Chapter 23 – My Name is Looker
Jill looked at her friends face and felt shocked and disgusted. Someone had attacked Lucas without provocation. And they had stolen his Pokedex. Bruised and bloodied, he had run into Jill at the Pokemon Centre after her match. But there wasn't anything she could do for him just yet, not with her team undergoing the usual post gym battle treatments. Which of course just made Jill feel helpless.
"Take me through it again." Lucas grimaced and breathed in before explaining what had happened.
"I was following another urban Pokemon as it ran into this alley. I don't even remember what I was chasing, but I wanted to get the Dex information for Professor Rowan and to see if this help with the distribution maps at all. Then these two guys came and started accusing me of being on Team something's property. I have a feeling that they were the same kind of guys who accosted me and Professor Rowan in Jubilife City a couple months back." Lucas broke again with a small wince. While the doctors assured him nothing was broken, he was most certainly bruised and stiff. Especially after having been in the hospital for two days before meeting with Jill.
"That means that it was Team Galactic. What is wrong with these thugs?" Jill wondered aloud.
"I have no idea but I think they just wanted an excuse to hit me. They didn't take any of my Pokemon thank Arceus."
"Well that's good at the very least. But we need to go and get your Pokedex back!"
"I already talked to the cops Jill. I wouldn't be able to identify anyone so there's no way they could track down and arrest the people who attacked me." Jill frowned. There was no way someone could just get away with hurting her friend like that.
"Excuse me young man, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." An average sized man in a brown trench coat walked over to the duo sitting at their table. Jill looked around and couldn't believe the man had simply overheard their conversation. Jill had taken Lucas to the cafeteria which all Pokemon Centres had to get some slightly better than hospital food in her friend. There was a general rumble in the air as passing through trainers and centre staff were discussing all sorts of topics around them. In short, next too impossible to eavesdrop on someone unless you were sitting at the same table. The man seemed to notice Jill's sceptical look.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am named Looker." Both teens looked at each other then back at the man named Looker. That was when he placed his identification on the table and pulled up a chair to sit with the two trainers. Jill looked it over; it was a rather plain bi-fold with a picture of the man who was now sitting with them and a quick description of his role as a field agent with the International Police. The bottom half was a simple gold Pokeball emblem. It all looked rather official but it put Jill on edge for some reason.
The International Police weren't viewed the same as other law enforcement agencies. They were more a network of spies who took in information and sent out teams to deal with multi-regional threats. It was rumoured that their governance was controlled tightly by the Champions of all regions, making it so that not one region was given more power or influence than any of the others. But their agents one and all were experts in subterfuge and covert tactics. Their Pokemon of choice of course reflected this and they were normally above rebuke from local governments. Luckily, they tended not to investigate things unless they were a serious global threat.
"Why would a member of the International Police be so open to introducing themselves?" Lucas asked. Looker simply smiled.
"I'm not here to cause you two any trouble. At least, no more than you've already managed to find yourselves!" He laughed, a kind warm laugh which showed a face prematurely aged transformed into someone much younger. "I'm simply here following a lead. However, it would seem that you, young man, have had a run in with some of the people I've been searching for."
"Why would you be interested in local criminals?" Jill asked. Looker's attention turned from Lucas to the young trainer fresh from a gym match.
"I watched your battle today Miss Heart. I must say that was some impressive skill you displayed there. And to be training a Gallade… Well not many people can say they've had that opportunity." Looker seemed to have that personality that put people at ease. There was something you couldn't help but like about the man. However, that didn't stop Jill from pressing.
"Thank you, but you didn't answer my question."
"Correct! To be truthful, my agency is not interested in the local riff raff. I mean no offense by this young man as I do care. I would see the men who so abused you put in their proper place as they deserve!" Both young trainers looked on waiting for Looker to continue on to his point.
"No instead I am here because we are becoming increasingly interested in these rumblings about this Team Galactic." Jill looked at Lucas who was staring back at her. Both knew what the other was thinking. If the International Police were getting involved, this was far larger than either of them realized.
The two trainers followed the international agent through the warehouse area of Veilstone. The cities commercial district was located on the northern edge of the limits. Looker was rather less talkative on their way to where Lucas was assaulted than he was back at the Pokecentre. Jill looked at both of men she was walking with in silence, contemplating how dark the world seemed to be getting these days.
Pokemon attacks weren't as common as they were in the past but that didn't mean they never happened. What was scarier was the criminal groups who were instead instigating attacks. People were losing their partners and friends, whether through theft or death or desertion. It was looking more and more bleak when you simply pulled back the cover that society put up. Gym leaders and the leagues were not enough to help the local authorities anymore. Jill wondered if that was why she had run into her cousin multiple times during her travels so far and why she had been able to battle the Indigo champion.
"It was somewhere around here" Lucas said as the trio entered an intersection. Jill looked around but everything seemed very similar. Overtop of many of the warehouses towered the Galactic headquarters.
"I think it would be advisable to have your Pokemon ready" Looker said, slight frown creasing his brow and making the man again look older than he should. His hands were hidden within the pockets of his brown trench coat. Jill didn't bring her whole bag with her, instead opting for a Pokeball clip hidden within her windbreaker. She detached one ball and pocketed it and saw Lucas do the same. Slowly they continued walking. It was a few minutes of fading light before they stumbled upon what they were looking for.
"That's them!" Lucas suddenly exclaimed quietly pointing at two men standing a couple hundred yards from the trainers.
"Why are they still here?" Jill wondered aloud. It didn't make sense to snatch such valuable technology and then simply hang around the same area. That was just asking to get caught.
"Something tells me that these two haven't managed to actually break into the proper ranks of Team Galactic" Looker said.
"Well it doesn't do us any good just standing here" Jill said and started walking forward. Lucas looked shocked and hissed at his friend to come back but she wasn't listening. He frantically looked at Looker who was smiling.
"I think we should join her don't you?" he said cheerfully and walked forward. Lucas rushed to join his friend. This was his fight after all.
"Hey there pretty… You again?" the one man was laughing as he saw the trio walk towards them, recognizing Lucas. "Back for another beat down?" he asked the young man.
"I'm here to get my Pokedex back!" Lucas said in a much higher pitch than he would've liked.
"Had to bring your little girlfriend along too then hey? Why don't you just run along before we beat the shit out of you again!" The second man leered at Jill who supressed a shiver. The man was absolutely deplorable.
"Now, now, one should never swear in front of a lady" Looker said, wearing a sad smile on his face.
"Get fucked old man" the first man said. "Come on Buck. Let's just give 'em the beat down." The second man, Buck, nodded and pulled out a Pokeball. Both men sent out Zubat who began screeching their high pitched sound bursts of echolocation. Jill knew it was how they saw, but it was certainly annoying. She withdrew her Pokeball however, as did Lucas. Both men were smiling at the red and white orbs in the two trainers hands.
"Oh so you have Pokemon? Then we'll just have to take those too!" the first man yelled. Both trainers released their partners. The two thugs paused upon seeing who they would be battling.
"You've caught a Clefairy?" Jill asked somewhat surprised when Lucas released his Pokemon. He grinned sheepishly and half shrugged.
"You've got a Gabite so I'd say we've both caught some impressive Pokemon" he countered. Jill laughed before turning her attention back to the battle before her.
"And just wait until you see what Sphyrna can do!"
Both thugs were unconscious and covered in sand and dirt from Sphryna. Jill and Lucas had made quick work of the two who clearly weren't trainers. Looker had already called for the local authorities to come and take them away and was working on releasing their Pokemon. Lucas, to his immense relief, found his Pokedex still located on the man named Buck still completely intact.
It was a few minutes before the police arrived and even more time passed before they had taken the thugs away. In the lapsed time, Lucas excused himself to head back to the Pokemon centre with the cops. The battle had taken more out of him than it should of, but in his injured state, Jill wasn't surprised. She however wanted to see what Looker was up to as he waited around until after the cops had left. She stood there watching him while he wrote some notes in his small pocketbook. Finally, he looked up and seem surprised that Jill was still there.
"We must look into their warehouse now yes?" he asked. Jill seemed taken aback.
"What do you mean?"
"Well they were guarding the entrance to said warehouse!" Looker said pointing just over Jill's shoulder.
"They were?" she said somewhat skeptical. Those two men didn't seem the type you would put on guard duty. However, she still followed Looker as he pushed open the sliding door to the warehouse. Jill had been so preoccupied that she failed to notice the stylized G on the door. It was the Galactic corporation symbol. Slowly and ready to call out Sphyrna once more, she followed Looker inside.
Inside the warehouse was nothing special. Boxes and crates on shelving units, parts and various other things were strewn about. All in all, it seemed completely normal to Jill's eyes. Looker pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on, sweeping the light back and forth. With measured steps, both Jill and Looker pushed further inside.
Jill could feel the tension in her body, tensed for something. But after twenty minutes of searching around, the only thing of note that the two found was a partitioned section which required a key card to gain access. Looker finally called it enough for a night and escorted Jill back to the Pokecentre.
"Thank you for the help tonight. It seems that for the time being we are at a dead end. But I must caution you on vigilance. While the crimes may seem minor, the acts may mask something far more sinister. Be aware Miss Heart!" And with that, the interesting man from the international police was gone. Jill however was left with something to think about. Instead of coming off the high of gaining yet another gym badge and being one step closer to her goal, she was instead thinking about Team Galactic and what something more sinister might be.
"Thank you for the lead Flint." Flint looked up from his beer and reports to find the International Police agent assigned to this case taking the seat opposite the Elite.
"No problem. Anything turn up?" Flint asked.
"Alas there was nothing of note to be found there. I however, did not expect them to leave their plans simply lying about."
"Make our jobs a hell of a lot easier if they did…" Flint said taking another swig. Looker was staring far off distracting Flint. "Something on your mind?" he asked the agent.
"I met with the trainer you told me about. She is quite powerful." Flint nodded. "I have not seen someone like her in some time. It makes me glad that we still have people like her around." Flint who had looked down as the statement was drug out looked back up quickly.
"What do you mean?" He asked Looker. But the agent was already leaving without another word. Flint could only look on confused as to what the other man meant.
Looker sat down at the desk in his hotel room. Everything about the man seemed to be a disguise. Around Flint, Looker had appeared nothing short of professional. Stern face and proper posture as someone should who was working closely with the league on regional defense matters. However, around the young woman today, Looker had dropped his guard. He had met so few people whom he could be the man he used to be. Instead he came off as sad or tired. And he was. But he also had a job to do. There were people out there who would gladly put out a spark like the young miss Jill Heart. These young trainers Looker believed were the future. A future of hope and brightness worth protecting.
Straightening from a slouched posture, Looker looked at the mirror facing him. Greying and thinning hair topped a prematurely lined face. Deep dark brown eyes which used to be so filled with warmth, were now dimmed. A mouth which smiled with falsity, never quite reaching the mans ears. This was the man who set himself in the path of those who would prevent the future of hope and light. Nothing heroic here. Nothing stoic and handsome. Not a champion trainer.
"I am a member of the International Police. My name is Looker."
Jillian's Pokemon:
Caladan (Grotle) - level 28, ability: Overgrow, nature: Bashful
Chase (Luxio) - level 28, ability: Intimidate, nature: Impish
Epona (Ponyta) - level 28, ability: Run Away, nature: Naughty
Urim (Togepi) - level 25, ability: Serene Grace, nature: Brave
Sphryna (Gabite) - level 27 ability: Sand Veil, nature: Naive
Icarium (Kirlia) - level 27, ability: Trace, nature: Lonely