I'll Remember You
Woke up to the sound of pouring rain,
The wind would whisper and I'd think of you.
And all the tears you cried, that called my name.
And when you needed me I came through.
The Atari's – I'll remember you
Prologue: How it Came to Pass
James never thought about life without Jessie. He never thought about a lot of things, never thought about the stock markets, never thought about Magicarp preservation, never thought about global warming; but none of those things would ever affect his life in the way Jessie did.
It could be said Jessie was the only solid thing in his life. That's what he believed anyway. His family was as good as dead to him at least, he wouldn't forgive them until they were dead and he had all their money (though the way things were going it was almost certain his parents would outlive their only son). His other colleagues were greedy heartless bastards; and Meowth well, it was hard to connect with a pokémon the same way one could connect with another human.
So, in the abstract, Jessie was really the only thing keeping James sane, and even if he was a melodramatic teenager she was the only thing he had to cling to. That was why life without Jessie was so incomprehensible. But James never thought about things that he couldn't comprehend, and as he made his way clumsily from Teenage-hood into adult-hood he remained stubbornly stuck to Jessie's side.
Now, if you have ever grown up the way Jessie and James had to, you would know that one small thing can change the way you view the world forever. For instance, when Jessie and James met for the first time Jessie was a strong, hard, bold young girl whose life had been full of hard knocks, struggles and misery. James, on the other hand, was a prim, pampered, prissy little mummy's boy who hadn't worked a day in his life. That day James changed, he grew, he learnt life wasn't all beer and skittles and that lesson prepared him for a relentless future.
During all the time James knew Jessie she had never changed. She had always been the strong tempered, self important tom-boy he had met after escaping his estate home. Even though he changed so much during his time with her and Team Rocket, she had always been the same reliable old Jessie. That's the way it would always be right? Unfortunately no, that was one lesson James had neglected to learn. Nothing ever stays the same; the world and its people are constantly growing and changing. As much as you'd like it to just stop, for everything to stay just as it is, that's one law humans simply can not change.
And one day Jessie changed. It wasn't the same kind of change as when she had gone through puberty (though that change had been quite shocking) it was a profoundly deeper change. It was a change of heart. James didn't even notice it to begin with, there were always other men around and it was common place for Jessie to flirt with them (or use her 'womanly wiles' to get what she wanted, which was basically the same) and a lot of the time the men would flirt back. It was just a game, an innocent little game.
James often wondered what life would be like if only it had been an innocent game. He also wondered what life would be like if only he had real loving parents, if only he had hadn't been kicked out of Pokétech, if only he had been a successful Team Rocket member. Of course it was a fruitless activity, because it hadn't just been an innocent game. She had been serious and Tom or Joe or Fred or whatever the fellow's name was had been serious as well.
At that time James wasn't sure if he loved Jessie or not. He hadn't really loved anyone in his life so it was hard to tell. Of course, now he knew he had been in love, but by the time he figured it out it was far too late.
When it began he knew every time he saw Jessie with that guy his blood began to boil. He also knew, from the glow in her skin and the shining in her eyes that for the first time since he had met her she was really enjoying herself. He couldn't decide weather he wanted to thank the guy or punch him out. All he knew was that, in spite of his insane jealousy, he liked the new Jessie; he liked the change that came over her.
He wasn't the only one who liked the new Jessie; Meowth was having a field trip. She became considerably less moody, less tempered and best of all less violent. James was glad Meowth was glad; he was glad Jessie was glad. He wasn't so glad about himself though, because he wasn't glad at all. He was downright depressed.
That was when he left. It wasn't hard, the same as leaving the estate actually. A simple note, a piece of memorabilia (in case they lapsed one day into nostalgia, it might help them) he took a few dollars out of their meagre saving, a few bits of dried food and was on his way.
He had no idea where he was going or even why he had left; it wasn't as if Jessie had married the guy, he was just a casual boyfriend. Then again if he, James, couldn't make her happy then why was he still bothering to stick around, and why did she let him? There didn't seem to be a place in her life for a quirky guy friend anymore, and seeing her with Tom or Fred made him sick to the stomach.
So he was alone once again, just as he had been ten years before. There was no one to talk to, only Koffin, and he smelt rather bad; and Victorybell. However James got the impression Victorybell would rather have eaten his head. It was quiet, uneventful, and rather lonely.
That was three months ago.