Locked Away, Chapter 40
Safe, where was safe? Ash wondered to himself; when they were safe Jessie, James, and Meowth swore to tell them what was going on, but when would that be, if ever, at this point? Hovering like a mosquito above them, the lumbering reminder of the cruel intentions the other group held for them was a constant source to keep quiet and to themselves. While Ash focused on the task, on his pokemon, and meowth, he couldn't stop but wonder when this would end. A boundless forest reared its ugly head before them, and even in the morning light, the trees dimmed their sights. They walked in single file, against the horrible, uneven terrain, and strayed far away from the main trails. That way, if someone was still looking, they wouldn't be found right away.
About an hour into their journey south bound through the forest below Saffron City, Misty finally grew tired of the silence as yet another twig tore into her legs.
"Where are we going?" She asked quietly in the nicest way possible, but her voice was strained. Both Brock and Ash, who remained quiet like James and Jessie asked, watched her. It was a question they all wondered, but some curious part of them kept their mouths shut, but their minds alert.
"To Vermillion City." James answered while stepping past a line of brush that would bring their hike to an end.
Past the tree line, parked on the road only a few feet away, was a black jeep, marked with rust, scratch makes, and the occasional dent. Rummaging through his pocket, James removed jingling keys—ones that Misty realized right away had the handcuff keys—which on one wrist acted like a bracelete for each of the travelers. Where she thought to borrow the key, Ash spoke before her.
"Why to Vermillion City?" Ash inquired as he, and his friends approached the vehicle.
Jessie yanked open the drivers door, not bothering to help the young trainers inside. Passively, James tossed the keys to the maroon haired woman, and she slipped the key into the ignition. Meowth jumped in second, pawing at the front seat as any cat would, before sitting tiredly between the front and passenger seats. James, being the gentleman that he was, gestured for the trio to follow after him and take a seat in the back, but they each moved sluggishly.
"And what happens once we get there?" Brock asked aloud, catching and eerie gaze from the female driving.
"We will tell you anything that you want to know." Jessie murmured confidently.
Vermillion City, by car, was a little under three hours away, but if the trio were lying, everything leading up to this point could have been a trap. Waiting for them at the Vermillion Coast could have been an army. Inside, Ash had a need to flee; some deeply embedded distrust of the former-Team Rocket trio, but further than that, an unbreakable bond. It was the same feeling he had for Misty and Brock upon first meeting them; whether or not they realized it, Ash was attached to them emotionally—and to some degree, he trusted Jessie, James, and meowth. Even if he shouldn't have. After all, why save them if they were going to simply turn them over in the long run?
Waiting for you. Ash's mind echoed meowth's sentiments, and exhaled—if nothing at all, he wanted to know how meowth, how these three knew him in this world. No one else seemed to know; but they did? How? Ash glanced to his pokemon companions, togepi on his shoulder, and pikachu at his feet. With their silent support, Ash nodded to himself and made the decision.
Ash would have been the first to climb into the jeep had Misty not stopped him by firmly grabbing his shoulder.
"Wait." Misty said, watching her companions faces; observing the cuts, and bruises. Since they started this journey, it has been one roller coaster of accidents. Even if Ash and Brock were prepared to take this faithful leap; she wasn't. "We only agree to keep going if you can promise us you're not bad." she confront Jessie and James; the latter of which looked personally insulted.
Her grip tightened on Ash's shoulder, keeping him grounded as a reminder that spoke without words; Ash would only go with them if Jessie and James if they wouldn't hurt them. At this point, it was clear that there wasn't a lot that they could do to prevent them from simply taking him, but the sentiment was there. In support, she looked to Brock, who nodded; then stepped in front of the youngest companion, and then away from the jeep—much to Ash's surprise.
"...meoow." Meowth meowed from the front seat, pawing at his face. James looked down at the cat, then back up to Misty with gentle eyes.
"We can't tell you that we're not bad; because then we'd be lying." James mused, shortly after, Jessie chimed in.
"But, we don't want to hurt you, if that's what you're asking."
Awestruck by his friend's devotion, Ash pat them both on the back with a fumbling, yet confident grin. "C'mon, guys. What have we got to lose? It's not like we have a lot of options right now." This will have to be good enough, he added thoughtfully, watching Misty's green eyes, and Brock's onyx ones.
Though the two gym leaders still did not budge right away, slowly, they crumbled, and relaxed. With the decision made, they shuffled into the back of the vehicle, and James slammed the door shut before crawling in himself. Jumping the front passenger door, the jeep creaked and rattled, displaying its old age more than its appearance ever could, and the trio at the back questioned if this car could make it to Vermillion City. It certainly didn't feel safe.
"Buckle up!"Jessie suddenly shrieked, her calm voice rising to a pitch that seemed abnormal. A strong gust of wind ripped into them, and screams filled the crevices of the forests when Ash, Misty, and Brock held onto each for dear life at the sudden speed of the vehicle. At the front, Meowth and James seemed nonchalant, even offering the group some snacks to pass the time.
No, they did not want snacks! They wanted off of this crazy ride!
XOXs
They almost didn't make it; was the dramatic sentiment that Ash felt described the short trip. Ash was convinced during several sharp turns they would all fly out and crash into a tree. Misty was concerned more for pikachu and togepi's sake; who were grasped in both Ash and Misty's arms tightly. Luckily, they had Brock, with his large, strong arms, which kept them settled in place for the majority of the ride—squeezing them to death in his own panic, he was a large, human seatbelt.
Personal space was apparently no longer a mindset that any of them cherished or cared about, because Misty, who sat in the middle, probably smelled more male armpits in the last three hours than she had her entire life. Not to mention the uneven, bumpy roads that threw them in every direction as if they were rag dolls.
When the car finally came to a stop at the edge of the city only a few hours before noon, Misty was the first out of the jeep. Desperate to feel the steadiness of ground, she shoved Brock away, then jumped directly over Ash with togepi thrown over her head. Sweet, ground. She exhaled the very moment the soil crushed beneath her sneakers. Ash followed after her, collapsing alongside pikachu.
"Where...did you learn to drive?" Brock wheezed, frozen in place.
"We're all alive, aren't we?" Jessie sneered unapologetically.
Yes, but there was no excuse that a three hour drive was turned into two hours; especially on the dirt road. Every rock, bump and turn felt like they would flip. Clearly, Jessie was unfazed, and James and meowth were even less while they stared over the pier. For them, this was most likely a normal occurrence. Brock crawled out of the vehicle, and approached a tree just a few feet away, and exhaled; feeling his stomach churning uncomfortable while the team hummed.
"There's the one we discussed." James pointed to a small cruise ship, which to Ash, looked mostly unoccupied.
"Right, we should move out right away." Jessie spoke while collecting the trios pokebelts into a larger pack stored under James' feet.
"You said you would tell us everything when we got here!" Ash gasped suddenly, watching as they roped together some supplies in preparation to leave.
"Mewwowth." the cat spoke, crawling around Ash's legs on all fours before taking point beside Jessie in the vehicle once more.
"What do you mean this isn't the final destination?" Ash barked. "You said Vermillion City!"
After all of this, they were lying to them. Misty and Brock rose beside him, having his back with pikachu and togepi relaxing still. Clearly, they weren't disturbed that they had just been lied to! Brock was trying his best, but his features were still green.
"Pika, pikachu." The mouse offered in an attempt to calm his trainer; telling Ash to have a bit more patience—but he already had patience, more than they deserved!
"How do you know me!?" Ash snapped, though the former-evil-doers shrugged.
"Like we said, we'll answer all of your questions..." Jessie started, her voice low as if she was about to begin some motto.
"But first," James pointed to the ship again. "We're going to commandeer that ship." He explained, watching as the trio's face fell.
"No, you're not!" Misty squeaked. As if she had a choice in the matter. Jessie rolled her eyes.
"Mmmm, meow." Meowth pitched in, according to what Ash understood, was his way of saying we're going to anyways, not like you can stop us.
"Then we'll leave." Brock suggested with a shrug, and both Ash and Misty agreed.
"Then I guess you'll never learn anything, huh? Besides, with those goons after you, I'm sure you'll last a whole day." James mocked, flashing a peace sign as Jessie revved up the engine.
"Meet us on the pier at 8:00pm." She added, tossing a sophisticated wave as they sped off into the city, leaving the trio behind with more questions.
Shock covered all of their faces, Misty's eye twitched, Ash's mouth fell open, and Brock crossed his arms uncomfortably. Below them, the two pokemon felt sweat crawl down their necks as they looked to one another for support.
"Jerks!" Misty shouted after them, throwing the pine cone she collected from the ground earlier in their direction. Smoke and dust sprayed from their trail and Misty hissed. "What are we supposed to do now?" She wondered aloud while staring back at her companions.
Then, togepi said; "togebri! Togee!" flailing his arms as he danced at his trainer's feet alongside pikachu—telling them they should spend the extra time gathering some supplies, and getting cleaned up in preparation; keep focusing. A phrase Ash used during his time in Kalos. Proudly, Ash nodded his agreement with a tentative smile.
"Togepi has a point, we can use this time to prepare ourselves and get washed up."
Oh, that's right. Misty looked to her male companions who were still covered in some forest mud, the stench of sewers, and of course the sweat of running for long hours; then looked down at herself. She was a mess, but they were also in a severe lack of supplies, and money! Jessie and James threw away their bags earlier! They didn't have money, or food, or clothes; anything.
"It's not a bad idea, but we have no money." Misty grimaced, rubbed her hand against her face, realizing that the situation just got harder.
"Guess that means our next stop is the ocean." Brock exclaimed, pointing to the sea. Misty groaned inwardly and outwardly; of course, the first time she would visit an ocean in years and it was to bath in it. So much for surfing, and fishing. However, at the thought of the Vermillion Beach, where she spent more time than she cared to admit as a child, she snapped her fingers when a light bulb flickered on in her head. She all but squealed.
"They have free bath houses here!" Excitement quickly replaced the stress embedded in their bones.
"Do you think they have free food?" Ash asked anxiously, holding his belly; beside him, pikachu echoed his sentiments.
"Probably not, but we can find some fruit and berries on our way there and I'll throw something together!" Brock nodded to his companions, "It's not a lot, but it's a start. After we get set up, we can discuss what our next plan of action will be." then with rejuvenated invigoration, they started their march down the long, winding trail that lead to the Vermillion City coast.
"What do you mean our next plan of action, Brock? Aren't we following Jessie and James?" Ash questioned allowed, stepping behind the taller male while Misty manned the front of the group—clearly the most eager to breach a shower.
She was also the first to snarl. "You don't really trust them, do you? They stole our pokemon." She reminded Ash candidly.
"Yeah, but they gave us back pikachu and togepi." Ash confirmed, patting their heads as he mentioned them.
"That doesn't change the fact that they're still thieves, Ash. We can't trust them." Brock elaborated on Misty's comment while taking a moment to pluck at some berries. "We should follow them long enough to figure out what's going on, and then separate. Whatever they were in your dreams, that's not who they are here."
You don't know that. Ash wanted to argue, but they were clearly up to their old tricks. Half-truths, and stealing. With a hopeful gleam in his eye, he looked onward at the horizon where he could see the point they spoke of earlier, and released a tired sigh.
XOXs
The beach was packed by the noon hour; enough people of all ages and fashion rolled through that the trio was nothing more than another face in an endless crowd. As they planned, during their trek down the untidy, slippery trail, they found an assortment of wild berries to eat. Ash removed his jacket to use as a bag, and they were on their way to the ocean.
During their short adventure, they didn't talk much; there wasn't a lot that they wanted to talk about, even though there was a bunch of things that they needed to say. Occasionally Brock would make a comment about the nice weather, and the ease of berries here, but Misty was quiet, thoughtfuly, and introspective. Like she had been after the cabin, she remained untouchable. If Ash stepped near while Brock was collecting berries or rambling about a topic, Misty would quickly excuse herself and find something else to do. Therefore, even though there was a lot to say, and a lot of issues they needed to talk about before seeing Team Rocket again—if that was what they chose to do after all-they talked about the weather instead. Misty gave Ash hell for acting like a child, but when it came to actually talking about emotions, she shut down faster than a roller coaster with broken seat belt locks. Then again, she probably had a lot on her mind.
They all did.
Brock, in his best brotherly attempt, tried to rectify the situation by keeping the mood light, and talking about different foods. He tried to ask Misty what was on her mind, which she would grumble a simple I'm fine and kick out the dirt in front of her. So, Brock spoke with Ash more about his dreams, and Ash told Brock about the time they were on the Saint Anne, which had actually sunk almost ten years ago because of a robbery attempt. Over hearing the conversation, Misty offhandedly remarked that she built a real-to-life model of the ship when she was a kid, and Ash snickered before relaying that's exactly what she said in his dream to Brock, but keeping it between the two of them since she seemed so distracted.
Once they arrived on the beach, aside from the many bodies around them; they tried to appear as normal as possible—hiding their handcuffs behind folded arms, and attempting to mask their stench and dirty clothes.
The line that was waiting at the bath house slowly cleared as they approached and when at first they thought this was strange, they only had to share in the gust of the wind to remember that the repugnant, rancid smell was them. Since Misty was the only female, she was able to shower immediately, but Brock and Ash played rock-paper scissors to determine who guarded the food while the other showered. Ash lost. So Brock joined Misty in a gleeful skip to the bath house, and Ash collapsed into the warm sand after stripping off his tee-shirt.
Even though they didn't have clothes to change into, he still didn't want the only shirt he had to get covered in sand. If it was socially acceptable, he would have stripped down to his boxers and called it a day—after all they were almost like swim trunks, right? Then again, if he looked as bad as he smelled, he was okay with burying himself in the sand.
Luckily for him, he had togepi and pikachu at his side, playing in sand and burying themselves like little children. Since the start of their journeys together, this was the first time they were able to enjoy the beach, even if it would only be for a few hours. Naturally, Ash would have joined in, if his mind wasn't being pulled a million different directions now that he was alone. Simplicity was the first feature he missed of his dream world; when he was there, he only had to worry about winning the next badge, but in the real world, the list kept pilling up. In the beginning, he thought his life would mellow out by this point but in three days, he was turning twenty-one, which would mark exactly one year awake after his coma, and everything was in more chaos now, than he ever thought possible.
It seemed that no matter how much he attempted a normal life, he couldn't. First with his mother's rejection, followed shortly by the call of his pokemon, and then the direct internal conflict with Misty—and now this. Everything else. Even in his wildest dreams, he never thought he would be fighting the big bad, and being heroic. In this world he was truly supposed to be normal; and yet, that escaped him.
With a heavy groan, Ash covered his eyes with the fold of his elbow and blocked the bright sun. For awhile now, Ash wondered how normal and simple this world really was. When he first woke up, everything seemed dimmed by the perplexed realism of life but now, whereas his dreams might have been 'crazy', this world was in true chaos. There was nothing simple about this place, clear down to the strange reflex of emotions he kept heaving up.
Slowly, his eyes opened, brown iris' twinkling in the summer sun as he placed his hands down into the warm sand, and inhaled. So, if Jessie and James could shed any light on the situation at all, it was worth the wait for; worth the effort. That need, that drive, he knew Misty and Brock could never understand. They were never separated from this world; and if for some reason Ash was connected to more than just a coma, he needed to know; even if the knowledge was nearly unobtainable, or unrealistic, or even, unhelpful. For once, he was about to get some answers, and he was willing to do anything to get them.
"Whoa, man." Brock's voice broke his train of thought while Ash propped himself up onto his elbows to look at him.
"That's a lot of scars." His voice was full of worry, eyebrows knit, and hand hovering above his eyes to block the sun. Ash could see that Brock used the fifteen minutes it took to shower to wash his clothes, because they were damp and wrung out.
Surprised, Ash glanced down at his torso, primarily his abdomen, which was decorated with surgical scars; and the nasty one from the harpoon that he almost forgot about. Not only that, but the bruises he gathered since the Indigo League fiasco and train incident were a deep purple on his otherwise tan chest. Instinct forced him to cover the former wound with his arm and he sat forward.
"Yeah, I had a couple of surgeries in the hospital." Ash explained, standing up.
"Do they hurt?"
Taken aback by the question, Ash blinked. "...No?" A question. "I mean, most of them were done years before I woke up, so, maybe they hurt back then?" Ash said while pulling his shirt back over his head.
Brock stared on, having never realized how much Ash was effected by his coma—he knew that Ash was in one prior to their meeting, but since he only knew Ash recently, since he was awake; sometimes he forgot what Ash went through. In reality, Ash had not been awake for even over a year; and yet it felt like he knew the younger male for much longer. The same sentiment that Misty told Brock she felt months ago when they first started meeting.
"I'm glad you woke up." Slipped from Brock's mouth when Ash's back was to him, successfully freezing the raven-haired boy in his tracks. The sound of the waves crashing broke between them, aired by the cry and cheer of children when Ash stared over his shoulder at Brock with wide eyes.
"...Thanks." Ash muttered awkwardly.
"Sorry if that was weird." Brock added, catching onto the tension.
"Ah, no, it's not that." Ash started, staring down at pikachu to avert his eyes. He was supposed to be happy, leading his friends with vigor and strength, protecting them from the world and helping them; yet, his heart twisted.
"Things are just really different, now, you know?" Ash breathed; trying to wrap his head around the last year. "So many things have happened to me, and us." He gestured back to the bath house where Misty still was, and then back to Brock.
"I feel like I'm still getting used to everything, and sometimes even I forget that I was asleep for so long, you know?" Ash admit, his eyebrows furrowing.
"When I first woke up, it seemed like nothing was real and I was stuck in some kind of horrible nightmare—but now..." Ash stared up at Brock, eyes wide and brows furrowed. "...Everything feels the same? Normal. And I feel like it shouldn't be that way because everything is a mess; like I've given up a part of myself to this new, strange world and it's just..." Ash tried explaining, though Brock sent him a thoughtful, older brother look and placed a firm hand on Ash's shoulder.
"Try not to think about it too much, Ash. It'll take time. You've had a lot happening to you, and you're doing a great job." Brock complimented a nodding Ash.
"Thanks, Brock."
"Besides, if you slept forever, imagine where Misty and I would be right now?" Brock jested, trying to lighten the mood. "I mean, something did happen between you two, right? Been avoidin' each other all day." elbows fell into Ash's side while he turned 180 degrees, flipped his hair back and waved at Brock.
"Bye, Brock." Ash tossed naturally, stepping towards the bath house while Brock threw up his arms.
"C'mon, don't leave me hanging! I'm missing all the juicy gossip!" Brock growled, stunned by Ash's nonchalant response—perhaps Misty was rubbing off on him; or perhaps, it was the lack of sleep and exhaustion.
A confident smile danced across Ash's lip, remembering that he still had good friends in this world, too. Regardless of the information that meowth promised, hopefully that fact wouldn't change. Meanwhile, Brock fell into the dirt beside pikachu and togepi, and started to compile, to the best of his ability, something edible out of wild fruit. Happily, pikachu popped onto Brock's shoulder in support, muttering a kind 'thank you', though Brock couldn't understand him, the feeling connected and he grinned. Ash Ketchum was many things, but he was still adapting to all of the changes after all. Brock only hoped Ash could see his own advancement as well as Misty and he could.
The kid was amazing.
XOXs
Fed, washed, and less exhausted, the trio remained at the beach until two hours after noon. By that point, they realized donning handcuffs on a single wrist wasn't giving the proper message, and they left before drawing anymore attention to themselves. They circled the docks a few times, took perch on a bench, paced the ground and worried individually about their pokemon. Unlike their time spent on the train, they kept Ash undercover as much as possible, and avoided signs, and police. Central park held a free dinner every night, so they partook in that event before crawling back to the bustling docks.
Hours passed before the summer sun dried their hand-washed clothes, but that didn't effect how sticky and hot they felt. Misty was able to cut her pants off at the middle of her thigh, but the boys had to suffer in their long jeans and tee-shirts while they waited for Jessie, James, and Meowth to return. The humidity mixed with the heat resulted in a few hours lounging under park trees.
Finally, about an hour before 8:00pm when the sun began to die behind the horizon, Misty pipped in her thoughts.
"I think when they come back, we should be prepared for anything." Misty spoke, alerting Brock and Ash who were leaning against the railing while she paced along the sidewalk. "We don't know anything about them outside of what Ash knows in his dreams, and what was published about them once they went rogue. We don't know if this is a trap, of if they're actually helping us."
Looking at Brock, then at Ash with a brief hesitation, she inhaled. "I think we should have a back up plan. It's just the three of them, and unlike last time we're well rested."
"Don't be so paranoid, Misty, why would they help us if they were going to betray us?" Ash looked to Brock for backup, but the older man looked troubled himself.
"I think Misty's right." Brock said. "It's possible they could be bluffing about everything, and are trying to psych us out. I think we should be prepared to use force to get our pokemon back—you still have togepi and pikachu..."
"Pika!" The mouse denied, shaking his head. Togepi wiggled in his shell refusing to listen to Brock's options. After a pause, Ash inhaled.
"I won't. I'm sorry." Ash explained. "I know it's weird for you two, but I need to know what they have to say. I don't care what they've done up until this point; if they have any resembelnce to who I think they are, then I know it'll be okay." He breathed. Beneath his ribcage, his heart pounded and he inhaled once more.
"It doesn't hurt just to have a back up plan." Misty uttered, though Ash shook his head stubbornly, and started towards the dock where they told them to meet. It would be 8:00pm soon, and Ash wouldn't be late.
Anxiously, Brock and Misty shared a sympathetic, yet nervous look before following after Ash, who stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept his head low.
At 8:00pm on the dot, a small rowboat broke the surface, down the last pier; and in the shade of twilight. Inside the plastic, blown up raft, Jessie and James waved to the trip with sunglasses on. Punctuality was an affirmative trait; even if their plans never worked in his dreams, they were always on time for their failure. For a moment, Ash let the fear seep in, what Brock and Misty warned him about, and then let it pass through him.
This was it, the choice that would either help them or ruin them.
"Hurry up and get in, don't make a scene!" Jessie hissed at them, keeping her head low and using the glistening sun to mask their appearances. To the untrained eye, they would appear as nothing more than a couple of friends taking a rowing trip. Ash slipped into the row boat first; followed by Misty, who he attempted to help, only to be awkwardly rejected the moment physical contact was offered. Brock stumbled in last—never the biggest fan of water himself, he tucked into the center of the boat.
"Man, there's a reason I train rock pokemon, I'll have you know." He grumbled while Ash and Misty chuckled to one another, and then quickly looked away. Teenagers, they were acting like teenagers—or children. Though Brock wasn't going to tell them that, he was more focused on the dinky raft not deflating and them sinking.
Misty had the tendency to over react, and Ash had the tendency to flail. Brock didn't fancy going overboard for either reason; and so he kept him mouth shut, and allowed the two of them to work it out among themselves in complete silence. If they wanted to be awkward around each other in social situations, that was fine, so long as they didn't let that interfere with their battle situations; Brock would be just fine. Watching the deep, shiny ocean below them, Brock swallowed hard, and kept his eyes trained on the sky. The blow-up raft was clearly missing the third member of Team Rocket's group; meowth; but given the air-raft, they probably didn't want to risk the cat accidentally popping it.
"Brock, I didn't know you were scared of water." Ash chuckled, while Brock shook his head.
"I'm not scared of water, I'm scared of floor less seas and water I can't see in."
"It's not that bad." Misty mused, earning a death glare from Brock.
"Shut up you water-pokemon trainer." He warned her while she grinned playfully at him; then they all shouted when the boat jerked in one unsettling direction.
"Jessie, you're rowing the wrong way!" James bellowed, jerking his side so they shifted to the right. Ash's hand fell in sea water, and he shook his glove off, grumbling. Brock bit down hard on his lip, and Misty, who was around water most of her life, hardly noticed the jerking, uneven strokes of the duo at the front of the boat.
"You're the one rowing the wrong way! The boat is that way!" Jessie pointed, jerking them to the other side. This continued for a few moments, with Jessie and James off-key bickering about who was right and James whining until a queasy Brock cleared his throat.
"You're both right!" Brock exclaimed in the center. In front of him, he had two fully grown, well known-adults arguing about which way was right, and behind him, he had two young adults refusing to speak to one another; worst of all, every wrong turn increased the chance they would be bothered by sea creatures, or flipped over. He wanted off of this damn raft!
"The boat is that way, you can eve see it!" He exclaimed pointing to the boat which was only a few yards away and groaning.
Misty laughed, "Man, I hope we don't look like that when we argue." Misty poised, pointing to Jessie and James while whispering to Ash, inches away from his face. In response, he jolted away from her, nearly capsizing the boat. And eliciting another shrill scream from Brock.
XOXs
The group arrived at the boat ten minutes later, with a frazzled Brock clinging to the entry ladder for dear-life. He was the first one up, and then the rest followed slowly after. The fact that they were stepping onto a stolen ship was a fact they all chose to over look in favor of not being stuck on a rocking raft anymore. Now that their clothes had finally dried, and the sun was done; the air on the coast was a bit chilly. As they stepped onto the slick surface of the boat, mentally, they all agreed that for once, they wanted things to run smoothly. While Jessie and James "rescue" still sat unwell with Brock and Misty, for Ash's sake, and because for the moment they were clear of the real criminals, they gave them some credit.
A cool meowth stared back at them from a perch on the upper deck, his tail flicking back and forth; pawing at his gem, and licking his fur. Breath held, they waited for Jessie and James to pull the raft back onto the ship and guide them inside to shield them from the dying light, before the questions rolled out.
"How did you find us?" Misty asked while Jessie took a seat at a desk in the dining area.
The ship was no luxury cruiser, but it could easily carry fifty men. The decks were a smooth steel, padded with heat resistant plastic, the hull had individual rooms, and where they were seated now, was clearly the dinning area: a large, open area with tables, a stage in distance, and chandlers. Apparently, Jessie, James and meowth liked to travel with style. How the Vermillion City coast guards wouldn't notice a ship such as this one missing was beyond them; but, Jessie and James weren't known as the greatest thieves in history for no reason. Before giving Misty an answer, Jessie first popped open a bottle of wine that was sitting on the white-table cloth of the table, and poured herself a glass.
"Easily enough." Jessie slurped from a wine glass. She offered to the young adults, but each variant rejected the offer. "We've been tracking some of the twerp's movements since he left route twenty-five, but more recently, we've been following you two since Cerulean City." Jessie explained clear as day, surprising the trio. They thought, for more than one reason, that the group would beat around the bush.
Moments later, James took a seat beside Jessie, kicked back his heels onto the clean table, and took his own glass of wine that Jessie poured before setting the bottle back down. Meowth pattered in after his companions, kicked the door shut with his hind leg, and jumped onto the table where he took said bottle, and sipped it straight. Brock and misty were horrified—a pokemon drinking alcohol! But the incident seemed hardly shocked Ash, who expected such a reaction from meowth, who was unpleasantly quiet until he stared at Ash.
"Meeeow. Meowth." He grumbled apologetically, sighing while Ash turned at his friends, finally feeling comfortable enough to take a seat across from Team Rocket. Obviously, Brock and Misty awaited a translation from Ash, but it was James who cut them off.
"He says that he apologizes for not being able to speak to the three of you personally; since, well, you two don't understand him." James gestured to Misty and Brock, who's back stiffened. At the notion, Ash took a seat, eyes wide.
"You can understand them, too?" Ash gasped, looking between Jessie and James who nodded stoically.
"Pika! Pikachu pika!?" The mouse yelped, hopping onto the table; demanding to know why they didn't say something sooner.
"Eh, what's it matter?" Jessie groaned, slamming her fancy glass onto the table. "We're telling you now, like we promised." She extended her arms in a mocking way, and Brock and Misty looked to each other with wide eyes.
"How do you understand them?" Misty voiced their question, mortified; it felt like she stepped into one of her sci-fi novels. "Are you born with the talent?"
Both shrugged. "We just noticed that we could. It's how James and I were paired up in the academy." Jessie elaborated.
"That great!" Ash exclaimed but Jessie shook her head.
"Not really. People will exploit the ability if given the chance." She scolded, keeping a sardonic expression. "Team Rocket exploited us for years; then," she paused, glanced to meowth, then met Ash's eyes, "we met meowth."
Now, Brock and Misty took a seat. Whether they were intrigued or awestruck to the point their legs wouldn't work, neither could understand.
"But what does that have to do with us?" Brock questioned. "More specifically, what does that have to do with Ash?"
"Bah, it's a long, boring story. Can't we talk about the current events?" Jessie threw back her head, allowing her curled hair to fall behind the chair. Even as the day came to a long end, her make-up was flawless; down to the gleam of her green earrings.
"We'll wait." Misty mused eagerly, sitting forward; eyes wide open, mouth ajar. She knew Ash was special in his own way, but outside of his pokemon she didn't know that... she glanced at Ash, who's mind was having the exact same thoughts. Eyes trained on meowth, he could barely contain himself.
"Do you remember everything from my dreams?!" He almost shouted, voice shaking and fingers clawed into his jeans.
A pause, then very slowly, meowth nodded his head, and the wind was knocked out of Ash. "Then do you two remember as well?" Ash asked, pointing to Jessie and James, who slowly shook their heads no.
"When we were first given meowth, his stories seemed ludicrous at first;" Jessie exhaled, blowing a strand of her hair. Her fingers were shaking, and it was clear to them now that the wine, the alcohol was to take the edge off. They were as uncomfortable speaking to Ash, Misty, and Brock, as the trio was to them.
"The fact that we could understand pokemon at all was widely shunned and expertly used to connive and steal. Team Rocket discovered us at a young age, and tried to use our talents to their gain..." James cleared his throat, and while meowth spoke, Ash's face scrunched up.
"They tried to use your dreams as a means to control legendary pokemon?" Ash wondered aloud, and the three of them nodded.
"When Giovanni discovered that meowth could see 'visions of strong pokemon' he paired the runt with us as his personal detectives. We were sentenced to find legendary pokemon for him for years until we realized we were being used." Jessie spoke bitterly.
"At first, meowth's dreams were hazy, and sometimes inaccurate, but the longer he experienced the world he shared with you, the more accurate they became." James added.
Ash shook his head frantically, squeezing pikachu who sat in his lap for comfort. "But that doesn't make any sense. I never owed meowth!"
"But you had a strong connection with him, didn't you?" James cut in, crossing his arms. At least he seemed friendlier than Jessie.
"...I guess...?" Ash wondered, glancing at meowth who paced back and forth. Misty and Brock held their jaws, thunderstruck by the news.
"So why can't people remember then?" Misty finally asked, earning a shrug around the table. Meowth turned to James with a snark expression, and explained his theory.
"He says pokemon are more connected spiritually. Humans detach themselves from the world, which prevents them from truly understanding. More or less, humans don't want to connect to things they can't understand. Humans are selfish creatures-" James explained catching himself off guard with his words."Meowth, I'll remember that you called us selfish the next time we've gone without food for a week and I give my share to you!" James yelped, flicking the gold medallion on his forehead; in return, meowth sparked his claws out.
Misty's rapid head shake drew their attention back to her. "So why does Ash remember? shouldn't he have forgotten everything the moment he woke up? He's human, too!" She shouted, but her cries were met with a shrug.
They didn't know
Frustrated, Misty sat back in her chair, and Ash laughed at her nervously.
Brock clucked his tongue, skimming over the facts in his mind; somehow, meowth knew Ash, which made sense. He was the only other pokemon that was around Ash for the whole ten years he was in a coma. "So meowth kept you two informed about Ash; why didn't you ever try to wake him up?"
An uncomfortable tension formed before meowth cleared his throat, and then paced the table again. For the same reason pikachu could never wake Ash up, it was still Ash's dream.
"Then how do you explain the accuracy? Pikachu slept most of the time Ash was asleep, how do you explain that?" Misty offered, trying to catch them on some well-concieved lie; but Ash had the answer to that.
"Meowth wasn't around me as much as pikachu."
"Does that mean when they, pokemon, or people weren't in direct contact with you; they were awake?" Misty shot to Ash, and while the idea of how dreams worked went over his head; Misty was flabbergasted.
Then, Jessie and James shrugged again, and this time Misty threw up her arms. "You said you had answers!" She shouted, but Jessie and James looked at one another with raised eyebrows.
"We do, about the attacks and chaos; we're sorry but we don't know about Ash's dreams, or coma, if you will—we're thieves, not therapists." Jessie mocked the former redhead who slumped into her chair. Hearing this, Ash's own shoulders slumped—but it should have came as no surprise. How they were connected didn't matter after all; the dream world was long gone. The needed to focus on now's problems.
Now, the real questions; Ash inhaled, clearing his head.
"Why did you attack the league? And me?" Ash managed.
"To save the people from being ambushed, of course." Jessie said matter-of fact.
"We attacked you because you threw a snorlax at us, did you expect us to be okay with that?" James barked sarcastically, a rise in his voice.
"But why were we being ambushed?" Misty asked. "Why attack us now?"
"It wasn't about any of you; it was about the twerp. They were hoping to use the party as a means to kidnap the twerp, and get the rest of the information about the legendary pokemon. They were also planning on taking out anyone else plotting against them:" Jessie pointed at Misty. "You, the tall one, and a few other threats—the two from Sinnoh." Jessie recalled, taping her lips, calling none of them by names. Hearing twerp roll of her lips naturally was a kind reminder for Ash, though, it sent fuzzy, warm feelings into his stomach that stopped in realization.
"Dawn?" Ash gasped. The two from Sinnoh. "Did something happen to Dawn?"
"No, she's fine last we checked; since the attack was thwarted, her face has been everywhere; she's a thorn in their side that they can't get rid of." Jessie elaborated with a bit of a proud tone. Misty smirked at the comment and nodded affirmatively. That was Dawn alright.
"So who are you working for then, if not Team Rocket?" Brock assumed control of the conversation, keeping them on track, and they shrugged.
"We've been working solo for years now." James explained, blowing on his nails impressively. "Team Rocket changed when the boss went to prison; instead of actively causing mayhem, they seeded themselves into the roots of the country. The police, politics, the media; where they couldn't join, they black mailed and manipulated people; imprisoned others who wouldn't obey them. It was a long time coming, but after years of waiting, Team Rocket infiltrated all of Kanto."
"So the Elite four are being controlled?" Misty grimaced, tugging at her collar. James shook his head.
"Bribed. Champions were subdued early on and replaced by a figurehead—since Team Rocket is controlling the chief executives, they control everyone." Jessie added. "When you oppose them directly, you're silenced, if you're just trouble, then they slowly weed you out."
"When we were apart of Team Rocket, they were sloppy... now they've become something terrifying. Whatever the boss has planned, it isn't good." James noted, rubbing the back of his neck, then downing the rest of his wine with one gulp.
Ash inhaled, trying to take all of this information in—they were right, about everything; but it was worse. "So why were you following me? What did I do to be followed?"
"Mostly because Meowth wanted to, but also because everywhere you go, things change." James said hopefully, staring into Ash's eyes.
"So Giovanni is behind the plots?" Brock elated, a slight rage ticking in his voice.
"He did put himself in jail, after all." Jessie sighed. "It was part of the grand scheme when they took over Unova. They put up large smoke screens and mirrors, and Giovanni was free to control Team Rocket outside of the scrutiny of the media."
"So what about the microchips?" Brock wondered. "If they control everything, what do they need those for?"
"Well, because they don't control everything. Team Rocket, while strong in Kanto, had to slowly wipe out the remaining opposition in the other regions. Flare, galactic, magma; to name a few." She held up her fingers.
"The Hoenn region is still feeling the effect of Team Rocket infiltrating their ranks, Sinnoh has stabilized, but only to an extent; Johto is practically under full watch, and Kalos, being so far away, is their manufacturer. Their fingers are in the other territories; but they're far from controlling them. Outside of Kanto and Unova, their control is slipping each time someone else comes into power." James explained with a nod, looking at each of their faces to deliver the message.
Meowth added; though the translation came from James: they want to use the chips to control the pokemon in those regions, to create terror like they did in Kanto so they can deliver the final blow.
"But how can they control that many pokemon? Having more than two pokemon with a chip connected to a pokedex at one time was causing major trauma; how does he expect this to go any better than what he tried before?" Brock added hastily, sitting forward with a serious expression.
"It's been perfected, obviously." Jessie said plainly. "Silph Co. manufactured the perfected chip during the last few years; that's the answer you wanted from them, right? They kidnapped the brightest minds and forced them to work on creating this chip."
"Kidnapped them?" Misty echoed, wondering who would work on such a heinous creation.
"But how do they plan on controlling that many pokemon at one time?" Ash questioned. "There can't be that many people apart of the organization."
A pause.
"We're not certain; we left the organization shortly before they attacked Unova; but Giovanni has a secret weapon. The pokemon we helped him recover after it broke out of it's cage nearly ten years ago..." James stopped, holding his mouth. "We were never given information about the pokemon, and before we could tally any information, our memories were..." James stroked his brow, and Ash felt the same shudder.
"By the time courts sentenced Giovanni to prison, he was already in full control." Jessie groaned. Feeling the worst of all of them, since they singlehandedly assisted in so much destruction.
At that moment, that flinch of distress, Brock and Misty realized that Jessie, James, and meowth were no different than them—pawns to a greater, evil plan, and the knew somewhere, the estranged group was good. Deep, deep down, but good. Slowly, they both relaxed and shared a knowing glance while Ash swallowed hard.
"That's great." Ash spoke. "But you haven't told us anything we don't already know; what do they want now? Why does any of that matter with me?" Ash asked.
"We don't know." Jessie admit, once again dodging why Ash was important.
Their faces scrunch up, Ash looks a little flustered; "Then what are we doing?"
"Going to Unova, of course!" James squealed, pouring himself another glass of wine.
"What?!" They all screech, but James shrugged.
"If we're going to stop them, we need to know their plans—our goal is to find out what Giovani is planning to use the legendary pokemon we so...happily gave him, and what he intends to use the microchips for."
"We never agreed to this!" Misty shouted, and Brock slammed his hand on the table.
"And at this point, what else would you do?" Jessie asked in a snark tone. "You're clearly all in the same boat as us: running from the law, trying to fight for good and all that good stuff and restore balance-"
"Meooowth." The cat whined, glaring at his companions who were intentionally leaving out information. Jessie sat back, clearly unable to speak the words meowth was asking her to; so James cleared his throat and sat forward.
"...but, you're right, there is more," he said, "As we said before, we spent years listening to those dreadfully embarrassing stories from meowth, using them to our advantage, and increasing our success at thievery. While we assisted in great acts of evil, we had to listen to meowth share stories about an imaginary world where good always won, bad people lost, and wars didn't exist; where we didn't have to steal to survive, where there was peace, and hope and..." James paused, staring at a glum Jessie with dark, sullen eyes before glancing away very slowly, almost sadly. "and happiness." He finished.
"...Just before the professors were taken, we learned about As—the twerp." James cleared his throat, wiping his hands on his knees. "When the boss found out that there was, maybe another person alive who could find the legendary pokemon, he ordered us to... ehem, he wanted you out of the picture before the war started."
Misty paused for a long time, her ears twitching. "That's where I've heard your voices before." Misty exclaimed.
James continued. "By his order, we... infiltrated the hospital as doctors and..." James pupils dilated, turning glassy while Ash looked down at his knees, thinking about how that sentence was supposed to end.
Clearing his throat, James inhaled. "But, since you're still here, obviously we didn't go through with it."
"Why not?" Ash snapped suddenly, jarring all of them alert. The raven-haired boy looked at Misty, who used to visit him regularly, but she could only shrug. Clearly, she remembered that moment, but not well enough to confirm anything-she didn't know, so then he looked at Jessie and James, awaiting an answer with wild eyes.
Besides having a conscious not to kill a teenage boy? Was what James wanted to say, but instead: "An older woman; with auburn hair walked in. Begged us not to." James finished, swiping at a stray tear.
Misty and Brock sat upright, the silence that crept in forced the gushing wind against the shudders to sound deafening in their ears.
Ash needed air, to breath somewhere else and so he quickly got up from his seat, and excused himself before dashing away, leaving his friends, and his pokemon behind. Misty sat frozen while Jessie's nose crinkled.
"What's his problem?"
"It was his mom." Misty mused, before setting togepi on the table, and following after Ash. Brock sat flabbergasted, amazed at the turn of the conversation; then looked directly at the group.
"Why wouldn't you find him sooner?" Misty froze at the door to listen once Brock spoke.
"We were stuck on route twenty-five during one of our attempts to flee the organization after returning from Viridian City. We were apart of the battalion that was to destroy Bill's lab, but we defected...and were stuck." Jessie explained. "There were also some of the worst members there we wanted to keep an eye on."
"Since we left, the twerp has been his back up plan—Giovanni was waiting for him to wake up; planting all the necessary personnel to keep him under control; but then obviously, not everything worked out how it was supposed to. Complications formed." To which she was clearly referencing Misty, Brock, and other relationships Ash developed over the year. "They lost control of him, and have since been trying to get it back."
Brock kept trying to think, about what little he knew about Delia; about Professor Oak, and about Ash's waking up in general—aside from what Ash told him earlier on the beach, it was hardly mentioned by Misty or Ash outside of how difficult it was for him to grow. He did, however, know that shortly after leaving the nursing home, Ash spent a month with Misty at the Cerulean City gym—what stopped Giovanni from taking him then?
"Why would they let him go at all, if they planned on stealing him to begin with?"
Jessie shrugged, as did James; that was an answer they didn't have.
Finally, only one question remained; only, Misty didn't wait around to find out.
"...why would you be so willing to tell us?"
This time, James sat forward, setting his feet firmly against the floor and stared at Brock. "We like stealing, and we like breaking the rules; but right now, the world, politics, everything around us is being threatened because we-" he pointed at himself, then to Jessie and meowth, "used what should have been classified information to help an evil man take control of what used to be a wonderful place." The emotion behind his voice filled Brock with a kind of invasive feeling. The strain on James face when he spoke, and the expression of grief over Jessie and meowth's who both tried to look tough, spoke to Brock on another level.
He remembered what it was like before the wars started, before the riots in the street. When trainers were eagerly setting out on pokemon journeys, collecting badges, and helping one another; a world set in a fairy-tale land that as he grew older, grew dimmer and dimmer. A world, that until a year ago, Ash was repeated on an endless cycle.
"...We'll help you." Brock said suddenly. "If we can." he added with an upturn of his lips that made James sniffle and grab him on the shoulder as they rose to meet with Misty and Ash outside.
XOXs
Misty paced once she left the hull, took a step forward, then took a step back, then paced again. Ash stood at the railing, looking rather queasy in respect to the rest of the ocean. His tan features were pale in the moonlight, and his hands were shaking, white knuckled onto the bars. Or, it was the rhythm of the water below causing his body to vibrate; Misty couldn't be sure. However, the expression of sadness, confusion, and anger decorating his features was unforgettable, and unfortunately, one she was growing used to.
Finally, she stepped beside Ash slowly, though, he didn't turn or make a sound—an indication that he did not hear her approach until the palm of her hand was placed at the center of his back.
"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly, eyes narrowing to watch his face. Ash shot backwards from shock, trying to inhale; to keep his puffy, clearly bloodshot eyes from her view.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied rubbing his face with his fingers but then twisted his head to one side. "I mean, I just found out my mom doesn't, or at least didn't want me dead; regardless if she's being threatened or not; it kind of..puts things in perspective." he swallowed hard, inhaled, and tried to calm his nerves once more. "And that I was supposed to be dead; and am likely the 'plan b'. If Jessie and James hadn't defected then..."
"It's just bad timing." Misty pat him several times, trying to jar lose the tension in his back which was terribly tense.
"But it's not. This was the life I was meant to have the very moment I woke up; I wasn't supposed to be normal, ever."
But he could have been, to some degree if Giovanni was never part of the picture—that horrible, faceless man.
"Did you want to be?" Misty asked, stunning Ash who's eyes narrowed. Misty's eyes darted back to the ocean, taking in the salty wind. "I mean, what's normal anyways? I'm not normal—by normal standards; neither is Brock." Misty explained, and glanced over her shoulder at Ash.
"I mean, it was you, after all, who claimed to be some kind of chosen one in your dreams only yesterday; you should be loving this attention. Especially now that we know a little bit more about your dreams; right?" Misty suggested, though Ash could only gawk at her. Eyes wide.
Words wouldn't come, instead, he launched himself forward and hugged her, dipping his chin onto her neck, and brushing his lips accidentally against her ear. He squeezed her.
"What would I have done without you?" He muttered, then immediately blushed, following with: "And Brock, of course. And...Cole, and err."
Then, in that motherly fashion that she only showed on rare occasion, she pat her shoulders in return, and nodded her head. "It's okay, Ash." she told him sweetly, letting him hug her without explanation, or words. For a moment, he buried the emotions into her body, and then finally exhaled loudly, and pulled away with a grateful, lopsided grin over his face.
"Feel better?" She asked oddly, her cheeks red, only to meet a wide grin while Brock emerged from beside them, and hugged them both.
"I don't know what I would have done without you two, either." He said, falsely sniffling while Misty growled.
"You ruined the moment." She grumbled at him, but then Ash started laughing, and it was okay.
Jessie, James, and meowth approached, arms crossed, un impressed and while James pretended he didn't want to join in the festivity of a group hug, his face clearly told otherwise.
"We're not done yet, though." Jessie exclaimed. "We still have a lot left to fix before this is over; we don't have the first clue about where Giovanni is being kept, or what he intends to do, but from now on, we're not playing in the little leagues, we're doing this professionally."
"And how do you expect us to do that?" Ash asked, completely on board.
"As we said, we're going to infiltrate Unova, steal their plans, and sabotage them." James grinned, his teeth gleaming in the night.
They all shared a worried look. "And how are you going to do that?"
"Us? Not us." Jessie grinned, then gestured to Ash who nodded his head in determination.
"We're going to attack them head on!" He declared, and Jessie and James sighed in unison. Meowth slammed his paw against his jewel.
"They said infiltration, stupid." Misty groaned, smacking her head. Ash frowned at her, wondering how she could go from being so nice, to so hurtful. He looked back at them.
"...so, I'm infiltrating? Aren't you two the best thieves in the world; why would you send in me?"
"Because we're wanted by the organization on many accounts; we would be recognized right away." Jessie paused. "Plus, I'm not dying my hair."
"That's a terrible excuse!" Misty shrieked, thinking of her own hair.
"Well, Ash would be able to slip in like a recruit, unnoticed; most of Unova are rookies anyways. If a new face showed up; no one would bat an eye." James explained and Misty was shaking her head. She was still learning to trust them; this was moving way too fast! However, it wasn't up to her! Ash's chest burned; thinking of his last attempt at visiting Unova; what little he truly knew about it, and the warning signs...not only that, Cilan, Iris, and Trip—they were there somewhere, right? It was their home; he had to see it. He had to know what happened to them, and everything else.
"I can do it." Ash said. "Besides, I want to see this for myself. No—I need to see this for myself." I need to know what Giovanni has done he added inwardly, with determination and fire in his eyes. Grinning, James handed back Ash's pokemon belt at the remark, and Ash fumbled to hold onto it.
"T-thanks." Ash said, wrapping the belt around him while the man surrounded Misty and Brock theirs.
"That's the spirit!" James cheered clapping Ash on the shoulder, but then Brock piped in.
"I said we would help, not throw Ash at the wolves. He can't go in there alone. He gets lost going to the bathroom!" He shouted, and Misty rocketed in her agreement.
"He barely knows how to work a phone; how do you think he'll fair using a computer to get information!" Misty gasped, and Jessie and James thought for awhile. Meowth, forgotten beside them, jumped up onto James back without warning, dug his claws in, nearly knocking him over as he explained to Jessie the change in plan.
"Well, we do have two uniforms." Jessie said thoughtfully, then eyed Misty. "Though, it's a females..."
"I'm not doing it." Misty snapped, shaking her head. She was all for politics, and battles, and saving the world; but infiltration was not up her alley; she also didn't feel like getting shot. "Weren't we just two minutes ago talking about how we didn't trust these guys? Don't you think it's suspicious that they're throwing us at a facility like this?" she gestured to Ash, a screech in her voice.
What could they think? Their options were limited, clearly, they were already on a boat moving towards Unova, and Ash was going regardless, he made that clear. She gnawed her lip, thankfully Brock was also worried.
"We don't eve know what we would be getting."
"We have time to go over all of that." Jessie assured her, glancing at Misty, who was a bit smaller than Jessie was; she was sizing her up for the measurement.
"Technically new recruits are given a female partner regardless, so it would make more sense." James thought aloud, and Brock's face darkened protectively.
"I'll go instead."
"You'll wear a skirt?" Jessie laughed, and strangled noise escaped Misty's lips.
Men and female were paired because it increased the range of thought; while men were typically more linear thinkers, females were creative thinkers. It made for the perfect balance of team. Ash shared an apologetic, slightly excited grin with Misty who groaned inwardly. This would be the last time she ever vocally worried about Ash's safety.
"How long until we reach Unova?" Brock asked.
"Three days, roughly." James answered.
"Then I suggest we make a plan. Do you guys have maps of the area? We should figure out where they need to go so they have the least amount of time in there—and something bullet proof." Brock started in on the details, and Misty huffed, letting her shoulders fall and her hand run through her hair; maybe if she had left it dark, this wouldn't have been a problem...
Meanwhile, Ash tried fanning Brock, who was pressing Jessie and James for any and all questions.
"Calm down, Brock, it'll be fine." Ash tried, but Brock frantically shook his head.
Clearly, Ash did not understand what happened when Team Rocket played rough. To make matters worse, they were going from fleeing the enemy to entering enemy territory, all in under twenty-four hours! The people that only a few hours ago kidnapped them, held their pokemon hostage as a means of leverage, and then threw the horrible truth they were all dancing around at their feet like an animal; Brock was having a hard time staying calm.
"No." Brock said in a shockingly authoritative voice. "Damn it, Ash, you're going to take this seriously." He warned him, his eyes reflecting horrible memories of his own. Ash's shoulders rose, then very slowly; he nodded.
"As a heart attack." Ash added in confidence and Misty sighed beside him and shook her head with the faintest of a smirk. This was her life now.
Author's Note:
I wasn't exactly sure how to crack the news about Jessie, James, and Meowth for a long time, but I was trying to think "realistically, how would this go down?". Maybe it was a bit anti-climatic to do a 'tell all', but, how would you get those three on your good side at this point? Keep being mysterious and untrusting, or tell the truth? How would I ever get to point B, if I never got to point A? So anyway, after mulling it over, I decided to take this route.
It's very important to note that Jessie calls Giovanni by name, but James still refers to him as "the boss", as a reflection of their personalities. Jessie is strong-willed and stubborn, and James is a bit of a noodle.
Unfortunately, I don't think Team Rocket is bad. I don't think they're bad in the anime; and outside of a 'stint' in B&W, their characters have always been good at their core. James, is the emotional one; Jessie acts tough and snobbish but is very caring (at least to her friends), and meowth is a grubby little money grubber, but he loves his companions, and they all really care about the world: Case and point: all of the movies ever. Their antics, while 'random' in the show, are the most common and fleeting moment in the anime that has remained consistent, and while some people may not agree with this, I almost view Jessie, James, meowth, and Ash as this weird 'family'. If they weren't around each other, giving each other a goal; they would feel a piece of them missing. I'm honestly very excited to bring more of Jessie, James and meowth into the story.
NINT