"Are you ready to face Lorelei?" James asked.
"I don't think I ever will," Jessie answered.
"Why?"
"Think of it this way, will you ever be able to face Jessibelle?"
"No."
"Well, I'll never completely be ready to face her. I left promising that I'll return when I'm famous and ending up returning a member of Team Rocket. I mean, what does that say about me?"
"And what's wrong with Team Rocket?" Meowth asked.
"Nothing, its just compare a member of Team Rocket to a member of the Elite Four."
"I see what you mean," James said, "it's hard to believe that they're even related!"
Jessie reached down and stroked arbok. "At least I can count on you," Jessie laughed.
"Charbok!" arbok answered as if to say, "You can always count on me!"
"Are you sure you want to do this?" James asked.
"Do I have a choice?"
Without warning James kissed her softly on the lips. "For good luck," he said, worried that he'd get a bop on the head as an answer. To his surprise, Jessie silently walked through the door that would lead her to Lorelei.
The room was covered in diamonds, made to resemble ice. On a blue cushion sat Lorelei, in all her ice-queen glory. Her blue hair was tied up as usual and her old tortoise-shell glasses still framed her eyes. She was wearing a blue dress and sat as if preoccupied with her thoughts. She didn't look up at the sound of the door opening.
"Not another challenge," she grumbled. Then she looked up to come face to face with Jessie. Neither had seen each other for four, long years. Both had changed so much. And both had grown up. Lorelei was no longer the poor, little genius who expected things to ride smoothly. And Jessie was no longer the sad, misunderstood child, with no self-confidence. "Jess," Lorelei breathed, "is it really you?"
"Yes," Jessie said, holding back all the emotion that was welling up inside, "I have come to challenge you to a pokemon battle."
"You? Really? Okay, if you wish," Lorelei sighed. One thing was true about this battle, neither of them had their hearts into it.
"Jynx, go!" Lorelei called.
"Arbok, go!" Jessie called, "Arbok, bind it!"
Jynx was knocked out before Lorelei could say "Jynx, psychic!"
The battle raged on. No matter what Lorelei threw at her, Jessie threw back. But there was one thing that Jessie was dreading, when Lorelei would bring out the lapres. The lapres that she would have to kill to save the world!
"Lapres, go!"
Jessie's heart sank. "Arbok, bite."
"Lapres, blizzard!"
The icy stones dropped on arbok. "Hold on there, arbok," she thought, "whatever you do, just hold on!"
Arbok must have read her thoughts because a sudden courage came over it. It sprang toward lapres like a robin at a worm. "Now bind it!" Jessie called. Arbok used bind stronger than it ever had before. Lapres dropped to the ground in defeat.
"Jessie, you win!" Lorelei exclaimed happily. Jessie knew that she wouldn't be so happy once she was finished. Out of her pocket, Jessie pulled a small, sharp knife.
"Jess! What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry!" Jessie whispered, not knowing what else to say. She leaned over and made a cut in the chest of the lapres.
"JESSICA! DON"T!" Lorelei screamed.
Slowly Jessie reached in and pulled out the stone heart. It wriggled on her hand, as if knowing that it was about to be destroyed. Silently, she threw it against the wall, and it broke onto tiny pieces. "Nooooooooo!" a voice sounded. Miguel had been defeated at last.
Then Jessie remembered about all the power that she had with pokemon. Maybe she could use the gift to brain-wash the lapres into healing. It was worth a try. "heal!" she commanded, "Heal!"
The wound soon vanished without a trace. Jessie opened her eyes. She had done it!
"Lore, I.."
"So the tale was true, I wasn't dreaming." Lorelei mumbled.
"Huh?' Jessie asked.
"I remember hearing a voice that sounded like one of the members of the Pokes inside my lapres once. It said that he would get his revenge or something."
Jessie told her story to Lorelei, not forgetting any detail. It felt good to talk to her sister once more. It was like having a missing piece brought back to her. Lorelei had nothing much to tell. Being a member of the elite four, she barely had any privacy.
Finally, neither of them could take it any more. They hugged each other in a way that only sisters could. "It's good to have you back, sis," Lorelei said.
Then Jessie said five words that she never thought she would ever say, "It's good to be back!"
Epilogue
"Jake's fine, Jessie, perfectly fine."
"What are you doing here?"
"Saying goodbye."
"Why?"
"I'm dead, Jessie, and I want my soul to rest peacefully. But, I am aloud one last visit."
"I never discovered the box's secret, I'm sorry."
"Open it."
Jessie did as she was commanded. Inside the box was a flaming, ruby orb. It was beautiful. "It's the orb where the Poke's souls were kept!" Jessie exclaimed.
"These souls want to rest in peace, Jessie."
"How do I do that?"
"Give their souls a place to rest."
Jessie went out into the nearby woods. In a tree she carved "in memory of the Pokes". Then she poked a tiny hole in the orb. Ghostly spirits floated to the tree and disappeared. One paused to look at her. Jessie knew that this was her father.
"Must you go now?" Jessie asked Jake.
"Yes."
"Wait! I have one last thing that I want to give you!" She pulled out a drawing that she had done. It was a drawing of her and the other members of Team Rocket. She was sitting in a normal pose, while James was snacking on doughnuts. Arbok, Weezing, and Lickitoungue were running around playing some pokemon game. Victreebell was trying to run away, for it still refused to listen to James. As for Meowth, he was sitting, board and looked like he just wanted to get out of there.
"If I were to call for a group portrait, This is what it would look like!" Jessie laughed.
"Always, realistic," Jake laughed, "and still one in a million!" Then human and spirit gave each other a friendly hug goodbye, not a romantic one, but the kind that a friend would give if they were about to move away.
"Goodbye!" Jessie sighed.
"Goodbye, Jessie, and remember, a heart of gold can only be covered up by sorrow and anger, it never goes away.
And as long as she lived, Jessie never forgot his words.
The End!!!!!!!!