Chapter 4 - On the Streets Again
Evening had arrived in Radiant City, and night would soon be on its way. The streets weren't quite as busy at this time, but there were still tons of Pokémon going about their business. The street lights, powered by Electric-type Pokémon in a power plant somewhere, could only offer so much light to the streets below.
Sparks was on the move. He was on a mission.
After Ziggy had jumped ship, so to speak, Carmen had tried to convince Sparks that he was a Pokémon that simply didn't want their help and no good would come from forcing it on him. Sparks had begrudgingly accepted that argument at first, but his mind was changed a few hours later.
The fact was that Sparks was worried about Ziggy. He had spent enough time in the company of the skittish little Buizel to know that it was quite simply not a good idea for him to be living on the streets of Radiant City. Sparks was determined to help him, one way or another. If Ziggy refused to come back to the Society, then Sparks would offer to bring the help to him. He would set up routine visits to check in on him, bring him some food from time to time, and just make sure that he was staying out of trouble.
The only problem, of course, was finding him.
Sparks was kicking himself for listening to Carmen. If he had ran out the door as soon as they had discovered Ziggy was gone, Sparks would've been much more likely to find him. Now the Buizel could be anywhere in the city or, worse, no longer in the city at all.
With nothing else to go on, he had started his search near Toby's stall. This was the general area where he had encountered Ziggy the last two times, so Sparks was hoping it was his 'home turf' or something. Toby hadn't seen him, though. Sparks had tried calling out Ziggy's name a few times, but all that had earned him was some irritated looks from passers-by.
He was presently expanding his search area, trying as hard as he could to locate the Buizel before the sun went down completely. That's when his badge started to glow.
"Sparks?" It was Carmen's voice.
The Raichu grimaced a little, but then replied. "Yeah?"
"Are you doing what I think you're doing?"
"Yes, ma'am."
There was an audible sigh from the other side of the conversation. "Sparks…"
"Sorry, but Danika gave me the day off and you approved it. This is my free time and I am using it how I choose to use it."
"I know, Sparks," Carmen replied in an even tone, "I am not going to try and stop you, but have you thought this through?"
Sparks stopped what he was doing for a moment, a hard look on his face. "Carmen," he replied, "I don't think he's been living in Radiant City very long. I think he came from somewhere else."
"…What does that have to do with-?"
"If we don't find him and give him help, he is going to die out there."
There was a poignant silence between both parties.
"…Don't do anything reckless, Sparks."
"You know me, Carmen. You know I won't."
The conversation ended as abruptly as it had started and Sparks' badge stopped glowing. He immediately resumed his search by calling out Ziggy's name again. The sun was already disappearing behind the horizon, casting long shadows across the streets. Sparks passed a few alleyways as he went, but they were all cloaked in complete darkness already. The light from his badge could only illuminate so much.
Sparks knew this was a fool's errand. He knew there was a very small chance of success, considering how big and how populated the city was. However, he also knew that this was something he just couldn't ignore. If he couldn't find Ziggy tonight, he was going to try again tomorrow.
After ten more minutes of searching, however, Sparks heard a commotion. It was coming from around the corner, down a very small side street, and it sounded like somebody yelling angrily. A sense of déjà vu overcame Sparks as he followed the voice, hoping that it didn't have anything to do with Ziggy.
When Sparks rounded the corner, he found the street completely empty aside from two Pokémon. One was a Clefable, slightly taller than he was, who was red-faced and furious. There was a simple purse hanging off of her forelimb. The other, to Sparks' dismay, was the Pokémon he had been looking for. Ziggy was cowering on the ground, curling up and trying to make himself as small as possible, while the Clefable was unleashing a rage-filled onslaught of harsh words, slaps and kicks.
Sparks immediately leapt into action when he saw the physical abuse taking place. "Hey! Stop that! Stop what you're doing!" He started to dash towards them.
The Clefable either did not hear him, or chose to ignore him, and continued shouting and swearing at the poor Buizel.
It took two seconds for Sparks to reach them and he quickly shoved himself between the two parties. "The hell do you think you're doing?!" he exclaimed, "Stop!" He reached out and grabbed both of the Clefable's forearms and gave her a forceful shove back.
Finally, the Clefable's attention was on him. "And who the hell do you think you are?!" she spat indignantly. She immediately tried to push past him to get at Ziggy.
"Stop right now and back off!" Sparks barked in an authoritative voice. He gave her another push to try and create some distance, and then adopted a defensive stance in front of Ziggy. "Leave him alone!"
At first the Clefable looked furious, but then her eyes darted down to the badge on his chest. Her eyebrows shot up and she said, "Oh, you're from the Society! Well good! Arrest this troublemaker!"
Sparks could only blink in confusion. "…Excuse me?" he asked. Not only was this not a response he expected, but RSGA's didn't even have the power to arrest anybody. They were helpful and had a bit of authority within the city, but they weren't police officers.
"This dirty freak tried to assault me!" the Clefable practically screeched, pointing a claw accusingly at Ziggy, "I was minding my own business when he stepped in front of me and tried to take a swipe at me!"
Shock and confusion etched themselves across Sparks' expression. He glanced over his shoulder at the Buizel still cowering on the ground behind him. He felt a brief flash of disappointment when he saw that Ziggy was covered in mud again, although one of his forelimbs was uncovered and the golden fur on it was plainly visible. Ziggy looked beyond petrified, though thankfully he didn't look injured. When he locked eyes with Sparks, all he could do was tremblingly shake his head.
Sparks turned back to the Clefable, who was now giving him an impatient look. "You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you," Sparks said flatly, "Even so, if he did try to take a swipe at you, that's still no reason to violently attack him with punches and kicks. As far as I'm concerned, I arrived to see a much bigger, much stronger Pokémon viciously assaulting my friend."
The Clefable's eyes practically bugged out. "Your friend?!"
"Yes, 'my friend'. Now unless you have a more specific and more believable reason for why you attacked my friend, I suggest you remove yourself from the situation before I contact the police and have you arrested for assault."
"So you're not going to do anything about that freak?!" the Clefable screeched, "He just jumped out of nowhere like a crazy Pokémon. Tried to steal my purse!"
"Not unless you calm down."
"This is ridiculous!" she spat, and then started to approach. "Get out of my way." She then tried to shove past Sparks, her paws reaching back towards Ziggy.
"Hey!" Sparks quickly deflected her and took a step back, "Back off!"
"Why are you taking his side?!"
"Back off or I call the police."
"Good!" she shouted, "I want them here, but not before I deal with him myself."
Sparks defensively waved her off before she even got close this time.
"Are you lookin' for an ass-whooping too?!" she shouted at Sparks, "'Cus I'll happily give you one! You'll see what happens when Pokémon get in my way!" The furious Clefable then flexed her forearms a bit and growled aggressively at Sparks.
"…I'm warning you," Sparks said in a tense voice. He backed up one more step and felt his paw brush against the muddy Buizel. The Clefable wasn't intimidated by him at all and was continuing to aggressively gesture towards him. Sparks wasn't sure exactly what her problem was, but she was beyond the point of reason by now. At this point, she was just looking for a fight.
Sparks tensed up as she took a step forward. Sweat ran down his forehead as he stared up at the belligerent Clefable. Things were about to get physical. There was going to be a fight, one way or another. Sparks knew that if he didn't fight back, Ziggy was going to get badly hurt. His heart started to hammer against his chest, and his breath quickened.
"Last warning."
The Clefable, unfazed, suddenly took a step forward and wound her arm back for a punch. Sparks ducked under the easily telegraphed move and then immediately pounced straight into the Clefable's stomach. He tackled her to the ground, despite her larger size. Then, before she could even react, literal sparks erupted from his cheeks and he unleashed an electrical attack on his foe.
"Nggah…!" the Clefable groaned as the powerful but harmless Thunder Wave assaulted her. Within seconds, total paralysis had taken over her body. The electrical flash died down, returning the small street to its dimly-lit state, and suddenly everything fell quiet. Sparks waited a few moments just to make sure she wouldn't get up, but she didn't move. She was so paralyzed that she couldn't even speak.
Sparks let out a huge sigh and got up off of her. He immediately tapped on his badge. A moment later, a robotic monotone voice emitted from it. "Radiant City Police Department. Good evening, RSGA."
"Good evening, officer," Sparks replied, "Encountered subject on Amethyst Avenue physically assaulting another Pokémon. Subject became belligerent and threatened to attack myself, so subject was subdued. Requesting arresting party."
"Understood. Please remain with subject. Thank you, RSGA."
The badge dimmed, and the conversation ended. The Rescue Society had always had a close connection with the police, and the two organizations often helped one another out. Each RSGA badge was equipped with a way to contact the police department directly. The Society often encountered criminals in one way or another, so this was infinitely useful to both parties.
Sparks took in a long, slow breath through his nose and calmly exhaled through his mouth. Then he remembered what he had been doing in the first place, and turned around. Ziggy was still cowering on the ground in the same spot, but was now looking at him with wide, awe-struck eyes. Sparks made his way over to the Buizel. "Hey, you all right?"
In a flash, Ziggy tackled him into a tight hug and started to cry. Sparks was briefly caught off guard by this, and then hugged the Buizel back comfortingly. He didn't even mind that Ziggy was getting mud all over him. The important thing was that he was safe.
"S-S-Sparks…!" Ziggy cried. He was trembling like a leaf, sobbing as if a dam had been broken.
"It's okay, Ziggy. It's over now. She can't hurt you anymore."
"You…Y-you came back for me…!"
"Yeah, buddy. I knew I couldn't leave you alone out here."
Ziggy sniffled and hugged him tighter. "I…I didn't do it! Please believe me, Sparks! I didn't do anything she said!"
"I believe you," Sparks said without hesitation, "Why don't you calm down and tell me what really happened?"
"I…" Ziggy whined a little. "I…I was in the alley over there. I was tryin' to hide…I saw a barrel in the alley and I thought it might've had berries or something in it, but when I reached in…it was full of water. It washed all the mud off of my forelimb… I…I-I panicked and I tried to run out so I could go back and get more mud, but she was there and I almost ran into her. I almost ran into her, Sparks. I didn't even run into her! I missed!"
Ziggy was still trembling just as much as he continued to speak. "She…She took…one look at my forelimb…and started screaming that I was attacking her…She started to hit me…I-I-I was too scared to even defend myself…I-I didn't hit her, Sparks! I didn't try to steal her purse!"
Sparks sighed and shook his head. As unfortunate as it was, Ziggy's story wasn't all that farfetched. No matter how many good Pokémon there were in the world, there will always be those who are just awful for no reason. This was just a typical case of chromaphobia. Sparks could tell just by the way Ziggy was speaking that he was telling the truth.
The Buizel then buried his muddy head into Sparks' chest fur and cried some more. "I'm sorry…! Sparks, I'm sorry!"
"Sorry for what?" Sparks replied gently.
"I'm sorry I ran away! I…I got scared! I'm sorry, Sparks! Please take me back! P-please, please let me come back! I…I…" Ziggy took in a strained breath as a powerful shiver wracked his whole body. "I don't want to live like this anymore…! I can't take it anymore! I can't do this…Please take me back…"
Sparks patted Ziggy on the back comfortingly and said, "Of course you can come back, Ziggy. Why do you think I came out here looking for you?"
Ziggy turned his head up and looked at Sparks with his muddy face. "R…Really? You really mean it?"
"That's not something I would ever lie about. You can come back. We can still give you the help you need."
Tears welled up in the Buizel's eyes, and then he started wailing anew. "Thank you… Th-thank you, Sparks…! I…I don't…" He sniffled. "You're so nice to me…You're the first Pokémon who's ever ever been this nice to me."
Sparks frowned and said, "Aw, c'mon now. That can't be true. There's a lot of Pokémon out there. I'm sure somebody must've been nice to you at some point."
But, to the Raichu's dismay, Ziggy simply shook his head. "You're the first Pokémon I've ever met in my whole life who's…been nice to me. I-I didn't know how to…I got scared. Nobody's ever really tried to h-help me before…"
"Well…" Sparks said, slightly at a loss for words, "That's…really unfortunate to hear. I'm sorry you've had to go through that, but…I am glad to hear that you want to come back. Although, I have to ask, Ziggy. Why did you run away?"
Ziggy looked up at him with big, cub-like eyes. "You…left the room," he started to explain in a shaky voice, "I was s-scared, but I waited…Then the door opened again. Someone came in. I-It was a Vulpix and a Sableye…"
Sparks nodded. The Vulpix must've been one of their members, Lupe, but there were no Sableye working at the Society. That meant that the Sableye was likely a client that Lupe was working with.
"The Vulpix…s-seemed nice, I guess…" Ziggy continued, "b-but the Sableye kept staring at me. The Vulpix said sorry for bothering me and led the Sableye into the same door you went out." Ziggy sniffled and bit his lip before saying one last thing. "Just…just before the door shut…I heard the Sableye say something. He…He said…'I didn't think freaks were allowed back here.'"
In a split second, Sparks' heart sank down to the pit of his stomach. "Oh no…"
"I got upset…a-and scared…and I was just thinking that nothing you'd said was true, and my fur colour was going to be a problem after all, a-and…"
"Ziggy," Sparks firmly interrupted, "That Sableye doesn't work for us. There's no Sableye on our team."
"H-huh…?"
"Whoever that Sableye was, he was getting help from the Society. Just like you. He's a client. I'm really sorry you had to hear that, but his views don't reflect those of the Society. I don't have a problem with you being a shiny. Nobody in the Society does. We've worked with shiny Pokémon before. I promise you, with all my heart, it's not a problem."
Ziggy blinked a few times, and then hung his head a little. "I suppose on some level…I knew that. I was just so scared at the moment…I thought nobody wanted me…Just like always. Just like every time in the past." He was starting to tear up again. "Just like always! I thought I'd let myself get fooled again!"
Sparks sighed, feeling yet another dagger in his heart. He strongly hoped that Lupe had given the Sableye a stern talking to. Client or not, hurtful words like that were not tolerated within the walls of the Society. Sparks was kicking himself for leaving Ziggy alone in that room to talk to Carmen. He had seen how much of a fragile state the Buizel had been in, but had foolishly thought it would all be okay for just a few minutes.
"I'm sorry, buddy," he said, giving the Buizel a quick hug, "I know a lot's happened, and you and I probably have a lot to talk about, but…" Sparks glanced over his shoulder, seeing the Clefable was still lying on the ground paralyzed. They were standing far enough away that she wouldn't be able to hear them. "The police are going to be here pretty soon," Sparks said to Ziggy, "and, call me crazy, but I get the feeling you don't wanna talk to the police."
He turned back to Ziggy and was greeted with a wide-eyed petrified expression. Ziggy hurriedly shook his head.
"Okay," Sparks said with a nod, "Here's what we're gonna do. I have to stick around and talk to the police about what happened. You're gonna hide somewhere nearby until I'm done. I'll just tell the police that she attacked you, but you ran away after I subdued her. Okay?" He then took a look around and soon spotted a pile of discarded cardboard boxes nearby. "Hide under one of those," Sparks said and pointed them out.
"Uhh…S-sure…" Ziggy replied with a hint of nervousness in his voice, "Sure, I can do that."
"Good. It's gonna be okay, buddy. I'm gonna make things okay, but you have to trust me."
Ziggy hung his head and nodded. "Thank you…" he whispered.
The rest of the proceedings had gone off without a hitch. The police had arrived and promptly arrested the Clefable thanks to Sparks' testimony. Due to his long tenure serving the Society, he had built up a very respectable level of trust with the police force. It turned out that this was not the Clefable's first offense. She had a documented case of anger management issues.
Once the police left with the Clefable in tow, Sparks went back over to the cardboard box and found Ziggy hiding patiently underneath it. By this time, night had fallen, and this turned out to be a benefit in disguise. Ziggy didn't mind walking to the Society building in the dark, since the low light meant fewer Pokémon could see him very well and most wouldn't pay attention to him.
Even so, Ziggy looked weary for the entire walk there. Sparks had asked him multiple times if he had any injuries from the fight, but Ziggy was adamant that he didn't. He was just bruised and exhausted. By the time they reached the Society, Ziggy looked like he was ready to pass out.
Sparks brought him into the building again and led him right into the alumni dorms. Ziggy was brought to one of the shared bathrooms, where Sparks let him take a quick shower to get the mud off. Ziggy still looked nervous and hesitant to remove the mud, but he did it anyway.
While Ziggy was showering, Sparks had contacted Carmen and she showed up outside the bathroom a few minutes later. Sparks was grateful to hear that Carmen had decided to allow Ziggy to sleep in the alumni dorms, though she had strongly insisted to Sparks that he keep an eye on the Buizel, just in case. Once Ziggy was all cleaned up, Carmen led him to his room. Ziggy was still quite nervous around the Braixen, but seemed okay since Sparks was nearby.
As his lodging had been decided last-minute, the room wasn't furnished with anything yet. Carmen had gathered a bunch of blankets and pillows to make a makeshift bed for Ziggy until they could get something better set up tomorrow. Sparks winced at the haphazard setup, but Ziggy seemed quite enamoured by it. He had walked over, examined it for a couple minutes, and then happily crawled under the blankets. He had rested his head on the pillow, looking like he was seconds away from slumber. Sparks had promised him that they would talk some more in the morning, and also informed Ziggy that his room was right next door. "Come get me if you need anything. Doesn't matter what time it is," he had said.
Now, at long last, Sparks was given a chance to relax. He was busying himself with a mop and bucket, cleaning up the muddy pawprints Ziggy had left all over the floor. Sparks didn't mind a little dirty work, though. The point was that Ziggy was now safely sheltered within their walls. Carmen was helping him out.
"Boy, oh boy…" Sparks remarked, "What a day…"
"Do you think he'll be okay in there?" Carmen asked him, "I don't want him to panic again and try to dig his way out, or something."
"I think he's too tired to panic again. He went through a lot today… Don't worry, I'll make sure to wake up before he does."
Carmen nodded. "It's a good thing you went after him, it seems. I should have known better than to doubt your gut. It's always led you right."
Sparks was silent for a moment as he focused on his work.
"Let me ask you this," Carmen then spoke up, "What do you plan to do with him?"
"I'm not 100% sure about that just yet," Sparks replied, "For now, the important thing is to give him a few good meals, make sure he's not sick, give him a place to stay that isn't a dirty alleyway. Then, I suppose, the idea is to try and convince him that the whole world isn't out to get him."
Carmen glanced away with a grim look.
"I've seen shinies get mistreated," Sparks continued, "but he is legitimately afraid to reveal to anybody that he is a shiny. He's hid himself away from society as a whole…"
"Mhm…" Carmen agreed regretfully.
"My hope is that he can make friends with the Pokémon in our guild. None of us here will care that he's a shiny. Maybe if he can make friends with some of our alumni, that will help bring him out of his shell. Then, who knows?" Sparks sighed, and then added, "I just hope a month is enough."
"It'll have to be. You know he can't stay longer than that."
"I know, I know…"
After a few more minutes of silent scrubbing and cleaning, Carmen spoke up again. "He said that he's been on the streets his whole life?"
"That's what he said." When Carmen didn't say anything else, Sparks turned to look at her. She had a troubled expression. "Why?"
"Are you sure about that?"
"What?" Sparks tilted his head. "Why not?"
"He seems…well-spoken for somebody who's been on the streets his whole life."
"Well-spoken…?" Sparks echoed, and then gave it some thought. He honestly hadn't really been paying attention to that sort of thing. "I dunno, he probably learned how to talk at some point. He didn't really give me a detailed answer about his past. He might've had parents when he was really young, or he just picked stuff up along the way."
"I suppose," Carmen replied with a nod.
"We won't know anything for sure until I talk to him again tomorrow. I might miss the morning briefing by the way. I don't want to miss him waking up and have him panic."
"That's fine. He's your assignment now, anyway."
"I hope Danika can manage without me."
"Oh, she'll be fine. She just grabbed you because you were free."
The two lapsed into silence once more, and a few minutes passed. By this point, they had almost finished cleaning up all of the mud.
"I hope we can help him…" Sparks remarked.
"I do too, Sparks. He really did look like a very frightened Pokémon."
"I hate seeing Pokémon living on the streets, but…He looked like he honestly couldn't handle it. Poor kid…"
"Tomorrow's a new day, Sparksy boy. You've been working here long enough to know that you have to take things one day at a time."
Sparks snickered. "I've been working here longer than you, and you're giving me 'sage' advice? Why aren't I guildmaster again?"
"Politics," Carmen replied in a joking tone.
"Ugh, my favourite…"
The two laughed, happy to be in each other's company while they worked together to tackle this chore. Sparks, however, knew he might have a much bigger chore once the morning arrived…
