Chapter Three: Tim
The illegal stadium was just as Tim remembered it. The people were loud, the music was louder, the place was crammed and dark and edgy. Despite being in a different location, it was almost exactly the same as before.
"I like being here as a human better than being here as a Pokémon," his Dad shouted in his ear, but it sounded like a whisper from across the room.
Tim could understand his Dad's point. With all the people shoving their way around, he was worried about getting trampled. He couldn't imagine actually being trample-sized.
Said trample-sized Pokémon scurried out from Harry's jacket and selected to perch himself on Harry's shoulder rather than the risky ground. Despite sheltering himself in Harry's jacket, Pikachu had still gotten wet from the tempest storm outside. Pikachu shook himself reproachfully and sprinkled water all over Harry's face.
"Pikachu!" Harry cried, trying to dry his face with his already-wet sleeve. "Really?"
"Pika, Pi-kachu,"the Pokémon harrumphed.
"So where are your informants?" Tim called to his Dad.
Harry spread his arms to encompass the entire crowd. "All around us! Every one of these people know something."
Tim frowned at him. "Shouldn't you be, you know, putting a stop to this? Pokémon battles are illegal in Ryme City, and you work for the police department."
Harry shrugged. "Pick your battles, Kid. The broken window theory has merit, but turning a blind eye also has its uses. Yeah, Ryme City doesn't really allow this, but by letting these people have their fun and sometimes giving them a bit of entertainment myself, they give me a load of information on actual criminals in return. I take down a lot of bad people with their help." Harry began to push his way through the crowd, shouting over his shoulder as Tim followed behind him. "If people were getting hurt by this then I wouldn't let it go on. But it's just some city-people who want to see a real battle instead of one on their TV. I'd rather be here and make sure it happens safely than let them hide it from me and it happens…un-safely," Harry ended lackluster.
Tim squeezed through the people, passing a man with tattoos of Unknown all over his body. They probably spelled something, but Tim didn't bother to read it. People were jumping and laughing with excitement everywhere in the dim light. Despite it being wet outside, inside it was hot and musty, smelling of sweat. Now that Tim was in the thick of it, it seemed even more crowded than last time.
Someone making their way past tripped over him, staggering a few steps but managing to stay up in the mess of people. Tim froze, unsure if he had just gotten in trouble with some edgy punk. But the boy, who was clearly a trainer from Sinnoh with a green hat, backpack, and overalls, just smiled and said "Sorry!" before rushing off again.
Tim stared after him for a moment, a little confused by the conflicting attitudes of this place. Some people looked like they belonged in jail, while others were like the neighbor you could borrow Moomoo Milk from. And it wasn't just that little boy; although the tone of the arena was clearly shady, many people present were young trainers, with cheerful clothing and curious, friendly demeanors. Tim shook his head and continued after his Dad.
He finally caught sight of the actual battle arena. It was chained in, fenced, clearly divided from the crowd surrounding it. He watched as a Scizor and Poliwrath fought within it, the Scizor agile and nimble, and the Poliwrath muscular and sturdy. For a moment, Tim paused as he remembered the dream he had that morning. Would he want a partner that was quick, or tough? There were other factors, too. A flying-type, for example, fought in an entirely different way than a ground-type.
Again, Tim had to pull himself from his wandering thoughts and focus on what he was doing. Firmly keeping his eyes away from the battle that was trying to hypnotize him, he followed after his father again. For years he had resentfully refused a partner, and he still struggled to warm up to the idea. But his dream kept returning to him, as he tried to imagine what kind of Pokémon he might have.
"HEY!"
Tim recognized the voice of the guy from the last time he had been here, the one with a coat but no shirt. It was impressive his voice carried over the noise. Tim turned his head and, sure enough, there he was. The Charizard was right behind him as well. At first, Tim thought the thug just liked his Pokémon with him to look intimidating, but then he noticed that the crowd gave the Charizard plenty of space, sparing his trainer from getting smothered as well. Perhaps the trainer kept it near just so he could movein this place.
Tim shuffled as the man began coming closing, uncomfortably remembering what happened three weeks ago. Pikachu-Harry had entered an embarrassing battle, Tim had stomped on the Charizard's tail, and then they had accidentally released a cloud of R into the room, making all the Pokémon go mad, only to be literally flooded out by a Gyarados. After that disaster, would this trainer want to kick them out?
The Charizard-trainer marched right towards them, and the people surrounding them quickly scuttled out of the way. Tim, no longer blocked by other people, immediately went to his Dad's side. But Harry wasn't disturbed at all. He put his hands in his pockets, leaned back easily, and gave a friendly smile to thug. On his shoulder, Pikachu looked less than friendly, allowing a few sparks to fly from his red cheeks.
"Sebastian," Harry greeted, his tone casual despite how needed to raise it to be heard. "Good to see you. Been a while."
"Yeah, last time you hurt my Charizard," Sebastian spat. Charizard snarled behind him, stretching out the familiar scar on its face. "And ripped my coat." Sebastian lifted an arm to show the tear in his beloved outerwear.
"And,"Sebastian went on, shooting a glare at Timnow, "A couple weeks ago this kid and your Pikachu showed up. They wrecked our stadium, made the Pokémon go crazy, and lost me some…valuablegoods."
"Well, I would hardly call your old stadium wrecked—"Harry began.
"You weren't there," Sebastian sniffed.
"You'd be surprised," Harry shot back. "Besides, you set up shop again pretty quick. After last time, I thought you would wait until things cooled down a little."
Sebastian grew a nasty smirk. "Do you not see it, detective?"He scoffed. "Your observation skills need work."
Tim narrowed his eyes, deliberately keeping himself from glancing side to side, looking for what he was supposed to see. What did Sebastian know that they didn't? Actually, scratch that, what did he expectthem to know, and was practically preening himself because they didn't?
"Bigger crowd than usual," Harry interrupted Tim's thoughts. "Much bigger. And a lot of the newcomers aren't from Ryme City." He paused. "I'm guessing quite a few of these people came to the city in search of Mewtwo."
Sebastian smiled and smacked his lips. "Yeah, people who are used to seeing battles all the time." One of his hands reached out and started to scratch his Charizard under the chin. "People who know how to have real fun.And after their searches for that thing come up dry, they're thirsting for some excitement."
Timhadn'tnoticed that the crowd was bigger. Mentally he scolded himself for not noticing something so obvious; he wanted to be a detective, he should do better! To be fair, though, the darkness and shadows of the warehouse made it hard to tell. The people were condensed so much they were just a tangle of bodies. He also had only been to one of these stadiums once before, so Tim didn't have much to compare it to. At least he had noticed the visitors from other regions.
"I imagine it's great for your business," Harry said nonchalantly. "Anyway, my son and I actually came to talk to you about the 'valuable goods' you had last time. We need information."
"When do you not?" Sebastian rolled his eyes.
The Loudred by the announcer suddenly boomed, blaring his voice above the crowd. "AND POLIWRATH WINS WITH A CRUSHING DYNAMIC PUNCH! SCIZOR IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" Tim glanced at the arena as the Poliwrath lifted its fists to the crowd, which screamed with delighted frenzy.
"We need to know if you have anything else on the chemical," Harry went on, ignoring Sebastian's comment, as well as the exhilaration of the crowd. "Especially if there's any more of it floating around afterwhat happened three weeks ago. If there is, you'd know about it, wouldn't you?"
Sebastian lifted his chin. "Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't." His eyes slid from Harry to Pikachu on Harry's shoulder. "You know the gig, man. The people love a good battle. Beat my Charizard, and I'll tell you all you want to know."
Tim instinctively wanted to say no after what happened last time but Harry shrugged and said "Done deal."
Sebastian gave a knowing grin before he turned around and began to head to the other side of the stadium. His Charizard cleared a path for him with growls that could be heard above the havoc.
"Please tell me your Pikachu's soul is better at fighting than you are," Tim pleaded to his Dad.
Harry looked offended. "Excuse me, sir, I fought Mewtwo and didn't do half bad."
Tim gave him a dry look.
"Okay, yes, so Mewtwo may have almost killed me, but I got in a hit or two! I count that as better than most." He pulled Pikachu off his shoulders and held him in his arms, giving Tim an intent look. "Pikachu and I are a team, Tim. We both need to do our part for this case, and his is to win the battle. When we solve our case, we'll solve it together."
"Well, you were technically togetherlast time you fought in an arena—"
"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Harry shook his head vigorously. "We got this, alright?"
"NEXT UP, WE HAVE A REMATCH WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR…CHARIZARD VS. PIKACHU!"
"Let's go, buddy," Harry said to Pikachu, hurrying to the gate of the arena. Tim reluctantly followed, miserably hoping he wouldn't have to step on the Charizard's tail again. As if stomping on its tail hadn't made him feel guilty enough, it had also burned his shoe.
Suddenly remembering what happened last time beforethe battle, Tim kept a close eye on Sebastian across the arena. But unlike before, he didn't pull out any vials or purple substances. His Charizard glared through the fences, but Sebastian simply scratched its horns and murmured in its ears.
Tim narrowed his eyes and spoke up to his Dad. "Sebastian had R last time, but he's not using any now. If there was some still out there, and he didhave it, wouldn't he give it to his Charizard for this battle?"
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Harry said thoughtfully. He joined Tim in observing Sebastian while he set Pikachu down by the gate. "Despite what Sebastian said about 'maybes,' I know he's got something. We just have to win this battle for him to answer."
Tim nervously glanced at little Pikachu and then at giant Charizard. Apparently, Pikachu hadbeaten it before. Pikachu was an electric-type, which was super-effective against Charizard's flying-type. But Charizard was much bigger, and fully evolved too. At least it wasn't powered up with crazy cells now.
"HERE'S THE VICTOR OF THE LAST BATTLE, THE CHAMPION OF THE RING, THE CHARMING THUNDERBOLT…PIKACHU!"
"You can do it, Pikachu," Harry assured his partner one last time before the little Electric Mouse leapt into the caged arena.
"Pika-pi!" Pikachu called to the audience. They cheered—some awwwwed.
"AND THE CHALLANGER, THE SECOND-PLACE CHAMPION OF THE RING…CHARIZARD!"
Sebastian opened his own gate and his Charizard swept in on leathery wings. Unlike before, when it had burst through the gate like a mad animal, it now seemed to have predatory calculation in its gaze as it paced along the edge. Pikachu bristled its fur and arched its back, cheeks sparking with little bolts.
As the challenger, Charizard had the first move. It wasted no time; the second the Loudred blared their ears, Charizard released flamethrower all across the arena. It covered the whole floor, Tim wondered how Pikachu could possibly dodge when the little yellow Pokémon sprang into the air above the flames. With no hesitation, Pikachu jumped onto the arena's fence and began running across the wall of the cage.
Pikachu was quick, and as it ran it used Spark, charging up electricity in its run. The metal fence rattled and flashed with the energy, and the audience jumped back from it to avoid getting shocked. Charizard tried to swing its head to shoot the flames at Pikachu, but Pikachu jumped off the fence and came down upon Charizard. He landed right atop Charizard's head, and almost immediately bounced off. But it was enough. The electricity of Spark was discharged onto Charizard, and the Flame Pokémon staggered and shook his head in disorientation.
The crowd hooted in excitement as Pikachu landed, twisting in the air so to always face his opponent. He had a cocky, challenging grin.
Once Charizard cleared its head, the fury in its eyes clearly showed that fire-flying-type was already enraged. It charged forward with Dragon Claw—the glittering energy extended its talons to the length of swords and it began to swipe at Pikachu. Pikachu jumped out of the way and began a series of dodges, Charizard continuing to strike at him.
As Tim watched, memories from his childhood came creeping up on him from deep in his mind. Before his Mom had died, when he had wanted so eagerly to be a Pokémon trainer, he had studied everything about Pokémon. He knew that, normally, Charizard would be faster than Pikachu. But its speed was thanks of its powerful wings and incredible flying. Indoors, in this cage arena, Charizard didn't have enough room to fly. Thus, it could only use its bulky body. Without its speedy flight, Charizard lost an important advantage.
"I'm amazed that Sebastian guy thinks Charizard is so great in a stage like this," Tim shouted over to his Dad.
Harry beamed at him. "Noticed that, did you?" He chuckled, a sound barely heard over the noise. "Charizard is an impressive Pokémon, no matter where it is. But I think Sebastian thinks winning just comes from the strongest Pokémon, not from the strategy they use." Harry gave him a conspiring wink. "Just don't tell him that. Or I might lose one of my best sources of information."
Charizard finally managed to hit Pikachu, throwing the smaller Pokémon back. But Pikachu was barely down for a moment before it jumped back up again, right as Charizard came stomping forward with Fire Fang. Pikachu quickly swung its tail around and shot Electro Ball at the charging Pokémon. Charizard tried to dodge, leaning to the side, but Electro Ball hit its huge wing.
"Wow," Tim whispered. Then he swallowed and spoke louder, so his Dad could hear him. "Pikachu's amazing!"
"We've been through a lot together," Harry called back. "And we've both grown a lot as well." He paused a moment, then added, "That's what partnership with a Pokémon is all about. There's really nothing like it."
Tim decided to ignore his Dad's probe about him getting a Pokémon partner himself, and instead wondered if Sebastian and Charizard had a special bond of friendship too, even if they weren't smart. He glanced across the arena, but found that Sebastian wasn't watching the match. Where had he gone?
"Where's coat-no-shirt?" Tim asked.
Harry's eyes snapped away from the battle to where Sebastian would be. His eyes narrowed, and he seemed to mull the question over with seriousness that Tim had rarely seen in the three weeks he had spent with his Dad.
Finally, Harry leaned closer and spoke in a regular tone directly into Tim's ear. "That's not a good sign. I want you to go around the stadium and look for him."
Tim blinked at him. "Shouldn't we stick together?" Not that Tim couldn't be alone, but he didn't even have a Pokémon. This place was swarming with people who already didn't respect the law; any one of them could be really dangerous.
"They'll be watching me," Harry said back. "But they won't keep as close an eye on you. Go—now."
Without further objection, Tim turned around and pushed his way back into the swarm of people. He felt people on each side, like he was in a group of huddling Piplup, though far less cuddly. Most of them were cheering for the battle and didn't even glance at him. Tim stayed focused, although he could clearly hear the rattle of the cage, the roar of Charizard, the spark of Pikachu's electricity, and the gasps of the audience.
It was difficult to orient himself when everything here seemed to be the same consistent chaos all around. He muddled his way around the arena, trying to keep an eye out for Sebastian while also making his way to where Sebastian had been. Why had the scoundrel left his spot, watching the battle of his Charizard? Reclaiming his reputation as a powerful trainer and champion of the ring? Making sure no one stepped on his Charizard's tail again?
Tim realized he was turned around and didn't have a clue where he was. Was he across the stadium yet? Or had he already passed it and gone full circle around the place? He turned to the arena and looked for where the DJ's stand was; at least that was a way to tell what was what.
Yet he froze when, up by the Loudred and announcer, he spotted Sebastian. The trainer was leaning over to speak in the DJ's ear. Not liking the looks of that, Tim began to make his way closer.
Tim was almost there when the DJ made a motion with his hand, and two Aipom swung down from the ceiling to sit obediently before him. As Tim watched, Sebastian not-so-discreetly took something out of his coat and handed it off to the two awaiting Pokémon. They took it in their tails, and then began to climb back up the walls.
Uh-oh. Whatever Sebastian had just handed off, he didn't want Harry and Tim to know about it. And Tim had a pretty good idea what it was.
Tim kept his eyes locked on the two Aipom as they swung their way through the ceiling's rafters, climbing above the audience's heads. He couldn't lose sight of them. Quickly he fished out his Pokedex-phone and called up his Dad, hoping beyond hope Harry would notice his own phone ringing in all this chaos.
He did. "Tim? Where are you, what'd you find?"
"Sebastian passed off something to two Aipom who are now climbing on the ceiling," Tim said. He turned his phone's volume up as loud as it would go. "He's using his Charizard as a distraction."
"What exit are the Aipom heading to?"
"Uhhh…" Tim couldn't tell where the exits werein this place—which was a horrible fire hazard. But he watched the Aipom climb down one of the poles, heading away from the crowd. "Left of the DJ."
"Got it, meet you there." He hung up.
Tim stuffed his phone back in his pocket before making his way to the exit again. He heard a chorus of 'boos'from the audience and another roar from the Charizard. He glanced back into the ring and saw the Charizard stomping about and lashing its tail, now alone in the arena. Pikachu must have hopped out to rejoin with Harry.
Tim was finally able to break free of the dense crowd, and broke into a run as soon as he could. He shoved the warehouse's door open, back outside in fresh, damp air. The storm had died down to a drizzle, and the two Aipom were right outside.
The purple Pokémon hissed in alarm when they saw him. Harry burst out behind him only a second later, Pikachu right on his heels.
Despite the way the two Aipom looked ready to tear them apart, Harry spoke to them in a soothing voice. "Hey, fellas…do you think you can hand over your poisonous stuff, please?"
The Aipom apparently did not think that, because they yapped at each other before splitting up in opposite directions and charging down the docks.
"Drat," Harry muttered as he and Tim swung their heads between the two escaping Pokémon. But then he charged off after the right one—Tim was just about to follow when Harry shouted over his shoulder, "Let's split up—you take the other one!"