"Hmm..." Sushil hummed as he looked down onto his phone. "I completley forgot about this! I need to tell her." He said to himself in sudden realisation before quickly making a call.
"Oh, erm, hi." Koume greeted from the other side, visibly suprised to see him as she looked down onto the screen.
"Hello to you too." Sushil began with an akward smile. "Are you alive?."
"... Yes?" Koume nodded, making a standard 'are you serious?' face with closed eyes and single sweat drop on her forehead.
"Glad to hear it! I was worried for a second." Sushil played along, before dropping his goofy smile. "Sorry for the tease. How's it going?"
"Good, actually." Koume smiled as her Buneary hopped onto the right shoulder with a shining item in hand. "I have my first gym badge."
"Now, that was fast." Sushil nodded with impressed face. "At first try?"
"First try."
"He-heh, you have that something."
"I mean, you gave me a lot of pokemon so I easily managed to win..." Koume tried to lower his hype with reasoning.
"If a muscle cannot be moved, how good is it to begin with?" Sushil asked her, making a dubious face that sent both her and Buneary into a state of freezing shock. "The ability to have a Pokemon is insignificant next to the power of commanding them." He paused, taking a brief look to his left at the grassland with several micro-lakes within filled with the various pokemon he collected and helped raise. "Regardless of how the commanding goes."
"... Now that I think about it, it makes so much sense!" Koume nodded energeticly, taking the apparent motto like sponge takes water.
"Glad to hear it." Sushil smiled. "Now, have a good time out there."
"Sure will! See you./Bun Bun!" Koume and Buneary said their goodbyes before the connection ended.
"*Sigh* Guide others to a treasure I cannot possess." Sushil shaked his head in disbelief.
"You did tell her about the Gym Leaders getting tougher as they come and go, right?" Mako asked him unamused, walking up with Flareon following her on the right.
"... Nothing a hasty text messeage can't fix."
"Hmm... Where now?" Koume asked herself out loud as she picked the map app on her Rotom-phone, quickly getting to locate herself on the outskirts of the city.
"Bu?" Buneary squealed, tilting her head out of curiosity just to see the screen herself.
"Hmm... We can either turn back and go to Cherrygrove City, south to Bloomingvale and Azalea City or east which leads to more options." Koume said, calling her options as she began to walk forward over the paved street. "Maybe we should check their Gyms typing before going forward?"
"..." Buneary didn't respond, placing a paw on her chin and pounding over the matter.
"Yeah, I shouldn't ask you about directions." Koume nodded as she put her phone down and noticed Officer Jenny observing the street with a troubled face. "All Officers seem to look the same, and the personalities of two I met so far weren't too varied. Asking her won't hurt... Hopefully." She thought as she resumed her walk forward, this time with a clear direction.
"Tweet!" Pidgeotto chirped as he flew down to the Officer and handed into her gloved hands a small piece of paper.
"Thank you." Jenny said with relief the Pokemon as she opened the piece and silently read the text on it. "Hnn... I won't do it alone and there isn't enough time for reinforcements to arrive."
"Erm, excuse me for curio..." Koume asked, but stopped as The Officer turned herself right to face her. Law enforcement can be intimidating up close when you're a normal person. "...sity, but is something wrong?"
"It depends, I can't tell everyone such things." Officer Jenny responded, reaching forward with her left arm. "May I see your ID Card?"
"Of course." Koume nodded, switching her Pokedex to show her trainer informations slowly giving her the item.
"Mhm... All clear." Officer nodded, taking a look at the screen and then giving it back. "But first, mind if we discussed it somewhere else? This is a serious topic..."
"Sushil?" Mako asked, looking at the weirdly grey-ish figure riding a small silver motorboat in the distance.
"Yeah?"
"What's the deal with this blue banana hair around here?" She asked, pointing out a figure that now was close enough to show the cyan wig-like hair it had. "Is this common out here?"
"Mostly yes, but blue banana? Hmm, let me check..." Sushil responded, buying himself some time as he tap left side of his head with a finger. "That's one of Team Galactic's grunts. Dude propably is up for something."
"Such as?"
"Stealing stuff to summon Gods and open some multidimensional rift again."
"... Call the others." Mako concluded, quickly walking away from the window and towards the emergency doors nearby on the left.
"Gotcha." Sushil smiled as he saw her widely open the doors and leap forward in a rush. "At least she won't sleep over action." He smiled lightly before taking out the phone and making few more presses on it's screen. "Now let's make a quick call... Oh." He stopped as he saw an unknown number call incoming from southern Japan. "Meh, what could go wrong... Hello?" He reassured himself before answering.
"Hello. We want our daughter back."
"... Crap."
"Please, make yourself comfourtable." Officer Jenny said as she and Koume sat down in a small restroom with yellow walls, vending machine in the corner and two windows obscured by inner beige curtains.
"Mhm, thank you." Koume nodded, as she sat down while holding Buneary on her lap.
"Now then, let's begin." Officer continued, looking at her with a strict face. "Did you ever hear about Pokemon-centered crimes?"
"Like poaching?"
"That's the one." Jenny sighed with remorse as one Poliwag akwardly walked up to her legs and tried cuddling itself to them. "Our intel recently discovered that local criminals will conduct large transfer deal in a forest southeast of the city. However, there simply isn't enough officers available for a safe operation."
"... How many is needed?" Koume asked with a feeling of suspense hanged somewhere around them.
"At least one with a Pokemon, and that's with assumption there will be only two people involved from them." Officer Jenny responded before picking up the Poliwag from the floor and onto her own lap. "But still, given the combination of past experiences with Pokemon trainers, I hope you can provide assistance."
"I can" Koume responded, carefully reaching for two of her other pokeballs before presenting them to her. "And I know they are too."
"There he is." Mako said to herself as she walked up to the shore where the motorboat and weird person were already waiting.
"What is?" Young man from the boat asked, looking around with goofy face.
"... You?" Mako asked, tilting her head with unamused expression.
"Heheh, finally noticed." Cyan-haired guy snickered with relief.
"Hard to not notice a Team Galactic member." Mako continued, making him stop laughing. "The whispers I had about your kind are actually annoying."
"I know, right? All we want is our leader to be back with us, from wherever he is." The guy responded. "And what we get? Shunning."
"Didn't forget the 'Relaunch the world again' part?" Mako asked as Sinistea flew up to her side. "I heard more than that earlier, and I am not amused."
"I guess you aren't from here then." Team Galactic's grunt smiled as he grabbed his pokeball. "Some easy money won't hurt me tho..." He added as he threw the item into the air and released his Golbat into the battle.
"Mhm, I can handle you just fine." Mako nodded as her Sinistea flew in front of her.
"Just Bite this piece of porcelain." Grunt scoffed as his Golbat flew forward with widely opened mouth, which seemed to gained white shine on the teeth.
"Sinistea, use Psychic." Mako said with no enthusiasm.
"Si!" Her floating tea cup cried joyously before turning it's eyes pink and stopping Golbat mid-air with an outline around it.
"Hey, what gives?" Grunt asked, looking up at his stalled pokemon.
"And now slam him into the boat." Mako added, to which her partner obeyed by sending poor Crobat towards the ship's rear.
"Wait, no!" Grunt panicked, turning around and running into the boat, only to be smacked in the back of the head by his own pokemon and fall face-down onto his transport.
"Hm, Psychic is effective against Dark types." Mako said shortly as Sinistea returned back to her. "Good job out there." She added before returning her to the pokeball with a single touch.
"Si! Si!" Sinistea cheered before entering the ball.
"Hmm, who could have thought that a ghost can be friendly?" Mako thought as she turned around to increasingly loud police sirens. "Maybe class cutting was right decision in the long run?"
"... That long?" Sushil asked dumbfounded as he was in a middle of the call inside his room. "Nine whole days?"
"With how many privately owned tanks are adding to traffic jams nowadays and road works caused by it, yes. The same with a ferry service." Remorseful tone from the other side responded. "Still, she was supposed to come back home to us and she did not. Instead she went on a ferry to another country at your cost."
"That's true." Sushil nodded. "It doesn't explain why she was waiting at the docks instead of taking a commute to you."
"She propably panicked or wanted to come back via ferry. It can happen to delicate children like her."
"Oh right, she wanted to get as far from there as possible back then." Sushil thought as he picked the willingness to keep up his stance on the issue. "Glad that this part is explained. Once again, I apologise for rash decisions on my part, but it's a bit too late now. She seemed scared so I gave her an ofder she apparently accepted which propably made both of us not think about calling you first." He nodded before continuing. "However, in my defense, you could at least call her back yourself after she left the school. Unless you did."
"Now that I think about it... I have to agree." Distinct male tone said. "However, we still worry about her."
"I understand completley." Sushil nodded with a smile. "Perhabs you could call her at the ocassion? Maybe even now?"
"I think we will, thank you for explaining the situation." The man responded with satisfactory tone.
"And thank you too, Sir." Sushil added as the call ended and a sweat drop went down his forehead. "Oh well, relatives going an extra mile or two for the sake of their family is a great plus." He thought as he began to hear police sirens on the outside. "Actually, let's check on Mako." He decided while picking up the speed on the way to the side emergency door.
"Thank you!" Koume called before she closed the doors to police station and resumed towards the nearby motel. "All right Buneary, it is all set." She added to her small companion that now walked on her left side in low jumps.
"Bune!" Small Pokemon cheered before the vibrating phone made them both stop. "Bun bun?" Buneary asked, turning towards the source of the sound.
"Oh, wait a minute..." Koume said as she took the phone out of her pocket and checked who called. "... Oh, I forgot to tell them." She continued with slightly shrinked eyes as she accepted the call request and put her phone near the left ear. "... Hi, Fath-"
"Koume! Thank God you're well!" Effusive stream of words came out of the phone, almost making her head yank to the left in a comedic manner. "Where have you been?"
"Urm, in many places." She excused herself while moving towards convienient bench and sitting down it as Buneary jumped onto it and moved under her arm just to be closer. "I'm sorry for not telling you..."
"No one else told us either, so please, don't feel bad about it." Her Dad continued with propably happy approach. "Still, I would like to know where you went just now."
"... Do words Sinnoh and Johto tell you anything?" Koume asked with growing anxiety.
"I didn't knew about the first one before I and your Mother started looking for the traces of you." Father responded with less enthusiastic tone. "I assume that Johto is close?"
"Close enough for one-week ship cruise." Koume explained as she noticed Buneary wave her arms for attention. "And before you ask. No, they don't practise Sensha-do here. In any form."
"A place on this globe without Sensha-do? Ha-hahahaha!" A laugh came out from the phone loudly enough to make her look around if someone didn't gave her weird looks. "What these poor children do from the kindergarten in there?"
"... Erm, something you don't expect." Koume said after a pause, looking down at Buneary that gave her a warm smile. "But first, we have to turn on the cameras so you can see them..."
"Them? Are you refering to new friends?" Her Dad asked, increasingly curious.
"In a way, yes." Koume responded, slightly troubled as the view of the well-built man in front of the beige wall with large family photo hanged on it to the left appeared on her phone. "I missed you."
"I missed your bubbly face too."
"Not in public please..." Koume requested, screaming on the inside because of the badly-timed joke.
"Bune!" Buneary cried out her name as she jumped up in between her trainer and the phone screen. "Bu?"
"Boo? You tried to scare me? Hahaha!" Father laughed, amused by the full-hearted attempt. "Kisama! Come over here, our daughter found a jumpscare rabbit!"
"... At least he is having fun." Koume concluded in her mind as Buneary turned around to give her confused look. This afternoon was going to be a long one.
"Thank you for stopping him." Officer Jenny said as she placed handcuffed Team Galactic grunt inside the rear seat of her police car.
"Meh, just doing my part." Mako responded without enthusiasm. "Guy who pays me is his former colleauge."
"Who?" The grunt asked, suddenly regaining his conciousness.
"... Sushil Kalloe, know him?" Mako asked, but not before getting a nod of allowance from the Officer.
"Heh, my ears caught it twice or so." The grunt responded with a weak chuckle. "All I know for sure is that he was assisting in magazines and Saturn had some beef with him once, not sure why tho."
"Oh, you didn't know that he also runs this shelter for profit." Mako added, pointing her thumb to her right at the large glass dome nearby.
"... That's news to me." The grunt responded as the Officer headed to close his doors. "Keep care of him."
"Mhm." Mako nodded, not really sure why she listened to the guy she just slammed with a bat as the conversation came to an end. "Sure..." She added as she lifelessly watched the car drive off from the place and into the distance.
"... Tea?" Sinistea asked, unsure if she was alright.
"I could use some..." Mako nodded as she looked at her and then turned back towards the building. "Let's also check on Sushil if he's alive..."
"Sini!"
"He gave them to you?" Deep female voice asked as Koume ended presenting her team to the parents. Even Eevee, though he Wallace and Gromit'd his way back to the pokeball in a first moment he could. "They are all so cute and caring."
"Even the fox?" The Father asked in doubt. "He didn't seem to enjoy us."
"Don't be ridiculous! It's not a human, that couldn't come out of nowhere."
"Erm... To start from the end, you're not wrong, Mum." Koume spoke up, beginning her explaination as her parents settled down on the argue. "Sushil said that he found him trying to kill poachers that captured him and harvested his fur beyond the point of growing."
"... That explains it." Her Dad nodded, breaking the longer while of stunning silence over the tragedy. "Is it a theme with all of your little friends?"
"Almost." Koume responded as she picked Ducklett from the side and placed him in her lap while Buneary made sure her phone wouldn't trip over from the window shelf. "Ducklett was given to me directly by it's parents, Buneary was abandoned by her previous trainer who didn't view her to fit him. He didn't elaborate on the others." She added as she leaned forward to also stop Trapinch from bumping her legs with the jaw.
"Hmm... So this Mister Sushil gives shelter to these Pokemon and then gives them away to others?" Her Mom asked curiously.
"He doesn't give them away without them making any form of consent." Koume responded, making them both suprised while herself taking Trapinch up to the side and giving him a one-armed hug while also petting the Ducklett. "That includes me, all six of them didn't refuse to going with me."
"Hmph, I knew he wasn't putting on a show." Her Dad snickered with a smile. "Tell you what my dear, take care and enjoy your journey. We can both see you are happy with where you are."
"Thank you." Koume smiled, her eyes becoming a bit wet. "I needed that."
"You know we always love you whatever happens." Her Mother added.
"I know, me too." Koume responded before her smile turned into determined grin. "I won't quit this time."
"We know you don't." Her Mom continued before turning to the right where the lone pokeball stood. "Please, you too take care of our daughter." She added as her husband took on the role with giving Koume words of support.
Tweak, tweak, tweak* The pokeball twitched up and down excessively, much to Spheal's surprise as he jumped out of the desk and onto the bed, after which he rolled to try snuggling Koume, Who's eyes now resembled a pair of waterfalls.
Someone had made a commitment...
Author pow:
Hello everyone, I just want you to know that I decided to include my own Pokemon designs for what could be a Region based off of Team Fortress 2. The region itself will also be included.
See you next time!
