Chapter Text
James seriously wants to kill a man, and that man’s name is Alva Sakauro.
“Alva is a disgrace to all those with lavender hair.” He thought to himself as he and Jessie snuck around the fortress. The twerp has just foiled his plan, which meant all that was left for them was to just free Meowth and get the heck out of there.
And that really was just all he wanted.
The boy providing his last set of cover before he reached the cat stirred, and he froze behind the chair.
“You're awake!” A voice called out from below.
The voice seemed to catch Meowth's attention, who glanced up to see where it came from.
And as soon as his eyes landed on James, that gleam was back.
“Least Alva didn't strip the spark from him,” Jessie muttered, though her voice was laced with relief. “Then I really would've murdered him.
“You're still gonna kill him, aren't you?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
James rolled his eyes, dodging that last bit of opening before finally reaching Meowth.
“Meowth, you're alright..” James immediately moves to untie him, Jessie more focused on keeping him calm.
Meowth, however, is staring at them, brain going a mile a second.
“You guys…you're alive…”
It doesn’t take very long for him to tackle them both as soon as James gets the ropes off of him. Both of them flinch, not seeing the sudden affection coming, but the relief of seeing him safe in their arms overpowers the stun, and they both hug him back tighter.
“We’re right here, little nova, we’re right here, you're safe, we promise.”
“Everything’s gonna be just fine. He won’t hurt you.”
“please don’t hurt me…please don’t leave…please…i’m sorry…”
Something in James’ heart just breaks hearing that. Meowth is shaking, crying in their arms.
It reminds him of their time in The Void somehow.
Jessie is the first to speak. “Meowth, you have nothing in the world to be sorry for. Nothing.”
“i almost got you killed…”
“Nova, you saved us.”
Whatever Meowth’s thinking stops dead in its tracks. James looks at her like she just spoke a foreign language, but she doesn’t look the slightest bit confused by what she just said.
“Without you, I…I don’t know where any of us would be. Homeless, dead, abandoned, anywhere but here. Whatever happened to you on the ship, it stopped me and James from fighting. It always has. You’ve stopped me and James from arguing over the stupidest things for so long…and now that I think about it, you're the reason we’re both still here.”
James is staring at her, wondering where in the hell this came from, and he wants to add on or at least do something, but Alva’s already making a break for the exit, ranting.
James is glaring at him. Jessie shoves Meowth completely into his arms, and in a flash, her Gourgeist is right beside her.
“Get him.” she ordered, pointing directly at Alva.
And her Pokémon does. Gourgeist rushes to catch Alva, shooting a well aimed Shadow Ball at him. His jetpack explodes, and he nearly stumbles if not for the Princess’ Gardevoir.
“I don't think so,” She says, levitating him back onto solid ground and using the ropes that had tied Meowth to the railing to tie Alva up. “You're not going anywhere anytime soon.”
James backed further away from Alva, wincing as Meowth's claws dug into his shirt.
“Meowth…”
“don't let him take me..”
“He won't hurt you. I promise.” James whispers to him, tussling the fur atop his head. Jessie gives him a gentle smile, before turning a dark gaze towards Alva.
Alva shoots the trio a death stare. “You two will pay. Do you realize how valuable that Meowth is?!” There was an evil smirk on his face as he stared directly at the trembling scratch cat. “You'd be able to make a fortune if you sold the freak.”
“Yeah. We do. Do we care? No. He's our family, he's not a freak, and he's not your computer.” Jessie snaps at him. Alva goes to argue, but her death glare has the argument dying in his throat.
Both humans glare at him, James backing further away from him. The platform is lowered, giving the other two a chance to fully check on Meowth.
James can see Jessie try not to go batshit insane when she notices just how red his arms are. Meowth flinches under her gaze, and James places a hand on her shoulder to calm them both down.
Jessie sighs, relaxing just slightly, holding her friend. Meowth’s grasping her arms like she’s going to disappear.
James wants to slaughter Alva, but it’s a little too late for that.
Ash goes to place the Soul-Heart back inside Magearna’s center, but the entire fortress suddenly jolts. Hard.
Meowth crashes into her arms, trembling out of fear. James gets to his feet almost immediately, eyes trained on Alva. “What the hell did you do?!”
The small blonde child rushed past him, making moves on the control center. “The fortress…it’s going to hit the plateau.”
The room goes cold. And quiet. Everyone’s frozen, staring at the prince.
“...what.”
Raleigh manages a nod, staring back at them, shaking slightly. Jessie’s eyes land directly on the chancellor.
“What. Have you done.”
Despite being tied up, Alva still looks superior in every other way. “Seems I am still one step ahead of you all.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” Jessie screams, only she’s unable to do anything because James grabs her and pulls her back. Another jolt is sent through the structure, and all three are sent crashing into a fence.
“Ow…”
“Motherfucker.”
Raleigh remains stable, clearly a conversation had been happening without them. "Part of the fortress runs on steam, so it has water tanks!" the prince pointed out, showing a diagram of the contraption on the holographic screen, "Volcanion, I'll take you there," he said to the Fire/Water type.
He responded with a nod, "Please do," he said.
"Everybody else, wait on my sister's hovercraft!" the younger royal told the others.
"I'm going with you!" the raven haired teen shouted as he pumped his fist.
Everything is a blur of explosions and chaos after that.
If James is being entirely honest, he doesn’t pay a whole lot of attention to everything.
He has his best friend back, and in his opinion, that is genuinely the only thing matters to him right now.