"Day 6. No signs of Mr Looker."

Half-sat on her bed, Anabel eyed the weather outside of the window, the clouds that had been wispy and white that morning were now darkened and densified, shades of grey had carpeted the skies; a few wisps of light managed leak through the little holes in the carpet but otherwise it was as dark as pre-dawn.

The nurses came to close the window from the heavy air, with the dampness that smelt of a coming storm. The Pokemons outside would've sensed its arrival and to seek shelter, only the water types or oddballs like Goomy would want to brace themselves with the downpour.

It was like if the sky is overwhelmed with emotions, tears were threatening to unleash themselves upon her. She felt them. She knew that they were there.

It was the sixth day without the presence of Mr Looker, and she had already been developing a paranoia over it. She hated herself for it, but hated even more so of the fact that she couldn't help it.

Her pre-paranoid trail of thoughts looked something along the lines of… this:

Did something happen to Mr Looker? Last time he said that he'd be around soon but that was not the case, was there an emergency? Is he alright?

Was it because of work? Mr Looker is a very skilled Interpol after all, he had been involved in quite a lot of things for the past few months … Is he still in the HQ? Did he leave for another mission? He wasn't obliged to come visit her but now she couldn't bear his absence.

Or… was it because of her?

Was there something about her that wasn't right?

Did she say something wrong, or do something wrong, like… a week ago when he was taking her outside for a walk？She knew that she shouldn't have tiptoed to reach that flower she made a fool of her self infront of him. Of course all she ever wanted was to look all feeble and frail infront of him. She hated herself so much the moment she slipped on the lawn and prayed for a hole for her to fall through to be right below her.

She didn't know how she felt about being caught and held by him. She probably would've blushed a little back then, could that be what was done wrong? But she couldn't help it, he was so close literally 3 inches away from her face… She didn't have the nerves to stare at his face so her gaze was somewhere else, the clear and hale jawline of his face, the prominent Adam's apple of his neck, his hands too, the hand that held her was a lot larger than her own, fingers shaped by their prominent phalange bones…

A burning sensation came from the side of her cheeks again. She shook her head rather violently to swipe the explicit snapshots out of her mind, yet immersed herself in another round of self-abasing thoughts.

Anabel knew of the mental disorder named schizophrenia somewhere in the back of her head, did not know of the causes and symptoms of it, but felt like the condition she's in right now would be somewhat qualified. She heard voices of various little people in her head, one frantically judging her for these selfish thoughts, one desperately defending herself, "Mr Looker is such a great person and the only one that cares about her" he or she said; the consoling one tried to sooth her with "you're overthinking this", and she couldn't even bear to deal with the pessimistic one.

"Just because he's the only one you have doesn't mean the same goes for him."

But Miss Pessimistic is right, Mr Looker is the only one she had. Lilac kind of counts, but it's something different. She was truly left with nothing.

Not even herself.

She wouldn't know how cliched of a heartache this would be because she couldn't remember reading any sort of romance or love based novels.

Finally there came a voice that was not her own or the various little people in her brain. It was Lilac, she rolled off the bed and was yelping to be picked up from the floor. The sight of Lilac may have brought a grin to her face ever so slightly, as she bent down to stroke the cloud fluff of the little Vulpix.

Lilac had been a fast bloomer over the months, she was the only size of a palm and half when Anabel first held her in quarantine, and now Lilac had grown to a full-fledged Watmel berry… not as round but at least the size of it.

As for herself…

She looked up at the dressing mirror by the wall. She'd still be called skinny, but not as "skin and bones" as she was 3 or 4 months ago, there's actually some flesh under her skin which actually had the presence of (a bit of) color and elasticity. Still haven't gained enough weight to fit the oversized patient gown. Her hair was growing way faster though, as her bangs were dangling over her eyes and had to be pinned to the side.

Over the few months in quarantine and rehabilitation her hair had grown to a rather awkward length, neither considered long or short, just brushing over her collarbone, a little ticklish; long enough to be tied in a pigtail, too short to be braided.

Had she never considered keeping her hair long? Was she somewhat of a tomboy before in Hoenn? She couldn't remember anything about the so called "old self" but she did find her "old self" a little unreasonable. She'd want to try out Miss Kristen's bun or the girl next door's fishtail braids.

What would Mr Looker think about her hair? She decided to ask him later if he does show up at her door.… if only her thoughts would bring him to her again.

And it was exactly at this very second when Kristen showed up at her door.

"Anabel, you have a visitor."

Those words were probably a button that triggered a 180 degree spin around and mood swing back to the sunny side.

"Mr Looker you haven't been around for da—"

Her voice slam-braked to mute as she soon enough realized that the person standing by her door wasn't Looker.

It was a man in slick black suits from head to toe with spotless and almost gleaming leather shoes, carefully moussed hair with a greasy glow, clean shaved-chin with no peppered stubble like Nanu's or sprouting, barely visible stubble like Looker's. He's on totally different domains from Looker and Nanu.

"Greetings, Miss Anabel, I hope you're enjoying your afternoon so far." The man nodded and smiled at her, but that smile made her feel uneasy. It was too formal, too perfect and superficial of a smile, the type that one would practice infront of a mirror for ages to master. She couldn't really see into his eyes either, they're shrouded by something on his pair of gold-rimmed glasses for sure, but she couldn't exactly say what it is.

"I am well Sir, thank you." Anabel nodded in return, making her utmost attempt to hide a frown from her face, it would be rude not to. "Sorry to be rude but… you are?"

"Yes of course, I haven't introduced myself properly." The man in black bowed ever so slightly before himself down on. "I am the head of the UB department and currently in charge of handling your case. You may call me by my code name Ozma."

Looker was in fact on his way to the ward when the unappointed meeting took place. He had in his hands two packed bento boxes, this time he actually dropped by a Character bento shop and ordered two Vulpix bentos. He hadn't been around for almost a week and he knew that this would definitely compensate for his absence over the days. All little girls love Charaben and Anabel should not be an exception. He was humming a little tune of his own until he was stopped by one of the agents at the door.

"The faller is currently at rest." The agent's voice was monotonous, robotic, and the fact that their eyes are hidden under shady sunglasses made them even more inhuman.

"Shouldn't Kristen be the one telling me that?" Looker shot him a hostile look, and after recognizing his affiliated department, the thoughts of what would potentially be happening behind the closed doors were making his flesh crawl. He grabbed onto the agent's wrist: "Is Ozma in there? What does he want from her?"

"That would be none of your business," said the agent cooly as he wrestled his way out of Looker's grip.

Looker smacked his lips and was not making the effort to hide it. He saw Kristen who was sitting by a chair in the hallway and knew that she was being banished from the room as well. Something needed to be done and he knew right at the moment what he could do. He walked over to Kristen's side and lowered to his voice to barely a whisper:

"Kristen, let me use the room next doors. You'll see what I mean."

And there he was, in the office next doors, setting up an detectaphone to eavesdrop on the conversation… under Kristen's watch.

"… You do realize that you're doing this inside the ICPO HQ right?"

"Kristen I have my reasons."
"Well the least I can do is not to breathe out a word."

"Thanks, I'll treat you to dinner later."

"So Mr Ozma, how can I help you?" Those were the first few words heard over the detectaphone.

"I'm here to inform you of your case. According to the current information that we've obtained in your case…" Ozma paused for a few seconds, and those few seconds gave him an ominous chill down his spine.

"I'm afraid to tell you that there's no place for you to return to."

Looker slammed his hand on the table so hard it stung for a while, Kristin had to shush him to remind him that he was eavesdropping that supposedly secretive conversation. That was something he was trying to hide from her for the entire time. He always struggled to toss the hot potato aside and tried to keep the lid on the fact that she didn't belong here for as long as possible. And yet all of his efforts were thrown to waste in not even a minute of Ana's encounter with Ozma.

"What do you mean?" He heard Anabel again, she sounded baffled, but of course she would be. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that."

"For the few months we've been investigating the case files of missing children reported in Hoenn, searching for matching names and features among those cases. We've filed several missing person reports of you, contacted the Hoenn branch of ICPO, and we haven't overlooked the possibilities of child abduction. And yet there was not a single case that resembled your conditions. Not even one that matched in name."

Liar. These were all the things that only Looker himself intended to do back when he first found her. Everything regarding the possibility of "a missing girl" was postponed after she was confirmed to be a faller. The ICPO would never care about a single missing girl to such an extent in the first place to do all these for her.

"So, it is only reasonable to assume that, no one was looking for you in the first place."

You. Don't. Tell. Her. That.

You. Don't. Fucking. Tell. Her. That.

What in the name of Arceus was Ozma planning to do? Shatter Anabel's hope on ever returning to Hoenn or going home, telling her that she's unwanted to the point that no one was looking for her, and then play nice and offer shelter so she could stay here at the HQ being a goody-two-shoes as well as their lab Rattata and UB bait?

"It would be irresponsible of us to merely send you off to an orphanage or an asylum, so I will let you know that you will always have a place to stay here at the ICPO, under a few conditions. We will await the retrieval of your past memory patiently, so take your time with ease."

Ahh.

He was right.

He wasn't pleased by it in the slightest.

She's only 15 at most and she could be 10 for crying out loud, is this something even legal to say to a sensitive pre-teen? He had to remain silent but his mind was on a rolling rant. What are you expecting her to say in return? "Oh thank you so much for allowing me to stay I owe you my life for this, so feel free to do anything to me in the near future, including being thrown out as a bait to the UB"?!

"Thank you for allowing me to stay." He should really stop thinking, now he's on edge, with the clenching fear of hearing things along the lines of 'I owe you my life for this'. "And in return, Mr Ozma, I also have a request."

"For sure, please tell me."

"More of an inquiry…" She paused."At what age are you eligible to enter the ICPO?"

Oh no.

This girl's nuts. She's planning to join the ICPO herself.

Don't say anything anymore, don't you dare, he wanted to yell at her from outside the room, Cathie lost her life to those beasts and I will not let you become another victim to them. Joining the ICPO will only make you a bait with experience, you're still going to be dead meat to them. I won't allow it. I. Won't. Allow it.

He wanted to storm into the room and take her out of here.

He didn't.

And so he stopped thinking.

"To be a functioning member you'd have to be at least 18 years or over, to enter training the minimum age is 15…" Ozma then paused and a tone change was visible in his speech. "But you wouldn't want to actually become a member of the ICPO, would you?"

"Well if anything I wouldn't want to be a deadbeat. I'd like to repay the ICPO in some way for saving my life, the most straightforward way of doing that is to serve as a functioning member."

"Well said. But you do realize that the ICPO isn't a place of compulsory education or anything close to a play house, right?"

"I am old enough to be aware of that, thank you very much." Her voice sounded cooled again, at least 5 years older than how old she really is. "If I do happen to underperform, feel free to kick me out any time. I could at least handle that."

Ozma chuckled a little for no reason, and it made him want to rip the vocal chords out of that glibly mouth. He started cracking his knuckles, may or may not be related to the thought. "How very mature of you. You're quite the thinker of you age. Very well. Either myself or my subordinates will keep you informed on what is for you to know regarding training." Chairs squeaking and sliding a little across the floor, Ozma taking his leave. "Now good day to you, Miss Anabel, hope all is well with your rehabilitation."

"Good day to you, Mr Ozma."

And he heard nothing more from Anabel.

Footsteps, the clinks and clonks of Ozma's leather shoes. The sliding creaking of the ward door and it being shut again.

It was the closest his body had ever gotten to acting on its own, he couldn't think, he almost stopped thinking, but his body threw itself out the doors of the office into the hallway, his legs were lead filled but managed to "hotfoot it" on his way out without tumbling over, he didn't know whether the ground was shaking his legs or that his footsteps were shaking the floor.

But he knew he had to say something. He had to do something. For her. For himself.

"Ah, Agent Looker, what a coincidence. I was just thinking of you, who knew you'd be this close." He may be just imagining things, but Ozma may or may not have stressed on the last two words as he pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose. "Please prepare yourself for an upcoming undercover mission, the Aether foundation is worth some investigation no matter how credible they present themselves to be. Despite how cooperative they've been with our investigation they've been hiding a lot under their closed doors. You're one of the best candidates for this mission, I hope that the Aether Foundation would build on to your existing knowledge of the Ultra Beasts."

That was almost too much for his brain to process, he blinked a little absent-mindedly and nodded a "yes sir".

"Of course you will receive special training and instructions prior to the undercover, you will be greeted by members of the Alolan branch and you will be sent in under the right occasion."

If anything he prayed to Lord Arceus that this pop up mission wouldn't require him to leave by tomorrow, he still needs to give a 2 hour lecture to the girl inside the ward about the dangers associated with the dark mess that she is totally oblivious of, if he couldn't bend her back from that path he knew that she was going to repeat the mournful history, just not infront of his eyes…..

"Agent Looker?"

"Ahh, sorry sir. When is my leave scheduled?"

"This Friday."

"…so tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow indeed."

….. Damn, Lord Arceus wasn't at all in his favor today.

"The schedule is a little tight but you'd have more time for preparation when you arrive in Alola. Bon voyage." Ozma waved goodbye at him as he turned around, but with a completely stationary arm.

"Sir!"

He hollered at Ozma's back, even though Ozma had only taken a few steps away from him.

"She's at most a 15 year old, but she could be 10 you never know! Please don't let her be involved in anything in… our side of the world!" He could feel his teeth chattering like upon encountering a cold breeze, but continued regardless: "The ICPO wouldn't want to risk the life of a little girl… am, am I right?"

Ozma squinted slightly, narrowing his slanted eyes while the smile on his lips grew wider, again, that flawless and enigmatic smile that always annoyed him — only that he would never be able to tell what exactly triggered his annoyance.

"Well, Agent Looker, here's a word of advice: Keep your hands off something that's out of your domain."

He had expected this, he had expected this kind of an answer from Ozma, but Ozma's words still left him stunned in vain.

Footsteps, the clinks and clonks of Ozma's leather shoes.

By the time Looker had regained his senses Ozma was already on the other end of the hallway, it was as though he had teleported his way out. Looker shook his head furiously, pushed the urge of banging his head on the walls or punching them, he clenched on the door handle to push the ward door open.

"Why in the name of Arceus would you think of joining the ICPO?"

"Ahhh Mr Looker so you've been listening~!" Her grin widened, revealing the top row of her perfectly aligned teeth. "Don't worry Mr Looker, I know what I can…"

"No you don't." Looker started cracking his knuckles again, this was his own thing to do when he was on edge like Anabel's lip biting. He had complaints from Shaun saying that it was the most bone-chilling sound in the world, but he couldn't help it, it was as necessary as scratching a needling, torturous itch. "You've been here for not even four months and you think that you're all set to become an Interpol?"

Lightning came, a brilliant flash that flickered and died, like an almighty camera flash that blinded everything for a split second.

"Mr Looker… are you mad? I'm sensing a little choler…" There she was, biting her lips again. He knew that he must've scared her, and the lightning was making him even edgier.

"I am." A sizable bubble collapsed in between his joints again, making the loudest popping crack at that instant. From Kristen he heard the scientific explanation of his behavior, cracking knuckles was an act intended to stretch his fingers and relieve pressure buildup but he felt no relief whatsoever. "You don't even know how hard I tried to get you out of this mess, and if anything I didn't do it so that you can re-enter this mess by yourself?! You don't even know…"

"Then tell me. Please… tell me."

Those words silenced him from all his ranting and raving. So did the rumbling thunder that followed, piercing through the thick air in this room.

Lilac yelped a little in panic from the unknown grumbling sound, coming from what seemed like a titanic Pokemon beyond the dark clouds. He would've been terrified as well if he were her age, but right now nothing is more terrifying than the sounds of his constantly accelerating heartbeat as Anabel stared straight into his eyes.

She finally looked away from his eyes. It was a relief, by releasing him from the tightest grip of his heart, but it also felt like her eyes had plucked something out of him. He had no idea what it was. The bite marks were still visible from her quivering lips, and from it a few feeble words were released into the air:

"See…? You wouldn't even tell me."

Of course he wouldn't tell her.

This was something that he had decided to bring into his grave.

His eyes diverged away from her eyes. She had her head down and was looking down at her feet, but he knew that she was staring at him, with her inner eye or consciousness or something that's wrenching up all his insides. Yet another flash of lightning burned itself into his dilated pupils followed by a cracking boom.

He thought that the cracking boom of thunder would be followed by a long period of awkward silence, but instead it was the creaking of the door sliding open. He turned around to find that Nanu had entered the room. He knew that Nanu was here to pick him up for another meeting that he couldn't care less about. "Time to go", he could tell that these words were dangling from Nanu's mouth, and he only swallowed it back after seeing the unopened Charabens on the bedside stands.

So instead, Nanu said— as he wrinkled his nose at the sight of what he considered "children's playthings"— "you've got 3 minutes exactly to shove that bento down your throat."

"I'm good. I'll go with you. Ana could save the other one for tomorrow."

He walked out of the room even before Nanu, without looking back and saying a word of goodbye. He could not bear to turn back. He could not bear to see the kind of expression that she'd be wearing on her face, but he knew that something would be definitely in her eyes. Maybe not tears, but disappointment for sure.

He knew that he had disappointed her, and that was just another one to add to his seemingly endless list of sins he had committed.

"Well I certainly did not see that coming, thought you're gonna be begging on your knees for some extra time."

"Ain't got time for that.." Looker squeezed the words out from his gritted teeth, "Ozma got her."

"…WelI I did see that one coming, it's just a matter of sooner of later. What did he want from her?"

Looker had to take a second and manage his heavy breathing before he summarize the content of the meeting. "He was making her give up on returning to Hoenn so she would stay here as their good little bait. But that's not the point, I don't know what's gotten into her but she asked Ozma about entry to the ICPO. She actually wants to become an interpol she must be out of her mind…"

"… Or how about you reflect on yourself, see if it's because of all the funny little stories that you've been telling her, duh? Right？ Mr Handsome?" Nanu stressed on the last two words on purpose as he pinched at Looker's ears, but he was not in the mood of bickering or pinching back.

"Then tell me what else was I supposed to tell her?! All the ugly deals behind the scenes?!"

"Well she's your mistake, go fix it, tell her things that'll make her back off from that Interpol dream."

"I wish I could, things would've been a lot easier that way…" Looker groaned loudly, "Ozma sent me off on another mission, this one's gonna be a long term undercover… so if only you could.…"

"As if." Nanu interrupted his request rather mercilessly. "I'm not gonna stop her from becoming an interpol."

"Are you nuts as well?!"

"If anything they will teach her how to protect herself so you and I wouldn't have to worry about them her being butchered like a defenseless little Magi.… well even Magikarp knows how to do a flop." Nanu managed a last minute rephrase of his metaphor, and was making air clenches in his struggle to find the right words. "What I'm trying to say is, when you can't help it, try to think on the bright side."

"There is no bright side to this, Nanu. If you can't convince her otherwise… please take care of her when I am away."

"What am I? A nanny? We've agreed on her being your responsibility, honestly 100kr you need to…"

"Please. Nanu. This will be the only thing that I ask of you. Please. I beg of you."

He was actually on the verge of kneeling on the ground when Nanu stopped him.

"… Fine." Nanu sighed for what seemed like the millionth time ever since the day of the incident. For the first time he saw the looks of a languished man on Nanu's face, his eyes had been bloodshot for quite a while and his hair had been dyed grey at an alarming rate. "When it gets to that point, I will try my best to shield her under my wing. But keep in mind that it's not gonna last long."

"…Still I thank you for this. I owe you."

To Ana:

By the time you're reading this letter I'll be gone already. It's a shame that I couldn't say goodbye in person, the organization had my flight booked before you'd wake up from your sleep. I apologize in advance for the messy handwriting I'm barely getting enough time to pack my luggage.

On the plane to Alola again, Looker closed his eyes and those words written by his very own hand were flashing infront of his eyes. He didn't know if he had what people call eidetic memory, but he was capable of vividly recalling words that were written, images that were seen or things that have happened infront of his eyes from days, months and sometimes even years ago. Indeed it is a double-edged sword, he got to replay the happiest memories of his life over and over again and he would never be able to escape from his worst nightmares.

I'm very sorry for raising my voice at you. It's my fault so it'd be unfair for you to bear it with me, please don't give yourself a hard time. I am still sticking to my point, do not join the ICPO, it is nothing like you've ever heard or seen. But if you've already set your mind and if my higher ups have added your name to the trainee list… then I don't know what I can do to stop you.

Don't think it's going to be as fun as my stories sound… I do try to tell you only the most lighthearted stories. Training is going to be tough. Your brains are going to get you through the knowledge portion but you really have to buckle up for the physical training. I highly doubt that the instructor will go easy on you because you've just recovered from the state that you were in.

Don't think the job is going be as righteous as you think it may be. You don't get to save and help everyone in need. Sometimes you can't even save your partner, your friends, or someone that you care about. You don't need to know how that feels, and I hope that you never will.

If anything his eidetic memory (not confirmed yet) wasn't in charge of remembering the feelings associated with pieces of memory, he could not remember what he felt while writing down these words. The pen must have felt heavy on his hand, judging by the stains of ink and some bolded letters. He knew that he would warn her, he would want her to change her mind about entering the ICPO, but to himself his words were relievers of self-reproach and remorse. Some of the words may perplex her and may not reach her, but he wanted to write them down regardless, hoping that when he meet her again years later he'd be able to tell them what they truly meant.

There are still lots of things that I haven't said, but I am running out of space. But what I can also tell you is, you will also meet teens of your age in your training squad, and I'm sure that you will make great friends just like I did, and some of the times that you've spent in training will be some of the best times of your life.

This is my personal number, xxx-xxxx-xxxxx, I will be on a long term mission so I wouldn't be able to reply on a daily basis, but please text me and let me know if anything happens, or just to tell me that you're alright.

Hoping that all is well, and hope to see you and Lilac soon once I return from this mission.

Best regards,

Looker

And he remembered that, before sealing off the letter into an envelope, he added a few words a little playfully, he couldn't remember what made him do it at the moment, but it was worth it.

(previously 100kr, but I like the name that you picked way better :)

He grinned ever so slightly at the memory of it, and the corner of his lips most probably dropped again as sleep pooled on his eyelids and his face. He didn't even shut the window shades beside him and was completely oblivious to a new sunrise that dyed his own peachfuzz and stubble to a shimmering gold.

Little did he know that soon enough his number will being scratched off by a thick black sharpie censored along with every other so-called sensitive word in the process of "proofreading"

Little did he know that the girl would be reading his letter over and over again for the most subtle clues that weren't intended in the first place

And yes, little did he know that he'd be waiting for a call

that will never reach him.

P.S.

The story that was told at the beginning came directly from episode 2 (The Chase) of Pokemon Generations. Go watch that episode, honestly I'd watch 600 episodes of Pokemon Generations, ditched the Pokemon anime after Diamond/Pearl. Looker is a real hottie in the Generations series I could fangirl over him all day ( *´艸`*) The only change made was instead of the commander in charge I made him into a rookie because he was supposed to be in his early twenties.
I canon that Looker is a language specialist, I mean remember when he goes "TAIHENDAAA" "C'est une Catastrophe" and "Es ist eine Katastrophe" in the game without ever just saying "It's a goshdarn disaster"? Pretty sure he just wanted to show off. I'm definitely gonna add that in. There was a meme on tumblr with Anabel flipping the table be like "ENGLISH- M*THERF*CKER-DO YOU SPEAK IT" rofl. Anyways LeBelle = French, Bellocchio = Italian, Pan Ciacho = Polish, source: Bulbapedia, great place ;3

As to the names in this chapter: Ozma came from Necrozma, cuz Necrozma's enigmatic and a little devilish ;) What made me decide on Ozma was more of a trivia from Bulbapedia, "Necrozma may also be based off of Project Ozma, an experiment made to search for extraterrestrial life." Gonna be putting him at the prime spot of antagonism ;) Yasu is either Nanu's name in the French or Spanish games or was it German yeah if you're interested check Bulbapedia, great place ;3
I know nothing about the ICPO + eligibility of training so the age requirements and stuff are all made up. So please if anything sounds bs to you don't judge me. I'm open to suggestions about the regulations of ICPO and stuff!
So what happened to Looker's number? Well in order for things to be given to Ana it would've gone through thorough strict inspection first (like when Lilac was first brought in). I thought that it'd be only natural if the ICPO would want to limit the faller's contact to "the outside" as much as possible. Even if Looker's a certified interpol, they're sensing a bit too much of intimacy. Another possibility would've been that the letter was never given to Anabel so she'd be really grieving over Looker leaving without even saying goodbye but… that'd be a bit cliched, so let the poor girl have the letter shall we? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Next chapter's gonna be a time skip of 10 yrs just a heads up!