Mallet vs. Whip

I paced nervously back and forth in the hospital waiting room, wringing my hands together.   “Do you think she’s gonna be ok?”  I asked Meowth.

            “Calm down and sit down, James.  It was just a little bump on da head.”

            I sat down.  I really didn’t know why I was so jumpy.  “I know…” I mumbled.

            We were referring to Jesse.  Earlier that day, we were all walking along a trail, trying to find the twerps.  I was complaining about how hot it was and about how we would probably lost.  She spun around and hit me with her mallet.  (I’m used to this abuse by now.)  “Shut up James!”  She shouted, “We’ll find our way.”  Just as she was turning back around, a Spinarak whizzed in front of her, causing her to loose her balance and fall.

            As the bug pokemon scurried away, Jesse landed on her head and went limp.  Meowth and I had to carry her to the nearest hospital.

            A doctor came out of Jesse’s room.  I stood up.  “Is she alright?”

            “Yes she’s ok, but I’m afraid she’s lost her memory,” he said in a deep, monotone voice.

            “You mean she’s got amnesia?”

            He nodded.  Meowth and I walked past him into the room.  Jesse was sitting up in a bed, a blank expression on her face. 

            “Jesse?”  I said.

            She blinked.  “That’s my name?  Oh.  I see.  Who are you?”

            She really was out of it.  “I’m James, of course your best friend.  And this is Meowth.”

            “Why am I best friends with a guy with blue hair?”

            “Um, I don’t know.”

            “Oh, well.  I believe you, I guess.  That’s an “r” on your shirt, right?”

            “Yes.”

            “What does it mean?”

            “It stands for Team Rocket.  Same as the “r” on your shirt.”

            “Oh!  I didn’t know I was part of a team!”  She exclaimed, looking over her uniform.  “What do we do?”

            “We are a group of pokemon stealing thieves.”

            “We steal?”

            “We try.”

            “Oh.  Well in that case,” she leaned forward and grabbed Meowth.  “I’m stealing this pokemon!”

            “Gahh!  Put me down, Jesse!” The cat shrieked. 

            “No, no Jess!  He’s on Team Rocket too.  He’s our friend.”

            “Oops, sorry about that,” she said to Meowth as she put him down.  “Do they all talk?”

            “No, just him.”

            “Why is that?”

            I explained to her all I could about Meowth’s past.  I told her some of mine, and all I knew about her own.  I answered question after question all day and into the evening.  When she finally ran out of questions and got tired, she said, “My but I lead a strange life!”

            I sighed that definitely wasn’t something Jesse would normally say. 

            It was that time of month.  It was time to call the boss and give him an excuse as to why we hadn’t stolen any pokemon.  This time, however, I had a real excuse.  I told him about Jesse’s amnesia.  She had been out of it for five days now.  She knew only what I told her.  The poor thing had no memories of  her own.

            The boss sat still and emotionless on the view screen.  “I have a solution to your problem,” he said in his deep voice. 

            “You do?” asked Meowth who was standing on my shoulder so as to see the screen.

            “Yes.  I’ll send you two a different partner.  If Jesse gets her memory back, then this new girl will be temporary.  If she does not, she is permanent.”

            I gulped.  “A new partner?  But…”

            He slammed his fist down on his desk.  “Don’t question me, man!  Give me your location and she will arrive tomorrow.”

            I nervously told him where we were and the screen cut off.  He scares me!  I just hoped this new girl was easier to deal with than he was!

            Meowth and I stayed at the pokemon center down the street from the hospital during the nights.  So after our talk with the boss we went to sleep there.

            In the morning, we went back to the hospital, and into Jesse’s room.  She was already awake. 

            “Hello!” She greeted us sweetly, which, again, wasn’t like her.  “I know you!  You’re the guy with blue hair whose supposed to be my best friend!  And the talking Meowth!  How are you?”  She hardly ever called me by my real name.  Even though I told her what it was countless times, I didn’t know if it was too much for her to remember.

            I sat down in a chair next to her bed.  “Jesse, the boss is sending me a temporary partner until you get better.  She will be arriving today.”  I just felt like she should know.

            “I see.  That’s fine,” she said without any emotion at all.

            “Well, I’m going to go get some breakfast Then I’ll come right back,” I promised.

            She nodded.  Just as I got out the door, I heard her voice.  “James?”

            She had used my name!  I stepped back in the room.  “Yes?”

            “Do you think I’ll ever really remember you?”

            I fought back tears.  “I sure hope so, Jess.  I hope so.”

            Meowth and I had decided that one of us should always try to stay with Jesse during the day.  So while I ate that morning, he stayed.  And when I returned, he left for a meal.

            It was during that time that when she arrived.  My new partner.  The door to the hospital room opened and in walked a woman with red hair and blue eyes, who was wearing a Team Rocket uniform.  “James, dear!” a familiar voice cried.

            I shrieked and dove under Jesse’s bed.  Jessibel!  She had joined Team Rocket!  Probably just to find me.  How low!

            “Who are you?”  I heard Jesse ask.

            “Well, well if it isn’t Jesse, amnesia’s latest victim.  I’m sorry about your condition.”

            “Yeah right,” I muttered.

            ”I’m Jessibel, James’ new partner in crime,” she continued.

            “My replacement?  Oh, yes!  Nice to meet you.”

            “’Nice to meet you’?  You really don’t remember me do you?”

            “Should I?”

            “Um, no.  Forget I ever mentioned it!” The witch said laughing.

            “Best friend?” Jesse called, “Why are you hiding? Be polite come say hi to your new partner.”

            If she were her normal self, she would never tell me to be polite.  We were Rockets!  But, just for her, I slowly crawled out into the open.

            Just then, Meowth walked in, but stopped short when saw Jessibel.   “Hey!” he shouted, “Ain’t you that lady James is supposed to marry?!”

            “Marry?”  Jesse was puzzled.

            “I’ll never marry her!  Not in a million years!”  I yelled.

            “We’ll discuss THAT later.  Right now, we’ve got pokemon to steal.”  Jessibel grabbed me.  “Meowth, you stay with the tramp-I mean, Jesse.  We’ll do the job today.”  She physically dragged me outside the hospital, and told me her plan.  She wanted to raid the pokemon center.  She didn’t see why we couldn’t break in the back way and just take all the pokemon we could.  “I’ll dress up as Nurse Joy just in case some one sees us,” Jessibel explained.

            “Wouldn’t it be better to do this around closing time?” I asked, “That way, if any one sees us, we could tell them we’re taking them for the evening inspection.”

            “Whatever you want, James Dear.  Meet me at the back of the pokemon center at 8:00 p.m.”  With that, Jessibel bounded happily down the street and headed to the hotel she was staying in.

            Glad to be rid of her for the time being, I went back to Jesse’s room.  Her face lit up as she saw me.  “Best friend guy!” She exclaimed, “Guess what!  I think I remembered something!”

            “Really?” I asked, hoping it was true.  “What is it?”

            “Well, it’s these strange words.  I have no idea what they mean or where they’re from.  Maybe you can tell me.  It’s: ‘To protect the world from devastation!’”

            “Jesse!  That’s our motto!”  I cried.

            “Our what?”

            “Our motto.  It’s what we say when we make our entrance.  We go back and forth and it rhymes.  Remember?”

            She blinked.  “I’m afraid not.  I just remembered those few words.”

            “Oh.  Well, it’s a start!”

            Meowth seemed happy too.  “Yeah!”

            I couldn’t believe I forgot to tell her about the motto.  I had mentioned the twerps, but I guess I just forgot that.

            I spent the rest of the day with Jesse.  At 8:00, I went to the pokemon center.  Jessibel was there, fully dressed out.  Pig-tail-loops and all.  She even had the little hat and apron.  Her hair was still red, however, not pink.  But hopefully, no one would see us at all. 

            Although I didn’t like doing my job with Jessibel, I have to hand it to her.  She made an exceptional criminal.  She broke the lock without sounding the alarm, and slipped in the building with ease; not making a single sound.  There we hundreds of pokeballs sitting on lots of racks.  We grabbed as many as we could at once, and put them in a large bag.  (Which, of course, I had to carry because she wanted me to be a gentleman.)  Soon, we emptied one complete rack.

            “This bag is heavy!” I whined.

            “Shhh!”  Jessibel hissed.

            Just then, a door to the main room opened and the real Nurse Joy walked into the room.  “I thought I heard something back here…Hey!  Who are you?  Eek!  The pokeballs!”

            Jessibel pulled out a small silver ball, and threw it down.  Smoke filled the room and we made our get away.

            “The police have probably been notified!”  She screamed at me as we ran down the street in the dark.  We ducked into an alley.  There was the sound of thunder.  A storm was gathering.

            I put the heavy sack of pokeballs down on the ground, breathing hard.  Suddenly, Jessibel was standing in front of me with a whip.  My eyes widened.  “Oh no!” I thought, “Her whip!”  She had frequently used it on me when we were young.  Usually just for the fun of it.  But this time, she was mad.

            “We almost had it!  It’s all your fault!  Now the police are sure to find us!”  She raised her weapon in the air. 

            I ducked just in time and began running down the street, Jessibel at my heels.  She cracked her whip as we went, just barley missing me sometimes. 

            Soon I began to tire, but she, running ever so properly, did not.  The witch was gaining on me.  Suddenly, I was aware of some one running next to me, but it was too dark to see who it was.  Jessibel, behind me and now very close, raised her whip for a sure-fire hit.  The mystery person slammed into my side, causing us both to go tumbling.  The blow missed me!  But it hit whoever it was. 

            Jessibel stopped running and stared at the two of us lying on the ground.  I pushed myself up to try and see who my rescuer was.  Just then, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky.  It was Jesse!  Pain filled the expression on her face as she held her shoulder.  I couldn’t believe it!  Then something occurred to me.  “Jesse!” I cried, “You’re outside the hospital!  And you under stood what was going on!  Do you have your memory back?!”

            Her beautiful, blue eyes looked up at me.  “Yes.”

            “But how?”

            “I’ll explain later.”  Jesse stood up, one hand still clutching her shoulder.  I stood behind her.  “No.  One,” she began, “Messes.  With.  My.  Partner.  But.  Me!!”  Each word had a great deal of force in it.

            Whoa.  I never knew Jesse had that in her.

            Jessibel gave her an evil smirk.  “That’s what YOU think!”  She raised her arm with the whip in it.  Jesse, moving faster that I’ve ever seen her move before, grabbed her hand and tore the whip from it.  “Hey!” Jessibel shrieked give that back!”

            Jesse turned and tossed it to me.  “Make sure she doesn’t get that back.”

            I nodded and stuck the handle of it in my back pocket.  She turned back to the witch and pulled a huge mallet out of nowhere.  “This is MY style!”  She shouted, raising it high above her head.

            Jessibel screamed and took off down the street.  We were not to be bothered by her again.  Now she was afraid of Jesse.  (I would be too, if I was her!)

            Jesse laughed put away her mallet.  Then she turned and faced me.  “You okay?”

            “Me?  I’m fine!  How about you?” I asked, worried.

            Her hand went back up to her bloody shoulder.  I will be okay.  Let’s get back to the hospital and get this bandaged up.”  She turned and walked in that direction.

            I ran up beside her and took her hand, smiling at her.  “How did you come out of your amnesia?”  I was still curious about that.  “And how did you know to come help me?”

            “Well, I was sitting in bed thinking about the words I remembered, and trying to think of the rest of the motto.  I couldn’t remember and decided to sleep on it.  While I was lying down, I hit my head on the headboard.  Suddenly, my memories just came flooding back.  A second bump was just what I needed.

I knew you were out with Jessibel.  Remembering who she was, and our last encounter with her I figured you’d probably need help in some way.  Ha!  Was I right!  I was heading to the pokemon center when I saw her chasing you down the street.  Really, I didn’t have a plan in mind, I just started running beside you.  You know the rest.”

I was surprised that Jesse would actually come to help me in the first place.  Surprised, but glad.  “Thank you,” I said.  She didn’t need to ask for what.  She knew.

            We walked, hand in hand, back to the hospital.  I had to wait in a tree out side of it though.  Jesse said that the police would most likely be looking for me, and that I would get caught by some one if I went in.  So I hid in the tree while she went inside to be bandaged up.

Soon, however the lightning and thunder started up again, this time accompanied by rain.  So a tree was not the safest place to be.  “I sure hope she hurries,” I thought as I got drenched.

In a few minutes Jesse came bursting out the main door.  “James!” she shouted when she got to me, “Get out of there!  You want to get fried or some thing?!”

I climbed down.  “You told me to hide there!”  I argued.

“Not if there’s lightning!  I thought you had more sense than that!  Guess I should have known better.  Any way, I can’t find Meowth.  After my shoulder was wrapped, I looked for him.  He wasn’t in the my room, or the lobby, or anywhere.”

“Well, we’ll have to look for him tomorrow.  Right now let’s get out of this rain!”

“Where are we supposed to go?  You’ll be found in any public building.”

She had a good point.  I got an idea.  “We’ll just have to disguise ourselves.”

We changed into more normal clothes.  I wore sunglasses and Jesse put her hair in a little bun.  We decided that going to the pokemon center was too risky, and so was the hospital.  So we went to a hotel only to find that it was the busy season, and all the rooms were full.  My partner looked around the downstairs floor.  “Couldn’t we sleep here in the lobby?” She asked the employee at the front desk.  “We would pay normal price.”  I was a bit surprised hearing that come from Jesse. 

“Well,” he said, “normally it would be against the rules, but I guess it’s alright because of the storm.  Just this once.”

Jesse paid him.  There was one couch, which, of course, she took.  I seated myself in one of the armless chairs that lined the wall.  After slumping down a bit and stretching my legs out, I went to sleep.

In the morning, I woke up to find Jesse’s head on my lap.  The rest of her body was stretched out over the row of chairs.  She had taken the bun out of her hair, and now it was back in its usual position. 

Wow.  She had really eased up from her usual cold, hard, self.  I guessed that it was the whole amnesia thing mixed with the Jessibel experience that did it.

Jesse wasn’t the only thing that had eased up.  The storm had vanished.  The sun was shining bright threw the double glass doors.  I knew it was time to move on.

To wake her up, I gently kissed Jesse on the cheek.  That was a first timer for me.  With her anyway. 

She stirred, opened her eyes, and sat up.  After blinking a few times, she realized where she had been sleeping.  “Oh my gosh!  James, I’m sorry.  I guess I just-“

I covered her mouth.  “It’s okay,” I said softly.

“Der you guys are!” A voice suddenly interrupted us.  “I’ve been looking every where for ya!”  It was Meowth.  He had just walked into the hotel.  “Come on!  The twerps just went through the town.  We’ve gotta catch up wit’ dem.”

Jesse and I each nodded in agreement.

While changing back into me Team Rocket uniform, I discovered Jessibel’s whip, which I had wrapped up with my clothes. 

As soon as the three of us left the hotel, I struck a match and burned the whip to ash.  Jesse and I smiled at each other as we all got into our hot air balloon and prepared for another day together.

The End