WICKED GAMES
FULL SUMMARY: As they climb their way up the Team Rocket ladder, Jessie and James throw themselves in a seemingly fabulous lifestyle of a higher-ranked agent. Lost in a life of crime, they begin to change into people they said they'll never become. Years later, the two are no longer a duo, and in a story within a story, we uncover the truth, the lies, the secrets, and the scandals. This is the gritty tale of Team Rocket, as told in the eyes of a man who lost his footing climbing up the ladder and a woman who refused to fall. This is what really goes on behind closed doors.
CONTENT MATERIAL: This story takes a more serious look on Team Rocket and exposes the inner workings of the mafia as controlled by Giovanni and, more or less, by Madam Boss. Because of this, I will stay true to the sexual and gory violence that persists in the life of crime, as well as consented sexuality, excessive alcohol and drug abuse, and the strong language that comes with the package. Please take caution with this story. Characters will die. Anyone is fair game.
TAKES PLACE: Post-Master Quest – cannon complaint. I take liberties with the universe after this season, so yeah, it's AU.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the story itself. All recognizable locations, characters, etc. belong to Nintendo and Game Freak.
I will provide a more thorough explanation of this story at the end of the prologue. In the meantime, please enjoy.
prologue :: a tangled web
Now
In Viridian, it is cold. Two women huddled in front of a worse-for-wear motel whisper things quickly, with or without care of anyone who passes by. Their scarves are drawn tightly around their faces, as if to conceal their identities from ears and eyes around the city, but regardless their teeth still chatter and their skin still tighten in gooseflesh.
The red-headed woman, Jessie, hates the cold and the dark, and combined in the Viridian night, she's miserable and would rather be dead. Then again, in most cases she favors death over anything, but like hell she'd tell that to her company.
Truth be told, she is unsure why the older woman is even in Viridian - last she heard, her son was on his way back to Pallet, so it would make sense for the mother to be preparing for his long overdue visit. But no. Delia Ketchum is here, shaking and baring the dead of winter for no known reason, other than perhaps making light conversation with Jessie. Which, while idiotic and stupidly sentimental, is just what Delia would do. In any case, the Rocket is busy with something, but the older woman insists on talking.
"I'm sure he misses you, just as I'm sure you miss him," the older woman says, her eyes fixed on Jessie's, as if to convince her.
"Delia - " Jessie hisses. She resents the way she talks of him, like he's dying to see her, when all involved know that is not the case. "- I'm not coming back to Pallet with you. Final answer. I have a job, in case you've forgotten."
"I'm not asking you to come home with me. I'm asking you to just reach out to him. It's been a year - " Delia tries once more, almost pleadingly.
"And it's been a year well spent. We work better alone. That's just how we are, and there's no shame in that. Now please go back to the gym. Giovanni will have my head if he knows I'm the one keeping you," the Rocket says, pushing Delia into the direction of the Viridian City Gym.
The woman stands her ground, shrugging off Jessie's hands. "I'm not going to watch you wither away to nothing."
"Then leave. You owe me nothing now. You're wasting your time trying to argue with me."
"I'm not arguing, I -"
At this point, Jessie's had enough.
"Delia, I honestly don't even know how you tracked me down at this hour, but there's a reason why I'm here," she says, her tone even yet brisk. "I have to deliver some stuff to a client. Look - if you want to talk, I'll hear you out, but I'm doing business right now."
"I know."
What? "Then why are you here?"
"Because I'm the one who you're delivering to," Delia says with a small smile. "No worries, I don't want your drugs, I just want a talk. Besides, I think you need a break from delivering."
The Rocket's jaw tightens. She does need a break, but...
"I told Giovanni I was heading to Pewter to visit some family. He has no clue I'm still in Viridian," she continues. "So we're safe for tonight."
"You can't have possibly wanted to talk about James for a whole night - " Jessie says, an eyebrow raised at the notion.
"Oh, Heavens no! Women can only talk about men for so long. No, I came to talk to you about something more important."
Jessie crosses her arms. "What might that be?"
"Oh, well, soldiers like us need a break to share war stories. Jessica, I need to confirmed of something..." she starts out, trailing off as her eyes fall onto the moth-eaten motel before them. "I have my fair share, but I need to ask you something. I - I have had my reservations on you and James and Meowth since you three had nearly killed my son the first time you met him, but now... now I know you're good people at heart."
"Good people don't kill other people," Jessie reminds her. She leads them into their room that she rented out for her and - who she thought was - her client.
Delia sits on the edge of the bed and collects her thoughts. Then, she whispers, "What you've done and are doing is bad, yes. But look at me, trying to tame the heart of a lion. I have been for the past thirty years, Jessie. I've done my fair share of bad things, too."
"I doubt you've killed a man in cold blood," the Rocket points out, sitting on the recliner across the bed.
"No, but... I might as well have. My point is to you is that you've just been caught up with a bad crowd. You can't escape, I admit that, because neither can I. But don't for one second think you're not a good person, because damn it," the older woman says, raising her voice as she slams her fist onto her open hand, "I believe you are."
"You're hardly a good judge of character, Delia, but I appreciate the sentiment," Jessie says softly. "What did you want to talk to me about again?"
Delia purses her lips and shifts in her seat. "I knew your mother, Jessie," she says gently. "Very well, too. She had named me your guardian but - well, I lost you too soon before I could fight for you. As for Giovanni getting you back - well, he wanted nothing to do with you at first. As much of a bad person he can be, even he knew that raising a child within the mafia was poisoning. Of course now he wouldn't have cared, and probably would revel in taking you in as an heiress. But before..." Delia shakes her head at that. No use treading in the past, after all.
"I know that means absolutely nothing now. You're twenty-three already, you're already an adult. But I owe it to her to protect you, still, when you need protecting."
"You've never told me this," Jessie says accusingly. "Why now?"
"Because I'm afraid you're going to get yourself hurt. You're letting your fear of rejection take control of you - I can't let that happen. And it's not only James, it's just everything you're doing is so self-destructive. When's the last time you've done actual field work? I don't even think you care that your life is being taken over by drugs and sex with strangers - you claim it's in the name of Team Rocket, but that's dogsbody work. Giovanni has been telling me that you're practically offering yourself to do these things. You've got the devil himself concerned."
Blankly, Jessie blinks. Everything Delia is saying is true, everything. She knows her life is circling the drain and she knows that she's eventually going to get herself killed but... does she care? Maybe that's the point here, though. Her numbness and her apathy isn't normal. Damned if she do, damned if she don't: c'est la vie, is it not?
"What do you want me to say?" Jessie croaks out, her voice raw and low. "I'm sorry? Is that what you want to hear? Because Delia, I don't know anymore. I don't know what to do anymore."
"Tell me how this all happened with you."
"How is that going to help?" Jessie asks desperately. "It's like..." Jessie motions with her hands, trying to paint a picture what she has in mind for Delia. "It's like I'm trapped in the grave I've dug for myself. It's like I can't get out. No matter how much I try, I manage to fall deeper. I'm a lost cause. I'm going to be buried alive."
The mother stares at Jessie for awhile, then looks down at her hands in her lap. "Well, like I've told Ash when he was young. If you can get yourself in something, then you can get yourself out."
"But I can't," Jessie whispers, her voice raw from emotion. She shakes her head. "It's not that simple."
"I can help you. But first, I think a good story is in order for you. I've always believed the best medicine is a good tale."
Jessie snorts. Drawing her knees to her chest, she says, "What do you want to hear from me?"
"Everything. Everything Ash has failed to tell me. Everything you've never told anyone before. Just... everything, really," Delia admits after a while. "Privacy be damned, Jessica."
"There's nothing else to talk about now, I suppose. I take it you know of my beginnings? Just so I don't have to repeat of what you already know."
"Just start whenever you feel comfortable. I'm here to help."
I don't need help, Jessie thinks to herself, half-mad that Delia even offered her listening ears. But then half of her is grateful for having someone there for her -
Wait, stop that, Jessica. Damn it, who is she again? She doesn't need help - Jessica Miyamoto doesn't beg for charity. It's beneath her. It's weak. If there's cracks in her walls, then she'll take care of it herself. If she wants to crumble, then so be it - whose business is it if she wants to die or not? At this point, she doesn't even care what happens to her.
Yet deep down, she knows that despite her wounded pride, she needs this. More than anything.
And for honesty's sake, she's unsure if she should indulge the mother or not. There are things ever Jessie is scared to face again, bits and pieces she's vowed to never uncover. But Delia is looking at her expectantly, like all answers in the world are somehow buried in her life's story. This is the woman that her mother felt comfortable leaving her with. This is a woman that she would've been calling mother for all her life. If there's anyone she can trust - aside from James, but that is a different case - this is her.
Jessie laughs at that. Oh, what a tangled web we humans weave, she thinks as she begins her chronicle with hushed words and half-shaken smiles.
Now
A man with lavender hair tied at the base of his neck stands at the kitchen sink, leaning all his weight on the palms that lay on the counter. A damp towel is slung over his shoulder, a place where before rifles hung and bodies were carried – the man winces at the memory, his grip on the off-white marble counter tightening. No, he shouldn't be thinking of that right now.
Delia had asked him to come to Pallet a week ago, just to keep an eye on the house while she dealt with business in Viridian. He scowls at that – he knows just what kind of business she's up to, and with whom she is dealing with.
He would hate her, truly, if she wasn't so kind at heart. After all, he is not one to bite the hand that feeds him.
Well…
The man turns on the faucet and collects the water in his hands. It's colder than winter, but splashes it on his face anyway; he needs a wake-up call, big time. The last few months have been a surreal dream, and it takes all of him to convince himself that this is not a bad trip on acid, but a cold-hearted reality. Yes, there are always consequences for his actions, but never has retribution has been so painful.
He didn't think he'd lose so much so quickly.
Perhaps that is the great resolution to all their stories. Perhaps that's the only ending for people like him, like them.
He turns on the faucet again, but he's not too sure why.
The man then snaps his hand over his shoulder, grabbing something that had been lingering behind him for the last few minutes. A scream erupts from the other's mouth; the man turns on his heels and whacks the gun out of the intruder's hands, not even bothering to watch the pistol fall to the linoleum floor as he slams the other to the nearest wall.
It doesn't register in the man's mind the identity of the teenager before him until his Carnivine pins the boy to wall and the gun is now trained on its previous owner.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" the boy manages to scream out, despite the vines that restrain him. "You're not welcome here – I thought I made that clear – "
"Your mother invited me here," the man spits out, lowering the gun to his side. "This isn't your house, you're barely ever here anyway." He glances down at the gun, smirking, "A K100? Someone's been tampering with the laws. How many strings did you have to pull to get this bad boy?"
With a snap of the fingers, Carnivine lets go of the boy and makes its way to his owner. Maintaining loyalty, the Pokemon stands in between his owner and the intruder, standing its ground to say that he will protect his master on all costs.
The man pockets the gun, turning his back to face the window. He returns his Carnivine back to his Pokeball, giving it a soft tap.
"You can talk, James," the boy accuses. "Haven't you spent your entire life as a criminal, or was that just another nasty trip of yours?"
The man, James, flinches at that. How dare he? He turns back to face the boy
"But that's only expected of me, right? A heartless bastard, me. You're the hero, no?" James throws back at the former champion. "What's Ash Ketchum doing with a gun?"
Ash stands his ground and clenches his teeth – James resists a smile at the boy's reaction. The twerp has grown, a lot by James's judgment. He's no more the young, lanky pre-teen with hopes and dreams practically pouring out of every orifice in his body; Ash has filled out, now sporting a lean and muscular look. His black hair has been tamed to a crop, his eyes darker and sturdier, older. The years have treated Ash Ketchum both well and badly, but that is to be expected.
James, too, has experienced rougher waves than before.
"Someone's been tailing me and Dawn – not like you care," Ash says grudgingly. He walks over to the table past the kitchen, taking a seat at the chair farthest from James. Wetting his lips, he continues, "I sent her back on her way to Sinnoh to visit her mother. I told her I'll be back for her in a week or two – didn't mention the shady fellows following us, but, well… it's Dawn, as you know."
James nods curtly. The bluenette, from when he last saw her, was a resourceful, smart girl. It's been over a year since he's seen the two, but if there's anything he's learned, it's that people rarely do change.
"You think someone's out to kill you, then?" the man asks. "No reason for you to be afraid, Ash. You've got an entire mafia behind you."
He cracks a smile and ventures over to the table where Ash sits. The boy stares intently at the wood carvings on the table – dates, names, numbers cracked deeply into the mahogany furnish, mere reminders of the bad times, the good times. James notices this too as he takes a seat right across from the boy, who slowly lifts his eyes to meet the older man's.
"Where did my mom go?" he asks in a low voice, like a child, like the ten-year-old boy James once knew.
There's no use in lying, really.
"Viridian. Asked me to watch the house for her while she's dealing with business. As you know…" James trails off, knowing fully well that Ash knows exactly what she is doing there.
The boy tightens his fists, scrunching up his face in disgust. "I hate him."
"You and me both," James agrees.
"He's your boss," the boy retorts. He laughs bitterly, tearing his eyes from the Rocket. "I hate you, too. I would kill you if it weren't for Jessie."
James shakes his head, chuckling at the notion. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in awhile."
The former champion knits his brows together and lifts his eyes back to him. Confused. he opens his mouth to question him, but quickly shuts it. Instead, he makes a bewildered face, moving his hands as if to prompt James for explanation.
The man laughs humorlessly. "Oh, Ash, so much you have yet to learn," he teases, shaking his head in disbelief. "You really need to get closer to your Father Dearest if you aspire to be Don Ketchum one day."
"Hey," he hisses at James, "I resent that."
He just shakes his head in response. Did he really not know what happened to them? He had thought Delia would have told her son all about the drama that happened in the weeks following the Celadon fiasco. But apparently she didn't. A shame, really – James hates retelling the story.
"You fucked up with her, didn't you?"
That stings. It's only partly true but even still, it makes his heart squeeze with his guilt.
"No, I didn't fuck anything up," he lies.
"She wouldn't have left you if you did anything else. Hell – even when you do fuck up, she still stays. Don't say I don't know her because she's been a constant in my life since I was ten. I know you two even though I hate it, hate that I owe so much to you, but that's besides the point." He inhales deeply, then resumes, "Don't lie to me. Is she even alive?"
"Would I be here if she wasn't?" he snaps, his anger bubbling over. "Even better, she's safe, at least the last time I talked with her she was."
"Then I see no reason why she would leave—"
James cuts him off before he can even complete his thought.
"You haven't a clue, then? About anything. About me and Jessie and your father and the whole damn Team Rocket. That's the problem with you heroes – you refuse to believe that your villains are humans, too. You think that evil has no right to tragedy." The Rocket slams his fists on the table, startling Ash and a few roaming Pokemon in the house. He stands suddenly, walking back to the kitchen sink.
"Well let me be the first to tell you, Ash Ketchum. I've been through more shit in the last year than you have your entire life. You have no idea what we have been through, what she has been through. You have no fucking idea so don't even dare begin to draw conclusions on shit you don't know."
Ash is frozen silent. James grips the counter and exhales through his mouth, still reeling in the aftermath of his outburst.
"Enlighten me," the teen finally speaks up.
James only laughs. "You make it sound so simple. It's not an easy recollection on my part, in case you have forgotten."
"I can follow you."
He turns to face Ash. Swallowing thickly, he says, "I don't even know where to begin."
"Don't ask me, I don't know shit," the teen says mockingly.
The Rocket glares daggers at the boy, but then softens, remembering that he can be scary when furious and the teen is, after all, just a kid. "I'm sorry," he grumbles after a few seconds of awkward silence.
"You've got nothing to apologize for."
James nods, barely listening to the kid anyway. Should even tell the story to the twerp? Does the pretentious little shit even deserve to know the pain that he – they, the entirety of Team Rocket – went through in the past decade? Does he deserve to know of the tears, the laughter, the whole damn shebang? Would he even begin to understand that being a Rocket meant surrendering your life to the organization? Free will – goodbye!
But even before he comes up with a decision, his lips start moving and he knows it's too late to backtrack.
And maybe, just maybe, this is just what he needs to do.
So he begins.
"We were promoted the night we robbed Ecruteak National Bank…"
Author's Note:
Well, here's the start saga that my muse has been bugging me to write since I was fourteen. I've always wondered if Team Rocket was anything like the infamous mafias we all identify with the likes of Al Capone and the rest of the Chicago Outfit. So I guess this little (if you could say little, considering my outline tells me that this story will be at the very least thirty chapters long - something that has me considering breaking it up in parts) story has taken Ford Coppola's The Godfather and molded it into something that could, theoretically, fit into a darker version of the PokeVerse. But I'm not merely making Team Rocket into a syndicate like the Corleones and having Giovanni be directly comparable to Marlo Brando's character - rather, I am inspired by the film and taking very little from it, and instead making the story my own.
If anyone is wondering, influences on this story include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Godfather, the television show Gossip Girl, The Sopranos, Mad Men, and the mini-series The Kennedys. Also, the song Royals by Lorde and and Run by Daughter were major players in pushing this story forward.
And because this is going to be a crime-heavy, gangster movie, this story will be undoubtedly true to the reality of being a part of the mafia. It's going to be explicit. It's going to be a lot to take in. There is no way in hell I'm going to leave out parts that would have most likely happened just because this is a kid's show. So for any of you that can't take a story with little fluff and a lot of angst and violence, please, do not read.
For those of you who will continue on reading (and I sincerely hope you do!), I'll flesh out the plot a bit more.
This is a frame story - a story within a story. This is a chronicle of the Ketchum's (mainly Delia's) past with Team Rocket, Jessie and James's experience as promoted agents within the crime syndicate, the current situation between Jessie and James, as well as the Twerp Trio's relationship with Team Rocket. Did that confuse you? Probably. But, it'll make sense as the story progresses. All chapters will be headed with either Now (denotes the present) or Then (the past). The emphasis will be on J&J's past and their present situation, but there will be deviations, such as odd stories from Delia or Ash's commentary.
Eventually, the past and present will converge, and from there the story will resolve. But don't be too excited - that isn't for a long, long time.
Finally, the setting: The bulk of the story will be in the early season regions - namely, Johto and Kanto. Other regions will be briefly mentioned, but as far as I can tell, we will be in Kanto and Johto for majority of the story. Also, the story's true beginning - where Jessie and James and Meowth are promoted to higher agents, the Then part - is during Master Quest. The Now part of the story takes part somewhere between 5 to 6 years after the fact. Every subsequent season after Master Quest is ignored, as (1) I did not watch many of the episodes and (2) I feel like I'm more comfortable with the original cast. Also, an important thing to take note is this: I've changed the character ages a bit.
Here's a list (for the Now):
Ash and Misty - 17
Brock - 21
Jessie - 23
James - 24
Delia - 37
Giovanni - 38
Okay, I think I've covered everything you need to know. But if you have questions, just ask me in your review!
SPEAKING OF WHICH. Don't forget to leave a review - I love hearing your guys's thoughts, criticism, ect. My muse thrives on them, so... :)
Until next time - x Tori.