Disclaimer: Hellooooo disclaimer! Pokemon is owned by Game Freak, Nintendo, Creatures, etc. Seleca "Rose" is me, ur... is mine. Yup.
Primary Colors II: Battle Flags
Chapter One
By: Sforzie
"Whee-hee-hee-hee!" Meowth howled as he gripped the steering wheel of Team Rocket's rental car. "I've always wanted to drive one of these things!"
"Meowth, slow down!" Jessie screamed at him from the back seat. She was gripping the back of the seat, and James was gripd James was gripping her arm.
"Jessie, I don't like Meowth's driving!" James wailed.
"Slow down!"
"Alright, alright!" Meowth said, slamming on the breaks. Both humans tumbled forward. Jessie ended up in the front seat, still tangled in the back seat's seatbelt.
"That wasn't exactly what I meant," she muttered into the dashboard.
"Oh well, I'm driving," Meowth purred. He stretched and pressed on the gas pedal again.
"This is worse than the airplane!" James cried from the back seat.
"They wouldn't let me fly the airplane," Meowth said.
"We know."
"Are you implying that letting me fly the plane would have meant our certain deaths?"
"Yes," Jessie said, smoothing her hair.
"Good," Meowth smirked. He slowed the car again as they neared the main gate of James' parents' estate.
"It's bigger than I remembered," Jessie whispered, leaning to get a better look. After James' prompt she climbed back into the back seat of the cart of the car.
"Still as scary as I remember," James sighed. Meowth and Jessie nodded in agreement. Jessie hunkered down in the seat as the car approached the gate.
Meowth hit the button on the car door that made the window roll down. The guard leaned in closer and looked at Meowth with mild surprise.
"Sir, do you have a driver's license?" the guard asked.
"No, I don't," Meowth said smugly. "The state says that I don't have to."
The guard looked somewhat surprised that Meowth could talk, let alone drive. He cleared his throat, his hand trailing down to his belt. Jessie's fingers twitched when she noticed the gun there. James seemed to take no notice, as he was staring dumbly forward.
"What are your reasons for entering these grounds?" the guard asked. Meowth motioned behind him to James.
"I'm escorting a Mr. James onto the premises, sir. He wishes to see his parents."
"Voluntarily this time, I'm sure," the guard said doubtfully. He leaned further into the window and looked as James. "Mr. James doesn't look like he wants to talk to his parents."
James forced a smile and waved at the guard. "Absolutely thrilled to be here, sir," he said, his voice a little higher than it should have been. The guard looked thoughtful for a moment, seeming not to notice Jessie.
"Shall I have his parents notified of his arrival?" the guard asked.
"Sure," Meowth said, then added jokingly: "It'll give them more time to prepare the dungeon." Both Meowth and the guard chuckled, and the car was waved through the gates.
James swallowed nervously as the car started down the long driveway. Jessie released her grip on his upper leg and James sighed loudly.
"I wish you wouldn't encourage them about the dungeon!" James said, his voice returning to normal.
"I wonder how Growly's doing," James said thoughtfully as they passed the dog-house.
"We should probably taking him with us this time," Jessie said.
"Yeah," James sighed in agreement. "I wish we didn't have to do this."
"Well," Jessie said brightly, patting James' leg, "the sooner we start, the sooner we can get it over and done with."
James smiled. "You're right."
"Hey, cut the mushy stuff back there," Meowth called, "I'm trying to park."
Meowth did manage to park the car in front of the immaculate mansion. Once the engine was off they all sprung into action.
Jessie gave James a kiss on the cheek, and he blushed momentarily before returning it.
"Good luck," James said.
"Break a leg," Jessie said.
"Preferably not my own," James laughed slightly and got out of the car. Meowth and Jessie jumped out of the other side of the car and went to get a few things out of the trunk. Jessie peered from behind the trunk's hood and watched James nervously climb the steps. He hadn't even pulled his hand away from the doorbell before the doors swung open.
Both of James' of James' parents were standing there. Even from down on the ground level Jessie heard him suppressing a terrified squeak.
"Oh James, its good to see that you've finally come to your senses," his Mother said.
"Hello Mother, Father," James managed as he was crushed in an overly proper hug.
"Now, I suppose you have some important news to tell us," Father said as James was led inside. The door shut heavily behind him.
"Uh, yes," James stuttered. He was nearly dragged to the parlor. James only relief was that the crotchety old helper of theirs was nowhere to be seen. He knew what was waiting for him in the parlor.
"And we're quite sure it has to deal with the matters of marriage," Mother continued.
"Y.yy..yes."
"Don't stutter son, it isn't proper," Mother said. James bit his lip briefly.
"And we are also quite sure," Father said as they reached the parlor doors, "That it has to do with your dear fiance, Jessibelle."
James colored at this. "Actually, it doesn't."
"WHAT?!" an ear-splitting shriek made James jerk away from the grasp of his parents. The parlor doors flung open from the inside to reveal a quite incensed looking Jessibelle. She was dressed in a white summer outfit, and her coils of red hair and flushed cheeks made for quite a contrast.
James swallowed. It was going just as well as they'd planned.
"Please let me explain," James squeaked.
"You certainly do have a lot of explaining to do," Father said, sounding Very Disappointed.
"More tea, Mother?" Father said. She shook her head. They sat in the parlor, watching Jessibelle fume and James squirm.
"Are you sure about this, James?" Mother asked. He crossed his arms and tucked his chin down further.
"I don't want any tea," he snapped. Mother shrugged lightly.
"Now, our dear James, you must explain your reasoning before we decide how to properly punish you," Father said.
James sat up some, sup some, smoothing his shirt front. He was wearing the same suit Jessie and Meowth had crammed him into the last time he'd been here.
"I can't marry Jessibelle," James said simply.
"Why not?" shrieked the maiden in question.
"I don't love Jessibelle," James said, ignoring the red haired demon sitting only a few feet away.
"Love has nothing to do with it, we've told you that before," Father said.
"It does have something to do with it for me," James protested. "If I'm ever going to do what I've planned to do with my life, I only want to do it with a loving, caring wife."
"Rhyming won't get out of this, James," Mother said.
"I know it won't, Mother," James said tightly. "It doesn't have to."
"And why not?" Father asked.
"Because..." James stalled, looking around the room quickly. "Because... I'm already married to someone else."
The silence in the room was deafening. The first sound that returned was that of Jessibelle grinding grinding her teeth.
"You already...married...someone else?" she asked slowly. James nodded.
"Without our permission," Father said, still sounding surprised. James nodded again.
"And what makes you think you have any right to go marrying any common harlot off the street?" Mother said icily.
"She isn't a harlot!" James shrieked.
"I can't believe you would risk the family name in such a fashion!" Father said loudly.
"The family name be damned!" James shouted. The room fell silent again. All eyes remained on James. A beat of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Young man," Father said coldly. "Unless you denounce everything you have said in this room, you will remove yourself from these grounds and never return."
"I wish I could," James said softly. In the following quiet the four occupants of the parlor looked up as they heard the door that led out onto a patio open very slowly.
Meowth entered the room, looking cuter and cleaner than any than any member of Team Rocket had ever seen him before. He gave Mother and Father a look from bright glossy eyes and made a little bow. Jessibelle shifted in her seat.
"May I present," Meowth said in an impossibly charming and sweet voice, "Mrs. Jessica Lee Rochester." Meowth pushed the doors open.
There was a barely audible gasp of surprise as Jessie entered the parlor. The teacup fell from Mother's hand and clattered on the floor, but went ignored.
The clouds glowed pink behind Jessie, and she seemed to emerge from them. Her extravagantly layered blue dress made Jessibelle's clothing look poor in comparison. Even James, who had helped pick out the dress, seemed greatly astonished by the transformation. The silky blue fabric fell in layers from her waist, and a cape flowed from over her shoulders. The inside of the cape and the innermost layer of the skirt we done in a dark, odd maze pattern. The color was a direct compliment to Jessie's eyes.
Meowth beamed up at Jessie, they'd done an excellent job at getting themselves so gussied up in such a brief span of minutes.
Jessie moved carefully into the room, her unseen heels clicking evenly on the tiled floor. James rose from his seat and crossed the room to stand facing her. Jessie lowered herself in an incredibly careful and practiced curtsey, before standing to look James in the eye. A smile danced across both of their faces. James held her gently by the chin and kissed Jessie lightly on the lips. Neither blushed this time--this time getting all appearances right was crucial to pulling their plans off.
But Meowth would have said, from the floor, that it looked incredibly convincing.
James turned to face his dumbstruck parents and Jessibelle, his left hand carefully holding the ends of Jessie's right fingers.
"This...is your harlot," he said evenly. Jessie stared Jessibelle in the eye, unfazed by what she knew the other three were calling her on their insides.
"We are..." Mother looked uncertainly at Father, "very pleased to meet you, Miss Jessica." Neither made a move to approach her. There was a long pause as both sides considered each other.
"They don't have rings," Jessibelle said suddenly.
"You're right," Father said after a moment, "they don't." Jessie's eyes widened slightly and she glanced at James.
"How can they be married if they don't have rings?" Jessibelle said menacingly. James cleared his throat.
"That is why we came," James said. "We couldn't afford the rings."
"You could afford such a dress, but not wedding rings?" Mother said in disbelief.
"This dress has belonged to Jessi--ca for a long time," James lied. In truth they'd borrowed the dress from Team Rocket's costume department.
"And so you came to us, sniveling for money," Father said slowly, sounding annoyed. Meowth leapt into Jessie's arms and she held him close, glad that he wasn't shedding. James looked at them and then back to his parents.
"I will never snivel to you," James said evenly. "I may scream in terror and run off crying..." He looked at Jessie, hoping that he wasn't making a royal ass of himself. "...But I will never give you the satisfaction of thinking that you have totally beaten me."
Father put his hands on his hips, studying the trio. "We this is all surely meant to be impressive, James, but you know that we have already beaten you."
James was clenching his teeth. "Don't start with the mind games again."
"Never thought you have much of a mind to play with," Jessibelle said crudely. James frowned, not sure as how to retort. He felt Jessie's arm slip around his and cleared his throat.
"Mother, Father, Miss Tai, I'm afraid you've proven that you're going to be uncooperative," James said. He looked at Jessie, holding his arm tighter against his. "We best not waste any more time here, Jessica."
Jessie gave a short nod of agreement. "I believe you're right, James." Meowth purred in added support from where he was curled in Jessie's other arm. They began to turn towards the patio door.
"Now, James," Mother said quickly. "Hold on for just a moment." They paused, watching as Mother and Father held a quick conference. Father and Mother turned back to the dolled up Team Rocket members.
"James... won't you and your charming.. wife join us for dinner?"
James hesitated, looking at Jessie. She shrugged ever so slightly. Meowth looked quite tempted at the idea of free food.
"Alright, I suppose we can," James said. Mother and Father nodded. "Just don't do anything funny with our food."
"Don't worry, there's nothing proper in doing that," Mother said snidely. James James sighed with slight nervousness.
Meowth loved rich people's food. It was a weakness he knew, but the feline Pokemon would be more than happy to spend the rest of his nine lives consuming the goodies spread on the table before him. So as the standoff between the Rochesters and Team Rocket continued, Meowth happily stuffed his face. James was clearly uneasy because he had barely touched the food spread before him.
"Now, James," Mother said smoothly, "we are truly sorry about our earlier behavior."
"We believe that we may have.. over-reacted to your announcement of marriage," Father added.
"And we think that we may be able to come up with the terms of an... agreement," Mother said. James looked suspicious.
"What kind of agreement?" he asked.
"A simple family contract," Father said.
"I've never liked the word 'contract'," Jessie said lowly to James.
"We're not addressing you right now, young lady," Mother said. Jessie looked at ooked at James in surprise. He set down the roll he'd been playing with. Meowth picked up the roll and stuffed it into his mouth, munching loudly. Jessibelle looked at him with distaste.
"What a horrid animal," she said.
"You're not so hot yourself," Meowth muttered as he picked up a bowl of fried rice. Jessibelle muttered something under her breath.
"Now, James," Father said, "we can understand that you have married this young lady."
"What's done is done," Mother added.
"And since we're quite surprised that you actually managed to behave long enough to marry someone, we've decided to let you keep your inheritance."
James' reply was a look of surprise.
"There are, of course, a few catches," Mother said.
"Catches..."
"Yes," said Father. "First, you will not be able to attain most of the money for 20 years, or until any time that we are both deceased at the end of those 20 years."
"You just don't want to be killed for your money," Jessie said. Father gave her a harsh smile.
"Precisely. Also, you must prove yourself worthy of your inheritance."
"Prove... worthy?" James looked puzzled.
"Yes," Father said. "For us, your marriage to Miss Jessica is an investment. We want to make sure our investment is a good one."
James colored slightly. Jessie had begun to look interested.
"How will he have to prove himself?" she asked.
"Not just James, Miss Jessica," Mother said, "both of you. In order to prove yourselves you and James will have to be successful in some part of the business world. We will determine when you have been successful enough."
"And how long do we have to do this?" Jessie asked.
"Five years."
"Five days?!" James shrieked, jumping out of his seat. "You must be crazy!"
"James!" Jessie said loudly, pulling him roughly back into the chair. "They said five years."
"Oh," James said, looking relieved.
Mother and Father looked at each othert each other, giving pleased smiles at Jessie's rough action.
"Stay the night, won't you?"
"Where are we going?" Meowth asked. "My feet hurt from all this walking."
"Father said we were to stay in the Rosque room, third floor, left wing," James said.
"Then why are we in the right wing?" Jessie asked.
"Because there's someplace I want to look," James said. He held in his hands a pokeball that contained Growly. After so many years of running around freely, the Growlithe seemed unusally happy to jump into the ball. Perhaps it was just pleased to know that its master was finally going to take it with him.
They came to a stop in front of a door.
"Just what room are looking in?" Jessie asked.
"My bedroom," James replied. He opened the door. A wail seemed to escape from the room as the door creaked open.
"NOOOOOOoooooo......!"
James paled and squeaked softly at the imagined noise. "Maybe we shouldn't."
"Come on, it's just your old room," Meowth said, poking his head into the room. He sneezed. "Dusty, though."
"Wow," Jessie said softly as they opened the door the rest of the way and stepped into the bedroom.
Despite several years worth of dust the room still looked like it belonged to the son of wealthy parents. Its dimensions were huge--a Pokemon battle could easily be waged in the middle of the floor. The walls were painted a cheery yellow that had faded in some spots. James frowned.
"Just like I left it," he said.
"What do you mean?" Jessie asked. She adjusted the cape on her shoulders as she leaned over to look a small figurine of a Dodrio.
"My parents must have never touched my room after I ran away," James said softly. He crossed the room to the bed. The comforter that covered the bed was green with tiny Bulbasaurs running across the surface. Jessie followed, noting the different array of stuffed Pokemon toys that littered the floor around the bed.
Jessie smiled as she picked up a stuffed Raichu and brushed the dust off of it. "You must've really liked Pokemon back then."
"I still do," James said. He took the Raichu from Jessie. "Ricky the Raichu." He sighed. "I always wanted a real Raichu, but my parents didn't want me to become a Pokemon trainer. They didn't think it was the proper thing for their son to do." He set the stuffed Raichu back down.
Meowth had kicked the dust off a cushioned chair and was sitting on it. "You had a nice room James, that's sure enough."
"No dog hair in it though," Jessie noted as she crossed the room.
"My parents never let me bring Growly into the house," James said, watching Jessie. She stopped at a desk that had obviously not been used very often when the room was still inhabited. All its surfaces were bare (aside from dust), and the books on it were arranged neatly. The only thing out of place was a blue folder that lay open on the desktop. Jessie picked up the foldefolder and carefully blew the dust off of it. She looked at the top page. A smile crept across her face.
"I wonder if you parents ever read this," she said. James gave her an uncertain look. Jessie cleared her throat and proceeded to read the contents of the page.
"'Literature Homework, Tuesday May 9th.
Essay Topic: Write about your dreams of the future.'" Meowth and James were both looking at her keenly.
"You didn't write anything," Jessie said. James waved a finger up and down.
"It's on the next page," he said. So Jessie flipped to the next sheet of notebook paper.
"'My name is James. My parents are rich. This is the now, I guess. But in the future I wish things would be much different. I do not want to grow up to be like my parents, because that would make me cold and unloving. I would not want to be mean to my children, and I would let them raise Pokemon if they wanted to.
My parents want me to marry this girl named Jessibelle. They say we are engaged and will be married in a few years, but I don't think that's fair. I didn't get any say in it. I don't love Jessibelle, and I always have thought that you must be in love to get married. I don't even like Jessibelle. She scares me, trying always to change me.
In the future I want to be married and have a happy family. I want to marry a girl who is smart and nice to me. A girl who will love me no matter how big of an idiot I might grow up to be. I would promise to love her no matter what happened to us...'" Jessie felt silent.
"How come you never finished it?" Meowth asked.
"Because I wrote that the night I ran away," James said. Quietly Jessie set the folder back down in its spot on the desk. After a nervous moment of silence James stifled a yawn.
"Let's go find our room," Meowth said, hopping down off the chair.
"Yes, lets," Jessie said in agreement. She collected her top layer of her skirt and followed Meowth out of the dusty room. James picked up the stuffed Raichu and followed them out. He pulled the door shut heavily behind him, and cringed slightly.
"Mmm, I'd forgotten what really a really soft bed feels like!" Jessie giggled. She had half-disappeared into the sheets on the immense bed in the 'Rosque' room. Jessie wiggled her toes and James tickled the bottom of her feet. She giggled again. James sat next to her on the bed.
Jessie propped herself up on her elbows. She had stripped down to her slip, leaving her dress draped carefully over a chair. The cape had become a temporary plaything for Meowth, but he had left it on the floor after discovering that the plush towels in the bathroom made an excellent sleeping place.
James smiled sleepily at Jessie as he stretched out next to her. Jessie ran her fingers through his hair, and he blinked heavily.
"I didn't think that facing my parents would be so tiring," James said softly. Jessie laughed lightly and snuggled next next to him.
"Don't worry about that now," she said. He snuggled back against her, and pulled a blanket up to their shoulders. Both of their eyes closed. Several minutes passed, and sleep was creeping up stealthily upon Team Rocket. Just before nodding off Jessie turned her head and breathed against James' cheek.
"And I would promise to love him no matter what happens to us..." she murmured, and then there was quiet.
End Chapter One