Chapter 2: the Pokemon

"Are you quite done dear?" Nina said floating down the stairs into the yard using psychic to lift an unconscious grunt whipping out a blue spray bottle from a satchel bag with a bright red cross, "sorry princess got a little carried away" Scorch said scratching behind one of his ears. As quickly as the Cinderace has said his joke the Gardevoir he calls his wife quickly had a finger to his throat making him lock still before she gently booped him on the nose "only you could really get away with calling me princess" she said with a slight smile.

"now lets see.. broken ribs, left forearm, 2nd degree burns to the cheek you did a number on him" Nina said impressed and spraying the health potion on the burn wounds and focused her ability to hold the grunt together, "wait a second.. wasn't there supposed to be a train?" Scorch said walking to the end of the then felt something soft slap on the back. "If you're going to be at that end of the room then grab that medpack and start getting them ready for transport!" Nina called.

Scorch sighed grabbing the pack and getting to work on the unconscious grunts around him, "you think it was him this time?" Nina said not with words by projection straight into Scorches mind when the two wanted to talk privately. "there was a spent casing in that storage room and I noticed one of the trucks moving so likely" Scorch thought feeling his wife's presence in his mind, "I just hope we can find him before someone else does.. if anyone should get to protect him it's going to be us" Scorch added and felt Ninas head nod in agreement.

"At least we wont have to worry about babysitting, it will be like old times" Nina sends to him as she lays another couple of grunts next to each other limbs bound in foams casts, "wonder if he will ever come to any of our rooms to cuddle up to us like he used to" Scorch thought of the memory as he placed a small capsule between a grunts hands then squeezed her hands so the capsule cracked. Foam bled from between the grunts fingers encasing her hands and crawling up her arms to just past her elbows.

The twos minds wandered as they worked filling grunts with paralytics, painkillers and preparing them for transport. The memory flooded their minds of the image of their trainer as a 10 year old, every night he tried to get some sleep and every night sleep would escape him until one of them nuzzles up to him to grant him a comfort that they are aware that he never had.

"Right!" Nina said out loud clapping her hands and breaking the silence, "these grunts are ready for transport to my hospital before we can cash their bounties in.." she continued noticing Scorch was looking at the incomplete train. "intel said this train was ready to go and take these Pokeballs where ever Team Rocket was taking them, but the locomotive is missing" Scorch said puzzled, Nina floated over to his side looking down at the trucks and tracks "something left here but did not take these Pokeballs strange… the minute you showed up or even the moment they heard the gunshot they should have been scrambling to get this train moving instead of guarding it" Nina said.

"Wait can't you do some psychic type stuff? Like can't you try to detect him?" Scorch said turning to Nina, "I guess? But I don't think I am going to get a-" Nina said focusing and reaching out far with Psychic then feeling a familiar presence. "IT'S HIM!" she barked out quickly turning to the tunnel pointing a finger towards it, "THAT DIRECTION! 400 METERS AND MOVING FAST!" Nina said floating up off the ground her movement interrupted by Scorch hugging onto her.

"Stop if he is already that far out don't you think charging at him is just gonna make him bolt or fight us? Just try and keep an eye on him do not engage" Scorch said looking up at Nina, "do not engage? Coming from the Pokemon that always-" Nina said as scorch used what he called his "scorbunny" face.

"fine." she sighed as Scorch let her go "il follow at distance and see where he is hiding Cinder is still on the surface just load them up and let her do the rest" Nina said before bolting off down the tunnel.

Scorched sighed as he lifted the first grunt bridle style to begin the long and now annoying process without a psychic type of loading injured humans into their transport to take them back.

The only noise coming from Nina was the sound of air moving around her as she started to close the gap 440 meters, 400 meters, 380 meters, 290 meters before settling at a distance of 100 meters, she visualized the trail her old trainer was taking as little wisps of smoke and fire letting him leave these little breadcrumbs for her.

She followed the trail up to the surface noticing the abandoned and still running locomotive by a ladder up, she almost let out a laugh stealth and tracking was not usually her thing that's usually something Fritz would handle but the ghost type wasn't around so she would just have to follow the trail whilst it was still there.

She dropped to the ground and closed the gap further to 20 meters as she sensed him sitting down, she had him in sight watching his every movement or lack there of for the next few minutes. She had a weird feeling like she was being some sort of helicopter mother, "n-no I am not his mother." she said under her breath looking down at the forest floor before her eyes whipped back to staring at Alex "not yet" she said to herself covering her mouth as she noticed the boys eyes quickly scanning the forest from her barely audible outburst.

He pulled out a pink Pokeball from his pocket as a ball bounced over to the tree he sat by, Nina watched as a girl in one of the most adorable dresses she has ever seen toddled up to the tree. She had assumed that Alex had some how captured new Pokemon which disappointed her but instead he just rolled the Pokeball to her and the girl smiled muttering something to him as he got up and walked away.

"So that's what he has been up to?" Nina thought knowing this confirmed rumours that the runaway known as 'The Rifleman' were true, rumours spread among humans that if you went to the edge of certain forests you during the day you could get the Riflemans services to retrieve pre-revolution things such as the Pokeballs of old Pokemon for a fee.

Since bounty hunters like Nina, Scorch and others became a thing Alex and the Rifleman were considered two separate people in the database but now she could link the two together, either way this information should stay with her and the family only to let the office know when Alex is safe and sound in her arms.

With this in her mind she followed him closely being sure to stay out of sight and keeping track of the surroundings, when he stopped in the middle of the forest with Nina keeping in mind the old crumbled buildings that even long before the revolution nature reclaimed.

She watched him lift up a panel covered in plants then hop down into the hole, she had finally found where he was hiding, getting him to come with them would be a challenge for another day.