Things started to get very hectic for me and two months passed by in the blink of an eye.
Hugh made good on his promise and somehow managed to provide the locations of a few more Team Plasma hideouts that he uncovered. Not all of those are important hideouts, a majority of those hideouts are actually too unimportant in the grand scheme of things for the interpol to be dealing with personally. As such, Looker had passed this information to the Unova League through Elesa for them to do as they saw fit. The interpol's attention is focused on the important hideouts that hold the highest chance of containing some of Team Plasma's secrets or hiding some important figurehead of Team Plasma.
Regarding our work in uncovering and locating Team Plasma's hideouts and reducing it to size, the interpol's main sources of information come in three different branches. The first one would be the information provided by Hugh, but the hideouts that he uncovered tend to be the unimportant ones that the interpol wouldn't deal with personally because those only contain a handful of grunts where they usually hangout. Sometimes, he would come across one or two hideouts that turned out to be important strongholds or hold some sort of strategic value to the Plasmas, which was why Looker never dismissed the information provided by Hugh as unimportant because there are times that Hugh managed to provide information that nobody else had came across.
The second source of information comes from Velda's networking among the Unova high society. Somehow or another, my fellow reincarnator and colleague had managed to create a footing for herself in the high society of a foreign region, gathering allies who are willing to help us in the interpol's cause to remove Team Plasma from the picture. These people tend to hold some sway or influence in their own respective circles and it's not surprising that they would possess information that could not be uncovered otherwise. The information network that Velda had helped the interpol build up in Unova was where we managed to locate and identify most of the important Team Plasma hideouts in the interpol's torch and burn operations.
The third source would be information provided by the Unova League, but we tend to take them with a grain of salt because it's obvious by now that Team Plasma had infiltrated their ranks to unknown degrees and there's no telling which department and who had been compromised. Still, we are able to fact check the information provided by the Unova League by cross checking them with Hugh's information or the ones provided by Velda, allowing us to filter out the fake information from the truth. We do have other sources of information too, but they usually don't provide any noteworthy information and chances that they actually do so are rare.
Where Velda and I were mainly the ones to go out and seek for information, Looker, Akamu, and Nova were the ones who were mainly in charge of reorganising, checking, and determining the accuracy of all information that the interpol had come across in our preliminary investigation work. The interpol is a small team, so we cannot possibly conduct raids for every single hideout on our own. Out of all the known hideouts that we had identified and uncovered, those that are deemed unimportant will be passed on to the Unova League through Elesa or Grimsley for them to deal with themselves. As for the important ones, discussions will be held with the Unova League (again, with Elesa or Grimsley, although most of the time it is more of Elesa than Grimsley) as to which party will be conducting the raid for which identified hideout.
Even after we had hammered out the details and finalised just which hideouts the interpol will be responsible for raiding and cleaning up, we still found ourselves frequently travelling from one city to the next throughout those two months. There was very little rest in between raids and there was so much preparation work to be done before conducting a proper raid. The hideouts that the interpol would crush are the important ones, which would mean that they will be heavily defended, which in turn means that we have to stake out and observe the place in secret from somewhere nearby, taking notes of their defences, estimate their manpower and firepower, etcetera before deciding on a proper course of action. Those preparations take time too and a quick mental count in my head made me realise that we actually have to raid one of Team Plasma's numerous hideouts about once every five days.
It takes at least a few days to finish the preparations prior to a raid, and we conduct raids on an average of once every five days, which meant that we basically had very little time for rest throughout those two months because most of our time was either spent doing the planning or participating in the actual fight. I think I'm starting to understand why Akamu called Looker a slavedriver whenever we talked about him.
Fortunately, we were pretty efficient, and by the end of the two months we had more or less cleaned out all of the important hideouts that the interpol were tasked to wipe out. Looker had generously given us all a one week break, an offer that I quickly accepted before swiftly making my escape just in case the fickle man changed his mind at the last moment.
I had been to every town and city in Unova after charting my own personal map of Unova that documented the network of air routes I felt would be best to use for air travel as per the task Looker had me complete. It's thanks to me and my pokemon's effort in doing so that the interpol could eradicate so many Team Plasma hideouts in such a short timeframe. The Unova region is large, possessing one of the largest landmass among the seven member regions, to the point that very few psychic pokemon are actually capable of teleporting to every single city or town in Unova, especially if the two points are at extreme opposite ends of the region.
As such, Tino's flight capabilities and her speed made us an invaluable member of the interpol. With Tino's speed and with me knowing just which route in the skies to use to get us to our next destination in the quickest time possible, we were able to ferry the entire group from point to point within minutes. It's not as easy as it sounds, because we have to avoid the turbulent winds that we cannot see or feel until we get too dangerously close. We have to stick to the air routes that we know have calmer winds that are needed for safer flights. This was where our earlier efforts in charting a flight route map became useful.
I decided to head for Driftveil City because I knew that Hugh is currently there. I will admit, the little boy with a slight attitude problem had grown on me a little. He still hates the Plasmas with a burning passion, still trying to find and get back his sister's purrloin that Team Plasma had robbed from her. I had tried searching for it on my end as well but I didn't have much luck.
Driftveil is a large city so trying to search for one person is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Unfortunately, the boy wasn't picking up on my calls, so I had to resort to releasing Cosmo out from her pokeball and see if she could locate the boy.
It took a while, but Cosmo managed to pinpoint Hugh's location and that was where we made our way to. I got increasingly worried when I found that our footsteps brought us closer and closer to the southern area of the city where many decommissioned or abandoned warehouses are located. I had been to Driftveil before, so I'm aware that this part of the city was largely deserted because this area was slated for a demolition soon in order to make way for a large renovation project that the city will undergo.
This also happens to be the kind of place where thugs and lowlives love to hang out. I hadn't met any yet ever since I stepped foot in this area but I won't count on my chances. In any case, what is Hugh doing here?
I heard some disturbances up ahead and after carefully checking that nobody was around, cautiously snuck up and poked my head out from behind a wall to see just what on earth was going on. I scowled when I spotted a large group of people who were obviously Team Plasma judging by the uniforms that they wore. I'm not even three hours into my one week vacation and it seems that I have bumped into the one group of people that I never wish to meet during my break.
My scowl soured even further when I spotted Hugh battling those thugs, and my mood plummeted even further when I spotted another familiar figure beside him, wearing that same porcelain mask I remembered him wearing over his face back at Reversal Mountain.
Oh for crap's sake, I just want a goddamn break from work.
'Mistress, your orders?'
'My mind tells me that I should help them, but my body is telling me not to,' I mentally groaned as I hid myself once more and leaned against the wall, mentally praying for some divine intervention to give me the needed strength to go through this whole song and dance that I only just managed to escape. No, before that, how did Hugh and N get to meet each other in the first place?
Another small explosion rocked the area up ahead. At this rate, those two idiots who I call my friends will attract the attention of the local authorities and I'm not interested in bailing them out of it.
I rummaged through my rucksack, thankful that Foldable Space Technology exists in this world as it allowed me to bring an awful lot of things on me without feeling the weight. I found the porcelain mask N had gifted me soon enough and wore it over my face. If Driftveil's local police force does arrive, I don't want to be recognised because Looker will definitely give me a good tongue lashing if an interpol member was found to be involved in an unsanctioned raid.
That said, it would also mean that it would be best if I do not use Aria or Tino to assist N and Hugh, because the number of trainers in this world who would possess both an aerodactyl and a dragonite is definitely a small handful and they are the two pokemon that I'm largely known for by the Unova League as an interpol agent. In that case…
"Alright, Echo, we only have a minute or two to wrap things up."
My noivern released a roar and shot to the skies with a single beat of his wings after I climbed up onto his back. He instantly rained down flurries of Air Slash from above, aiding N and Hugh in providing the necessary firepower to suppress the Team Plasma members that they were fighting. It gave them the brief opportunity that they needed to step up their assault and once again, N confused the heck out of me when he somehow was able to command a horde of wild pokemon with unnatural ease. He was quickly decimating the opposition.
Let's see, I spotted onix, excadrill, gigalith, and even a probopass along with some of their pre-evolved members. Then there are also sawsbuck, amoonguss, unfezant, and some other random assortment of wild pokemon who under ordinary circumstances definitely wouldn't be working with each other. I had given up trying to understand N's ability at this point.
Echo's presence immediately shifted the tide of the battle. Echo's not weak by any means, although he was often overshadowed by Tino and Aria due to their more dominant personalities. Echo is a noivern, a dragon type who are known for their speed in the skies and their distinctive long range artillery-style firepower they can bring about in any battle. Back in Kalos where the majority of their species can be found, noiverns were highly favoured during the time of the warring states to be used in wars to wrestle aerial superiority from opposing factions. There were even powerful clans who spared no effort to build an entire cavalry made up of noiverns to bolster their military strength. That was just how coveted noiverns were due to the strategic value they can bring in a battle.
Another Dragon Pulse from Echo decimated a group of pokemon on Team Plasma's end before they could start anything. N had made use of the onixs under his command to steamroll through the Team Plasma hideout, effectively accelerating this battle to end in favour of our victory.
As I suspected, Team Plasma stood no chance against us and tried to flee, only for a group of leavannys to spring their ambush from where they were hidden previously, cutting off their escape route and knocking the Team Plasma members who were attempting to flee. An aggron burst out from underground and swung its thick heavy tail, sweeping away any remaining hostile pokemon with an Iron Tail before demolishing whatever was remaining of Team Plasma's original hideout, one of those supposedly abandoned warehouses, with a powerful Iron Head. Now, there's nothing left of Team Plasma's hideout and all of their members had been captured by those leavannys, securely tied up with String Shot.
"Oh, hi-"
Echo swooped down and snatched the talkative N with his right foot, and Hugh with his left foot, before any of them could get a word out of their mouths. N let out an undignified squawk at the sudden gesture and Hugh flailed helplessly for a short second before resigning to his fate, deciding to just recall his pokemon instead as I directed Echo to fly out of Driftveil before we caught somebody else's attention. I am sure that Driftveil's law enforcement must be on their way to the warehouses as we speak and I don't want to deal with that on my day off.
Echo found a deserted spot along Route 6 and we made our landing. N didn't seem too bothered by the treatment we had given him, still being his usual talkative self.
"Long time no see, Skye! How's- ow!"
"I will deal with you later," I growled before turning my head to face Hugh, who had the decency to look away guiltily. I knew the boy well enough to know that he had chosen not to heed my advice and had decided to pick a fight with Team Plasma on his own. He was lucky that N was there, and was lucky that I happened to be there on the scene as well.
The number of Team Plasma members back there was no laughing matter. Even for an Elite trainer like me, I would have to fight very carefully if I don't want to get myself injured or worse, killed. If none of us were there, it would only take one small mistake on Hugh's part and he might have… I don't want to think about it.
"You think my words were a joke, huh?" I pulled and twisted on Hugh's ear, making the boy yelp in pain as he tried to free himself only to fail. "How many times had I told you to not pick a fight with those Plasmas? You think this is a fun thing to do? Playing vigilante? Well, here's a wake-up call for you, Mr vigilante, if it weren't for me or N being there on the scene the next time I see you it might be in a morgue! What the hell were you thinking?!"
"I-I had things under control! Look, tranquill and servine evolved recently so-"
"You decided to find a dumb way to die by taking on those Plasma goons on your own, was that it?!" I had to control my urge not to scream and strangle at the boy who I had grown to care about during my short time here in Unova. I know he hates Team Plasma, there are as many Plasma haters as much as the believers in Unova but whatever he was doing, it was not the way to go about doing things when he's still not yet strong enough to even protect himself.
To make things worse, judging from the way he handled himself earlier, this was clearly not the first time he had done something like this behind my back.
"Look, we had an agreement. I turned a blind eye to your little hobby of actively searching for any Team Plasma hideouts and all you had to do was to report any of those that you happened to come across. In return, you promised to not do anything stupid and confront them alone. You gave me your word."
Hugh looked down guiltily, knowing that he was in the wrong and that it was useless to try and argue with me.
"I'm sorry."
"Save it. I don't want to hear an empty promise, I prefer seeing you putting it into action," I flicked his forehead with a finger before turning to face N. "Now, what are you doing here, Mr wannabe hero?"
"Uh, to quote your words, conducting vigilante acts?"
I crossed my arms over my chest, giving him the silent warning to explain himself before I blew my top.
"I was looking into the Plasma faction who had strayed away from the group's original goal and were known for using violent methods that did not agree with Team Plasma's original vision for pokemon. My investigations led me here," N caved in and started to explain himself, his motormouth starting to rattle on faster and faster the longer he spoke. "And then I found the boy fighting the entire group on his own so I was worried and quickly gathered any wild pokemon I could find and joined in the battle and-"
"Okay, I think I got the picture now," I stopped N when his bad habit of speaking too fast started to show itself again. I already got what I needed and N's words proved that I was right, that Hugh was fighting Team Plasma on his own until both of us coincidentally arrived at the scene.
"By any chance, is he one of those… gang members?" N asked curiously as he pointed at Hugh, who merely looked at the green-haired man like he had a few screws loose in his head.
"No. Which part of me looks like I'm part of a gang?"
"Uh, I've been hearing a lot of things recently about how underground groups, notably the local mafias and gangs, are taking things into their own hands when it comes to removing Team Plasma's influence from the underworld, so I thought…"
"Sadly, that's been an increasingly common occurrence as of late," I agreed, because the interpol was also aware of such a development occurring within Unova that was steadily gaining traction recently. Unovans who were against Team Plasma's acts had started to grow sick of them, and also to an extent, lost hope in the Unova League's capabilities to put an effective and immediate stop to the problem. Somehow or another, many trainers who were afraid of being targeted by Team Plasma ended up joining a local gang in their attempt to band together for their own protection, believing that there is strength in numbers. The entire situation was rather complicated to explain in just a few words but what resulted from this trend was increased conflicts between the local gangs in Unova's towns and cities and the local Team Plasma forces hiding in those areas.
"So, what are you doing here, Skye?" N asked as he finally removed the mask over his face and I did the same.
"My superior gave me a one week vacation, so I thought that I might as well check in on the little runt," I gave Hugh a glare and the boy shrivelled a little at my stare. His reckless act aside, I was truly surprised that he managed to get his tranquill and servine to evolve into their final evolutionary forms in two months because the last time I saw them, they were still far from being able to invoke the evolution process. Hugh may be a far more talented trainer than I gave him credit for.
Still, talented trainer or not, if he's going to keep doing stupid things like what he did earlier, then I would prefer if I could keep him within my sights so that he wouldn't start doing anything stupid and get himself killed. I have a gut feeling that this wouldn't be the last time this stubborn boy is going to do something stupid on his own when it comes to Team Plasma and I need a backup plan if I want to keep him safe.
I closed my eyes and started to think. Hugh had shown considerable talent and potential as a trainer, and he had proved that he is naturally skilled in sniffing out the hidden bases and hideouts of criminal organisations based on the information he had provided thus far. If we were to give him time to grow, if someone were to give him the proper tutelage to further hone his skills, he might just be a great asset to the interpol in the future.
Seriously, that sounded like a good arrangement the more I thought about it. If we were talking about coaching Hugh's skills as a trainer, any of the trainers within the interpol would be more than qualified to do so because we are all Elite trainers in skill and strength. Even Velda, who had started her journey the latest among all of us, could easily curbstomp Hugh in a battle. That's the difference in power between Advanced level trainers and trainers on the Elite level.
As for other skill sets that Hugh might have to learn, I'm sure Looker would be more than willing to impart a few things to Hugh, especially when it comes to nurturing the boy's ability to conduct independent investigative works in uncovering the tracks of criminal organisations. Looker might even be elated to have someone like Hugh in our ranks and by the time the boy finally caught up to everyone else, he might just prove to be an invaluable member to the interpol as well.
Like this, Hugh would be able to make better progress in searching for his sister's purrloin rather than embarking on this quest alone. For the interpol, we might just be able to get ourselves an invaluable member when Hugh finally grew into his strengths. For me, I would be able to keep an eye on the reckless boy and I'm sure my colleagues and friends will be able to help me out on this too. In the event that Hugh decided to do anything stupid again, at least somebody will be there to help him.
As for N, it would be a cold day in hell before he would willingly join the interpol. He made that very clear in our previous encounters, so I'm not going to waste my time and breath trying to convince him.
"Hugh."
"Yeah?"
"I just came to the realisation that this will not be the last time you are going to do something stupid like that. In that case, I have a proposition for you."
"And you have none for me?" N asked while blinking his eyes. I simply ignored him.
"Hugh, I can put in a recommendation for you to join the interpol. However, I'm not the one who can make the final decision, so if you want to join, it's up to you to leave an impression on my superior to grant you a spot among us. Like this, you will have access to classified information about our investigations on Team Plasma. This is certainly better than trying to do everything on your own, right?"
Hugh's eyes widened and I immediately knew that he's interested.
"B-But I am only an Advanced trainer…"
"Then convince my superior that you are an investment worth investing into. Like I said, it's up to you to leave an impression on him. All I can do to help is to put in a recommendation."
"Do I get one too? A recommendation?" N piped up while pointing to himself with a finger.
"And are you going to join us even if we extend an offer to you?"
"Nope! I prefer my freedom! And… the interpol's ideals don't exactly align with mine when it comes to the Plasma issue."
"Then why even bother asking?" I sighed and dragged a palm across my face tiredly at N's antics. I'm really too tired to deal with this shit. I just wanted to enjoy my vacation, was that so hard to ask for?
"Hey, if the little runt gets an offer-"
"I'm not a runt. My name is Hugh."
"-then I think I'm more than qualified to get one as well. By the way, what is this interpol group that you guys have been talking about?"
"And you wanted an offer without even knowing the context of our conversation?" Hugh deadpanned.
"It sounded like a good thing, so why wouldn't I want one?"
"You said you would refuse the offer anyway."
"That's true, but that does not make me any less qualified than you, am I right?"
"I don't even know who you are."
"You can call me N, runt."
"Stop calling me runt! My name is Hugh! And isn't Anne a girl's name?!"
"Oh, my name isn't spelled that way. My name is simply the alphabet N."
"That is an alphabet, not a name!"
"Can you two stop bickering for a second?" I asked, and was promptly ignored by both the child and the man-child. Great, there goes the last semblance of my sanity.
Argh, the things I do for my friends.
Character and pokemon list:
Name: Skye Bale, 16, Female
Affiliation: Interpol Agent
Code Name: Zephyr
Pokemon Team:
1. Pidgeot (Crown), male
2. Gliscor (Glide), male
3. Skarmory (Dia), female
4. Crobat (Beats), male
5. Jumpluff (Cotton), female
6. Dragonite (Tino), female
7. Noivern (Echo), male
8. Emolga, (Emi), female
9. Hawlucha (Hawk), male
10. Sigilyph (Cosmo), female
11. Aerodactyl (Aria), female
12. Masquerain (Heli), male
Name: Hugh Matis, 12, Male
1. Unfezant, male
2. Simisear, female
3. Bouffalant, male
4. Vibrava, male
5. Eelektrik, female
6. Serperior, female
Name: N (real name unknown), age unknown, Male