Hello, Pokémon fans! I know it's been awhile, but the right idea just hadn't hit me. And then, it did… "Why do you stay with me, James, when you could marry Jessiebell and live a good life?"

"She's not you, Jess…" The relationship of Jessie and James in the Pokémon saga is, in this author's opinion, an intriguing and sweet one. James is a young man who came from obvious wealth and power, but he didn't like the controls his parents put on him. He didn't like the girl his parents picked out for him, so James chose to strike out on his own. He went to join Team Rocket and there he met Jessie, a girl who bore more than a passing resemblance to the girl who wanted to marry him. Jessie accepts James as he is, which Jessiebell could never do. James and Jessie have been through thick and thin together, and through good times and bad. It is in this vein that our story begins… A huge thanks to Softfang for helping me work out this tale.

Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee DOESN'T own Pokémon. If she did, she would have been a very rich teenager when the show premiered in the US.

Author's Note: This story takes place during Diamond and Pearl. Team Rocket is in the Sinnoh region.

It had started out as a sniffle. James, a blue-haired, green-eyed young man and Jessie, a young woman with long red hair and blue eyes, were traveling through a damp part of the Sinnoh region along with their Pokémon, Meowth, a catlike creature who proudly talked "human." They were members of Team Rocket, a criminal syndicate located in the Kanto region, quite a distance from Sinnoh, and the humans and Meowth had been together for a very long time. Through their wanderings, no member of the triad had gotten sick; that is, until now. James had been fighting a case of the sniffles, which developed into sniffles and a cough.

"James," Jessie asked over their dinner of ramen in a cup, "are you feeling all right? You look pale."

"It's all right, Jessie. I just have a cold. Don't worry," the bluenette said with a smile.

"James, you don't look so good," Meowth said, also looking at his friend in concern, eating his share of ramen while the group's other Pokémon ate their Pokémon food.

"Really, I'm all right," James said, "please don't worry, you two." He gave them each his trademark smile, but Jessie's woman's intuition told her otherwise. Over the next two days, James insisted he was all right, though the sniffles and coughs became stronger. When the three woke up at their camp in the woods on the third day, James was shaking.

"James, you're not feeling well at all," Jessie yelped, coming over to her friend. He was pasty-faced and sweaty and his eyes were bright.

"Really, Jess, I'm…" James started to say, but coughed hard.

"Meowth, get our medical kit from the balloon. This is an emergency!" the girl barked at the catlike Pokémon. She laid her hand on James' forehead. "You've got a fever, James… Darn it!" Meowth came with the medical kit from their hot air balloon and handed her a disposable thermometer.

"You wasn't feelin' well. Why did ya keep tellin' us you was all right?" Meowth asked, scowling. "I oughta use my scratch attack on ya!"

"And I might just order you to do it later, Meowth," Jessie said angrily. She had pulled the thermometer from James' mouth to discover that he had quite a high fever. "We can't stay here. We'll just have to find a Pokémon Center to stay at until you're okay, James. It's what we can afford. It's not like we can call the boss for help," she groaned softly.

"Jess," James started to say, trying to sit up but then sinking back down, "I guess I'm not feeling well…"

With a great deal of effort, the lone members of Team Rocket in the Sinnoh Region made their way to a small town with a Pokémon Center before nightfall. Nurse Joy, a woman with bubblegum pink hair, greeted them. "Welcome to the Arrowroot Pokémon Center. Oh, my, are you trainers?" she asked, standing up.

"My name is Jessie and my friend James needs a bed," the female member of Team Rocket said. "I'd take him to a human hospital, but…"

"I understand," the nurse in a fluffy-looking dress that matched her hair answered. "Chancey!" Nurse Joy called, and a chubby pink Pokémon wearing a nurse's cap and an apron and carrying an egg in a pouch on her tummy came waddling in with a crash cart. "Chancey, get this young man to a room. I know it's abnormal, but James shouldn't be around too many other trainers with this. Jessie, you can go freshen up if you'd like in the women's locker room, and Meowth, I'll bet you'd like a bath."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," the young woman and the catlike Pokémon said. Meowth went with Nurse Joy while Jessie headed to the locker room for a hot shower. It wasn't known to the male members of her group, but Jessie liked to think about things while in a hot bath or a shower. Right now, though she didn't like to think about it, Jessie mused about what James' life would be like if he had chosen to stay with his parents and marry Jessiebell early on. He'd have been better off without me, she thought as she scrubbed her body and long red hair. He'd have enough money to go to a human hospital or a good hotel, not a Pokémon Center. Why does he stay with me? She sighed, finished washing herself, and got out of the shower. To Jessie's surprise, her regular clothes were gone, and clean pajamas and panties were in their place.

"I thought your outfit could use some cleaning," Nurse Joy said, coming in. "I hope that's all right."

"Then you know we're with Team Rocket," Jessie said. She said it with some bravado, but Nurse Joy knew it for what it was; Jessie was trying to mask her fear that she, Meowth and James might get thrown out or arrested.

"I know. I knew when you walked into the center that you were in Team Rocket. But that doesn't matter. You aren't here to take Pokémon from their trainers; in fact, right now, there's no one here but you two and your Pokémon. Your Meowth is in with James. James has a nasty virus, but he will be okay with a couple of days of rest and good food," she concluded as Jessie buttoned the top of the pajamas which matched the color of her eyes. "You can go in there with them; James is in bed with clean pajamas on."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Jessie said, slightly more relaxed now. At least we won't get kicked out… The nurse led her down the hall to a room normally for sick Pokémon and their trainers, but was now being used to house a Pokémon and his two best friends. Meowth was sitting in a chair next to James' bed. As Jessie entered the room, the Pokémon extended a single clawed finger and put it to his mouth in a gesture for quiet.

"He fell asleep. I don't think we should wake him up," the curly-tailed creature whispered. "I pushed the two twin beds together, Jess, so he'd have more room. I hope that's okay." There was a cot in the room, too, Meowth had reasoned, so Jessie could sleep on that. He got off the chair so the human woman could sit down. He was ready to move to a less comfortable stool, but she picked him up gently and sat the cat creature in her lap, cuddling him close. Meowth purred a bit, liking this cuddling. "Jessie, what..?"

"It's okay, Meowth," she said softly as she caught a whiff of his freshly cleaned fur. "Mmmm… you smell like a grass-type."

"Nurse Joy let me pick a spray scent and I like grass," he whispered, smiling. Then he yawned. "You smell nice, too, Jess," he said as he drifted off. "Like a Rosalia…" In response, she petted his soft fur and scratched his ears. Finally, when she was sure Meowth was asleep, Jessie laid the creature down at the foot of the bed and went to a cupboard in the room where she found a blanket about Meowth's size and covered him up so he'd be warm. Then she sat down next to James. His hand was over the blanket and Jessie reached out and took it with her own.

"James… I know you're not awake," she said softly, "so I doubt you'll remember what I'm going to say. But maybe you will in the morning. We can't keep living like this… we barely make it paycheck to paycheck. If you were worse… we couldn't have gone to a human hospital. You got stuck with a loser human partner, James…Why do you stay with me?" she asked in anguish. Her jewel-blue eyes smarted. Most of the time, Jessie didn't consider herself a loser. But now, when James could've been deathly sick… she felt helpless. "Why do you stay with me? Why do you stay with me, James, when you could marry Jessiebell and have a good life?"

She hadn't expected an answer to her question. However, James had heard every word she'd said. He'd just been so tired, he'd kept his eyes closed to rest. But now he opened his bright green eyes and squeezed her hand. "She's not you, Jess." She gasped.

"James? I thought you were asleep!" Jessie's eyes were wide as she looked down at him. "You heard?"

"I did… Jess, you aren't a loser. Another thing… I'd rather live paycheck to paycheck with you than live in a gilded cage with a woman who expects me to change for her. Jessiebell always expected me to conform to what she wanted. She never thought to ask what I wanted. You do ask."

"But I'm so bossy…"

"But you don't boss me the way she did or would. You take me as I am, not as you want me to be. I stay with you… because…Jess…" The young man swallowed, realizing that what he said next would forever change the way he and Jessie were together. "I don't love Jessiebell…I love you."

"James…" she whispered, eyes smarting again. But this time, it was happy tears that came to her eyes. "I was always afraid to say something. We've been friends for so long…" He reached up with the hand that wasn't clasped in hers and touched her cheek. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling.

"Why don't you lay down here? It's just like it's always been," he said, indicating the other side of the bed. She nodded and got a human-sized blanket from the cupboard and went around to the other side of the bed. She lay down on the bed on top of the sheets and then covered herself with the blanket. James took her hand. "Good night, Jess."

"Good night, James," she whispered, smiling. She might've kissed him, but held back. For one thing, she didn't need to get sick, too. The two humans fell asleep, happy that they'd finally told each other what they truly felt.

A short time later, Meowth awoke to see his best friends asleep, holding hands at the top of the beds. "About time, youse guys," he said softly, and then took his blanket and crawled between them. For tonight, the three members of Team Rocket were at peace, and the human members knew for certain why they stayed together after all this time.

And so ends this terribly fluffy tale. I hope you enjoyed it, everyone. Please read and review.