What the Cat Dragged In

by Shadow Oblivion

Nanu thought his night would be uneventful until he finds his Persian outside the station, and with it, an unconscious Guzma. Nanu was wrong; his night and the following days were going to be more eventful than he bargained for. Eventual Nanu x Guzma. [Additional character tags to be added later]

9. Chapter 9

A/N: FYI, warning for implied/referenced suicide in the past in this chapter.

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

Nanu had all but forgotten about Guzma's promise to come talk to him, as the red eyed officer was well on his way to drinking himself into oblivion. A nightmare had surfaced out of the blue, the same one that Nanu had had in the Pokémon Center. The nightmare had been as vivid as before, so much so that Nanu hadn't slept for days in fear of it surfacing again for a third time. And when sleep deprivation didn't help him forget, Nanu went to the bottle despite knowing that it would do him more harm than good. But Nanu didn't want to remember so vividly the nightmare that kept him from sleeping. Even almost a decade later it was still fresh. The screams never left him. They never would. And it seemed like the voice of the Faller was going to occasionally join in with those unhappy memories.

Nanu wasn't entirely sure how long he had been drinking but he was at the point where he couldn't remember why he had begun in the first place. Good. He didn't want to know what it was he was trying to forget. Blissful ignorance was better for the time being. Nanu was too far gone to notice the sound of the station door open. He was too far gone to hear the various hisses of warning that came from the Meowth around him. But Nanu did notice when the bottle that he had been drinking from was taken out of his hand. Nanu glanced up, not really all that surprised to see Guzma standing there. What seemed out of place was the way the younger punk stared at the bottle before his eyes settled on Nanu.

"I didn't know you drank." Guzma's voice held something, a wavering of sorts, of some emotion that Nanu couldn't place at present. "Maybe you should put a curtain over the windows of the station so that people don't see a cop drinking himself into a stupor."

"If you had gone through some of what I have, you would drink too." Nanu waved vaguely toward the window behind him. "It's raining all the time out there. Why would anyone bother peeking through a window at me?" Nanu managed to not slur too many of his words together as he held out his hand. "Give that back and get your own."

Guzma's eyes seemed to darken at that, before he merely turned and headed right into the small kitchen at the back of the station. Eyes on Nanu, Guzma poured the rest of the liquid in the bottle down the drain of the sink.

"What are you doing?" Anger flashed through Nanu at the sight, a glare fixed on Guzma. "That wasn't cheap."

"What does it look like I'm doin'?" Guzma sneered at Nanu, "That's a new look on you. I didn't think you could work up the energy to be angry about anything." Guzma set the empty bottle in the sink. "And isn't that too damn bad? It looks like you wasted your money then."

Nanu wasn't sure how he got off of the couch but he sure as hell didn't miss the flinch that went through Guzma's bigger frame. Even if it was gone in an instant, Nanu hesitated, the alcohol clouding his judgment. He couldn't be entirely certain but Nanu could have sworn he had seen a hint of fear and then resignation flash across Guzma's features. Both were gone in an instant, to be replaced by the sneer once more.

"You lookin' to get a piece of your boy here?" Guzma spread his hands out, presenting a target. "Why not get a hit in? After all, I did foil your plan to prevent some people from joinin' up with Team Skull the other day." When Nanu made no move, Guzma shook his head and moved over to the pantry, opening the doors and removing two bottles of alcohol. "What the hell is a kahuna doing getting drunk for, anyway? Shouldn't you be sober in case of an emergency?" Guzma grinned and set the bottles down, hearing Nanu approach him. Half turning, Guzma reached up and caught Nanu's right wrist before Nanu could reach the bottles, and twisted the captured arm behind the older officer's back. Guzma shoved Nanu up against the nearest wall. "How drunk are you?" Guzma breathed against the side of Nanu's neck. "Gonna remember any of this?"

Nanu strained to get out of Guzma's hold but the younger man had leverage over him. Nanu attempted one last time to get away, despite the fact that his right arm was still sore from being bitten, even a week later.

Guzma didn't budge, and in fact seemed to press the older man more heavily against the wall.

Nanu rested his forehead against the wall and let out a slow, shuddering breath. In that moment, he knew that he couldn't fight with Guzma. Nanu didn't want to anyway. Besides, the punk was stronger than him right now, and because of that, Nanu didn't put up much of a struggle. Not even when Guzma pulled him away from the wall and maneuvered him toward the floor.

"Oy, cat. Hold your trainer down before he hurts himself."

Nanu grunted when his legs were kicked out from beneath him, and Guzma let go of his arm to let him fall the rest of the way to the floor. Nanu caught himself, barely, but before he could lever himself up, a large paw rested gently on his upper back, a low purr of concern emitting overhead from Persian. Nanu allowed himself to sag back against the floor, though he couldn't help but tense up briefly when he heard the telltale sound of handcuffs being picked up from somewhere in the station. Nanu felt Persian's paw rest heavier, and Nanu closed his eyes, too worn out to resist at this point. Somewhere in his disjointed mind Nanu believed that he'd done something wrong. Or almost did something wrong. And when the metal cinched around both wrists, the tension left Nanu's body entirely as he went still. Persian moved its paw away before it curled up tightly against its trainer and started to groom his gray hair.

Nanu heard Guzma moving around, followed by the telltale sound of bottles opening and then being drained. The look on Guzma's face from before suddenly began to make sense. Though Nanu wasn't entirely with it, he wondered if Guzma's father had perhaps gotten drunk in the past. Nanu didn't think he would ask because Guzma wasn't likely to answer. Scattered thoughts were bad enough at the moment, and Nanu wondered whether he had hit Guzma when reaching for the bottles or not. Nanu let himself drift off, the haze of the alcohol still too much for Nanu to sift through his own thoughts.

-x-x-x-

Nanu hadn't realized that he had dozed off. When the red eyed officer began to wake up, he noted that Persian wasn't against him anymore. Nanu was a little confused as to what had woken him up until he saw sowmthing close to his face staring at him.

It was the baby Meowth, whose eyes were wide and teary, the young Pokémon clearly concerned.

The moment Nanu had opened his eyes that expression changed from worry to relief as the small feline Pokémon pressed its cheek to Nanu's with a purr. Nanu closed his eyes as he let the small Meowth shower him with affection, as Nanu felt he would have liked to have been passed out a bit longer. He wished he hadn't woken up, actually, what with the pounding in his head, but there he was. Awake and miserable, though Nanu realized he was now on a couch instead of the floor, and after that, noted that he wasn't handcuffed anymore. Nanu let out a soft groan. His head hurt. He'd had way too much to drink.

A concerned growl emitted from Persian from somewhere nearby, and the baby Meowth began to tentatively groom Nanu's face. The tongue wasn't nearly as scratchy as Persian's, so Nanu didn't mind. It also gave him the excuse to try and piece together what had happened. It was all a jumbled mess, but Nanu soon became aware of the act that Guzma was still in the station, because the punk decided to speak up.

"You know, I almost didn't think you were so bad." Guzma said calmly from nearby. "Guess I was wrong though, huh?"

"Did you come here for that talk you mentioned before?" Nanu asked, moving a hand in order to give the baby Meowth a few scratches on the head.

The Meowth purred at the attention and wrapped its front paws around Nanu's hand. Then it gave a tiny growl and swatted a paw against the hand.

"Sorry, MaryAnn." Nanu murmured as he gave the baby Meowth a scratch under the chin. "Got carried away last night. Didn't mean to drop you off my lap."

"Who the hell is MaryAnn?" Guzma asked. "And don't avoid the question, cop."

"This Meowth. Asked if it wanted a nickname, even though none of the other Meowth want one. Probably have their own names that I can't guess, so I stuck to what humans call their species in general." Nanu stared down at the baby Meowth pressing its cheek to his hand. "I don't think this one got a chance to get a name, considering how it started its life. So I asked, and it seemed to understand. Said a few names, but it appears to like the name MaryAnn best. So that's what I'll call it."

"Is the Meowth female? They all look the same, so how can you tell? And why give it a human name? That's kinda weird, old man." Guzma moved into Nanu's range of view, and his expression became unhappy. "And stop sidetracking me with talk about all your damn cats. Why the hell were you drinking?"

"What's it to you?" Nanu asked, his attention still on the baby Meowth.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because you're a cop and a kahuna?" Guzma crossed his arms, and in that moment, looked almost…uncomfortable. "Why the fuck would you drink so much? Don't you have to set a good example or somethin' like that?"

"Have you ever seen someone start to be torn apart and bloodied right in front of you?" Nanu asked, his voice nearly a whisper, his hand still within MaryAnn's paws. "Were you unable to do a damn thing about it as that same person was dragged away to be killed or eaten, because you chose to save someone else?" Nanu's tone was devoid of any emotion. "Did you ever feel that you should have been the one to die instead? Did you ever try to kill yourself? Do you see that same person in your dreams, unable to do anything to help them? Forced to see them start to get torn apart again, and see the blood, smell it, over and over? Do you hear the voice of that person hating you for choosing to help someone else first, just because that other person happened to be closer?"

There was dead silence in the station.

Nanu kept his eyes closed even as MaryAnn let out a concerned little mewl and pressed its cheek against his. Nanu didn't normally talk about the nights following the incident from nearly a decade ago. Hell, Nanu hadn't even told Looker, who had also been witness to the gruesome sight at the same time. Nanu realized that he had never mentioned the attempted suicide to anyone either.

"Old man?"

Nanu opened his eyes reluctantly and raised his head. Guzma was closer than Nanu thought he'd be and the punk had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"What?" Nanu prompted

"You're not the only one who drinks." Guzma crossed his arms and avoided eye contact but the younger punk's body language caused Nanu to become alert. Or as alert as he could be with a hangover.

"What do you mean?" Nanu eyed Guzma carefully.

"I…I started to drink a lot when I was 18." Seeing a raised brow from Nanu, Guzma sighed in exasperation. "Yeah, yeah, I know I was under age. Can't arrest me for that now." Guzma took a breath, let it out. "I couldn't stop until I was around 20, after I almost…" Guzma abruptly stopped speaking, looking troubled, as if he wasn't sure whether to continue or not.

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Nanu may be apathetic most of the time but that didn't mean he didn't understand what Guzma was hinting at. Nanu knew that, much like himself, Guzma didn't want to admit certain things. After all, Guzma was in Team Skull and happened to be in a higher position of power within the group as their leader. Much like how Nanu was a cop, as well as a kahuna, though at the time when it all went to hell, Nanu hadn't been the latter yet.

"When things got really bad…I started making really stupid decisions. Not being able to be chosen as a trial captain year after year got me real bad. Messing up more and more once I realized I'd never be chosen…all the drinking and the bad choices started getting worse after that." Guzma muttered reluctantly, unable to meet Nanu's gaze as he spoke. "Started picking people up at random to sleep with. Drinking 'till I couldn't remember much of anything the next day. I couldn't go home. I wouldn't go home. Not with the drinking. The parties. Not after seeing other trainers become trial captains. Not after seeing Kukui decide to go off to try and become a Pokémon professor." Guzma crouched down near the couch as he ran a hand through his hair, knocking his sunglasses askew. "And there I was, the loser that couldn't do anything right."

Nanu couldn't tear his eyes away from Guzma. He hadn't realized that the younger man had had such a dark turn so early in his life. Why hadn't anyone noticed? Why hadn't anyone done something to help him? Why would Guzma avoid going home? Nanu almost reached out to touch Guzma's nearest shoulder, before he jerked his hand back, thinking that Guzma might not appreciate it at the moment. Nanu rested a hand lightly on MaryAnn's bandaged back, the little Meowth's body vibrating with pleased purrs at the attention.

"I guess after I turned 20 it just got to be too much." Guzma didn't seem to notice that Nanu seemed to want to reach out to touch him again. "I couldn't stand being here anymore. I didn't have anywhere to go after I failed to become a trial captain. Among other failures as a trainer along the way." The larger punk shrugged indifferently. "Went to the beach and tried to drown myself. Figured no one would miss me. My dad wouldn't. My mom would have, I suppose, but it wasn't like she bothered to step in when my old man came at me." Guzma stared at the floor. "Didn't think I had anyone in my life that would give a shit if I were gone. Everyone kept leaving one way or another, so I didn't see the point. The alcohol was starting to make things worse instead of better, so I thought, why not just disappear, if no one would notice? So I jumped into the water, where no one would see me."

Nanu actually couldn't imagine someone like Guzma trying to kill himself like that, and Nanu was uncomfortable over the thought of what Guzma's father did that was bad enough to drive the younger man to consider it. The implied abuse was part of it, but Nanu had a feeling there was more to it, including Guzma's reaction to Nanu himself drinking. Had Guzma's father been a drunk while Guzma had been growing up? It would make it more painful if it was true, especially since Guzma had ended up drinking away his own problems over the course of two years.

Unease settled into the pit of Nanu's stomach, remembering the way Guzma had been mumbling apologies the one night they had actually fought with one another, seemingly not aware of his surroundings at times. Had the fight back then…triggered memories of the past that still lingered with Guzma? Nanu knew certain things could trigger his own past, but he was far more violent when it happened. Nanu had been relieved the only thing that hit him over the years was the nightmares….better to deal with sleep deprivation and drinking than violence.

"Wimpod tried to drag me out of the water, but it was too small." Guzma continued on as he absently traced a finger along Golisopod's poke ball beneath his jacket. "It wasn't so small and weak when it managed to evolve. It dragged me out of the water and pinned me on the beach so that I couldn't go back into the water. Made all these angry sounding clicks at me."

Nanu understood that part well. It was similar to the furious hissing from Persian and other upset and scared sounds his other Pokémon made when they found him. How they had all converged on him and prevented him from ending it all. Even after many years, Nanu was certain his Pokémon were still wary whenever he took his gun out of storage. Nanu frowned. Come to think of it, none of the Pokémon in the station had been perturbed when he'd taken the gun out a week ago, when he'd been attacked by the wild Persian later on.

"You listenin' to me?" Guzma grumbled, "Or don't you give a shit? Maybe you think it would've been a good thing to have yer boy here dead and gone? That way, you wouldn't have to deal with me."

"Guzma…" Nanu did not like the hurt seeping into Guzma's words at all. It was almost like Guzma still thought he might be better off dead after all. Nanu's head might still be hurting, but he wasn't going to let that slide, "I'm listening. And don't say that. No one's better off dead." Nanu hesitated, and then decided that since Guzma was suddenly laying out some clearly painful memories, he may as well be perfectly clear about some of his own. "It just made me think about how my Pokémon knocked me over and kept me pinned down for hours when I…" Nanu broke off, the memory of what he'd almost done something hard to admit to, even after all these years.

"Gonna make me guess?" Guzma asked in the silence that followed. At the very least, he sounded mostly back to normal. "You try to go for a swim too, old man? Or did you maybe go bother Tapu Bulu to see if it would get off its lazy ass?"

"When you saw me with a gun last week…it was the first time in eight and a half years that none of my Pokémon were worried that I was going to try to use it on myself." Nanu said softly.

Guzma went completely silent. Whatever response the younger man thought he was going to give was gone as he stared at Nanu.

"I didn't live in this station at the time. I was working for the International Police." Nanu took a shuddering breath before continuing, "After Looker and I finished our mission, minus a person…we found someone on the beach. We took her back to headquarters with us." Nanu shook his head, "The two of us were put on forced time off after the incident, and the nightmares stared soon after that. I was alone most of the time." Nanu picked up MaryAnn and held the little Meowth close. "I didn't leave one of the bases for weeks. I hardly left my room either so I didn't usually see another person for days on end. Only my Pokémon. And when they were out of the room one night to go find food, and I was all alone in my room…it just became too much that night. I thought I could move on well enough…it wasn't the first time I'd seen someone taken off to their deaths but…it was the first time that I couldn't do anything about it."

"Shit." Guzma apparently picked up on where Nanu was going with his story.

"My Pokémon found me in my room, probably seconds away from eating a bullet." Nanu smiled bitterly. "I guess I found out that Pokémon, even if some are slow to move at times, can move really quickly when they see their trainer almost shoot themselves. I've never seen Persian move so quickly…well, it was a Meowth at the time, but the way it smacked the gun out of my hand and clawed me while crying…it made me realize that my Pokémon would at least miss me if I were gone."

"Shit." Guzma repeated softly. When Nanu lapsed into silence, Guzma tentatively continued his own story, eyes on Nanu petting the baby Meowth on his lap, "I…decided that if Golisopod wasn't going to let me go that I could at least keep going and give it battles. Got some help with the drinking…and once I got my shit together, I started to actually do pretty well with Pokémon battles. S'how I ran into the few people that still considered themselves a part of Team Skull a couple years later. They saw me in battles with my Pokémon and decided I should be their leader, 'cause I was the strongest amongst them. Group grew bigger and we moved into Po Town. Somethin' I think you remember." Guzma offered a tiny grin as he gestured at himself. "And now I'm big bad Guzma of Team Skull. I can beat people down before they can do the same to me." Guzma hunched up a little at the way Nanu stared at him. "What is it, old man?"

"What about the reports of alcohol in Po Town?" Nanu asked, though his cautious tone indicated that he was prepared for angry backlash.

"Oh, that. Some of the other punks like to drink a little now and again." Guzma gave a shrug, though he seemed troubled. "Makes them feel like they're breaking the rules. Makes them feel like they have some control." Guzma shook his head. "I do put some of the full bottles in my room, when one of those idiots gets a little too into drinking. No one's gonna try and steal from the boss." Guzma scowled at Nanu suddenly. "And before you ask, after nearly drowning myself and then kicking myself back into shape, I ain't gonna drink again." Guzma offered a tiny, yet insincere, smile. "I'd rather drink a Tapu Cocoa, but I ain't gonna deny that I'm tempted to crack open one of those bottles from time to time. It's hard not to, but I've managed with help from Golisopod and my other Pokemon."

"I'm sorry." Nanu really was. He hadn't thought about how Guzma's past could be affecting the younger man now. Just as Nanu's own past affected him. Nanu knew that he could do something for at least one of those memories. One that was still clearly affecting Guzma. Nanu gestured to the pantry in the small kitchen. "There are a few more bottles of alcohol behind the panel in the back." Nanu was relieved that Guzma didn't press him about the incident with the gun. Nanu didn't want to think about it any longer either. It had been a very dark time, those weeks after witnessing the Faller torn apart and presumably left somewhere to die. 'Or taken somewhere to be eaten.' Nanu thought with a shudder, before he shoved those particular memories to the back of his mind. Nanu didn't want to be back in that headspace ever again.

"You hide alcohol?" Guzma frowned but went over to the pantry to find the bottles where Nanu said they'd be. And when Guzma found the bottles, he glanced over his shoulder at Nanu with narrowed eyes.

"You're not the only one who tries to get rid of the bottles." Nanu said with a shrug.

"Acerola." It wasn't a question.

"She doesn't take all of them, but she does worry about me." Nanu sighed again. "She doesn't know that I sometimes drink more than I ought to at times. I don't normally drink at all unless I've had a bad nightmare where I can't sleep for days."

"You can get rid of 'em yourself." Guzma said as he put the bottles back where he found them. That accomplished, Guzma stomped over to Nanu and hauled him to his feet with one hand, the other hand picking up MaryAnn, much to the small feline Pokémon's delight.

"What are you doing?" Nanu asked dryly, before he noticed that Guzma was leading him in the direction of the bed. "I can't sleep right now, you know. The nightmares will just wake me back up. Haven't slept well in days."

"Just lie down." Guzma grumbled, waiting for Nanu to do so as soon as he let go of the older officer. The younger punk absently pet MaryAnn, the little Meowth arching up, or trying to, beneath Guzma's hand.

Nanu just shook his head wordlessly. He couldn't explain that he couldn't even close his eyes without seeing flashes of the past.

"Damn, just lie down already." Guzma said in exasperation as he set MaryAnn down on a pillow, and reached out to seize Nanu's nearest arm.

Nanu had not at all expected for Guzma to drag him closer to the bed and shove him down onto it. Nanu hit the bed with a grimace, but before he could even think to get back up, Guzma joined him on the bed. Nanu rolled over, back to Guzma as he spoke. "I told you already that I can't sleep." Nanu held still when Guzma was suddenly pressed up against his back, one leg hooking over Nanu's to hold them in place. One of the punk's arms curled over Nanu's waist to further deter thoughts of escape. Nanu went completely motionless when he felt Guzma press his face against his neck. Nanu felt that this was far more contact then either of them had had with one another, and he wasn't sure what to think of it. There was no way Nanu would be able to fall asleep like this with Guzma's limbs over him.

"Sleep." Guzma demanded against skin.

"Can't like this." Nanu murmured in reply a moment later, as MaryAnn lie down next to his head and curled up as best it could.

"Too damn bad." Guzma grumbled against Nanu's neck, the younger punk's arm tightening around Nanu's waist. "Do it anyway. Your cat looks ready to sleep."

Nanu gave in once he realized that he couldn't get out of Guzma's tight hold. Nanu closed his eyes, wary of why Guzma was using him as a living, breathing pillow when he had been upset with him before. Much to Nanu's surprise, when he finally fell asleep, there were no nightmares to wake him up.

Yet there were no answers as to why Guzma had chosen to stay in the police station instead of leaving Nanu to his misery.

-x-x-x-

When Nanu woke the following morning and found Guzma fast asleep behind him, Nanu wondered if he gave the Team Skull leader something to do. Or rather, gave him someone to focus on instead of past failures, and for Guzma to prove that he wasn't going to let anyone push him around. For Nanu, he supposed it was the distraction of dealing with Team Skull, and their leader, that gave him something in return. It was far better to be dealing with the punks, as it helped Nanu distance himself from the past.

Nanu let out a self-deprecating laugh even as he rolled over carefully and reached up to hesitantly ruffle Guzma's hair, trying not to wake the younger man up. MaryAnn seemed to find this great fun, as the Meowth gently started to kneed small paws into the hair alongside Nanu's hand, the small Pokémon smiling up at Nanu. The red eyed officer couldn't help but faintly smile in return, even as his thoughts drifted to the snoozing punk beside him. Both of them were broken in different ways but Nanu couldn't deny that he felt a little better lately when Guzma came to pester him at the police station. Nanu wondered if the feeling was mutual, despite the big fight he and Guzma had had weeks ago. Nanu dozed back off, but when he came to some hours later, he found himself alone, along with a note on the pillow next to him that had been hastily scrawled on.

I'll be back, old man. Don't go getting bitten again.

Nanu couldn't help but smile at the note. He wouldn't be surprised now if Guzma did randomly show up in the station as he had been doing lately. Not after Nanu had done nothing to deter him. Nanu held MaryAnn a little too tightly, and the baby Meowth let out a mewl of alarm when its nearly healed over wounds on its back were disturbed. Nanu immediately loosened his hold, and brought MaryAnn to his chest and cradled the Pokémon carefully.

"Sorry MaryAnn. I was thinking too deeply." Nanu apologized to the Meowth.

Persian came up to Nanu then, its round head tilting to the side as it looked at MaryAnn and then Nanu before it let out an inquiring meow.

Nanu sank to the floor from the bed and let his head press back against the frame of the mattress. He ran a shaking hand along Persian's head. Memories washed over him, and now that he was sober again, Nanu was sorely tempted to start drinking again. But when Persian pressed against him and started to groom him with a worried growl, Nanu just sagged further against it and the bed behind him as he closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. Nanu couldn't help but recall a carefree smile, still so clear after so many years had gone by.

Hey, do you think we're close to finding that creature? What do you think it'll be like? Maybe it won't be as bad as the reports say.

It isn't a Pokémon so that's doubtful.

Don't be so glum, Nanu. If you expect it to be bad, then it will be.

Please try to remember to proceed with caution. We don't really know very well what we are up against.

Not you too, Looker. Both of you should try to be a bit more positive. Don't just jump to conclusions. I'm sure everything will work out just fine!

Nanu was silent for a several minutes, lost in somewhat happier memories but when he spoke aloud, his voice was a choked up, broken whisper.

"I'm so sorry, MaryAnn."

The young Meowth let out a purr of curiosity as Persian increased its efforts to groom its trainer. Both Pokémon knew that something was wrong, but only Persian really understood what was going on in its trainer's mind. While MaryAnn didn't understand entirely, and tried to join in on the grooming, Persian knew that Nanu hadn't been directing his second apology to the baby Meowth. Nanu had been saying it to someone from his past.

-x-x-x-

As the weeks passed by, Guzma didn't show up to the station as often. Nanu could only think that it had to do with the fact that Team Skull seemed to be getting up to something, and Guzma didn't want to accidently spill the beans to Nanu. After all, the red eyed man was the kahuna, and a cop, as Guzma liked to remind him. Both of those positions would have spelled trouble for Guzma and his team should Nanu choose to actually do something about the lot of them.

Nanu tried to tell himself that he didn't care that Guzma wasn't showing up as often at the station after their latest encounter. That the silence was something he much preferred. But as the weeks turned into months, Nanu attempted to convince himself that it was probably for the best that the younger punk wasn't around as much. Perhaps Guzma had found someone else to put his attentions on, and that Nanu should perhaps feel grateful for that. Only, he didn't, because Nanu found himself realizing that he actually did miss Guzma being around, and Nanu thought he should think about why. And keep that tiny part of himself that actually cared from caring too much about Guzma's sudden absence.

It wasn't like it had actually meant anything. Nor did the few times Guzma had chosen to stop by the station to snatch a sudden kiss. That didn't really mean anything, did it?

-x-x-x-

A year and a half passed by quickly, and a single letter delivered by a Croagunk derailed all of Nanu's passing thoughts about Guzma and what the younger punk had been up to. Suddenly, Team Skull and their shenanigans, along with those of Lusamine, the president of the Aether Foundation, were briefly sent to the back of his mind. Nanu couldn't prevent his hand from shaking a little as he stared at the letter. It contained a short message, coded, but Nanu could read it all the same.

I need to speak with you, 000, despite no longer being a part of the International Police. The creature we tracked down ten years ago, there are now reports of more varieties of the beasts, due to Lusamine opening up the Ultra Wormhole. You may have heard from some former contacts, but we now call these creatures Ultra Beasts, otherwise known as UBs. Please meet me at the motel on route 8. I need your opinion on how best to proceed without causing alarm amongst the population of Alola.

-Looker

P.S. Don't go looking for the UBs on your own. I know you, 000, so please come speak to me first.

Nanu's surroundings seemed to close in on him, and the red eyed cop found himself sinking to the floor, staring numbly at the piece of paper clutched in his hand. The Meowth in the station crowded in on him, letting out various sounds of alarm, but Nanu didn't hear them. All Nanu could do was stare at the letter, horror mounting each time he read through the note. But as soon as the information registered and the implications sank in, Nanu was struck with dread.

No.

Not again.

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

A/N: I decided to have Nanu nickname the shiny Meowth in this fic for a reason (I used the name I gave the shiny Meowth in my Pokémon Sun game, in case anyone was wondering where the name came from-I picked it at random). I had Nanu choose the name because I made the decision that I wanted the original Faller to have an actual name, so when Nanu (or Looker) talk/think about her in future chapters, she actually has a name instead of just 'the Faller' (I'm pretty sure she remained unnamed).