Love so Legendary (A Team Rocket Story)

Chapter four

James continued to look at the floor as he seemed to be remembering something.

"I suppose that the story begins when Jessie and I were first put on the same team together, by Giovanni." He said. "Jessie had been a part of Team Rocket much longer than I had. After all, her mother was one of the most famous Team Rocket members, before she vanished. I suppose that Giovanni wanted to pair me, as a newcomer, with someone who he knew could keep me in check." He laughed sadly. "The thing was, though, that Meowth was usually the one keeping the two of us in check." He continued to refuse to look at the heroes. "Jessie and I have been partners since we were fifteen, but it was maybe five years before we realized that we had feelings for each other." He finally looked at the heroes, and gulped before adding, "the main things that you need to know about Team Rocket if you're going to be a part of it are the top three rules. Number three, anything that you buy, earn, or catch while on the team belongs to Giovanni." He continued to list the other rules, counting them off on his fingers. "Two, there can be no romantic relations between any two Team Members. It would distract the members from the goal of their missions. And number one, the most important rule of all..." by now, the heroes were on the edge of their seats. James looked around, as if he were afraid that if he mentioned the number one rule, Giovanni might jump out of nowhere and scream at him or something.

"What's rule number one?" Bonnie asked in a small voice. "What's the most important Team Rocket rule?"

James sighed before replying, "Never, ever, under any circumstance, keep a secret from Team Rocket."

"Sorry to interrupt, but what does any of this have to do with the fact that we found you beaten up and injured in the middle of the woods? Who did that to you?" Clemont asked from behind Serena.

"I think that...he may have broken one or more of the top three rules. He wouldn't be telling us the rules, otherwise." Serena pointed out.

James nodded. "I suppose you could say that." He admitted. "Five years into my partnership with Jessie, I seemed to notice that I was developing feelings for her. Any time that there was a chance of danger, or a possible chance that she may want to quit the team, there was a weird sort of feeling, as if my gut was screaming at me to keep her near me at all times." When James paused, Ash looked over at Serena. Those times that James had been describing...it sounded like what had been going on with his feelings for Serena, lately. Serena seemed to notice him staring at her, and turned her head to look at him. Ash instantly looked back at James, as if nothing had happened.

"After a few months of this, I finally told her while we were on one of our missions. She looked taken aback, and I figured I should have just kept my mouth shut, but then she told me that she had been feeling the same about me. So, in secret, Jessie and I began dating. We kept it subtle, though. Meowth was the only one who knew. At the time, we broke two of the three rules. We had a relationship with each other, and kept it a secret from Team Rocket. But it gets worse from there."

By now, Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff had pulled up some chairs and sat down in them, engrossed in James's story. "I proposed to Jessie back in the Hoenn region." James went on. "We had been married for about two years when we had our angel, Ellie."

"The girl you mentioned earlier..." Serena said, her mouth hanging open. "Ellie, I mean. She's your daughter."

"But..." Clemont added on, clearly thinking. "You said that Giovanni has her." He gasped. "You didn't keep Ellie a secret from Giovanni, did you?"

James nodded. "Jessie and I knew how dangerous Team Rocket is. We didn't want to put Ellie in that kind of danger. Once she was older, we had actually planned on quitting Team Rocket so that we wouldn't have to worry about her being in danger. But..." he almost looked like he was in pain. "But Giovanni found out. I don't know how, but he found out. He came to our house. Jessie and I agreed to get out of the house. She took Meowth and Wobbuffet, I took Ellie. The plan was that she would take the Pokémon towards Snowbelle city, while I would head towards Lumiose city with Ellie. If I ran into you all, the plan was to ask for help. If I didn't, I was supposed to find your all's father, and get help with him." He said, motioning to Clemont and Bonnie.

"So then...what happened?" Bonnie asked. "What happened to Ellie?"

"Giovanni found us after we left the house. He took my Inkay, and then demanded I hand over Ellie. His reasoning was that since Jessie and I met through Team Rocket, that Ellie was born because of him, and thus, is property of Team Rocket."

"The third rule of Team Rocket..." Serena said in a small voice, and James nodded sadly.

"After Giovanni found us, he had his Persian launch hypnosis at us. I shoved Ellie away so that she wouldn't be hit. But the Persian just dragged Ellie over towards Giovanni while I was stumbling around. I fell due to my drowsiness, and the last thing that I remember is Giovanni saying, 'It's been nice working with you.' And then, he told his Persian to use Hyperbeam. I blasted off to who knows where, and then landed somewhere in the forest. Then, I woke up here." He finished.

"So, Jessie and Meowth are lost and possibly hurt out there, and Giovanni's got your daughter?" Serena asked. James nodded.

The whole room was silent for a few moments, before Bonnie spoke up. "What if..." she began, "what if we get James a Pokémon, find Jessie, and then go and get Ellie back?"

"I dunno, Bonnie." Clemont admitted. "Giovanni's not a guy to mess with. It would be extremely difficult to get Ellie back, and besides, we don't have the first clue as to where Jessie is."

"But if I was kidnapped and it was next to impossible to rescue me, wouldn't you want James and Jessie to offer to help?" Bonnie asked, which led Clemont to think for a few moments. "Plus," Bonnie added, "we saved the entire Kalos region less than a week ago. I'm pretty sure that we can go up against Giovanni."

"You've got a point..." Clemont admitted, before turning to James and smiling. "Okay, we're in!!!"

"You...you all are seriously going to help me find Jessie and Ellie?" James asked, obviously touched. "Thank you. I really can't thank you enough!!!"

"No problem," Ash replied, but then began to think. "But we need to get you a Pokémon if you want to stand a chance against Giovanni."

"How?" James asked. "I don't have a single Pokémon to my name."

Ash acquired a sort of mischievous smile. "Actually...you have at least one." He said, receiving a confused look from James. "Back in the Kanto region."

Realization dawned all over James's face. "No. Not there. I will literally go anywhere but there to get my Pokémon."

Ash laughed. "Don't worry." He said. "We'll get Jessie first, and then she can help us get the Pokémon."