Once we stepped inside the car with the policemen taking the front seat, we headed off to Castelia City in the most unlikely of ways. Apparently, I did something that made me a target. I had no clue what I did for them to arrest me, making the ride not only annoying, but I was getting angrier by the second.
My bangs falling on my head weren't making the situation any better.
"Hey, can I at least get a band to tie this hair from my bag?" I asked as nicely as possible through my annoyance, but the policeman on the wheel shook his head.
"Your Pokémon and belongings are going to be confiscated until you get cleared, lad. Better sit tight," He said, making me scoff but didn't respond. I switched my gaze at the barred window, and I could barely see anything through it.
The only thing I could see was the giant bridge I forgot the name of that spanned over the river that soon flowed into the open sea. The bridge itself wasn't anything to gawk at from my perspective as I had already seen beautiful bridges in the past but Hilda was gazing from the window with limited wonder.
She still was silent throughout the ride however, since our situation was weird, to say the least. Not even a nod or a quick glance was shared, making the ride take way more than it should.
Once we reached Castelia City, the first thing I noticed was how huge the city was in comparison to everything we visited so far. Tall buildings reached incredible heights, almost piercing the skies while the streets and roads were bustling with activity.
I was even able to spot the Pokémon gym on our way towards the police station, but I only gave it a small glance. I had to focus on the current situation rather than thinking ahead. For all I knew, I could be locked up forever, and that thought didn't make me feel better at all.
After the car parked next to the police station, the policeman turned to Hilda with a small smile, "Well, that's our stop, miss Hymerlay. I think you've spotted a few Pokémon centers our way an—"
"I'm not leaving," Hilda cut off the officer, much to his bewilderment.
"I… don't think I get what you mean," He said and Hilda crossed her arms, her meek personality during the ride was thrown out the window.
"I said, I'm not leaving until you let Radko go," She repeated defiantly, making the officer sigh.
"Alright then, come with me," He said and stepped out of the car while I stared at Hilda for a solid second. She gave me a determined look.
"We both know you did nothing wrong. I'm not going anywhere until you're cleared," Hilda said to me, making me playfully scoff.
"Thanks," I said before stepping out of the car and following the cop inside.
I never was in a police station before for obvious reasons and I always had my expectations on what it actually looked like. Of course, they were shattered immediately once I stepped inside. It was surprisingly clean and the cop didn't waste any time with us as well, making the process very snappy and quick.
After checking in at the reception desk, who grew immediately serious upon hearing my name. She typed a few things on her computer before urging us inside.
Well, almost all of us.
"Alright miss Hymerlay, this is as far as you'll go. I don't know how long this interrogation will take so you can take a seat or leave," The officer said but Hilda crossed her arms.
"Like I said, I'm not going anywhere," She answered, making the officer sigh, again.
"Very well," He then turned to me, urging me forward with a pat on the back, "Come on now, lad."
I wordlessly nodded before going down the hallway filled with other menacingly-looking officers. They always gave me a small glance but then always went back to their tasks. The attention I got made me anxious before we reached a set of metallic doors.
"Now, go inside. You should have everything you need there," The officer said, making me raise an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Instead, I opened the doors and revealed a neat-looking room that was a far cry from the usual prison I always imagined. Dirty, filled with dust, and bunk beds with the hardest of mattresses.
This one wasn't anything like that.
It felt like it was more suited for guests than anything with how spotless and clean it looked. It even had a small kitchen ready for use while a table set was right in the middle of the room.
To say I was completely baffled would have been an understatement before I heard an audible click behind me. The cop closed the doors behind me.
Looking around the room revealed a giant dark glass panel plastered on one of the walls, making me send a glare its way before moving to the kitchen. After opening a drawer with tea bags inside, and finding a teapot as well, I decided to make myself some tea. Somehow, I had the feeling I was going to wait here for a little while.
Made things worse because Hilda was waiting for me as well.
As I gazed at the teapot heating up the water to boiling, my mind was filled with questions I had no way of answering. Most of them were connected to the fact I was apprehended for no reason. The officer was silent about it the whole time which made things even more suspicious.
I instinctively scowled, like I was in for a rude awakening.
A click from the teapot brought me out of my thoughts before I quickly picked it up and poured myself a cup with the tea bag already inside. With a single teaspoon full of sugar inside the cup, I took a seat at the table while trying my best to wait patiently for anyone to come and interrogate me.
Or whatever this was.
While the tea was brewing, I kept my gaze at the black window to my left, trying to spot any activity on the other side yet I didn't hear a thing nor see anybody. My eyes narrowed again, and I was barely able to see light yellow outlines through the dark glass.
"Could you please seize your stare? It's getting rather creepy," The speakers boomed in the room, almost making me cover my ears while I gave the window another scowl.
"You could tone down the volume at least," I pointed out dryly. The only thing that indicated they reduced the volume was a slight crackle from the speakers, but that was it. With an irritated sigh, I turned my attention back to my cup before taking a sip.
It scalded my tongue, but I kept drinking anyway from sheer irritation before the tea disappeared fully. I put the cup down with a sigh, my breath hot but I didn't feel it much. Then, I started to tap with my fingers against the table, my long nails that I forgot to keep short almost banged in the silence of the room.
Yeah, this was probably the start where I would go insane.
Thankfully, I didn't have to wait for long as another click echoed in the room, and soon the metallic doors opened with the officer leading somebody I wasn't expecting.
You would think it would be just another police officer, but no. He was much more refined than any cop I had seen with a black suit and a white shirt while Black pants and boots hid his lower half. With a suitcase in hand, a lawyer-looking man stepped inside.
My eyes were wide while I stared at the man who then dismissed the officer and went to take a seat in front of me. He wore the usual fake smile with glasses hiding his amber eyes while putting his case on the table.
"Looks like we finally met, sir Radko," The lawyer said with a neutral tone that made me tense up. This looked more like a battle of wits than an interrogation.
"I feel rather robbed that my interrogator knows my name yet I don't know his," I knew this wasn't the best way to greet, but my irritation just refused to leave me.
The lawyer stared at me before a mirthless chuckle escaped his lips. "Well, I could do something like an introduction. My name is Finder of the International Police, and I was tasked to uncover the enigma that is you, sir Radko."
"An enigma?" I parroted, stupefied, "Look, I have been called a lot of things in my life but enigma isn't one of them."
"Then add that title to your count then, because your situation couldn't be called anything else other than that," Finder said, fixing his glasses once, "But we are derailing the pressing matter. Sir Radko, do you know how much you've stirred the integrity we tried to build here in Unova?"
"I can't see why," I answered, crossing my arms, "Last time I checked, I wasn't doing a heist or capturing anyone important. I was actually doing the exact opposite."
Finder nodded, "And we thank you for what you've done in the Pinwheel Forest with miss Hilda, but I'm talking more on the more administrative side."
He started digging into his case, procuring my… ID card.
"Is this your ID card?" He asked and I reluctantly nodded, "This card already made quite the stir because it looks authentic enough to pass as a legal document. There is a problem with it, however."
A lump suddenly formed in my stomach.
"Because the region you're prescribed to doesn't exist," Was all he said to completely shatter me. Worry and panic started to flow through my senses while my feet got weaker by the moment. I was glad that I was sitting now.
Finder didn't stop however, "Not to mention the address doesn't match any region whatsoever."
...Please, stop.
"Your bank account suddenly appeared out of nowhere as well, disrupting the economy with a wealth that rivals small companies."
Stop.
"And we already interrogated Professor Juniper on why she took you in, and from what I've heard, you try to seek your way back home," He leaned in a little, "But you already had an inkling that there wasn't a way."
"STOP!" I roared inside the room, my voice echoing in it multiple times. A few idle tears formed in my eyes while my face was all scrunched up.
"You know nothing about me and my situation! I have to get home! There has to be a way!" I shouted desperately, but the lawyer wasn't impressed by my display.
"How long are you going to lie to yourself, sir Radko? I've never heard of this 'Czech Republic', and even after trying to find it in texts, history books, or maps, not a single one mentioned this nation. Not even once," He rebuked, making me fall to my knees in desperation.
"No… I still need to ask my…" The dam broke as I fully began to cry, and not soon after I curled up and broke down in front of the lawyer.
Sobs and screams filled the room while Finder patiently waited for me to stop, but I didn't. My thought process was an absolute whirlwind, not a single coherent thought came to reassure me in any way.
Finder stood up from his chair before coming down to help me while I kept sobbing. I looked up at his offering hand, and once I saw the look he gave me, it wasn't the fake smile he wore before.
It still was miles from comforting.
"Leave me be," I forced out between my sobs, my body having little strength to hoist itself up.
"While I could leave you on the ground, I don't have an infinite amount of time to share," He said matter-of-factly, a single hand outstretched to help me up. I sneered in his direction, refusing to take his hand while I tried my best to get back up.
But I just couldn't.
"Please cease your play here, sir Radko. We have no time to lose," The lawyer said.
I eventually took his hand through my sneer and sat down with little grace and he followed suit soon enough.
"Contrary to what you might believe, I'm here to actually help you," He said while I stared at the ground while a mirthless chuckle escaped my lips.
"Could have fooled me," I rasped out, my vocal cords hurt from the cries I filled the room a few moments earlier.
"Look, I didn't mean to do this to you. If I knew you would react that way I would have tried to make it less…" He tried to think of a word but I beat him to it.
"Blunt?" I said.
"Ah, that," he exclaimed.
"...You're a psychopath," I remarked with gritted teeth, but the jab didn't even faze him.
"Actually, I like to call myself an unrecognized highly functional sociopath," He corrected before growing serious again, "But anyway, I'm trying to investigate why you've appeared here in the first place. You're not a liar because your documents prove it, but I need your help to dig up the truth."
I lifted my head to face him, his fake smile still plastered on his face like a bad omen.
"It was near Wellspring Cave, on Route 3. After we celebrated my birthday, I just suddenly appeared there inside a forest," I said, hugging myself in the process, "I don't remember much in between that."
"Hmm," Finder hummed while chewing on a pen he used to write down notes. When did he bring a notepad?
"That's very little to go off of, but it is a start as any," He said, not breaking eye contact with his notepad, "Besides that, do you feel a little abnormal?"
I tensed at the question before giving an incredulous stare.
"What kind of question is that?" I asked him.
"Just answer, yes or no," Finder shut me down.
"...No," I eventually said and he started to chew on his pencil again while mumbling words I couldn't understand at all. He kept at it for a solid minute before closing the notepad.
"Alright, that should be enough for now," He suddenly said, breaking all the tension left in the air.
"Wait, you call this an interrogation!?" I asked, dumbfounded by this guy's ways.
"Of course," He said, pointing with his finger up the ceiling, "I've gotten everything I need to find out what happened. You'll just have to wait a few days to find out."
"...I still can't see how you can find out what happened to me off of just that," I said, not believing the guy at all.
"Why do you think they sent me? Most would put your case into a box where they would discriminate against you and conclude you're a maniac," He stated before taking his glasses off, making me tense up from the piercing stare he gave me, "But I'm not most. You intrigue me, sir Radko. And I will commit myself to find out what happened."
He then equipped his fake smile yet again after putting his glasses back on, "Seeking the truth is quite the rush, and with how phenomenal this world is already, something like an interdimensional abduction is not something I get to investigate every day."
"...Excuse you? Interdimensional abduction?" I parroted, "Are you a mani—"
"Unrecognized highly functional sociopath," He interrupted me, much to my annoyance, "Now, since we got that out of the way…"
He started digging into his case yet again before pulling out another ID card. This time, it was more similar to what Hilda had.
"This is going to be your document from now. The fewer people know about you, the better," He said, sliding the card next to me. There was a picture of me already plastered on the plastic, "You're now a citizen of Unova without a permanent home, and are a nomad of sorts, traveling around the region at your leisure. That is going to be your cover story."
"...Why are you helping me like this?" I asked suddenly, catching Finder off-guard, "I thought I was going to become some sort of a government puppet."
His eyes were wide for a fraction of a second before a dry chuckle escaped his lips, "Now, is there a problem with me trying to help?"
"Well no, but…" I looked away, "I imagined I was going to become some sort of government puppet."
Another chuckle resonated in the room from Finder, "From what place did you come from to say something like that?"
"You wouldn't want to know," I said ominously.
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
This was taking too long.
I wasn't expecting Radko to get arrested of all things, but in that car, I smelled something fishy going on. Not only was the cop silent about the whole thing, but they weren't dealing with Radko as a regular criminal.
I was tapping my foot against the clean white marble floor impatiently, still on edge. I was constantly assaulted by the incredulous stares of the officers, but I couldn't care less. I had a good reason to be here.
Radko was a friend. A weird friend, but a friend nonetheless.
I didn't know how long I spent sitting in the chair but my patience was reaching its limit. I was so close to just storming inside and finally being on our way but I knew I would make the situation worse.
I clicked my tongue, but somehow that was the cue for Radko to appear behind a set of glass doors with a lawyer-looking guy. He got his bag while nodding to the lawyer before opening his way towards the office.
I stood up to greet him but he almost jumped at my entry.
I was surprised at first before I saw his bloodshot eyes while visible streaks of tears were still visible on his cheeks.
"Please, don't scare me like that," He said, the firmness of his voice was gone.
"I wasn't trying to," I said before inching a little closer, "So? What happened?"
"I'm free to go, but…" He trailed off before looking around the office before leaning in as well, "Let's go outside. I don't need people to eavesdrop."
He then picked up the pace quite quickly, leaving the station almost immediately. I didn't know why he was in a rush, but I followed him anyway.
Once he quickly scanned his surroundings, he picked a random direction and I had no idea where he was going. It was kind of hard to keep up with him since Radko was skillfully sneaking through the large crowds like it was second nature to him.
It became so bad that I actually had to calm him out.
"Radko, wait! You're going too fast!" I shouted at him which made him slow down a little, to the point I could keep up, but he didn't turn around. He just kept going.
We eventually squeezed our way through the crowded streets and found ourselves near the harbor. I wanted to gaze at how huge the boats were, but Radko kept going, completely unfazed by their size.
He eventually stopped at the edge of the harbor, gazing at the horizon where the sun was setting. It looked like it was sinking into the sea. I eventually stood by him, looking in the same direction.
"Well, at least you have a way to pick a nice spot," I said, trying to break the silence between us. What I was rewarded with was a dry and mirthless chuckle, his smile pained as well.
"Took some time to get good at it," He answered, his voice slightly hoarse.
"Alright, stop playing the cool guy and spill the beans. What happened there?" I demanded with crossed arms. Radko bit his lip while his face scrunched up.
"What do you think happened?" Radko retorted with a small amount of bite to his words but I wasn't playing that game.
"No, I want to hear it from you," I said with no room for argument. Radko turned to me with a scowl present on his features.
"I don't have a way home," As soon as those words left his lips, silence immediately took place between us. I stared at Radko for a solid second before my eyes widened, easing my hands.
"You… you're sure?" I asked, barely above a whisper, and Radko slowly and reluctantly nodded before sitting down at the edge of the road, his feet dangling above the sea while his elbows were leaning on his thighs.
"Yeah, the lawyer-looking guy practically made me face the truth," His head slumped, "I was just running away this whole time."
I didn't say anything, instead, I sat next to him. Or at least I tried because I was scared of falling off! How was he not scared!?
Eventually, I was able to sit down while Radko kept talking. "As to what happened during the interrogation, if you could even call it that, Finder was surprisingly committed to finding out what happened to me, and even made a cover story for me to use."
That took me back.
"Wait, so the guy you were talking to wants to help you?" I asked him and Radko nodded.
"Yeah, I was as surprised as you are now. He called me an enigma of all things, and I have a hard time processing that," His face scrunched up again, "Not to mention I'm practically homeless."
Oh.
Oh…
"I…" I actually had nothing to say. What was I supposed to say to him? Sympathies would just make me look like I didn't care, but I didn't know what it was like being homeless! Why were things always complicated with him!?
Radko was staring at me expectantly, thinking that I had something to say but I didn't!
"So, now I have no idea what to do," He said instead, bringing me out of my thoughts but I now immediately knew what to say.
"You can come with me," I offered him.
Radko snapped his gaze at me with wide eyes and his mouth slightly hung open. Slowly, a smile crept into his features. It was small but still noticeable.
"You have no idea how grateful I am, Hilda, for offering me that," He said, his gaze slowly shifting back to the sea.
I should've felt happy, I should've felt relieved because of his words.
So why was I feeling anxious?
"But I don't think I should go on with you anymore."
…
"It's just tha—"
"So, you're just going to sweep everything we went through so far under the rug?" I cut him off, "You're just going to throw away what we've achieved so far?"
"What, no! I was go—"
"Because it feels like you're trying to run away again!" I yelled at him, standing up in the process, "You finally realize that there is no way home for you, so you just want to bail out!? Are you going to release Diana and Katarina into the wild because you have no conviction to move on!?"
"Hilda," I heard Radko call me out, the firmness in his voice suddenly came back, catching me by surprise and before I realized it, I was staring up into his blue eyes.
"This is not a goodbye," He stated firmly before looking away, "I just… have a lot of things to figure out. I need some time alone, and I don't want to slow you down."
"What!? Slow me down!? Why would you think that!?" I rebuked, "If you would then I would have said something!"
"But you want to catch up to your brother, no?" Radko asked back.
"Well yeah, but…" I tried to find an argument but couldn't at such a crucial time.
"See?" Radko said, "I would honestly be deadweight with how I am right now."
I stared at him for a moment before I looked down, my own face scrunching up.
"Why are you so dead-set on leaving?" I forced out.
"As I said, I need some time alone," He answered, "I just don't want to say goodbye with us on bad terms."
I didn't say anything, only kept staring at the ground, hoping for him to change his mind. What I got however was something that I didn't expect at all. Strong arms suddenly pulled me closer to Radko, making me yelp.
I involuntarily landed on top of Radko's coat, its wool still fluffy and soft while I could still feel the firmness of his chest. I tried to weakly pry myself off, only to be blocked by his arms, locking me in place while he leaned his head on my shoulder. His long brown hair was a little irritating, but that was completely overshadowed by what Radko wanted to tell me with this gesture.
Why… Why was he so nice to me? I treated him horribly, yet this hug told me he was…
Grateful.
"Thank you, Hilda, for everything," He whispered, making me lean my head on his shoulder, "I don't know where I would be without your and your mother's help."
Wouldn't that make me selfish? If I forced him to stay? I wanted to tell him to stay so badly, but I just couldn't. I wasn't entitled to force him into anything.
If he wanted to be alone, then I couldn't do anything other than to comply.
...Even if it hurt a little.
I slowly but surely pried myself off from his sudden hug while I gazed at his small coat pocket before looking up, "Are you sure you want to go?"
A firm "Yes." was his answer.
"Alright then," I said, a little too robotically for my liking, "Go, do whatever you need to do. Just do something about your hair."
With a small chuckle, he dug inside his bag and skillfully tied his hair into a small ponytail, keeping his bangs away from his face.
"Again, thank you," Radko said with a real smile before he turned his back on me while waving lightly with his hand, "Until we meet again, Hilda."
The only thing I could do was to wave back, "...Until we meet again, Radko."
AN: Well, there you go. Hope those three cliffhangers were worth it. I'm sorry it took a little longer than usual, but I wanted to make sure this chapter landed where I needed it to. It's the end of the first arc you could say.
Anyway, thanks to the awesome people at the Fanfiction Treehouse that help me keep going. If you want to join the discord server, here is the link.
Link: gg/9XG3U7a
God's speed.