Pokémon Police Force Chapter 10: Unmasked
We sailed back through the hurricane, me and the crew of the pirate vessel, the Crystal Froslass. Why captain Jack Spearow didn't just sail around it was beyond me. Over half a day of sailing later and Slowbro and I made shore in the Port City of Beacon.
"You could stay with them," I said to Slowbro, "I really don't need a traveling companion."
"I'm staying with you," said Slowbro, "I already threw in my lot with you."
"Yeah, well, take some time for recreation. I'm tired."
"Say no more!" Said Slowbro before running off.
(That was easier than I thought.)
That was when the hairs on the back of my neck stood up again. I looked around the port. The streets were strangely empty, even for this time of night.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Slash!"
I dodged the oncoming attack and hit my assailant with a sharp jab in the stomach.
"Oof!"
The attacker staggered back. An Alolan Sandslash!
A Machoke approached me from behind.
"You don't know what you've just done," said the Machoke.
"No one disrespects the Red Waves and lives!" Shouted the Alolan Sandslash.
"Mach Punc- Aaahhh!"
Machoke screamed in pain as an odd purple wave blasted him in the chest.
"Flamethrower!"
A plume of fire engulfed the Alolan Sandslash, making him give off a pained scream.
"Officer Emerald!"
The familiar Braixen was standing atop a nearby building with flaming stick in hand. She leapt down and landed in front of me, facing the Alolan Sandslash. I took the cue and placed my back to her, squaring off against the Machoke.
"Not really how I expected this blind date to turn out," I said.
"You and your dates."
"So, what's happening here?"
"An invasion by the Red Waves. They're pirates."
"Seems my life is nothing but pirates recently. Where's your partner?"
"Don't know. We got separated when the invasion hit."
"But why invade the port?"
"Simple," said Machoke, "we were hired to kill someone. Someone with an incredibly high bounty."
"They're talking about you," whispered Emerald.
"Yeah, I know they're talking about me," I whispered back.
"The bounty is question is for a live prisoner," said Emerald.
"We don't care," said the Alolan Sandslash, "they'll still pay for a body."
"I got a plan, but it's pretty risky," I whispered to Emerald.
"Let's hear it," she whispered back.
"Time to die!" Shouted both of them at once as they rushed us.
"Flamethrower!"
"Agility!"
I grabbed Emerald by the waist and spun her around at top speeds as she spewed her Flamethrower. The flames arched in a deadly ring of fire.
"Agility!" I yelled again.
I leapt from the ground and onto a rooftop, with Emerald by the waist. I then leapt off the roof, jumping over our two assailants.
"Psychic!" Shouted Emerald.
Emerald's psychic powers gripped both the Pokémon simultaneously. She then made them crash into each other, hard.
In midair, I dive bombed towards them and then slipped a Blast Seed into my mouth. I crunched down on it and blasted an explosive flame right down on top of them. Finally, both of them were KO'd.
I landed softly on the ground and Emerald used her psychic powers to aid her descent, touching lightly on the dusty street.
"I can't believe we pulled that off," said Emerald, "how long have you had that Blast Seed?"
"That Sandslash had it. Pickpocket, never leave home without it."
"Now, let's go find-"
"Gotcha!"
It happened so fast. A Scyther came from out of nowhere and slashed Argyle across the face. The attack caused a nasty, bloody cut.
"Argyle! FLAMETHROWER!" I screamed out.
The plume of flame caught Scyther off guard and he was blasted out of sight.
"Argyle!"
I ran to Argyle's side. As I approached, he was clutching his face, covering the wound with a claw. To my surprise, his mask started to slide off. The Scyther had severed the straps. Argyle quickly caught this and used his other claw to hold his mask in place.
(For just a moment… did I see a flash of green?)
"Emerald!"
Sheriashuu ran up to us from out of nowhere.
"I knew you had to be the cause of the Scyther rocket. Oh my gods, Argyle!"
Sheriashuu knelt beside me and wiped away some of the blood.
"Scyther got him," Emerald said.
"I've got just the thing!"
The Mienshao revealed a medicine bottle she had apparently bought in town.
"Medical salve. This will sting, but it should help with the bleeding."
I helped with the first aid by cleaning away all the blood I could while Sheriashuu dabbed at Argyle's wound with a rag and the salve. It didn't take long for the salve to work and Argyle to stop bleeding.
"That should do it," said Sheriashuu.
"I sure am glad the police are trained in first aid," said Argyle.
(I should ask. Better to get it out of the way now.)
"Argyle, when your mask slipped off, I seen something green underneath. What was that?"
"You saw it, huh? Well, guess there's no point in hiding it now."
With a simple movement of his arm, Argyle dropped his mask to the floor. What I seen made me gasp. It certainly wasn't what I expected.
The entire left side of Argyle's face was a faintly glowing emerald green. The portion of his face where it met his fur was an unusual hexagonal pattern. The same hexagonal pattern that I noticed was present in his left green eye.
The part I will remember the most though is his left ear. The place where there was supposed to be a single red feather (A Sneasel trademark) was nowhere to be found. Instead, it looked like someone had violently yanked the feather from his ear, splitting it open.
"Argyle… I," said Sheriashuu.
The Mienshao's face was in utter shock, whereas the Braixen was speechless.
"Why do you think I wear the mask?" I asked rhetorically.
"How did this happen?" Emerald asked finally.
"I wish I knew."
"Well, you're a load of answers," Sheriashuu said sarcastically, "so, what happened?"
"I'd rather not talk about this right now. There is still an invasion going on."
"Right, let's deal with that first and then meet by the old lighthouse," said Emerald.
"Help me with the mask first. I need some replacement straps."
The two officers than began quietly looking through barrels and crates until Emerald produced a length of rope. The two cut the rope and bound the mask to my face. I pressed my claw against it to test the bonds.
"It'll have to do for now," I said, "we've got company."
A Seviper slithered onto the street but was quickly dispatched by Emerald's Psyshock.
"Let's split up," I said, "we'll cover more ground that way."
"No," said Sheriashuu, "you know these streets better than the two of us combined. You'll help us flush them out."
"Pirates aren't exactly stealthy," I reminded her, "most of them are probably hanging out at the tavern and… oh no… MARTHA!"
I sprinted away from the two officers as fast as my legs would carry me.
"Wait! Who's Martha?"
I ignored Emerald and kept running at top speeds until I burst through the tavern door.
"MORE OF YOU!? Oh, hey boss!"
Slowbro was standing in the middle of the tavern with Martha the Miltank and Tropius the bartender at either side and a legion of knocked out pirates at his feet.
"What happened?"
"I'd like to ask you the same thing," said Slowbro, "I was having a nice drink and all of a sudden these creeps show up and start harassing the wench here."
"For the last time, I'm a barmaid, not a wench," said Martha, "is this man a friend of yours, Argyle?"
"Friend is a strong word."
"He's my boss," said Slowbro.
"I am not your boss or your captain."
"Well, what should I call you? Master? God? Tzar? King? My lord?"
"Argyle."
"Master Jedi?"
"Master Jedi? Where did you come up with that one?"
"I think I heard it in a movie once."
"Anyway…," said Tropius, "what is happening out there?"
"The Red Wave pirates are invading the town."
Just then the tavern doors opened again and Emerald and Sheriashuu walked in.
"We're getting a party together to chase them off," said Sheriashuu.
"And who are you?" Asked Slowbro.
"Emerald the Braixen and Sheriashuu the Mienshao, police officers from Mystery City," I said.
"You're a long way from home," said Martha.
"Yes, but that doesn't matter," said Emerald, "we need all the help we can get to drive them out. Who's with us?"
"If Master Jedi is in, then so am I."
"Stop that," I said.
"I'm in," said Martha, "if I let Argyle get hurt, Milly will never let it go."
"These pirates damaged my bar and reputation," said Tropius, "they're getting hurt."
Several patrons wander into the bar and volunteer to fight. Before long, we have a small platoon of Pokémon ready to fight.
"Right," I said, "if it moves, punch it, if you have no arms, kick it. If it stops moving, move on. Let's go."
The newly christened Beacon Corps of Vengeance flooded out of the tavern and spread out all over town. There were cries of pain as the Red Waves were punished, one by one. My team was composed of Emerald, Sheriashuu, Slowbro, Martha and myself.
Emerald handled long-range combat, Sheriashuu was our DPS unit, Slowbro and Martha were our tanks and I was our hit-and-run specialist. In a little over a half an hour, the Red Waves decided to cut their losses and turn tail and run. The town cheered and Martha ran back to the tavern and the remaining quartet (myself included) went to the old lighthouse on the hill.
Once there, I found some old abandoned sails, thankfully untouched by bug Pokémon.
"This will have to do," I said.
I took hold of the sails and began slicing them into ribbons.
"Wait, Argyle," said Emerald, "use these."
Emerald handed me some sturdy leather strips.
"Thank you."
I undid the ropes binding my mask to my face and let it drop to the ground.
"Holy Arceus!" Yelled Slowbro in surprise, "what happened to your face!?"
"Oh, right," said Sheriashuu, "Slowbro wasn't with us before."
"You never explained that," said Emerald.
"It will take some time to make new straps," I said.
I picked up the half-mask and stared at it in the eye. The memories came flooding back into my mind.
"Master Jedi?"
I was aware of a small tear running down the side of my cheek.
"It all started when I was but a small child."
