"Mom? Dad? Fido's been injured; he's in the animal hospital now."

"What happened? Car accident or-"

"Pokemon. Some electric mouse came and and shocked him when he tried to eat it." Michelle gave a heavy sigh.

There was a pause. Then, "Oh, dear. When's the vet bill coming out?"

"In a few days. The surgery is booked tomorrow, so we have to wait."

All Michelle could do was check the consultation fee after the surgery was done.

Back home, Michelle scoured the Internet for whatever job offers came up. There were security positions at a local power plant – which was good for her. She'd take it.

The second thing was checking if the rewards were true. Eventually, she came to a website from the Los Angeles Police department that detailed dangerous Pokemon in the surrounding area, and the rewards for taking them down. A few mouse clicks later, she was rewarded with a sign-up sheet, which she filled in. She checked out the Pokedex entries for each one on Bulbapedia as she browsed.

The first had toxic, eternally painful fire. Nope, that one was right out. Giant spiders... yes, she could handle an Aradios. 3 feet of angry giant spider was nothing next to a 12-gauge. Most of the Pokemon listed were causing localized power outages, flooding, and fires with their powers. The TV, turned back on, described devastation of crops and livestock by starving Bug-Type Pokemon. Most farmers had resorted to shooting them on sight rather than take risks.

There were even listings for the giant purple rats she had seen and beat to death not a month before. A hundred-and fifty dollar reward for every one killed, with two-thirds if reported? Yes, she could definitely do that.

It didn't leave her with many options. The government had chosen to leave most Pokemon alone if they didn't cause too much trouble. She'd had a hunch the Pichu that had attacked her dog would be chased by Animal Control and police if she ever reported it. It was a shame she was unable to do the deed herself.

After fifteen minutes, she'd added a record of the volunteer work she'd done in the shelter to her resume. Briefly, she wondered how long she would last in this new job. Facing Pokemon was a dangerous affair as she had learned from her encounter with the Pichu.

Had she not jumped aside she'd been fried. Even the damn Ratatta. A foot-tall rat leaping for her throat? Her response would invariably be 'no, thanks'.

In the meantime, Michelle spent an hour attempting to write a cover letter before giving up after the first three tries and planning out the letter.

Once the cover letter was finalized, she sent the application.

A few days later, the vet bill came. The total was about eight grand for the various drugs, surgery to remove burnt tissue, and the after-surgery care.

Insurance plans reduced it to five thousand – but the money in the emergency fund was a grand short. Her family did not expect Pokemon to come to life, after all.

No one had.

Her biggest fear was her family finding out how she wanted to raise the money. Still, working for the police, in a sense, gave her some hope they'd understand. She'd protected buildings before – surely this would be no different. The thing was, her old job did not involve elemental creatures that could kill her in a multitude of ways.

With little to do, she turned on the TV. A news broadcast revealed that Reshiram and Zekrom had been sighted around California - with stern warnings to not to engage them in combat. She wondered what had happened to the last person to attempt that.

Still, according to Bulbapedia, the Pokemon mentioned had domain over truth and ideal respectively. How much had the Pokemon changed in general when they arrived? There had to be people who were scared and confused. Hell, she was one of these people.

Todd frowned as he looked at Victini. "I don't know what to do with ya." he replied. "There are a few people who have Pokemon with them, around the world, so I could take you in. Pokemon ownership is quite fuzzy right now. Frankly, there's a large national park round here. You'll probably fit in with the Pokemon that are now living there."

"What will happen to me there?"

"You'll get to live your own life out there. It's a nature preserve where people will watch over you and help when you get sick. They've been increasing the amount of people that work there - because they're expecting a lot of Pokemon."

"I'll miss you, Todd. Will you visit?"

"While I can't make any promises, I'll try."

"Thank you!" The joy that passed over the link was near-overwhelming. \

Todd forced himself to keep focus as the national park gates came into view.

"I'm here to drop off a Pokemon," he said.

"Ah, you got another one of these guys? Let's see what you got."

"Are you letting me out of this cage, or will I have to do so myself?"

"Hold on buddy. Don't get impatient now." The park ranger carefully opened the latch and let Victini out. "Holy crap, you guys got a Victini?! How - where in hell did you find it?"

"This little buddy here stumbled his way into Las Vegas during the initial Arrival," Todd replied. "I had to shoot him with a tranq-gun to stop him."

As the park ranger reached out a hand, he was violently hugged by Victini. "Oof! He's extremely affectionate, this one. Seriously, he's probing my thoughts too. I can feel him."

Todd smiled. "He's a psychic. Got any of his kind roaming here?"

The ranger smiled. "Heh, we had a group of about ten of his kind show up a few days ago. He'd fit right in!" Shaking his head, he continued, "Every time someone walks past they either either come out to watch, bombard them with questions or hide. There's nothing in between."

"Guess they can sense peoples' intentions." Todd looked around. "Hey, while you're getting Victini settled in, can ya give me a rundown of what you've got here? I'd like to know if the govt has brought in anything extra."

"Can't tell you the details, but you probably already know there are quite a few 'mons wandering here now. Frankly, most of the Earth-native fauna has... left. Either these things eat them, or they've been to secure facilities." He jerked in the direction of the San Francisco Zoo. "Soldiers are patrolling the zoo and park grounds now. They don't get much visitors these days." He looked around, and said, "Oh! My name's Luke."

"Todd," he replied.

"M-hm. Speaking of which, when you're free. can i interest you in a tour of the park? I can take you to meet some of the other people we have here, including Zara. She's one of the major workers we have here, resolving incidents between Pokemon and people."

"Would be my pleasure." He frowned. "Zara? Oh, is she a ranger?"

"Yes, sort of. She's new here, and still getting to grips with everything. But she'll become as competent as the best of us." Luke stared at his watch. "I assume you have places to go, so I won't keep you waiting."

"Goodbye, Luke," Todd said. He got into his van and drove away.