So. I wasn't expecting this to be a series when I wrote it but I feel like I kinda touched on the impact that the loss of James had on Jessie but not the effect it would have on Olivia and on Maia, growing up without a father so I wanted to do something with that. I would really appreciate your comments and constructive criticism. I'm going to try and update once a week as I have it more or less planned out. Not sure how many chapters there will be, probably between 3 and 5.
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"I HATE you!" She screamed, slamming her bedroom door so hard that even she flinched at it.
She stood there for a few seconds breathing heavily before giving in to the urge to throw something across the room and kicking the bed frame in fury.
Downstairs Olivia dropped into a chair and tried not to break down in tears. Her daughter had certainly inherited her temper and sense of injustice. Part of her knew she was being unreasonable.
At 11 years old Maia was past the age where most children would claim their first pokemon and begin their journey. The thought of her daughter being out there alone but for a young pokemon with a grand total of maybe 2 moves to its name...well it didn't bear thinking about.
She sighed and rubbed at her temples, trying to ease the headache that was forming. Realistically she knew she couldn't hold Maia back much longer. She was of age, confident, sometimes a little too confident and sometimes even sensible. She would be a good trainer.
It was her dream to be a specialist. Training pokemon for specific tasks. Everything from becoming an assistant to those with disabilities to search and rescue pokemon. She had even gone through a phase of being obsessed with dancing and had found an enthusiastic partner in Chimecho whom had turned out to be quite talented.
Logically she knew that she could send one of the adult pokemon with Maia. They would obey her no matter how much experience she lacked and would protect her. But she just couldn't bear it. It felt like letting go of a piece of James.
Meowth was getting older and had never battled much to start with. He would accompany Maia, certainly but he wasn't really up to it. Besides, Olivia didn't think she would be able to stand the silence without either of them. Meowth had been a constant presence in her life since James' death. Sitting up with her at night when she couldn't stop crying, either talking or sitting in silence when there was nothing to say.
He had been the one to wash the blood from the grass outside when Olivia couldn't bear to look at it and was the one who broke the news to Mime Jr, Weezing and Chimecho.
Carnivine, who had witnessed it happen, had not left its pokeball since. Neither she nor Meowth had ever been able to get Carnivine to emerge. She understood in a way. She wished that she could curl up in a pokeball and let the grief consume her but she had to keep going. For her daughter. For James' daughter.
She herself had never really recovered from that day. She couldn't talk about it. Rarely talked about James at all. Most of Maia's questions about her father were answered by Meowth. Sometimes Meowth would tell her stories about James and Olivia would listen at the door, tears welling in her eyes.
Meowth wasn't daft and when he realised she was listening he started to talk more. He told her tales of his time with James, the stories that weren't suitable for a child's ears. She both loved and hated those stories. They were precious snippets of the man she had loved but also evidence of another side of that man. A version of him she had never known. It was hard to reconcile her memories of a good, kind, loving man who had treated her so tenderly with the cocky, dramatic immoral member of Team Rocket that Meowth described. She comforted herself with the cats insistence that James had been all those things too. A kind trainer to his pokemon and a fiercely loyal friend to him and Jessie.
She hated hearing anything about Jessie. She had blamed her for a long time. Still did if she was honest. Meowth knew better than to mention Jessie in front of her and she had been clear with him that he was not to mention that woman in front of Maia and not to ever let slip that he and James had been part of Team Rocket. She wanted her daughter to grow up knowing her father for who he was, not what he was.
Of course Maia was old enough now that she was starting to question where Meowth disappeared to twice a year and why he was so quiet and subdued on his return but the cat Pokemon had dealt with this for her by telling Maia that he was going to visit a previous trainer that he had known when he was young and refusing firmly to entertain any questions on the subject. He had visited more often at one point but as he grew older, even the short trip to Violet city and back was beginning to tax him.
She often wondered what James would think. If he would agree with the way she was raising their daughter. In this though, she didn't have to wonder. He would support Maia, she knew he was. Their pokemon journey was a rite of passage for children leaving childhood, becoming teenagers. Those formative years where they bonded with their partner, learned who they were and who they wanted to be and started to make the decision what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives.
She was denying her daughter that experience out of fear of letting her go. Logically Maia was at no more risk than any other kid. Even if she did come across Team Rocket, they had no interest in her. She had nothing of value to them and they hadn't bothered with the family since they realised that they had no contact with Jessie or knowledge of where she was and Meowth had made his position very clear on the subject of returning. She wasn't exactly sure what had transpired but Meowth had walked away from the brief meeting and refused to speak on the subject except to say that they would not see them again.
She huffed a sigh and got up, moving to the sink and splashing water over her face. Once she was sure she looked less blotchy and angry and a bit more put together, she went upstairs and knocked on Maia's door.
After a few seconds with no response, she went in anyway. Maia was sitting in the window seat with her back to her mother. She looked tense and angry, every line of her body communicating her resentment.
Olivia took a deep breath and forcing her voice not to crack asked "Who will you pick?"
Maia looked round in surprise. "What?"
"Your first Pokemon. Who will you pick?"
"What are you saying?" Maia demanded, looking like she could barely believe what she was hearing.
"I'm saying go get your Pokemon. I'm not making any promises here, Maia but... you're right. Its not fair to keep holding you back. So go to Professor Elm, get your Pokedex and your Pokemon and we'll talk about it."
She had barely finished speaking before Maia was up and hopping on one foot trying to lace her shoes and put her jacket on at the same time.
She watched her daughter sprint down the path and tried to ignore the rising sense of unease in her chest as Meowth emerged from the kitchen to join her.
"You'se doin the right thing." He told her.
"I really hope so."
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Though Maia had only been gone a couple of hours it felt like forever to Olivia as she anxiously wandered from room to room, practising under her breath what she knew she needed to say.
She jumped as she heard the front door slam. Maia was positively glowing with pride as she introduced the little Chikorita at her side as her new partner. So Olivia forced herself to smile and summon up some enthusiasm for Maia's excited chatter. All she could think as she watched them was that the Pokemon she was entrusting her precious daughter to looked so damn small.
Chikorita was fiesty, make no mistake but she was so so young.
"Okay." She said firmly. "If you're going to do this, there are going to be some compromises."
"Mum!" Maia protested.
"No arguments!" She snapped. "You call me EVERY day. No excuses. I want to hear from you every single day."
"But none of my friends have to call their parents every day! Why do you have to be so clingy and WEIRD?"
Olivia slammed her hand down on the table, effectively shutting down the complaint.
"Do you want to go or not? These are my terms, Maia, take it or leave it." She paused for a second and carefully, deliberately lowered her voice before continuing. "I need to know you're safe so these are my terms. Daily check in."
"Fine." Maia muttered with just a little too much attitude for Olivia's liking but she forced herself to let it pass."
"Secondly, you take Inkay with you."
"What? Mum I want to train my own team! I love Inkay and the others, you know that but I want to pick and train my team from scratch! Besides people will laugh at me, no one takes their parents Pokemon for their journey, you're supposed to catch your own."
"One Pokemon, Maia. One Pokemon who isn't newly hatched. That's all I ask."
"Fine. But I want Chimecho."
"Inkay."
"No! Inkay's already trained in battle, its really good, there's no way it will listen to me. Besides, Chimecho is my best friend!" She winced and looked round. "One of my best friends! Sorry, Chikorita."
Olivia visibly struggled for a moment with the decision before acquiescing to the request.
"Fine. Chimecho goes. That's two. And Meowth will see you as far as Mahogany town. I don't want you going through the dark cave on your own."
"I wasn't going to go that way anyway. I was planning to go up to Violet city then head south to Azalea town on my way to Gol..."
"No!" Olivia cut her off sharply. I don't want you in Violet city, you head to Mahogany town via the dark cave then through Blackthorn city and down through the national park to get to Goldenrod."
"But mum that's nuts, it'll take forever, why cant I just..."
"STOP arguing with me! I don't have to explain myself to you, you'll go the way I tell you or you won't go; why do you have to fight me on everything!"
"Why do I have to fight you? I'm not the one acting like a neurotic freak!"
"Liv." Meowth interjected hastily, hoping to prevent the situation coming to blows. "If she wants to compete in the League, she does need the Zephyr badge..."
Olivia stared at him and for a second he saw just how exhausted and scared she was. She looked utterly worn out and beaten down.
"Fine." She replied quietly. "But you go with her. And you keep her away from... trouble, understand?"
"There won't be no trouble, not with Meowth on the case!" His reply was as sassy as ever but Maia had the feeling she was missing an entire conversation in subtext. Oh well. She didn't much care as long as she was allowed to go. It was humiliating and pretty lonely being the only kid not allowed to go on her journey. All her friends had left on or shortly after their 10th birthday and were mostly half a region away by now.
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The week seemed to fly by as they made preparations for Maia's departure. She was now the proud owner of a beautiful large white satchel, decorated with silver and green vines and leaves that she fancied would resemble Chikoritas vine whip attack when she learned it.
It didn't contain much yet. Just her pokedex,10 empty pokeballs, a map, her phone, some money, her trainer ID in a white leather cover with space to pin her badges on the back and a change of clothes. But every time she looked at it she felt a thrill of excitement, knowing that tomorrow was the day.
She had arranged to meet her friend Sian in Goldenrod city and travel with her from there at which point Meowth would leave her and return home.
Her mother seemed to calm down on hearing that she would be travelling with a friend but she was very insistent that Meowth saw her all the way to Goldenrod city and was keen that she not linger any longer than necessary in Violet city. Which of course made Maia all the more keen to explore every inch of the place. It was pretty small as far as cities went. Not much there apart from a Pokemon centre, Gym, School and an old tower. Plus a few shops. Nothing there apart from the gym really that she was interested in.
Apparently the tower was a great place to train but there was nothing to explain her mothers strong aversion to the place and Olivia refused point blank to discuss it, simply repeating that there were much more worthwhile places to spend her time.
Meowth was strangely closed mouthed on the subject which made her all the more suspicious as he was normally a mouth on legs, constantly yammering in an ongoing sarcastic commentary. Not to mention his love of a good piece of gossip. She knew better than to press the subject though. Far better to fake disinterest and find out for herself when she got there.
Everything was ready and Chikorita was as excited as she was, practically bouncing off the walls.
She had been training it against her mothers pokemon and against Meowth when he deigned to allow it. Chimecho was a willing sparring partner, seeming pleased to be going with her and was already thick as thieves with Chikorita. The pair of them were going to be trouble, she thought, with their mischievous nature and innocent demeanours.
She flopped into bed and grinned in the darkness as she felt Chikorita jump up next to her. She didn't know what tomorrow would bring but whatever it was, she couldn't wait.