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Pokémon The Reunion.

Adamhuarts

Mew specialist
Partners
  1. mew-adam
  2. celebi-shiny
  3. roserade-adam
Hi all. This is a oneshot fanfic about the Rocket trio I wrote way back in 2017 and I decided to share here for your viewing pleasure. I've not had time to spruce it up or give it any edits, so you get the rare chance to see what my writing was like almost five years ago and be the judge whether i've come far since then or not :p.



"I'm really not cut out for this." Jessie heaved a sigh, slouching on her office chair as she stared at the computer screen with numbers and letters. "What a pain," she said as resumed her work.

"You keep saying that every time," said a guy by the water dispenser behind her.

She turned her face over her shoulder. "Huh? I do?"

"Yes, and yet you're always the ace of the company," he said, pointing at a board on the wall across them, holding up four framed images of Jessie with 'employee of the month' slapped on the bottom. "Have some pride already."

Jessie groaned, resting her head on her palm and slumping her shoulders. "Well, this job is really easy, but there's hardly any excitement in it. I miss those days when I was still in team ro—roundhouse skipping."

The guy raised his brow. "team round house skipping?"

"W… well yeah! It's a really fun hobby. You should try it sometime… he heh."

"Sure…" the guy said as he took his leave, briefly throwing her another confused glance as he walked away.

Jessie heaved a relieved sigh as he walked out of sight. "That was a close one," she said, wiping her forehead.

"It's about time you let go of the past, Jess. This is your life now, just answering phone calls and typing words on a screen," she muttered to herself. Jessie paused, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She slouched back on her chair, letting out another prolonged groan. "I really miss the old days."

The clock ticked at four pm. Jessie's shift was up, and it was time for her to leave for the day. Knowing that, a faint smile grew on her face soon to be replaced with her previous bored expression. What's the excitement in even going back home anymore? It was still going to be boring even there anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Jessie packed up her things. She stared vacantly at the clock as she massaged the right side of her neck, the hands of the clock moving in perpetual motion. By the time she took her eyes off it, five minutes had already passed.

Jessie turned the knob on her car radio as she drove back home. Nothing interesting going on; just random generic pop songs, irrelevant talk show commentaries, pokemon battle sports news and so on. Jessie muted the radio, slowing down by a red light with a grimace.

Her phone buzzed. She held the phone in front of her as she picked it up, reading the notification that popped up. It was a reminder she put some time ago; a reminder of her Team Rocket reunion which was going to be the next day. The last one was the year before, and Jessie couldn't help but wonder how her old teammates were doing.

How's James doing? She's known for some time that he'd gone back to carry on his family's fortune and business. Life must be really fun for him. Meowth? Is he even still called that? It'd be really surprising if he still hasn't evolved. Jessie was practically standing on her toes, eager in anticipation. Perhaps, there were still some things to look forward to in her life.

Night came quick, as did the next morning. Jessie had gotten herself ready for the day; she'd taken a shower, dressed up, cleaned up her apartment and had a nice breakfast. She glanced at her wrist watch. There was still some time till noon, when she was expected to meet.

Jessie slouched back on her chair, staring at the empty plate sitting in front of her. What to do till then? She asked herself. When nothing came up, she got up from her chair and headed for the window. Even on weekends, the streets seemed busy with cars driving and people living their everyday lives.

If it was then, they'd have been plotting another contraption to use in order to capture some kid's Pikachu or deceive unfortunate passersby in a fraudulent scandal. What was the name of the kid again? Was it Brat? She couldn't really remember. All they were ever interested in was the boy's Pikachu anyway, other things hardly even mattered.

"Ash!" she exclaimed, flicking her fingers. "That was his name, wasn't it?"




Jessie always loved taking walks in the Viridian City Park, especially in autumn when the breeze was calm and the leaves turned into shades of orange and gold. As the sun's rays fell through the gaps in the leaves, Jessie spied a bench with a very familiar looking cat pokemon holding newspapers while wearing a very fake looking moustache. A chuckle escaped her just by catching a glimpse of the pokemon. Acting calm and cool, Jessie approached and sat next to the pokemon.

She raised her hand over her mouth as she leaned forward, her lips curving in a smile. "What's with the get up, Meowth?"

"I'm acting undercover. What if someone is spying on us? You should be more careful too," Meowth replied, donning a stern glare, then his expression mellowed and they both started laughing. "Just reliving old times."

"We used to wear a lot of disguises back in the day, didn't we? None of those kids could ever recognize us."

"That, or those kids must be wrong in the head. Just imagine, all we ever needed to do was wear a pair of sunglasses, and we're suddenly a group of never before seen strangers!" Meowth replied, setting the newspaper down. When they stopped laughing together, Meowth asked, "So how're they doing, them wobbuffet and the others?"

"Oh, they're around, and they're being the goofballs they are."

"Heh, glad to know things are going fine for them. What about James, you been talking to him? Is he even coming?"

"I honestly don't know. He's probably somewhere rich doing what rich men do, you know?" Jessie replied, slouching back with a dismissive wave of her palm. "All I know is, if he doesn't show up, he'd better be prepared for trouble."

"And make it double!" An approaching man said, wearing a sleek cream suit and holding a fancy looking cane.

Jessie's mouth hung open, and so did Meowth's. "James! You showed up!"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss our reunion for my life!" James said, smiling as he stood by the bench.

"I'm honestly surprised you can even come here by yourself. I was expecting you to be surrounded by fangirls, paparazzi and whatnot," Jessie remarked as James sat on the other side next to Meowth.

"Heh, I half expected you to show up on a golden helicopter," Meowth snorted.

"Come on guys, what do you take me for? I may be rich, but I still have my freedom," James said, chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head. "So, how's your lives been working out for you?"

"Boring! I miss the times when we were just chasing ten year olds and their pikachus," Jessie said, exasperating a sigh.

"You can say that again. I barely get by these days," Meowth concurred. "All I have to sustain me is my Talking Meowth television show."

"Oh, come on you two, you make things sound so bad even though they're not. Jessie, you're the first candidate to become the assistant president of your company, and Meowth, you're pretty damn popular all over the region. There aren't many pokemon out there that can talk after all. But I understand where you two are coming from. I too miss the excitement we used to have in the old days."

All three of them sat quietly on the bench, watching the wind blow by and the trees swaying. After that, they got into some more discussions, partly about the lives they missed, and also about hosting a party for their next reunion. Even though Team Rocket had disbanded and Jessie, James and Meowth were now living very different separate lives, the bonds of true friendship will never be broken.



THE END.
 

unrepentantAuthor

A cat that writes stories.
Location
UK
Pronouns
they/she
Partners
  1. purrloin-salem
  2. sneasel-dusk
  3. luz-companion
  4. brisa-companion
  5. meowth-laura
  6. delphox-jesse
  7. mewtwo
  8. zeraora
Hi Adam! Bet you didn't expect a quick review!

So, given that this is five years old, and based on the tone of the author's note, I'm guessing you don't want much in the way of crit! But I do want to point out the ways you've improved, so I hope I can do that in a way that'll make you proud of yourself!

This was a cute little read, honestly. It's recognisably your style, but you've fleshed out your prose wonderfully since this, of course. I recognise your sense of humour and the way you pace your dialogue, and I recognise your tendency to write melancholy souls longing for companionship. (I wonder if there's something to that, hmmmmmmm?) I enjoyed it! It helps that the concept is easy to like; the Team Rocket trio reuniting after a time apart and having strong bonds is inherently charming.

It's a pity that so much of the fic focuses on Jessie's professional drudgery and the reminiscence about their past, when what I wanted most out of this was lore on how their separation came to pass, what they've done since then, and how they intend to spend their meetup. I also wondered why they don't stay in touch more than this, given their friendship and James' wealth. You certainly have a much better grasp of economy of storytelling in your latest work!

But all that aside, I found it pleasantly cute, and I particularly enjoyed the way Meowth turns up in disguise for the sake of nostalgia, and the nods to various bits of canon. Despite being a rather novice piece, it's faithful enough to the characters that I found it perfectly credible, and it brought a smile to my face.

Keep going, lad. You've come so far, but there's been a spark since 2017! Keep nurturing it!
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
  2. zygarde
Here for Review Blitz! I know, I knows, you say this oneshot is Old and Bad but I don't care it's especially up my alley - I love the Team Rocket Trio and I was planning a fic kind of like this one in the murky, distorted depths of my oneshot backlog.

Anyway we start with Jessie livoing a normal-ass office job. I like that she is, in factr, good at this new job and paid a fair bit, on an objective level she is better off this way, but in the end? She misses the Thug Life tee em. Capitalism is boring, she wants to stea,l rats from ten-year olds. Also like that she has to hide her criminal record fom the other folks at the company.

Jessie, of course, eventually goes hoime, and of course, is still bored. She does eventually remember the name of The Twerp, though it is very funny and in-character she has trouble doing so. And offscreen from there she gets the idea of a FAMILY REUNION.

Then the reunion itself happens. James has taken over the family buisness (hopefully plus Growlie, hopefully minus Jessibele) and Meowth is the host of a TV show. Whatever the case they are happy to be together again, and it is cute. Lov them.

I know this is Old and not rreflective of your current writing abilities so I'll lay off too much criticism but I would have liked to see James and Meowth's pre-reunion perspectives. We don't relly get to see THEIR point of view of all this and it maskes it feel like something's missing.

But very cute fic, don't sell yourself short on it even if it's Old and Rusty.
 

K_S

Unrepentent Giovanni and Rocket fan
Aw, this was a cute little one-shot. I will say you've gotten better with managing descriptions and characters at once... and I'm lazy enough not to do a compare contrast right now. If you want one let me know and maybe in a week or two...

Anywho I like how they manage to move on a little bit. Even if Jessie and Meowth are longing for the "good old days" and I suspect one "blast off" would have them recanting that view. Though how Jessie didn't know about a popular show and the TR cat being associated with it seemed a mite out of character... beyond that how they went and what they're doing seems a good fit. Well for Meowth and James. I imagine years and years of Gio slapping her (and her teammates) down really shot her pride to smithereens, little wonder her coworkers notice she's got so little self-confidence. So I'm undecided about how much Jessies life is "going the right way" but two out of three wins isn't too bad.

Well thanks for sharing, even though it's an old piece it was fun.
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Heya, I remembered you shilling this piece on Discord, and I felt like getting out one last review for the evening before conking out, but wanted something a bit shorter for the occasion. This will do just nicely:

"I'm really not cut out for this." Jessie heaved a sigh, slouching on her office chair as she stared at the computer screen with numbers and letters. "What a pain," she said as resumed her work.

"You keep saying that every time," said a guy by the water dispenser behind her.

She turned her face over her shoulder. "Huh? I do?"

"Yes, and yet you're always the ace of the company," he said, pointing at a board on the wall across them, holding up four framed images of Jessie with 'employee of the month' slapped on the bottom. "Have some pride already."

... Somehow I never imagined Jessie as being competent enough to do this well in civilian life. Though I suppose that snack stand the TRio runs in the SM season would be a decent counterargument to that.

Jessie groaned, resting her head on her palm and slumping her shoulders. "Well, this job is really easy, but there's hardly any excitement in it. I miss those days when I was still in team ro—roundhouse skipping."

The guy raised his brow. "team round house skipping?"

"W… well yeah! It's a really fun hobby. You should try it sometime… he heh."

Nice save there, Jessie. >:V

"Sure…" the guy said as he took his leave, briefly throwing her another confused glance as he walked away.

Jessie heaved a relieved sigh as he walked out of sight. "That was a close one," she said, wiping her forehead.

So how often does this Jessie make flubs like those anyways? o<o

"It's about time you let go of the past, Jess. This is your life now, just answering phone calls and typing words on a screen," she muttered to herself. Jessie paused, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She slouched back on her chair, letting out another prolonged groan. "I really miss the old days."

Jessie: "Sure, getting constantly electrocuted by a yellow rat was a drag. But it was never boring back then..." >_>;

The clock ticked at four pm. Jessie's shift was up, and it was time for her to leave for the day. Knowing that, a faint smile grew on her face soon to be replaced with her previous bored expression. What was the excitement in even going back home anymore? It was still going to be boring even there anyway.

Taking a deep breath, Jessie packed up her things. She stared vacantly at the clock as she massaged the right side of her neck, the hands of the clock moving in perpetual motion. By the time she took her eyes off it, five minutes had already passed.

Jessie: "... Did I really just stand her rubbing my neck for five minutes? Boy am I really out of it."

Jessie turned the knob on her car radio as she drove back home. Nothing interesting going on; just random generic pop songs, irrelevant talk show commentaries, pokemon battle sports news and so on. Jessie muted the radio, slowing down by a red light with a grimace.

Her phone buzzed. She held the phone in front of her as she picked it up, reading the notification that popped up. It was a reminder she put some time ago; a reminder of her Team Rocket reunion which was going to be the next day. The last one was the year before, and Jessie couldn't help but wonder how her old teammates were doing.

How's James doing? She's known for some time that he'd gone back to carry on his family's fortune and business. Life must be really fun for him. Meowth? Is he even still called that? It'd be really surprising if he still hasn't evolved. Jessie was practically standing on her toes, eager in anticipation. Perhaps, there were still some things to look forward to in her life.

Considering how James' family is supposed to be super stuffy and unbearable... that's a debatable statement if I ever heard one. [fearfullaugh]

Night came quick, as did the next morning. Jessie had gotten herself ready for the day; she'd taken a shower, dressed up, cleaned up her apartment and had a nice breakfast. She glanced at her wrist watch. There was still some time till noon, when she was expected to meet.

Jessie slouched back on her chair, staring at the empty plate sitting in front of her. What to do till then? She asked herself. When nothing came up, she got up from her chair and headed for the window. Even on weekends, the streets seemed busy with cars driving and people living their everyday lives.

If it was then, they'd have been plotting another contraption to use in order to capture some kid's Pikachu or deceive unfortunate passersby in a fraudulent scandal. What was the name of the kid again? Was it Brat? She couldn't really remember. All they were ever interested in was the boy's Pikachu anyway, other things hardly even mattered.

"Ash!" she exclaimed, flicking her fingers. "That was his name, wasn't it?"

I like how years after she left Team Rocket, Jessie can finally remember Ash's name consistently. I dunno if that changed in more recent seasons of the anime, but I'm pretty sure that they used to continuously forget that in earlier ones.

Jessie always loved taking walks in the Viridian City Park, especially in autumn when the breeze was calm and the leaves turned into shades of orange and gold. As the sun's rays fell through the gaps in the leaves, Jessie spied a bench with a very familiar looking cat pokemon holding newspapers while wearing a very fake looking moustache. A chuckle escaped her just by catching a glimpse of the pokemon. Acting calm and cool, Jessie approached and sat next to the pokemon.

Ah yes, some things never change. [loltias]

She raised her hand over her mouth as she leaned forward, her lips curving in a smile. "What's with the get up, Meowth?"

"I'm acting undercover. What if someone is spying on us? You should be more careful too," Meowth replied, donning a stern glare, then his expression mellowed and they both started laughing. "Just reliving old times."

"We used to wear a lot of disguises back in the day, didn't we? None of those kids could ever recognize us."

Jessie: "How were they always that bad at recognizing us anyways?" [what]
Meowth: "... They just weren't all that bright?" [joltyshrug]

"That, or those kids must be wrong in the head. Just imagine, all we ever needed to do was wear a pair of sunglasses, and we're suddenly a group of never before seen strangers!" Meowth replied, setting the newspaper down. When they stopped laughing together, Meowth asked, "So how're they doing, them wobbuffet and the others?"

[rawst]

"Oh, they're around, and they're being the goofballs they are."

"Heh, glad to know things are going fine for them. What about James, you been talking to him? Is he even coming?"

"I honestly don't know. He's probably somewhere rich doing what rich men do, you know?" Jessie replied, slouching back with a dismissive wave of her palm. "All I know is, if he doesn't show up, he'd better be prepared for trouble."

Unfortunately she can't make it double-

"And make it double!" An approaching man said, wearing a sleek cream suit and holding a fancy looking cane.

Jessie's mouth hung open, and so did Meowth's. "James! You showed up!"

... Or maybe she can after all. :V

"Of course, I wouldn't miss our reunion for my life!" James said, smiling as he stood by the bench.

"I'm honestly surprised you can even come here by yourself. I was expecting you to be surrounded by fangirls, paparazzi and whatnot," Jessie remarked as James sat on the other side next to Meowth.

"Heh, I half expected you to show up on a golden helicopter," Meowth snorted.

"Come on guys, what do you take me for? I may be rich, but I still have my freedom," James said, chuckling as he rubbed the back of his head. "So, how's your lives been working out for you?"

So in other words, one way or another, his family's not part of his life at this point in time. :V

"Boring! I miss the times when we were just chasing ten year olds and their pikachus," Jessie said, exasperating a sigh.

"You can say that again. I barely get by these days," Meowth concurred. "All I have to sustain me is my Talking Meowth television show."

Ah yes. Pokémon Channel. The """game""" that basically existed to get people Jirachi and now goes for cray cray money secondhand.

"Oh, come on you two, you make things sound so bad even though they're not. Jessie, you're the first candidate to become the assistant president of your company, and Meowth, you're pretty damn popular all over the region. There aren't many pokemon out there that can talk after all. But I understand where you two are coming from. I too miss the excitement we used to have in the old days."

All three of them sat quietly on the bench, watching the wind blow by and the trees swaying. After that, they got into some more discussions, partly about the lives they missed, and also about hosting a party for their next reunion. Even though Team Rocket had disbanded and Jessie, James and Meowth were now living very different separate lives, the bonds of true friendship will would never be broken.

Well, I think it's a cute piece. A little light on description here and there in parts, but it's just a cute fluffy piece about the TRio after moving on with life and looking back with nostalgia on what we better know them for, and it accomplishes that job quite well. I think that should you do a revision, the major area for improvement is making a few of those description-sparse bits a bit more filled out, especially in the bit with Jessie at her present day job, but the core of the story is pretty solid I think.

Thanks for sharing the one-shot @Adamhuarts , and happy writing. ^^
 
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