#like to think that jenny and night nurse follow each other but whenever someone points it out they’re like

[hyperfixationsposting]

are all of these extremely ooc ?? most definitely. do i care ?? no, i had fun making them.

[blastingxff]

Fate that Binds pt. 9

This part: Magical wells and their currency remain a mystery to most. Also, don’t play truth or dare in a graveyard please. (FYI: This fic actually isn’t crack like please proceed with caution)

first part // previous part // next part  Series: Pokemon Characters: Jessie, James, Meowth, Pikachu, Ash, Brock, May, Max, Jessebelle Ships: hints of rocketshipping if you read it that way, mostly just friendshipping though Summary: It had been a throwaway wish, something made out of the frustration of the moment- it wasn’t actually supposed to happen. But the magic of a well haunted by a pokemon’s spirit ended up altering reality. Now, Jessie, James, and Meowth aren’t in Team Rocket. They don’t even know each other. And it’s created far darker a world for the TRio than Ash could have ever imagined, and now he and his friends want nothing more than to change things back to how they were. Genre: Friendship, hurt/comfort, so much angst, all the angst, drama, butchered canon, Words: 2,110 / part 9 out of 16 Trigger Warnings (this part): abuse mention and injuries, swearing Notes: This popped into my head and didn’t get out until I wrote it down. It’s 16 chapters, and entirely written already in about three days. So that will explain a helluvalot. Like the bus-sized plotholes. I just wanted to be mean to my favorite characters, geeze, is that so bad? XP Also can be read on Ao3.

Chapter 9 A Couple Days Before the Wedding 

The next two days continued in much the same manner. Jessie would vanish in the evening, returning the next morning. The twerps, for their part, seemed to be okay with the arrangement- leaving her some breakfast in the morning if they were gone before she returned.

Evenings were what she looked forward to now, seeing him just ended up giving her the biggest smile. She continued to ask the twerps questions about her and James. About their relationship. About what they were like as a team.

“Apparently, according to them, whenever we showed up we said the stupidest thing. A motto sorta? That’s what we called it at least,” She tilted her head one evening. They had made sure to buy extra meat and treats for the meowth who had taken to joining them. Each night he got a little closer, but still kept his distance unless food was introduced. Neither Jessie nor James seemed to mind the hesitancy.

“A motto?” James lifted the beer to his lips. He was relaxed in posture, having detailed his day- how frustrating it was. What Jessebelle forced him into doing, showing Jessie the markings from the whip beneath his clothes. Old and new wounds patterned the skin. Jessie had fought to hide her anger, concerned that James would take it misdirected at him. And then there was the frightened meowth and- well, being a hot-headed person in the company of those who needed no outbursts was taking most of her energy.

James, for his part, seemed to at least appreciate the effort. Meowth was too distracted by the fried food to notice- something Jessie could understand on a personal level.

“Yeah. I’d say like, ‘prepare for trouble’ way dramatically and you’d say, um, ‘make it double’ I think they said. Here, I had them write it down,” she pulled out a scrap of paper, handing it over. James read through it silently, brow raised through most of it. “We went all-out with this thing. No shame.”

“‘To unite all peoples within our nation’? I thought we were a criminal organization? Why are we uniting people?”

“The same reason we’re protecting the world from devastation I guess. Maybe we’re good bad guys.”

“Good bad guys?”

“There’s a market for it, I’m sure. Lovable evil sorta thing.”

James just shrugged, through a breath he spoke, “Sure. Okay. Why not. I’ve stopped trying to make sense of things,” he fixated on the final line- a crease in his forehead forming from surprise, “‘Meowth, that’s right’? Meowth says things? Do pokémon talk in this world?”

“Just the one they said. Well, aside from other poke anomalies, Meowth is really one of a kind,” she glanced over at the pokémon who’s eyes grew with the beginning of a panic. He started to back away, “Sorry, the twerps blew your cover. No pressure though.”

Jessie caught James’ eyes once more. She could tell immediately that they were thinking the same thing. We really were friends. Weren’t we? This sort of… mental connection didn’t just happen, “James. It’s stupid and all but-”

“Ladies first.” He followed her lead, standing up for the momentous occasion.

“Prepare for trouble!” She said as dramatically as possible.

“Make it double!” He continued, following suit.

“To protect the world from devastation!”

“To unite all peoples within our nation!”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

“To extend our reach to the stars above!”

“Jessie!”

“James!”

“Team Rocket, blasts off at the speed of light!”

“Surrender now, or prepare to fight!”

“Meowth, that’s right!”

The two froze with the last sentence, looking down at the Meowth who’s gaze was averted, suddenly incredibly interested in the food before him. Deciding Meowth’s comfort was more important than calling him out on his little show of talent, the two looked at each other.

“That was pretty awesome,” Jessie admitted after a moment, the grin hadn’t left his face either.

 * * *

Two Days Before the Wedding

* * *

On the third day, Jessie sat on the window sill as she had many times before up to that point, “James. I want a change of scenery.”

He was in the middle of changing into the spare clothes he had started hiding under his bed to allow for optimum shenanigans when venturing into the outside world. Their comfort with each other had just grown…exponentially. Maybe she was clinging to a possibility based on a barely believable story, but for the first time in her life she was happy with someone. And that someone didn’t treat her like crap. More importantly, he seemed just as happy with her. The mutuality was enough to give her hope.

“Oh?” He was pulling on his shirt. Jessie had to avert her eyes. The scars on his back made her stomach churn. If she stared for too long, she might do something to that woman who gave them to him.

“Yeah. Wanna play truth or dare in a horribly inappropriate place for a game of truth or dare?”

“Horribly inappropriate place?”

“I’m not a psychopath or anything,” James’ expression told her he didn’t quite believe that. She just smirked in response and rolled her eyes, “but there’s that old graveyard where the well is. The twerps have had no luck with that one or the bigger one and you’re gonna be a married man soon. So we’ve got nothing to lose. Who knows? Maybe we got the charm. Also, truth or dare in a graveyard sounds like a great idea.”

“That doesn’t sound psychopath at all,” James’ voice was dry as he headed to the window, “Well, I don’t exactly have any better ideas. What about our scaredy cat…er… cat?”

She lifted her arm, around it was a plastic bag, “I got food. Some special pokémon treats, courtesy of the twerps. If we get some more meat and stuff, I think we could be going into the pits of Hell itself and Meowth would still follow for a snack,” she paused before adding, “I don’t think we’re going into the pits of Hell.”

“Nah, you’re already here,” he gestured to his prison of a room.

She laughed at his misery, as did he. And the two vanished into the night.

* * *

“Truth,” it came from James. They were already about four rounds into the game, having yet to actually look for the well. They’d get there eventually. Jessie had mostly chosen dares- kissing statues, laying on graves, licking headstones, a variety of largely disrespectful things to do in an old graveyard. James on the other hand, had mostly chosen truths. Answering awkward questions such as penis size, most bizarre sexual fantasy, and other largely disrespectful things to talk about in an old graveyard.

Meowth had mostly decided to watch the humans, judging in his silence as he ate the food provided. Basically all the food provided. Sharing was not his forte, they realized very quickly. It wasn’t an issue though; the two preferring the scrawny little thing get some weight put on.

“Hmm, truth… Fuck, marry, kill- Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and um… Your fiancée- no, wait, that’s a bad question-”

“Jenny, Joy, and Jessebelle. Final answer.” He said too quick for her to change the selection. She swore, she could have figured that out.

“Jessie, truth or dare?” He asked as though the answer would be a surprise.

“Dare.”

He mulled over a dare as his eyes went through the graveyard. They had already thoroughly disrespected the place; then he focused on the trees of the woods lining the far edge of the plot of land. They hadn’t even gone close to it, the area giving off a vibe that was far too horror-movie for either of their comforts.

“I dare you to go into the woods over there for ten minutes. I’ll keep time.”

She glanced at the creepy place before turning back to James, “there’s a special place in Hell for you.”

“And you, Miss ‘this is a good idea.’”

She grinned, standing up, heading fearlessly (or at least, visibly fearlessly) into the line of trees.

A minute passed. Two minutes. Three. He kept his eye on the time, the watch he had around his wrist illuminated by its own light. Finally, ten minutes were up, “Come on back, Jess!”

But he heard nothing.

“Okay, funny Jessie, come on!”

He shivered as the wind picked up around him, rustling the bushes and the trees. Was that a ghost? Perhaps a little worry was starting to creep up on him, the man shivering as a bird pokémon of some sort took off from the branches of one of the trees. Meowth stopped eating, curling up in his own nervous fear. Did the pokémon sense a ghost pokémon?

He was sure she was fine, of course she was, she was just being a jerk.

“Jessica!” His voice hadn’t been that high since he was twelve.

With trembling legs and shaking hands he crossed the invisible barrier separating the woods from the graveyard. Only a couple of wavering steps brought him deeper into the thicket. He shivered as a wind blew past him. He was on the brink of tears from the fear of the unknown ghost pokémon. Whatever got Jessie was sure to get him next! “Jessie?”

There was a moment of silence before….

“Boo!”

He had been expecting it. He knew she was going to do that. It wasn’t creative. It wasn’t unique. It was just her being her and antagonizing him. He knew this.

And still he jumped.

And still he fell backwards.

And still he hit his head on something hard, “Ow! Ow!”

“Oh shit,” she said through giggles and wheezes, “James, you okay?” she was concerned, yes, but she was also mercilessly laughing at him. She wiped the tears from her eyes before freezing, “oh. Shit.”

James blinked, turning around to see what she was staring at.

It was what he had hit his head on. A small well, light purple and pink. Golden mouth. Carvings on the top.

“Fuck, this is the Contained one, isn’t it?” She reached out, touching the golden bricks, “James, we can make a wish! It didn’t work for the twerps but… maybe we can get it to work. We can go back to the way it was before! You can avoid marrying Jessebelle, we can be friends, we can- do you have a coin?”

She was searching on her person, hearing Meowth rustle through the bushes to watch the humans scramble for something akin to what was on his forehead.

James frowned, “I don’t have a coin, but I have this?” he lifted a golden circle with rippled edges.

“A bottle cap?”

“Limited edition!”

“I dunno, do wishing wells take bottle caps? Especially ones that don’t like to work usually?” James stared at the bottle cap, fighting with himself. Use it? Or? He didn’t really want to get rid of it… but….

“It is a magic well. Maybe something will happen?” He went to the edge of the well, realizing in that moment that the hope for the life Jessie described over the past few nights was well overriding his desire to keep the collector’s item in his hand. Maybe this other life him had the same cap anyway. He had no reason to need two.

Without another thought he focused his energy on the bottle cap, “This is precious to me, Well, don’t be an ass,” he then proceeded with his wish, “I wish for things to go back to how the twerps said it was… please.” And with a flick of his thumb, the cap fell into the depths of the well.

A moment passed. A minute passed. Two minutes passed. The wind picked up again and the rustling of the bushes scared the cat. But other than that, there was no sign of change. There had been no change.

“Well, that sucks. I liked that cap too,” he tried to hide his disappointment behind flippant comments. Guess magic wells didn’t take precious bottle caps.

“Oh, wait!” Jessie’s sudden words pulled his attention out of his own well of disappointment. She was holding a small round coin between her thumb and index finger, “Look!” she smiled sheepishly, “Sorry about your bottle cap. I am touched though,” It was a light mock, but she respected his hobby. Everyone had to have one. She stood by the well’s mouth, “All right, James, ready? Meowth?” her eyes went to her two friends. She took a deep breath, “I wish things were back to the way things were. Before the twerps made their wish.”

And she flipped the coin into the well.