(no subject)

[lovelycharming]

Everybody enjoying another peaceful, carefree day in Ultern? Good, because there's a sparkle in the sky other than Ulternian sunshine and look, it's a bird! No, it's a plane! No, it's...

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAAAA—huh? Hey, wait a minute...! Jessie? Meowth?! Where is everybody?!"

Before James can get an answer, he'll be crash-landing in Ohritori! Face full of sand on Stardust Beach? Embarrassingly suspended from a palm tree or even an Exeggutor? Or taking a miserably full-clothed dip in the sea? (Brrr!)

((Is this going to be a repeat of Mairin landing on various ships and needing to be rescued multiple times—perhaps, fortunately, both Mairin and James have terrible luck and certainly can wind up in fixes more times than they can count... maybe he's under the impression he can just launch himself back into the sky and find his friends, who knows?! But he just keeps landing here... oof.))

Comments

[lovelycharming]

James raised his brows and turned to stare at the other man as he balanced on one foot. You're being judged, James. He knocks the sole of his boot a few times before sliding it back on.

"... no? Not that I know of? I've met some very sweet young ladies and one young man who've been very helpful. We're not here to be gladiators and it seems the locals are also, as a general rule, kind, warm, inviting people. Their language is a bit unusual too, but they can also speak Japanese... ah, it does remind me a bit of Hoenn, now that I think about it..."

[aggrocket]

Hey look man judge all you want but he’s seen enough films to know how this sort of shit usually goes down! It all seems peaceful and idyllic until they find the first dead body!!

“What the everloving hell.”

It sounds less like an irritated question and more like an incredulous acquiescence.

He slumps down onto his butt in the sand, staring at the sky. Fuck. Shit. If Mayday were here, she’d definitely laugh at what a sorry sight he was. He squeezes a bit of water out of his shirt and looks back at James. Something about what he said caught his attention.

“Hey. James 2.” Because obviously he was James 1. “You from the Kanto branch?”

[lovelycharming]

Dead body?! Please don't put thoughts like that in his head!!

"I'm sorry, I never claimed to be second to you," James said snippily. "... yes, I am, why? Are you from the Johto branch?"

[aggrocket]

“I’ll be the one calling the shots here, so obviously I’m number one.”

Very matter of factly. James 1(???) shakes his head. “Topaz branch. Sorry to hear about you guys’ whole…” He makes a vague hand gesture. “…Everything.”

1/2

[lovelycharming]

"... I'm sorry, do you have some rank to support that ego?" James asked, raising his brow.

What a complete and utter nuisance...

[2/2; I made and uploaded icons today just because of this thread... thanks, James]

[lovelycharming]

"W-wait, what's this...? Did something happen?"

James suddenly felt a cold dread plunging in his stomach. What was this other James talking about? James was from the past, according to Chloe, could there be... some worse future ahead of them? Did something terrible happen, that neither he nor Chloe know about?

*tips hat* happy to be of service lmao

[aggrocket]

“I’m a high level officer if that’s what you’re asking, wiseass. Next in line to be Executive.”

Though he’s bragging, James sounds rather bitter as he says it. Getting passed over for the promotion still stung something fierce. His attention is quickly turned away from stewing in his own negative thoughts, though. It was time to educate an anime ‘verse character on the wild ride of the game ‘verse Team Rocket.

“Oh, fuck, mate, have you been living under a rock?” He actually looks a bit sympathetic for once in his life, leaning forward and resting his head on his hand. “Yeah. The Kanto branch basically completely disbanded after some little punk kid barged in and ruined everything. D— the Boss was right proper livid. Went into seclusion to train for like three years? That’s the whole reason the Johto branch even exists. Bunch of stragglers who were waiting for his return.”

[lovelycharming]

"O-oh, I had no idea!" James laughed nervously, tone suddenly more... deferential, submissive, please-don't-hurt-me?

The unexpected sympathetic tone breaks James out of the pitiful toadying and he goes silent, wide-eyed.

"D-disbanded...?" James repeated softly, stunned.

Stragglers?! The Boss wemt into seclusion?! He caught the way James nearly referred to him differently, but it hurt too much to focus on that now...!

"W-what... was it all for...?!" James said, voice trembling from anger, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

[aggrocket]

Oh. Oh shit he’s about to start crying, isn’t he? God, how pathetic. Normally James would make fun of someone for this, but honestly? In this specific scenario, he gets it. This was heavy news to hear for a Rocket. It had been a big deal at the time.

“…That was years ago, though,” he continues, tone detached but still softer than he’d like for it to be. “It was big news. There’s no way you wouldn’t have heard about it unless you were literally under a rock. So maybe this is one of those… fuckin’, time and space situations you mentioned. Or whatever.”

Ugh. Just saying that felt stupid as hell. Why was he trying to console this loser? Maybe it was his instinct as a superior officer to look out for lower ranking members. Or maybe it was just better than the alternative of having to listen to another man cry.

[lovelycharming]

"Or... you're from the future, relative to me," James said bitterly, then buried his face in his hands.

He could've been more appreciative of James' gentler tone, but he couldn't show it as much right now, still dazed from the sting of the reveal.

"... I gave them everything... everything to fulfil Giovanni's ambitions. This job... for countless years... I have nowhere else to go. I'm still... better off than my friends, though. There are so many... you know that, right? That have no homes, no family, nothing outside of Team Rocket?"

He's not whining, he's not being theatrical, he's not trying to pull heartstrings, he's just terribly, terribly sad, for his sake and others.

[aggrocket]

“Ah, shit. Guess that’s possible too.” James sucks in a sad little whistle. “Sucks for you, if so.”

He lolls his head to one side, still resting it in his palm and watching the other James.

“Of course I fucking know that.” He grits his teeth. “The Team’s all I’ve ever had, so I get it. I do. More than your sniveling little brain could possibly imagine.” He’s actually trying to be gentle here but it is very difficult when you are hardwired to be A Jerk.

“…You could always join the Topaz branch. S’where I work. That’s what Giovanni founded after the fallout in the East. A clean break.”

1/2

[lovelycharming]

He seemed to be starting to understand the other James' rough and clumsy approximation of kindness. He's almost like Jessie, but even harsher, ruder.

"... I don't... know why you want to compare pain," James said a bit stiffly, wringing his hands, before turning an oddly sympathetic gaze the other man's way. "But I'm sorry you've had to suffer too."

2/2

[lovelycharming]

"The Topaz branch? And in which region is it?" James asked curiously, although he looked happy to hear Giovanni himself founded it. "That does sound like the Boss, to know when to cut his losses, but also to keep working towards achieving his goals."

[aggrocket]

“I’m not comparing. Just stating a fact. Here’s another: I don’t need your fucking pity.” He sits back upright, crossing his arms and making like he was gazing out at the sea (but really he is just avoiding making eye contact with James’ sympathetic expression. Gross.)

…Hang on, though, wasn’t that last question weird? Why would someone would ask where Topaz was? Was this guy an idiot?

“Topaz is the region. Have you never read a book?” He snorts a derisive chuckle. “You’re right about one thing, at least: you can’t keep the old man down for long, even if you try.”

[lovelycharming]

James winced, then frowned again. What an unpleasantly harsh man... but, that too felt familiar. Proud, tough types are troublesome, aren't they? He sighed.

"Old man? Giovanni might look a bit mature, but he's not really old—how much further are you in the future? And no... no, I've never heard of a Topaz region, much like how I never heard of the Ultern region before!"

James' eyes widened. "I think we might be from entirely different worlds!"

[aggrocket]

What the fuck. James had kind of just been talking out his ass when he mentioned the time and space bullshit, but now it’s actually shaping up to be true? That’s wild. He doesn’t say any of that, though, of course. Instead, he says:

“…No shit, isn’t that what I tried to say earlier?” Yeah, keep up, James 2! James 1 already had this all figured out! (He did not.)

“And I don’t mean that he’s an old man,” he says calmly, “I meant that he’s my old man. My father.”

1/2

[lovelycharming]

"W-well, I knew we were from different points in time, but..." James protested, but didn't have the energy to keep arguing.

Besides that, the other James just casually dropped another big revelation on his shoulders!

[lovelycharming]

"... y-y-YOU'RE the Boss' kid?! Is that why you have such a giant st—stuck-up attitude?!"

Please give James a moment to recover...

[aggrocket]

“Yeah, that’s right. I am.” James uncrosses his arms, pushing down on the ground and lifting himself to his feet. “And I’d keep that smart mouth of yours in check unless you want to introduce it to the backside of my hand.”

With the threat of unnecessary violence out of the way, he surveys the area quietly while brushing the sand off his pants.

“You been to the city over there yet?”

His eyes are fixed on the rooftops of Turnbloom.

[lovelycharming]

James flinched. "Yessir!"

It took him a moment to recover from that little threat, before he answered, "... no, actually. I've only been as far as the forest and a young researcher's lab there...

[aggrocket]

It’d be a lie to say James didn’t look pleased at the way the other James fell in line.

“Well then, let’s get going.” It’s more of a demand than a suggestion. “We’re not gonna gain anything standing around.”

A pause. “…What were you doing lying face down out here, anyway?”

[lovelycharming]

Terrible! But James is a follower, so he'll follow... as long as he actually sees James as worth following in this specific regard.

"I'm part of a team, you know..." James said sulkily. "So, if I find my partner..."

He won't keep following you!

"I was... trying to go back the way I came," James answered shiftly, not wanting to tell the other James any embarrassing details.

[aggrocket]

“A team? Yeah, that figures.” Hey what does that mean, James? He starts to walk toward the city, apparently not caring to elaborate. Luckily, he also doesn’t seem to care enough to really pry into the obviously shifty answer, taking it at face value.

“…So it’s harder to get out of here than it looks, then?”

[lovelycharming]

Why did he sound so bitter about it? James wondered if he lost his team mates or if he had trouble forming one, like Jessie did in the past...

"... sorry," he apologized, even though he didn't know for what exactly.

"Yeah. It's not a normal place at all. You can't just leave all of Ultern, apparently."

[aggrocket]

“Of course. Of fuckin course we can’t get out. This really is like a bloody movie, innit?” James sighs. “At least we didn’t wash up on some other planet entirely, I guess.” Things could always be worse! He walks in silence for a spell.

“…The hell were you apologizing for back then, anyway?” He asks finally, casting an almost curious glance back at his counterpart.