Sizzle Drip Splash The constant sounds of water falling from the shower head was beating through Sam's mind. It was enough to help give his brain a small jump for the day. In all consideration, his warm water will soon be missed when he reaches outdoors. The weather in Saffron, a delicacy to visitors as moderate snow and ice cover the graying yellow streets. Sounds of Pidgey and other bird Pokémon chirping outside of Sam's bathroom window are filling the cold and windy air, drowning out the everyday noise of cars, complaining children, and the strong cold breeze that carries into the partly snowed city.

Samson excitedly finishes up in the bathroom and swiftly gets dressed. It was always a chore for him to remember to grab his keys, so today, he left them in his coat interior pocket.

Recollecting the past few months, Samson remembers every measure that he has taken to get this far. Working his ass to a breaking point, doing overtime for months upon months. The stressful, endless days and nights of doing paperwork, and putting up with supervising the department's training for the police Pokémon. To all that it's worth, this week he will finally be able to receive investigation cases. Finally, helping the department in a more physical matter with his Captain, co-workers, and the D.A.
Today will be the final day for paperwork, and he will be able to work as a detective for the infamous City of Yellow: Saffron.

Rushing to grab his wallet from his bedroom drawer and his shield out of his trench coat's pocket and snaps it in its place. The button hanging above his left breast, holding his registered badge proudly. Exiting his well-sized bedroom, he grabs his phone from his pocket for the time. The screen glared at his face showing 6:45 am, now is the perfect time to leave now and make it for 7:00.

Upon leaving through his living room door, he turns around on instinct to stare at the picture of his family on the mahogany table; a 20-year-old polaroid of him and his parents, before his dad left on a mission. "Great perseverance will help you accomplish any milestone." he murmurs as he leaves his apartment door.

The streets of Saffron are special. It's something that textbooks can't really comprehend without being here to see for an experience. It's a special type of hope that slowly fades every single day. Though chemical imbalance from factory pollution degrades the color of the sidewalk, Samson deep down feels the hope of the city thrives. While taking his route to the SCPD, a little girl no older than 11 years-old stops him with urgency. The innocence of the little girl made him feel concerned seeing that she's out here all alone.

"Excuse me, Mr. Officer." She says looking at Samson with confused and saddened eyes.

"Yes, little lady?" He gives her an assuring smile to help cheer up whatever the problems she had.

"I need to find the Pokémon center. I thought it was by the gym but I instead found the Pokémart." As if on cue, a Meowth walks from behind her left leg on its hind legs, latching onto the little girl's left leg. Its slit-eyes focused on Officer Grant as it still holds onto its trainer. The concern of her safety was relieved from him seeing the Scratch Cat Pokémon.

"I see. Well, it's an embarrassing thing that happens to many people here in Saffron. Shit, it happens to me more times than I feel comfortable with." He points at the direction past Golden key road, which is perpendicular to many buildings like Copycat's house and the opposite side to the South being the Pokémon Center. "Go down Golden Key road and at the end where Old Saffron intersects take a left and you'll see the Pokémon Center to your left."

She bows her head and smiles "Thank you very much." The Meowth behind her mewled its name. "Cloyd says, 'Thank you,' as well." Cloyd walks towards Grant trying to rub its coat against Grant's right leg. However, Samson didn't want to give the little Pokémon any time. After a few seconds, Cloyd concedes, walking back disappointed that he didn't get the attention he craved.

Without another brief moment, the officer hastily stepped away from the cat as it left his side. "I have to go to work now, best wishes and safe travels out there." Deciding quickly that he had to go himself, Grant left the scene at a hearty pace, leaving little time for the girl to respond.

Sweat on his forehead, Samson comes to a stop three blocks from the girl. He sighs in relief, from his hurrying. Among the busy crowd of people on the road, he knew that none would share his concern that a little girl, even at trainer age, would be walking alone. He knew not to judge children harshly. The former champion of Kanto was a year older than her when she became champion. The thought of someone so young could be out on their own seemed unjust to him. He refocuses on the legal matter he should have done when talking to her. Protocol calls for an officer to ask anyone holding a Pokémon within the city limits to check if they have a registered trainer license. He completely forgot and most likely pay for forgetting.

The rest of the walk to the SCPD was tame. After helping the little girl, he began exploring the many options he had while training in the academy. Many officers would enroll in the city's bomb squad or PTAET (Pokemon Tactics and Escort Team). The latter being less than an official police officer role; more like glorified bodyguards. Recently PTAET is used when SWAT is deemed tactically inappropriate.

The bomb squad is self-explanatory, with the only difference is that Pokémon was used to sniff out explosives, and either withstand or nullified damage. Mostly Psychic types would use Safeguard to ensure a field capable of taking the explosive. If the explosive had any sensors detecting any type of life signature once activated, Ghost-types would be used to help deliver the package to a safe zone. Both jobs required heavy amounts of Pokémon contact. Not to mention joining SWAT wouldn't have rolled Samson because of past experiences. Samson was having a good enough time walking and thinking of such subjects. The past three months of deskwork finally will pay off today. He will start his job the way he needed to.

The Precinct was polished, shining with an almost golden hue. Brass textured bricks cover the station's frontal design. The other combining color to the station was the pale and brittle columns that help the building look museum-like. The scene helping the populous identify the building.

Samson enters the building through the inviting brown doors to be welcomed by a very worn guard on duty. The entrance's design resembling that of the Saffron city Bullet train station's ticket booths. The ideal counter with protective glass being the frame of the station booth. The counter itself glossed with a golden sheen, bringing in the theme of Saffron: the color of Saffron.

The officer on duty is Joel, an older man who has been in the force longer than Samson was alive. The older officer's platinum blonde hair barely covered by his navy blue cap. His wrinkled and bagged eyes blinking several times while reading today's newspaper. While the old-man flexes his paper to pop out wrinkles on his page, he becomes re-aware of his surroundings. As Samson's reverberant footsteps catch the older officer's ears, Joel lowers the paper with an alert face. His twitching eyes and stuttering plastered face calms into a smiling expression when he recognizes Samson's face.

"How's it going, Grant?" The officer sits up from his slouched position.

"I'm ready to finish my last day of paperwork. It's about time to finally be useful to the city." He grabs his Shield and printed registration from his coat pocket to present to the officer for insurance. The officer on the other side inspects carefully and not too soon gives a nod.

"You're ready to go Grant." Joel's tone is warm, but even Samson can detect the uneasiness in his words. "Hey, just putting it out there, but we got some new police Pokémon who finished their training." Joel knew about Grant's biased feeling towards Pokémon.

"It's fine and I wouldn't want to get too tied up in that yet. I know the chief won't be too happy with the news today. But it's an option new people here have right?" Sam rhetorically asks.

"Well, you're right. Best of luck kid." The older officer nods and reclines his chair returning to his paper.

The inside of the department wasn't too crowded. Officers pacing around and commuting others. Some conversations revolve around arrests and other investigations, while some are just small talk. The officers at the station are sometimes chatty but that doesn't get in the way of their work. Even their partner Pokémon work as hard as they do. Tasked Pokémon such as Growlithe, Herdier, Gengar, and Kadabra are among some of the many Pokémon to work as officers. All Pokémon and officers that weren't seen in the main office would be in the investigation labs downstairs or in other investigation departments bases throughout the city.

Samson makes his way to the station's keypuncher, ready for work. After the confirmation sound goes off, Samson officially ready to work. Along the way to his desk, he receives greetings from his colleagues and their Pokémon. His response to his fellow colleagues being no more than a fair and nonchalant "Hello," with a plastered smile on his face. He only gave the Pokémon a distant stare and look away. The Pokémon didn't get too offended by this, Samson has done this many times before since he started working here.

He sits down in his rolling chair and spins it to his workstation. A partially cluttered area with papers scattered here and there with no specific decoration. To Samson's relief, his desk was not tampered with. Folders filled with arrest reports were still located at the edge of his cluttered desk. His empty coffee mug is still in place, rather than gone or filled with unwanted content.

From where his desk was, he could see the whole northern side of the main office. Joining this side of the office with Samson is fellow officer Cloivance. One thing that doesn't help the decor of both desks is how untidy Samson's is. Cloivance's space is well colored filled with decorations from the past holiday. The shared space is off-putting at the office, seeing that Samson's desk not only decorated was clustered. To Samson case, keeping on top of paperwork for 3 months straight can leave a person disorganized. With a heavy sigh and no further delay, Samson sits down in his beat-up chair, starting off his final shift of fully dedicated desk duty.

Within the hour, after finishing the last stretch of filing, Samson was finally relieved of his paperwork prison. When he handed off the last few files for the day to his captain, his overall attitude changed for the better. The baggage and tenacity that he felt filing every individual piece of paper can finally be expelled from his mind. For once in Samson's career, he can finally start doing his job the way he hoped.

As excited as he was to work phone duty, his enthusiasm diminishes with each call. For six hours straight he receives unrelated phone calls that would discourage any officer. These calls were throwing annoying pitches such as "I lost a battle, and the winning trainer's Pokémon is going wild! Shouldn't you do something?!" from outraged trainers.

Samson responds to them saying that "Pokémon who are running wild should be reported to PTAET, not the Investigation Bureau."

Or, incoming calls which were not properly addressed towards police business such as "I have a flock of Pidgey who are messing with my clothes outside of my apartment. Isn't your job to come up here and take care of it?"

His response being "Sorry to hear that ma'am but we are not Pokémon control. I can patch you into their line, but this line is for real emergencies."

Every call worse than the last, provoking Samson to grab his hair and ruffle it more and more. He isn't one to lose his cool, but all phone calls to the station's hotline are not emergencies or calls giving leads to current investigations.

The clock strikes 6:20 pm just as the phone rings for the last time for Samson. Disappointingly it was not even police related. The station was awfully silent, with more than 20 officers and their Pokémon still on duty. Some officers still filling paperwork and others responding to petty arrests. The silence is nice, offering Samson a reprieve; enough time to cool down and take a scheduled break.

In the breakroom officers Claire Clancy and John Cloivance, and their two partner Pokémon Haunter and Growlithe are already there. Officer Clancy and Samson got along very well. Unfortunately, the opposite is true for Officer Cloivance. In spite of their differences, both are commendable officers with great Pokémon.

Clancy's Haunter isn't typically a jokester like wild Haunters. Cloivance's Growlithe is like any other Growlithe and trained Pokémon in the force.

Samson enters the breakroom catching both officers laughing. Curiosity peaks Samson, asking "What's the bru-haha for?"

Claire tries to regain composure, resting the former smile on her pale face. Wiping away a lone tear Claire huffs "Oh, it's nothin', Sam, really." Her finger lingers near her in case another tear falls. "Jus' a couple of kids today who thought about being tough in front of me just ended up embarrassing themselves." Calming down completely from the joke she directs in a serious tangent. "Really what's with kids today becoming so cocky and disrespectful and all that."

"I think the problem is the parents, not raising the kids correctly. That's why we wind up with a lot of stupid teenagers in our cells. " John shakes his head in disappointment. His Growlithe barking in response to the depressing fact.

Claire chuckles "heh heh- Ya got that right Cloivance." Her Haunter begins floating towards her partner, interested in the conversation.

"I see... at least your days are exciting." Sam growing quiet as he spoke. Though he didn't mean direct the attention to him, his fellow co-workers cannot help but feel concerned at his gloomy remark.

"I know how rough it can be on the first actual day, Sam. Being a detective in this department doesn't completely fill merits." John preaches, picking up his mug and taking a sip. Growlithe howls in agreement to John's remark.

Claire sighs from Johns uncalled for comment. She holds a hand to stop Haunter from getting in front of her walking towards Sam. She gently places her hand on his shoulder to comfort him "Yeah Sam, don't expect too much for your first day off of paperwork."

Sam exhales accepting her comfort "Yeah, I know, I just would like to not fill paperwork for 4 hours a day and go on rounds in a police cruiser giving tickets." Sam defends himself.

"Really? I found parking duty and traffic patrol more exciting when I was startin out" Claire objects.

Sam chuckles at her rebuttal "I can't see how that's exhilarating at all. Just sitting in a car doing nothing"

Claire smirks at his comment. Taking her hand off of his shoulder, she moves to one of the cabinets in the breakroom and grabs a green box with a leaf label. She shakes the box loudly in a way to grab Sam's attention. "How about I tell ya over a cup of tea?" She offers.

John rolls his eyes. With a sigh "Uhh. Not this story again?" thrusting his forehead into his palm.

_

The rest of Samson's break passed with chatter about Claire's story, the recent holiday, and other matters; police and personal. Today was tiresome, but conversing with fellow officers made Samson's day a little better.

A middle-aged tall and burly man shoves through the door, with a scowl on his face. The sound of the door hits the stopper, interrupting whatever was being said. The prone Growlithe snapped upright to the sudden noise. The intimidating presence belongs to the department's captain, Han Kenshiro, gripping the door frame with one hand and the other pointing at Officer Grant. The captain's very well fitted grey and white lined button-down flexed as he points his right index finger directly at Officer Grant.

"Grant! My office. Now!" he barks not too loudly before disappearing from the breakroom.

Without hesitation, Sam rises up and follows the older but fit to his office. Cloivance audibly coughs as Sam departs. Samson, annoyed, responds to the scoff with a short-tempered glare. Upon Sam's return, he receives concerned and disappointed faces from coworkers and Pokémon. Thankfully, everyone there was an adult, and wouldn't exactly make a fuss over the captain personally wanting to speak with the newbie.

The inside of Kenshiro's office was as tidy and professional as his gray suit. File cabinets of various sizes, vintage holding cases, and bookshelves lined each of the freshly-painted walls. The overall size of the office was more than spacious, seeing how there's enough room to fit two-dozen people. To the left of the Chief's glossy mahogany desk stands a coat rack that held the police chief's dark khaki dress coat. On the other side is an average-sized Arcanine, sitting proudly by his partner's desk.

The Pokémon in question became wary of Sam's entry, shooting him with an almost intimidating glare. Sam falters slightly to the larger Legendary Pokémon, almost tripping over his own feet as he walked inside the room. After closing the door behind him, Sam took one of the lesser chairs closer to the office's entrance. Simultaneously, Captain Kenshiro walks to the other side of his desk, pulling out papers from a nearby personal file drawer. Seeing what his Captain had, Sam's pulse began to race. Unfortunately, he knows all too well what Captain Kenshiro holds.

Kenshiro breaks the chilling silence, "Officer Grant. Your paperwork is filled very nicely. I appreciate that you have been patient with the department to get you checked in for on-field work."

After an awkward pause, Sam meekly responds, "Um, t-thank you, sir-"

"But!" Captain Kenshiro abruptly claims, "There were required areas that you should have filled out."

"What areas do you mean?" Sam tries to play innocent, hoping to levy the punishment.

A soft huff and puff of smoke comes from the Arcanine's soft nose, signaling to his companion that Sam didn't respond honestly.

"You know damn well what I mean Sam! You and I already talked about this once you were admitted to my squad!" Kenshiro was really pushing to prove he was right, sticking a nail in the coffin of Sam's lackluster defense.

"So you're telling me I need to be assigned to a partner," Sam asks with snarkiness

The captain closes his eyes and gives a heavy sigh. After gathering his thoughts, Kenshiro looked back at the rookie opposite of him, laying a hand firmly on the desk. "Eventually, you will have to. Everyone here in the department has at least one partnered Pokémon. It's a tradition that the police of this nation have done for many years Grant, with no exceptions. We humans and Pokémon rely on one another for each others' safety and unity as a culture. I understand that during training, you went the extra mile to be accepted and pass without being registered with a partner Pokémon. But now, you really don't have room for a choice Samuel."

Sam rolls his eyes and broke eye-contact, trying to dodge the ever so demanding glare from his captain. "Sir it's not like I didn't want to. It's just I'm not ready for this kind of feat yet," Sam retorts. "Besides, I already filled out my reason to continue without a partner in my paperwork. Shouldn't that be valid enough for me to be pardoned? I know police officers in Celadon and throughout Kanto who aren't partnered with police Pokémon. So why is my case the problematic one?"

With a shake of Kenshiro's head, he did his best to speak slowly and clearly, so this absurd point will finally be in this rookie's stubborn brain. "You don't seem to get it. This issue has been tip-toed around for too long, and you need to properly be equipped for the job. A nine-millimeter isn't going to have the same versatility or usefulness as a partner Pokemon."

Truly, this is the cruel reality for Sam. It's not like he outright hates Pokémon, he just doesn't trust them. His past experience with Pokémon led to an injury that has scarred him to this day.

Sensing Samson's melancholy, Arcanine showed a vague hint of sympathy in his eyes; something Samson has never seen in the captain's Pokémon. His mind crosses back to what Officer Joel said to him this morning, that a new batch of police trained Pokémon are ready to be issued to new officers at the SCPD. Of course, Sam doesn't want to quit. But, he also didn't want to be tied down by a Pokémon that he didn't want!

"This isn't Celadon City Grant. I'd advise you to remember that." Towering over the subdued Sam, Kenshiro began pacing around the other's chair. "So here are your options; get over your resentment of being partnered with a Pokémon, or give me your badge by tomorrow morning."

Before he could muster any more offending thoughts of his situation, Captain Kenshiro gave him an ultimatum. Sam's hopes and dreams were being threatened over some dumbass Pokemon. Opening his mouth in outrage to rebuttal, the captain's phone filled the office with needlessly overbearing tone. The sudden interruption shut down any hope of Sam responding to this situation, at least for now.

Roughly a minute passes with the captain throwing in, "I see," and, "I'll send in my squad to investigate." After hastily ending the conversation, Kenshiro clicks the phone back in its holster.

"Captain Kenshiro," he says on instinct. The captains face changed from made to surprise at whatever he was listening to on the phone. Sam wonders what the situation is, hoping to finally put the altercation to rest. Instead, Captain Kenshiro haphazardly dons his coat, almost knocking over the upright hanger. His Arcanine pounces for the door eager for action.

"There was a fire Southwest of the Saffron City gym. A Silph Department store caught on fire. After extinguishing the fire, the city's fire department believes that this was no accident. We have an arsonist in our city, Grant."