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Walter Waterflower has arrived at the only possible answer to the riddle that is Periwinkle.
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I'd been quite happy when Walter Waterflower had agreed to take me with him to hunt some thieves. Yeah, my last encounter with their ilk hadn't exactly been my best performance, yet there was nothing for it but to get back on the horse.
And surely, someone of Walter's experience would have loads of things to teach.
I didn't think the bastard would give me such a hands-on demonstration, though.
"I don't know what you're talking about! I've only met them in Mt. Moon!" Maybe that was all he knew. He'd read the report Officer Jenny had written, the pile of lies that it was, and perhaps he caught on to the discrepancies.
Or, as I was becoming more and more certain of, he was affiliated with the Team himself, and I'd volunteered to follow him into a dark forest.
Where had my fucking paranoia gone!? There being Pebble Clan members in the Rockets should've shown me that just because the protagonists were cool, didn't mean their family was.
"That's a lie. Not very smart." Something about that gaze, that cold, calm gaze, like threatening to torture a child was nothing more than just another day…
It scared me. I thought I'd moved beyond being scared of humans, yet apparently not.
Not that I handled fear very well.
"FUCK YOU!" I used his grip on me as leverage to swing up and throw a kick towards his ribs. If nothing else, hopefully it would knock the air out of him so he'd drop me.
I didn't get the chance to find out as the big Waterflower caught my leg by the ankle. I barely had time to realise I'd fucked up before he hooked the limb over his shoulder and started pressing down on the knee. I grit my teeth as I felt the ligaments strain to their limits, my bones scraping against each other as a loud pop! sound rang out from my joint.
"We'll try again. Tell me everything ya know about Team Rocket, or I'll break ya leg."
I refused. Fuck him. Fuck ever giving those bastards the satisfaction of breaking me. I was already fucked. Even if I could get to my Pokéballs, he had that monster Seaking-
-which was why he showed me. I thought he was just showing off, but it was a trap all along.
I failed again. Even after telling myself I needed to get better after Mt. Moon, I still messed it up.
But I'd be fucked if I didn't go down swinging.
Even as I thought that, I felt my belt shake violently in three places. Without my say so, three of my Pokéballs cracked open, leaking their red energy out onto the forest floor.
A spark of hope flared to life as Siren, Betty, and Sol all appeared, already in fighting stances. If they could just prevent him from releasing his own Pokémon long enough for me to get my knife-
-water erupted from between the trees, thick tentacles of liquid lashing out and binding my team before they could move. The tendril widened as they hit their targets, flowing over their forms and coating them completely. There was no warning or change of move. One moment, my Pokémon was engulfed in water, the next, it froze over completely, leaving Siren and Betty stuck in thick ice cubes with only their heads exposed, Sol being left with the water to his vocal protests.
I could see Siren's prison vibrate as she tried to bring her hydrokinesis to bear, but she was getting nowhere against whatever caught them. Betty, meanwhile, was catatonic, head hanging limply and eyes staring blankly at the ground, the sudden shock overwhelming her cold-sensitive system.
"Ya have a strong Team. Unusual amongst yar get, but that means yar someone important." Walter hadn't flinched, hadn't released any Pokémon, given any orders, or even looked when he was suddenly surrounded by murderous creatures. His eyes stayed locked on me, piercing straight through to my soul. "Don't worry, if someone like ya is even capable of such. They'll serve Kanto well. I'll take the Feebas myself. I imagine The Champion will want to handle the Titan. Oak will have a lot of questions to answer, so I think Cinnabar will get the Growlithe. I don't care about the Elekid, though Lt. Surge might. They'll be outta yar hands, and Kanto will be stronger for it. Everyone wins. Except you."
Like hell!
One mistake the veteran had made when grabbing my leg was that he was carrying my weight two different places and provided me with leverage.
That allowed me enough wiggle room to lean down and sink my teeth into the flesh between his thumb and index finger.
Hard.
A moment of vicious joy as blood poured over my tongue and the fist reflexively loosened around my collar was immediately followed by stars and agony exploding through my head as Walter hit me with a brutal backhand, even as I dropped, throwing me sideways. I moaned in pain, spitting and coughing both our blood out, while trying to get back up before he was on me.
I was on my knees when something hard and sharp closed softly around my throat, a red shape in the corner of my eyes from behind as what felt like a giant pair of scissors threatened to decapitate me. I stilled, watching as my Pokémon did the same, ceasing their struggles.
Fuck.
Walter walked back in front of me, crouching down to resume eye contact without me slitting my own throat.
"I thought I'd put this behind me. That these were more civilized times. Times where lads got to be lads, and didn't get pulled down into the muck." Something flashed across his face for an instant too brief for me to make out, before returning to the terrifying calm. "But I'll not let a Rocket plant infiltrate me family. Ya may have the rest of the civies convinced ya're not that bad, but I know better. Ya will tell me everything about yar operation. One way or another."
This fucking cun-wait what?
"W-what!? Are you fucking senile!? I'm not a member of Team Rocket!"
He was silent for a second before lifting an eyebrow.
"Truth. Huh. But ya're affiliated."
"No I'm fucking not! I'm the fucking opposite of affiliated, I want the fucks dead or gone, I don't care!" My lips were a little looser than normal, but what the fuck did he mean I was the Rocket!?
He was the Rocket!... right?
I was starting to think something very silly was going on.
Walter stared at me again, doing whatever psychic bullshit that let him pretend he was the shittiest lie-detector of all time.
At last, he hummed.
"Ya'll tell me everything. Ya'll leave nothing out."
I didn't really think I had much choice. I didn't know how his mind-reading shit worked, so I couldn't be sparse on the details. Not when he had my Pokémon.
So I told him. From waking up in the desert without memories, to all the Orre shit, Sevii, the Reserve, meeting Grant. I left out my motivations, like knowing about Oak beforehand, and hunting the Rockets in Mt. Moon, but everything I said was truthful.
Once more, Walter kept looking at me long after I was done speaking, panting from the rush of getting it all out.
Then, the ice turned back into water and dropped lifelessly, swiftly being absorbed into the soil as whatever Pokémon behind me let go of me as well.
"I see. Well, sorry about that. That's me bad."
I looked up incredulously. Was… was that supposed to be an apology?
"Your bad? YOUR BAD! YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!" The audacious fuck dared to shrug as Siren's Water Gun swerved around his head and flew back at my Feebas slowly, leaving her plenty of time to dodge. Betty and Sol had their charges interrupted by another pair of water tentacles that grabbed them by the ankles and lightly tossed them over to me. I put my hands on them to keep them there as Siren joined us, but I didn't return them.
No way.
"I thought ya were Team Rocket. Now I don't. If ya want to go back to Cerulean, ya know the way. I got thieves to find. Who knows, might be Rockets themselves."
I gaped as Walter just turned on his heel and kept walking like nothing happened. A fucking humongous red and white crustacean with six prongs on its head like a crown skittered around me to follow, letting me know that my neck had been caught in the large Kingler's pincher. Each of the crab's spindly legs was as long as a full-grown man, with a 5-foot-wide shell.
Another form moved from the trees, something like a pineapple-shaped duck with a fucking sombrero on its head. Its body was covered with shaggy yellow fur and had several zigzagging brown stripes that swayed as the Ludicolo waved at us cheerfully, like it hadn't almost killed my team, before it danced after its Trainer, jumping from one foot to another while jiggling.
I stared after them and shared disbelieving looks with my Pokémon. It was clear that they were very much in favor of heading back. Well, Betty clearly wanted to kill, and I doubted I'd have been able to hold her back if she wasn't still very sluggish.
But that meant letting Walter win. It meant that the psychotic fuck had gotten to me. Which he had, however, it meant letting him know and admitting it.
It meant backing down, and if I did so here, where else would I do it? Walter wasn't the only Master in the world, and Team Rocket had at least one in Giovanni.
Despite my pessimistic thoughts earlier, was I really ready to just say fuck it and let it go?
Gritting my teeth, I got up and marched after the Water-Type Master, ignoring the protest from the others.
No fucking way.
Though I did send out Hercules as well. I wasn't getting caught off guard a second time.
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Walter didn't seem to give a shit as he was trailed by four very angry Pokémon and one pissed off Trainer. He waved politely as we walked by the farm houses and fields, his Ludicolo stopping now and again to dance for some children or send a wide spray of water out to nurture the crops before catching up.
I'd had just about enough of the zen bullshit. He hadn't even looked when I'd been forced to return Betty once she had recovered enough from the ice to remember she was really fucking angry.
Who keeps walking when four-and-a-half feet of Dragon-Type is running at you from behind, screaming at the top of her lungs?
Though the Kingler had very much looked, which was half the reason I recalled her in the first place. Might also be the reason Walter recalled the crab.
We followed the path further and further, until we arrived at an isolated house that was bigger than the rest. Two stories of white bricks, about twice the length of a typical building, with a red roof, it was fairly normal-looking.
If you ignored the massive wall that encircled an enormous backyard, around half the size of the Cerulean Gym training yard.
Walter stopped and finally turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow at the four glares he got in return.
"If ya gonna be a bitch the whole trip, ya can fuck off. I ain't got time for it."
HE didn't have time for it!?
"Motherfucker, you're the one who attacked me!"
"And I said 'sorry'." Dickhead didn't even have the courtesy to look like he meant it. "Now recall yar team so we don't scare the good Breeders."
I kept glaring, but didn't have a comeback. Sure, Ludicolo was still out, but the Water/Grass-Type was also in a much better mood than I was. Exhaling explosively, I began trying to convince the others.
"It's fine," I said in response to Siren's glare, turning to me with a 'try me' vibe. Sol still hadn't taken his eyes off Walter, and Herc was standing firmly in between the older man and me. "I don't think he's gonna do anything else. He's a dick, but let's be fair," and it really fucking hurt to give him any leeway, "we've done the same to people we thought were Team Rocket, though we had more evidence. Just keep an eye on me from the ball." Still wasn't sure how that worked.
Sol and Hercules eventually relented, but Siren wasn't having it. When I gave up and tried to recall her anyway, she shot the ball out of my hand with a weak Water Gun.
"Siren! Come on!" I sighed at the zero fucks in her eyes. "Fine! But be friendly, okay? We're here to help, not intimidate them." I glanced at Walter, but the fucker just shrugged and went up to the house. A pair of brown haired, perfectly ordinary-looking men had been standing by the door and threw a sloppy salute towards the elder Waterflower before knocking on the door.
It didn't take long for an older, heavy-set woman to open it. Not as old as Walter, probably closer to 40, though a few streaks of grey peeked through her burgundy hair. Her face was round and friendly, with laugh lines around her mouth and blue eyes, someone who clearly used to be in a good mood. That wasn't the case at the time, however; her forehead wrinkled in a frown, and her hands knotted in her pink apron.
Fortunately, upon seeing Walter, her face lit up in a beaming smile that suited her much more, and she hurried down the few steps of her wooden porch to throw her arms around him.
"WALTER! Oh, thank Lugia that you're here! It's been just terrible! All my babies!" She sniffled into the chest of Walter's shirt while the much taller man patted her on the back.
"There, there, Polly. Don't ya worry about it, I'll get them back. Be a dear and tell me what happened, eh?"
She nodded shakily and took a step back so she could see his face. Ludicolo took its Trainer's place, grabbing Polly's hand with its own big mitt, which she clung to desperately, eyes still swimming with tears. Usually, I'd taken some offense at being so completely ignored, other than a couple glances from what I assumed were Cerulean Trainers or Waterflower members, I wasn't sure about the difference, but the poor woman was clearly upset.
"I-it was just after dawn. I'd just fed Blackie and Moonbeam, so I guess it was a little after 6? Maybe a little later, I was slow to get going-"
Walter cut her off with surprising gentleness. "It's fine, Polly. It was dawn, around 6, that's plenty. What happened then?"
"Yes, right, sorry." She swiped at her face in an attempt to remove the tears, with not much luck. "It's been awful. Uhm, right. I fed the Umbreon and went to go back inside, but, but, when I did, I saw a shape in the back. I keep a little lamp on by the porch, in case any of them want a little snacky or snuggle, but not down there, so I called for Tim and Tom," She indicated towards the two men, not noticing me looking incredulous at the names, and the fact that on close inspection they were fucking identical, "and, and then I saw them! There were at least four of them! Wearing all black! And, and, they had Pokémon with them! That's all I know. I was told to go inside by Tim. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."
Walter chuckled warmly and pulled Polly in for another hug. "Stop apologizing, woman, ya ain't done nothing wrong. Now, why don't ya go inside while I talk to me men, and before ya're finished making tea, I'll have ya babies back with ya. Sounds good?"
The Breeder nodded and smiled up at the older man. "Thank you, Walter. You take such good care of us. When you come back, I'll make sure to have more than just tea to reward you with."
I blanched a little, but shook it off as my imagination. Surely she didn't mean what I thought she meant; it was just my dirty mind.
Then I saw Walter's smirk and Tim and/or Tom's faces and blanched again.
Ewwww, old people sex.
"I'll look forward to that." Walter chuckled and thankfully for my sanity, Polly went inside without anymore scaring commentary. Which allowed Walter to turn to Tim and Tom.
I was sure they were perfectly nice dudes, but I can't deny that I took a little pleasure in watching them pale as Walter's face became stormy. With me, he'd been neutral, even when about to cut off my head, so I wasn't sure what it implied that he was now visibly angry.
"And what," his voice was lower than usual, as well, "were the two of ya doing when four thieves broke through the wall? The wall ya were supposed to guard? The wall ya was supposed to patrol?"
"I was in the bathroom, and Tim was supposed to watch-"
"I was patrolling the other side, Tom was supposed to watch-"
Talking on top of each other, they both stopped and pointed at each other.
"No, you were watching-"
"No, you were watching-"
"Enough!" Walter stopped them from what looked like the oldest tradition in any organization, the 'Blame Game'. "I don't care, yar both dipshits! Yar gonna take me to the breach, and then yar gonna go to Granny and wait until I come back!"
Where they'd been pale before, they now looked like they'd seen a ghost, both swallowing thickly. 'Granny', who I imagined was the same as the sisters' 'Grandma', was apparently one scary woman.
Also fucking ancient if Walter of all people called her that.
Still, the identical twins led us around the large wall, down towards the back of the huge yard. Looking closer at it, I noticed that the wall seemed to be made out of one solid piece, no seams or differing pieces noticeable.
"Rock and Ground-Types." Walter grunted, noticing me looking. "Denser than normal rock and with no weaknesses." I had to question the last statement when we arrived at the location of the breach, and there was a giant, circular hole in the barricade with smooth edges, like Bugs Bunny stopped by and got offended by the attempt to keep him out.
"Then again," Walter continued his sentence, "what's been made by Rock-Types can be undone by Rock-Types. Hmmm," He leaned in closer, feeling the corners with his fingers, "not good, but not awful. Not amateurs, not pros. What happened after Polly called ya?" The last part was directed at Tim or Tom. I didn't know and wasn't sure how anyone did.
"We engaged, of course. As Ms. Polly said, there were four of them, all clad in black, despite it being light out. Two of them broke off to keep us occupied, while the rest grabbed the Eevees and booked it."
"How'd they capture them? All the Eevees are balled young." Walter questioned. I was reluctantly impressed. That was a good idea, and more than I expected from PokéHumans.
Which was proberly why I kept getting my ass kicked. Underestimating everyone was a bad habit that I needed to break. Anime personality didn't always mean incompetence.
The two guards looked sheepish again. "... they broke in and stole the balls beforehand?"
Walter sighed and rubbed his eyes. "And what of the two yar were fighting?"
"Well, one of them had a Rhydon and Bellosom, which I fought. Tim fought a Zubat."
"I did not! There were three Goldbats!"
"Yeah, well, I was doing better!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"SHUT UP! Where did they go!" It was gratifying to see Walter lose his temper, but I was equally stupefied by Tim and Tom. They were young, sure, but I'd expected them to be better than the lowest Cerulean Gym Trainers.
Apparently not.
"Well, here's the thing-"
"You see-"
Straightening up to his full height, the Water Master loomed over the two young men.
"Where!?"
"W-we don't know! They used Flash, and, and then they were just gone!"
"I've told ya to use Dark-Types to prevent that shit!" I was again impressed. With Walter, not the clown duo. Anti-teleportation strats were a good idea, and I might have to look into a Dark-Type myself for that purpose. And also because Dark-Types were great.
"We did!" Tim, or Tom, had apparently found an ounce of courage and stood up for himself. "We both had our Crawdaunts out and put up the field! I don't know how they did it!"
I was reminded of something similar that happened on Sevii, and felt compelled to speak up. No need for the nice old lady to suffer for Walter's assholery, regardless of whatever they were going to get up to afterwards.
"Might've been a Ghost-Type."
All three of them turned to me, Tim and Tom grateful for the interruption of their well-earned chewing out, and Walter a little doubtful.
"Ghost teleportation is dangerous business, lad. They'd have to be insane."
"Not if they just used Shadow Sneak to the edge of the forest." I'd looked into it after getting to Oak's. Full-on teleporting, Ghost style, was indeed very dangerous. They didn't pinch space or make a localized wormhole like Psychic-Types. Instead, Ghost-Type apparently went somewhere else, some dimension outside of the normal one, and re-entered where they wanted to go. It was theorized that the realm, which the few fools that were dumb enough to try and lucky enough to survive spoke about, was the origin of the mysterious Type.
Based on my own experiences, I had a good idea of what that dimension was, and I fully understood why the survival rate was so low.
Humans were not meant for the Distorted Realm.
Shadow Sneak, however, was much more forgiving, even if not actual teleportation. As far as I understood, it was basically straddling the line between the two worlds and using the semi-incorporeal state that granted you, to travel really fast using shadows as a medium. It still wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't going to kill you.
A lot of the technical stuff went over my head, but that was the gist of it, as far as I understood.
"Hmmmm, that's a decent point." Walter tucked on his beard thoughtfully, while Tim and Tom looked at me like I was Einstein come again. "Though that would mean they were a little more prepared than I thought." He was silent for a moment before shrugging. "Eh, doesn't matter, I guess. They got away and have a three-hour head start. Ya got a list of the Pokémon taken?"
"Yes, sir!" The one I was pretty sure was Tom rummaged around in his pocket before pulling out a slim, round machine that reminded me of something I couldn't put my finger on. It was clearly some kind of communication device with the way Walter's pocket let out a ping! before he pulled out a matching one, if newer. "7 Eevees, two Vaporeons, and one Leafeon. They also got one of the Azumarill." Walter's face tightened at the last one for a moment before he got it under control.
"Quite the get." He mumbled. "Right. Let's get going then." He started towards the treeline behind the yard, and I followed. It wasn't until the blonde man stopped and looked over his shoulder that I realised Tim and Tom were also with us. "Didn't I tell ya to go to Granny?"
"Aww, but Boss!"
"We want to fight them too!"
"Yeah, please, Admiral, we want payback!" They took turns whining.
"No. Ya done enough. While ya did well engaging, clearly ya not ready to be out and about without supervision. I'll trust the lad to have me back for now. Ya'll wait with Polly until I get back and then we'll see about yar training. Off with ya." They both hesitated. "I said, off!" Finally, they turned around and walked back to the house, though not before throwing me a dirty look on the way. I stuck my tongue out in response.
"So you do recognize that I'm good." It was the closest that I could get to a 'thank you' at that moment, but I did appreciate him hyping me up.
"Nope." Or not. "They're both better Trainers than ya, for now at least. Never would have let them out of the city if they weren't. But a little humiliation goes a long way with their types. Plus, figured I owed ya this."
"Fuck you too." Bitch. Still, we had a job to do. "Sooo, I can have Sol start sniffing around the trees. He's not the best tracker, haven't trained him for it, but he can give us a direction and if we hurry-"
"No need, I know where they are. Recall your Pokémon." This time it clearly wasn't a request, so I gave Siren an apologetic grimace and recalled her even as she was protesting. Her ball shook fiercely, but didn't burst open, so that was something. Walter, in the meantime, had also recalled his Ludicolo and was holding a different ball by the time I turned back around, tossing it lazily on the ground.
The Pokéball opened with the usual flash of red, and a human-sized humanoid Pokémon emerged. It took one glance at the grey, spikey crown with a central red jewel to recognize it as a Slowking.
I frowned in confusion. Slowkings were smart, even beyond the crazy Sevii one, but I didn't think they were very good trackers-
-a hand touched my arm and suddenly I found myself among a kaleidoscopic swirl of colors and shapes as we hurled through a hole in space. I squeezed my eyes shut, yet even that didn't help with the acid trip environment, forms and hues unknown to the human mind imposing themselves upon me, whether I was willing or not-
-and it was over. I stumbled as my feet slipped around on mossy grass, but kept my balance, taking deep breaths to combat the nausea. While not as bad as Mimey, it was a far cry from the Slowking I knew. However, it might've been better with a little warning.
"What the-you can't just teleport people without asking first!"
"Ya wanted to come." I was getting so fucking tired of that shrug. "Took that as permission."
"Yikes! How the fuck are you allowed around children!?" Seriously, the guy was clearly not okay in the head!
"Quiet. Thought ya said ya knew this shit. Stop screaming." I was about to keep going, as who gave a fuck about what Walter said, but I took notice of our new surroundings first and shut my mouth.
I guess he was right. There was no need for Sol to track them.
Walter had never lost them in the first place.
We were standing at the edge of the treeline that opened up to a fair-sized clearing, and about 300 feet from a wooden cabin. There was nothing noteworthy about the building, just a bunch of logs stacked on top of each other, with planks forming a sloped roof. I squinted my eyes at the simple slap of lumber that served as a door, barely able to make out the faded symbol of the Indigo League carved into the timber.
Some kind of safehouse, perhaps, for the local Rangers to stay at while out and about?
The closer scrutiny also let me notice the two Golbat hanging from the rafters, masked by the shadows created from sunlight filtering through the branches, contrasting with the dark shutters.
Right, game time.
"I see two Golbat, one by the door, the other by the third window. What's the plan?" It wasn't the time for conflict. We had a job to do, and Walter was older, stronger, and more experienced, never mind that he was also the one actually in charge.
He peered over at the house at the spots I'd pointed out, and grunted approvingly. "Good eye, lad. There should be another one somewhere, but we'll assume it's on the other side. Here's the plan." He consulted his gadget for a bit before showing me the screen. I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but there were a bunch of small red dots and a number next to them.
"Those are the Pokéballs they took. All Cerulean balls have trackers for this type of shit, but the fuckers properly know that, though they clearly didn't prepare for the secondary ones. Brats think I was born yesterday. Four of the signals have already turned dark, so they're swapping them now."
He noticed my questioning glance and quickly explained. "If ya wanna get away with theft, ya have to switch the Pokémon to unregistered balls and then have the buyer register themselves. But it's not as easy as just breaking the ball; the exact physical appearance and energy signature of said Pokémon is still in the database. So, ya gotta 'release' them, wipe them from the servers, and then capture them again. Means they have a tech guy in there, so presume at least five hostiles. Now, enough questions."
He pointed around the perimeter, indicating towards the back.
"Ya'll sneak around back, and when ya hear me get started, ya make for the Pokémon. That's our priority. I'd rather the fuckers get away than let any of those Pokémon get a scratch. Got it?"
I nodded. Not the most exciting of tasks, and I'd prefer to actually get stuck in, but I wasn't going to complain at that time.
"They'll probably leave someone to watch them. They'll probably be stronger than ya. Think ya can handle that?"
"Yep." Walter snorted at my response.
"Then get going." He gave me a quick pat on the shoulder and then shooed me on my way. I crept between the trees, falling back a bit further inwards to minimize the odds of them seeing me. Both my hands stayed attached to Sol's and Siren's Pokéballs, drawing comfort from the light shaking of each while the adrenaline started surging. I needed that. After being stuck in Cerulean and the Gyarados, it felt so fucking good to be back in the field, to be doing something tangible. I liked training, and it was important, but for all that I kept fucking it up, battle was where I thrived.
Although I mused as I approached the opposite side of where I started, still undetected, I wondered what Walter was going to do to attract attention. I wasn't worried about him, but it was probably going to be something big-
-ruby light lit up the entire glade, like the sun spontaneously started dying and turned into a red dwarf, leaving afterimages on my retina as I blinked furiously. The illumination faded, and a horrendously loud, earthquakingly deep trumpet noise rang out, like a foghorn went off right next to my ear.
And then over half of the cabin roof vanished as a pressurized, monstrous river ripped right through it with no hesitation, the building-sized attack vanishing into the sky.
"ALRIGHT YA CUNTS, COME GET IT! YA THINK YA CAN STEAL FROM CERULEAN WHILE I'M AROUND!? THE AUDACITY OF YOUTH! SEEMS UNCLE WALTER NEEDS TO PUT YA OVER HIS KNEE! LORD, HIT THEM AGAIN!"
Another foghorn, another ocean worth of water tearing through wood like it was nonexistent. Yelling and cursing poured out of the cabin in an endless stream, the distinctive click! and pop! of Pokéballs heralding the thieves' counterattack.
I think it was fair to say that he definitely got their attention.
Which meant that it was my turn.
Grabbing my sword in one hand, just in case, and Siren's ball with the other, I crouched low and sprinted across the grass. I held my breath out of sheer childish instinct, yet there was no issue as I reached the house.
Pressing my body tightly against the wooden wall, I held my breath while waiting to see if anyone spotted me, plus taking the time to think. The map had shown the stolen Pokéballs towards the back of the building, but there were two stories. Would they have taken the time to go upstairs or stayed on the ground? There was no real way to tell-
-a light leathery flutter from above had me instinctively priming and dropping the Pokéball, while lashing out over my head with my sword. Enormous wings shadowed me as the third Golbat dropped from the rafters, dodging around my blade with its immense mouth open wide to swallow me whole. An Ice Beam made it go wide and hover over us, screeching loudly to announce our presence.
"What the fuck!?" A head poked out of the second-story window right above me.
So much for stealth. At least I knew where they were.
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Would've added more, but the fight ended up taking a whole chapter by itself.
Thank you for reading. Hopefully you enjoyed. If you REALLY liked it, I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n, under the same name, where you can read 5 chapters ahead.