You fell from the stars

A Pokemon Sun/Moon, Looker x Anabel fanfic by Schoolgirl Q

"When Looker found Anabel lying on the beach wide eyed, he knew that he'd have to take her back with him.
This girl is clueless about this world, she barely knew her own name, it was as if she fell from another world, or ... from the stars.

Little did he know that, this would be a decision that he'd come to regret for the rest of his lifetime"

Chapter 1. vs The Unidentified Beast

"What a tenderhearted, sympathetic fellow you are." Nanu spat at him through gritted teeth, "Out of all the things that you could've done, you chose to feel fucking sorry for that beast. I wonder how you feel about your partners now? Really fucking sorry?"

Nanu was furious. Wrathful. Looker knew it by heart. Never had Nanu dropped so many F bombs in his speech, he had always refrained from employing even a single swearword to express displeasure. Nanu turned his back on him but Looker could almost see his face contorted, nostrils flaring, eyes flashing like lightning on a pitch black night.

And he knew exactly why.

"… I'm sorry, Na… Chief 000."

"You should be," Nanu turned his head around and shot him a piercing look, "but don't say it to me, say it to Cathie, though I highly doubt that she's gonna hear you. It's because of you that we couldn't even give her a proper funeral. Not even a burial."

Nanu's words pierced through like knives to his ribs, with every second that passes the sharp tip digs deeper.

"Oh and of course, don't forget to say sorry to Croagy and the others. Because of you our Pokemon just became that beast's entree. You really fucked up this time."

Being reminded again of the tragedy that happened right before his eyes was like sprinkling salt all over his wounded skin. It ached. But Looker couldn't even tell what was really aching anymore.

"… Please forgive me."

"That's not my job to do." Nanu halted his steps and turned to face him completely, and from the deadly flares of his eyes Looker knew at instant that forgiveness wasn't an option. "It's God's job to forgive you, and my job is to send you to God. Now get out of my sight before I blow up, don't say that I didn't warn you."

"… I'm sorry about this, but…" Looker swallowed, looked away, trying to not be engulfed by the scarlet flames of those eyes, and with great difficulty squeezed out the last words in a whimper: "there's only one boat for us."

"DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE? JUST SWIM THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

The two of them shared the longest and most insufferable boat ride back to the head quarters.

As much as a joke it was intended, Looker was starting to believe swimming back to Poni Island was the better option. Couldn't care less about wounds the throbbing of his wounds, he'd rather have it that way if it could quell the unspeakable pain somewhere deep inside him.

Nanu was wounded severely as well. The beast left a hideous looking gash across his back, blood stopped oozing as heavily from the gash but had already dyed the split openings of his shirt red. If the gash was any deeper than this Looker would've swore that he'd see flesh and bones.

A few seconds ago he had offered his assistance to treat Nanu's wounds but was merely turned down. They hadn't exchange words since.

Nanu's eyes stared fixedly on the steering wheel, but when Nanu did look in his direction, the focus was not there. It was either on the tip of the boat behind him or on the turbulent waters beside him. It was as if he had become invisible to Nanu, or that Nanu could not bear to see him at all.

The boat was much emptier than it used to be. The gap between himself and Nanu turned to vast voids of space, and it was insufferable..

This boat carried three people and more than three Pokemon onto () island.

It had been cozy then, on the trip there. Cathie was pretty quick with her intimacies, despite being their first time meeting. She was telling crappy knock knock jokes all the way to the island. Nanu's Persian purring lazily on the side. Croagy, his own Croagunk, would join him in sightseeing and point occasionally at quirky things he spotted.

And now it could only carry two of them back.

The silence was suffocating him.

It was like being thrown into water.

Air rushed out of his mouth, his lips instinctively opened to breathe, only for the murky water to flood in throughout his entire body. His throat burned as if thousands of tiny needles have been plunged into it. He could not hear a thing, as if the entire world was silenced by the the sound of flowing waters, and his mouth could not produce a sound.

When did he feel sorry for the beast?

It was when his Arcanine, Growly, landed a blow onto its colossal body. Outrage. Judging by the beast's reaction it did quite a good deal of damage on it. Probably a critical hit. The beast let out a moan in pain and stumbled a few steps backwards, shaking the earth that he stepped upon.

For a split second Looker would've sworn he saw the beast whimper as if it felt wronged, its body into a defensive curl, insecure, and despite its bulky build and brutish looks… seemed almost fragile.

He froze on the spot, questioning himself for the things that they were doing to it, for the motive of this mission.

It doesn't belong here.

But it's not doing any harm to anyone or anything.

And all we're doing is making it feel unwanted.

He hesitated for a few seconds without giving any instructions to his Pokemon.

And those very seconds turned out to be lethal.

His memory of the series of events that followed was particularly vivid in stretches: Nanu hollering, "What on earth do you think you're doing?! Get a hold of yourself!" were his exact words; Croagy tugging hard at his pants; Pekky, his Toucannon, chirping anxiously for further orders, wings flapping restlessly.

Sharp yellow fangs glinting in the afternoon light. One of the pincers, or was it the extension of its black tongue, was sneaking up to Pekky. Nanu Bawling. Revolting crunching and gulping noises. Cathie screaming. Black feathers tinted with scarlet.

The glow of wildest hunger in the beast's eyes. A roar that rattled the woods. Cathie's Ninetales blasted away by a tail that resembled a bola. Her Ribombee yelping, caught by the claws. Raw metallic scent in the air. The ravenous eyes locked themselves onto Cathie. Nanu pushing her away from a belch of gastro acid. Ground sizzling in bubbles and smog. Cathie screaming. Nanu's Persian crushed by a slam of its gigantic pincer. Nanu cursing.

Growly snarling. Growly bolting at it with Extreme Speed. Heavy slam. Sent Growly flying to the rocky edges of the hill. Shock wave. Getting hurled against a tree trunk. Crouching on the ground, blood gushing out from his split upper lips. Trying to get up. Trying to stumble across to Growly. Nanu yelling "DUCK!", flung himself onto him and Cathie and throwing themselves on the ground. The swing of a black spiky shadow. The tail. The side of his face slamming against the ground. Cathie screaming. Throbbing under his right eye. Nanu grunting.

Cathie being hauled away by the beast. Cathie screaming. Croagy hopping and making his every attempt to attack. Mud bomb. Sludge bomb. Brick break. A deafening roar. Croagy clamped by the pincers. Croagy held up into the air. Startled croaking. Croagy split into halves. A pain ripping through his belly, making him wonder if he'll ever breathe again.

Cathie screaming.

Cathie screaming.

Cathie's screaming ceased.

He knew that his precious Pokemon and Cathie are being devoured by that beast.

He knew that this is all taking place right before of his eyes.

He knew it.

But he couldn't do a thing. Neither his petrified limbs nor lips could move an inch.

The flowing water that silenced the world had faded out.

In the end, he would always see the flashback with perfect clarity. He knew that he would.

The blood stains on his jacket were now cold. It had turned dark like mud splashes. He couldn't even tell whose blood was spilled.

It was raining. Not a storm, merely drizzles. The waters were not as storm-tossed, he watched as ripples expand from the raindrops and blend into the waves, one after another.

All of a sudden questions arose out of nowhere, and he couldn't believe that he only thought of asking them up until now.

Why didn't anyone from the organization ever informed them of the potential risk of this mission? Of this "unidentified organism" in particular?

Why was Cathie assigned to be their partner, when she wasn't properly trained for intensive combat?

Why was Cathie the only one targeted by the beast?

Who is Cathie, anyways?

And what is this beast? This… thing?

He wanted to ask Nanu every single one of those questions. He wanted answers for everything.

He didn't.

It'd be despicable of him.

A blob of purple caught his eye.

It was perhaps the only color that stood out to him in this gloomy day, the only color that didn't blend in with the shady trees, the pale sand, the murky waters and the grey skies.

Looker squinted his eyes a little in order to visualize the blob of purple a little better. He saw stretched out curves that, as he realized, outline the arms and legs of someone.

The blobs of purple were the hues of hair.

He slammed his hands on the rim of the boat, breaking the silence and giving Nanu quite a fright. "Chief! Nanu! Someone's passed out on the beach! Stop the boat by the beach now!"

"Don't you boss me around, who the hell do you think you are…" Nanu rolled his eyes, but nevertheless steered the boat towards the beach.

Looker was frantically looking for the first aid kit somewhere off in the corner, and the second that the boat slid onto the sand he was up and ready to dash.

"Don't move just yet!"

Within a split second, Nanu grabbed onto Looker's sleeves without moving his eyes away from the buzzing and flashing device. "The wormhole radiation detector is sensing alarming quantities of… 100KR?"

Nanu was holding onto a dusty brown overcoat and nothing else.

"Tsk, reckless as ever, and you call yourself an interpol…" Nanu shook his head in disbelief and followed.

It was a girl who passed out on the beach.

Looker assumed that she'd be around 10-ish. She looked rather petite and hollow-cheeked; couldn't say that she was exactly waif-like, she was wearing more than decent clothes—despite being torn and covered in dust—but she was pale and frail, almost like she was malnourished.

He lifted the girl's head off the beach, while shaking her arms gently in an attempt to wake her.

"Hey, young lady, can you hear me?"

No response.

Had she almost drowned herself?

His systematic first aid training told him to check for signs of breathing. He placed a finger under her nose and the rest on top of her mouth, though weak, he could still sense some warmer air being exhaled onto his fingers.

He pressed a few fingers on the side of her wrist to check for pulse, and saw that her hands were bleached and wrinkly from soaking in the water. Her pulses are a little arrhythmic and unsteady, but he assumed that she wasn't at risk of death. He could afford to wait for Nanu. A minute or so.

He wiped the water and sand off her face, and started to observe her.

There was an unruly swirl to her hair and it was soddened by rain, the glossy lilac dusted with grains of sand, droplets of water dripping from the tips.

Her lips would've been rosy, but they're pale and anemic looking, as if blood was drained from her face. Her eyelids were closely shut, eyelashes still like strands of grass that morning dew landed upon.

"…What happened to you, girl?" He asked.

No response.

He thought of covering her with his overcoat, so at least she wouldn't suffer from heat loss as much. But when he was about to take his coat off… he found that it wasn't on him from the very start.

"Is she still alive, or dead as a doornail?"

Looker turned his head back to Nanu, and almost immediately his eyes were being covered by something wet and foul-smelling dumped onto his head. Oh, right, he left his overcoat with Nanu.

"Yeah, she's ok-ish," Looker took his coat and slid it under his lap, before resting the girl's head against it. "At least not as dead as a doornail. Thanks for bringing my coat."

"Your coat stinks to high heaven, but we had a shitty day." Nanu pretended to wrinkle his nose. "Still sound asleep huh? Good. There's something that I need to tell you… This girl, she's something special, she's probably the source of all that radiation…"

He glanced down at the girl's resting face and snorted.

"… and she wakes up right at this moment. Talk about timing."

The girl was awake, her eyes flung open so wide that both of her iris were exposed like perfectly round orbs. The iris of her eyes were the color of a newly bloomed lilac.

"Good mor… good afternoon, young lady?"

From the gradual transition of confusion to vigilance in her eyes, Looker knew that it wasn't the best greeting he could think of.

"Who, who are you?" There was a suppressed tremor in her voice as she quickly distanced herself from him, raising an arm almost instinctively for defensive purposes.

"Now now, take a deep breath, don't be so tense or afraid or anything," Despite having said that Looker himself did panic ever so slightly, almost dropping his IPA ID after pulling it out from his chest pocket. "I am a police officer from the IPA, the code name's 100KR, this is Na… Chief 000 beside me."

"...IPA?"

"Yes, so please know that we won't do any harm to you, and we're here to help you. Please let us help you."

Looker sighed in relief as he saw the girl lowering her arms, a few seconds ago still crossed tightly in front of her chest to shield her body from him. "Now that you know our names, I think it's only fair for us to know yours, don't you think?"

"My name…" The girl was biting her lips and looking down at her feet, it took her a whole minute before she unzipped those lips and slipped out a name: "…Anabel."

"Why do you sound so unsure about your own name? Say it with some confidence at least." Looked asked half jokingly, but couldn't hide his serious intent well.

"Because…" the girl paused for a second, and mumbled the rest of her words, "…because, I am unsure."

Looker exchanged looks with Nanu, who was also frowning and signaled him to continue with questioning.

"Do you remember anything else?" Looker leaned in, trying to suppress the butterflies in his stomach, "please just tell us what you remember, like how did you end up washed up on the beach, where were you before this, who were you with… anything that you remember helps! Anything at all!"

"You're asking her way too many questions at once, dumbass." Nanu wasn't trying to hide the impatience in his tone and pushed him aside, kneeling down to be on eye level with Anabel. "Alright Miss Anabel, tell us where you're from."

She pressed a few finger against her temple. "… Hoenn."

"Now you're talking. What part of Hoenn?"

Anabel bit her lips again, quite a bit harder this time that the pink of her lips turned pale. "…A tower… no… that's not it…... I, I don't know… I don't know…" Her lower lips quivered as she repeated those helpless words, trembling fingers grasped hard at her hair.

"We could pass if you want."

"If it's too hard for you please don't bother!"

Anabel suddenly took on a pale expression, as if painted with whitewash — even her pale lips were barely there anymore. It was as if her heart stopped beating for a second and all the blood had run down to her feet. There was a black nausea in her abdomen as she tried to recall anything about herself… that slowly crept up to her head, as she collapsed into Looker's arms like a puppet forcefully released of its strings.

"Miss Anabel! Anabel! Stay with us!" She felt exceptionally light in his arms, it was like holding a rag doll with the face of a fine china.

"She's flaked out again." Nanu held out a few fingers on the side of her wrist to feel her pulse again — slightly accelerated. "God knows how long she's been soaked in this rain. Her hands are iced. Dunno if she's been losing blood. "

Looker lifted her up and carried her on his back, her head leaning meekly against his shoulder. "We gotta take her back to the HQ with us."

"Not so fast." Nanu grabbed him by the wrist again, this time making sure he had a firm grip, "Don't bring her along to the HQ just yet. It's better to leave her at a local PC and head back—"

"THERE'S NO WAY I'M LEAVING HER AT THE PC!" For the first time today he raised his voice at Nanu. "Are you out of your mind? Did you not see her condition? She could barely remember her own name! How can you tell me to head back when you know that I'll be leaving a girl, who's gonna wake up tomorrow helplessly lost in a place foreign to her?"

Without giving Nanu time for his response, he carried on seethingly: "We don't know who she is, right, but how is the PC gonna it out? Are they the police?! No! We are the IPA! It is OUR job to find out exactly who she is, and bring her back to her family! We're bring her back with us!" He concluded definitively, his face spoke of a final decision being made, it was going to happen with or without Nanu's consent.

It's gonna be alright, Anabel, everything's gonna be alright… he looked back at the unconscious girl on his back, her eyelids closely shut again, Looker wondered if she was in the middle of a nightmare.

After bringing you back with us, I'm gonna find out who you are, what part of Hoenn you're from, and bring you home to your mom and dad.

Everything's gonna be alright.

Please wait for me.

Little did he know that, this would be a decision that he'd come to regret for the rest of his lifetime.