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"DRY LAND!!"
Jessie watched with an amused smile as James and Reece charged down the gangplank of the ship onto the dock. They had sailed into Beetle Bay not twenty minutes ago and had finally set shore at Port Waterskipper, the small, seaboard town at the end of the bay. Passerbys gave odd looks to the two Team Rocket members as they danced around the dock, hugging the wooden pools, the sign that pointed the way to downtown, each other, and occasionally a stranger or two that happened to be on the dock. Jessie felt something bump into her from behind and looked down as Meowth pushed his way past her.
"Cats and water don't mix," he grumbled to her softly as they walked down to the dock, side by side. "We are taking a plane next time. I don't care how much it costs." Jessie chuckled lightly. Suddenly James appeared in front of Jessie, picking her up in his arms and swinging her around, laughing with wild abandon.
"No more sailing, no more cooks! No more Captain's dirty looks!" he cried, playing on an old song they both used to sing at the end of the school year. Jessie felt her self laughing along with him. James carefully set his friend back on the ground. "We should head into town," he said, giving her one of the cheesiest, widest grins she had ever seen. "We could go to the shops, buy some new clothes, eat anything that isn't aquatic..."
"Maybe look up some information about our serial killer," Meowth offered, his voice startling them both. "We aren't on vacation, you know."
"We do need to eat, Meowth," protested Reece, coming up behind them. "I mean, Jessie and James need to get some food for their pokémon and we all need new clothes. Most of them sunk to the bottom of the ocean, remember?" The cat pokémon sighed and rubbed his charm.
"Fine, you four--- wait. Where's Ryo?" Meowth asked suddenly, looking around.
"Right here."
All four of the Team Rocket members let out a shriek in surprise at the boy's voice. He was standing right next them, looking for all the world as though he had always been there. But Ryo wasn't there a minute ago, was he? James wondered, his eyes narrowing slightly, feeling very confused.
"Jeez, Ryo! Don't do that! You trying to give Meowth a heart attack?" cried the cat, grabbing his own chest.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to surprise you," Ryo apologized with a shrug of his shoulders. Meowth let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
"Well, like I was saying, you four head into town and do what you want.... WITHIN REASON!" he clarified, stabbing a finger in Jessie and James' direction.
"Whatever do you mean?" Jessie asked sweetly, putting on her most innocent face. "Do you know what he's referring to, James?"
"Not at all, Jessie," the lavender-haired young man replied, looking at her with an equally innocent expression. "We'd never do anything wrong... like stealing Meowth's credit cards and going on a wild shopping spree when we're supposed to be on a mission." Reece chuckled softly while Meowth sighed again.
"Just go, will ya'? complained the pokémon.
"What are you going to be doing, Meowth?" asked Ryo.
"Contacting the boss. We need to let him know we're here and why we're late." Meowth pulled out a small notebook and flipped it open, peering at it carefully. "We got reservations at The Happy Mariner under the name of 'Geordie Pavanni.' Let's all meet there around 5 p.m., okay?"
"Where do you get these names, Meowth?" asked Reece. "I mean, 'George Travanni,' 'Geordie Pavanni?' Those are pretty awful. I mean..." Reece paused a minute, her eyes widening slightly. She smiled sheepishly. "I get it now. That's pretty cute." Jessie and James nodded at her.
"We thought so," Meowth replied. Ryo looked confused.
"I don't understand what you..." Ryo began, but Reece cut him off.
"I'll explain it to you later," Reece said with a grin, grabbing his arm. "Let's go explore!" Ryo waved goodbye as the very enthusiastic green-haired girl dragged him off. Meowth turned to look at the remaining two Team Rocket members.
"All joking aside, you two..."
"We know Meowth," interrupted James. "We promise to keep our eyes and ears open for information about the Red X."
"I know you will," Meowth said, nodding his head. "But that's not all I want you to keep an eye on." The cat looked in the direction of the departed members of their group. "Do you notice anything strange about Ryo?"
Jessie shrugged. "Team Rocket is full of odd-balls. I mean, look at us three!" Meowth seemed about to protest when Jessie held up her hand, silencing him. "I know what you're saying, Meowth, but it's too soon to make a judgement call about him."
"I agree," James added. "There's... something unusual about him. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's something..." James broke off, shaking his head in frustration.
"I feel it too," Jessie replied, looking meaningfully at James. Their eyes met for a moment and Meowth was suddenly aware that something he didn't understand was passing between them. After a few moments, they broke eye contact. James looked squarely at Meowth.
"We'll watch him."
Jessie had stopped at a holistic pokémon medicine shop. The merchant spotted her, his eyes lighting up as he watched her pick up a small vial of oil. He quickly hurried over in her direction, feeling a sale coming on.
"Ah, miss, I see you have found our Oil of Tappas Flower. It is a truly excellent skin conditioner for any reptilian pokémon you may have." The merchant looked skeptically at her for a minute. "Do you have any reptilian pokémon, miss?"
Jessie looked up at him, her eyebrow rising in a 'You have to be kidding,' kind of look. Reaching behind her back, she pulled her pokéball out of its holder on the back of her cutoffs. "Come on out, Arbok," she said evenly, pointing the ball at an unoccupied space near the merchants stall. In a flash of red light, Jessie's Arbok appeared, hissing her name and looking very relieved to be free. She stretched to her full height, startling some of the nearby customers. The merchant took a step back in surprise, then clapped his hands together, practically bouncing forward.
"What a fabulous specimen that Arbok is!" he cried, walking out from behind his booth to get a closer look. He began to scratch the large snake in the place where her jaw connected to skull. Jessie smiled, knowing that was one Arbok's favorite places to be scratched. "I'm assuming this is a female, since she is so large."
"Yes," Jessie replied, standing next to the merchant, looking up proudly at her pokémon. "We've been at sea for sometime and the salt air has dried out her skin a bit. I thought some Tappas Oil might help."
"Oh, definitely," said the merchant, ceasing to pet Arbok as he turned around back to Jessie. "I sell a goodly amount of that oil to the folks here at the Port that have reptilian pokémon. Although," he began slowly, looking back at Arbok, his eyes narrowing slightly, "she seems a bit lethargic. Perhaps you should also run her over to the pokécenter in town." Jessie shook her head sharply.
"That won't be necessary. Not right now anyway. I know exactly what's bothering her."
"Oh?" asked the merchant, curious. He took the oil out of Jessie's hand and walked back behind the booth, ringing up her purchase. Jessie smiled brightly at the merchant, walking over to Arbok. She began running her hand down the snake's length, stopping when she was about two-thirds of the way down. She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning against her pokémon, then looked back at the merchant, her smile reflecting in her eyes.
"She's carrying her first clutch," Jessie explained, reaching up to scratch Arbok behind her head. The merchant blinked for a moment, then grinned.
"How wonderful!" he said brightly, handing over Jessie's purchase. "You're going to be a mother to a number of baby Ekans soon!"
"Oh, don't say the M-word!" Jessie replied with a melodramatic sigh. "It makes me feel old! Besides," she said, leaning close to the merchant, whispering, "my boyfriend doesn't know yet!" The merchant laughed.
"Won't he have a surprise in a few weeks!"
Jessie winked theatrically at the man before reaching into her satchel to withdraw the money. "How much do I owe you?" The merchant held up his hand, shaking his head.
"Consider it a baby shower gift. It's on the house." Jessie gave the merchant an award-winning smile.
"Thank you!" she called over her shoulder as she walked away. Arbok, loomed next to her, easily keeping up with her master and friend.
"Arrrr--boku! Boku, arrhisss."
"As soon as we get back to the hotel, I promise," Jessie replied.
"Boku."
"Wheeeezing! Wheezing, wheeze, wheeze!" Jessie and her companion turned to their left, seeing James' pokémon floating quickly towards them. Behind him walked a cheerful James, carrying a few packages under his arms. The two poison pokémon started chatting animatedly with each other and Jessie quickly lost thread of the conversation. She decided to stick with her own species.
"Hey, sexy! What's in the bags?"
"Clothes, mostly," replied James, dropping said bags. "I went shopping for both of us. Hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," Jessie said with a seductive smile. "You have impeccable taste." The young man smiled back and took a step forward, delivering a quick, yet pleasant, kiss on his partner's lips.
"That I do," he said with a grin on his own.
"Arboku, arrrrkuuuu," Arbok said loudly, cutting Jessie off before she could reply. Wide-eyed and open mouthed, the young Team Rocket member turned to look at her pokémon.
"What did you say?" Jessie said with disbelief. James looked at her curiously.
"Arboku, ar ar boku," replied the pokémon, looking very smug. James broke up into laughter. Jessie scowled.
"That's it! Back in your pokéballs, the both of you!" she growled, zapping Arbok into her pokéball. Jessie reached over and snatched Weezing's ball off of James' belt and did the same to the floating poison pokémon. "And stop snickering or I'll find someway to put you in one of these things, too," Jessie warned James, who was wiping tears out of his eyes and was nearly bent over double in hysterics.
"I... I can't believe she said that," James said after a moment, finally having pulled himself together enough to talk. "Where in the world did she learn such things?"
"I can't imagine," Jessie replied dryly, glaring at her partner. "But since you think it's so funny, you can treat me to lunch." Jessie quickly turned on her heal and stomped away, intending to find the most expensive restaurant she could. James picked up the packages and followed, his shoulders quaking every now and then with suppressed laughter.
Ryo looked up from the comic book he was holding and glanced over in the direction Reece was pointing. Standing in the shadows of an alley was a dark, blood red tent. In it, an old woman sat on the ground, hunched over a short table, most of her body draped with layers of heavy black cloaks, despite the warm, summer weather. Hanging all around the tent were strips of paper each with spidery, black script written on them. Strings of beads hung from the ceiling of the tent. Even though the bazaar was extremely crowded, people seemed to make an arc around the old woman's hut, most likely unconsciously. Ryo recognized it immediately.
"It's a Divinator's Tent," he said quickly, looking back at his book as though that explained everything.
"What is a Divinator?" Reece asked, turning to look at Ryo. Ryo closed the book and dropped it back on the stack he had taken it from. "Sorry," Reece said with a sheepish grin. "I don't mean to be so nosy." She pushed her glasses up. The blond-haired teenager grinned.
"It's alright. I keep forgetting that you're not from around here. Divinator's are pretty common on the Western Continent, but not really anywhere else." At a loud 'humph' from the shop owner, Ryo pulled Reece away from the booth they were standing at so other customers could browse.
"As I was saying," Ryo began again, once they were out of the way, "Divnators are a part of every day life here in the Western Continent. Those little strips of paper are wards."
"Wards?" Reece repeated, tilting her head to the side. Ryo found himself grinning again. She was just so cute!
"Uh... yeah. Wards," stumbled the teenager, trying to regain his train of thought. "They keep away malevolent spirits. You can put them on your house, your car, your business - anywhere you fear a spirit may come to get you. The beads you see hanging are also wards, although a great deal more powerful. They're usually tailored specifically to the individual. They're mostly for Receptors."
"Okay, not that I'm trying to sound like a parrot here, but what is a Receptor?"
"A Receptor is a person with special abilities," Ryo explained. "They can see dead people."
"Oooo, like that movie with that boy?" Reece asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Sort of," Ryo said with a nod. "Except, unlike that movie, not everyone who dies becomes a ghost. Not by a long shot. Receptors can actually become possessed by a spirit, although it often happens by force. Malevolent spirits can be very powerful. The beads keep the spirits away."
"Wow," Reece said after a moment. She sighed and looked apologetically at Ryo. "No offence, but I'm kinda a scientific minded person. All this ghost stuff gives me the creeps."
"Really?" Ryo asked. "I... I understand. I guess The Western Continent is a little more superstitious than where you're from." Reece shrugged.
"A little," she replied, "but I enjoy learning about new cultures." She looked down at her watch and gasped. "We need to head to the hotel!" Reece turned and started walking away, but stopped when she saw that Ryo wasn't following. "You coming?"
"I'll catch up," Ryo said with a wave. "There's something I need to do first." Reece nodded and melted into the crowed. Ryo took a deep breath, watching where she had departed from. With firm resolve, he turned and walked quickly towards the Divinator's tent.
"No I didn't lose him, you oaf. He had some things to finish up in town. He should be here in a few minutes." Meowth stuck his tongue out at the girl who reciprocated the action.
"Now, now children," Jessie said from her where she was sitting in James' lap, "Enough of that. We are all members of a high class crime syndicate and we shouldn't be having such childish actions."
"Oh, like you two can talk," Meowth said with a grin. At that point, Jessie and James both stuck their tongues out at Meowth, simultaneously, causing the room to erupt in laughter.
"Did I miss something?" Ryo asked, all grins as he walked in the door.
"Just us mature members of Team Rocket acting our age," Reece replied. Ryo sat down on the floor next to Reece. Meowth cleared his throat, signaling the beginning of the meeting.
"So did any of you find anymore information besides where you can get the best dim sum in this city?"
"West and Third," said Jessie and James simultaneously. Meowth rolled his eyes. Reece put her hand over her mouth and let out a little squeak. She and Ryo exchanged glances.
"We forgot," Ryo said guiltily. "We got caught up in exploring the city."
Meowth shook his head. "How about you two?" he asked Jessie and James.
"Nothing concrete," James said, reaching out to the bowl in the center of their circle and snatching a pretzel stick. "Of course, everyone's buzzing about the Red X being back, but nobody seems to know much else. They don't have any idea why he's targeting who he is."
"Although we know it's Team Rocket members," Jessie added. "James and I were thinking about checking around with rival gangs. It might be a hit by one of them."
"Probably a good idea, but don't let on to who you are," Meowth cautioned. "We don't need two more corpses."
"Why are they bothering to use The Red X's MO, anyway?" Reece asked. "The last attack was twenty years ago. Even if whoever did it was young, that's still a long time. I can't imagine that it's the same person."
"It is," Ryo said evenly. Everyone turned to look at him. He was staring at a spot on the carpet. He looked up and blinked, seeming almost surprised to see all the eyes on him. "W... What I mean is, I think it is the same person. Copy cat murderers aren't all that common."
Meowth nodded slowly. "What we really need to do is have someone go over the last killing spree this guy had and see if we can find anything that ties all the victims together. That may give us a clue as to whether he's working free-lance or for somebody else."
"I'll do that," Ryo said quickly. Meowth looked at him for a moment before nodding his head sharply.
"Okay," Meowth said. "Jessie, you and James do what you were planning. Infiltrate these gangs and find out if anyone has a hit out on us."
"What about me?" Reece asked.
"You and I are heading down to Cicada City."
"Cicada City?" asked Jessie, raising an eyebrow. "Where is that and what's there?"
"It's the largest city on the continent located about one hundred fifty miles south of here," Ryo began.
"And there's someone there I need to meet," Meowth finished. "He's an old contact of mine and might have some information, but he'll only talk to me in person," Meowth added in response to Jessie and James questioning looks. Jessie nodded her head and stretched her arms up. She got up out of James' lap and stretched again.
"Well," she said, letting her arms flop down to her sides, "now that we all have our assignments, why don't we get something to eat?"
"Sounds like a plan," James agreed, also standing up.
"You know, I've heard there's this great little place on West and Third..." Ryo began with mock inquisitiveness, rubbing his chin. Reece laughed and Meowth just smiled.
"Let's eat!" said the cat happily, the group following him out the door.