Chapter Text
“Pikachu!”
“Pika-pi!”
A typical day for Team Rocket: Wake up, trail the twerps, catch Pikachu, probably fail, get blasted off, sleep, repeat.
It'd been that way for as long as they'd known Ash Ketchum, and Meowth had grown used to it.
He preferred it over living on the streets. And he did certainly fall in love with it.
He loved constantly trying to catch Pikachu.
He loved following them all around the world.
He loved Jessie and James. He loved his humans.
He wouldn't want it any other way
“Jessie, hold it still!” James shouted as his hands clenched around the wheel.
“I'm trying, James!” She snapped back. Her and Meowth were keeping the contraption steady. “Maybe you could give us some help here, Jimmy!” Meowth shouted at him.
“Thank you!”
“But I'm driving!”
“You have two hands!” Jessie and Meowth shouted at him.
“Make Wobbuffet do it!”
“Make Wobbuffet drive!” Meowth snapped back.
“Absolutely not!”
“Then help us out, damn it!”
A Swellow came flying right at them. James screamed, swerved, and sent Jessie and Meowth crashing into the side of the truck.
Jessie recovered quickly, glaring back at James, eyes blazing. “James, are you trying to kill us?!”
“No!” James shouted back, although there was a hint of whining in his voice. “I was trying to not hit the Swellow!”
Ignoring James’ whining, Jessie turned her attention to the dazed Meowth. “Meowth, you okay?”
“I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me,” Meowth pointed to their device. “Grab the contraption!”
Meowth's command had come too late. Pikachu was out, cheeks sparking.
The trio stared at each other. “Oh, shit-”
A shock cut right through them, an explosion, and their coined phrase of, “Team Rocket's blasting off again!!”
“WOBBUFFET~!”
Jessie at first hit a tree. Then she hit the ground because James and Wobbuffet fell right on top of her, snapping the branch.
“OW!”
“Sorry!”
“At least Meowth had the decency to not fall on me!” Jessie snapped, gesturing around for their smallest companion…before realizing that he wasn't there. “...wait, where is Meowth?”
The question already tasted like acid. Dread started squeezing at her chest.
James climbed up through the tree, letting out an audible sigh. “He's not up here.”
“Meowth~! Where are you?!” Jessie called out, Wobbuffet quickly joining her.
No response.
The dread was starting to build.
“Meowth, answer us!” James shouted, climbing down and running further into the woods. Jessie followed, calling out for her partner all the way there.
The search proved fruitless. They'd circled the entire area, sent Dustox out, and there was still nothing.
By the time they'd regrouped, Jessie’s hands were shaking. Her mind was racing.
What if it was the cult again?
What if Domino had come back, followed them, and taken Meowth back?
What if it was the guy who drove Arbok and Weezing away?
What if-
“James…” Her voice came out weak and choked. His own eyes reflected his fear.
“...where is he?”
James’s eyes went wide with fear. “No…he can’t be…”
Jessie rapidly glanced around, fear rising, before she threw her PokeBall. “Dustox!”
Her Dustox came out, flying above them, oblivious to it’s trainers genuine panic.
“Dustox, we need you to fly around and try to locate Meowth.” She ordered. “Search as far as you can.”
“What about us, Jessie? There’s no way we can-”
“We’re going to find him one away or another, I don’t care,” Jessie snapped. “I’m not failing him again.”
“What about the balloon?”
“Meowth’s the only one who knows where it is, because I certainly don’t remember! Do you?!”
The look in his eyes told her that he didn’t.
“...fuck.”
Getting blasted off had been on Meowth's agenda.
He'd expected it. He always did.
And yet, he was never ready for it. He always knows its coming, he just never knows when.
And he certainly almost never knows what comes after. They could be together, they could get separated, Meowth could never know.
Luckily, being separated was the 10% of their blastoff aftermath, and even those never lasted very long.
Yet, as he hit the ground this time and black out straight after, he wasn't able to fully comprehend just how long this separation would last.
Nor how bad it was going to end up, one way or another.