Pokémon Police Force Chapter 11: The Mark of a Thief
"Get back here, brat!"
"Easy pickings!" I said gleefully.
I was hiding in a crate in some forgotten alley. With my big prize, an Oran Berry in hand.
"An Oran Berry?" Asked Slowbro, "that was your big score?"
"I was a child," I replied, "all great thieves start somewhere."
I was trimming the leather carefully, making it more usable.
"I was a fruit thief."
"Wouldn't jewelry be more valuable?"
"We were a little slim on jewelry living in the Narrows," I said.
"You lived in the Narrows?" Asked Emerald, "the only ones who live in that ghetto-"
"-are in poverty?" I finished, "yes. I was poor. I just stole enough food for us to live. Me and… my mother."
I finally made it home, a small ramshackle hut made out of whatever scrap fell off of the plateau that held Bastion. There was only one room and all that was inside was a wooden plank to serve as a table and a small Rattata-eaten cloth to serve as a bed.
"Mom! I'm home!"
"Hello, dear."
My mother was a Weavile like any other, just much dirtier and a body wracked with malnutrition.
"Look what I have!" I said, presenting her with the pilfered Oran Berry.
"Honey, you don't have to do this."
"I just want to help. I hate being hungry."
She didn't respond, she just embraced me in a big hug.
"Sounds like you two loved each other despite your poverty," said Emerald.
"All we had was each other," I replied, then one day, everything changed.
I had returned home one day to find my mother crouched over, looking rather pale.
"Mom? Mom!"
I dropped the apple I had stolen and ran over to her. Her eyes were bloodshot and there was a mixture of vomit and blood at her feet.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"Mommy's sick, dear."
"Bloodshot eyes, puking out a mixture of vomit and blood, absence of color in the face," said Slowbro, repeating the symptoms, "that sounds like-"
"Roselian Flu," I interrupted, "yes."
"Roselian Flu is a severe illness," said Sheriashuu, "but easily cured and vaccinated. In fact, now the only way that you could die from it is if you can't afford the medication."
"We couldn't," I said simply, putting down the leather I was fiddling with, "imagine the poorest person you've ever seen and go poorer. That was us."
That is when I decided to step up my crime game. I went up to Bastion and began stealing anything valuable I could find. Necklaces, jewels, TMs, you name it. I'd sell them in the Narrows and got whatever Poké I could.
"You were trying to buy the medicine," said Emerald.
"Yes, I was," I said, "my mother knew about my thieving."
I buried my head in my hands, sobbing softly.
"It broke her heart to know I was doing that."
Emerald embraced me in another hug.
"I kept promising her that after I bought the medicine that I would become a police officer and lead the both of us away from this life."
"Then a few months later came the day. The worst day of my life."
I had finally accumulated enough Poké to buy the medicine. As soon as I accomplished this, I ran home to tell my mother.
"Mom! I've done it! I can finally buy your medicine!"
There was no response. My mom was lying on the ground, unmoving.
"Mom?"
I drew closer and noticed that my mother was lying in a pool of blood.
"Mom? Mom! Please no!"
I ran to her side and felt her chest. It was cold and unmoving.
"Mom! No! Don't die!"
I buried my head in her bloody chest and began crying.
"Mom! Come back! I can buy your medicine! I'll stop thieving! Don't leave me!"
I don't know how long I spent crying there, but I eventually ran out of the house wailing. As I ran someone tripped me outside of town. Then I received a sharp punch to the gut.
"Found you," said the assaulting Tyrogue, "now you're going to learn what happens to thieves."
I found myself being utterly abused by a trio of Tyrogue. Each blow felt like being trampled by a Tauros and they just kept punching.
"So, what happened after that?" Asked Slowbro.
Emerald was still holding me as I recounted the tale.
"They beat me within an inch of my life and left me for dead," I said through my claws, "I should've died that day."
"Why didn't you?" Asked Sheriashuu.
"That's the part I don't understand. I woke up some time later like this," I said pointing to my face, "and this."
I finally removed the bindings on my right upper arm to show the same corruption covering most of it.
"I returned home and buried mom, then I just began walking, leaving the Narrows far behind."
"Why didn't you try out for the police?" Asked Emerald, "you said you wanted to."
"When you spend enough time in the underworld," said Slowbro, "it becomes you."
At that moment, I had finished the modifications on the leather straps and were fastening them to the mask.
"Right. Burglary and larceny are really all I know. You know my bounty. Would the police chief really welcome me now?"
"In chains," replied Sheriashuu.
"Well, no more big heists for me," I said, fastening the mask once more around my face, "now I'll-"
My thoughts were interrupted by my sixth sense. Danger was near. Very nearby.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN NOW!" I screamed.
Thick, white streams shot out of the bushes and rocketed toward Emerald. I tackled her to the ground, but was too late to dodge the attack. My leg was covered in thick, sticky web.
"ARGYLE!" Yelled out Sheriashuu and Emerald in unison.
"MASTER JEDI!" Yelled Slowbro.
"Stop that!"
I had just enough time to grab my arm bindings as I was dragged into the bushes.
"RUN!" I remember yelling before all went dark.
