Chapter 1
A Hopeless Cause
Sam sighed heavily, letting her gaze fall to the solid oak table. She had almost memorized the design of swirls, she had stared at it so many times.
The panel of people sitting around the table held their stern faces. "We are sorry. But there is no way we can keep people from expanding. Even if there are Pokemon, that is not good enough."
"But there are whole clans out there where you're planning on building!" she answered back.
"We have not found any record showing large populations."
"Of course you wouldn't. They hate you humans. Whenever someone comes even close, they go into hiding."
"I'm sorry. But the answer is no."
She looked at each one in turn and then left with a sigh.
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The sun almost blinded her as she walked through the rotating doors. People walked along the street, creating a moderate crowd. Several took second looks at her as she crossed the road.
It was funny how everyone paid her so much more attention than others.
News of her had exploded within days of her appearance in a small town off of Veridian City. Humans from everywhere had crushed her for attention. Apparently many had been waiting for the Shaiya, which was a much more special term in their culture, to return. It had been torture for nearly a moon before they let her be.
She still made news occasionally when she did something out of the ordinary. But the humans shouldn't blame her. She wasn't raised on human standards. Even moons after arriving in their cities, she still didn't completely understand their ways. Especially things like money.
Her memories faded as she sat heavily on a bench across from Standard Housing, Inc. It was her fourth attempt to convince humans with power that their expansion was harming shaiyas. It was also her fourth failure.
She let her head fall into her hands. She would probably be lucky if she convinced anyone.
"Are you alright, Miss?"
She looked up. A tall man, possibly early twenties, stood over her. He had a black T-shirt with an open blue button-down shirt over slightly torn jeans. He looked concerned.
She forced a smile. "I'm fine. Thanks."
"Alright." He put on a smile as well. "Just checking."
He looked back twice as he walked away. But her eyes were on the tall building before her and didn't notice.
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Braun clicked his radio. "She is outside. Get ready to move."
Two seconds later, "Roger."
He let go of his radio and refocused the lens on the girl three hundred yards away. Three others would be doing the same.
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She stood up and worked her way through the crowd. It was just past noon and there were not many people. Not many people to watch her.
She turned left, walked three blocks, then turned right. Ten minutes later, she was at the Grand Park. She stepped through the large iron gates, thankful to finally leave the massive metal jungle of the city. This was where she loved to be: connected to nature.
There were a few joggers along the paths. She could hear some shaiyas with their trainers a short ways off. Too many eyes were watching.
She pushed herself through a group of bushes and behind a cluster of trees. With another sigh, this one from relief, she let her body go. A quick shrug removed the loose clothing from her Eevee form. She would return for them later.
The breeze blew through her fur as she stepped out into the open. She would love to simply form a nest somewhere in here and forget about everything around her.
But she knew she couldn't do that. She did what she did in remembrance of Feuer. And she had to keep trying.
She walked among the trees, eating berries here and there. She had tried human food and had found a few tasty items, but fresh berries were still her preferred food.
A large crash stopped her and drew her attention. In the field next to her, an Onix was fighting a Gardevoir. She stopped and watched as the Onix brought his glowing tail towards its opponent, but the Gardevoir threw up a Reflect that stopped the attack. With a spin, the elegant shaiya floated around the snake until it was above and held out a hand, psychic energy flowing across the snake, causing it to shriek.
Sam didn't know what caused shaiyas to want to battle each other. It looked painful. She had never tried to fight anyone yet. She hadn't even turned into anything besides a human, even! Feuer had managed to change into many shaiyas, so why hadn't she yet?
The battle ended and each shaiya went to their respective trainers. Suddenly, the two that had looked to be fighting to the death were smiling and laughing like old friends.
Maybe simply stopping human expansion wasn't the answer. Adjusting their way of expansion to live in harmony with shaiyas would be better, perhaps.
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His vision focused through the trees. There was too much coverage. "Motion." A lens slid down inside the monocular. Everything went black, with white ripples coming out. The other trees shifted gently in the breeze, but a battle on the other side dominated the area, creating rippling pools that resembled Pokemon and trainers. Infared wouldn't work; it was too bright.
He thumbed his radio. "R2, do you have a visual?"
"Affirmative, R1. Target is under the trees observing the battle, which is quite a sight, I might add."
"Focus, R2!" he growled.
"R…right, sir. Target is moving north."
Braun mumbled under his breath. He hated working in Recon. He was a Hunter. He wanted to kill and capture, not watch and lead others to it! Plus the other men in Recon were idiots. "You read that, Pick-Up 1?"
"This is P1. We copy. Moving to the North Gate."
He picked up his monocular and descended the fire escape to the ground level. According to protocol, R4 to the east would slide north to cover and he would take up that position. They couldn't lose sight of her.
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Something was wrong. She didn't know why or what, but something in the air was off, as if the whole space was pressing in on her. Her eyes darted through the trees. There was nothing that she could see.
A flash. It came from the building just outside the park. Or had it? She couldn't see anything now. But it was far away. She turned left, heading back for the west gate.
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"Target has advanced to level 3."
Braun resettled into his previous position. This was where things got interesting. Level 3 meant the target was alerted to something, but didn't know exactly what. They would lose a good deal of their surprise, and the whole operation could go south with a minor slip.
"Target is moving west."
A slip just like this. R2 was at the west gate! "R2, get out, now!"
"I can't. Too many civilians. She should still be… Shit!"
Braun zoomed in. The Eevee leapt through a tree, running at a killing sprint.
"Level 1! Target is at Level 1 moving south! Pick-up 3, get ready!"
He smiled. Now it got fun.