Control
Disclaimer: Team Rocket and Pokemon belong to the Japanese and Nintendo. I don't own anything etc…
Authors Notes: Well this is the sequel to Future Sight. I apologise for any spelling or grammar mistakes but I haven't had time to read this chapter through before posting it ^_^ But I think its mostly alright. (I hope) anyway enjoy!!!
Prologue:
The helicopter tore the leaves from the trees, as it made it's decent to the ground slowly and carefully. A few Spearow flew out from their nests cawing angrily at being disturbed from their roosts at this time in the evening. As the helicopter set down ten men dressed in head to foot in black raced out and began scanning the area. Once they were satisfied that there was no one in sight the leader called to the couple in the helicopter to come out. They did so cautiously looking around as they stepped out from the safety of their aircraft. The female hung onto the man's arm smiling slyly as she saw the guards on either side of them. "Its this way sir" the lead guard said. The man whom he addressed just smiled coldly and nodded for them to lead the way. The walk was silent and only the wind rustling through the trees disturbed the deadly calm as they reached the area in question. It was a clearing about as big two football stadiums. Rubble and stones were all that was left of the building that once stood here. It had been like that for almost a year now. Even wild Pokemon kept away from this area. This clearing alone had housed evil itself. This was the clearing that at one time the Team Rocket main headquarters had stood.
The man smiled again and motioned for his men to begin their work sifting through the debris quietly and not speaking. The man knew that the police had destroyed all the Team Rocket HQ's after the leader was killed by a woman who worked for him. This was all he had been able to find out so far. The police had covered up what really took place in the HQ well but not well enough. He would find out what it was that was so terrible that the police thought it should be forgotten. The woman hanging onto his arm was also digging through the wreckage. After a few minutes passed no one seemed to have found anything interesting. This was no matter though. He had other ways of finding things out. It was time to rap this operation up. Then a cry went up from a man working a little further away than the others. The man jogged over to him and pushed through the men who had crowded round. The guard in question had come across an old filing cabinet. It was blackened and the heat from the fire had bent it out of shape. The guard was having a lot of trouble getting it open.
"Help him you fools" the leader snapped to two men on his left. They did so and after a huge amount of effort the cabinet opened. The woman pushed her way through and picked out the contents. Most of the files were burned to such an extent that reading them would be impossible. The man sighed and started back to the helicopter. Once in with the woman beside him he turned to her. "Can you make anything out from those files?"
"Maybe" she replied flipping a stray lock of fire red hair over her shoulder. "But it will take time"
"Time? That is one thing we do not have!" the man said sharply. "I need to know now!"
"Look" the woman, snapped, anger burning in her eyes. "It would be a lot easier if we had tried to get in with what Giovanni was doing right from the start!"
"Giovanni was a fool! He thought he could do what he wished and look what happened to him"
"What makes you any different?"
"Shut up!" the man slapped her hard across the face. The woman clutched her cheek and looked at him a smile playing across her lips "I love it when you get violent"
"Just get me some answers" he turned away to signal the conversation was over. He had to get some answers otherwise his efforts would all be in vain.
1 Chapter One: Starting again
Meowth didn't want to get up that morning. It was Saturday and he planned to sleep in until midday at least as he didn't have anywhere to be today. But this was no ordinary day so with a sigh the cat forced his body to get up and stretch as he debated whether or not to go and see if his friends were up yet. Normally they would be still asleep too as none of them had work on Saturday or Sunday but Meowth had a feeling that today would be different. Today was a year since Meowth got attacked by Butch and Cassidy thus starting a chain of events that would change his, and the lives of his three friends forever. It had all started after the Butch and Cassidy incident in Goldenrod City. After that embarrassment they had been lying low in the woods outside the city waiting for the twerp trio to stumble into the pitfall trap they had dug earlier in the day for them. So far the twerps had not been by, which didn't really bother them because of Ash's obvious lack of map reading skills they had got lost again. Meowth had been tucked into his sleeping bag that morning trying to get in a few more minutes kip before Jesse and James woke him up. Indeed there had been movement from his human friends and the cat had got up to find that Jesse and James were gone. This didn't worry Meowth but Jesse had been so distant towards James lately that he thought something might be up. Of course Meowth knew that it was the humiliation they had to suffer day in day out at the hands of those kids that was getting to her. Well he had thought that until he caught up with her down by a small river deep in the woods. What concerned him further was that James wasn't with her. Maybe there was more to this than Meowth had first thought. Meowth sat down beside her and asked if she was ok. Her reply startled him.
"Yeah" Jesse replied. "I know it's not his fault but every time Meowth." He knew she was talking about James messing up missions. True they all messed up but James had a real talent for it. Meowth did honestly wonder if the purple haired male wanted to succeed at all? Meowth wanted to choose his words carefully, he hated siding with anyone of his friends but it came out all wrong.
"I don't tink he means it Jess. Jimmy can't help being stupid." Whoa! Where the hell had that come from? James was one of the kindest humans Meowth knew. He was also one of the cleverest but James was also naïve not that Meowth blamed him. James had led a pretty sheltered life in comparison to himself and Jesse. Being a little naïve didn't make James stupid it just made him more innocent to the world and how cruel it could be. Meowth wished he could take that back but Jesse was speaking again now. "He's just a bit slow" Jesse replied. "But I see you're point. Every time we plan a mission James messes it up"
That was true too but hearing that from Jesse? Maybe the Goldenrod incident had left a rift between the two of them that might never be mended. Meowth wanted to say some more but a movement out of the corner of his eye made him look round. What the cat saw nearly made his heart break. James was making his way back to their campsite. His back was too them but Meowth could tell just how hurt he was. He must have heard every single word we said about him Meowth thought. Jesse remained unaware of James' presence as they made their own way back to camp. When they got there James was sleeping again. Jesse went to her bag and got out her hairbrush. Meowth had been about to suggest to Jesse that they made James breakfast as an apology when the male in question bolted up from his sleeping bag. Meowth tensed up as James asked them where they had been but there was something different about him. James seemed sort of panicky. Meowth said that he and Jesse had been down by the river. To his surprise James didn't mention the fact that he saw and heard what they were saying at all and instead started rambling that Officer Jenny and the twerp were heading this way. Meowth hadn't believed him until he had heard for himself that the twerp was intending on turning them in. James then told them that a Nidorina would attack Jenny and Ash and so they would have time to flee. This did indeed happen and they got away. James had then announced that he knew what was going to happen because he could predict the future. Meowth and Jesse had both thought he was making it up at first but after a few tests they were astonished to find out that James was right. Meowth had to give James the credit for seeing what a great opportunity this was for them and they started using James' 'Future Sight' as Meowth had dubbed it after the Pokemon attack to complete missions and finally reclaim their place as Giovanni's favourites.
Then everything started to go wrong. Giovanni gave them time off to spend in a Team Rocket cabin outside Violet City. Jesse had gone shopping and James was still asleep, Meowth had noticed how tired he was getting lately but had thought nothing of it. Meowth was watching TV when he heard a bang on the door. When he opened it Butch and Cassidy were standing the other side. Meowth tried to cry out as they grabbed him and stuffed him into a sack. They took him to a shed deep in the woods and tortured him until he told them what James could do. Meowth regretted that to this day but he was in so much pain that he gave in. Meowth had felt so bad but he was sure that Jesse could handle those two. Meowth had somehow managed to get back to the cabin and Jesse had taken care of him. He told her that wild Pokemon attacked him. Meowth was in so much pain that he thought the truth could wait for a bit. Sadly his hesitation was what did it. Whilst he was asleep James received a call from Giovanni summoning him to Viridian City. Meowth was terrified when he learned that James had gone. Giovanni had found out about the future sight. When Meowth finally told Jesse what had really happened she too suspected what he did. Giovanni would try to use James like he had tried to use Mewtwo. They got on the train to Saffron City where Mondo would be waiting for them. Once there Jesse planned to go to Viridian City, break into the HQ and save James. Meowth had wanted to go with her but Jesse left whilst he was sleeping. Meowth had been furious with Mondo for letting Jesse go but the boy had, had a crush on Jesse for as long as Meowth could remember and would never go against her. Meowth was sensible enough to realise that if he and Mondo also went into the HQ looking for James then it would jeopardize Jesse's chances of reaching James so he tried a different tactic. He and Mondo went to Viridian City and disabled the power to the HQ hoping that would turn Giovanni's attention from his prisoner long enough for Jesse to get James out of there. Meowth and Mondo had waited ages but Jesse still didn't appear and the boy was getting hysterical thinking that he had let Jesse go to her death. Meowth then made a decision that went against everything bone in his body. He went to the police for help.
Whilst they had been worrying about James, something bad was happening in Kanto too. Team Rocket agents appeared in force and started destroying the gyms, kidnapping gym leaders and trainers. The police were completely out of their depth with this new wave of crime and since they had no sufficient knowledge of Team Rocket or their leader they had no power to stop this. Then the Orange Islands were hit and chaos was upon them. Meowth told Officer Jenny that he would tell her all she needed to know about the leader of Team Rocket and where to find him if she helped rescue his friends and granted them all immunity to charges. Jenny was at her wits end and agreed to his terms. Meowth had thought that Giovanni was a good man at one time. He had after all rescued Meowth and gave him a home. But Meowth then realised that Giovanni had been trying to use him for his abilities and once Giovanni knew that Meowth knew this he sent him out on the field with Jesse and James. Meowth and Mondo were then forced to wait at the police station for news of their friends. Finally after several hours Jenny came back but the news was not good. According to her there had been some sort of struggle between them and the rocket Boss. When Jenny and her officers burst in they found one member of Team Rocket unconscious at the top of a flight of stairs and another lying at the bottom also unconscious. Meowth learned later that the agents were Butch and Cassidy and they had helped Jesse try to rescue James. After what they did to him Meowth was shocked to say the least. But Jesse and James had been friends with them at one point and maybe the other two remembered that friendship. Meowth had demanded to know where Jesse and James were. Jenny told him that Jesse was fine but James had been hurt in the struggle and was seriously ill. Meowth and Mondo rushed to the hospital and found Jesse sitting in the waiting room crying. She told them that the future sight had a curse. The viewings James had been doing for the Boss left him exhausted and he had slipped into a coma after Giovanni struck him. Lillian, the doctor who had given James the TM to begin with had told them that the chances of their friend recovering were not very good. This devastated Jesse. Meowth couldn't describe what he was feeling when Lillian told them. It had been his fault! He told Butch and Cassidy what James could do. He should have known better. If had known what was going to happen he would have rather died than betray James like that and now he would die because of Meowth. The cat was so upset that he refused to see James and remained in the waiting room with Mondo who was also too upset to see him.
It had been a week and James had failed to wake. Meowth had begun to loose hope when Jesse came out and told them the news. James was awake but the future sight was gone. Meowth was sure that his friend would hate him but he and James had a long talk whilst Jesse was catching up on some sleep and Meowth was relieved to find out that James did not hate him and never would. Meowth also learned that this had been going on for years when James first joined Team Rocket. Giovanni had been using James from the beginning subjecting him to the TM experiment and then making him forget all about it. Meowth had been worried that this experience would change his friend forever but he needn't of worried. This just made James wiser to the world and he seemed to have grown from the experience. And there were some good things to come out of it. Jesse and James' relationship for one thing. Meowth had always known his friends would get together eventually and that near disaster made them finally admit that they loved each other. Meowth was happy for them, as they were perfect for each other. They were opposites but that made their relationship stronger. Jesse was strong and still protected James and her love for him made her want to look after him stronger. She had enough confidence for both of them even through she still had a short temper at times James mellowed it often enough and kept her from getting into too much trouble. James' gentle and caring nature balanced both personalities and Meowth could honestly say that their relationship would last. Still Jesse had grown as a person too. When Officer Jenny came to them when James was discharged from hospital offering police help in finding them jobs and a place to live Jesse accepted. Jesse was like Meowth and didn't trust the police as far as she could throw them but James was still weak and they needed somewhere secure to go. Jesse agreed not because she wanted too but because she wanted to make sure that their future was safe. Jenny was the one who got them this cottage just outside Saffron City and got them their jobs. Jesse worked in the Pokemon centre helping nurse Joy with the sick and injured Pokemon. Nurse Joy was also giving her a second chance to earn that nursing certificate she always wanted. But this was the human course and not the Chansey course Jesse had enrolled into before. It took a few months but when James recovered enough he started work in the newly rebuilt Saffron City gym. How Jenny had persuaded Sabrina to employ an ex rocket was beyond him especially as Team Rocket destroyed her gym and held her captive in the first place. James looked after Sabrina's Pokemon there and the other psychic trainers Pokemon who used the gym. Meowth himself had a job in the game corner. The police discovered that it was a Team Rocket scam and closed it down but a few months ago it reopened when some honest people brought the business. Meowth was employed to hand out the coins. Because he could talk he often got huge tips but that wasn't the only reason he liked working there. Every Monday a trainer came in with his female Meowth, Mimi. Mimi was by far prettier than Meowsie was and Meowth was soon hopelessly in love with her. But Meowth was also afraid to speak to her. Meowsie had called him a freak and rejected him. What if Mimi did the same? Meowth had wanted to ask his friends for help on this matter but he was embarrassed. He often teased them about each other and if they knew Meowth had a love interest then he would never hear the end of it. He had told Mondo about Mimi. Mondo had gone to Pokemon tech to study after all this business with Giovanni was over. The police paid for his tuition fees of course but Mondo, according to his letters, was having the time of his life. Meowth missed the boy a lot but he was glad that Mondo was able to make something of his life before it was too late. He was a bright kid and that was wasted in Team Rocket. Meowth knew without out a doubt that the boy would go far in life.
Meowth snapped out of his daydreaming when he heard voices downstairs. Jesse and James must be up too he thought to himself I'd better go down there and see how they are. Meowth padded out into the hallway and down the stairs. He had a separate room from his human friends to give them privacy but he still missed curling up between them sometimes. When he got downstairs he saw that James was making them breakfast as normal and Jesse was in the front room watching one of those breakfast programmes. They were behaving like it was a normal morning. Meowth didn't know what to make of this. He didn't want to say anything but if he didn't then he was worried that they would think that he'd forgotten. Meowth jumped up onto the sofa beside Jesse. "Morning" he said trying not to sound too cheerful but not to sound too unhappy either.
"Morning" Jesse replied still engrossed in the TV.
Meowth pawed at the fabric of the sofa for a few minutes not knowing how to start this off. He decided that it would be better if he spoke to Jesse rather than James. Meowth wondered whether James had forgotten and if this was so then the last thing the cat wanted to do was remind him. Meowth looked back towards the kitchen. James was listening to the radio whilst making them pancakes. This was as good a time as any. "Hey Jess?" he said clearing his throat. He was glad that his tone of voice made her turn the sound down on the TV and pay him her full attention. "Yous know what today is right?" he asked. Jesse nodded, "That was all James and I talked about last night"
Meowth sighed with relief. "Great I was scared ta mention it ta Jimmy and den I thought yous had forgot and I didn't know what ta do"
"I'm sorry" Jesse said, her apologies though still usually rare had been more sincere over the last year and this time she looked genuinely upset. "We meant to tell you Meowth but we weren't going to mention it. That part of our lives is done now and I don't think James needs anymore reminders of it"
"Dats a good idea" Meowth agreed. "Just a normal day den?"
Jesse smiled, "Just a normal day" she echoed.
Whilst Jesse, James and Meowth enjoyed a good breakfast Butch and Cassidy were just getting up in neighbouring Celadon City. Whilst Jesse and James accepted police help when it was offered to them Butch and Cassidy refused and set out on their own. At the time they thought this was a smart move but now they were finding out just what a mistake that was. At the moment they were living in a one bedroom flat on the bad side of town. Cassidy worked in a café waiting on tables and Butch had a poorly paid clerical job that he'd only got because a friend of a friend worked there. His Boss was a jumped up 27-year-old tart who thought that just because she was in charge of one person it automatically made her a big Boss. She was forever telling him off for simple things like coming in a few minutes late or stopping typing on the computer for a few seconds trying to clear the headache that seemed almost constant at the moment. Butch thought it was his job and the stress bringing on these headaches but they came on when he was at home too. Cassidy was pushing for him to see a doctor but Butch didn't see the point. Usually a couple of aspirin cleared them up and if they didn't then a lie down would. Anyway they had bigger problems than a little headache.
Over the years that he'd known Cassidy, Butch had also known that he cared a lot for her and the attraction between them was undeniable but they still had fought it. Butch was a big believer in keeping his work separate from his private life. Getting involved with his partner was just not an option. In Team Rocket if teams did get into relationships then they would be split up and besides Butch had always felt that it screwed up a teams chances of success if they were emotionally involved with each other. Then if they split up it would wreck a perfectly good professional partnership. But Team Rocket was gone and Butch had considered making a move on her but Cassidy could be as unpredictable as Jesse and he had decided it was best to have a good friendship than a bad relationship. Cassidy he assumed had made the same decision but that all changed last night.
The advantage with the flat, well at the time of renting it they thought it was an advantage, was that it was fully furnished and was still cheap. If you could call the cardboard box for a table, the sofa with a spring stuck through the middle, a kitchen that looked like a medieval torture chamber and the double bed that was just a coffee stained mattress fully furnished. Because they had bills to pay they had still not sorted the flat out properly. Butch decided to be the gentleman when they first move in and offered Cassidy the choice of the bed or the floor. Naturally she picked the bed and Butch had to make do with a blanket on the floor. Last night Butch had come in with a killer headache and asked Cassidy if he could have the bed just for one night. She didn't seem that keen on sleeping on the floor either so Butch had the bright idea of sharing the bed. After all they were mature adults so it was no big deal. Well it would have been no big deal if Butch hadn't have kissed Cassidy. Things then just seemed to carry on from there and now he was lying naked beside her the next morning trying to work out what he wanted. It was Saturday so they didn't have to bother getting up. Cassidy was still snuggled against him her head resting on his shoulder. She looked so much happier and so much more content that Butch had seen her in a long time. He had really messed up last night. It wasn't that he didn't love Cassidy he did he loved her so much it was just that…oh he didn't know. Maybe all that 'do not get mixed up with you're partner' stuff was still getting at him. Butch knew he couldn't hurt her. He would never do anything to hurt Cassidy so he'd let her decide. That would be for the best. Right now all he wanted to do was get in a few more minutes sleep. Butch put his arms round his sleeping partner and closed his eyes not remembering or caring what day it was.
Authors Notes: Ok I know this chapter was kind of boring but I needed to write this because it tells you what has happened since the last fic. The next couple of chapters will get more exciting I promise. ^_^
Disclaimer: Team Rocket and Pokemon belong to the Japanese and Nintendo. I don't own anything etc…
Authors Notes: Well this is the sequel to Future Sight. I apologise for any spelling or grammar mistakes but I haven't had time to read this chapter through before posting it ^_^ But I think its mostly alright. (I hope) anyway enjoy!!!
Prologue:
The helicopter tore the leaves from the trees, as it made it's decent to the ground slowly and carefully. A few Spearow flew out from their nests cawing angrily at being disturbed from their roosts at this time in the evening. As the helicopter set down ten men dressed in head to foot in black raced out and began scanning the area. Once they were satisfied that there was no one in sight the leader called to the couple in the helicopter to come out. They did so cautiously looking around as they stepped out from the safety of their aircraft. The female hung onto the man's arm smiling slyly as she saw the guards on either side of them. "Its this way sir" the lead guard said. The man whom he addressed just smiled coldly and nodded for them to lead the way. The walk was silent and only the wind rustling through the trees disturbed the deadly calm as they reached the area in question. It was a clearing about as big two football stadiums. Rubble and stones were all that was left of the building that once stood here. It had been like that for almost a year now. Even wild Pokemon kept away from this area. This clearing alone had housed evil itself. This was the clearing that at one time the Team Rocket main headquarters had stood.
The man smiled again and motioned for his men to begin their work sifting through the debris quietly and not speaking. The man knew that the police had destroyed all the Team Rocket HQ's after the leader was killed by a woman who worked for him. This was all he had been able to find out so far. The police had covered up what really took place in the HQ well but not well enough. He would find out what it was that was so terrible that the police thought it should be forgotten. The woman hanging onto his arm was also digging through the wreckage. After a few minutes passed no one seemed to have found anything interesting. This was no matter though. He had other ways of finding things out. It was time to rap this operation up. Then a cry went up from a man working a little further away than the others. The man jogged over to him and pushed through the men who had crowded round. The guard in question had come across an old filing cabinet. It was blackened and the heat from the fire had bent it out of shape. The guard was having a lot of trouble getting it open.
"Help him you fools" the leader snapped to two men on his left. They did so and after a huge amount of effort the cabinet opened. The woman pushed her way through and picked out the contents. Most of the files were burned to such an extent that reading them would be impossible. The man sighed and started back to the helicopter. Once in with the woman beside him he turned to her. "Can you make anything out from those files?"
"Maybe" she replied flipping a stray lock of fire red hair over her shoulder. "But it will take time"
"Time? That is one thing we do not have!" the man said sharply. "I need to know now!"
"Look" the woman, snapped, anger burning in her eyes. "It would be a lot easier if we had tried to get in with what Giovanni was doing right from the start!"
"Giovanni was a fool! He thought he could do what he wished and look what happened to him"
"What makes you any different?"
"Shut up!" the man slapped her hard across the face. The woman clutched her cheek and looked at him a smile playing across her lips "I love it when you get violent"
"Just get me some answers" he turned away to signal the conversation was over. He had to get some answers otherwise his efforts would all be in vain.
1 Chapter One: Starting again
Meowth didn't want to get up that morning. It was Saturday and he planned to sleep in until midday at least as he didn't have anywhere to be today. But this was no ordinary day so with a sigh the cat forced his body to get up and stretch as he debated whether or not to go and see if his friends were up yet. Normally they would be still asleep too as none of them had work on Saturday or Sunday but Meowth had a feeling that today would be different. Today was a year since Meowth got attacked by Butch and Cassidy thus starting a chain of events that would change his, and the lives of his three friends forever. It had all started after the Butch and Cassidy incident in Goldenrod City. After that embarrassment they had been lying low in the woods outside the city waiting for the twerp trio to stumble into the pitfall trap they had dug earlier in the day for them. So far the twerps had not been by, which didn't really bother them because of Ash's obvious lack of map reading skills they had got lost again. Meowth had been tucked into his sleeping bag that morning trying to get in a few more minutes kip before Jesse and James woke him up. Indeed there had been movement from his human friends and the cat had got up to find that Jesse and James were gone. This didn't worry Meowth but Jesse had been so distant towards James lately that he thought something might be up. Of course Meowth knew that it was the humiliation they had to suffer day in day out at the hands of those kids that was getting to her. Well he had thought that until he caught up with her down by a small river deep in the woods. What concerned him further was that James wasn't with her. Maybe there was more to this than Meowth had first thought. Meowth sat down beside her and asked if she was ok. Her reply startled him.
"Yeah" Jesse replied. "I know it's not his fault but every time Meowth." He knew she was talking about James messing up missions. True they all messed up but James had a real talent for it. Meowth did honestly wonder if the purple haired male wanted to succeed at all? Meowth wanted to choose his words carefully, he hated siding with anyone of his friends but it came out all wrong.
"I don't tink he means it Jess. Jimmy can't help being stupid." Whoa! Where the hell had that come from? James was one of the kindest humans Meowth knew. He was also one of the cleverest but James was also naïve not that Meowth blamed him. James had led a pretty sheltered life in comparison to himself and Jesse. Being a little naïve didn't make James stupid it just made him more innocent to the world and how cruel it could be. Meowth wished he could take that back but Jesse was speaking again now. "He's just a bit slow" Jesse replied. "But I see you're point. Every time we plan a mission James messes it up"
That was true too but hearing that from Jesse? Maybe the Goldenrod incident had left a rift between the two of them that might never be mended. Meowth wanted to say some more but a movement out of the corner of his eye made him look round. What the cat saw nearly made his heart break. James was making his way back to their campsite. His back was too them but Meowth could tell just how hurt he was. He must have heard every single word we said about him Meowth thought. Jesse remained unaware of James' presence as they made their own way back to camp. When they got there James was sleeping again. Jesse went to her bag and got out her hairbrush. Meowth had been about to suggest to Jesse that they made James breakfast as an apology when the male in question bolted up from his sleeping bag. Meowth tensed up as James asked them where they had been but there was something different about him. James seemed sort of panicky. Meowth said that he and Jesse had been down by the river. To his surprise James didn't mention the fact that he saw and heard what they were saying at all and instead started rambling that Officer Jenny and the twerp were heading this way. Meowth hadn't believed him until he had heard for himself that the twerp was intending on turning them in. James then told them that a Nidorina would attack Jenny and Ash and so they would have time to flee. This did indeed happen and they got away. James had then announced that he knew what was going to happen because he could predict the future. Meowth and Jesse had both thought he was making it up at first but after a few tests they were astonished to find out that James was right. Meowth had to give James the credit for seeing what a great opportunity this was for them and they started using James' 'Future Sight' as Meowth had dubbed it after the Pokemon attack to complete missions and finally reclaim their place as Giovanni's favourites.
Then everything started to go wrong. Giovanni gave them time off to spend in a Team Rocket cabin outside Violet City. Jesse had gone shopping and James was still asleep, Meowth had noticed how tired he was getting lately but had thought nothing of it. Meowth was watching TV when he heard a bang on the door. When he opened it Butch and Cassidy were standing the other side. Meowth tried to cry out as they grabbed him and stuffed him into a sack. They took him to a shed deep in the woods and tortured him until he told them what James could do. Meowth regretted that to this day but he was in so much pain that he gave in. Meowth had felt so bad but he was sure that Jesse could handle those two. Meowth had somehow managed to get back to the cabin and Jesse had taken care of him. He told her that wild Pokemon attacked him. Meowth was in so much pain that he thought the truth could wait for a bit. Sadly his hesitation was what did it. Whilst he was asleep James received a call from Giovanni summoning him to Viridian City. Meowth was terrified when he learned that James had gone. Giovanni had found out about the future sight. When Meowth finally told Jesse what had really happened she too suspected what he did. Giovanni would try to use James like he had tried to use Mewtwo. They got on the train to Saffron City where Mondo would be waiting for them. Once there Jesse planned to go to Viridian City, break into the HQ and save James. Meowth had wanted to go with her but Jesse left whilst he was sleeping. Meowth had been furious with Mondo for letting Jesse go but the boy had, had a crush on Jesse for as long as Meowth could remember and would never go against her. Meowth was sensible enough to realise that if he and Mondo also went into the HQ looking for James then it would jeopardize Jesse's chances of reaching James so he tried a different tactic. He and Mondo went to Viridian City and disabled the power to the HQ hoping that would turn Giovanni's attention from his prisoner long enough for Jesse to get James out of there. Meowth and Mondo had waited ages but Jesse still didn't appear and the boy was getting hysterical thinking that he had let Jesse go to her death. Meowth then made a decision that went against everything bone in his body. He went to the police for help.
Whilst they had been worrying about James, something bad was happening in Kanto too. Team Rocket agents appeared in force and started destroying the gyms, kidnapping gym leaders and trainers. The police were completely out of their depth with this new wave of crime and since they had no sufficient knowledge of Team Rocket or their leader they had no power to stop this. Then the Orange Islands were hit and chaos was upon them. Meowth told Officer Jenny that he would tell her all she needed to know about the leader of Team Rocket and where to find him if she helped rescue his friends and granted them all immunity to charges. Jenny was at her wits end and agreed to his terms. Meowth had thought that Giovanni was a good man at one time. He had after all rescued Meowth and gave him a home. But Meowth then realised that Giovanni had been trying to use him for his abilities and once Giovanni knew that Meowth knew this he sent him out on the field with Jesse and James. Meowth and Mondo were then forced to wait at the police station for news of their friends. Finally after several hours Jenny came back but the news was not good. According to her there had been some sort of struggle between them and the rocket Boss. When Jenny and her officers burst in they found one member of Team Rocket unconscious at the top of a flight of stairs and another lying at the bottom also unconscious. Meowth learned later that the agents were Butch and Cassidy and they had helped Jesse try to rescue James. After what they did to him Meowth was shocked to say the least. But Jesse and James had been friends with them at one point and maybe the other two remembered that friendship. Meowth had demanded to know where Jesse and James were. Jenny told him that Jesse was fine but James had been hurt in the struggle and was seriously ill. Meowth and Mondo rushed to the hospital and found Jesse sitting in the waiting room crying. She told them that the future sight had a curse. The viewings James had been doing for the Boss left him exhausted and he had slipped into a coma after Giovanni struck him. Lillian, the doctor who had given James the TM to begin with had told them that the chances of their friend recovering were not very good. This devastated Jesse. Meowth couldn't describe what he was feeling when Lillian told them. It had been his fault! He told Butch and Cassidy what James could do. He should have known better. If had known what was going to happen he would have rather died than betray James like that and now he would die because of Meowth. The cat was so upset that he refused to see James and remained in the waiting room with Mondo who was also too upset to see him.
It had been a week and James had failed to wake. Meowth had begun to loose hope when Jesse came out and told them the news. James was awake but the future sight was gone. Meowth was sure that his friend would hate him but he and James had a long talk whilst Jesse was catching up on some sleep and Meowth was relieved to find out that James did not hate him and never would. Meowth also learned that this had been going on for years when James first joined Team Rocket. Giovanni had been using James from the beginning subjecting him to the TM experiment and then making him forget all about it. Meowth had been worried that this experience would change his friend forever but he needn't of worried. This just made James wiser to the world and he seemed to have grown from the experience. And there were some good things to come out of it. Jesse and James' relationship for one thing. Meowth had always known his friends would get together eventually and that near disaster made them finally admit that they loved each other. Meowth was happy for them, as they were perfect for each other. They were opposites but that made their relationship stronger. Jesse was strong and still protected James and her love for him made her want to look after him stronger. She had enough confidence for both of them even through she still had a short temper at times James mellowed it often enough and kept her from getting into too much trouble. James' gentle and caring nature balanced both personalities and Meowth could honestly say that their relationship would last. Still Jesse had grown as a person too. When Officer Jenny came to them when James was discharged from hospital offering police help in finding them jobs and a place to live Jesse accepted. Jesse was like Meowth and didn't trust the police as far as she could throw them but James was still weak and they needed somewhere secure to go. Jesse agreed not because she wanted too but because she wanted to make sure that their future was safe. Jenny was the one who got them this cottage just outside Saffron City and got them their jobs. Jesse worked in the Pokemon centre helping nurse Joy with the sick and injured Pokemon. Nurse Joy was also giving her a second chance to earn that nursing certificate she always wanted. But this was the human course and not the Chansey course Jesse had enrolled into before. It took a few months but when James recovered enough he started work in the newly rebuilt Saffron City gym. How Jenny had persuaded Sabrina to employ an ex rocket was beyond him especially as Team Rocket destroyed her gym and held her captive in the first place. James looked after Sabrina's Pokemon there and the other psychic trainers Pokemon who used the gym. Meowth himself had a job in the game corner. The police discovered that it was a Team Rocket scam and closed it down but a few months ago it reopened when some honest people brought the business. Meowth was employed to hand out the coins. Because he could talk he often got huge tips but that wasn't the only reason he liked working there. Every Monday a trainer came in with his female Meowth, Mimi. Mimi was by far prettier than Meowsie was and Meowth was soon hopelessly in love with her. But Meowth was also afraid to speak to her. Meowsie had called him a freak and rejected him. What if Mimi did the same? Meowth had wanted to ask his friends for help on this matter but he was embarrassed. He often teased them about each other and if they knew Meowth had a love interest then he would never hear the end of it. He had told Mondo about Mimi. Mondo had gone to Pokemon tech to study after all this business with Giovanni was over. The police paid for his tuition fees of course but Mondo, according to his letters, was having the time of his life. Meowth missed the boy a lot but he was glad that Mondo was able to make something of his life before it was too late. He was a bright kid and that was wasted in Team Rocket. Meowth knew without out a doubt that the boy would go far in life.
Meowth snapped out of his daydreaming when he heard voices downstairs. Jesse and James must be up too he thought to himself I'd better go down there and see how they are. Meowth padded out into the hallway and down the stairs. He had a separate room from his human friends to give them privacy but he still missed curling up between them sometimes. When he got downstairs he saw that James was making them breakfast as normal and Jesse was in the front room watching one of those breakfast programmes. They were behaving like it was a normal morning. Meowth didn't know what to make of this. He didn't want to say anything but if he didn't then he was worried that they would think that he'd forgotten. Meowth jumped up onto the sofa beside Jesse. "Morning" he said trying not to sound too cheerful but not to sound too unhappy either.
"Morning" Jesse replied still engrossed in the TV.
Meowth pawed at the fabric of the sofa for a few minutes not knowing how to start this off. He decided that it would be better if he spoke to Jesse rather than James. Meowth wondered whether James had forgotten and if this was so then the last thing the cat wanted to do was remind him. Meowth looked back towards the kitchen. James was listening to the radio whilst making them pancakes. This was as good a time as any. "Hey Jess?" he said clearing his throat. He was glad that his tone of voice made her turn the sound down on the TV and pay him her full attention. "Yous know what today is right?" he asked. Jesse nodded, "That was all James and I talked about last night"
Meowth sighed with relief. "Great I was scared ta mention it ta Jimmy and den I thought yous had forgot and I didn't know what ta do"
"I'm sorry" Jesse said, her apologies though still usually rare had been more sincere over the last year and this time she looked genuinely upset. "We meant to tell you Meowth but we weren't going to mention it. That part of our lives is done now and I don't think James needs anymore reminders of it"
"Dats a good idea" Meowth agreed. "Just a normal day den?"
Jesse smiled, "Just a normal day" she echoed.
Whilst Jesse, James and Meowth enjoyed a good breakfast Butch and Cassidy were just getting up in neighbouring Celadon City. Whilst Jesse and James accepted police help when it was offered to them Butch and Cassidy refused and set out on their own. At the time they thought this was a smart move but now they were finding out just what a mistake that was. At the moment they were living in a one bedroom flat on the bad side of town. Cassidy worked in a café waiting on tables and Butch had a poorly paid clerical job that he'd only got because a friend of a friend worked there. His Boss was a jumped up 27-year-old tart who thought that just because she was in charge of one person it automatically made her a big Boss. She was forever telling him off for simple things like coming in a few minutes late or stopping typing on the computer for a few seconds trying to clear the headache that seemed almost constant at the moment. Butch thought it was his job and the stress bringing on these headaches but they came on when he was at home too. Cassidy was pushing for him to see a doctor but Butch didn't see the point. Usually a couple of aspirin cleared them up and if they didn't then a lie down would. Anyway they had bigger problems than a little headache.
Over the years that he'd known Cassidy, Butch had also known that he cared a lot for her and the attraction between them was undeniable but they still had fought it. Butch was a big believer in keeping his work separate from his private life. Getting involved with his partner was just not an option. In Team Rocket if teams did get into relationships then they would be split up and besides Butch had always felt that it screwed up a teams chances of success if they were emotionally involved with each other. Then if they split up it would wreck a perfectly good professional partnership. But Team Rocket was gone and Butch had considered making a move on her but Cassidy could be as unpredictable as Jesse and he had decided it was best to have a good friendship than a bad relationship. Cassidy he assumed had made the same decision but that all changed last night.
The advantage with the flat, well at the time of renting it they thought it was an advantage, was that it was fully furnished and was still cheap. If you could call the cardboard box for a table, the sofa with a spring stuck through the middle, a kitchen that looked like a medieval torture chamber and the double bed that was just a coffee stained mattress fully furnished. Because they had bills to pay they had still not sorted the flat out properly. Butch decided to be the gentleman when they first move in and offered Cassidy the choice of the bed or the floor. Naturally she picked the bed and Butch had to make do with a blanket on the floor. Last night Butch had come in with a killer headache and asked Cassidy if he could have the bed just for one night. She didn't seem that keen on sleeping on the floor either so Butch had the bright idea of sharing the bed. After all they were mature adults so it was no big deal. Well it would have been no big deal if Butch hadn't have kissed Cassidy. Things then just seemed to carry on from there and now he was lying naked beside her the next morning trying to work out what he wanted. It was Saturday so they didn't have to bother getting up. Cassidy was still snuggled against him her head resting on his shoulder. She looked so much happier and so much more content that Butch had seen her in a long time. He had really messed up last night. It wasn't that he didn't love Cassidy he did he loved her so much it was just that…oh he didn't know. Maybe all that 'do not get mixed up with you're partner' stuff was still getting at him. Butch knew he couldn't hurt her. He would never do anything to hurt Cassidy so he'd let her decide. That would be for the best. Right now all he wanted to do was get in a few more minutes sleep. Butch put his arms round his sleeping partner and closed his eyes not remembering or caring what day it was.
Authors Notes: Ok I know this chapter was kind of boring but I needed to write this because it tells you what has happened since the last fic. The next couple of chapters will get more exciting I promise. ^_^