Chapter Text
The old Pokeball factory looked like it was falling apart just from seeing it on the outside. When the truck stopped and the Machamp threw Jessie over his shoulder and carried her out, she stared at the building with a sinking heart. This time there would be so many ways to see to the death and have it actually work. She wasn't going to give up by any stretch of the imagination, but she could see it didn't look good.
"I wonder if we should film this," Bonnie giggled. "Show the boss that we've absolutely done it."
"I'm going to," Clyde sneered.
"Oh great," Jessie muttered. "My humiliating death will be on Team Rocket Camera."
They went through a side door and up a flight of stairs, emerging onto a metal balcony on the factory's upper level. "Here we go," Clyde said. "This should be the perfect place for you to have your swan song."
"You know," Bonnie drawled, "you look just like James did before Clyde bludgeoned him to death. That fear in your eyes, that defiance. . . . That crazy belief that you're somehow gonna make it out of this. . . ." She smirked. "That tree branch you found really did have James' blood on it. I snuck into the police department and altered the test results."
Jessie glowered at her. "Then James isn't dead," she retorted. "You would have only altered the results to make us think he hadn't made it to shore when he did!"
"He'll be dead soon, just like you're going to be," Bonnie countered.
Jessie snarled as the Machamp set her down with one set of arms and reached for a heavy hook with the other. He slipped it through the restraining ring and signaled to Clyde to pull its controlling lever on the wall and lift Jessie off the floor.
"You're not going to succeed with this!" Jessie insisted. "You're making the fatal mistake of underestimating me! Not to mention James!"
"There's nothing to underestimate." Clyde grabbed for the lever.
"Excuse me, but would you like to bet on that?"
Everyone looked up with a jerk. Standing in a window high above them, holding his trademark rose, was James. No disguises, no modified voices---just James, without a shadow of a doubt.
Jessie's heart filled with joy and relief and amazement all at once. "James," she whispered. Even though she had come to believe the boy in the cafe was her best friend, and even though Bonnie had just admitted he was alive, it wasn't like seeing him for real and knowing he really was alive.
James leaped onto another hook and swung down to the balcony. "You'll pay for what you tried to do!" he vowed. When he drew closer, he threw the rose and it scratched Clyde's hand.
Clyde growled. "Where did you learn a move like that?!"
"I saw it in some old Japanese anime," James shrugged. He unhooked Jessie from the other cable and popped the restraining hoop open.
Jessie gazed at him in awe, still trying to believe what was happening. There was no real time to reunite right now; they had to somehow defeat Bonnie, Clyde, and the Machamp. All she really had time for was the look of happiness in her eyes. When James passed her a Pokeball, she turned and smirked at their enemies.
"Alright, you clowns," she said. "Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double," James added, but Jessie didn't hear him as Arbok emerged from the Pokeball.
"This should be a snap," Bonnie grinned. "Both of you are right where we want you. Your Pokemon are no threat to our Machamp."
Jessie had to admit with a sinking heart that it was probably true. The Machamp had defeated four Pokemon right before she had been taken captive. Still, she said, "We'll see about that! Arbok, Wrap Attack!"
"Machamp, Dynamic Punch!" Bonnie countered.
Machamp lunged and punched the cobra before he could strike. Arbok flew over the balcony with a shriek and just barely caught hold of the railing with his tail.
"Alright, Weezing!" James called. "Smoke Screen! Victreebel, Razor Leaf!"
"I tried both of those and they didn't work," Jessie sighed as Weezing's Smoke Screen filled the warehouse.
"Well, it never hurts to try again," James said sheepishly.
Machamp snarled. Two of the Razor Leaves had hit their mark.
"What's happening?!" Clyde exclaimed.
"I'd say Machamp isn't invincible," Jessie smirked. "By the way, where's Lickitung?"
"I'm not sure," James admitted. "He didn't come with us. He may have gone to tell Meowth what was happening."
"And Meowth's here!" a familiar Brooklyn voice exclaimed.
"Oh no," Bonnie moaned. "I thought that fleabag was dead!"
"Machamp," Machamp frowned.
Jessie and James both peered over the railing in stunned shock. "Twerps?" James blinked.
"That's right!" Ash called, waving a fist. Meowth emerged from his backpack.
"Tung!" Lickitung announced, coming up next to Ash.
"Meowth, you're supposed to be in bed!" Jessie cried.
"I couldn't stay there when I found out what was happening!" Meowth retorted. Ash, Misty, and Brock ran up the metal stairs to the balcony, Lickitung chasing after them with all his might.
By now the Smoke Screen was mostly gone. Machamp turned to face the new threat, menacingly stepping forward with all four fists clenched.
"Get them, Machamp," Bonnie ordered.
"Staryu, Starmie, Water Gun!" Misty called.
The starfish leaped into action, blasting Machamp with their Water Guns. Meowth sprang forward while he was distracted. "Fury Swipes!" He smirked as he jumped down with claws bared. Machamp now bore the evidence of Meowth's handiwork.
"And of course, Pikachu," Ash grinned. "Thunderbolt!"
Clyde decided that with everyone distracted by the battle against the Machamp, it was a great time to get rid of Jessie, primitive as the method may be. He lunged without warning and attempted to throw her over the railing.
Jessie immediately snapped to and snatched Clyde, lifting him over her shoulder with a judo toss. Clyde screamed in terror, seizing the railing before he could fall.
Bonnie scowled. "Bulbasaur, get him up with a Vine Whip," she ordered.
"Bulbasaur," said her Bulbasaur.
As it moved to save Clyde, Bonnie grabbed for Jessie now. "You know, parting's such sweet sorrow," she drawled. "Except in a case like this."
"Get your hands off of me!" Jessie cried. She moved to throw Bonnie as she had Clyde, but before she could, Clyde leaped back on the balcony and took hold of her from the other side.
"Not this time," he said. "This is goodbye for you . . . ow!" Jessie had just bitten him, while James had pulled Bonnie away.
"Let her go!" James snapped. He flung Bonnie to the balcony floor and lunged at Clyde.
"Don't forget Meowth!" The cat sprang on Bonnie and delivered another Fury Swipes before she could get up and try again.
"Oh!" Bonnie screamed. "You horrible thing! Get away from me!" She took hold of Meowth's tail and flung him far while he yowled.
Jessie caught him.
"Whew, nice save," Meowth said in relief, looking up at her.
"We're a team, aren't we?" Jessie smiled at him.
A crash brought their attention to the balcony. James and Clyde were struggling to gain the upper hand, with Clyde determined to throw James over the railing and James just as determined not to go. With hatred flaming in his eyes, Clyde seized James' shoulders and viciously banged him against the railing. "Why won't you just die already?!" he shouted. "You must have nine lives just like your cat!"
James didn't answer. The old wound had struck the hard metal and was bleeding through the bandage on his forehead. Dazed and hurt, he started to slip to the balcony floor. Clyde sneered, moving to kick him through the opening to the floor below.
"No!" Jessie screamed. She and Meowth tackled Clyde at the same moment, with Meowth scratching his face and Jessie bringing him to the balcony floor. Not letting him up, she instead delivered a violent punch, then another. "You're not going to hurt us anymore!"
Farther along on the balcony, the Machamp was finally defeated too, from a combination of the younger kids' attacks. He growled now, sinking to his knees and then to the balcony floor.
"Alright!" Ash cheered. "Yeah!" He ran past the Machamp to get to Team Rocket.
Jessie was still pounding on Clyde, who had already fallen into unconsciousness. Meowth was over by James, who was laying in a stupor on the balcony floor.
"Jim?!" Meowth shook James on the shoulder. "Jim, hey! Come on, stay with me now!"
The cat's frantic voice finally got through to Jessie and she turned to take in the scene. "James?!" She leaped up, forgetting her vengeance and running to James' side. “James! James, can you hear me?” She pulled him gently into her arms.
James blinked and his eyes cleared for a brief moment. “You’re . . . the girl from the outdoor cafe,” he said softly.
Jessie’s eyes filled with tears at that pronouncement. “James . . . you don’t know me, do you?” During the fight, she had let herself believe otherwise, but it had just been one of her foolish dreams again. Meowth was right---amnesia victims rarely ever regained their memories. She would have to be thankful that James had helped her without even remembering her. It was the most she could have hoped for under the circumstances.
But James smiled, taking Jessie’s hand in his own. “Yes, I do. . . . I know you . . . Jessie.” With that his eyes closed again and he fell limp in her arms.
Jessie's heart dropped. “James! Speak to me, James!” she frantically wailed. “Say something!” Somewhere outside, the police sirens wailed as well, but Jessie paid them no heed. All of her energy was focused on pleading for James to awaken. With care she laid him back on the balcony floor.
"What happened?!" Ash gasped. He stood stock still, staring at the scene.
"It was Bonnie and Clyde all along," Jessie said weakly. "Clyde was trying to throw me over the balcony and James ran over to stop him. Then they started fighting. . . . I beat Clyde up, but James . . . I don't know what happened to James. . . . I think he hit his head again. . . ."
Misty swallowed hard. "Is he . . . ?"
Jessie didn't answer. Instead she reached for the red rose, which was lying on the floor near the lever. "James always loved roses," she whispered. Gently she pressed it into James' hand and brought James' hands onto his chest. "James . . . you came back to me once. Don't leave again already. Please . . . wake up. . . ."
For a moment there was silence. Then James stirred and weakly opened his eyes. "Jessie?"
Jessie gazed at him in awe. "James . . . you scared me so much. . . ." She bent down, hugging him close. "I'm sorry. . . . I'm so sorry. . . ."
Surprised, James returned the hug. "For what?"
"For hurting you when you were only trying to keep me and Meowth safe," Jessie replied. "I never should have punched you. . . ."
"It's alright, Jessie," James said quietly. "I forgave you back when it happened."
Jessie sobbed, clutching him close.
Misty sighed in relief. "Well, it's a happy ending after all," she said.
"Pika-Pika!" Pikachu beamed.
"Yeah, except for these two," Brock said, looking at Bonnie and Clyde.
"The boss ain't gonna be happy they were actin' against his orders," Meowth said.
Misty looked thoughtful. "I wonder what restored James' memory, though?"
"Maybe it was like those cartoons when getting knocked on the head a second time does it," Ash suggested.
But Brock shook his head. "No. . . . I think he remembered before that. I think it was his love for Jessie and Meowth that brought him back."
Meowth tilted his head to the side. "Eh, it's kinda mushy, but hey, maybe you're right." He turned away, not wanting Brock to see how touched he really was by that idea. He beamed, limping over to his friends. "Welcome back, Jim," he said as he scrambled up and hugged James from the side.
James pulled Meowth into the hug too. "We're all safe and sound," he said. "Just as it should be."
"Just as it should be," Jessie repeated in awe.
"And we're all happy about it," Ash proclaimed.
James looked to him in surprise. "Thank you, for everything you did to help. . . ."
"Hey," Ash shrugged, "we might be enemies, but there's no reason why we can't call a truce when we need to. We didn't want you to be hurt or dead."
James slowly nodded. "Well, thank you anyway."
"James . . ." Jessie pulled back, regarding him curiously. "When did you remember?"
"Actually . . ." James rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not sure. I never forgot that you and Meowth were special to me, even though I couldn't remember for a while what you looked like. But then I started thinking you were . . . well, you when we met at the cafe earlier today."
"I knew that was you," Jessie said. "Well, not at the time, but later."
James smiled a bit before continuing. "And then when I heard you while I was running down the sidewalk, I remembered that was your voice. . . ."
"What?" Jessie stared at him. "When did you hear me while you were running down the sidewalk?"
"When I was trying to get to the Pokemon Center after finding out about Meowth being beaten up," James said. "I heard you say you hoped I hadn't been caught too. But I couldn't find you anywhere around. . . ."
Jessie didn't know what to make of this. "I did say that," she said. "But I was locked in Bonnie's truck and I wasn't speaking above a whisper. There's no way you could have heard me."
James looked weirded out too. "Then . . . how could I know what you said?"
Jessie shook her head. "I don't know. . . ."
"Everything started to trickle back after that point," James said. "By the time I reached the factory, I remembered it all."
"Well . . . however it happened, I'm just so glad you're back," Jessie said softly.
"So am I," James smiled.
Down below, the door burst open and Officer Jenny ran in. "What's going on in here?!"
"Wow, that sure took a long time," Ash blinked.
"Traffic was bad," Jenny explained as she climbed the metal stairs to the balcony. "And I got a strange email from my sister about something that happened three days ago. She's the Officer Jenny for a town around the side of the mountain."
James oddly stiffened.
Misty was confused. "Oh? What happened three days ago?"
"It seems that someone dressed up as the city's Nurse Joy and ran off in an ambulance." Jenny held up a printed copy of a newspaper article. "Vehicles were making way for her to pass and she eventually escaped, but she was captured on tape by one amateur cameraman."
Brock stared at the picture. "How could anyone believe that is Nurse Joy?!" he exclaimed. "This person has none of the charm of the real Nurse Joy!"
Ash blinked in bewilderment. "How can you tell that just from a picture? She looks like Nurse Joy to me."
"That's not even a she!" Brock retorted.
Misty raised an eyebrow. "She's hunched over the steering wheel. How can you tell that?!"
"Those eyes," Brock insisted. "They're not the beautiful, soft, caring, feminine eyes of a Nurse Joy. They're the wide and panicked eyes of a man running for his life!"
"Okay, so she looks scared," Misty consented. "I still don't get how you can tell it's a guy."
Jenny looked amused. "Well, he's right. That is a guy." She sobered as she continued, "My sister also told a story told to her by that town's Nurse Joy. She had a human patient who dressed up as her to escape two assassins that broke into the Pokemon Center to kill him."
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "Oh really."
"Two assassins who match the descriptions of these two!" Jenny sharply looked to the dazed Bonnie and Clyde.
Now all eyes turned to James. It was the first time Jenny had really had a clear look at him since arriving. "You really are alive, like the kids said," she realized.
"Alive and kickin'!" Meowth grinned.
"I started to think as much after hearing my sister's story," Jenny said. "Nurse Joy was sure that her patient was James from Team Rocket, although he wasn't sure since he had amnesia."
Brock immediately looked to James in indignation. "You!" he exclaimed. "This is you!" He pointed at the printed picture. "I can't believe you thought you could get away with pretending to be Nurse Joy!"
James blinked in surprise, then smirked. "Well, I got away with it, since I didn't run into you. Actually, I thought I made a rather dashing Nurse Joy." He flipped his hair and winked.
"Well, you're back to normal," Jessie remarked.
"According to Nurse Joy, you didn't fool those assassins," Jenny said. "You finally had to escape by jumping through the window and taking the ambulance!"
"They were familiar with me," James said. "No one else seemed suspicious!"
"You broke a window?!" Brock cried. "I hope you're planning to fix that for Nurse Joy!"
James jumped. "With what money?!"
"The window's already been taken care of," Jenny said. "Under the circumstances, Nurse Joy isn't angry. She just wanted to make sure the person she helped was okay."
"Hmph," Misty said. "If you'd had this information sooner, maybe you would have listened to our story. Why didn't your sister tell you about it sooner?"
"The email got buried under other announcements," Jenny said. She sighed. "But I am sorry. I wish I'd seen it sooner too. My sister and that Nurse Joy thought he might possibly come to this town. They were right. And you kids were too."
Pikachu nodded. "Pikachu."
Bonnie started to stir. "Oh no. . . . The law's caught up with us," she moaned, catching sight of Officer Jenny.
Jessie looked over. "That's right!" She looked to Jenny with flashing eyes. "Charge them with attempted murder."
Jenny came closer with handcuffs for Bonnie and Clyde. "I'm going to. And I'll need everyone to give their statements, of course."
"Oh, we'd be happy to," Jessie said. "Later."
"Of course," Jenny said. "Just as long as you make sure to come in. You have to be there to press charges."
"I'm sure the boss has plans of his own in mind for them," Jessie said under her breath. She doubted they would be in jail for very long. She could see Giovanni bailing them out only to deliver a far harsher punishment of his own. But then again, they really didn't know him that well, nor did they know what became of anyone who deliberately acted without his orders. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.
Jenny looked to James as she handcuffed the dazed Bonnie. "And you'd better get that wound checked out," she warned. "It's bleeding again."
"Oh. Yes, I will," James nodded.
"You and Meowth should both be resting," Jessie grunted.
"We will," Meowth said.
"Well, you need to go back to the Pokemon Center," Misty said.
"It'll be strange stayin' there tonight," Meowth mused.
"She's right, though," Jessie said. "After what you and James have been through, we can't be sleeping on park benches or slides."
"I hope Nurse Joy won't be too upset about me flyin' the coop," Meowth said.
Ash cringed. "Ah, if she knows, she probably won't be too happy. . . ."
"But I wanna stay in the room with you and James," Meowth said to Jessie, "not all alone in that hospital bed kinda room!"
"We'll see," Jessie said. She tried to hold a gruff expression, but it melted into fondness as she looked from Meowth to James. They were all together again, just as they should be, and just as she had feared would never happen.
Officer Jenny hauled the crooks up, reading them their rights as they headed down the metal stairs. The Team Rocket trio and Ash's group followed after them, exiting the factory as friends . . . at least for the time being.