Chapter 50: Jessie
She didn't want a promotion anymore. No, Jessie had decided that she was very happy just staying a Rocket Grunt from now on. And it wasn't just because a bonafide Legendary Pokemon had interrupted their increasingly terrifying stand-off by peeling the roof off of the Hall of Fame and exercising enough Psychic Power to freeze everyone, including Cam's incredibly powerful Team, in place.
No, that was really just the icing on the cake. Jessie had decided she was happier just being a Grunt back when Oak had thrown out some code that almost seemed to turn Cam against them all for a moment. She wouldn't lie… she may or may not have wet herself when Cam turned around at the Pokemon Professor's orders and looked ready to murder them on his command. She couldn't tell because she was sweating like crazy, and at this point she didn't know what bodily fluids were what anymore.
This whole situation was just so far beyond what Jessie was equipped to handle. She really, really wanted to go back to knocking over Poke Marts and TM Collectors' houses, thank you very much. She'd like to go steal some Pokemon from little kids again, please. She no longer had any ambitions, no motivations. She was, well and truly, done.
Though, admittedly, the look in Cam's eyes as he'd gotten ready to utterly annihilate Lance and his goons and likely restart the war with Johto in the process had been a little arousing, while also being bug-fuck terrifying. Especially because Jessie wouldn't lie… she was pretty sure she and Jamie weren't going to survive the ensuing carnage.
Cam was good… he was very good. Kill Lance and dozens of his Guards and their Pokemon without breaking a sweat? Yeah, he was good enough to do it, Jessie didn't doubt that for a second. But kill them all without her and Jamie getting turned into collateral damage? That was another story.
But before things could escalate and the whole of the Hall of Fame could become a fucking charnel house, SHE had shown up. Mewtwo. There was no doubt in Jessie's mind who she was. The Pokemon was unmistakable, as she floated down and landed in front of Cam. He was the only one not frozen in her telekinetic grip. Even she and Jamie could do nothing but breathe and blink as Mewtwo brought a three-fingered hand up and ran it along Cam's cheek.
You can hear me now, can't you? The final barrier has been struck down. You are wholly yourself.
Mewtwo's psychic thoughts echo through the Hall of Fame, bouncing and rattling around in Jessie's head. From what she can see from her frozen position, it does the same in everyone else as well. A couple of the people she can make out despite being unable to even move her eyes left and right, are even sporting nosebleeds.
"Yes. I am… myself."
Cam's response is surprisingly emotional. It even has a note of wonder to it, and Jessie watches as he looks down at his hands for a moment before nodding. Mewtwo smiles and tilts her head to the side… before speaking out loud.
"Good. It would not do for my mate to be anything less than complete. You are, at long last, worthy of me."
Looking up from his hands, Cam blinks slowly.
"… Am I? Your love… was manufactured."
His head moves to the left, and his gaze falls upon the kneeling form of an equally frozen Red.
"… As was hers. You both think you belong with me, but only because of him."
The 'him' in this equation is obvious, even as Cam doesn't even bother looking in Professor Oak's direction. He only has eyes for Mewtwo and Red at the moment. Jessie can't help feeling a little bit of jealousy at that… but that jealousy is thoroughly drowned out in turn by her overwhelming fear of the situation. She and Jamie are so far in over their heads here, it's not even funny. The only saving grace is that they're technically on the side of the clear victors of this encounter… so everything should turn out alright for them.
… Everyone else, on the other hand…
"It is true. The saboteur's efforts did bear fruit. However, do you think I have not known all along what he did? Do you think I could not isolate the changes he made to me, and disable them at a moment's notice? He has no power over me, beloved. Just as he has no power over you."
Far from taking solace in Mewtwo's words, Cam's eyes go back to Red again, and his lips purse together.
"… She has a code as well, doesn't she?"
Mewtwo turns and looks down at the kneeling clone as well for a long moment before nodding.
"Yes. And she does not share the protection that you did. If the saboteur got the chance to speak, he could kill what personality has begun to emerge as a result of her Pokemon Journey. He could turn her into an automaton, a vegetable to do his bidding, as he tried with you."
Jessie breathes out a shuddering breath. That sounded awful. It had certainly looked and felt awful, when she'd thought for a moment that the Professor's last gambit had actually worked on Cam. She wouldn't wish such a fate on her worst enemy…
"Remove it."
… And neither would Cam, it would seem. Reaching out towards Red, Mewtwo's eyes glow purple and so do the kneeling Pokemon Trainer's for a moment. Then, it fades away and Mewtwo nods.
"It is done."
"Thank you."
Smiling, Mewtwo runs her hand along Cam's face again. He really… he really had a way with women, didn't he? Jessie would scoff right now, if she was capable of it. It was so like Cam, to have somehow ended up with a Legendary Pokemon as a paramour, somewhere along the way. The one time she and Jamie let him out of their sight… of course he'd gone off and started a relationship with Mewtwo.
"Of course, that will not stop her from desiring you, Cam. Regardless of what the saboteur did to her… to me… she has come to love you and want you completely of her own volition. Just as I have."
Cam… grimaces at that. He's continuing to show more emotion than Jessie has ever seen from him. A watershed moment, perhaps? Although, even as he wrestles with accepting that fact, his eyes turn to Lance and the frozen Guards all around them… and turn flinty, his face becoming carved in steel.
Before he can do anything however, Mewtwo places a hand on his arm. She switches back to psychic speech for a moment, perhaps to convey the utter sincerity of her words. More nosebleeds crop up from those Jessie can see in her field of view, though she herself feels no liquid coming from her nostrils.
If you asked it of me, beloved, I would kill every single one of them right here and now. Your enemies are my enemies.
As sincere as Mewtwo's thoughts are, however, there's also a note of… hesitation. Something Cam clearly detects as he tilts his head to the side.
"… But?"
Mewtwo smiles and returns to speaking aloud.
"But there would be consequences. Not in the immediate… I could clean this mess up with a wave of my hand. However, Johto would not take it lying down. And not just Johto, but the rest of the world. We could conquer Johto, my beloved… I cannot say with certainty that we could do the same with the rest of the world. Not without… losses."
Oh Arceus. The murderous Psychic Legendary was being the voice of reason here, wasn't she? Jessie lets out the quietest of whimpers at the realization. Mewtwo was seriously talking Cam down. Now, all she could hope was that it would actually work.
"… War. I have no desire for war."
Nodding encouragingly, Mewtwo runs her hands up and down Cam's arms, seeming to luxuriate in the touch.
"What do you want, beloved?"
For a long moment, the young man considers that question. In that moment, Jessie sees traces the young man Jamie forced her to 'befriend' all those months ago at the Rocket Initiation. She sees elements of that lost and confused Rocket Grunt that she walked through stealing his first Pokemon. However, she also sees the leader of Team Rocket, the man that Giovanni himself decided was worthy of his title.
"I want… my precious people to be safe and happy. I want Kanto to be at peace."
As he says the words 'precious people', Jessie isn't sure what she's expecting, but for him to spare her and Jamie a glance is… not it. She flushes at that glance, feeling a strange warmth spreading through her chest. He hadn't forgotten them. He… he saw them as that important? T-Truly?
"Then that is what we shall do, yes?"
"… Yes."
Jessie isn't sure what that means. What are they going to do? This all seems really, really bad… so how exactly are they planning on making things work out for the best? Well, as it turns out, all she needs to do is stand there and watch.
Turning, Mewtwo wastes no time in focusing her attention on the… malcontents in the Hall of Fame. First, her eyes focus on Lance, glowing purple as his own eyes glow purple in response.
Lance. You were beaten fair and square, first by a child and then by this young woman. Acknowledge this fact.
"I… was… defeated."
You will relinquish your position as Kanto's Pokemon Champion gracefully. You will assist in a proper, peaceful transition of government. You will not fight this; you will not agitate for war. Acknowledge these facts.
"… Ack-… Acknowledged."
He's trying to fight it at first, Jessie thinks. But by the time Mewtwo is done, Lance's face smooths over, his body relaxing and no longer locked up.
As Lance's eyes stop glowing purple, Mewtwo's do not. Instead, she sweeps them over the multitude of Guards that the former Pokemon Champion has brought with him, each of their sets of eyes flashing purple for a moment before their faces slacken and go blank. Whatever she's done to them, Jessie suspects they won't remember a thing about what happened here today.
Then, Mewtwo turns to Professor Oak.
Samuel Oak. You will admit your crimes. You will submit to the judicial system and go to prison for the laws you have broken.
Oak trembles. He shakes. His nosebleed intensifies. His jaw clenches, and it's obvious he does not intend to submit and will not be broken as easily as Lance was. However… Mewtwo is what she is. And Oak is… only human.
"I… admit… to my c-crimes. I will submit… to… j-justice."
You will die soon. You are old and fighting me is draining you of what little strength remains. In the time you have left, as you rot in prison… you will tell no one of your research. You will help no one in committing the atrocities you committed. Your knowledge dies with you.
"My… knowledge… dies with me."
Jessie watches, as the glow fades from Oak's eyes, the commands firmly entrenched in his mind. Mewtwo's own eyes cease glowing… however, she still sweeps her gaze over the rest of them. Her and Jamie, she barely spares a single ounce of attention. Agatha, Bill, and Red however… she looks at them curiously, before glancing silently and questioningly at Cam.
He looks back at her and shakes his head.
"They are… fine. This will be enough."
"Very well, beloved."
With a sweep of her hand, Mewtwo releases her hold on them all. Jessie almost collapses to her knees, but manages to avoid it as she and Jamie, both find themselves able to move again. The Johto Guards who were holding them hostage let go of them both mechanically, and all across the chamber they watch as Guards recall their Pokemon into Pokeballs and form up behind Lance.
Wordlessly, they arrest Professor Oak and drag him out of the Hall of Fame. It's a little maddening, how quiet it all is. After everything she saw of the man, she would have expected him to only leave the chamber kicking and screaming, ranting and raving, and positively foaming out the mouth.
Instead, he walks out woodenly, hands restrained behind his back, as Lance and his goons follow. There's a pause, as everyone remaining looks at each other. Agatha, for as much of a powerhouse as the old woman has always seemed, just looks done. Her face is that of a broken woman, and she sits back against her pillar where she was when Jessie and Jamie first stepped inside of the room, not a word to say.
Jessie too, doesn't know what to say, and a glance at Jamie tells her that the purple-haired woman doesn't either. Instead, they just step closer to one another, and then reach out to grab each other by the hand for support.
Red, on her knees, only has eyes for Cam, looking at him reverently and with awe in her face. Mewtwo, meanwhile, is still by Cam's side, being very touchy feely with the young man, not that he seems to mind one bit.
It's into this silence, this moment of calm, that Bill clears his throat and shatters the quiet. Cam's gaze slides over to the Pokemon Collector, who looks between him and Mewtwo for a moment before speaking.
"Well. All's well that ends well, I suppose. There's just one minor issue. Red was outed as Oak's science experiment on regional television. I'm not entirely sure what will happen if she remains Champion after all of this."
Cam seems to consider this for a moment, even looking over to Red. Then, he shakes his head.
"Red will not be Pokemon Champion."
Bill nods, as if this makes sense to him, before looking back at the destroyed Hall of Fame machine at the back of the chamber.
"You, then? They don't know about your nature yet. We could… probably swing it, though it won't be easy. Still, with Lance and Oak out of the way, the only ones who MIGHT cause trouble are Blaine and Fuji."
"No. I will not be Pokemon Champion either."
Bill's brow furrows in confusion, and Jessie honestly shares his feelings. Who then? If not Cam, if not Red… then who? They were indisputably the two most powerful Pokemon Trainers in the entire region. And sure, they weren't entirely human, but Jessie had already decided she wasn't going to hold it against them. Still, it seemed Cam felt that disqualified them, or something. Or maybe he just didn't want to be in the limelight.
"The Kanto Region already has a Pokemon Champion. In light of Red's… disqualification, the title must revert to its last holder."
Understanding dawns on all of their faces, as the corners of Cam's mouth turn up and he smiles. Jessie doesn't get it at the time but looking back she'll realize something monumental. In that moment, the Rocket Boss makes his first truly big decision as the shadow ruler of the Kanto Region.
"Blue Oak will be Pokemon Champion."
-x-X-x-
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