Chapter One
Jessie glared at her mutually incompetent compatriots angrily. "If you two would get your act together, we wouldn't be in this mess!" she yelled. James had the decency to look abashed. Meowth, being a pokemon, couldn't be either abashed nor embarrassed, but simply shrugged. 
"It was you what wanted to snatch that Pikachu for the boss. How was we supposed to know that there was an unconscious Mew right nearby?"
"Yes, but...but...OH, YOU!" And with that meticulously articulated phrase, Jessie slammed both her teammates in the head with her ever-present fan. Meowth wouldn't stand for that, of course, and promply launched an attack on Jessie. A few moments later, there was a full-blown Team-Rocket specialty scuffle.
None of the three was ever quite sure whether it was just misfortune that Giovanni walked in at that moment, or whether he had in fact been waiting in the foyer listening for a fight to start, but in he came, and promptly seperated the combatants. 
"You insolent fools," he snarled. He pointed at his office, now in shambles from the brawl. "You are all a disgrace to Team Rocket." He turned his desk upright as the other three watched, charigned. 
"I was going to settle for letting you all stay in, but at a reduced salary. But now..." he looked at a few reports scattered around his office. "Now," he said, smiling sadistically, "I think we shall do things a bit differently. You!" and here he pointed at James, "Are hired as my secretary. Wait outside until this is through."
James saluted with flair. "Aye-aye, sir!"
Giovanni turned his baleful eyes on Jessie and Meowth. "Meowth, you know what this means for you," he said, darkly.
"Meowth! A promotion?"
"No," Giovanni said, turning to a shelf lined with PokeBalls. He held one up, emblazened with the black and red "R" logo of Team Rocket. "Meowth, Return!" he shouted.
"MEOWTH!!!!! NO!!!!" The cat pokemon clawed at the desk as the red light overtook him, until finally he was sucked into the ball. Jessie looked fearfully at Giovanni. Somehow, she suspected, this was not going to go exactly as her comrades had planned it to go.
"You, my dear," Giovanni said, sitting down on the desk, "I have saved the most painful punishment for." Jessie stared. 
"What's that?"
"Banishment."
Jessie stared again, then let out a wail of horror as the implications sank in. Leave Team Rocket? Forever?!
"Go now."
Still stunned, Jessie walked out. Cassidy stood in front of the door, grinning. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"What...what's that?"
"All pokemon belong to Team Rocket. Hand over the snake and the blob."
Butch stepped forward as well, holding his hands out for the balls. Jessie shrank back. 
"They're my pokemon!
"Not anymore."
With a laugh, Butch began to hit Jessie, until she sank into blissful unconsciousness.

Chapter Two
"Hey, Ash, I think she's coming to!"
Jessie groaned and sat up. She blindly reached for a collar and slammed the unfortunate on the head with a frying pan. "If you ever hit me like that again, James, you will regret it."
"Ow..." mumbled the chastised Brock.
"Um...sorry!" Jessie yelled, still not quite awake yet. Then she looked around. Misty and Ash were staring concerned at her. Brock, of course, was nursing a swollen head for the first time in his life. "Oh," she said, "It's the twerps." She jumped to her feet.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Oh, boy," said Misty. "Here we go again."
"I SAID 'Prepare for trouble!'," Jessie called pointedly. But there was no response. "Um... James? Meowth?" Then it all came back to her, and she sank to the ground with a groan. "No..." she murmured, sadly. "They're not here."
"So what happened?" asked Ash. He gathered Pikachu in his arms and held the rodent close. "And you're not getting Pikachu," he added, as an afterthought.
"I don't want Pikachu anymore," said Jessie, very carefully. Then she burst into tears, crying on a very disturbed Ash's shoulder (and conveniently pressing her breasts into his chest). "They took Arbok and Wobbufet! And...and..." she cried louder, "THEY KICKED ME OUT OF TEAM ROCKET!" She hugged the poor boy to her chest in anguish.
"Get...away...from him!" Misty growled, pulling Jessie away. Ash stared blankly. 
"B...B...B...B..." he stuttered. 
"Ash, can't you see it's a trap?"
"Reasts...B..." With that perfectly enunciated statement, our hero is now out of commisssion for the near future.
"It's not a trap," Jessie sobbed, now clinging to Misty. "What'm I gonna do now?!"
"Ow..." mutters Brock.
"B..." stutters Ash.
"ARGH!" screams Misty, and Ash and Brock suddenly snap back to the present with the threat of a classic red-head-explosion looming over them. Disengaging herself from Jessie, Misty stalks off, stopping only to grab Togepi on her way out.
"What's wrong with her?" asked the ever-dense Ash. Even in her shocked state, Jessie knew a jealous fit when she saw one, and she felt a puzzle forming in her mind, a puzzle about these kids she knew only as twerps and enemies, who were now helping her almost unconditionally.
"Brock, what do you think we should do for Jessie?" Brock shrugged.
"Feed her, then loan her a sleeping bag for the night." Brock slipped into his 'pretty-girl mode' almost automatically. "You can borrow mine, gorgeous."
"Thanks, but I'd rather not." 
An hour later found Jessie in Misty's sleeping bag, Misty still angrily stamping her way to the nearest town, and Ash and Brock sleeping. Ash's sleep was an uneasy one, wracked by terrifying dreams.
"Mmm..." he moans, fearfully.
* * *
[Dream State]
A giant robotic Misty was rampaging through downtown Tokyo, squashing and destroying everything and everyone in sight. Ash stared at it, horror-stricken. "Misty!" he yelled. The robot stepped nearer, its every footfall shaking the ground.
The boy ran for his life.
[Back to "Reality"]
* * *
Jessie tossed and turned in her sleep. The conversation with Giovanni, the subsequent beating, her rescuers, and even Meowth's terror-stricken face, spun in a horrible waltz of mental agony as she fell into a deeper slumber, only to be awoken by Ash's fear-filled moans. Grumbling slightly, she rolled out of her sleeping bag and crawled over, peering down at the pre-teen's contorted face. 
"Twerp," she hissed, "wake up!" she tried shaking him a couple times, but that didn't work. 
"Ash," she said, a bit louder. It had taken her a few minutes to remember his given name. 
"Ash, wake up!" and she shook him harder. 
Ash reached a hand up to cup Jessie's face, still asleep. 
"Mom," he said, quietly, "help." Jessie froze. From somewhere deep inside an unused corner of her soul, some semblence of maternal instinct surfaced, and she put a hand on the shaking boy's shoulder.
"It's alright, dear," she whispered. "I'm here." Ash calmed noticably, and began to breathe in deeply, instead of short, ragged breaths. Jessie turned to go, but stopped when a whimper of terror again arose from the boy's mouth. By trial and error she discovered that Ash wouldn't stop shaking unless she (and by proxy, his mother) was touching him, and so, resignedly, she curled up next to him, holding the boy to her.
"What a mess this is," she muttered to nobody in particular, and Someone in specific, "What condition am I in to be comforting anyone?" If Somebody had an answer, He was not telling anyone.
* * *
[Dream State]
From the shadows, a bright light came, and struck at the attacking monster. Even as the light dimmed, the monster robot rallied and came back full force, only to be struck down as the light returned in all its glory. Ash reached for the light, and was filled with peace.
[ Reality]
* * *
Jessie managed to slip back to her sleeping bag at dawn. Ash had calmed and was breathing deep, slow breaths. She leaned back, pondering. That was kinda nice, she had to admit. It was an interesting feeling, to be someone's mother, even by proxy. But moreover, she felt attracted to the twerp...to Ash, she corrected herself quickly, in a way she didn't quite understand. It was more than the attraction she'd imagined a mother would feel, but less than full-blown love. If she had to place it... Yes! That was it... She had a crush on him.
"Umph," Ash mumured, sitting up. She looked across the clearing as he pulled himself out of his tangled sleeping bag. Would he remember her coming to sit next to him last night? Apparently not; he went about rolling up his sleeping bag with an ease born of long routine. Brock arose as well; he set about starting a fire. Jessie watched silently.
"Hey, Jessie?" She looked at Brock.
"Yes?" It was amazing how much she had mellowed, it seemed. Perhaps it was simply the bad influence of James and Meowth.
"Can you gather wood for the fire?"
"Can I do what?" Then again, perhaps not, as Brock could now testify, having been on the recieving end of his own frying pan, courtesy of Jessie.
"I'll do it myself," muttered Brock from the ground. Jessie nodded sagely.
"That would be great."
"Bitch."
"WHAT?!"
"I said," coughed Brock, who was now being pushed into the fire, "Which. As in 'Which way should I go?' I was trying to decide."
It might be a lie, but if it was, it was better than most Jessie had herself created, so she let it slide. Of course, as Brock left to gather firewood, she realized that this was a perfect opportunity to see if Ash had woken up last night and seen her sleeping by him, and just pretending he hadn't, or whether he had really slept the whole time.
"I heard you had some bad dreams, A- er, twerp," Jessie said. No sense in letting him think something was amiss. Better stick to the old Team Rocket name for him. It must have worked; Ash looked horror-struck and angry.
"That's none of your business!" he snapped.
"Of course it is, when your whining and crying wakes me up."
Pikachu, despite lacking eyebrows, gave the distinct impression he'd just raised one at Jessie.
"Pikachu?"
Jessie gave the rodent a look which very clearly said "Shut up, rat." Pikachu waved a paw at Jessie and stuck its tongue out. Ash, of course, missed this entire byplay and still stared indignently at Jessie. Satisfied that she wasn't going to say anymore on the subject, however, he returned to the most difficult (for Ash) task of rolling his sleeping bag.
Jessie, likewise satisfied that Ash hadn't awoken last night, idly set about cleaning Misty's stuff up. Brock came back as she finished rolling the other girl's sleeping bag, and they sat down to a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and bacon.
"You eat like this all the time?!" Jessie asked, wolfing down her breakfast at the same time. Ash nodded. 
"Brock makes the best food. Even better than Mom's." Brock waved a hand modestly.
"Of course," Ash continued, "It's probably because he's not going to get a girlfriend, so he has to cook for himself... OW!" And thereby Ash found himself on the recieving end of Brock's hot frying pan. Jessie watched, amused. 
"You guys are both like," and here her voice caught in her throat. "James and Meowth," she finished, stubornly. Both of them looked angry at the thought.
"We are not," came the anguished chorus. Brock stood. 
"Anyways, we should probably get going. Any ideas, Ash, Jessie?" Jessie stared for a minute.
"You're asking me where we should go? You trust me?" Brock shrugged. 
"I figure if you wanted to trick us, you'd have taken Pikachu and run off in the night like last time."
*Author's note: In "Forest Grumps", an episode of Johto Journey, Ash and Brock get seperated from Misty and end up hooked up with Jessie instead. James and Meowth get Misty, so you decide who got the better bargain. Anyways, Jessie tried to steal Pikachu after the others fell asleep, even though they'd fed her and all. In the show, they don't catch her, but I'm assuming Pikachu managed to work it out for them*
"I suppose that's true, though it doesn't speak well of me," Jessie said, subdued. Brock had reminded her of something she really didn't want to think of; that she was, in essence, and evil person, but he had also, albeit implicitly, offered her redemption. It wasn't a pleasant thought to realize the first and to need the second, but she had to consider it. And so, she was silent for the next few hours while Brock and Ash debated points of navigation over a relatively simple map.
"We've fought rampaging Ursaring, enraged Spearow, and even Tea- I mean, even Mewtwo, and yet the only thing that ever gets in my way of a new badge," grumbled Ash for the hundredth time, "Is my navigator who cannot navigate."
"Well!" said Brock, finally snapping, "If you think you can do better without me, I'll just take my inability to navigate and the map and go!" And he did, storming through the trees.
"Pikachu," sighed the electric rat.
"Well, Pikachu," sighed Ash, "Looks like we'd better go look for him. And then maybe he'll see I'm right."
Not a chance, said a nasty voice inside Jessie.
"Well, are you coming?" Jessie looked up. Ash was a few yards ahead on the path, with an expression of pained tolerence on his young face.
"Yes, I'm coming," she called. She ran to catch up, but Ash was already moving away, hurrying after his friend.
* * *
Brock, however, evidently did not want to be found. So it was that as night fell, Ash and Jessie still hadn't caught up with the gym leader and they stopped to make camp. Over a crackling campfire, they munched on sandwiches Brock had made the other day.
"Does he usually get angry like that?" Jessie asked, cautiously.
"Not usually," Ash admitted. "Mostly, he's sorta funny around girls, but he never gets really angry." He shrugged and passed another bottle of ketchup to Pikachu. "So," he said, changing the subject, "What exactly happened with you back there? We found you all beaten up, and you said that you'd been kicked out of Team Rocket," he continued, as tactful as ever, "but you didn't say what happened."
So Jessie told him. Everything, leaving out the part that said that stealing Ash's Pikachu had been the cause of the problem, from Giovanni's promotion of James (and there Ash snorted his disgust) to Butch hitting her. "Then," she sobbed, the explanation reducing her to tears, "I don't remember anything afterword." She felt a hand land on her shoulder gently, and looked up. Ash looked down at her, comfort and pain in his young eyes. 
"It's alright, Jessie," he said, softly. "You can come with us, until you find out what you want to do. I'm sure there are other jobs you wanted to do, besides Team Rocket."
Jessie nodded, staring back into the fire with tears rolling down her cheeks. Ash sat down beside her, pulling his knees close to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. 
"We'll talk to Professor Oak when we get to a Pokemon Center. I'm sure he could help you get a job somewhere or get you into a Pokemon school."
"Well," Jessie said, quietly, "I did want to be a pokemon nurse like Nurse Joy. It used to be my dream..." She fell silent, and the two stared off into space for a while, both sharing thoughts of dreams, friends, and opportunities left behind.
"Anyways," Ash said, standing, "We'd better get some sleep." He looked at the bags they'd been carrying. "Hope Brock's all right by himself." He unrolled his sleeping bag before wandering off into the bushes to change. Jessie looked at her soiled Team Rocket uniform. 
The first thing I need to do when we hit a town, she thought to herself, is to get a new outfit.

Chapter Three
Brock hadn't returned in the morning, either, but a note was laying on a stump nearby.
"Ash, Jessie," it began, "Please don't worry. I found Misty and the two of us are headed back to New Bark Town. Go get your next badge and then meet us there. Don't follow us now; Misty's upset about something and I'm not to happy with you, Ash, either, so give us time to cool down. Don't be mad at Jessie, because it's not her fault, I think. Good luck on your next battle. Misty asks Jessie to keep her bag of stuff and give it back to her in New Bark Town. Brock."
In a rare display of common sense, Ash looked around the stump for footprints, but didn't find any. Looking into the trees to either side, he sighed. "Brock must have used Crobat to send his message." He glanced around again. "Which means that we have almost no chance at all to find those two before they get to New Bark Town. Besides, they said not to follow them." He flopped to the ground. "Pikachu," he moaned, "Why can't those two act normally?"
"Pika?"
"You're no help." Jessie rolled her sleeping bag before starting on Ash's.
"Well," she said, finishing Ash's sleeping bag, "At least they told you where they were headed."
"Yeah," admitted Ash, "But I bet it was Brock's idea, not Misty's." Jessie entertained a brief notion of Brock comforting an embittered Misty, but shrugged the idea off. 
"Well," she said, slinging the pack over her shoulder, "We'd best get started if you're to get that badge and get back to your friends, twerp." 
"I suppose." Pikachu gathered the half-emptied bottle of ketchup from last night and slung it over his shoulder with a paw. Ash picked his bag up half-heartedly before turning to Jessie. "Any idea where we are?"
"Well," she said, hesitantly, "I got a good look at the map, but I'm no good at directions."
"You're probably better than I am," said Ash, depressed.
Amazingly, despite the fact that Jessie is about as directionally challenged as Ash (which is to say, just a little better than Ryoga from Ranma 1/2), they managed to find their way to the next town and the next gym.
"So," Jessie said. "What's the plan? Do we sneak in and steal the pokemon?" Ash sighed.
"No, Jessie. We walk in, and I challenge the gym leader. But first," he said, eyeing the crowd that had followed them to the gym, "I think we'd probably better get you some new clothes."
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Jessie asked, annoyed.
"Oh, nothing," Ash said, sarcastically. "It's just the fact that Team Rocket is not exactly a non-profit charity."
"Oh."
They emerged three hours later from the only store in Blackthorn city, Jessie clad in a casual yet sexy pair denim jeans and white pokeball tee-shirt. Ash was carrying five or six bags on each arm, while Pikachu was dragging another behind him. 
"It's nice of you to pay for all of this," Jessie commented gaily.
"Like we had a choice," muttered Ash to himself.
They deposited the items in the Pokemon Center, where Joy also healed Pikachu and Ash's other pokemon. Jessie watched the process with amazement.
"What?" Ash said, once outside. "Haven't you ever seen a Pokemon Center before?"
"Not so I could stop and watch," Jessie retorted. They both fell silent, reminded of Jessie's past.
"Don't you need to get to the gym?" Jessie asked, finally.
"Oh! That's right! I gotta get there before it closes!" yelled Ash. He bolted down the street, closely followed by Jessie and Pikachu.
"Welcome to Blackthorn Gym. Please go on through; Claire will be waiting," the secretary said, usuring them through the doors to the gym.
"The match is Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet against Claire, Blackthorn City Gym Leader!" the PA voice called.
"I won't go easy on you, just because you're a kid," Claire said, haughtily.
"That's just how I like it!" called Ash, arrogantly.
"Alrighty then!"
"Let the match begin!" the PA voice said.
"Let's go, Gyrados!" shouted Claire, throwing a PokeBall. The enormous dragon-serpent roared a challenge as it surfaced in the pool.
"Go for it, Pikachu!" Ash yelled, dodging out of the electric rodent's way.
"Surf!" the older gym leader called, but Pikachu dodged out of the way of Gyrados's attack, using its superior speed to avoid the worst of the waves.
"Thunderbolt," Ash called confidantly.
"If this is what he has to go through for those badges," Jessie said to herself, "It's no wonder that the twerps never have trouble beating us." She watched as Pikachu dodged several more attacks, before a Thunder wiped the dragon out.
"No big deal," Claire responded, calling the stunned dragon back. "Go, Dragonite."
The rest of the battle goes much as expected, if you know Ash. If you don't, let me sum it up for you.
Ash beats Dragonite.
Claire sends out Dragonair.
Pikachu lands an almost knock-out blow.
Ash gets over-confidant.
Dragonair uses Hyper-Beam.
Pikachu is knocked out.
Ash summons Cyndaquil and wins the match.
As said before, mostly predictable. Ash marches triumphantly out of the gym, bearing his prized badge aloft. 
"I win again!" he cried to the jubilant (albeit weary) shouts of Pikachu and Cyndaquil. Jessie trailed behind a few steps, thinking furiously. A swelling feeling rose in her chest (not from the tiny blouse that the original artist gave her... remember, she got different clothes), one which she quickly identified as pride, although it was not a feeling with which she was familiar with. It wasn't even pride in herself, no, but pride in her young friend's success. It was then that she realized that Ash had disappeared. Coincidentally (read: corny plot device), it was also then that the large Furret slunk out of the bushes, growling threateningly. It launched itself suddenly at her and Jessie did something that she hadn't done in weeks.
She screamed in terror.

Chapter Four
A yellow blur shot out of the bushes, knocking the Furret aside. Moments later, a pokeball sped from the same direction, followed by the trainer. Ash watched with satisfaction as Pikachu's Quick Attack stunned the Furret, a smile on his face as the pokeball enveloped the ferret-like pokemon. Jessie caught her breath with a shudder as the pokeball chimed softly, indicating the pokemon was caught inside.
"Well done, Pikachu!" Ash called, stooping to retrieve his new pokemon. The yellow rodent chirruped its pleasure at the praise as the trainer eyed the pokeball critically.
"Well," he said, turning to Jessie, "Here." He tossed the ball into her lap. Jessie looked at him blankly. "You said they took Arbok and Wobbuffet, right?" Ash prompted. Jessie nodded, still lost. "Well, use this pokemon. Just in case something else decides to jump out at you." Jessie eyed the pokeball herself, raising her mental opinion of the boy. He was arrogant, of course, but also generous.

*AUTHOR'S NOTE*
I got a lot of complaints when I had this fanfic beta-read, mostly about this scene here. I know it's semi-out-of-character for Ash to give the Furret away, but if you look at his history, giving away or freeing good pokemon is rather in his job description.

And before someone else notes that Jessie's thoughts are OOC (out of character) as well, let me submit to you that we never _hear_ what Jessie thinks on a given subject. Moreover, she's mellowed a bit since being kicked out of Team Los- I mean, Rocket.
*END NOTE*

"You want me to train a rat?"
Okay, maybe not quite so mellowed. Ash, of course, was about halfway down the road by this point, and didn't hear, so Jessie rose, clipping the pokeball to the belt that all trainers seem to possess. Watching the boy stride proudly towards the horizon, she made a decision.
"If he wants me to train a rat, then that is what I'll do!"
***
Her pride and determination began to dim as it rapidly became apparent that, yet again, the two had managed to get lost. This time, there wasn't any luck finding a path and it was getting darker with every minute.
"Look," she said finally, "We're just gonna get more and more lost if we keep walking in this light."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ash sighed. He glanced around at Jessie with annoyance.
"You're worse than Brock or Misty," he declared. "They'd've stopped me half an hour ago."
"Well, it's not my fault!" said Jessie, nettled.
"Whatever," Ash said, unrolling his sleeping bag with a quick gesture. "I'm going to bed." With that note, he flopped down on the sleeping bag, squirming down until he was safe inside. Jessie sat staring at her own backpack before leaning back against it.
While our...er...heroine is thinking deep thoughts, let us turn to the mind of our...hero?
Burgers. No, wait, wrong channel...
Ash was confused. While this was not unusual, and, indeed, in Ash's case is usually chronic, the subject of his confusion was definately unusual.
Ahem.
Ash was confused. While this was not...
Ahem again.
Ash was confused. While his feelings towards Jessie were by no means affectionate, he was at a loss to understand why he'd given away a perfectly good pokemon. All he knew was that seeing how worried and vulnerable Jessie had appeared had made him do it. Her pride-filled look at the gym hadn't gone unnoticed, either, making him more confused than ever.
Perhaps she was just watching Pikachu, he decided. Pikachu was enough to make anyone proud. With that thought, Ash began to sleep, his mind at ease thanks to a solution to one of his problems.
Simple minded fool... I mean, let's get back to the storyline, eh?
Jessie glanced over at the sleeping boy. She was more of a problem than Misty or Brock, apparently. If it didn't mean leaving him all alone in the woods, far from civilization, she would leave now to spare him the trouble.
Her gaze sped back to the boy as she heard him heave a shuddering gasp. She slowly walks over to sit beside him, watching Ash's face for signs of fear or excitement. She blinked as she saw, not terror, but arousal on the boy's sleeping features. As she glanced down the sleeping bag, she saw his hips writhing against the fabric of the bag.
In an abstract manner, her parents had explained the so-called facts of life to her, but Jessie had never had occasion to test that knowledge. Now, she abruptly realized that Ash was jerking off. She fell back, embarrassed, but soon her curiousity overcame her. Obviously, Ash was asleep. He must be having a...wetdream! Yes, that was the word, though she'd not heard it in ages. She nodded to herself. Then a thought occured to her, a nasty, dirty thought. She shrugged it off, but another decided to crop up. Eventually, passion overwhelmed reason and she began to unzip Ash's sleeping bag. The noise of the teeth catching on the zipper filled the almost-silent air. 
Now, everyone who's anyone and has watched Pokemon will agree that Jessie is really the sex-object of the series. It's not the fact that she has in fact the largest breasts in the series or that she is the only one wearing quite that figure and such a revealing outfit. It's the fact that she's stuck with the only blatantly homosexual figure in the series. I refer here to Meowth, although James is a close contender.
And since she's stuck with Meowth (and James), she's fairly inexperienced in all matters sexual.
Inexperience was not crippling her, though, as the bag pulled away and she was treated to the grand sight of... A tent made of Ash's pajamas. Highly erotic, no?
Jessie didn't think so, either.
With an impatient sigh she began pulling his pants down, working the boy's underwear down at the same time. Ash's pale cock sprang into its glorious 5-inch size. Perhaps this was not impressive, but to Jessie, already horny and being attacked by emotions she was unfamiliar with, it was beautiful. Her mind flashed back to a memory of her days with Team Rocket. Wandering alone in a store, when they'd had money, she'd come across an old issue of Playmon, apparently dropped by an employee. Paging through, she'd been shocked and horrified at what it held, but this didn't stop her from keeping it anyway.
She'd learned what the magazine held from cover to cover, but except for an abortive attempt with James had never tried it. Now, she called to mind one of her favorite pictures and began attempting to mimic it.
Grasping the boy's penis firmly, she bent over it. With a tentative touch, she stuck her tongue out, sliding the tip of her tongue on the darker head of the cock. A small drop of pearly pre-cum formed on the top of Ash's dick. Jessie tasted it, licking her lips as she found a taste she liked. She pulled up to look at the boy's face. A small blush was forming across his face, making it darker in the shadows of the forest.
Bending back over the boy's body, she slid the head past her red lips, moaning quietly as she felt the boy's precum start flowing onto her tongue. She swept her tongue across the bottom of Ash's cock, hearing a slight moan come from the sleeping trainer's lips. A wave of passion swept over her again, eliciting an answering moan from her own filled mouth.
In answer to the demands of her body, Jessie pushed a hand down her pants, fingering her now damp slit through her panties. She sucked in her breath hard as a shudder ran through her, originating in her cunt and shivering up her spine. Another moan came huskily from her as she began to suck harder on the shaft. Her entire body was shaking now with passions long denied.
Ash's cock began to pulse and swell, before suddenly bursting in orgasm. With a moan of pleasure that turned into a squeak of surprise, Jessie began to swallow mouthfulls of the preteen sperm. A small dribble slid down the side of her mouth as she swallowed just a bit too slow. More slipped out when Jessie jerked her head to check that her young companion was still asleep. He was, although his face was bright red from exertion. Jessie licked her lips quickly before redressing Ash. She zipped up his sleeping bag, then finally crawled into her own, playing with herself slowly.
Jessie relaxed slowly, finally drifting into a dreamy sleep filled with passionate sex. A dream she had not had in a long time and had sorely missed.

Chapter Five
When Jessie awoke the next morning, it seemed that everything was somehow more beautiful than before. While not in the least prone to sentiment, she had to admit that she was in love, perhaps more deeply than ever before. And with someone who had until just a little while ago been regarded as Team Rocket Enemy #1. She glanced over at the sleeping form of Ash Ketchum, a small smile lingering on her face. Then that smile turned to a frown as she pulled her fingers out from under her nightie. With a sigh she turned to follow the sounds of a stream apparently nearby.
By the time she found it, morning was turning into near noon and the stream had turned into a waterfall. Good thing I left a note, she thought to herself. Ash would know where she was if there was a problem.
She pulled her nightie over her head with a swift motion. Her panties soon followed. She wasn't wearing a bra, so she dove into the deep pool the waterfall had created over time. With a sigh of relief she stood in the morning light, sun glistening off moist flesh that felt more relaxed than it had for a long time. She stretched, her breasts becoming firm as the skin became taught. She ran her hands down to cup the mounds of flesh.
"I don't have a bad figure," she commented aloud. "And I have all the desired equipment. I'm sure I could make him happy." She ran her hands down her legs into the cool water, bringing it up to splash her face with. She glanced down at the water carefully, eyeing her hair critically.
That, she decided, had to go. It was the style she'd adopted when she'd joined Team Rocket. It belonged to a part of her life she'd left behind and would likely never see again. She splashed her hand through the water before sitting down in the water. She leaned back so as to soak her entire head. The rough hair gel that she'd used every day for years began to drift out of her hair in slow eddies, carried downstream by the current the waterfall created. She paddled over to the bank where she'd left her clothes and cleaning supplies.
She worked up a lather of soap, scrubbing herself vehemently, before adding the shampoo to her hair. The deep red locks became foamy as she rubbed the gel in. Then the conditioner, before finally she rinsed it out once more. It draped across her back in a thick blanket, cascading down in a shimmering red miniature of the waterfall behind her. She climbed out of the cool water, drying off on the towel nearby, before eyeing her clothes critically.
Pulling a dress over her head, she adjusted the straps carefully before checking her image in one of the more level ponds in the area. The red of the dress was almost exactly the same color as her hair, just as she'd hoped. With luck, perhaps Ash would stop seeing her as "Team Rocket Jessie", and just as "Jessie." Perhaps even as a beautiful person, too. Gathering up her things, she bundled them all in her towel before heading back to camp, brushing her hair with her free hand.
Pikachu strolled up to her, apple in hand, as she reentered the campsite. With a vague wave of his paw he indicated his trainer was still asleep. Jessie nodded silently before returning her clothes to her bag. She turned to find Pikachu staring patiently at her.
"What?" she asked. Pikachu tapped the pokeball on her belt.
"PikaPi! Pikachu!"
"You think I should train Furret?" Jessie asked. "I don't know," she said hesitantly. "I've never actually trained a pokemon before." Pikachu shook his head slowly, then gestured with the apple-filled paw towards a small clearing. Jessie followed, slightly suspicious. It was true that Pikachu had been more accepting of her presence than Ash himself had been at first, but she had no reason to truly trust his kindness.
At an impatient gesture from Pikachu she summoned the small rodent. The Furret straightened and looked around, eyes lighting on Jessie. He jumped at her, but Pikachu jumped in front of him.
"Pika!"
"Fur?" the rodent looked startled.
"Pikachu!" the yellow monster said, waving a paw vehemently at Jessie. "Pipipi!"
"He says, 'This is your new trainer'," a sleepy voice said from behind her. Jessie jumped and looked around. Ash, still in his PJs, stood there, blinking slowly as he attempted to wake up.
"He also says, 'Please be nice to her.'"
"Furret?" Now the rodent looks at Jessie, a bemused expression on its face. As Jessie watched warily, the Furret walked over to her, standing on its hind legs as it stared up into her eyes. It fell back to land on its four paws and glanced over its shoulder at Pikachu.
"Ret." Even Jessie knew what that meant. She had a new partner.

Chapter Six
"Furret! Rollout attack!" Jessie watched confidantly as the ferret-like pokemon curled into a ball before hurling itself at the Oddish. The Oddish fell to the ground stunned, so Jessie flung a pokeball at it. She bounced slightly as the ball rocked once, then twice, then chimed as the third time passed. She shouted joyfully before picking up her new Oddish.
"Congratulations, Jessie!" Ash shouted, running up to her. Jessie felt her face turn red at the praise from the boy.
"Thanks," she said, holding an arm out for Furret. The pokemon leaped onto her arm and perched daintily on her shoulder. She nodded at a chittered request and pulled a small piece of dried apple from her pocket. Furret ate it noisely, muttering to itself in between bites.
"That's the first time you've managed to catch a pokemon," Ash reminded her. "You're getting better." He checked his watch. "We should be getting back to town. We've got to get some sleep; it's a long way from Goldenrod to New Bark Town."
Jessie hoped they'd never get there.
***
"Hello," Nurse Joy said cheerfully. "Welcome to our Pokemon Center!"
"Hello," Jessie responded. Furret clambered down her arm onto the counter. Jessie placed the pokeball containing her new Oddish next to her mascot, grinning at Joy. "Can you heal them for me, please?"
Off to the side, Ash and Pikachu stood watching their friend. It was rather startling to see such a contrast between the Jessie they used to know, from Team Rocket, and their traveling companion. She was polite, cheerful, considerate, and sweet. She hadn't even tried to steal Pikachu once! And another thing Ash was slowly coming to see: she was beautiful. He hadn't noticed the first day that she'd changed her hair style, but had realized it some time later.
Ash hadn't yet felt the storm of passions that racked Jessie so often. He was also too dense to realize what Jessie's constant blushing might indicate. He was, however, bright enough to realize that if Brock were around, they'd never get him to shut up. He'd be too busy fawning over Jessie.
More startling than that, however, was the fact that she genuinely seemed to enjoy catching and training pokemon. While he had seen her laugh many times as a member of Team Rocket, he never seen her smile. Now, she smiled almost constantly. And she and Furret were almost inseparable, eating, sleeping, and (he assumed) even bathing together.
That through his pubescent mind onto another train of thought, one he quickly derailed. He was not quite sure why he kept thinking these things about Jessie, but with typical Ash logic, he simply assumed that if it was important, he'd realize it eventually.
"Thanks," Jessie said to Nurse Joy, retrieving her pokemon. Furret did a few sample rolls on the floor before leaping onto Jessie's outstretched arm. Watching Jessie grin at him, Ash self-consciously fiddled with something in his pocket. He'd had Professor Oak send him it from his collection and he hoped she'd like it. Pulling it out, he handed it to Jessie.
"It's a leaf stone," he said, in response to her questioning look. "When Oddish evolves to Gloom, you can use this to evolve her to Vileplume." Jessie took it, and, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket, wrapped the stone up in it. She pocketed the treasure carefully, a broad smile on her face. Turning back to Ash, she bent slightly, kissing him on the cheek.
"Thanks, Ash," she said softly, before walking over to talk to some other trainers.
"Pikachu?" Ash said, cupping his cheek. The rodent glanced up at him with shocked eyes before turning back to watch Jessie. Ash understood the feeling; he was rather confused himself. There were a couple of feelings brought to mind by the kiss he'd just received. One was the fact that Jessie made him feel safe. It wasn't a "Well, she'll protect me," safe. That was the safe he felt around Pikachu. No, the safe he felt was rather like he felt when he woke up from a bad dream with his mother's arms around him. The other feeling was one he was unfamiliar with. It was an attraction of sorts, but one that intensified when Jessie bent over or put an arm around his shoulders or, indeed, touched him in any way.
Baffled he trailed after Jessie, who, concluding her conversation with the other trainers, had exited the building.
Jessie, for her part, was unaware of the feelings she'd invoked in the young boy, although if she had known she would not have been at all displeased. Instead her mind was on a similar vein of thought from Ash's. Why did she enjoy being a real trainer so much? She thought for a moment before answering her own question. Arbok had never really liked her. In fact, from conversations with Meowth, she gathered that the only reason Arbok stayed with her was the fact that he'd never had any other trainer. It wasn't like James's Victreebell; that plant was with James because it wanted to be. Even Meowth and Weezing seemed fond of James as a trainer. But Furret was devoted to her, and she had reason to suspect that soon Oddish would be, too.
"I vow," she said quietly, her teeth clenched, "that I'm going to get Arbok and Wobbuffet back. And then I'll train you guys right!"
***
"There it is!" Ash said excitedly. He pointed ahead and Jessie saw a sign.
"New Bark Town; the place where the winds of new beginnings blow," she read aloud. She turned to smile at Ash only to discover that he was already legging it down the road. Receptive to its trainer's feelings, Furret sighed. Jessie put a hand to her belt as she followed slowly after her young friend. She'd caught one more pokemon since Goldenrod: Mareep. She was particularly proud of that achievement; more so after Dexter informed her that with work it would eventually evolve into Ampharos.
She glanced around as she entered the small town of New Bark, taking the time she'd not had the last time she was here.
"Jessie! Over here!" Ash was waiting impatiently by the largish building she recognized as Professor Elm's laboratory. Jessie hurried over to him. With a heave of the door, Ash went inside.
"What are we doing, Ash?" Jessie asked. Ash put a finger to his lips before calling out.
"Professor Elm!"
As if by magic, the absent-minded professor came bolting around the corner.
"Oh, my! Is it time for the new trainers already? I've got to get things ready!" Jessie put out an arm as Elm tripped in his haste. He glanced up at her, then around at Ash.
"Oh, it's you." He steadied himself.
"Is it ready, Professor?" Ash asked. He turned to Jessie quickly. "Professor Oak asked me to come get something for him from Professor Elm. He said it was really important."
"It is!" Elm said hastily. "And it's ready. Let me go get it." He returned a few minutes bearing a small egg in a carry-case.
"This was given to me by a couple that run a Daycare facility near Goldenrod. Three days ago... or was it weeks... they dropped this off, saying the trainer it belonged to couldn't take care of it."
"That's so sad," Jessie said, taking the egg from him carefully. Elm nodded sagely.
"Nurse Joy told me that I couldn't take care of it, either. She seemed to think I'd forget about it."
"You probably would," Ash admitted. "Don't worry, professor, we'll take it to Professor Oak. He'll take good care of it."
"Thanks, Ash," Elm said with evident relief. He turned to go, but Ash caught his arm. "Have my friends Misty or Brock been by yet?" Elm paused.
"Describe this Misty person," he requested.
"Sorta tall-ish, red hair, nasty temper," Ash said candidly.
"Yes! That's her!" Elm looked relieved. "She and another guy came by, and said to tell you, if you came by, to check the Pokemon Center. They said that they had left you a message, but that they couldn't stay in town any longer."
"How long ago was that?"
"About... five days... Or was it five weeks?" Muttering to himself, Elm wandered away, apparently forgetting Ash and Jessie were even there.
"Let's go, Jessie!" Ash shouted, bolting out the door. Steadying the egg in her arms, Jessie followed, albeit at a much slower pace. She glanced at her burden before turning to look at Furret.
"What do you suppose it's going to be?" she asked it. Furret did an admirable impression of a shrug, studying the egg carefully. It gestured with a paw at itself, a questioning look on its face.
"No, I don't think it's going to be another Furret," Jessie laughed. "But I hope Professor Oak tells Ash what it is when it hatches."
They walked into the Center. Furret, being the vain creature that it was, hoped right onto the counter in front of Nurse Joy. Jessie set her other pokeballs down next to it, balancing the egg precariously in one arm as she used the other to fish out a piece of candy for Furret.
"Can you take care of themfor a few minutes?" she asked Joy, noting the crestfallen look on Ash's face. Nurse Joy followed her gaze to the young trainer, then nodded at Jessie. Jessie walked over to Ash, peering at the piece of paper he held in his hands.
"They went to a pokemon tournament without me," Ash said, handing her the piece of paper. Pikachu patted his leg comfortingly.
Jessie read the paper aloud.
"Attention all Gym Leaders. Qualification matches required for all gym leaders are being held in Viridian City now. Hosted by Professor Guisseppe, illustrious owner of the Hologram Gym! Test your might and suitability as a gym leader." A small warning bell went of in Jessie's mind, so she reread it silently. The warning bell became a fire alarm.
"Come on," she said, grabbing Ash's hand. Ash looked at her with confusion.
"Where?" he asked. Jessie retrieved her pokemon from Nurse Joy, thanking her with a small bow, before leading her friend out the door.
"To Viridian City."
"Alright!" Ash cheered. Pikachu leapt onto his trainer's shoulder before echoing the cheer.
Jessie was less cheerful about the prospect. A sinking feeling in her stomach told the story.
Giovanni held a PhD from Pokemon Tech. His last name was Guisseppe. And Team Rocket's main base was in Viridian City. This did not bode well for Ash or his friends. And she didn't even want to think about what Giovanni would do to her for acting against Team Rocket.
On the other hand (and here Jessie began to grin evilly), if she got a chance to get inside Team Rocket's base, she could get her pokemon back. And maybe if she helped rescue Misty and Brock, Ash would be more friendly to her.

Chapter Seven
***AUTHOR'S NOTE***
Well, this next chapter is more or less plot development. Mostly, all that's in this chapter and the only real reason for reading it is a very interesting (in my opinion) conversation with Delia Ketchum.
And a few foreshadowing comments, of course.
P.S. I've tried a new style of writing, so I'm not sure how well it works. If you like it, R&R. If you don't, still R&R. Feedback is the food that nourishes an author's soul, after all.
***End Note***

"Pokemon Gym Leader tournament?" The man on the other end of the phone looked confused. "No, the League hasn't scheduled anything like that. And they certainly aren't required for Gym Leaders."
"Thanks," Jessie said, hanging up the phone. She glanced around the Pokemon Center. Professor Oak was chatting amicably with Ash.
Pallet Town had changed rather drastically since Ash had left it. There was a new Pokemon Center up, as well as rumors that the Elite Four planned to build a new League on some of the outer parts of the Seafoam Islands. The rumor held that the first gym would be before the islands, which meant that Pallet would get the gym.
Jessie looked at Furret seriously. "We're going to have some hard battles ahead of us, partner," she whispered. Furret nodded, then slapped a paw to its chest.
"I know I'll have your help. But I hope that we're enough." Furret pointed a paw at Ash, chittering softly.
"But I want to show him I can be a good trainer," Jessie objected.
"That's easy," an older voice said from behind her. Jessie looked over her shoulder to see a tall marron-haired woman smiling at her.
"So, you're Jessie?" the woman asked. Jessie nodded.
"What were you saying about 'That's easy'?" she demanded.
"Ash is a good hearted boy, who sees the best in everyone," the woman replied. "I should know. I'm his mother."
***
Delia Ketchum was a woman with a past. Granted, it was a past that few knew about and almost none spoke of in public, it was still a past. Technically, it was a present as well, and quite probably a future, which was why she listened without judgement to Jessie's tale.
Jessie, for her part, was explaining everything about her stint with Team Rocket and her first meetings with the young Ketchum boy. When she finished, Delia stared thoughtfully out the window for a while.
They were in Ash's house, a fact that Jessie found very interesting. There were small pictures littering the walls, pictures of Ash, pictures of Delia, and, very rarely, pictures of a mature man with brownish mousey hair that looked very familiar. Glancing at all the pictures, Jessie very rapidly came to a conclusion. By now, I'm sure the reader has gathered that our Jessie is a very bright lass indeed, so we may properly assume that her conclusion was correct. Her conclusion was this; this man must be Ash's father.
"Well," Delia said, sipping her tea slowly, "I must admit, your story is certainly not the most valiant I've heard." She paused as Jessie glanced shamefully at the floor.
"It's not the worst I've heard, either," she said finally. Jessie's voice, when it came, was muffled.
"But I want to change!"
"Let me tell you a story," Ash's mother said, her voice very serious. "I once met a man who told me that he'd robbed a thousand people."
"A thousand?!" Jessie said, incredulously. Her face came up and her eyes were wide. "The top agents in Team Rocket barely managed a hundred!"
"A thousand," confirmed Delia. "You know what he'd done?"
"No, what?" Jessie pressed eagerly, in spite of herself.
"He'd sold them what turned out to be the most useful device we use today. I was one of the people he robbed," Delia said, setting her tea down and heading for the bookshelf. "I still have it somewhere around here... Ah, there it is!" She pulled down a small box, brown with age. A few buttons were here and there, and a small hole in the top.
"What is it?" Jessie asked when Delia handed it to her.
"This was what became the PokeDex." Jessie stared at her, mouth agape.
"Yes," Delia answered Jessie's unasked question. "That man was our very own Professor Oak. Oh, he was fairly deep in his cups by this time, and was certainly in no condition to be regarded as an authority in anything, but he later became the Pokemon Professor." She eyed Jessie keenly. "You do know what the moral of the story is, don't you?" Jessie shook her head slowly. Delia, being the merciful being that she was, took pity on her. 
"The moral," she said sternly, "Is that what you've done is never as good or bad as it seems. The only way to tell whether something is good or bad is by looking back on it from a ripe old age." She smiled at Jessie, all carefree innocence again. "Until then, it's kind of pointless."
"I just hope Ash doesn't think I'm totally evil," Jessie whispered.
"He doesn't." Delia's face was bright and cheerful. "He's done nothing but talk about how well you train your pokemon. He's only mentioned you being with Team Rocket once, after all."
"Really?" Jessie perked up a bit. "When'd he do that?"
"Well, he told Professor Oak about how you...er... chose an alternate path for your life than Team Rocket," Delia said, phrasing her words carefully.
"Oh." Jessie's face fell again.
"I don't approve of Team Rocket," Delia said, her voice bearing only a hint of scolding, "But I do note that you have certainly changed from the last time I saw you." At Jessie's confused look, Delia explained, "At the party after Ash got back from the Indigo League, remember? You crashed the party."
"Oh. Sorry about that..." Jessie stammered. Delia waved a hand dismissively.
"It's like I always tell Ash; if you run around with bad people, it's not your fault if you act bad. It's your fault if you stick with it, though." She eyed Jessie thoughtfully again. "Why DID you join Team Rocket?"
"Not much other choice," Jessie sighed. She then began to relate the story of her life.
Which will be printed up as a different fanfic as publicity for this particular fanfic. Look for it sometime in December.
Some time later, Jessie finished. Delia hadn't moved from her seat by the window more than once, and that just to turn on the interior lights as it got darker outside. Aside from that, she watched Jessie without expression until the younger woman finished her tale.
"Like I said before," Delia said, "It's not your fault that you did bad things. You just thought that there was only one option for you." Jessie nodded.
"But also," the older woman continued, "You're a bit confused, I think. You're confused because you find yourself enjoying an option that you didn't realize you had until you didn't have a choice anymore. Do I have it about right?" Jessie nodded again.
"Well, don't be surprised. Ash has been doing that to people for years, giving them options they didn't think they had." Delia smiled. "Half the time he doesn't even realize why he's doing something." She glanced at Jessie, her eyes traveling up and down her form carefully.
"How old are you, anyway? Eighteen, nineteen?"
"Seventeen," Jessie admitted.
"That young. Hmm..." Delia clapped her hands together. "You'll do." And with that extraordinary statement, the topic turned to other, more mundane things.


Chapter Eight
"Jessie... Jessie, wake up!" Jessie mumbled something incoherent before turning over again.
"Jessie! Hurry up, we've got to get to Viridian City, and Professor Oak needs to see us before we leave!"
"Viridian City isn't going anywhere," Jessie grumbled, but arose nonetheless. Stretching, she blinked around the room, to see Ash staring fixedly at a dark corner in the room.
"What's the matter?" Jessie asked. Ash gave a disjointed reply before walking out of the room. Mystified, Jessie walked over to her backpack, glancing into the mirror as she passed. Her jaw fell open as she realized that at some point of the night, her robe had come on done, so when she had risen, so had the sun, as it were. Ash had almost certainly gotten an eyeful when she'd stretched. Blushing furiously, she closed her robes. On the one hand, she reasoned to herself firmly, it really didn't matter, because Ash was too young to really notice or understand the female body.
On the other hand, a nasty voice said inside of her, if the boy was old enough to ejaculate after getting a blow-job, he was probably old enough to start wondering.
Reasoning that the upcoming hike might be a bit rough for wearing a dress, Jessie selected a pair of long (but tight. I mean, Jessie IS Jessie) jeans and a red Charmander shirt (equally tight. See prior note). She donned a pair of slightly worn sneakers as well, thinking dourly to herself that a pair of hiking boots was going to fall into a cart somewhere between Viridian and the Johto League. She also clipped a utility belt on, a gift from a wandering trainer in Johto, attaching Furret's empty pokeball, as well as Oddish and Mareep, plus three empty balls, to it. She whistled softly to wake Furret up, and the hyper rodent leaped onto her shoulder with an answering chitter.
Grabbing a hair brush, Jessie combed out her hair carefully, reasoning that if all went as planned, she would have little time for such luxuries for a few weeks. A quieter voice inside her reasoned that if things went wrong, she would never get time again, being dead. Feeling slightly queasy, she slung her bag over her shoulder and marched out.
***
The history of Team Rocket is an interesting one. Originally, it was founded by the elite of Pokemon. At the time, it was one of those elite, John Roche, who first suggested the elite group and who later formed the official League. Team Rocket's first members set about the world locating the best trainers of every country, forming from them a team of troubleshooters, a sort of ultra-elite. There was nothing that that team couldn't handle. It's not clear who originally suggested Team Roche as a name for the group, but soon that name disappeared from history, as, less than a hundred years later, a new leader came to bat. He was talented, it's true, but he had certain ideas about Team Roche's place in the world of Pokemon.
His name was Giovanni Guisseppe, the newest pHd graduate of Pokemon Technical, and the brightest star on the Pokemon League horizon. After taking lead control of Team Roche, he attempted to defeat the Elite 4, only to be beaten in the last match against the young Lance, dragon master. Bitter at this defeat, he disbanded Team Roche, only to reform it with gullible but powerful people, renaming it Team Rocket.
Thus the new Team Rocket was born.
The fall from fame was a harsh one for young Giovanni, so with rancor he began to turn his team to evil works, convinced that it was his rightful place to be head of the world.
***
"Professor Oak, this is Jessie," Ash said, not looking at her. She'd tried to catch his eye once or twice, to tell him that she hadn't meant to flash him, but every time, he'd blushed and looked away.
"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jessie." Ash pointed at a pudgy boy running around outside.
"That's Tracy," he explained. "He works with Professor Oak."
"I gathered. That he works with him, I mean," Jessie said. She looked back to Professor Oak. "Ash said you needed to see us?"
"Well, not him so much as I needed to talk with you." He glanced at Ash. The boy took the hint and, with a vague wave at Jessie (still not looking at her), she gathered up Pikachu and went outside to talk to Tracy.
"Amazing boy, isn't he?" Oak said quietly to Jessie, watching his two younger friends chat.
"Indeed," Jessie said. Her face was expressionless.
"I've heard that you used to be in Team Rocket," Oak finally sighed.
"Indeed," Jessie said again. Her mask slipped just a little bit, revealing something akin to shame.
"I want to know that, if we simply ignore that fact, will you be good to the boy?" Oak cleared his throat. "What I mean is, he's done nothing but talk about you as a trainer since he got back. I want to make sure his trust in you is well invested."
"So, you're asking whether I'm going to be a traitor?" Jessie asked without rancor.
"More or less," Oak said. At least he has the decency to look embarrassed, Jessie thought angrily.
"Are you forgetting that it was I who was betrayed by Team Rocket, not Ash. I would never betray anyone whom I felt loyal to."
"Then what I want to know is whether you feel loyal to him," Oak said.
"Why?"
"Because." Oak sighed again. "He's... My grandson." Jessie blinked. This wasn't a possibility that she'd considered, although she noticed almost instantly the resemblence between the boy and the man.
"Well," she admitted finally, "I'm not sure whether what I feel is loyalty or not." Oak sagged slightly. "But," she said, "I'm not going to do anything to him until I find out exactly what it is."
"That's what I wanted to hear," Oak said. He pulled something out of his pocket. Jessie recognized almost instantly the distinctive shape of a PokeDex.
"I want you to have this," Oak said. "Ash asked for one for you, and I'm going to give you one." He paused for just a bare instant before depositing the machine into her startled hands. He turned to the shelf by his computer and pulled the egg Ash and Jessie had brought him from its stand. "And as a favor to me, carry this. My research indicates that it will only hatch around active and battling pokemon." Jessie nodded once before cradling the egg in her arms. The warmth of its shell felt comforting to her and she realized just how much she was getting attached to the pokemon that would hatch from it.
Purely business-like now, Oak dashed around the lab, grabbing items from shelves and placing them into Jessie's backpack. "A potion, if you need it," he muttered. "Some rare candies... A few berries brought specially from Johto... A number of PokeBalls..." He stared off into space for a moment before handing the bag to Jessie. "That should be everything," he said at last.
"Um..." Jessie asked with slight confusion. "What's going on?"
"Well, you're getting ready to go off on a Pokemon Journey," Oak said, with such emphasis that Jessie, even without the benefit of being one of my noble readers, could tell that the two words were capitalized. "You've got to be prepared." From Jessie's shoulder, Furret nodded in agreement.
"Okay..." Jessie said. Professor Oak stuck his head out the window nearby, motioning Ash back inside.
"Well," he said when the boy came back in, "That's that. Time for you two to head off!"
"Professor Oak," Ash said suddenly, "Can I get Tauros and Kingler out? I'll lend you Totodile and Phanpy so I only have six with me."
"Well, if you leave me two, I guess so," Oak said. "Any reason why?"
"Just intuition," said the ESP-blind boy "I might need them soon."
***
"Um..." Ash said, glancing at the trees around them. "I'm not sure how we wound up in the Viridan Forest without going through the forest, but this certainly looks like it."
"If this is the Viridian Forest," Jessie said, checking the sun with her hand over her eyes. "And it's about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, then Viridian City should be..." and she pointed with her other hand, "That way."
"Okay," Ash said, shouldering his bookbag again. He still wasn't looking at her.
"Ash," Jessie said finally, not having moved from where she was standing. "It's alright to look at me. I'm not exactly undressed, you know."
Curiously enough, Ash wasn't quite sure WHY he wasn't looking at his companion. Something inside of him was highly excited by what he'd seen of her that morning, while another part of him was screaming a warning in his ears. He was starting, however, to guess at what the constant blushing from Jessie meant, as he was doing some constant blushing himself.
Way to go, Ash. It was only about as plain as the nose on a Pinochio's face.
Ahem.
Anyways, Ash was doing some serious mental guesswork on his part, trying to figure out exactly what it was he felt for the older girl that was accompanying him. He hadn't quite arrived at 'Love' as an answer, although he was (in his opinion) coming uncomfortably close to that conclusion.
I reiterate: Way to go, Ash.
I mean, he's got the sexiest babe in Pokemon with the hots for him and he's prancing around getting lost in Viridian Forest...
Amen again... I mean, AHEM.
Okay, okay, back to the story.
"I know that," Ash said.
Remember? Jessie just said something to him.
"I know that," Ash said. "It's just..." Ash faltered for an instant. How does one tell someone that every time you looked at them you couldn't keep their naked body from your mind?
"It's just that I keep blushing when I look at you," he finished lamely. He glanced around quickly. "This way to Viridian City, right?" Jessie nodded.
"Alright!" and Ash dashed off.

Chapter Nine
The Hologram Gym was hidden away in a corner of Viridian City. In fact, looking at it from the outside, it almost looked exactly how Jessie remembered Team Rocket headquarters looking. Put a new coat of paint on it and wham, it was the old headquarters.
"This is it," Ash said, glancing at the map. "The Hologram Gym." Jessie nodded.
"Now, how do we get in?" her companion asked. Jessie glanced at Furret. She'd used her pokemon as a sounding board for her plans, so she knew exactly what to do. She had to tell Ash the truth about the whole Gym Leader Tournament.
"Ash," she said quietly.
"Yes?" the boy asked, still focused on the gym before him.
"Ash," she said a bit louder. Ash looked at her.
"What?"
"This isn't a tournament. This isn't a gym." Ash looked blankly at her.
"But this is the address on the flyer."
"It's a trap, Ash." Jessie sighed. "A well executed and implemented trap."
"Team Rocket!" Ash cried, the light suddenly dawning on him.
"Exactly."
"But... Brock..." Ash looked concerned, very much. "And Misty," he added as an afterthought.
"We'll rescue them," Jessie said.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, jumping up.
"What do we do?" Ash asked excitedly.
"Here's what we do. You're going to go in like you were planning to, pretend to be there to watch. I know the building; I'll sneak in and try to find your friends."
"But I want to help you find them!"
Stubborn boy, isn't he, Jessie thought to herself.
"But if you come with me, I'll have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't get hurt."
"If it's so dangerous, why are you going?"
"Because," Jessie said sadly. "It's partly my fault that Team Rocket is so evil. I helped make it what it is." She breathed in deeply. "It's my responsibility to try to make things right."
"But... Jessie..." Ash said, trying to word his complaint.
"Ash, look at me." Jessie caught his chin and held it until Ash met her eyes. Then she kissed him. Deeply.
To quote Princess Bride, there have been about three really big kisses in the history of the world. This wasn't one of them, but it surely ranked fourth.
Ash blushed furiously when Jessie broke the kiss.
"Be careful," he said finally. Then he turned, almost running, to enter the Gym.
Jessie sat down at the rear exit to the Gym/Team Rocket HQ and plucked Furret off her shoulder. She summoned Mareep and Oddish, too. She set the egg she'd been carrying on the ground as well. "Mareep," she said, finally. "Take good care of this." The lamb nodded, then curled up around the egg, looking like nothing so much as a pile of cotton. Jessie looked at the other two.
"There is a very real chance that I could get killed in there. If you help me, you could get killed as well." She looked at them very seriously. "If you want to leave, you can. I don't want any of you getting hurt."
Furret shook its head and Oddish jumped up and down. Despite not understanding their words, Jessie could tell they wanted to come with her. Hugging them both quickly, Jessie then stood, calling back Oddish. Furret leaped to its accustomed spot on her shoulder, and with a pat on the head to Mareep, Jessie entered the lair of evil.