Chapter 12: The Bad, The Ugly, and The Worst Part 1.
Majestic City Arc.
"Ugh...What a snorefest," Justin says to himself, pushing a cart filled with many foods and items. Him, Ramon, Ada, and Clinton are traversing through a hallway of a ton of food. The food comes with many types, such as a can of beans or rice. The floor is clean and slick, the shadows casting on it are formed from the group. They look around the mart, passing by some civil people and Pokémon.
Justin's eyes turn to Ada. "Fam," he whispers. "This crap is not what I had in mind when it comes to finding my mother."
"Honestly, shopping didn't come to mind ever since our hometown got burned down," Ada whispers back. "Also, why are we whispering?"
"Because I don't want the old man to know that I found his shopping decision boring," Justin answers, Ramon's ear flickering to the two's voices.
Ada tilts her head. "Since when did you start becoming concerned about how others feel?"
"I heard the words 'old man.' What are you two whispering about?" Clinton asks, grabbing a can from one of the shelves.
"Oh uh, we were just talking about the weather, that's all," Justin explains, scratching the back of his head while smiling.
The elder raises his brow. "...Then why whisper it?"
The two teens look at each other before turning their attention back to Clinton. "We..." Ada shifts her shoulders.
"We thought that it would be embarrassing to talk about the weather out loud," Justin finishes for the girl.
Clinton puts the can inside of the cart, shaking his head. "There's no need to whisper about the weather. People talk about it from time to time. It's normal, unlike something that's bizarre and unworldly."
"Oh." Justin laughs. "I always thought it was weird to talk about the weather, which is why I whisper about it."
"Right, haha..." Ada follows. Get me out of this lying train, please.
The Zorua stares at the two, tilting his head into curiosity. I don't get it, he thinks. He then looks at the elder, walking close to him. "Hey Clinton, are you a Fault, Sorcerous, or a Pokémon Trainer by any chance?"
The four exit from the hallway and turn to their left, all heading towards a waiting line. "I'm a Fault, in fact. I'm no Sorcerous nor Trainer." Clinton pats his pocket, containing the revolver inside. "If I was a Sorcerous, I wouldn't be relying on my trusty gun from my cop days."
"Oh?" The Zorua tilts his head. "Why'd you say that?"
"Because unlike Faults, Sorcerous doesn't have to rely on a weapon to defend themselves. Nor a Pokémon, for that matter."
"Relying on a Pokémon?"
The four reach the waiting line as Clinton nods. "Yeah. Trainers are the ones known to rely on them in battles." The elder lifts his hand up. "Pokémon Trainers consist mainly of Faults, who use Defects as their companion." Clinton then looks off to the side, his hand against his chin. "I'm surprised that they're still around, considering the discovery of the Magic typing leading to a drastic shift in our lives. There's also Intellicates living alongside us, too."
"I see. Does the Pokémon have to always be a Defect for a Trainer to claim? If so, why?"
Clinton looks down. "From my understanding, yes. Having an Intellicate as a Pokémon companion is ruled unlawful due to them having freewill in every way and shape. If one were to claim them, they'll be in trouble."
"Hmm." Ramon looks off to the side. "Interesting."
Ada lifts her finger. "Although, the funny thing about the 'Sorcerous doesn't rely on weapons' thing, Justin and I encountered one yesterday doing the opposite."
Clinton raises his brow as he gets to the cash register. "You did?" he asks, putting the food and items onto the counter.
Ada nods as she and Justin help the elder, Ramon hopping onto the counter and setting the items to the side. "We were dealing with two guys holding this Pokémon captive. And one of them was using his Magic moves and weapon at the same time."
Clinton hands the cashier woman his money. "I see...Wait, you two were in a fight before you got here?"
"Yep," Justin answers. "Speaking of which, have you heard of the group Team Conjure?"
The four then grab the items and place them in several bags, setting them into the cart before exiting the building. "Nope, never heard of them. Why did you ask?"
"Those were the Sorcerous we faced yesterday. We were hoping that you would know about their whereabouts, but I guess not." Justin shrugs.
"Mind telling me what they're known for?" Clinton asks.
"Well, they're-" gunshots are firing near the group, them yelping and looking around with caution on their radar. Many people and Pokémon are running away, screaming for their lives. "-the heck was that?" Justin says, blue sparkles forming around his fists.
"Look over there!" Ramon points at an area filled with police officers. "There's something going on."
The officers are all surrounding a restaurant building, shooting at it. Inside of it are a group of people shooting back, some are even getting shot in the chest. And the same can be said for the cops, who are hiding behind their vehicles.
The four stare at the shootout, their faces sliding into concerns. "It's...best if we go someplace safe. So neither of us get shot," Clinton suggests.
"Agreed," Ramon, Justin, and Ada say at once. All of them turn to the left and leave that part of the city's area.
The group makes their way towards a tall building with double doors, being further away from the restaurant. The doors open, revealing Nickel exiting from it while wielding a black cane. The group stare at him, all raising their brows.
"What are you doing here, Mayor?" Ada asks.
"Why I'm leaving my tower to go do some errands," Nickel replies, taking his attention towards the restaurant. "What's happening over there?" He points at it with his cane. The four look at the shooting, hearing a man screaming in the background before turning back to the mayor.
"Oh that? Some shootout, to sum it up. And it ain't looking good," Justin answers, putting his hands in his pockets.
"I see." Nickel sighs and shakes his head. "Another day of crimes happening. We just stopped the previous one yesterday, too..."
"Do you believe the crimes here will ever stop?" Ramon says, looking up at the mayor. The round man stares down at the Zorua, scratching the back of his head in a nervous manner.
"I fear this may take awhile for the law enforcers to keep under control." Nickel looks at the sky, a flying car passing by the group above. The sight of seeing one makes a nearby homeless person shake in place, their eyes widening, their covers rattling. "This city is meant to be futuristic, always improving upon anything no one has ever seen." He grips his cane. "It's a shame that we're dealing with these criminal activities nonstop." Nickel gazes at the sun shining its ray of light, glancing at the blues. He then smiles and lifts his cane up. "But fear not, as the detectives are hard at work on cracking the case!"
"...Where?" Clinton grips his fists, frowning at the mayor.
Nickel looks at him. "I beg your pardon?"
"Where are they, Nickel? I don't see them anywhere, not even when shit like this is happening!"
Nickel lifts his hands up. "Calm down, Clinton. They're searching for clues on a case that links to this one."
Clinton folds his arms and lifts one of his eyebrows. "That's what you always say."
"Clinton, I know that you're upset about your retirement. You wished that you've done better while working with the authorities. I understood that completely."
"Cut the crap. This isn't about my retirement: It's about making this city better. And right now, you're doing a shit job at that."
The three look at the two back and forth, eyes widening and mouths ajaring at the commotion. Nickel sighs heavily. "I'm doing the best I can."
"I'm not seeing that best, am I?"
"That old man is right: The mayor really isn't doing his best at helping this city," someone says behind Ada, leading her to turn around. A couple of civilians are staring at them, including the homeless people and Pokémon that are on the ground. Grim spreading across their faces while they keep themselves sheltered.
"There goes the mayor again using excuses to not fix the city's poverty problem. So much for it being called 'Majestic' when this is less majestic," one lady says, the others communicating more about the issue.
BOOM!
Everyone jumps and turns towards the explosion's location. "The hell was that?" Justin says. From there lies a hole appearing at the top of a tall building. Exiting it is Team Conjure, their dark purple outfits shine brightly thanks to the sun.
The group hovers down as purple and blue sparkles form around them, the man with the unorganized hair being the leader. Everyone starts communicating with each other, keeping a keen eye on the group.
"Who are they?" one man asks.
"I have no clue," a Venusaur with a feminine tone answers.
Nickel turns towards Clinton. "What's going on here?" he asks.
"How the hell should I know?" Clinton asks back, gripping onto his cart. Ada's eyes widen, her claws beginning to form.
"...It's them," she says, her purple claws fully engulfing her hands.
"Who?" Clinton asks. Ada doesn't say a single word as she dashes off, heading towards the hole-formed building. "What the!? Hey, get back here!"
Justin follows the teen, his blue blades spawning between his hands. Ramon yelps as the two run off. "Oh dear..." he says.
"Hold on, Justin! You get back here, too!" Clinton groans before sighing, shaking his head. "This is so frustrating." He then turns to Ramon. "Do they always jet off like this?"
The Zorua looks back and nods, laughing in a raspy manner. "Yeah..."
"Well this isn't good," Nickel says as the Conjure group land onto the ground. "First the Majestic Restaurant is getting robbed, and now my second tower is getting taken over!"
Clinton turns to the mayor. "Couldn't you call in more law enforcers?"
Nickel shakes his head. "Sorry but we're limited on the amount of law enforcers patrolling this city."
"Limited!?" Clinton puts his hands on his hips. "How the hell are you limited on law enforcers? With how big this city is, you should have more than enough to protect it."
"Well you see, due to the amount of poor people living here, it's become quite challenging to get new recruits."
Clinton folds his arms, squinting his eyes. "And whose fault is that?"
Nickel sighs, looking down at the ground as he shakes his head. "You're making this difficult on me, Clinton."
"Fine. Since you can't send anymore officers, for some Tauros shit reason, I'll go ahead and stop them myself." Clinton digs in his pocket and withdraws his revolver.
Nickel gasps. "But it's too dangerous for you to do that. Who knows what that group could be capable of?"
Clinton glares at the mayor. "I know Arceus well that they're dangerous. That's why I rather risk my life saving those kids than to see them get killed." The elder then looks at Ramon. "Watch over the cart for me, will you?"
"Um, I will," Ramon replies, standing next to the cart in front of the alley. Clinton rushes off to the teens.
Oh dear...So much is going on today, Ramon thinks, sighing to himself. What else is going to happen? And just like magic, a paw appears out of the alley's shadow, gripping onto the Zorua's head. "...Uh." The fox is snatched away from the cart, being engulfed into the darkness.
Nickel looks to the side, tilting his head into confusion. "Hmm?" he says, tapping on his cane. "...Wonder what happened to him."
Ramon is thrown against a wall, yelping and groaning at the massive pain he received. "Ugh...what in the world!?" He rubs his head and gazes up, a cloaked figure standing above him. The red eyes rain down at his greenish, blue ones, making them shake in place and preventing them from avoiding eye contact. Oh this...just got worse.
The Zorua simply gulps.