Hello :P It is Wednesday and I am back with a new chapter. This story is about something I don't write about too much but is pretty developed in my mind! It's the lives of Jessie, James and Meowth too when they're in their Team Rocket training days. I reckon this probably takes place within the proximity of the special Pokemon episode "Training Daze" and features some of my personal headcanons. I hope you enjoy a story about some canon characters rather than my own :3

Ages:

Giovanni:

James: 16

Jessie: 17

Butch: 19

Cassidy: 19

Disclaimer: I own the story and the OCs mentioned!

As I wandered the halls of the Morgan household and looked at the photographs decorating all around me, I smiled to myself. And as I smiled to myself and focused on one of them in particular, I started to be transported in my own mind. I made up a bit of a scenario for myself. But I couldn't help but think that it might have been true!

A younger version of the lavender haired male sat in front of a dark and looming figure. He was facing backwards in his chair. His head was held high. He was booming. But for once and contrary to earlier memories and tales of the domineering man, he was actually saying words that were rather complimentary. He slowly spun around on his chair, stroking his Persian.

"Well I must say, Agent Morgan, that I am pleased with the progress that you have that you have made." The Team Rocket boss began and naturally, the lavender haired young man sat straighter up and clenched his jaw a little more at being directly addressed – and being looked at too. Giovanni continued, speaking past his Persian's contented yowls. "When I took you on, I knew that you had the image that was needed for this organisation – you could encourage other young agents to join."

There was a pause. It was not an ominous pause but it was a telling one nonetheless. And from thinking, I could tell that the younger version of James knew there was a catch. He knew that Giovanni was going to continue and say something a bit more to his true opinions. He was right. Giovanni smirked slightly. Persian did as well.

"However, you did strike me as a bit of a cry baby. But I was determined to give you a chance. What this organisation needed were younger agents – youthfulness. Innocence too. But with the drive to complete the true heart of our motive."

That time, James paused. He had been looking down at his lap for some of the older male's words but his eyes had been darting between his legs and Giovanni. He didn't dare look down completely. He knew to be attentive when he was spoken to.

The lavender haired male listened to his words. I too made a note of the fact that they made my own skin crawl. They were complimentary. But complimentary in a threatening way. Some of them were nice. Some of them clearly weren't! That was what he was like. That was what the boss of Team Rocket was like. He was a man of dual personalities. He could get what he wanted. And he very much knew that.

The younger male inhaled quietly after observing and listening to the authoritative man's words. However, he knew that he had to hurry it up slightly and respond when Giovanni stopped smirking. While Persian continued smirking at the ongoing affection it was getting from its trainer, James looked up at his boss for good and he spoke. He spoke quietly and respectively. But adamantly too.

"Well… When I want something and believe that I can add something to it, I can be quite ambitious." The young man in his new Team Rocket uniform replied and I didn't know if he knew it, but from thinking back, I recognised that these words certainly would have appealed to Giovanni. He was speaking of a passion and a drive that he too had. But of course, James' was much different. It was much softer and genuine as well.

But Giovanni's smirk returned. He stopped patting his Persian and put both of his hands on his desk. Needless to say, the cat Pokémon was displeased. Giovanni wasn't. He nodded.

"Yes, I knew that drive was deep inside as well. You just need a bit of pressure to get it out of you." The big, brown haired male complimented once again but his words most certainly couldn't be treasured. Even so, James nodded his head. He listened. He listened even more to what Giovanni went on to say. His palms flattened on his desk. "What I am most pleased with is how you've seemed to mellow out that partner of yours. She was brash; she was arrogant. She is still these things but she is turning into a much more competent agent. So well done. Many have failed at reining her in."

And upon hearing this, James couldn't hide his frown. I was easily noting how being passive aggressively insulted himself was not a problem but as soon as someone else was mentioned, his entire demeanour changed. While Giovanni looked back at him, the lavender haired male managed to disguise his expression somewhat. But his words naturally defended his new partner.

"She cannot be reined in. She cannot be tamed. She cannot be changed." James began and he didn't dare say aloud the name of his magenta haired partner. It was almost as if he didn't think that Giovanni's ears were worthy of it if he wanted to change her so. Persian stopped smirking. Oddly, the much bigger man resumed doing so. The young man cleared his throat. "I would have thought that was an asset to you. She does her own thing. No doubt your great organisation of Team Rocket thrives on such a quality."

"Ah!" Giovanni boomed in such a loud way and he stopped sitting in his chair. He stood up, his palms still planted flat on his desk. Because he leaned forward slightly, James instinctively moved back. He subtly swallowed. He was beginning to wonder if he was going to learn why you didn't retort like that to the boss. But admirably, he remained looking right back at him. Giovanni lifted a finger to wave at him. "That is exactly why pairing you two together was my last resort. Not only have you moulded her into a much more loyal agent, but she has helped you use that voice of yours. I knew my genius was not to be underestimated."

Once again, James paused. Secretly, he winced at how uneasy the dual nature of the older male made him feel. But he couldn't help but feel as though he was somewhat right, even if he had gone about it in a strange way. He did feel stronger than he had done when he first walked through the doors of HQ. He had only been partnered with Jessie for less than a couple of weeks but he certainly felt an affinity towards her – far more than anyone else in that organisation.

Giovanni was known to be a domineering and possessive and calculating man. And in addition to this, he was observant. He could see James thinking to himself and this caused him to chuckle and stand straighter up, withdrawing his finger from him. Needless to say, it was not a laugh that would put you at ease.

"You cannot deny what is plain to see. Either way, Agent Morgan, that shall conclude our meeting for today." The boss of Team Rocket announced and straight away, you could see James' limbs preparing to get him out of that chair and that office. He was ignoring the compliments but keenly listening for that time to be over! Giovanni went back to stroking Persian when it hopped onto his desk for affection. He gestured with his other hand. "You're doing good work. Keep up what you're doing, even if you're not trying to do it at all."

"I'm trying to be what this organisation needs me to be." James absentmindedly responded as he stood up and reached for the bag that he had brought into his bosses office with him. Though of course, that wasn't what Giovanni meant and they both knew it.

Either way, the young man moved away from the desk and looked over at the much larger man. He didn't thank him for his time and his compliments with words. In fact, he didn't thank him for those things with gestures either but Giovanni took it as such when he tapped the new 'R" on his chest before bowing.

Giovanni just nodded his head in response. A few more seconds as James turned on his heel to go and carried his bag with him, the boss of Team Rocket stroked his loyal Pokémon's head. And this put one more thing in his mind. Though his eyes glinted, he stopped smirking as he spoke just once more. He addressed James before he left the room completely.

"Oh, and tell that odd Meowth partner of yours to stop stealing my Persians food. It will not make him evolve into such a beauty. And it will make him my second in command even less!"

And completely contrasting to the boom of the boss's voice, James showed off a polite smirk and offered a quiet "yes boss". Following that, he bowed his head once again and got out of there for good. Giovanni didn't smirk back one bit. He shook his head. He went back to stroking his dear Persian, thinking to himself. He secretly knew that those three partners in question could be magic for the organisation. But only if they stuck to the true darkness of the organisation that they were in.

Understandably, the young version of James let a heavy sigh as he left Giovanni's office for good and while carrying his bag, made his way down in the elevator to the below level of headquarters. And these gave me time to think, even though I had been thinking all along.

It had always been a strange thing to me that that particular member of Team Rocket joined that cause. Their organisation's focus was stealing Pokémon and using them for evil and total control all around. He was such a sensitive and thoughtful young man, even then, and one of the most important things was freedom. James felt like that organisation gave him freedom. But something he hadn't even realised at that point, that establishment was taking freedom from others at times.

He continued to sigh and think to himself as he walked down the large corridors, his little bag then over his shoulder and his fists absentmindedly clenched in his gloves as he walked. He passed many people. He passed lots of people, all heading in different directions. But nobody stopped to speak to him. In fact, nobody smiled at him. He was very much one of the newbies. But he didn't really fit in either way. I wondered if he minded at that point in his life.

James made his way to the laundry room that belonged to his section of the dorm rooms. Ah. It probably wasn't the nicest thing to be heading to do one of your chores when another, younger agent fetched you to inform you that the boss wanted to talk! Other people in his case would have needed to do washing even more so following that situation.

The lavender haired male put his palm flat out on the door and pushed into the room. He tilted his head. It was only a small room but it was filled with everything that you could possibly need to take care of your uniforms. The most important thing to James in that moment was that it was empty. He let out another sigh – that time out of relief – and entered properly. The door swung behind him before shutting. He was alone. And he very much enjoyed that after the intensity of Giovanni.

Quite a boring and mundane thing it was but I found the notion of the lavender haired Team Rocket doing laundry rather interesting. I knew those times to be what he described as the true beginning of his life – the real character building for him.

With another quiet exhalation of breath, he took his laundry bag off his shoulder and set it down on the white tiles below, opening it by the drawstring and peeking inside. He grimaced ever so slightly but I don't think it was at the contents. It was at the label poking out of it. He tugged on it. We both could see that it didn't belong to him. Only one of us knew why. One of us was left to assume. I came to the conclusion that another Team Rocket member was making the 'newbie' do his laundry for him.

With that continued grimace, James stopped looking at the name label. That uncomfortable expression changed to something else. I could read it. If he was still new to the organisation and trying not to get off on the wrong foot with other agents then the last thing he wanted to do was ruin their uniforms.

I observed as the lavender haired male's expression changed to the quiet and thoughtful that I had gotten to know properly after he left the organisation and without hesitation, after tugging his gloves off to be more comfortable, he took off the white long sleeved crop top part of his uniform. We both knew that this was going to be the test subject before he added anything else.

Wearing just his plain black vest that he wore under he and his partner's customised uniforms, he crouched down and opened the washing machine, throwing the other garment into the drum. It was in that moment that he hit a blank. Staying crouching, he almost froze. He scratched his head. He very much was new to all of that and didn't remember what to do at all!

He knew that there were basic instructions residing above the machine but he had found them unhelpful in the past. He needed to rely on memory. The problem was his memory wasn't being friendly to him in that moment. He was stuck. He groaned. James was far too busy trying to rack his own brain to notice that someone had since entered the room.

"Well that is a sight to behold, I must say." The other Team Rocket agent spoke to him teasingly but in a level tone and they managed to refrain from bursting into laughter when James jumped and stood up, hitting his head in one of the drawers in the process. As he rubbed the sore spot and turned around, they continued. She continued. She was smirking. "A lot of people feel like they need to go down on their knees and grovel to Giovanni but that is taking the biscuit."

The magenta haired female laughed to herself, finding her words highly amusing as she referred to the crouching position that she had discovered her partner in. After he mumbled a quiet (and slightly embarrassed) 'Hi Jess', James went back to sighing and trying to figure out the washing. With no attention on her, the slightly older female grew distracted and decided to have a nose in his laundry bag instead.

"You have to do all this? Did the boss really get you that nervous?" she teased in that serious tone of hers once again but she didn't catch on when James simply shook his head. Instead, she reached out and glanced at the label instead. Soon enough, she understood. She rose a bit of an eyebrow. "Oh, I see. Another agent getting you to do their dirty work. Typical."

Once again, James didn't speak much at all. But that time, he stopped crouching entirely and he turned back around to face Jessie. He ran a hand through his hair. And like it often was between those two, she continued talking all over again. In those early days she certainly was the chatty one between all three.

Since the lavender haired male was no longer blocking the drum of the washing machine, she could see that he had only put one garment inside of it. She couldn't stop herself from smirking. After peeking in herself to make sure that she wasn't seeing things, she gave James a light shrug before lifting the laundry bag herself. She yanked it further open.

"You're going to want to put all of this in there, you know? It's all whites so it can be together. At least the guy has separated them for you." Jessie informed him as she didn't refrain from putting the washing in the drum for him. James nodded gratefully. And this made the female urge him to speak. And do something too. She gestured. "Carry on then. I'll only boss you around if necessary."

The lavender haired male couldn't help but genuinely quietly laugh upon hearing these words. But after Jessie smirked and laughed back with him, she took steps backwards and lifted herself up to sit on one of the washing machines behind them both. And it was in this moment that James knew that he had to carry on and do the washing. In front of her. And truthfully, he didn't know what he was doing at all!

But like the James that I had grown to know (and surprisingly love as well) even when he was uncertain, he moved in a way that nobody could really tell. He wordlessly nodded his head and checked that the laundry was in the drum properly. It was. He instinctively reached to pull one of the drawers of the machine out so it matched the one he had bumped his head on. But then he hit another bump. There was nothing else that he needed to check. It was time to begin.

Jessie at started to raise an eyebrow even more at the way that her new partner was dithering. As she crossed her legs over each other and sat on the washing machine, she gestured with both her gloved hands.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked him and at that point, I couldn't help but wonder if the gift of the gab and passion for make believe was something that he had always possessed or the magenta haired female had encouraged out of him. He suddenly smirked, looking over at her as he reached to tie his hair back to occupy his own hands.

"What are you waiting for? Haven't you got your own washing to do?" James retorted airily and it was true that those two had only been partners along with Meowth for a few weeks. But this had given him enough time to not only study the female's recurring expressions but to understand them as well. When she narrowed her eyes back at him and stubbornly remained quiet, he knew that she was there to keep him company. Silently, he was flattered. But when she narrowed her eyes in a different way, he knew that he had to come clean. "Fine!"

Jessie managed to refrain from a bit of a smile upon hearing the fellow agent's voice getting a little bit higher as he rubbed his own forehead and prepared to admit to her. He glanced down to the machine. He glanced over at another fellow agent's empty laundry bag. Then he looked back at Jessie. Both his hands pressed together. He was ready to admit. And he almost grovelled!

But like how the lavender haired male was becoming an expert at reading all of the magenta haired female's expressions, she was starting to know his as well. She raised both her eyebrows and then she sighed. But after that she jumped down from picking her nails while sitting on the washing machine.

"You've forgotten how to work this thing, haven't you?" she asked him and James didn't hesitate to nod. He was strangely honest for a man in a dishonest job. However, he did keep to himself that really, he hadn't had a handle on working it in the first place. Jessie sighed loudly. "How James? How don't you know how to work this thing?"

I noticed that James stayed quiet. Although her words were full of (I think) airy exasperation, his mind couldn't help but be cast back to the days of his youth and servants. His words that slipped out next only proved this.

"How do you know how to work this thing?" he retorted and in response, Jessie gave him a look. It was a wordless look but a powerful nonetheless. Both new partners remained silently staring at each other for quite a long time. Oddly, however, it was the female to duck her head and look away first. But then she frowned and looked back at James once again, watching him tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

"Because I'm not incompetent." Jessie countered and without hesitation, James' face fell a little bit. But what the magenta haired female didn't know was this wasn't because he was insulted. And it wasn't because he was known for being a 'cry baby' either. As I thought to myself, I knew that I was the only one who knew that it was because he felt bad Giovanni had used that word to describe her so much.

For once, the strong Team Rocket female misread James' expression and let out a loud sigh. That was her way of an apology if she had offended him. And she added more words to her previous ones for this reason as well.

"And you're not incompetent either. But you are bordering on a bit of a pushover. Seriously, don't do this other dudes laundry for him." she shook her head in a bit of irritation but it wasn't towards the lavender haired male. Jessie reached back down to pick the empty laundry bag up and she looked at the label once again. Then she looked over at James. I was the one who nodded. "Butch, huh?"

James then nodded as well. And after recovering from his hurt upon being reminded of Giovanni's attitude towards Jessie, he found his eyes twinkling somewhat. And following that, his mouth couldn't help but smirk. The magenta haired female smirked. She was the third person to nod her head. They both wordlessly had some knowing amusement together. They did know what his real name was. Everyone did. They just liked to wind him up!

The lavender haired male's meadow green orbs fixed on Jessie a little bit longer as her smirked died down. Perhaps they lingered a bit too long as he tucked more hair behind his own ears because she looked away. But I don't think that she minded it. Either way, she cleared her throat and spoke once more. She couldn't help but arch a brow, though.

"I am not going to do your washing for you, you know? If you think that because we're partners then I'm going to baby you and run around after you then you can forget it! If you think that, you've got another thing coming. Okay?"

James didn't nod. His eyes just fixed on Jessie all over again and that time, they had a wave of respect and admiration wash over them. His next words explained that gaze.

"I don't want you to do anything for me. I would just appreciate it if you could remind me what to do." The lavender haired male informed her and I wondered if I was the only one to recognise the way that Jessie blinked. She focused her gaze back on James. She studied him. She had heard earnest and respectful words from men before but their eyes usually gave it away – their eyes made it obvious that they were lying.

This was not the case with the long haired new agent. He was being so very sincere. It almost unnerved Jessie! She didn't know how to proceed. But she knew that she had to. Wordlessly, she just nodded her head and breathed out. And after muttering an 'okay', she shot the slightly younger male a glance to warn him to pay attention. After he smiled at her and stood up straighter, she began to guide her. Jessie reminded James how to do the washing.

I couldn't help but laugh as I thought to myself about this going on. James had told me many a time and he had told his children too that he didn't even know how to work a hoover before meeting their magenta haired mother. I believed him. He had led a luxurious sheltered life. Sometimes he thought it was strange that Jessie hadn't experienced the same. But soon enough, he realised that neither one of them were luckier than the other. Well, that was until they met each other and Meowth too. Then, they were all extremely lucky.

"And that is how you wash your uniform, James." The magenta haired female concluded while shutting the washing machine door for him. So, she had done some of it for him. James nodded his head and listened while she briefly reminded him about which washing liquid went where and why. Then, Jessie stood back. She looked a little bit unimpressed towards him. But she had to make sure. She folded her arms over the 'R' on her chest. "Is there anything else you need educating on?"

James couldn't stop himself from smiling rather genuinely back at her unimpressed gaze. But then his hands slid into the pockets of his white Team Rocket trousers and his eyes swivelled around the room. They briefly lingered on the ironing board hanging on the wall. Jessie caught on. She sighed as she hopped to sit on the washing machine that the lavender haired male was using instead.

"Well… I guess I can teach you how to do that once all of this has dried. You'll have to take it back to your dorm room because we don't have the luxury of driers yet." Jessie informed him while James just nodded. As his head tilted down towards where the female had successfully helped him put his first wash on for him, she couldn't help but fix her eyes on him. Her blue orbs narrowed once more as she played with her hair. "Seriously so you've never done this alone before? Not once? No one in the world has taught you?"

James' focus fluttered back towards her. He simply shook his head, his hands still in his pockets. Jessie breathed out at the same time that the lavender haired male did. Secretly, she was very intrigued by him. He didn't talk much at all about where he had come from before joining Team Rocket. And the way that he just smiled and shook his head whenever he was asked intrigued her even more.

She found herself asking another question and I wondered if it was to encourage him into being a bit more open with him. She twirled the end of her long locks around her finger.

"So how do you know this Butch? He's a bit of a serious one but he's okay though. Evidently bossy if he's making you wash his laundry." Jessie mused and absentmindedly, she handed the male rocketeers white crop top and long sleeve part of his uniform back to him after she had separated it from Butch's stuff earlier.

James wordlessly but gratefully took it from her and answered after covering his black tank top in the rest of his uniform. I wondered if Jessie was disappointed.

"He is serious and I suppose he is okay. He's the one I share my dorm room with. I'm sure I've told you before."

Instinctively, Jessie pulled a face. For a couple of seconds, she swung her legs back and forth as they rested over the washing machine, making sure not to accidentally hit any buttons. While James remained quiet as always, the chattier of the two thought to herself. She then couldn't help but smirk.

"That's funny. I hang around him quite a bit and he did say that he had a new roommate. He said his new roomie was pretty quiet and kept to himself. He said he was a bit of a weirdo too." Jessie laughed to herself while James' eyes just widened. But he didn't seem to be offended; not really. Maybe that was because he sensed what words from Jessie were coming next. She tilted her head slightly at him. She shrugged. She wasn't trying to be complimentary. "No wonder I didn't know it was you. I mean, you seem pretty normal. He's far weirder than you!"

And upon hearing this, after playfully crossing his eyes together to make the slightly older female laugh, he openly laughed to himself as well. His hands slid out of his pockets and he fixed his hair into a tighter bun all over again. Jessie watched. James asked.

"You know Butch pretty well then?" he questioned and once more, the two of them couldn't stop themselves from wordlessly smirking at the fact that they only said his name right when he wasn't around. Poor Butch! But it was apparent that Jessie and James had a secret language from the very beginning.

The magenta haired female answered quietly, showing off an arch of both eyebrows that I hadn't seen before at that age in her life.

"I know his partner much better. Cassidy." Jessie replied but on a rare occasion, James didn't catch on to the edge in her voice. He was too busy listening. The magenta haired female didn't hesitate to elaborate, her hair twirling getting a little more heated. She mistook James' silence for ignorance. "Unfortunately. She's the blonde agent. You would know her. Long blonde hair. Obnoxious laughter. Actually, bit of a b-"

But thankfully, in that moment, the washing machine starting bleeping, censoring Jessie's expletive. Out of pure amusement James let out a 'whoa' and his eyes widened. The magenta haired female had started to grow carried away in annoyance but paired with the comical moment and her new partner's noise; she couldn't help but relax and laugh. James smirked back.

"I'm ready for my next instructions, if you please." He asked her completely jokingly and pretended to bow but because he put the ball in her court and allowed her to have control, Jessie responded well to this. In fact, I believed that she could sense the respect in the middle of his playful disrespect.

And so Jessie helped him bundle the wet washing back into the bag and gave him instructions on how to air it ahead of time. In addition to this, she reminded James that she would help him with an ironing course if she had to. Upon hearing this, James smiled gratefully and even reached to squeeze her hand. And as their then both gloved hands briefly interlocked, the female Team Rocket member couldn't help but say.

"You know, if you're having a hard time with Butch then you could probably get Meowth to live with you guys too. I'm sure he'd appreciate getting out of the Pokémon quarters!" Jessie spoke and James smiled sympathetically at the mention of their other partner being stuck with beings he didn't believe were his equal. She continued, even more serious after seeing his sympathy. "I'll come with you to give Butch his laundry back. Cassidy will probably be with him. And you can hang with us."

And perhaps out of more than anything that Jessie could have possibly said, James' eyes widened upon hearing this. As they stood up together, he didn't know what to say. Jessie, James and Meowth had been partners for a couple of weeks. But they hadn't really socialised together much outside of working together. In addition to being new with each other, other agents commented quite a lot on their trio. They were the only one with a talking Pokémon. And they were the only ones really with a decency that could survive in the outside world too.

Jessie couldn't stop herself from pulling an impatient face and tilting her head at her lavender haired partner as he took ages to respond. But it was airy. And after feeling her friendliness – a friendliness that he had gotten to know and that other people didn't very much acknowledge – he chuckled quietly at his own silence. But then he smiled and nodded his head. That was his way of agreeing to her words.

And with that, Jessie tugged James off and I knew that that was to be the first of one of their out of work adventures together. The lavender haired male was fresh off the feeling of doing good work. Not because of what Giovanni said. Not even because he had helped Butch, even if he was undeserving. But because he was beginning to see more sides of Jessie that no one else knew about. And he knew that was a bit of wealth that no dime from the organisation could compare to.

And true to her words, the magenta haired female went with James to the half of the floor of male dormitories for their age range. Those were the days when they were separate. But needless to say, Jessie made any home her own. She stepped out in front of James and didn't even bother to knock on his own room. She just barged in. And like she knew she believed find, Butch was in there with Cassidy. And not only that but Meowth was waiting for the lavender haired male too. The lavender haired male blinked. Jessie didn't hesitate to make herself even more at home.

"I see we're all here to hang so that's alright then. James is joining us." She announced rather than asked and James followed her into his own dorm a few seconds after his female partner had burst in. Paired with the time that they had spent together, her assertiveness gave him a bit more confidence. He didn't seem shy. He just looked at everyone and shrugged. He took her words for fact as well.

Cassidy's head automatically turned from taking her boots off as she sat on the end of Butch's bed and she gave James a look. She had of course seen him about the headquarters and she had seen him with Jessie too. But this was the first time that she was in close proximity to the younger male. She studied him but wordlessly. Her face didn't give away much at all.

Jessie was the one who was the opposite of being wordless. While Butch hunched over by the window, smoking out of it to avoid complaints from the yellow haired female and the cat Pokémon too, the magenta haired female took the laundry bag off James and threw it in Butch's lap. It caused joy and amusement to three of them when his cigarette dropped down to the grass below.

"Next time do your own laundry, Bill. Don't rely on James to get the stench out of them." She warned him and rather disloyally, Cassidy cackled out loud upon hearing this. Butch just silently grumbled, knowing not to mess with Jessie and annoyed at the fact that he had wasted a cigarette.

James' avoided taking note of the fact that Jessie was wincing at Cassidy's laugh as she came to sit down on the bed with her after reaching for their pack of cards that the yellow haired female had bought along. The lavender haired male also avoided sitting down with Meowth while he ate, though he smiled at him and waved in a friendly way.

As Butch pulled another cigarette out of his packet and tried to stop both of the girls from playfully swatting them out of his hands, James' attention was completely taken over by something else. Cigarettes, drinks and a pack of cards wasn't all that Cassidy had bought to Butch's room from her and Jessie's. She had bought something of Jessie's as well. Something rather treasured. And it immediately caught James' eye.

The meadow orbed male wandered over to the guitar propped up against his bed and seemed to not draw breath. He kept his gloves on to minimise the risk of fingerprints and as he didn't exhale or inhale, his touched reached out to the instrument. He stroked the ebony of the word. His fingers ran up the fret board and then traced over the brand name at the top.

Meowth was too busy eating to notice. Butch was too busy taking a drag of his cigarette. However, both of the girls were watching. But they had very different reactions. Cassidy prepared to stand up, frowning and glancing between Jessie, James and the guitar.

"Don't do that." Cassidy warned and instantly, the lavender haired male knew that warning was for him. He turned around and tilted his head. His touch lingered on the head of the guitar. The yellow haired female frowned all the more. She shook her head. "That belongs to Jessie and it's pretty important to her. You can't play it."

James' fingers prepared to move away from the guitar. Meowth looked up from slurping noodles and finally observed what was happening. But before he could glance between all of the humans and Butch could take note of the happenings as well, Jessie spoke out. And her words surprised me. They surprised Cassidy, of course. But most of all, they surprised James.

Jessie had that warning glance on her own face but it was directed towards the yellow haired female. She didn't need anyone else telling people what to do for her own benefit. She could take care of it herself.

And to deeply contrast that shooting glance to Cassidy, her face completely changed as she looked at James. She had seen the way he had so respectfully and in awe touched the guitar and stopped as soon as he was warned. Though she looked at James, her words were for the other people listening in. She pushed her hair from her eyes.

"He's not playing it. He's admiring it." she told them and she crossed one leg over the other. She took her gloves off. James was listening but he still wasn't touching. He wasn't going to continue without her full permission. So the magenta haired female had rather an unexpected soft smile as she fixed her eyes on James instead. She nodded her head at him, shrugging. "Carry on. It's been silent for a while so probably would enjoy some attention."

And with that, Butch and Meowth went back to their own focuses of interest. Cassidy was a little bit miffed and irritated by looking stupid for her warning but soon enough, she let it go. She took the pack of cards off Jessie and began shuffling them.

But of course the reaction that was most special of all was the one from James. Wordlessly, he tilted his head towards Jessie even more than ever, making sure it really was okay. She just laughed and nodded and went back to annoying Butch but it was wholehearted nonetheless. And James knew it. He finally sat down with Meowth and this time as he sat, he pulled the guitar on his lap. He took his gloves off when he knew it was okay and sat down with the beautiful ebony guitar.

And as everyone went back to their own business – Meowth still eating and the girl's preparing to play cards and Butch finally stopping being antisocial to come and sit with them both – James played. With a permanently fixed smile on his face, he played a tune on the guitar which he had no idea used to belong to Jessie's father.

And that was the beginning of it all. It wasn't the beginning of the romance between Jessie and James; not really. It wasn't the beginning of the love affair with the guitar - that had been brewing for a long time. No, it was the beginning of something oddly better.

I looked around as I saw all of the Team Rocket members together. Contrary to what Butch believed or said - no one of them as weirder than the other. The truth was, none of them fitted in. All of them were misfits. But slowly but surely and stubbornly too they began to become a little bit of a family.

James played the guitar while the rest of them hung out and that was the very beginning. That was the beginning of everything. That was the beginning of his first proper family. And that of course led to having a true one of his own too. And one that I so very enjoy telling you of all of the tales within.

The End.

There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 I think that I wrote something similar to this a while ago but it didn't turn out quite right. I feel a lot better about this one. James lived a sheltered life as a child with servants and stuff and this greatly contrasts the lives of Jessie and Meowth. But as you can see here and from the anime, they become a right little family. The beginning is always quite unique to me because I always wonder why Giovanni accepted James into the organisation when he doesn't really have a dark side at all. And I had the idea it was because his gentler qualities could lure other younger agents in, making the organisation seem less sinister than it is. Jessie, James and Meowth and even Butch and Cassidy are definitely the less ruthless agents. And are very beloved in the anime too! Thanks again for reading and I will be back next Wednesday with another chapter to see you then :3

AmyBieberKetchum signing out!