The Legend of Mysterious Mattie
Team Rocket has never been much of a problem around here. Our town is so small and has so few Pokemon that they generally leave us be. This would normally make my job as Officer Jenny easier, and it was, until a year after I took my oaths as a police officer.
No one really knew what happened. Simon Huff was such a prominent member of the community, always welcoming visitors and telling us stories of when he lived in the city. Next thing you know, he's preaching to our young men about the pleasures of gangs. And before we could recover from our shock, a massive gang was formed with Huff at the top. Our town became increasingly bigger with new members, and increasingly dangerous. Now, it takes all the police department's resources to keep Huff's men even slightly at bay.
Though our town has grown, we're still fairly small, and it's fairly big news when a stranger comes around. And when there's news, the sheriff hears about it quick. I tried to find the girl I'd heard about and warn her about the danger, and thankfully it didn't take very long.
She was tiny, and pretty too, a prime target for Huff. As I ran up to her, I was surprised she hadn't already had a run-in with him. I called out to her and she turned around, looking for something in her bag.
"What's your name?" I asked, supposing that was a fine first question to ask. She jerked a sketchbook out of her bag and a pencil from her hair, then flipped to a page and scribbled on it:
Mattie.
"I see. Do you know where you are, Mattie?"
No, not really.
"Then I hate to say it, but you're in gang territory. I advise you to get out as soon as possible." Her brow crinkled.
Gang territory?
"Yep."
Have they been giving you trouble?
"More than you'll ever know."
How long?
"Why are you so curious all the sudden? And why don't you talk instead of writing in that sketchpad?" She shook her head vigorously.
Can't. And can I stay the night? I've been wandering for awhile now.
"Well... I guess you can stay at the police station. It's fairly safe there." So I lead her to the station, the streets eerily silent because the gang boys were watching a big battle on TV and Miss Mattie seemed incapable of conversation. Or, at least, that's why I THOUGHT there weren't around. When we got to the station, I got the real answer: Huff had kidnapped Martin Daughtery, one of the few boys in town to adamantly refuse joining him. He also happened to be an expert in military strategy, and I guess he became to big a potential asset for Huff to ignore.
"We have to storm their base," I announced gravely.
"But Officer Jen-"
"Who knows what they'll do to Martin to make him join!" I argued. "It's the only way. We have to save him." There was a silence as everyone agrees with me, and they started preparing without orders. As I watched, thinking about how dangerous this mission was, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
Where are you going?
"Huff's base," I told Mattie. "We found it a few months back, but the situation's never been dire enough to storm it."
Where is it?
"At a fancy house that he ended up owning, near the skate park. Why?"
So I know to stay away from there.
Somehow, I knew she was lying. But I was too preoccupied with this sudden plan to worry about a stranger. When my men and I were ready, we set off towards Huff's mansion.
We found it with half the walls torn off and a fire raging on the top floor. And what do you know? Out stumbles Huff, wrists extended for my handcuffs.
"Change of heart?" I sneered, tightening the cuffs.
"I didn't know you hired so young," he panted, borderline hysteric.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"That girl," he murmured. "She crashed through the walls, riding a... a..."
"Spit it out!" I barked, images of tiny Mattie flashing through my mind.
"A METAGROSS!" he screamed. "Then we all got this splitting headache, and she released a Blaziken that headed towards where we were keeping Daughtery. Then suddenly the house was on fire, and we still had the headaches, and I look up at her all cross-legged on her Metagross. Then she's throwing a paper airplane and I somehow manage to read it, and it says..." Huff pointed to his pocket, and I pulled out the stiff sketching paper.
You can't touch a ghost, but I can't wait until justice lays her harsh hand on you.
The handwriting was so familiar. I threw Huff to a fellow officer, who escorted him to the car. I pulled out my walkie-talkie and barked:
"Hey, Santaruz, you back at the station?"
"And missing all the fun," my deputy replied.
"Where's that girl I brought in earlier?"
"You brought a girl in earlier?" I didn't answer. I simply muted the walkie-talkie and watched the gang get arrested and their base burn, knowing you can't thank a ghost either.