Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Team Rocket's Secret ❯ Chapter 7

"I don't understand," Jessie admitted, one hand still tightly gripping James'. "You mean we're not in trouble?"

Officer Jenny smiled and nodded. "Well, seeing as you guys have only attempted heists and never really pulled them off, you're not even close to being the worst of Team Rocket. If you tell us everything you know about the organization and its boss, I'm pretty sure we can give you complete immunity."

"That means...no jail?" James asked.

"That's right."

"Oh thank goodness!" he sighed with a happy smile. "I was so afraid of being bailed out!"

Officer Jenny frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"My parents, if they found out where I was, they'd drag me back home and make me wear those stupid clothes and marry Jessiebell!" James leaned back against his pillow and closed his eyes. "I never ever want to go back there again!"

"I take it that's why you ran away," Jenny said. "And what about you?"

Jessie shrugged. "Nothing as adventurous. I was a drain on mom so I left."

"How old were you two when you ran away?"

"Nine," James said readily.

"Eight," Jessie answered. "But we joined up with a biker gang for a little while before joining Team Rocket."

"And how old are you now?"

"We're both sixteen," Jessie said.

Jenny shook her head sadly. "I guess that explains the haircuts..."

There was a knock on the door, and Nurse Joy poked her head in. "Excuse me, but I need to check up on James now."

"Go ahead, Joy." Jenny backed up to make room for her, then tilted her head curiously. "What happened to you three anyway? How did you get so beat up?"

Jessie sighed. "I told it last time. It's your turn, James."

James groaned, but he obeyed anyway. Anything to get his mind off of the needle in Nurse Joy's hand. "Well, I was trying to teach Jessie how to speak to the pokemon behind Team Rocket Headquarters..."

~*~*~*~*~

"You think Officer Jenny will really let them go?" Misty asked, pacing back and forth. "I mean, they were part of Team Rocket."

"But not anymore," Ash argued. "That has to count for something!"

"Relax, you two," Brock sighed. "Jenny wouldn't lie to them. I'm sure they'll be all right."

Ash shook his head slowly. "I don't think so, Brock."

"What, you think she'll throw the book at them?" Brock wondered.

"No, it's not her," Ash explained. "I don't doubt Officer Jenny one bit. But this is a really small town, and she wouldn't be able to keep them safe if all of Team Rocket suddenly found them and tried to kidnap them."

"Hmm, you've got a point," Misty nodded. "She'll probably want to move them somewhere else as soon as they can travel."

Pikachu, who had up till now been resting quietly in Ash's lap, suddenly jumped up and ran over to the far window, his tail twitching excitedly. "Pikachu!" he cried, pointing frantically outside. "Pika pika!"

"Huh?" Ash asked, getting up. "What do you see?"

"Hey, look!" Brock joined Pikachu at the window. "Is that what I think it is?"

Misty went over and stared at the beige lump slowly dragging its way through the forest not too far away. "That's weird, I've never seen anything like that...it kinda looks like...a half-deflated--hey, that's their hot air balloon!"

"Boy, they weren't kidding! That's a huge hole!" Brock said. "It's almost as big as Meowth's mouth."

"Well, at least they don't have to worry about finding it anymore," Ash smiled.

Without warning, Misty gasped and pointed down the road. "Oh no, look!"

They all followed her hand and saw several people in the usual black and red Team Rocket outfits, led by the old man that had bothered James and Jessie earlier. And at the forefront was Giovanni himself, suit somewhat singed and torn, but otherwise unharmed.

"Misty, go tell Jenny!" Ash said. "We'll hold them off if they try to get in."

"Right," she nodded, and headed off toward the office.

"Go Onix!" Brock called out, releasing his largest pokemon.

"Wait a second," Ash said, holding his hand up. "They're just standing there at the door."

"Why would they do that?" Brock asked. "Is it because they're afraid of Officer Jenny?"

"Yeah, the boss probably doesn't want her to recognize him," Ash nodded. "But then he must know that they're gonna make some kind of agreement with the police, and that he doesn't have much time before they tell her anyway."

"But it'd be just their word against his," Brock shook his head. "And they're just kids. He's a gym leader in a large city, there's no way anyone would believe them against him."

"But we can't just let him come in and take them!" Ash grumbled. "What are we gonna do?"

"Why, what we do best," came a weak voice.

They turned in surprise. Jessie stood in the doorway, one arm supporting James, with Meowth standing between them. Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy both had worried looks on their faces, but Officer Jenny wasn't wasting time complaining. She headed straight to the phone and made a quick call.

"Hello, operator? I need to contact the Viridian city police chief..."

Meanwhile, Jessie set James down on the bench and went to look out the window. "Oh, boy...this is going to be epic," she mused to herself.

"But...you're so hurt," Misty broke in. "What on earth could you possibly do against so many of them?"

"Oh, we have plenty of practice at this," James smiled. "We can fight while injured..."

"We can come up with the cleverest tricks," Meowth nodded.

"And now we'll do what we're best at!" Jessie turned and grinned. "Screwing things up for the boss!"

"And this time, our tricks should work," Meowth added.

"What do you mean?" Officer Jenny asked, finished with her call. Any mention of their tricks immediately put her on guard.

James looked over at Ash. "Well, now that you're not going to try to stop us, nothing could mess us up!"

Jessie looked up at Nurse Joy. "Do you have a spare dress I could borrow?"

James nodded. "And I'll need one, too."

They all stared at him in shock. Officer Jenny sighed when Nurse Joy nodded with a smile. "I forgot these two have a penchant for costumes..."

"And cross-dressing," Brock said.

~*~*~*~*~

Roughly five minutes later, the old man stepped inside the pokemon center and went right up the desk, glancing around the empty waiting room as if he expected to see somebody. Instead his footsteps echoed eerily in the quiet room. "Hello? Nurse Joy, you in here?"

"Be right there!" Nurse Joy called, stepping out of her office. "Yes, what's the matter?"

"Didn't a bunch of kids come in here awhile ago?" he asked gruffly, trying to sneak a peek into her office.

"Oh, you mean the girl with the sick caterpie,"she nodded. "Yes, the poor thing had a pretty bad cold, but after a quick shot, it was all taken care of. It was a good thing she got it here so fast, or a lot of other pokemon could've gotten sick."

"Then...she really did have a sick caterpie?" he asked, shocked. He looked back over his shoulder at the door and realized that if he was wrong, Giovanni was going to thrash him instead of those kids.

"Mm-hmm," Nurse Joy nodded, amazed at her ability to lie so convincingly. "She left half an hour ago."

"She did?" His voice became noticeably worried.

"Yup, although I did think it was rather strange that she wanted to go out the back door. She were very nice, though." She tilted her head curiously at him. "Is there anything you needed? I still have patients to tend to."

On cue, a voice came from inside the office. "Settle down, Onix! You still need to get a shot!"

The old man's eyes widened when he recognized that pokemon, and he shook his head and left. Nurse Joy breathed a sigh of relief and went back inside the office. "Good thinking, Brock, that really scared him away."

"He won't attack us, will he?" James asked nervously from behind a white curtain.

"Nah, you're fine," Brock smiled proudly.

"But why are you still changing?" Ash asked. "I mean, if that guy's gone now--"

"The boss won't leave that easily," Jessie shook her head, helping James behind the curtain. They could only see their silhouettes. "He'll come in, and he's the one we have to convince."

"But how?" Misty asked.

James and Jessie suddenly pulled the curtain back, revealing them to be...exact Nurse Joy copies! Everyone looked back and forth between the imposters and the real Nurse Joy, and it was impossible to tell the difference.

"How on earth did you do that?" Officer Jenny cried.

"Yeah, especially you, James?" Ash asked. "You look just like her."

One of the Nurse Joys smiled and blushed with the flattery. "Oh, we're practiced at this sort of thing." He tried to take a step, though, and his legs started to shake under the strain.

Jessie quickly grabbed his hand and helped steady him. "I think it's best if you sit down," she said.

"Nurse Joy?!"

The two fake Nurse Joys froze when they heard that voice.

"It's him, it's him," James whimpered, leaning closer to Jessie.

"It's all right, relax," she ordered him. "I'll keep you safe." She looked around herself and grabbed a book off a shelf. "Here, pretend to study this and stay put."

"Ready?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Let's go," Jessie nodded.