"You're not wearing that. Change into something nice, we're having important guests." Troy's mother orders as she continues to set the table.
"I only have one nice shirt." The fourteen year old rebuts.
"Then your choice is easy. Now go." Troy's mother says with a quick glare.
"Fuck sakes" Troy mumbles under his breath as he dragged himself upstairs.
Troy headed to his room and carefully opened the door. The hinges came loose one night when his father got drunk and kicked it in for no real reason. The room was a disaster zone with clothes and trash everywhere . He looked for the nice shirt among the others strewn about the floor. Unsuccessful in his scan he opened his small dresser and found the shirt in the back.
He took off his beat up shirt and tossed it among the sea of fabric. All his shirts had at least some damage on them from his "job". He was a runner, and sometimes thief for team rocket. His parents were executives in the organization, while he tried to stay away from it. Unfortunately if he wanted money that was the only way to get it. Thankfully they wouldn't take him as a full member yet.
Troy threw on his nice shirt and headed back downstairs where the aroma of his fathers cooking filled the air. Troy may have hated the man, but he couldn't deny his cooking skills. His skill in the kitchen almost matched his skills on the battleground.
Snapping fingers grabbed Troy's attention. His mother was pointing at a chair with an impatient look on her face. With a sigh troy walked over and sat down, only to be told to stand. She was really getting on his nerves. She had been like this all day, ever since troy walked in exhausted from his latest job.
"Remember to smile when they get here." His mother instructs him while she looks over his outfit. "At least you look presentable. You need to make a good impression if you want a place in rocket."
"How many times have I said I don't want to join rocket? At least fifty I'm sure." Troy says as he straightens his shirt.
Troy's mother smacks him in the back of the head in response. Troy grin did nothing to lighten her mood.
"Enough of that Mary, they'll be here any minute." Troy's father warns as he brings a hot piece of ham to the table.
Troy walked out of the dinning room to get out of the way of the food, and his mothers reach. He slumped onto the couch while his mother and father finished setting up the dinning room. With the relative silence Troy's body remembered it was tired, and he started to drift off. A loud ring snaped him back. He got up and walked halfway to the dinning room before his mother started yelling for him. His father grabbed him and stood him next to himself.
"I hate this song and dance." Troy complained.
"Stop complaining and smile." Troy father ordered.
Troy's mother answered the door and let in her fellow executives with a big smile. Troy and his father followed suit as they greeted their guests.
Five guests in total made up the rocket party. Most didn't stand out to Troy as he never cared for team rocket. One guest made him laugh internally. If success was measured in mass, then this man was too big to fail. He wondered if they would get any food if the fat man made his plate first.
Ten minutes into the meal and Troy was already bored to tears. All they talked about was work related things and the next big score. He was torn between wanting to eat quickly to get out of there, or to savor his fathers good cooking. The choice was excruciatingly difficult.
Movement at the corner of his sight caught Troy's attention. He looked out the window and caught sight of something very familiar to him. Though he only saw it for a moment he could recognize a police uniform anywhere. This dinner was about to go from deathly boring to far too exciting.
Troy jumped up from his seat. "Have to pee!" He shot out and speed walked out of the dinning room.
He rushed to a spare room and opened a window. Not a moment later he heard the doors get bashed in and dove out the window. With a thud he hit the ground as the night air is filled with shouts, growls, and the sound of pokeballs popping open. As much as he would have loved to see them get busted, he didn't want to get caught up in it.
"Ironhill P.D. Freeze!" An officer shouted as she ran toward Troy with a Growlithe in tow.
Troy smiled as he noticed how much of a head start he already had. He was a great runner, as his job demanded it. If he was going to get caught, he was going to make her work for her paycheck today. Like a Blitzle he took off to the alley behind his house. The Growlithe sprinted after him with its trainer falling behind.
Troy knew the backstreets like the back of his hand. It would be deciding factor in who would win this chase. He knew he couldn't outrun the Pokemon coming after him, but he could outmaneuver it.
Troy lead the officer and her Growlithe to another more crowded alley. With a Liepard's agility he jumped boxes and hopped fences, gaining more distance with each obstruction. Now that he had some distance he could make the final move. He ran to a familiar dead end street, making sure his pursuers were on the way. It was the best spot for his disappearing act. He sprinted to a wall and jumped up to a windowsill. From there it was an quick and easy climb to the roof where he could either hide, or run to another street. He opted for the latter this time.
Troy jumped a few roofs until he was a comfortable distance away from the dumbfounded officer. Making it down to the street via the fire escape Troy caught his breath and began walking. Playing it cool was the best option for him now. Unfortunately the streets weren't nearly as crowded at night, so he couldn't blend into any crowds.
A squad car rolled past him as he did his best to look natural. He kept it at the corner of his sight as it passed him. It's back lights glowed as it slowed to a stop.
"Fuck me." Troy groaned, and took off once again. The officer jumped out and released her Growlithe. Another chase was on, and Troy knew what to do.
Another chase was something Troy did not want to do, but he had no choice. He lead the officer down another set of alleys and pulled another disappearing act. This one was much harder for him to do then the last, and left him exhausted.
"If I had a Rapidash or something this would be so much easier." Troy said to himself between breaths as he lain sprawled out on the roof.
He lain there staring at the stars for a while. He tried to consider his options. The police were looking for someone who looked like him, and he couldn't hide out at home considering it was currently being raided. He didn't have any real friends so he had no real place to go tonight.
Troy noticed a shadow in the sky. "Just a Swellow" Troy breathed in relief. Just as he said that the bird looked down and starting squawking loudly. Troy sat up and noticed something reflective on the bird.
"On the roof!" An officer's voice rang out.
"Fucking police birds!?" Troy yelled as he took off yet again.
As fast as Troy could run he could not escape the birds gaze. He would never get away on the roof, so he took the fastest way down. He climbed down the side of a building and jumped onto some trash piled up.
Without a moments hesitation he sprung up and headed toward the street from the alley. A monstrous figure jumped into the alley, and blocked his escape into the street. A massive dog covered in orange fur and stripes stared down Troy with flames in it's eyes.
Troy backed up slowly as the Arcanine advanced. "Must have been pretty big bust for them to bring out the big guns." He said to himself.
Two officers ran up behind the Arcanine. It looked back for a moment. That's all Troy needed. In a flash Troy spun around and climbed the fence behind him faster then he had ever before. He took a sharp turn, using a pole for leverage. He glanced back as he turned to see the Arcanine jump the fence. Troy sprinted down the alley toward a van that was blocking another much thinner alley. He could use that to get away from the Arcanine, who was rapidly gaining on him.
He could feel the beast nearly on him as he started to slide under the van. With a slide and a roll he cleared the van and squeezed into the alley. A deafening thud followed him as the Arcanine slammed into the vehicle. Troy let out a small laugh as he shimmied down the narrow gap. On the other side was an empty construction site.
Troy walked over to pile of rocks and fell onto it. He couldn't run anymore, he was far too tired. He looked up into the night sky breathing heavily. While he rested he started to realize how serious this chase was getting. Before they would use a Growlithe and give up once he shook them off, but this time they were relentless. Just who were those guests that the police would go to such lengths to catch someone who was only near them.
Troy looked down at his ruined shirt. "Fuck, this was my only good shirt." He moaned.
A loud growl thundered from across the yard. Troy sat up with a groan and bent around to see what was behind him. A monstrous dog with orange fur, black stripes, fury in its eyes, and a large bump on its head glared at Troy from across the yard.
"I hoped you were slower so I could at least catch a breath." Troy said to the advancing Arcanine.
It marched closer and closer. Troy was too tired to run. He could only brace himself. He could see the flames growing in its mouth as the angry ball of fur drew near.
"Arcanine stay!" A voice commanded from across the yard. The beast stopped, but never lifted its glare from Troy.
"When I heard they lost a suspect on third street I knew it was the runner. The one we could never catch. To think someone so young could be so hard to get." The voice continued as a figure steped into the light.
"Well you had to use the big guns to get me, so I still count that as a win for me." Troy managed to say between breaths.
The figure stepped into the light to reveal an officer much like those Troy had evaded before. This one had many medals on her uniform indicated her rank and experience. She walked over to Arcanine and gave it a soft pet on the head, calming the Pokemon.
"Didn't think the runner was you. You seem like a nice kid." She calmly stated as she approached the exhausted youth. "Why did you run? Was that your home we raided tonight? She questions.
"Maybe. I ran because the police are just so scary." Troy laughed as he fell onto his back.
"Your going to have to come with me." The officer said then took out her handcuffs. Troy offered no resistance as he got picked up and cuffed. Other officers arrive on the scene, but the arrest was already over.
As she lead Troy back to her squad car he saw the look of surprise on the faces of the officers as they finally see the face of the runner.