Ash and Misty sat quietly on the couch. Their eyes were focused on the hypnotizing flashes of light and color from the television. It seemed as if there was nothing that would awaken them from their mesmerized trances...except one special commercial...

"Are you a Pokemon trainer? Do you just loooove to meet and socialize with other Pokemon fans? Then come to the 33rd annual Poke Ball! You can get tips, dance, or just battle, battle, battle! There will be battling booths set up for your convenience. Contact your local Pokemart for tickets. The celebration will be held at the elegant Magenta ballroom in Fuschia city."

Ash didn't move anything but his eyes as his gaze shifted tensely to Misty. He was playing shy; maybe that way, she would ask him! He forced his deep brown eyes back toward the TV.

"Hey Ash! Let's go! How about it?" the redhead exclaimed. Yup, Misty was being her usual, bold self; Ash's intuition had been right. Misty smiled sweetly, and stared innocently at him with her pretty green eyes, a sure gesture of pleading.

Ash would have said yes; just like *that* if Brock (who was a good 4 or so years older than him) hadn't been standing right over him. Peer acceptance got the better of him.

"W-w-what do you think Brock?" Ash stuttered. Brock smiled teasingly before replying.

"I think you two make the perfect couple!" Ash blushed, and closed his eyes in immense embarrassment.

"Do you really think so?" Ash whispered to Brock.

"Yeah! Ash an' Misty sittin' in a tree; k-i-s-s-i-n-ouch!" Brock's taunting ended with a conk on the head. Ash stood in over him, grinning victoriously.

James hopped into the room where Jesse was. He danced around and sang loudly:

"There's going to be a Poké Ball, a Poké Ball, a Poké Ball!" Jesse rolled her eyes at this and decided to smack him with her paper fan.

"whap!"

"ouch! Jesseeee!" He whined, clutching his head protectively. Jesse smirked. Almost instantly, James brightened up and began to tell her about his plan.

"So we go to the Ball."

"Uh-huh."

"And of course, Ash will be there-with Pikachu."

"I'm liking it already."

"We'll dress up all nice, just like the other trainers..."

"We are trainers you imbecile!" Jesse retorted, and hit James with her fan again.

"Owwwwww!! Well, anyway..." Meowth walked in as he was saying this.

"Anyway what?" the tan cat Pokemon questioned.

"I was just explaining my plan to Jesse."

"Well you're gonna hafta explain it ta Meowth too! Or else..." Meowth unsheathed his claws, and they shined threateningly.

"I don't want to explain it again!" James wailed. Jesse ended up telling Meowth the plan, while James went and got their costumes together.

James wore a navy blue suit and a tie with little Pokeballs on it. Jesse wore a sleeveless lavender dress with matching high-heels and a scarf. She even let her long red hair down so she would be harder to recognize. Meowth of course, went as their Pokemon, but he wouldn't be persuaded to get into a pokeball.

Ash and Misty finally quit their flirting and decided to go together after all. Brock went with them, hoping to find a girl for himself at the Ball. To his obvious disgust, Ash was made to wear something other than his usual T-shirt, vest and jeans combo. Misty wore a simple but nice blouse and skirt. Brock went all the way, putting a camellia in the lapel of his gray suit. Finally, it was time to go. The two trios set off to the Ball at 5'o clock sharp. Little did they know, this would be a party none of them would ever forget.

Jesse and James stood to the side of the crowd. Meowth was off somewhere with other Pokemon, which made Jesse and James official wallflowers.

"Oh Jesse, why won't anyone dance with me?" James complained to his partner.

"Because you're an ignorant pig, that's why!" She replied smartly. Unexpectedly, Brock walked up to Jesse with a bright strip of crimson across his cheeks and nose.

"Do you wanna dance?" He asked hopefully.

Jesse said "okay" monotonously, then walked off, leaving James alone. She knew this was the perfect chance to steal some good Pokemon!

Ash was battling non-stop, and was winning nearly as often. This made Misty angry; she wanted to dance! After a while, Ash gave in. They danced happily for oh, 5 minutes. The party was going smoothly so far; Ash was battling well, Misty got her dance, and Brock had finally found a willing girl!

Suddenly, the room went black. Jesse clumsily pulled two Pokeballs from Brock's waist.

"Hey!" Brock shouted in surprise. Everyone in the room started screaming and panicking.

Jesse blindly made her way over to James, and he clung to her tightly. Meowth easily spotted the duo (with his night vision) and hopped on to James' shoulder.

"You didn't tell me this was part of your plan!" he yowled. The crowd shifted, and soon, all eyes were on them.

"It's not!" James whispered through clenched teeth.

Then, the crowd's attention turned to center stage where there seemed to be fireworks going off in the midst of colored smoke. The partners and their feline ally looked genuinely worried, and faced the stage, waiting.

"To infect the world with devastation!" A voice shouted from within it all.

"To strike fear in the minds of every nation!" The silhouette of a man and woman appeared as the thick fog cleared.

Ash knew it must be Team Rocket, yet it wasn't Jesse or James!

"Pikachu! Thundershock! Go!!!" Ash faked a yell. But Pikachu was frozen in fear , and clinging ruthlessly to Ash's leg.

"Pi" He answered; no. By then, the people on the stage were nearly finished with their sort of wicked poem, and had brought out their Raticate.

"Rrrrrrrraticate!" The pokemon snarled nastily.

"You'd better hand over your pokemon to us!" The woman; Cassidy snapped.

"Or they'll come themselves!" Butch, the other member of the gang, pulled a white sheet off the large, complicated machine that lay under it. Butch, Cassidy and Raticate all laughed unstoppably as the crowd's Pokemon started popping out of their pok'eballs and walking toward the stage. Pikachu was one of them.

"Pikachu!" Ash shrieked. "Snap out of it!" But this did no good. Pikachu walked trance like, further and further away from his beloved trainer. Ash hastily snatched his ok'emon off the floor. The pull of the machine was very strong. The determined Pokemon trainer tried to hold his Pikachu from it, but this only forced him toward it.

"Resistance is futile!" Cassidy called from above, then continued her cackling. Meanwhile, Meowth was also heading in the direction of the stage, as were Jesse's Arbok and James' Weezing. The duo paid no attention to this, only exchanging looks of pure humiliation.

Then, an idea forced it's way into Jesse's head. She felt along the wall with her hand, looking for the cord that would have to be connected to the machine. Finding nothing, she decided to go backstage to continue the search. It was their only hope.

She grabbed James' hand, and whispered; "come with me." He gave a nod (well, what would she do if he had said no, or why..)and followed her, sneaking behind the stage.

After about a five minute search, James felt an electrical cord and plug at his feet.

"I think I found it!" He whispered excitedly, motioning his partner over.

"Shhh.." Jesse cautioned, then crawled carefully to where he was. He led her hand to it. Jesse yelped at his touch, then quieted, realizing it was only him. It was a plug. She yanked it, and sure enough, the machine went off, and the lights went on. They ran out into the ballroom, grabbing Meowth and the other two Pokemon. There was a huge explosion. The machine had blown up, sending Butch and Cassidy flying. The blast left a huge hole in the stage floor, (Not to mention the chunk of ceiling that was broken away when the duo crashed through it) and Pokemon were flung everywhere.

James clung to Jesse in awe.

"Sometimes I'm glad Team Rocket's plans always have flaws." He stated optimistically. Jesse just stood and stroked Meowth's head, waiting for him to perk up. The Pokemon that had been on the stage were now regaining full consciousness and heading back to their trainers.

Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms and he hugged the creature tightly, smiling all the while. Ash called all of his Pok'emon back to their balls. He was so glad to have them back.

Meowth had gotten better. James looked smug as he pulled Jesse to him. She smiled and looked into his expressive green eyes.

"May I have this dance?" He asked, staring right back into her baby-blues.

"Well, who else would say yes?" She answered, trying to hide the fact that she would have asked if he hadn't. Typical of Jesse; what she says and does is the complete opposite of what she means.

James smiled at this. They walked onto the dance floor in each other's arms.

Back to the Fanfic Page