A breather chapter with an interesting question at the end. For those who've read what's posted of Unwanted Betrothal, this contains two major spoilers for that, and a few minor ones in terms of the overall world.
There's at least one fakemon and one beta pokemon mentioned here, and there's a warning for very briefly touching on some sexism.
What are they doing here?
Conan eyed the trio as they perused the joint clothing-and-toys section of the small, tourist-oriented store. A store he'd chosen because it was unlikely any tourists within would know enough Orenjin outside the most basic of basics. Like how much was a thing, where the nearest teleport station was, where the nearest battlefield was, and where the toilet was.
Otherwise, one could count on tourists being tourists and not bothering to learn the local language. These people though... It changed nothing yet everything, especially given who they were. The redhead wore casual jeans, sneakers, and light coloured polo shirt, while the black-haired lady wore a pale blue blouse and dark slacks with what Conan was certain were designer shoes; likely a Kanto brand.
He gave it a passing grade for celebrities trying to keep on the down-low. But, if he remembered Kanto's upperclass gossipnews correctly, (Heirs needed to keep abreast of worldwide things like that), the last adult was the nanny. Compared to Niko and Haru, she seemed dressed to draw attention away from, given the colourful yet almost painfully generic print clothes. Either she liked it, or the twins on the child leashes had dressed her. Likely the twins, given neither the green nor the blue leashes made any effort to coordinate with the rather colourful yet odd clothing - including a neon tiara on top of a pirate hat.
(His mother had stories of him dressing his father up around that age. Thank Truth they'd been on holiday in Ferrum and Unova then.
-come to think of, wasn't that where he'd gotten his first Wattson hat?)
Yet, Conan still frowned. The last time he'd seen the couple, it'd been at the extravagant wedding his parents had dragged him to three years ago. Something about a friend inviting his mother then all of them going, and he very distinctly remembered his mother networking.
But he digressed.
It was League Season; shouldn't they be- Wait. No. Yamatai's Season wasn't the same as the Islands, so it was out of season for them. A holiday then? Or perhaps visiting the Islands for a show match? Either was possible, though holiday would explain each less-than-full-belt the adults wore, and a show-match would have been heavily advertised everywhere to the point it'd have been nauseatingly the only thing the kids would have talked about outside of Yaiba.
At least his actual class would have had more varied topics going on. And, doubtless Sonoko would have insisted the Moore's join them in ringside box seats as that gave the best views.
She wasn't wrong. Yet, with no show matches involving the Gym Leader, he decided they were here on a family holiday. Meaning the Shinoda's would have money, and the wife, at least, seemed amicable to helping those less fortunate.
Niko on the other hand... He'd seen enough of them on TV over the years to know that the behaviour at the wedding had been a fluke. Niko was little more than an antisocial, standoffish, temperamental person who'd sooner throw a punch than not. Someone who had only the vaguest idea of proper decorum at the best of times (it made Kuroba, Anderson, and Hae-Yin all look like saints) and grudgingly tolerated their wife's social hobbies.
Well, nothing to it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and he really did not have time to mess around with looking for another person to ask for a couple of yuan.
Especially when there was no guarantee the next tourist he approached would speak anything he did.
"Excuse me. Do you moment have?" Conan chirped in stilted, childish Yamatan, pitched just high enough to be heard through the general hubbub of the store- and almost had to take a step back when a red eyed, scowling face settled on him. As it was, he looked away, like he'd never seen red eyes on a human before. Tried and 'failed' not to squirm at the 'idea' it could be actually be real. The squirm wasn't all fake; it was bad enough seeing that shade of red from a teenage perspective, but from a child's... Truth take him, but it was like staring into the unknown. Cold and unfathomable to even the most powerful of psychics.
It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as something cold and unwelcome raced his spine. Yet he shoved the feeling aside before it could take root.
Thankfully, it was the wife -Haru- who spoke first, a finger pointed at her nose. "Us?"
"Yeah," Conan nodded, and he could almost see the way the Viridian Gym Leader dismissed him as a private school brat; his blazer and bowtie all but screamed it. Conan fought down the smirk. The Kantan wasn't wrong: Teitan was a ladder school, part private, part public and wholly selective when it could get away with it. He'd been lucky Agasa had gone there; that they'd given him consideration.
"What," Niko grunted, eyes narrowed.
"Do you have -Hey..." He started, only to pause. Peer back up at the Gym Leader like he'd never seen real red eyes up close in his life (lies, of course. Hakuba had them)- and then took a half step back, shoulders hunched with a look of unease. "Why your eyes funny colour?"
He knew the answer, of course. The Gym Leader had the same mutation as Hakuba and wasn't a true Darkened. But Conan wanted to know what the Gym Leader had to say to a child.
"They're a Darkened," Haru said kindly instead, hand on her spouse's shoulder with a light squeeze.
Liar, Conan thought savagely even as he blinked, wide-eyed and innocent behind glasses. Those red eyes are only a mutation. Like Hakuba's are. Like Kuroba's Darkened Blue. "Huuuh? For Real?"
"What, never seen a Darkened before?" Niko shot back, mouth twitched upwards as they struggled to suppress a smirk.
Arsehole. But at least that proved the Gym Leader likely wouldn't have said anything charitable to a child, and idly, Conan wondered if Niko'd even had that much of a hand at raising the twins. Probably not and for the best, really. He'd seen how that type of parent could easily mess a child up.
"On TV..." the boy said, shrinking back slightly as Viridian's Gym Leader flashed out a gengar smile more teeth than anything. "But, I never see two GECs together."
"GECs?" Haru said, nonplussed.
"Yeah!" Conan nodded and pointed to Haru, then the nanny, who he noticed watched them out of the corner of her eyes while also monitoring the children. "You Gold Eyes!"
"Oh. GED? Is that what you mean?"
"Yeah!" Conan nodded, not even surprised Yamatai still used the term 'Golden-Eyed-Daughter'. As if boys couldn't have gold eyes too; then again, Yamatai held some interesting beliefs as to the role of a boy, and Shinichi knew he should be grateful to have been born where he was. There was still that glass ceiling, but it wasn't as thick as Yamatai's.
At least the Clans went in order of birth, not gender.
"Not even on TV?" Niko asked, more out of curiosity than anything, distractedly waving off Haru to little effect as they turned back to the shirt rack.
"No!" Conan said with a glare that the Gym Leader ignored.
"Hmph. What shows you watching?" They said as they pulled out a spider logo shirt -this one has what looked like a cartoon version of a tinimer and joltik on it- and held it up with a critical eye, as if judging the two spiders.
"I don't live in front of a TV, you know!" Conan retorted in Orenjin. It was true though; TV wouldn't help with the Men in Black issue; nor would it return him to his true age. Also, he had cases to solve and Men in Black to find. And all the shows the kids of his class liked were for children. Ugh.
They shrugged with a snort and replaced the shirt back onto the rack. "Aww, so that means you've no idea you just missed the generic lottery with your eyes?"
Haha. He liked his near-miss, thank you very much given it kept Ran safe. If he'd had Darkened Blue, he wouldn't have been able to lie to her. Not when there were less than 200 Darkeneds with the colour on the Islands and one just showing up out of literal nowhere would have sent her to the authorities, even if he claimed to be from somewhere like Holon or even the Southernmost Island.
He couldn't even lie about contacts; children didn't wear them, and the world kept records of the Darkened born. (They didn't for psychics, so talk about double standards there.)
Never mind the newspapers and social media and just. No. He liked living. More than that, he liked Ran safe.
"If you rude and use words I no get-" Conan hissed in Yamatan, complete with sulky glare and crossed arms. Never mind he understood them. The point of this was to play the child who had only a basic Yamatan vocabulary.
Maybe he should have found someone else and saved his dignity, but he didn't have time, damn it all.
"Forgive them," Haru said with a smile as she touched Niko's arm, marriage bracelet glinting in the light and Coan barely blinked at the duraldon metal mixed into it. At least it was practical, unlike the one his mum wore.
The Gym Leader snorted and shoved hands into pockets, but didn't brush her off; probably because of the way the nanny seemed to motion to the twins. Who, Conan noted, had at some point stopped digging through the toys and now avidly watched the exchange. "Awww, whatever. Whatcha want, brat?"
"Do you can give twenty yuan off you?" Conan asked, doing his very best to stumble over what he actually meant and not give away the fact he was near fluent in the language.
(One day, someone would discover just how many languages this seemingly a six-year-old spoke, and Shinichi couldn't deny he wasn't looking forward to the shock. The bullshitting his way out of it less so, but details could come later.)
"Huh?" They said with a head tilt and even the nanny had blinked at that.
Ah. Had he laid it on too thick-?
"Yeah! Why'd y'want money from mada?" Green-leash Twin spoke up, hands on hips while her twin nodded, her own hands death-clutching a sandile plush by the tail.
"Mummy said I old enough to teleport home..."
"But she didn't leave you any money, is that it?" Haru said kindly.
"No," Conan said sheepishly and for all the lie was a gamble, tourists had no reason to know that no one native to the Islands would ever have allowed a child to wander around without a pokemon, a 'Gear or Rotomi, and enough money to cover a teleport.
It was far too risky, even nearish the heart of a city like Beikoda.
"Wow, that's a mean mummy!" Blue-leash twin piped up with an impressive glare. "Mama and mada and nanny would never do that!"
Because you'd be kidnapped off the street, Conan thought. You're Gym Leader kids. About the only thing more valuable around here would be the Champion's younger siblings, Clan Heirs, or heirs to rich companies like the Suzuki Financial Group. Or, Truth forbid and Fate's draglines stay still, a powerful GEC. Or a powerful Dark-GEC.
They still hadn't located the Dark-type Golden Eyed Child who'd gone missing three years ago.
Niko hummed. "Twenty yuan's a lot for a 'port."
"I live on another island," Conan said with another sheepish shrug. "It is lot of money."
"Really?" Green-Leash asked eagerly, and for the life of him, Conan couldn't be sure which of the twins it was. "What's i'like?"
"It ok. This Island is better," the boy beamed brightly before turning blue eyes onto Niko- and hoped that this gamble would pay off. "Please?"
"Tch." Niko scoffed with a shrug that told Conan everything he needed to know. The Gym Leader was not that inclined to help a random brat, but with their wife and the twins watching, plus they couldn't be sure he wouldn't go home and look them up... good PR was worth its weight in gold for a person like Giovanni's child. "What'd'you think, dear?"
"We can spare it," Haru said, hand finding her spouse's even as she turned to the nanny, and wasn't that interesting. Though, given the nanny was in charge of the children, it seemed reasonable to think she'd have cash on her. "Ruby-?"
Eselian name, unless it was Rubii, meaning the woman was either Sevii or Tishigi born. Given the shade of red, he guessed maybe Sevii, but it didn't matter in the end; he was paranoid, running out of time, and he really should not profile them like suspects or criminals.
Island gods, but he needed this case to be over. He wanted Wattson so he could sink into the bliss that was leaning against a dark-type.
"Yes, ma'am," Ruby said as she dug out a wallet and pulled out a 20 yuan note. She crouched as she offered it to Conan. "Here. That should cover it."
"Thanks, miss!" The shrunken teenager said as he pocketed it with a quick bow, while Ruby stood and pocketed the wallet. "Um. Do you nearest teleporter know?"
"There is one three streets away, to the north," Ruby said as she pointed in the general direction of the building. "You can not miss it."
"Thank you!" He said again with another bow.
"Safe trip," Haru called after him as he left, and Conan selfishly tucked that against his heart and added in a silent prayer he didn't trip Fate's draglines.
He didn't go straight to the station, though asking after it had been a convenient excuse to politely say goodbye. He could find his way there in his sleep; it was near the man-made lake perfect for battling water-types and his heart ached. When -not if, when- this was all over, he'd visit. Go sharpedo and jaggu surfing for a while. Just enjoy time with his beloved sharks. Buy some live food and let them hunt, though it'd be better to go to a beach or the like for that, or one of the speciality built centres where he could watch it live.
By himself, of course. Richard didn't think Conan had any clue how dangerous dark-types could be, and Conan really didn't need another lecture from the man. At least Ran seemed to give him the benefit of the doubt. Probably because both were part water.
A problem for the future, once this was all over.
(Maybe if he sort out a battle and let himself live in the second... it couldn't hurt and he knew his pokemon would enjoy it more than anything.)
Instead, he took a right and headed calmly -he didn't feel calm, but if he forced himself to be normal, he'd maybe get a clearer head- back towards the Can Do he'd passed earlier.
The shrunken teenager all but beelined towards the clothing section-
And came up short at the rather dismal selection of hats and scarfs on offer. Ah. Well. It was peak tourist season and around the time it snowed on the Islands, so he wasn't sure why he'd been hoping for better.
"Damn it," he hissed softly as he grabbed the first hat he saw- then promptly put it back. There was nothing wrong with it outside the fact it was a blue copy of Hattori's near infamous hat, and given he'd be keeping this hat, it would behove him not to tempt fate. Especially when he'd already had two encounters with the prankster-magician when walking home from school with Ran, Sonoko and Aoko. Thankfully, he'd been ignored outside the first attempt to impress with magic, yet there really was no need to actually tempt fate.
He enjoyed not being the butt of pranks for once. Also watching Ran and Aoko scold the teen for frightening a child had been hilarious.
Outside of that, the colours didn't really go with his clothes. He could get a jumper, but he needed at least fourteen yuan for a priority teleport, otherwise he'd be stuck waiting in line and who knew how long that'd even take. Knowing his luck, longer than he had to spare. On top of that, he needed four yuan for the SSN's recall of at least Mycroft and Sherlock, though if he'd had his Trainer ID on him, Sherlock'd be free at the very least.
Being a child sucked. Being without Trainer ID more so. But wishing for what he didn't have would not help him.
The next hat he grabbed was two tones of blue with a dark red 'K' on it, and he grabbed a matching scarf to go with it. They'd work and he could pull it up over his face so he could at least pretend to be cosplaying or mimicking one of the Detective Clans.
Haa... At least he had more than enough practice of that, thank you very much.
Payment was quick as he used the self serve machine, and as soon as he was out of the shop, Conan pulled the scarf and hat on (after ditching the tags, of course) and took off towards the teleport station.
It didn't take long to reach the cobblestone courtyard and its various wooden platforms, most busy with in- or out-bound traffic as people either teleported with their own monster, or rented one of the teleporters.
The priority lane was running today. Good. He made to beeline for the booking booth-
His breath hitched and his heart seemed to stop as he caught sight of an orange jacketed, working hoopa that'd been mostly hidden by a purple-haired woman, who wore a matching orange vest over the uniform of a League Official.
I didn't know she had a licence for a hoopa... Conan blinked, then shook his head. Did the reason really matter when he could dig it up later? Or ask Kuroba himself when they next crossed paths. He'd figure it out later. All he knew was that, judging from the fact the thing was almost as big as Chikage herself, coupled with the growth of the oddly and hilariously out of proportion legs, the hoopa was probably near the juvenile stage.
Meaning it was likely 15 years old by now and she could very well have inherited it from someone in her family.
Wait, no. What was he thinking? It would have to be League owned. Privately owned hoopa were near unheard of.
Truth's tail, the case was messing with his brain. The sooner he got it over with, the better.
"Excuse me," Conan started as he approached the first free booth, yet barely able to take his eyes off the psychic-ghost as his father's cousin-in-law directed a couple through the golden warp-ring. "Are they doing inter-island warps here today?"
"To the Western Islands, yes," the man said with a laugh. "Chikage's actually a last-minute replacement for Jackson."
"Oh. Did he get sick?" It was winter after all.
"Ah... No. Froslass." The man said numbly and Conan swore his stomach escaped his body then and there. But, the man didn't give him time to ask if it was death or a maiming, if the thing had been caught or killed yet, or even where the League had pulled her from (but did that really matter when hoopa handlers went where the League sent them?) "You looking to go somewhere in the West?"
"Ah... No. I need to get to the Main Pokemon Centre via the priority. Mum said she's gonna open me up my own account on her lunch break!"
"Ah. Your 6th birthday then?" The man said as he called up a ticket for the teleport. Conan nodded with a small bounce of excitement, and the man laughed with a shake of his head. "You gonna get a pet too? And it was to the PMC, yeah?"
"Yeah, the MPC! I'm gonna get a zigza'oon!" Not a lie there, and it was an easy sell to be excited about. He was going to get Sherlock, then Mycroft back before he did anything else like look up a video of the morning news about yesterday's froslass and the results of its hunt.
"I hope you both bond well," the man said, clearly reminiscing of when his own SSN account had been opened, while the printer took a moment to print the ticket. "Right. That'll be fourteen yuan, please."
"Here," Conan offered up the coins and note, and took his ticket with a chirped 'thank you' and only a glance at the ticket as he hurried off to collect the abra -of course it was one and Shinichi resented it more than ever. Yet it was what they teleported children with, and he looked like one.
It'd be fine; the worst that'd happen would be he tripped coming out of the 'port and in the grand scheme of things, it would make sense if he did.
Stupid child body.
Gods. He was going to find those people, save two lives and get that drug back to Agasa and soon he'd be back to Shinichi and this entire ordeal could be left behind like some darkrai induced nightmare.
"Would you like me to go with you?" one of the attendants said as she released the abra. Instantly, Conan felt the brush of a mind against his shields. Carefully, he opened them up, just enough to project where he wanted to go.
"No. I'm OK," He said with a small headshake. "Mum says I'm old enough to do it myself, so I really wanna try!"
"Very well," the woman said with a reluctant nod, then addressed the abra. Conan didn't doubt she also had the image in her mind, more as a backup in case his wasn't enough. It would be. He knew it would be. "Beikoda MPC. Teleport."
Conan had barely a second or two of warning as the very air itself crackled with untapped energy and the hairs on his body stood up as if he'd been struck by lightning. As if they had forced him to ingest that drug yet again, or something like it. It wasn't, and he hadn't, he knew that, yet- yet he didn't get to think on it, as something seemed to hook into his very being and he and the abra teleported away to their destination in a burst of psychic energy.
As he stumbled, dizzy, lightheaded, pale, and nauseated, off the platform on the other end, he really wished he'd spoken up and asked for an alakazam instead. That was... so unlike what a teleport should have been, and even though he wanted to sit, to rest, he forced himself to wave off the attendants, to put a smile on his face and head towards the entry to the 'Centre.
He'd never, ever, felt anything like it before and he had always been a model teleporter, so... why?
Was it related to the drug? It... No. The answer could wait.
For now, at least.