Kevala came home from work that day to a burnt house, a burnt brother, dead pokémon, and dead parents.
Two pokémon had been saved: his brother's younger skarmory and his sister's absol. Vaikuntha himself had narrowly escaped the fire and had serious burns on his hands and back. Sama, like Kev, had come home after the fact to find their life up in flames.
Not much could be salvaged from the house. Autopsies showed that their parents, in their bedroom, had been dead before the fire had started, along with Kev's grumpig. Team Magma was suspected, but no one could prove anything, naturally.
Even if Kev knew that Vai had pissed off a bunch of Magma members just the week before.
He didn't say anything about that to the police. No one did. Everyone probably suspected it, anyway, but Magma and Aqua still had free reign on Hoenn in those days. It wouldn't do any good to say anything.
But Kev thought it.
He confronted his brother, only once, about it. They had both ended up in tears and his little skarmory had sliced his hand open over it. Because Vai still had pokémon. Not like Kev. That very night, with a grief-stricken apology to Sama, he left. He didn't have anything more to offer their family, and he couldn't stand to be anywhere near the boy who took their parents and his team from him.
He tracked down a breeder he had worked with in the past; he bought a spoink egg that he hoped against hope was somehow his grumpig's. The odds were slim. He didn't have the courage to ask the breeder about it. He couldn't handle any more heartbreak.
He quit his job immediately after receiving his latest paycheck; he didn't care about anything after that. He took out all his money, split it evenly, and mailed half back to Sama and Ravi. The only guilt he felt was over the fact that he couldn't explain to his youngest brother why he was leaving. The only mercy in the situation is that Ravi hadn't had any pokémon to lose, too. Just more and more family.
Kevala left Hoenn as soon as he could. He worked briefly in Johto, and managed to earn an internship working in a gym in Unova. It was even farther from Hoenn; he took it at once. It wiped out what little savings he had to bring Visoka with him, but he would not leave his sole pokémon. He didn't bother calling anyone to tell them he was moving again. He didn't want them to know. Even he recognized it as a cowardly move.
Unova was harsh and xenophobic, but at least Kev finally had someone to argue with. No one knew who he was, what had happened, or even what a spoink was. He never had to see his past again.
-.-.-
Chapter Thirty-Four: Ree Majors' Wonderful Journey Of Consequences
-.-.-
"This isn't funny! Let me go!" Ree snarled, yanking on the handcuffs, pulling Kev's arm along with them. "I didn't do anything wrong!"
"I saw you assault my charge," the ginger-haired UFO shot back. His name was Nathan, and he had only earned her (wary) trust by virtue of the fact that he had been with Allen earlier. But then he handcuffed her and Kev to the bed frame, and that was all it had taken to get on her shit list again.
"We have to go back!" Kev's brother said again, desperately. He had glued himself to Nathan's side, all but in tears, and not because of the bloody lip Kev had given him. "Koel is still back there!"
"I don't need two people bitching in my ears about this," Nathan growled. "We're all staying put, nice and friendly, until Tranjero heads back to grab Allen. He'll have your Koel, I'm sure, and some damn good answers for us."
"Is it really the smartest idea to let a skarmory loose without a trainer in an already panicked area? It wouldn't be hard to go back to grab him, really!" Alicia, the pale-haired girl with the doe eyes, said, once again proving herself to be the only sane one.
"And fucking unlock me while we're at it!" Ree howled.
"You two are troublemakers at best, and I'm not here to babysit! Now you, sit back down," Nathan said, glaring at Alicia, and then turned back on Kev's brother. "And you, get off my arm! Your skarmory will have to stay put, and I'm sure it's fine. I know for a fact their feathers can deflect bullets."
"I need my pokémon back!" he insisted and his voice cracked. It probably would have been sad in other circumstances.
"Heaven forbid you lose your pokémon," Kev spat. His brother flinched but didn't look at him.
"Just shut up! Stop antagonizing each other!" Nathan demanded. He stood up, trying in vain to detach the long-haired boy, and turned to Maya. "Aren't you supposed to be a mediator?"
"I-I am," she replied, but she herself still had tears in her eyes. Ree snarled like a feral pokémon and tried to rip herself free from the bed frame again. Kev growled right back and pulled her backwards. At least Nathan had the good sense to leave Maya alone after that.
"Look, I really wish I could fix this for you. I do. But Tranjero is assigned to Allen, and the fact of the matter is that he won't listen to me. The only thing I can do is keep you little shits safe and try to catch him when he 'ports back for Allen." Nathan nudged the elgyem with his boot. The psychic gave him a listless stare. The UFO turned to the brunette boy, Zachary, the only one who wasn't comatose or yapping in his ear. "You got anything for me?"
"Vai should get Koel back," he replied after a fearful look at Ree and Kev.
"I can't do anything about that. I really can't."
"Fine then," Alicia said primly, and gently pulled Vai off of Nathan. She released a tall, pink thing with huge blue eyes. Ree and Maya jerked back from it on reflex. "Ariala, do you remember the museum we saw earlier this morning? Back there, please. Vai, come here—"
"No!" Nathan shouted and lunged for them.
All four of them promptly vanished.
Maya hiccuped in the sudden silence. Tranjero buzzed, sounding disapproving. "That was a really bad idea," Maya said softly, as if afraid to make too much noise. "I told you three that teleporting isn't free in Unova."
"Nevermind that, did she just teleport back into a fight?" Zachary asked with alarm.
"At least she has a bodyguard with her. Now get over here and unlock us," Kev said, calming without his brother in his immediate vicinity.
"You just attacked my friend," he replied accusingly. Tranjero continued buzzing, kicking his legs against the mattress.
"Friend," Kev snorted. "Right. Because you and I are going to pretend that he didn't just reunite with his skarmory, pluck a feather, and start slashing at anything within arm's reach?"
"You know, I'm really curious about those brother issues of yours and all, trust me, I am. But how about we get the fuck out of these things?" Ree asked and pulled at the handcuffs again. "How about a little help over here?"
"I-I don't have a key," Maya said.
Ree tried very hard not to roll her eyes at her sister. She was distraught, surely, and that's why she wanted to keep Ree's pokémon from her. That was it. And the low buzzing from the elgyem was only further serving to annoy her. "Release Whippy, or release one of yours."
"...I'm not sure that's a good idea right now," Maya said, a little more firmly.
Ree narrowed her eyes. "Are you really going to keep my team from me?" she asked in the perfect mix of big sister threatening and regular warning.
"You just attacked another person right in front of me. I'm not giving you anything until I'm sure you've calmed down," Maya replied, and for a brief moment, Ree saw a flash of elite trainer Maya in there. "Both of you."
"My pokémon isn't a trained one," Kev said dryly.
"I've seen what even untrained psychics can do, the least of which is break the chain on those handcuffs."
"Look, we're calm. I don't have Sophia and Kev isn't frothing at the mouth any more. I just have to use the bathroom," Ree said, forcing herself to sound casual. It was a little easier since Tranjero had finally stopped that buzzing of his.
"Hold it," Maya replied. "I'm going to keep things as they are until either Nathan or Allen return."
"Uh, where did the other psychic go?" Zachary interrupted.
Ree craned her neck back to look at the bed. The elgyem was gone. "Shit—that means that Allen's called him, right? He's on his way back?" Allen would be on her side. Okay, no, he would reprimand her, too, but he wouldn't chain her to a bed like a rabid pokémon.
But the longer she was handcuffed to Kev and stuck in the pokémon center, the further and further away went the poacher who had hurt Maya. Ree had barely gotten a glimpse of him, but at least she knew he was in the city, and even Allen had to give her some information after that mess. She was not above exploiting his sympathy for her. And boy, he had better have some sympathy for her.
A pink pokémon, a steel pokémon, and two teenagers abruptly returned to the room. They all had blood splattered on them, Nathan wasn't with them, and Kev's brother had a skarmory feather clenched so tightly in his fist his hand was bleeding, too.
Kev bared his teeth in a poor imitation of a grin. Ree was shocked to find he was right—what kind of fucked up family did he come from?
"Okay, so, that could have gone better, but look? We're all together again, we're all back at the pokémon center, it's all good again. Return Koel, and I'll return Ariala, and we can sit here and talk." Alicia caught sight of Kev, who Ree could feel had tensed beside her again. "You know what? I don't feel like talking anymore! Funny, right? Food! Food would be great. We had a light lunch, and who's hungry? I'm hungry. Maya, we can go get food, right?"
"We're not supposed to leave the room," she replied faintly, eyes on all of the red. Alicia looked down at herself, seemingly noticing it for the first time.
"It's not ours."
"Because that helps things," Zachary deadpanned.
"Let's get rid of this mess. That'll be something we can do while we wait. Come on, Vai, shirt off!"
Ree wasn't entirely sure if she was semi-forcibly stripping a suddenly meeker Vaikuntha to get Maya flustered again, or if she was really just trying to get them distracted, but that could work in her favor. "Wait, can I pee before you go rub soap all over each other?"
"Why would I want to wash him?" Alicia replied, nonplussed.
"Because hotness runs in the family. I don't know, you're the one with your hands all over him! But seriously, I'm pregnant. Means I have to pee a lot. I don't wanna piss on the floor."
Alicia and Vaikuntha exchanged a look. "She does not mean anything by that, sister," he said with a winning smile, at odds with the blood still streaked on his hands. "But you are right, both of you. Your name is Ree, correct?"
"Uh, yeah." She tried not to shrink back when he approached them with the skarmory feather still clenched in his hand.
"Please hold still," he said, still smiling. With a quick slash, the handcuff chain broke, and Ree and Kev stared at the gash the blade at left on the bed frame. "I am sure we are all friends here, and it would not be fair to—" He didn't get to finish his sentence since Kev had thrown himself at him, knocking the feather out of his hand. Ree caught him before anything worse happened, but he relented on his own, to her surprise.
Or it might have been because Alicia had deftly caught the feather and had it pointed at him. "Let's all be friends here," she said brightly.
"Please, there is no need for that," Vaikuntha said with a pout.
"You're still injured and don't need to be manhandled. Zach, would you be a dear and start a bath, please? We should really get rid of this blood before anyone else freaks out about it. Because we totally don't need more of that right now."
"Are you all woobat-shit insane?" Kev asked, scowling down at the feather pointed at his chin.
"Did you really think Sinnoh was going to send just anyone overseas after what's happened?" Alicia replied coolly. She lowered the blade and gave Vai a light smack with the flat side. "You, shower. Or at least lock yourself in the bathroom until someone gets back to us. Maya, you and your sister can go to the public bathrooms down the hall. Surely we're allowed to do that?"
Without warning, Tranjero appeared back in the room with a screech. His voice cracked and but he maintained the shrill sound, making them cover their ears and cringe, but then Ree laid eyes on the man he'd brought with him. Allen was on the floor beside the psychic, not moving. His black vest was darkened further by blood. "Allen!"
Tranjero continued screeching brokenly. Ree threw herself to her knees beside the UFO, gingerly turning him over, which elicited a groan. He had blood smeared all over his collar and hands, and as Kev knelt down to help her look for his injuries, the elgyem collapsed as well. He fell beside Allen, and from the new angle, they could all see the bullet hole through his head, cracked along the edges.
Allen's eyes fluttered open. "Nathan...?"
"No, it's Ree. What the fuck happened?"
"He's been shot," Kev supplied unhelpfully, pressing his hands down over a spot just below his collarbone.
Tranjero's screeching cut off without warning. "We have to get them down to the doctors," Ree said, heart leaping into her throat. "Allen, this is probably gonna hurt so just hate me for it later." She shoved her arms underneath him and tried to lift, and that went as well as expected, considering she was a teenaged girl trying to lift a grown man. Kev helped her pull him up into a sitting position, but he seemed unwilling to take his hands off of the wound.
They were suddenly dunked in blackness, and reappeared a moment later behind the desk in the lobby. That wasn't a teleport, but Ree had no idea what had happened. Zachary was beside them, helping pull Allen up, but the man was solid muscle.
"Oh my goodness!" the nurse on duty exclaimed, nearly falling out of her chair at their entrance. Zach and Ree jostled for helping Kev pull Allen up, but the nurse just shooed them all away with a terrified expression. "What the hell happened to him?"
"He's been shot. And his elgyem—" She whirled around, looking for Tranjero, but he was not there. "You left him up there?!"
"I brought him with us!" Zach asked, just as surprised. Ree and Kev started in shock as something crawled up out of his shadow, something with a single, glowing red eye that looked strangely contrite. "Kostya, where's the psychic?"
"I took him with us, comrade. He teleported away," the pokémon replied in clear human speech.
"He was just shot through the head, he didn't teleport anywhere," Kev replied.
"Are there injured pokémon or not?" the nurse asked as a pair of audino helped pull Allen onto a stretcher.
"Yes! We just don't know where he went," Ree said and the poor woman looked at them as if they had dwebble crawling out of their ears.
"Can injured psychics teleport on their own?" Kev asked her.
"Yes, it can happen as a defense mechanism—"
"He would've gone to Allen! Allen's right here!" Ree all but shouted. "Who else has he ever worked for? Nathan said that he listened only to Allen!"
"Nathan! Maybe he went to Nathan!" Zachary said.
"Why? He didn't listen to him earlier!" she snapped back in exasperation.
"Please, if you'd all just calm down—" the poor nurse tried.
"What's the only word out of his mouth since he came back?" the brunette boy said flatly. "What if he took it as a command? Psychics are loyal, they'll obey their trainers even if they're injured."
"Okay, then where's Nathan?!" Kev asked.
"All of you, shut up!" the nurse yelled and the three fell silent. "If there are injured pokémon, find them and bring them here, or I'll call the UFO on duty to help you. If there are more injured people, do the same."
"He was probably the UFO on duty!" Ree said with a flap of her arm in the direction Allen had been carted off. "And he was just shot! And his elgyem was...!" The nurse pushed them out into the lobby with a curious look at the red-eyed pokémon.
Gunfire, and an injured Tranjero had probably just headed back into it. Who even attacked a pokémon? Well, assholes and monsters did, and Ree had no pity for either. The poacher had been there. Allen and his pokémon had gotten hurt there. Nathan might, too.
"I need my pokémon."
"I don't like that tone of voice," Kev said.
"We're going to get Tranjero back here, grab Nathan, and find the son of a bitch who did this." And the other son of a bitch who hurt her sister, but the boys didn't need to know that.
"That's not a smart plan. That's not even a plan. That's just dumb violence."
Ree turned on Zachary. "You, you're the one who fired the first shot. You got mad at those poachers, or Plasma, or whoever. You got mad and if you're willing to get mad again, you're invited."
"I. Uh. I didn't..."
With a painful screech, the missing elgyem appeared behind the desk where Allen had just been. The nurse actually did fall over in shock that time. He only appeared for a brief flash, long enough to break their ears with another inhuman shriek, but there had been someone with him. A woman. One that Ree recognized. Both had been streaked with blood. They disappeared again, leaving a ringing silence.
The museums weren't terribly far from the pokémon center. Her pokémon and sister would be safe up in the room, and everything else be damned. While everyone else scrambled to figure out what had just happened, Ree turned and bolted out of the building. Someone shouted behind her, probably Kev or maybe the runt, but she was an athlete. Good for them if they could keep up, but she wasn't letting them drag her back.
She knew Castelia like the second hometown it was. That, and all she really had to do was follow the sirens. People and pokémon were rushing everywhere—away from the trouble to avoid it, and towards it to investigate. Or maybe help. Perhaps make things worse. Ree knew she was about to make someone's day a hell of a lot worse. But the person with Tranjero, she was unmistakeable. And it made sense, of course he would go to her and not Nathan, she was—
Ree had been counting on general panic to allow her free reign, but she had not been expecting more gunfire and police and UFOs being part of the general panic. Trainers and pokémon were still out, too, hyped up on the atmosphere and terror, and no one liked a panicked, trained team. One ambulance passed her going out, and another headed back in the direction of the pokémon center.
The museums were only a couple blocks away. Even with the mayhem, it wasn't a long run. Two cop cars were already parked near there, an ineffectual blockade, especially when there was a gyarados curled in the park with blue fire dripping from its mouth. A pair of massive birds swooped and circled overhead, squawking bloody murder, and several trees in the park had caught fire at some point.
It wasn't like she had been expecting the poacher to still be hanging around, but she had expected to see something other than a couple people pinned in vicious attacks. The silver lining was that she also saw Sophia III near the edge of the grass. Not that she was going to run into that mess to retrieve it, but it was nice to know someone hadn't made off with the bat to wreak their own chaos. That was her job. Supposedly. But the thought was even less funny when she was looking at the scene before her.
"Have any pokémon on you?" Crouched behind a bench half a park away from the battling pokémon and gun sounds, she hadn't expected to be found so soon. She was equal parts relieved and annoyed it was Nathan who'd found her.
"Where did you even get another cigarette?"
"Do you have any pokémon on you? Are you even a trainer?"
"Yes, I'm a trainer! But no, I don't, since someone confiscated them all from me."
"That would be your sister."
"With your approval."
"Where is she?"
"Back at the hotel room, with the—"
Two others skidded up and pressed themselves flat against the bench on either side of them.
"...Well, she's with Alicia and Kev's brother, anyway," Ree finished. Kev gave her a look of absolute loathing for running off, and maybe she deserved it. Frankly, she deserved a lot for putting him in this situation, but that could come later. "Did you see a guy, maybe mid-twenties, dark skin, short black hair, wearing a white and red hoodie and jeans?"
"No, and do you two have any pokémon?" Nathan replied and turned to give Zachary a pointed look.
"...Yes," he mumbled in response.
"Good. Time to throw your weight around."
"Excuse you, but you still have two noncombatants here," Kev interjected.
"One," Ree corrected.
"Two."
"One. Sophia III is right over there and I'm going to make a break for it once these darling guards give me some cover."
Kev grabbed Ree with inappropriate roughness before she could even begin to think about running for it. He didn't relax his grip a bit and instead leaned very close, hissing, "Ree, this is not a fucking video game. You are a pregnant teenaged girl and you just ran into a small-scale war. You don't have any pokémon, or any feasible weapons, and you don't get a respawn point. You're coming back with me the second Nathan says it's clear."
"He's got a point. Those are very real bullets," Nathan added dryly.
"Yeah, I know, one got Allen," Ree shot back.
Nathan's face slowly drained of color. "...What?"
"Allen was shot. He's at the center, they're treating him, but I'm aware this isn't a game. That's why I'm going to get my bat and find who did it."
She had a guess. She just really, really hoped she was wrong.
"...Those are followers," Zachary said quietly, the only one still peering over the edge at the people and pokémon fighting. "They were following Nick. Weren't they?"
"...It's likely," Nathan replied, more subdued. He ground out his half-finished cigarette and pulled his pistol from his shoulder holster. "Between the four of us, we have five pokémon. Three are champion-grade, but one of mine is new. I can't use her in good conscience. New plan."
Ree eagerly leaned in, against Kev's iron grip. "Go in, guns blazing?"
"No. I'm getting you three back. My job is to guard the Sinnohan champion, which is you, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked you if you could fight, that's not what either of us are here for. We're retreating."
"Like hell we are!" She did not like the calmer, sadder Nathan. He could mope about Allen later, after he got the revenge out of his system. Look at how well it was working for her. "The man who stole my sister's pokémon was here, and okay, maybe he's not here anymore, but I'm finding him!"
"We're going back to the center!" Kev demanded and Nathan nodded.
"Can Kostya shadow sneak us out of the immediate area?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"I'm not leaving until I have Sophia III and blood on my hands. You can help me find him, or I'll find him on my own."
"You're being an irresponsible bitch right now, do you know that?" Nathan asked shrewdly. "Stop that before I have to carry you back there myself. You will cooperate."
Ree didn't particularly care about retrieving Sophia III—it was just a means to an end. She did, however, care about finding that pokémon poacher. She had a description and he couldn't have gotten very far, especially with the police and field operatives running about, but she just needed the firepower.
And as tempting as it was to try to shake down a small boy for champion-grade pokémon, she was not a thief herself. She was, however, not above manipulation. "I think I know who shot Allen."
Nathan froze up. Kev's hands momentarily went slack and she jerked herself out of his grasp. "What?"
"If not, then I have more of a lead than you. I'll trade you," Ree said lowly. She had planned on revealing this information after she could verify it herself, but hey, an armed guard never hurt anyone. "I'll tell you who, and I'll tell you how to find them, if you find me the asswipe I'm looking for."
Ree liked Nathan significantly more when he did not hesitate in sticking his hand out. "Deal." Maybe he was hoping for information and legal routes. Maybe he'd do something stupid himself. But Ree shook his hand all the same.
"Do you enjoy dragging others down to your level?" Kev asked acidly.
"I enjoy getting what I want."
"Spoiled, horrible, irresponsible child."
"We can work out your issues later," Zachary huffed and his red-eyed pokémon was back, its massive hands clamped over its mouth. "We can have this conversation back inside."
"No, I'm staying here with Nathan. We're finding this—" The UFO grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her down into their shadow. A brief jolt of disorientation, and they reappeared halfway down the street. "Hey!"
"Hold on tighter," Zachary grumbled, looping his arm in Kev's as they did it again. The feeling of whatever they were doing made her stomach hurt, though, despite her wishing, it was not bad enough she could throw up. Nausea without an end in sight, just what she needed after a betrayal.
Nathan and Kev marched her back into the pokémon center and Zachary trailed behind them after returning his pokémon. "Maya, Alicia, and my brother are still upstairs, with our pokémon. Allen should be getting some treatment right now. And we—"
Maya wasn't in their room, and instead pounced on them as soon as they rounded the corner. She slapped Ree, and then hugged her, and neither particularly surprised her. "You dummy. Don't get kidnapped by foreign powers."
"I didn't kidnap her," the small boy replied.
"We're all back together now, so let's save the niceties for somewhere more private. How are Alicia and Vai?"
"They're not covered in blood anymore, if that's what you mean," Maya said hotly. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Unova's pretty strict on teleporting, so when someone appears on a scene, it tends to cause a knee-jerk reaction of expecting UFOs. And people weren't too friendly with operatives back there. Nothing too bad happened, at least nothing I'm going to admit to."
"Okay, but how about we talk about how you just lied to my face?" Ree broke in.
"I did not. You want to know—something." Nathan's eyes flicked over to Maya and Ree begrudgingly gave him the credit for avoiding making things worse. "And I can let you know that something. But running around in a panic with weapons and pokémon around is not the way to go about it. Come on, upstairs, all of you."
Ree unhappily found herself handcuffed to a bed frame for the second time that afternoon.
-.-.-
As it turned out, while he complained something fierce, Nathan was a pretty good babysitter. Which he had to be, with a group of very bored, very agitated trainers (and gym receptionist) in a confined space. No more injured psychics appeared, and Alicia didn't escape again with her pink thing, so the only thing that broke up the evening was the call to let Nathan know that Allen was stable and not in any further danger.
It was good news. Ree was happy to hear that. She hadn't actually considered the possibility of Allen dying, least of all so suddenly, but with the situation as it was, other things were more important. Like the matter of the information she'd accidentally been sitting on.
Her initial plan had been to grab Sophia III, miraculously track down the poacher, beat him, and maybe kill him. Maybe. But it definitely ended up with Edgar back in Maya's team. And after that whirlwind of heroics and violence, she'd tell Nathan that something may be afoot. While she didn't want to keep it a secret, she knew some level of tact was required.
Her second plan had been much the same, except with Nathan helping her with a gun. That would've been nice. The logistics of it were still skewed to hell and back, but maybe he could call someone to give them a tip, and they'd find the asshole, and same thing. Then she'd simply turn him loose with the identity. He could get some sort of revenge for her. While she was pissed as hell at what happened to Allen, it hadn't sunk in yet. Not fully. Not as much as Maya.
And she couldn't reconcile who she had see with Tranjero. It didn't make sense, and maybe it was just a coincidence. It made sense that he would return to her in lieu of Nathan, so perhaps it was just that. Maybe she had just imagined the gun in her hands.
While it was delicate and probably somewhat time-sensitive, Ree was now stuck sitting on it. Because Nathan still wasn't keeping up his end of the bargain, and she wasn't going to get him all riled up again without getting something out of it. Vengeance for Allen came secondary to vengeance for her sister.
With the younger three—Maya, Alicia, and Zachary—eating pizza in the corner and Vai and Kev sitting at the furthest possible point from each other, and with a pokémon ban on the room, Nathan had little choice but to sit on the bed next to Ree. "I had to make sure you all were alright. You do understand that the situation before was stupid and dangerous, and that I'm still going to help you, right?"
"Maybe."
"Just because I don't charge off in the face of danger doesn't mean I'm not going to do something," he said mildly. "Allen is an old friend and I'm going to do something, believe me. But I know my job, and I know the value of doing things right."
"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware this was turning into a lecture," Ree replied, trying for sarcasm, but instead, it turned out kind of aggressive.
"He talked about you a lot. Constantly. You or Lenore, the entire time he visited me."
"He visited you?"
"He was in Sinnoh. I know he told you. He was gone for a week?"
"Yeah, I know—he visited you? You're the one he gave the beartic to?" she asked, both surprised and suspicious.
"Who else? How many UFO-trained friends does he have in Sinnoh?" Nathan replied with a confused frown.
"How am I supposed to know? I hardly know him," she lied. Okay, she might not know the man's entire personal history, but she knew he was a worrier, and used all of his sick leave on escorting girls around, and disapproved of any sort of danger, and may have been the subject of more than one dirty dream of hers. And if she hadn't suspected foul play, she totally would have understood him taking a bullet for someone.
"...Which is why I'm the one in charge of sorting out this information you give me," he prompted. Ree didn't take the bait. Allen deserved a rash, passionate charge against his foes.
So did her sister. So she kept her mouth shut. She could tell herself he'd understand.
Nathan sighed. "Fine. What do you know about this guy?"
"About your age, probably? Dark skin and black hair, real short. He was wearing a red and white hoodie and some jeans. I don't know what sort of pokémon he has, but I know he has Edgar, a reuniclus he stole from my sister." Lowering her voice, she added in an undertone, "And he murdered my sister's starter. Maya's a good trainer, so he has to have some power. He's gotta be someone important. I think his name starts with an A or an O, something foreign sounding."
"That's pretty specific already," he replied with narrowed eyes. She didn't say anything else. Sighing again, he pulled out a phone and scrolled through the contacts. Eyes on the trio eating pizza, he tried to sound casual as he spoke. "Yeah, Delgado? It's Loar. God, what is that racket in the background? Listen, I'm in a bit of a situation and I was wondering if you could track down some information for me..."
Ree's blood ran cold. Delgado—Maria Delgado. Maria was the absolute last person she would have guessed Nathan would call, but he was in a foreign country, and she had been a friend of Allen's, so it made sense they knew each other... "Hang up! Hang up right now!"
"Yeah, probably underground ties. Black guy with no problem dirtying his hands or stealing pokémon. Maybe foreign? Yeah, I—ow, shut up for a moment!"
"Hang the fuck up!"
"Get me everything you can on him, I'll call you back," Nathan growled and hung up. "What the hell is your problem?"
"I saw her! Tranjero brought her to the pokémon center after we moved Allen!" she hissed at him. Fucking hell, of all the people to call, it had to be her. "She was in active wear or mission gear or whatever you call it, what you're in. She was holding a gun!"
Nathan scowled. "That's what I was bargaining for? Maria is an old friend of ours, and active duty UFO. She'd probably be in mission gear if she was, you know, on a mission."
"Okay, so who answers their cell phone while on a mission?"
"Maybe she's babysitting," he said. Then, after a beat of hesitance, he added, "Maybe she's on call. She was assigned to you while Allen was with me, so Tranjero was assigned to her. That's probably why he went back to her. First priority was taken care of, so he instinctively went to second priority."
"Does she know you're with me?" Ree pressed.
"Why would she? Why do you care? Did you not like her or something?"
"I know she was willing to bend the rules."
"So are you. Look, I don't know where you got this idea from, and I'm sorry I fell for it. If it helps, I'll call her back right now and see where she is."
That was a pretty terrible plan, but now that it was all out loud, Ree had to admit her thoughts were pretty terrible, too. She watched with a hooded expression as he dialed back and immediately winced as the call connected.
"Are you out on a mission? ...Oh, well, step outside or something. I can hardly hear you." He put his hand over the phone and mouthed, "She's out."
"What's all the noise? Why'd she answer her phone?" she shot back.
"Me? I was with Allen, you know that. ...Yeah, I do know what happened. I guess word travels fast. You got any of that information for me? I think I might have a lead. Yeah, uh-huh. No, I'm still with them. ...Uh, yeah, why? You're awfully skittish, Delgado. Makes me feel pretty skittish, too."
The terrible screeching returned to the room, along with two women. Maria slid her phone shut and said calmly, "I just wanted to know if you were with her. Needed a lock on someone."
The pretty blonde on Tranjero's other side turned a gun on the nearest—Kev. He ducked back against the wall, but she followed the movement as a reflex. "Nathan, how good to see you."
"Sara," he ground out.
Feeling vindicated sort of sucked when it involved guns and a broken psychic. Maria raised an eyebrow as Ree tugged on the handcuffs again. "I should've tried that."
"And here I thought you liked escorting me across the region."
"It was fun, I'll give you that. I liked you, and I really like what an easy target you make for fast travel. I also like that you're all in here together." Hands on her wide hips, Maria turned and looked at the other three. "Remember, kids, bullets are faster than pokeballs. We aren't here for anything stupid like killing you all, and we don't even care that you know who we are. You cannot fathom how few shits I give about this entire situation."
"Then why are you here?" Nathan asked, eyes darting over to Zachary and Alicia. They, along with Maya, were sitting in the corner by the television, nearest the bathroom. Kev was on the bed next to them with a gun on him. Vaikuntha was closest to the door, and closer to them, and Ree was still stuck on the bed. It was a lovely situation overall.
"For the new champion, that's all," said the blonde woman.
"You were a reporter," Alicia said with wide eyes. "You covered the gym race."
"You were part of the group Kostya threw out to sea..." Zachary added as he buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry about that, I really am—"
"Do you really think I care about a swim?" she snapped.
"Well, you have come back to admittedly target him and you are sort of rocking the angry militant woman look. A look I approve of wholeheartedly, may I add, and I love your hair. How do you get it to stay up like that when you're so busy threatening people?"
"I don't care a lick about a newbie gym leader, little girl, so please stop wasting your breath."
Alicia gave a shrug, as if to say 'I tried'.
"So in the spirit of not-harming us, can you unlock me?" Ree asked loudly. Keeping them talking would be a good idea. Kev and Maya looked scared shitless, but the Sinnoh kids weren't nearly as gun shy, apparently. Truth be told, Ree wasn't comfortable with them, either, but someone had to keep them busy.
"Sure. Too bad your latest bat isn't here," Maria said, nodding Nathan over. "Unlock her. What sort of pervert handcuffs a pregnant chick to a bed, anyway?"
"Your jokes would be funnier without the guns," he mumbled as he moved to unlock her. He got entirely too closer to her, physically leaning over into her space, but pointedly avoided her eyes. She didn't get it until she glanced over at what he was staring at.
The skarmory feather. It was under their backpacks near the foot of the bed.
She had to work on her sense of self-preservation. She was pregnant, after all. But she finally caught Nathan's eye and thought let's do it with all her might. Hopefully he got the message.
"So, now that we're all comfortable, let's talk. Here's how this is going to work. We take the kid and we fuck off, and that's it. We don't want your pokémon, we don't want to keep you quiet, we won't hurt a hair on anyone's head if we keep it this simple."
"I'm his bodyguard," Nathan reminded them.
"That's why I'm talking mostly to you," Maria replied. "No offense to you kids, but I come across trainers like you on a daily basis. Strong trainers and teams, to be sure, but when it comes down to it, just separate them. That's it. That's all you need to win. They're just a bunch of kids without it."
Ree knew what was coming. She turned and gave Kev's brother the most pointed look in the world just as Nathan lunged at the blonde woman. Ree kicked the feather at him as Maria went for her gun. Several things happened at once, and it took her a moment to process it all.
Nathan pulled the woman's gun arm away from Kev, and Vaikuntha, armed with a sharp, steel feather, was nearer Maria. But he didn't go for her. He pushed past her, raising the blade against the other woman, and Maria whirled around with gun drawn to follow his movement.
Then, she and Tranjero promptly vanished.
The feather came down on the remaining woman's extended arm, which was out nicely thanks to Nathan struggling to disarm her. Someone screamed, and Ree knew it wasn't the woman, because she only stared as he fought to free the feather embedded in her arm. "Vai, down!" It turned out to be Alicia. She all but tackled him, sending them crashing into Ree, and she gladly helped pin him down.
Maria didn't reappear and the woman was soon pinned by Nathan, even as he fought to put pressure on her arm. "Okay, that was the single stupidest fucking thing to happen in my entire professional career, so I'm not in the mood for any more bullshit, Sara."
"Okay, you know her, you know everyone, so tell us what's going on?" Maya squeaked. Pokémon had finally been released; Zara had an arm full of needles pointed at the woman, and Zachary had a blue bird with cloudy wings and fire dripping from its beak behind him.
"Sara Grace Kellner, graduated at the top of our class. Graduated, and promptly dropped out of security and military career paths. Last I heard, you were back in Sinnoh. What happened, Sara?" Nathan asked, baring his teeth at her.
She continued to stare at her arm. "...Can't I visit an old friend like you did?"
"We'll get you to see the doctors if you start answering things a little more helpfully. The knife didn't go that deep, I'm sure they can save the arm."
"I don't care if Sayre is dead or not. I don't care if every team in the world is gone. All I know is that those in power aren't the ones with the power." Sara Grace Kellner turned to look up at Nathan. She still had not raised her voice or shed a tear despite her maimed arm. "Nathan, come now. You're smarter than this. You know Sinnoh and Unova can't be saved. Hoenn's going, too."
"I'm in the private sector. I don't care about governments or politics."
"Then why are you here? Why are you protecting a champion in a foreign land?"
"Because the kid needs it. Because I've seen firsthand what people like you do when they're grabbing power. Who else is working with you two?"
She turned away from him and caught Ree's eye. She noticed she had mismatched eyes—one hazel, one blue. Top of a UFO class, a past as a reporter, and now some sort of renegade. "What sort of trouble did you Sinnoh guys bring with you?"
"You can't hide forever behind trading walls and isolationism," Sara Grace said and closed her eyes. "Sayre offered a catalyst in Sinnoh. We're riding the coattails. But you can relax, Nathan, it's all gone south, anyway. Plasma ruined things here, the psychic did not work like Maria thought it would, and I'm sure no one else got out of this unscathed."
"Did you shoot Allen?" Nathan asked quietly.
She did not answer him.
-.-.-
"I'm not cut out for this political espionage thing," Ree said with a tired sigh. It was nearing midnight.
Maya patted her knee awkwardly. "Welcome to the global world, I suppose."
"Pretty shitty place to be."
"Yeah, it is."
The sisters fell silent. They had the hotel room to themselves—Alicia had insisted on staying with the boys, despite Nathan's halfhearted protestations. It was better than the pokémon center, and neither complained about the sudden upgrade. Witness protection had its perks, if that's what it could be called. Ree wasn't entirely sure what it was, besides a mess.
"Do you think Kev is doing alright?"
"His brother tried to cut through a woman to save him. What do you think?"
"...Would you do the same for me?"
"In a heartbeat."
"That's not funny, Ree."
"I know it's not," she said. "...Things got fucked up, real fast. I'm glad you're okay."
"Will you be okay?" Maya pressed. "I know you liked that UFO, and if they think there's a betrayal in their ranks, then..."
"He'll be fine. Kev will be fine, after the hangover he's sure to get tomorrow. Maybe those kids of yours will be fine, too."
"I was just supposed to escort them around, not have them wind up in a kidnapping attempt," she groaned and pressed her palms against her eyes. It was Ree's turn to awkwardly pat her. "I'm surprised Alder hasn't appeared yet to chew me out. This is such a mess."
"Well, at least we got one of them?" It sounded hollow, even to her. Maria was still out there with an injured Tranjero. It was unclear how hurt he actually was, but he had some amount of consciousness left if he could teleport her out of there. Just like how he tried to drop her off before.
Her phone went off with a text alert. Probably Kev, starting whatever drunken rambling they'd get that night. Not that she was upset with him; he deserved to deal with that however he liked. She was actually pretty jealous she couldn't join him.
But it was not from Kev. It was from Maria. "Antoine Pollock. Give him hell. xoxo"
That fucking bitch. If Maria was smart, she would ditch the phone soon. Maybe she'd ditch Tranjero somewhere. Hopefully—he needed medical attention, not to be carted around like an unpredictable tool. And she understood wanting to fuck with people by acting different ways, but why did Maria offer her that information?
She had to stand to gain something by turning Ree, who she knew was prone to stubbornness and violence, against a pokémon poacher. But what? Her only known ally was in prison or a hospital, and everyone else knew her name and face. She either left Tranjero somewhere and had one less method of travel, or kept him with her for the same reason she grabbed him at first, but surely the UFOs had methods to track their own pokémon.
She didn't want to help anyone who'd betray her friends, comrades, potentially country for hazy reasons. But she did want to hurt that man.
It was only a name. It wasn't like Maria had handed over a location and times he regularly slept. Ree didn't know a thing about the guy, other than the fact that he was strong enough to beat her sister and take a highly-trained psychic.
Plasma was doing stuff, Sinnoh's issues were bleeding into Unova, and now, the UFOs had problems. Peachy.
Ree waited until she was positive Maya was sound asleep before creeping out of bed. She had to be dead tired after that day. Ree herself felt ready to collapse. But first, she had something to do.
She only took Whippy with her out into the night. It was a pity there weren't any sports stores open that late, since she would've felt better with a new Sophia, but oh well. Strangely, having her life threatened didn't make her any warier than normal. Only madder.
"I need to see Allen Pershing."
"Young miss, it is almost two in the morning. Visiting hours are over."
"I need to see him," Ree replied and on her shoulder, Whippy added a hiss. The receptionist didn't bat an eye. Ree blurted out the first thing she could think to get her in. "He's my fiance."
"Then why are you visiting him at two in the morning?"
"Do you want me giving you a headache this late at night? Because today's just about sapped all my patience and then some."
"You have thirty minutes. Don't wake anyone and don't get handsy."
Impressed that it worked, Ree tried not to look at the bland hospital decor. They were rapidly becoming her least favorite place. So, she had a fiance now, that was something. Scott was probably having nightmares across town. If he was still in town. Oh, she hoped he had already left, but after the concert, she had been so keen on avoiding contact she hadn't answered his calls or texts...
Ree found Allen's room and froze in the doorway; Nathan was dozing in the chair next to the bed. Of course he would stay with his injured friend. Everything about her plan was stupid and not at all thought out, but there was stupid and then there was just dumb.
A hand came down on her head and she jumped a foot in the air. Whippy fell off and she barely caught him in her arms. "Shh," Lenore whispered, finger placed against her lips. "Come with me. Don't wake them."
Okay, and maybe she should've expected Lenore to be around, too. Sleep deprivation was addling her sense, that was it. That and absolutely nothing else. Lenore led her to a small, empty office and gently pushed her into a chair, and then placed a cup of water in her hands. Whippy immediately stuck his snout in it. "Ser?"
"How are you doing?" Lenore asked, sitting down across from her.
"I'm engaged now," Ree replied humorlessly.
"I'll make sure to get Allen something nice."
"How do you know it's him?"
"It's certainly not your boyfriend, nor your sister. And from what Nathan told me about how well you got on with the Sinnohan delegates, it's not any of them."
"You're missing Kev."
"I'm not sure I've had the pleasure of meeting him personally. I'm not sure tonight would make for good first impressions."
"Well, probably not. He's probably getting blackout drunk after his brother tried to cut through a woman to get to him. I think to save him. I'm not entirely sure, and it's stuff like that that makes me very, very glad I have Maya."
"Sinnoh's problems are its own. I recommend avoiding them from now on," Lenore said mildly.
"You don't have to tell me twice. I'm pulling Maya out from it all, too."
"A good idea."
They fell into silence. Lenore was a doctor. She probably didn't want to hear about Ree's thoughts of revenge, or a recap of the day's events. "...How do you know Allen and Nathan?"
"I knew most of them. My husband was a UFO, back when I was a field medic. I worked with the organization extensively before I retired. That included some of their classes."
"Why did you retire?"
"...Things happen, sometimes. But I helped train Allen's class. My last, incidentally. A bunch of terribly smart kids, really, and it was a disappointment to most everyone when so few of them actually joined the Unovan Field Operations. Nathan and Sara Grace were the top of their class, and neither of them signed up. Nathan didn't have the loyalty. I don't know about Sara Grace, and after what happened today, I don't think I want to know."
"Might want to check in with the rest of their classmates," Ree deadpanned.
"I can assure you that the organization will be investigating things very thoroughly. You shouldn't expect to officially see Allen anytime soon, if he ever gets reassigned to you. Playing guard dog to you was only a favor for me, nothing formal. We'll have to see each other from now on the old-fashioned way."
"You're not grounding me. I'm continuing my travels."
"We'll just have to schedule meeting places in advance. I can travel just as well as you can," Lenore said.
"...Antoine Pollock." Lenore's eyebrows disappeared beneath her bangs. "Do you know the name?"
"How do you know the name?" That more or less confirmed that Antoine Pollock was someone, so Maria very well could have been telling the truth. At least on that. "Ree, would you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Stop chasing danger. You're pregnant. You have another life inside of you, and there is some responsibility in that. Responsibility not to get into further trouble, especially trouble of your own making."
"I'm staying out of politics from now on, believe me."
"Not just that."
"...Just for my sister. Then I'm done."
"Don't pursue Antoine. He's far above your skill level, and you know that. If I get the smallest hint that you're serious about tracking him down, I will have Allen up your ass so fast you'll be spitting elgyem."
"Is he going to get another one? What will happen to Tranjero?"
Lenore's expression softened. "...I don't know. It's rare that an elgyem is separated from its handler, especially injured in such a way. But I'm sure they'll find him soon."
Ree thanked her doctor and offered empty promises of staying safe. She even made a show of getting a cab from the hospital. She was not, however, going back to the hotel to sleep; they arrived at Kev's apartment complex soon after. It took some pounding on the door, but eventually he answered, only in pajama pants and with sleep-mussed hair. "What the hell do you want? Haven't you ruined my day enough?"
"You were sleeping?" Ree asked in shock.
"What does it look like?"
"I thought you'd be sobbing into a pint of ice cream or half a bottle of whiskey by now."
Kev ran a hand over his face and let her into his place. "I work tomorrow. I'm tired. I just wanted to sleep."
"You didn't want to, you know, talk about what happened?"
"What is there to talk about?"
"Well, your brother—"
"I am used to my brother and his acts of violence towards anyone he deems a threat. And no, I don't want to talk about it. That's why I left as soon as I was able. Are all the UFOs finally gone?"
"Eh, they're all in a pile at the hospital."
"...So why are you here?" Kev asked, squinting at her in the dim light.
"Can I use your computer?"
"You're serious."
"You're the only one I know in Castelia who I trust." She thought about batting her eyes or making it sappy, but it fell flat, anyway. Kev waved her into his room to the desk with a laptop on it, and then collapsed back onto his bed. Visoka looked up sleepily from the pile of blankets.
She thought he had drifted off again as she googled the name Maria had given her. To her immense surprise, it actually showed some significant results: there were several news articles and even a short wiki article about the man. Son of a semi-renown Ranger from Kalos, he lived in Unova and had several public run-ins with the law. But he always got out of it without jail time or anything permanent. He was even theorized to be a major antagonist to the field operatives. Which, naturally he was, but for public opinion to catch onto that, he had to be something big or nasty. Probably both.
So Maria might not be shitting her. The photos certainly matched the glimpse she got earlier. Which meant Ree might have a concrete target, and Maria definitely had something to gain by taking him out, or at least distracting him with a human tail.
"What are you looking at?" Kev asked from the bed, making her jump.
"Go back to sleep."
"I'm not sleeping around other people again anytime soon."
"I'm done here, anyway. I'll send you a fruit basket as thanks."
"Get the hell out of my flat. And if you ever try to get me near my brother again..." Kev trailed off, either unable to come up with a threat in his tired state or leaving it up to her imagination. It did the trick either way.
"I'm sorry, Kev. I want to you know that I am so, so sorry for how today went."
"Yeah, well, this world is fucked up. Next time you add to the amount of fucked up in my life, you're out of it. Got it?"
"Yeah. ...Sorry. I'll let myself out."
Ree sat down on the stoop outside the building and scratched Whippy. He'd been dozing off and on since the cab ride, and even past that, he was unusually quiet. Maybe he sensed something had happened. Maybe he was tired, too.
She thought, briefly, how she'd react if any of her classmates turned into brutal traitor, especially if they had combat and weapons training. Maybe it was a good thing she had never gotten into the military. Instead she was just running around with incredibly strong pokémon at her beck and call. Maybe not incredibly strong, but strong, and always getting stronger. The entire region was like that. The entire world.
But Ree didn't care about the world. She barely cared about Unova as a whole. If it trained people and then let them fuck off and do as they pleased, it was their own fault. ...Then again, wasn't that how trainers worked, too? Earn enough badges and suddenly, someone could get a lot of leeway with the law. Maybe Antoine has badges, she thought idly. Maybe there was some way to check, but she doubted it. Maybe Kev could check to see if he had Burgh's badge, but it would be a long time he trusted her again, especially to the point where it'd put his job in jeopardy. Again.
"Oh, this is a mess we've gotten ourselves into," Ree sighed and Whippy stretched across her lap, allowing her better access to his stomach. "At least you're with me, mister."
"Ser," he replied.
-.-.-
Next Chapter: Damned if she does, and damned if she doesn't, Ree is caught up in the aftermath of what's just conspired. Kev is rightfully still angry with her, and Maya is more distant than ever, leaving one pregnant teenager without much of a support system. Her team's there for her... except when they aren't. Allen can't be, Nathan's back to Sinnoh with the delegates, and Lenore doesn't trust her as far as she can throw her. It'd be real nice to have a loving, supportive boyfriend right then, but we all know how that one went for Ree. Maybe it's just time for her to grow up and move forward, at any cost.