Disclaimer: All Pokemon characters are copyrighted by Nintendo. No permission has been given to use their names. Exceptions: The characters of Team Rocket agents Billy, Annie, and Seth are my creations. P.S.- Despite the mention of it in this story, to the best of my knowledge there is no branch of Team Rocket that wears red uniforms.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This story refers to events and characters in my previous fan fiction "Criminal" and is set after the events in "Criminal". For purposes of clarity, I would highly recommend reading "Criminal" (Or at least Chapters Five: The New Partners and Six: James and the Red Rocket) before reading this story.

Revenge

By Allan North

Chapter One: The Promotion

"Ah, payday." Jessie said as she and James walked to the headquarters payroll office. "Payment for a job well done." she said, smiling at James.

James nodded and returned the smile. "Aren't we lucky our contract says we get paid no matter what?" he said with a chuckle.

"I'll say." Jessie replied. "If our pay was dependent on our catching Pikachu, I don't know what we'd do."

"That's easy. We'd starve." James said lightly. The couple approached the payroll window and received the envelopes containing their paychecks. Jessie excitedly ripped hers open as they walked away.

"Can you believe it?" she growled. "They're deducting half the cost of the repair of the balloon from my check!"

James casually opened his with his pocketknife and pulled out his check. "Mine too" he said, annoyed. Suddenly, a red slip fell out of the envelope.

"What's that?" Jessie asked curiously.

"I dunno." James replied, looking at the slip on the floor. "Did you get one?"

Jessie checked her envelope. "No." James shrugged and picked up the slip. As he unfolded it and read it, his eyes suddenly shot wide open. "What? What is it?" Jessie asked. James simply looked at her without a word and handed her the slip. Jessie read the words, her eyes getting wider than James' eyes while she read.

"Attention James (Agent 253): You have been promoted to the rank of Red Rocket. You are to report to Base Training Camp Delta. A transport will meet you at Viridian City HQ at 1200 hours on Thursday. Be ready. Congratulations." At the bottom was Giovanni's barely legible, yet very recognizable, signature.

Jessie lowered the slip. Her face registered total and complete disbelief. "How- How could you get promoted like this? White straight to Red? Impossible. It has to be a mistake... a computer error or something."

James nodded. "I know. This can't be for real. I mean, I'm not even up for a promotion. But how do we find out?"

Jessie rolled her eyes. Could James really be that thick? "Simple." she began. "We go to the boss. He'll tell us it's a mistake, and he'll reward us for catching it before it got too far."

James smiled and nodded, hiding his minor disappointment. It would have been nice to be promoted, but he couldn't stand the thought of having to leave Jessie behind. His thoughts were broken as he and Jessie started to walk toward Giovanni's office.

Jessie and James approached the large oak doors and knocked. As always, the gruff voice of Giovanni grunted through the door for them to come in. Jessie and James walked in nervously. Giovanni looked at them coldly. "Yes?" he asked, not quite as irritably as he usually sounded.

"Well, sir, I was getting my paycheck and this was in my envelope." James said, holding up the red slip.

"And what of it?" Giovanni snapped.

"Well, we thought it might be a mistake, sir." Jessie said. "I mean, James is a White Rocket, and the slip says he's being promoted to Red."

"I realize that. There's no mistake." Giovanni replied.

Jessie and James' mouths both dropped open. "There- there's not?" James stammered. "But-"

"But what?" Giovanni replied angrily. "I've given you a very generous promotion. Are you saying you don't want it?"

"Well, uh, no, sir... It's just that... Well, what about Jessie?" He looked over at Jessie, who for a change seemed to be beyond words.

"What about her? She was not promoted." Giovanni said simply.

"Why not?" Jessie asked meekly.

"Because it's not what I wanted!" Giovanni snapped.

"Well, sir, it's just that- it's just that-" James began, trying desperately to force out the words.

"What?"

"Well... I don't want to leave Jessie behind." James said humbly.

Giovanni's eyes narrowed to slits. "You have been promoted! There will be a transport here for you in two days! You have your orders, and unless you are more stupid than I thought, you will not question them!" he bellowed.

James lowered his head and sadly nodded. "Yes, sir." he said quietly. He and Jessie turned to leave. Once they were in the hallway, James turned to face Jessie. He looked into her eyes, which held a lost, sad look. His lip trembled as he rested his head on her shoulder. "Jess, how could this happen?" he asked her, unable to look in her eyes.

Jessie held him for a minute, than lifted his head so she could look at his face. James could tell that she was holding back a lot of emotions. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling, and looked at James with hope in her eyes. They had been through being separated once before, and it had made them both realize they love they had for one another. Perhaps this too would make them stronger, but... to have James so far away.... she shook off these thoughts and started to speak in what she hoped was an optimistic voice. "Oh, it'll be all right, James... We won't be separated forever... I'm sure we'll still be able to see each other..." Jessie only wished she was able to fully believe what she was saying.

"I hope so.. Oh, God, I hope so..." James replied. The couple walked back to their quarters to begin making the preparations for James to leave.

The next day flew by in a blur as the couple packed up some of James' belongings for the trip. His new Red uniform arrived, and James tried it on, hating the way it looked on him. Actually, he hated a lot of things about the whole deal. He hated the new uniform, he hated the limited amount of things he could take, he hated having to uproot his life, and most of all he hated having to leave Jessie, even if it would be only for a while. he tried to tell himself that they'd be back together after he completed his training, but he knew the odds of a Red Rocket being teamed with a White Rocket were slim to none, even though it had happened before.

He shuddered as he remembered when he and Jessie had been forcibly split up and he had been teamed with a Red Rocket named Annie. Annie had hated him from the start, a hate that intensified terribly when James had managed to botch a supposedly perfect mission. He had no idea what had happened to Annie after that, nor had he bothered to try to check. She was an experience that he wanted desperately to forget. James could only hope that the other Red agents wouldn’t be like her, that there would be nicer, kinder Red Rockets out there who would be closer to his own mentality.

James tried to push the memories of Annie out of his mind as he and Jessie silently packed his suitcase, only occasionally talking when they would run across a souvenir from their past together. At these moments, they would talk happily, reliving the moment, but then it would be over. James knew that Jessie wanted to break down and cry and tell him not to leave, but every time he tried to ask her, she simply looked at him and said to do what was best for himself. He wouldn’t be any better off if he defied Giovanni, and Jessie knew it.

When James’ suitcase was almost full, Jessie started to close the lid. "Hold on, Jess." James said. He walked to his dresser, and picked up a picture in a frame, a picture of him as a child with his pet Growlie. He then crossed over to his bedside table and picked up another picture in a frame, a picture of himself and Jessie standing back to back in their Team Rocket uniforms. These two pictures were his most prized possessions, more valuable to him than his family fortune or any wealth he could steal. They were worth more to him than even his ultimate dream of becoming the world’s greatest (if not most honest) Pokemon master. "I can’t leave without these." he said. Jessie smiled at him, and lifted the lid. James tried to lay the pictures side by side, but realized that they would never fit in the suitcase together. There was only room for one picture. James sighed, and picked up the frame holding the picture of him and Growlie.

"Jessie, will you do me a favor and keep this picture for me? I don’t want to leave it alone in my room while I’m gone."

Jessie smiled at him as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "Of course I will, James. It’ll be my pleasure."

James looked at the picture and saw his own face, albeit much younger, smiling broadly up at him. He had been so happy then, before Jessebelle, before running away... He smiled and said softly to the picture, "Take good care of Jessie, now, Growlie. Keep an eye on her, all right?" He passed the frame to Jessie, who took it and held James’ hand in hers for a minute before letting him go. She looked into his eyes, so full of goodness and love, and made a silent decision. It was time.

Silently, she let go of his hand and he placed the picture of the two of them into the suitcase. Jessie stood back, clutching the picture across her chest, as James shut the suitcase and clicked the locks into place. He sat the suitcase on the floor and looked at the clock. It was 10:00 at night. Meowth had been sadly helping them pack up James’ things, but he had fallen asleep from exhaustion about an hour and a half ago. At the moment, he was curled up in a corner, mumbling in his sleep. James put his arm around Jessie’s shoulder and looked at the sleeping form of Meowth.

Jessie looked up at James. She hoped she could say what she wanted to. "You know James, this is the last time we’ll see each other for a while, with you leaving tomorrow... why don’t you sleep in my quarters with me? We won’t wake up Meowth, and you can hold me tonight." James smiled at the thought. They had fallen asleep together a few times, and he loved the feeling of falling asleep holding her. It was simply the greatest feeling in the world.

"I’d love to, Jess." he replied. James gently put a small blanket over Meowth, who rolled over and purred. Jessie and James chuckled as they turned out the light and walked across the hall to Jessie’s quarters.

Jessie unlocked the door and the two of them walked in together. Jessie turned on the lights and closed the door behind them. She turned to face James, looking directly into his eyes. She had dreamed of this moment, of what she was about to do, for so long. Without a word, she threw her arms around James and kissed him. James melted into the kiss, and held Jessie close. After a moment, she led James over the bed, sitting down with him on the fluffy pink blanket. She looked deep into his eyes. "James, I love you so much." she said softly.

"And I love you." James said, taking off his gloves. This was something Jessie always insisted on... being held by James’ own strong hands.

Jessie looked at James with a soft glow in her eyes. "James?"

"Yes?"

"I- I don’t even know how to say this..." she began.

"It’s all right, Jess... just let it out, whatever it is." James replied.

"Well, I- I want you to do something for me before you go." she said, staring into his deep, loving eyes.

"Anything, Jess." James said honestly.

Jessie closed her eyes and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Make love to me, James. I- I know you want to wait, and I know you never have before, but... but... I need you to, I- I really want to before you leave and I lose the chance for a while." She looked up at James, not sure what kind of a response to expect.

James looked at her, deeply in love. He had always planned on waiting till later with Jessie, saving this special act for the day when they knew that they would be together forever, but never before had any time ever seemed so right. "Oh, Jessica... I- I would love to." He tried to say more, but the words couldn’t come. He wrapped his bare hands around her, and kissed her.

That night was the most special night the two of them had ever had. James made love to Jessie slowly, gently, and passionately. Two hours later, the two of them drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms, each one living only for the feel of the other’s bare skin against theirs.
Revenge Chapter Two: Base Camp Delta