A coda of sorts to SM28, affectionately nicknamed "The Baseball Episode." Written in the same headcanon as "Cinque, Diece, Venti." I don't know if it's especially realistic to explore Jessie's tendency to equivocate small failures with the larger losses she's had in her life right up against what could have easily been PWP, but I kinda like how this turned out.

Please review if you read to the end. I'm looking to improve my writing with an eye towards some longer pieces in the future.

Bewear's paws hit the ground with a deafening crash that shakes the earth and causes the surrounding forest to positively vibrate. James' head pounds from the impact, but even after the trees have ceased their quaking and the world steadies itself once more, he can still hear Jessie's agonizing screams ringing in his ears.

Nearly howling in frustration, Jessie struggles free of the bear pokémon's crushing embrace with an inhuman strength fueled by pure, undiluted fury. She lands ungracefully on her left hip, but springs quickly to her feet, ripping the cap from her head to hurl it to the ground. Without a word or a backward glance, she turns and sprints away into the gathering dusk. Bewear gently deposits the rest of the team at the entrance to the secret base, then lumbers off in the other direction, humming a deceptively serene melody.

James squints at Jessie's swishing ponytail until her form is swallowed up by the Alolan jungle, then turns to face the rest of the team. Everyone is looking a bit worse for wear; Meowth's fur is matted, Wobbuffet droops like a deflated balloon, and Mimikyu's rag bears a nasty stain that will be a nightmare to clean. Mareanie slinks closer to her trainer with a questioning cry, but Meowth steps forward, blocking her path.

"I've got dis, Jim. You handle her." The cat pokémon jabs a finger towards the tangled treeline, and James smiles gratefully at his friend, wondering fleetingly if Meowth is aware of the new intimacy between himself and his partner. Neither he nor Jessie has volunteered the information, and Meowth has never asked, but he supposes that only a fool would fail to notice the dangerous dance he and Jessie have performed for nearly their entire partnership. Meowth gives a mocking salute before ushering the rest of the pokémon into the shelter of the base, and James squares his shoulders. He inhales and exhales once, twice, then traces Jessie's path into the forest.

James hears Jessie before he sees her. She's actually kicking a tree, emitting little grunts of pain punctuated by the dull thud of her right toe hitting the trunk over and over again. James scrambles to her side, nearly tripping over himself in his haste to comfort her.

"Jess," he begins, a hesitant hand reaching to stroke her sharply bowed shoulder.

Jessie whirls, the fire in her eyes visible even in the halflight. "What?" she snarls. A year ago, James might have recoiled in fear and confusion; now, he's steadfast and sturdy, even when confronted by that shimmering sapphire gaze.

"I—" he attempts, but Jessie interrupts him again, her torrent of words echoing all around them.

"You don't know how it feels!" she blazes, fists clenched. James winces, aware that she's forcing her long nails to dig into the soft flesh of her palms. He tries to take her hands in his in a desperate attempt to soothe her, but she's too quick, darting into the shadows to avoid his touch.

Rage blurs her vision, but Jessie doesn't miss the flicker of hurt that passes over her partner's face. But then his features rearrange themselves into an expression of naked determination, green eyes glowing with something terrifyingly like love, and some part of Jessie wonders wildly what she's ever done to deserve such devotion.

"I just – for once, James, for once in my life, I want to win something," she seethes, her words dripping with vicious passion. "But I'm always losing: the Kalos crown, that damned electric rat, my—" Jessie cuts off her own list of perceived failures, teeth worrying at her lower lip. Despite the cracks that have recently splintered her once-impeccable facade, James knows that she still struggles to contain restless, dark oceans.

But the thing about oceans is that eventually, the tide has to come crashing in. All James knows for certain is that he'll be at Jessie's side when it does.

For a long moment, the pair is nearly silent, Jessie's ragged breathing and James' sympathetic hum mingling with the quavering song of the nincada. When Jessie speaks again, her voice is small, almost childlike. "Why can't I ever get what I want?"

James' heart twists, and he stumbles forward blindly, clasping her hands in his. "What is it you want today, Jess?" he asks, hoping that his lighthearted words will cheer her. He tugs at her right hand, brushing his lips across her knuckles in an achingly gentle kiss. "Name it, and whatever it is, I promise I'll try my best to get it for you."

A peal of laughter bubbles from Jessie's lips, and James' eyebrows quirk upward, startled by her sudden shift in mood. Darkness has gathered and the moon is trapped behind a cloud, but he hopes he isn't imagining the pink tinting her cheeks. "You're so good, James, too good," Jessie says, stepping lithely towards him. "Today, I wanted that autograph, but if I wanted the moon tomorrow, you'd damn near kill yourself to bring it down, wouldn't you?"

Raw hurt still lingers in Jessie's chest, but something altogether different is beginning to supplant it. As she sidles up to James, she's struck with the familiar urge to possess and consume all of that wide-eyed sweetness, and she muses that perhaps she'll get something she wants after all.

James shares in Jessie's laughter, relief coursing through him. He doesn't know if his fumbling words are responsible for bringing the light back into her eyes, but her happiness causes his own heart to swell with joy. "You know I would. Why don't we see if the Koi Kings are playing on Melemele later this week? According to my records, we have a bit of money saved up."

Jessie laughs that lovely laugh again, her voice beginning to take on a familiar teasing tone. "Aren't you jealous, anyway?" she demands, hooking her fingertips into his collar and tossing her crimson ponytail imperiously.

James grins down at her. "Jealous? Dearest, how could I be?" Jessie's blue eyes widen, and he takes the opportunity to slide an arm around her waist, pulling her close. Her heart flutters in her chest like butterfree, just as it had on that moonlit night in Kalos when everything changed for the two of them. "A pokébase star and a dashing Team Rocket Agent? You really do have impeccable taste."

Jessie matches his grin, stepping forward with her right foot as James steps back with his left. Their parody of a tango ends abruptly with James' back slammed against the solid trunk of the tree. "Prove me right, then," Jessie challenges, inhaling his herbal cologne. "Make this loss up to me, and maybe I'll reward you for it afterwards."

James chuckles, right hand drifting to cup her luscious ass. Jessie squeals in mock outrage, but presses her body even closer against his. Her tight pokébase uniform has begun to feel uncomfortably warm, and she squirms purposefully against the swelling in James' groin.

Her partner shivers, but manages to quip, "Jess, we lost today because you don't know the first thing about pokébase. Perhaps you should be making this up to me."

Jessie gasps, feigning outrage at his audacity. "I know lots of things about pokébase, James," she drawls, yanking at his collar. "Here, I'll show you." With that, she crushes her lips roughly to his, sleek tongue darting into his mouth to twine around his own, then sharp teeth snagging his lower lip as she pulls away.

"That's first base," she murmurs, and James lets his head fall back against the tree, releasing a soft groan at this new development. He tastes metallic blood on his bitten lips, and he wonders vainly why his partner is so gorgeously violent, and why he so hopelessly adores her for it.

Wasting no time, Jessie's hands dart to James' torso, skillfully undoing button after button. She yanks the overshirt from his body, then helps him out of his tight undershirt, stifling a giggle at the way he yelps when she tweaks his left nipple. Then she's raking her nails down his narrow, exposed torso, creating angry, scarlet lines and eliciting a series of high-pitched wails. James' desperate desire for her both ignites a simmering heat between her thighs and provokes an uncomfortable tenderness in her traitorous heart, and she captures his lips in another bruising kiss to dispel the dangerous surge of emotion.

James knows that he's hopelessly outmatched, but he resolves not to give up without a fight. Instead of bothering with individual buttons, he rips Jessie's overshirt open and yanks her undershirt off, grabbing her supple breasts in two greedy handfuls. Jessie moans her approval as he massages the silky mounds, rolling her sensitive nipples between his fingertips until they're stiff. Savoring the scorching wetness beginning to pool between her thighs, Jessie plunges her hand down James' tight pants to wrap her fingers around his throbbing erection.

He's hot and pulsing in her hand, and she smirks as she pulls out her prize. James cries out, his hands falling from her breasts to twitch uselessly at his sides, but Jessie doesn't mind. Jerking his cock roughly, she growls, "That's second base." With a ferocious grin, she lowers her teeth to James' pulse point.

Jessie's firm grip on James' cock is pure pleasure, while her teeth nipping and sucking at his throat is the most exquisite pain. She's like a sharpedo gliding through murky waters to capture her prey, and James wants nothing more than to be devoured by those sharp, hungry jaws. With another shameless cry, he realizes that he hopes her teeth will draw blood again, marking him irrevocably as hers.

Jessie abruptly withdraws both her hand and teeth, and falls to her knees on the forest floor, yanking James' pants to his ankles with the motion. She pauses for a long moment, smiling wickedly up at him. James whimpers charmingly, canting his hips towards her. Licking her lips at the sight of gleaming precum leaking from the flushed head of her partner's cock, Jessie pins his slender hips to the tree and swallows him whole.

She bobs her head lazily for a few beats, then forces her head to the root of his shaft, hollowing her cheeks in an effort to suck him dry. James howls, one hand unconsciously tugging at crimson locks. The sharp pain goes straight to Jessie's neglected pussy, and she moans around the cock in her mouth, rubbing her thighs together for friction.

"That's third," she gasps, pulling away, voice raspy and plump ruby lips slick with saliva. She wipes her mouth roughly, scarlet lipstick smearing all across one pale cheek.

Shamefully, James' pleasure is already lurching towards an early climax, and he glares down at his twitching cock. It's a mistake; when he sees the faint rings of lipstick on his shaft, then meets his partner's beguiling sapphire eyes, everything only accelerates. But the game isn't over yet. Offering Jessie a hand to help her up, James suddenly spins her, pinning her against the tree this time, his shaking body flush against hers.

Jessie lets out a throaty groan, grinding luxuriantly into him and joyously casting aside every last bit of control. James' little show of dominance is arousing beyond all rational belief, and she's consumed by the need to be filled, to be fucked.

Fortunately, it seems that James shares this desire, as both of their hands fumble for her pants at the same moment. Jessie frantically kicks off her shoes while James peels the tight pants away from her long legs, leaving her soaked, sensitive flesh exposed to the cool night air. James slides his thumb tantalizingly against those soft lips he's often kissed, making Jessie shiver and moan, then pushes into her with a grunt, her slick heat surrendering eagerly to his aching hardness.

And Jessie screams. James has heard her cry out in anguish while being flung into the stratosphere more times than he cares to count, and has often been subjected to her furious ranting, but he's never heard anything quite like the primal, keening wail she releases now. She's stunning in the silvery moonlight, arching her back against the tree to impale herself even more deeply on the cock inside her. James lifts her bare leg to wrap around his waist, and claims her lips again with a hungry whine.

"And what's this, Jess?" he queries, masculine roughness in his normally gentle voice. Jessie feels herself pulse around him at that tone, and can hardly remember their playful game for a moment.

"A home run," she finally pants, clutching a handful of lavender hair for leverage as James begins to thrust, hips snapping against her own. Her bare skin chafes against the rough bark of the tree, but she's too far gone to care.

All the teasing has made them sensitive, ravenous, and within mere moments, they're both nearing their peak. James thrusts up deeper than ever, and falls over the edge first, moaning Jessie's name as he spills into her wet, willing heat. She's only seconds behind, bucking her hips sharply before coming all around his cock and screaming even louder than before.

After catching their breath, the pair begins to struggle back into the soiled, sweaty uniforms. Jessie can't resist giving James one last sloppy kiss, smirking against his mouth and swallowing his moan. As they pull apart, he murmurs, "You're a fast learner, dear."

For days afterwards, Jessie savors the soreness between her thighs, often gazing into the distance as she indulges in the memory of that night. She may not know anything about pokébase, but she's learning all sorts of things about her partner.