Ambipom Jayden leaned against the brick wall of a short house as dusk settled in. About two months ago, he got out-priced out of his home when they started to make it nicer. In the aftermath, Matt got arrested. Jayden knew why.
His team finished getting ready to go to the police station; a group of three or four of them from the old neighborhood that knew what happened. After showing how strong he had been getting, Jayden didn't have to pay them. Their blood boiled as one with his.
A Hypno, Breloom, and Golduck left the building. Jayden pushed off of the wall as they came out of the front door.
"You got them?" Jayden asked.
"Uh huh," Breloom snorted.
Golduck and Hypno both set down heavy, hollow balls made from clear, shining metal. Jayden bent down for a moment and strapped them to his tails. There were three holes for his tails' fingers, and the flexible metal opened and clamped around the rest of his tail.
After clipping both on, Jayden wanted to test it out. He whipped the ground with his tail. Soil shot up high. He left a dent in the dirt when he lifted his tail. For the lack of effort, Jayden cracked a smile at the result.
"We never really talked about our route in," Hypno said.
"No discrete way," Jayden said. "So, I'll smash open the front door and force them to give me the card for his cell. You guys put on a show till we get back, and then we'll just wreck the guys who respond and walk away."
"This feels like a lazy plan," Hypno said, "we'll be surrounded and-"
"The amount of ants you step on at once doesn't mean it's any more effort. Barely any of them even know how to use moves, and the ones that do are amateurs. They're nobodies in uniforms."
"He's got a point, though," Golduck said, "numbers, weapons, and swarming are usually enough for them. They wouldn't expect this in a place as peaceful as Verity."
"Well, you guys can just run," Jayden said. "I'm gonna have some fun. Give em a sample of our world. Or maybe a meal on the house."
A half moon rose above a one-story brick building. As a police station, fewer windows graced its exterior. Streetlamps and lights surrounded it, granting no quarter for Jayden and his group to be sneaky. Still he had a smile on his face.
Matt didn't deserve to be in there in the first place, but they were taking their time choosing. His trial wouldn't be for two months, and it'd take longer just to prove him innocent of "pushing" one of their officers. To Jayden, it was just an excuse to hold him as long as they could behind bars.
Amipbom Jayden didn't know if he'd actually be brave enough. Imagining doing something and doing it were different, but he only had one option to find out.
He led Golduck, Hypno, and Breloom to the glass doors in front of the building. They opened automatically in response to them entering. The white tiles felt riddled with dirt.
As soon as they went inside, the guards on the sidelines, a Kirlia and Electabuzz, were already staring. Jayden's bravery exploded. He sauntered past them straight to the front counter.
A Bulbasaur looked up from paperwork in front of her on top of her desk. She was behind a wall of glass with a small slot that could be opened from her side for papers.
"Hey," Jayden said, "we're looking for a friend."
"Hey!" a voice called.
Ambipom turned his head back to a Servine guard that stepped up.
"Sup?" Jayden asked.
"Just step away from the glass, sir," Servine said.
Ambipom smiled to himself. Servine, along with the Kirlia and Electabuzz, approached them with their legs apart, ready to move.
"Hey," Jayden said.
Hypno, Golduck, and Breloom ducked while Ambipom swung one of his tails in his paws in a wide motion. After three hard impacts, he grappled the wall and pulled, shattering the glass and pulling it down. Bulbasaur screamed and shook, nailed to the floor with tears welling up in her eyes. The blaring alarm started.
"You're a grown woman," Jayden said. "Could at least try to pull it together."
A Yamper from inside tried to leapt at him. Hypno caught him by the face and threw him aside into the wall.
"Give us the cell keys," Jayden ordered.
Jayden groaned watching the Bulbasaur try to move. She wobbled and tripped over her own feet just turning around.
"The hell…?" Jayden asked. "Just point where it is. You're embarrassing yourself."
Bulbasaur pointed with a vine at a desk nearby. Jayden walked over and around it while Golduck and Breloom fought off the guards with ease.
"Hey, you ought to stay out here!" Hypno called. "I'll go get him. You buy time."
"Fine," Jayden said. After breaking open the desk's drawers with small tugs, he tossed a ring of cards to the Hypno.
Hypno ran through a door down a hallway. Jayden walked back to the Bulbasaur and bent down to look at her. She stared back with quivering eyes.
"Maybe a little experience will make you braver," Jayden said.
Jayden grabbed the Bulbasaur in his metal covered tail. He walked back over the rubble of the broken wall.
Four carriages rolled in a few minutes later. Jayden pushed himself off of the wall and walked in front of the building's front doors. They stayed open in response to him being so close.
Half a dozen pokmon filed out of the backs of the carriages. They all ran forward, and stopped. Jayden dangled Bulbasaur in his tail in front of him. Her sloppy cries for help made them all stop.
The small crowd backed up and started to bustle. Some of them went into the carriages and set up tiny plastic orange barriers in a large semicircle around the front of the building. Jayden scoffed at how pointless they were. His new weapons could punch through concrete. He started to imagine the looks on their faces when he showed it.
He waited to smile until he heard Matt's voice from behind. He flashed a smile turning back to the Infernape as soon as he came into view.
A Leafeon came up in front of the group. He stopped a short distance away with his attention torn between the Ambipom and dangling Bulbasaur.
"What do you want for the release of my daughter?" Leafeon called.
The Hypno, Golduck, Breloom, and Infernape all drew close to Jayden's back.
"Ain't that the police commissioner?" Hypno whispered.
"Matt," Jayden said, "step up a bit. I got an idea."
Infernape Matt nodded. The fire on his head flared up and bounced as he walked in front of the Ambipom. Jayden had to scream over the alarm.
"Tell your daughter why this Infernape here was in jail," Jayden said. "Loud and clear!"
"He was arrested for assault!" Leafeon called back. A hint of confusion underlaid his voice.
"We were there! You better tell her the right story!"
The Leafeon paused for a moment. Jayden slammed his other tail against the ground.
Leafeon flinched. "Okay!"
"Well!?" Jayden asked.
"My…" he glanced back. Jayden allowed him a moment to spit it out. "My wife tried to cheat on me with him."
Jayden pointed and broke down laughing at the embarrassed strain in his voice and side glances of the other officers. He let Bulbasaur down. She scrambled and ran.
"Think they'll surrender?" Breloom asked.
Jayden leaned back and whispered, "Hold on. This is the funny part."
With no hostages, the pokemon started to charge. Leafeon came in first, using Razor Leaf and sending bright green projectiles through the brisk night air. Jayden blocked them with his metal-covered tail. The leaves bounced on the ground at his feet. With his other tail, he snagged the Leafeon up from his side.
Jayden swung his other tail in a wide circle, crashing his tails together. The metal impact silenced the approaching group of pokemon with gasps and yelps. The alarm alone filled his ears. He rolled his eyes.