Chapter 3:

It had been a few days since Tails had taken in Vulpix. During that time the duo had explored the area around Pewter City and challenged several pokemon trainers to friendly 1 pokemon each battles. Tails was pleasantly surprised to learn that Vulpix knew a variety of useful moves [author's note: in the pokemon anime, pokemon can have more than 4 moves at a time.] Despite their enthusiasm, they hadn't won every battle. Vulpix had learned his master's name was Miles, from hearing the humans introduce themselves before each battle.

Vupix was worried when he'd first lost a battle under Miles's care: he feared that that Miles would be mad at him for losing like his old master would have been. However Miles once again seemed to know him better then he'd expected since upon seeing his worried demeanor, he'd comforted him and expressed gratitude that he'd tried his best.

As the sun set Tails walked towards the Pewter City pokemon center with Vulpix walking beside him. Tails felt happy, and Vulpix looked happy too. "Great job today Vulpix" Tails said and got an energetic yip in response. The duo walked into the center and were greeted by Nurse Joy, "Hello Miles, how'd Vulpix do in battles today?" Tails replied, "He did very well but I think he's a little tired though. Could you have a look at him?" Inwardly Tails was worried that Vulpix might worse then he let on. "Sure" Nurse Joy replied as Tails held Vulpix up for her to take.

As Nurse Joy carried Vulpix into the examination room, Tails reflected on how much better Vulpix had gotten around other people: when Tails brought Vulpix in for a checkup the day after they'd spent their first night together, Nurse Joy had to let Tails into the examination room with her since Vulpix was panicking about being separated. Once inside Tails would have loved to take a close look at all the pokemon center's equipment, but he knew it wasn't the right time. Tails had reassured Vulpix afterwards that he'd never abandon him and that most humans were kind people like himself and Nurse Joy. It seemed to have sunk in since later that day Vulpix allowed a female pokemon trainer to pet him while they were all having lunch.

After the examination and dinner Tails grabbed a blanket and lay down on a couch in the reception area, since the center didn't have beds for guests. Vulpix curled up on his chest and soon both of them were sleeping peacefully, until Tails began to dream once again about Cosmo.

Tails was in the backup bridge of the Blue Typhoon again. He saw out the window that Cosmo had just immobilized Dark Oak, the last remaining metarex commander. She begged him to fire the power cannon and stop the metarex once and for all. Tails pleaded with her that he didn't want to do it because he loved her and wanted her to be safe: the cannon would kill her too. However his trigger finger seemed to move on its own and fired the cannon anyway. As he watched the cannon's blast fly towards its target he screamed for Cosmo. A few minutes later Tails waited on the blue typhoon's deck for Sonic to return, since Sonic had been fired out of the cannon. He saw a shape in the distance, but it didn't look right. Tails faintly heard a crash like breaking glass, and In moments the shape was right in front of him. It was Dark Oak, and he was holding Cosmo's limp body."No... you should be dead" Tails said slowly. Dark Oak replied, "I am, but so is SHE!" Dark oak laughed maniacally then his and Cosmo's bodies turned to dust. Tails screamed "COSMO!" at the top of his lungs.

Tails woke up screaming "COSMO!" and frantically looked around. He saw he was in the pokemon center and that light was streaming in through the windows. Nurse Joy ran into the room almost immediately. "I heard a scream. Is everything alright?" she said. Tails looked at her and replied, "Yes, I was just having a nightmare" As he looked around the room Tails noticed that strangely none of the other trainers who were staying the night had been woken up by his scream, then another thought hit him: "Where's Vulpix?" Then he felt a draft and saw that the window behind him had been smashed. Tails then noticed a note stuck between the couch cushions, he was sure it wasn't there when he went to bed. Unfolding the note, he read:

Since you didn't have any money we took your Vulpix instead. Sweet dreams loser.

Al and Capone

Tails started to tear up as he read the note. Nurse Joy asked what was wrong and he handed the note to her. After that everything happened very fast. Nurse Joy reported the kidnapping and as the other trainers woke up they all realized that they'd been robbed as well. Officer Jenny and some other members of the local police force had been called in to investigate. Tails learned that Al and Capone were two members of team rocket who'd been on Kanto's most wanted list for just under a year. As the police tried to calm the angry robbery victims, Tails noticed that they'd brought some Growlithe with them, who were sniffing around the room. That gave him an idea. He walked over to the table where the note he'd received was on display and started to sniff it. Officer Jenny turned and looked at him. "Sorry, I thought I smelled something funny." he said, and then he walked out of the room, his initial feeling of shock had been replace with determination.

Tails walked around Pewter City attempting to track the scent that was on the note he'd been given. After traversing the entire residential district, the gym, and even the police station, he was starting to lose hope. Tails was walking by a small cafe when he smelled the scent he wanted, human mixed with a distinct and onerous blend of beauty products. By the time Tails tracked the scent all the way to an abandoned power plant outside Pewter City it was almost sundown. He saw a gruff looking man in a trench coat outside the entrance who appeared to be keeping watch, though he looked bored rather than attentive.

Tails walked up to the man and said "Excuse me, have you seen my Vulpix?" The man looked surprised for just long enough for Tails to notice before his expression turned angry. "I don't know nothing about no Vulpix," he spat, "and isn't about time your Mommy tucked you in for the night?" Tails began to shake with anger: he'd loved to have had parents to take care of him during his childhood so mocking parental love was seriously offensive to him. The man noticed and mockingly said, "Did I hurt your little feelings?" as he pulled out a poke ball, tossing it into the air he said, "Venommoth, scare this kid out of town!" as Venommoth appeared. Tails glared at the man and said, "If it's a fight you want, you're going to get it." With those words he let his disguise form disappear. All nine of his tails were now standing on end. His adversary looked surprised but then smirked as he said, "A rare pokemon like you will be a great gift for my bosses. Venommoth, sleep powder!" Tails used his elemental kitsune powers to shoot a burst of fire from his hands at the oncoming cloud of sleep powder, burning it away instantly. The fire continued forward and engulfed Venommoth, who was instantly KOed. The gruff man looked shocked and hastily pulled out a cell phone. Before he could call for backup Tails shot a bolt of lightning at him that knocked him out as well. Tails entered the abandoned power plant without taking his disguise form again.

Tails noticed that the inside of the small power plant seemed to have been used recently, though seemingly not for the purpose of generating electricity. After walking through a short hallway he came upon a heavy door. From the other side he heard voices: "Waiting for our getaway convoy is sooo boring." The speaker was female and sounded like a stereotypical annoyed young adult. "Yeah, but we've got plenty of time. The cops are always too slow to catch us anyway." a similar sounding voice replied. "I just wish I could have seen the look on that kid's face when he read our note." The first speaker said. The second one replied, "What do you want to do with that Vulpix anyway?" The second speaker said "I think it would make a nice fur hat." Tails had heard more than enough. He blew open the door with a powerful burst of wind, He didn't want to use fire again in case there were captives or stolen items on the other side. He saw two female humans in their late 20s each with dark clothing that had a red R emblazoned on it. They also had ridiculous hairstyles. He recognized them from a wanted poster he'd been shown earlier as Al and Capone, and he could smell the scent he'd been tracking coming from them without even having to sniff.

The two agents seemed unfazed by his entrance and one of them said, "Oh look Al, a rare pokemon walked right into our hideout." The other agent replied, "It must be our lucky day, lets grab it" and they both took out pokeballs. "Go Machoke!" Al said followed by Capone adding, "Go Beedrill" and threw the pokeballs into the air, releasing their chosen pokemon. Tails didn't wait for them to give commands, he shot a bolt of lightning at Machoke and kept it going until Machoke collapsed. "Get up you loser! It only attacked you once." Al said angrily while Capone added "Beedrill, fury attack!" Tails dodged out of the way of Beedrill's stingers and shot a burst of fire at it, resulting in another one hit KO. Tails turned to the two criminals, and based on their expressions they saw the fury in his eyes. "Where's my Vulpix?" Tails questioned angrily. Capone nervously replied, "Vulpix? I-I don't know anything about a Vulpix." Tails shot a fireball right at their feet, and the two criminals recoiled in fear before catching each other's eyes briefly. "I remember now" Capone said, "Its right over this way." and pointed down another hallway. Tails stepped forward and looked down the direction they'd pointed. However he suddenly turned when he heard the sound of metal shifting and something being thrown. Tails quickly turned and saw some kind of futuristic restraining device sailing towards him, based on her posture Al must have thrown it. With that act of dishonesty Tails had had more than enough of these criminals: he let lose an explosion of fire and wind that destroyed the restraining device and sent Al and Capone flying into the walls of the room. Both of them slumped over as if they'd been knocked out. Tails wasn't sure which way to go, since the room had four exits including the one he'd come in through. However he vaguely smelled something other than human and hair spray coming from one of the other hallways. He walked down that hallway, which had a few twists and turns, and as he came upon another door, he smelled a familiar scent.

Vulpix was losing hope. He'd been woken during the previous night by his master tossing, turning, and muttering in his sleep. He'd wanted to offer comfort but before he could he heard the sound of breaking glass. He'd tried to investigate only to inhale something strange that caused him to black out. He'd come to inside a cage with a muzzle over his mouth. In the cages next to him were a Sandslash and a Nidorina. Vulpix had asked them what happened, though talking to them was difficult with the muzzle, and found out that they'd also been kidnapped. He'd been hopeful that Miles would come for him until he'd heard that Sandslash had been abducted two weeks ago from a home in Cerulean city. After a few hours had passed, though he had no way to judge the exact amount of time, he started to lose hope. "Miles..." he thought to himself, "I fear I'll never experience your kindness again." A few despair filled minutes passed, and then Vulpix heard strange noises coming from the next room. Judging by her posture, Nidorina must have heard them too. The door to the room opened slowly and all the pokemon tensed incase it was one of their captors returning. However the door opened to reveal a fox like creature. It had gloves and sneakers like the kind Miles wore and was standing on its hind legs. its expression was resolute and its nine tails were straight, but as it looked at Vulpix its expression softened into a look of concern. Vulpix, along with the other captives were in awe of this new arrival since it gave off an aura of majesty similar to that of a legendary pokemon. They were surprised when it spoke: it said, "Vulpix!" and rushed over to the cages. Vulpix was sure its voice sounded familiar. The new arrival's hands sparked slightly and the electronic lock on the cage opened. The fox creature reached in and gently pulled off the muzzle and then pulled Vulpix into a hug while crying with relief. While in the creature's gentle grip Vulpix got a good feel for its scent. "It couldn't be, could it?" he thought to himself. Out loud he finished "Miles?" in his native tongue.

Tails was glad he'd found Vulpix and was enjoying a wonderful reunion when he heard Vulpix speak. Somehow he understood the meaning perfectly despite the fact that Vulpix wasn't speaking any human or mobian language. Tails had unwittingly invoked another Kitsune power that allowed him to understand any language he heard. Tails replied, "How'd you know it was me?" Vulpix responded, "I'd know your comforting scent anywhere, master." Tails replied, "Don't call me master: we're friends." At that point Sandslash interjected, "That's very touching but can you release us too?" Tails gave a sheepish look and said, "Right, sorry."

Just after he'd opened the last lock Tails heard a voice from a megaphone: "This is the police. We have you completely surrounded. Come out with your hands in the air!" Tails realized that it would be awkward if he was found at a criminal hideout by the police, regardless of he was in his true form of his disguise form. He explained to the Sandslash and the Nidorina that he and Vulpix couldn't stay but the police would be sure to return them to their rightful owners. Tails picked up Vulpix and using a variation of his disguise power made himself and his cargo invisible. He carefully walked back through the powerplant and saw a police squad along with an unmarked van outside. Two police officers were leading two team rocket agents away from the van in handcuffs. As he walked past the police car, one of the officer's Growliths barked at him. Another police officer turned and looked around but couldn't tell what the commotion was about.

Once they were clear of the police line, Tails let himself reappear. Vupix asked, "Why are you in a different form now? Were you always a fox pokemon on the inside?" Tails replied, "I'm actually not a pokemon. In fact, I'm not even from your world. I disguised myself as a human so I could become a pokemon trainer. I have an important quest that I must complete no matter what." Vulpix seemed to be thinking for a moment and then added, "I wish I could have nine majestic tails like you do." Tails recalled Vulpix's pokedex entry and replied, "You can. All you have to do is evolve."