Love so Legendary (A Team Rocket Story)

Chapter five

After another half hour of waiting at the Pokémon center to make sure that James was all right, Nurse Joy confirmed that he should be fine, and that all that would stay was a few bruises and a head ache. He was lucky that the hyper beam hit him from the front; if it had hit him from behind, close to his spine, it could very well have paralyzed or even killed him. Out of all the Pokémon moves that he could have been hit with, Hyper beam was not a move to be messed with.

As they exited the Pokémon center, Ash could tell that James was exceedingly nervous. He had never seen anyone so nervous, not even how nervous Alain had been when Chespie had been trapped inside of this huge stone version of itself no more than a few days ago.

"Okay," Ash began, attempting to lighten the mood. "So where should we start looking for Jessie?"

James continued to look at the ground, but replied, "I would guess Snowbelle city. That's where she was heading with Wobbuffet and Meowth."

"Have you had any news from her since?" Serena asked. James shook his head, looking even more worried.

"I lost my phone while I was blasting off, plus it's team rocket property according to Giovanni, anyway." He replied, rolling his eyes when he mentioned Giovanni.

"So, Ellie..." Bonnie began, and James winced when she mentioned his daughter's name, but didn't stop her.

"Yes?" He asked, waiting for the rest of her question.

"She didn't know that you were a part of team rocket, did she?"

"No." James said, shaking his head and obviously in thought. "She didn't know about team rocket. And we thought that team rocket didn't know about her. I'm wondering if Cassidy and Butch somehow found out and told him, but I'm not sure if even they are capable of doing something that diabolical if they knew the consequences for us. They may hate us, but even they wouldn't cause Giovanni to kidnap someone willingly. They have a bit of a heart, just like we do." He sighed and then gritted his teeth. "But I swear, once we get Ellie back, Jessie and I are staying away from team rocket and Giovanni for life. I'll bet Cassidy and Butch would be happy to hear that they no longer have competition with us."

They continued to walk in silence, with the exception of Clemont and Ash discussing the best route to Snowbelle. Until Bonnie broke the silence once again.

"What's she like?" She asked. "Ellie, I mean. She's around five, right? A year younger than me?" James hesitated before he slowly nodded and said,

"How to describe her?" He rubbed his forefinger and thumb on his chin in thought. "She has pale skin and dark cyan eyes. Her hair is wavy and a light magenta color. She has my habit of collecting things, and her mother's attitude. She's very timid, and isn't crazy about meeting new people. But if you earn her trust and can manage to make her smile, it's the most amazing feeling ever. The most extravagant firework show couldn't even start to compare with the sound of her laugh. And if she cries, it's like a rain cloud just entered and affected everyone in the room. Like a million rocks are tied to your heart." The rest of the heroes looked at James in intrigue as he continued to tell them about Ellie. "Her Pokémon partner is a Teddiursa, whom she calls Lullabye. She doesn't know anything about Team Rocket. Or at least, she didn't...she enjoys playing outside. Her favorite food is sushi. She wants to be a Pokémon trainer when she's older. She's definitely a daddy's girl. She enjoys playing dress-up with Meowth. Usually when she falls asleep, she wants either Meowth, Inkay, Gourgeist, or Wobbuffet to be near her bed so that they can protect her if anyone breaks in. She sleeps with Teddiursa as if it were a stuffed toy. She has a more dressy style than casual, and she likes to keep her hair down to her shoulders at the shortest." He looked back at Bonnie. "Anything else you need to know?"

Bonnie shook her head. "But wow." She said. "She sounds amazing."

James smiled sadly and looked back at the ground. "She is." He said. "She's one of the most amazing people that you could meet. And I've just got to get her back. I don't even want to think about how scared she is right now. All alone, kidnapped by Giovanni, in a place and surrounded by people completely alien to her..."

"If you don't mind my asking," Clemont began, "where's her Teddiursa? You said that that's her Pokémon. Is it still at your house, or...?"

James shook his head again. "Ellie always has Lullabye with her. She keeps the pokeball attached to her belt, or inside her purse if she's not wearing a belt. Lullabye is with her." Ash and the others breathed out a puff of air, both in disappointment and a bit of annoyance. Great. Not even Ellie's Teddiursa could help them.

Not a second later, Ash received a call from Korrina, the Shalour city gym leader. Pulling out his phone and pressing a button, Ash projected Korrina into a hologram form in front of them, and everyone stopped to talk to her.

"Ash?" Korrina asked, and Ash smiled, happy to see his friend.

"Hey, Korrina." He said. "What's up?"

"Well, Lucario and I were going on a little journey around Kalos, since business in Shalour gym was a bit slow recently. We decided to leave Shalour in the direction of Lumiose, and then take the circle that involves Anistar, Snowbelle, and Santalune before coming back towards Shalour through Lumiose."

"Okay." Ash replied. "Why are you calling me? Is there something you wanted to show me? Did something go wrong?"

"...yes and kinda." Korrina replied hesitantly. Ash realized for the first time that Korrina was inside what looked like a Pokémon center.

"What happened?" Ash asked. "Are you okay? Is Lucario okay?"

Korrina bit her lip. "Well, Lucario and I are both fine..." she began. "But...you know that group that we ran into when we first met? Team Rocket? They tried to steal Pikachu and Lucario and mega evolve both of them with Lucarionite cause they didn't know how mega evolution worked?"

"Yeah..." Ash began. "We actually have James with us now." He said, motioning to James, who waved, a bit embarrassed as he realized how stupid he and Jessie must have sounded back then.

"Well, on our way through Snowbelle, we ran into the girl with the pink hair on victory road." She explained. "She was knocked unconscious, and obviously had been hit with a Pokémon move. Nurse Joy thinks that it could have been Fire blast."

"Fire blast..." Clemont repeated, thinking to himself. "TM38. It can only be used if taught to a Pokémon...by a trainer."

"We got her to the Pokémon center, but she still won't wake up." Korrina explained, obviously worried.

Ash looked back at James. He looked like he had just had stun spore used on him, and he was practically shaking.

"Stay there with her, and wait for us." Ash ordered. "We're on our way."