Blasting Off! (Pokemon)(Team Rocket OC)

Jessie was speechless, even as she found herself silently following Jamie and Cam deeper into the Hideout. Everyone else around them is scrambling to get out of the place, funnily enough. Taking everything they can and running like… like rats from a sinking ship.

For as long as she could remember, Jessie had wanted to stand on top of the world. Unfortunately, the world had laughed in her face and did everything in its power to beat her down. It was there, down in the dumps, that she had first met Jamie. And it was there that she and Jamie had been recruited by Team Rocket.

Team Rocket was supposed to be their big break! The two of them were meant for so much more. Jessie had HAD to believe that, because to believe anything else was to stop believing in herself. And that… she refused to do.

And yet, here she was. A member of Team Rocket, but what did she have to show for it? Failure after failure. Defeat, snatched from the jaws of victory, time and time again! Every time she'd thought things were looking up, every single major mission where she was SURE this would be the time she and Jamie finally exemplified the key values Team Rocket was looking for… up in flames.

Sometimes it was their fault. Jessie could acknowledge that. They weren't perfect. But it was also things that were outside of their control too, honest! And no matter what, they'd kept persevering. They hadn't given up. Maybe they should have.

Because… where had all of that effort gotten them? It'd gotten them here. Watching everyone else skedaddle in order to rendezvous in Viridian City, while Cam… for some inexplicable reason, just went deeper into the increasingly silent, abandoned Hideout.

Why? Why had it all turned out like this? Was it just luck? Cam had joined Team Rocket at the same time as them, but they were still Grunts and HE was an Executive.

Jessie flushes and grits her teeth as she stares at the back of Cam's head, his wild and untamed pink hair almost seeming to mock her with it's utter ferality. Had he simply gotten all the opportunities that had gone to them? Or was it something more that left him an Executive and them…

… In truth, they were LESS than Grunts at this point. The Boss had been pretty fucking clear. They were to be Cam's slaves in all but name. His servants. His… his whatever-the-fuck-he-wanted. And Jamie had just gone along with it! Truth be told, given a few seconds more, Jessie probably would have agreed as well. It wasn't even about sticking with Team Rocket at this point. It was purely about survival.

They were wanted women now. Maybe their bounties weren't as high as Cam's, though Jessie didn't actually know what his bounty was even at these days. But her and Jamie had definitely committed enough crimes to be known criminals no matter where they went. Team Rocket was their only option. And more than that, Jessie didn't actually think Giovanni would let them go. It was another test. If they'd tried to leave, he would have had them killed instead.

But rather than simply paying lip service and accepting his one-sided offer in order to figure out another option… Jessie got the impression that Jamie was fully on board with their new status as Cam's personal slaves. For the first time, she wasn't certain that she could even trust the other woman. If she tried to take Jamie aside and talk to her about this situation, who was to say Jamie wouldn't immediately tell Cam whatever they talked about? It was-

"What the hell?! You're not Team Rocket!"

Jamie's angry exclamation pulls Jessie right out of her inner thoughts, and the magenta-haired woman blinks as she finds herself staring at… at a burglar of all things in an already emptied area of the Rocket Hideout. What the hell indeed. How the fuck had he gotten down here? How had he gotten here so FAST?

"Hehe, damn straight I'm not! And thank Arceus for that too, because you lot are on the way out! Heard what happened in Saffron City! Stay out of my way if you don't want to-!"

"Go, Dragonite."

"WHAT?! Fuck! Ninetales!"

"Dragonite, Slam."

The Ninetales that the Burglar throws out looks surprisingly strong… but against Cam and his Dragonite, it doesn't stand a chance. Nor do the Burglar's other four evolved Pokemon. Jessie just stands there, mouth agape right alongside Jamie as they both watch with wide eyes. They'd known Cam had an Alakazam, but a Dragonite? Those things were practically legendary, even here in Kanto where they were fucking native!

Cam's Dragonite… fully lives up to all the stories too. The burglar is soon laid out on the floor, not dead but definitely likely to wish he was whenever he finally woke up. Meanwhile, Cam knelt down and pulled some piece of tech from the thief's bag of ill-gotten goods. Hah, Team Rocket getting stolen from. What was the fucking world coming to?

Straightening back up, Cam looks to both of them as he recalls his Dragonite. There's a moment of silence as the three of them just all… look at each other. Then, Cam walks through them.

"Come on."

Truth be told, it's the first time Jessie has ever heard him sound authoritative. The first time she's seen undeniable proof that he DOES belong in the Executive position after all. Biting her lower lip in worry, she glances over at Jamie… only to meet the other woman's eyes as Jamie bites HER lower lip for a very DIFFERENT reason.

Jessie scrunches her nose and groans, even as Jamie averts her gaze sheepishly. And together… they follow Cam out of the Hideout. Not like they have a choice but to go with him. Even if he takes them to the ends of the earth, their fates are tied to his now. The Boss had made that VERY clear.

-x-X-x-

A couple hours later, as they land at Cinnabar Island, Jessie is confused and a little exasperated. When she'd thought 'to the ends of the earth', she hadn't actually MEANT it! Sure, Cinnabar wasn't THAT far away, it was still part of Kanto after all, but it was literally the farthest corner of Kanto they could possibly have gone from Celadon, she was pretty sure.

She wanted so badly to ask why they were here, why Cam was leading them into the Pokemon Laboratory, why any of this was relevant to Team Rocket's interests, but she's… well, she's still somewhat afraid. Giovanni's dressing down is still fresh in her mind, and so is the way Cam dealt with that burglar, just tearing through his Pokemon with one incredibly strong Dragonite.

Jessie hates it, because she's not really acting like herself, but… well, discretion is the better part of valor, sometimes. And so, she stays quiet, even as Cam leads them into the Pokemon Laboratory and then turns to face them.

"Stay here."

Jessie is so shocked by the order that she actually follows it. Cam turns and walks away, leaving her and Jamie standing there in silence for a moment before Jamie, of course, pipes up.

"Look, Jessie. I-!"

"Shut up. I don't want to talk about it."

"… kay…"

Jessie immediately feels guilty but sticks by her guns. She really doesn't want to talk about it, and it's going to take a lot longer than one awkward flight over to this far off island for her to get over everything that happened!

…

… But as minutes turn into hours, she begins to hate the silence. And Jamie is still there, either refusing to leave because of her, or because of Cam. Jessie almost wants to get out and stretch her legs, maybe enjoy the sea breeze outside… but she's afraid of what Cam will do to her if she's not where he expects her to be whenever he finally comes out again.

In the end, her only options are to continue to stand here in silence, or…

"Alright, fuck it. Let's talk about it. You didn't even give me a chance to say anything. You just agreed for us. What the fuck was up with that?"

Jolting, Jamie flushes and looks down at her hands.

"S-Sorry, Jessie. I just… I was worried about what you were going to say."

Jessie has to chew on that for a good few minutes before she can provide a level-headed answer.

"… I was probably going to go with exactly what you ended up going with, in the end. But I would have at least given you a look or… or s-something, to make sure you were on board."

She doesn't say anything more than that. Doesn't go into WHY she would have chosen this, to avoid being killed if the option to leave was the trap she suspected it to be. And she certainly doesn't try to undermine Cam's authority with Jamie right here and now. She can tell that would be a bad idea.

"… Sorry, Jessie."

Jessie just grunts. Unfortunately, that's where the conversation ends. There's a gulf between them now that wasn't there before. She's not even sure they're partners anymore. Just two women beholden to the same man, stuck in the same shitty situation. Though Jessie suspects Jamie doesn't even consider it that shitty of a situation.

As time continues to pass though, even Jessie's fear is overridden by her impatience. Cam had disappeared down the hall into the final room at the end hours ago. What the fuck could he possibly be doing now? What could be so important that he was running around, rather than heading straight to Viridian City with the rest of Team Rocket?

It might not be her place to question him, Giovanni had made that abundantly clear, but Jessie couldn't possibly contain her insatiable curiosity forever. If she couldn't leave to get a breath of fresh air… then fuck it, she'd go closer.

"Jessie? Where are you going?!"

"Shush. Just… moving to guard the door."

"Jessie-!"

"I said be quiet. Unless you want to get caught and punished."

That shuts Jamie up, as Jessie moves to the door Cam had gone through and peeks in. On the other side, she quickly sees the Rocket Executive as well as three other men. She recognizes them all. The two that are older than dirt are Gym Leader Blaine and Mr. Fuji respectively. The third is the Pokemon Collector, Bill. All three are movers and shakers in Kanto, with varying degree of celebrity.

Bill holds up a purple Pokeball, a broad grin on his face.

"We've done it. Beautiful, isn't it?"

After a moment, he tosses it to Cam, who catches it wordlessly.

"There you are, Cam. You're our best bet, so I'm entrusting that to you."

Jessie notes how Blaine just nods, while Fuji fumes but doesn't say a word. Frowning, Jessie wishes she could get a better look at the Pokeball. What's so special about it? But Cam just tucks it away without a word.

"Our true target… is The Catastrophe. But to track it down, we're going to need to find someone else first. All those years ago… we were all made to bend the knee to Lance and his goons after the failure that was the Mewtwo Project. All of us… except for one man."

Jessie blinks at that, turning over Bill's words in his head. The Catastrophe? The Mewtwo Project? It all sounded very serious. Dangerous, even. There was a feeling of menace attached to what he'd just said. But none of the men in the room beyond, including Cam, so much as flinch. Fuji just grunts.

"You're talking about Shigeki."

Bill just inclines his head, smiling mirthlessly.

"Yep. He's the one who got away. Went to ground, disappeared on all of us. Do you think that was simply by chance? No… he ran, because he had something he was hiding. And it wasn't Mewtwo. We all knew where she was. She never even made a secret of her location. So what information would Shigeki think needed to be hidden away at all costs?"

Blaine is the next to speak up in a slightly horrified tone.

"The location of the Catastrophe."

Bill grins and nods again.

"Bingo."

"Bah! That's all well and good, but Shigeki has been hidden away for nearly two decades! How do you expect to find him, huh? Who's to say he's even still alive?!"

Fuji's outburst is treated most cavalierly by the others in the room. In the end, Bill just shrugs.

"He might be dead. But if he isn't… I guarantee that he can locate The Catastrophe for us. We just have to locate HIM first. And that's where Cam comes in."

Jessie watches as Bill turns his full attention to the silent, spiky-haired Rocket Executive.

"Cam. When we made Mewtwo all that time ago, we all contributed our DNA to the project. As the most powerful psychic in existence, this caused her to form mental bonds with all of us, those who worked on the project. While it's possible that Mewtwo's psychic powers have degraded over time, she should still have those connections to each and every one of us. She likely knows where we all are in the Kanto Region at any given time."

Jessie's eyes widen at that. The kind of power that the Pokemon Collector is talking about… it's way too much, isn't it? She keeps expecting Fuji or Blaine to disagree with him or gainsay him, but the two older men just nod solemnly, looking pale and uneasy… but not as if they disbelieve what he's saying.

This Mewtwo sounds… incredibly dangerous.

"Let me be clear. You are not going to try and capture Mewtwo. If you enter her domain with hostile intentions, she will kill you before you can get close enough to lay eyes on her. She's hiding in a small cave to the Northwest of Cerulean City. You need to go there and… ask her nicely where we can find Shigeki. Once you find him, convince him to let you know where The Catastrophe is. Then and only then can we capture it and put an end to its threat once and for all."

As Bill finishes his speech, Jessie's mouth is incredibly dry. This was… above her paygrade. And maybe if she hadn't been shouted at by Giovanni himself or seen Cam's Dragonite shred that burglar a new one, she might not have been able to see it. But her experiences these last few hours have changed Jessie a little bit, even if she doesn't want to admit it.

She's expecting Cam to ask questions. She realizes a moment later how foolish that expectation was when Cam simply nods his head in agreement.

"Okay."

He then turns and begins heading for the door. Blanching, Jessie quickly pulls back and yanks Jamie along with her. The purple-haired woman's curiosity had gotten the better of her too, and the both of them race back down the hallway, arriving where Cam left them just in time for him to step out of the room and make his way over to them both.

He eyes them for a moment, before giving his orders.

"Don't leave the island. I'll be back."

Jessie's eyes widen, because she thinks it's the most words, she's ever heard him speak in one go. Jamie, meanwhile, takes point for once, and tries to protest.

"Wha- but we can-!"

"No. Stay here. I'll be back."

And with that, Cam is gone. At least they've got permission to explore Cinnabar as a whole now. Get some actual food and what not. Jamie looks distraught, but Jessie… Jessie is surprisingly okay with being left behind. It sounded as though Cam was about to go after a Psychic Pokemon that could have literally turned their brains inside out. And he was doing it… just to ask the thing QUESTIONS?!

Yeah, Jessie would rather stay here and not get anywhere near that. Let Cam handle his own business. For once… Jessie was a-okay with being sidelined.

-x-X-x-

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