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Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie had just arrived at a new city and were walking down a sidewalk when they came across it.
A ‘Missing’ poster of a child with a familiar face. Ash’s skin hackles immediately and he jerks back on reflex, even more so when a limousine parks right infront of them out of absolutely nowhere.
“Do you know the boy from the picture?!” A man in a butler outfit questions loudly through a speaker, making them all wince inwardly.
“You mean-?” Before Clemont could speak, Ash was shoving him, making him stumble and cutting him off. Laughing nervously as he did.
“No, we don't. We are very sorry. Have a nice day!” And with that he quickly shoves everyone away as they quickly run away. Gasping as they come to an abrupt halt in an alley, he peeks outside, making sure the car is really gone before letting himself fall on the ground. “That was close.” He exclaims relieved, Pikachu nodding next to him.
“Ash? What's going on? Why did you say we didn't know that kid? It was obviously James from Team Rocket.” Serena can't help but point out, that kid had been the spitting image of James, which didn't make any sense whatsoever.
“Trust me. It's better to not draw attention from those people.”
“Why? if it's a picture of a kid, doesn't it mean it might be his parents looking for him?” Bonnie asks. Confused.
“Look, I went through that once already. Trust me. We are better off not getting involved with those people.” Ash assures as he stands back up.
The others seem hesitant, but since he's known Team Rocket the longest, the group decides to listen to him.
Which Ash is glad for, he would rather not deal with those creepy people again.
Although that was easier said than done.
A few hours later as the group sits outside a restaurant, having wanted to taste the city's famous cheesecake, the sound of shouts is heard, making them turn towards it just in time to see someone jump over a bush, bolt across the street dodging cars by a hair and quickly hiding under the nearest table from the restaurant.
Which happened to be theirs.
Another man and a woman soon appeared from among the crowd, a Houndoom and a Mightyena with them.
“Find him. He couldn't have gone far.” The man orders, voice stern and leaving no room for argument.
Both Pokemon set out, crossing the street without a care for the transit, car horns and screeching tires filling the air once again, both Pokemon began sniffing around the tables upon reaching the restaurant.
“What is going on?” Bonnie wonders out loud, nervous and confused.
“Should we say something?” Serena asks in a hushed whisper, nervous, who were these people? Who were they looking for? Why? They looked scary, and they didn't seem kind at all, their attitude rude and hostile towards people.
“Please don't. I haven't done anything.” Comes the desperate plea from underneath the table. It sounded genuine enough.
And that was all Ash needed. When the Houndoom reached their table and growled at Chespin as this one appeared from under the tablecloth, he stood up, using himself to make the Pokemon back off from the table.
“Hey, that's enough. You are scaring people here with your Pokemon.” He snaps dryly at the two oddly dressed people.
“Kid, stay out of it, we are only doing our job.”
“No, what's your deal? You don't look like cops or anything actually legal.” He states to know defensively.
“We were hired to find someone, and that's what we do. We find people and bring them to whoever hired us, no matter the cost.”
“So what? You forcefully take people away and hand them over to others? That sounds a lot like a crime to me.” Clemont can't help but exclaim, giving them a wary look.
“You-”
“You should leave now.” Ash cuts off hastily. Pikachu's cheeks crackling with electricity as it stands next to him. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie also stand up, glaring at the duo.
Yet, only the Mightyena and Houndoom barking as they run off towards another direction makes the duo retreat. The group waits until they can't see them anymore before sitting back down, lifting the tablecloth to look underneath, there sits someone curled into himself.
“You can come out now, they are gone.” Ash assures, the person seems to tense momentarily before lifting his head, a familiar face meeting him.
“You.”
“The twerps-!” James bites back a curse when he jerks back and hits his head with the table, he still crawls out. Today was definitely not his day.
“What are you doing here?” Ash demands to know, odd enough, while he was still wearing Team Rocket's uniform, the white shirt with the ‘R’ on it was missing, leaving him in a black T-shirt.
“Give me a break, I have no care for Pikachu or stealing anything right now.” James snaps back in irritation as he rubs the throbbing spot on his head, all he had wanted was to get some of that godforsaken cheesecake, for once, without losing the money along the way.
“What did you do?” Bonnie asks suspiciously, arms crossed over her chest while everyone gave him judgemental looks. He scowls.
“I didn't do anything! I just wanted to buy something without losing my money along the way for once! And then those two crazy people just started chasing me!” He had done absolutely nothing to get those two chasing him, he had never even seen them before in his life!
“They said they were hired to find someone and bring it to whoever hired them.” James frowns, for a moment processing what he just heard, and if he adds that to that hideous missing poster he saw near the park…
Ah.
Realization dawns on him. Yeah, his parents were certainly getting desperate if they were taking over Kalos too and hiring people.
“Over there!” The shout makes him turn. And that blasted Houndoom and Mightyena were approaching at an alarming speed.
He turns and bolts back into the street, dodging cars with skilled expertise and hoping he's fast enough. If those people were hired by his parents he's doomed. He runs as fast as he can, dodging people and just really hoping to escape, heart racing and a new fear clinging to him. He can't let them catch him. He can't go back. He will never go back.
He takes a turn and curses at the dead end. But he won't give up so easily. He climbs on a dumpster with all the intention to jump over the fence, however, something snatches him just as he's about to leap over. And it yanks him back violently. He curses when his foot slips and he crashes on the floor, head hitting the concrete, hard, the world rings around him for a split second, vision blurring for a fleeting second as he laid there, momentarily off balance before quickly manoeuvring himself to his feet, stumbling, something was definitely not right.
“What the hell was that for?!” He snarls at them as the floor sways funnily, making him lean against a wall nearby, he feels like he might go sick.
“Well, that's your fault for trying to get away, we asked you nicely before.” The woman said, as if she was honestly blaming him for this. He backs off, glowering at them and flinching when she pulls another PokeBall out.
And then a Vileplume appears.
“Vileplume, use stun spores.”
The name is familiar, and while not from the same face and voice, it still makes his heart drop. He covers his nose with his shirt, but the effects are there, making him choke and curse, no, no, no, stay awake, don't give in.
But the numbness sets across his body, making him drop on his knees. The familiar tingling making him choke, this time, for an entirely different reason than the stun spore. His heart races, stomach clenching with nausea as a few tears roll down his cheeks. Hands yanking him up. Stay away. Stay away.
He bites back a curse when he fails at fighting back, he tries to stay awake. He tries and tries, but ultimately, he fails. The last thing he sees is a flash of electricity before everything goes dark.
~
Ash, against his better judgement, had been unable to not do something. Team Rocket or not, he didn't feel comfortable just letting someone be basically kidnapped. And glad he did. They arrived just in time to see those two people dragging a seemingly unconscious James into a car.
The group had set their Pokemon on the duo, no hesitation. Had managed to send them running. There had been stun spore remains in the air, which would explain how he wouldn't wake up.
And not knowing what else to do, the Pokemon Center had been their smartest choice, Nurse Joy surely could treat that. Which she did.
“Aside from the stun spore I noticed he had a concussion. I treated it as best as I could, but he should go to a human doctor, just to be safe. Head injuries are no joke.” She informs the group, to which they nod awkwardly. “He's awake, he's free to go whenever he wants, you said you knew him, I trust you will make sure he rests?”
Again, the group nods awkwardly, yeah, they said they knew him, they never said they were friends or anything, but it's not like he did anything to begin with, so the group had chosen to help him and hide the fact of who he was. They even lied about his name! And his age… well, it's not like they knew how old he was, to Ash he looked just a bit older than Brock, so he had gone with 19 and called it a day.
Point is, it's not on them what he does afterwards, however, it didn't quite occur to them what to do with him, not until the group is at the park across the Pokemon Center with James sitting on the bench seemingly giving his all (and failing spectacularly) at staying awake. Nurse Joy did say he might experience drowsiness and/or want to sleep more or less than usual.
Bonnie had had to grab his hand and pull him along since he had been hardly aware of anything.
“What do we do with him? I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone.” Clemont said as he watched the other nodding off before startling himself awake.
“Me neither. What if those people show up again?” Serena agrees, sure, Team Rocket was… not nice, but it's not like they were evil either. In any case, she didn't feel comfortable just letting someone get kidnapped, even less by people who apparently hadn't hesitated to actually hurt him. That wasn't right.
“We can't keep him either. I mean, wouldn't he be better off with Jessie and Meowth?” Ash said, wouldn't he be harder to find with those two? An air balloon would be better than walking around or sitting in one place.
“How would we even find them?” Serena made a fair point there.
“I don't know.” Pikachu jumps off Ash’s shoulder, landing on the bench next to James, prompting the other to stare down at him intently, making Pikachu tense momentarily.
And then.
“You look just like a Pikachu.” He states, poking Pikachu’s forehead with a dumb grin. Yeah, he definitely shouldn't be left alone, like, at all. Pikachu sweatdrops, reaching over to push the release button on the PokeBall on his belt.
Inkay materialized not soon after.
“Inkay-Ink.” The Pokemon exclaims happily, latching its tentacles around James' head and rubbing against his face, prompting the other to return the gesture vigorously.
“You are so squishy.” He declares while laughing, Ash sighs before just reaching over to snatch Inkay away. “Hey! Not fair!” James complains, immediately reaching over, yet, Ash quickly backs off, Inkay biting his finger, hard.
“Ouch!” He cries out, releasing the Pokemon on reflex, which is quick to go back to James who snatches it away, holding it against his chest while giving them all a nasty look.
“You can't have this flying marshmallow, it's mine, you go get your own.”
“We are not you, I wasn't trying to steal it!” Ash snaps back, both insulted and annoyed at the prospect of being seen as a Pokemon thief. The nerve! “But Inkay’s probably the only one who might be able to find Jessie and Meowth. Unless you know where they are?”
He doesn't answer, frowning for a moment as if struggling to come up with something before scowling with an affronted look.
“That's what I thought. So, let it go.” Ash states, James glowers at him, eyes narrowing, and for a moment, just momentarily, he looks genuinely threatening for once before quickly turning away and letting Inkay go.
“Inkay, do what he says.” Inkay seems momentarily confused before turning to look at Ash with a curious look.
“Hi, so, uh, do you think you could find Jessie and Meowth?” He asks, hopeful, Inkay lifts its little tentacle with a happy smile.
“Inkay-Ink!”
“Is that a yes?”
A nod.
“Great! Could you bring them here? Just tell them that James’ hurt and he really shouldn't be left alone.”
“Inkay-Ink!”
The group watches the small Pokemon leave, disappearing as it turns a corner across the street. James sighs dramatically as he drops sideways on the bench, looking in all the sense of the word as if he just permanently lost something precious and won't be seeing it ever again. He looks like he might just burst out crying at any second.
“Don't be such a big baby, it's not like it won't come back.” Bonnie says, he gives her a nasty look for a full minute before sticking his tongue out at her and turning away. Bonnie decided to be the bigger person and ignore him.
It's no surprise when he ultimately actually falls asleep.
“Who’s looking for him? Is it really his parents? Why not just go home?” Serena breaks the silence, no longer able to keep her curiosity away. Ash visibly cringes.
“His parents are crazy, I wouldn't want to go back either.” Ash can't help but say, shivering at the memories of that day.
“It can't be that bad.”
“His fiancee is insane and his parents don't seem to care about that fact. She even wanted him to get rid of his Growlithe!” Which was the craziest thing Ash has ever heard, the nerve of anyone to ever think they had the right to demand that someone else gets rid of their Pokemon!
“When you say fiancee…?”
“You know, wife-to-be or whatever.”
Serena, Clemont and Bonnie's jaws drop.
“He’s got a fiancee?!” Serena blurts out, unable to believe what she just heard, him? A fiancee? Who would want to marry someone so incredibly dumb and a criminal on top of it?!
Ash just shrugs.
“I don't see how that's relevant. It's not like he likes her, I’m quite sure he's actually terrified of her, can't say I blame him, she looks just like Jessie and is twice as crazy, he said she would never let him do anything and would criticize everything, to the way he ran to the way he ate.”
The others cringe at the mental picture, a control freak who wanted him to get rid of his Pokemon? That's… well, it's kind of understandable if he doesn't want to go back.
“But why is she mean to him? Shouldn't you be nice to the people you want to marry?” Bonnie wonders out loud, it didn't make any sense, why be mean to the person you would marry? Shouldn't she have been nicer?
“Some people are just mean for no reason whatsoever.” Clemont said nervously, he didn't feel like explaining in detail to his sister just yet that some relationships weren't exactly rainbows and roses. She was way too young for that sort of talk.
Clemont can understand why he would run away though, to be restrained as tightly as Ash said sounded suffocating, some people just chose the lesser evil if it meant escaping other situations. And considering how James is… he might have chosen this life over the one waiting for him back home. Even more so considering how genuinely terrified he had looked when he realized who might be looking for him and why.
It takes a while before Inkay returns, and with it, Jessie and Meowth.
“You.” She gives as a displeased greeting, arms crossed over her chest as her gaze falls on James who's still very much asleep on the bench.
“Don't give us attitude, we helped him.” Ash snaps back, Jessie raises her eyebrow at him.
“He doesn't seem hurt to me.”
“Nurse Joy said he got a nasty concussion, pretty sure he might have gotten it while running away from those people who were chasing him. They would have taken him away had we not intervened.” Serena stated matter of fact.
“Who was chasing him?”
“People his parents or Jessebelle hired to snatch him, didn't you see any of those Missing posters on your way here? Someone even asked us if we knew him.” Ash said, Meowth and Jessie make a face, the latter sighing before walking past them and approaching James.
“Hey, wake up, we are leaving.” Jessie calls as she shakes his shoulder, she must admit she had been on edge when Inkay appeared alone and saying James was hurt, many things had passed through her mind.
But seeing him now… it was a huge relief.
He groans momentarily before finally opening his eyes, looking up at her with a confused look before his face just lits up and he's jumping to his feet, she's completely caught off guard when he all but throws himself at her, almost managing to knock her off her feet.
“Oh, Jessie! I knew you would come for me!” He exclaims way too dramatically, even for him.
“What's up with you now?” She protests, but makes no attempts at pushing him off.
“Yeah, that might be the concussion, Nurse Joy said he might be a little weird too.” Jessie's eye twitches at Ash’s words. Great. She manages to get James off her, quite glad when he switches to snatching Meowth off the ground and crushing him in his arms in a tight hug to the cat’s visible displeasure.
“Hey! Watch it! I am not a toy!” Meowth protests, struggling against the vice grip, and yeah, Jimmy's way stronger than he looked. He could scratch him, but he ends up deciding against it, he will let it pass, just this once.
“Alright, we will leave now… thank you, I guess.” Jessie adds as an awkward afterthought, grabbing James' arm and pulling him along when he doesn't make any attempt to follow her, way too busy smothering Meowth.
The group watches them leave.
“I know they are bad, but I really hope he gets better.” Bonnie says, the others can't help but agree with her.
~
“You think it's safe to not take him to an actual hospital?” Meowth questions as he climbs off the ladder, leaving the air balloon to drift for a bit, Jessie was sitting on the floor, James having fallen asleep again not soon after getting him on the air balloon, head resting on her lap while she carded her fingers through his hair.
“He should be fine. As long as he doesn't throw up or passes out it should be fine, we should just let him rest and not get blasted off for a few days.” Jessie says, she guesses they could give the twerps a few days free of annoyances since they did help James.
She doesn't even want to know what would have happened had the twerps not helped him, would he have been taken? They would have never even known why he left, or that he didn't leave on his own free will. What was even going through those idiots’ heads? To treat him so roughly they actually gave him a concussion, oh, if she got their hands on them.
But for now they would just stay drifting around for a bit, just to be safe, and get as far away from that city as possible.