NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Jessie
They said to be careful what you wish for. Jessie had personally never really subscribed to that belief though. She'd always felt like it was the sort of thing only losers and weaklings thought. After all, if you knew exactly what you wanted and went after it with all your heart, why did you have any reason to be careful? So long as you were working your hardest, your wishes would one day come true. That was what a go-getter like Jessie believed.
… Except, for the first time in her life, the magenta-haired Rocket Grunt is regretting a fervent and heartfelt wish of hers. For the longest time now, ever since she'd joined Team Rocket in fact, Jessie had fully believed that she deserved a seat at the table. The big table, to be exact. Sure, she might have been a member of the organization, but she was meant for more than just Grunt Work. She was meant to be among the Elite of Team Rocket.
Part of that meant being invited to speak to the Big Boss himself properly. Team Rocket's true leader, a businessman shrouded in mystery. He was apparently a real badass, and Jessie knew if she could just get in a room with the man, she would be able to prove her worth.
Unfortunately, her wish had come true, but in a way that made her subsequently wish she could take it back. Here she stood, back ramrod straight, right alongside Jamie, in the Boss' office. Across from them, sitting behind his desk, is the big man himself, Giovanni. With shadows resting across his face, he looked incredibly menacing, and the tension in the silent room was palpable.
Jessie didn't dare to speak up though. After all, she and Jamie have just gotten done speaking. Well, they finished speaking a couple minutes ago, to be exact. When they'd first been told that the Boss wanted them in his office to repeat their submitted mission reports to him verbally, Jessie had been hopeful that maybe it was Cam who was going to get in trouble.
She'd held onto that hope until about halfway through her and Jamie's recounting of events. You see, Jessie had experienced something that was pretty rare for her. She'd experienced a moment of introspection and self-awareness. As she and Jamie explained to Giovanni exactly how they'd come to be in Pallet Town, from her inviting them along on Cam's mission, to them arriving late and searching the houses, to them finding Cam and moving to… reinforce him… Jessie couldn't deny the truth any longer.
The truth was, they really had screwed things up. She'd only spent long enough to actually confirm that Cam was inside one of the houses before she'd dragged Jamie in with her. And neither of them had made any attempt to get a good read on the situation before they'd… well, before they'd made fools of themselves.
She still thought the introductory team motto was a good idea, to be clear. But there was a time and place for it, and after how things had turned out, Jessie could finally admit… that had not been the time nor the place. They'd fucked up, hadn't they?
"… Let me make sure I understand. You both decided, without any input from any of your superiors, to attach yourself to my newest Admin's solo mission. After begging him to give you a chance to help, you then show up late to the mission after he's already well underway… and proceed to make complete fools of yourselves to the extent that you ruin his interrogation."
Jessie and Jamie wince, but in the end, Jessie knows she's gotta be the one to speak up here.
"Sir, I… that is, Cam is a good friend of ours. We, um… joined Team Rocket at the same time, you see! It was… we thought that he could use some backup! In case the girl got rowdy!"
Leaning forward out of the shadows, Giovanni growls as he reveals himself properly. Honestly, seeing those glaring eyes and that sharp face of his is even more intimidating then just the shadows were.
"The 'girl' in this case was Samuel Oak and Agatha of the Elite Four's goddamn GRANDDAUGHTER! And by your own fucking admission, she wasn't ROWDY until you both bumbled in and made a mess of things!"
Jessie flinches back, her shoulders hunching inward. Beside her, Jamie doesn't say a word in their defense, the purple-haired woman silent as the grave. Probably for the best, Giovanni didn't look in the mood for either of them to speak in that moment. In fact, after a beat of silence, he gives a slightly satisfied nod and leans back into the shadows again with a disgruntled sigh.
Bringing his hands up and steepling them, the Team Rocket Boss positively growls out his next words.
"Normally, I wouldn't give two shits about tweaking that coward Oak's nose. But not only is he letting that ten year old run around with a goddamn Wartortle, but there's something about that woman Red as well. He's up to something. Threatening his granddaughter in her own home, especially when she's also the granddaughter of the oldest member of the Elite Four is NOT the best way to go about things."
Pausing for a moment, Giovanni scoffs.
"Do you think Agatha to be old and frail? Do you think she's lasted as long as she has in her position because she's gone senile?! Well? Do you?!"
Both Jessie and Jamie have heard the same tales as everyone else about Kanto's most infamous Ghost Type Trainer. And so, when Giovanni makes it clear he expects an answer, they don't hesitate.
"N-No sir!"
"We don't, sir!"
His head shifts in the shadows as he nods again.
"Then why the fuck did you both think it wise to interrupt my Admin while he was performing a successful soft interrogation on an incredibly critical intelligence asset?"
Exchanging a glance with Jamie, it's obvious neither of them have an adequate response to that. The truth, after all, will NOT set them free in this case. In Jamie's case, the truth would be that she was following Jessie's lead, which might result in them getting split up. In Jessie's case, the truth was that she was aiming for a promotion just like Cam's and saw tagging along with him as a way to get some easy missions.
After all, the only reason he'd been promoted so fast HAD to be because his missions were so much easier than hers and Jamie's… right? At least, that's what Jessie used to believe. Suffice to say, after witnessing that Alakazam and the ease with which Cam took down Daisy Oak's four Pokemon, she doesn't believe that anymore.
The former Pokemon Champion's granddaughter was no pushover, and she doesn't think her and Jamie even together could have beat one of Daisy's Pokemon, let alone all four of them. That Cam had… it showed she'd been wrong about him all along. Very, very wrong.
Luckily, speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Neither Jessie nor Jamie end up having to come up with an adequate response to Giovanni's question in that moment, because the Boss suddenly sits up and looks past them both.
"Ah, Cam, you've arrived! Come in! You two, step aside. I'm not done with you yet. Keep your mouths shut and your eyes and ears open. Maybe you'll learn something."
Jessie's ears burn with humiliation and shame as she and Jamie do as they're told, the two female Grunts moving to stand off to the side in front of one of the large plants lining Giovanni's office. There was a rumor going around that he fed particularly troublesome Grunts to those plants, and that they were some sort of experimental Grass Type Pokemon.
… Jessie didn't believe that of course. She definitely wasn't surreptitiously and subtly slightly in front of Jamie as they both watched a silent Cam approach Giovanni's desk.
"I've read through your report, Cam. As well as the reports of these two. I understand the situation well enough, and I approve of how you handled things despite the… bumps along the way."
Suddenly, Giovanni stands up. He hadn't done that with them, hadn't done them the courtesy of getting up from his seat. He does so with Cam, his hands clasped behind his back as he paces back and forth for a moment in thought before stopping and looking at the young Rocket Admin.
"If Oak has gone to ground, then that's that. We'll leave a different team behind to watch Pallet Town… a competent team, hopefully."
He glances in Jessie and Jamie's direction at that when he emphasizes the word 'competent'. Jessie flushes but can't bring herself to meet the Boss' gaze. She knows Jamie certainly won't. Rather, she's pretty sure her friend is too busy staring at Cam right now to even notice what Giovanni had just implied about them.
Damn it all, if Jamie could get rid of that case of hero worship any day now, that would sure be fucking great. Or was it villain worship, all things considered?
"I don't know what that fucking treacherous coward is up to, but until he resurfaces, we'll just have to postpone his… overdue interrogation."
The menace in Giovanni's voice makes it clear that if he does get his hands on the old Pokemon Professor, it won't be a 'soft interrogation' that he puts Oak through. The old man is in for it, that much is certain.
"But for now… there's another old bastard who requires your attention, Cam."
Stepping up to the desk, Giovanni places his hands atop it palm down, leaning forward with a serious glint in his eyes.
"Blaine has gone dark on us. Completely. It was one thing when he refused to keep producing Polygons, but this? Trying to cut all ties? He's gone a step too far. He should know better than to test me."
Jessie's eyes widen at that. Blaine? As in, the Gym Leader Blaine? She had no idea Team Rocket's reach extended so far! For a moment, she feels a slight swelling in her chest. To know that their organization was that entrenched, it did her heart good. After all, SHE was part of that very same organization, so their victories were her victories, right?
… Except, as she further mulls over Giovanni's words, she realizes what he's actually saying. From the sound of things, Blaine has betrayed them. A Gym Leader spy would be a massive asset for Team Rocket. A Gym Leader turncoat… that shit is probably worst case scenario, isn't it?
"I need you to go to Cinnabar Island and make an example of Blaine for me, Cam. By any means necessary. Preferably, you'll keep him alive, and he'll fall back in line. But if he proves completely intractable to our cause… then I give you full permission to do what needs to be done with him."
If Jessie's eyes were wide before, they're wider now. She knew they were criminals and badasses, and she knew their Boss in particular was a real badass. But he was talking about assassinating a Gym Leader, if she wasn't mistaken. Rather, he was talking about sending CAM to assassinate a Gym Leader.
… Somehow, Jessie didn't see the young Admin doing to Blaine what he'd done to Daisy Oak. Not that Jessie or Jamie had actually seen a single lick of his… extended interrogation of the young woman after they were sent outside, but they had ears. They'd both heard what was going on in the house behind them. It was odd how much Oak's granddaughter sounded like she was enjoying it, frankly.
The mental image of Cam doing that with a wrinkly old bald guy like Blaine crosses Jessie's mind and she wrinkles her nose, quietly retching for a moment before she's able to dispel the images from her mind. Meanwhile, Giovani is finishing up with Cam's mission briefing.
"Do you understand what I'm asking of you, Cam? I feel like you're one of the only competent underlings I can rely upon these days."
"Yes sir."
"Good, dismissed."
As Cam turns and leaves, Jessie's eyes follow him for just a moment. More specifically, they trail across the six Pokeballs at his waist. He and his Alakazam had had no problems with Daisy Oak. But would he be a match for a full-fledged Gym Leader going all out? She supposed it would depend on what those other five Pokeballs held, in the end…
Somehow, she didn't think it was just a Rattata and Spearow like Cam had started out with, not at this point-
"You two. Front and center."
Jolting, Jessie moves back into position, glancing over to see Jamie had been staring at Cam's waist too. No, not his waist… where Jessie had been studying the Admin's Pokeballs and wondering what they contained, she realizes Jamie had been staring at Cam's ass. Damn it girl, keep it in your pants! It was supposed to be the two of them against the world! They just needed their big break!
"Now. You two. Do you have an answer to my question? What the fuck did you both think you were doing, interrupting my Admin like that mid-mission?"
Jessie jolts and stiffens, opening her mouth to answer… but no, she doesn't have an answer anymore than she did before Cam showed up. It would seem his arrival had merely been a stay of execution, rather than a full reprieve. Her and Jamie squirm in place for a moment in silence, neither of them knowing what to say. Then, a light of recognition appears in Giovanni's eyes.
"Hold on a second… you two… you two were the ones responsible for the botched Cerulean Job, weren't you?"
Well hang on a second, that wasn't fair! Jessie had nothing to do with that, she'd merely been trying to support Jamie!
But this time Giovanni doesn't even give them a chance to speak.
"Just… get out of my sight. But DON'T leave the base, not unless I personally give you orders. Am I understood? I don't trust the two of you not to fuck things up, at this point."
"Y-Yes sir."
"… Yes sir."
"Then off with you already!"
Not even a 'dismissed'. And yet, Jessie does cling to one small silver lining, as she and Jamie finally leave the Boss' Office. Not only does getting out of Giovanni's presence fill her with a real sense of relief… but also, something he said catches on Jessie' mind. He'd said… he'd said that only he was allowed to give them orders. Sure, he'd followed that up with a pretty clear statement when he'd also said he didn't trust the two of them not to fuck things up.
… But all the same, they were reporting directly to Giovanni now, in a way. And that… that was sort of a promotion, right? If the only orders they could receive came from the Boss himself… well, that put them on par with Admins and Executives, sort of! Despite feeling absolutely humiliated, Jessie allows herself a small smile. Maybe… maybe they could turn this around still after all.
-x-X-x-
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