This night was going to be darker than most.
The sun was setting over the horizon to the west, as it had done every day for billions of years. However, no citizen of Saffron City would see this one. Dark clouds concealed the setting sun, the brilliant purple and orange hues giving way to a grimmer gray. Rain was not a common sight here, but it was coming hard and fast. The moon was also at the beginning of its cycle, meaning no light would be coming from there, either. Without the lights of the city, this night in Saffron would the darkest one in years, leaving any travelers completely blind. Luckily, most people were perfectly happy to stay inside.
Agent Mavin didn't have this luxury. Being a retrieval specialist wasn't a particularly glamorous job, especially in this sort of situation. A call was received from the office of Project Head Xi about some meddler that had gotten ahold of an important component for a new technology, one that would greatly benefit every operation within Team Nova. Apparently, this "kid," as was reported, hid in the HEAVILY SECURED CONTAINER and rolled it off of the train. Whether or not he survived wasn't important, but the crate would be still be there. Hopefully, the component would remain as well. Mavin hoped that the two guards would be reprimanded at the very least. The kid only escaped because of their over-aggression. Had the guards not had such itchy trigger-fingers, they could have kept the package secure without issue. It didn't matter, though. Right now, there were only actions and the consequences of them.
Putting on their helmet, the agent hopped on their motorbike and opened the garage door. Saffron was the largest city in Kanto, and as such there were many places for Nova to dwell without bringing much attention to themselves. The outpost in Saffron was one of the largest. It had space for over a thousand operatives, with both food and housing services. It was in an abandoned skyscraper, remarkably close in proximity to the old Silph Co., and under the jurisdiction of Site Manager Eta. She was a fair boss, if not a strict and orderly one. Mavin had little time to prepare before, more or less, being escorted out the front door. At least they were still well equipped for this sort of mission.
Mavin sped off, coordinates locked onto the railroad tracks. They would have to ride all night through the rain to make it in decent time, but that's the kind of thing that retrieval specialists were trained for. Even the strongest of hurricanes wouldn't stop them from reaching their target.
They don't fail.
I woke up feeling extremely sore, and for a moment I had no idea why. When my vision cleared and I saw my surroundings, the reality of my situation quickly set in. I was stuck in a metal box that I dropped off of a train after being shot at by unknown men. Once I remembered that, I panicked and thrashed around in my little box to the best of my ability. The fact that I had sealed myself in was probably the only thing that prevented me from becoming a stain on the rails, but now it has become my eternal prison. These waning hours of my life will give me plenty of time to think about the big questions in life. I now realize that-
Oh wait, the electronic lock is broken. I suppose it failed under the combination of bouncing on steel tracks and by mindless flailing, though the former would have probably done more damage. It definitely did damage to me. I crawled out of the box, slowly and painfully. The tumble may not have broken any bones, but it did break some of my pride. I realized that I was also still holding onto the little piece of tech that came with my box. I opened my hand to see the damage. It was a little battered and dented from being crushed in my palm, but the damage was mostly superficial. Eh, why not hold onto it? A little souvenir for my first big challenge, which funnily enough had literally nothing to do with Pokémon. Actually, nothing so far has really had anything to do with Pokémon. Hopefully, with this roadblock out of the way, that'll change.
Now that things were a little calmer, and I wasn't hobbling around in a box like a 3-year-old, I could have a proper look at my surroundings. I had left the familiar arid wastes of Orre and now faced dense forest. While Orre did have forest, it was pretty far to the west and I never really went there. I only ever went to that area once, on a family visit to Agate, but…anyway, the sight of a tree isn't completely new to me. The leaves began to rustle a lot harder than they were previously. The wind was picking up. Looks like rain was going to be moving in. I haven't really seen much of that, either. Hopefully, the trees would provide some cover from the rain. I wouldn't need to follow the tracks; Arbour Station isn't really an option anymore. I estimate that the train was a little less than an hour away from Arbour, which means that I'm about 100 miles from there at this exact moment. It's a little farther to the Johto border, and the closest city even then is Olivine. With a little luck, I can get there without any trouble.
The rain was coming down hard and fast, and Agent Mavin still had hours left in their journey. No matter how much time may pass, the routes between cities were still always going to be run down and primarily used by travelers moving on foot. Mavin had only travelled as far as Viridian City by now, and would have gotten farther were it not for the combination of poor conditions and poor lighting. They knew that the rain would make it extremely dark out once the sun finally set, which it had exactly 47 minutes ago, but they were still surprised. Adding on to this, the visor on the biker's helmet Mavin wore did little to alleviate the effect that the rain had on their vision, though a watery view on the world was far superior to being effectively blinded by the rain without any protection at all. The sacrifices one makes for their employer.
Mavin quickly stole a glance at their Pokétch. Though warped by the rain droplets, the green indicator still shone brightly in the gloom, focused intently on the container. Distance to the target read 990km and slowly closing. Hopefully, the box would still be somewhat intact. From Mavin's own personal guess, the damn thing wasn't cheap. Obviously, neither was the component it contained, but those crates and the materials they were made of were a closely guarded trade secret. In speaking of the component, during the adventure thus far, Project Head Xi had personally contacted Mavin via their Pokétch no less than 3 times impressing the importance of this retrieval. Either his project was that important, or Xi was extremely protective of his work. The latter was likely to ring true regardless, because Xi was nothing if not particularly eccentric.
Leaving the familiar lights of Viridian behind them, Mavin continued speeding into the night. Despite evidence to the contrary, these weren't even the worst conditions that they had dealt with. What about that one time trying to track down a defecting scientist on Mt. Coronet? It had snowed 40cm in just 8 hours, and by the time Mavin found them, they had half frozen to death. The general populace has no idea how hard it is to stave off hypothermia with nothing but a few distress flares. The mission had been a success, but it was hard for Mavin to find any enjoyment in snow anymore. Hard rain was preferred any day over more snow. The biggest pro was that at least standing water was easier to ride through on a motorbike as opposed to snow, though the wet pavement made sharp turns next to impossible. Mavin learned that one the hard way when they were moving through Cerulean City. Luckily, they weren't moving too fast, or else that would've put a quick end to the mission, but it definitely left a nasty gash. However, even if Mavin was out of action, another retrieval specialist would be tasked in their place.
They don't fail.
I might have seen rain before, but never in such quantities. That, along with the fact that there wasn't any light from the sky meant that I was effectively blind, and traveling through unfamiliar territory wasn't any help either. I had to do a bit of a shuffle to avoid running into any trees or other undesirable obstacles, so progress was slow. Furthermore, I had no idea which direction I was going in any more. When the sun was still setting, I knew at least to go in the opposite direction, to the east. Without the presence of the moon or stars, direction became a gamble. My original intent was to find a place to stay in Arbour, such as a Pokémon Center, so I didn't think to bring any camping supplies with me. Really, I didn't have any supplies. The train episode threw my plans for a bit of a loop. My new intent is to find a good spot to lay low and stay dry until the sun rises, but seeing as I can't even see any spot at all, that's going to be difficult.
I'm starting to regret dumping my guard outfit. I didn't think that I'd need it anymore, but at the very least I could've used it as a makeshift poncho or similar cover. Now I'm stuck with the clothes that was wearing when I left: your standard jeans, tee and hoodie. Nice, well rounded clothes for any weather… except brutal heavy rain. They're all soaked. I don't know how other trainers do it. Other equipment includes my entire life savings (21,657 entire Pokén!) and the piece of tech in my other pocket. I am so ready for the world outside Orre!
…
That was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell. I spent so much time focusing on my plan to get to Arbour that I neglected to think about what I'd need to get there. Now I'm paying the price. Hopefully, I can find an outcrop or a log to hide under, so I don't freeze to death as a result of my own neglect.
Were it possible, the sky above was even darker, though the rain had let up some in the past hours. Agent Mavin had finally reached the coordinates given by their Pokétch. The tracks were right were it said they'd be, slick with the rain, but the crate was nowhere in sight. This was normal. The coordinates given were generally based in a certain radius around where the target was supposed to be. It wasn't known why to anyone but the Triumvirate, but other specialists had guessed that it was to throw off any other parties that got ahold of the tracker's wavelength.
Mavin keyed off the motorbike and hopped off. Trains rarely came through this way, which is why Xi wanted to use them to deliver packages. The intent was to draw as little attention as possible, and packages from the Orre region were rarely that suspicious. Bending down towards the tracks, Mavin decided to search for any clues as to where the package went. Directly to the west, there were chips of some material scattered on the ground on and around the tracks. Mavin dug out a flashlight from the supply pouch on the back of their bike and shone it on the ground. They looked like some sort of wood chips. These chips, however, didn't appear to be made of the same wood as was used in the tracks. There were also dents in the metal from a high-speed impact. These chips continued to the southwest, meaning the crate fell off at an angle and off the tracks. Sure enough, the crate had barreled through the brush running alongside the tracks and came to a rest in a small clearing.
Searching the crate, Mavin found no evidence of the component, not even a pile of glass or a mishmash of wires. Furthermore, no evidence of the kid who stole the crate could be found either. The obvious conclusion was that the kid survived the crash and made off with the stolen component. The only question was to where they went. Any wayward footprint or displaced wildlife would betray his chosen direction. The problem would be finding any of those in this weather. The rain would have eroded any footprints away by now, and all wildlife would be beaten down by the downpour. While these methods wouldn't apply, Mavin figured that a stowaway on a train to Arbour would still want to head to that general direction. If they got close enough, footprints might begin to show up more clearly in the mud. And if that were the case, Mavin would be able to retrieve the component, Xi would stop bugging them about this project of his, and the reputation of retrieval specialists would again be secured.
Because they don't fail.
I had been wandering in the rain and the dark for hours at this point, pretty randomly I might add. I did find a small cave to hide in for a bit, but apparently it was full of some pretty territorial Zubats. Of course the first Pokémon I came across would be the most annoying ones, and of course I couldn't even catch one if I wanted to. That's the price of my negligence, though I wouldn't have been able to purchase one anyway. Not in Orre. Not enough trainers there for the sale of Pokéballs to the general populace. At least I was able to stay in the cave long enough to not contract hypothermia.
Now the sky was bright enough to at least differentiate between it and the dense canopy ahead, but it was still almost impossible to see. The rain was still coming down as heavy as it had ever been. I wanted more than anything to just lie down and go to sleep, but that would only go terribly. And I STILL had no idea if I was going in the right direction. There were no indicators of direction, so I had to stumble through the woods as best as I could until I found something. Anything.
I reached out to feel for another tree, and gripped onto its wet bark. I stumbled over to the right to move around it, but tripped over a root. Again. An entire night of doing this has allowed me to trip over many plants and rocks, leaving me battered and covered in mud. I quickly stood back up and dusted myself off to the best of my ability. Luckily, assuming I've gone in the right direction, there should be a river to clean up in later. Though, I've more likely gone the complete opposite way instead and am halfway back to Orre by now. Once the sun rises, I'll be able to figure out from the direction the light is coming from. In fact, I can already feel the heat on my back. I look up through the rain to see the familiar sight of the sun, but…the sky was just as dark as it had been a minute ago. I turned around to see the source of the light. It was someone holding a flashlight. They stood perfectly in line with my own muddy footprints, or at least I assumed. But one thing was for certain: I had been tracked.
They stood about 30 feet away from me through dense forest. It wouldn't take a genius to assume that they were holding a gun on me. There was no cover aside from the trees, and I'm definitely not skilled enough to dodge behind them. This is going to have to go diplomatically.
"Hey, friend. What brings you all the way out here? It's a bit early for a walk around here," I called out. Though the last part about walking out here this early being odd doesn't really work if I'm doing the same thing. No matter.
"You are in possession of an object of great importance to my employers. Come quietly and hand it over or I will use force," the figure shouted back. So much for diplomacy. Their voice came out refined and distorted, as though filtered through a voice changer, or at least some sort of helmet. It also had the same, bored tone of someone who had been through this situation numerous times. I don't think they were looking to become buddy-buddy with some homeless kid in the woods. Though, this could be a good opportunity to close the gap without coming off as aggressive.
"Alright, I'll come over," I hollered back. "I'm clearly out-matched here. Just…hold on a minute." I slowly clambered over the trees in the dark. I made it probably 10 feet before I tripped over another damn root. Now, this was getting embarrassing. I scrambled back to my feet as quickly as I could to save some face.
"I don't have all day," the figure yelled at me, rather tauntingly. "Stop dicking around and hurry up."
"It would go faster if you'd bother helping me along. I can't see for shit in this lighting." I fell over again, this time on purpose. The mysterious stranger sighed loudly and walked over to me, noticeably making an effort to not trip over any of the surrounding terrain. They also walked with a strong sense of purpose, like someone who wasn't walking through dense forest in the dark. This was clearly a pretty normal occurrence for them, so I was starting to doubt if my plan was going to work. This lad was obviously pretty good at tracking, so I was going to guess that they were pretty good at subduing targets as well. But assuming that they'd been tracking me since the incident on the train, they'd have had to be up all night, same as me. If not, well…this would probably go even worse because I've been up literally all night.
The stranger came over to where I was slipping and sliding around in the mud. They reached down to grab me, and I finally got a good look at them. They were, indeed, wearing a helmet, so that guess was correct. They were also wearing long, dark, flowing clothes, sort of like a duster from an old '90s action flick. If the suits on the train worked for the same group as this person, I sorely hope whoever their employer is don't let his or her workers dress themselves, because this is starting to look like a cult of edgelords. They also had two significant things on their belt that I could see: a gun and two sets of cuffs, presumably to keep targets bound. I'm definitely not getting dumped in the back of a truck. It's also a good thing that they weren't wielding their gun, 'cause I don't feel like going deaf and blind. I also don't feel like getting shot, but that should be a given.
It was now or never.
I spun around and quickly swept the stranger's legs, knocking them over. I scrabbled to get up and made to dart away, but I tripped over another root. For Arceus' sake, those damn roots just love to make things more dramatic. I made to get up yet again, but a swift kick to the ribs put an end to that. With the air gone from my lungs, the stranger grabbed me by the back of my shoulder and pinned me against a tree.
"You caught me by surprise. No one's done that for a while. Now hand over the component," they growled at me. Now that they were right next to me, I was able to hazily recognize that they were slightly shorter than me. Not a good time to play the height game when I'm in the middle of being physically overpowered, though. They reached down for the cuffs, but I took advantage of their lapse in concentration and elbowed them in the gut. That definitely hurt them, and their grip noticeably loosened. I followed up with a kick to the knee, and they went almost completely limp. Must've been hurt there previously because I did not kick them hard at all. It's harder than it looks to hit someone with a reverse kick when you're pinned to a wall, or rather a tree in my particular situation. I took a second to process this information, but my assailant started to stir again. Whoever this person was, they were a juggernaut. I quickly dove for their cuffs, and was able to bind their hands before I received a reverse headbutt to my own face. I reeled, as one does, and they attempted to uncuff themselves. It was my turn to kick them in the ribs, and it took me more than one hit to put them down. It felt like I was kicking something else on their belt instead, which would make sense. I only saw the gun and these cuffs, but that didn't mean it was all they had. I grabbed the leg cuffs (and the gun for good measure) and bound their legs, too. It was time to unmask the villain, like in a Saturday morning cartoon. I peeled the helmet off of my new friend.
It was a girl not much older than I.
Really, I'm just concerned about who's hiring people this young. She was out cold, though. Must've kicked her a little too much. I dragged her out of the mud and propped her against a tree. When she woke up, I expected answers. In the meantime, this group of trees provided a good canopy to shelter from the rain.
And why should she be the only one who gets to sleep?
