Chapter 6

Black couldn't help but think the man was far more intense than anticipated. It didn't help that the man had been smiling at him, because it only brought attention to the fact that he had something to be smiling about in the first place. He had felt the thrum in Silver's as she had growled at him.

They hadn't seen anything as painful as Bianca's match since the start of their journey. The run-in with the Herdier had been bad, but he had been an active participant in that mess, so it wasn't like he had the luxury of looking in from the outside. Monty the Dewott had been struggling desperately, all just to land one hit on her opponent, and she failed miserably.

And painfully too. For the Emergency Recall System to activate, she really must have been suffering to remain alive, let alone fight.

The restaurant outside was buzzing with gossip as many of them realized they might even get treated to two Gym Battles in one sitting. "Another challenger so soon?" he heard some of them say, "He looks worse than that last girl," he heard a gentleman declare loudly to his table guests.

Black grit his teeth and scratched behind Silver's, both to relax him and to calm her from heading out there and assaulting the stranger who'd spoken. The battle hadn't even started and they were already counting him out?

"Please excuse the guests," the Gym Leader -Cilan, he recalled- said as he entered the room. The man offered his hand "They tend to get a little excitable following some of our battles."

Black nodded even as he gave the older man a handshake that he hoped didn't betray how gutless he was feeling then. The use of the word 'our' caught his attention, prompting the teen to look behind him, looking for the other two hopefully-not-as-intimidating Gym Leaders.

"We are right here, young man," said a soft voice from behind him, causing Black to jump in surprise. "My name is Cress a la Dente."

The teen turned to get a good look at his surprising shadow. He looked to be a little bit younger than Cilan, and had a softer face too, with surprisingly fair skin. His dark hair with the man's own blue highlights was combed back and sleek-looking. He was wearing the same attire as his (apparent) brother, though his was a size or two smaller.

Black shook hands with the Gym Leader, relaxing a little as he saw the encouraging smile on Cress' face. Gym Leader's were personable people, Black remembered; they had to be, seeing as how they were some of the most public figures of the League. There were plenty of experienced and powerful trainers around the region, but the amount that could manage the responsibilities of a Gym Leader while still managing to be charismatic were astonishingly few.

There was another man standing next to Cress, who Black instantly knew to be Chili. This one looked to be more Cilan's age. He had a pair of glasses hanging from his neck, and cheery black eyes that made Black think of a fireplace. He had more laugh lines than either of his brother's and his neck-length hair was spiked towards the back, with red and orange highlights this time. He too wore the same attire as his brethren.

"Chili here," the man said, a wide grin on his face. Black felt Silver instantly calm as he reached out and ruffled her head. "The best among us."

Cress snorted beside him, but said nothing.

Cilan put a hand on Black's shoulder and directed him to one of the chairs. "Why don't we let our guests enjoy their meal for a few more minutes before we get them any more excited, hmm?" the man said with all the charisma that his position implied, but Black could tell that this was more than a request.

The green-tipped man then retrieved three Pokeballs from his belt and released them, and out came three cactus-like Pokemon that Black recognized as Maractus.

"These are the Three Amigos," Cilan said, gesturing to each of his partners, "They're not really much for battling but they do love to rouse a crowd. They'll be your opening act."

Each of them let out a happy cry in response to that. The trio of Maractus passed by them as they left for the stage. Soon the air was filled with sound as one of the grass-types began to sing while the other two started to dance. Black heard some grumbles from the customers about not getting to see the battle, but they were soon washed away by the general rabble-rabble of restaurant conversations.

Black breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the full blast of the room's air conditioner as it turned on. He hadn't realized just how hot the restaurant was until now, though he supposed that much of it could have been attributed to being put on the spot like that.

Cress turned and went behind the counter in the room, on which there was a familiar looking machine. It took a moment for Black to realize that it was the same machine they had at Pokemon Centers and rest stops used to verify a Trainer's ID. "Very well, I will need your Pokedex to check your League record."

Black put Silver down, and handed him the Pokedex. "Don't run off," he warned her, even as he warily watched the other man place his encyclopedia of Pokemon through a slot in the machine.

Silver, for her part, just pouted and began to walk around the room, excitedly sniffing every new thing she could get her little nose on. What must it be like, Black wondered, to see the world through her eyes, where everything new exciting and the right shoes tasted funny.

"She's quite the excitable one," Cress said as he returned Black's ID. The blue-streak man's eyes were calculating as he viewed the Lillipup run around the room. "I don't envy you for the hassle she must cause you, Mr. Black."

It was the first time anybody had ever called him by that, and he hoped it'd be the last. Just the thought of adding a "Mr." title to the front of his name made him cringe.

"Everything check out, alright?" Black said instead, changing the subject. He didn't feel comfortable discussing his Pokemon with the brother of the Gym Leader he'd be challenging in a few moments.

Cress hesitated and then nodded. That pause was all Black needed to know that, no, not everything checked out. "What happened, then?" he all but sighed the question.

The older man just shrugged non-committedly and said, "Just a few technical issues, nothing to worry about. I just need to ask you a few questions about your team."

That was a more annoying answer than what he had expected. Shaking his head, Black schooled his features so as to not seem rude to the gentleman who could make his upcoming battle very difficult if he so chose to. "Shoot."

"Your first Pokemon was Snivy, correct?" Cress said as he brought out a clipboard from underneath the counter.

Black nodded, and just grunted, "Yeah." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Chili perk up. That likely meant he was going to be his opponent then.

"The records show that you have caught two more since then, could you please tell me what, and where you caught them?" The man was polite with his questions, but the inquisitive tone was there.

"A Patrat, and my Lillipup over there," Black said, pointing with his thumb at Silver, who now trotted playfully back to him at seeing his gesture. "On Route 1."

As he said that last sentence a chill came over him, and suddenly he was reminded of the Herdier once more. He shook his head, trying to forget those memories.

"This place is amazing, brother," she barked, tail wagging happily."There's so much food, and toys and I'm sure this would be a good place for the Captain to try and-"

"Actually, I caught a third one yesterday," Black remembered as he brought out Candy's Luxury Ball. "It's a Panpour."

Funny. A few weeks ago he wouldn't have minded calling Pokemon 'it' in conversation. Now it just felt demeaning to them.

"A Panpour, you say?" Cress said, looking interested. "Where did you find one around here?"

The teen shrugged, not really giving an answer, mostly because he didn't see how the man needed to know that she found him in his room.

He couldn't help but think that this line of questioning was more than a few technical issues though. What was the point of looking up his League record if they weren't even going to use the information they got?

"-and then I'll be like whoooosh! BAM! He'll be all blue-y and weak because I'm super and he'll be-"

What in the name of Victini was this puppy going on about? She'd been talking for five minutes straight already, and wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

After a few more minutes of questions and answers, all mostly from Cress, they finally stopped. Black was told to wait out in the restaurant while he went in the back. Glad to finally be free of the interrogation, Black picked up Silver and walked out of the room, only to be met with the resounding applause and cheers as he suddenly found himself under a spotlight.

"Well, crap," Black muttered as he realized the position he was in.

"Don't look now, mate," Chili said from beside him suddenly, "But you're the star of the show!"

"I don't like him," Silver said from his arms, suddenly reverting to growling once more, "He wants to hurt you, brother. I can feel it."

Why thank you, Silver. As if that actually helped with the sudden urge to bolt from there as fast as he could.

Nevertheless, Black held her tightly to his chest, and scratched her fur to appease her. She was now visibly baring her teeth at the Gym Leader, but all she succeeded in doing was in making several of the restaurant clientele remark upon how cute she was.

Walking to the stage, Black mentally double-checked everything he had on him. He wasn't planning on using Candy for this battle either, even if she probably had the type advantage. One morning of light training was not enough for him to get into a good grove with the simian Pokemon, and she still seemed a little overenthusiastic, always putting more than she could afford into her attacks.

So, that left Inspector and Silver then, because sending Xanatos out was just asking for trouble, especially considering how the man now walking up the far side of the stage was acting like a kid in a sweet shop.

There was music playing in the background, Black realized. He hadn't even noticed last time but the music was coming from the platform floor. It was a low and steady thrumming song, akin to what Black would say were several war drums announcing the end. He could feel the throbbing pulses enter his skin and shake his innards, somehow syncing with his heartbeat and trembling his guts.

Gym Leaders were allowed to trick out their facilities however they wished, provided they didn't violate any health or safety hazards. Black didn't realize up until now that they would actually employ psychological warfare in a run-of-the-mill gym battle. No wonder Bianca had looked nervous. Her intestines kept getting bounced around like piñatas up here, a feeling Black was quickly coming to despise.

"Challenger Black!" Chili called out, arms crossed and face stony. "The rules are two versus two! You, as the challenger are allowed to switch out! Seeing as how you have no badges yet -"

At this, a collection of groans rose up from their audience all around them. "Come on!" the same man from before shouted, "Another newbie? I wanted a battle, dammit, not a slaughter!"

"-we will be using level appropriate Pokemon based on your League record. Do you agree?"

Black breathed in, and breathed out. "Yes!" he replied, feeling none of the strength he faked in his voice.

"Should the E.R.S. be triggered for any member of your team, you will automatically forfeit. Do you agree?"

"We'll be okay, brother," Silver said, "We won't get hurt too much, I promise."

He wanted to say that he didn't want them to get hurt at all, but the words died in his throat, and all he managed was a croaky, "Thank you." And then he called out his agreement to the previous condition.

"Then, in accordance with the Pokemon League Association, I accept your challenge, Trainer Black!" Chili declared, and much fanfare erupted all around them.

A flash of light beside him, and suddenly Xanatos appeared. "Quite the mess you've got us in trainer," he said, red-eyes scanning the area around them.

"Captain!" Silver cried and sat obediently before him. "Awaiting orders, sir!"

"At ease, Number One," Xanatos said, almost distractedly as he eyed the red-tipped man opposite them. The field was rather large, about 50 feet by 75 feet. It was huge compared to the public battlefields that they'd been using, but he supposed that made sense. It wasn't like this Gym only fought novices. "What do we know about our opponent?"

"He's super strong!" she barked, happy to have deduced such a difficult facet about their new adversary. "And he smells like burnt hair!"

Black's lips may have twitched into a smile. He'd have to remember that.

He saw how an attendee walked up to the man on the other end, and gave him a microphone to pin to his shirt lapel. He also saw Chili pick out two Poke Balls from a set of six he was presented with. "I as the Gym Leader, shall go first!" the man said, his voice amplified as he released his first Pokemon. "Go . . . Lillipup!"

"Let's go Silver!" Black called out, snapping the little puppy out of her Xanatos-induced-trance.

"Eh? Awesomeawesomeawesoooooome!" she said as she ran onto the field, "Hi nice to meet you I'm going to beat your butt and chew it now."

Black blinked. Since when did she…?

"Not my fault," Xanatos quickly said, seeing where his train of thought was going. "I am entirely innocent in this."

Somehow he doubted that. He didn't have any time to say so though, as soon there was a loud bell-like sound, signifying the start of the match.

The two Lillipup began to approach and circle around each other. The crowd around them was booing and cheering for them, but all Black wanted was for them to shut up and let him concentrate.

"Let's bring this up a few notches, eh!?" Chili yelled into his mic, bringing up another round of cheers, "Bring the battle up to our kind of pace, Lillipup. Use Work Up!"

Work Up was more of a mental move than anything else, but it was usually the prelude to something worse. With a shout (why didn't he have a microphone?) Black told Silver to begin her own attack. The puppy gave what she probably thought was a good roar before she leapt at her opponent.

The two tumbled over then, and Black lost sight of which one was she in the muddle of fur and teeth that the two had become.

Luckily Xanatos didn't.

"She's going to lose," Xanatos said, observing the battle with narrowed eyes. "She's physically stronger, but he's old, and that means he's experienced. He's letting her dictate the pace of their tumble-"

"To tire her out," he finished for the Pokemon.

And as he realized this, Black could see their tumbling in an entirely new way. Silver was the one actively attacking, while her opponent kept squirming in such a way that he was taking minimal damage by moving just out of her Bite's range. But finally he was pinned with his back to the floor and she was-

"Now, kick her off!" Chili ordered, "And use Take Down!"

Wait, who the hell taught a Lillipup Take Down?

The gym Pokemon retracted his legs and pushed her off like a spring. Silver, not expecting to suddenly get thrown back, only managed to get back on her feet in time to feel the full-body charge of the other puppy.

Silver slid back on her feet until she reached a stop. "You poopface!" she screamed at the other dog, much to his apparent astonishment, "You stupid big poopface! Big brother, he hurt me!"

Black made a split second decision. "Silver, return!"

"Eh?" The Lillipup looked back at him. "But whyyyyyyyyy?"

He silenced her whine with a look. With a grumble and a pout, the puppy trotted over to her trainer's side and sat down, alternating between scowling at Black and the opposing Lillipup.

Black reached down to his belt. Inspector was more or less at the same level as Silver in terms of close quarters combat, so going for that would probably end the same way. Stupid Cheren, he mentally cursed. Why did he end up taking the guy's advice to challenge this gym in the first place?

Jerk just probably wanted revenge for losing their rematch.

"And so now you see the difference between power and experience, Trainer Black," Chili said, still smiling, but his eyes having lost all their previous warmth. "What shall be your next move? Will you forfeit now, and re-challenge the gym in a week? Or will you lose here and be prohibited for another month?"

"A month of training and I'd totally have your left shoe!" Silver yelled at the man.

Black's response was just to pull out his one and only Luxury Ball. "Kick his ass, Candy!"

Gods, he hoped he didn't regret this. But she was the only one besides Xanatos who had a long-range attack, which was what they needed.

"Woohoo, kika!" she shouted triumphantly as she materialized on to the field. ". . .Wait, is it lunch time already, kika?" she said, looking around at all the food on the tables.

"Here's your first mission, Candy?" Black said, falling into the persona of 'Boss' that he had taken on for their morning training. "That guy right there," he said, pointing to Chili, "is the brother of the one responsible for injuring one of our comrades-"

"You know, I don't think Monty would really like being called a comrade," Xanatos couldn't help but point out.

But Candy was already doing cartwheels in the air. "Kika! Brother Xanatos shall be avenged! Boss, I shall cut off his fingers in your honor, kika!"

Xanatos spluttered, "What? But I'm not dead!" The monkey continued advancing on the puppy that had been staring balefully at them "No, seriously, I'm not dead!"

"I don't know what's going on between your team, but this is a battle not a talent show! Use Take Down one more time, Lillipup!" It would seem that Chili was getting impatient. Or maybe it was just the sight of a water-type that rattled the man.

"Leap over him and Water Gun!" Black called.

As the Lillipup jumped forward in his charge, Candy somersaulted over him and turned in mid-air, unleashing the high-pressure water at the normal-type while upside down. The water blasted the puppy in the back of the head, sending him face first into the ground and stumbling head over heels.

He ended up stopping right in front of Black, and the teen could already see that the puppy had been knocked out from both blows to the head.

It was pitiful but Black wasn't going to lose too much sleep over it, and neither was his team. "Woo! Go Aunty!" Silver yipped, her tail wagging uncontrollably as she saw her teammate win her fight with ease.

Black allowed himself a little grin.

"Well, damn," Chili said, shaking his head as he returned the Lillipup, "I wasn't really expecting for you to use your Panpour so soon, seeing as how you got her yesterday. Kind of a risky move, don't you think?"

"You shall fall before Boss Black's mighty might, kika!" Candy said, doing a handstand and pointing at the man with her tail. "And I shall be his tool of justice, kika! For Brother Xanatos! Kika!"

Xanatos literally facepalmed. "Kill me now. Please."

"Nobody understands a word she's saying," Black whispered to him, still keeping an eye on Chili covered his mic and spoke aside with his brothers who had approached the platform. What was going on?

"I understand everything she's saying."

Meanwhile Candy kept doing handstands and cartwheels on the stage, her simian limbs easily impressing everyone watching. While not the sort of battle they were expecting, Black could tell they were enjoying themselves.

Suddenly, Chili turned back to the field. "Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen, just some technical issues. And now for the main dish!"

The man released his Pokemon. In the ensuing flash of light, Black let himself have a little smirk. Chili was widely renown as the fire-type user among his brothers, and this had made him predictable. The man had probably been expecting Black to use Xanatos; now all he had to use was his Pansear.

And sure enough, there came the fire-type counterpart to Candy. "Is this the part where I lose?" said the fire-type, looking nervously at Candy.

Candy, for her part, just looked like Christmas had come early.

"You younglings," Chili began, shaking his head in a disappointed manner, "Always going on about type-advantage this, type-advantage that . . . it makes. Me. SICK!"

"Woah, the Chili's really got his beans heating up a boil, huh?" the Pansear said, "Guess it's time for the Chef to prepare the ingredients!"

"I shall cut off your finger in the name of Sister Silver, kika!" Candy replied.

Meanwhile, Black felt like joining Xanatos in the facepalm, but did not only for the fact that no one else knew what they were saying. Xanatos, however, had no compunctions about scolding Silver, who had shot up at the sound of her name and started babbling about how awesome it was Aunt Candy was going to get her a finger.

Suddenly the ground started to shake. Within seconds, it became clear it was coming from the field. A trapdoor had opened up in the center of the area, prompting both Candy and the Chef to leap back away from each other as they each observed this sudden change to their battlefield. A few bars appeared from the hole, and slowly the metal structure rose revealing itself to be a . . . jungle gym.

"He's just playing around right now," Xanatos said, his distasteful frown back on his face.

Was he, though? As cocky as Chili was acting, Black knew enough about Panpours and Pansears to know that the physical differences beyond the obvious between the two species were mostly entirely aesthetic. Neither of them was more naturally inclined to this sort of environment.

Without even a signal from either of their trainer's both the monkeys had leapt forward into the metal playground, and Black understood something very important about Candy in that instant.

She had no clue about what to do in a jungle gym.

"Right here!" Chef said, as he swung from a bar behind Candy and kicked her in the back.

Candy fell, but she quickly recomposed herself and began scanning upwards for sight of her opponent, only to be thrown back by a vicious uppercut courtesy of the Pansear, who had already reached below her.

"Now, grab her and Incinerate her face!" Chili yelled.

"Shit, Candy, get a hold of yourself and get out of there!"

The Panpour recovered from her stupor and grabbed at the nearest bar, successfully curling herself up and away from her opponent's swipe at her tail. She took the opportunity to aim a Water Gun in Chef's direction, but the other monkey was already moving away, nimbly climbing and swinging from the jungle gym's bars, and her attack only met metal.

She couldn't keep fighting in there, Black thought to himself. She was completely outclassed even with her type advantage.

"Come and get me, punk! Kika!" she screamed at the Pansear, "I'm not afraid of you."

All she got was an Incinerate sent in her direction, which she only barely dodged. It kept on like this for a few more minutes, with Candy futilely pursuing while, Chef kept taking potshots at her from his position.

"Going in there was a bad move, Trainer Black! I've been using fire-types since I was younger than you. Do you really think I wouldn't know how to deal with a freshly caught Panpour?" Chili's smirk was definitely punch-worthy. "You're lucky I'm using a recent catch of mine too, otherwise you'd be already be well-done!"

"Enough with the puns, already," Black muttered to himself, and then louder he said, "Shower the area with Water Gun!"

Candy swung around a pole to dodge another Incinerate, then looked up and shot a Water Gun at the ceiling. The water did not touch the ceiling, even though Black knew Candy was fully capable of doing so. Instead, it began to come down in drops, like a shower head set to drizzle.

Black knew the idea worked though, because of the amount of indescribable screeching their foe kept making from his position in the structure. No matter where he moved he kept getting hit by the pseudo-rain. Alone, those things probably weren't of any importance, but together like that it probably would have felt like an acid shower to the unfortunate monkey.

"Tch! Not quite a Rain Dance but not bad, kid," the red-tipped man granted. "Chef, get outta there."

"Follow him, Candy!" Black yelled, pressing his advantage.

"On it, kika!" the blue monkey shouted as she clambered through the bars towards her foe.

Reaching the edge of the jungle gym, she leapt into the air, aiming to land right on top of Chef.

"Turn around and Fury Swipes!" Chili called out.

The Pansear spun on a dim, and sprung up to meet Candy, with a furious set of claw strikes. The two fell unceremoniously to the ground, though Black could tell Candy was the more injured among the two. Three red lines criss-crossed her body, where the other monkey's strikes had been particularly deep.

Shit. Candy's face had a particularly nasty gash straight across her eyes. There was a thin stream of blood leaking from the sides of her head. He could see her try to blink it away only to shut it right back again.

And it looked like Black wasn't the only one to notice this. Judging by how Chili ordered for his Pansear to go in for another Fury Swipes. Candy, blinded, could only futilely hit the air as she took the blows from all directions.

"Water Gun and spin around!" Black said, hoping that by virtue of attacking everything they'd actually hit something.

It was no such luck though, as the Pansear just mimicked being her shadow, turning in the same direction as she did and laughing all the while. Across the field, Black could see Chili chuckling into his mic, and he could hear the guests all around them joining in . . .

. . . right up until Candy flipped forward into a handstand and, upside down yet again, blasted Chef right in the face with her Water Gun.

The Pansear flew back, lifted up into the air by the pressure of the attack, and landed ungracefully on his back before Chili. The monkey was clearly knocked out.

Everyone one fell silent.

Everyone, that is, except for Candy. "Hey boss, did I win, kika?"


"I still say you wouldn't have won if you hadn't used your stupid water rat," Chili grumbled, as he handed Black the Trio Badge. They were once again in the back room, where they had just finished finalizing inputting Black's victory into the system.

"No arguments there," Black agreed, too high on his victory to care that Chili had just insulted one his team. "You're crazy strong. Even with the type advantage, I almost lost."

"Heh. And that was just a new catch," the other man added, gripping Black's hand in a bone-crushing grip, "You should see my actual team. They'd burn the whole place down if I wasn't careful."

Black took a moment to contemplate the kind of Pokemon Chili would have in his personal roster, and then stopped before he gave himself nightmares. Chef the Pansear, according to Chili, had only been caught a month ago. He didn't want to imagine what a team that had been with Chili for years was capable of doing.

He placed the badge inside his special container, and felt all the tension in his body leave him. The battle had been hours ago, but it was only now that he was receiving his prize. Even with the gym battle being over and done with, there had been a lot of paperwork to fill out after that. The League was very serious about keeping in check any potential uprising trainer's, and Gym battles were some of the best ways to do that.

For some reason, the idea of having the League be so interested in him and his accomplishments left Black with a cold, empty feeling in his chest.

"Hey, indulge a hothead's curiosity here," Chili said, just as Black was making his way towards the exit. "Why are you on your journey?"

The question made Black pause. His mind took in the question, analyzed it, tested it, biopsied it, and twisted it inside out. When, after seemingly endless years of waiting, Black began to speak, an uncertain feeling grabbing hold of him. "I do-"

There was a knock on the door. There were some muffled voices from the other side.

"Ah well," Chili said as he gave a lackadaisical smile to the teen. "I guess I'll have to find out later."

Black paused. Something didn't seem right here. Chili seemed far too knowledgeable of something.

Before he could say anything, the Gym Leader had already walked across the room and opened the door. There came a pair of two people, one male and one female. Each of them sported chestnut brown hair, though the man's was cut short while the woman's was not. They each wore police uniforms, and the looks on their faces told Black that they supported no nonsense even at a circus.

"Are you Trainer Black?" said the woman, stepping forward and flashing her badge, almost too fast for him to see the League's official insignia. There was steel in her eye, and it told Black that if he weren't in fact himself he would still be in big trouble.

Black just nodded dumbly, mouth slightly open in shock.

The man came around and grabbed Black by the arms. The teen immediately started to struggle, not sure of why this was happening but definitely not willing to just roll over and be roasted like this. He stopped though, as soon as the policewoman started speaking once more.

"We are taking you into custody for suspicion of assault, battery, theft, and willful endangerment of your Pokemon," the woman said, arms folded but with a Poke Ball in hand, "Don't make it harder on yourself, kid."

Black just gaped at her, even as he felt his hands get cuffed together. "Wh-what? When did this- How did this- I never stole anything from anyone!"

In retrospect that was probably not the one he should have denied first. It likely only made him seem more dangerous in their minds judging by how the woman narrowed her eyes, and the man behind him cuffed upside the head.

There was a flash of light from his belt, and the woman tensed, releasing her Pokemon. The light revealed a hulking Darmanitan, teeth sharp and skin radiating heat. It let out a humble rumble, and Black felt the temperature of the room go up by at least ten degrees.

Beside Black, Xanatos blinked his eyes at the mountain of power before him. "I volunteer Minion Number One for this task."

"Xanatos?"

The Snivy turned to his trainer, and then looked at the two officers in the room, and at Chili who was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and with a frosty expression on his face. "What the hell did you get us in this time?" he asked, annoyance lacing the snake's tone.

Before Black could even think to respond he felt the man behind him tighten the cuffs painfully. "That the one?" said the gruff policeman.

The policewoman just shook her head, "No, supposedly that's his starter. They said the one we're looking for is a Panpour."

Black froze. Oh, no.

"Trainer," the woman said, eyeing him balefully, "return your Pokemon. This does not have to be any harder on you than it is."

"Lady, he doesn't order me around," Xanatos sneered, pure disgust finding its way into his tone so that he was sure the policewoman would understand the intention regardless. "That trainer is my future secretary."

The woman took a breath, and looked at Black straight in the eye. "Trainer, should the accusations against you be true, I cannot guarantee your safety if you keep resisting."

What part of being willingly handcuffed made it look like he was resisting, some part of him wondered. Instead, all he managed to get out was an, "I don't understand."

The woman stared at him some more, and finally they softened just a microscopic amount. "Dear Reshiram, you're just a kid," she said, "You don't even know how utterly screwed you are."

Something in that sentence ticked him off. "Well, why don't you just tell me!?" he demanded. A twist of his arms and a forcing to his knees, and he hissed in pain, wishing he could retaliate against his aggressor.

"Shut up," the man said, pure venom in his voice. "Scum like you doesn't deserve to be treated like a person." Had Black done something to this guy before? He couldn't remember doing anything to warrant such hatred.

"Omondi, that's enough," the policewoman said sharply. She placed her hand on her Darmanitan's head to calm it down from the tense environment. Fire-types in small-enclosed spaces were a big no-no.

"Forgive him," the woman said to Black, crouching down so she was face level with him again. "We're from the Harmony branch. He can get a little emotional in these cases."

The Harmony branch? Black blearily tried to recall the name, and all he could come up with was the commercial that had played while he waited at the Pokemon Center.

"We got a call in sometime this morning," the woman said, voice neutral and face blank, "said that someone had deactivated the Emergency Recall System on all of their Poke Balls."

Black's stomach flipped. What? But he had fixed that issue back in Accumula Town!

"Black, I don't like where this is going," Xanatos warned. He was keeping a close eye on the policewoman and her Darmanitan, the biggest threat in the room right now. "I know for a fact you fixed that."

"Funnily enough," the woman continued, undeterred by his Snivy's voice, "this same person also had caught a Panpour in a Luxury Ball. A newbie too. And this same morning, we received a call from a certain someone claiming that some thief had stolen their son's Panpour."

"Son of a- the shit-flinger's a stolen Pokemon?" Xanatos swore. He took a step back as the Darmanitan inched towards his direction. "She certainly could have mentioned that!"

The woman's eyes flickered over to the grass-type for a second before she turned back to Black. "And to top it off, the GPS chip implanted in the Luxury Ball led us straight to here. We had to wait for the Gym Leader's say so to move in while you were here, but once we hashed out the legalities with the League we were free to move."

But then that meant that Chili knew about this all along. Looking behind the woman, at the red-tipped man, all Black could see was a stony visage and smoldering embers in his eyes. "You fought like an amateur with that Panpour," the man explained. "It was clear from the get-go that you just recently got her. I mean, she couldn't even navigate the jungle gym properly."

"Then . . . the badge . . . the fight?" Black said, feeling weak in his legs. A sudden almost indescribable sensation began to coalesce inside him.

"All real," the man granted. "Even if you are a criminal I still have my pride as a Gym Leader. You beat me fair and square."

"Criminal, eh?" Xanatos said suddenly, cocky smirk and attitude back in place. The Darmanitan in front of him did not look impressed. "Well, I was aiming for global domination but I guess I have to crawl before I can slither. Black?"

"That description was horrible," Black shot back, for once not caring that other people were around. "But yeah, okay."

"Trainer?" said the woman, confusion lining her voice, "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," Black told her. He clenched his fists behind him, even as the handcuffs cut into his wrists painfully. "I'm pretty fucking far from okay."

He knew what happened to those taken in by the League like this. The justice system in Unova was still woefully behind in comparison with their technological marvels and Pokemon research. If someone powerful enough wanted you hidden away, so long as you weren't a reasonably powerful trainer or in the public eye all that much, you were put in a box and shipped off to some stupid island out near Castelia. They called it Liberty Island. The irony was painful.

"Ready?" came Xanatos voice. The Darmanitan visibly tensed.

Black had no idea what his grass-type was planning on doing, but he found that he didn't care. He trusted Xanatos.

"Do it."

End Chapter

Author Notes: Oh yeah. This is not your typical gym circuit story.