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Old 06-29-2019, 10:16 AM   #1
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Father & Son


Where the hell did I go wrong?...

The joint was about as shady, unkempt and poorly frequented as they came, but he hadn’t come for the pleasure of anyone’s company. This was one of the few places around where nobody asked questions, even when he was on his way to the fourth straight smoke and the fifth glass of whisky.

The TV on the wall was appropriately ancient, and the feed died and resumed frequently, but what little he caught of the evening news was more than enough.

«The main suspect is a teenage boy with a distinctly Galarian accent, according to witnesses on the scene. Unfortunately, nobody could accurately describe him, and the suspect remains at large.»

A cloud of smoke escaped from beneath the man’s thick, messy beard, lazily rising and dispersing in the already-saturated air of the back alley bar.

A whole trio of Kanto starters. Bloody hell Ray…

Even though they hadn’t spoken in years, the boy was still his responsibility. After all, he was his son.

Not that being my kid was ever gonna be easy, but he didn’t have to turn out a bloody wanted criminal either…

Their relationship had been rocky for years. Ray’s mother had passed away when he was only five, after a tragic encounter with a wild Arbok; since then, it had only ever been the two of them.

Blake Allen was once a venerated Trainer in Galar, known as “Breaker Blake” in the pro circuit. Many years before Bea had come into ownership of Stow-on-Side’s Gym, Blake stood as its top Trainer, a wall of power that ended the journey of countless challengers. Such was his notoriety that he was once considered for the spot of Elite Four, a rank that was never made official in the region. He famously denied taking any students under his wing, but the Pokemon he did accept to train would go on to become legendary in their own right.

Time passed, as it always does, and Blake grew tired of his position as Gym Leader – the role was demanding, all-consuming, and his son was old enough to start complaining about his absence. To make matters worse, he was utterly annihilated in the Badge defense that would come to be his last, by a young blonde man from Saffron City in Kanto by the name of Levin.
Passion to fight crushed by all these events, he resigned. Once he announced his decision to step down, however, an unexpected offer from the Galar Police Department came his way.

Bloody stupid idea to have said yes. Good money, though…

At the age of 35, Blake took the unofficial role of enforcer for the Galarian police, and tutor of its forces on the field. When particularly dangerous criminals eluded the Law, or evidence was lacking to convict them, Blake was given carte blanche to take matters into his own hands. For years since, his Fighting Pokemon flawlessly apprehended criminals on the streets, stopped shoplifters and bank robbers alike, all while Blake coordinated them from the shadows with full knowledge and consent from the Police.

It wasn’t long before Blake’s Pokemon became public heroes and were given fittingly heroic nicknames by the mass and media. Blake never took to them, but after a while, it became impossible to disassociate the vigilantes from their widespread monikers. The man himself went from “Breaker Blake” to “Hero Maker”, as he became known in the streets, his identity a mystery but his work thoroughly recognized.

Stepping away from Stow-on-Side’s Gym was supposed to give me more time with Ray. Funny how things turn out sometimes…

Blake became so caught up in his crime-fighting career that he lost sight of what was closest to him – Ray, driven by the loss of his mother, the near-constant absence of his father, and a deep burning desire to step out of “Breaker Blake’s” shadow, slowly became more and more detached and distant. Determined to carve his own path, and refusing to take the “easy road” of a Trainer – since he would, in his mind, never attain to more than “Blake Allen’s son” – Ray fled home at the age of thirteen. That was when Blake quit his job with the Police and entered a downward spiral of drinking and smoking. Crime soared for a brief while afterwards, but the Galarian Police adapted eventually, and Blake and his heroes were all but forgotten by society.

It has been five years since. Ray was now on the news, a Pokemon thief that was yet to be officially identified. But a father knows his son; all it took was a blurry shot plastered on the news, and Blake knew, even if nobody else did yet.

What have you been doin’ these past five years? Who have you become, Ray?...

His phone rang. It was three in the morning. The name on the display was familiar, but not welcome. He hung up immediately.

… Handsome. The hell do you want?

As if answering his thought, the phone rang again, this time with a text message. The sender was crystal clear in his request.

“You know why we need you back. Please, Blake. Has to be you. Give me a call.”[/i]

Blake sighed and hung his head. Handsome already knew what his answer forcibly had to be.

If I don’t get to Ray first, someone else might, and if so… bloody hell.

He downed his drink, put out his cigarette on the counter and rushed out the bar. His hand instinctively reached for the last remaining PokeBall in his belt, the only one he’d kept after all these years. He couldn’t believe it had come to this.
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Old 06-30-2020, 04:20 PM   #2
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“P-Professor? We didn’t expect you back until next week!”
“How did the field research go?”
“It’s so incredible that you got to go to Kanto and study under Professor Oak!”

The chorus of Aides was beyond annoying, but he couldn’t slip up. He had the ultimate ace in his hand, he couldn’t let it go to waste. So, he adjusted his glasses and ran a hand through his red hair, then smiled and replied as politely as he could muster without throwing up. Even the Munchlax next to him rolled his eyes.

“Thank you, yes, it was most informative. But I was feeling a little homesick, I suppose…”

He stammers more than this. Keep it together, idiot…

“S-so, uh, h-how were things in my absence?”

He dreaded to ask, but once the Aides assured him everything had been going smoothly, he let out a genuine sigh of relief. He could only keep up the act so far.

“Well, Professor Rorik? Now that your back, what should we-“

“D-day off. For everyone. G-go be with your families, enjoy the s-sun and uh… we’ll get back into it full force on Monday, h-how about it?”

It was a hard offer to refuse, and none of the Aides did. Before long, goodbyes were being exchanged, lab coats hung on the wall and the building emptied out. Only the Professor stayed behind, and after mere seconds of solitude, he burst out into laugher – an unpleasant, barely controllable fit that would’ve made any bystander uncomfortable.

Once he finally stopped and caught his breath, the young man’s appearance began to change. Glasses vanished into thin air, red hair became pitch black, lab coat became sports jacket. The Munchlax changed too, becoming a tall black fox with piercing blue eyes and a malicious grin – a rare and elegant Zoroark.

Rows of PokéBalls lined the far wall of the main room – this was where every Pokemon sent by Trainers to the “PC” ended up, ready to be remotely retrieved at any Pokemon Center computer. Ray stopped for a moment, watching the system at work in satisfied silence – Balls being periodically taken out of their pods by a mechanical arm and placed in a transporter pad next to Professor Pine’s computer before teleporting away to their owners on every corner of the earth. It was a fascinating system for all its flawless automation, but that wasn’t why he was here.

"The strongest ones. We take only those, and we leave. By the time the actual Professor Rorik returns we'll be half way across the world."

Zoroark nodded and grinned. This Ray really was a fascinating human.
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Old 11-10-2020, 04:57 PM   #3
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"Not good enough..."

Kou watched from a distance as Gigas practiced his punches against the large trees of the park. Strong as they were, the technique was still lacking.

He mastered Ice Punch without difficulty, and even perfected High Horsepower against that Charmeleon back at the Arcane Realm... So why does this move elude us?

It should be easy enough, in theory. Mega Punch required both power and precision, no doubt, but it shouldn't be beyond their level of skill.

"Am I overthinking this?... Gigas, rest up."

The Snorlax stopped mid-motion and nodded. He could use a break. He felt closer and closer to pulling it off, but overexertion was just as dangerous as lack of training - one of the many things he had learned under the ownership of the young Kantonian.

"Here you go, eat up," Kou continued as he handed Gigas a bowl of curry. The young man knew perfectly well he was far from a decent cook as far as the Galarian dish was concerned, but frankly, Gigas was also far from the best critic. The Snorlax gulped the whole thing down in one go and burped loudly in satisfaction.

"Take a nap if you want. We've been at this for a while now."

Almost instantaneously, Gigas dropped to the ground and fell asleep. Kou smiled; they had come a very long way since the early days of their partnership.

Even if Gigas was never supposed to be my first Pokemon. In fact, he came about almost as a consolation prize from my grandfather, after I'd failed to...

Suddenly, he tensed up. Someone was watching them, he could tell. And sure enough, seconds later, a wicked bolt of lighting crashed at his feet, shot from one of the treetops!

"Coward! Show yourself!"

The foliage above rustled, and a white blur shot from above, landing gracefully on the ground a few feet away from Kou. The young man couldn't believe his eyes.


"Y-You?!"

The Zangoose said nothing, but flashed Kou a knowing grin, followed by the extension of its black claws.

A hundred images flashed in front of Kou's eyes. His tenth birthday; his father introducing him to his own Zangoose, intending to pass it down to him; Zangoose glancing at him with nothing but disdain, and turning his back to him in refusal... His father telling him how rare, and how much of an ill omen it is, for a progenitor's Pokemon to refuse journeying with the child in their village...

It was why my grandfather presented him with a Munchlax later on, to make up for it and allow me to travel. But the one I was meant to have...

He recognized the scarf - it belonged to his father, worn religiously back in the days of his own travels. So why was Zangoose the one wearing it? Why was it here, and why now?!

He was given no time to dwell on matters much longer, as a second bolt of lightning singed the grass around him. Zangoose's grin persisted - if anything, it only widened. A clear challenge.

"I... I don't understand your reasons, but your intentions are crystal clear. So be it! Levias!"

In a flash of silver light, a gargantuan Gyarados materialized in front of the young Kantonian. Levias was the only option at the moment, seeing as Gigas was still in a deep sleep. But...

It was over before Kou could even react. A white blur darted across the makeshift battlefield, blades of grass floating in the air in its wake; three, four, eight upwards slashes followed, and in the blink of an eye, Zangoose was high up in the air above the dragon's head. A bolt of lightning later, and Levias crumbled to the ground like the Tower of Babel...

H-how?!

Zangoose landed gracefully and once again turned its attention to Kou. The grin from before was gone, replaced by an all-too-familiar expression: the same look of contempt from all those years ago.

Then, suddenly, a pillar of flames erupted from behind Kou and homed in on Zangoose, who only narrowly managed to backflip and dodge. The roar that followed cleared Kou's confusion.

"Sorry for waking you up Gigas," he said with a smile, without turning. Kou recalled Levias and pointed at Zangoose defiantly.

"Fair warning: the real battle starts now."

Zangoose smiled condescendingly and extended its black claws in reply. Again, like a silver bullet, the ferret shot forward at incredible speed, but this time the Crush Claw was met with a mighty Ice Punch, the resulting collision stopping Zangoose right in its tracks! And yet...

Those marks on the grass... Gigas was pushed back too!

Not wasting any time, Zangoose unleashed a Thunderbolt, but that too was cancelled as Kou ordered a Flamethrower in retaliation, fire and lightning clashing in a violent explosion. Piercing through the resulting smoke, Zangoose closed in on Snorlax once more, this time catching the giant off-guard, slamming its chest with a powerful Iron Tail that almost toppled Gigas!

He still hadn't fully recovered from all that training...

Despite almost losing its footing and falling backwards, Gigas regained balance at the last second; as his body tilted forward, the colossus suddenly took a running start, speeding forward like a freight train and crashing into the shocked Zangoose with a viciously High Horsepower!

The white warrior was propelled several feet back, landing hard on its back. Seeing their opening, Kou moved to seize it.

"Again! Ram it while it's down with another one!"

Rushing ahead for another charge of the powerful move they had perfected together at the Arcane Realm, Gigas approached the downed Zangoose at high speed, surrounded by a powerful aura. Meanwhile, the ferret managed to rise to one knee, and suddenly lifted its head to reveal yet another unsettling grin and a single ominous red-glowing eye.

"Wait, is that?... Gigas, stop!!"

But it was too late. Suddenly, all the energy Gigas had built around him dispersed, and the Snorlax came to a grinding halt mere inches away from Zangoose, deeply dumbfounded.

High Horsepower was Disabled... just like that...

Taking advantage of the Snorlax's confusion, Zangoose rose back to its feet with incredible agility; then, it jumped onto Gigas's belly and propelled itself upwards with one foot, before delivering a vicious Iron Tail off of a somersault right to the top of his head. A second later, Gigas fell, completely unconscious.

Kou could not react. His strongest, oldest companion had been summarily defeated by a Pokemon that did not even have a Trainer by its side.

Zangoose took a moment to calm its breathing as it took a sideways glanced to the toppled mountain of a bear. But this time around, there was no disdain in its eyes - only a dead-serious expression. Then, the ferret approached Kou... and, in complete silence, took off its red scarf, handing it to the Trainer.

"This... This belongs to my father. Why are you?..."

Zangoose averted Kou's gaze, staring at the ground instead. Its expression gave little away, but... just enough.

"No. No, it... He can't have... What are you trying to say?!"

When Zangoose finally managed to meet Kou's gaze, its eyes watered for the briefest of moments. They told the Kantonian all he needed to know; all he didn't want to believe.

"H-how?! Who did it?! When?..."

Mid-sentence, the boy fell to his knees, still grasping the scarf.

Zangoose used a claw to draw on the ground where the battle had burned the grass away. It was a crude depiction, but perceptible enough.

"Yveltal?..."

His father had made a career of seeking and challenging all manner of Legendary and even Mythical Pokemon. There wasn't a single man in any region that had managed to find, let alone battle, as many of those elusive creatures as the famous Yamato of Kanto. But to challenge Destruction Incarnate?!

I should be angrier than this. Why aren't I?

"After all those years of risking his life... Yveltal was the one that did him in, then. He... He knew the risks, right? Zangoose, please tell me... did... did Father put up a good fight?"

Shocked for a brief moment, Zangoose eventually nodded silently, with remorse poorly concealed in its eyes. So, it happened in battle after all... Why was that somehow comforting to him?

Because he passed away doing what he loved.

"That's... that's why you sought me out all the way here. You wanted to let me know... And you wanted to see if I had become anything like him. Right? I'm sorry. I... I am nowhere near the man he was. You were right about me from the very first day you met me, all those years ago."

Zangoose pondered on those words for a moment, then placed a paw on Kou's shoulder, shaking its head. This time, it disn't turn its back on him.

"You did what you came to do. I... I thank you for that," Kou finally managed to say after whiping his tears. He rose back up, and placed Yamato's scarf around Zangoose's neck once again. "Keep it. You were by his side a lot longer than I was... Where will you go now?"

Zangoose didn't move a muscle. His eyes shifted from Kou to the drawing of Yveltal on the ground.

"You... you want to go after Yveltal? What good will it do? Father is gone, he..."

Zangoose's black claws suddenly shot forward, extended in full. The message was clear.

"You want to fight Yveltal to honour his memory... It's not about revenge, is it?" Zangoose shook its head again, confirming it. Kou was at a loss. "It's about paying your respects to Father by defeating the Pokemon he couldn't. But Zangoose, I... I can't... I'm not my Father! Do you really expect me to?..."

Zangoose nodded and took a step forward and held out his paw, retracting its claw for a handshake.

"I... I am simply no match for any Legend, let alone the Destruction Pokemon. Not yet. But I'll honour Father in my own way... If you help me, I promise to grow stronger. Stronger than Yamato of Kanto! And then... we'll challenge Yveltal together. Is this agreeable?"

The white ferret smiled. And that was how, seven years after the day it was supposed to have happened, Kou finally joined forces with the Pokemon his father had always intended for him: Zeras the Zangoose.
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Old 12-08-2020, 10:22 AM   #4
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"Thank you, it's dreadful."

The cup of tea was gently placed back on the table. Slender fingers ran played with a long lock of silver hair as the beautiful young woman offered Looker a smile that was both pleasant and unapologetically cynical.

"It's Unovan. What did you expect? Tea isn't our thing," replied the detective, doing little to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Oh right, that would be coffee, yes? By your questionable standards, anyway. Be that as it may," the woman continued, unfazed by Looker's furrowed brow. "I thought you already had your men on this. Besides, I don't hunt people."

Looker opened the file on the table and turned it to silver-haired woman. Her eyes, light-gray in color as well, glanced over the documents and photos before shifting upwards to meet the man's.

"I especially do not hunt children, detective."

"I'm aware. And yeah, we do have officers on the field tracking him down as we speak. But our best man, well, he... he can't be expected to be reliable in this particular operation," Looker added, uncertain of how to put the matter into words. "Listen, Althea, you're the best Trainer we know. You've helped us in the past..."

"Detective, with all due respect," Althea cut him off as she stood up to leave. "If the Unovan Police is ill-equipped to handle a child, that is your problem. I've helped you before, yes, because you were also ill-equipped to handle Dynamax energy spilling out into the streets of your capital, but that I can at least sympathize with. This? A boy from Stow-on-Side stealing Pokemon from passersby? I am insulted you would waste my time on something like this."

Althea turned abruptly, the tail of her pristine white coat waving in the air as she did. As her hand grabbed the door handle, however, Looker played his last card.

"It's Blake. The kid's dad."

The woman stopped and glanced over he shoulder.

"... you sent him after his own son? You incompetent, heartless bastard!..."

"Yes, Blake is the criminal's father. But he's also Galar's Hero Maker and, quite frankly... the kid was his responsibility. If Ray turned out the way he did, then..."

Althea's crystal clear eyes glimmered with a fury that was most uncharacteristic of the the Lady in White as she turned back around to stare daggers into Looker.

"Don't you bloody dare! Blake... he's the most decent person I've ever met. He's more human than any of you worthless scum that call yourselves agents of the Law! And damn you Looker, you should know better than anyone what he's been through!..."

She stopped herself just as her voice began to tremble, took a deep breath and resumed, her composure regained.

"... Fine. Not for you though; for Blake. You take him off the case and I'll help. I'll find his son and bring him to justice. So please... call him."

Althea realized then that Looker knew, right from the start, she would say yes. She wouldn't put it past him to have recruited Blake in the first place only so he could swap him out for her when the time came; that was how the Unovan Police operated.

And that Ray boy... why are they so interested in him, of all petty criminals out there?
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Old 01-30-2021, 06:44 AM   #5
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"Damn it... Damn it! How?!"

Ray slammed his fist against the tree trunk, hurting himself in the process. Didn't matter; if they caught him, a minor hand injury would be the least of his problems.

"Where did I slip up? I covered every base..."

He couldn't for the life of him figure it out. Last thing he knew, the Legend Hunter herself, Althea from Hammerlocke was entering the local Pokemon Center just as he was about to leave, asking Nurse Joy of his whereabouts. It wasn't that the cops had a passing lead on him - the best trainer in Galar had pinned him down with such precision, they found themselves in the same building. All he'd managed to do was hastened his pace and leave town before the nurse busted his cover - and now he needed enough distance between himself and Althea so Zoroark had time to put together a good enough Illusion...

They traced me. It's the only explanation - they found a way to keep tabs on me. Wait...

Something occurred to him then. It was a long shot, but he couldn't remember a single instance where he'd let his guard down. So it had to have been before he was on the run.

Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. I stole them from that Aide at the port that day... They were on course to Oak's Lab in Kanto. Can they... be tracked somehow?!

Ray’s mind raced. Those three were his golden tickets to success – his best chance at surpassing Blake and establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with in the professional circuit. But if the Kanto Starters could somehow be traced back to their origin, it meant that Ray would always have a target on his back as long as he carried them around. The whole world would know he was fighting with stolen Pokemon…

It… it has to be their PokeBalls. Since I was never officially a Trainer, I was never allowed to buy them, so I just kept them in their original ones. Which means…

The only option was to destroy the Balls. Which, in turn, meant he had to…

Release them…

The frustration he felt was indescribable. If he’d done things the “proper” way, he would have PokeDex, and permission to simply buy other Balls to transfer his partners over. But he’d always done things in the shadows, shunning the path of Trainers – which meant that, as soon as he destroyed the Balls, Charmander Bulbasaur and Squirtle would be released. And why the hell had he never thought of just… stealing more PokéBalls? He was mentally kicking himself at this point.

But I have no damn choice! I won’t go to jail for this. And I still have Zoroark, Corviknight, Larvitar and Bouffalant … Those can’t be traced. I just… I’ll just have to start over…

Despite his hesitation, he knew he had to be quick. Cursing under his breath, he called out Bouffalant, the massive specimen huffing and gazing at Ray with an inquisitive look – after all, it was clear they weren’t about to battle, so why was he called out?

“Here. Stomp on these,” Ray hastily said, placing three Balls on the ground. “Don’t look at me like that, just do it!”

Visibly puzzled, Bouffalant did as asked. One mighty stomp at a time, he crushed the Balls underfoot, causing the Pokemon inside to materialize around him as the devices were shattered.

“You three… go. Get the hell out of my sight.”

Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle exchanged thoroughly confused glances, shocked by the order. Sure, Ray had never bene the most caring of people, but this was much too sudden!

“They’re after me, because of you. I… I won’t get locked up! So scram, disappear, now!”

The fury in Ray’s voice was evident, his resolve unflinching, and the three Pokemon understood he was adamant about his decision. Utterly dejected, they turned around and prepared to leave – albeit with hesitant steps, unsure of where to head, wanting to go together but realizing that, if they did, it would only draw more suspicion. As the three Pokemon struggled to decide what to do, Ray recalled Bouffalant and dashed past them without looking back, making one more desperate run for it now that he could no longer be traced…

--------------------------

“Stop.”

The woman’s voice was cold, commanding. The police officers next to her froze in their tracks, while she stared silently at her PokeNav and frowned slightly. Running a finger through a lock of silver hair, Althea was lost in thought.

The signal vanished. Ray figured it out.

This was the closest they’d ever gotten to catching Blake’s son. For a brief moment, Althea had entertained the idea that they would finally put an end to things on that day, and everyone would be able to move on. But as fate would have it, Ray had once again managed to tilt the scales in his favour at the last second.

You really are his son…

“Gentlemen, I’m calling off the search. You can go home.”

“Miss, I’m afraid you don’t have that author-“

“Then let me rephrase things,” she interjected, voice dripping with disdain. “I’m leaving. You are free to keep running in circles, as you have been doing for months now.”

With that, she reached for a Luxury Ball and tossed it to the ground. A gigantic Aerodactyl materialized and roared, causing every officer to instinctively take several steps back. Althea climbed on its back, and the prehistoric dragon took flight, kicking up wind with enough force to knock a couple of men down to the ground.

“Let’s go Emperor. Farewell, gentlemen.”

------------------

It’s over! I lost them…

Ray leaned against a nearby tree, out of breath and sweating profusely. He’d made a mad dash to the outskirts of town, and from what he could tell, nobody had tailed him. Destroying the PokeBalls had worked!

But at what cost?...

Suddenly, the wind picked up. Almost… unnaturally so. Rhythmic bursts of air caused the grass beneath his feet to dance, leaves to fall from the tree he leaned against. There was a strange cadence to it. And then…

“Is running away all you’re good at, young man?” The voice came from above. It distinctly belonged to a woman. How on Earth?...

Ray’s eyes widened as he looked upwards. A revived Aerodactyl flew circles above his location, before swooping down and landing mere feet away, with such violence that the resulting tremor almost caused him to lose his footing. Riding the beast was a silver-haired woman, beautiful and frightening in equal measure. Ray knew her all-too-well.

Lady Althea,” he said, scorn in his voice, as he bowed mockingly.

“Ray…” The usual cold tone wasn’t there. Althea looked at Blake’s son with absolute certainty of his identity, despite last having scene him some ten years prior.

“Working with the cops? Just like my old man,” spat Ray, not bothering to feign his disgust. “Then again, you always had a tendency to ride behind him. Or on top.”

A burst of flames suddenly shot forward from Emperor’s mouth, subsiding mere inches away from Ray’s face. Althea dismounted and walked over to the cornered thief.

“Think what you will. Even though you refuse to acknowledge it, your father is a good man… I have nothing but respect for him – and respect is all we’ve ever shared. Stil… it baffles me how his son turned out to be a such a worthless, petty criminal.”

Ray smiled and shook his head, meanwhile slowly reaching for his belt.

“Worthless… Tell me Althea, does Looker dispatch entire brigades and former Champions to catch every “worthless” criminal whose file ends up on his desk? Shitty management of human resources, if you ask me.”

This time, it was the silver-haired woman who smiled.

“You’re Blake’s kid, alright. Looker has his reasons, I’m sure; the way I see it, you’re just small fry – you barely register, either as a thief or a Trainer. You’re literally a nobody, except… you’re his son. I’m not doing this for Looker, I-“

“Ah, gotcha. Hormones. Anyway, I got places to be, so…”

In a flash of light, Bouffalant emerged from Ray’s Ball once again, standing between him and Althea. Emperor’s eyes narrowed, ready for combat, until…

“Althea, wait!” The voice came from behind her, deep and raspy, so very familiar. She froze. “Let the kid go. It’s my damn responsibility, not yours.”

“B-Blake?...”

The man stood there, just as she remembered him. Arms crossed, frown on his tired face, but with a familiar warmth in his gaze… Althea turned to him and smiled.

“Looker asked me to. I… I didn’t mean to…” It wasn’t often the Lady in White was a a loss for words.

“You don’t have to clean up after my mess. Ray’s my mistake to fix.”

Althea took a step toward Blake, but then forced herself to stop. Something wasn’t right.

Wait… Just as I remember him? But how can that?...

The last time she’d seen Ray was ten years prior. It had also been the last time she’d seen Blake in person. So how was it that Ray had grown so much, as expected, but Blake had remained the same? Her heart suddenly began to race, her blood began to boil.

“Emperor!!”

Without a trace of hesitation, the dragon spewed forth a torrent of flames which engulfed Blake, and as she suspected, he disappeared. Vanished into thin air… like the mere Illusion he was. She turned back immediately, but Ray was also gone. The brat had tricked her!

That… that wasn’t his Bouffalant! Damn him!

Althea’s fists were clenched in rage, frustration, embarrassment. She’d been played by a kid – even if it was Blake’s kid – and made a fool of herself in the process. Even if she took to the skies again to resume her search, Ray now knew she could give chase from above, and would hide accordingly. It was simply a waste of time at this point.

She recalled Emperor and turned to leave. It was then that she noticed – and almost stumbled on – the teary-eyed Charmander that had approached the scene without her ever noticing…
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