This is a draft chapter in progress. It is subject to change as it is edited.
Warning: There is a Pokemon death in this chapter that is devastating for the trainer (FYI the Pokemon doesn't die right away either), and the death will continue to affect this person for the rest of the fic.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Nanu had felt his breath catch in his throat over the sight of Guzma out in the open with an Ultra Beast so near. It had been lucky that nothing bad had happened to anyone around the Kartana but it had sounded like some of Guzma's Pokémon had been badly injured.
And for once, the older cop was glad that Kukui had come along, because that meant there was someone who could and would ensure that Guzma stayed out of danger.
The sight of Guzma cursing up a storm as the Pokémon professor wrangled the punk into the mansion had been rather amusing for Nanu to watch.
But not for long, as his Pokémon called out to him and one another. The dangerous situation drew Nanu's full attention to the Ultra Beast swerving around erratically through the air.
This Kartana was far more dangerous than the first.
Dulse and his Lunala ended up further toward the gates to Po Town after a slicing attack through the ground forced them to retreat. Which left Nanu and his Pokémon to fend the UB off until Dulse and his Lunala got closer to the mansion.
Nanu could tell that his Pokémon were having a lot of trouble with this second Kartana. Which meant that Guzma had done well to avoid being harmed by the speedy beast and its sharp limbs. It is much more violent and erratic than the first one they had come across in Mawlie Garden.
Short Pokemon battles will be here:
*Krookodile digging underground to avoid an attack, putting it further away from its trainer.
*Perisan is sticking close to Nanu, loathe to leave its trainer undefended.
*Sableye and Honchkrow working together to try and knock the Kartana out of the sky, but Honchkrow gets swiped by the UB, injuring its back, but it is a superficial wound that the bird Pokémon was able to swerve midair out of the way. But it knocks Sableye off to the ground below as Honchkrow is trying to right itself as Kartana turned again toward it.
Nanu hasily recalled his Honchkrow back to its Pokéball before it got seriously wounded, while he turned his head to seek out Sableye. Nanu caught sight of the glittering gems on Sableye, and where it flashed down into one of the holes that Krookodile had dug up to avoid another attack from the furious Kartana.
Sableye peered out and sent another attack, before it hissed with bared fangs and vanished underground again. It faring poorly against the Kartana, unable to get in a solid hit against the UB that was zipping around overhead.
"Behind you!" Dulse called out in warning, his voice nearly drowned out by the pouring rain.
Nanu barely heard the muffled shout, and was slow to react to Kartana suddenly veering in midair. Nanu barely began to move when the Ultra Beast flew dangerously close and slashed through the mansion's balcony, behind the cop. Nanu narrowly avoided the falling debris, his balance thrown off.
Persian called out its own warning with a loud screech, indicating that Kartana wasn't finished its current erratic attacks.
Nanu attempted to regain his footing on the wet ground as the Kartana swung around, but was only able to orient himself the moment the UB made a direct beeline toward him. Thoughts flashed through the older cop's mind over how fast he could throw himself out of the way. A tingle ran up Nanu's spine, old aches acting up at the worst possible second.
Nanu grimaced. There was no way to get out of the way completely, no matter what he did. All Nanu could hope for was to try and avoid the worst of the Kartana's attack.
But from the angle, it didn't look so good.
Nanu let out a pained grunt as something came at him from his left in a blur of motion and slammed hard into his abdomen. The force knocked the breath out of him and threw the older cop was thrown to the ground from the momentum, but the action was obvious.
He had been forcefully moved out of danger.
Nanu rolled over from where he'd fallen, curling up briefly as he coughed and struggled for breath.
His chest and abdomen both hurt now.
Nanu grit his teeth, knowing that he shouldn't remain prone, and began to push himself up, only to freeze up, chilled to the bone, when a horrendous screech of pain split the otherwise quiet rainy night.
An awful tearing sound that wasn't anything like the sound of a building accompanied that cry.
No.
Nanu sucked in a harsh breath, resuming his attempt to get his sore body up and off of the ground.
No.
Persian.
Nanu painfully propped his battered body up in time to see both Lunala and Sogeleo launch a joint attack into the sky, Dulse throwing the Beast Ball at a stunned Kartana that slowly began to float down.
The ball hit the ground and shook several times, the light on the button blinking until it went out, and the Beast Ball went still.
The Kartana had been caught, but at a terrible price.
"Persian..." Nanu breathed, dread rising within him as he finally got to his feet. Nanu was unsteady on his feet as he staggered the short distance between him and Persian.
Persian, who had basically body slammed Nanu so hard the older cop felt he might even have bruised ribs.
But Nanu didn't care about his own body in that moment.
"Persian?" Nanu's voice was a hoarse whisper as he reached where the feline Pokémon had fallen onto its side.
Persian's breathing was labored as its chest rose and fell rapidly, as if it were in shock.
Nanu caught sight of the blood, and collapsed next to his Pokémon, heedless of that same blood that was pooling from the Pokémon's side that it was lying on. Reaching out a shaking hand, Nanu gently ran fingers over Persian's head, through the rain-soaked fur.
A low, disturbingly wet purr emitted from Persian at the petting, before it quieted, its breaths shortening as it struggled to suck in air.
Nanu's other Pokémon crowded in, Honchkrow leaving its Pokéball despite its wounded left leg, to help its trainer remain upright. The bird Pokémon seemed to sense that Nanu wasn't steady, and he wasn't.
Nanu was already grieving, because he knew that it was too late to save his Pokémon. No amount of care to the wound would put the blood Persian was fast losing back into its body. Nor were there many places in the world that carried blood banks for Pokémon, as they were usually quite healthy, and so bad of an injury wasn't natural in their world. Or at least, it wasn't natural for trainer's Pokémon.
Wild Pokémon were another matter.
But dwelling on something that didn't exist would be a waste of what little time Persian had left. If this was the last chance Nanu had to be with his Pokémon, the older cop was going to pay attention to it.
Nanu carefully maneuvered Persian's head onto his lap and resumed gently running his fingers through fur, glancing briefly at Krookodile and Sableye. The former was inspecting Persian's wounds with a careful claw, the Pokémon's toothy maw set in a grim line. Sableye was on Nanu's left, and the gem-studded Pokémon's surprise was even worse to the cop, as not much fazed Sableye, even in the past.
"The wounds...can they?" Nanu couldn't even form the question to Krookodile, but was grateful that all his Pokémon were familiar with the more dangerous aspects of his past job.
They all knew what he was attempting to ask.
Krookodile looked closely at Persian's injury again, before it gave its head a slow shake. Using a claw, the red and black colored Pokémon indicated its chest, just below the sternum, and drew a claw down the length of its side and across its entire chest on the way back up. Then, with only a little hesitation, as if remembering something from the past, Krookodile slowly made a gesture with its claws to mime organs spilling out.
Nanu felt sick.
Eviscerated.
Kartana had-
"I'm sorry." Nanu murmured, as he hugged Persian's head tightly, cheek against sodden fur. "Thank you, for saving me."
Persian nuzzled Nanu as best it could with a cheek in return, squeezing its eyes shut. The feline Pokémon opened them again, and let out a faint chuff as it gaze slid to the side.
Sableye jumped, which meant that Persian had been addressing it. The little purple gem studded Pokémon pressed close to Nanu's left knee, and let out a whisper of a growl.
The Pokémon exchanged what was presumably a few words.
By the end of it, Sableye seemed to be very surprised, and then grief stricken as it lightly patted Persian's head. Sableye then glanced up at its trainer, as if asking permission for something after speaking to Persian.
"Will it hurt to take out the gem?" Nanu asked Persian. He figured the exchange had to do with the blue gem embedded in the feline's forehead. Sableye always did covet it, much to Persian's exasperation. Especially when Sableye had first met it, and constantly tried to pull the gem out with greedy little paws.
There was no response from Persian now, as the Pokémon's eyes were closed again, as its breaths began to issue out wet and slow.
"If Persian told you it was fine, take it." Nanu said haltingly, as he closed his eyes.
There was a faint rumble from Persian before there was nothing but those terrible, wet gurgling gasps for breath.
When Nanu opened his eyes, there was an indentation, a cut, in Persian's forehead from where the gem had been, but the feline Pokémon seemed too far gone to care about the smaller, lesser pain.
Sableye was still near Nanu's knee, one little clawed paw hooked into his pants, the other paw holding the blue gem.
Funny.
Nanu would have thought Sableye would have devoured the gem by now.
The group of human and Pokémon remained huddled around Persian. All of them were coming to terms with what was happening in different ways. But all of them knew that they were about to lose not just a teammate, but what had become a family member to them, after all the time Nanu and his Pokemon spent together.
It was hard to accept.
This wasn't how it should be.
Pokemon always seemed to be there, with nothing to tear them apart from their trainers but old age, and even then, nothing as violent and distressing as...this.
But Nanu knew, from his previous work with the International Police, that Pokémon weren't immortal, and bad things happened. Nanu had seen dead Pokémon before, but it had been years since those memories, and even longer since the last incident with the Ultra Beasts.
Alola had been peaceful, more peaceful than anywhere else Nanu had ever lived before. But right now, it wasn't safe, and wouldn't be until every last Ultra Beast had been found. They were dangerous, unpredictable beings driven mad from being taken out of their home, unable to get back on their own.
Nanu should have been more careful. Should have been better prepared for something like this to possibly happen, and taken steps to try and avoid it. But no matter what planning he could have done, what could have been, did nothing to change the harsh reality that lie before his very eyes. There had been factors out of his control, and yet nothing would make it any easier for Nanu to accept that he was losing someone that had spent so much time with him. That Persian had begun life as a scrappy little Alolan Meowth that had little trust in him, and changed into the loyal Alolan Persian that had saved Nanu's life more than once in the past.
And now, at a steep cost.
Nanu should get help. Do something to try and keep Persian's skin together. Get help bringing it inside a building out of the rain and try to stitch its terrible wounds closed himself. Nanu felt he should have attempted to prevent Persian's guts from slowly spilling out onto the wet ground beneath it.
But the older cop was frozen, feeling warmth from the blood soaking against his pants in addition to the wet ground. Nanu struggled to comprehend how quickly everything had gone so wrong.
Persian shouldn't be dying.
It should be back in the station with the other Meowth, being pampered, and proudly watching MaryAnn mimic its way of walking. Persian shouldn't be lying out in the rain with its blood sluggishly leaking from its wounds, and slowing with every second that ticked by.
Nanu met his Pokémon's eyes, and saw affection there, from a partner he'd had with him in his life for so long. Grief hit hard over the acceptance that was also there, as if Persian knew there was no chance it would survive such a grievous wound.
Persian let out one final soft purr with a squeeze of its eyes in Nanu's direction, before its head lolled to the side and Persian went completely still.
Nanu bowed his head, his fingers digging into soft fur.
This couldn't be real.
It was all just a bad dream.
A nightmare.
But the moment his Pokémon started to cry, Nanu broke down as well and hugged Persian close, yet received no response from the now lifeless body.
-x-x-x-
Guzma and the others emerged from the mansion into Po Town's rainy scenery. The group found Dulse standing nearby, looking saddened instead of indifferent. He gave a shake of his head and pointed to where Nanu and his Pokémon were gathered around an eerily still Persian.
Sogeleo prevented Sun and Moon from getting too close to the sight. Both 11 year olds were clearly upset over a Pokémon being badly injured, but they had no idea that it was actually a dead Pokémon.
"Stay back." Plumeria shook her head at the former Team Skull grunts to keep them back. "One of you is going to have to go feed and keep those Meowth back at the police station company."
"Guzma." Kukui gave the other man's shoulder a shake to get his attention.
"What?" Guzma growled, moving out of range.
"I think you're going to want to stay here." Kukui said seriously. The professor's Braviary was out of its Pokéball. "I can take Golisopod and Scizor to the Pokémon Center."
Guzma was confused and a little annoyed until he caught sight of where Nanu was on the wet ground, and saw exactly what Kukui was pointing out.
Blood.
There was a lot of blood that had pooled beneath Persian. And when Guzma moved a little closer, he could hear the older cop's Pokémon crying, and the haunch of Nanu's shoulders.
"Shit." Guzma uttered under his breath, before he retrieved Golisopod and Scizor's Pokéballs, handing them reluctantly over to Kukui.
"You can go pick up your Pokémon later. I'll take them to the Pokémon Center outside of Ula' Ula' meadow." Kukui said as he took the Pokéballs. "If you can, don't let Nanu leave. I don't think he will be thinking too clearly. Losing a Pokémon...and one that's been with you for a long time...no one is ready for it."
"Those punks that have been helping make Po Town more livable cleaned your old bedroom up." Plumeria said, glancing over at Nanu. "If you're looking for somewhere to stay for the night with company, the mansion is probably the best place."
"Can you get one of the punks who won't nick the alcohol to hide all the bottles in the trunk I left the Buginimum Z in? The z-crystals can be put in the closet of that room." Guzma hesitated, and then added. "If you could have the trunk locked after that, and keep the trunk and the key in the room you used..."
"I can supervise and take care of it." Plumeria was aware of Guzma's ongoing struggle to stay away from alcohol, but did give a quick glance Nanu's way. "While that's happening, you should probably go to Nanu. Let him see that you are all right and let him know the rest of us are fine too." Plumeria turned and gathered a small group, who disappeared into the mansion.
Guzma slowly willed himself into movement toward Nanu, noting that the man hadn't moved from where he had been since the taller punk had come outside. Guzma had been thinking to have his Masquerain go get MaryAnn. But at the extent of the blood and the dead Persian, Guzma felt that it was something the little feline shouldn't see, despite how close the shiny Meowth had grown to Nanu's Persian. Guzma paused just a short distance away, but he could already tell that the Pokémon noticed him.
Sableye was gently trying to pry Nanu's hands out of Persian's fur, even though it seemed saddened to do so, its glittering eyes dull.
Nanu said nothing, but even though his fingers gripped tighter, his shoulders dropped, and after another gentle pat from Sableye, slowly let go, even if the act seemed to break the older cop. Nanu stared down at Perisan.
Guzma took it upon himself to help the Pokémon get Nanu to his feet, while the cop merely leaned into Guzma's side without question and stared wordlessly down at Persian.
Honchkrow gently used its beak to go beneath Nanu's jacket. Honchkrow let out a soft caw, its left leg tucked close to its body.
Nanu took a breath and let it out, before slowly retrieving the Ultra Ball. Nanu stared at it for a moment, then again down at the Persian. The older cop's hand shook as he held the ball out, and recalled Persian to its Pokeball for the last time.
The blood remained, and Nanu slowly stood up, as he held the Pokeball tight. Then, the cop began to sway, as if he were about to fall right back over.
"Hey." Guzma reached out and held Nanu firmly, pressing close to the cop side. "At least wait until you're near a bed or a couch before fainting on me."
"I won't." Nanu said with a shake of his head. The older cop allowed Sableye to take the Pokeball from him, lest he accidentally let the dead Pokémon out. Nanu's frame trembled when he parted with the ball, as if it was truly sinking in that his Persian was gone from his life.
"C'mon, yer not gonna go back to your place tonight. One of the punks hanging around here can go feed your Meowth." Guzma said, turning Nanu toward the mansion.
Honchkrow flanked its trainer on his right side as if concerned over Nanu collapsing.
Guzma felt like it wasn't like the older cop to not immediately protest the idea of not going to his own home. The punk took that silence as an opportunity to steer Nanu into the mansion through the open doors.
"I never thought I would see the day that that chandelier was up off the stairs." Nanu said, seeming to gain some life to him at the sight of the cleared stairs.
"Makes it easier to get to my room." Guzma said in an attempt to crack a joke.
"I thought you said you had nowhere to go." Nanu cocked his head to look up at Guzma, dark brow raised.
"Earlier...Plumeria told me that the other punks wanted the room to stay mine, if I ever wanted to spend time here." Guzma looked away as he led Nanu up the stairs, the Pokémon following them.
"You got rid of all the bottles of alcohol you said you took from the others?" Nanu asked as he looked around. "After you disbanded Team Skull?"
"No. It was still here. Figured no one would try to get to it, 'cause they respected me and all." Guzma admitted. "I told Plumeria lock it up for me. I...I didn't want to be tempted by any of it tonight. I wanna sleep off all the scrapes." Guzma snuck a look Nanu's way before looking away again. "Figured that even if you couldn't sleep, you would at least be around other people, even if you find that tiresome." Guzma kicked at the floor, hating trying to find the right words. "You could actually talk to the people, unlike the mostly one-sided conversations you might have with the Meowth and...oh, right." Guzma walked back over to the door and stuck his head out.
"Oy, Rich, go watch the damn Meowth at the station!" Guzma let Masquerain out after the eager punk. "Send my Pokémon back with that small Meowth! You'll see which one!"
Nanu attempted to get out, clearly despising the idea of human interaction, but between Guzma refusing to let him go, and Nanu's Pokémon settling in front of the door, he seemed to give in. Despite the fact that Nanu could have just recalled them to their Pokeballs.
"...if you're going to have me stay...then I ought to shower and change my clothes, I suppose." Nanu's voice wavered over the sight of blood on his pants that had soaked through.
"No going out the windows, old man." Guzma said as he led Nanu out of the room and down to a bathroom.
"I am not going to be doing anything of the sort." Nanu managed to say, sighing over how closely Guzma was sticking to him.
Guzma lingered outside the bathroom door for Nanu to come back out, and straightened up when the older man poked his head out. Guzma couldn't help but teasingly leer at the sight of the older man wearing nothing but his Darkinium Z around his neck.
A ghost of smile flickered across Nanu's lips before the weariness came back.
Guzma awkwardly held up some clothes he had snagged from a closet while waiting.
Nanu sighed at the sight of the brighter colors but took the clothing nonetheless before he retreated into the bathroom. He came out looking a little more alive, if only because he was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt with a wimpod on it that hugged his thin frame.
"Perfect." Guzma grinned. "You look good in that. No disappearin' in the dark for you wearin' bright colors like that."
Nanu glowered a little over the jab before he clearly remembered his loss, and shut down. He didn't say anything but allowed Guzma to lead him back up to the bedroom.
No one else was around, which made Guzma pretty certain that for now, Plumeria was keeping everyone away.
Nanu dubiously eyed the bed as the punk shut the door.
"Bed ain't dirty or dusty." Guzma commented as he crossed the room, tossing off his clothing haphazardly. Guzma caught sight of Nanu watching him. The tall punk took his boxer briefs off just for the hell of it, and heard a sharp intake of breath. Guzma grinned to himself as he slowly walked over to a dresser drawer and put on his boxer briefs covered in bug Pokemon, before digging around to find a pair of sweatpants and a white tank top. Guzma flopped onto his bed with a more obvious grin over the way Nanu was inspecting him.
"See something you like, old man?"
Nanu said nothing but he did issue out a not very believable disinterested grunt before the cop lowered himself onto the edge of the bed.
"I was being serious." Guzma said at the obvious reluctance. "The sheets and everything really is clean."
Nanu lie on the bed at that and stared up at the ceiling with a slow sigh.
Guzma slid across the bed and pressed his bigger body close to Nanu's side. Guzma tucked his face between neck and shoulder and wrapped an arm over Nanu's waist.
The older cop continued to be silent, even if he did seem to relax the tiniest amount.
"Nanu?" Guzma said aloud some minutes later. When nothing was said in return, Guzma tried to figure out what to say. There didn't seem to be any good way to go about this, yet despite Guzma feeling that he was shit at expressing empathy, the punk could at least understand losing a Pokémon. "Sorry about Persian."
Nanu reached an arm up and over the punk's waist to hold Guzma to him in return.
"Everyone in the mansion was far enough back that no one got hurt." Guzma added, pressing himself closer to the older man.
"That's…that's good." Nanu murmured.
"I know I shouldn't have stayed out, but I didn't want it attackin' the mansion with everyone else in it." Guzma added.
Nanu actually hooked a leg over Guzma's to pull the punk flush against him, though there was nothing sexual in the gesture. Only what appeared to be relief as Nanu sagged against Guzma.
"I'm…is it all right to say that I think…it was a good thing for Persian to decide to drag me to your place that night?" Guzma questioned hesitantly.
Nanu didn't say anything, but the way the cop remained against Guzma and Nanu's arm tightened over his waist said a lot.
"Me too." Guzma said, when the other man said nothing. "I'm glad it did."
Silence reigned for a time, before Guzma realized that Nanu had fallen asleep against him.
The punk bristled when a knock came on his door an hour later.
A sheepish Rich let Masquerian and a shiny Meowth into the room, before the former Team Skull punk ducked away at Guzma's self-conscious scowl over the way he was so closely entwined with Nanu.
MaryAnn and the rest of the Pokémon made themselves comfortable in the bedroom when the silence fell.
MaryAnn curled into a tight ball next to both Guzma and Nanu's heads, the little feline's body vibrating with a happy purr.
Guzma closed his eyes and held Nanu snug to his body.
It was going to break MaryAnn's heart to be told that it was never going to see Persian again.
Neither Guzma nor any of the other Pokémon had it in them to break the sad news to the small Meowth.
-x-x-x-
When Guzma woke up in the morning, he was alone in bed. Hell, he was all alone in the bedroom, and had no idea why until he rolled over and found a note.
*Note from Nanu of his intention to go to Melemele island, and if Guzma intended to tag along with him, to get his ass moving as soon as he saw the note. Otherwise, he could meet up with Nanu later.
Guzma got dressed hastily and left the room, wandering down the stairs and heading in the direction of the kitchen in the mansion. The punk opened up the door and grinned at the sight of Nanu surrounded by former Team Skull punks joking around as they ate pancakes at a broken table.
Nanu looked like he was suffering but was enduring it for Guzma's sake.
It made the punk want to drag the other man onto his lap.
*More of an exchange here and then have Guzma realizes that Nanu had slipped off during the breakfast clean-up.
Guzma exited the mansion, where he found Sun and Moon looking like they were about to head out. Guzma ignored the 11 year olds as he looked around, when one of them spoke to him.
"If you're looking for Kahuna Nanu, he's already gone." Sun said to Guzma.
"His Honchkrow flew off with him and that shiny Meowth not too long ago." Moon added. "Said he was going to MeleMele Island."
It is at these times that Gumza felt he should have had a flying-type Pokémon on hand, so that he could give chase.
Ans not have to continually call the ride Charizard.
"Solgaleo wants to help you." Sun turned to the legendary Pokémon. "Right?"
Solgaleo let out a chuff of agreement and fixed its glowing eyes on the punk.
"I guess that's..." Guzma was incredibly reluctant to be carted around by a legendary Pokémon but as it had saved his ass yesterday, he decided to accept the help. "Well, why the hell not. If it gets me to where I wanna go faster, then I might as well." Guzma got onto Sogeleo's back as soon as it crouched down to allow him to get up. The punk held onto the mane in front of him as Sogeleo suddenly leapt into the air.
"Don't worry about Solgaleo finding us! It knows where we're meeting up with Lillie, so it'll find us once it's done helping you!" Moon called out.
Guzma barely heard the girl, as he was more concerned with not falling off the Pokémon by rapidly through the air. Funny that Solgaleo could soar through the air without wings. Guzma held a little tighter to the more yellowish mane, wondering where Nanu was headed to on Melemele Island.
Persian had died…so did that mean the cop was going to the Haoli Cemetery?
A prickle of unease went through Guzma that had nothing to do with the thought of the cemetery.
Sogeleo reached the other island by air in no time, and as soon as its paws hit solid ground on Melemele Island and continued to run, the punk knew for certain where they were headed.
Guzma held Sogeleo's soft fur tight in his hands as the Pokémon slowed to a walk in route 2, not too far away from his childhood home. A place Guzma didn't often bother going back to if he could avoid it. Guzma slid off of Sogeleo's back, going closer to the Pokémon's head to give it a few pats.
Sogeleo let out a deep rumble that sounded like a purr.
"Cats." Guzma said with a brief smile. "Purring when ya get somethin' you like." Guzma dropped his hand to his side, and shifted from foot to foot, not sure exactly what to do in that moment. The punk had a feeling that he shouldn't enter the cemetery and intrude, no matter how much Sogeleo was trying to encourage him to do so. But something else caught Guzma's attention, and diverted it in a very bad way.
Unpleasant memories were being made that week.