Partners In Crime

William and Christian ended up buying hotdogs for each member of their team, but Katy opted not to. She let her team rest in their Poké Balls in their hyper sleep state. She instead sat happily with William's Eevee, eager to meet the rest of Christian's team.

He had a Rapidash named Blitz who turned his nose up at a hotdog. That made sense. Did horses care for processed meat? But his dainty Ninetales, Vixen, also chose to feast on kibble instead. Ninetales were carnivores, but again, processed meat probably was not her speed. Blitz was feisty to say the least. He tossed his head and bucked and jumped at everything, mane flaring to life each time with intense heat. He didn't seem to care a whole lot for Christian. Or anyone for that matter. But Vixen was friendly and sweet. Her fur was the shiniest Katy had ever seen on a Ninetales. It practically glistened. She knew advanced years made this species of Pokémon have an incredible luster to their coat. "How old is Vixen?" she asked.

"Old! Old, old," Christian said, pouring out some Pokémon kibble for his kitsune. "My dad gave her to me. And his mom before him, and her mom before her—she's over two hundred!"

Katy smiled and gasped as she pet along the Ninetales' soft neck mane. "Wow. She's so perfect!"

"She's my girl! The only one that would ever have me!" He, too, patted her on the head and the gentle being began to eat carefully.

"Why don't you ever send her out into battle with Ripley?" said William. His Charizard swallowed her second hotdog.

"Ah, she not much of a fighter," Christian replied. "Don't get me wrong; she's tough! But she's too gentle to have fun with conflict. Aren't you, Vixie?" He addressed his Pokémon in a baby-ish tone. And the Ninetales made some noise of agreement into her food.

"A Pokémon that old and that experienced is the kind Ripley wants to have at," William nodded to the Ninetales. His Charizard chuffed.

"Maybe one day. After Caesar and Brutus kick her butt." Christian winked.

"Well, why don't you try training that one." William pointed to the unruly Rapidash who had begun tearing up grass and eating it, its lips turning it brittle and crunchy.

"Haha… He's, uh… not ready for training against you, Will." Christian rubbed the back of his neck, but he kept his grin.

"He's not ready for training against anyone."

"He's not quite broke yet, but he'll get there. He just… works on his own time is all. Isn't that right, Blitz buddy?" Christian reached to pet the horse's flank.

Blitz snorted and stomped, shuffling away.

Christian pursed his lips and ran his hand through his hair. He cleared his throat and looked to Katy. "What about you? You want to evolve your Eevee?"

"Oh, he's not mine. He's William's," Katy smiled.

Christian gasped and performed a full body pivot to the dark-headed man, a cartoonish grin plastered on his face. "Well, holy hashtag PogChamp." When William didn't look up, Christian swept up behind him and gripped his shoulders and leaned down next to his ear. "He is… the sweetest, cutest, fluffiest, cuddliest—"

"Shut up, I know."

Christian cackled and nearly fell over laughing. Katy laughed too. "Who could deny?"

"That's his problem; he's too sweet, too cute, too fluffy, and WAY too cuddly."

Eevee laid his ears back but only for a moment, like he was happier that his trainer was addressing him.

"Don't be mean to him!" Katy hugged the fluff closer. "Maybe he doesn't want to battle."

"Well, I want a Flareon that can keep up with the rest of my team. Either he'll be that Pokémon or he won't." William finished off his hotdog and Ralts nodded adamantly, as if she morally agreed with his statement.

Katy scratched the top of the Eevee's head. "He'll be exactly who he's meant to be. Won't you, boy?"

"Broo!"

Katy looked up and shook her head to flick her curly hair out of her face. "Okay, so I have to know. Why does Christian owe you, William?"

"I saved him from getting his ass handed to him," he muttered, tapping his trainer's brace.

Katy tilted her head a bit. "Scenario?"

The blonde sighed and moved around the picnic table. "So, there's these Deviant gangsters, right? They don't use Pokémon to fight, they use their Abilities, because they're like Nines, every single one of them, like seven of them." He shifted his weight. "So, Caesar thinks it's a good idea to play with them? He sees them breakdancing on some cardboard so he jumps in and starts dancing, burns up the cardboard. Well, they weren't too happy with that. They had some choice words for me."

"And genius decides to run his mouth, tell them he can beat them in a fight," says William.

"Except they think I mean Deviant fight, not Pokémon fight."

"And Blondie here is maybe a Six."

"No match."

"Not at all."

"And William happened to be nearby while I was trying to back out of it when they weren't having it. And he kicked their asses. Single-handedly."

"And I got myself on their shit list now thanks to that scrap."

"So, I figured I really owed him for that. And for some reason Will thinks it's fair to invoke his even Stevens with a completely illegal matter that could get me thrown in jail."

"It's absolutely fair." William sat forward. "You don't think I could get thrown in jail getting mixed up with that bunch? Besides, I put my life at stake for you, asshole. The least you can do is get your gorilla to filch a card for a few minutes."

"He's a monkey," Christian harshly corrected.

"Whatever," mumbled William, still tapping his brace.

Katy held back a grin as she looked between them. "Well, no one is getting thrown in jail. We'll make this a piece of cake. The only things we need to come up with is a camera to see what Houdini sees, something that won't be noticeable, and a way for him to hear us."

"What about those cameras they rig to Pokémon for fight recordings and stuff? Would those work?" asked Christian.

"Well, they're definitely light enough, but are they discreet?"

"I don't know; let's look." Christian sat down and tapped his brace.

"Found it," said William. He flicked his fingers across the screen, first toward Katy, then toward Christian. Both of them received a link in a message on their braces. They opened them and found an online photo of a camera that would work perfectly. It was a tiny little square, small enough to rig on the collar of a shirt. "It comes with a sound system and headgear, too."

"Wow, that's awesome," said Katy, checking out the reviews.

"It's three hundred and twenty-nine dollars, though."

"I got enough Points to transfer for it," William muttered.

Katy looked up at him. "Oh, no, let me pay for some of it—"

"Yeah, we're in on this, too. Let us help with the expenses," Christian said, surprising Katy a little. To be so against the plan, he was quick to offer up finances.

"No, I've got it. It's my idea."

"I think it might actually have been my idea," Katy said quietly.

"Forget it, I got it. I already ordered it anyway."

Katy tapped on her brace again. "Well, here, let me transfer you some Points—"

"Don't. It's fine," William said evenly but sturdily.

Katy softly smiled and let her arms rest again. "Thanks."

He grunted some wordless reply.

It was quiet again until Christian spoke up. "I'm really sorry they killed your Houndoom."

Katy watched William. He hadn't looked up from his brace yet. "Thanks," he said.

She pursed her lips. "… So, what you did to upset the applecart was after you quit?"

He looked at her.

"When you dropped more than a feather."

His eyebrows flicked like he understood and he looked back to his brace. "Yes. And I wouldn't have done anything if they hadn't killed Victor. They brought it upon themselves."

Christian crossed his arms over the picnic table, Vixen resting her head in his lap. "What did you do?"

He shook his head.

"Ah, come on… You can tell us. We're partners in crime now," he grinned.

William sighed and he still kept his eyes on his brace's screen. "… Remember that explosion that took out like their whole west wing."

Holy shit.

Christian's eyes popped. "You didn't." When he didn't reply, Christian spoke again. "People died in that explosion."

"Yeah they did," he said.

Now Katy closed her mouth. He murdered them. At least thirteen of them. It was several years ago when she was still in high school and Katy couldn't accurately recall the body count. Before she said something, William kept talking.

"And no, not all of them were to blame for what was going on there." He lifted his eyes to Christian and they were dully half-lidded. "And that's why I don't like to talk about it."

Now Christian closed his mouth, too. Damn. That was heavy. Katy couldn't imagine bearing such a thing on her conscience, but her empathetic nature and need to comfort took over. "You didn't know who would get hurt," she said, only hearing the stupidity of her words after they came out. It kept her from finishing her statement by saying it wasn't his fault. Because it absolutely was.

"Not an excuse," he responded, turning the screen on his brace off. "It's something I have to live with. Don't mess with it." He stood up and stretched, popping his back in a way it was audible from where Katy sat. And he dug for a Poké Ball from his bag again then tossed it into the clearing where his Magmar appeared and turned his lazy head to his trainer. The man shed his shirt on his way to his teammate.

Christian looked to Katy and whispered. "Holy shit."

"I know," she whispered back.

The blonde sighed and put his chin in his hand, looking after William. "But you know what? I still feel sorry for him about it."

"Yeah." Katy watched his hands ignite in the distance. "Me, too."