My shortest chapter!
I made up Jessie's last name because I couldn't find her real one. And I couldn't find (didn't look for) the "popular" one. I gave her the English voice actor's last name. I think I saw James' last name somewhere, but I could be wrong. Sorry! I have little patience for research, but you know, I still try...
oh, and I also couldn't find a lot on Carl so he'll probably end up being pretty OOC. Making up his last name, as well.
The three days it took to reach Cerulean City was more or less a routine of walking, eating and sleeping, arguing, and more walking. They would travel through the least populated areas, rest when they were tired, eat when they were hungry, and argue at little provocation. By the second day, he was wishing on stars for a new traveling companion.
Speaking of companion, his old traveling partner that resided in Cerulean City did not slip his mind. He wondered if he would see Misty while they passed through, but he always stopped himself before he could really imagine their reunion. Besides, they were not going anywhere near her former gym/current theater at all, so there was little chance they would meet. She would probably just turn right back around if she saw him coming, anyways. Oh, damn, there he goes again. Forget her.
Now, they were in a semi-wilderness just on the outskirts of Cerulean City, Jane constantly staring at Ash's hand-held electronic map(that he begged her to use if she was going to lead), mesmerized by the progression of the digital blue arrow that pinpointed their position, and Ash ultimately deciding where and when they rested due to no longer having the endurance he used to.
"Are you sure about this?" she asked distractedly, for the third time in the last thirty minutes. "Like absolutely positive?" And for the third time, Ash patiently eased her concerns.
"I keep telling you, it's safe. No actual member of Team Rocket will go anywhere near them. It's like the current members are afraid to be seen with them. We have a safe zone of at least a few miles."
"Are you one hundred percent, zombie undead serious, unquestionably confident they're not members anymore?"
Ash, as well as Pikachu- who also had to bear this for the past hour- groaned dramatically. "You said you were going to trust me." Jane looked up from the gadget briefly.
"I do want to trust you, Ash," she said, so seriously that Ash felt a little uncomfortable. "Don't make me regret this."
Ash cleared his throat and stammered a better explanation. "O-ok, look. When they were kicked out, they started protesting against Team Rocket. And before Giovanni died- I mean, you know... they fought and argued in the newspapers and on TV and other stuff... but anyway that's all stopped. They just hate each other now. Trust me. I went to the opening of their first salon and they refused to talk about them anymore."
"...and you're sure of that?"
"I'm sure!"
"Pikachu!" 'He's sure!'
"Ok! Geez... So, where is this place?" Jane asked, eyes returning to the arrow.
"I don't know, I've never been to their new location," Ash admitted, ignoring the glare Jane shot him for not knowing where they were going(quite hypocritically, in Ash's opinion). "I think it's called "Jessie, James, and Meowth's Pokemon Salon." Or I think they stuck with "JJM" They went through so many names, it could have changed three times by now."
"How are we supposed to find it?" Jane rubbed at her forehead, attempting to better control the simmering anger that was slowly beginning to boil. "It's not like Cerulean is a small city. It'll take forever to comb through the entire place for a dinky salon and dammit Ash, are you listening to me!"
If Jane had been watching Ash and not grumbling behind her hand, she would have seen Ash had gone ahead. He was, in fact, not listening. The boy he approached was using his arms to give him directions to the newly named "Jessie's."
"It's right across the street from that new seafood restaurant," the preteen trainer said, gesturing in the direction Ash and Jane had been walking, "A big, weird looking, pink building. You'll know it when you see it. I'd never take my pokemon to that place, it's way too girly."
"Yeah, no kidding," Ash replied, distracted by repeating the directions mentally, "Well thanks, you saved us a long search." He felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Jane asked softly, burning with rage underneath her cool exterior. Ash noticed the boy had left.
"Why are you whispering? He's gone. "
"I can see that!" She can see that now, she would say if she was honest. "Can you warn me when you're going to run off by yourself and endanger our lives?"
"When did you become my mother?" Ash whispered under his breath and left her to resume the trek. The next hour's walk was filled with nothing but fighting about this comment.
Xxxxx
Ash was extremely grateful when the gaudy, salmon colored building came into view. Both he and Jane had argued themselves hoarse and he desperately craved any other conversation partner, even if it was his old tormentors. The same ones he could see outside of the ugly building.
Former Team Rocket members Jessie Lillis and James Morgan were feuding over the banner underneath the neon lights that spelled "Jessie's" on the front of the building. It became more heated as the group drew closer; the only thing keeping James from a severe beating was the ladder in between him and Jessie. At least, Ash was pretty sure it was Jessie. The magenta hair color was right, but the length was barely past this woman's chin. And, if he remembered Jessie right, her hair was her lifeblood- she would murder anyone who dared harm it.
"It's straight!" the maybe Jessie woman yelled to the definitely James man, "I'll push you off this ladder if you go up again!" She did threaten like Jessie.
James peeked through his ladder barricade and spotted Ash, Jane, and Pikachu coming towards them. He ventured out, ready to greet the potential customers, when still-not-positive-it's-Jessie grappled him into a headlock and tugged on his ear. She was violent like Jessie.
"Jessie, please!" James cried, struggling to breathe through her stranglehold. "We have customers!"
Though unconvinced that this was not a distraction, she followed his gaze and spotted the three walking towards them. Ash had the bandanna around his face and a makeshift wrap of a torn shirt around his forehead, so it took Jessie just a fraction longer to recognize her old nemesis.
"Welcome to Jessie's!" she said, snapping into her sweetest persona as she let James fall to the concrete. "Are we working with this adorable Pikachu? Or do you have other pokemon? Let me tell you about our group discounts..." The three were never able to hear about the discounts; Jessie had almost recognized Ash but until she put him together with Pikachu, she stared at him, squinting. Once she did place him, she jumped backwards, blue eyes widening with surprise and fury.
"It's the twerp!"
Her cropped hair swung in time with her green dangly ball earings as she spun around to pick James up. "Go grab Yamask!" James stammered and stumbled when she pushed him towards the double doors of their building. Ash only became worried when she reached in the pocket of her long white coat(that had a large red "J" on the chest area, reminiscent of a previous uniform they donned) for a pokemon and called Pikachu forward just as she was about to throw it.
"Woobat, go!"
"Stop!"
Startled, Jessie froze and wobbled on one foot, the pokeball unreleased. She glared at James, who had been the one that stopped her and had now put himself between her and Ash's group before anyone could attack.
"Jessie! The twerp is not the enemy anymore! We've gone straight, remember?"
The woman's eyes narrowed but she slowly put the ball back into her pocket. She appeared calmer, but was still far from happy about seeing them. James also did not smile. He nervously darted his attention between the group and tried not to flinch when Jessie moved.
"What are you looking at?" Jessie spat at Ash in particular, "Are you here to stop our evil plans? Have you come to neutralize our nefarious nail clipping crime ring? Or the heinous hair styling hoax? Our corrupt curling conspiracy! What do you want!"
James interjected sheepishly, "She's been reading books with a lot of alliteration, lately..." He was immediately silenced by a clonk on the head with Jessie's fist.
"Shut it," she growled. "I bet you'd like to see us blast off again, wouldn't you, brat?" Ash cringed and took three hesitant steps back. Jessie took three longer steps forward and steadily became louder and more hysterical. "Want us to recite the old motto for you, too? Prepare for trouble, make it double? Come on, James, the twerp came to hear the saying, you don't want to disappoint him, do you! Why don't you just get the hell out of here!"
"They didn't come to hurt us..." James pleaded from beside her. She threw him off when he tried to grip her sleeve.
"Fine!" she screamed, her hysterics peaking, "Then what did you come here for? Why are you bothering us?"
James repeated her questioned, curiously. "Why are you here?" Ash swallowed loudly and did not say anything until Jane and Pikachu pushed him forward. He gave them both a dirty look and mustered up the courage to look Jessie in the eyes and say:
"I need your help."
xxxxx
"Would you like some tea?"
"Uh, no thanks, but if you have some water for Pikachu..."
"Just a moment!"
James bounded out of the waiting room, leaving Jane, Ash, and Pikachu sitting on one of the four red leather couches. He had been the perfect picture of hospitality; seating them, taking their backpack and satchel, all with a genial smile. Jessie scoffed at the other end of the area where the hallway to the restroom and the stairs to the second floor began, intent on being the antithesis to James' warmth. She turned her her back to the three.
"Don't get comfortable, you won't be here long."
"Jessie!" James chided as he returned back from the mini fridge, bottle water in hand. "I'm disappointed in you! That life is over. We've moved on." Pikachu took the water he was handed and chewed and scratched at the cap. He handed it to Ash after a few seconds and the boy twisted it off for him. James took to boiling water for tea on the portable burner in the salon area, despite their refusal. "Although," he started, chuckling softly, "It is a strange feeling, being this close to the one pokemon we hunted for almost our entire career as Rockets. Ah, the memories..." He poured the water into the kettle with an airy expression.
"I remember being mocked by the entire team for not catching one Pikachu," Jessie added from her corner, "I remember owing money. I remember trading our debt in for a forced resignation and a restraining order against us, even though we were the brightest, the most driven-"
"The most stylish," James called over his shoulder while adjusting the heat.
"And the biggest stars of Team Rocket! Those brainless, bloated buffoons!" She expelled her anger on the wall in the form of a Jessie-powerful punch that rocked the entire salon. Everyone else looked up at the creaking ceiling, fearfully. Ash whispered to Jane.
"See? They're not allowed near Team Rocket anymore."
"I can't see why..." Jane whispered back. There was no way these lunatics could have ever been part of the same group that tortured her kind. No doubt, they made it a week in and were spat out.
James came back to the seating area with a tray of four porcelain cups and a purple tea kettle, clicking his tongue at his female counterpart. "You're going to knock off another sign if you're not careful." He placed the tray- that Ash now spotted cookies on- next to a pile of last month's fashion magazines on top of the white coffee table in the center of the four couches. Needless to say, Ash and Pikachu made quick work of the lemony treats. Jane resisted slapping them out of her hands, though she was twenty percent sure they were poisoned. Ash said trust, and she was trying, but these two were clearly unhinged in some way and she had yet to decide if it was harmless or not.
"So, how's the gym?" James said easily, unaware of the accusations being made in Jane's mind, "The news doesn't cover it very much, anymore." He nervously added, "Not that we actively watch for you, no, that would be obsessive and weird."
Ash's chewing slowed. A tight feeling came over his stomach. He swallowed what was in his mouth(though no one would be able to see the food anyways) and quickly answered, "It's fine."
"Good, I'm glad to hear that," James said, relieved that he did not make anyone feel uncomfortable. "You haven't told us who your pretty friend is. I always expected you to end up with that red-head brat- uh...oh... sorry. Old habits die hard..." He took a quick, shaky sip of the too hot tea that was then immediately dropped as soon as the scalding liquid touched his mouth. The teens and Pikachu awkwardly watched as he swiped at the large brown stain on his white coat and rubbed his lips simultaneously.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!"
Jessie appeared at his side with a bright orange towel, sighing heavily. "You're hopeless, James." She dabbed at the mess more gentle than Ash had thought was possible for her. James quieted and allowed her to remove the coat to get at the red turtle neck sweater he wore underneath. Before Jessie could pull away when she was done, he captured her arms and pulled her into a brief kiss(that felt odd on his burned lips.)
"AHH!"
Everyone jumped and turned to look at Ash who sat there, mouth agape after shouting and pointing at the former grunts.
"What's your problem!" Jane asked first, angry that her heart was pounding so hard because of him. Jessie and James felt similarly. All three and Pikachu stared at Ash as he silently berated himself for the outburst.
"S-sorry... I... I thought you were brother and sister."
"What!" Jessie screeched. She shoved James away as if the claim had been true. "Ugh! That's disgusting! No, we're not related you little perv!"
"They don't look anything alike," Jane pointed out.
"They fight like siblings!" Ash defended loudly.
"I didn't know the twerp thought we were related..." James mused.
"My name is Ash!"
"Sorry. Habit."
"Alright, alright!" Jane shouted, "Can we talk about why we came now?" She directed this more towards Ash, but it was James that answered her.
"Oh. Yes, you needed help?" He and Jessie took seats on the opposite couch. They were close enough to touch and when Jessie realized this, she scooted closer to the armrest. James knew she was still embarrassed, so he let her go. "Help with what?"
"And why are you wearing that stupid disguise?" Jessie mumbled, supporting her head with her fist. "It doesn't even work."
"We want to destroy Team Rocket," Jane said before the conversation could get out of control again. She fixed the pair with a determined look, daring them to protest or try to stop her. As non-threatening as they seemed, it did not change the fact that they willingly joined Team Rocket, meaning their morality was not exceptionally virtuous. 'I don't trust you' she hoped passed along with her challenge. Jessie snorted at her message- both verbal and non-verbal.
"What do you want us to do about that? We're not in the giant robot business anymore, if you can't tell." She waved a hand towards the grooming area of her building(oddly enough, some of the equipment did look like they could be robot parts- colorful parts, but easily in the large mecha category) Ash took over; Jane was being too hostile for him.
"What she meant to say was, we want them to stop chasing us."
"No, now I want to destroy them," Jane repeated, giving Ash the daring look now.
"You do?" he asked. She never shared this with him before. Red leather squeaked as Jane repositioned herself to see Ash better.
"You were right Ash, we need to stop running. Don't you see? They won't give up. They'll keep chasing us even if they fail a thousand times. As long as this is going on, they won't ever stop trying to possess it. It's not as simple as them settling for another power; they want this and everything else."
Ash was quiet and anxious and when he was going to refute her claims, Jessie beat him to it.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said shaking her head,"What's going on with power or what, now?"
Jane squirmed uncomfortably. "It's better if you don't know everything..."
"Don't start that," Ash said, surprised at the speed his voice came back to him. He did not tell the story himself, however. Jane frowned at him and took a deep breath in.
"Ok, it started when they were hunting Besero. I don't know why they went after him-"
"Short version, Jane."
"Just let me tell the stupid story, shit! Ok, Team Rocket was hunting Besero and then they killed him and then his power possessed us and now they want to capture us and we're running from them and we want them to go away. Short version. Happy?" Ash kept quiet for the sake of preventing an argument.
Jessie and James thoughtfully studied Jane. They looked to each other gravely and Jessie broke away, nodding at James to go ahead and snatching a cookie before Ash and Pikachu could eat them all. James nodded back and turned to Jane.
"Sorry, what?"
Jessie laugh-snorted with her mouth full of cookie. Confused and offended, Jane looked to Ash to try to manage the strangers he had experience dealing with.
"This is serious," he said, "A man died four days ago; a Team Rocket member. And he's not the only one. All because this is happening."
"Pfft, good riddance," Jessie sneered and plucked the last cookie out of Pikachu's hand. She tossed it into her mouth and smirked at Pikachu's sad expression. James frowned at her behavior.
"Manners, Jessie. I don't feel much for the death of the Rocket member, either, but if you say you need help, I will assist you anyway I can, as long as our business and health are not in danger. Still, it's been years since we were part of Team Rocket. We know virtually nothing of their current workings and we no longer have access to the machines we used to chase you around in."
"And why do you trust us anyway?" Jessie added, cookie crumbs spilling from her mouth, "What makes you think we won't sell you out? We've gone straight, but we don't hate money."
Jane's grip on the edge of the couch tightened enough to pop her knuckles and almost puncture the leather. Ash could feel her breathing speed up and her body tense and knew she did not like what she just heard. If someone did not say something to calm her down soon, she would beat the two to unconsciousness and run away. Her legs shifted to a ready position and Ash jumped in with his saving argument.
"You wouldn't help Team Rocket. I know you. I've seen what you tried to do four years ago. The news never revealed the terrorist group attacking the old headquarters but I knew it had to be you. And... and if we really are trying to destroy them, why wouldn't you want to help us?"
A grin slowly spread on James' face and Jessie had to smile as well. Jane could not tell if these smiles were a good omen or a bad one, so she had to assume it was bad. She planned an attack that involved weaponizing the metal tray and slowly began to rise. Ash felt this and swiftly grabbed a teacup and placed it into her hands. He sternly and silently warned her against her plot with his eyes. It was becoming harder to trust this entire situation, but Jane relented and eased back into her seat, sipping at the teacup, only to discover there was nothing in it. James remedied that with the smile still on his face. She very nearly hurled the cup at him when he reached at her with the kettle. Ash spotted that as well, and was glad they were too dense or distracted to notice.
"Well done, twer- I mean, Ash," James began while pouring the tea, "We did struggle with them for a while. It lasted for about six months after we resigned."
"They started it," Jessie took over, "The first time we tried to get back onto the base they shot at us with rubber bullets."
"Naturally, we burned their guard towers down," James grinned.
"Then, they sent a goon to try to poison the water in the hotel we were in at the time, and we clipped the brake lines on all of their vehicles." James made a scissors motion with his fingers and laughed. Jessie playfully elbowed him and continued, "It went on like that until Giovanni died. The executives they put in charge called a truce and we didn't see the point of fighting anymore. Our business was taking off and we didn't need the stress."
Ash allowed them to go on with their story- that did not matter to him in the least- and now impatiently asked, "Does... that mean you're going to help us?"
Jessie crossed her arms at him. "What do you expect us to do? We don't want to be pulled into that again."
"You don't have to be," Ash offered, somewhat desperately, "Just give us some information on how we can get away from them or stop them somehow."
"Destroy them," Jane announced from her forgotten place on the couch. She had calmed down significantly during their story. Anyone who attacked Team Rocket was okay in her book.
"That's not such an easy thing to do," James explained, not condescendingly but in a tone that tried to show her the gravity of her desire. "Four years ago you would have needed an army. You're going to need a much bigger one, now. We've cut Team Rocket out of our lives, but they've spread through all of Kanto and some of Johto. You know this. You know what you're up against."
"Well, what do we do then?" Jane asked, fairly combative. Jessie scowled at her tone and hotly crossed her arms and legs.
"Fine, you really want our help? Then you need to understand how they hunt. If they're still working by Giovanni's design, then it's the easiest thing to do. Now that he's dead, it might have changed, but I don't think by much."
"Oh," Ash interrupted, "Giovanni's not dead, by the way."
"What?" Jessie and James said together. All playfulness left their attitudes; their postures tensed to an almost threatening state.
"He's not dead," Jane repeated,"He faked that heart attack. I saw him with my own eyes two months ago."
The former Rockets looked to each other, wide eyed and calculating. James suddenly pulled out a small, electronic tablet from his pant pocket and a pen designed for it and furiously scribbled something down while Jessie attempted to distract the rest of the group.
"You're positive it was Giovanni?" she asked Jane in the threatening manner.
"Yes. It was him."
"That's interesting," she said more to herself than the teens. She trailed off, lost in her thoughts and mumbling to herself. She probably would have continued to go on like this if Jane had not loudly cleared her throat and brought her out of her faraway look.
"You said you're part of a legendary chase, right?" she asked, suddenly very focused on Jane.
"Yes?"
"That means you have something big after you. Like a flying base or a ship, something like that."
"Yeah, the 'Ghost Ship.'"
"They built it?" James exclaimed, torn away from his writing for the moment. "I never believed that would make it out of the blueprint stage!"
"I know that ship, there are planes on it," Jessie went on, ignoring him, and biting her thumbnail as she deliberated, "That's how they'll begin searching, with the planes. And then they'll send grunts into the areas they think are suspicious. Stay out of the planes' sights and get into no fly zones often. I think you know to keep out of the pokemon centers and police stations and the other places they've gotten into. Stay away from forests, too. They sweep those the most." Ash glanced at Jane who rigidly kept her gaze forward and pretended that she did not feel him looking at her. "The safest places are caves. It's not easy to drive in there and they're pretty much invisible to the aircraft. As for destroying the entire organization..." Jessie paused, a disturbed expression on her face. James had stopped writing by then. He took up the task of explaining to them when he noticed Jessie's uncomfortable fidgeting.
"That will be nothing short of war," he stated, stealthily slipping his hand into Jessie's and giving a comforting squeeze. "A large war. Maybe if you somehow disable the ship you can delay them until they assign a different one, but then you'll have that one to defeat and every one they send after that. Sadly, that's the only way you'll stop them. By slowly destroying each and every part of each and every base and also the headquarters where you'll then have to remove each and every leader from power."
Ash's stomach sank to a record low as James went on. This had taken a very unexpected and undesired turn. Stopping Team Rocket, disabling them, sure, those were words he understood and could handle. Words like "army" and "war" had no place in this. No place for them, no place for him. Next to him, Jane burned with a hostile fire. Her words were thick with scorn and malice.
"And we have to do it ourselves. That's what you want to say, isn't it? You can't be bothered with this." James' hand squeezed again and Jessie squeezed back. They both flinched at the condemning and true accusation but were determined to hold their positions.
"This is not our war anymore," he said morosely, "We're happy. We have our own lives and dreams, now. Team Rocket is far behind us."
"Not your war?" Jane scoffed, "Don't try to pretty it up, you don't give a damn about us, and you know what? I don't care. If you won't help us that's fine, where can we start?"
"Start by building your numbers," he explained, genuinely still trying to help, "Pokemon, weapons, soldiers, anybody you can get. You're going to need them. And be careful who you trust. There are undercover agents everywhere. If one of them found out what you're planning, that will be the end of it. After you gather an army... well, what comes next is obvious..."
Jane rose off of the couch. She made a scene of turning her back to them and grabbing the satchel James had placed on the couch to their right. "Yeah. Thanks for that. I think we got all we came for, Ash. We should leave." Once she possessed her and Ash's bags, she passed them again to get to the doors. Ash hesitantly left his seat if only to not be left behind.
He would be lying if he said part of him did not want to be left behind. For many reasons. To break free of this awful journey, to stay away from this word "war", but also- and he understood how strange this was- to stay with Jessie and James. To be with someone familiar, even if it was the two people who caused him the most grief in his childhood. They were from before all of this Besero happened and even further beyond that. They were before all of this Pokemon Champion happened, and everything no one warned him came with it. They were one of very few links he had with that time and as soon as he left, that link would be broken, like the others.
What was keeping him moving towards the door? What was it that kept him following her? It would not be so hard to stay here. He had already proven Team Rocket's plague-like avoidance of this place; he could probably talk her into letting him stay with the right words. But that would be the wrong thing to do. Wouldn't it?
"Ash, wait."
Did James really just say that or was his imagination getting stronger? Ash turned around and saw that James had risen from his seat. He did call him. Ash stood there, not hearing Jane and Pikachu's departure through the doors and waited for the words that would give him reason to stay.
"What's wrong with your face?" James asked.
Ash waited for more, heart pounding in his ears. He waited for a good ten seconds before he realized he was waiting for nothing. And then a sick feeling overcame him. He had to get out of here now, before he could have any more of these thoughts. With two hands, he simultaneously pulled his bandanna down and the wrap on his head up, exposing the growths that brought him here. With no other words, he replaced his coverings and left the former Team Rocket members in their place of business and ran to catch up to Jane a block away.
When he was close enough, he could hear her muttering to herself with a good amount of anger. He caught the words "stupid" and "fine" the most often. She felt him slow down next to her and stopped the rambling, but did not lose the hateful expression she stared at the concrete with.
"It's ok, Ash," she said, trying not to sound angry with him, and handing him his backpack, "It still wasn't a mistake to go there. We learned a little more about Team Rocket, at least. They won't help us, but we can find others and even if we don't, we'll do it ourselves if we have to. Me and you."
"Pika."
"And Pikachu, yeah. One by one. We'll take them out. An all out attack isn't possible right now, but we can get more information on the different bases; it shouldn't be that hard, it's not like they're hiding from the public all that much."
"Jane," Ash whispered, too low for her to hear right away, "Jane," he repeated until she stopped talking, "This is big."
"It is big," she immediately agreed,"And once we start winning and getting people to join us, it's gonna get even bigger." She clenched her fists and shook her arms at the sky. "Team Rocket's finally gonna get what they deserve! Once the first base goes down, everyone's gonna have to notice it and investigate and then all of their evil secrets will start to be revealed." She halted mid-step and gripped Ash by the shoulders. The look in her eyes could only be described as fiery determination and borderline mania that she tried with all of her might to shake into Ash. "You're going to help me, right? You won't leave? I need a pokemon champion more than anything. We can do this!"
He did not know how to answer her. These were the same questions he was asking himself at the exact same time. Her excitement should have turned him one way or the other, but he was still caught in the middle. One look at Pikachu told him that he agreed with her and that should have swayed him, but it just raised more doubt. Something this big could not be rushed into, right? He was allowed to think about this, to stay on the fence for as long as he needed, to push it away until he was ready.
Whether he was ready for it or not, Ash felt a familiar and terrifying sensation. From past Jane, someone wordlessly and faintly called him. Jane turned and faced the direction it came from then turned back to Ash to see he was also watching the area.
"You heard it, too?" she asked excitedly, "You can feel it now. I knew you would grow into it! Let's go! It's close!." She let go of Ash's shoulders to grab one of his arms and pulled him in the direction of the call. He immediately yanked his arm away.
"We're going towards it? What if it's another hunter?"
Jane gave up trying to reach for him and instead took a few steps away, almost bouncing with anticipation.
"It's a new one! It just changed, I can tell. Let's go!"
Ash was still overcome with anxiety about many things. Luckily his feet moved without him telling them to. He ran after Jane and willed his mind to stop thinking, to barge into this new development just this once. He did not even think that the route they were taking was a familiar one.
xxxxx
Jessie and James were still in the waiting area of the salon, James standing, Jessie sitting. After Ash walked out, they stayed this way, stunned silent until they heard the back door open and small footsteps traveling through the grooming area.
"Meow, I'm back!" The talking, white cat pokemon walked over to the hair drying counter on two legs. With him was a white cloth sack that looked just as big as him, but much weightier. "This sack's heavy, why don't ya give me a hand?"
James went to help his other partner in the trio, but Jessie stayed on the couch and stared at the large J painted on her glass doors. "Do you think we should be doing more?" she said loud enough for James and Meowth to hear.
"I don't see ya helpin' at all!" Meowth snapped back as he and James sorted through the contents of the bag. James shushed him.
"We're needed here, Jessie," he consoled, still working with Meowth's haul, "And I don't think they told us the full story. Who knows what trouble they got themselves into?" Meowth blinked at both of them, confused.
"Whatta ya talkin' about?" he asked anxiously, "What'd I miss?" Jessie snapped out of her depressive state and went to help them, not happy but not brooding. She pushed Meowth's head down in greeting.
"The twerp was here," she said, dodging the claws swiping at her.
"Tha twerp? What'd he want?"
"He's in trouble with our old employers," James answered, "It has something to do with the legendary, Besero. I'm not sure what's happening, but he wanted to know how to defeat Team Rocket. For good." Meowth slowly lowered his paws and watched his teammates work distractedly. They were thinking the same thing he was, he knew it. It was up to him to bring it out, though. He picked up his share and counted and re-counted as he lost his focus multiple times.
"We goin' ta do somethin' about it?" he said to no one in particular. Jessie slammed her share down and shouted, finally releasing the pent up emotion she held in since before Ash left.
"No! Even if Giovanni isn't dead, we have our family to think of! We're successful business men, and Team Rocket and the twerp can suck on that and die! I'm not jeopardizing this again! We're not!"
"Not dead?"
"Yes, Meowth, Team Rocket has been keeping a few secrets, apparently," James calmly picked up Jessie's strewn share and placed it back into her hands. He held on when she tried to take it and forced her to look at him. "Jessie, I think it's wise if we stay out of this, too. But... Just in case we find ourselves in the middle of the old struggle, we should maybe watch the growth of Team Rocket. This meeting with the twerp may come in handy later. Some goons might show up with questions."
"You're not saying sell the twerp out, are you?" she hissed, shocked, "After he trusted us?"
"We need to look out for ourselves. That's what I'm saying."
Jessie stared wide eyed at her partner, stunned at his willingness to betray one of their oldest acquaintances, but a tiny smile curled at the edges of her mouth. "We'll never change, will we?" she sighed.
"Why fix something that isn't broken?" James retorted with a dramatic flip of his hair, "Speaking of not broken, this is an impressive grab, Meowth! You haven't slowed down at all. What bank was it this time?"
Meowth made a show of fanning himself with a portion of his share of the thousands of dollars he had stolen and casually replied, "That Second Bank of Cerulean we hit last January. Always go after tha Rocket banks when we can, right?"
"Right!" Jessie and James cheered, together. "Who says we have to go completely straight? We're like the criminal Robin Hoods!" James went on to say.
"Cept' tha poor can take cares'a themselves! Hey! Who said we was splittin' this up evenly?" Meowth growled and jumped on the pile of money, protectively, claws extended. "I did all tha work! I get tha bigga' share!" Both Jessie and James jumped up and took turns stomping on the cat pokemon, who held fast on the money.
"We do all the work around here! You mangy, miserable, mongrel! EEK!" The two humans screeched in pain as Meowth suddenly sprang up and delivered four deep scratches to each of their faces.
"Stop it with tha alliteration already! You'll make me scratch my own face off! ACK!"
Jessie pounded on Meowth repeatedly while James lamented over cuts and applied antibacterial cream with his fingers.
"How many times do I have to tell you NOT THE FACE!"
"Whatta ya need it for anyhows? You ain't got the hair to look like a girl anyways! You should just burn it all off again!"
"Uh oh..." James mumbled and took off for the bathroom with his share of the money before the Jessie explosion could damage him or his take. Customers at the seafood restaurant across the street would later tell the police that the odd, pink building trembled twice before the red neon apostrophe and the bigger "S" that helped make the word "Jessie's" suddenly fell and demolished a passing orange salesman's cart.
Xxxxx
Underneath a practiced bored expression, a deeply embedded frustration tugged at the sanity of a young scientist strolling through the corridors of the highest deck of the Ghost Ship. Recent news, status changes on the ship, and "encouraging" Team Rocket slogans played lowly in a loop on the speaker system throughout his walk. This could be- and was- tuned out easily, but it certainly did not help his psyche. And the weekly meetings where obvious propaganda would be spouted in front of the entire crew aboard were also part of the Team Rocket practices he was less than happy with. But, the damp trumped it all. No matter where he went on the ship, what level, room, or lab, the moist air clung to his skin in the same unwanted, highly irritating way Team Rocket reminded everybody exactly who they worked for everyday. Just the damp was enough to snap.
But, where else could he get paid so much for doing his and Doctor Namba's research? He would be stuck on this god-forsaken ship until further notice, but he would be retired once this whole thing was over. And nowhere else would he find the kind of privilege this ship offered.
He approached the captain's quarters in a few minutes. Not surprisingly, everyone else had already arrived and they were not pleased with his late arrival, but no one would say anything to him. There were three others in the large room. The Captain at his desk, a grunt in the straight-back chair across from him, and a standing blonde woman he had never seen before but felt she knew him well enough to scowl at his arrival. She had a strange spiral pigtail hairstyle that looked far too young for her. He gave her a smile and a nod and was pleased with her disgusted look.
Oh, he had overlooked one.
"Where's the subject?" he asked the highest authority figure in the room: the Captain. And the Captain frowned at the familiar way he spoke to him, and also his lack of apology for his tardiness. The three Houndoom behind him picked up on his irritation and bared their teeth at the man in the dirty white lab coat.
"Be patient, Hiro. I decide when she is needed," Carl Kurtz, Captain of the Sagittarius- otherwise known as the Ghost Ship- challenged from his desk.
Hiro Nankai smirked at the young captain while inside he squirmed at being called by his first name. He wanted badly to correct him, but a reprimand at this time would greatly interfere with his studies, so he merely smiled at the man. Carl Kurtz frowned back at him and smoothed his short black hair. He removed his light blue eyes from the scientist and hit a button on the telephone that buzzed in the two grunts that were holding the subject in an adjoining room.
"I wanted you to be here for this," Carl started, walking out from behind his desk, "So that you have a goal when you have her later."
Hiro more or less ignored the Captain, and kept his dark brown eyes on the metal door that the subject would come in from. A few seconds later, two grunts walked in dragging a limp, blonde girl that Hiro recognized. Following them was a trail of tiny flecks of blood spotting the hardwood.
The scientist fought his annoyance but still spoke with a biting tone. "Three-One? You're interrupting my research for Three-One? Where's her Doctor?"
"You will no longer speak to me in that manner, Hiro," Carl quickly replied, standing as tall as he could and failing to everyone-except the subject- by three inches, "Doctor Koya was called to Johto, and Namba wanted you to take over for him for the time being. These are also Archer's orders, so I suggest you resolve any issues you have with this on your own time. Wake her up."
The grunt holding the girl's left arm shook her, but received no response. Both grunts dropped her at the same time and ordered her to stand. The one on the left said, "She's not unconscious, sir. Stop playing around!" He jumped back when the girl suddenly pushed herself up into a kneeling position, laughing. Blood trickled from her nose and one corner of her mouth. She mockingly saluted the Captain and fell against the leg of the grunt, either dizzy or exhausted or both. She was kicked off to the floor where she finished her greeting.
"Ahoy, Captain! What be yer business with me now, yarrr?"
Carl was outwardly unfazed by her mocking, but he was put-off by her attitude and was not willing to play her games. Instead of humor the subject, he decided to return to his desk and start with the grunt sitting across from him. "You know why you're here."
The Rocket in the chair adjusted the bandages on his head and nodded.
""Yes, Captain" will suffice," the much higher ranking Rocket went on, "I have your written report, but now that your detector is here, I want you to repeat your story." He reached for a pen and poised it over the notepad already laying on his desk. "Go on."
The red-head grunt scratched at his pant leg nervously. His gaze switched from the intent stare of Carl Kurtz, to the unknown blonde's behind him and down to the Houndooms who, like the woman, were staring at the subject. He hesitantly recounted the story that left him with a concussion, two broken teeth, and other injuries. "After they picked up something in Viridian City me, Jeremy, and Caleb went down with the detector to look for whatever was beeping, but when we got there, she wasn't feeling anything anymore, so we went into the forest and searched until about nine or ten. We were close to Pewter so we went to the pokemon center to take a break. At around midnight or one we start up again in the forest and a little later, the detector tells us that whatever beeped was in there now and they might be sleeping so we left the truck behind and split up to surround them. I don't know what happened with Caleb, but he found them first and they knocked him down sometime before Jeremy showed up too, but-"
"Stop," Carl commanded. He jotted down a few more notes then looked up to the grunt who nervously looked down at his boots. "I spoke with Caleb Jackson. He says he has very little memory of the night. Why is that?"
"It's...probably cuz they hit him on the head so hard. When Jeremy found him, he was out and when I got to them he was still out. He says the girl hit him."
Having answered the question, he stopped, afraid that he might mess up what the Captain was writing, but really afraid of punishment and the Houndooms. Carl wrote one word down and asked him to continue.
"O-ok... Jeremy was tied up by the kid's Ivysaur when I found him."
"What kid?"
"Uh, the boy one. It was his Ivysaur, I think. Um... well I tried to tell the detector to shock them and she wouldn't listen to me," his eyes briefly darted down and to the side where Lin laid on the floor three feet behind him, and then he went on, "So, I armed the bomb and that's when they got into a fight with the kid's Pikachu. Then the other one, the girl, comes out of nowhere and hits me with a bat and then things get fuzzy. Next thing, the detector is waking me up and telling me that Jeremy died and the kids killed him."
"Which I don't believe for one second," Carl said and wrote one last thing down before he folded the paper and tucked it into his jacket pocket.
"Yeah I don't believe it neither. And I think she stole the remotes, too."
"She did, indeed, Charlie," the Captain confirmed, sporting a ghost of a smile. The three Houndooms loosened their aggressive stances at the same time. To Charlie, it was a very eerie sight. "Can you describe the two runners you encountered?"
"Uh... I didn't see the one that hit me. Caleb said she had a hat on and a dress and she was short and skinny, he didn't get a good look at the boy. It was dark, but I think he had black hair and a horn on his forehead. That's all I can remember."
"What about you, Three-One?" Lin did not react to being called. This prompted Carl to gesture for the grunts to bring her closer. They lifted her up by her arms and dragged her a few feet closer to the desk where they dropped her to the ground again. Charlie scooted his chair over to the left and carefully watched Lin's movements. "Three-One, what do you remember about the runners?"
Charlie and the two grunts flinched when Lin woozily picked herself up and dropped back down to her knees. She smiled at the Captain first and then shut one eye and spoke in a gruff, heavily accented voice.
"Arr, me hearin' 'tain't what it once was, Captain. Mind repeatin' yourself for this humble cabin boy? Oh, hey, Mr. Charlie," she greeted when she noticed the grunt. Her accent and pirate act was dropped. "Ew... Six-Two really fucked you up. Ha!"
Doctor Hiro Nankai had grown tired of standing quietly in the corner. He silently and quickly rushed up behind Lin and the grunts and landed a punch to the back of her skull. The blow knocked her forward where she met with the edge of the desk and received a second hit to her head. That is where she stayed, gripping the desk and bleeding on it and the floor in front of it. The grunts reflexively brandished their batons to the scientist, who calmly adjusted his glasses, ignoring them.
"Answer the question Three-One, I want to get out of here," he glanced at the stunned Captain and blonde woman and shrugged, but offered no further explanation or apology. "I'm not looking forward to our time together, either, but there's no point in drawing the process out."
Lin blinked away the blood flowing steadily from her forehead and trained her focus on the blurry and spinning doctor.
"Have you been here this whole time, Hiro? You need to cough or something..." Hiro answered with a loud slap to her cheek that sent her back to the floor.
"Doctor Nankai," he replied, emotionless. That was when Carl decided to re-assume control over his interrogation.
"Will you stop attacking her long enough for me to ask a question, Hiro?" he snapped, glaring at the doctor. He said his first name on purpose, Hiro knew that, and that was infuriating. He should slap him silent, as well. Show him how useless his "intimidating" guard pokemon are when his hands are crushing his trachea. The three Houndoom seemed to read his mind. They each took a half step forward with their front legs and growled at him. He grinned at the thought and stepped backwards a couple of times and lowered his head as the best show of apology anyone would ever see from him. Carl watched him back away and then ordered the grunts to lift Lin up. He ordered Charlie to go to his restroom and grab a towel to wipe his desk off with. Charlie gratefully left his chair and took his time searching for this towel.
"You said Six-Two," he told Lin, watching her dazed attempts at focusing on him, "Who is Six-Two? She's one of the escapees, isn't she? Which one?" Lin laughed weakly and let her head sag down both to stop the room from spinning and to keep any more blood from getting into her eyes.
"I don't know anymore. I think my brain's all scrambled now. You can all thank Hiro for that everybody. It's Hiro's fault. Hiro." Hiro smiled at this. If she kept this up, he might enjoy being stuck with her. Carl was less happy with her attitude.
"You know your punishment isn't over," he threatened, "The good Doctor will take over that after this is done. We know you killed Jeremy. If you cooperate, we'll leave your punishment at a day. If not, then you will become very acquainted with Doctor Nankai over the next week. Now, I'll give you the chance to tell me who Six-Two is, but if I have to look her up, I'm adding a day to your punishment."
"I know the drill, shorty," Lin responded, stronger. She was able to focus on Carl now and not have him spin on her. "But you don't know your own subjects. I guess that's the price you pay to keep your hands clean. I can see you not knowing, but Hiro over there doesn't have an excuse. He was her doctor."
All eyes focused on the scientist. The sudden attention awakened something feral in him and he wanted to strike Lin again for making him feel so uncomfortable, but he was also interested in this Six-Two he was supposed to know. His delayed reaction was to cross his arms nonchalantly and raise an apathetic eyebrow.
"I don't know what she's talking about," he claimed. Lin grinned broadly at him.
"You don't remember your baby? Your pride and joy? Your little Dratini?"
Hiro's eyes widened and he unconsciously uncrossed his arms and stepped forward. It was the most expression anyone in the room had ever witnessed in him. He remembered his Dratini, but not as Six-Two. He never called her by her number like the rest of the monsters in the cells. Three-One had found her. And she let her get away. The rest of the day will be enjoyable, after all.
Carl also remembered the Dratini, but he held no strong emotions other than relief that at least one of the escapees had been located.
"So, the escapee is still in Kanto," he reasoned. He addressed Charlie who had cleaned up the blood much faster than he had searched for the towel. "I want you to tell Kaede this information. She is to double the fly overs and question every Team Rocket member in Pallet Town, Viridian City, Celadon City, Cerulean City, and Saffron City. Question the league, too. I want every member in Kanto to know what she looks like and to be on high alert. She's very good at escaping. Go, now. Wait, add Vermillion to that list, too. Go."
Charlie hastily bowed and sped out of the door, glad to be out that situation. When he was gone Carl returned to the interrogation.
"There is a boy traveling with her. What does he look like?" Lin pointed at the door with her thumb.
"Charlie told you."
"I want to hear your description."
"Not much to add to that, chief," she replied, and puffed out her cheeks, "Black hair, horn, clothes. Underneath that was probably boy parts. Can't be sure, though. We might be looking for a eunuch." Carl inhaled deeply and held off on his next question while he calmed himself down.
"You spoke to him. What did he say to you? Did you find out his name?"
"No. And I asked so nicely, too." She tilted her head to the side and looked up at the ceiling as if reminiscing.
"Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
"Yeah, you should grow a beard. You look like you're fifteen."
The blonde behind the Captain fought a smile, and the grunts dared not react at all to that comment. Carl reacted by coolly straightening his jacket, but his ears burned red. The subject of his looks was the only way to get such a reaction out of him, and he damned whoever let that secret out.
"We're done here." His voice strained with hostility. He spun his chair around to face the large portrait of Giovanni that hung behind his desk. "She's yours now, Nankai."
The scientist bowed and informed the grunts to follow him to his lab. They were not pleased to hear this, but they obeyed and said nothing. Lin whistled a happy tune the entire way.
Ok, so I'm a few days late, I know... but it's pretty good for me! Once I get used to this deadline thing I'll get the chapters out harder better faster stronger, you'll see.
I fail so fucking hard I'm sorry...
So, this chapter is just like a building chapter, just an A to B thing, and honestly, I kinda don't like it, but it was necessary. I didn't know another way to write it, anyways. And I wanted to add more, but my chapters are already ridiculously long, so I decided to cut it. My partial reveal at Ash's peculiar behavior and the new huemon(term stolen from an awesome reviewer) will have to wait another chapter :[
Review please, I'll die without your review and do you really want to be responsible for that?
P.S. I LOVE TEAM ROCKET. Can you tell?
