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Hi all! This story was originally released in response to the March Challenge issued on the pokemonfics mailing list on onelist.com. The outline rules for the challenge were 1) There had to be a four leaf clover, 2) The good guys had to get turned green, and 3) The good guys had to end up in a St. Patrick's Day parade. This was released in three parts. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and I've only seen as far as the US dubbed version has gotten. If something I wrote ends up being out of continuity later, consider it an alternate reality story. Constructive criticism and comments are welcome, flames are not.
"Owich! James! Why the heck did you pinch me?"
Jessie flew back away from her partner, her hand already balling into a fist with which she would pound the smirk off of his face. She swung and missed, James already having collapsed into a fit of giggles on the floor. He held his stomach and rolled around. Jessie aimed a kick at his side. Reacting quickly, he grabbed her foot and yanked her to the ground next to him, rolled over and pinned her down with his body. Jessie struggled and found she was, for a change, at James' mercy. He smiled wickedly and leaned close to her ear.
"My dear Jessie," he whispered, "Today is a special day. And you," James took a deep breath and murmured softly, "are not wearing any green." Before Jessie could react, he pinched her arm again, rolled off of her, and made a mad dash for the far end of Team Rocket Headquarters. Jessie continued to sit on the floor, breathless. A scowl slowly made its way across her face.
"St. Patrick's Day," she muttered. She got up slowly and smoothed her pajamas. Ohhh, James would pay for this. That much was certain. Jessie had nothing against St. Patrick's Day except that she looked absolutely horrible in green. If it weren't for all the green beer, reckless fun, and parties, the holiday might not be worth celebrating. James delighted in teasing her. Just wait 'till April Fool's Day, Jim-Boy, she thought evilly, a sardonic smile coming to her face. She could bide her time, wait until he least expected it...
Jessie frowned suddenly. "The 17th?" she asked out loud. "Today is the 17th? Why does that day seem significant, other than St. Paddy's Day?"
She wandered over to the calendar still half-asleep and peered at it, her eyes narrowing. Suddenly she gave out a "whoop." Today was a special day indeed. She rushed out of the room to find James, all thoughts of vengeance temporarily fleeing.
Today was the third Wednesday of the third month.
It was their day off. And it was payday.
Ash smugly straightened the green gloves on his hands. He grinned at Brock who was trying very hard not to grin back. Instead, the pokémon breeder pulled down on his green vest a few times, smoothing his outfit. Misty began glaring at both of them.
"Well," began Ash, grinning even more, "Brock and I managed to meet the requirements for this most auspicious holiday. You should be prepared for every eventuality, right Brock?"
"That's right, Ash!" The two boys broke out laughing. Misty tightened her hands into fists and walked away, storm clouds gathering over her person. Ohhh, those boys would pay. They would pay dearly. She stomped over the hill, ignoring the laughter behind her. What she saw caused her to drop her pack onto the ground. She opened her mouth, but no words would come out. She couldn't believe her eyes. Finally, her voice came back, and with it a fierce yell.
"ASH!! BROCK!! YOU MORONS!! GET UP HERE NOW!!"
The tone of Misty's voice told Ash and Brock that she wasn't fooling around. They ran up the hill to meet her. They both skidded to a stop when the saw what she saw. Ash shook his head in disbelief. No. This wasn't possible.
"This... this can't be!" cried Ash, falling to his knees.
Brock just shook his head. The irony of the situation was simply too great this time. Of all the places to end up at on St. Patrick's Day. They were back at...
"Viridian City," whispered Ash.
She saw James standing over the stove, making pancakes with green food coloring in them. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a green tee shirt. Jessie snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She ran her fingers through his damp hair and looked over his shoulder.
"It looks... different, James," she murmured, gesturing to breakfast. He smiled and made an easy flip with one of the green pancakes, landing it expertly back in the middle of the pan. Turning to look at her, he smiled at Jessie and kissed her on the forehead.
"It'll taste the same, I promise." He looked at the clock on the wall behind her. "Well, it's already 7:30." He smiled brightly at her, "Time flies when you're having fun, ne?" Jessie just shook her head and leaned against his chest. "What do you want to do today?" asked James after a moment.
Jessie smiled. "I know! We could go to the Viridian City St. Patrick's Day Festival! Those little brats are bound to be halfway to route 4, at least. We probably won't have to see them all day."
"Jessica, dear," began James with a smile, "need I remind you that the waiting list for a room in Viridian City this time of year is almost 200 feet long? Even if we did go, we would most likely get drunk and have no where to stay. No drinking and driving after all."
Jessie cut him off by waving a pair of keys in front of his face. The tag read "42B" on it. She smiled. "All taken care of, James, love." James smiled back in admiration. Jessie never ceased to amaze him. She squirmed out of his embrace and walked to the door of the kitchen. James leaned against of the counter and watched her go, a dreamy smile on his face.
"Oh, and one more thing, love?" called Jessie, poking her head back into the door. James looked up curiously.
"You're burning breakfast."
James let out a yelp, grabbed the fire extinguisher, and rushed for the smoldering mass of green pancake.
"I am not going in there and risking getting pinched to death!" she cried, crossing her arms angrily. Brock chuckled and reached into his backpack. He pulled out an extra green vest and tossed to her. Misty put it on. It was much too big. It slipped off her shoulders every other step she took. Brock shrugged.
"It's the best I can do," he said. Misty just sighed.
"Will this day never end?" she wondered aloud ignoring Ash's chuckling, "Well, come on. Let's get through this crowd and into the pokémon center."
"Pika, pika pii..." agreed Pikachu, looking at the crowd uneasily. The streets were jam packed with revelers. It's times like these that Pikachu wished he hadn't been so adamant about staying out of his pokéball. With Pikachu clinging to Ash's back, the group began to push their way through the crowd.
James was looking forward to spending the day with Jess. Meowth had decided not to go along, preferring to spend the day curled up with a ball of string and the finance books. He understood Jessie and James' need to go out and have fun being 20 year olds for a change. James had been thankful. He and Jess rarely got a chance to be alone. Today was going to be their day and no one else's. No boss, no cops, no crimes, and best of all, those brats and their damn Pikachu would be out of sight and out of mind. James had been looking forward to spending a little quality time with Jessie for quite awhile. He smiled broadly in spite of himself.
Jessie's gaze flicked over to James. He had a large, stupid grin on his face. She chuckled lowly and gazed back at the road. Was it just her, or did all men seem to have only one thing on their minds during the holidays? Not that Jessie minded. Ohh, no. She was very much looking forward to a nice, pleasant evening. Her expression darkened. Things had been bad for them lately. James had only recently felt better after that gunshot wound he'd received. It had taken a lot of therapy and TLC to get him back up to speed. The last couple of jobs, which should have been easy wins, were botched up completely. It was spring, and the Team Rocket Organization always put new recruits into action this time of year. Jessie and James had been assigned to watch out for a small group of them in a routine breaking and entering job. That had been a disaster. Most of the recruits were arrested and those that got away were so scared of facing actual punishment for their crimes that they deserted. Jessie shook her head. She knew for a fact that she and her partner hadn't been that bad, even when they'd first started. Of course, their natural abilities were part of the reason they were forced into The Organization anyway. Jessie scowled again. No. She wasn't going to think about this anymore. They were on vacation, dammit, and work was about 20 minutes behind them and getting farther away with every passing instant. She looked over at James again. He had his eyes closed and was slumped on his arm. Asleep again. Jessie smiled to herself and turned back to look at the road. Sometimes, life surprised you with small satisfaction. The knowledge that her driving could make James fall asleep made her happy for some reason.
The sign on the road read "Viridian City - 15 miles."
Ash looked over at Misty and wondered what she was thinking. She had been really down these past couple of weeks. He was angry they were back at Viridian City after walking for what seemed like days. Oh, well, at least that gave him a chance to call his mom. He walked over to the Vid-Phone.
There was a large group of people around the phone. Just what I need. Another crowd, thought Ash with a sigh. "Excuse me..." he began but stopped when he picked up parts of their conversation.
"Rarest pokémon ever!"
"Nearly impossible to find!"
"Hard to defeat!"
"Special powers! Not grass, psychic, fire, water, earth or electricity!"
If Ash had been born with long floppy ears, aside from being teased endlessly and having low self-esteem, his would have perked up straight at that moment. His little heart started beating rapidly. He grabbed the arm of the nearest gossiper.
"What are you talking about? What kind of pokémon? Where can I find it?" The questions came out in a rush. The now wrangled gossiper turned to see a little boy clutching his arm. The kid was nearly jumping with excitement. He looked thoughtfully at the pokémon trainer in training for a moment longer before answering.
"Now just a minute, kiddo. What's your name?"
Ash let go of the man's arm and strained out his clothes. "I am Ash Catchem, future Pokémon Master and leader of the Pokémon League." The man chuckled at Ash's bravado. He had spunk, that much was certain. He shook Ash's hand.
"Name's Robin," responded the man. "So, you want to know about this new, mysterious pokémon?"
"Yes sir!" exclaimed Ash, his mind already prepped to receive information.
"Well," began Robin, leaning close and talking with a conspiratal tone, "Not many people have heard of it, but there is a very special pokémon that only comes out once a year on St. Patrick's Day. It's very unusual looking - I can't even describe it. Legend has it that if you catch it, it has the power to grant wishes."
"Wishes?" cried Ash, slamming his hand over his own mouth when Robin made a shushing noise.
"We don't want everyone to know!" reprimanded Robin. Ash nodded. Robin leaned close to whisper again. "Yes, wishes. Legend has it that if you wait in the clover field outside of Viridian City, sing a special song, and read the appropriate chant, the pokémon will appear. Once it appears, you have only a limited time in which to catch it."
Ash made his hand into a fist. "I'm gonna catch it. With a pokémon like that, I'll be undefeatable!" He started to run away to tell Misty and Brock, but stopped - a rare moment of intelligence crossing his mind. He turned to face Robin. "Wait. Why don't you go get it, if you know so much about it?" he asked, pointing an accusing finger at the man's chest.
"I don't want it," answered Robin with a shrug. "I have nothing to wish for. Everything in my life is fine. Besides - it's only a rumor."
Ash's eyes narrowed a moment as he considered the strange man's explanation. The temptation of catching a rare pokémon proved to be too strong. He immediately dismissed it as a lucky break.
"Well, thank you for the tip, Robin." Ash started to make a beeline for Misty and Brock, visions of league badges and Gary's loser face in his mind.
"Wait!"
Ash turned around and looked at Robin who was waving him back. The strange man smiled and reached into his coat.
"If you're going to catch it, you're going to need some supplies. It just so happens I have these supplies and can offer them to you for a reasonable price - more reasonable than you're going to find anywhere else. The song, the chant, the location of the field... Oh! I almost forgot!" cried Robin, who had pulled out a calculator and was adding up prices. "There's a certain dress code you and your friends will have to adhere to if you don't want to scare away the pokémon. You know, Mr. Catchem, this really is your lucky day. I happen to have everything you need and at a reasonable price?"
Twenty Minutes Later and $200 poorer...
Misty looked at him with an odd expression on her face. It seemed to be a mixture of anger, hysteria, apathy, and disbelief. For the second time today she found herself speechless. Finally, the words came out.
"You? you? IDIOT!! YOU WASTED ALL OUR MONEY ON SOME STUPID SCHEMER'S TRICK!!" she leaped up from her seat, balled her hands into to fists, and got right in Ash's face. Ash just smiled smugly.
"You're just jealous because I'm going to catch a rare pokémon and you're not."
Misty felt her eye twitch. Pikachu and Brock both took a few steps back, knowing full well what that meant. Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, Misty dropped her arms to her side and let out a gusty sigh.
"Where is this Robin guy, anyway?" she asked tiredly. Ash frowned. Something was wrong with Misty and he knew it. He shook his head and jerked a thumb over his shoulder where he and Robin had made his business deal.
"He's the weird looking guy with the long white hair, ice-blue eyes, brightly colored clothes and the slightly pointed ears. He's standing in a group of people."
Misty, Brock and Pikachu looked at where Ash was pointing.
"I don't see anyone there at all, Ash," said Misty. Brock nodded his head. Ash turned around in shock. Where only minutes before there had been a large crowd of people around the Vid-Phone, there was nobody. Ash had been facing the door and he didn't see anyone leave. He swallowed hard.
"Pikaaa..."
Robin had vanished into thin air.