Reunion

I was eating when Jesse got the phone call. I didn’t pay much attention at first.

When I saw the look on Jesse’s face I stopped stuffing myself. She looked stricken, and there were tears her in her eyes. I’d seen Jesse cry before, but half the time she was putting on a show, looking for pity. This was real.

“It’s my mother, James… they know where my mother is.”

“You mean they know where her body is?”

“She’s still alive.”

I found that hard to believe. Hadn’t she been killed in an avalanche?

Jesse went on. “The call was from a doctor in a town near the Andes. Evidently my mother wandered in there, seriously confused, a few days ago.”

“But, how, after all this time?”

Jesse sighed. “Evidently there were rumors of a strange woman in the area for years, who wandered into towns for food and left. The Boss didn’t see fit to trouble me with them.”

“That was the Boss himself?”

“Of course not; it was his secretary or something. He doesn’t bother with us anymore; you know that.”

“Anyway,” she went on, “I’m flying out there at the next opportunity.” And she went into her room without saying anything further.

I’m good with Jesse when she’s pretending to be upset; it’s when she’s really sad that I let her down. And family is a tough concept for me. How could I help her deal with knowing her mother was alive? On most days I didn’t care if my own mother lived or died.

Finally I went into the room after her. She was crying, but when she saw me she sniffled a few times and stopped.

I sat down next to her. “I want to go to the Andes with you,” I said.

“Don’t you have anything else to do?”

“Well, no, actually. But I want to go anyway.”

Fortunately she didn’t ask any more questions. As usual I wouldn’t have known how to convince her that I would be of any use.

Jesse insisted on making all the arrangements herself and hid in her room constantly.

We left Meowth at headquarters and told him to do his best to stay away from the Persian. Jesse refused to tell him where we were going, though he’d probably pick it up from gossip.

I hardly talked to Jesse on the plane trip. Occasionally she would clutch at my hand; I wasn’t sure whether she had a fear of flying or of the meeting to come.

After the plane landed we started driving up a winding mountain road in a bus. At the side of the road were shrines to those killed while traveling on it.

Eventually we stopped in a very small town. People here were unaccustomed to strangers and some came out of houses to stare at us. We were wearing our uniforms. Jesse had thought they might be official and impressive; but I felt conspicuous and silly.

We soon arrived at a small medical clinic. The doctor came out to speak with us. We were all speaking English, which was a first language for none of us, but we did make ourselves understood.

Jesse’s mother had come into the town a week before, telling a rambling story of having caught Mew and being “ready to go back.” People here used Pokemon for agriculture, but they barely knew what Team Rocket was and knew Mew only as a vague legend. They quickly concluded that Miyamoto was insane.

We knew that she was really a Team Rocket agent who had been sent to catch Mew. But she obviously hadn’t done so and I thought she was probably was close to insane.

The doctor warned Jesse that her mother might not even recognize her, but neither one of us took that warning seriously.

I told her I was certain she would want to see her mother alone but she insisted that I go in with her. I thought I would be intruding but I couldn’t refuse.

We opened the door to see a woman with long purple hair, wearing a tattered but clean Team Rocket uniform. She looked remarkably composed for someone who had spent years wandering in the Andes. And of course she looked just like Jesse.

She turned to stare at us and narrowed her eyes for a moment. “Rocket agents… they didn’t even send Elite?”

Jesse sat next to her on the bed. “Mother, it’s me… it’s Jesse.”

“Jesse?” Miyamoto looked at her again. “No, you’re not Jesse, that’s silly… but I hope you’re hear to take me back to Madame Boss.”

Madame Boss wasn’t even alive, at least as far as we knew.

“Madame Boss isn’t in charge of Team Rocket anymore. But we could take you back, mother, if that’s what you want.”

Jesse was trying to smile at her mother but Miyamoto only looked bored and contemptuous.

“I caught Mew, I’m finished.”

“Where is Mew?” asked Jesse. “And how did you survive the avalanche?”

“Mew?” Her mother looked confused then. “I don’t know where he went… but the avalanche, that I remember. I was so frightened. But I put one hand up, so people could see where I was, and made an air pocket with the other hand. And some people found me before I died.”

That sounded possible, if unlikely. And clearly she had survived; she was here. As for Mew, I thought she simply couldn’t take any more and had fabricated that whole idea, though she probably was convinced it was true.

“Mother,” began Jesse.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” asked Miyamoto.

Jesse began to cry. I reached out and put my hands on her shoulders.

“My daughter is not a Team Rocket agent! She is a respectable married woman with no pretty boy Rocket thugs hanging all over her.”

I dropped my hands. I should never have touched her in front of Miyamoto like that. But clearly that was the least of our problems.

“Jesse, we really should go and let your… let Miyamoto rest. We’ll come back later and see if we can talk some more.”

I thought Jesse would never agree but she nodded and we left the room. The doctor called out to us that we needed to settle the issue of where Miyamoto was going to stay permanently. We told him we would be back the next day. Then we rode the bus to the nearest large town to stay at a hotel of sorts there.

When we finally got into a room, Jesse collapsed.

“She didn’t remember me. I know she hadn’t seen me since I was a baby but she didn’t believe it was me. And she hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you, Jesse. She isn’t well. She believes all kinds of strange things about catching Mew.”

“She does hate me! And she thinks I’m married! I’ll never get married, how can I?”

I bit my tongue to keep from answering. Jesse wasn’t looking for volunteers, especially not pretty boy Rocket thugs.

“What am I going to do, James?”

“We’ll go back tomorrow, maybe she’ll be feeling better. After all this time the Boss will at least give us some money to find a good place for her.”

“I don’t want to put my mother in some rest home!” shouted Jesse. Then she began to cry again.

I didn’t know what to say then; I just held her until she fell asleep.

Part 2

In the middle of the night I woke up to find myself still holding Jesse. I lay her down gently and pulled her boots off. I’m sure that woke her but she pretended to still be asleep and I left her there.

When I woke up in the morning she was on the telephone.

“Yes I know what time it is. Yes, you are going to let me speak to him or I’m going to… Fine!”

She put the phone down and sighed.

“I’ve been trying to arrange for a place for my mother to stay. Giovanni had better pay for it; he owes her that much!”

She looked vulnerable suddenly. “She’ll get better, won’t she James?”

I sat down next to Jesse and put my arm around her. “Jesse, your mother’s been wandering in the mountains for over a decade. I really don’t think you should expect much improvement.”

Jesse nodded. “I guess I’m used to fooling myself after all these years thinking someday I’d be a success.”

“Jesse, don’t talk like that… I know how terrible you must feel about your mother but she’s having serious problems.”

“I guess I’d have been better off becoming a nurse after all.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Jesse would have made a good nurse, and no one could say we made good thieves. Finally I asked, “Did you talk to Meowth at Headquarters?”

“Why would I bother… yeah, yeah I talked to Meowth. He’s recovering from a fight with the Persian and he can’t wait to get out of there. And he’s sorry things didn’t work out with my mom.”

“You told Meowth about your mom?”

Jesse looked offended. “He asked, OK?”

“It’s the same thing I would do, Jesse.”

We had to go back to see Miyamoto again that day. Jesse insisted I go with her again. “I can’t deal with this by myself, James.”

We went in to see Miyamoto and this time she looked happy to see us.

“You are bringing me back today?” she asked.

“You may need to find a place to live in this country,” Jessie answered. “The new boss is worried about… security concerns.”

In other words, around here she could talk her head off about Team Rocket and Mew without attracting attention.

“Security? Madame Boss has always trusted me.”

“Madame Boss is no longer in charge. And you… you are a little bit confused, mother… you need some medical care.”

“I am not confused. I’m just tired.” Miyamoto did look tired.

“Listen, you’ve been talking about how you caught Mew and it’s scaring people…”

“Forget about Mew! I can’t stay here forever! I want to see my daughter!” yelled Miyamoto.

“Mother!” said Jesse. Miyamoto gave her another uncomprehending look and Jesse clutched at my hand. Miyamoto chuckled to herself when she saw this. But I was finished caring what this woman thought. She had hurt Jesse too much, even if she had done it out of confusion.

“You are too confused to understand about your daughter,” I said. “We’ll come back later.” And I pulled Jesse out of the clinic.

Jesse spent a long time on the phone that night trying to make more arrangements for her mother. And finally, she spoke more to me about how she felt.

“I always thought she loved me, that she went to look for Mew for my sake. When I found out she was still alive, I somehow thought I’d just rush into her arms and she would take care of me again like she did when I was a baby. But now, all she’s done is remind me of what a failure I am.”

I reached out and hugged her. “You know you’re not a failure, Jesse.”

“The Boss told me I might as well leave Team Rocket.”

“Maybe someday we can leave… that might really be a good idea.”

Finally she said, “I’m going to try to get some sleep.”

I could see that she was crying and I wanted to help her but she just turned away. I gave up and undressed for bed. But after a few minutes I could hear Jesse crying in her bed. I got up and sat next to her.

She pulled me down next to her and lay pressed up against me, crying. I was acutely aware that we were both wearing only thin pajamas. I felt horrible knowing how attracted I was to her when all she wanted was comfort.

Then suddenly she kissed me on the lips. I was shocked, and I pulled away.

“Jesse, don’t do anything you’re going to regret,” I said.

“James, I just need to feel loved right now.”

My head was spinning. “I’ve wanted you ever since I can remember, but I don’t want to take advantage of you.” I was frightened. If we made love, either everything would change or I would be shattered.

“Please, James, just love me.” She kissed me again, and I lost all pretense of resisting.

Part 3

When I woke up in the morning Jesse had left the bed and was talking on the phone again. I should have wondered if the night had been a dream, but I knew it wasn’t. I lay against the pillow, collecting memories of the feel of her skin and of her voice murmuring in my ear.

Finally I got dressed and went to face the day and Jesse. When I first saw her, I began to tremble. I knew I would never be able to go back to our relationship as it had been before.

Jesse looked up at me. “I made a decision, James. I’m going back to nursing school.”

That wasn’t exactly what I’d been hoping to hear her say. But I’d heard worse news.

“Well, I said before that it’s a fine idea. But is it practical?”

“The Boss doesn’t care if I go, he wants me to quit. And I’m not too old yet. I’ll have to trade in Arbok for a Chansey, and learn Spanish.”

“Learn Spanish? What on earth are you talking about?”

“I’ll be staying here of course. With my mother. Maybe it will help things; to be able to tell her honestly that I’m out of Team Rocket.”

“Jesse, I don’t know what to say. I hadn’t planned on staying here.”

“Then maybe you won’t,” she answered.

“How can you say that to me after what happened?”

“You think you own me now just because we had sex?”

I shook my head. I was starting to cry. “You know I could never think that.” I had been afraid something like this would happen. Maybe I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t going to impress her mother after all, and that was really all she was thinking of right now.

“Anyway, I’m going to go talk to my mother again. I’ll see you later.”

She left. I sat there, analyzing everything she had said, every look on her face and tone in her voice, looking for some tiny hope.

I finally decided to lie down, but before I could Jesse came running in the door.

“My mother is gone,” she shouted. She looked wild and panicked.

“What happened?” I asked her. I reached my hand out but she wouldn’t take it. She did take my suggestion to take deep breaths and calm down.

“She said she wanted to find her daughter and if no one else would take her she’d go herself. And then she just walked out of the clinic. I called the police from the clinic but I don’t know what they’ll do yet.”

Then there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find a policewoman. She wasn’t Officer Jenny but they looked like they could be cousins.

“Now, since your mother’s in a confused state we’re going to start searching for her right away. Do have any idea where she might have gone?”

“I think she went back into the mountains,” said Jesse.

“But she said she was looking for her daughter,” I said. “Wouldn’t she have headed for a town or a bus?”

Officer Jenny looked confused. “She’s looking for you?”

“No,” sighed Jesse. “She’s confused about that too, there’s no point in getting into it now.”

Officer Jenny’s cousin looked angry, “Look, I know what you two are. There’s nothing I can do to you in this jurisdiction. But if you’re using us to get at a runaway agent, I’m not going for it.”

“I swear that’s not what we’re doing,” I replied calmly.

She had no reason to trust me, and she didn’t. “We’re sending alerts to the towns and if we don’t find her we’ll send a rescue crew into the mountains. It’s not the middle of winter; she’ll be fine. And you’ll never get near this woman to hurt her if that’s what you’re after.”

“She’s my mother!” shouted Jessie. “And I’m sure she’s in the mountains.” She looked like she wanted to throw a temper fit but she was too worn out and exhausted to do it.

“If she’s your mother why did you leave her wandering in the mountains this long?”

“I thought she was dead! And I hadn’t seen her since I was a baby!” She stood up and looked like she wanted to slap the officer. Then suddenly Jesse fainted and fell to the ground.

The policewoman stepped toward Jesse but I shouted at her. “I’ll take care of her! Go do your job!”

I could hear the door close behind her as I sat down near Jesse. She was already waking up.

I put an arm behind her shoulders.

“I’m all right,” she muttered. “I just haven’t eaten or slept much in the past few days.”

“And I didn’t take care of you,” I replied. “Except to encourage you to… to… lose your virginity with me. I’d reject me too.”

“It’s not your job to take care of me,” she said.

She didn’t really respond to what I had said. I tried to remind myself that I should be more concerned about Jesse’s health and what had happened to Miyamoto. But a small part of me kept asking, “Did she ever love me, and will she ever love me again?”

Jesse began to try to stand up. “I need to go the mountains. What if they don’t send a rescue crew in time?”

“Jesse, we don’t even know if your mother is in the mountains. And you’re in no shape to go looking for her anywhere. I’m going to go get you some food, and if you’re not here when I get back I’ll… I’ll send Weezing after you.”

“But who will look for my mother?”

I sighed. “I will. But only if you let me get you something to eat and you sleep while I’m gone.”

To my amazement she really was there. And she actually ate some food.

“Jessie, I really don’t think one person wandering around in the wilderness is the best way to find your mother. But I’ll do it if it will make you feel better.”

“Please, James, please go. But take Arbok.”

Jesse threw her pokeball to me and I could see tears in her eyes. Even if had been the middle of winter, I would have gone.

“Just sleep now, OK? I’ll call or come right back if I do find her.”

Jesse nodded. I thought about kissing her or at least holding her for a moment but in the end I just gave a little salute and left her standing by the door.

Part 4

I had to take a bus to the clinic, and then I started up the nearest trail. I could see that someone wearing boots had in fact been walking there recently. I had no way of knowing if it had been Miyamoto. I thought for a while about whether any of my Pokemon had tracking abilities. As much as I loved Arbok we had never prized her for her sensory perception. I finally decided to try Victreebell on the dubious grounds that it was close to the dirt.

I threw the pokeball and Victreebell came out, heading straight for my head. For once I got angry and shoved it away. “Knock it off. You want to eat somebody’s head; I’ll call out Arbok. Better yet, help me find Miyamoto and you can eat her head; she’s been getting on my nerves pretty bad.”

“Bell?” Victreebell gave me a curious look with as much of a face as it had.

“Miyamoto is Jesse’s mom, OK? You like Jessie, you don’t eat her head, right?”

“Bell?”

“Yeah, whatever, look, can you follow these footprints any better than I can?”

Victreebell couldn’t really even seem to aim its eyes at the trail but it bounced cheerfully up in the general direction of the footprints. I shrugged and followed.

At one point the footprints veered off and Victreebell followed them off the trail. We walked for hours. The climbing became more and more difficult and finally I had to sit down. I wasn’t even sure I could still the same footprints, and I wasn’t sure Victreebell could see anything. I had been hoping to get back to town before dark but I hadn’t paid enough attention; it would be dark soon.

I had brought some rolls with me and I began eating one as I contemplated the sunset. Suddenly I saw Victreebell become more alert and look up the trail. I began to walk in that direction. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pink face with huge blue eyes.

I closed my eyes and tried to decide whether I was overstressed or just insane. I decided I was probably insane. I opened my eyes again and saw the same face and a curl of pink tail. And I lost control.

“Is that you, you idiot pokemon?” I shouted. “I suppose you’re happy, sitting up here driving that poor woman crazy. I blame all this on you, you know.”

The eyes blinked at me. Nothing happened, which confirmed my suspicion that I had gone crazy.

“Idiot pink cat!” I muttered. I closed my eyes again, and that’s when the images started flashing through my mind. First they were images of Miyamoto, in her fresh Team Rocket uniform, looking as young as Jesse. Gradually the uniform grew more tattered, and lines began to appear on her face. Finally her eyes grew unfocused and vague. An aura of sadness appeared over all this.

Then there were images of Jesse, first as a baby, then as an adult, even an image of us making love. I was shocked and afraid when I saw that, yet the image seemed overlaid with happiness.

Some of these images had to be coming from Mew. I had never seen Miyamoto at Jesse’s age, or Jesse as a baby. I was finally starting to believe the pokemon was there, but when I looked up it was gone.

I turned to Victreebell. “Did you see that? Did you see anything?”

“Bell?”

I sighed. “You know, Meowth’s a little more useful than you are… but thanks for not eating my head.” I called it back into the Pokeball. It was getting too dark to follow tracks now. But I could hardly just lie down and sleep, so I started hiking up the trail again.

After about ten minutes I found Miyamoto. She looked up at me as though we had both been taking a walk in the park. “I saw Mew!” she said cheerfully.

“So did I,” I replied. Maybe we could be crazy together.

“So what did Mew tell you?” she asked.

“Umm… I had a little trouble understanding…” Mew had shown me Miyamoto’s sadness and hope for Jesse. Or so I liked to think.

“You know what Mew told me? It told me that partner of yours is my daughter, Jesse! Isn’t that amazing?”

“Mind-boggling,” I replied drily. “What do you say we walk into town and visit her, hmm?”

I took Miyamoto by the arm and started leading her down the trail. She had a flashlight with her, which made everything much easier.

“Why exactly did you come up here?” I asked.

“Well, I decided Mew might know where my daughter was. I thought I had captured Mew, but… maybe not.” She began to look more confused, so I changed the subject.

“Well, Jesse will be very glad to see you. She loves you, you know.”

“I love her too. But I’m tired… I don’t think I can take care of her anymore.”

Miyamoto’s eyes were still a bit blank but she really did seem happy, and she really had acknowledged Jesse. If Mew hadn’t done that I didn’t know how it had happened. As for me, maybe I hadn’t dreamed the whole thing.

We walked to the nearest rode and waited to see if a car might stop for us. Eventually a truck did stop and we rode to where Jesse was staying. Jesse was awake. She looked up when she saw me and said, “I swear I’ve been sleeping James, really.” Then she saw her mother.

“Jesse,” said Miyamoto.

Jesse ran to her and hugged her. I wanted to warn Jesse that the reunion of her dreams still wasn’t going to be possible. But she seemed to realize that on her own.

She spoke to her mother gently. “I love you, mother.”

“I love you too, Jesse,” replied Miyamoto. “But I was looking for Mew again and I got lost.”

Jesse nodded and smiled, “You’ll be all right. But you should go back to the clinic now, and not go looking for Mew anymore.”

“Where is your husband?” continued Miyamoto.

Jesse shook her head. “We’ll try to clear that up later, all right?”

Miyamoto shrugged, and we hired a car and rode back to the clinic. The doctor agreed to let us pay for a night nurse to keep an eye on her until we made other arrangements.

Finally Jesse and I went back to her room alone. She looked at me and asked, “What happened? Did you manage to make my mother understand who I am?”

“I can’t claim credit for that. It was Mew, I think.”

“Mew?” Jesse looked skeptical.

“I don’t think you’d ever believe me.”

Jesse shrugged. Then she reached out her hand to me. “Thank you for finding her.”

I shrugged. “She’d probably have wandered back on her own eventually.”

“Or it could have taken her twenty or so years again.”

Jesse reached up and kissed me then. I told myself not to give in again but I couldn’t stop myself. I kissed her deeply, caressing her back and hoping it would never end.

Jesse began pulling me toward the bed. Finally I gained some control and drew away from her.

“Look, you wanted to give yourself to me out of sadness, and now you want to give yourself to me out of gratitude. But I’m not waking up again to wonder whether you still care about me. I can’t take it.”

“I’m sorry for that James, I really am. The night we made love I woke up and just looked at you for a long time… I was so happy. But then I started remembering all the changes I need to make in my life, and I started thinking maybe I couldn’t worry about you on top of all that. I would only hurt you.”

“And now?”

Jesse sat down on the bed. “And now all I know is that whatever changes I make I want you to be with me.”

“Just because I found your mother?”

She shook her head. “Just because that’s what I should have said in the first place. Or a long time ago. Will you trust me now?”

I remembered Mew and the happiness it had tried to send me. Now I was sure it was real. I sat down beside Jesse. “One of these days, Miyamoto will have to accept me for a son-in-law”

Jesse blushed and smiled. I ran my hands through her hair and kissed her, and we lay down together. In the morning I would tell her about Mew.