Pokémon Police Force Chapter 7: Homecoming

I proceeded slowly and silently throughout the night. A lone Sneasel, left to his own thoughts. Ironwell Stronghold drew steadily further and further away.

(Team Razor Wind. They said I've been betrayed. Someone tipped them off.)

The only ones who knew about our plans were Danté, the Incineroar and Pyra, the Houndoom. I've been friends with them for years. Though I didn't want to think that either of them could betray me, I knew, deep down, they spoke the truth.

(I have to hide the loot in the one place that I've been keeping from them. The one place I swore never to return to. Home.)

The minutes stretched on into hours. With any luck, Team Razor wind lost track of me and went back to the Black Market. I walked on and eventually came onto a magnificent city. The Bastion.

The architects who made this city took over an entire plateau and converted it into a city. The plateau in question existed smack-dab in the middle of a small canyon. Drawbridges were the only passage into the city, high stone walls hid most of the city from view. This provided a nigh-impenetrable defense in the case of an invasion.

Inside, stood a classic medieval castle town. Blacksmiths, apothecaries, taverns, you name it. All were inside.

I removed the Crown of Plenty, and the stolen Treasure Bag and placed them on the ground. Pressing my left claw against my mask, I undid the buckles holding it to my head and removed the mask.

I stared at the mask as it's piercing lifeless half-gaze stared back at me.

(I haven't been back here since that terrible day. How long has it been?)

Suddenly, the memories came flooding back. My entire life flashed before my eyes. My eyes teared up when I thought about... her.

"I should get going," I said before putting the mask back on, "the sooner I get this done, the better."

I collected my ill-gotten goods and proceeded to the cliff face. Instead of trying to enter the city, I walked down a hidden staircase. A staircase leading into the canyon. It was a long, quiet descent. When I made it to the bottom of the canyon, I stole around the side.

Once I found the claw mark I made several years ago, I rolled a nearby boulder aside and entered a deliberately concealed cavern. I pulled the boulder back into place and lit a nearby torch.

The torch flared to life, allowing me light. I went from standing torch to standing torch, casting the cavern in a soft light. Inside, there was an old, broken, wooden table, a small wooden cabinet, a surprisingly well-built wooden throne and a lone, tattered bed cot laying on the floor. The only other thing of note was a small, shallow pit off to the distance.

"Home."

I walked over to the pit and opened up the Treasure Bag.

"This should be safe enough."

I turned the Treasure Bag over and dumped all the contents into the pit. The ill-gotten gains spilled into the pit with a metallic crash. I then tossed the Crown of Plenty in after it. With the Treasure Bag, I stored away in the cabinet. Finally, I took off my mask once again, set it on the table and took a seat on the throne.

(A throne for the kingdom I will one day have. Or so I thought. Now what do I do?)

Tired from all my activity that day, I bowed my head and instantly fell asleep.

I woke up the next day, lair, thankfully undisturbed.

"I'm going to visit her. I... want to see her."

I retrieved my mask from the table and re-fastened it onto the left side of my face. Then, I left the cave as quickly and quietly as I could, making sure to conceal the entrance once more. Finally, I proceeded into the canyon proper.

(Hopefully, no one will recognize me after all these years.)

I drew near to an old gate made of discarded metal siding with a withering wooden sign hanging from the post.

The Narrows.

I steeped through the gate and into a ghetto. The canyon was filled with "buildings" made out of trash from the city above. Each building arrayed in a random fashion, transforming the streets into a wide, trashy maze.

As I wandered the streets, I'd noticed something noteworthy. Whereas the faces have changed, the town has not changed at all. The poverty, the sense of despair, the smell, everything was as I'd remembered it.

I've been away for so long; it was obvious to everyone there that I didn't belong. Maybe it was the way I carried myself or the mask, but mothers hid their children from me and the fathers eyed me suspiciously as I passed by.

I made my way through the streets and into the "outskirts", a smaller community where the poorest of the poor live. Leaving that neighborhood behind, I found what I sought, a small, withered stump just outside of town.

I approached the stump and knelt down.

"Sorry it's been so long. I hope you don't hold it against me."

I spent some time catching up with her. I was unaware how much time had passed before it happened.

"I know how you felt about the life I had chosen," I said, "if I could, I would leave it."

I heard a soft step behind me.

"I had wondered when you'd show up here," I said, "officer Emerald."

Surprisingly, she didn't try to arrest me. She didn't say anything. The Braixen simply approached me from behind and sat beside me.

"I've been listening," she said, her face hard to read, "who's buried here?"

"The most important person I'd ever met. The one person I've failed. My mother."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be," I said, "it was years ago."

(The day I got...)

I raised my claw to my mask. To my surprise I could feel it loosening.

"HOW DARE YOU!" I screamed as I jumped up and held my mask fast to my head, "TRYING TO REMOVE MY MASK WHEN I'M VISITING MY MOTHER'S GRAVE!"

I took off, speeding back towards town.

"Wha-? Get back here, thief!"

As I ran through town, pushing beggars and peddlers aside, I narrowly dodged a sliver of white.

"Sheriashuu!"

"Long time," she said casually.

She whipped her fur at me again, this time curling around my arm, binding it fast.

"Gotcha!"

"Icy Wind!" I yelled.

I breathed a cool arctic blast in the Mienshao's face, blinding her enough to wiggle my arm free.

"Agility!"

I sped up, my running speed drawing dangerously near to the sound barrier. I left them in the dust and emerged at the top of the cliff once more.

I stopped to catch my breath and refastened the straps on my mask.

"Why are those two so insistent on removing my mask?"

"Why are you working so hard to hide your face?"

To my shock, Emerald and Sheriashuu have caught up to me and were ascending the stairs.

"How did you-?"

"Speed Orb," answered Sheriashuu simply.

"We have no jurisdiction to arrest you here," said Emerald, "I'm personally curious about this 'deformity' beneath your mask. Does it have anything to do with your missing sister?"

I felt as though I got an electric shock. A sister? Since when?

"I don't have a sister," I said, "never did. Who told you that?"

"Half-sister then," said Sheriashuu, "it was in your file."

"It's only been me and my mother," I said, "no father, no sister. Just us."

The two police officers fell silent.

"I buried my mother with my own two claws. Whoever wrote that file was wrong!"

I turned around and began to walk away.

"Argyle!" Said Emerald, "sorry."

"Just leave me alone!" I shouted as I left them behind.

(I now know what I need to do.)