Note: Get ready for, well, a few chapters of Team Rocket.

60: Seymour vs. Team Rocket

Jessie and James hardly stood out as they approached the Viridian Convention Center, lab coats over their uniforms. Plenty of other visitors swarmed the area nearby, some of them in similar attire. James also sported prescriptionless glasses, while Jessie had her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Even if they had met before, who would recognize them?

"How are we going to find this guy with everyone here?" Jessie said, frowning at the picture.

"He has messy hair, and glasses," James said.

"Look at everyone we've seen so far that meets that description," Jessie said, motioning to a person who passed them, though the face didn't match. "Isn't that why you wore glasses? Maybe you should mess up your hair too, otherwise you'll stand out."

"I'd rather not," James said, smoothing a hand over his head. Despite his efforts, there always seemed to have a hair out of place anyway.

Meowth approached from the other side of the sidewalk. "Found him!" their pokemon conspirator announced.

"What, really?" Jessie said, eyes widening. "There's no way you could that fast with all these people! A lucky sighting?"

"Nope." Meowth shook its head with a satisfied smile. "I just looked through the hotel guestbook, then their registry. Better to work smarter, not harder."

"That was smart," James complimented.

"Yeah. And I listened in, he's still in the room. Let's go stake out the lobby so we can follow him." Meowth extended its paw toward the nearby hotel.

As they followed the pokemon, James suddenly caught sight of someone in the crowd. The boy didn't appear to notice them as well, just passing by, warily scanning the area, looking at everyone else around him. It seemed the child was alone, but not necessarily in danger. What his son was doing around there, James didn't know. Jonathan was staying somewhere in Viridian, so they were likely just nearby that area.

It had been a while since the kidnapping incident. James had asked about what had happened since. Being told that his son was safe and recovering, he'd decided not to intrude. There had been no reason to doubt what had been said, and if Jonathan was out walking around, that was probably true. Even so, here was the opportunity to see in person. "Wait for me there," James gave a brief salutation to his teammates before losing sight of the kid, then went on his way despite their protests. He could explain later.

James caught up to the kid, calling out his name. "Jonathan!" The boy turned around, revealing he was indeed the one that had been named. James smiled reassuringly at the kid who stared at him, seeming very startled by his father's presence. "What are you doing here?" James asked, still not seeing anyone that might be accompanying. Jonathan didn't answer. Well, though this boy was still young, he was getting older. The solo outing could be for any reason. Finding the answer wasn't important. "How have you been?" James decided to ask instead.

"Why are you here?" Jonathan demanded in return, his initial startled expression not changing. If anything, he seemed even more tense.

"It's for work. I just happened to see you," James explained. "Are you alright?" he asked, reaching out his hand to perhaps rest it on his son's shoulder.

Jonathan recoiled and backed away in response. "Don't bother me!" he shouted.

James pulled away. Of course, being a bother had been something he'd wanted to avoid all along. What had he done to bother this kid? He'd have to refrain from it in the future. "I just thought I'd check on you," James explained.

"Why are you here? Why now? I don't want to see you! I hate you!" Jonathan shouted, leaning forward, almost seeming about to cry.

The first inclination was to try and comfort his son, but it seemed James's presence was the problem in the first place, as always. Pretending he could make things better as a father would only be for selfish reasons. "I see," he said. There was a moment of silence with the two still facing each other, though Jonathan hunched over toward the ground. The kid didn't leave, maybe thinking James had some sort of hold over him as a parent. So James was the one to speak. "I'll leave you to what you were doing, then."

Wandering back to where Jessie and Meowth had been, James felt shaken up somewhat. The last time he'd seen the kid, Jonathan had been enthusiastic about being visited. Though of course, that was several years ago by now. Much had probably gone on in his son's life since then, even in addition to the severe incident James had remotely been witness to. Though surprised, James wasn't about to be offended. Jonathan was free to not want anything to do with James, hating him or anything else.

Meowth glared at him with an annoyed expression, still standing with Jessie in the spot he'd left them. "Come on, James! You're slowing us down!" it said.

"You didn't go on without me?" James said.

"What if our target left, we supposed to wait for you then? Stop wasting time!" Meowth turned back to the hotel, starting on its way. "Let's go!" it ordered. "I'll check if the target's still around when we get there."

As Meowth went in, dashing toward the stairs seeming unnoticed, Jessie and James stayed in the lobby. They meandered around to avoid attention, Jessie looking at her watch to help build the illusion they were waiting for someone, and of course, they were. "So, what did you have to go and do so quickly?" Jessie asked.

"I saw my son," James said, supposing that was enough explanation.

"Were you not able to catch up to him?" Jessie asked.

"I did, but he didn't want to speak to me," James explained.

"Hmph. Wonder why," Jessie said before glancing at her watch again. They paced back and forth from the direction Meowth had disappeared again before she spoke again. "Why didn't you ever tell me about how you had a kid?" Jessie furrowed her brow as she asked the question. "Other people knew and not me. Mondo and Wendy said they did, anyway. And Meowth, too!"

"I told you... On several occasions, and also when we met up with him," James said.

"I guess you really told me then," Jessie said, still seeming annoyed. "And maybe before. It seemed like a bad joke every time you said something. You could have been a lot clearer. You didn't talk about it too much, period. You didn't even say anything when I joined. He was born not that long before then, right? You'd think that would be a major event in your life you'd want to share right away."

"I'm not really involved," James explained, his gaze focused on the ground. "His mother is the one that takes care of him."

"I don't recall seeing any mother in that facility we went to," Jessie said hotly. "Not unless you count the pokemon. Is that who you meant?"

"No," James said quietly, looking down before he glanced back up at where Meowth had gone. "Maybe that's something he can be thankful for as well. He doesn't have the burden of family weighing him down."

"You really think that's true?" Jessie asked. She stayed quiet a moment, seeming done with the topic, but then spoke up again. "You think he does better with an absent father?" She shrugged as James didn't respond. "Well, whatever. It seems shitty, but I don't know anything about the situation."

James nodded, trying to remain on alert with her for the next part of their mission. Even so, he remained distracted, recalling Jessie's words along with his son's earlier reaction. Of course, there had been no mother around this specific day either. James didn't really know much about the situation himself.

They were finally at the prestigious convention, and all Seymour's roommate wanted to do was stare at the television screen. Why was he doing so now, as if he didn't have enough time to do this much at home? "Akihabara!" Seymour interrupted the other man as he put down the remote.

"Sh, time to be quiet," Akihabara said, sitting down at the foot of the bed and pushing up his glasses as he leaned forward. "The show is about to begin." Next to him, Porygon called out mechanically in agreement.

"The show on TV? What about the show in the convention center!" Seymour protested.

"This show is only once a week!" Akihabara shot back.

"The convention is only once a year! And didn't you set your VCR to record it?" Seymour pointed out.

"I did, but there's nothing like watching it live. I'll just miss some of the convention. Maybe nothing important. Sh!" Akihabara held up his hand as the energetic tune of the costumed hero show began. Porygon floated up, calling out with glee while Akihabara began singing along with the opening theme, then laughed as his pokemon moved around to the beat.

Seymour put on his lab coat, leaving their shared hotel room in disgust. Akihabara's time was his own. The man should be allowed his own interests outside pokemon science. But even so, how could he act like a weekly program was more important than what was going on there today? And on top of that, Akihabara had been invited to speak on his created pokemon, but no one had invited Seymour himself to share anything at all. Instead, he'd gotten stares and whispers when they'd checked in the previous day. Laymen thinking Seymour was strange was one thing, but even people in the field weren't interested in his progress or helping him along at all.

In the dim hall of the hotel, Seymour paused, sure he'd seen a creature near the ground moving toward the stairs. Was there a dog or cat? A stray pokemon was also a possibility. Either way, it was gone. Seymour continued on his own way, looking from side to side as he went down the stairs, looking to see if the creature he thought he'd seen was nearby. He didn't see on the staircase, and in the well-lit, busy lobby, that seemed an impossibility. It was probably nothing, or a trick of the light. Seymour greeted the staff before going out, just to be greeted by a pokemon and two humans.

"Professor Seymour!" the man said, wringing his hands.

"You looks familiar," Seymour said. "Did we meet last year?"

"Perhaps," the man said, glancing up.

"No, no," the woman protested. "We would have remembered meeting up with this fine professor."

"Sir, ma'am, I'm afraid I don't have that title yet," Seymour said, furrowing his brow as he tried to study their faces better.

"How could you two get such an important detail wrong?!"

Seymour looked to the ground, jumping as he recognized the talking pokemon on the ground. Looking back up at the humans, he smiled widely as he remembered them. "You're all from Team Rocket, of course! I remember you from that magical night with all of the clefairy."

"It is that guy," the woman muttered to the man next to her.

"He has that look, doesn't he," the man mumbled back.

Seymour knelt on the ground, getting as close as he could to eye level with the meowth. "How could I forget the meowth that spoke? Pokemon linguists wouldn't believe me when I told them you definitely exist, but here you are now. Would you like to come meet them? There must be at least one here today. I'm sure they'll be surprised!"

"Uh, maybe not," Meowth said.

"We're here to see you!" the woman spoke more boisterously now.

"Me? Are you also in the field of pokemon science? I've heard Team Rocket has a few scientists that work with them, though I haven't met them. Unless it's you!" Seymour said. "You aren't as open about your research, are you? I wonder what you've been studying. Are you doing interesting experiments?"

"We're just field agents," the man informed.

"James, he doesn't need to know that," the woman hissed back.

"You're not scientists? But..." Seymour pointed to their lab jackets.

"Well, when in Rome," the woman said, tossing her ponytail back.

"Hearing about your work, the field seems interesting. Perhaps it's worth looking into. What do you think, Jessie?" the man turned to the woman with him.

"You're interested in my work?" Seymour said. His fellow scientists dismissed him, so even if not his peers, someone being interested was most welcome.

"You had some interesting ideas based on your work with fossil pokemon," Jessie said.

Seymour could have gasped, feeling elation in that moment. She did know something about his latest research! "Yes, yes! What do you think about it all?"

"It's fascinating that something so ancient is so powerful."

Seymour's face fell at her seemingly uninformed response. Even so, this was worthy of discussion. "Well, the pokemon could be ancient, but that's not necessarily true. Because someone found them fossilized, that's what was assumed. But pokemon have been found to have unique abilities from Earthly creatures, so why couldn't imitating fossilization in an accelerated fashion the same way they imitate traditional evolution be another one of those unique abilities? It's already been proven that the pokemon of the same species as these fossilized ones that we see today revived from fossils! I suggest that these pokemon have these abilities and joined us here on Earth at the same time as other pokemon about a century ago. Of course, I suppose it's also possible they have these abilities and went into a fossilized state during a different group of alien pokemon's visit to Earth."

The group had just been listening quietly, occasionally nodding as Seymour spoke, but then the man spoke up. "Pokemon are from Earth, though," James said.

Before Seymour himself could respond, the meowth stomped its teammate's foot, causing the ignorant man to shout out. "You two really thought you could wing it today, didn't you? This guy's bringing forth the bold idea that pokemon arrived from space when we all first appeared!" the pokemon informed.

"Was it a long trip from your home planet?" Jessie asked.

"He doesn't mean all of us just beamed down yesterday! I was born on Earth, but my ancestors are from space. That's all he's saying," the meowth explained Seymour's basic hypothesis well.

"Oh.." The previously skeptical man's eyes widened. "That is an interesting idea." Both the humans and the talking pokemon seemed even more engaged with speaking to him then.

"Wish I could help you, but I don't remember being anywhere but Earth, and never talked to any pokemon that talked about going up in space," the meowth explained.

"Your interest and consideration are enough," Seymour said. He wouldn't have expected the meowth to remember anything anyway. Research on pokemon lifespans was being conducted, and though the otherworldly creatures had amazing longevity per the preliminary results, they were still mortal, and a century was a long time. "What do pokemon say to each other about their origins? Do you have an origin myth of some kind?"

The meowth sat down, scratching its head with one claw. "Never heard much talk about where we all come from, originally. No myth, nothing else."

"Interesting. Since human societies often have them, I wondered if pokemon did too. I suppose I'm solving the mystery of pokemon origins for the sake of pokemon as well as humans!" Seymour declared.

"Yeah..." The meowth looked up at the two humans that accompanied it before back at Seymour. "That's why we're here, sorta. My boss is really interested in your ideas as well. He wants you to join us."

Join Team Rocket? They did fund scientists, but people Seymour respected, including Blaine, who had returned that professional respect despite Seymour's unpopular ideas, warned it was unwise to associate with them. Seymour himself wasn't sure what he thought about the group. He'd certainly seen the signs they were as illicit as rumored. But recently there had also been talk of them being a helpful organization wrongfully accused of criminality due to some impersonators, which had resulted in an innocent person's death.

"The boss is always very generous to the deserving," the woman said. "And he hasn't looked at any new scientists in quite a while. At least not that I remember. What about you, James?"

"If I recall correctly, all our current scientists there are well-established from before I joined," James said before grinning at Seymour. "So, you must be uniquely qualified in his eyes. I wonder what kind of interesting work he'll want you to do with pokemon."

"We weren't given that information, but I'd be very curious about the offer," Jessie said.

Seymour was becoming more and more curious himself. He wanted to accept right away, knowing someone in power had a genuine interest in his ideas and work as a scientist. It was only what he'd heard before that had him hesitate. Not to mention, the last times he'd met this group, they hadn't been trustworthy. They'd tried to catch the clefairy. Though of course, they may be interested in pokemon that could possibly contact their home planet as scientists. The clefairy didn't have trainers yet either. The next time Seymour had met them, in Akihabara's lab, that had been a little more openly criminal. Akihabara even suspected they'd stolen Zero's pokeball after being unable to find it in all of his mess.

But was that true? Maybe that entire incident had been Seymour's misunderstanding. Akihabara really did seem careless. The creator of porygon didn't even appreciate his distinguished position at the convention that day. And yet, the eccentric professor was more celebrated. Of course, Akihabara also had concrete results. But he had only gotten those results with the support of his sponsorships and colleges. Seymour didn't have that.

Would he in Team Rocket? With someone on top showing interest, that was very possible. Access to a variety of resources that were currently out of reach also seemed a possibility. Who knew what else? Maybe at least going and listening to the offer was a good idea.

Jessie, James, and Meowth all turned to congratulate each other after leading the scientist to their boss's office. "Good job, you two," Meowth said.

"This turned out to be easy enough. I had wondered how we'd convince him if he resisted," Jessie said.

"Now we're one step closer to world domination, aren't we?" James said.

"I wonder how that guy's work is going to help with that," Jessie commented.

"The boss knows best!" Meowth chirped. "That oddball has some interesting ideas, anyway. I've wondered about the origins of the universe, but I never thought about how us pokemon might be from somewhere out in the stars..."

"I always suspected you were an alien," Jessie joked.

"You two are the ones that act like aliens!" Meowth shot back.

James smiled, staring into space. "I might enjoy living on a planet of only pokemon," he said.

"Yeah, I-" Jessie stopped as they were about to go around the corner, Cassidy nearly running into her. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" Jessie shouted.

Cassidy just tossed her head, moving on toward the boss's office without a word. "The boss is really busy, so I wouldn't bother him!" Meowth called after her. Cassidy paused at the boss's door as the rest of them walked off, heading down the stairs.

"She's even ruder than before," Jessie said. "The boss isn't that happy with her either, is he?"

"Nope." Meowth grinned. "He's never in a good mood when she comes by. I saw him yelling at her yesterday. I guess she did some good work before, but she's been flaking out recently. Maybe she won't be here for that much longer!"

"I wouldn't be too sad if she left. Might be nice, actually," Jessie said with a chuckle.

James closed his eyes, slowing his pace. There might be something going on. The idea of trying to find out what incited an unsettling feeling, but he'd already felt unsettled from the encounter earlier in the day. Maybe what was going on with Cassidy had nothing to do with that, anyway. Even so, should he try and find out?

"We've been working a lot lately. I'm headed to a spa before the next mission," Jessie said once they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm gonna go ask Mondo what's been going on around here," Meowth said.

"Want to come?" Jessie turned to James.

James shook his head. "I'll catch up with you both later," he said.

As he split from his teammates, James took off in the direction he'd come. Cassidy was on the phone nearby the boss's office. She shouted something before hanging it up, then sighing with exasperation. Seeing James, she picked herself up, standing up straight and glaring at him. James nodded at her, unable to vocalize a true greeting. "How is Jonathan?" he managed to ask.

"He's perfectly fine. I'm doing everything needed to take care of him," Cassidy replied before turning to the boss's closed office door. It was similar to answers she'd given before, though this time she seemed more curt than usual, perhaps more forceful in asserting her words. Was she just annoyed about James constantly asking her about things? She'd just told him what he wanted to hear, so maybe he should just back off, like he often had before. After all, she seemed to be brushing him off, telling him his involvement wasn't necessary.

But that very well may not be true. Believing nothing but his desired response had been selfish. He didn't know anything, really. Maybe Cassidy wasn't actually annoyed with him, but frustrated and desperate about whatever was going on. James felt a pain in his chest, but ignored it as much as he could as he decided to push more. "I saw him today," James informed.

Cassidy turned, giving her full attention. "When, where?" she asked. James explained the circumstances, and Cassidy nodded. "He's been found since then," she informed.

The statement only brought to mind further questions. "Can you tell me what's going on?" he asked. Cassidy hesitated, folding her arms and closing her eyes. "Please," James added, doing his best to control his upset that something was really wrong. He tried to show a genuine interest without seeming judgmental. James truly wanted to hear everything, entirely, even if it revealed something he didn't want to be true.

Cassidy took a deep breath. She looked back toward the boss's still closed office door before back at James. Though still seeming hesitant, she did talk to him, explaining what had happened since the events in Viridian Gym. It didn't seem to be the complete story, and once the boss's door opened, she stopped, saying she had to report to him right away.

Even so, the incomplete explanation was enough for James to get the picture. Things weren't fine at all. His son wasn't being taken care of.

Early the next morning, Jessie, James, and Meowth got up and made their way to the boss's office to report from when they'd left him with the scientist the previous day. Said scientist soon passed them in the hall, going in the door first. "I finished it! It's all completed!" he announced to the boss as the agents that had recruited him walked in behind him.

"Oh? Already? I know there was a reason I sought you out," Giovanni said with a satisfied smile. "Will you show me?" he said, standing up. Persian yowled behind him, following the rocket boss to the door.

"Of course! Of course! The machine has already run once successfully, I wanted to show you the second attempt," Seymour said.

Meowth scowled at Persian before looking up at Giovanni. "You want us to stop by later, boss?" it asked.

"Yes, but in the meantime, you can all come watch," the boss invited.

They all followed Seymour to what was apparently his new office, complete with name tag on the door after less than a day. "He's a slave driver," a grunt greeted them from inside.

"You have a complaint about your assignment?" Giovanni asked, glowering at the lab assistant.

"No, boss!" the man shouted.

"Good," Giovanni said. "After all, his work may benefit all of us, even those starting out like you."

Everyone present stared curiously as Seymour danced around the machine, going to the rough looking operating area. James then shouted, gripping tightly to Jessie's arm as he noted something large and slimy crawling on the floor. "Oh, that's where it went," Seymour realized. "Our first success!"

"Excellent," Giovanni praised.

"Oh, it's just a pokemon," James realized, relaxing as he and Jessie leaned down to observe the shelled, blue bodied pokemon better. It waved a small tentacle their way.

"An omanyte, right?" Jessie said.

"That is what it is! I've never seen one," James exclaimed, grinning in delight.

"It's very rare, since it revives from a fossilized state," Seymour said. "Perhaps they developed this trait in order to better travel through space. Well, I'll give my demonstration!" Seymour dropped a rock onto his machine, then pressed some buttons. Slowly, features began to emerge, before the rock changed color, and then moved.

James shouted out happily before exclaiming, "A kabuto! I've never seen one of those in person either."

"That's correct," Seymour informed, giving an exaggerated nod. "This machine greatly accelerates the process of the revival of these fossilized pokemon!"

"Amazing," Giovanni praised. "To think you completed it overnight."

Seymour looked away shyly. "I built on the ideas of others, and I've designed it long ago. It's the work of many years. I just happened to have all the resources I needed working with you. With some adjustment from my original design, as you can see, it works!"

"No one can deny this success," the rocket boss declared. "And I take it you accept my job offer?"

"Of course!" Seymour said. "I'm going to observe these pokemon for a while, and we'll revive more. We need to be sure there's no side effects."

"Keep at it. I'll continue to expect great things from you," Giovanni said.

Meowth watched as the rocket boss exited the room, then went into another part of the laboratory area. It frowned. "I guess the boss'll be busy for a while."

"Yes, let's check up with him later," James said. "Look at all of these!" He pointed at the pile of fossils as Mondo brought them in a wheelbarrow.

"There's more where that came from," the younger rocket said with a grin, piling them up before he left.

"This should solve our pokemon supply issues," James said.

"Yeah. Good for us. Let's stay. It's fun to watch these pokemon babies being born," Jessie said, looking closely at the machine as the kabuto moved more and more, certainly no longer a mere rock.

"Reborn," Seymour corrected. "Of course, they were alive before... Well, maybe not reborn at all. This could be just part of how they live. That will be an interesting discussion for later!"

"I see," Jessie said, looking from the rocks to the newly forming pokemon and back again. "How are pokemon born anyway?" she mused. Even in pokemon nursing school, there hadn't been any open explanation.

"I have a hypothesis about that!" Seymour said, leaning over toward the agents that had recruited him. "They reproduce asexually. At some point in the pokemon's life, it just splits into other pokemon. That's why different species always look so similar, nearly identical even, and we never see baby pokemon. It always splits into the same as it was before, fully formed."

"How can that be true? Pokemon are a little more complicated than an amoeba!" Jessie exclaimed.

"They're different from animals," Seymour pointed out. The kabuto suddenly hopped up from its spot on the platform, fully defossilized. "See? Welcome back, Kabuto. Nice to meet you." Seymour patted the pokemon before looking back at Jessie. "Until someone finds evidence of something else, that's what I'll go with."

"We saw that one pokemon with a baby," Jessie protested.

"Right, kangaskhan," James said with a nod.

Seymour put another rock on the platform, starting the machine up again before he spoke. "Kangaskhan always have 'babies', and the ones that have been observed never grow up. I propose that the 'baby' is just another feature of the specific pokemon species, and not a baby as we would understand at all."

"Huh. It might be right. But I still don't think pokemon split in half," Jessie said.

"We can just ask Meowth," James said.

"Yeah, you're not about to explode into two meowth and leave us, are you?" Jessie said.

"No way!" Meowth said with a grin.

"Then where do pokemon babies come from?" James asked.

"I dunno," Meowth said with a shrug. "Where do human babies come from?"

Jessie groaned, turning away. She watched the newly placed fossil starting to turn blue in places. "As if we have time for a stupid question like that."

"Jessie, if we're curious about pokemon, Meowth must be as curious about humans. It's not fair to ask without being willing to give our own response," James said.

"Yeah! James is the one with a kid, anyway. Where did he come from?" Meowth asked.

"You're acting like Meowth doesn't even-" Jessie began.

"His mother gestated him," James explained. "That means he started out incredibly small, and slowly developed inside her over several months before she gave birth to him. Right before then, her body was extended and distorted." James motioned his hands over his abdomen to imitate the shape. "It was quite disturbing!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you were really disturbed!" Jessie groused, annoyed at how he'd described what he hadn't even been through personally.

"Oh yeah. I've seen that before," Meowth said. "But what about you, James?"

"What do you mean?" James said. "My mother gestated me as well, of course."

"No, no," Meowth waved a paw. "Why is it your kid? What did you do?"

Jessie had to laugh as James's face flushed. "Good question. Why don't you tell him exactly what happens before any 'gestating'?" she suggested.

"I-I..." James suddenly fidgeted, turning away. "I don't want to say..." he eventually said.

"Come on, Meowth is curious like we're curious, right?" Jessie teased. "So you should tell it! Explain every detail properly. Listen up, Meowth..." Jessie leaned down.

"Stop! I don't want to talk about that," James shouted.

Meowth suddenly grinned. "Just kidding, Jimmy. I know all about that. As if this meowth could exist in a world of humans and not. Other guys I've hung around won't shut up about it! I just didn't think too much about the gestating part, maybe."

As James suddenly relaxed, though still seeming uncomfortable, Jessie spoke up. "Now you know about us. So tell us where the baby pokemon come from."

Meowth observed the omanyte as it moved closer. "Dunno," it eventually said.

"You don't know?!" Jessie demanded. "How do you not know something that basic?"

"Other than kangaskhan, I don't remember seeing any baby pokemon ever." Meowth furrowed its brow. "And we don't have parents. I don't think pokemon 'gestate' anything either. We just appear one day, I guess."

"Are you suggesting something similar to spontaneous generation?" Seymour asked, eyes wide with excitement. "How fascinating if that ended up being true for pokemon! Who knows, maybe being the type of alien life forms you are, it may be true! Those who seek out specific pokemon that congregate in specific areas report seeing a light similar to the glow of evolution before pokemon that hadn't been there before suddenly are. That must be it!"

Meowth turned away, appearing bored of the topic as it peered toward the door the boss had gone in.

"It's a possibility, but even this pokemon doesn't know. I still think they reproduce asexually," Seymour said.

"You'd think we'd notice if they did something as dramatic as split in two," Jessie said.

"They might be vulnerable during the process, so they make sure they're alone first. And who says into two, it could be three or more," Seymour suggested.

Meowth took a step toward the door. "I'm outta here," it said, seeming not even noticed as it left in the midst of Jessie berating Seymour about what a ridiculous idea he had. Reaching the door where the boss was, it hopped up, trying to see in the small window up high.

"He looks occupied," James commented after peeking inside the room himself.

"We could go wait by his office," Meowth suggested.

"If that's what you want," James said. He followed Meowth down the stairs before going back up to where the boss's office was. Meowth sighed, splaying itself out on the desk. James sat next to his friend, silently sitting before finally speaking up. "You're lucky," he finally said.

"Me? There's no luck in my success. All skill!" Meowth said with a grin as it sat up.

"I mean, not having to worry about children. Or parents, for that matter," James said.

"I dunno..." Meowth scratched its head. "Having a mini-me might be fun. And maybe I wouldn't have been so lonely with a papa meowth and mama meowth!"

"Well, that's true," James admitted.

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself or nothing," Meowth began, still keeping its cheerful disposition. "Pokemon can still find a thing like family with other pokemon, and especially humans. You and Jess and your pokemon, and all of Team Rocket really, you're all my family."

James smiled. "Thank you, Meowth. Perhaps I do think of everyone here, and my own pokemon as being a sort of family."

"Because we are!" Meowth declared enthusiastically. "Pokemon are kind of like kids to trainers too, huh?"

James's smile fell. "Well, no," he said.

"Why not?"

"Don't mistake that I do value my pokemon," James assured. "But training pokemon is absolutely nothing like having children. Trainers do various things for their pokemon, but pokemon provide just as much from the start to their trainers, if not more. Having pokemon is freeing. With children... Well, some children care for parents later on in return, but that's not any guarantee, nor is it anything in the present. Children can tether us down, and require so much, right from the start."

"Yours is doing okay for himself, right?" Meowth asked, a worried frown on his face.

James's mouth fell agape. He swallowed, putting his hand into his face, his voice cracking as he spoke up again. "He's not! There's something wrong with him!"

"Huh?" Meowth stood up, dashing across the desk to James. "What is it? What happened? Why didn't you say it before?"

James clenched his fists, looking up and composing himself with a slow sigh. "It's nothing new," he said. "Maybe it's my fault, from what happened in Viridian Gym."

"That ain't your fault!" Meowth declared. "It was all because of that dumb kid!"

James nodded, biting his lip before he spoke again. "What that brat did is his fault, but what I did is mine. Everything I said - that must be why my son hates me now."

Meowth waved its paw dismissively. "Anyone could see through your lies."

"You think I was lying?" James said.

"Obviously!" Meowth said. "Even Pikachu's dumb trainer knew."

"Well, I wasn't," James said, looking away. "I mean - of course I pretended not to recognize him. I knew it was him in danger all at once! And I didn't want him to be harmed at all." James paused before he forced himself to continue. "But plenty else was true, and Jonathan would know it himself. I abandoned him. I never did anything for him. I never wanted a child, so I more or less acted like I didn't have one."

Meowth stared back at James silently after the confession.

"I know it's awful," James admitted.

"But it ain't true, Jimmy. You really care about your little guy, right?"

"I..." James paused, frowning. "Well, of course I want him to be well, but is just passively wanting that really 'caring'? How can I say I 'care', when I've never acted as if I did."

"Hey, not that I'm holding anything against you... And the boss might have forgiven you real quick too, but just saying, you did kinda sell us out for him," Meowth pointed out.

"That's the bare minimum," James said firmly. "I should have just told that brat sooner. The moment I saw them! Even if Cassidy and her partner happened to be on the other side of the building, time was of the essence."

"Stop thinking like that! It's all hindsight! Who the heck knew what was going on then, and what was the best thing to do!" Meowth insisted, hopping on the desk to emphasize the point.

"Perhaps. But that's not all. Before that day, I should have done more... I should have done so much, but I didn't. I just told myself he didn't need me, but never looked close enough to see if that was true. I only looked for what I wanted to see. Now he's suffering without enough care." James paused, clenching his jaw. "I can't leave him like that. I'll have to be the one to take care of him. And... I can't stay here - stay and perform my duties with Team Rocket at the same time."

"Wait... You're leaving?" Meowth stepped back, feeling a sense of emptiness at the thought of its close colleague of several years being gone.

James nodded, seeming anything but happy about his conclusion. He sobbed, swallowing back tears. "There's no one else," he said. "I thought his mother was taking care of him, but she's not. But I can't blame Cassidy, at least not for my own inaction... I've been purposefully turning my head when I shouldn't. But now that I'm staring forward I can't deny what I should do."

"What about..." Meowth began, then stopped. How could it say anything that was more important, that James absolutely had to be there for?

"I'll tell Jessie... And of course, the boss," James said. "I don't want to leave for good. He's eight now. When he's ten he should be more self sufficient. So perhaps just a few years. I want to still be a part of everything when we reach our goals."

"Guess you've gotta do what you've gotta do," Meowth said, looking down. It perked up as it saw the rocket boss approaching.

"Let me talk to him first," James said. "I don't want to lose my nerve."

"Go ahead, Jimmy. You take care of that mini-me, then come back and take over the world with us!"

James nodded before approaching the boss. Giovanni agreed to speak with him, and they went into the office and shut the door. Sitting outside, Meowth wondered if it would really ever see its friend again after he left.

James explained the situation and his decided future actions to the rocket boss. The older man didn't appear surprised or ask any questions. Well, he had to know about Jonathan from the other parent. Though she wasn't adequate, she had spent much more time with the boy than James himself. Once James had finished his boss nodded. "You can't really dedicate yourself to your current tasks adequately with this, can you?" the boss said. "I'll accept a leave of absence. Pour all your energy into this. Finish the task properly before you return. And make no mistake that I will expect to see you again."

"Of course, sir," James agreed. "This is not a resignation. I'm still dedicated to Team Rocket!"

That the boss had been so understanding was a relief, but now James had to be dedicated to following through. For the next few days, he made the proper plans, talked to who he needed to, traveled and made various arrangements. He also told Jessie, and she seemed to have no reaction at all, only shrugging in response to the news. He'd let her down as well of course. That seemed to be a pattern with most people in his life.

When it came time to leave, Meowth said good-bye along the way. James supposed Jessie was avoiding him, that was, until he saw her in front of the base as he was about to leave, arms folded as she leaned against the wall. Though she seemed to be pretending to nap, she glanced over at the door as James walked out.

"Jessie!" James exclaimed as he saw her. He ran over and hugged her.

"Hey, aren't you leaving already?" Jessie said. "It's not like I'm out here waiting for you or anything." As James still hugged her, she forcefully sighed. "Okay, I was waiting for you," she admitted.

"I'm so sorry I've let you down," James said with a frown as he loosened his hug.

"Don't apologize," Jessie said firmly. "Don't think I don't get that what you're doing is absolutely necessary... Besides, I know I've relied on you a lot these past years, but I can still handle myself alone." Jessie shook him off completely, still looking away.

"I'll be back for certain, and then I still want to be with you," James said.

"Don't make promises like that," Jessie said.

James walked in front of Jessie, grabbing her by the shoulders as he looked into her eyes. "I mean it," he declared. As the woman stared back at him, he nodded, smiling happily. "If there's anyone I want to spend the rest of my life with, it's you."

Jessie chuckled at his directness. "Careful James, I might start to believe you when you talk like that."

"You should," James said.

"No, James," Jessie asserted. "That's a big promise, and you know you might not be able to keep it. So just stop."

James paused thoughtfully. "Alright," he eventually agreed. "But is it acceptable if I say I truly do hope to one day reunite with the amazing woman I've grown to love?"

"Yes," Jessie said, her voice breaking. She swallowed and maintained her composure, grinning at her partner. "Maybe I don't want this to be a permanent farewell either. But we both need to travel our own destined path." Jessie stepped back, extending her arms, imitating one of the dramatic poses they enjoyed doing together, now completed on her own. "Our ambitions will take us where we need to be. We'll move without being bothered by any limits. We'll keep traveling through the wind, the land, and even the sky, nothing holding up back... And then, it's certainly a possibility that we'll find our paths reunited again one day, all the stronger for having diverged." Jessie clasped her hands together before meeting James's eyes. "Until then, we should be steadfast with where we're going without regrets."

James smiled widely. "Of course! Will you dedicate yourself to Team Rocket in my place?"

"I'm already dedicated, but I'll make it double, for both of us," Jessie agreed.

They didn't exactly say good-bye, just grinned at each other. James eventually turned, hoisted his bag back on his shoulder, and walked away. He heard the door to the base opening and closing behind him, Jessie surely continuing with her own responsibilities with no hesitations.

Having secured a place to stay, the next step was to pick up his son. James had called in advance, but upon arriving, the adults at his foster home informed Jonathan had run away again after school. He always ran away, various kids that were actually there informed. Sometimes Jonathan would even come back late. They'd stopped letting him inside, and just let him cry outside the door to learn not to run away. But apparently he hadn't, since he was missing again.

James didn't waste time questioning the careless bunch too much or dwelling on the implications of what they said. He just went to the boy's school to check before going back nearby the convention center. When James had run away himself as a child, sometimes he'd just paced around crowded, faceless places like this in hopes no one would notice him. This kid may have done the same, coming back to the familiar place James had met him before. Sure enough, Jonathan was found before too long. As they met up, neither spoke. Jonathan glared at James before turning away, though not running.

"Jonathan, come with me," James eventually said. "I'm going to have you live with me for now."

Jonathan looked back, his lip trembling as his eyes filled with tears. "You don't want me," he said. "You didn't even want me to be born." James couldn't exactly deny that biting accusation, especially considering everything up until that point. After a silence, Jonathan shouted, swinging down his fists, his body tense before he began trembling. "I don't want to go with you! You want me dead!" he yelled.

Of course, the kid remembered the harsh words his father had spoken during that dangerous situation. James hadn't yet done anything to show he didn't actually want that, so there was no point in insisting it wasn't true. "You don't want to go with me?" James said, concentrating on the former statement instead. "I'd never force you to. But I've heard you have objections to your current situation as well. Do you think you can live on your own out here? Perhaps you're right. I won't tell you that you can't do anything you want to try for yourself." As James spoke, his son's eyes widened, maybe realizing he couldn't take care of himself, being so young. "It might be difficult," James goaded. "But feel free to reject my help and try it for yourself. You're almost ten, aren't you? I'd advise you to be careful. The world isn't always kind, even to children. Go ahead and see how it is if you'd like. But if you think you need some help, I'm here to offer it now."

Jonathan stared at him silently, apparently no other conversation to offer. James finally spoke. "Come with me or stay here, I'll let you decide." After pausing just a moment, James turned around, taking a few slow steps away.

Had he wasted his time coming here? No, even with how he wanted to let his son make his own decisions and decide on his own life, James knew Jonathan would be better off, maybe best off just coming along. Would he have to drag the kid 'home' with him protesting the entire time? Would James have to continually search for a repeated runaway that didn't want to be there? That sounded terrible. James slowed even further, not knowing what the next step might be to redirect his wayward son.

But before long, James heard the footsteps behind him. He thought about looking around to check, but then he started to hear the sobs. James kept walking, knowing his son was following without even a glance by the sound of the loud cries behind him. They continued, occasionally stopping before the boy belted out again, seeming to cry even louder each time he restarted, the noise being this kid's expression of the absolute pain for the choice he had to make. Who wouldn't feel some sympathy for the boy whose best option was to go with his neglectful father? James made the effort to bear the loud crying without comment.

Jessie was right, no one really wanted their help.

Sometimes they just needed it.

Next chapter: Jessie vs. Cassidy