Tiberius sat behind the grand desk of his brother's office, lounging lazily in a tall office chair. His feet were raised up on the desk, his mud-caked boots splattered the fine polished wood with filth. A portrait of himself hung above him on the right wall, a much younger but no less wild version of himself. His grey eyes, speckled with red flecks were just as wild as they were now. His hair was just as long if a lot cleaner in the picture but his facial hair was just as unkempt. Although his father had forced him to brush his hair he remembered, no amount of brushing or washing could tame his beard. Shaving was no good either, if he shaved clean in the morning by the afternoon a thick bushy stubble would have replaced it. Tiberius scowled at the picture as he followed the line of portraits to his late father. A man somehow even more brutish and cold than his younger brother. He shared their speckled eyes and thick black hair but in stark contrast to Tiberius, his hair was shaven down to an orderly stubble, his face was smooth, each dot of stubble meticulously shaven away. The mere sight of his father irked him and he turned his gaze away. While the chair he sat in was Griffith's officially, Tiberius knew that it was his in truth. As the oldest son, he should have been given the role of header ranger after their father's retirement but it hadn't happened. The old man hated him and the feeling was mutual. Griffith, however, always the good soldier boy was loved by their father and again the feeling was mutual. Tiberius had known it would happen but still, when their father handed over the office to Griffith he had felt a rage unlike any other. A rage that he knew had never truly been snuffed out.
"You shouldn't be sitting there," A nuisance spoke from across the desk, "that's my father's desk."
"Piss off girl!" Tiberius snarled, "While your father's gone I'm in charge! If you're so hellbent on working under me you'll do well to shut your mouth!"
The girl, whose name escaped him was the spitting image of her father. Sour and with a permanent scowl on her face. She stood across the desk from him, peering over the top of his boots with an accusatory frown.
"My name is Leah! Not girl!" She shot back.
Tiberius pulled back his feet off the desk, smearing mud across it. He sat forward in his chair and slammed a fist down on the desk.
"You're name is whatever I bloody well say it is, Girl!" He bellowed.
Beside him, two large Arcanine let out long, low growls. They yanked at their leashes but Tiberius kept a firm grip on them.
"Shut up you fucking mutts!" He yelled and kicked at one, driving his heel into the pokémon's side.
The Arcanine yelped and retreated back, hunching over. The other Arcanine followed suit, lowering his head to avert Tiberius's gaze. Leah openly cringed at the yelp and he smirked at her.
"Hunting a fugitive ain't for the weak of heart, Girl. You sure you really want to do this?" He questioned slyly.
Leah straightened and her face hardened.
"I am!" She assured him with a yell.
Tiberius groaned internally. She really is her father's daughter. In truth, Tiberius would rather be doing anything besides hunting down some niece he barely knew. If it had been any other boy they'd hurt he would have refused, but for that girl to not only attack but cripple her own blood. That made their family look weak. Which is something Tiberius couldn't allow.
"Good," he replied, "now sit down and shut up, they'll be here soon."
Leah obeyed with a look of reluctance, her scowl failing to waver. She sat on a lavish, red couch beneath the row of portraits. Above her was a gap in the line between her own portrait and Griffith's. A lone nail hung where Pete's portrait had once hung. Tiberius remembered the night when Griffith took it down. While the doctors raced to save John's life he had paced back and forth across this office. Again and again. Stomping and thundering. Until his rage had flared in a way Tiberius had never seen him behave. As if struck by madness he tore the portrait off the wall and smashed the large, framed picture of his son against his desk. It had shattered and splintered instantly, sending small splinters everywhere. His brother hadn't stopped there, he moved to the empty frame that would have housed the…
Tiberius racked his brain to remember her name.
Abby! Griffith had smashed the frame that would have housed Abby's picture too. Tiberius gazed at the empty gap above Leah's head. Of all Griffith's spawn, he had only ever liked that one. Although they were nothing alike personality-wise he had respected the boy's insistence of making Griffith's life as hard as possible. He had to be dragged off to the academy kicking and screaming, so to speak. Then he'd packed up and run but Tiberius had found him soon enough. That went on for a few more months until the boy had given up and scraped by with a passing grade at the academy. The boy had a knack for evasion, that at least was commendable. Unlike his dreary younger sister sitting beneath where his portrait used to hang. The girl was unbearably plain, nothing more than an extension of her father's will. Her twin brother too. At least this Abby had some personality to her. A grin spread across Tiberius's face. If Abby was anything like Pete, at least the chase would be fun.
The large double doors that entered the office crashed open. A tall, lanky man with short silver hair heaved them open with both hands. His face was worn, his dark tanned skin wrinkled like old leather. Silver stubble covered his neck and chin, like the hair on his head it was well kept and orderly. The unmistakable red of a ranger's jacket adorned his shoulders. The jacket ironed out straight, pristine and clean with not a single spot of dirt on it. Grey and silver decorated the jacket, replacing the black of the sleeve cuffs and collar that were standard on ranger jackets. Grey and silver replaced the black of his undershirt, pants and belt too. Behind him, a short, plump man with the same dark tanned skin followed him into the office. His hair was brown and bushy, his face smooth and clean-shaven. He too wore a ranger's uniform but the black of his was replaced by shades of light and dark brown. The man opened his arms and beamed foolishly.
"Tiberius! How long it has been brother!" He announced loudly.
Tiberius scowled and did not rise from the chair.
"I'm not your brother Kerr! Care to explain why you're nearly a week late?!" He bellowed.
Kerr grasped the back of his head with a plump hand.
"A week!" He laughed, "so dramatic as always!" He exclaimed, not answering the question.
Kerr nudged the tall man beside him.
"Come now Flint, don't be rude, say hello!" He insisted jovially.
Flint's face didn't move. He stared emotionless at Tiberius.
"Hello," He said plainly.
Leah got to her feet at once and stood up tall. She saluted and stared out straight ahead.
"Greetings Lieutenant Flint and Lieutenant Kerr!"
Kerr guffawed and Flint merely looked at her silently. Kerr made his way over to her, roaring with laughter.
"Come now! Don't salute me in your own home! Sit! Relax! I haven't seen you since you were just a child!" Kerr plopped down onto the couch and lounged back.
Stiffly, Leah sat beside him, glancing at him uncomfortably. Kerr looked her up and down lustfully and Tiberius scowled.
"Keep it in your pants, Kerr! If you want a slut go find one in town!" He scolded.
Leah's face flushed to Tiberius's great amusement. Kerr shrugged innocently but took his gaze off Leah.
"I'm not allowed to say hello to an old family friend?" He asked, clearly feigning innocence.
Before Tiberius could shout again a booming voice thundered out from the hallway.
"Steel and Rock! You beat me!" A giant of a man bellowed as he entered the office.
He wrapped a huge arm around Flint and shook him back and forth with roaring laughter. A head taller than the already tall Flint, this man was stockier than a Poliwrath. His skin was pink and flushed, no more so than his bald head. The ranger's uniform looked ridiculous on him as if he were wearing child's clothes. They were tight on his bulky body, fighting to stay clasped around him. Where black would have been on his uniform he instead wore white, which had been stained almost brown by dirt and mud. Flint, as he was shaken back and forth wriggled uncomfortably. Kerr scowled and stood up from his couch.
"Liam, I'm the ground Lieutenant not the rock-" He began but was cut off.
Liam bellowed, releasing Flint from his grasp and making his way across the room to Kerr.
"Rock comes from the ground, doesn't it? So it's the same thing!"
Kerr furrowed his brow.
"No there's actually a big difference! You see-" He was cut off again.
"Rock comes from the ground! Same thing!" Liam insisted.
Tiberius watched the exchange with amusement. Back and forth the two went but no matter how intricate of an explanation Kerr gave Liam wouldn't budge repeating the same thing over and over, louder and louder.
"The normal type Lieutenant is as simple as his pokémon!" A fourth and final voice laughed as it entered the office.
There was a mistakable twang to the man's voice that caught the attention of everyone in the office. None more than Leah who seemed flushed with excitement. A slim man of average height, with long and a guitar strapped to his back entered the office. He too wore a ranger's uniform, his adorned with light-blue rather than black.
"Shut up Bird!" Liam yelled, turning his attention to him.
The man bowed his head respectively and tipped the brimmed hat on his head.
"Simply the strongest man I've ever met of course," He corrected calmly.
Liam beamed at that and slapped him on the back.
"I am strong! And I beat Bird here!" Liam announced proudly.
The man took the hit gracefully, only stumbling slightly from the impact. Leah shot back to her feet and saluted again.
"L-Lieutenant Alistair!" She greeted shakily.
Alistair smiled warmly and stepped around Liam to greet her.
"Ah, the rookie," He marvelled, scanning her thoughtfully.
This time when her body was looked up and down, Leah seemed more nervous than uncomfortable. Tiberius groaned out loud.
"Any of you touch my niece and I'll have you watching ice freeze out in the ice caves!" He roared.
That settled the matter and the four of them all took a few steps away from Leah, which only made her flushed face even redder. Tiberius gazed at his four Lieutenants with a happy grin. Although they sometimes made him crazed with frustration, they were undoubtedly the best trackers in the region. Flint and Kerr, the brothers of Steel and Ground, charged usually in the oversight of the steel and ground pokemon of Kanto-Johto knew the ground better than anyone. Both the surface and what lay below. Liam, the man in charge of the well being of all wild normal types was an expert in Pokémon behaviour. Despite his stubbornness and slow wits, he had an almost telepathic understanding of how pokémon think and behave. Finally, there was Alistair, in charge of the wild flying-type Pokémon of Kanto-Johto. He knew the skies better than anyone, he could read wind patterns like a map. Combined there was nothing these four couldn't track down and they'd proven it, again and again.
"Right! Listen up! Our target is young and inexperienced but still, she's managed to evade detection for damn well nearly a week now. We'll start our hunt in Cerulean, that's the last place she was confirmed to be. Get out there and gather any information you can from the townsfolk!" Tiberius commanded.
He reached for a shirt on the table, a pink crop top.
"This is one of her shirts, the mutts will use it to track her but we still need that information! She has a dragon, even if it's still a Dratini we can't afford to take any risks here! We need as much knowledge on her as possible!" He continued.
An uncomfortable silence followed.
"A dragon…" muttered Kerr.
Kerr's face was struck with fear, his hand moved to the three pokéballs on the side of his brown pants. Alistair snickered.
"What's the matter? Scared of a snake?" He taunted.
Kerr shot him an angry look but it was Liam who answered.
"Dragons are strong," He stated with crossed arms.
Liam's brow furrowed as he stared at the pink shirt in Tiberius's hand.
"How did this puny girl get a dragon?" Liam gestured to the shirt, "that's a child's shirt."
Kerr groaned.
"It's a crop top, it's cut in half," He explained.
Liam shot him a confused look.
"Why would anyone want a shirt that doesn't fit?"
Kerr sighed while Alistair snickered again. Flint, on the other hand simply stared at the shirt blankly. Tiberius was about to yell at them again when a commotion outside the closed doors of the officers stopped him. There was shouting and the sounds of a scuffle. Then the doors slowly crept open.
"Master Yomato I must insist you return to bed!" An old man shrieked.
John staggered through the doorway on his twisted broken legs, with only his arms to support him. He clung to the long, golden door handle and kept himself upright with it. His broken legs quivered beneath him as he dragged himself along the door and into the room. He found the wall with his hands, almost falling as his hands made the transition. John stared past the Lieutenants right at Tiberius, the red flecks in his right eye flared furiously while his left stared at him blankly. It was glazed over with white, milky colour, blind and useless. Scars covered his face, arms and chest. Undoubtedly the rest of his body too but a pair of sweat pants covered them. Kerr, Flint and Alistair all averted their eyes with a shameful awkwardness as the boy struggled around the edge of the room. Liam stared right at him with an impressed smile. The fool probably thought him brave but Tiberius knew better. He saw John for what he was, a foolish broken boy stuck in denial. An elderly butler raced into the room and followed behind John, timidly grasping at him and begging him to leave but John would just shake him off.
"You!" He shouted at Tiberius, "take me with you, I can help!"
Tiberius rose from his chair and said nothing.
"John!" Leah cried out and raced over to him.
She stood in front of him and clutched his shoulders.
"You need rest, you haven't healed yet!"
John batted her away feebly with his arm. Taking his arm away from the wall proved too much and his remaining arm buckled. He collapsed in a heap and Leah gasped. Along with the elderly butler, Leah helped John back to his feet, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"No, you can't," Tiberius said coldly.
John fumed and tried to wriggle free of his sister and the butler.
"I can! Leah and I are a team! I go where she goes!" He cried, pulling his arm free of the butler and collapsing on that side.
Leah strained to keep his form falling again. Tiberius pointed at Leah.
"She is only here because your father ordered it so, he said nothing about you! The girl is enough of a hindrance on us as it is, I don't need a fucking cripple too!" He barked.
The words stung John, Tiberius could see that but it was good. It was words that he needed to hear. He felt no sympathy for him as tears welled in his eyes.
"No," He choked and fought feebly to get free.
Leah whispered softly to him, stroking his hair with her free hand.
"Come now brother, let's go back to bed okay?" She offered.
In perhaps a moment of desperation or just plain madness, John looked to Flint with a pleading look. Flint's usually expressionless face twisted into a rare expression. He wrinkled his nose and turned to face him.
"Fool," He said in a quiet, disgusted voice.
The word lingered in the silence that followed. John hung his head and allowed himself to be carried off, tears streaming down his scarred face. Seeing his own blood that way irked Tiberius. He could imagine his father rolling in his grave at the state of their family right now and for once he had to agree with the old man. Of the old man's four grandchildren two were fugitives and one was crippled. Not exactly the legacy he must have imagined he would leave behind. Perhaps it was justice for the injustice he had served Tiberius but even if it was Tiberius could feel no joy in it. Their family looked weak and disorderly, like fools who can't control their own children. He slammed his fist on the table.
"Get out! Go do your damn jobs!" He shouted and slumped back into the chair with a thud.
The four Lieutenants shuffled out of the room without any argument, leaving Tiberius on his own. He buried his face into his hands and let out a long, tired sigh.
"Damn boy," He muttered.
He heard the doors slowly opening again and raised his head furiously, expecting John again but was instead met with a pleasant sight. Andrea peered her head through the door, her pretty face full of worry and concern. She approached the desk hurriedly.
"Is everything okay? You look troubled," She asked with a frown.
She placed her hands on his and he couldn't help but smile. Ultimately, fucking Griffith's wife was just a way for him to get back at his brother. Tiberius knew that. Still, she did make him happy in a way that didn't make complete sense to him.
"I'm fine," He confirmed and rose from the chair.
He joined her on the other side of the desk and placed his hands on her waist. Andrea ran a finger across his chest and smiled sweetly at him.
"Well, I'm always here if you need to release all that anger inside you," She whispered in a sly sultry voice.
Tiberius smirked widely. The lust dripping from her voice sent a wild rush of desire through him. He grasped her hips tightly and pushed her up against the desk.
"Are you know?" He asked before kissing her roughly.
Andrea smirked against his kiss and returned it. What had only been a single exchange of kisses abruptly turned into aggressive making out. Tongues glanced teeth, hands grasped at flesh and clothes began to fly off their bodies. In a crazed moment of pure lust and desire, Tiberius took her right there and then. He fucked his brother's wife on his own desk, in his own office, with his own portrait staring down at them.