61: Jessie vs. Cassidy
Jessie lay back, almost nodding off as her mother brushed her hair. This had been the best day. She hadn't seen her mother in a while, but here they were together right then, making up for all the fun they'd missed. Jessie had gotten to see the new animated movie she'd been curious about. She'd been enraptured in the story and pretty art. After that, they'd gotten ice cream, her favorite flavor, strawberry, and even got a taste of a new flavor, the mint her mother had chosen. That had been good too.
On top of that, they'd also gotten to see an eevee breeding show, the participants showing off their eevee along with all three of its evolutions. Jessie had even been given permission to pet one of each. The eevee had seemed so happy. The vaporeon was just a little slimy, but not enough to be gross. The flareon wasn't even hot, just pleasantly warm. The jolteon's electrified looking coat didn't shock, but had a different sort of odd prickly feeling. All of the pokemon were pleased that Jessie in particular had paid them mind. Seeing pokemon was a rarity for Jessie. Being up close with such friendly ones was a true treat.
And now, her mother finished up styling Jessie's hair, tying it with a bow they'd picked out together on their outing. Jessie hugged her. "I love you, Mom," she said.
Her mother smiled back at her. "I love you too, Jessie."
Jessie hugged her tighter. Of course her mother loved her, even leaving her at an overcrowded place like this. Why were they back here, anyway? Now that she was back, they could finally be together at their own home, right?
"Jessie," her mother began gently as Jessie stood, admiring her perfectly styled hair in the mirror. As Jessie peered back, her mother smiled. "I wanted to see you today, because I'm not going to be able to for a while."
Hearing that, Jessie felt cold, all of the good feelings from that day being replaced by bad ones. "Why?!" she demanded. "You're taking me home now, right?"
Her mother looked away, sighing before she frowned. "I have to take a trip to a far away place," she said. "I'm working hard for the two of us. That's how we were able to do so many fun things today."
"I don't care about that!" Jessie shouted. "I didn't want to see a dumb movie, or have gross ice cream, or see those mean pokemon!" Jessie stomped her foot. "I just want to go home!"
"Jessie..." Her mother frowned. "I want to make a nice home for us one day. I'm really working hard for that. That's why I'll be gone for a while. Do you understand? I'll be back."
Jessie tore off the bow from her hair, throwing it on the ground and stomping one foot on top. "This is ugly," she declared. "I don't need anything from you!"
With that, Jessie ran away. She didn't go far, just in her foster home's yard. She had a good hiding spot where other kids could never find her during hide-and-seek, underneath the steps. It was dirty and she'd get dirty, messing up her hair, but Jessie decided not to care for the moment. She took some satisfaction in hearing her mother shouting after her nearby, worried. "Jessie, your mother wants to say good-bye. Please come out if you're here," her foster mother said.
That just made Jessie want to get out of hiding even less. If she couldn't be found, maybe her mother would never leave.
But it eventually got too dark, and feeling uncomfortable, Jessie crawled out. As she walked inside, her foster mother sighed. "I knew you weren't far. I'll call your mother and let her know you're alright."
"She's not here?" Jessie said. She looked around, going to where she'd been sitting with her mother just before to make sure. "Where did she go?!"
"She really had to leave. You shouldn't have hid. Do you want to talk to her on the phone?"
"I don't want to say anything to her," Jessie declared, refusing to do so even as her foster mother made the call. That woman could just come right back if she really wanted to talk.
Hours, days, months, years, and even decades later, she never did.
Jessie sat eating her lunch in the loud area, trying not to let the others bother her too much. They never had too much before, but since she'd been assigned to work with large groups of the rude loudmouths, the various other members of Team Rocket been trying her nerves. None of them really seemed to get the style of Team Rocket, instead just put on the uniforms and did the grunt work. Sure, James was gone, but wasn't she beyond the kind of tasks she'd been assigned to do with them?
"Hey Jess!"
Jessie's eyes traveled to the ground, and she smiled as she caught sight of Meowth. That pokemon had been a missed sight as well. They were both still active in Team Rocket, unlike James, but Meowth had been asked to do other things since he'd left as well. Couldn't the two of them make a good enough team as well? Maybe not. There were a lot of things humans could do that pokemon couldn't, and Jessie would be working alone as far as human company went, also leaving Meowth with only one human to count on.
Even so, she hoped for a change of pace as she saw her close confidant. "Hello, Meowth. What have you been up to?" she asked.
"The boss has me with the scientists... They keep asking me dumb questions," Meowth said.
"Like 'where do pokemon babies come from'?" Jessie suggested, chuckling as she recalled the conversation about that still unanswered question.
"Yeah, exactly!" Meowth confirmed irritably. "And 'how do you say 'hello' in meowth speak'... As if pokemon can't understand anything without humans imitating us! Just endless stuff like that. I'm sick of it. But I'm also helping out Mondo, and the boss personally, too."
"It's good you have something satisfying. I'm about to ask for something more challenging," Jessie said, motioning to the loud, laughing group behind them.
"Oh, yeah! That's why I'm here. I'm acting as the boss's messenger. He trusts me, you know," Meowth bragged.
"You have a message for me?" Jessie asked, looking up from her food.
"Yep, yep. He wants you to report for a new mission!" Meowth informed with glee. "I don't know all the details, just that it's top tier! He chose you specially, too."
Jessie listened with interest and renewed enthusiasm to the details of when to meet their boss. She finished her lunch, then paced around the base, eagerly anticipating the time she'd meet the boss in his office before it finally arrived. As she rounded the corner to take her there, she noted Cassidy going in first. The haughty, nosy agent was probably just butting in. Jessie herself was the one with the appointment, and didn't hesitate to enter next, briefly glowering toward the other woman, though she soon stood at attention. "Sir, I'm here as requested," Jessie greeted.
"You've both arrived with perfect timing," Giovanni said, petting Persian briefly before looking back at them. "As you can see, I'm offering you a top tier agent to use as you wish, the same as before."
Jessie had to stop herself from protesting as she heard the boss's words. He met eyes with Cassidy as he spoke, speaking to Jessie's rival about Jessie herself. The description of being 'top tier' was one thing, but having Jessie work with this person, no, under this person was another.
Cassidy looked to her briefly, not seeming any happier about the idea. "I'm not sure she's the right fit for the assignment," Jessie's rival said.
"She's perfectly suited," Giovanni affirmed. "I expect you two to work together as you did with the others. Most importantly, bring home results. Let me know what you'll need before you go. You're now dismissed."
"Yes, sir!" Jessie said in unison with Cassidy, though she was incensed. She hadn't even heard the details of whatever mission it was, maybe because she had to get her orders from Cassidy now? How to protest this arrangement would have to be considered later, but now the boss was being firm about this being how things were. Jessie hid her anger and annoyance well until they got downstairs, Cassidy sitting at a desk, the two of them alone. At that point, Jessie let out a groan of discontent. "Wasn't the boss pissed off at you before?" was the first thing Jessie said, sticking out among her many questions.
Cassidy just shrugged in response. She unlocked a desk drawer, taking out some folders.
"Don't think I'm going to just listen to everything you say," Jessie declared. Even if the boss said so, Jessie had more pride than to follow Cassidy's orders without thought.
"Of course not," Cassidy said, then sighed. "I thought I'd get some real help from an actually dedicated elite agent instead of the boss shuffling someone useless off to me."
"What's that you're saying?" Jessie asked irritably.
Cassidy continued with her own rant undeterred. "I should have known it was just you. You'd be the one free, with James gone and everything. He didn't tell me I'd have to inherit his partner. I guess he didn't know."
"Why would James tell you anything?" Jessie said, folding her arms. Why did Cassidy always think anyone and everything had to be about her?
"Hmph." Cassidy turned to Jessie, meeting her eyes and seeming to speak directly to her this time. "He really hates me, doesn't he?" she said, then casually turned back to her paperwork.
What was with that question? Jessie had rarely seen the two interact. James might offer basic pleasantries, but it was Jessie and Cassidy that had actual conversations, even if unpleasant. Now that Jessie thought about it, James didn't really have much to say about Cassidy specifically. Even when Jessie had complained about her, he hadn't joined in bashing the woman. "I don't know what he thinks about you. There's just no reason to talk to you, even for me, so I wondered why you thought he would."
Cassidy turned away from the work, narrowing her eyes at Jessie. "Especially after what happened before, did you really think he'd go and take my son without at least telling me?" she said. Cassidy went back to going through her documents as Jessie let out a noise of disbelief. "He didn't even tell you?" Cassidy asked. "Maybe you two weren't as close as you seemed." She shrugged.
"I guess he did, but I didn't realize he meant you," Jessie said.
When Jessie had asked about what the kid's mother was doing, James had admitted she was a Team Rocket agent. Jessie had fumed about that fact and everything it brought up for her, then hadn't paid attention to the conversation that continued with James and Meowth. She'd briefly processed James saying "I know you dislike her," a different woman that Jessie had interacted with but didn't know well coming to mind. There had been talk about what Cassidy had done, but Jessie had just assumed it referred to her and her partner intervening in Viridian Gym, which anyone might have done, and hadn't connected the two, especially not wanting to talk or even think about it. How annoying that James wasn't more direct and vocal about this all to start! And seeing as they all had interacted frequently enough, how their former relationship never came up from either James or Cassidy was weird.
"How was I supposed to know it was you?" Jessie continued. "It's not like you two act like exes, or even that you know each other too well."
Cassidy had no comment to that, only staying involved in the papers in front of her.
It really was bizarre, but Jessie soon calmed from her initial reaction, sitting back as her new 'partner' kept doing whatever she was doing at that desk. "So, you're the other half of that mess," Jessie eventually spoke. "The mother that can't be bothered with her own kid."
"I love my son!" Cassidy insisted fiercely, finally showing some kind of emotion as she turned back to Jessie.
Of course she'd say that. She'd want to maintain her own image as an admirable person who lovingly cared for her child instead of the reality as an unforgivable mother that had abandoned her son. Jessie rolled her eyes at the show. "Love him, right. That's why you leave him behind to do, well, whatever you're doing here. That's why he hasn't been taken care of and ended up as disturbed as he is, right? You love him that much."
Cassidy only looked more and more angry as Jessie continued to talk. "You don't know what he's been through," she broke in.
"Right, I don't know everything, just the latest," Jessie said. "What else happened when you weren't looking out for him? It must have been a lot, to turn him into the punk he is now, right?"
"Jonathan is a wonderful boy," Cassidy said, shaking her head. "You don't know him... He's so sweet, a joy to be around... He-"
"I thought he was a delinquent runaway," Jessie said.
"You don't know the situation! You don't know him at all! Don't say anything else about him!" Cassidy shouted. She gripped the folder tightly in her hand as she turned away again, not even appearing to be reading it this time.
Jessie decided not to say anything else. She hadn't meant to dig into the kid. Given his realities, anything he did was understandable from her point of view. He could burn the whole world down and she wouldn't judge him for it. Besides, just like Cassidy asserted, she didn't know him, therefore had no strong feelings about him. If she felt anything, it was sympathy before she turned her thoughts elsewhere. She didn't like to think about the 'situation' much. Though dearly missing James, she'd decided him going to take care of the brat was a good thing. Not that he'd seen any other option. James wasn't the type to leave his kid to fend for himself. Though late to the party, he cared, unlike some parents. Jessie glared at Cassidy as she worked, until finally deciding to speak up again. "What is this mission, anyway?"
"Oh, right, the details weren't explained to you," Cassidy said. "We're going to capture Mew."
"Mew?" Jessie repeated, getting a sudden unsettling feeling. She laughed it off. "That's stupid."
"The boss doesn't think so," Cassidy said. "This is the current top priority for him."
"How do you even know it exists?" Jessie said.
"There's proof," Cassidy said. "That proof was actually acquired by one of our own, a former Team Rocket agent, Miyamoto. She investigated Mew, even got a recording of its call. There's a picture too, though it's debatable if it's Mew or not." Cassidy lay the evidence out on the table. "Miyamoto was very trusted by the former leader of Team Rocket. She found more proof, but never returned after going to catch Mew herself."
Jessie stared at the picture and documents as Cassidy lay them out on the table, feeling numb. It was the same, exactly the same as years ago. Nothing had changed at all. Jessie swallowed as she looked at the remnants of that woman's work, but eventually found the ability to speak. "She's dead, right? Why should we trust someone that couldn't even stay alive?"
"I trust her notes. It coincides with other information. I've done the research, and I'm fairly sure I can find it, based on-"
"Based on her notes? Why go with what some dead loser came up with?" Jessie interrupted.
"She was quite intelligent and dedicated, actually," Cassidy said.
"She was actually pretty stupid, and you're just as stupid as her if you go along with what she thought was right," Jessie said.
Cassidy raised an eyebrow, but still gave a serious response. "Her decades-old work isn't my only source, of course. It was just a starting point. I've gathered much more information since, most of it very current. I've even talked to people in the area, over years. Trust me, this isn't a shot in the dark. Do you think the boss would fund us overseas if it was?"
Overseas? So even that was the same. "Won't your kid miss you?" Jessie asked.
Cassidy paused before she spoke. "Likely so," she said.
Jessie stood up, folding her arms with disgust at the statement. "You didn't even think about that until now, did you?" she said. Cassidy appeared incensed at the accusation. She still wanted to maintain her image as a person who didn't do things like neglect and ignore their own children, despite certainly being that type of despicable person. Not waiting for a response, Jessie turned and walked away. She went back to the boss's office, letting him know she wasn't sure if Cassidy's mission would lead to anything at all. The boss assured her it was an important, viable mission, adding that Jessie should try her best to make it a success. Before he got too annoyed, she agreed and left.
When they failed, Jessie knew she'd be taking some of the blame. How annoying was this? Outside Kanto, they probably couldn't even find other pokemon to get in place of stupid Mew. Jessie went to her room to mope, only to find a note informing of a space reassignment on the door. Her few possessions were packed up outside already. Well, Jessie ought to have expected that. Since James left and Meowth had been staying there less and less, it had become a room with Jessie and three empty bunks. That had been somewhat nice, but with more people joining, they'd likely want to use the space otherwise. Though annoyed, Jessie didn't protest. Once she was rich along with the rest of the rocket elites, she'd have a much nicer luxurious private place. No need to get hung up about having a slightly smaller one here.
Her new assigned room was smaller, but had only one bunk, far less crowded than some of the other rooms. It was east-facing and might have a nice view of the morning sun. Jessie unpacked and got comfortable. Unfortunately, the roommate soon entered, and it was Cassidy. Of course. Already in bed, Jessie turned around and groaned.
"You're still awake, right?" Cassidy said.
"Maybe you woke me up," Jessie groused back.
"Here," Cassidy held up a book to the top bunk.
"Huh?" Jessie sat up, looking it over. She hadn't expected to be offered anything. "What's this?" she said, looking at the cover before she started flipping through.
"A beginner's language text," Cassidy said.
A glance through showed the basics of a language that was dominant in their probable destination. "Maybe you should keep it," Jessie said.
"I got this especially for you," Cassidy said. "I learned the language to investigate Mew, and I know it very well. That's one reason the boss wouldn't let me pass this mission to someone else."
"Who? Wouldn't that take away your glory?" Jessie asked, pulling the book closer.
"I didn't want to leave my son while I'm in some far away country," Cassidy informed, taking off her earrings as she got ready to sleep. "Sometimes unfavorable circumstances can't be avoided."
"So you don't even want to go?" Jessie said, skeptical of the claim, if that's what was even being implied.
"I'll do what I have to," Cassidy declared, sitting down on the bottom bunk. "Hopefully after we return, the boss will reward me - well, the two of us, of course. Then I'll be able to get a magnificent house of my own. More than enough space for myself and him, the luxury we deserve."
Jessie turned a page in the book. She recalled something similar being said in the past. Maybe her mother had talked about the nice house they'd have together, beautiful dresses for the both of them, eating delicious food every night. Maybe there had even been some practice out loud, of this specific language. Jessie tossed the book on the ground, a loud smack reverberating through the room. "Be more careful!" Cassidy chided, sitting up in a start underneath her.
"I'm not studying anything out of any book," Jessie declared. She'd had more than enough of that in her previous schooling experiences. Giving up her time and energy by hustling with studying had never gotten her anywhere.
"Then you won't be able to communicate where we're going," Cassidy said.
"You speak the language, supposedly," Jessie pointed out, pulling up her covers.
"Oh, right. I'll be able to communicate with anyone else who does, and you'll only be able to talk to me." Cassidy giggled.
The thought was enough that Jessie almost got down and picked that text back up, but instead she stayed in bed, pretending to sleep. The irritation at her current situation ate away at her. Even so, the thought of a possible reward for getting the boss's, no, Team Rocket and the world's most wanted pokemon, did sound appealing. Though not about to do absolutely everything that her new 'partner' ordered, Jessie certainly wasn't going to work against the most elite mission with the dream result either. The specifics of their assignment combined with the surrounding circumstances brought back bad memories best left buried, but those memories could also be swept aside, as they should be. The past was gone. The future was still wide open.
Jessie never did end up picking up the foreign language textbook. She did, however, look over other documents that Cassidy provided with the research that had led to their mission being approved, and then prioritized. A read through would convince most people of the mission's legitimacy. Since Mew was so elusive, and liked to hide, they thought it best to sneak up on it, hence why Cassidy had requested only one person with her. Maybe the boss was planning for a follow up after they weren't able to catch the pokemon that was often assumed to be pure myth, but in the meantime, it seemed he was counting on them to be the ones to do so.
After getting the basics behind why such a mission was even allowed, Jessie began to look into the specifics. Doing so kept her busy. She went through the itinerary, read up on the country and specific regions they'd be traveling through and to. Later, she went to inspect their supplies, which Cassidy informed that Mondo was keeping in a certain area of storage for them. After inspecting the list, Jessie came back with some items she objected to. "What's with this?" she said, holding up the green pokeballs with the Team Rocket emblem to Cassidy, who sat at a desk.
"It's our pokeballs," Cassidy informed, giving an impatient sigh as she turned her head down. "Haven't you heard of them before? They don't look that different from normal pokeballs anyway."
"I know they're supposed to be pokeballs, that's obvious," Jessie said, scowling. "They're those knock off prototypes though! Have you ever actually tried to use them? They don't work very well!"
"They've been working fine," Cassidy asserted.
"Yeah, so they can catch those low level fossil pokemon, but probably nothing else," Jessie said. She couldn't forget how they'd busted apart when she'd tried to catch the ghost types near Lavender Town. They still did sometimes, even with the docile fossil pokemon that seemed glad to be caught. "They certainly won't be good enough to get the rumored powerful Mew. I'll make sure we get something else."
"Wait!" Cassidy shouted after her as Jessie went down the hall. "Don't mess things up," she said upon catching up to Jessie.
"I'm making things better," Jessie declared.
"The boss doesn't want to hear your complaints," Cassidy said.
"The boss wants us to be successful," Jessie said.
"I didn't say he didn't! It's just that legit pokeballs are hard to get," Cassidy informed, reaching out to get Jessie to stop.
"Difficult but not impossible," Jessie asserted, turning back to face her.
"Is there something wrong?" Giovanni interrupted them, apparently on the way to his own office.
"Yes, sir!" Jessie said, respectfully saluting him. "These prototypes are hardly adequate for catching Mew!"
Giovanni glanced at the Team Rocket-branded pokeball Jessie held out before nodding. "An oversight. I'll be sure you have what you need before you depart."
"Thank you, sir!" Jessie said.
"Meowth! I have a message for Mondo," Giovanni said, talking to the pokemon more as Cassidy and Jessie walked away.
"There. That wasn't so hard," Jessie asserted.
"Maybe not," Cassidy said.
"Was it your oversight? Didn't you notice they weren't giving us the real deal?" Jessie inquired as they went down the stairs.
"Of course I noticed. I've just learned to pick my battles," Cassidy said. Making it back to her desk, she relaxed in her chair. "Looks like you benefited the mission this time."
"This time? I'll benefit the mission once we're actually done with it," Jessie said. "And I do plan to be successful."
"The same," Cassidy said with a nod, going back to her work. Maybe concentrating on their mutual goal, they could work together well after all.
The day they were to leave, Jessie had to drag her temporary partner away from the phone so they'd be on time. "What are you trying to do last minute anyway?" Jessie demanded as they went toward the entrance.
"I was calling to say good-bye," Cassidy explained. She didn't say to whom, though that was easily inferred. "Where they live now, there's one phone for everyone that lives in the building. I've never gotten hold of them. It's always busy, out of service, no one answers, or they can't be found. Jonathan called here once, but only when I wasn't around."
So they hadn't talked. Seemed Cassidy cared to some extent, but they couldn't really hold off on leaving anymore. "You'll talk to him when we're back, celebrating our success," Jessie said. The words came automatically, leaving a bad taste in her mouth. They didn't seem to encourage the other woman either. Cassidy was silent and seemingly depressed, trying to read something, but instead staring out at the landscape as Mondo drove them to Saffron for the next part of their trip.
"Hey, it's Team Rocket!" the man taking their luggage at the airport noted the uniforms. "What kind of exciting stuff are you up to?" he asked.
"Just working for the good of pokemon, and the entire world, as usual," Cassidy said, repeating off a line they'd all been stating lately.
"Sounds fun. You know, I just heard of you kinda recently, following that story about how the former champion's pokemon killed one of you. Either of you know about that?"
"Oh, yes," Jessie said. "That was a tragedy. Of course I know - he was my best friend. He was so friendly to everyone, and always volunteering to lend a hand to the poor disenfranchised people of Viridian City. We don't know why he was targeted. It's probably just unneeded hostility toward Team Rocket for our superiority with pokemon." Jessie was just saying another often-repeated script, then noticed Cassidy looking away with possible annoyance. Of course, Jessie's current traveling companion had actually been there and watched the referred-to person die. "Oh, right," Jessie began, ready to correct herself. "This was his best best friend. Maybe you have something you want to say?" she suggested.
Cassidy blinked, still staring toward the boat, seeming bored by the conversation. "Did someone important die? I'm not sure who you mean. I don't know anyone like that." Cassidy glared Jessie's way. "Let's go."
How cold! Jessie felt all the more put off by who would soon be the only person she could converse with. Not that appropriately honoring the memory of the person who had become all of Team Rocket's 'best friend' post mortem was important to Jessie, but Cassidy acting like she didn't even know him was creepy. They moved on, Cassidy using a payphone one more time before they boarded. Jessie didn't ask, knowing now what the obsession with the phone was about. Cassidy didn't take too long anyway, and then scowled as they boarded.
They sat next to each other. Cassidy was absorbed in some reading. Jessie mistakenly hadn't brought anything to keep her occupied, and eventually got bored enough to speak after they took off. "Did you talk to him?"
Cassidy looked up from her reading briefly. "James happened to be there and answer, but Jonathan was at school," she explained, pursing her lips. "I knew he should be, I just thought there might be a chance he was home. Maybe I missed the last chance to talk to him. I wonder how difficult it will be to call long distance from there."
"Who knows," Jessie said dismissively, then paused, staring intently at the seat in front of her. "The last chance, huh?" she eventually added.
"Until we're back, of course," Cassidy added.
"Of course," Jessie repeated. Or maybe it was the actual final phone call, and that kid had missed his chance. Jessie shook off the sentiment, pushing the grim idea from her mind. There was no reason to believe such a thing, anyway. They were headed out to be successful. Nothing from the past mattered much. Cassidy had just taken a dead person's notes and moved on to the future. Jessie now followed her, riding along for the glory. Working with her former rival for the past few weeks, Jessie had started to believe that the elusive pokemon might actually be there. They had the proper supplies, so they'd probably just catch it and go back home.
The flight was several hours long. Not wanting to talk too much to her present company and only having the in-flight magazine to read, Jessie was excited as the meal started to be served, until she finally got a look at it. "Huh? What's this?"
"Different countries have different cuisine, you know," Cassidy said, using the knife and fork to cut her own share. "Be tolerant of other cultures," she added before taking a bite. The previously calm expression contorted, though she tried to hide it.
"You don't like it either, huh?" Jessie noted with a laugh. She then made an exaggerated response as she took a bite. "It's not that it looks bad, it really is trash! Good thing we can't bring our pokemon out, I've had to stop Lickitung from eating actual garbage before... What a disaster that would be!" Jessie leaned her head forward, trying not to dip it in her mush of a meal. She picked it up as she heard her temporary partner give a brief, yet genuine sounding laugh.
The other woman appeared just as surprised as Jessie. "Sorry," she said.
"It's fine," Jessie said quickly. The response wasn't completely objectionable, it was just unexpected.
Cassidy placed her fork down gently. "You just reminded me of him for a minute."
Him? "James?" Jessie suggested the person they both knew well, and Cassidy had just spoken to. Did he make her laugh? Jessie had been curious about what their relationship had been like before their apparent breakup.
"No," Cassidy said.
If not him, then... "Oh." Jessie realized exactly who it was, though not exactly happy to be compared to that person. Then again, everyone was remembering how much they liked him since he'd died. "The guy you can't even remember, right?" she said.
"My late field partner? Of course I remember him," Cassidy said.
"You just said earlier-" Jessie began.
"I don't remember whoever you were talking about, who everyone else keeps going on about," Cassidy spat, glaring at Jessie. "You think whoever you're talking about and my late partner are the same person? I don't remember him being any kind of a friend with a shallow person like you, let alone best friends. He was nothing like you and all those other dim-witted agents describe him."
There was the antagonism Jessie had been trying to play down. Seeing the other woman not doing the same for the sake of their mission was irritating, but Jessie calmed after thinking about it. Dealing with the death of someone important must be difficult when no one else had really known him, and despite that distorted his image into something it wasn't. Jessie had to deal with a similar situation, hearing the person next to her, and even the boss talk about how great the person that had died at attempting their current mission was. That wasn't who Jessie remembered.
But of course, she did remember the dead agent. "He was a jackass," Jessie began. "Constantly telling putting us down, probably from jealousy. He was completely obnoxious and crass. Not that I let any of it get to me, of course." Jessie blinked purposefully, holding her head high.
"Jealousy? I think he could just recognize incompetence. But it does seem we're finally talking about the same person," Cassidy said with a smirk.
"And you're saying I remind you of him? What kind of nonsense is that?" Jessie demanded, sitting back as she noticed someone in front of them staring their way.
"Just in little ways," Cassidy clarified. "He'd have these dramatic responses to stuff like airline meals too, sometimes. He wasn't as irritating about it as you, of course. He knew to shut up when I told him, most of the time."
"So he let you step all over him, just like the pokemon did," Jessie said. Seeing Cassidy covering her hand with her mouth, Jessie realized she might have gone too far.
However, it soon became apparent that instead of being shocked, Cassidy was fighting back laughter. She eventually calmed down, though she still smiled, staring out the window at the seemingly endless ocean they were crossing before speaking up again. "His humor could be dark like that sometimes, too." Cassidy sighed. "I miss him. It seems unfair that he won't be able to share in this success."
Jessie wanted to say that her temporary partner should just move on from someone that had died and left already, but maybe Jessie herself had been having her own distracting thoughts even given her own convictions. "Talk about how sad you are he isn't there once you actually see Mew," Jessie said instead.
"Right... Even if I think we'll be successful, but there is the small chance it isn't even real after all." Cassidy said.
The idea it wasn't, while being stuck in their cramped seats traveling across the ocean, was disconcerting. Even more than that, thinking of the effort, and even life spent on finding it was enough to put anyone over the edge. Jessie tried to think of something else, but that was difficult as this mission was consuming her life at the moment.
"Butch didn't think it was real," Cassidy said. "Or at least, he was skeptical. Why would there be one specific pokemon be so far away when most of the rest are in Kanto? Even though he'd do whatever I said, he thought it would be a waste of time to come here. He thought I should stay home with my kid."
"And why didn't you?" Jessie demanded. She took a breath to try and calm herself. If they were going to tolerate each other, maybe this was a topic best avoided.
"I did, I just couldn't indefinitely," Cassidy began. "I should be able to, with plenty of resources, after we're successful. I need a way to support him. Put food on the table. You know."
"What makes you think he wouldn't rather be eating nothing but snow with you than be without you?" Jessie asked. Despite trying, she still wasn't able to hide her anger.
"Nothing but snow?" Cassidy put down her book, her eyes widening as she stared back at Jessie. "So you'd have us starve?" She blinked, opening her book back up and flipping through it. "You're hung up James left you over this situation, aren't you."
"Huh?" Jessie sat up. Was Cassidy trying to place the three of them in some kind of imaginary love triangle? "You think James and I were an item? That's not what was happening! He's all yours if you want him."
Cassidy was unable to hold back a laugh in response to that. "When you first joined, and I saw him greeting you, I could tell you already had everything I might want from him."
"You're really, really misunderstanding things," Jessie asserted.
"Oh, no. You're obviously the love of his life. Poor James if you don't even see that, but I guess you really are that dense," Cassidy commented.
"You sure have an imagination for other people's business," Jessie protested, but Cassidy didn't respond this time, getting caught up reading again. "What about you?" Jessie decided to goad her. "Were you and the dead guy an item? It sure seemed like it."
"Hm." Cassidy looked up, relaxing her grip on her book. "I told him he wasn't allowed to think about us that way... But that was just me being unkind. That is how it was, according to most people's definitions."
With that weird response. Jessie couldn't think of how to continue to needle her, so the conversation was dropped, and they continued on the journey that was currently less than interesting.
After arriving at the airport, they left to the next part of their journey. Jessie noted Cassidy talking to someone else in yet another unknown language, different from the one at their final destination. "Learn another language too? You really had to study up for this one," she said.
"It's just some basics. I sound awful to the native speaker. You could know the basics too, if you weren't so stubborn."
From there, Jessie had no comment, though it did get lonely and dull with no one to talk to or otherwise interact with. Once they got a hotel room, things were somewhat better, as they could finally take out their pokemon. Jessie praised Arbok and even Lickitung for their patience. She gave them both a small portion of food. It was mostly as a treat rather than fuel. They'd been inside their pokeballs for several days at that point and didn't especially need it, but Jessie felt like giving some kind of reward.
"Your pokemon are huge. You shouldn't keep them out too long in this room," Cassidy said with a frown.
"It's fine," Jessie said. The rocket dorm was smaller than this place, and Arbok had hung out there all the time. Lickitung as well, though it was less often.
"Mine would like a chance too," Cassidy said. She released her raticate, then reached for the second pokeball.
"The boss finally give you another one?" Jessie asked. She released it, revealing the primeape, nearly certainly the dead guy's pokemon. Of course. At least they had one more pokemon to support them. Jessie fed them the same small portion that she had to her own pokemon, just to have the primeape screech and swing its fists for more instead of being appreciative.
"Behave!" Cassidy warned. Primeape calmed in response to the firm order, throwing its body on the ground as it sat. "We can let them stay out a bit, but then we have to get some rest. For them and ourselves."
Jessie sat silently, realizing she couldn't have the pokemon play in the small hotel room. Going outside to get more room, they'd shock the locals, and likely get them all thrown out of the place. Jessie soon returned them to their pokeballs, then went to sleep.
The next day, they took the ship, spending another few days on it before they reached their final destination. Or at least, the country they'd wanted to be. They arrived in a crowded city, but that wasn't where Mew was. There was farther to go before they were finally in the place they'd truly been aiming for, where Cassidy had said all the evidence pointed to Mew being.
The bus dropped them off. Cassidy paced around a while looking at a map before she finally found the target path. As they walked along, some rustling could be heard behind them. Cassidy shouted behind them in the language of the land. Some rough looking men came into view. They appeared to say some strange things, and Cassidy still shouted at them, then took out the pokeball. "Raticate!" she said as she threw it out, then tuned. "Jessie, hurry up!"
"Go, Arbok!" Jessie threw out her own pokeball.
Both pokemon side-by-side called out threateningly to the men. The men shouted words Jessie mostly couldn't understand, though she was sure one of them was 'monster'. There was an exchange of words between the humans and Cassidy before the men finally left.
"What was that about?" Jessie asked.
"They see two foreign women out here, and think they can prey on us. They didn't realize we'd have pokemon," Cassidy explained. "Let's keep moving. They might be back and try their luck, but where we're going, there's likely not going to be any people at all."
The continued journey involved a lot of traveling by foot, as well as camping. Cassidy was right, they didn't see any people at all, just each other. There was also wildlife - commonplace animals. Even if Jessie hadn't seen many of the species before, even in books, but it was still apparent they were just animals and not pokemon. The area was beautiful, but utterly useless for a Team Rocket agent to be there outside sightseeing. As the weeks went on, searching the area started to get very tedious.
It was also starting to get colder, especially at night. Winter was going to arrive before long, and they were still wandering through the area, no sign of any pokemon to be found. Once Jessie was sure she saw one, a tauros dancing toward them in the twilight. "Go, Arbok!" she tossed out her pokeball. Her large pokemon hissed out its call as the other creature came into view. Instead of engaging in anything like a pokemon battle, the animal skidded to a halt and ran away, only after revealing that it was nothing like a pokemon at all.
Here there were no wild pokemon eager to battle, no people that could even understand what Jessie might say. They were all foreign, practically alien on this land. Not just the pokemon which that one scientist had said were from outer space, but Cassidy, and of course, Jessie herself. Even the animals recognized them all as completely incompatible with this area and just avoided them. What were they doing in this place, so far away, chasing after something that wasn't about to be found, wasn't real at all?
That was right, despite all the evidence and so-called 'sightings', Mew probably wasn't truly acquirable at all, was it? The idea of finding it wasn't about to happen any more than the promise of Jessie being a respected pokemon nurse. The thought of success here wasn't any more solid than the idea of Jessie being a formidable Pokemon Tech graduate competing as an elite. Waiting for Mew to show up, just like waiting for other things, was worthless.
Approaching the camp, Jessie noted Cassidy already there, and stormed toward her. Why did you make this your pet project?!" Jessie demanded, kicking the firewood that her stupid traveling companion had been arranging.
"Hm?" Cassidy stood up, arms folded. "It'll be dark before long. Didn't you want to cook? Don't let me hold you back from the work, if that's what you want." Cassidy extended her hand in an attempt to invite Jessie to build the fire instead.
"I mean this whole thing!" Jessie shouted. "It's your fault the boss even wanted Mew, right? The legendary birds weren't good enough for you! You kept looking up fairy tales, wanting even more glory. Because of you promising the impossible to the boss, I'm stuck here on this mountain, forever!"
"Don't be overdramatic. We can go back if we can't find it," Cassidy said, looking away with a terse expression.
"How long were you planning to stay?" Jessie demanded. Cassidy didn't respond to her shouting. "And then, go back? Go back and tell the boss that you couldn't possibly follow through with this stupid idea? How do you think he'd respond to that? Didn't you promise him that you'd find the fake pokemon he always wanted? Do you think he'll be happy you lied?"
Cassidy shook her head. "Of course I didn't lie about anything!" she shouted back.
"But you did, right?" Jessie challenged, her pokemon calling out, possibly echoing her irritation. "The boss wouldn't have thought to come here without your dumb reports! Keep going on long enough and people will think you know what you're doing, was that your plan?"
"I was thinking in detail of how I might find Mew, not that a short-sighted, stupid, self-absorbed person like you could stop and think enough to understand that!" Cassidy said, stomping toward her current help.
"Oh, right, that's why we're all the way out here and have seen nothing. Because you told the truth, and didn't lie at all." Jessie stomped right back toward her. "Do you know what a false promise can do to someone? And you didn't just promise the boss, did you?" Jessie threw up her hand in disgust.
"What are you talking about?" Cassidy asked, her face scrunching up in obvious irritation.
Of course, the boss would be angry at those that couldn't follow through, and wouldn't give the rewards that Cassidy had alluded to. But that wasn't it. There was also the memory of a little girl who had other promises planted in her head. That girl waited and waited every day, dreaming of the time she'd live in a mansion, and eat delicious food every day, and have the most beautiful clothing, and play fun games all the time. With her mother, who would be right there each time she came home.
Her mother would finally be there, and never leave again.
How long had it taken to stop believing? Recalling the exact moment was impossible. The hope had sat inside her, giving energy on some days when Jessie had believed it was all definitely true. But as it slowly died, all that was left was the greatest pain.
Jessie could recall the first and only time she'd seen Cassidy and James's kid, and how the annoying brat had cried upon finding out James wasn't there to take him away. She'd just wanted to get away and not think about the situation much. But even not knowing much of the facts then, she'd known on some level that he had the same kind of pain, didn't he? Some kind of false hope a heartless parent like the one in front of her had planted in him. "Too bad you never got hold of your kid beforehand," Jessie began bitterly as she considered it all. "You could have told him that you were going to abandon him to go die on a mountain in a far away land."
"That's not what's happening!" Cassidy shouted. "I'm here for him as well as myself. I will find Mew! I will catch Mew! I'll bring Mew's pokeball back on a silver platter, and then have all the reward to give my precious boy everything and more! There's no lie there!"
Listening to the other woman yell, Jessie quieted. In the face of these assertions, Cassidy's sincerity became clear. Perhaps she had lied to herself first. What was left to say to such delusion? Here in this desolate area, the idea that this woman was genuine in her belief in their success only added to Jessie's pain. Was this how Miyamoto had felt too? Maybe. After all, there was no benefit to coming out here at all without expecting success, certainly none to planning to die on the mountain.
It was all just useless, wasted effort and life spent on illusions that disappeared like smoke.
Jessie put her hand on Cassidy's shoulder. Cassidy shuddered and backed away, annoyance her only response. "Forget Mew. Let's start heading back tomorrow," Jessie suggested blankly. "There's no pokemon here at all. There's no reward for this. There's no pile of cash waiting. There's no success to be had. There's no Mew." Jessie looked down. As she looked back up, she at first noted Cassidy's grave expression, before catching sight of something else behind her. "Huh?" Jessie exclaimed.
Cassidy turned as well, seeing the small, pink creature floating nearby at the same time. Since nothing on Earth had the ability to levitate other than pokemon, this was certainly a pokemon. "Mew?" it called, a seeming curious tone in its voice. The moment they both reached for their pokeballs, it teleported away, showing another pokemon exclusive skill.
"You see?" Cassidy turned back, a boastful smile on her face, though her expression suddenly turned to confusion.
Jessie realized she'd started crying. Instead of composing herself, she hugged the woman next to her. "That was it!" Jessie declared. "It was really Mew! There's nothing else it could have been."
Cassidy sighed, then grinning back as Jessie broke the hug. "Of course," Cassidy said, still showing some of her trademark arrogance, though maybe it was justified at this point. "I've been telling you it's been out here all along. From the history of previous sightings, it seems to stay near the same place a while. Maybe it was discouraging to not see any sign of it until now, but I'm dedicated to catching it. Are you?"
"Of course I am! As if any Team Rocket agent is going to give up that easily! I'm completely dedicated!" Jessie declared. She then wiped her eyes before grinning and pumping her fist to show her determination.
"Good to know," Cassidy said. "Daylight's fading now, but let's discuss our plan while we cook, hm?"
Next chapter: James vs. Jonathan