The sound of the bell was jarring to Jessie's ears, breaking her out of her trance and she finally looked away from the little girl and met Meowth's eyes across the street. He stared back for a long few seconds before his attention was drawn back to the child, who was chattering excitedly to him and her mother.

She was beautiful. She had inherited her fathers violet hair, although it was mixed with Olivia's chocolate brown to create a deep dark aubergine colour but the stunning green eyes were all James and when she turned back to wave as she ran through the school gates, the smile on her face was so familiar that Jessie's eyes instantly filled with tears. The thought that she would never see that smile again was as heartbreaking now as it had been nearly 6 years ago.

Guilt weighed heavily on Jessie's heart. James should be here, standing across the street with Olivia, waving his daughter off on her first day of school.

Having seen the child enter the building, Meowth crossed the street to Jessie and she dropped to one knee to look at him. He was looking more his age now, no longer as agile or quick on his feet as he once was. Of course she was too. Every morning when she looked in the mirror she seemed to look older, wearier and somehow less alive than she did the day before.

It made her chest tight to think that in the years to come, Meowth too, would age and eventually die. Probably before she did. She wasn't sure exactly how old Meowth was but he had been an adult when they met and she knew that he had had quite the interesting life before he joined Team Rocket.

Eventually she would be the last of their trio. She had always thought it would be James, since he was the youngest and the more sensible of the three. Of course when they were a team she had been of the firm belief that they would all die at the same time, most likely as a result of a balloon malfunction or synchronised heart attacks from too many electric shocks.

"Ya shouldn't be here, Jess." Meowth's voice was gentle, out of keeping with the reprimand.

It sounded strange to her, even after so long apart she still expected him to be the sarcastic, tactless mouth on legs that he had been when they were still a team. Always ready with a jibe or a cutting remark. This calm, contained Pokemon in front of her wasn't the Meowth she knew. There was a stillness to him now that felt unnatural to her.

She supposed she was different too. No longer the person she once was. There was a weariness in her soul that could not be entirely attributed to age nor healed by rest. The feistiness that had always defined her and the fire that James had always admired in her had gone. Snuffed out, right along with the light in her partners eyes as he bled out on the ground in front of her.

She rarely went a night without dreaming of him. She wasn't sure she wanted to. Her dreams were so vivid, so real. James smiling, laughing, dressed as a woman, crashing down into a tree and swearing after another ill fated attempt at snatching Pikachu. They were bittersweet dreams. She often wished that she could just never wake up and live the rest of her life in this make-believe world where their little family of 3 would remain forever young and naïve and together, free from the harsh reality of what Team Rocket really was.

Those dreams she treasured. The nightmares were a different story. They were a special kind of torture. Watching over and over again as her partner haemorrhaged and bled out right in front of her, his blood soaking through the shirt she frantically pressed against the wound. The bullet had hit a major artery and he was gone in a matter of moments. No amount of pressure could stem the bleeding and no amount of screaming and begging could stop him slipping away through their fingers. Those dreams she could never chase away and those nights were the nights that left dark hollows under her eyes and her shoulders slumped with exhaustion.

Now, seeing that exhaustion and grief reflected in Meowth's eyes the weight of her guilt was heavier than ever.

"He should be here." She murmured. "He should be here, Meowth."

"No." Meowth said quietly. "No, he didn't get to choose but if he had, he would have chosen this."

He saw a spark of anger in her eyes and cut her off before she could speak.

"What d'ya think James woulda chose? If someone gave him the choice? His own life or the lives of literally everyone he loved?

He'd a picked you, Jess. You n Liv and Maia. An me o'course!"

For a second he was his old self, cocky and self assured and she felt something in her respond in kind.

"Yeah." She whispered, trying not to choke up. "Yeah, he would. It's exactly the kind of stupid thing he would do. Its the kind of stupid shit I was supposed to stop him doing!"

"Ya did, Jess!" Meowth shot back. "Ya stopped him doing plenty of stupid shit. And ya protected him for years after he left. But he wasn't a teenager no more n he didn't need ya to protect him. It was his turn to protect you!"

Jessie couldn't answer him, too busy holding back tears. Meowth crawled up onto her knee and hugged her awkwardly.

"Go n have a life, Jessie." He said, not unkindly. "Its what Jimmy wanted for ya."

She stared at him, lost for words. "I...I don't know how, Meowth. I don't know how to be alone..."

His expression softened a little and he gently pushed at her hand in affection.

"Learn." He said simply. "Pick a town, pick a job, heck, pick a fella. Reinvent y'self. Its easier than ya think."

Tears broke loose and her face crumpled. "I miss you, you mangy stray!"

"I miss ya too, Jess but I can't leave his kid. I'm the only one 'xcept you who really knew her dad n dere's no way Liv'll let you anywhere near her."

She drew in a deep shuddering breath. "Maia, huh? Pretty name."

"Yeah. She's so much like him, Jess. Sometimes its like he's looking out through her."

"Pick a town?"

"Anywhere ya want. D'worlds ya lobster, Jess"

She snorted. "Oyster, idiot."

Meowth waved her off. "Same difference. I hear Goldenrod City is the place to be if ya want to lose y'self."

"I was thinking more along the lines of finding myself... Violet City." She said the last with determination and Meowth nodded.

"I'll know where to find ya then. And you'll always know where to find me. I'll come n see ya Jess. I swear. You'll never be all alone, we's family no matter what."

She carefully hugged the cat Pokemon back and as she stood she met Olivia's eyes across the street.

The other woman gave her a slight nod but didn't smile. Meowth did though and she smiled back at him before releasing his paws and turning to walk away. Meowth watched her go.

For the first time in a long while, she didn't look back.