Chapter 1: The rough edges

"Growlithe, can you smell anything?" I asked my partner nervously. He was already sniffing in the air, trying to track our target, but I like to make sure. He looked back at me

"Arf!" His enthusiasm was clear to me and the rest of the squad. I nodded and looked back at the rest of the squad.

"We're going to hit them hard and fast, I want no casualties on our end if possible. Use excessive force if necessary, but do not fire unless fired upon! Am I clear?" I shouted. Every person nodded, readying their own Growlithe. I held up three fingers.

Three.

There was some movement from inside, my Growlithe's ears went down and he began to growl. Someone might be heading out.

I put another finger down. Two.

There was a creak of a door opening shortly followed by a slam.

I put down the final finger. One.

A hooded figure rounded the corner right into us. My Growlithe leapt onto him, tackling him to the ground. I quickly pinned the man myself and looked at the squad.

"Go go go!" I shouted. "Move in!" The group stormed the house, kicking the door down, scaring the hell out of whatever was inside. Everything seemed to be going smoothly as I picked up the crook me and my Growlithe nailed. He barked happily as the two of us walked back to the squad car, shoving the guy in. I slammed my door shut and began to walk towards the house when jabber broke out on the radio.

"Shit! He's armed!" There was some static and the sounds of gunshot inside. I glanced at my Growlithe and the two of us ran into the house.

"SHOTS FIRED, SHOTS FIRED, PROCEED WITH DEADLY FORCE!" someone shouted up front. They let loose a spray of automatic fire into the doorway, instantly killing the man. I quickly rushed forward to check out the situation.

"Any of you injured?" I asked. They all glanced around and shook their heads. I nodded quickly and walked into the room where the dead gunman was now lying in a puddle of his own blood. A quick glance and there was nobody left.

"Alright, search the place for drugs, Pokémon, guns, and things of that nature. I'll be out front reporting to HQ." There was no outright confirmation behind me but I knew the men would do their jobs. I looked down again to make sure my Growlithe was following me, and sure enough, there he was, trotting along beside me. He glanced up and me and gave a little woof, making me smile. I got back to my squad car with the hooded guy still in the back and grabbed the radio.

"HQ this is Captain Alex, no casualties on our end." A brief pause

"…anything found yet?"

"No HQ, we'll give you a shout if we find something." I put down the radio before waiting for the typical confirmation message to come through. I knew the routine well; I had been doing it for nearly 3 years now after all. Looking around and realizing how open the street felt to me, I walked back into the house where the rest of the squad was.

"Anything special I should know about?" I asked. A few cops brought money, some brought some guns, and others brought some Pokémon balls with them. It appears they had hit the jackpot.

"Good job guys clean up here and let's head home." I smiled as a few shouts of happiness were heard amongst the crowd. They had been out all day busting similar houses like this one and were finally glad to be getting home. After a few more minutes of bustling around, I walked back to my cruiser, let Growlithe in the passenger side, hopped in on my own side, and led the convoy of police cars back to the station.

By the time we had arrived, it was getting late. The Sun was close to setting, and my eyes hurt. I was beginning to change in the locker room when a loud voice went off behind me.

"Hey Alex, good job today!" someone called out. I looked around to see the Chief standing behind me, his hand extended. I quickly finished pulling on some clothes and shook his hand.

"Thank you Chief, but it's been the Agents following leads that have done most of the work, I just take my group in and nail the bastards." The Chief chuckled a bit.

"Regardless, not a single casualty at all today, I think it might be a record, especially since there was live gunfire." The Chief turned around and faced the rest of the group.

"Congratulations to you all! May we have the same luck tomorrow!" I smiled as the rest of the group cheered in agreement, some stomping their feet as well. With that, the Chief walked off back to his room to get ready to leave for the night, just like everyone else.

After a few minutes in the locker room talking with the guys, I finally managed to crawl out of there, my Growlithe not far behind. I smiled and picked him up, scratching him behind the ears. He seemed to love the feel of it and snuggled up against my chest before long. By the time I reached my car, he was nearly zonked out. He should be, the two of us had a long day after all! Quietly opening the car door, I placed him in his special car seat and got in the driver's seat. As I began to pull out of the parking lot, something caught my eye. I noticed a couple of 'suspicious' individuals roaming the streets.

"I don't like the look of those guys." I said to myself. Glancing back, making sure Growlithe was still asleep, I began to slowly drive out onto the main road, making sure that I didn't draw attention to myself, and started tailing the individuals. It wasn't long before they made a turn onto another main road, this time, leading towards the rougher side of town, an area I wasn't assigned to crack down on…yet. Quickly making the turn, I followed along on the street, careful to not lose track of the two. After a lengthy walk, they turned down another street, this one heading towards downtown. I groaned as I started thinking about what I was getting into.

"Man, I shouldn't be doing this; I should just go home and sleep." I muttered to myself. I looked back to Growlithe, but he was drifting in dreamland right now. Sighing to myself, I made a decision.

I'll follow them to where they stop; maybe it's nothing at all. With that in mind, I turned my car down the same road they went and started scanning for them. Fortunately, I found them before they vanished again, as they walked into a Mini-Mart. I sighed in relief, and felt a pang of guilt.

I judged them before I even knew their intentions. Now I feel awful. Shrugging off the feeling for the moment, I turned myself around and proceeded to drive home.

Once I arrived home, I felt at ease. This was my safe haven. Yes, this is where I belonged when not at work. It might've been small, but it was the perfect size for me and my Growlithe. Hell, I could even fit one more Pokémon in here if I desired. It wasn't a massive apartment, but the rent was cheap, wasn't on the bad side of town, and I got a discount because I was a police officer. I quietly got out of my car and walked around to the back right passenger, where I had deposited Growlithe in his car seat earlier. He was completely out of it and didn't even move when I picked him up.

"Poor boy, you must be very tired." I said quietly. "We'll get you inside and well rested." I quickly got inside and walked back to my room, my own weariness catching me by surprise. I barely managed to stumble into my room and plop Growlithe onto his little bed and then get on my own. My body felt relieved to be lying down, so I could finally rest for the troubles that tomorrow will bring.