The midday sun shimmered off the wings of the landing plane as it touched down on the runway, the tires on it's landing gear squealing lightly. Coming to a stop, the stairs were lowered and it's passengers scrambled off in an orderly chaos, grabbing their waiting luggage, greeting loved ones, or just trying to get their bearings. Near the back of the crowd, two human passengers and their Pokemon quietly picked up what luggage they had and starting picking their way through the throng as they made their way into the airport terminal. No one greeted them. No one seemed to even notice them, which suited them just fine. Passing through the large, sliding glass doors above which the words "Welcome to Goldenrod City" were printed in gleaming gold times, they made their way to an empty row of benches in a quiet back corner and dropped their luggage before flopping onto said benches.

They were silent for a minute before Jessie spoke up, "Well. Here we are."

A little over a week earlier, the trio were sitting in James and Persian's tiny cabin, Jessie pacing behind James as he sat on the couch with his laptop and tapped away at the keys, a look of concentration on his face. That concentration was broken, however, when Jessie again leaned over his shoulder to peer at the screen.

"Well?!" she asked.

He paused mid-word and tilted his head back to look at her with a sigh, "For the fifth time Jessie; no. It's not that easy to break into encoded police records, you know."

"But you always made it look easy."

Going back to typing he said, "I haven't done this for a while. Excuse me for being a bit rusty. I'm almost in, I think..."

"You're certainly up to par in other areas, I've discovered." she purred into his ear, enjoying the shade of red his face swiftly turned.

He paused yet again and coughed, "If you want me to hurry, stop distracting me!"

A rough voice from above them chimed in, "Yeah Jess! Ah'm curious ta know too!"

Persian stood and stretched, slinking down the short ladder leading from the lower floor to the loft sleeping area where he had been napping and sunning himself.

He hopped onto the couch next to James, "...Well?"

Ignoring his feline friend, James continued his efforts, "Almost got it..." he suddenly clapped his hands, "We're in! Okay, let's see now..."

It was couple days after their accidental take-down of the plot involving their former teammates and Team Aqua, and after several unsuccessful attempts to badger Officer Deryl for information (to the point where the man had threatened to arrest them for harassment of an officer-only half seriously, they had hoped), the curiosity became too much and the trio had decided to take matters into their own hands. Thus James had been spending the better part of a half-hour trying to break into the local police department's computer system for the answers they sought.

He muttered half to himself, skimming over the typical, mundane roster of illicit activity, from public drunkenness and indecency to petty theft before finally coming upon what they were looking for.

"Sonuva-!" he yelped, eyes widening, "You guys are going to want to hear this..."

Jessie and Persian swiftly gathered close as James began to read the reports aloud, "Thursday night, a number of members of the organized crime syndicates known as Team Rocket and Team Aqua, along with several leaders of the aforementioned groups, were arrested on suspicion of possession of illegal cargo and counterfeit money, along with intent to trade said goods for the purpose of profit and continued trade. Huh. Looks like they were working together to fund and divvy up all those Pokeballs for their own purposes."

"Where does it mention us?" wondered Persian.

Jessie grinned, "Where's the part where we heroically confronted them?!"

James waved a hand impatiently, "Hold on, hold on! I'm getting to that..." his eyes scanned the rest of the long, detailed report before they fell upon another important tidbit, "...several members of both gangs evaded arrest and are still at large. Several others were killed when they refused to surrender peacefully and subsequently fired upon the officers present. Among those killed are..." he swallowed hard, "Captain Arnold L. Brinks, decorated military member and leader of the high-altitude base and research facility Fort Johton for the past fifteen years..."

The trio looked at each other, Jessie clenching her fists, simultaneously relishing the fact he was dead and at the same time feeling slightly queasy over the fact she was actually happy at another human being's violent death. Sensing this, James reached out and brushed his hand across her cheek with an understanding nod.

Continuing along, James read, "...although the pieces are yet to be fully analyzed, from initial studies it appears that the purpose of these experimental Pokeballs is to capture and essentially 'brain-wash' any target Pokemon, increasing their aggression levels and..."

He trailed off as both humans glanced at Persian, remembering how after he had only briefly been inside one of them his personality had been completely subjugated, becoming vicious and forgetting who he was as well as them. The cat Pokemon's ears drooped slightly as he guessed their thoughts, and Jessie gently scratched him under his chin, flashing him a sympathetic smile.

Going back to the report, James continued farther down the page, "Ah! Here we are! ...Two local citizens, two humans and their Persian 'mascot', who identify themselves only as 'Jenny' and 'Jacob' and claim to be 'superheroes', provided the information leading to the arrest of the suspects. As such they have been granted the standing reward money for the above-mentioned information...hey!"

"What?" asked Jessie.

James folded his arms and huffed, "That's it! That's the only information on us! And after everything we did!"

"Dat's not fair!" Persian protested.

Jessie shook her head, "Talk about ingratitude! We risked our lives and all we get is a foot-note! That's the 'right' side of the law for you, I guess."

Stretching his aching shoulders, James said flatly, "That was a lot of work for nothing."

"Speakin' a' woik, when we gonna get dis business venture a' ours of te ground-literally?" asked Persian.

With a casual flick of her hand, Jessie replied as she walked to the kitchen area, "Oh, we've got plenty of money and plenty of time. Let's hit the carnival again today! I want to win a-"

A sudden, sharp knock at the door startled them and caused them all to jump. Growing impatient as he waited for them to do something, Persian finally padded over to the door upon the second round of knocks and reached with his front paws to open it.

To their further surprise, Officer Deryl stood in the doorway, "Morning, heroes. May I come in?"

As quickly but nonchalantly as possible, James snapped the laptop shut and slid it onto the crate coffee-table before standing, "Oh! Um, hi officer! G-good morning! Sure, come in!"

He did so, shutting the door behind him and taking a seat at the dining table, "Well, how's it going?"

Something about this visit felt slightly off, but Jessie tried to brush the notion aside as she cheerfully answered, "G-great! We were just finishing breakfast and talking about our plans for the day! Can we get you some coffee?"

Deryl waved a hand, "I've already had enough to keep me awake for a week, but thanks."

Jessie slipped over to the couch, catching James' eye as she sat down with her own coffee mug and hissing softly, "You put your actual address on those forms?!"

James shrugged and mouthed back, "I couldn't think of a fake one fast enough okay?!"

Joining his human friends, Persian asked their guest, "So what's wit dis unexpected visit?"

Deryl's eye-brows shot up, "Sonuvabitch! I wasn't imagining things! You can talk. That's...remarkable, actually."

"Why tank you! I know I am!" Persian puffed out his chest.

Clearing his throat, Deryl rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward slightly, "I'm here for a couple reasons. One was honestly just to say hello and see how you were doing, probably thank you again for helping us nab those guys. So, thanks."

"Just another day for us!" said James, still keeping up their facade.

"Secondly, I was curious to know if you guys had any plans for that reward money."

Jessie quickly piped up, "We were thinking a vacation, somewhere nice, you know? After that, maybe start our own shop! That'd be cool!"

"Very cool!" added James.

Deryl nodded slowly. Finally his face hardened, and Jessie felt her stomach sink, thinking that maybe she had been right after all.

Exhaling loudly, Deryl ran a hand through his short brown hair, slight streaks of gray beginning to show, "Lastly...I really need to talk to you, Jenny and Jacob...or should I say, Jessie and James?"

A pin drop would have been loud in the silence that followed. The trio froze, unsure of whether to deny it, run, or just sit and wait to see what Deryl's next move would be. Jessie tightened her grip on her mug, ready to bash him across the head and make a break for it if they needed to.

All manner of friendliness gone, Deryl stared them down, "I did a little digging. Turns out that Rocket was right about you lot. I was surprised, believe me," he leaned back a little, knowing he had them trapped for the moment, "I'm none too happy about it. But you know what's weird? I'm not sure if I'm more upset about the fact that you lied to me, or that that jackass was telling the truth. I gotta be honest; I liked you guys. And I don't know why, but I still kind of do."

Finally James dared to speak up, "We um, we-"

Deryl raised a finger and James snapped his mouth shut again, "Don't want to hear it."

He stood, circling the couch and further making them feel trapped, "Here's the deal, my 'heroes'; I ought to arrest you, toss you in a jail cell and let you rot. You've got quite the impressive rep sheet. Multiple accounts of theft, arson, breaking and entering, kidnapping of both people and Pokemon, one count of stalking...it's enough to put you away for quite a while."

Hoping to gain some mercy, or at least time, Persian said, "But we ain't wit dem anymore! We've changed, we-"

Again, Deryl raised a finger to shush him, ignoring what he had said, "On the other hand, there's the fact that without your help, I'm quite certain we would have never caught those guys, and in the scheme of things they were the much bigger fish that needed frying. So, in light of all this, and against my better judgment, not to mention all my training, I'm going to make a deal with you."

"Which is...?" Jessie ventured, still gripping her mug.

Here Deryl's stony composure softened ever so slightly as his gaze flicked between them, "I'm giving you a twenty-four hour head start to get out of here," he glanced at his watch, "Starting now. Pack what you can, do what you must, and get the hell out of my city. I'm going to have the entire force on the lookout for you. If you're still within city limits when that twenty-four hours is up, you're toast. Are we clear?"

The trio only nodded, and Deryl sighed, again running a hand through his already messy hair as he made his way to the door.

Letting himself out, without turning around he paused in the doorway, and before shutting it behind him said, "One last thing...use that reward money wisely. Do something worthwhile, alright? ...Good luck."

They sat perfectly still for several moments, still in shock over what had just happened. Finally they all sprang back to life, scrambling about and trying to pack up as much as they could, panicking and talking over each other.

Stuffing his clothes into a couple suitcases James yelped, "Where are we going to go?!"

"I dunno but it's gotta be far from here!" called Persian as he emptied the contents of their food pantry into several bags.

As she helped him Jessie said, "We can't just get out of this city-we have to get out of this region altogether!"

Pausing, Persian wondered, "But...where we headed? We're probably wanted in every region der is!"

Subconsciously slipping back into her traditional role as leader, Jessie answered firmly, "We'll head back to my apartment in Lilycove and figure things out from there!"

A short time later they had everything that could be easily be transported packed up and ready to go. Jessie and Persian were grabbing the last of it and were stuffing it into her car when James, having tossed the last bags to them, paused in the doorway of the first real home he had known in years. Staring inside, he looked over every nook and cranny, remembering the day he and Persian had first set foot, or paw, inside. It had been a cold, harsh day in early spring when they had signed on with Gus and had been granted this tiny, drafty shack as part of their contract. The pair had worked hard for the next couple months to make it more homely, sealing up cracks and holes, repairing damaged siding and slowly making it their own. He noted the spot where he had crushed his thumb with a hammer while trying to fix a broken board, and Persian had licked his wound until he stopped swearing at it, the spot where they had sealed a former Rattata hole, telling the disgruntled Pokemon they had to move on...he swallowed hard as his eyes fell upon the couch where he and Jessie had made love only a few days ago. Her breathless cries as she rode him to ecstasy rang in his memory. Suddenly her hand fell upon his arm and he was jerked from his reminiscing as he turned to her.

She raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"N-nothing...I just," he looked away, "I'm gonna miss this place. This is, was, my home..."

The profound sadness in his green eyes struck a chord in her heart, as she had been trying to forget that she too was going to have to abandon her apartment, a place she had begun to feel truly attached to.

Squeezing his arm, she said softly, "We'll find another home...we'll make one. Together."

His spirit lifting a bit, he quickly kissed her cheek and said, "You're right. Let's go."