Mt. Quena, where he and his companions had been set aside and locked away during whatever action was happening. The trio saw Mewtwo there, and tried to express solidarity and support with them and their band of outcasts. But aside from distant airships, all he personally saw of the rest of Team Rocket was… “Ugh, Domino is even worse than Cassidy and Borch,” he says, and then he squeaks as Mewtwo raises their hand again.
He stares into the air as the scene plays out before him, feeling increasingly nauseous. Mewtwo isn’t his Pokémon, and neither was the threatened young one. But to see any Pokémon hurt like this, let alone this intentional cruelty, makes him sick to his stomach. And the deeper layer of the memory - he doesn’t even know if that was related to Giovanni, but the barest flash of it twists at his insides nonetheless.
James turned to crime because it was the ‘easy’ path: Tutors or not, he wasn’t smart enough to test into some fancy school, wasn’t skilled enough at anything he could make much profit off of, and he wanted a way to make back the riches that escaping his family had cut him off from. It was rebellious too, becoming such a blatant criminal. Something his parents would really disapprove of.
But it’s undeniable now. The memory that Mewtwo gives him - the actions of the person he is shown - they’re not merely criminal. They’re evil.
He grips at his shirt over his chest, distorting the red ‘R’ on the uniform. He wishes Jessie and Meowth were here. They’d know what to say, or at least their yelling or bickering would make him feel better than this. He knows, without question, they’d be just as horrified as he is.
As for the companions that are here, Carnivine seems to understand Mewtwo’s explanation, or at least it isn’t trying to stop them - unless James orders it, of course. Mime Jr. is too young to really get why Mewtwo would want to distress its trainer, and it babbles worriedly until James finally reaches out and pats it on the head.
“You don’t have to worry; I’m just fine,” he murmurs to his Pokémon, somehow managing to hold a smile on his face. He takes out both of their Pokéballs and poises to return them. “Why don’t you two have a rest after all that playing?”
Then it’s just him and Mewtwo. James wipes his eyes. He’s silent for a long moment.
“All of this… these visions are real?” He knows the answer, this time. Truth is darker than fiction. And to think that they ever helped anything like this come to pass - or at least, that they tried to. Perhaps their incompetence was more of a blessing than they ever knew. Unknowingly working for someone like that makes a much worse fool of him, anyhow.
James gets to his feet and bows to Mewtwo. “My sincerest apologies,” he says. “I may be a criminal, but even I have some sense of honor. I thought we worked for someone who did, too.”
And… he doesn’t know what to do with this information. He’s still standing here seeing the grass and feeling the breeze, even though it feels like the world should have shattered around him. Giovanni is not here to be confronted. His team– his real team– isn’t here to figure out how to move forward.
He seems a little hollow - not all the way present - but he still speaks genuinely. “Thank you for… caring for my Pokémon’s safety. I promise, I would never allow harm to come to them.”
mewtwo had little basis for what humans considered to be ‘criminal’; only what they themself deemed to be a heinous act against morality or one that would put good intent and action into the world. petty theft of valuables and private property was inconsequential as a transgression - they did not pass any judgement on james for that. ( what true harm really came from those of lesser advantage taking from those who had more than enough to spare, anyway? ) it was the actions he’d taken to strengthen team rocket and giovanni’s plans - unknowingly or not - that they wished to cast doubt and reflection on.
once they shared the harsh memories with james, they waited patiently for him to understand and interpret them, merely remaining silent and studying his body language. ( how he seemed to want to tear the symbol from his shirt then and there, and how they could quite literally feel the anxiety and unease building in him. ) guilt threatened to seep into their own chest, but they remained steely-eyed and resolute. he needed to understand what his actions had the potential to support - and who giovanni really was. they watched as he returned his pokemon to their pokeballs, and nodded slowly in response to his question. how they wished it hadn’t been real.
“ ...you are not the only one to have been fooled by him. ” mewtwo responded quietly - their voice becoming somewhat softer, though it still carried bitterness towards the subject of their conversation. they hesitated for a moment, but shared another memory with him. this one less with the intent to shatter any delusions he had, but to sympathize.
outfitted in their armor, they stand under the blazing sun in the dusty canyon - awaiting the herd of tauros. it is child’s play to immobilize them; the cries of the pokemon in distress fall on their own deaf ears as well as that of the rocket operatives standing by to capture the pokemon. a feeling of superiority and ruthless pride washes over them at giovanni’s approval; they are the world’s strongest pokemon, the one meant to rule over all of this at the side of their partner.
the scene flashes to that of a gym battle, giovanni ordering them to defeat the opponent - a young, overconfident human in a blue shirt. he sends out pokemon after pokemon, and mewtwo defeats them all with a brutality the trainer - or his pokemon - likely had never experienced before. they do not fight to win, but to dominate and destroy the opponent. the fear in the trainer’s aura - and his pokemon’s - only spurs them on further, twisting what was already a warped reflection of giovanni in themself.
a change of scenery yet again, and this time they are enraged. “ you were created to fight for me. that is your purpose. ” giovanni says it so casually with an air of scolding, as if they were a pet who needed to be reminded of a rule by their owner. ( a feeling not dissimilar to james’ own current stress sinks into the core of them; the disorienting nausea and gut-wrenching of having one’s world shattered in the blink of an eye - overlayed with anger unlike anything they had ever experienced prior. )
“ you said we were PARTNERS. we stood as equals! ” the enraged star inside their chest begins to explode - the supernova of their wrath threatening to swallow them, too. giovanni only reacts with a scoff and a dismissive laugh, continuing to talk down to them and refusing to acknowledge their personhood. it’s the last bit of kindling the wildfire in them needs, and they roar their declaration of war against humanity while annihilating the base in a massive explosion.
they waited a few moments to calm themself and form them both to return to the present before continuing. “ ...i was new to the world. i was alone, and i did not know the extent of my abilities. he offered me direction - and promised that we would be partners and equals. ” they’d believed themself to be better than other pokemon due to their strength - so far above the pokemon that team rocket had instructed them to subdue and immobilize. but giovanni had never seen them as more than a tool for his own schemes - and they had failed to realize that until it was far too late.
“ i did horrid things in his name. but i committed even greater crimes in my own. i refused to see or admit how i ... molded myself after him. ” mewtwo’s usual scowl deepened in repulsion and guilt, and their aura echoed as much. their tail thrashed in discomfort and unease, and their gaze drifted away from the human as they confessed their own previous alliance with team rocket. “ even after i was able to recognize that his view of the world was not the truth - that other beings were not tools to use for my own benefit - ... it was still a very difficult journey. “ mewtwo’s hand briefly drifted to rest over their heart as something in their chest ached for a sense of closeness that they would never have again.
“ i had to learn compassion. i had to study the decisions and actions of others in order to sympathize with other beings. i wasn’t brought into this world with the capacity for solicitude. i had to grow into it, and i still falter now - decades later. ” they looked back to james and his pokemon, the slightest hint of a smile flickering on their face. “ but you already possess what i did not once told the truth of team rocket. you truly care for your pokemon. your promise to keep them safe ... the sincerity is tangible. ” mewtwo didn’t reach out to touch james - keeping a distance between them that wasn’t often breached by humankind. however, the air around them shifted to become more comforting for the other - the emotional and psychic equivalent of laying a blanket over someone who needed to rest.
“ it feels insurmountable - coming back from this. we will not be able to mend everything. but you - and i - will continue to work towards alleviating the pain caused. perhaps one day, we will feel as if we have done enough. it is the most we can ask for, and it is possible to feel content with that. ”
