Misty towelled herself off. "Thanks for the swim Corsola!" She waved back at the little pink pokemon. At her side, Staryu and Starmie bowed politely. Misty glanced at her only other pokemon, her Goldeen that was happily still swimming around in the pond that Brock had steadily been developing.
It had started as a simple pond, but now it ran a loop up to the plateau. It even had sections were you could go down a series of rapids if you wanted to! It was a surprising inclusion to a Rock type gym, but it made sense with some of Brock's latest acquisitions.She hopped to the side as said pokemon reached out with their fronds to touch her. "Lileep!" said the happy Grass type pokemon.Misty giggled and tapped it on the frond, amused at how it wiggled in glee before dipping a root into the water and relaxing."Morning Misty!" shouted Greta as the other Pallet trainer approached. She paused as flicked her eyes up and down Misty's form "Have a nice swim?""Yeah! No better way to start the day than to have a swim in my opinion!" Misty shot the other girl a thumbs up.A zap of lightning had her flinching and finishing off her towel down. Greta glanced in the direction that the lightning had come from. "Ash is up and training I take it?"Misty nodded. "His match against Brock is this week, and he wants to be ready."Greta tilted her head. "Has he caught any new pokemon?" Misty shook her head, Greta pursed her lips. "Has he taught his pokemon a fighting, or Steel type move?" Misty shook her head and raised her hands. Greta facepalmed. "He is such a doofus.""Yeah, yeah he is." Misty agreed before opening her bag and pulling out her shorts and top to wear over the top of her swimsuit. Greta crouched down and raised her near ever-present Pokedex onto Misty's Goldeen.Goldeen, the water queen pokemon, this pokemon posses an elegant fin that billows out around it. The fin provides an incredible amount of control over the water around it that helps propel it through the water in times of threat. It has been known to use its fins as a method of evading attacks by creating a veil for where it actually is. It has been thought to be similar to Tauros fighters in that regard. It is not unusual to see this pokemon leading Sharpedo into rocky outcroppings or metal hulls of ships, sometimes to the detriment of the ship.Greta nodded and then snapped a few pictures before hitting another button.This Goldeen has a slightly longer horn than most of its species. It is in a good weight range for speed without being too bulky, making it ideal in a pokemon fight. This Goldeen knows Horn Attack, Agility, Fury Attack, Supersonic, and Tail Whip."Huh, that's new," Misty said, glancing towards Greta as she stood.Greta raised two fingers in victory. "That's because Professor Oak was impressed with the work I'd put in to add all of Brock's pokemon in the reserve into the Pokedex with some observations! I also have been going around with Crystal and Yolanda to watch matches on the Battle courts! I have over a hundred pokemon recorded on my pokedex in less than two months!""Neeeeeerd!" shouted a voice, interrupting what Misty was going to say. Greta and Misty turned to find Crystal riding her scooter towards them and waxing manically. "Hey! Morning nerd!"Misty scowled, only for Greta to roll her eyes. "Morning to you too Scooter girl!" Misty relaxed realising it was a nickname and Crystal wasn't being mean… like Misty's sisters would have been.Crystal hopped her scooter and landed, only to stumble as she tried to adopt a cool pose. She coughed. "You didn't see anything!" Misty giggled at the younger girls antics, while Greta merely pointed at her pokedex."I got everything on video!"Rather than be annoyed, Crystal merely huffed. "Cool show me it later so I can see what I messed up!""Morning!" Called another voice. The girls all turned to find Yolanda trudging towards them with her ever-present starter pokemon in her arms. Terra waved in greetings at them, and Misty leaned down to coo at the little baby pokemon. One day this pokemon would be a terrifying powerhouse, Misty was sure but right now she was this tiny cute— Heavy! Misty almost buckled as Yolanda handed the pokemon off to her. She had not been ready for such a heavy pokemon.Misty adjusted and returned to cooing at the pokemon while rubbing at her back. Ow.Yolanda glanced around as Misty subtly lowered the dense little pokemon to let it toddle around. "Where's Forrest? Anyone seen him?"Misty indicated behind her and over a few boulders that some Geodude and Aron were sitting atop. "He's over there fighting Ash.""Uhmmmm, is that a good idea? They always get sort of heated when they're left alone," Yolanda said reasonably."Your dad is with them," Misty assured the other girl.Yolanda did not look assured. "I think I'll just check in on them.""Tar!" said Terra as she wobbled her way towards the rocks. Another blast of lightning radiated out only to wash over the Geodude and Aron without bothering them more than making them shift about. Misty supposed that with their Rock typing, they wouldn't be all that bothered with the lightning, especially only the minor stuff that was splashing out from Pikachu's attacks.It didn't stop Yolanda from scooping Terra up protectively, as though that would. Greta skipped up to Yolanda. "You know that Larvitar are ground-rock dual typed yeah? Out of all of us, she's the best off to handle Pikachu?"Yolanda sniffed. "That's not the point. It's about teaching her not to run into a pokemon fight. She only vaguely understands it right now, especially with pokemon and trainers she considers friends."Misty nodded along to that. It was a good point.When they got through the boulders Misty spotted Ash squaring off against Forrest. It was Pikachu versus a very smug-looking Graveler. It was named pokemon wasn't it? That had a meaning, didn't it mean it was more powerful? Or at least it wanted to be stronger?"Challenger! Use Sandstorm!" Forrest said with a grin causing his pokemon to flick up a huge torrent of sandblasting up."Woah! Quick! Pikachu, use Quick Attack around the Sandstorm!" Pikachu did just that only for it to not be quick enough to effect anything with the Sandstorm."Use Earthquake!" Forrest said gleefully causing Pikachu to stumble and skid only to be bounced up into the air before slamming into the ground as the little mouse pokemon collapsed with a sad 'Chaaaa!'"Pikachu is unable to battle! Forrest has won the three-on-three match!" Flint shouted over the top of the howl of the wind."Urgh!" Ash said as he stepped forward to collect his pokemon only for the Sandstorm to hinder him."Onix if you could, blow away the Sandstorm please," Flint said calmly. Releasing a very large Onix that roared lowly before thumping its tail. It caused the Sandstorm to die off almost immediately.Challenger whipped her head around to glare at the Onix. Misty could see that the Graveler was sizing up the much, much larger Onix. Forrest stepped up and patted her on the back. "Hey, settle down girl! You just won! Thanks for that! You did great!"Challenger relaxed slightly before smiling at Forrest and shooting him a multi-armed thumbs up. With the fight over, Misty followed Yolanda up to her brother."Forrest, why are you using Challenger against Ash? She's way too strong for his pokemon, forget his Pikachu!""I asked him," Ash said, stepping up before Forrest could even open his mouth. "I wanted to get stronger, and the way to do that is sometimes to fight against pokemon stronger! I know it's helping us! Pikachu is faster, and he's been able to learn Thunderbolt properly now!"Yolanda frowned. "What about learning something to help you against Brock?""I have a strategy ready for him! I'm looking beyond him!"Misty who'd been chuckling at Ash's naivety, stiffened. Beyond Brock? He'd been preparing to fight against her sisters!? Oh no! He was going to tear through them!"You really need something that will work against Rock types as a whole! You've got one solution against Brock at a low level!"Ash raised a finger only to open his mouth and nothing but a croak of disbelief escaped him. "Oh no! I need to practise way more moves!"Greta giggled. "That's just like you Ash!""This isn't funny, Greta! If I don't get the badge, we won't be able to continue on to Cerulean!"Greta blinked. "Uhmmm Ash? I'm not coming with you? Remember?""What? But…" Ash floundered for a moment, his mind unable to handle what he was being told. "But aren't you worried about not competing this year?! With the surge, we need to make up time!"Greta shook her head. "I'm actually going to go and talk with Brock about staying with his Gym. There's a lot that he can teach me about being a trainer. And I think I can make a better impact next year.""Next year!?" Ash shouted.Misty flinched before shaking her head. Was there an echo? It must have been one of the caves that ran under Brock's reserve. Ash shook his head. "Next year is forever away! What are you going to do for an entire year in one place?""Get strong with Bulbasaur. It's not like I can't leave Pewter as well, I'll be able to make expeditions out to catch a team and keep working on them. Any badges I earn are also valid for next year." Greta made a circle gesture. "There are going to be a lot of trainers that might stick around for the other half of Indigo and do the Johto circuit next year which will make it the crowded side. I'm not confident enough to go over to a region I'm not familiar with but I can get stronger. If you continue next year and collect enough badges I will see you at the end of next year's circuit.""Okay…" Ash said with the tone of a person that had just been told the pokemon fight he'd been looking forward to was now cancelled.Misty gave Greta a nod and a pat on the back. "I think it will be a good idea! Brock has a lot of impressive pokemon and if you are able to get some for your team you'll be way better off!""That's a perk!" Greta agreed.Forrest sighed. "I'll probably head out next year as well. With a starter now I think I'll be able to do pretty well." He patted Ash on the back. "It's not unusual to spend a year building yourself up before you leave for your journey you know Ash?""I know," he said kicking a rock. "I just thought it would be nice to travel with another Pallet trainer… especially one that isn't Gary.""Or that Damian kid," Forrest said.Ash got a confused look, and Greta sighed. "The kid that came in the last year and tried to take the top spot only for me and Gary to beat him out on the exams."Ash nodded in a manner that Misty knew meant he had no idea what she was talking about. Forrest laughed, apparently also used to Ash's mannerisms after spending a bit of time training with him. "Hey, how about we head around to the battle courts?! We can fight some trainers there!"Ash perked up at that. "Yeah! Come on! Last one there's a rotten egg!""Oh no you don't!" said Forrest as he sprinted off. "Come on Challenger! With you and Onix, we'll roll these wannabes!"Misty sighed and shook her head fondly, only to catch Yolanda watching her in amusement. "What?""So, I take it you're going to stick with Ash? You didn't say anything about not going with him?" asked Yolanda carefully.Misty nodded. "I've put some thought into something your brother said, I'm going to claim some badges and make an attempt at the circuit." Misty stretched as she followed Ash and Forrest around to the battle courts. "I think your brother had a good point that I shouldn't be afraid of facing the other Gym Leaders. Eventually, I'm going to be one of them!" She clenched her fist. "Maybe even one of the best!""Well… good luck with that. It'll be between Brock or Sabrina by then," replied Yolanda."Really? I would have thought you'd back your brother?" Misty asked. Greta nodded while Crystal shot Yolanda a surprised look."I've seen her fight, she's just as creative in her battles, but she knows how to pull the rug out from underneath my brother. She might not have his diversity, but she's spoken with me, and she has a few pokemon she's looking into. I think she'll be just as diverse soon. She's already considered one of the strongest with Blaine, Giovanni, and Koga." Yolanda shrugged."And they're all old, and Koga is going to become an Elite Four member at the end of the year.""Huh?!" said the other girls as one. "He's getting promoted?"Yolanda blinked slowly. "Oh, has that not been announced yet?" she tilted her head and chewed her lips. "Hmmm I know Brock has mentioned it in passing."Greta got out her transceiver and started furiously searching through the League pokenet page for any official announcements. "It only says that Agatha is stepping down? At the end of the year? But it does say that one slot will be to a worthy challenger?!" Greta looked up. "I thought they meant that two slots would be open for grabs! It's not really all that clear!"Yolanda nodded. "Forget I said anything?" she said while knocking on her head. Terra copied her and squinted, making Misty sigh. The younger girl and her starter were too cute sometimes.Crystal giggled. When they got to the battle courts, they found the boys searching for opponents that were roughly their level."What about him?" Ash said. Misty glanced over to find a young man that had his nose up in the air, it almost seemed like he thought everything and everyone was beneath him."He's got an Arcanine. I saw him hop off on top of the hill and unless that is just a travel pokemon it will have a lot of power behind it.""Hmmmm Butterfree wouldn't do well against him then… Her?" Ash said pointing to a girl with a Poliwhirl.She decided to speak up. "No, that Poliwhirl is way stronger than a normal Poliwhirl. You can tell with how it's body is starting to gain muscles, specifically in the arms and legs. It's trainer is probably going to evolve it soon. They're just looking to get a bit stronger from a few more fights I would assume.""Pikachu could take it if he wasn't tired!" Ash said back with a huff."Yeah, no," Misty said."How about him?" Crystal said pointing to an old man that was twizzling his moustache. Crystal was sadly loud and obvious enough with her pointing that the man perked up having noticed them.Ash narrowed his eyes. "He's… kind of old?" he said, like that should disqualify him.The man huffed. "I'll have you know I have the second-best Rattata around young man! I've even staked money on it and won during battles and Rattata races!""What are Rattata races?" Ash asked.Crystal sniffed. "Cutesy racing events that you can bet on at the track. Mum says it's for small timers to dip their feet in. The real money is in Rapidash, Dodrio, or Pidgeot races!" She nodded seriously, speaking as though she was an authority."Huh, well… I guess he'll do?" Ash said stepping forward and raising a pokeball. "Ready to battle old man?""My blood runs—" the man started to say only for a loud shout to cut through the pre battle banter."Yahoo!" "Yeah!" "Check it!" shouted some boys as they rode in on their bicycles. They skidded to a halt in front of Forrest and grinned at him. "Yo Forrest! Where you been?" the lead boy eyed the group and Misty bristled when his eyes paused on her and his smirk grew."Oh? Been hanging out with your girlfriend and the little babies!"Terra nodded and happily waved her hands out excitedly, very much not understanding that she was being insulted. Misty sniffed, whereas Ash growled and stepped forward. "Hey! I'm not a baby!""Indeed! And I am a gentleman, I will have you know! One decorated at that!" said the man opening his jacket to reveal a number of what Misty thought looked like medals of some sort."Whatever! We weren't talking to either of you!" said the boy. He jerked his chin at Forrest. "Hey Forrest? What gives? You ditching us for these twerps?""It's not like that, I've just been spending time at home with Dad back. He's shown me all these cool tricks!""Is that so?" said the boy. "Well, I've got something cool to so you as well!" The others in the group perked up and nodded quickly."Yeah! That's right! You gotta come check it out! We have a Secret base and everything!"Ash stopped growling. "A secret base?!"Misty scoffed loudly. "What? Did you find an old derelict building?""No way it's way cooler than that! It's this ol—""Barney shut up!" growled the leader. "You in Forrest?""Can I come?" Ash said indicating himself and his desire to see the 'secret base'.The other boy sniffed. "Only cool kids with bicycles can join!"Misty leaned around and pointedly looked at the boy that had glitter and pink paint that had flaked off his bike. That obviously had been a hand me down from a sister.Forrest huffed. 'Not cool man… buuuuuuuuut you're not wrong I haven't hung out with you guys in ages and today is my day off from the Gym and school. Surprised you guys got out of school so early.""Eh, it was no trouble," said the kid in a way that Misty just knew meant he hadn't gone. Forrest waved goodbye after bringing out his bike to ride off with his friends.Yolanda giggled as Terra waved goodbye enthusiastically. Ash moped. "I wish I knew someone that had a bike that I could have borrowed."Misty narrowed her eyes and clenched her fist. "You did."Munchlax kicked his feet and resisted the urge to do a happy dance as he spread some mayonnaise around on his lettuce. Then he slathered up some peanut butter, bluk berry jam, and whipped cream on top before placing the final piece of bread on top.He eyed it thoughtfully before stabbing a Chesto berry onto a small skewer like they did in movies for those fancy people, and he inserted it on top of his meal.Perfection.Eevee walked into the kitchen and spotted the sandwich. She sniffed tentatively. "That's disgusting!" she barked at him.Munchlax shook his head. "You just don't know art when you see it." He then inserted the sandwich into his mouth. His jaw closed around it as he munched to his heart's desire. The various tastes mixed and blended together wonderfully.Eevee made gagging noises.This caused Nanny Grav to enter the kitchen. "Urgh! You're cleaning that up little one!" she said crossing both pairs of arms and glowering at him. Munchlax swallowed and shrugged it off."No problem! Once lunch is over!" he said.Eevee made a face. "I'm no longer hungry," she said as she turned to walk away.Munchlax tilted his head. "What's got into her?""Eh, no idea?" said Nanny Grav as she reached into the pantry. She drew out some pebbles that the kids had collected and melted some honey into. She tossed it into her mouth and crunched away loudly. "Must be feeling sick?"Munchlax considered this. "We'll have to check with Yolanda." Both of them nodded at that only for Flint to walk in with a pile of laundry."Urgh, there's so much laundry to do! I really should have worn some… oh hello there, you two!" he nodded to Munchlax and nay Grav."Wanna join us for lunch?!" Munchlax raised up his lunch sandwich, that was merely five layers of lettuce and tomatoes and cheese and cucumbers.Flint blinked slowly and stared at Munchlax's sandwich. "I'm still not sure we can afford to let you eat like this." Munchlax gasped at him and used his Baby Doll Eyes.Flint huffed. "Yeah, that's not going to work on me.""Damn, I never should have taught Suzie and Tilly how to use that move!" Munchlax said. They were way too good at it… Then again, maybe the little bows in their hair helped? He'd need to put some on and try again to find out if they helped.He took a bit of his sandwich and considered it. It needed pepper and salt. He hopped down from his special stool. It apparently had his name on it an everything! Got the pepper and salt with the help of a stepping stool and then sprinkled it on his sandwich before putting it back."How come you don't raid the pantry anymore?" Nanny Grav asked from around a mouthful of pebbles. She idly offered Flint some and he considered it for a moment before shaking his head.He instead took some already cooked tauros steak for his lunch. Munchlax shook his head. It didn't have anywhere near enough condiments. With lunch done, Munchlax took a moment to enjoy how his meal had been. Should he start on post-lunch now… or hold off? He thought long and hard before deciding to pack away what he'd used.He put the dirty dishes and knives in the sink and then checked the pantry for his after-lunch mint. Brock always got a funny look on his face when he had a mint after a proper meal but Munchlax enjoyed how it made his tongue tingle. He shook his box of mints and nodded.He had enough for today and tomorrow morning, then he'd put the box where Brock or Yolanda could see it and they'd put it on the list for Flint to fetch while they worked! It was such a good system. He was glad they got Flint as live-in help.It amused him that they claimed he was their father, but Munchlax wasn't that naive. That was obviously Brock. Flint was the helper.Munchlax turned only to bump into Flint. "Oops! Sorry about that Munchlax I didn't see you down there!" said Flint."Oh that's alright… wait! Where's my treat?!" Munchlax whipped his head about looking for said treat only to not find it. He certainly hadn't eaten it yet! He'd know!Flint tilted his head and frowned. "I'm… not sure what you're saying?""My treat!" said Munchlax checking his box. "One, two,threefourfivesixseven! Ha there were eight before and now there's only seven! I knew I got it out! Where'd it go?""I have no idea what you're saying," Flint said fondly. Flint merely patted him on the head and moved off. Munchlax slumped, he was a good helper for everyone else in the family it seemed, but not for Munchlax.Munchlax turned his head to look at Nanny Grav but she merely shrugged her shoulders. "I know I saw you grab one, but I don't see it now. You sure you didn't eat it?""No! I did not eat it yet!" he said stamping his foot.Grav hummed. "Well just grab yourself another then."Munchlax huffed. "That wasn't right! I've read the book!" Nanny Grav raised a granite eyebrow at him. Munchlax huffed. "Brock read it to me! There! I can't read! Are you happy?""Same, I can't read either, but alright then let's clean up and see if we can find it." she then cleaned up the kitchen, slowly, making sure to check before she wiped anywhere down, lest the mint be squashed or tossed way.Munchlax helped.Sadly, they found no mint. Munchlax felt his stomach shrivelling up, he felt like he was wasting away to nothing. He collapsed to the ground and groaned, only for Nanny Grav to huff, pick him up, and deposit him on the lounge near Flint as he folded laundry.Munchlax groaned sadly. Flint shot him a look. "Eat too much food?""Not enough," Munchlax replied.Flint nodded as though he agreed. "Well that will teach you." Munchlax nodded. Next time he'd make sure to put it in his mouth before he lost it! This was like all the other times he'd lost his food! Like the pineapple pizza slice!"Wait!" Munchlax sat up. He'd found those? Where had they been?Flint continued to fold up clothes, occasionally he'd check a piece of paper that seemed to have pictures of how to fold up the clothes. Munchlax idly took a pair of socks and helped him fold them as he tried to recall where he'd found the stray pizza slice. Mmmmmm pizza it had tasted pretty good with some of his fur…Munchlax stopped folding one of Tilly's shirts and reached into his fuzz to search around. Nothing under this arm or leg, or his belly. Behind his head? Nothing.Munchlax slumped back down and sighed. He'd been so close to eating it and getting that wonderful tingle. Then he would have had a whole hour of delight on his tongue!He could almost… wait, he could smell it! He sat up just as Flint stood and marched off with the folded laundry. Munchlax sniffed the air. Flint! It was on Flint! Or the laundry!Munchlax sprinted out into the hall and carefully hid behind the furniture as Flint deposited the laundry into the kids' rooms. Munchlax followed him in, searching the clothes and then refolding them when he found nothing.The hunt continued, from Tilly and Billy's room, to Tommy and Cindy! Then Suzie and Timmy, then into Salvadore's room. When Munchlax raided Forrest's room and found no mint, he glared after Flint. Where was it!?"Yolanda, I'm coming in!" Flint said while he was knocking on the door. Now that most of the laundry was finished Munchlax could smell it. His precious. He licked his lips and silenced his raging stomach. Right now he needed to stalk his prey, like the Munchlax of old that stalked and brought down wild burgers and pizza in the wilds."Come on in!" Yolanda said. Flint stepped in with the last of the laundry and Munchlax did a tactical log roll down the hallway like Samurai Furret to get close before darting into the room and hiding among the plushies."Hi! Hello! It's nice to see you friend Munchlax!" shouted Terra in greeting. Munchlax put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet only for her to tilt her head and look to Yolanda. "Mummy Yolanda! Munchlax is being funny!"Munchlax held in a sigh. Trust an infant pokemon to not understand the importance of remaining quiet on the hunt."Yolanda, can I ask you a question?" Flint said.Yolanda nodded, her attention drawn away from Terra who was pointing right at Munchlax. "Yeah Dad?""Why has Munchlax been stalking me all day?" Flint glanced around, and Munchlax ducked lower into the plushies hiding, like Janine did that one time they played a game."Oh? Did you take any of his food?""No, Brock was very adamant that I never cut him off… despite knowing that we're overfeeding him.""Hmmm no, no, we're not. Brock has shown me the calorie count that Munchlax has. He takes as much as he needs and not much more. Most of his meals are bulk, with occasional treats for simple sugars. The rest is pretty empty, like all the vegetables he eats.""I saw him eat two sandwiches just for lunch." Flint mimed a tower. "Big ones.""And he has normal Munchlax meals for dinner. The others are all empty.""Alright… so why's he stalking me then?""Food, it's usually food." Yolanda looked him over. "What's that in your top pocket?""Huh? Oh it's a… when did this get here?" Flint pulled out the precious. Yolanda giggled and Flint sighed. "Really? An after dinner mint?"Yolanda nodded. "Leave it with me; I'll give it to him when I see him." Munchlax wanted to grumble. That was not how Munchlax of the wilds did it. Or did they? As long as it was successful, then it was a good hunt, no?Flint departed, and Munchlax prepared to leave the plushies, only for Terra to poke her head into them. "Hi! Hi there! What are you doing?!"Munchlax sighed and stood from the plushies. "I was stalking down my precious!" he announced.Yolanda blinked in surprise."Oh, hi there Munchlax! This what you were looking for?" she said handing over the mint. Munchlax grinned, opening his mouth wide only for Terra to bounce on the spot."Precious?" Terra said while tilting her head. "Is it tasty? I've never had a precious before!"Munchlax faltered in the face of her… her innocence. She'd never had a precious treat before? He considered his square of mint chocolate and licked his lips. He eyed it carefully and then snapped it into two parts. That made it count as half and half right?"Here," he said offering her the smaller half.Terra took it from his fingers and giggled. "It tastes funny!" she said as she smeared it all over her mouth. Yolanda took a picture with her transceiver.Munchlax popped his half into his own mouth. It tasted wonderful, like victory and goodness.And with his mouth tingling in just the right way, the world was good and put to rights.The world was a dark and unjust place Jenny mused. But it would be put to rights soon. She looked to her newest recruit/pokemon. "Alright you blitzed through the training course, but don't let your head get big!"Across from her Haunter nodded seriously as his head started to swell. Jenny bit her lips and coughed. "Precisely, good to hear you're listening." Haunter nodded and pretended to explode his head with a pin. In reality, he just made a banging noise and turned his head invisible."Alright, you're an official police pokemon now, alongside Arcanine, Growlithe, Machamp, and Pidgeot! Prestigious company, to be sure. The streets out there are dark places Haunter, I want you to understand that! There are lots of thieves and vandals afoot!"Haunter nodded, munching on some chocolate that had Jenny squinting. Was that her emergency bad-day chocolate? Haunter ate another bite of it and produced a note from her that reminded her to get rid of her stash as she was trying to slim up for summer in a few weeks."Good call recruit!" she said through gritted teeth. Damn past Jenny for writing such a note!She snapped her fingers. "Alright we're going to apprehend some criminals that have made off with my…" she coughed, "Police property!"Haunter nodded. "For that purpose, we have tracked them down to a section outside Pewter to the northeast. You are to infiltrate a few suspicious sites and if you discover their base, you will open it from the inside! Understand?"Haunter saluted with the chocolate bar before finishing it off. Jenny nodded and returned her pokemon. It had been an odd capture but she had high hopes. He was a joker but she'd make him a force for good in this world! She knew it!She stood and strode out of her cubicle, ignoring some of the detective's snickers before approaching the other patrolmen and women that would be joining her on this raid. One of whom she was keeping a very close eye on. Hopefully, she could use today's mission to get some more reasons to linger around the potentially corrupt policeman.With a few nods, they all rose and marched out. The others all had to hop on their bikes while she released her Arcanine and led them to the northwest area where she'd lost the trail last time."Alright, so this is where you lost the trail last week. What do you hope to change?" asked Kimbal, the potentially corrupt cop."This is the area where I lost the scent, yes, but we've got more options this time. For one! I have done some extensive research on this area. This used to be the location of a number of military bases that were decommissioned. You can tell from the indents left in the rockface. While it would take a lot of time to create a full-on military base once again, criminals will only need a single room to stash their ill-gotten gains!""Which we can't get into if they're using pokemon to get into. None of us have pokemon capable of teleport? Are you going to call up Sabrina for help? Good luck with that!" chuckled Kimball.Jenny coughed, deciding not to mention that she had met Sabrina before. That was on a need-to-know basis, and technically, she hadn't qualified for that list. She'd just been the first on the scene thanks to Brock and then been in a great position to watch some pros in action!Captain Bosco had been initially impressed with her debriefing before getting annoyed at her loss of police property. Not that it would matter soon. The blemish on her record would be cleaned up, and justice would be served!She coughed into her fist. "I have an answer for that! I have Haunter we will be able to use to investigate the areas within the cliffs. If a base is present, he will indicate where we need to excavate!"This got a few surprised murmurs and some approving nods. Jenny released her Haunter and he saluted officially. She liked that about him. He might be all snarky and sassy in private, but in the field, he was a reliable police pokemon!"Where's the site Haunter? Think you can find the base?"He nodded and swung around into the rockface. Jenny turned to the others. "Look around for anything suspicious to help narrow down the search!"They began to look around and it wasn't long before they found bicycle tracks. "They must be getting around on bikes!" said one officer dropping to one knee. "Official Poketech speedsters that are moded for off-road or highway cruising! Heh they must have some connections! Those aren't cheap…"He then inspected another tie track. "Actually, I take that back only two of these are expensive. One of these bikes is dirt cheap… probably many times secondhand, and judging by these rust flakes, poorly maintained too."Jenny nodded and they followed the tracks over a rocky outcropping to a section of wall that had gravel in front of it. There wouldn't have been anywhere to leave tracks but while bike tracks came up, they never left. Jenny nodded and spotted a square indent with a boulder badge symbol impressed into it.Ah, she'd been right! An old, decommissioned military base site! She signalled to the others to cordon off the area. She didn't want the thieves, if they were here, to get away.She was just about to give an order for Kimball to pair up with someone trustworthy when the rock face in front of them swung open like it was a door, and Haunter appeared, grinning widely."Stop that Pokemon!" cried out a voice within the base."Send in the detention pokemon!" Jenny shouted as she hurled her Machamp into the cave.she then released her Arcanine to have it at her sides as other officers released Machoke to follow her pokemon in. Cries of surprise and shouts echoed outward."Champ!" shouted her pokemon as Haunter shot her a thumbs up. All clear given, Jenny marched with a skip in her step.Her eyes swept over the base, instantly locking onto the very obviously stolen police bike.She grinned and looked towards the thieves.Kids faces looked up. she huffed, alright it looked like this was going to be a simple scare them straight… she trailed off as her eyes locked on one of the boys.Forrest blinked back at her, dazed and highly out of place. Kimball walked up next to her and spotted what she'd seen."Oh well, this is a catch!" he said greasily.Jenny cursed in her head. Damn it, she'd meant to keep her enemies close, not give them rope to use.Forrest shot her a hesitant smile, which she grimly returned.This had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.
105
Flint went pale when I told him. "Oh no! What happened?!" he said.I jerked my head tightly. "No idea, I have Yolanda ready to look after things and Granny Legiga coming over to hold things down here. I'm going to the station."A flicker of hurt emotion appeared on Flint's face before he straightened up. "I'm coming with you."I felt a momentary flicker of… I wasn't sure what to call it. Surprise, validation, amusement, annoyance? I knew that he would come, expected it. But I still found it surprising?Perhaps I was still getting used to having him around. I jerked my head outside and nodded to Yolanda. "We'll be back with Forrest soon."She gave me a tight smile. "Yeah, well save some of him for me to tear into! He shouldn't scare us like this!"I snorted and stalked outside to find Flint had already released his Onix. "Climb on!" he said. I rolled my eyes and instead flicked out Selene. She appeared and turned to me with a curious tilt of her head."Forrest is at the police station. Can you get Flint and I there?" I said. Flint quickly returned his pokemon with a sheepish cough. Selene bobbed up and down and her eyes glowed before she, for lack of a better word, glitched and reappeared to the side.She shuddered and gave me a glare and warbled her cry. "Luuuuuuuna!" she said.I tilted my head before grimacing. I grabbed at my energy, not even realising it had been radiating off me like it had before I tightly compressed it into a ball.Or at least trying to.It felt like it didn't want to go. Like it was too pressured to be held back. I took in a deep breath and tried again, only to find my control lacking. I let it go, and Selene flinched as it spilled out of me for a moment. Flint also stepped back, surprised."Brock?"I held up a finger and took another breath, ignoring the way the darkness within me had become more powerful with his interruption. "A moment. Please," I bit out.I took another breath and drew it back into my body before cursing under my breath. "Great, just great." I clapped my hands together and exhaled heavily before inhaling quickly and opening my eyes. I found myself staring into Flint's concerned expression. My brow twitched in annoyance, and I bit back the demand for him to give me room.I dropped the pose and shook my head. "No, alright, I don't have time for that. I need to get to Forrest and save him from whatever he's gotten himself into." I waved a hand at Flint, hating myself a little. "Send out your Onix again."Flint gave me a dubious look, and my gaze hardened. He released his pokemon and gave a reproachful look that I ignored as I hopped up onto the Onix's side before it quickly raced away. I ignored the voice that demanded I simply send out Zephyr and ditch Flint. Zephyr could carry two, but I didn't want to get cosy with Flint, of all people.Instead, I tried to control the energy that felt like it had suddenly become too potent. A hand in the pocket had me rolling rocks around and feeling their coolness as they clinked and tapped into each other.Flint chose then to speak up. "So I think I can talk with the—""You've burned most of the goodwill you had with your departure Flint," My rock-type energy slipped through my fingers. The energy no longer felt like I was toying with rocks and boulders but a mass of pebbles with something crawling underneath."As his father…" he started before trailing off, his jaw working. "How did things get this way?" he said.I stared at him. He clenched his eyes shut and nodded slowly, realising what I was implying before he curled up a little on himself. I turned my head and reached into my pocket for the pebbles once more, resisting the urge to throw them at Flint.When we got closer to Pewter City, Lawrence appeared riding on the back of a Tauros. He pulled up level with us with a tight expression. "Brock, got your message. Jenny is sure that Jonathan's sticking his nose into it?"I nodded tightly, and Lawrence cursed. "Friggen dark types, that's annoying. This should be an open and shut case, with it being at worst a slap on the wrist for the brats before they get dragged around by their parents or relatives… They do have relatives right?" Lawrence said shooting me a look.I opened and shut my mouth before shaking my head. "I'm not sure. I haven't exactly talked with Forrest about his friends. I've offered to hold sleepovers and parties, but he always declined. So I never met them much.""Really?" Flint said incredulously.I stared at him and silently reminded him that he was not one to talk about not knowing his family's likes, dislikes, or acquaintances. It annoyed me that he wasn't wrong, though. I had slipped up, and if I had paid more attention, I would have known these details. I knew Yolanda was friends with Crystal because they hung out in the Gym so often, but that was practically gift-wrapped for me. What were the boys' names that Forrest hung out with?Ren, Stimpy? Snot boy? I had no idea.It hadn't been an issue in the past. And now suddenly, it was a huge, glaring issue. I pinched my brow and exhaled. "Alright, let's get in there, make sure Forrest is fine, and then get him out of there." I hopped off the Onix when we got within the region of 'no riding' zone around the police station and started marching forward.This all started with Lance's declaration.Then people came out of the woodwork trying to have a piece with the audit and getting Team Rocket sniffing around. I'd been so focused on all those issues with running the Gym, finding Flint, and balancing out my family obligations. Also the whole leaving with Ash issue had still been up in the air for a while there.Urgh! I'd had this all managed, it felt like!Flint had come home. Problem solved, only it wasn't cause I had to deal with him and all the… issues him being home brought with it. I'd mostly handled Ash though… just not the way I'd ever planned to.I'd let Daniel get close to me!In hindsight, he had glaringly large red flags with how he'd acted!I felt like I was building up steam with all the recent issues. Some of them were successful, but I could only categorise some as unmitigated failures on my part. This was already shaping up to be the latter rather than the former.How had I let it get this bad?!"Brock it would probably be a good idea to calm down," Flint said."I'm perfectly calm, I assure you," I said as I held tight to the darkness that threatened to boil out of me.Lawrence coughed from next to me, jogging to keep up with my long strides that I now realised had just a touch of rock-type energy in them to propel me further. "Brock, you're angry and you might lash out if things don't work out well.""I'm not going to lash out unless I have to," I said firmly.Lawrence broke into a run and turned to plant himself in front of me. "Brock! You're walking in there with a chip on your shoulder and intent. As your lawyer and more importantly, as your friend, I want you to stop! Take a second and calm down!"For half a second, I thought about going through him. What was he but a pebble in the way of of… I stopped and stared down at him, realising where my thoughts were taking me. I shut my eyes but that didn't stop me catching the look of fear that had morphed across his face with how I was looming over him.I took in a breath and focused on something else. Something positive.Forrest was in the police station. Not the hospital… or the morgue. Things weren't that bad. I didn't have the answers, and I'd need to talk to Forrest to get them. Talk, not threaten or growl like some beast.Forrest was my brother, and I was just scared for him. I felt my lips twitch for a moment. It was a stretch but it was almost like the scene in the Lion King when Mufasa admitted he was scared.I was scared and lashing out.I let the breath out and found myself much looser. Lighter in both the sense of weight and illumination. I opened my eyes and nodded at Lawrence. "Thanks," I said simply.He took a shuddering breath of his own. "Whew, yeah, no problem. It's my job to do that… well for both roles actually." He laughed weakly, and I nodded."Sorry," I said. Lawrence merely nodded."Right, before we step in there, I imagine you want Forrest out, yeah? We're going to have to talk with him. Let him tell us the story, and then go from there. I can't imagine he's done anything too serious. He's a good kid; he's grown up well with you Brock."I gave Lawrence a smile. "Now you're laying it on a bit thick.""Take the compliment, Brock," Lawrence said before standing up and adjusting his tie. "Now, keep calm and let me do my thing yeah?"I nodded and followed Lawrence in. It took a moment to remember Flint was there with how quiet he was being as he walked next to me. I considered saying something but that would go against what Lawrence had said so I kept my mouth shut as Lawrence stormed up to the front doors and opened both doors wide together like he was some cowboy from the wild west films that had been oh so cool once upon a time in my past life.Lawrence stalked into the room with energy like he owned the place. Behind the front desk a grey-haired woman with a her hair done up in a bun glared at him. Her hands twitched towards a pokeball on the barrier. She looked like she wanted to release whatever was in it but held back as Lawrence hadn't overstepped himself, yet."Lawrence Wright and family members! Here to pick up Forrest of Pewter City out of holding for interview and—" He rattled off a number of things that needed to happen.The receptionist bared her teeth as if she expected him to flee before responding with something about needing to see the necessary paperwork, which Lawrence slapped onto the dividing space. She squinted through her glasses as she assessed it. She flicked through each line, her eyes darting across each line as though expecting some error to leap forth and allow her to reject Lawrence and therefore us entry."Interrogation room four," she said through clenched teeth."Has he been formally charged?" Lawrence said."I'm not sure, you would need to talk to Officer Jenny who led the raid on the… gang.""That's as yet to be established!" Lawrence riposted.The woman sniffed and slipped out a tray to hold pokeballs. "Please store your pokemon here." I stiffened for a moment before realising that it was a sensible precaution, for all that it rubbed me the wrong way.Lawrence handed his over but held a hand out to me. "Gym Leader privilege," he said to me with a smirk. Then he gave Flint a consoling look. "Current Gym Leaders only, I'm afraid, are allowed to carry their pokemon with them."Flint grimaced and deposited the five pokemon he had on him into the tray. I shot them an idle glance. Did he still have the Onix, Golem, and Sandslash he'd had years ago? I hadn't seen him use any of them in a while… but then again I didn't want to spend much time with him if I had to. Plus I was busy… yeah, that's why I didn't know what pokemon he had.I was just busy with other things.Lawrence nodded at the woman before waving his hand to Flint and I. "Let's move." He glided through the police station. Lawrence navigated it with the airs of someone walking a familiar haunt."Been here before?" I asked, unable to stop myself."Used to intern with another lawyer and ended up working with a lot of criminal cases that ended up here." He glanced back. "Lawyers have a grey reputation Brock, but I made sure I gave anyone I represented their best options."We came upon a long corridor with a number of rooms that had numbers on them while other doors had no numbers. Lawrence walked past room four. Flint paused with a frown only for Lawrence to rip the door open next room four."Has my client been formally charged?" he said loudly as he announced himself.I thought I heard a curse from the room and when I entered the room and looked around Lawrence I noted that there were three occupants. Two looked like the cliche detectives with suspenders over white shirts while next to them sat Officer Jenny who looked relieved for a moment before a flash of guilt flickered across her features. Then she adopted a stoic mask of professionalism.She stood. "Mr Wright, thank you for arriving. We have not conducted any interrogations due to Forrest's status as a minor." Her eyes twitched towards the other two in the room. "If you'd like to accompany us as we—"Lawrence shot a finger out in objection, cutting her off. "You will allow me and my client's family to confer first! While this is occurring, I want no one else in this room, and no recordings."Jenny inclined her head and gestured to the other two. "Detectives?" I glanced at the wall and realised this was a room looking into the interrogation room in which a miserable-looking Forrest was sitting.Both men swung themselves out of their chairs and grumbled past us. One shot me a look and muttered something about 'paying our way out'. I clenched my jaw at that. It felt like something that I would have rejected in the past, but here I was, sweeping in with my lawyer and making demands.Jenny marched us out of the room, turned and locked the room. She then gestured to the other room which she unlocked with a keycard. "You will have time to talk with Forrest." Lawrence nodded cooly and swept into the room with Flint barreling in to wrap Forrest in a hug as my brother rose up. I sighed in relief as I noticed he didn't have any injuries."Brock…" Jenny opened and shut her mouth when I turned towards her. She exhaled and adopted a professional look. "I was doing my job," she said simply.I nodded at her. "Yeah," I said simply. "I get that." I didn't say anything else and instead moved into the room and shut the door behind me.I had no idea how to even deal with that tangled web of emotions. I liked Jenny for her professionalism. It was a strange world indeed when that professionalism was the thing biting me in the backside.I clapped Forrest on the shoulder, no longer feeling as tense. He looked up at me and then shot his eyes to the floor. "Sorry! I… I'm not sure what was going on! We were just going for a bike ride when they started spray painting a wall and I realised it was them doing it all the time and then we were riding away and they were laughing and—"Lawrence clapped his hands, startling Forrest out of his hurried and rather frantic retelling."Forrest," he said simply. "First off, I am Lawrence Wright, and I look after your brother's affairs. As he's the guardian of your family, you fall into that category. Now, everyone in this room, we're here because we want what's best for you and we want to help with this. There's probably a lot more people, but they wouldn't fit in this room would they? Your… Onix for example?""Heh, yeah," said Forrest wetly before he sat up. "They took my pokeball with him in it!"Lawrence nodded. "Standard procedure. We will be getting him back. So before we start getting into the details. Flint, Brock, aren't we glad Forrest is alright?""Yes!" "Yeah," Flint and I said together.I stopped standing and moved to take the last seat around the table before reaching across and squeezing Forrest's shoulder. "It's gonna be fine little bro."He choked back a wet cough. Lawrence produced a handkerchief that Forrest blew into a few times. When he handed it back Lawrence grabbed it with two pencils that he then used to flick at the wall where the two-way mirror was. It thwacked into it wetly and stuck. Forrest barked a laugh and I realised it was a calculated, and perhaps practised move to make people relax around him.Lawrence smiled easily. "Alright, Forrest, starting from when you left home, I want you to tell me what happened until we got here." He put a notepad in front of himself and sat as though he couldn't wait to record the tale.Forrest licked his lips and shot Flint and me hesitant looks, only for us both to flash him supportive smiles."Alright, I had originally been called to come hang out, but I told the guys that I wanted to train with Onix and Dad."Flint got a deliciously guilty expression at this which I had a moment to enjoy before I crushed the emotion. It wasn't helpful though so I held a neutral expression."We did that for a bit and I was finishing up with Ash when they came over. I decided to go with them cause I hadn't hung out with them in a while see?" We all nodded. It was perfectly reasonable after all."We were riding our bikes around and then we passed by this wall that had been painted over. The guys stopped and said something about it being crazy how often they repainted the thing. Which I thought wasn't as funny as them cause they didn't do charity work like I sometimes do with the Gym trainers. I said as much and they laughed, and then Bobby pulled out some spray cans and started shaking them up. I asked him what he was doing, and he said putting up his tags; he said it was something he did all the time."Lawrence nodded. "Did you or anyone else tell him to stop?""... not at first. I thought it was a bit funny but not all that serious." Forrest licked his lips. "So, no I didn't think it was that bad. I was amused that it had been going on so long, but then I remembered that as a Gym trainer, I should be stopping them, so I told them to cut it out." He shifted about in his seat. "They laughed at me, but then I pulled out my pokeball and told them it was serious and not a joke. That made them stop but they were really… they were… kinda of assholes about it."Flint shifted but didn't say anything. Lawrence raised a hand. "This was the first time you'd witnessed this behaviour from them?""Yes!" said Forrest instantly. "I had no idea they were doing it… they had some jokes that talked about putting up tags but I never got the reference." He swallowed as Lawrence made a few notes before prompting Forrest to continue with a polite nod."Right, so they stopped and started riding off and I wasn't sure what to do… I guess I was going to report them later. They shrugged it off and said that if I didn't chill out I wouldn't get to come to the clubhouse, which I waved off cause I had the Gym which has everything. That got them kind of annoyed and they said their base was cooler and then the said to follow them. We rode out of town a bit to this really big oak tree. Chad pulled out his Drowzee and had it use this move that opened… like a portal.""Secret Power," I said. Lawrence glanced at me with a frown. "The move is Secret Power and is used to create secret spaces that can be used by smugglers," I explained.Flint shot me a look. "It was a move that was used a lot when I was younger and things were… rough," Flint said tightly.I blinked. Oh, Secret Power could be used to make temporary bases or shelters couldn't it? Huh, that added an interesting angle to the pokemon move that had been little more than a gimmick in the games.Lawrence nodded slowly at that while Forrest stared. Lawrence coughed. "What then?"Forrest licked his lips. "They had like this really big space that we could walk around in. They had some ratty old couches that must have been in the dump and also like posters…" His face went red, and the adults in the room shared knowing glances over what was on said posters."Anyway! There was this uhm… other thing that caught my attention straight away, which was that they had a police bike there. The one Officer Jenny had stolen from her…" He chewed his lip. "I started to confront them about it when a Haunter entered the space and opened the portal from our side allowing the police to storm in. It was crazy! One second I was arguing with my friends and then… we were getting tackled by Growlithe and Machoke."Lawrence nodded. "Standard procedure, I'm afraid… Unless they got overly rough with you?"Forrest shook his head. "I've had worse from Aron before. These were hardly that bad, honestly. Bobby started blubbering straight away, and Jenny stalked in looking smug, then she seemed surprised we were all kids, and she got kinda angry." Forrest squirmed in his seat."Then she saw me and got all quiet. I think she swore, but then the other cops came in and started dragging us away. Then we got transported here, and all our pokeballs got taken from us. They took us to separate rooms and then left me alone until you guys came in… thanks for coming, by the way."I shot him a grin. "Not going to let them do anything with you, little bro."Lawrence nodded. "Quite so, now there is an interesting situation that we can claim by having you state that you were in the midst of arresting or having the boys turn themselves in.""They're my friends!" Forrest said, but there was a fear in his eyes now.Lawrence raised his hands. "Arresting or having them turn themselves in. The second obviously holds lesser sentence. This whole thing is not all that serious." Lawrence waved his hand about. "Youthful indiscretion. No judge would give it serious time in court or entertain it. It's the police putting fear of the law into these boys. Scaring them straight if you would." Lawrence laced his fingers."Where it becomes more complicated is with you." Lawrence pointed a finger right at Forrest. "You, Forrest, are the brother of the current Gym Leader." He inclined his head towards me.Forrest face turned red. "But that's not right! Why would they…" His face turned pale. "Oh.""Ah, you are familiar with the… politics of the situation. It doesn't look good, you see. You being arrested. If however, we claim you were taken in mistakenly while performing your duties, we can sweep a lot of this under the rug. The police won't have a leg to stand on, and no one can really fault you. This becomes a humorous story around the water coolers and goes no further.""The others won't get in more trouble? I won't be selling them out?" Forrest said. Lawrence shook his head.Flint shifted but didn't say anything. I could see the conflict he had in remaining quiet about telling Forrest he should be looking out for himself. I agreed with him but could also see how Forrest would be conflicted. These were apparently his friends, and it could burn a lot of bridges if it wasn't handled delicately."Alright, I think I can explain it to them later…" Forrest spoke slowly. "They're not going to like it, but they did the wrong thing."Lawrence beamed, and I could almost see the internal relief of 'oh thank goodness my young client is seeing reason'. "Excellent, so what we will do is—"Someone knocked on the door, and Lawrence stood straight up and marched towards it. He opened it with a scowl. "I'm afraid that I am still discussing this situation with my client!" he said waspishly.He stood in the doorway firmly, but that didn't stop me from seeing who was on the other side."Well, this is a surprise. I didn't know you were here Lawrence! Not that it matters," said Mayor Jonathan."Why would I not represent my client, Mayor Jonathan? I'm precisely where I should be! You are the one out of place!" Lawrence said testily"Oh now that's where you're wrong. I need to look after the good citizens of Pewter! I hadn't heard you were in the building is all. Now as to what you were saying, it's all good and well but this is a serious matter that needs to be handled—""Mayor Jonathan, you have no reason to be involved here, nor do you have any reason to be involved in any criminal process!""Ah? This is a criminal case?" Jonathan said leadingly. I bounced my leg as I heard the smug tone. I flicked my eyes toward Forrest as I felt my dark energy slipping. I didn't want to explode while sitting in the room with him. That wouldn't help anyone, so I redoubled my control.Lawrence was holding his own anyway. "In the case of the other boys, perhaps, but I think we can work out something with all of them and their parents to make this a lesson. This has nothing to do with you!""Really? That's interesting because I just came from talking with those boys, and they said the most interesting thing. Apparently, this was all your client's plan, the whole graffiti, or should I say, gang tags, and the theft of a police officer's means of transportation, thus hindering them in their duties over the course of an entire week?""That's not really what happened!" snapped Lawrence. "This is beyond irregular and I will be pressing charges on this ham-fisted—""Mayor Jonathan!" I heard Jenny speaking up as Lawrence began to wind up. She was asking the Mayor to return with her to see the chief of Police while others also spoke up. It sounded like it was getting chaotic out there.I glanced at Forrest and noted how he'd gone an interesting shade of pale green. He'd obviously heard what the Mayor was insinuating."My man and I have been cleared with their families to act in their interests! I assure you!" Jonathan said merrily."Your man!?" said Lawrence with a snarl."Hello there, little lawyer man! If you could jus—" I was out of my seat and surging past a slightly dazed-looking Lawrence. I locked eyes with Will, and the control I'd been straining to maintain on my emotions broke as the realisaiton that Jonathan had brought Will with him.That stunk on so many levels. Will's eyes dilated as dark energy exploded out of me. I made sure to project the cold darkness straight forward.None of the malice I felt in this moment would touch my family."You overstep yourself," I said with a snarl, "greatly."The hallway I was in pulsed as shadows crept out. A few feet back from Jonathan and Will, a few police officers reeled at the darkness that roiled about the area. I noted that Officer Jenny was suddenly being nudged back by a Haunter, an Arcanine and a Machamp while she stared at me in shock. The Haunter looked oddly familiar to me, but I dismissed it as irrelevant.I kept my focus on Will."Mayor Jonathan, as my good friend Lawrence Wright was stating, it is not your prerogative to interrogate people. Particularly children." My eyes stayed on Will, and part of me delighted in how dilated with fear his eyes were. He'd remember this moment as one of the biggest mistakes of his life and I planned it make it a mistake he knew never to repeat."You have also brought a known psychic-type specialist into a police station. This creates a number of… questions that will need to be asked about proceedings."I looked at the police officers. "This entire case, as it is, seems to have lots of mishandling associated with it." I turned my gaze back onto Will and watched him sweat.He hadn't known I was in there had he? Had he tried to scry Forrest or see a potential future perhaps? Sabrina had told me how I sometimes appeared out of nowhere to her if she tried that with me. Maybe I was reading into it too much? I doubted it though.Jonathan had been surprised at Lawrence being here. He now looked terrified with my appearance. He'd thought he had a done deal, slam dunk before I'd even made it onto the station.I let a smirk appear. I loved having dark-type energy. "Lawrence, I think we'll be taking Forrest home right now. If this matter is raised again, then you will have carte blanche on everyone present and the police as a whole."Lawrence didn't say anything, but I heard him shift back into the room. A few seconds later, I heard a "We're leaving Flint, Forrest. The police don't have a leg to stand on."I heard them approach and so reined in my energy. It collapsed back into me, and the room returned to its dull gray as lights suddenly illuminated the space properly.I stepped forward and waved for the others to follow me. When I got to Will I leaned into his personal space. He sucked in a breath, and I didn't stop myself from smiling at the thrill of pleasure his fear gave me."If you ever try anything against my family again, I'll break you. No laws of man or pokemon will stop me." I stared at him and glanced across to Forrest. "If you're smart, you'll drop your challenge and rethink your life choices." Will stared at me in shock.He swallowed. "You're… like me?" he whispered."No, you and I are nothing alike," I replied as I straightened up and nodded to my group to continue to the front desk where we collected our pokemon once more. Lawrence frowned at the front door."Best not go out the front door…" he said.I glanced up from watching Forrest check the metrics on his pokeball to spot a number of what looked like cameramen setting up. I huffed in annoyance. "Damn that Mayor. Lawrence let our friend know I'm more than open to my side of the deal, and let's go to the roof." I drew in my dark energy when we reached the roof. A number of pokemon and three police officers on break eyed us curiously but didn't challenge us. I had no trouble controlling my dark energy now.Perhaps that little outburst had helped? I released Selene and nodded. "Take us home girl."This time we all vanished in a flash of light. We appeared a few hundred metres shy of the Gym and Selene warbled a defeated tone. I patted her. "Hey, no sweat. I'm asking a lot. Try again please?"This time we appeared in the living room. Forrest collapsed into the lounge with a groan. He stared up at the ceiling. "Now what?"I nodded and sat down opposite him. "Yeah…so about that…I'm open to suggestions." I looked at the group at large, just as unsure of what the future would bring.