Nanu spent the next few days checking up on the shiny baby Meowth. Much to his relief, Guzma seemed content to leave him alone those few days, whether it was because he was busy as the leader of Team Skull, or because he was doing some thinking. Nanu wasn't sure what the younger punk would have made of the photo of the baby Meowth, or the words he had written, but there had been no confrontation, and Nanu took that as a good sign. He had meant it; to have Guzma focus on the Meowth that he had saved. Nanu wouldn't have expected it of Guzma, but then again, there seemed to be conflicting reports from other cops, as well as citizens, from around Alola about Guzma. It made Nanu consider if there were some false reports; things that Guzma had encouraged in order to make himself seem more intimidating.

The red eyed officer couldn't help but half smile over the ridiculous idea that Guzma would actually hurt another person's Pokémon. That report Nanu knew for certain was false. It was far more likely for the younger man to have one of the other Team Skull punks steal Pokémon and keep it in Po Town. Nanu usually retrieved it if someone came directly to him complaining of a lost or stolen Pokémon. Otherwise he didn't always patrol Po Town to see if anything was amiss. The only thing Nanu had noticed these past few days was the sound of someone picking around outside the police station, though no one ever came inside. But it was usually followed by the Meowth in the station perking their ears up and following a shadow that passed by windows.

Nanu dismissed it, as he had a feeling that it was Guzma, and the Team Skull boss was at odds over whether to come into the station or not. Nanu would find out later that he was half-right, though it would be nearly two years before he found out who else was outside the station those few nights.

-x-x-x-

On the evening of the fourth night since Nanu had been given the shiny Meowth, the red eyed officer checked on the stitches in bare spots along soft fur to make sure they held as he changed the bandages. The baby Meowth shook as Nanu took a look at the stitches in its back, even as Nanu spoke soothingly to it under his breath. Nanu was aware of his Persian watching him, and as he began to wrap new bandages around the Meowth, Nanu spoke aloud.

"The Meowth will be all right. I'll give it back to you in a moment." Nanu finished tying off the bandages, and, after settling the tiny Meowth next to Persian, he stood with a sigh. Aware of the many pairs of eyes watching him, Nanu shook his head. "And yes, I know most you are hungry. I'll go and get some food for you lot." Pleased purrs and meows erupted from around the station, and Nanu couldn't help but smile. "You're all very are spoiled, aren't you?" With another fond shake of his head at the innocent looks he received in return, Nanu headed toward the front door of the station. Might as well get the shopping over with, and with that accomplished, he could come back and get some sleep. Nanu frowned on his way toward the door, when all of the Meowth in the station suddenly stared at it, whiskers twitching, before they relaxed again.

Odd.

Nanu didn't know what to make of that, but just to be sure, he went over to a cabinet and took out a gun from a locked box. Sometimes he thought he should hand it off to Looker, since Nanu hadn't had to use the weapon once since he'd left the organization the other man worked for. Nanu hadn't bothered to take the gun out of storage either but for one rare instant since he'd lived in Alola, and he hadn't had the need to actually fire it. Nanu stared at the weapon for a moment, thinking he was being paranoid over his Meowth reacting like they had. But still, he couldn't be too careful. Alola was peaceful enough, and most of the Pokémon were friendly but that didn't mean that something couldn't go wrong. Nanu retrieved a holster, and after securing it to his belt, tucked the gun inside, hoping he was on edge only because the Meowth had acted a little out of the ordinary than they usually did. And not because his own body seemed to be telling him that something wasn't quite right. With a shake of his head, Nanu went toward the front door to the station.

The moment Nanu opened the door the baby Meowth let out a frantic cry and began to try to get itself out of Persian's Pokémon bed. The crying was insistent, as the young Pokémon apparently did not want Nanu to leave it behind.

"I won't be gone long." Nanu commented, though he fell silent when the Meowth managed to wriggle out of the Pokémon bed, and made Nanu reconsider bringing it with him to the Pokémon Center. The way it limped over to Nanu on all fours gave the officer concern, though he was distracted by the poor thing letting out a series of little meows of distress.

Persian had gotten up and given pursuit, though it appeared reluctant to pick the Meowth up while it was agitated. It instead let out of huff of concern, as the Meowth's cries turned almost accusatory as it got to Nanu's leg and clung to it with a paw, tiny claws latched in the fabric as large eyes welled up with tears.

Nanu took a breath and let it out, running a hand over his face briefly before he dropped it to his side. He couldn't resist when the baby Pokémon was so genuinely sad and fearful of being left behind.

"All right. You can come along, I guess." Nanu retrieved a rain jacket from nearby and, careful not to dislodge the Meowth from his leg just yet as he zipped the coat up and flipped the hood over his head. Nanu picked the Meowth up carefully, drying its tears with the corner of a sleeve. "Keep in the jacket." Seeing the shy smile, Nanu couldn't help but smile in return as he tucked the Meowth carefully within his jacket. Sometimes he wondered whether the tears were genuine or not with some of his other Meowth. He was sure some of them would try to cajole something out of him with tears as well. At which point Nanu would have to decide whether to give in or not. Nanu waited until the Meowth had settled comfortably within his jacket, before he opened the front door of the station the rest of the way, and spoke over his shoulder. "Come on, Persian. I know you want to keep watch on this Meowth."

As soon as Persian flashed out the front door of the station in a blur of fur, Nanu closed the door. Nanu let out a soft sigh over the thought of trekking through the rain, before he set off in the direction of the Pokémon Center through the Ula' Ula' meadow. The journey was a wet one, until Nanu reached the meadows, but then it just seemed to become a somber journey as fog settled over the surroundings.

Persian's ears pricked up now and again, letting out soft growls, but apart from that, there were no wild Pokémon that attacked.

Nanu counted that as a good thing, as he didn't want to have the tiny Meowth curled up in his jacket have to deal with that. As Nanu walked, his mind wandered, not really settling on anything. He failed to notice that there was a pair of unfriendly eyes watching him and his Pokémon as they walked along. Neither Pokémon nor trainer would know of their silent watcher, until they were on their way back from the Pokémon Center, laden with supplies bought from the mart.

-x-x-x-

Nanu had hoped for a quiet journey back to the police station that night, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. The red eyed officer became alert when Persian came to an abrupt halt and started to growl.

"What is it?" Nanu asked, the stupor he'd been in gone as the red eyed officer surveyed the area as if expecting to see another Pokémon. Nothing was there, and Nanu half turned to his Pokémon. "You imagining things or-"

Persian suddenly let out a loud and angry hiss.

Nanu didn't have time to react to his Pokemon, because he suddenly found himself shoved out of the way by his Persian. The feline Pokémon had abruptly thrown its whole body against him to get him out of the way of something that shot out from a nearby bush. Nanu hit the wet ground, almost immediately half rising because he didn't want to be caught defenseless on the ground if they were being attacked. His Pokémon never attacked him without reason, or with intention to hurt him. It was done to get him out of the way of something dangerous. And as soon as Nanu could focus on what he was seeing, he knew he'd been hit so roughly for his own protection, as he had assumed.

Still hurt like a hell anyway, and Nanu wasn't as young as he used to be, so it caused him more pain than it would have years ago.

Nanu held a hand lightly against the quivering Meowth curled up in his jacket. Peering through the rain, he caught sight again of the two Alolan Persian facing off against one another. Both Pokemon's hackles were raised as they bared their teeth and hissed and shrieked at one another, sharp claws digging up the wet ground. Nanu cursed under his breath when he saw his Persian struck with a thunderbolt attack, and then rammed roughly into some nearby rocks by the wild Persian. Nanu was concerned the wild Pokémon might go after his Pokémon further while it was stunned. After all, there were wild Pokémon that disliked trainer Pokémon, whether they were jealous of that Pokémon, or disgusted with the idea that a Pokémon would work with a human. Nanu's body tensed up when he saw the wild Persian turn its head to narrow eyes at him with a lash of its tail. Nanu realized that he should have saved some concern for himself. While wild Pokémon didn't always attack humans, it wasn't out of the question. Nanu barely had time to roll over and half flatten himself to the ground as the wild Persian leapt at him with a snarl.

Nanu automatically braced his arms on the ground to prevent himself from squashing the Meowth, having no time to try and reassure it. When Nanu felt the weight of the angry Pokémon half land on him, Nanu had a feeling that this wild Persian was likely the one that Guzma had chased off days ago. Apparently the wild Persian was hard pressed to forget about the Meowth that didn't look like the rest of its offspring. Nanu winced as clawed paws scratched his bare arms in an attempt to get to the Meowth that was quivering in fear. The claws weren't digging in as deep as they could go, but they were still causing scratches that started to bleed immediately after they'd been inflicted. Nanu grit his teeth and tried to throw the Persian off of him, but the Pokémon continued to attack with a furious shriek, a warning bite landing dangerously close to the back of Nanu's neck, ripping into fabric. The bite made Nanu briefly tense up, knowing that it had been done intentionally, to show that the wild Persian could hurt him badly if he didn't give it what it wanted.

The Persian hissed again and began to paw at Nanu's right arm, before it attempted to lift the limb up off the ground to give it access to the Meowth that was now crying out fearfully, tiny claws hooking into Nanu's red shirt.

Nanu couldn't hold back a hiss of pain when the wild Persian suddenly sank its teeth into his right forearm. Nanu fumbled with his left hand awkwardly beneath his jacket, finally spurred into action from the pain as his hand closed around metal. The Pokémon had given him another bite near the back of his neck, teeth ripping fabric of the rain jacket to expose skin. Hot breath spilled over Nanu, and had the Pokémon not held human level intelligence Nanu was certain it would have bitten down.

Instead, the wild Persian flipped him over onto his back, and Nanu took that instance to prevent further attack. Wincing, Nanu jammed the muzzle of the gun he'd retrieved into the underside of the wild Persian's throat as the Pokémon loomed over him. Nanu didn't want to think about the idea of how close the Persian's mouth was to his throat, and for a moment, wondered if the Pokémon had meant to scare him by resting its mouth over his throat. He'd seen some wild Persian fights before, years ago, and the Pokémon tended to defeat their opponents by getting their jaw latched over part of the throat. Battles quickly ended and the loser would retreat. Unfortunately for this wild Pokemon, Nanu was no Persian, and he had a bigger deterrent than teeth and claws, loathe as he was to use it.

The wild Persian stilled at the gun pressed to its fur, still growling softly, but it appeared to understand that Nanu was threatening it in some way. Especially since Nanu was careful to go for the throat, as another Persian might, in hopes that the wild Pokémon would get the intention.

"Enough." Nanu met the wild Persian's eyes and even though he was short of breath, he spoke darkly, red eyes serious. "Get out of here. I don't care that you don't like that your offspring is a different color. You're already ensured that it won't be able to survive on its own, or be a trainer's Pokémon because of the damage you did to its back." Nanu dug the muzzle of the gun in warning against fur when the Persian shifted, as if to try and move back for another attack. "Leave." Nanu was a little concerned that the Persian didn't seem to have any intention of moving, and Nanu didn't want to have to shoot it. But before the red eyed officer had to decide, an angry shout rang out from somewhere in the pouring rain.

"What the hell? Damn cat! Get the hell outta here!"

Nanu dropped the hand holding the gun down from Persian's throat as a Golisopod swept the wild Persian up into the air before the bug Pokémon sent the other Pokemon flying through the air a good several paces. Nanu half sat up with a grimace and watched as Guzma materialized out of the sheets of rain to chase after the wild Persian like he was going to fight it himself with his bare fists. Nanu couldn't help but crack a smile when Golisopod prevented its trainer from getting too far. Nanu sat up the rest of the way with a sigh, about to holster the gun when Guzma caught sight of the weapon as he wandered over.

"Since when did you have a gun, old man?"

"Isn't it a bit late at night to prowl around?" Nanu tucked the weapon out of sight and fixed his eyes on Guzma. Seeing the Team Skull boss cross his arms and look at him, Nanu ended up shrugging his shoulders in response. Nanu grimaced and pressed a hand to his right forearm where he'd been bitten, as the scratches on both arms didn't hurt as much. "I don't usually carry a gun. Alola is a peaceful enough place for the most part. I just…had a feeling I might want to have it with me tonight." Nanu was a little bit concerned that he'd felt the wrongness of the evening along with his Meowth acting oddly in the station. Had they sensed the wild Persian outside in some way? How had he felt that something wasn't quite right?

"I prefer your hands-on approach with the handcuffs better." Guzma commented warily as he watched the area where the gun vanished beneath Nanu's jacket. "A gun would have made the fight we had boring in an instant."

"I wouldn't aim a gun at you or the other Team Skull punks." Nanu frowned at Guzma, before he smiled wryly. "A Pokemon battle is more than enough." Nanu wasn't going to tell Guzma that there happened to be no bullets in the gun at present. He'd forgotten to load it before leaving the station, because he hadn't thought he would actually need the weapon.

"Why the hell do you have a gun then?" Guzma huffed indignantly.

"Got attacked years ago and had to shoot something." Nanu hedged, not really wanting to think about that one instance.

"A Pokémon?" Guzma asked skeptically.

"No. Not a Pokémon." Nanu shook his head, hand pressing tight against his forearm. The wound the wild Persian had inflicted was starting to throb.

"Fine, be a mysterious, cryptic asshole." Guzma said with a roll of his eyes.

"Dangerous criminals that hurt people and Pokémon would be a reason." Nanu offered after a brief moment of silence, as he kept his hand to his right forearm. Nanu felt a little faint and he wasn't sure if it was from the shock of being bitten or if his body was reacting badly to the bite. "Or if a wild Pokémon attacks humans and Pokémon." That didn't happen often, especially in Alola, and usually, the sight of the gun was enough to get even the angriest of Pokémon to back down. Nanu watched Guzma pat his Golisopod's nearest shoulder, and went quieter when the younger man got closer to him and crouched down, presumably to get a better look at him. And presumably saw the blood underneath Nanu's hand.

"That wild Persian bit you?" Guznma asked, scowling briefly in the direction said Pokémon had run off in.

Nanu's Persian had recovered and went over to its trainer with a pronounced limp as it pressed itself against Nanu's side with a concerned growl. Persian also appeared to have a hurt paw. Nanu didn't say anything to the fact that Guzma helped him to his feet

"Need to go to the Pokémon Center. Persian…" Nanu managed.

"And you too, geezer." Guzma added, apparently finally getting a look at the bite wound. "That looks like a nasty bite." Guzma noticed the shiny Meowth when it poked its head out of Nanu's jacket as it let out a worried meow. Guzma pet the tiny Pokemon's head briefly before looking down at Nanu, who was carefully avoiding his eyes while pretending to not be in as much pain as he was. "You and your damn Meowth, old man." Guzma teased, before he frowned. "Maybe I should have had Golisopod get another attack in."

"Pokémon Center." Nanu reminded Guzma. He felt a little unsteady on his feet and as he felt Guzma urge him into a walk, Nanu felt that that was wrong. He should have been able to walk just fine on his own. To have Guzma continually urge him along with grumbles and teasing didn't seem right. Or the fact Nanu's own Persian kept close to his other side and batted his leg gently when he stopped walking for whatever reason.

Briefly blacking out and suddenly opening his eyes to the sight of the Pokémon Center didn't seem good either. Going mostly limp against Guzma seemed even worse, though it felt better to just close his eyes and just let Guzma nudge him along. Exhaustion pulled at him, and Nanu allowed it to sweep over him, vaguely hearing the younger punk curse him out for acting like a damn Persian that decided to nap.

That would have been funny if Nanu hadn't nearly passed out.

-x-x-x-

It was a calm night at the Pokémon Center until Guzma all but dragged a nearly unconscious Nanu into the building. Guzma snarled inarticulately at the staff that was on duty that night, which didn't particularly help, but Guzma didn't want to let go of Nanu over the idea that the man would just limply fall to the ground. And his Persian didn't seem to be in much better shape despite it trying to remain upright to help Guzma keep its trainer up. While Guzma impatiently waited for the frightened employees to stop thinking he was going to attack them all, Guzma nudged Nanu again and grumbled under his breath.

"C'mon, snap outta it and say something to these guys. I think they think I did this to you." Guzma felt that it was not a good sign that Nanu didn't say anything or outwardly react to him. A minute or so passed, and then Guzma shook his head over the idea that no one was dong a thing about him bringing a pretty much unconscious cop, and a kahuna, at that, into the Pokémon Center. Guzma brushed past an employee and found a room in the back of the building where he could set Nanu down on a chair. After making sure that the older man wouldn't fall over, Guzma prowled back into the main area of the Pokémon Center, ready to drag some unfortunate person back with him to see to Nanu. "Hey, someone go help Nanu. A wild Pokémon attacked and bit him. And in case ya didn't notice, he's all out of it right now."

That appeared to galvanize some of the employees into action as they snapped back into the present. Two nurses immediately went into the back where Guzma had brought Nanu.

"Someone take care of his Persian, too." Guzma added, jabbing a finger down at the Pokémon in question that looked ready to fall over just like its trainer. Guzma glared at everyone in the vicinity as Persian went along with a nurse with a limp but purred in pleasure when its head was gently petted.

Guzma gave one final glare to those lingering in the Pokémon Center before he turned sharply and nearly ran into a nurse that had come out of the back room with a tiny Meowth wrapped in bandages.

"The Island Kahuna wanted you to watch this Meowth." The nurse said nervously, though she appeared reluctant to hand it over to the Team Skull boss until the little Meowth stated to audibly purr at the sight of Guzma.

"Yeah, I can watch it till he gets off his ass." Guzma took the Meowth in one hand, forgetting how small it was. The younger man couldn't help but smile a little at the way the little feline's body vibrated with happy purrs. Guzma began to pace back and forth, but when he noticed nervous trainers watching him, he let out an exasperated sound. Seriously, he wasn't doing anything wrong. Yet. Why couldn't they mind their own damn business?

"Tch." Guzma went to go sit down at the café since it was still open, and carefully set the Meowth down on the counter. "Tapu Cocoa. And get this Meowth something too." Guzma passed some money across the counter, and once the drinks were brought over, Guzma fell into silence as he pet the still putting baby Meowth with a few careful fingers. "Looks like you didn't get nicked at all." Guzma frowned to himself, reaching up with his other hand to ruffle his hair, sending water flying everywhere. He didn't give a damn that some people nearby didn't appreciate the action, because Guzma was thinking back on what he had seen in the rain. The sight of Nanu on the ground and being attacked like that…

Guzma didn't know what to think about the panic that had gripped him in that instant. He hadn't been expecting to see that at all. He had merely gotten the courage to go tell Nanu to not send him pictures of Meowth, even if Guzma was secretly grateful of the short note Nanu had written days ago. The older man hadn't needed to do anything for him. Hadn't had to go out of his way to send another message along after Guzma had said he didn't want to hear anything. To forget what Guzma had asked, and instead, Nanu had followed up with trying to tell Guzma to focus on the Meowth he'd saved instead of dwelling on the past…

Guzma didn't know what to do with the feeling that had washed over him when he'd read the line of writing, and didn't know what good it would have done him to confront Nanu about it. But thoughts of the conversation had fled when the person that had given just a bit of a damn about what was going on in Guzma's head was being attacked…

It made Guzma see red. That damn wild Persian was lucky he'd sent Golisopod out instead of diving and grappling the damn thing himself.

At the sound of a quiet squeak of a meow, Guzma turned from dark thoughts and did as Nanu suggested. Focused on the tiny bundle of fur he'd saved. Guzma was sure that that was the only reason why he remained in that Pokémon Center. He wasn't sure why he hadn't left yet otherwise. It wasn't like he cared what happened to Nanu now that he got him somewhere for help, right?

Guzma cast an anxious look in the direction he'd taken Nanu, before he realized what he was doing. With a scowl, Guzma turned his attention back to his Tapu Cocoa. He didn't miss the hostile and suspicious looks he was being given by other trainers in the Center. Not even when a few looked like they wanted a piece of him.

So why did he choose to stay?

Guzma took a long drink of the cocoa, hiding a faint flush that threatened to cross his features. The Team Skull boss stayed because he actually did give a shit how Nanu was doing, and that scared him, because Guzma didn't know what to do about the emotion. Normally he would have found it hilarious that Nanu got attacked by a Persian of all Pokémon, but it was anything but funny now. Guzma set his mug down, no longer thirsty but a good deal more nervous, because he didn't know what to do.

"Tch." Guzma decided to stay after all, because he decided that he had a bone to pick with Nanu. Especially when Guzma thought about the way the red eyed officer had looked when he had found him in the rain. How Nanu had seemed more resigned than anything after being pinned down by a wild Pokémon. Like he didn't give a shit what could have happened to him had he not been armed or had someone show up to help chase the wild Pokémon away.

The Team Skull boss's scowl deepened.

Damn it all to hell.

Sitting there in the Pokemon Center, stealing glances in the direction he knew that Nanu was in, made Guzma realize that he did actually care what happened to Nanu. If only because Guzma didn't want to lose a source of entertainment. Or at least, that was what Guzma told himself the reason was, as he waited impatiently for someone to tell him what the hell was going on with Nanu after being bitten.

After a few hours passed with no word on Nanu, Guzma decided to go check on the older man himself. It wasn't like any of the staff in the Pokemon Center was going to stop him, and seeing Nanu would put aside some of the anxious feelings if Guzma saw for himself that Nanu was going to be all right.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: FYI there will be a scene where Nanu drinks too much in the next chapter, and Guzma has issues with that.