepped to the back, whistling for Charizard. He made a jumping leap as Charizard passed, clinging to his neck as they flew in front of the now standing robot, drifting by Gyarados.

"What took you so long?" Misty said impatiently.

Ash tucked the ring box into his jacket pocket and scratched Pikachu's head absentmindedly. "Just saying good bye to our oldest friends."

"Are they done trying?"

"Seems like it."

Misty hugged her chest, taking a few seconds for the news to sink in. "I'm going to miss them."

"We'll make sure they stick around then."

"And they really want to get blasted off?"

"That's what they said."

"All right then. Let's give them a good one."

Jessie, James, and Meowth huddled together inside of their robot. James hoped they could get at least some of their money back once it exploded, needing to distract himself from the exact moment their attacks would hit and send them flying into the sky. It was always like getting waxed (not that he would know anything about the agony of being perfectly smooth) and he dreaded it with his entire being.

"I'm glad we're all here together," Jessie said, interrupting his thoughts. "I wouldn't change anything, you know."

"Neither would I. Even if we never won," Meowth commented.

"But we did," James said, grabbing his paw and Jessie's hand. "We won every time."

Before a single tear could be shed, a mix of Hyper Beam, Flamethrower, and the always present Thunderbolt surged through the robot's body. Team Rocket was violently ejected from their sanctuary.

James heard Growlie's howl and looked over to find his Growlithe soaring next to him. James reached out, clinging to his old friend, pulling him into the huddle. Wobbuffet released himself from his Poke Ball, wailing in joy. He had always loved blasting off. Jessie hugged herself to him, her hair flying in the wind.

Meowth let his body stretch out. The thrill of soaring up, up, and up brought a toothy smile to his face.

Instinctively, Team Rocket came together in the sky, hugging amidst the stars. They were all they really needed.

Jessie, James, and Meowth watched as the twerps grew smaller and smaller. Ash got down on one knee and Misty held out her hand before kissing him. The last thing they saw was Ash twirling her around in his arms and a small wave.

Their tears joined the stars in the sky as Team Rocket began to fall, their last blast off coming to an end.

*Sniff*

Well, I loved writing this story. Team Rocket holds a very special place in my heart, as do Ash and Misty (as most of you already know).

Thanks for reading through to the very end.

And, to Team Rocket- thanks for being the perfect example of never giving up no matter how many times you fail. I hope to be as persevering as you one day.

Happy Pokeshipping Week!

Much love to all of you,

Flips

P.S. They were invited to the wedding.

Pokemon Question of the Day: What would Ash and Misty's wedding be like?