Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)

A Legendary Search

29. Special Things

Tim's first day could have gone worse. It could have gone better, too, but Tim was willing to count his blessings. There were a couple commotions at the beginnings of his classes when people realized who he was, but the teachers were all professional, and though it was clear that a couple of them were fans, they got the room under control and began the class. Tim's recording the class didn't force him to stand out, either; he wasn't the only one doing it, which he was grateful for. He was definitely going to need it, seeing as how his left-handed writing was still terrible, and his right hand couldn't hold the pen for longer than about three minutes before it started trembling and cramping both at once.

Physically, his hand looked fine other than the scarring on his wrist, but he kept his wrist in a brace mostly hidden by the long sleeves he made sure to wear. He kept his hand hidden in a pocket when he could, too, and no one seemed to ask about it- something else Tim was grateful for. He wasn't sure anyone had even noticed, really.

He shared lunch with Absol mid-day, people still avoiding him nervously, and Tim supposed that could be an advantage to having a larger-than-usual Disaster Pokemon for a partner. He'd brought lunch from home, having made two sandwiches; picking an area outside, since pokemon weren't allowed in the cafeteria either, Tim sat under a tree and gave one of the sandwiches to Absol. Absol hesitated for a moment, then took it, setting it aside for just a moment while he spat something out of his mouth and covered it with his paw before starting on his sandwich. Tim stared.

"Uh… what… did you just spit out a tooth?"

Absol looked up. His expression was hard to read- sadly, Pokemon expressions were mostly not part of the understanding Pokemon gift Mewtwo gave him- but his voice was full of amusement. "No. That's a treasure of mine."

"Oh." Tim felt a little silly, and a little relieved. "A treasure?"

"Yes… I can't really say where exactly I picked it up. I just sort of came across it. It drew me in… it still does. I can't say why, but it's special."

"I see… can I… can I see it?"

Absol hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Yes. But don't go showing it around to just anyone. Keep it just between us?"

"Of course!" Tim reached out as Absol moved his paw a little, allowing Tim to pick up the item he'd spat out.

It was a perfectly round, mainly clear stone. Tim thought at first it was a marble, as it looked just like one, but dismissed the thought- marbles were a lot smaller. This was about two and a half times the size.

It did have a marble design, though. Inside had the same twisting shape with two colours, one white and the other a bluish-black.

"Interesting…" Tim murmured, returning it. "I've never seen anything like that before. Do you know what it is?"

"No." Absol took it and covered it with a paw again. "All I can say is that there's something about it. It's important that I keep it."

"Hmm… and you carry it in your mouth?"

"I have no other way. I've gotten used to it. But I do have to spit it out to eat."

"Well, yeah, I guess you would. Maybe I can see if there's something I can do so you don't have to keep it in your mouth all the time." Tim told him, thinking. Maybe he could find something that Absol could use to have it tied around his neck?

"That would be nice." Absol admitted.

In his afternoon class of Law Enforcement, though, Tim found he had a classmate less excited by his presence. It was a refreshing change in a way, actually, Tim was very uncomfortable with the way a couple people almost seemed to fall over themselves to try to talk to him while Tim gently tried to discourage them and wave them away. On the other hand, it still wasn't really all that nice sitting next to another boy that kept glaring at him like Tim had kicked his Growlithe.

Still, nothing else really happened, so Tim ignored the other boy, taking notes the best he could with his left hand, knowing that he was missing a lot of them due to slow speed. Not only would he have to rely on writing down notes that were recorded, but until his writing finally neatened up, he would have to re-write these, too. Tim tried not to dwell on it.

Once the day was over, Tim was relieved. Walking out to meet Absol, the Pokemon asked, "Anything else today?"

"No, that's it." Tim murmured. "I'll call Dad so he can bring the car over."

Absol snorted. "I don't understand why you insist on riding in that when you could just ask me."

"What?"

"I said, why drive when you can ride me?"

"Absol, I can't do that to you! I mean, in an emergency, yes, but for something like this? That doesn't seem like how you treat a partner, don't you think? Or anybody, really."

"For just anybody, I'd agree. However, this seems exactly like how you treat a partner. You help each other. You seem to have decided that my food comes from you, so I've decided that your transportation comes from me. Plenty of people ride Pokemon instead of vehicles, it's perfectly within the law as long as the traffic laws are followed, and I know them. Get on, I'm taking you around from now on."

Tim shook his head. "Absol, I can't…"

Absol swerved in front of Tim and crouched down. "I am not arguing. Get on and let's go. This way you don't have to bother your father about the car when you want to go somewhere."

Tim hesitated, then nodded. "Alright… thank you, Absol."

Swinging a leg over Absol's back, Tim looked up and noticed the boy from his Law Enforcement class glaring at him again, arms crossed, from several feet away. The boy gave a sneer and turned to walk away. Tim shook his head, but said nothing. It wasn't nice being glared at, but it wasn't like he was hurting anything.

Once Tim was securely seated, Absol stood up. "Home, then? Or is there anywhere else you would like to go?"

Just as he finished speaking, Tim's new phone went off. Pulling it out to check it, he saw it was from his father, asking if he could come to the Baker Agency, and apologizing that he couldn't come pick him up- the car had gotten a flat that day and the mechanic was replacing it.

"Actually, let's head for the Agency. My dad just asked me there. Just give me a moment." Tim sent a quick reply letting him know he would be there and that he had a ride. He tucked the phone back into his pocket, then gripped Absol again. "I'm ready."

"Then hold on." Absol started moving, surging into a sort of trot, then moving a little faster to mingle with traffic. Most of what was on the road were cars, to be certain, but it was true that some people rode Pokemon as well; Tim had seen a man ride an Arcanine around before, and once or twice he'd seen people riding Rapidash or Lairon… even a Drapion, once. There were special rules regarding them, given that some of them were not easy to see around, but as long as those rules were followed, it was allowed. Tim felt bad, though; in this case, Absol was literally doing all of the work associated with riding Pokemon on the street, Tim not even needing to steer.

But, Tim decided with a sigh, if this was what Absol wanted, he would do it. He wouldn't have to bother his father, and it would save gasoline. He would just have to remember all of the associated signals people riding Pokemon were supposed to give on the road.

When they arrived at the agency, Tim hopped off and headed up the stairs, Absol following behind. His father looked a little surprised when Tim went in.

"You got here fast. You really did have a ride, huh? Convenient train schedule or new friend?" he asked, smiling.

"Uh, old friend, actually. Absol gave me a ride. He seems to have decided that he's my ride from now on."

"Oh? Well, that sounds like a good arrangement to me." Amanda looked over, smiling, before looking back and the papers she was pouring over.

"I told you." Absol said. Tim gave him a look, then looked back.

"So what did you need me here for?"

"Ah, two things, actually. First, I've got a box here for you." His father gestured at a medium sized, flat box on the desk beside him. "Emilia dropped it off and asked that it get to you." His father raised his eyebrows knowingly at Tim. Tim sighed.

"Knock it off. But why did she want me to have it?"

"Don't know. You'll have to open it and see. Go ahead, the other thing I wanted to talk to you about isn't urgent."

"Alright then."

The box was sealed along the edges with tape; Tim peeled off one side and opened it to see red fabric. Confused, he pulled it out to realized it was a folded article of clothing… a sweater, to be exact.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tim heard his father ask. Before answering, Tim shook the sweater out to see the full shape, and confirmed that it was, in fact, a hoodie, one that looked exactly like his old red one had. Tim huffed out a laugh.

"She found one just like it…"

"I'll be darned." His father laughed. "She must have found where you got that favourite hoodie of yours and ordered another one to replace it. If that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what will."

Embarrassment replaced most of the fondness in Tim's chest. "Oh, give it a rest, will you?"

Tim's father only laughed.

"Very nice of her, though. But what was the other thing we were here for? Surely if this was it, he could have brought it back home." Absol spoke up.

"Oh, right! What was the other thing, dad?" Tim hurried to ask. The sooner he could leave, the sooner his father would stop teasing him.

"Right, right… actually, the other thing is Mrs. Pouvelle's Meowth. It's gone out on its little disappearing acts every day this week. Longer, in fact- today is the eight straight day it's gone. I've been finding it each time, but having it wander off so often is a little worrisome. It's never been this bad before. You, uh… seem to have a way with Pokemon. Almost like… understanding them. So maybe you can go look for it today? See if you can figure out why home is suddenly the last place it wants to be." Tim's father gave him a significant look.

"Oh… yeah, I can go looking for it! No problem. Is that everything?"

"Yes. Just make sure to let me know once you've found it." Mr. Baker answered.

"Sure. I'll be back, then."

"See you later, Tim." His father nodded, and Tim left.

Tim and Absol first made their way to Heather Pouvelle's house, to start at the last place they knew Meowth had been. At first, they came up with nothing; both of them split up to search different directions, meeting back at the house in half hour intervals twice without any leads. On their third meetup, however, Absol had a report; he'd spoken to a Starly that had seen Meowth on the street about six blocks from where they were now.

Upon reaching that spot, the duo had no shortage of witnesses. Every person Tim asked had seen a Meowth loitering; every Pokemon they spoke to had seen her go by, calling out a greeting. While Meowth didn't usually make any effort to hide or anything, this time, the Pokemon seemed to have made a monumental effort to make sure that her trail could be tracked. After another twenty-five minutes of following the directions given by those who had seen her go by, they found the Pokemon poking around a garden full of pink and yellow flowers in someone's yard.

"Hey! Meowth, there you are! What are you doing?" Tim called. The Meowth jumped and spun around, eyes wide.

"Finally! It's you! You came!" Meowth bolted over, looking excited. Tim crouched down.

"What do you mean?"

"Your Pikachu friend has been coming with another man to find me. The man and Pikachu have been trying to play and talk to me, but it didn't seem the same. I mean, Pikachu seems a lot better at mock battles now then he was at the first one, but the man doesn't seem to really know how I want to play. Pikachu and I have both tried to tell him, but it's not the same. But you know what I want when you come, so I was hoping you would come soon. But it's been so long, so I thought if I went out every day, eventually you would come. And here you are! But what took you so long?"

Tim smiled. In a way, it was kind of nice to know that Meowth had missed him. "Well, I was in sort of an accident, and I got hurt. The man you've been seeing is my dad. He's been coming to find you while I was healing."

The expression on Meowth's face changed; Tim thought maybe she looked more serious.

"You were hurt?" Coming right up to him, Meowth began sniffing, and seemed to zero right in on Tim's wrist. "Something happened to your hand? Something about it seems not right."

"Yeah, it's taking a long time to heal. But it's getting better. Don't worry about me. What would you like to do?" Tim asked it.

Meowth looked up. "I've already done it. I'm fine to go home now. But I'm still glad you came and asked. Let me know if there's ever anything that you need. I bet I could get my owner to get it for you somehow."

Tim chuckled. "Thank you. But I'm alright. Let's go."

Getting up, the Meowth scampered after him. Absol crouched down so both Tim and Meowth could get on; as he approached, Tim felt his right hand start trembling. Shoving it into a pocket, Tim swung his leg over Absol and gripped his long fur with his left hand. Absol shot him a look of concern, but Tim ignored it. Meowth didn't seem to notice anything.

"Let's go."

Meowth safely returned, Tim and Absol reported to Mr. Baker, then had coffee at Pablo's Hi Hat Café before heading home, bringing Emilia's gift with them. Tim planned to spend the rest of the evening listening to his recorded classes and copying out the notes, or at least trying to. Tim figured that some day, he might do that particular task at the café; the atmosphere there felt like it would be great for studying. But not until his messy left-handed scrawl improved to a respectable script.

Inside the apartment, Tim took the red hoodie out of the box again, smiling gently. His dark blue sweater had been ruined when Lugia had almost taken off his hand; Tim hadn't gone looking for any new ones yet. The weather was still warm enough for him not to need it; he preferred, however, having one on. He just felt more comfortable that way.

"I would say today went reasonably well." Absol commented. "You didn't have any trouble in your classes that I could tell, and Meowth apparently just wanted to see you. She went home without a fuss. I'd call that a good day."

"Yeah, it was a-" Tim cut off when agony flared in his wrist, his hand spasming. He sucked in a breath, clenching his good hand so hard that his knuckles went white, and tucked his right hand against his chest.

The spasms of agony still came a couple times a day. Thankfully, it hadn't happened during any of his classes, but Tim dreaded they day they would. He was, however, getting better at hiding them, and they were slowly getting less frequent.

Still, there was no mistaking it for Absol. His eyes narrowed and he stood. "Your hand again? Can I help?"

Tim shook his head. He'd tried things before- heat, ice, pain medicine. Nothing seemed to ease the pain when the spasms came; it hurt the same every time. All Tim could do was wait it out. It was normally over quickly.

Just over a minute had passed when the pain eased, and Tim gave a relieved breath. Panting just a little, he looked over at Absol and gave a weak smile.

"Yeah, it was a good day. I'm surprised that Meowth was acting out so much just because she wanted to see me."

Absol eyed him for a moment, then let it go. "Well, she wanted to see a friend and kept getting a stranger." Bending his head down, Absol spat out his strange marble and tucked it up against the wall next to the bed. "Relationships… and some things… just mean a lot."

Tim looked back at the red hoodie, dropped onto the table he stood at when the pain had hit. Putting out his good hand, he ran it over the material a moment before smiling again. Lifting it up, he pulled the hoodie on.

"Yeah. They really do."

A/N: Aww, Meowth missed Tim. Absol has an interesting item, and Tim finally has a red sweater to wear again.

And I finally played all the way through the game sequel. A few interesting similarities had me snickering, but in general, I think I like my version better, in large part due to the fact that Emilia is in it more than just on TV and Meiko didn't get forgotten. Don't get me wrong, Rachel is a nice girl, but I like Emilia better. The first game you practically bumped into Emilia every time you turned around, and then second game you only see her on TV? Such a disappointment.

Anyway, this is the last chapter that doesn't seem to have anything "interesting" in it. Tim will start picking up his next "real" case in the next one.