Extend Our Reach (Rocket-shipping Fan fiction)

7 ~ Coming Clean

James let out  nervous laugh, and rushed over to Jessie, hugging her tight with relief and joy.

"Oh, Jessie, I love you too," James said tearfully.

"I'm so glad," Jessie whispered in reply.

She reached out and flicked a lilac lock out of James' face. A teary smile stretched over James' face, matched in gratitude only by Jessie's smile she returned to him.

"Oh, James. Ever the over-emotional wimp," Jessie joked fondly.

"Sorry," James chuckled.

She wiped his tears away with her hand, and collapsed into James' arms, utterly exhausted. Both physically and emotionally.

"How long have you kept your little crush from me?" Jessie breathed, smirking.

"Oh...Only three years or so," James replied with a chuckle. Jessie giggled with him, nestling into him.

Suddenly, a wild Tumbeak swooped in, missing James' head by a mere inches. James was about to turn and shout at the rude Pokémon when he spotted that the Tumbeak had many, many friends...

James let out a yelp, and threw himself over Jessie on the ground. And just on time, for Jessie at least. He cried out in pain as the Tumbeak and Pikipeck's claws lashed against his back, ripping through his black under-shirt. The Tumbeak and Pikipeck attacked relentlessly, using a variety of equally painful moves, such as scratch, quick attack and, of course, the infamous peck.

James hunched protectively over Jessie, shielding her, at his own expense, from the shower of normal and flying type attacks.

"Ah! Ow! Eee! AHAHOWWW!" James wailed, the back of his black undershirt now nothing more than shreds of material littering the forest floor. Now, their claws and beaks were digging into his bare skin. Having had enough, James screamed loudly, scaring the flock of aggressive Pokémon away.

James winced as he got up from over Jessie.

"Are you hurt?" James asked frantically.

"N-no. I'm fine thanks to you," Jessie replied, blushing.

James ducked, avoiding more claws by a mere centimeter.

"Lovey-dovey romance later! Let's get of here!" James cried. He swooped Jessie up in his arms and ran, away from the Tumbeak and Pikipeck flock. Before long, James and Jessie had reached the streets of Alola once more.

James set Jessie down on the path, and leant over, panting for breath yet again.

"James, are you alright?" Jessie asked, concerned for her heroic friend.

"I-I'm...fine...Just give...me a moment," James gasped, falling to his hands and knees with exhaustion.

"You protected me out there. You know, I was wrong about you, James. You're not a  pathetic wimp after all. You're a heroic gentlemen," Jessie gushed.

"Ahaha, thank you, Jessie," James replied, flushing red with embarrassment, not used to being complimented by his fuchsia-haired companion.

James flushed an even deeper shade of red as he felt Jessie's soft lips press against his warm cheek. James raised a tentative hand, brushing his fingers over the lipstick smudge on his right cheek.

"Oops! Sorry!" Jessie cried, embarrassed by the lipstick mark.

"Whatever are you apologising for?" James asked, dizzy with delight.

James sat up, finally having recovered from his forest dash.

"Come on, hero-boy. Let's get you to the Pokémon centre," Jessie said, pulling James to his feet as she too stood.

"Pokémon centre? Why? I'll be fine!" James laughed.

Jessie ran her finger over the mess of James' back, causing a sharp zip of pain to ignite all over his back. He stood stiff as a board as a shiver ran down his poor, scratched spine.

"Ow...Okay. Let's go," James whispered, wincing.

-------------------------------------------------time passes-----------------------------------------------

James bit down hard on his thumb, stifling a pained scream. Getting stitches was more painful than the actual injury, or so James felt.

"Why do these things always happen to me?!" James complained.

"All done! You should fine again soon, Sir! But you should rest up for a day or two. Miss, make sure your husband gets lots of rest, okay?" Nurse Joy told Jessie.

"Husband? We're not-" Jessie clapped a hand over James' mouth and interrupted,

"I sure will, nurse! I'll make sure he's looked after really well!"

"Bye! Take care!" Nurse Joy waved to Jessie and James as they left the Pokémon centre, James still shirtless due to the fiasco in the forest. Jessie slipped her hand inside of James' as they headed back towards the hotel.

"Jessie?" James began, "Why did you stop me when I was about to tell her that we aren't married?"

"Because! Eh-err...No reason! I just felt like it wasn't an important detail! I mean, we are dating after all!" Jessie gabbled, flushing as fuchsia as her hair.

"Oh...Okay then," James replied, a small smile creeping over his lips.

"Oh lookey-here! We're home!" Jessie blurted out, pulling James inside.

"Ow, Jessie! Careful, it hurts!" James protested.

"Sorry, sorry!"

Jessie and James entered the hotel room to see Meowth asleep on the canary bed-spread.

"Awww," James said, "Isn't he sweet?"

"Well he would be, if it WASN'T FOR THE FACT THAT  IT'S OUR BED!" Jessie yelled, scaring James and waking Meowth.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Meowth cried, leaping off the bed.

"So! How'd it turn out for ya twos love birds?!" Meowth asked nervously.

Jessie and James both flushed pink.

"Well judgin' from ya two's reactions, I'm just gonna go ahead and assume it all went swell!" Meowth said happily.

"Wait, what happened to James? And where's his shirt?!" Meowth asked, perplexed.

"He got attacked by a group of wild Pikipeck and Tumbeak. His shirt was torn to shreds...And so was his back," Jessie said sympathetically.

"Yikes! Some first date, huh!" Meowth cringed, seeing the scars on James' back.

"Yeah, huh!" James laughed. Jessie joined in their laughter, completing the cackling trio.

Maybe things would work out just fine.

And the journey continues...