Chapter 17 – Tooth and Scale

For the first time that she could remember since leaving the lab, Thorn was unhappy. And not the "Trainer won't call me by this name" unhappy; genuine "this sucks" unhappy. Sure, she had her fair share of unpleasant experiences so far, naming issues aside. Losing to that steelix, for example. But even that had been temporary. She trained, got stronger, and tried again. After all, she was, in a sense, the momma of the team; the oldest. Perhaps not in age, but she had been there since the beginning. That meant she had to set an example for the others.

Tonight, though… tonight was different. Tonight, she didn't want to be the responsible one. Tonight, she was cold, tired, and grumpy, and she wanted it to end. More than that, she wanted to sleep. But she knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Walking was slow with her trainer's mate on her back due to the injury on her foot, though still faster than if she had been trying to walk herself. But the human was heavy and Thorn wasn't used to carrying things – she was used to being carried. Those days were probably over, too, she realized, and her mood soured further. Her exhaustion from the lack of sleep and the earlier battle with the psychic wasn't making things any easier.

Still, Thorn wasn't about to make the female human walk all the way to – what did Trainer call their destination? Clairval? – well, to wherever they were going, with her foot in pain. She was upset too. Probably more so than Thorn herself. She had lost a part of her family. Sure, Thorn felt responsible for looking after both teams, but Ariel was a member of Kimiko's family first – it was clear to her that although they traveled as one unit, they were really two families traveling together. In the lab where she was born, that's what she was taught that trainers were. Still, she preferred to think of them all as one big family.

And she had failed them all.

The cloaked human and his family escaped with Ariel, and Thorn could do nothing to stop them. She wanted to make things right again, but she had no idea how. After the battle, she had tried to comfort the female human the way her trainer did, but the girl didn't seem to even notice. Maybe she was doing it wrong? Human actions were so often too confusing for Thorn to comprehend.

She noticed her trainer seemed more distraught as well, though mostly he was concerned with calming his mate. That was logical, at least in Thorn's opinion, but in the long run it would do nothing to solve the problem. The best way to do that was to get Ariel back. Until that happened, Thorn knew there was little she could do to cheer up either human.

And then there was that sableye, that murderous ghost. Thorn didn't understand why her trainer kept him around. All he did was cause trouble. Still, Trainer kept him around, so Thorn did her best to play nice for the sake of keeping what little peace she could. But he was slowly returning to his mischievous ways – and he'd still not given a proper answer about the red-haired human's possession in the forest. Thorn was surprised to hear her trainer comment on it, even back then; she noticed it herself, of course, but she wasn't aware that the male human had picked up on it also. Not that Diamond ever was what she would call cooperative, but he was getting worse. She would have to deal with him soon by herself if Trainer didn't, or he might end up getting them all kidnapped.

Right now, though, Ariel was the bigger priority. Thorn wanted her family back together and happy once more. And if, for the moment, that meant walking for hours in the dead of night, exhausted and defeated, while carrying a heavy passenger, so be it. She'd get through it the way she always did; enduring through it as best she could and hoping things would be better off tomorrow.

Still, that didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

Biff jerked awake with a grunt, his feet slipping off their place on the table. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve while blinking rapidly, trying to adjust his vision to the faint light. He was vaguely aware of a voice in the distance, the words incoherent, but until he was ready to snap at the owner properly, he was content to ignore it and focus on reorienting himself after his rude awakening.

And then he realized what a voice in his cottage meant.

"How the fuck did you get in here?" he bellowed suddenly, leaping to his feet, chair falling over in the process, and whipping out a gun from a pocket inside his black cloak, pointing it around the room until he found the intruder.

His elgyem didn't even flinch.

"Oh, it's you," Biff groaned, letting out a sigh of relief. He lowered the gun and stowed it away again. He cast a quick glance at the window. It must be early, the sun still struggling to climb into the violet sky and chase off the lingering stars. "The hell did you wake me up for?"

I have located a seller for the item you requested, Alf repeated with a mental sigh – an odd sensation, Biff thought. Maybe that's what Alf had been saying earlier; when Biff was too busy dreaming to notice.

Biff righted his folding chair and relaxed back into it, kicking his feet back up onto the table with a grunt. "What's he want?" he replied.

He is demanding a similar object, the psychic replied, still hovering in the exact spot he had teleported into the room at. In exchange for a deep sea tooth, he requests something called a prism scale. Biff snorted and choked, nearly tipping his chair over once again, and fell into a coughing fit. However, I have also discovered something you may find more appealing, the elgyem added hastily before his trainer could start spouting any discernable profanities.

Still hacking up a lung, Biff simply held out an open palm to show he was listening.

I have overheard one of them mentioning an offer for a gorebyss. If my understanding of your currency is accurate, his price is three times what you would be paid for the huntail.

"What?" Biff choked out in between gags, eyes bulging. Still coughing, he scrambled to his feet. He stomped over to the elgyem and grabbed the pokémon's arms harshly. "Well take me there!" he demanded, finally sucking enough air into his lungs to breathe. "We need to hurry up and make that deal before someone else –!"

I have already had your acquaintance accept it in anticipation of your wishes, Alf replied calmly. They will be expecting you tonight at a diner in Xioria at nine o'clock to make the exchange. I have also already taken the liberty of seeking it out. I can teleport you directly to it.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Biff shouted, shaking his elgyem in rage. "I can't just teleport directly into the joint! Do you have any idea how suspicious that would look? And, fuck – never mind that, now we need to find a scale instead of a tooth, AND evolve the damn thing today! Why the fuck do you do things like this without coming to me?"

Unperturbed by the sudden violence, Alf said, I have arranged for the scale to be delivered to you at your usual source. They are also expecting you and currently waiting for you to retrieve it, as it should arrive before we do.

Ignoring the question of where his pokémon managed to find the new item he required, he said, "I still need to evolve the fucking clamperl today! That means I need to get into the city and do it somehow before nine. And I also still can't just teleport directly to the diner! Get back out there and pick a spot nearby."

Alf sighed. Not that he wasn't used to his master's lack of praise for going above and beyond (or even just for doing what he was expected to), but it was still tiresome. There was never a reward for doing a good job – only a punishment for a job done wrong. Still, Alf owed the man his life, so who was he to complain? There was nothing to do except what he was told.

And so Alf teleported back to the diner. It wasn't even open for the day yet. They had plenty of time to make it into the city and perform the trade, and probably still with plenty of time to sleep beforehand – such was the benefit of teleportation. But if his master wanted to worry, let him worry. Alf was willing to do what he was told, but that didn't mean he had to try to cheer the man up, either.

The breeze was cool in the early morning. The sun was winning its battle to get higher into the sky, but it was still too early for most businesses to be open. Alf glanced around, shielding his eyes from the wind, trying to pick out a less conspicuous spot to bring his master to that evening. He wondered vaguely how the breeze managed to get through the invisible dome that surrounded the city – a precaution that the local psychic master gym leader had taken to protect Xioria from unwanted outsiders; these included anything ranging from poachers to particularly bad weather. Most recently it had been modified to better repel the wayward ghosts of the Whispering Forest. Being a psychic himself, Alf had no problems teleporting or even physically passing through the barrier. Though again, Alf wondered how a psychic barrier was able to ward off ghosts, who normally had a n elemental advantage over psychics.

Focus, the little pokémon chided himself. Such things were not his concern, not relevant to his task. The longer this takes, the angrier Master will become.

It only took a minute to pick out an alley that Alf reasoned would be vacant later in the evening, but safe enough for Biff to walk out from as though he belonged there. Confining the location to memory, Alf teleported back to the hideout. (How the ghosts hadn't found them there yet, Alf also had no idea. Perhaps they had but were afraid of Lucifer?)

I have found a suitable alley, he said telepathically as soon as he arrived in the familiar, small room. Biff, startled, again went to pull his gun from his cloak.

"Stop fucking doing that!" he yelled as he spotted his elgyem and stowed his gun away once again.

Alf wanted to ask how he was supposed to know his master was sleeping when he arrived, or how to wake him without startling him, but he knew Biff would just blame his telepathy. 'You should just know,' he would say. He really didn't understand the way psychic abilities worked at all, and probably never would. Alf had long since accepted that. He simply repeated his previous statement, instead.

"Good," Biff answered. He stood up, stretched for a moment, and then walked towards a cabinet. He opened it and retrieved a large bucket filled with melting ice. Their little cottage in the woods didn't have electricity, nor did it have anywhere cold to store food. They had to steal more ice if they needed some, but thankfully they didn't often need to save anything. Biff pulled something out of the ice and set it on a plate, which he then brought to the table.

Alf floated over, curious. It appeared to be a dead sentret. "Get Lucifer to cook it if you want," Biff said. "He might just do it out of spite for the damn thing."

Curiousness about that statement aside, Alf wondered where his master got the ice from without his assistance. Regardless, for the moment he was simply grateful to be allowed to eat despite the botched robbery the previous night – that is, until he examined the meal. The sentret was bloodied but still in one piece, which meant Lucifer still wasn't being allowed a meal either. At least Alf had earned a little redemption, and he wasn't about to spoil that… probably. Still, without cooking it… it was bad enough eating another pokémon, but eating them raw…

Master, may I pose a question? Alf asked, sniffing at the food in front of him. Biff was distracted by a half of a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter.

"It came from a trainer," he said. "I didn't even kill this one, either. Must'a been the ghosts. Lucifer and I just raided the body."

Alf frowned. The sentret probably belonged to the trainer, then. He wondered if the ghosts killed it too, after the human, or if Lucifer did that after they found the body. That is not… What I meant to ask was, why buy this scale at all? Why not simply steal it?

"Firstly," Biff growled through a mouthful of bread, "I've been doing business with this man for years, long before I got you. I don't know how he does it, but he gets his hands on all kinds of rare and valuable items without getting his hands dirty. I don't know how he does it. Surprised he hasn't joined Team Rocket or something, they could really use a man like him. I guess it might make him easier to track. I don't know. Anyway, he's a great connection and I want to keep it that way. I really don't know how he does it."

Alf refrained from pointing out Biff's repetition.

"Secondly, do you have any idea how to evolve a clamperl?" he asked.

Alf shook his head. Give it the scale, I assume.

"It's not an evolution stone. There's more to it than that. I don't know how it works, or why, but the pokémon needs to be exposed to some sort of energy that the item absorbs and bonds to the pokémon or some shit, I don't know. What I do know is that the most common form of this energy is generated in the trading machines found in pokémon centers. See the problem yet?"

Alf remained silent, seeing no problem thus far.

So Biff continued. "Of course you don't. I can't simply trade this thing and be done with it. No doubt the girl we took it from has the entire region's police force watching the system. I need someone to modify the trade machine to perform a one-way trade that won't be recorded, or to wipe the records or something. This guy can do it. I don't know how."

I see, was all Alf said in reply. He turned back towards the dead sentret, and shivered.

"If you're not going to eat, go get Lucifer," Biff said, standing up. "We're heading out."

May I make a suggestion, Master?

"What?"

Alf looked directly into Biff's eyes as he said, The man who wanted the huntail is not going to be happy. Perhaps, while we have the time, we should take care of him first.

The sun was just beginning to rise when Thorn, Alex, and Kimiko finally arrived in Clairval. Alex had no sense of time without checking his phone, so they had no idea how long they had been walking, but it had to have been several hours. Kimiko had cried herself to sleep at some point during the trip, much to Thorn's dismay, as it made carrying her properly more difficult.

They consulted Alex's pokédex map as they reached the city limits. Clairval was small; he wondered why it was called a city, when it was only barely large enough to warrant its own pokémon center. The thought only remained for a moment, though, tired as he was. Looking down, he could see Thorn's legs shaking. The poor grass type must have been even more exhausted. They stopped only for a moment so Alex could take over carrying his girlfriend and give Thorn a break. She refused to go into her ball, though. Alex wondered if she were still intent on trying to play bodyguard or if there were some other reason, but he was glad to have her nearby regardless.

The nurse on the night shift gasped at the sight as Alex walked in carrying the unconscious girl, followed by his nearly-sleepwalking starter. She darted around the counter to greet them, while a few early-riser trainers in the lobby watched curiously.

"She needs a checkup," Alex said, voice strained as his tired arms struggled to hold the other human's weight. He jerked his head towards his bayleef, who had finally collapsed on the ground. "I've got another pokémon you should look at also, and she has two as well. Also, she needs a hospital. Her foot is burned or… something. The skin is starting to peel."

"How severe are the pokémon's injuries?" the nurse asked, lifting Kimiko's leg gently to inspect her wound.

"I dunno," Alex admitted. "My bayleef and sableye are wiped out, but they stayed conscious through most of the night… at least up until now. Her marshtomp and gastly took a hell of a beating, though."

The nurse beckoned for the audino at the counter to assist her. The pink pokémon waddled up at an astonishing speed, some kind of cream already in her hands. "Set her on the sofa and apply this to the burn," the nurse ordered, taking the container from the audino and holding it out to him. She then gestured to Kimiko's foot. "This only looks much worse than it actually is. How did this happen?"

"It's a long story," Alex started uncomfortably, moving to the couch and setting Kimiko down. He was eager to have the nurse treat their pokémon rather than explain the whole ordeal right now, knowing he'd have to repeat it numerous times in the next day or two.

Apparently, the nurse was thinking the same thing. "Skip the details. What caused the injury?"

"She got hit by part of a solar beam attack. Her marshtomp took the full force of it when he tried to protect her, but some of it got by him."

"Hm." The nurse inspected the burn again. "Yes, I thought as much. The burns are consistent. Yes, the cream should be enough to heal that quickly. She probably shouldn't walk on it for a day or two though. Where is the marshtomp?"

"In her bag," Alex replied. He shrugged off both his and Kimiko's backpacks, which he had been carrying through the night – he wasn't about to make Thorn do all the work – and began digging around in the green one for Kimiko's pokéballs. He also turned and recalled Thorn, adding hers and Diamond's to the ones already given to the nurse. Then, for good measure, he quickly grabbed Koyomi's ball and dropped it in her palm as well.

"We need a room, if that's okay," Alex added as the nurse made to leave. She glanced back and sighed.

"Yes, I suppose you would. One room or two?"

"Just one," Alex replied. She took Alex's pokédex and brought it to the counter, while he began to gently rub the cream onto the burn on the blonde's ankle. Inspecting the container as he did so, he was surprised to see that the cream was aptly named "burn heal". "I thought this was pokémon medication?" he said to himself.

"It is," the nurse said, already walking up to him again. She had his pokédex and a key in hand, which she passed to Alex, but no pokéballs. Presumably she had her audino, no longer in sight, begin preparing to treat them. "Not exactly the same, but the blend is similar."

"And it's safe to be using on this?"

The nurse clasped her hands together behind her back with a soft smile. "Yes. It's a milder blend suitable for humans. The pokémon medication is much more potent and more often than not applied as a liquid with a spray nozzle. We keep many forms of medication on hand suitable for humans, just for emergencies or cases like this. Of course, we recommend real hospitals for serious injuries, but trainers often get scrapes and bruises out there too, so we carry some minor remedies to deal with those, too."

"That makes sense, I guess." Alex figured he could see the logic in that. Trainers were bound to get hurt as well. He'd seen numerous others in previous centers with various cuts and scrapes from training. Why send them to a hospital for minor injuries if they had to go to a pokémon center for their teams anyway? He briefly considered himself lucky that he hadn't gotten any damage so far from a stray razor leaf or something during training.

Again, the nurse seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "When it comes to your health, you trainers need all the help you can get," she said with a halfhearted snicker. "Out in the wilds, it's so dangerous. We're here to make your lives easier, at least when you're in civilization."

"Well, thank you," he replied. The nurse beamed and headed back for the counter.

"Your room is number 46," she said over her shoulder. "Second hallway on your left. Breakfast starts at seven and lasts through nine, unless you plan to go rest, which I would recommend. We will let you know when your pokémon are ready for pickup. And please feel free to let us know if there's anything more you need!"

"Actually," Alex said a little too loudly, hesitant to bring up the topic now. The nurse stopped and turned back to him, still all smiles. If she were frustrated, she didn't show it. Just a part of the job, he figured. "We've got a pokémon theft to report, too."

"What?" the nurse gasped.

"As I said, it's a long story," Alex replied, conscious of the other trainers in the lobby, who no longer tried to hide their eavesdropping. "But to make it short, we were attacked in the middle of the night and Kimiko's clamperl was taken by some guy in a black cloak with an elgyem and a houndoom."

"Oh, how horrible! Is that what caused these injuries?" the nurse wailed. Alex nodded. "I'm afraid we don't have a police station here, though… I will try to contact Vivian, but I doubt we'll be able to reach her for another couple of hours."

"Who is Vivian?"

"She's the gym leader of Xioria City. She's the closest thing we have to law enforcement around here. Since we're such a small town and relatively close to Xioria, she tries her best to keep watch over us as well as her own city. But the gym is closed at this time of day, so I don't think I'll be able to get through. May as well let Xioria's police force know as well, not that they'll be able to do much in this case."

"Right. Well, if you do, let me know."

"What do you mean, you don't have it? Where's the fucking huntail you promised me?"

Biff chuckled at the man and reclined calmly in his seat, taking a casual sip of the reddish-orange liquid he held in his glass. The sight would probably have made anyone familiar with the drink cringe. He had wondered for quite a while what a "fireball cinnamon whiskey" tasted like, but never actually received the drink on his previous visits – it technically wasn't on this particular menu, after all. This time, however, before the barkeep allowed him access to the trap door behind the counter, Biff demanded he get his drink.

And he was glad he did. It made the current situation all the more enjoyable.

That was an unusual word choice for having four very angry men pointing firearms at him, but he couldn't deny that he was reveling in this moment.

"I got a better offer," he answered coolly – an extremely out-of-character action, to anyone who knew him well enough. In other words, no one in this room. "My sincerest apologies, Louie."

"I don't give a damn, that pokémon is mine! I've already paid for it!" The other man, a tall, fairly muscular blond, bellowed. Both hands clasped around the handle of his weapon were shaking, whether due to anger or how tight his grip was remained unclear.

"Shut up!" growled one of the other men, a shorter (but still muscular) black-haired male. "If anyone upstairs hears–"

"Moron!" the blond – Louie – yelled.

Before he could say anything further, he was cut off by the sound of Biff laughing. "You're willing to shoot me, but you're afraid of your voices carrying out of this room? Really, Vinny, are you that stupid? How long have you been using this place as a hideout now? This room's got to be more soundproof than that, assuming you all don't have silencers already."

"Piss off," Vinny snapped. "No one asked for your input, Biff."

"What we did ask for was the pokémon I paid for," Louie said.

"Unless you're willing to triple your offer, I'm afraid it's going to my new favorite customer," Biff said with finality.

"Triple? Like hell! I've already paid you. Now you're going to hand over what I've paid for, or that is going to be your final transaction!" Louie raised his gun again and tried to steady his hand. Vinny and the two others raised their weapons again as well.

Biff chuckled. "I wouldn't bet on either of those, boys." He raised his glass, as if making a toast.

There was a bang and the glass shattered in his hands, his whiskey spilt all over his legs. Biff shifted his gaze towards Vinny, who lowered his weapon, panic on his face.

"I wasn't finished with that," Biff said, now mildly annoyed. He had indeed been enjoying his drink.

"Enough screwing around, Biff," Louie said. "I've had enough of your games. It's time for this to end."

"I agree," Biff replied, letting the stem of his glass drop to the floor and shatter. "Alf!"

No sooner had the word left his mouth, Louie dropped his gun. He was quickly followed by his three associates. The four of them then simultaneously dropped to the floor, clutching their heads and wailing in agony. Biff, meanwhile, remained in his chair until his elgyem teleported into the room, eyes glowing green.

"What are you…?" Louie choked out, but those were the only coherent words he could form.

"Now, here's how it's going to work," Biff said, crossing his arms and standing up, towering over the cowering man on the ground. "I'm in a good mood, so I'm not gonna kill you. Today. But I want you out of my city. Go do your business elsewhere, and I don't want to see you back here cutting into my profits anymore, do ya got it?"

"G-Go to hell!" Louie choked.

"Now that's a shame," Biff lamented with a sigh. "Turn up the pressure, Alf."

Louie and his three lackies screamed in agony as Alf's eyes suddenly lit up the room. The blond man doubled over, curling up into himself, screaming and shuddering. "Stop! Stop… please…! Wh… what… is…?"

"Oh, that? My little friend here has a nice tight grip on your brain," Biff laughed. "Have you ever had a worse headache? I can't imagine so. I wonder how much more you can withstand before it explodes?"

Horrified didn't even begin to describe the expression of Louie's face as he choked out, "…leave…"

"What was that?" Biff taunted. He leaned down and held a hand up to his ear. "Speak up man, I couldn't hear you."

"…We… leave… stop…"

"That's better," the black-cloaked man said, straightening up. "That's enough, Alf."

As the elgyem's eyes returned to their natural state, the four other men in the room all let out sighs of relief, still clutching their heads. Vinny was the first to get back to his feet. He took one look at Biff, then at the psychic, clearly terrified, and bolted from the room. The other two nameless forms quickly followed.

"I'm a nice guy," Biff said, scooping up Louie's gun as the blond man slowly got to his feet. "I won't even make you start completely from the bottom. Catch." He literally threw the gun at Louie even though he was about a foot from him. Louie flinched as he put his arms up to shield himself far too late, and it smacked him in the face. Nose bleeding, he wasted no time in collecting it.

Then with a grin, he said, "I guess I'm gonna get paid after all." Without even looking up or aiming, he swung up his arm towards Biff and shot.

The bullet hovered inches from Biff's nose. He recoiled back a few steps – he had expected this, though it still caught him by surprise. And he wasn't happy about that. Louie, meanwhile, let his jaw drop, his eyes wide, and the bullet fell uselessly to the ground.

"Such a pity," Biff said, shaking his head. "Alf."

As Biff hesitated in front of the ladder leading up to the trap door and the bar above, intent on getting more whiskey, his only regret was that he didn't think to leave before the screaming started.

Kimiko woke up to a very familiar setting; but one she didn't recall falling asleep in. The sunshine blaring in from the open window kept her from opening her eyes longer than a few seconds, but she was obviously in a trainer's room in a pokémon center. She had no idea how she got there. The last thing she clearly remembered was the strange man vanishing into a purple cloud, just after he…

The thought made her physically sick, and suddenly there were tears streaming down her face. She started to tremble. The more she thought about last night, the more she remembered, and the more she wished she could stop. It didn't take long for her stomach to decide it had enough.

She gently made to sit up, and then gave a start when she realized that no matter where she touched, her hands only felt the blankets all around her. Blinking again to help regain her vision, she realized that besides herself, her bed was empty. That made her even more nervous. Where was her boyfriend? How did she get there without him? She couldn't lose him, not so soon after losing one of her pokémon. She couldn't lose any of them…

Having worked herself into a panic, she flailed under the blankets until she was free of them and sat up on the edge of the bed, preparing to make a beeline for the toilet. She froze there upon seeing a shape under the blankets in the bed across the room. For some reason she couldn't explain, she didn't quite believe Alex was the one in that bed, until she spotted his discarded shirt on the floor next to his – as well as her own – backpack.

She suddenly felt a different sort of pain that again she couldn't explain – a feeling of hurt and betrayal in her gut. Why had he opted not to stay with her throughout the night, and rather spend it alone? She was keenly aware of the tears still falling, though now she wasn't sure which was causing them anymore. Oddly enough, her stomach had settled somewhat upon realizing that her boyfriend was still nearby, at least. Even so, she didn't feel fantastic, and stood up to continue to the bathroom.

She felt a sharp pain in her foot as soon as she stood up. Biting her lip to prevent herself from shouting a curse and waking Alex, she jumped backwards, back into the bed. She sat up and pulled her leg onto the bed to inspect it, and discovered that her foot had been wrapped in some sort of bandage. Oh, right, the burn, she thought. She hadn't remembered getting it treated, either. How long was she out for?

She stood up again, more gently this time, and tried to keep the pressure on her right foot. She limped to the bathroom, feeling ridiculous. Her skin itched under the bandage too, only adding to her frustration. She unhappily closed the door and knelt down next to the toilet. She wasn't sure how long she spent there, trying not to throw up. Every time she thought she felt well enough to leave, she remembered that she had to report Ariel's theft, and that thought brought back the sick feeling.

Eventually there was a knock on the door. The sound was faint so it didn't startle her. It must have been someone knocking at the door of the main room. The sound roused Alex, who groaned. She heard him shuffle out of bed and move about the room. Shortly after came the inevitable checkup. A hand slipped through the crack in the bathroom door and knocked on the wall, followed by a voice. "Hey, Kimiko? Are you okay in there?"

She grumbled out a confirmation. Before he could ask, she choked out, "You can come in."

The door creaked open and Alex stepped in, clearly concerned, and clutching something in his left hand. He hovered in the doorway, shirt still off, seemingly uncertain of his own intentions. He settled for shifting his weight back and forth uncomfortably and gesturing at the toilet. "Are you… feeling… um, okay?"

Kimiko fixed him with an incredulous gaze, causing him to flinch backwards. She wondered vaguely what she must look like. Her hair was likely all over from sleeping on it (she noticed for the first time that it had been taken out of her ponytail and was trailing wildly along the floor behind her), she was still in yesterday's clothes, and if she looked as tired as she felt, the dark sacs under her eyes must have been absolutely charming.

"Right, well, uh…" Alex leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest almost defensively, and diverted his gaze from his girlfriend. "It looks like my pokémon are ready for pickup," he said, shaking the paper in his hand a bit. Kimiko gave an audible gasp and reached down to pat at her waist, before remembering she kept her pokéballs in her backpack. Before she could say anything about it, Alex continued. "It doesn't say anything about yours though, so… well if you wanted to eat you could come down too, but you should probably go back to bed and get some more sleep."

"No," Kimiko said immediately, getting to her feet and feeling terrible about not even thinking of her other pokémon and their condition. Alex leaned forward tentatively reached out an arm to help her, but she pointedly ignored it and forced herself to stand on her own. She began pulling her hair back up before realizing she had nothing to tie it back with. "I need to see how they're doing and report that thief and find Ariel and…"

"I've already done it," Alex cut her off. She stopped speaking and stared at him, mouth open as though wanting to continue. "I told the nurse last night when we got here, and she's going to contact the gym leader in Xioria and see if she can't help us. She also got some medication for your foot, but she said you really shouldn't be walking on it. You need to give it time to heal."

"I still need to check on them. And then…"

"And then what?"

"…And then find Ariel."

Alex frowned at her. She was afraid he would do this, but she didn't stop him when he started to lecture her. "You don't even know where to look. We'll talk to the gym leader and let her deal with it. Even if you did know where to look, neither you nor your team are in any condition to go after him. Just… calm down, please."

Kimiko was too tired to argue that, though it did nothing to dissuade her from planning to make an attempt as soon as she got her team back.

Which left only one real course of action available currently: assess the damage to her team. "Let's go have breakfast," she said.

"Are you sure you can keep food down right now?" Alex asked, eyeing the toilet.

"I'm fine," she said, crossing her own arms. "There's nothing in me to get rid of."

There was another knock at the door before Alex could reply. They both shifted their gazes out into the main room before Alex turned to answer it, retrieving his shirt on his way. Kimiko dragged herself behind him.

Two women stood at the door when Alex opened it. They looked almost identical, barring the height and the hair. The taller of the two had short red hair, barely down to her chin. The shorter girl, bright lime green hair that trailed halfway down her back. Both wore matching hot pick jackets over a strapless yellow top and dark green jeans.

"Can I help you?" Alex asked.

The tall redhead spoke first. "Are you the two trainers who had filed a stolen pokémon report this morning?" Alex nodded. "My name is Vivian, and this is my younger sister, Alyssa." She gestured to the shorter girl, who waved excitedly. "Forgive us for intruding. We'd like to get started quickly. The fresher the memories are, the easier they are to observe."

"Observe…?" Kimiko asked, cautiously.

Whatever hopes the blonde had been clinging to went out the window when the younger sister released an elgyem. The two women exchanged a glance Kimiko tripped backwards, falling on the bed, and continued to crawl backwards until she hit the wall, holding a pillow out in front of her as a shield.

It was going to be a long day.

A/N: Last update: November 26, 2015. This update: March 27, 2017.

I don't really have a whole lot to say about this one. A little view into Thorn's head and some gangster activity.

On that topic, I know jack about guns and I honestly don't particularly care, so I didn't bother trying to specify models or anything. I do agree, however, that any self-respecting criminal would be carrying some form or another of defense, something besides a pokémon, something that he himself could control.