Trouble

The police arrived on the scene in no time. Now Katy was glad she heeded William's warning to not touch anything. However, her next concern was that they would have gotten in trouble for breaking in, but William got them out of that suavely. He told a tale of having been in the alley and heard the Pokémon crying in distress from the broken window, so they both climbed up to rescue it. Katy attempted to hold the Ralts and soothe its anxiety, but it quite adamantly insisted on clinging to William's ankle and she wasn't sure why; he had barely glanced at the thing since it ran out of the bathroom.

Overall, Katy expected to be asked a lot more questions, but the police seemed to be satisfied with the fact that they only arrived moments ago. But she was still sure to tune in to all the observations the officers made. According to the smell and the way the blood had congealed, it was safe to say that Taron McCallister had been here for a solid week or so. Which meant the Ralts had been in here for that long without anyone to take care of it. Poor little thing.

They had found a shard of the window in the bathtub with the body, coated in blood. It was upon this discovery that the officers began to toss around the suicide notion. William would interject every time, asking them to look at his things like his computer files, items in his apartment. But they hardly paid attention to him. After that, Katy and William were asked to leave the building while the police continued their investigation. When Katy asked about the Ralts and what would happen to it, they dismissed her remark altogether. So, she picked it up and carried it with her. They knew how to get in touch with her if they wanted it.

"You should have told them about the blood on the dumpster," Katy said when she stepped out in the street with him. His Charizard was waiting there for him faithfully.

"It wouldn't have mattered. I told them the brace was in the dumpster and that didn't seem to pique their interest at all." He looked back at the building skeptically.

"That's weird," Katy checked the time on her brace. It was getting late in the afternoon. "You want to go sit down and eat some dinner somewhere?"

William turned to her and blinked slowly as if she had just reminded him that he didn't care for her presence.

She was sure to perk up with her next statement. "I can make us sandwiches; I have everything with me."

His eyes narrowed. A trainer rarely turned down free food. Bingo. "You don't mind?"

Katy was caught off guard by his polite response. "Not at all! Please! Eat with me!"

William pursed his lips then nodded. "Thanks."

She wiggled excitedly for a brief moment before marching off to find a place to eat.

There was a perfect little park nearby where lots of people and their Pokémon. A Rockruff was playing fetch with a stick that was more like a branch that was bigger than itself, a Blastoise was enjoying a nap under the shade of a tree, and a Relicanth was blowing bubbles at its trainer from under the water at the fountain. Katy seated Ralts on the picnic table where at first it watched all the people and Pokémon playing together, then opted to watching Katy prepare sandwiches. But not even this lasted as long as it gazed up at William as he had some secret to impart that Ralts was waiting for eagerly. "I think it likes you."

William was digging his Poké Balls out of his bag when he glanced in their direction. "I couldn't imagine why."

"You kinda saved its life. Maybe you're its hero."

He huffed. "I'm nobody's hero."

"I bet your Charizard would beg to differ."

"My Charizard has saved my ass more than I've saved my own ass; I'm probably more like a toddler to her."

"Fnrp," Snorted the faded dragon. It was indubitably one of agreement.

Katy couldn't help but laugh. "She's your babysitter?"

"That's pretty accurate." William set out some Pokémon chips with a canister of Pokémon kibble.

She giggled again. "What's her name?"

"Ripley."

Katy smiled up at the dragon. "Hi, Ripley. Thanks for being our backup today."

The Charizard blinked softly at her.

"Hey! Let me introduce you to my team!" Katy dug in her bag for all her Poké Balls, too, and released them into the picnic area. "You've met Banksy and Bentley. That's Charlie, Houdini, Xander, and Mozart."

The Ralts sitting on the picnic table marveled at all the huge beasts around it now. The two Charizard immediately eyed each other. It was in a Pokémon's nature to connect with others of the same species or evolution chain. Some would form relationships. Others compared themselves. In Charlie's case, he promptly puffed his chest to make himself look bigger and snorted a boastful flame. Ripley did not seem to be interested, however.

William jutted his chin forward a little and nodded at her team. "Got some muscle. How's this one?" He gestured to the Lucario.

Xander's ears twitched at being addressed and his sharp eyes sized up William.

"He's great! Never had any trouble with him. I know you asked because of what you've heard about Lucario and stubbornness, right?"

He smirked and nodded.

"Nothing that we couldn't handle. Right, bud?"

"… Brahk," Xander chuffed in a delayed response.

"Battle good?"

"Top notch. He's my only Pokémon that never lost a battle."

"Impressive, I guess. Losses give a Pokémon more personal motivation though." He bit into the sandwich Katy made.

She smiled. "What about your team? What's your Volcarona's name?"

"Mm," he said around a mouthful and cracked a Poké Ball. The giant moth fabricated from the light and clung to his back. William swallowed his bite. "Crona." He picked up another Ball. This one he chucked a good distance from the table. "Loki."

A heat wave struck Katy's hair and blew it forward off her neck. She whirled around to see a Magmar bending the air around it like the sun on asphalt. Its beak twitched as it attempted to sniff its new atmosphere. It immediately became entranced by a Hakamo-o digging in the sand nearby. Katy smiled. "He's amazing."

"He's a fucking ditz is what he is. But when he listens, he listens well." William opened another Poké Ball. This was the one that made Katy gasp.

With a high trill, a fluffy brown Eevee shook itself like a dog and jumped into its trainer's lap, proceeding to rub its face all over his torso and pretty much everything that was a part of his body. "Okay," Katy said, "Godda say I didn't see that one coming."

"For a Flareon," William clarified, "He's new." He took another bite of his sandwich while his Eevee bumped his arm with its face-love.

That made sense. "Fire types are your favorite?"

"They're the easiest for me to train with." He got a handful of Pokémon chips and presented them first to his Eevee and then to his Charizard who gave them a sniff but opted against having any. Crona didn't hesitate to stake his claim, eating the chips with tiny little crunches.

Katy made another sandwich. "Do you duel?"

"Sometimes."

"Aark phhm," Ripley snapped.

William glanced at the dragon. "Not anymore," he revised in a lower tone.

Katy presented the sandwich to the female Charizard whose eyes brightened at the offering and she took it carefully in her jaws. She began making another, smiling at William. "I bet you were really good at it. Sounds like your mom over here didn't really care for it."

"No. She did not." When the Ralts shuffled across the table to William, he held a kibble piece in his fingers. When he took it, it was comparable to giving a house elf a sock.

"She watches out for you." Katy handed her own Charizard a sandwich while Houdini had followed his nose to the playground.

"Like I said. She's saved my ass more times than I can count."

"What the hell kind of trouble did you get into?" Katy half-chuckled.

He and his Charizard looked at each other like they were acknowledging an inside secret. But he just shook his head. "Trouble not unlike whatever Taron McCallister got into." He took a bite of his dinner.