Grae
Katy and Christian shared a seat on the bus and William sat in the seat behind them. The two sitting next to each other spent a fair amount of time talking before the ride began to lull them. It didn't help that there was a Wigglytuff across the aisle humming happily to itself. Katy eventually leaned her head back and Christian looked out the window with his earbuds in. It was quite a long ride, and when Katy couldn't completely fall asleep, she began to become a little antsy. They stopped to have lunch at a sandwich shop and since this particular restaurant had Pokémon options and the shop was mostly empty, they let their teams out of their spheres for food. All except Blitz (because he was unruly) and Loki (because he'd melt the joint) and Crona (per Christian's request, because he freaked him out).
"What do we expect to find?" Christian asked quietly, giving a piece of kibble to Kiara.
"I'd say some of the labs we saw in the videos probably happened there," said William.
"Which means that's where they keep the Pokémon they run the tests on," Katy pointed out.
"Likely." William agreed and finished off his sandwich.
Katy's voice became quieter. "I want to save them."
The men looked at her. "You lookin' to make a boom?" William cocked an eyebrow.
"I don't know. I guess it all depends." She handed a chunk of her bread to Bentley.
"Depends on how close we get?"
"Yeah. I guess so."
"You've become quite the vigilante hanging out with us, haven't you?" Christian smirked at her.
"I've never gotten a chance to be a part of something this big," Katy admitted. "I like how it looks on me." She smiled and pushed her chest out a little.
"I like how it looks on you too," Christian smiled back.
She giggled.
"Well, we'll see what happens." William sipped his water.
The three boarded the next bus and this time Katy sat next to William and Christian sat in front of them. At the next stop, there were only two passengers who stepped on. The first was a young man with silver hair styled into an attractive fade. He wore several piercings and tattoos and he was whistling as he made his way back to where the three friends were sitting. Walking behind him was the creepiest Pokémon Katy had ever seen in her life. It took her a moment to recognize what species it was. What was obviously formerly a Raggedy Andy doll was now a Banette, a Ghost Pokémon that looked as if it had halfway burst through the doll and was held together with stitches. Its red eyes pierced through the fabric of the face and the sleeves of the checkered shirt stretched to the floor as the thing shuffled on its tiny legs toward the same seat as the silver-haired man. It was the stuff of nightmares. And what made it even worse, it sat down right next to William and Katy—and proceeded to stare at Katy from across the aisle.
She looked forward. "William," she said out of the corner of her mouth. "Switch seats with me."
"Why?"
"Because this Banette is freaking me the hell out."
William leaned forward.
The Banette didn't stop staring while the guy next to it jammed out to his music, playing drums on the back of the seat in front of him.
William cleared his throat. "Ay, buddy."
The guy did a double take and pulled his headphones off his head that were slid over a gray beanie.
"Do you mind?" William gestured to the Banette.
The guy looked at his Pokémon. "Oh! Chuckey, don't stare! That's rude!" He tapped his Ghost on the head, shifting some red yarn hair around. "Sorry, my man! He has no manners."
"Baaay." The Pokémon rolled its head around as if it were too heavy for the rest of its body.
"That's a nice Ralts you got there. Does it battle?"
"No. It doesn't." William looked out the window. The Ralts did the same.
The guy leaned forward. "You're a Deviant with a Special Ability, aren't you?"
William slowly turned his head back around. The Ralts looked with him. "I beg your pardon," he said over Katy's head.
"Sorry, I don't mean to pry. You just don't seem like a trainer of Psychic type Pokémon. You look more like… fire. Am I right?"
William twisted his body around. "Who are you?" By now Christian's attention had been gained as well.
"Grae Reynolds, at your service, sir and madam." He pulled his beanie off and put it to his chest for a little bow, giving everyone a better look at his stark silver hair. "You'll have to excuse me. I have a bit of a gift when it comes to reading people. Particularly via their Pokémon."
"Well, that Pokémon isn't actually his. I mean, it is now but it wasn't originally," Christian piped up.
William swiped the back of his hand across the back of the blonde's head.
"Is that so? A rescue then! Good for you. Wouldn't happen to be one of Advancement's subjects would it? Haha." Grae chuckled.
The three friends stared at him. "… What makes you say that?" Katy said.
"Ah, you know how Advancement is. They always be running tests and experiments on Pokémon and people every chance they get. I was just kidding mostly." Grae waved his hand. He leaned over his Banette. "I actually think they're up to something. Advancement Incorporated."
William narrowed his eyes. "Is that so."
"Yeah. They're a shady bunch. Sorry if you or someone you know works there. I just mean the stuff they have had their hands in in the past." He sat up straight again. "I'm headed to their research facility. Joining a protest."
"There's gonna be a protest there?" said Katy.
"Yeah! Well… I don't know anyone who is going besides me. I organized it on social media. Got a couple likes…" Grae scratched around his red unity scarf that sat snug against his neck.
Christian and William exchanged a look. But Katy spoke again because she didn't see any reason to not say so now. "We're actually going to the research facility too."
"No way! Well, ain't that serendipitous!" Grae pat the top of his Banette's head.
"So, what are you protesting?" Christian propped his arm up on the back of his seat.
"The abuse of Pokémon as test subjects!" He turned in his seat. "Did you know that Advancement Incorporated breeds test subjects instead of buying them? They even interbreed them! It's disgusting!"
"Agreed," Katy chimed in. "So, are you just going to go to their research facility and picket outside the building?"
"That was the plan. Though one picketer doesn't a protest make. Hey, you guys should join me if you believe in the cause!" Grae smiled brightly at them. He was very expressive. "Since you're heading there anyway! Say… you didn't say what you were doing at the research facility." Now he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
William seemed intent on saying nothing, as was the stance he often took anyway. Christian, however, had issues with that concept. "We're—protesting too." William slapped the back of his head again.
"Groovy! Then that will make a protest! The four of us and our Pokémon! That will help. I have a full team and then some I'm going to bring. You should bring your Pokémon too! It will be great! We'll get so many people's attention! Why does, uh, big guy here wanna keep it a secret, huh?" He looked at William.
"Because the reason we're going to the research facility is none of your business," he said flatly.
"So, you're not protesting. Ah. I get it." Grae sat back in his seat and the Banette started staring again. "You work for them."
"We do not!" Christian spat. "Advancement is a filthy organization and they deserve to come crashing down."
"Well, if you don't work for them and you feel that vehemently opposed to them, but you're not protesting, it's obvious what you're going to do!" Grae snapped his fingers. "You're gonna make a ruckus."
It was clear this guy was going to figure out their intentions if they didn't tell him something. Katy thought on her feet. "We're going to tour the facility and take notes about what seems inhumane to the Pokémon."
William looked like he wanted to smack Katy in the back of her head for a moment, but then he looked at Grae, catching onto Katy's plan. "No action, just studying."
"Ah! I see. Well, how did you score a tour of the facility? They don't hand those out to anybody!"
"We weren't… going to have their permission." Katy looked around the bus. It was mostly empty save for a sleeping man up front and a woman all the way in the back with a female Meowstic who was starting to nod off.
"Aah. Then how do you plan to get past all their security? It's vicious, you know." Grae leaned forward.
The three friends looked at one another. They hadn't the slightest idea how they were going to get in this time. They didn't know anyone who worked at the research facility whose pass Christian's Infernape could "borrow," nor a person for Houdini to copy the appearance of. And this was more than just passing a checkpoint. Grae was right; their security was going to be tight.
"I can get you in," he said in a low tone.
"How," William challenged.
"My Ghost Pokémon." Grae raised his chin proudly. "You need to be invisible? Walk through walls? My guys and gals are your best bet. But! On one condition."
"What's that?" Christian blinked.
"I get to come with you."
"No," William said. "We'll find another way."
"All right, then." Grae shrugged. "Good luck getting in."
William pulled Katy's shoulder. "That's actually a good idea. Do you have any Ghost Pokémon in your PC?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't. Look, why don't we let him tag along?" she whispered. "It will be fine."
"Fine? You think what we're doing, what we need to do is fine? You think letting some emo goth kid tag along with our mission is fine?"
Grae scoffed. "I prefer the term alternative punk, but gracias." He rolled his eyes.
Katy kept whispering. "Honestly, what could it hurt? We can ditch him afterwards if you want. But right now, he's got an in for us for virtually free. And besides, I was a random kid that got caught up in this mess and I turned out to be pretty helpful, didn't I?"
William looked at Christian. Christian looked between the two of them and shrugged. "I see nothing wrong with it."
The older man sighed and rubbed his face before he spoke at Grae. "All right fine, but after the thing, you're gone. You're not palling around with us."
The silver-haired young man grinned. "You got yourself a deal."