A/N: My previous Pokémon fics, "Free Together" and "Unshackle Me", are canon for this fic; also, Anime canon only goes through gen 8, the end of Ash Ketchum's Anime role is the end of the expansion of the Pokémon world for purposes of this fic. More importantly, though, I have to state for the record that this story would not have been written without the brilliant ideas of a friend of mine, who wishes to remain anonymous on account of thoroughly renouncing their ownership of said ideas for some reason; multiple characters and plotlines in this fic were originally my friend's concepts, I'm just actualizing and expanding on them for the most part, because I fell deeply in love with the ideas and wanted to see a full story made from them. Friend, if you see this, you cooked hard, and I cannot in good conscience claim ownership of these brilliant ideas for myself, I'm sorry.
Midsummer morning sunlight filled Celadon City, pouring into the window of a certain apartment and burning through the closed eyelids of a young girl with brilliant red hair.
All at once, Mary-Sue Jones's emerald eyes snapped open, and she practically leapt out of bed. For a moment, she was convinced it was time - but no, no, her tenth birthday wasn't until tomorrow. Even so, today was her last day of school before she set out on her Pokémon journey, and she tore through her room like a whirlwind to get ready, her entire little body burning bright with excitement. She washed up and brushed her teeth, got dressed in her school uniform, and tied up her hair her own special way: she parted the scarlet locks cleanly in half over her shoulders, twisted each of the two halves into a tight rope, tied them off, wrapped them around the base of her skull, and pinned each one's end up under the other's base. No matter how much she vibrated with energy, Mary-Sue was always careful to style her hair perfectly, so that not a single strand would get in her face no matter the weather or activity of the day.
Bounding her way down the stairs, Mary-Sue didn't hesitate for a moment to fling herself into the kitchen, where of course, her mother's Wobbuffet was waiting to catch her, its soft blue body breaking her fall like a crash mat.
"Woooo-bbuffet!" exclaimed the Pokémon, not nearly as surprised as it pretended to be.
"Careful, baby girl!" chimed Mary-Sue's father, who was currently working hard at the stove on an omelette and pancakes simultaneously. He turned over his shoulder to his daughter, his eyes that were perfect matches to hers sparkling, offering a smile that made it clear he wasn't upset.
"Morning, daddy!" Mary-Sue chirped, giving Wobbuffet one last hug before struggling out of its stubby arms and dashing to the kitchen table.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Mr. Jones responded. "Are you ready for your last day of school?"
"Uh-huh!" Mary-Sue exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.
"Hmm…" Her father sighed and turned back to his multitasking.
Mary-Sue bounced in her seat, refusing to let her father's gloominess get her down. He'd made it clear from the start that he wasn't thrilled about his daughter taking the Pokémon Gym Challenge instead of studying for a non-Pokémon-related future, but she'd known since preschool that she wanted to be a trainer. Neither of her parents had ever been trainers, though they did both have Pokémon and her mother was a very successful Pokémon coordinator, but playing with the Rattata and Pidgey that the local preschool used to introduce young children to Pokémon had immediately sparked something in Mary-Sue, and when she'd started watching broadcasts of the Champion, Ash Ketchum, dominating in Pokémon battles, she'd refused to consider any other career. Even when her friends all opted out of the Trainer Program to take traditional schooling, leaving her as the only one of the group to attend school year-round instead of getting vacations, nothing had ever deterred her from her dream.
And tomorrow, it'll finally come true!
At last, her lavender-haired father swept around with a plate full of food, and Mary-Sue dove in, shoveling it all into her mouth and gulping it, barely even chewing in her eagerness to get going. Though her dad made several, albeit feeble, attempts to tell her to slow down, she didn't even hear him; the moment the food was gone, she hopped out of her chair, grabbed her backpack, and lunged for the door.
"Have a good day!" her father called after her, almost desperately.
"I will dad! Love you!" The response was practically a reflex as she tore through the living room, kicking Meowth's bed on the way.
"Hey!" yelped the Pokémon, but Mary-Sue was already gone. Her parents' oldest Pokémon was an odd one, as it had learned to use human language, had apparently been self-taught since before it had even met her parents; these days, though, it was a grumpy old feline who spent most of its time sleeping, and wasn't much of one for conversation.
Taking the stairs because waiting in the elevator would be torture, Mary-Sue only avoided tripping though sheer momentum, and was soon sprinting through the streets of Celadon City to school, arriving fifteen minutes early, practically flinging her final pieces of homework onto her homeroom teacher's desk.
Classes were a formality, really, and for once, no one called Mary-Sue out for daydreaming. She'd passed all her lessons, and she didn't need a refresher on anything, not when she'd been waiting for this day her whole life. The only thing that broke through her fantasy of directing a Mega Blastoise to victory against a Dragonite was an announcement over the intercom.
"Mary-Sue, please report to the front office."
The young girl flew out of her chair and pelted down the halls and stairs, barely making the turn through the door into the school's reception area.
"I'm Mary-Sue!" she proclaimed to the lady at the desk.
"Okay, okay," the woman smiled, and she gestured across the room. "An official is waiting for you in room three."
"Thanks!" Mary-Sue shot over her shoulder as she dove through the door with a big "3" on it. "I'm here, I'm here!"
"Mary-Sue?" asked a new woman Mary-Sue didn't recognize. The lady wore a dress suit, had her dark hair pinned up into a tight bun, and sat behind a desk stacked with papers.
"That's me!" Mary-Sue answered brightly.
"Please, sit," the lady said, gesturing to a chair in front of her desk, and Mary-Sue hopped on. "I'm Mrs. Tania, with the Trainer Program. I understand you want to be a Pokémon trainer?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Mary-Sue chirped. "I turn ten years old tomorrow! I wouldn't be here if I wasn't going to be a trainer!" Only children who opted for the Trainer Program attended school year-round instead of getting summers off.
Mrs. Tania chuckled, her smile warm and indulgent. "Well then, we have some work to do to officiate you." She picked up a stack of papers that looked incredibly boring. "First, and most importantly, do you know which starter Pokémon you'll be choosing?"
"Oh, I don't need a starter," Mary-Sue told Mrs. Tania. "My mom's in Sinnoh for a contest, but she'll be home tonight, and she promised to catch me a Pokémon for my birthday while she was there."
"Oh?" Mrs. Tania blinked at the little girl, a frown tugging her lips. "Are you sure you want to take that route? Starter Pokémon are bred and raised to be tame and socialized, and they're also incredibly powerful breeds, so you'll be sure to be protected from any trouble you might run into."
"I won't run into trouble," Mary-Sue said confidently.
"Wild Pokémon are dangerous," Mrs. Tania pressed on. "We send children out with strong Pokémon to begin with for their own safety. Besides that, if you start with a recently-caught Pokémon, it might not obey you."
"The Champion didn't have a starter Pokémon," Mary-Sue argued. "He started with a Pikachu his professor had just caught, it wasn't tame or socialized at all, and look how far he went!" Mary-Sue raised her fists in the air, her grin nearly splitting her face. "I'm gonna be a Pokémon master just like him! I don't need a starter, I'll be fine with whatever my mom brings me!"
"You're…sure about this?" Mrs. Tania questioned.
"Yeah!" Mary-Sue shouted. "I'm gonna be the very best, just like Ash Ketchum, and I don't need a starter Pokémon any more than he did!"
"W-Well…" Mrs. Tania frowned, then sighed and set aside the big stack of papers. "If you're sure, that's your choice to make."
"I'm sure!" Mary-Sue insisted.
"Alright, alright," Mrs. Tania laughed, holding her hands out placatingly. "Actually, that makes this a lot easier - most of the paperwork we'd need to do is to make sure it's okay to give you a starter."
"Huh?" The prospective trainer blinked her emerald eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Well, starter Pokémon are exceptionally powerful breeds," the official lady explained. "We give them to new trainers for their safety, but…well, let's just say we can't hand them out to just anyone. You and I would have to go through a background check for your whole family, and…it would just take a while. I've never had something go wrong, but it is tedious."
"Boring," Mary-Sue agreed. "But we can skip that?"
"If you aren't going to be taking a starter Pokémon from the lab, then yes, we can skip straight to registering you," Mrs. Tania smiled. While Mary-Sue hopped in her chair, the well-dressed woman opened a desk drawer and pulled out several red devices. "We have several Pokédex models here, some with more features than others. Which one would you like?"
"Which one of these did the Champion use?" Mary-Sue asked. "He had like a really basic analog one, right?"
"Well, models that old aren't in circulation anymore," Mrs. Tania explained. "Even the most basic models have navigation guides…"
"Boo," Mary-Sue grumbled. "The Champion was fine with a paper map, and I have one, too. I don't want a Pokédex that's going to yell at me all the time. My parents had one of those early Rotom dexes once, and they said it was like a person they had to argue with."
"Well, you don't have to use a Rotom dex," Mrs. Tania assured her. "Our simplest model, right here…" She pushed one flat red box out from the lineup of devices she'd set on her desk. "…has a basic map and location feature, a distress call button, and a directory of local Pokémon built in, able to be used anywhere in the quad-region area. It doesn't come with a voice or any sort of reminder-setting features, though."
"I guess that'll have to do," Mary-Sue sighed. "I just won't use those other features."
"You might be glad you have them at some point," Mrs. Tania said gently, but she swept the other devices back into her desk drawer and took a different device out of her pocket, which she attached to the Pokédex. "Now, I just need to enter your basic information, and you'll get your trainer ID number and official registration…"
It was basic stuff: name, Mary-Sue Jones; birthday, July 17th; town of origin, Celadon City, Kanto. There were a couple of other things about her family history and her history with Pokémon, but all she knew was that her mother was a professional coordinator and her father was a high-end fashion designer, and that they both had Pokémon that had lived with them since before Mary-Sue was born, so she'd never been a stranger to the mystical creatures. That, Mrs. Tania assured her, was plenty enough, and with a few added entries of her own, the woman at last detached the new Pokédex and gave it to the young redhead.
"Mary-Sue Jones, as of tomorrow, you are an officially-licensed Pokémon trainer," Mrs. Tania declared. She smiled as Mary-Sue took the Pokédex in her hands and clutched to her chest, practically vibrating with delight, and added, "This was supposed to take the rest of your school day, so…you might as well go home early."
"Thank you!" Mary-Sue gushed. "Thank you, Mrs. Tania, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! I'll be the best trainer, you'll see!"
"I'm sure you will," the Trainer Program official chuckled. "Go on, then. You are officially relieved of school duties."
Unable to articulate more than a squeal, Mary-Sue pelted out of the office, got her things, interrupted all her teachers in the middle of their classes to say quick good-byes, and flew home.
"I'm home daddy!" Mary-Sue shouted into the apartment.
A loud crashing was the first response to this call, and it took her father a few moments to stumble out of his workshop, still clutching a needle and three different bolts of fabric. "Baby girl?! What are you doing home so soon?" he asked, emerald eyes wide in his face.
"I got my trainer license, so now I don't need to be at school!" Mary-Sue explained, hopping in place.
"I see…" Mr. Jones sighed, but gave a resigned smile. "Well, since you'll be leaving tomorrow, we might as well celebrate your birthday today. What do you want to do for your last day here?"
"I wanna rewatch all of Ash Ketchum's best battles!" Mary-Sue answered. "You can keep working, dad, I can take care of myself!" And without waiting for a response, she dove past him to the stairs to her room.
Exhaling deeply, Mary-Sue opened her backpack and unceremoniously dumped all her school stuff in a corner, emptying it to make room for the supplies she'd pack tomorrow. For now, she took off her school uniform and threw it on the pile, then went to her dresser and pulled out her favorite thing she owned: a long, loose pajama shirt her father had made. The base of the clothing was a soft, smooth, comfy fabric, but stitched to the outside were scraps left over from every outfit he'd designed that Mary-Sue had loved, colors and textures arranged in an artful illusion of disorder that was just a mosaic of fun. When he'd first made it for her, it had come down to her ankles; now, it brushed at her knees. More and more bits had been added as Mary-Sue had taken a liking to his various creations over the years, and now there were barely any hints of the base peeking out through the collage of colors and shimmers.
Giggling, Mary-Sue pulled the clothing on, her fingers immediately going for some of her favorites: a fuzzy purple patch, a glassy-smooth red streak, a soft lavender chunk that reminded her of her father's hair, a sparkly black bit that didn't feel nearly as scratchy as it looked like it should have been. Giddily, she skipped back downstairs, grabbed a box of her favorite Ash Ketchum-branded cereal, a bowl, a spoon, and some milk, then set up in the living room and queued up her playlist of all of the Champion's greatest matches, settling in on the couch to enjoy the glory of it.
The young trainer-to-be was completely unaware of the passage of time, but it was a few hours before her father came in to join her, wearing a dark blue, sleeveless summer dress. "Enjoying your birthday, Mary-Sue?" he asked.
"Quiet, quiet!" she hissed, gesturing at the TV. She'd seen this a dozen times, but she still held her breath as the Champion's Pikachu finished dodging a Rock Slide from a Rhyperior and hit the massive rock creature in the face with Iron Tail. There was a loud smashing sound, the cameras shook, dust billowed and obscured the screen for a moment, and when it cleared, the two Pokémon were staring each other down…only for Rhyperior to topple.
"Rhyperior is unable to battle! Pikachu wins!" declared the announcer.
"Yeah!" Mary-Sue shouted, pumping her fists in the air. Grinning, she turned to her dad. "The Champion's Pikachu is so strong!"
Mr. Jones sighed heavily, settling down beside her, fanning out his skirts. "It certainly is," he said, his tone almost sadly nostalgic.
"But it's really cool, though," Mary-Sue went on, ignoring her father's melancholy, "because Pikachu are actually a really weak breed of Pokémon, especially since Pikachu isn't even its final form." Her grin widened as she turned back to the screen where Ash and Pikachu were posing for the camera, the notoriously Pokèball-hating Pokémon perched on the shoulder of its black-haired trainer, pawing at the man's short beard while Ash teasingly told it to stop. "But the Champion was able to raise it into a powerhouse without even evolving it into a Raichu."
"Yes, well, as your mother says, every Pokémon has its own unique potential, and it's up to its human partner to draw it out," her father remarked.
"Yeah." Mary-Sue smiled into the distance, then blinked, "Hey, do you think mom learned that from the Champion?" she asked, turning to her dad.
"Um…" The lavender-haired man frowned, almost recoiling. "Well, uh, I don't think so - we're not that much older than him, you know. I think it's just a gift your mother has always had. But…maybe?"
Already shrugging off the idea, Mary-Sue returned her attention to the TV, where the aftermath of the fight was just wrapping up, and soon, the next recording would play.
Then, a beeping sounded from the phone by the kitchen.
"Oh, I bet that's your mother!" Mr. Jones said, leaping up.
"Mom!" Mary-Sue paused the TV and pelted for the chirping device, diving past her dad to pick up the receiver. Sure enough, as the call went through, the screen lit up with a display of a woman with the same bright scarlet hair she'd passed on to her daughter, her sapphire eyes sparkling as her painted lips split into a grin.
"Hey there, Mary-Sue!" Mrs. Jones called. "How's my baby girl doing?"
"I'm doing great, mom!" Mary-Sue replied, and she lifted the little red device she'd been unwilling to let go of all day. "Look, look! I got a Pokédex, and a trainer ID number and everything! I'm a trainer now, as soon as I have a Pokémon! You got me a Pokémon, right?"
"Oh, don't worry, sweetie," her mother chuckled, and she lifted a shiny new Pokéball in her hand for the camera to see. "Your new partner is right here."
"What is it?! What is it?!" Mary-Sue squealed. "Lemme see, lemme see!"
"You're going to have to wait until tomorrow," her mother told her. "It'll have to be a surprise. But I promise you, it's a good one. I almost wanted to keep it for myself!"
Thrilled beyond words, Mary-Sue shrieked and jumped in place. Gently, her father prized the receiver from her little fingers.
"Hello, my heart," he smiled. "How did Appletun do?"
"Oh, we swept, of course," the professional coordinator smiled. Then her smile dimmed a bit, and she added, "Well, there was one judge who almost marked us down for the crumbs Appletun left on the stage, but he let it slide, and we didn't have any other trouble in the battles."
"That's wonderful, mom," Mr. Jones said.
"Yeah, yeah!" Mary-Sue agreed quickly. "I knew you could do it!" Her mother had a special brand in her contest matches: using Pokémon that weren't generally considered dazzling or even attractive. One time, in Unova, she'd caught a wild Trubbish and entered it into a contest with a whole trash-centered theme for the creature's performance, and she'd actually managed to take it to the second round; of course, it being a new Pokémon, she hadn't been able to lead it to victory in the battles, but she'd given it to a young audience member afterward, proclaiming to the child and the cameras the message that any Pokémon could be beautiful, if only you found its inner beauty and brought it out. It had won her quite a bit of fame, and even if she didn't take first place every time, her unique approach to the system made her easily one of the most recognized and admired coordinators in the world. Appletun, though, was a reliable old partner - a gift from the man she would later marry, as an Applin, when he'd wanted to take their friendship to the next level - and rarely failed to claim first prize.
"Unfortunately, the after-party took longer to get out of than I expected," Mrs. Jones went on, sighing tiredly. "I'm afraid I'm going to be home a little late tonight. Don't worry, baby girl," she added quickly, "I'll be there when you wake up, I wouldn't miss your big day for the world. But I'll be arriving long after you go to bed."
"It's okay, mom," Mary-Sue assured her mother. It wasn't unusual for either of her parents to work weird hours, either because of her father's spontaneous bouts of inspiration or her mother's travels. "I'll see you in the morning, when I'm ten years old!"
"That's right, sweetie!" her mother chirped. "You'll be on your way tomorrow!"
Another delighted squeal was the only response Mary-Sue could give, squirming and unable to stand still.
"And dad, you'll make sure our baby girl does go to bed on time, won't you?" Mrs. Jones added to the man holding the phone.
"Of course, my heart," her husband assured her, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "If ever there was a time Mary-Sue needed a full night's sleep, it's tonight."
Mary-Sue pouted. Her father was easily the bigger pushover of her parents, but he sounded like he really meant it this time.
"Well then, it's time for me to catch the train," Mrs. Jones said, and she made the peace sign to the camera. "Love you both!"
"Love you too, mom!" Mary-Sue replied.
"Travel safe, my heart," Mr. Jones concurred.
Winking once and sticking out her tongue for Mary-Sue's amusement, the red-haired coordinator hung up.
"Well, I should get to making dinner," Mary-Sue's father said. "How do your favorite dumplings sound?"
"Yes please!" Mary-Sue trilled.
"Okay," her dad smiled, but his eyes seemed almost wistful. "But please, don't just gulp them down tonight, dear. This is…the last time in a while you'll be able to enjoy a nice home-cooked meal, so try to enjoy it, okay?"
For once, her father's glumness actually managed to get through to Mary-Sue; she hadn't really thought about that part of taking the Gym Challenge, but of course, starting tomorrow, she'd have to heat her own food supplies over campfires of her own making. "…Okay," she conceded.
"Good girl," her dad crooned, patting her lightly on the head, and he turned for the kitchen, the skirt of his his indigo dress swirling around his legs.
Only a little put out, Mary-Sue returned to the couch and resumed the playlist of Ash Ketchum's greatest battles, quickly getting caught up in her excitement again. Naturally, when dinner came, she failed to slow down, though the dumplings were as delicious as ever.
When at last, bedtime came, Mary-Sue pleaded with her dad, but he held unusually firm.
"Mary-Sue, tonight's the last time you're going to be sleeping in a warm, safe bed for a while," he reminded her. "You need to make the most of it. Roughing it out the wilderness doesn't make it easy to sleep, you know."
"Like you'd know," Mary-Sue huffed, folding her arms. "Besides, I'm too excited to sleep!"
Mr. Jones sighed, then walked to the back of the apartment and poked his head into his workshop. "Chimecho, dear, will you come help me?"
"Chime chime!" chirped a sweet, gentle voice, and the blue-and-red Pokémon floated out into the main room. Its little eyes fixed on Mary-Sue, and she knew it was pointless to argue any further. "Chime~!" it chirped at her.
"Our baby girl's feeling a little worked up," her father told his dear friend. "Please, make sure she gets a good night's sleep, won't you?"
"Chime chime!" The Chimecho wrapped its long tail around its partner's eyes, a weird little hugging thing it liked to do, and Mary-Sue's father chuckled.
Sighing, Mary-Sue made for the stairs without further protest. Her father's Chimecho had always been used on her when she got fussy, even as a baby, and there was no resisting its soothing notes. She got ready for bed, the sweet little Pokémon floating behind her constantly, and at last crawled under the covers.
"Chiiiiime~," the Pokémon began to intone immediately. "Chiiiiime, chime chiiiiiime~…"
Mary-Sue snuggled deeper into her bed, already relaxing. It was a nice bed, one she wouldn't see again for a while…and, she realized, the best way to make tomorrow come sooner would be by falling asleep.
Smiling, she surrendered, letting the Pokémon's tune carry her off to beautiful dreams of spectacular Pokémon battles.
I'm gonna be the very best, like no one ever was. Not even Ash Ketchum.
~X~
It was a little past midnight when a Corviknight glided its way over the rooftops of Celadon City, a woman with a cascade of flaming red hair and wearing a bright violet suit clutched in its talons. The woman was dozing, but forced herself to rouse as the air warmed, marking her partner's descent to the streets outside her apartment building.
The two landed, the woman coming lightly to her feet as Corviknight perched beside her. The Flying-Steel Pokémon lifted its beak, posing with such pride and elegance even when there was no one to impress that it almost seemed to tower over its human partner, a bastion of strength and grace. Mrs. Jones had had to stop entering it in contests years ago, as the Pokémon's regal demeanor simply didn't make for a fair challenge, winning contests with it was too easy.
"Thanks for getting me home," she smiled, reaching up to stroke the metallic side of her dear friend's face.
"Cor!" the gigantic bird crooned, almost standing even straighter.
"Would you like to rest in your Pokéball?" the redhead asked, taking out the little capsule and holding it up. "Or would you like to go flying for a bit longer?"
"Corvi! Cor!" the bird squawked, spreading its wings.
"All right, then," Mrs. Jones giggled. "Just tap on our window when you want to rest."
"Corviknight!" Corviknight proclaimed, and it beat its wings and lifted up into the star-studded sky.
For a moment, its partner just watched it go, a tired smile on her face. Then, she turned to the building and went inside.
In the elevator, she half-dozed a little further, the old habit from her youth of grabbing a moment's rest wherever it could be found still well-practiced. Even so, she was steady on her feet when she made her way down the hall and entered her dark residence.
Or…not entirely dark.
Frowning, she locked the door behind her and made for the sliver of light poking out from a room in the back - her husband's workshop. Knocking gently, she pushed her way in slowly. "James?"
"Jess!" The response was immediate, and a very haggard-looking Mr. Jones all but lunged for her. He was wearing his pocket-covered tunic that meant he was in the middle of working on something or other, and Mrs. Jones was careful not to accidentally stick herself with a needle as they embraced.
Both let out soft giggles, trying not to make too much noise as they enjoyed the rush of being reunited, of feeling whole again. They shared one soft, tender kiss, and then Jessie asked, "What are you still doing up?"
"I can't sleep," James sighed, letting her go and slouching back to where he'd been sitting in front of his sewing machine, random bits of fabric scattered around and haphazardly stitched together for no better reason than to try to distract him from his thoughts. "I'm worried about tomorrow."
"Why not have Chimecho help?" Jessie suggested.
"Chimecho's busy keeping Mary-Sue asleep," James answered tiredly. "She's so excited to go out into the wilds and get into trouble…"
"Oh, there's nothing to worry about," Jessie grumbled. "You know kids take the Gym Challenge all the time, it's perfectly safe."
"But she keeps saying she wants to be just like the twerp," James whined. "And I keep wondering, what if she gets what she wants? What if she runs into an us?"
"Giovanni promised that all members of Team Rocket are well-informed that our baby girl is off-limits," Jessie reminded her partner.
"But we weren't the only ones to cause trouble for the twerps," James pointed out.
"Team Rocket has had a monopoly on organized crime in Kanto and Johto since we were recruits, James," Jessie countered, rolling her eyes and folding her arms, "and they've basically conquered Hoenn and Sinnoh by now too. Mary-Sue won't be going further than Johto. No one will bother her."
"Maybe not people, but what about Pokémon?" James fretted. "We've seen how powerful some can be-"
"And here we are, alive and well," Jessie cut him off. She walked over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "We've faced down gods and survived, James," she reminded him. "And Mary-Sue is our baby girl, she's made of tough stuff, the best of us. No one will be able to give her trouble."
"I know, but…Oh!" Suddenly, Mr. Jones leapt up from his chair, nearly knocking his wife over. "I just had an idea!" he trilled, turning to Jessie. "Jess, did you ever throw out our old uniforms?"
"Uh…I'm pretty sure they're still in a box in a closet somewhere," Jessie answered.
"Help me look for them!" With no further explanation, James tore out of the room.
"James," Jessie began halfheartedly, but she already knew it was pointless to try to stop him when he got like this. All she could do was attempt to prevent him from completely trashing the apartment as he tore up closet after closet, eventually heaving a dusty old crate out from the back of a wardrobe in their bedroom.
"This is it!" he exclaimed quietly, careful not to shout and wake up their daughter. With a grunt of effort, he heaved open the top, revealing tightly-packed folded wads of light-blue fabric. Despite his enthusiasm, his hands were slow, almost reverent, as he removed one and shook it out, revealing a long-sleeved shirt with a big red "R" emblazoned on it.
Jessie's breath caught, and she couldn't blame James for pausing. So many memories… "What are you thinking, James?" Jessie asked softly.
"Well…" He turned to her, his expression sad but firm. "We may have survived gods, but so did these uniforms - they're made of tough stuff, too, just like us." His frown deepening, he turned back to his old shirt, tugging it lightly in different directions. "I've been worried about what Mary-Sue might wear out there, too," he confessed. "I design clothes for fashion, not wilderness survival, but…she needs something that can handle what she's getting into." Dropping the shirt, he looked at his wife again. "You don't mind if I tear these up, do you?" he asked.
"Not at all," Jessie answered dismissively. "I haven't even thought about them in years." That latter might have been partially a lie, but it didn't matter that much.
"Then I know exactly what I'm giving Mary-Sue for her birthday," James said, and he picked up the crate and stood up, striding for the door to the hall with purpose.
"James?"
He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "Yes, my heart?"
"Will you be coming to bed?" Jessie asked pointedly.
"Um…" A tiny shiver wracked James's body, Jessie knew him well enough to see it, and she softened. Even after all these years, he still had some lingering trauma…
"It's okay if not," she assured him. "I was just wondering whether I should wait for you or get some sleep."
"Get some sleep," he told her with a smile, relaxing. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," she said, understanding every meaning to his words. "Just, do try to get some sleep yourself, won't you?"
"We'll see," he shrugged, already leaving.
"We're not young anymore, James," Jessie called after him. "All-nighters aren't as easy to recover from as they were."
"I know," he sighed, shouldering his way out the door. "Good night, my heart."
"Good night," Jessie said. "I love you."
"I love you too." And he was gone.
Groaning heavily, almost collapsing, Jessie kicked the mess of the half-raided closet into a pile and started getting ready for bed. Love…It was such a stupid, meaningless word, one they hadn't bothered with before. In the old days, when they'd worn those old uniforms, they hadn't needed to use words at all, they'd been able to communicate in their own way, their shared understanding lending them their own language of sorts. But, when they'd decided to leave Team Rocket so they could pursue their true callings, they'd had to resign themselves to certain rules and conventions so as to be members of normal society, tamping their freedoms down to what their neighbors considered "acceptable" levels of eccentric. When Jessie had gotten pregnant, in particular, James had frantically researched how to raise a healthy kid, and something every expert agreed on was that conveying affection constantly and verbally was vital to a child's development, so they'd started using the word, even if its use felt like it cheapened what they shared. Eventually, it had become a habit, but sometimes Jessie still resented how much they'd had to give up just to live a normal life.
Still…having a warm, safe bed in a warm, safe home to return to at the end of the day, and never having to worry again about when their next meal might be…it was nice, Jessie couldn't say she regretted their decision. Yielding to societal conformities had opened up new freedoms for both of them - the freedom for her to enter contests as herself without needing disguises, the freedom for James to build a business and self-sufficient life from his passion for fashion. After Jessebelle had miraculously accepted Donovan Star as a consolation prize and relinquished her claim on James, and there was nothing left for either of them to run from, building a normal life had been surprisingly rewarding. Giovanni had even been remarkably accommodating, helping them get new, permanent identities that would let them live free of their criminal history, provided no one did much digging.
Clean, dressed in the incredibly soft and comfortable pajamas James had made for her, and nearly falling over, Jessie dragged herself to their bed, only for a tapping on the window to draw her attention. Corviknight was hovering outside, and she smiled and retrieved its Pokéball before pulling up the glass pane.
"Ready to rest, Corviknight?" she asked.
"Cor," the bird crowed, its lack of bombastic enthusiasm the only concession it would make that it was tired.
Jessie smiled. "Return," she said softly, tapping the button, and a beam of red light snaked through the opening in the window to surround Corviknight and draw it back into its home.
Still smiling, Jessie closed the glass and placed Corviknight's ball on a cushion on the bedside table before at last collapsing onto the mattress.
Yes, she and James had made the right decision in integrating themselves into society, and in the efforts they'd made so that their daughter could live a normal life if she wanted to. But Jessie couldn't deny that, while she couldn't say James was being silly to worry about Mary-Sue at all, more than anything else, she envied her daughter for the journey she would set out on tomorrow. Tomorrow, the young girl would be set free of the city, free of society, free of rules and conventions and manners, and venture out into the wilderness to find herself and make her own way.
Part of Jessie wished she could go with her, and taste total freedom one more time.
FUN FACT: The real-life outlaw Jesse James had a daughter named Mary Susan James. While this story's main character was originally my friend's brainchild, they never settled on a name for her; but when I discovered that bit of trivia, I knew there was nothing else her name could possibly be. I will say, I didn't expect a little joke based on a tidbit of historical trivia to be the make-or-break for whether or not people would even give this story a look, but this is the internet, I guess, and I reap what I sow.