Two Phone Calls (song credit goes to John Barlow & Bob Weir)
Cassidy is in her form fitting black Team Rocket uniform. She is turning around in her thigh-high white boots, examining her reflection in the visiphone screen at the Oak lab. She likes what she sees, although she shudders about what she will surely look like in a few month's time.
Jessie is nearby in a sleeveless, tight, navy blue top, hip hugging jeans, and glossy wine red cowboy boots. She is feeling competitive about her appearance with the trim Cassidy around. As with Cassidy, Butch is in his uniform, he's puttering around with Meowth, sorting through the Pokémon Oak has lent them after much assurance from Tracey and May. The Professor himself is conferring with James, May and Tracey. James looks casual in a light blue tank top and tan chinos.
"Why don't you ever let Butch speak for you guys? It's always you out front," Jessie wonders, addressing Cassidy.
"Oh, his voice doesn't project well enough, nor does it make much of an impression. Besides, as you once said of another, I put up a good front," Cassidy says coyly with a sardonic smile.
Jessie sighs at her cocky rival, "Well, I hope you pull this off. It'd be a shame for this scam to go down before it flies."
"Don't worry about me, I know exactly what I'm doing, " Cassidy replies airily.
Joy is nearby, softly singing a song to herself, it catches Cassidy's attention.
"I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream,
I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream,
Ah, child of countless trees,
Ah, child of boundless seas,
What you are and what you're meant to be,
Speaks his name,
But you were born to me,
Born to me,
Cassidy"
"Where'd that come from mom?" Cassidy interrupts.
"Huh? Oh, it was a long time ago. Your dad and I used to follow this band around before he went to grad school. This was one of their songs, it always had a great instrumental break near the end," Joy recounts.
"How's the rest of it go?" Cassidy is curious.
"It seems sort of prophetic, let's see if I can recall the rest of it, um..."
"Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac.
I can tell by the way you smile he's rolling back,
Come wash the nighttime clean,
Come grow the scorched ground green,
Blow the horn and tap the tambourine,
Close the gap of the dark years in between,
You and me,
Cassidy"
Joy's voice breaks a little as these words sink in, then she continues,
"Quick beats in an icy heart,
Catch colt draws a coffin cart,
There he goes here she starts,
Hear her cry,
Flight of the Seabirds,
Scattered like lost words,
Wheel to the storm and fly,
Fair thee well now,
Let your life proceed by its own design,
Nothing to tell now,
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine,
Done with mine."
"That's pretty much all of it," Joy says quietly.
Cassidy looks solemnly at her mother with an impassive face, but her eyes are deeply sad, "Oh mother, how could you know when I was born it would be that way?"
"Providence I guess, your karma preceded you," Joy murmurs, then she hugs her lost girl. "You do a good job now and you'll be free like you were always meant to be," she encourages.
"Sure mom."
Cassidy shivers a little, shakes her head and walks over to Butch, "Let's go over this again. We open up the link and get through the opening pleasantries. Then we trot out the Pokémon. We start with Clefable to get their interest, follow with Scizor for its flash, intrigue them with Jessie's Umbreon, and top it off with Slowking. If they want more we'll show 'em one of the others, say...Aerodactyl or Tyranitar. If that doesn't get 'em, we didn't sell it well enough."
They're blind, deaf and mute if they don't go for that selection. The important thing is drawing a high level operative for the transfer," Butch reflects.
"Between this selection of pocket monsters and James' encouragement that executive will be Jessiebelle. I have that little sadist in my sights," Cassidy says with malicious pleasure.
"You haven't got her yet," Jessie points out, "You're jumping over a lot of details."
"If you focus on the goal it's amazing how often the details take care of themselves," Cassidy says softly, staring into the middle distance.
"I hope you're right. I'll go see if James has gotten his little speech down yet."
Oak ambles over, "Cassidy, isn't it? Do be careful, if you make a misstep my life's work could go up in smoke. I expect you two to be responsible, or is that too much to ask?"
"Don't worry Professor, Butch and I have got a lot at stake as well. I have no intention of messing this up, and I won't let any harm come to your Pokémon or the lab," Cassidy responds confidently.
Cassidy turns her face to the screen again, smooths her tunic, lifts her hair letting if fall again, and touches her white gloved fingers to the shoulders of her tunic. She allows all emotion to drain from her face, then it brightens with a slightly too perfect, charming smile. The visphone screen shimmers, "Call going through!" announces Butch.
The smile never leaves Cassidy's lips, although it gains a touch of frost when she sees who is covering incoming calls, "Hello Domino, how's tricks?"
Another blond female Rocket is seen behind a large black circular desk with a red "R" in its centre. Her hair is shorter, hangs less straight than Cassidy's and is arranged in two broad spirals framing a round face highlighted by misleadingly innocent violet eyes. She wears a red and white cap and a similar black tunic and white gloves to Cassidy. "I'm alright Cassidy. Do you have a report?" she intones crisply with an assassin's lack of emotion.
"We are in Pallet Town. Perhaps you recall the potential hit list for this little backwater?" Cassidy answers, challenging Domino's knowledge.
"Well, ther'e the Oak lab, of course, can't recall much else. That red hatted Pokémon trainer that has given us so much bother is from there too," Domino recalls.
"You forgot the breeding centre here, 'Pokémon Fashion Flash', there's a lot of good Pokémon there too, plus two old associates," Cassidy says with "gotcha" satisfaction.
"I didn't forget," Domino says, although her eyes belie this, "I didn't realize Jessie and James had attracted a worthwhile clientele. They hadn't much talent for other things."
Jessie has to be restrained from jumping on camera and shouting at the smug young woman. Cassidy merely says, "They've done pretty well. Some of their own Pokémon aren't too shabby." She changes gears. "Listen, we've hit both places and have an excellent haul for the Team. Transport is a problem however, public computer terminals with access to Team storage don't exist here, and the police are all over the place between here and Viridian. We need to transfer the 'hot' Pokéballs to an executive, one who can travel under no suspicion."
"Hmmmm, I can't make that request without some proof. Do you have something to show me?" Domino betrays a hint of curiosity.
Cassidy motions to Butch with her index finger, and he comes on screen holding a Pokéball. Domino acknowledges him with a slight smile and a little colour in her face. Cassidy looks sharply at him. "Hey Dom, how's that Primeape I traded to you?" he says familiarly.
"He's fine Butch, fighting fit, and how's that Golbat?"
"She's a Crobat now, guess she liked me," Butch replies.
"No surprise there," Domino breaks into more of a smile.
Cassidy steps in a bit irritably, "Butch? The first example please," and Butch throws the Pokéball revealing a confused looking Clefable. Cassidy looks significantly at the screen, "Undeniably rare and with a most unpredictable metronome move."
"Nice," purrs Domino, "What else?"
"We also have this high level Scizor. Show her Butch," and out pops the lobster-like metallic candy-apple red bug Pokémon with a malevolent look in its eyes.
"Also impressive."
"We're not through. We obtained a little something that should be of considerable interest to the Boss, we have Jessica Musashi's beloved Umbreon." The lithe black Pokémon with moonlight behind its eyes growls at Butch. "You may recall this was raised from an Eevee taken out of a shipment stolen from HQ. We should thank Jess the Mess for getting it to a high level for us. I judge it to be level 70."
"I'm still not sure we could send an executive into the field, tempting as the traitor's Umbreon is...," Domino hesitates.
"We're not done, show her the next one Butch," and an elegant Slowking appears. "Also rare and powerful. We have others if you wish to see them," Cassidy is selling hard.
"This is good. No need to show me more. What else is there?"
"Let's see, what else do we have Butch?" Cassidy asks smoothly.
"Well, there's a Kingdra, Aerodactyl, Tyranitar, Skarmory, Kangaskhan, and Porygon2," Butch recites.
"All right, I'll make sure an executive is sent out," Domino accedes.
"How about getting the psycho off her tush? Jessiebelle might be curious to see how her old fianceé is doing, don't you think? Maybe she could get in trouble with the boss over it," Cassidy adds with a wink.
Domino smirks, "Sure Cassidy, I'll keep it in mind."
The screen goes black. Cassidy's shoulders slump, and she scowls at Butch, "What was all that about?"
Butch looks a bit sheepish, "Somebody has to keep lines of communication open with other women on the Team, you know. We wouldn't have known half of what you told James about Jessiebelle if I wasn't on speaking terms with her," he sighs. "I can't help it I'm an attractive guy."
Cassidy growls deep in her throat, "And I can't help being jealous..."
"Don't I know it," Jessie mutters.
Cassidy chooses to ignore this, "Now it's James' turn. Good luck pretty boy."
James sighs, "Let's avoid the visiphone. I'd much rather get her voicemail anyway."
"All right, I'll shut down the visual function," says Professor Oak. "A most impressive acting job Ms. Yamato, ever thought of going into theatre?"
"Hmph! Too high profile Professor," Cassidy replies, she nonetheless blushes a little.
James is dialing the number slowly and precisely, holding the handset like a live hand grenade with the pin pulled. He put's it to his ear, with sweat beading on his forehead, "It's ringing," he says quaveringly. "One...two...three...four...five. Oh, thank good..., Uh, Hi Jessiebelle, " he almost squeaks, "I was expecting your voice mail."
The speaker is turned on by Jessie, "Why, what a pleasant surprise! Mah deah James," a chirping female voice coos.
James smiles weakly and looks at the notes in his left hand, "I just wanted you to know I'm doing fine and I wanted to know how you're doing."
"Couldn't be happier James, although I do miss mah handsome boy. Giovanni is handsome, commandin' and so mannerly. I wish fer nothin' and mah job is fascinatin' no end. Got to keep all the young hussies in this organization in line."
"Heh, sure," James chuckles self-consciously as he glances at the fuming Cassidy and Jessie.
"To what do ah owe the pleasure of hearin' you after all these years James mah deah? It surely wasn't for the lil' bit o' small talk we just shared," Jessiebelle says with curiosity.
"Believe it or not,...I miss you too. I wanted to ask if you could come down for a visit here in Pallett Town,...without Jessie's knowledge of course. She's very jealous. Now that we have a kid and a business she doesn't have much time for me. I just decided it would be nice to see you again, and talk about old times."
"Why I'd love to, my naughty boy, but Ah don't have much call to travel," she sighs, "Maybe
some time in the next year Ah kin work in a visit."
James sighs, he knows full well Jessiebelle can hear him, but he hopes she misinterprets it. He thinks, "You'll find an excuse sooner than you think," and speaks, "That's OK. I'll give you my number and you can call ahead. It's 154-666-1234, got that?"
"Uh huh, I'll let you know if Ah kin come down your way. Do be well, and don't let that undeserving wench mistreat you, ya hear?"
James rolls his eyes, as Jessie lets out a snake-like hiss, "Goodby Jessiebelle, glad to hear you're well."
"But of course James, be well yourself," she audibly kisses the receiver and hangs up.
It is James' turn to slump, "Not bad," says Butch, clapping James on the shoulder. "She's as good as here."
"That's what I'm afraid of," James murmurs.