-VI-


The great bird lets out a shrill screech; its wings lock fast as it swoops down low to the cobblestone road. A cloud of debris kicks up in its wake as it shoots towards Nanu.

He dives, hitting the wet grass just in time for the Pokémon to fly past like a hurricane. He catches a glimpse of it; from the shape of its lance-like beak and prominent coxcomb, it's a Fearow. He's never seen one so large. Not in Alola at least.

With one strong flap the Fearow begins its ascent, circling back around for a second pass. From this angle he can see its feathers on full display. The shaggy chestnut overcoat is flecked with white spots, covering the bird's back and a good portion of its expansive wings. Beneath that is a lighter layer of golden brown, with three of its primary feathers matching the white of its spots and underbelly; its remaining primaries, through to its secondaries are a dark hickory shade.

Nanu squints. There's something blue attached to the Fearow's back. He can't discern what it is before he has to defend himself. For whatever reason the Pokémon is sporting for a fight. He reaches for his Poke Ball as he stands, not hesitating for even a second before he throws it forward.

Big Boss bursts from the light, crowing loudly and fearlessly. He had sensed the commotion and was ready for it. He locks on to the Fearow charging towards them and rushes to meet the challenge.

Fearow's eyes narrow.

Nanu considers his Honchkrow to be a fairly large bird, being nearly twice the size of an average Honchkrow and capable of flying him around where he needed to. Only now as he sees Big Boss fly into battle does he realise how mistaken he was to think that.

This Fearow absolutely dwarfs his Honchkrow.

"Boss, Sucker Punch!" He commands.

The two birds are speeding towards one another at a breakneck pace. The Fearow has straightened its neck - muscles taut as it appears to ready an attack with its beak. Big Boss makes a split second adjustment to the angle of his wings, twisting his body effortlessly to narrowly avoid colliding with his opponent. He kicks his talons out as they pass one another, striking the massive bird in its belly before breaking away.

The Fearow makes an angered shriek but is otherwise unaffected by the attack. It flaps its wings again, rising up to fly over Nanu's head as both birds loop back for another round. As it swoops over the top of him the light catches on a shiny object wrapped around the bird's left ankle. In that same foot is a small bag clutched between its talons.

He has no time to think about that, however. Nanu scrutinises his opponent's movements and predicts it'll try the same tactic. The Fearow accelerates forward, neck straightening. He's convinced he could get away with Sucker Punching it into submission if it keeps this up.

"You know what to do, Big Boss!" Nanu calls and his Honchkrow caws in reply.

They swoop for each other; gazes fixed. Big Boss flies over the top of his foe - dodging again with quick changes to his wings. He lands another jab with his claws and feathers scatter. Both birds circle around and make for a third pass.

Big Boss zips to the Fearow's left side ready to fly over its wing. He's a microsecond from executing his attack when the Fearow suddenly flips around, nearly upside down. It reaches out with its free leg - massive hooked talons poised. He cries out in surprise, then pain, as those talons find their mark. But it doesn't stop at a mere scratch, no. The great bird seizes Nanu's Honchkrow at the chest and before Nanu can even blink they're dropping out of the sky.

And it's a deliberate move; the huge Pokémon is pushing itself downward - wings up and muscles slack - throwing them both from the air with all the force of a falling meteorite.

Nanu reaches for his Poké Ball to call his Pokémon back but it's too late. Fearow slams Big Boss down into the ground a few metres away from him. Grass and mud splashes up around them like a shockwave. He's expecting the wild bird to take off and come for him, but when the proverbial dust settles it's still on the ground.

Big Boss's caw is muffled into the grass beneath them and the Fearow hisses low in warning. Nanu has never seen his Honchkrow look so small and powerless. He has no idea what's driving this Pokémon to such aggression, but he's not going to let it have its way. He still hasn't got a clear shot with his Poké Ball so he sends out the other companion he brought with him.

Krooks takes form and lands on his feet with a resounding thump. He sees his comrade in the clutches of the massive bird and snarls, baring his teeth in a threatening display. The Fearow turns, unfazed by the crocodilian's intimidating demeanour as it squeezes its grip harder around Big Boss.

"Hold tight, Boss, we're gonna get you outta there," Nanu reassures - keeping his voice even all the while.

Krooks growls a second time, a message conveyed in his tone.

The Fearow raises its head up and screeches back defiantly.

With the Pokémon at a stand-still, Nanu can finally make out what's attached to its back. His brows raise at the discovery. It's a saddle. There's even a bridle and reins strapped to it. This is no wild Fearow, Nanu realises. Perhaps Sucker Punching it into docility isn't such a good idea after all.

The exchange between the Pokémon suddenly sours and the bird releases Big Boss to lunge at Krooks. Krooks flexes and he braces for impact.

"Quickly Krooks - manoeuvre around it and grab it by the saddle!" Nanu orders just in time.

He's agile for a Krookodile and it's a trait that serves him well. He weaves his body down to all fours to avoid the grappling talons. His muscles clench and spur him forward, springing him up around Fearow's left side where the bird can't reach with its pre-occupied foot. Krooks seizes the reins with one hand and wraps his other over the bird's back. He's caught the Fearow mid-air, but it doesn't give up just yet. The Fearow beats its wings furiously, battering Krooks with them as it tries to fly away. He closes his eyes as the huge bird strikes him repeatedly.

"Ground it!"

His Krookodile locks his grip. With a confident roar, Krooks twists and drags the bird down. Though the Fearow may be huge, he still had the greater body mass and he uses it to pin the bird to the grass. It struggles and screeches, but it's not going anywhere any time soon.

With the target more or less subdued, Nanu rushes to his Honchkrow's aid. Nanu breathes out in relief when the corvid sits up and puffs his feathers up. He's a little disheveled.

"That looked rough," Nanu remarks as he kneels down and lightly passes his hands over his Pokémon's body, feeling for any wounds but thankfully finding none. "You good?"

Big Boss tilts his beak upward and rights the hat-shaped crest on his head with his wing. He answers Nanu's inquiry with a somewhat undignified croak despite his proud posturing.

"He just hurt your ego then, huh," he smirks. He'll make sure to give Big Boss a few extra berries tonight to soften the blow.

Big Boss chitters quietly, fluffing his breast feathers in a rather curious display. Nanu raises his brows. His Honchkrow very pointedly corrected him that the Fearow in question is a female.

Nanu has never been keen-eyed to discern the sex of Pokémon - especially when the species had little to no dimorphism between them.

Nanu stands and turns to face the other Pokémon. The Fearow has seemingly stopped her struggle but continues to emit hoarse and angry squawks. He paces slowly towards the bird's front, examining the saddle and reins at a safe distance in case she breaks free. The saddle is nothing like the bulky high-tech pieces used by the Ride Pager Pokémon in Alola. It's made from thick leather and from the looks of the stitching is handcrafted. The whole piece is masterfully dyed with two tones of blue, light and dark. Like shades of the sky.

As he comes around to the front, he sees the Pokémon is staring, tracing his movements with fierce unblinking eyes. He isn't intimidated by the dark pupils that leer back at him, but the way they're filled with such human emotion causes him to pause. There's fury, accusation and recognition all contained within her glare.

Siane said she owned a Fearow, didn't she?

It makes sense, if it's true, that this would be her Pokémon then. There's only one way to find out.

"Is Siane your trainer?" He asks.

She watches him. There's an unmistakable glint in her eyes at the sound of the woman's name. She makes a low warbling in her throat and Big Boss caws to Nanu, confirming her answer to his question. Then Fearow hisses, to which Big Boss translates to the old cop as 'where?'.

"Had to take her to the hospital," he explains. Fearow looks alarmed. Her feathers bristle and she looks to be on the cusp of another aggressive outburst. Her tone continues to rise until she's squawking fiercely at him.

Big Boss looks taken aback and relays to Nanu: 'abandoned her'. He frowns.

"She needed medical care that I couldn't provide her with," Nanu reasons. "Once Siane makes a recovery you'll be able to see her."

Fearow inspects his face with a critical gaze. It's a tense couple of seconds before the bird appears to accept this. The tension in her body eases. The fight in her eyes has faded and Nanu can suddenly see just how exhausted she is. Her breaths are laboured and shaky; even her wings are trembling.

It's not the battle that's worn her out, he thinks. Then a horrifying thought crosses his mind and the words leave his mouth before he has time to properly process them.

"Did you fly Siane here?"

Her dark eyes bore into Nanu's, but not with ferocity. There's a calm but powerful openness to her expression and slowly she dips her head down. Big Boss looks to Nanu as though he should know this gesture.

Of course she'd be tired then. A flight from Aedis to Alola is no small feat, nevermind having to contend with a storm at the same time. Nanu can hardly believe they made it here alive.

That's one mystery solved, but it's only spawned new ones to replace it.

If Siane flew here on Fearow, it puts a flaw in his abduction theory. But then again, it still doesn't explain the condition she arrived in — the IV marks, the weakness, the memory loss. If Siane herself couldn't fathom how she'd made it here, she mustn't have known that Fearow had brought her. That would mean it was a decision Fearow had made of her own accord. But why? Pokémon only took such risks out of instincts to survive and or to protect. What was so dangerous to have prompted the Flying-Type to bring its trainer so far from home?

Perhaps the abduction theory still holds water after all.

Nanu pinches his fingers to his brow. It's one thing after the other, piling up in an insurmountable heap. He can feel the beginnings of a headache. He does a quick mental shuffle of his tasks, reprioritising them for the present. Right now Siane's Fearow needs treatment; the mysteries will have to wait.

"I'm going to let you go now. You done fighting?" Nanu queries. Fearow doesn't make any sort of movement to suggest she'll attack. Once he's certain, he gives Krooks the signal. His Krookodile unhands the bird.

They give her space, stepping back a step or two as she gathers the strength to stand. She ruffles her feathers and shakes loose the mud and grass that's stuck to her while being on the ground. Then, unexpectedly, she tucks her long neck down and plucks the bag from her talons. She extends her beak out and offers the bag to Nanu. When he hesitates to take it, she gives it a little shake and emits a croak, as if to insist. Nanu doesn't keep her waiting and takes the bag from her sharp beak.

It's a leather drawstring bag, dyed a similar blue to Fearow's saddle. The colours are blotchy in places and he realises it's because it's a little damp. There's some weight to the bag and from the feel of it there could be Poké Balls inside. He isn't about to inspect the contents out in the open, so he slings it over his shoulder by one of the straps.

"You could do with some patching up yourself," Nanu remarks to Fearow as she stares at him. "I live just over there," he points to the police station across from them, "you can come along if that's what you want. There's plenty of food and it beats being out in the rain."

She appears to consider this, taking note of the building and of Nanu's expression. Big Boss chatters to her softly, seeming to sell the idea of getting out of the elements to rest. With that, she agrees and follows along behind Nanu.


Fearow rests in the back half of the station while the Meowth horde watches with nervous curiosity. She's too big to fit through the door to the living quarters, but it didn't bother her in the slightest. If anything she's content to be sheltered, Nanu thinks.

He takes the time to remove her saddle, thinking that it must be uncomfortable to wear for so long. Having little to no experience with such equipment, however, removing it is quite the puzzle for Nanu. But Fearow is calm throughout the whole process, even lifting her wing so that he can access the various buckles and straps more easily. After finally managing to undo it without breaking anything, Fearow gives a good shake of her feathers, fluffing herself up and crooning softly in delight.

Nanu stores the saddle in a place where the Meowth can't tamper with it and moves on to gently examining Fearow for any injuries. She maintains her patience with him, offering no reactions to his firm ministrations. He's satisfied that she's able to move all her limbs when prompted without feeling any pain.

It seems that she's only fatigued, which is a big relief. Nanu can treat fatigue.

Fearow drinks all the water he offers her, which is a challenge at first given the absurd length of her beak. He eventually discovers it's easier to just give the bird a plastic drink bottle, which she then clasps in her foot, ducks her head under and pours into the side of her beak.

While she's doing this, Nanu sees the object he spotted around her ankle during the battle. It's a thin woven leather band with a single glass bead. The colours match up to Fearow's saddle and - now that he remembers it - Siane's outfit. The consistency in colour theme makes him wonder if Siane carries some kind of rank in Aedis, as regular trainers seldom bothered with any kind of style or branding.

After being adequately watered, Fearow scarfs down the PokéFeed Nanu had plated up for her. Looking content, she settles in for a nap on a blanket on the floor that Big Boss has pinched from somewhere around the station.

Nanu decides to stay in the same room as Fearow to keep a close eye on her. He has no doubts that the Meowth will try their luck to inspect her while her guard is down and he doesn't want a fight breaking out.

While Fearow rests he examines the bag she gave him. He loosens the drawstrings and begins laying out the bag's contents on the desk as he goes through it. He was right about suspecting there being Poké Balls inside - there are two. Curiously enough, both are already storing Pokémon, indicative of the rotation of the little disc on the ball's front mechanism.

He doesn't know how many Pokémon Siane has exactly. She had only listed four while they were in the car. At the very least she has three here - that ought to bring her some comfort.

The next thing he finds is a small wallet. Like the bag, it's made from leather but shows a considerable amount of wear and tear - its teal dye job is splodgy and sun-faded. Inside he finds some cash and a few loose receipts — nevermind, a lot of loose receipts; they were all folded up into tiny squares to save space. He brushes them into a little pile on the desk before they can drop onto the floor like a shower of confetti.

Eventually, after flicking past a handful of half-filled coffee vouchers, he finds her trainer ID, perfectly intact and unexpired too. He's oddly pleased she hadn't given him a false name - 'Siane Sol'Nahima' is printed clearly on the card beside her photo. Well, she'd omitted the 'Sol' part, but he has a feeling it wasn't out of dishonesty. At least now he knows how her name is spelled. For record purposes of course. Out of habit, he looks to the date of birth printed under her name - doing the math before he can stop himself.

He wouldn't have guessed she was twenty-nine just by looking at her, that's for sure; especially when comparing that to her ID photo. Her brownish-sienna hair is pinned up in the photo, sweeping up like the curve of a bird's wing; longer strands of hair frame the sides of her face. While she isn't smiling - as per ID photo standards - there's a brightness in her eyes that was distinctly lacking when he'd met her.

He realises he's been looking at the trainer card for a while and that there's little else to it that should interest him. He returns it to the inside of Siane's wallet along with the pile of folded receipts.

Lastly, at the bottom of the bag Nanu finds a PokéGear. He hasn't seen one of these in what - fifteen years? Most trainers have since moved onto fancier Rotom Phones. As far as this device goes, the clunky thing looks like one of the first models of the flip-screen generation of PokéGears. There are a few scratches on the orange and white case, and the clip for the neck strap is broken, but it's in decent condition considering how old it must be.

It comes as no surprise when he presses the power-on button that the device doesn't respond. He suspects the battery has run dry; if it's been on for as long as Siane's two-week memory gap, it would have most certainly burned through its emergency charge, which presents a new problem. There's no charger in her bag. Flipping the PokéGear over, Nanu finds the cable port and his brows furrow at the sight. The device isn't a refurbished old model, which meant it still required the original plug. By Arceus's halo, there's no way he's going to find a cable for a device that's nearly fifteen years old and more or less obsolete.

Unless…

He could always speak to Molayne; the ex Trial Captain was bound to have something for it. He could do that while inquiring about the microchip; two birds one stone.

Fearow huffs in her sleep.

Hmm, perhaps not the best idiom to use right now.

Nanu writes a note for himself to remember it later. There are so many things he has to do already, he knows he'll forget one or two tasks along the way.

Like making that phone call to Aedis.

"Damnit," he curses as he turns to the clock on the wall. It's coming up to two o'clock now, which will likely mean it's already the evening in Aedis. A quick check of the global map he has stashed in his desk drawer confirms the region's timezone being four hours ahead. While there's bound to be someone on duty to answer the phone, Nanu has a vague recollection of how unreliable they could be there. He hopes that has at least changed in the last ten years.

He finds his cheat sheet in one of the planners on his desk, containing numbers of various police departments across the world. He zeroes in on the one he's after, keeping a finger poised on the page while the other hand reaches for the handset. He punches in the numbers without looking at the dialpad.

The line rings...

And it continues to ring.