Eliana sat at a small outdoor café, sipping a glass of lemonade, a picture of innocent observation. The café was one a trainer from the PokéCenter had recommended, it was cheap and the treats were just sweet enough without being overloading. Ralts was perched on the chair beside her, pretending to be fascinated by a sugar packet. He used Confusion to manipulate the paper before ultimately ripping it up. Staryu's PokéBall was clipped to her belt, the little star preferred to stay in there if it wasn't fighting or they weren't alone.
Overnight the town had transformed. The oppressive gloom that had hung over it for months had vanished, replaced by a cautious, almost disbelieving optimism. People walked with a spring in their step. Shop doors were wide open. Children laughed as they played near the once abandoned docks, their parents watching with a newfound sense of security.
She wasn't listening to the cheerful chatter of celebration around her, but she was feeling it. Last night police had gone to investigate a suspicious cave collapse near the bike route. After digging out the entrance they were horrified to find the mangled bodies of both human and people carelessly strung about. It was a complete massacre and something that had never happened before in Sunnytown.
The police were trying their hardest to investigate but the city people weren't being very helpful. The gang that been tormenting their city was finally gone, nobody knew who did it but even if they did who would tell?
Before she had left that morning Nurse Joy had told her to be careful, there was an extremely dangerous person on the loose, and there were no leads on who it could be. Eliana had smiled sweetly at the nurse and promised that she would be careful.
Eliana set her glass down with a soft click. Team Rocket. The name sat in her mind, a heavy, solid thing. She could feel the threads of power and corruption stretching out from it, a web that connected to this town, to the gang, and now, to her. And she wanted to see more, how far did that group's influence spread in Kanto and even beyond.
A familiar figure caught her eye across the square. Officer Jenny, looking harassed but relieved, was talking to a portly man in a suit. The mayor, Eliana deduced from the man's self-important air. She focused her mind, a subtle, effortless shift, and their conversation bloomed in her head, clear as if she were standing between them.
"...a miracle, is what it is!" the mayor was blustering, mopping his brow with a silk handkerchief. "The whole gang, wiped out overnight. The bridge is clear, so tourism will boom this season, you mark my words!"
"It's a miracle that came at a terrible cost, sir," Jenny replied, her voice strained. "The forensic team has identified nineteen human bodies and seven Pokémon bodies. Twenty-Six bodies in total, mangled beyond recognition. This wasn't a gang war; this was an execution. We need to be cautious. Whoever did this is still out there, and they are not on our side."
The mayor brushed her off, "Obviously this mysterious savior is on our side! They took out the gang, no civilians got caught in th cross fire, and there haven't been anymore signs of violence since."
Eliana snickered at that because she wasn't on anyone's side but her own. Ralts looked at her with a smug expression, he's a savior prince now! These people should be bowing to him for freeing them!
Officer Jenny somehow looked even more haggard, "Mr. Mayor, with all due respect, we don't know that! This person could come after any one of us for any reason! We still have no leads to who could have done this!"
Eliana had to agree with Jenny on that one, she'd been extremely careful to cover her tracks. She had crushed the bodies, collapsed a cave, watched for any surveillance systems, and made sure to be at the Pokémon Center, playing the sweet girl who caught a hurt Staryu. There was no way the police here would be able to track her down.
Unless… Eliana's eyes narrowed as her thoughts raced. Team Rocket. The scientist would have known the gang was here and that they were using his equipment. He would know they were gone. And a scientist worth his salt, especially one working for a shadowy organization, wouldn't rely on simple goons to be his only method of observation. He'd have some method to keep track of them.
Well it was truly their fault for using such a low ranked gang for their testing, not her fault they were so weak. Honestly Team Rocket should be thanking her for getting rid of such weak links.
The thought was a cold splash of water on her earlier satisfaction. She had been so focused on the immediate violence, so pleased with her little cleansing, that she'd been careless.
she sent to Ralts, her mental voice sharp with irritation. Eliana sighed with irritation, great now I have to look out for Team Rocket.
She left a few coins on the table for the lemonade and stood up, making her way to the end of town. Passing by Officer Jenny who have her a kind wave, despite her annoyed expression, which Eliana returned with a sweet smile.
Her next destination was Stone Town. At first she hadn't been planning on stopping there, she hadn't even remembered it existed at first. However after catching Staryu, she had realized would need a Water Stone to evolve it. After some research, and refusing to pay the absurd online prices for one, it was said that the cheapest option was going to stone city and mining a stone yourself. Although hopefully she wouldn't have to do that, the rivets family in the town would be holding their youngest son's party soon and free stones would be given away if you showed a Pokémon who needed one.
A win-win for Eliana, she gets Staryu a Water Stone and she gets to socialize with a powerful family. Maybe they'll have some connections with Team Rocket as well.