"The whereabouts of the Team Rocket Boss Giovanni was always unknown, but the IPA had never stopped hunting for him, even if all the arrested grunts had failed to tell anything about his future plans. Then suddenly, we were informed that they've finally discovered Giovanni's location: The Viridian Gym."

He glanced at her furtively to see her reaction. Anabel's eyes were locked fixedly on him, completely absorbed into his story; her chin rested on one palm, while the other palm held the mini poke beans for Lilac to munch away during story time.

"It was two years ago, when I was still a rookie under internship with a senior of mine."He saw the girl mouthing the words "Mr Nanu" and shook his head. "Ah, no, not Nanu… That night, I was part of the squadron of interpol to arrive at the Viridian Gym. The IPA called in the special SWAT officers equipped with riot gear. We were ordered to surround the Gym in three man teams, and were told to take caution against Giovanni, he was rumored to be a very skilled and strategic trainer."

"And then?"

"Shaun was there with me as well, he was more of a back up…but, he is skilled hacker and there was this one time where he hacked into our dorm's… ehem, sorry, that was irrelevant." He cleared his throat in amends for going off topic and in attempt to set himself back on track. "Him and his Magnemite quickly broke through the front door's electronic lock and disabled the Gym's lockdown mode. And so we entered. Another team broke through the walls with the help of their Machamp, mine used our Arcanine's Flamethrower to melt a hole into the wall. We're getting closer and closer to the centre of the Gym."

"Then? What happened after that?" The girl was biting her lips again, she does that whenever her nerves are on edge or whenever she failed to say something right. She was also clenching so tight onto her handful of mini poke beans that she was flattening them and crushing them into little cracked chunks. Lilac yelped in displeasure but her little friend was too nerve-wracked to notice it.

"No need to get tense!" He patted her clenching knuckles lightheartedly. "We rushed in only to find an empty battle room. Giovanni was never found in the Viridian Gym. A follow up investigation later revealed that Giovanni was actually the Gym Leader of the Viridian Gym. I know right? Absolutely shocking." He added after seeing the girl's hand clasped against her wide open mouth. "Apparently after handing badges to two trainers, he had simply disappeared. There were rumors about Team Rocket having been disbanded, although the truth is still shrouded in deep mist."

He shook his head a little disconcertedly and gave the final remark: "Giovanni, I could never read that guy."

"How old are you, Mr 100kr?"

"26, why do you ask?" He wasn't quite expecting a question about age.

"It's just… you look too young to be a veteran of the IPA, yet here you are already participating in all these remarkable missions. No, nothing offensive intended I swear!" Upon noticing that commenting on his age may understate Looker's lack of experience, she waved her hand around hastily trying to amend for her 'inappropriate word choice', "It's just… really impressive, Mr 100kr, I'm just trying to pay my utmost respects."

He chuckled and made a palms-down calming gesture. "Quite the compliment from you, thank you very much. But hear this…" He closed in on her, lowering his voice enigmatically, "I've been meaning to change my code name for quite a while."

"Oh really? Let's hear it." Anabel lowered her head as well, tapping a little drum rolls, a child like twinkle in her eyes. It's been a few months since she's been kept at the Headquarters and finally she's acting her age. He cleared his throat and delivered the query.

"… so what do you think about… Mr Handsome?"

"Do that and I'll kick you out of the IPA myself." Nanu's cold voice floated into the room uninvited, "Anabel, do me a favor and tell him that there's no way I'm calling him that. It's time to go."

"Come on!" Looker groaned loudly as Nanu burst his bubble. "I was thinking that I could use a more casual and less old school kind of code name! Then what… Stunner? Looker? Knockout? Oh wait I haven't tried things in other languages yet… LeBelle? Bellocchio? Pan Ciacho? There's gotta be one that works!"

Nanu had his arms crossed, feet tapping, tongue clicking loudly, the three being the universal code of 'I'm waiting'. "You want some feedback? Dipshit is the name for you. And again, it's time to go. Well see you later, but this dipshit is probably gonna come again tomorrow." Nanu nodded goodbye to Anabel and started dragging him out by the back of his collar.

"I'm not even asking you!" He grunted as he nodded goodbye to her, Anabel chuckled at the sight and waved goodbye as well. Turning his head back to Nanu, "Can you just not butt into our decision making, Anabel almost had a name in mind!"

"I think Looker suits you."

He turned back sharply and it almost sprained his neck, Anabel still waving goodbye with the same jovial beam painted on her cheeks. Then the door closed behind them.

"So she actually thinks that you're a looker?" Nanu shot him a look with squinted eyes and shook his head unbelievably. "Poor kid, the radiation got to her eyes."

"No it did not." He retorted on that with a little triumphant grin. "Stop denying the fact that I'm a looker. She chose it for me, so Looker it is."

"As long as it's not Mr Handsome I have no objections." Nanu rolled his eyes to the ceiling and strode down the hall.

Yes, Looker it is. He'll have to run down to the registration office sometime later and make the change.

It's been a few months since Anabel was brought back to the HQ and she was finally removed from the isolation room into the rehabilitation centre. For the first time after months he was finally able to visit her without a glass barrier erected in-between them.

He wasn't at leisure of course, it's still the IPA after all. Barely had enough time on his hands from all the follow up work with Nanu, not even mentioning what felt like tons of reports and meetings; but whenever he could afford to squeeze a chunk of time out of his schedule, he'd go and visit her.

Usually they'd have lunch together, or if she was getting more than enough of sleep that day, a bedside brunch. Out of all the smalltalk topics that they've gone over, she particularly enjoyed hearing stories about his past missions as a trainee, an IPA rookie up the point that he became an independent interpol. Lilac would be by their side, usually gazing wide-eyed trying her best to understand the story, but ended up dozing off on the bed curling into a ball of fluff.

But if the weather is extra fine like today— sun drenched without a cloud in the sky, breezy but only to rustle the leaves and grasses— Anabel would have the nurses' permission to take a stroll in the courtyard, under his and Kristen's supervision. And yet Kristen was never interested in smalltalk, especially other people's smalltalk, she would always be around but only within a circle of 40 m radius. And that leaves the two of them, free to engage in their smalltalk and story telling.

"Alright Miss Anabel…"

He heard her giggles. "Please just call me Ana. No Miss needed!"

"Alright Ana! What kind of story would you like to hear today?"

"Could you tell me about a story of you and your Pokemon friends?"

"My Pokemon friends it is! Let me see…" He started folding down his fingers one by one for each year that passed. "It was probably four or five years ago when I was first assigned my partner Croagy. I've had partners during training but they were only temporary, Croagy was my first real partner. Trust me when I say that he's my senpai as an interpol, he's a true legend, I don't even know where to start, but let's start by his face-off with the Heatran…"

He couldn't remember how long he kept on talking about them. How little but mighty Croagy always saved the day, how Growly was a Pokemon of his passed friend and how Pekky was added to his team upon his first arrival at Alola Region. How Growly would let him ride on his back when he was in the mood for some bolting. How Pekky had a crush on Nanu's Hochkrow… no not even a crush she was already making a move on him. How Croagy would secretly put a blanket over him if he fell asleep on the couch but wouldn't admit that it was him.

He couldn't stop. He didn't want to stop. He forgot how long he kept on telling stories until he ran out of them.

Those times were bitter sweet like concentrated Tapu Coco with 70% or more Coco than Moomoo milk. It was a mixture of pleasure and pain, a pleasurable pain, a painful pleasure, he couldn't tell. Poignancy, nostalgia, sentimentality, none of these words were able to describe the feeling completely or accurately. All he knew that he wasn't telling these stories in a sense of memorial, he was telling them like if they just happened yesterday, as if they were all… still with him.

Yet he wasn't as mentally prepared as he thought he'd be for the next question.

"Did you bring them with you? Can I please say hi to Croagy?"

No you wouldn't be able to. Croagy was being torn into halves by UB05.

"It's too bad but Croagy doesn't work with me anymore." That's what he heard himself say. "He was a much higher ranking agent than me… so they called him back after the missions."

"Aw…" The girl's lower lip protruded into an upset pout, cheeks slightly puffed. "What about Growler?"

Growly was crushed by that Heavy Slam.

"Ahh Growly, he was quite the monstrous basher, the SWAT officers really missed him to power through riots so he's back on the team again."

"Pekky? Pekky's gotta be here at least."

Pekky was the first one gone. She was swallowed whole by that gruesome pincer.

"Unfortunately she is not. She's back at the HQ as well, awaiting further instructions. My Pokemon partners were all competent agents on their own after all." He added.

"That's too bad, I was really looking forward to meeting them all! But I'm do hope that you'll get to work with them later, Mr Looker!"

If only I am death itself… Looker wanted to say.

He didn't.

"I hope so too." That's what he said instead.

Anabel smiled, the way her lips lifted upwards and the way that her dimples crinkled was genuinely sweet.

They were walking past the rehab centre's own Cheri trees and Anabel could not take her eyes away from them. In spring the branches of Cheri trees are clothed with its own white blossoms, the earth beneath was dappled with the shadows of their fluttering petals, gently conducting a spring symphony. The air was perfumed by the rich scent of it, the sweet fragrance with a tint of piquancy. Their scent becomes diffuse in the warming breeze flowing like a veiled trail, and Anabel held her head high to savor it.

"As expected from a tree that gives Cheri berries," He wrinkled his nose a little as the piquancy spiced him for a few seconds. "Have you tried them before? If you're not a big fan of spicy food I advise you not to."

"I think so…" Anabel licked her lips ever so slightly, "I don't remember liking the taste of it though."

"Ha! Me too. Gets my tongue swelling for days. Somehow Croagy was loving it, he used to munch on them for days…"

"Croagy would never to impress me. Putting the spicy berries aside…" She lifted her chin to gaze at the cloud of blossoms above their heads, "I could sit under this sweet tree for hours, or even nap a a little… Of course I won't have the nurses' permission."

Anabel was on her tiptoes as she made her utmost attempt to reach for a perfectly star shaped blossom. The mottled light cast upon the side of her face was predominantly shaped by petals and leaves, with a trickle of ray blooming in her eye. Her sun kissed eyelashes looked as if they were dipped in golden honey, so was the glowing layer of peach fuzz on her cheeks.

Everything was as fine as an almost still framed instant photograph, until Anabel's hand closed on a patch of air as she lost her balance and was on the verge of falling.

His body was on the act faster than his mind or his words will ever be, catching her between his arms before her face would kiss the ground.

"Are you alright Ana?"

"I'm, I'm alright! I think I just slipped! Sorry for that!" The girl's voice was a little flustered, she was inhaling slightly more air than usual.

"Do you think you'll need help? I'll call Kristen over right now." He was about to turn back to the building when Anabel tugged at the sleeves of his overcoat.

"Please don't tell Ms Kristen…" She begged, both of her hands were now on the wrist of his sleeves and clearly not letting go. "If she knows of it I won't be able to step outside for another week. I'm fine, it's just the rehabilitation and everything, plus the sun was just in my eye. I'm really fine, Mr Looker, please don't tell Ms Kristen or anyone!"

Aw look at her, being childlike and acting her age and all that. There was a growing grin on his face that he was probably unconscious of as he patted her hands reassuringly. "I promise that I won't tell her, but we're heading back inside now okay?"

"… Okay." Anabel nodded obeyingly, her hands letting go of his sleeve, and started dragging her feet away from the Cheri tree.

"But before we go back inside… you wanted the Cheri blossom didn't you?"

His hand reached for the branch with ease, if anything he didn't have to be on his tippy toes to reach it. He plucked out the perfectly star-shaped Cheri blossom that she was aiming for, and with both hands gently pinned it behind her ears. He took the hairpin originally holding back her bangs to secure it in place. Of course it gave rise to great aesthetic pleasure, it was like a snowy blossom sprouting out of a field of lilac.
"Ahh, it does make a great hairpin." He commented on what almost felt like his own masterpiece of art.

Yet he failed to understand why Anabel was exceptionally quiet on the way back and had a queer blush on her cheeks. It was getting hot in the afternoon, she said, he didn't quite buy that.

He knocked thrice on Nanu's door before entering. They were to attend another meeting of the UB task force, this time regarding the closure of the Wormhole and the other potentially sighted Unidentified Beasts… No, they're calling them Ultra Beasts now. It doesn't change the fact that they're still UBs. After Nanu's "come in" was heard, he stepped in and found a Meowth curled around Nanu's neck like a cat scarf.

"Oh look at you, getting yourself a new pal?"

"Meet Yasu." Nanu turned to his shoulders and petted his Meowth lovingly, everything was looking fine, except "petting" and "lovingly" doesn't fit into Nanu's character and it was giving Looker the creeps. "No, he is not a new pal of mine, I do happen to have a whole clowder of them back home. With the eldest of the clowder gone I guess I'll have to evolve another one into my partner in battle."

"You're sure fickle in your affection huh."
"Uh excuse you, this isn't anything close to abandoning the old. If anything my team wasn't completely wiped out… like a particular someone's?"

"… Ouch."

"Need a burn heal or something?" Nanu shook a can of iced lemonade infront of his eyes with a smug grin just like his Meowth, if anything Nanu was even smuglier than his Meowth.

"… You win and yes please." There was a little mischievous grin on his face as he snatched the lemonade from Nanu's hands. Before Nanu could retrieve it, he ran ahead in the hall, pulled the ring of the can open and took a big swig until half a can of lemonade was gone.

The sight of Nanu's eyebrows twitching made him crack up a little on the inside. "Since did you learn to do that… you sneaky little crook."

"IPA taught me well." He tossed the almost empty can back to Nanu, who snorted and caught it single-handedly, then within a split second tossed it into the recycling bin behind him without looking back.

"So, what feelings do you hold for that girl?"

This was a question that he wasn't expecting for, if he was still sipping on the lemonade he would've definitely choked on it.

"Ana… Anabel? Why do you ask?"

"Nothing in particular, you just seem to care for her a lot more than any of your former comrades and friends."

"… She's at most a 15 year old, clueless about herself and this world, it's only natural for me to keep an eye out for her." His voice wasn't as steady as he thought it would be. He knew that this is the right answer, this is the right thing to say and what he meant to say, but he almost sounded like Anabel from months ago when she was even hesitant to say her name out loud.

He heard Nanu snorting. "Well you could say that you've done a fabulous job. That girl has grown quite fond of you, are you aware of that?"

"… No."

"Are you really as thick as I think you are, it's all in the eyes. Or more like … the same goes for you, correct?"

"… Not true."

Nanu stopped without giving any form of a heads up, making him bump into him. Nanu turned around, the scarlet of his eyes no longer igneous like the deadly flares he had once seen, but it held no warmth at all, a cold calculating calm like a frozen glass of wine.

"Why are you so attached to her, 100kr?" He hated how Nanu's eyes were dissecting him from head to toe with the least bit of strength put in, but felt like talons clawing out every inch of his inners.

"But why do I ask, I know exactly why."

His heart almost skipped a beat. He knew exactly what Nanu was about to say. Nanu would start by bringing out Cathie's name, saying how as he could not turn back time like Palkia, the least he could do to repent for her death is to prevent the same from happening to Anabel, he's only trying to make himself feel better for his own selfish little reasons. He knew it word by word because he knew that Nanu knows it all and it is all true.

"… I am not. She's my responsibility, you said so yourself."

Nanu shrugged and turned around back to walking. "Whatever you say. Needless for me to tell you how dangerous it is to be emotionally attached to something when you're in the IPA. For you, and more so for her."

"… I understand."

His footsteps felt much heavier, making metallic clink clunks that echoed on the floor, almost like his legs were filled with lead.