As Harry drove home, red and blue lights fading into nothingness far behind him, he yawned, a long and jaw-shaking yawn. His eyes felt heavy, but he forced them to stay open, convincing himself that it would probably be best to not fall asleep in his car, on the middle of the interstate.
The recent spree of death had left him nothing short of frustrated. Especially now, as pressure and criticism from the press reached new, unheard of heights. The reports had gradually gone from shock over such strange cases of violence, to a questioning of the competence of Lieutenant Yoshida and then an all out attack on the police as a whole. He'd seen his own name show up numerous times, both in the many newspapers of Ryme City and on local news stations. The words they had to say were never minced and that just put them in a worse standing with the public themselves.
Already the seeds of mistrust had been sown and once they developed, the relationship between police and the people they were meant to serve would only worsen. People would push for police funding to be slashed, citing their high unreliability and in return the police would grow resentful and push back. Brutality was already a noted issue amongst everyone at the station, Yoshida himself had acknowledged that much and gone through all the disciplinary measures that were necessary. However, with young and often impulsive members always joining the team, anything could happen, especially if things really did develop to a full-blown rivalry.
Harry slumped back into his seat as he pulled into a spot right outside his apartment. He tore his glasses off and shut his eyes, shielding them from the obnoxious and harmfully bright neon lights which one would only ever find in the city.
He almost didn't feel like moving at all, the weight of the world feeling as though it were pushing down on him with all it's weight. All he needed was something, anything, to feed the press, who would in turn feed the public. Only problem was that he didn't have that something and it wasn't like him to draw up assumptions.
"No fingerprints, doors opened via a lock pick, very efficient and effective killing methods- this guy's obviously a professional," Harry reviewed the little he had managed to gather, hands pressing tightly against his forehead. "A drug dealer? No, there's no sign that any of the victims were users. Assassin for hire? There's no link between any of the victims though. Loan shark?"
He once more slumped back, head starting to feel oddly dizzy. Eyes shut, another yawn escaped his mouth, before his hands lazily reached for the radio, turning it on and being immediately bombarded with a classic Bonnie Tyler song. He groaned upon realizing that the signal on that particular frequency wasn't very good and sat up, starting to shuffle between various stations.
*"I wanna be the very best-"*
*"You're just another part of-"*
*"Josie's on a vacation far away-"*
*"He's dangerous, smooth and got plenty of-"*
Growing bored, Harry shut the radio off, opening the car door and finally stepping out. He stretched and looked both ways before crossing the street, almost considering stopping at the Hi-Hat Cafe for a cappuccino, before remembering the promise which he had made to Tim.
"Fernando," he greeted the apartment keeper as soon as he walked by. "You been getting enough sleep lately?"
The man looked only mildly annoyed, "I was, plenty of sleep actually, I wasn't even thinking of your overdue rent-"
"You'll get your rent when you fix that damn door," Harry muttered under his breath, but quickly went back to making eye contact.
"-then I get a call from Miss Price, then one from Mr. Ketchum and soon enough the whole building's calling me about some kind of wild Pokémon on the run," Fernando shook his head, bewildered. "So anyways I call Poké-control and they turn every apartment that wasn't locked upside down and get this, they didn't find a thing, but apparently because of a "commission fee" I still had to shell out a hundred bucks. Can you believe those guys? Daylight robbery, I tell you."
The Kecleon planted on his window blinked slowly, seeming to share some of it's master's anger.
Harry gave them both a sympathetic look, "That sounds rough. A wild Pokémon you say?"
"In the flesh," he nodded. "Some say it was a harmless Morpeko, others say it was a feral Espeon. Hopefully all this can be sorted out by tomorrow, keep a look out would you?"
"Of course. You get some sleep."
Fernando merely chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, don't drown in coffee now."
Harry chuckled right back, but chose not to continue their banter, opting instead to get to bed. Slowly and steadily he marched up the creaky stairs, heading to the third floor and immediately sighing in relief upon seeing his apartment door. Just behind it was a place that promised solidarity for just a short time. He walked towards it quickly, hearing the laughter of a family he hadn't gotten the chance to know yet from the apartment next to his and briefly thinking once more of Tim and Pikachu.
The door knob clicked open as soon as he turned the key, it pushed open easily and he instantly flicked a light on, throwing off his shoes and hanging up his coat. He whistled as he walked into his room and practically collapsed onto his bed, not even bothering to cover with a sheet, or blanket.
The day had been stressful, busy and above all else, eye opening. Before long, he found himself in a strange mix of consciousness and unconsciousness, eyes wavering between the light and the darkness, mouth moving casually, but incoherently and mind shifting between that of the real world and that of his dreams. Only when he yawned and turned his head, did he find something sensible to look at- the picture of his wife. Her cheerful smile, joyful laugh and oh so beautiful eyes. It made him smile just looking at her, but the reminder of death and sadness, quickly made him somber up. He groaned and spoke, possibly out of hysteria, possibly out of mourning love.
"I miss you, every day, it's...a lot," briefly Harry found himself at a loss for words. "Sometimes I just try to think of what you told me, 'Wake up expecting the best, not the worst', but it is so hard to do that sometimes. I've got all this stuff to worry about and sometimes it's just really hard to do," a smile suddenly flashed across his face, "but at least I have Tim now, well he's not here right now, but..." he stared once more into her eyes. "Our boy, he's all grown up, too old for his Pikachu bed he tells me. I know you'd be proud of him, because I am, all I need now is a little time to get closer, really get to know the kid again, but it'll happen eventually, right? 'Wake up expecting the best, not the worst'," he repeated the mantra once more, before reaching over and grabbing the picture and planting a slow, shaky kiss on it. "I love you..." he swallowed, unable to bring himself to say her name.
After just a few tears, sleep set in, the picture now resting on his rising and falling chest. Light from outside streamed in gently and the traffic sang a peaceful lullaby. And that was how his day should have ended, were it not for a loud, sudden and unexpected crash which rang out from outside his room.
When Harry's bloodshot eyes opened, he was less scared, or alert and more just irritated.
Before even getting up, he quickly considered all the things that could have caused the noise, "A misplaced object on my way in, really bad timing, a wild Pokémon, some sort o- wild Pokémon!" his earlier conversation with Fernando suddenly came to mind and before he knew it, he was out of bed and sifting through his wardrobe, coming out with a pair of gloves and a thick jacket.
He had dealt with plenty of Pokémon before and he knew the dangers of an Espeon. Preferably, it would have just been the Morpeko others had reported, but he'd rather be safe than sorry.
Slowly and methodically, he pushed his door open and stiffened up when he heard a sudden shuffling, coming from the kitchen.
"Okay, definitely got a wild Pokémon in here."
Harry could have and maybe should have called for help, but in the back of his mind he figured that Fernando probably needed sleep and Poké-control probably would have charged a fortune. And so as much as irresponsible as it was, he crept out of his room and down the small passageway. In the living room, his eyes caught onto the broken lamp, laying in pieces on the floor. He stepped over the glass shards carefully, still in his socks.
The sound of shuffling continued until he stepped foot into the kitchen. "Sounds a little soft for an Espeon," the thought crossed his mind, but when he remembered that they could be light on their feet, his grip on the blanket only got tighter.
There were only so many places a Pokémon could hide. After surveying the room carefully, he took a deep breath and moved past the counter. Gently, he opened the first cupboard, almost expecting something to leap out. There was nothing but outdated plates on the inside. The second cupboard opened itself suspiciously and taking a deep breath, Harry prepared to catch whatever came out. However, it too was empty, save for a few dusty glasses.
Frustratingly, he ended up turning his kitchen upside down, only to come up empty handed and disappointed. He leaned against the counter and thought that he must be crazy.
"That's an hour of my life I could have spent sleeping. Nothing in the cupboards, nothing in the fridge and nothing in the oven, thank goodness," Harry spoke to himself, as was his habit. "And it's already 2 AM. Great."
He looked over at the coffee machine and shrugged. Before he even had a chance to register his fatigue, a mug had been pulled from one of the still open cupboards and it was quickly filled with the fuel which drove him every day. It was complimented with sugar and a dash of milk, which filled the mug to the brim.
After mixing it, he quickly took it in both hands and drank, not at all minding the intense heat.
"I'll probably just head into work now. Maybe Yoshida has something new for me, or maybe I'll spend all day working on those damn murders again. Probably the latter," he sighed.
The coffee soon finished and instead of making another cup, he placed his mug down and turned around, preparing to prematurely ready himself for the coming duties of the day.
Only, when he did turn around it wasn't the empty air which greeted him. Rather, it was a small, easily recognizable Pokémon, one which looked at him with wide, blue eyes.
Harry tilted his head at it.
It tilted it's head at Harry.