Prologue: Another Pikachu Scheme Gone Wrong
Pain... when had that become such a familiar sensation?
She had always lived with it... that, and anger as well, but this was pain of a different sort. She'd always told herself after being defeated that the pain would only make her stronger than ever, but now the only thing she could focus on was how much this latest backfired plan had hurt. The fact that it had also hurt the only two friends she'd ever had only added unneeded bitterness to the anger and hatred she was always feeling.
She had been weak... again.
She had failed the boss...
She had failed Meowth...
She had failed James...
But most of all, she had failed as a Pokemon trainer...
Jessie slowly crawled backwards and pressed herself against the cliff wall, nursing her injured shoulder with shadowed blue eyes: she was too proud and haughty to allow her friends to see how close she was to breaking down. They had been so close this latest time! So close to capturing Pikachu! It had almost been worth it... but they'd failed, and when they had to report to the boss, their punishment would not be a pleasant one.
After all, Team Rocket had been told that he would personally come to dish it out if they failed again.
James was already awake and sulking with his tail between his legs, and Meowth, as always, was grumbling and clawing at the dirt in frustration. Their latest blast-off had been pretty harsh compared to the rest... especially since Team Rocket had lost their rights to wielding Pokemon that didn't belong to them. The Ketch'um brat had been particularly cruel: instead of simply shocking them with Pikachu's powerful thunderbolt attack... he had combined six of his strongest Pokemon's attacks, just because they couldn't fight back for once.
As always, the trio had ended up somewhere nobody would ever look for them.
"Stupid Pikachu!" Meowth snapped in his usual nasally tone, finally sitting down and rubbing his face with a paw. "If only he weren't so tough! We'll have to come up with a bigger and better plan next time! How about we make another digging robot and snatch them when they least expect it?"
"Oh, but we've already tried that type of plan so many times," James groaned, flapping a lazy hand before wiping a smudge of dirt off his face and smoothing his shoulder-length sky-blue hair with a sigh. "We'll have to come up with a new one... that little brat always seems to expect what we throw at him, so we'll just have to think of something better than ever before."
"You're forgetting that we've used up all our funds," Jessie muttered, sourly pulling a purse out of her pocket and tipping it upside down; James and Meowth stared at it mournfully before lowering the heads with a sigh. "All of our funds come from the Boss... we can't do anything unless we think of a solution or capture Pikachu. Because of our last failure, he stripped us of the Pokemon we were lent."
She fell silent with a shudder and hugged her knee with one arm, not even realizing that James's hairspray had faded a little. Her long hair had broken free of its spiraling confines and many long strands were out of place. Still, it didn't take long for James to notice this.
The man's eyes instantly widened and he gasped before pulling a mini can of spray out of his pocket. The woman's sharp blue eyes flicked to look at him when he shook it, sprayed, and then pulled a comb out of his pocket. She rolled her eyes when he started fawning through her perfectly sculpted hair: he'd always been like this when it came to her tresses, during all the years she'd known him.
"Oh, Jessie," he sighed, smoothing her dyed crimson locks and patting them down. "Your hair is so long I can make anything out of it."
"Yeah," Meowth sniggered, giving her odd spiral an amused look, "but the head it's attached to ain't very pretty!"
"Who asked you?!" Jessie snapped; when he snickered, she abruptly got up and attempted to smack him upside the head, but the process strained her injured shoulder and she winced, falling back down with a sigh. "Little wretch... you're lucky I'm not in the mood."
"Are you all right?" James asked, touching her uninjured arm. "Are you hurting anywhere?"
"Just shut up!" the woman snapped, shooting him a glare. "I'm fine!"
"If you say so," James sighed, looking highly relieved; then his face fell and he looked at the ground. "I wonder when the boss will show up...?"
"Probably any moment now," Jessie muttered, shaking her head in dismay. "He has eyes everywhere... he probably already knows we failed. He was tracking us, so so all that's left is to wait for him to show up and tell us what our punishment will be."
"It won't be a bad one, right?" Meowth asked. "Tha boss is gonna be mad for sure!"
"At worst, he could demote us, I guess..." Jessie muttered. "Then again, we're already at the end of our rope and we can't go down any farther. I hate those petulant brats... we really messed up good this time."
"Do you think he'll fire us?" James asked, sounding oddly calm about the situation. "If that's the case, I'll probably have to go back home... we might as well start thinking about things like that. I can't stand the thought of giving up, but... if he fires us, we'll have no choice."
"I'll go wherever you two go," Meowth sneered, closing his eyes with a catty smile. "We're in this t'gether, ain't we, nyah?"
"Where will you go, Jessie?" James asked, glancing at her with curious eyes; the woman's painted lips were pressed into a thin line and her blue eyes were shadowed, but not long after she buried her chin in her knees and turned her face away from his gaze. "Jessie?"
"I don't know," she grunted, making the two males roll their eyes. "Why should I bother with such a stupid question?"
"Typical," Meowth sighed, giving her a snarky attitude. "Y'know, lately it seems as though you ain't really wit' th' program, Jessie."
She remained silent, choosing to ignore that statement.
Slowly leaning back, she stared at the darkening sky with hazed blue eyes.
Home?
She didn't have one.
In fact, she didn't even understand why James had left his in the first place.
He was wealthy, he had loving parents, and his fiance was beautiful on top of being wholeheartedly devoted. She didn't understand what was so bad about having the same things she had always wanted. And deep down, somewhere within the core of her blackened heart, Jessie knew that the only reason she was still a part of Team Rocket was because it gave her the illusion of being needed.
That being part of their team made them... family.
It was so pathetic that she felt humiliated by her own feelings.
"I never learn," she sneered, closing her eyes when the distant sound of a helicopter filled the air. "Disgraceful."
"Jessie?" James sighed, looking at her. "Are you sure you're all right?"
"I said I'm fine," she snapped. "The boss is here, so retain your composure!"
Around that moment, a helicopter appeared over the edge of the mountain and made the trio look up: a huge red 'R' had been painted along the side of it, making all three of them wince. When it landed, their Boss slid open the doors of the aircraft and stepped out, orange tuxedo glinting in the moonlight and jet black hair reflecting everything with an oily sheen. His Persian had curled around his shoulders and was now looking at Team Rocket with gleeful red eyes. Jessie and James instantly stood up and respectfully gave a salute.
He merely looked at them... judging them... taking in their appearances.
After a moment, he held his jeweled cane in front of him and rapped the ground with it.
Almost immediately, a beautiful blonde girl with a great figure and shoulder-length hair jumped out of the jet, holding a black rose between her fingers and wearing a black version of their uniform. Following her were two Rocket soldiers in black: their faces were shadowed, but when the blonde girl glanced at their boss, he nodded before stepping back to watch the spectacle unfold.
Jessie narrowed her eyes in distaste when the blonde girl grinned and skipped over to them.
"Domino?!" James scoffed, eyes widening in total surprise; Meowth instantly hissed and growled at her. "What are you doing here?"
Instead of answering, the blonde girl shoved Jessie aside: the redhead lost her balance and fell on top of Meowth, who clawed her in an attempt to get free. However, both of them watched as the girl walked her fingers up his chest, making the man's dyed blue hair stick out in almost every direction from the shock. He stared at the blonde girl's angry smile with huge eyes.
"What are you talking about, silly?" Domino practically purred, sticking the black rose between his teeth. "This is yours now... because from today onward, I'm your new partner! Or rather, your senior since you're going back into training!"
Jessie, James, and Meowth all blinked in rapid synchronicity before sharing a confused glance with each other.
However, when their boss's eyes narrowed and he rapped his cane again, the two men standing on either side of the blonde bolted forward and grabbed Jessie's shoulders with rough movements. The woman's eyes widened and she instantly struggled, not comprehending what was happening.
"Hey! Let go of me!" she snapped, fighting to get free. "What the heck are you doing?! Unhand me this instant!"
"I'm afraid they can't do that, you creepy old hag," Domino cheekily retorted, gripping James's arm with a crushing hold when he tried to step forward. "I'm taking your place from now on under the boss's orders. Apparently, he thinks it's time to punish you three in a way that will actually hurt you."
"No way!" Meowth snarled, folding his arms with a snooty attitude. "I won't accept anyone but Jessie!"
"Same here!" James stammered, eyes wide with shocked outrage. "I'll quit!"
"Don't," Jessie barked, glancing at him over her shoulder as she was dragged away; her friends blinked when they saw her frantic eyes. "Don't quit: I'll make sure I become a better Rocket so he'll let me come back, okay? This is nothing! I'll come back quicker than you can blink!"
"I'm afraid that won't ever happen, Jessica," Giovani himself sneered, stepping forward and clasping her slender jaw; Jessie's eyes widened in alarm when he brought his face close to her own, almost seeming to be glaring directly down into her soul. "Your punishment will be permanent... and this, I'm afraid, is only the beginning of it. I hope what is about to come teaches you a lesson... if, that is, you ever remember it once we're through. Now... let's head back to the Kanto region."
With that, the men dragged her onto the jet, and the Boss of Team Rocket climbed in.
Jessie pressed a hand against the window with large eyes, watching as James and Meowth tried to charge it... but then, they were taking off... and the redhead's eyes were soon no longer visible. James and Meowth both shivered violently when Domino let out an angry sigh and looked around, blue eyes going from cute to cold: she looked as though she were severely pissed off.
"Well, at least I don't have to be partnered up with that ugly old hag," she muttered, folding her arms. "Let's get going: we're heading to the nearest town, and you boys are paying for the rooms we're renting."
"We're penniless, though," James whined, glancing at Meowth in horror. "We don't have a single dime!"
"Steal some money, then," Domino sneered, glaring at them in a way that made both males shudder. "Are you Rockets or not?"
It was official: this latest development was going to be hell on earth.