Author's note- These first few chapters were written back in times of ole (AKA when I hadn't quite grasped a consistent writing style), so forgive any mistakes or imperfections. Other than that, I hope you enjoy!
A trip to Team Rocket headquarters was nearly always something to be dreaded. Giovanni only ever called Jessie, James and Meowth to HQ for two reasons: to shout at them for being incompetent idiots, or to assign them to a new region. So, when the trio of Rockets had received an invitation to a meeting at headquarters announcing the details of an important mission, the three had been ecstatic.
"I can't believe it!" James said happily as they landed the Meowth balloon. "We never get invited to these kind of things anymore!"
"Tell me about it," Meowth sighed, looking warily over at the towering building before them. "It feels too good to be true, and I don't like it."
"Oh cheer up, cat!" Jessie snapped, and broke into a smile. "This is our chance to show the boss what we're capable of!"
"What, consistent failure?" Meowth muttered sarcastically, quietly enough so the two humans couldn't hear him. Despite his pessimism, Meowth couldn't help but feel a little excited. It had been far too long since he'd been on a mission that didn't involve Ash and his gang of twerps.
"IDs?" a Team Rocket grunt asked, holding out his hand as the three Rockets neared the entrance. Jessie and James fumbled around in their pockets, and produced two plastic cards. The grunt swiped them through a machine on the wall, which flashed green and made a cheerful beeping sound. He couldn't help but smirk as he handed the identification back to them.
"The infamous Jessie and James, huh? What did you do this time? Get pumelled by that little kid and his rat again?"
"Hey! Watch it, buster!" Jessie snarled, clenching her fists and stepping towards him menacingly. "We have been invited to attend a highly important meeting regarding an upcoming mission," she said proudly, reciting from the letter she'd read enough times to memorise.
"Seriously? The boss wants you three on the mission?" the grunt enquired.
"Shut it!" Jessie warned. "Can you only ask questions or something? Now move aside!"
She pushed past him and into the building, James and Meowth following her a little more cautiously.
The reception of the headquarters was impressive enough, with gleaming white tiles that mirrored any movement above layering the floor and a huge red "R" hanging above the desk that Wendy sat behind. A board hung on one wall honouring the "Rockets of the month", displaying pictures of Butch and Cassidy, as per usual.
"Hey Wendy," Jessie greeted casually as she walked past with her two team mates and stepped through an automatic door into the hallway. Wendy clenched her fists and exhaled through her nostrils angrily.
"She never paid me back for that smoothie," Wendy growled to herself, and reluctantly, returned to typing mindlessly at the computer in front of her.
Dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on Jessie and James as they tried in vain to slip into the room unnoticed. The meeting had clearly already started, and the fact that they were the only ones wearing a white uniform didn't exactly help them to blend in.
Giovanni sat with his back turned to the Rockets, the usual air of mystery about him. He never personally spoke to agents face to face unless it was something important, so, Jessie reasoned that the mission must be pretty big.
"Sorry," James mumbled sheepishly as they squeezed into their seats between several Rockets, who were glaring at them. Whispers and muffled laughter rang through the room, making the trio blush as Giovanni spun around in his chair to face the room full of people. Meowth flinched slightly at the Persian Giovanni was petting fondly on his lap, resisting the urge to hiss and stopping himself from sliding out his claws.
"Good. Now that we're all here," Giovanni started, aiming this remark at Jessie and James, "I'll tell you all about the mission. I expect you're all curious about it, so I'll cut to the chase."
He paused in though for a moment, stoking the Persian, and sighed. "Most of you have been members of our organisation long enough to remember the... Incident, on the St. Anne a few months back."
Several Rockets shifted uncomfortably, including Jessie and James, remembering how the mission had been screwed up completely.
"The mission very nearly succeeded," Giovanni continued, "and I believe the plan was dismissed as useless too quickly. Therefore, this mission will be very similar.
"Each one of you will be disguised as staff on a cruise ship that is setting sail tomorrow. There will be some real staff on board too, but I was able to... Take care of most of them."
At the shocked silence that followed, Giovanni quickly corrected himself, realising he'd phrased it wrong. "Not killed- bribed, we bribed the staff to let us take their places! Sheesh," he muttered to himself at the horrified looks on the faces of his employees. They should know well enough by now that he didn't go around killing anyone that stood in his way as some organisations did. That wasn't his style- it was too easy.
"Anyway," he breathed, his usual tone returning. "The ship can hold hundreds of passengers, and that means hundreds of Pokemon. Pokemon for us to steal. This time, we won't fail. We have more than doubled the number of agents sent out, and ironed out the previous flaws in the plan. The ship leaves tomorrow at nine- you'll travel there by coach in the morning. Good luck."
After leaving the brief meeting, Jessie, James and Meowth sat in their old room, flicking through the mission briefing they'd been given.
"This sounds exactly like the St. Anne mission..." James said nervously, turning a page.
"Well, it's not," Jessie snapped. "You heard the boss- improvements have been made! And besides, the twerps won't be on board to intefere this time. I hear they're at some festival, or something."
Before James or Meowth could reply, the door to the room swung open, catching the attention of the trio.
"James! Miss Jessie!" the young teenage Rocket in the doorway greeted, beaming.
"Mondo!" Jessie, James and Meowth exclaimed happily. (Mondo appears once in the radio drama "It's a White Tomorrow!" for those who don't know him. He's basically Jessie and James' assistant.)
"Where've ya been, kid?" Meowth asked as Jessie motioned for Mondo to come in.
"Eh- mainly doing deliveries and taking messenges to agents," Mondo said, sitting down next to the older Rockets. He wore the same white uniform as Jessie and James, which hung off his small body a little loosely. Mondo was one of the youngest members of Team Rocket at fourteen, and, despite his career choice, looked as innocent as any other kid his age.
"But now I get to go on my first mission! The boss said I could help you guys," Mondo announced proudly, grinning from ear to ear.
"Congrats!" James replied, setting aside the briefing.
"About time! We've missed your help," Jessie said, smiling. "Have you read the briefing?"
"Yeah, loads! It sounds so cool!"
James hoped for Mondo's sake that the mission went well. Failing his first mission might upset him, and James knew from experience that Mondo was what you'd call sensitive. He wasn't sure what a kid like Mondo was even doing in a place like Team Rocket, but then again, James wasn't exactly your stereotypical villain either.
"You guys up for some grub? I'm starving," Meowth said, jumping up.
"Sure," the three Rockets answered, and followed Meowth back out into the corridoor.
The canteen was bustling with Rockets, from the highest elite agents to grunts and trainees. Most sat at the cheap tables with trays of food, but some stood in their own groups, gossiping or discussing the upcoming mission.
"Her!" Jessie suddenly shrieked, pointing an accusing finger across the room. Mondo, James and Meowth looked over to the area she was pointing at, and saw the source of Jessie's anger.
"Not them," James groaned, sighing as the two familar Rockets spotted Jessie and James and began to make their way over.
"Cassidy," Jessie snarled.
"And Botch!" James remarked, purposely getting the name wrong to tick Butch off. It had the desired effect.
"Grr," Butch growled, clenching his fist. "The name's Butch, you moron! B-U-T-C-H! Butch!" Butch ran his gloved hand through his teal hair. "Why's it so difficult to remember? No one forgets your name..."
"So, Jessie, you finally got a decent mission," Cassidy interrupted, smirking. "Of course, the boss'll have only let you three losers on because half of his team are out on the field."
"Hey! Leave Miss Jessie alone!" Mondo retorted, looking a little pathetic as he stepped protectively in front of Jessie, who blushed.
Butch burst out laughing at the sight of the young teen. "What is this? The Jessie and James fanclub? Look Cassidy, he even has their little outfit!" Butch ruffled Mondo's hair so it stuck up out of place. "Hey kid," he said patronisingly, crouching down so he was at Mondo's height. "Why don't you finish high school first, and then come back, hmm?"
Mondo turned a deep red, scowling.
"Well, Biff, I seem to remember you were even younger when you joined," Meowth pointed out. "Thirteen, was it?"
"Phh. At least my voice had broken," Butch retorted, making Mondo redden even more.
Cassidy laughed cruelly, and then glared at Jessie and James. "Alright. So you're on the mission. Just stay out of our way, got it?"
"Gladly," Jessie muttered, folding her arms. "Who'd want to hang out with you losers, anyway?"
Cassidy took a menacing step forwards, but then stopped herself, smiling. "You know what? It's not worth it. I already know how pathetic you three are- who cares what lies you believe?"
Before Jessie could retaliate, Cassidy spun on her heel, and walked away, Butch close behind.
"I hate those two!" Jessie spat, squeezing her hands into fists.
"Me too," Mondo grumbled, his face still burning. "And I'm not a kid! I'm a young adult!" he said defensively, fixing his hair.
"Don't listen to them," James advised. "They talk rubbish all the time."
Nodding, Mondo turned to Meowth, who was coughing for attention.
"Now that we're done chatting, let's get some lunch! That queue's not gettin' any shorter!"
The following day, the three Rockets were woken up at 5am by an alarm that seemed to run throughout the entire building. Groaning and rubbing her eyes, Jessie sat up in bed, feeling properly rested for the first time in ages. She looked over to her team mates, who were trying to cover their ears to block out the deafening ringing of the alarm.
"Ugh," James said when silence finally fell again. "It's still dark out..."
Meowth burrowed under the duvet on James' bed, mumbling sleepily to himself. James tore the blanket off the bed to get Meowth up, and received a fury swipe across the face for his efforts.
"The cruise ship leaves at nine. Let's change into our disguises quick and get down to the coach. I want to get good seats- last time I was stuck next to Dr. Namba!" Jessie said, shuddering at the memory.
"He's so creepy," James replied, shaking his head. "And when someone gets his name wrong, he just knows. I mean, how? It freaks me out."
"Well, hurry up then, because if there's a seat next to him left, I'm sure as hell not gonna be the one who takes it."
Mondo met Jessie, James and Meowth outside the coach, looking too enthusiastic for someone awake before dawn. While Jessie and James were disguised as waiters, Mondo was dressed as a cleaner, wearing a white T-shirt, jeans and a jacket with "Staff" printed across the back. A plastic badge reading "Brian" was pinned to the front of his shirt.
"Well then, 'Brian'," James grinned, stretching an arm out towards the entrance to the coach. "After you."
The four found seats close to the back, avoiding individuals such as Butch, Cassidy and Namba. Nearly all the other Rockets on the coach were also disguised as waiters, wearing identical blue and red suits with polished black shoes.
"Well, it makes a change from Team Rocket uniform, anyway," Jessie said, struggling to get comfortable in the stiff fabric that had only been taken out of its plastic wrapping under an hour ago.
"What am I meant ta do?" Meowth demanded, looking at the people in disguises around him. "No one gave me a costume..."
"Just act like a normal pokemon, dummy," Jessie sighed, pressing her cheek against the icy window. "And try not to blurt anything out this time."
Mondo was fidgeting in his seat, chewing his lip nervously. "What if I don't know where to go? Or get lost? Or what if it all goes wrong?"
"Calm down, kid," Meowth said reassuringly, patting Mondo gently on the shoulder. "You'll be fine. Just stick with us- we'll show ya the ropes!"
Relaxing a little, Mondo smiled. "Thanks. Sorry- I'm just a little nervous."
"It's understandable," Meowth said, nodding. "I mean, if this thing goes wrong, we're in big trouble! We could all go to jail for-"
Meowth stopped mid-sentence, noticing the horrified look on Mondo's face, and seeing that Jessie and James were shaking their heads frantically and drawing lines across their throats as a signal to stop talking. Swallowing, Meowth rubbed the back of his head, trying to come up with a way to calm Mondo down again.
"Uh, I mean, it won't go wrong. The boss has it all planned out. We've got way more agents than usual on this mission, and me, Jessie and Jim'll be lookin' out for ya."
Mondo nodded a little too quickly, clearly unconvinced. His face had turned paler than usual, and he looked like he might be sick at any moment. Meowth felt a pang of guilt, realising he'd made Mondo even more scared than he'd been before.
"Relax Mondo- you've got elite agents backing you up, remember?" Jessie told Mondo, trying her best to comfort him. "That includes me, so you know for sure you'll be fine!"
A little colour returned to Mondo's face, and he smiled again, though it looked forced. "Thank you, Miss Jessie. I'm sure it'll all go well."
Meowth shrank into his seat as Jessie and James glared at him for being so tactless, and drummed his paw against his knee rhythamically to try and cool his own nerves. If this mission went anything like the St. Anne one had...
Shuddering, Meowth forced himself to fix his eyes on the chair in front of him, determined not to lose his cool. Panicking wouldn't make the mission go any better, but staying level-headed just might.
As the last few agents climbed on board, the engine of the coach rumbled to life, purring softly as the vechile crawled forwards. Most of the other Rockets were chatting happily, clearly not worried about the mission, but James, Jessie, Meowth and Mondo sat in an awward silence, occaisionally attempting small talk which quickly went back to quiet.
"This is ridiculous," Jessie said eventually, the three male Rockets turning to her. "We went on plenty of missions as big or bigger than this one before that twerp and his Pikachu ruined our careers, and we're worrying like it's our first mission. Well, it's reasonable for Mondo to, but we're experienced agents!"
"It's just weird, being back on team missions," James replied, stretching in his seat. "But if anything, I'm looking forward to it. These kind of missions are far more exciting than tailing those kids for months at a time, and I've missed working on a bigger team."
"Ya know what I've missed more than anythin'?" Meowth asked. "Sleepin' in a real bed. I nearly slept on the floor outta habit! But that was the best night's sleep I've had in ages."
Jessie and James nodded in agreement, and then strained to get closer to the window as the coach pulled up onto a parking lot by the sea. Meowth stared at the glistening ocean, mesmerised by the way the light skimmed the water's surface. "We're here," he breathed.