Ash was still as a stone, on his knees as he hid among the brush and shrubs of the forest, carefully watching the night sky. Pikachu knelt by his side, scanning the sky just as his trainer was. Neither of them dared move an inch or make a sound. If either of them gave themselves away, it could put everyone in serious danger.
He tensed and crouched down further as a beam of light swept over the forest. The loud drone of a powerful motor grew even louder, until it was nearly deafening, but he resisted the urge to cover his ears. He remained perfectly still, not moving a muscle, as a black helicopter flew overhead, the powerful winds from its propeller rustling leaves, bending branches and blowing back foliage. A searchlight attached to the bottom of the helicopter swept back and forth over the trees, its beam almost blindingly bright. Ash kept his eyes away from the searchlight, focusing instead on the scarlet-red R painted onto the side of the helicopter.
The helicopter scanned the area for an eternally long thirty seconds, before it began flying away to another part of the forest. Ash and Pikachu stayed still until the helicopter was nearly out of sight, the roar of the propeller reduced to a hum in the background. They sighed in relief, standing up together and looking around at the forest surrounding them. Madison's head soon popped out of a nearby bush, along with Ash's Absol. Brock, Iris and Serena emerged from their own hiding places as well.
"That was too close," Serena spoke as she stepped into a clearing, brushing foliage from her clothes with her hands. "I thought we were going to be spotted for sure."
"What is Team Rocket even doing here?" Madison asked aloud, visibly limping as she stepped into view. "They weren't looking for us, were they…?" Absol stepped out alongside her, and she leaned against him to take the pressure off of her injured ankle.
"They may have been," Brock answered. "We already know they were unhappy about what happened at the Chateau. And they didn't like us much before then, either."
"We need someplace we can hide for the night," Ash spoke up, as Pikachu climbed up his side and onto his shoulder. "We don't know when they might come back." He glanced to his left, looking deeper into the forest, which abruptly ended as it gave way to the face of a tall cliff. "Maybe we can find a cave to stay in, or something." He started walking through the forest, following the cliff face, and the others walked alongside him.
"You don't think they'll try looking in caves?" Madison asked warily, climbing onto Absol's back. The Pokémon let out a brief grunt before following Ash and the others.
"They might, but it's got to be safer than staying out in the open," Brock replied, as he joined Ash in searching for a cave. "Maybe we could block the entrance somehow to hide a campfire, or-"
"Shh!" Iris hushed him, stopping in her tracks, and everyone else stopped with her. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Serena asked quietly, but Iris didn't reply. Everyone immediately quieted down, listening for anything that wasn't the distant whir of the helicopter. Moments later, several of them suppressed gasps as they heard a muffled groan from nearby.
"Who was that?" Iris whispered. "Are they hurt?" Nobody had an answer, none of them able to recognize the groan.
Ash carefully crept forward, toward the source of the noise, which appeared to come from a large bush not far away. He stepped up to the bush and reached out, pushing some of the branches away, and audibly gasped at the sight in front of him. Lying on the ground, piled up in an exhausted heap, were a very familiar man, a very familiar woman, and a very familiar Meowth.
"Team Rocket?!" he shouted, forgetting to keep his voice down. The three criminals looked over at the sound of his voice, eyes shooting open wide as they realized who had stumbled across them.
"Twerp?!" they all exclaimed at once, scrambling to their feet and running out from behind the bush, in order to get a clear line of sight. Ash glared angrily at them for a moment, but his anger gave way to shock as he took in the state of them. All of them were dangerously skinny, their faces gaunt, as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. Their eyes were tired, with large bags under each of them, as if they hadn't slept in the same amount of time. They all looked as though they could be toppled over with a light breeze. As Ash's friends ran up behind him, each of them quickly came to the same conclusion.
"What are you all doing here?" Ash demanded.
"That's our line," Jessie managed, her voice wavering. "Now, prepare for… protect from… deforestation…"
"To unite… our reach with… stars… surrender…" James mumbled, his eyes unfocused.
"Meowth, that's… Meowth," the cat Pokémon concluded.
An awkward silence followed, filled only by the continued low drone of the helicopter, as the exhausted and unsteady criminals stared down Ash and his friends. This was normally the part where Team Rocket sent out their Pokémon to attack, but no such thing happened. The two groups just kept their eyes on each other.
"Are you guys… okay?" Serena dared to ask.
"We don't need your pity!" Jessie retorted angrily, pointing forward. "Yanmega, Sonic Boom!" Ash reflexively looked around for the incoming attack, but there was no attack or Pokémon to be found. Another silence reigned for a moment.
"You need to send Yanmega out first," James advised, his voice weak.
"I know that!" Jessie shouted. She reached down toward her hip, grasping a Poké Ball in her hand. As she reared her arm back to toss the ball, she continued leaning backward until she toppled over onto her back, groaning.
"Ah! Jessie!" James and Meowth started moving toward her to help, but their malnourished bodies gave out almost immediately, and they fell right back into the heap Ash had found them in. None of them made an effort to get back up.
Ash and his friends stared in dumb disbelief at the pile of villains in front of them, all of them wondering how this trio had found themselves in such a state. Their wondering was cut short as all of them were lit up in a bright light. The trainers spun around and found themselves faced with the same Team Rocket helicopter they had been hiding from minutes before, all of them having pushed the increasingly loud propeller out of their minds.
Inside the helicopter, Cassidy was giddy as she looked out at the treasure trove in front of her. She leaned forward and spoke into a microphone attached to her control panel, her voice taunting and excited at the same time. "What do we have here? Not only did we find the traitors, but we found the brats, too!"
"The boss is going to fall in love with us when he sees this!" Butch proclaimed. "He's going to promote us as high as promotions can go!"
Cassidy watched with amusement as Ash ordered his Pikachu to attack with a Thunderbolt. The mouse Pokémon charged up for a moment before releasing a powerful bolt directly at the helicopter. The attack made contact, but the electricity arced harmlessly around the reinforced outside of the helicopter, leaving the engine and the occupants unharmed.
"You're a day late and a dollar short, brat!" Cassidy declared, trying not to laugh. "We're prepared for you and your little Pikachu! All of our tech repels electricity now!"
The two gangsters brought the helicopter closer, savoring the panicked expression on the faces of those below them. Ash was the first to turn and start running, with his Pikachu running behind him. His friends soon followed, all of them abandoning the fallen Team Rocket trio and running for cover.
Cassidy could no longer hold her laughter in, chortling with delight as she flew after them. "Run while you can, you little rats! You won't be getting away from us this time!"
Butch chuckled as well, reaching for the control panel. "Let's see how well they run after this!" He pressed a bright orange button on the control panel, and an orange ball shot out of the bottom of the helicopter, directly toward the fleeing trainers. The ball burst upon hitting the ground, exploding into a large cloud of sparkling, orange mist. One by one, the trainers collapsed to the ground, their limbs seizing up and their lungs spasming at the sudden onslaught of Stun Spore.
"Perfect shot!" Butch congratulated himself, grinning at the satisfying sight in front of him.
"And now…" Cassidy pressed another button, and a net shot out to ensnare the helpless trainers and their Pokémon. As its connecting rope began to retract and pull it back toward the helicopter, the net wrapped itself around the immobilized trainers and began pulling them along. Soon, all of them were hanging helplessly in the air, unable to escape or even move.
"Yes!" Cassidy clenched her fists excitedly, elated. "Finally, those meddling runts are all ours!"
"Don't forget about the traitors," Butch advised.
"I didn't forget!" she responded, turning the helicopter back toward the other unconscious figures on the ground. A second net quickly had them tangled and captive, dangling in the air next to Ash and his friends.
"We got them!" Butch proclaimed. "Mission accomplished! Three Team Rocket traitors, with a side of twerps!"
"Giovanni will fall in love with us when he sees this!" Cassidy exclaimed. "He's going to make us his top Kalos operatives!"
"And then once we take out Team Ace, this whole region is going to belong to Team Rocket!" he added, getting swept up in his partner's excitement. They both laughed in delight as the helicopter flew upward, and they started making their way toward the regional Team Rocket headquarters, with their helpless prisoners in tow.
Down on the ground, Ash and the others watched cautiously as Butch and Cassidy's helicopter flew off into the distance, two empty nets hanging beneath the cockpit. Their partly giddy, partly maniacal laughter continued to ring out, broadcasted over a loudspeaker, as they flew away as fast as their vehicle would carry them. None of the trainers dared to move until the helicopter was just a speck on the horizon.
"Phew… I think we're okay, now." Serena turned toward her Delphox, who was standing beside her. "Thanks for the Confuse Ray, Delphox." The Pokémon nodded in response, wearing a sly smile as she often did.
"Thank goodness." Madison let out a relieved breath, leaning forward on Absol's back. "I thought we were done for…"
Iris nodded in agreement, taking a moment to try and calm herself. Once her heart rate had gone down, she turned her gaze toward the three lying in a heap on the ground. "What do we do about them, though?"
Everyone stared quietly at the former Team Rocket members for a few moments, torn. All of them, save for Madison, had been hounded relentlessly by this trio in the past, for months or even years. None of these criminals had earned the slightest bit of clemency. At the moment, however, it was hard to reconcile the relentless thieves they knew with the pathetic, pitiable people in front of them now. Unconscious, emaciated and exhausted, the three of them looked more like refugees than criminals. Silence covered the forest once again, as the group weighed their options and their emotions together.
"We can't just leave them here," Ash eventually spoke, breaking the silence. His voice had a resigned tone to it. "We need to help them somehow."
"You're right," Serena agreed. "Just… let's be careful, alright?"
Everyone else eagerly agreed with this sentiment. Several of them released Pokémon to help carry the trio along, and soon all of them were on the move once again, looking for a cave in which they could hide.
Twenty minutes later, all of them were holed up in a cave they had found in the side of the cliff, finally resting their weary feet. A rock wall had been hastily constructed to block the light from their campfire, assembled mainly by Brock's Geodude and Serena's Delphox. The trainers were sitting in a semi-circle around the fire, watching in stupefied silence as the half-starved Jessie, James and Meowth wolfed down food at a breakneck pace. Each of them had finished a first helping in under three minutes, and they were now on their second, draining all of the excess food from Brock's reserves.
The three of them finished their food at roughly the same time, setting their bowls aside and sitting back, feeling the satisfaction of a full stomach for the first time in weeks. With their mouths finally unoccupied, Brock saw an opportunity to ask some questions.
"What happened to all of you?" he asked.
"We've been on the run for weeks," Meowth answered, lying on his back and staring at the cave ceiling. "Every Rocket in Kalos is after our hides."
"Everywhere we go, there are members of Team Rocket trying to capture us," James elaborated. "We can't show our faces in public. If we even stop to get a bite to eat, they'll find us and start hounding us day and night."
"So that's why you're all half-starved," Madison observed, a hint of pity in her voice.
"Why are they all after you?" Iris asked, sitting up with her arms around her knees. "What did you do?"
The trio looked at each other for a moment, wondering which of them would give the answer. Ash beat all of them to the punch.
"It's because of me, isn't it?" he spoke up. "It's because you saved me from Biff and Cassidy."
"That's right," Jessie answered bitterly. "We all went out of our way to make sure you didn't drown - which you haven't thanked us for, by the way," she added with a sneer, "and our reward was to have our lives ruined. That's what I get for trying to do something good for a twerp."
Ash was incensed. "You want me to act all grateful after you spent years tormenting me and trying to capture my Pikachu?!"
"Look, kid, that was just part of the job," Meowth insisted. "It wasn't anything personal."
"It sure felt personal," Ash retorted coldly.
"He saved you from them, too," Serena interjected. "And you're getting a meal from us. That's gratitude enough, isn't it?" Jessie hmphed and turned away, arms folded.
"It looks like you're all done eating," Brock observed. "I'll get Geodude to open up the wall so you can leave." His tone of voice indicated that this was not a suggestion.
"Yes… about that…" James began, before getting down on his knees and bowing his head toward Brock, clapping his hands together. "Please, let us rest here tonight!"
"No!" Iris responded. "You think we're going to trust you around us while we're sleeping? No way!"
"We ain't gonna do anything, we swear!" Meowth pleaded, kneeling besides James and mimicking his stance. "We haven't slept right in weeks! We just need one night's rest!"
"How are we supposed to know that?" Serena demanded. "How do we know you won't steal all our Pokémon and run off once we're asleep? How do we know all of this isn't one big lie?"
"No! We would never do such a thing!" James insisted. "We wouldn't betray someone's kindness like that!"
"It wouldn't be the first time," Brock retorted angrily. James and Meowth looked toward him despondently, before turning their gaze toward Jessie, seeking some support. She continued to look away, refusing to debase herself in front of her longtime foes.
"They can stay."
Everyone in the room turned toward Ash, shocked. He was gazing down at the astonished Pikachu sitting in his lap, looking frustrated and defeated, as if his words had been wrung out of him.
"Ash, you don't actually trust them, do you?" Iris asked, her eyes wide.
"I don't trust them one bit," he responded. "That's why I'm going to be keeping an eye on them. I'll make sure they don't do anything."
"You're what?!" Madison sounded even more incredulous than Iris. "You're going to stay up all night?"
"No, he won't," Serena answered in Ash's stead. "I'll watch them for part of the night so he can sleep."
"Me, too," Brock added. "We'll take shifts." Iris nodded and voiced her agreement as well.
James slumped forward, nearly passing out from sheer relief. "Oh, thank you! You won't have anything to worry about, we promise!"
"That's right!" Meowth added. "We'll be the best houseguests you ever had!"
The two of them looked toward Jessie for confirmation, followed by everyone else. She refused to say anything for a few moments, but under the collective, judgmental gaze of everyone else in the cave, she eventually relented.
"…Thanks," she muttered, as quietly as she could manage while still being heard. Her face bore the pained expression of someone who had just had a tooth pulled.
"We should probably just get to sleep," Ash spoke, looking up. "It's late, and we're all tired. I'll take first watch."
Everyone else quietly agreed, and the circle around the campfire slowly broke apart as everyone moved away. The traveling trainers all pulled out their sleeping bags and started making themselves comfortable, while the three Rockets had to make do with the hard ground. Ash reached for his belt and released several of his Pokémon, in order to help him keep watch for the next couple of hours.
One hour later, the cave had gone mostly silent, as nearly everyone within was asleep. The fire was weakly crackling, keeping everyone warm, and there was the sound of light snoring from one of the Rockets, but it wasn't clear which one. Ash kept a sleepy but vigilant watch over all of them, trying his best to keep his eyes open. He had spent the first half-hour watching Team Rocket with a careful eye, but when it became clear that they were completely asleep, he had allowed his attention to wander from time to time. Pikachu was sleeping deeply on his lap.
Ash heard a weak growl over to his left, and glanced over toward the source of the sound. Houndour was lying down with his head raised, watching over the group alongside Ash. His eyes were drooping from exhaustion, but he forced himself to stay awake so he could protect the trainers from trouble. Growlithe was sleeping happily and obliviously by his side, snuggling into him as much as she could. He had made no effort to move away from her.
"You should rest, Houndour," Ash whispered. "It's going to be a long night. We'll be fine."
Houndour ignored his suggestion, focusing hard on the three criminals curled up at the far end of the cave. Ash sighed and reached down, resting his hand on the dog Pokémon's head and starting to pet it gently. Houndour growled louder, as a warning, but Ash didn't pull away.
"Shh… just relax… it's alright…" he spoke in a soft, reassuring voice. Houndour continued to growl for a moment, but his growls soon turned to whimpers. His heavy head lowered until it was resting on the ground, and his eyes slowly drooped shut. Ash continued to pet Houndour until he could hear the Pokémon's breathing slow.
A muffled coo of delight drew his attention away. He looked over to see Serena lying on her stomach in her sleeping bag, smiling at him.
"Hey," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. "What are you doing awake?"
"I couldn't sleep," she answered. "Want some company?"
He gave her a wide grin. "That sounds great." She slid out of her sleeping bag, walking over and sitting next to him on the ground.
"How are you holding up? Tired?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm tired, but I'm okay. I can make it another hour until Iris takes over."
"That's good." She looked toward their unexpected guests. "They haven't been any trouble, have they?"
"Nah." He shook his head. "They haven't budged all night. I had to check and make sure they were still breathing, at one point. I guess they really were exhausted."
"Yeah…" She bit her lip briefly. "I feel kind of bad for doubting them, now… they looked like they were at death's door when we found them."
"Don't feel bad," Ash replied, his voice low and bitter. "It wouldn't be the first time they pulled a nasty trick like that, like Brock said. Every time I start to think I can let down my guard around them, I can't. I'll never trust them."
"I get it," she responded. "How long were they after you?"
"They hounded me for years," he answered. "From the day my journey started. Long before I came to Kalos, and long after I left. They finally stopped when I was twelve, traveling through Sinnoh."
Her eyebrows raised. "What happened then?"
"They finally captured Pikachu," he answered. "For real, that time."
"Oh my gosh." Serena's hand moved to cover her mouth. "How?"
"They used Sleep Powder on us while we were camping out. By the time I woke up, they were long gone, and so was Pikachu." Ash grimaced at the memory. "It took me a week to finally track him down. That was the worst week of my life. I barely ate. I barely slept. He was the only thing I could think about."
"I'm so sorry, Ash…" She reached out and rest her hand on his shoulder, trying to alleviate some of the pain from the memory. He relaxed slightly from her touch and continued.
"I eventually tracked him down to a Team Rocket lab, with Officer Jenny and a bunch of other police. I got all of my strongest Pokémon, and we all stormed the place together. We freed a bunch of captured Pokémon, and they arrested a bunch of Rockets. Pikachu was in there, sitting in some giant cage, like he was their big prize. I had Charizard smash it open. I was so relieved I almost collapsed, right there."
Ash's eyes flicked over to the former Rockets. "Those three were there, but they got away somehow. I wanted to go after them, but Officer Jenny told me not to… probably a good idea." He looked back down at his Pikachu, who was still asleep on his lap. "I thought they were just going to come back and try to get Pikachu like they always did, but I didn't see them again. But I was still looking over my shoulder for months after that."
Serena was rubbing his shoulder gently as he recounted the story, waiting for him to release the tension he was holding in his body. "Maybe that's why they were all fired from Team Rocket. Losing a lab and everyone in it would be a big loss."
"Probably," he agreed. "I was hoping I would never have to deal with them again, but…"
"Yeah… but you let them stay here with us," she pointed out. "You were the only one on their side."
"Mm." He kept his eyes low. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for them. They didn't have any reason to save me, but they did."
"Maybe they aren't as bad as you thought," she suggested.
"They're definitely bad," he responded defensively. He paused for a moment, as he pictured the enraged face of Cassidy, back in the Battle Chateau. "But… they could be worse."
The two of them continued to make hushed small talk with each other for the next hour, waiting for Iris to relieve Ash of his shift. By his side, Houndour was sleeping deeply, his chin resting on top of Growlithe's head.
Geodude punched through the rock wall that hid the entrance to the cave, letting in the light of the morning sun. Everyone winced and covered their eyes while they adjusted, as Geodude continued punching rocks away, until a suitable passage had been made. Ash and his friends were the first to step out into the forest, with the former Team Rocket members following behind them.
"Alright, you've had your meal and your rest," Brock said, turning to face their unexpected guests. "Now you all can leave."
"And no following us," Iris added. She pointed out toward the forest, back toward Anistar City. "You all go that way. If we see any of you again, we won't be as nice next time."
"Yeah, we get it," Meowth responded. "We won't bother youse again."
"We can make it on our own from here," James added. "Thanks again for letting us rest." Jessie stayed silent, refusing to look at anyone else present.
After an awkward pause, Jessie, James and Meowth turned and started walking into the forest, in the direction Iris had indicated. Ash and the others stayed in place, watching them as long as they could, until the trio were no longer visible. They eventually resumed their journey toward Couriway Town, keeping a careful lookout as they traveled.
"Do you think they'll be alright?" Madison dared to ask.
"They'll be fine," Ash replied flatly. "They've always bounced back from whatever trouble they're in, as long as I've known them."
Madison resisted the urge to reply with "that's good." Secretly, however, all of them were hoping that nothing horribly bad happened to the trio, even if they weren't sure why.
"How completely humiliating," Jessie groused, once she and her former teammates had traveled out of earshot of the Twerp Brigade. "We were supposed to be the ones in control, with all of them begging us for mercy. And instead we're the ones begging them for food and shelter."
"What choice did we have?" James replied. "It was either that or we starve. Or get captured."
"Yeah, and then Team Rocket skins us alive," Meowth added. He turned back to face Jessie, glaring angrily at her. "Thanks for that, Jess."
"Excuse me?!" Her eyes flared. "How is this my fault?!"
"You were the one with the bright idea to chase down that airship!" Meowth stopped walking and turned around to face Jessie. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in hot water like this!"
"Don't act like I did that all by myself!" she retorted, standing her ground. "All three of us went after them! You were both saying how you couldn't let the twerp go out like that! I didn't hear either of you complaining back then!"
"That's a fair point…" James muttered weakly, in Jessie's defense. Meowth was not swayed.
"I wasn't complaining when all we were doing was saving the twerp! I was all ready to leave after cutting open that bag of water! But then you had to go start a fight and get us all in trouble with Team Rocket!"
Jessie was caught off-guard by this accusation. "That… that's because…" She struggled for a moment to come up with an acceptable rationale.
"Hey, that's right!" James jumped in, easily convinced by Meowth's argument. "We could have just left with his Pikachu! He was all captured for us! All we had to do was make sure the twerp didn't drown! Now we'll never have our chance to rejoin Team Rocket! They'll never let us back in after what we did!"
"They sure won't. We'll be lucky if they don't throw us in the dungeon," Meowth added, keeping his angry gaze fixed on an increasingly flustered Jessie. "So what's your next master plan, genius? What's your secret for getting the boss off our backs and getting us back into Team Rocket now?" He cupped his paw to his ear mockingly. "Go ahead! We're all ears!"
Jessie's fists were clenched tightly in anger. She wasn't used to having her partners teaming up against her like this. She was supposed to be the one in charge, but now the situation was getting away from her, which only made her frustration grow. As Meowth leaned in to listen to her brilliant plan for rejoining their old employer, she snapped, shouting into his ear as loud as she could.
"I couldn't care less about rejoining Team Rocket!"
Meowth yelped in pain, covering his ears to block out the sound of her yell. Once the pain has subsided, he stared up at her with wide eyes, not sure he had heard her correctly. "You… what?!"
"You heard what I said!" she responded, too worked up to back down now. "I gave those creeps what they deserve! And I'd do it again! If I never see Team Rocket again, it'll be too soon!"
James was taken aback as well. "Jessie, what are you talking about? You're turning your back on them?"
"They turned their backs on us first!" she insisted, still shouting. "Half a lifetime of faithful service, dedicating ourselves to the cause, and this is the thanks we get! I gave them the best years of my life! What do I have to show for it now?! Nothing but a criminal record and wasted time!"
"If you didn't want a criminal record, why did you join a criminal team, you nitwit?!" Meowth shot back.
Jessie growled. "It's complicated, alright?!"
"Psh, yeah, right! You're as complicated as a brick. Don't act like you're any better than us. We're all here for the same reason. We're just a bunch of no-goodniks, deep down."
"Speak for yourself." She grumbled and folded her arms, looking away. "This is not where I saw myself when I was growing up. I wanted to be a superhero. I was training to be a nurse! I wanted to help people! How did I end up like this?"
"You, a superhero?" Meowth responded, incredulous. "More like a supervillain! You're the most rotten of all of us!"
"Say that again?!" Jessie bared her teeth at him, enraged.
"Honestly, he has a point," James spoke up meekly. "Your morals were always more… flexible than ours."
"You shut up!" she barked, whirling about to face him. "You'll never understand what I had to put up with my entire life! You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth! You had everything you wanted, and you gave it all up! I never had any of that!" James took a wary step backward as she continued.
"When you don't have anything to your name, you learn to do what it takes to survive," she explained, long-suppressed memories and emotions bursting out of her like water through a broken dam. "You steal one meal from a restaurant, just so you don't starve. You pick one person's pocket and steal their wallet, so you can have clothes without holes in them for the winter. You join a biker gang, so you always have friends around to protect you from being mugged. You take a job with a group like Team Rocket, so you can have a steady paycheck and a roof over your head."
She looked down and gripped her sleeves tightly, the memories making her gradually more bitter. "You always tell yourself that this is the last time, that you're only doing what you have to do. Then one day you wake up and look at yourself in the mirror, and you realize you've given your life over to a criminal organization for years. And you stay there because you have nowhere else to go. You have nobody to turn to, because everyone who was ever close to you abandoned you a long time ago. Abandoned by my mother, by my foster family, by my friends… I was the only person I ever had." There was a moment of silence as her words lingered in the air.
"Well, ain't that a touching story," Meowth lamented in false sympathy, before reverting to his previous anger. "So then why the heck did you have to hang around with us?! You coulda just stayed in Lumiose City and ruined your own life! You didn't have to ruin ours, too!"
"What was I supposed to do?" she shot back. "Just stay in Lumiose City by myself, working as a waitress? Was that supposed to be my life plan?"
"You just told us how much you loathed Team Rocket!" James jumped in. "And on our last day, you were telling us you would be okay working in a restaurant for the rest of your life!"
"I didn't…" Jessie reflexively jumped to her own defense, but the memory of their conversation unearthed itself at that moment, stilling her tongue. "I…"
"That's right!" Meowth added triumphantly. "I remember it clear as day!"
"So then, why did you do it?" James demanded. "Why would you leave that behind and go back to something you hate so much? It makes no sense!"
Jessie was trembling now from head to toe with frustration and embarrassment, her fists clenched tightly as she stared back into James's accusing eyes. "Are you really going to make me say it…?"
"Make you say what?" he replied in confusion. She growled and thrust her hand out in front of her, pointing right at him.
"It was because of you, you idiot!" she roared. "The whole reason I left was because of you!"
James froze where he stood, his eyes as wide as saucers. "W… what…?"
Jessie glared back at him, her anger finally starting to fade after her outburst, though her hands still trembled as they did before. She could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, and she hated herself for it. She felt weak, and vulnerable, and all of the things she had told herself she could never be if she wanted to survive. She had no recourse now, however. She had peeled back one layer of mental defenses after another, exposing more and more of herself to her former teammates. Now the naked, fragile truth was all she had left.
"You were the only one, James," she uttered quietly, her voice quivering. "The only one who didn't abandon me."
James barely breathed, barely blinked, as Jessie's admission crashed into him like a tidal wave. His mind came to a screeching halt, overwhelmed by this revelation and everything that came with it. Once he could think properly again, he found his anger quickly consumed by guilt. How much grief had she put herself through for his sake over the past couple of months? Over the past several years? As he recovered from his shock, a resolute expression crossed his face.
Jessie and Meowth blinked in surprise as James reached down to remove his gray Team Rocket shirt, leaving him in his black undershirt. Both observers gasped as he turned it upside down and began tearing the front of it in half, his muscles straining with the effort.
"James! What on Earth are you doing?!" Meowth exclaimed.
"What does it look like?" he answered, as the red R was separated into two pieces. "I'm tendering my resignation."
"But why?" Jessie asked, eyes wide. "You've always loved Team Rocket!"
"Maybe," he responded, tearing through the collar and dropping the destroyed shirt to the ground. "But like you said, I haven't abandoned you yet." He lifted his eyes to meet hers, offering a reassuring smile. "And I'm not going to start now."
Jessie was dumbstruck. His words were a direct strike on the soul she had bared to him. She could feel her final mental barrier, which had stood strong for more than twenty years, shattering and crumbling to dust.
At that moment, the dam finally burst.
"You…" She felt her legs give out, and she collapsed to her knees. "You idiot…" She reached up and covered her eyes with her arm, trying to hide her tears from her companions. "Why'd you have to go and do something like that…"
James quickly stepped forward, concerned, and kneeled down in front of her. He reached out and rest his hands on her shoulders, half-expecting her to back off, but she didn't push him away. She continued to sniffle, occasionally making a choking noise that sounded like a suppressed sob, as James and Meowth watched in silence. After a minute of this, she quieted down and started rubbing her eyes with her arm.
"…Thank you," she spoke quietly, her voice gentler than either of them had heard before. James just smiled and nodded in response.
"Hey, uh… I hate to interrupt the moment," Meowth spoke up, interrupting the moment. "But we probably shouldn't be hanging around here any longer. We're still persona non grata around these parts. Who knows when those two goons will come back looking for us again? We gotta move."
"You're right." James removed his hands from Jessie's shoulders and stood up. "We need to get to Anistar City. It'll be easier to hide there."
"Right." Jessie finally lowered her arm and stood up. "We need a plan for how to get Team Rocket off our backs. And we still have a score to settle with those Team Ace punks. I don't trust those do-gooders as far as I can throw them."
"Let's get moving, then," Meowth replied. "We can plan out our next move once we've found someplace to hide out."
"We?" Jessie's eyebrows raised. "Meowth, you aren't leaving? Even if we're abandoning Team Rocket?"
"Yeah, well…" Meowth shifted a bit uncomfortably, almost as guarded as Jessie was. "As much as I wanna be the boss's top cat again… I've hung around you two lugs way too long to leave now. We're all stuck together like glue."
James grinned down at him. "That's the spirit! We may not be Rockets, but we'll always be a team." He extended his hand out in front of him, resting it in the air between all three of them.
Meowth grinned and reached up, resting his paw on top of James's hand. "All for one, and one for all!" Jessie reached out as well to complete the gesture, her heart feeling lighter than it had in decades.
As soon as the three of them withdrew their hands, Jessie grabbed at her Team Rocket shirt and peeled it off, leaving her in her black undershirt. She turned the shirt upside-down and tore it in half down the middle, with far greater ease than James had done. She balled the torn garment up and tossed it into the forest, before turning and resuming her trek toward Anistar City. James and Meowth followed behind her, with renewed energy.
Author's Note: The end of chapter 2 has been slightly reworked, to account for a continuity change.