Pokémon Trainer Hero
Chapter 60: Poaching and Roaching
After such a stressful afternoon Gar decided to try and find another way to relax, that didn't involve UA, again! So he looked through his contacts and decided to call the one person he knew that could help him relax even for a little bit. He saw Izuku first and foremost in his contacts, which was weird, and called him up hoping he wasn't busy. Within the hour Gar was out in the city streets with Izuku, peacefully eating an ice cream cone while walking alongside both Houndoom and Boltund. The former of which was starting to grow his missing horn back. Izuku with vanilla chocolate chip in hand, and Gar with triple-threat chocolate. As they both walked in silence and ate without care, Izuku took note of everyone staring at them. More specifically, the two dog Pokemon walking with them.
"Uh, Gar?", Gar replied with a hum. "Is it such a good idea to walk around with Pokemon in public?", Izuku asked while eyeing all the people eyeing them.
Gar gave a relaxed sigh while licking his ice cream and replied, "I'm too relaxed to care."
"You do seem stressed. Anything you wanna talk about?", Izuku offered kindly.
Gar takes the sweet treat from his mouth, blows a raspberry, and says, "It's a lot of things, really. But mostly it's-.", Before he could finish, someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him into the back of an armored truck!
"Gar! WHA!", Izuku cried out before also getting pulled into the same armored truck!
Before either of them could think, they were forcefully thrown into the back of the metal box, the door slamming shut before they even hit the back, and the truck took off! As soon as Gar rubbed the pain and vertigo out of his neck and head he stood up and angrily faced off against their captors.
"Okay listen here you brainless Magikarp. If you think you can just up and abduct us, thinking we're some kind of damsels in distress. Then you got-.", Before he could finish, Izuku grabbed his hand, trying to pull him into the seat. He looked at him and asked, irritated, "What Izuku? I'm about to bring out Rhyperior and body these idiots."
"Police.", Izuku replies quickly.
"Wha-?", Gar tried to ask before Izuku cut him off and explained more fully.
"Police. They're the police.", He said with a stiff and nervous, hunched-over posture.
Gar looked around and saw that the truck was indeed filled with police officers dawning raid gear and heavy artillery.
Gar almost seemed to calm down as he plopped into his seat and told them, "Oh! Well my apologies to the boys in blue.", Then his mood changed again and he followed up with a firm tone and an unamused tone, "You had better have a good explanation before I have a real easy time railing your back end in court.", The Police said nothing, so Gar boldly asked, "Nothing to say?"
"Sit down!", One of the officers, probably the leader, commanded Gar.
Get eyes widened and his eyebrows raised as he snarky shot back, "Well! I hope you're driver's gas foot is as forceful as your voice."
Before the leader could tell again, another one stopped him and asked, "Wait, why?"
Before he could open his mouth to answer, something hit against the back door so hard it caved in! Which were attached to two sharp somethings that pierced through the metal!
"That's why.", Gar told them with a snarky tone.
One of the officers looked out through a peeping hole and saw none other than Houndoom with glowing red eyes that looked straight through the officer's soul! The officer gasped in fright and fell onto his butt before crawling away! On the other side, Houndoom was keeping pace with the heavy vehicle and followed up his Megahorn attack with a Flamethrower that began to char and melt the metal doors!
Before any of the officers could properly react, the driver in front shouted for the commander in a panicked tone, "Sir! There is a yellow electric dog on the hood!"
The commander looked through the hole between the driver's cabin and the back-holding crib. As the driver said, atop the hood of the truck was a very pissed-off Boltund discharging electricity, nearly ready to fry the engine!
The commander wasted no time and shouted at the driver, "Floor it!"
The driver did as he was told, hit the gas, and made a sharp turn, causing Boltund to fly off in the opposite direction and Houndoom to lag far behind! Once Boltund shook itself off he arched his head up, howled which generated electricity over its body, and took off in a mad dash!
Back inside the armored car, Gar had to sit down to avoid getting injured due to the constant jerking, and told them with a snippy tone, "You're not gonna get far."
"Quiet!", Yelled the commander.
"Do you even have a reason for this, cause if we were not told then-.", Gar tried to keep pressuring him, only to be cut off.
"I said quiet!", The commander yelled louder.
Gar rolled his eyes while shrugging his shoulders and reaching towards his belt while saying, "Alright. I guess we're doing this the painful way."
Before he could grab the Pokéball off his belt Izuku grabbed his hand and exclaimed in refusal, "Gar!"
"They have no right Izuku!", Gar argued back.
"I told you to stay quiet!", The commander yelled again!
This time pointing his weapon at the two of them! Causing Izuku to cower and shrink down into submission! But Gar looked unfazed by the threat.
He stood up in defiance, grabbed the barrel of the gun, and pointed it into his chest while challenging, "Or what? You'll shoot me? Go ahead. I dare you!"
The two of them stood in a standoff for only a few minutes but felt like an hour had passed by for all parties involved! The officers watched in awestruck anxiety, Izuku who was scared out of his wits, Gar who hadn't changed unimpressed and challenging expression, and the commanding officer who was biting his lower lip in irritation at being challenged sweating bullets with his finger just about to rest on the trigger! It was like watching an old western standoff but without the cool atmosphere. Before anything could come out of this little standoff, the truck suddenly jerked and caused everyone to lurch in the opposite direction!
Once everyone had somewhat recovered from the harsh stop they experienced they heard the driver call out to them in a monotone voice, "We're here."
The two officers standing near the back doors managed to unlock and pry them open even though they had been partially melted. Both Izuku and Gar had to shield their eyes from the light difference and slowly tried to make their way off the truck. As they did so the other officers filed off the truck like a whole organized group.
Just before they both hopped out they were forcefully pushed out by the commanding officer who shouted, "Out!"
The two boys fell out of the metal paddy wagon and ended up falling face-first onto concrete!
"Bebarriel dammit!", Gar cursed as he pulled his cut face up. He looked over to see his friend still lying face-first on the hard stone and quickly pulled himself up while going over to him and asking, "You okay Izuku."
"Ow.", The teen commented as he pulled up his face with a bloody nose.
Once the two boys pulled themselves from the ground as the remaining police officers ran past them, Gar took note that they were now inside of some kind of warehouse with the huge metal doors locked behind them as hot lights blared from above. Two figures approached in front of them straight after. The first one was dressed as a police officer but had the head of a Burmese mountain dog. The second was a normal Japanese man in a brown trench coat and fedora, looking very much like a stereotypical detective.
Gar recognized these two people and called off their names and confusion, "Detective Tsukauchi? Chief Tsuragamae?"
"Hello, Garfield. I hope-.", The detective began to say until he was cut off by the young man.
"What is the name of Lugia is wrong with you two!", Gar yelled at the two of them while getting in their faces and pointing an angry finger
"I take it your ride wasn't so pleasant? Woof.", The Chief asked him.
Gar looked at the dog-headed man like he had suddenly sprouted a secondary one, and yelled at him with an incredulous tone, "Pleasant?! I hope 'getting abducted in broad daylight' wasn't your envisionment of, pleasant? Or perhaps getting threatened with firearms. Or even not given a simple explanation as to what the Distortion World is going on around here. Cause if it was-!"
Tsukauchi cut him off to de-escalate things, saying with raised hands, "Okay okay, no need to blow a fuse. Whatever complications you faced, we had reasons."
Gar narrows his eyes at the two men and demands a much lower but threatening voice, "Explain, quick! Before they get here."
"They?", The two men ask in unison.
As soon as those words exited their mouths, the metal door of the wear hours suddenly burst open in a shower of embers and molten metal! Everyone nearby the doors immediately scattered as two blurs charged in and surrounded both boys! The blurs were none other than Boltund and Houndoom!
"They.", Gar simply explained to them.
Boltund didn't seem to care about anything else and immediately jumped into his hind legs, placing his paws on the teen's shoulders, and licked up every inch of Gar's face! Overjoyed to see him!
Unlike Houndoom, his body was the same color as his eyes! Bright red! Houndoom was furious and showed it in full view of the officers! A very powerful Overheat attack was being cooked up in him, with heat so hot his sweat was evaporating off his body, and the asphalt under his paws was beginning to melt! People began to run away or try to hide! Even the police chief and detective were so scared out of their wits that their bodies refused to move!
Gar pushed Boltunds headset from him long enough to speak to the two men. Telling them, "Now then. Do we get an explanation or do I force it?", Both men had Their hands defensively at their sides as the hellhound-looking Pokemon stared them down with teeth glowing bright orange! "Because the pain from burns created by a Houndoom's fire will never go away. So I suggest you talk fast.", He informed the two men, which finally made their mouths work.
"We just proceeded with a raid of rare poached animals! But there is something strange about the poachers and the animals they were smuggling and fighting us with!", Chief Tsuragamae said quickly.
Gar snapped his fingers and Houndoom finally released the attack up into the air! The condensed heat burns away at the roof, killing several lights and incinerating a hole so big that the wind could be heard from outside! After the attack was released, Houndoom's body returned to its natural color and it released steam from its nose. Izuku crouched himself Infront of the still angry Pokémon, hoping to hold him back from attacking, which seemed to work. Houndoom's temper was fully repressed when Gar walked up and gently brushed his fingertips along the Pokémon's head, making the Pokémon take a far less aggressive but still wary expression. Izuku hugged the Pokémon in one part to keep it still and one part to keep it calm, while Gar returned his attention to the two men.
"That being?", He asked while putting a hand on the hellhound's head.
"Maybe you should see for yourself.", Detective Tsukauchi offered while calming down and motioning to the inner part of the warehouse.
Gar and Izuku looked at one another, where both nodded and walked behind the two men, both Pokémon at their sides. Boltund just looked happy to be with Gar, running around the two boys without care. While Houndoom stood in-between them, snarling at anyone who looked in their direction. They had only walked a few seconds before they saw what the two men of the law had been saying, and it shocked them!
Scattered about the whole area were dozens of officers in several states of injury! Ranging from simple scrapes and contusions to full body burns and broken limbs! All being treated by paramedics or hauler away! The sight was….. eye-opening to say the least.
With a dry gulp and a shaky breath, Izuku asked, "Detective Tsukauchi, what happened here? It's like a one-sided fight broke out."
"Well that's what happened.", The man confirmed with a disappointed tone while pulling the brim of his hat over his face.
"We had no idea. Woof. We were underprepared. We never knew it would be that hard to deal with them. Woof.", Chief Tsuragamae added in a vague but anxious tone.
Gar stopped his walk with the two men, causing them to stop, turn around, and face Gar's unamused and impatient expression.
"Can you two please be a little less vague about your subject matter.", He asked them, irritated.
Chief Tsuragamae sighed and explained more thoroughly, "When our men were trying to detain the poachers, they had multiple complications since they were fighting…..what did you call those creatures again? Woof. Pokemon?"
Both boys' eyes went wide and Gar immediately ran up to them while waving his hands at his side while exclaiming, "Woah Woah Woah! Hold on there! Pokemon? As a Pokemon-Pokemon? Like these two right here?", He asked in a frenzy while referring to the two dog Pokémon by his feet.
Detective Tsukauchi nods and tells him, "Exactly. We assumed they would be no different than regular animals, but-."
Gar immensely took back his exasperated expression and finished off his thought, "But you stupidly underestimated your opponents and took them lightly. Not only did they royal cream you like an Alchemie, they all got away but somehow you managed to secure their cargo."
"Yes, that's correct. Woof.", Chief Tsuragamae confirmed with Shane in his voice.
"Well if you're going to ask me how they managed to get their hands on Pokémon you're going to have to find another source. I'm still trying to process all of this myself.", Gar told them seriously while rubbing his head.
"Maybe it was Team Rocket?", Izuku offered.
Gar shook his head while crossing his arms, replying, "Not likely. Only Team Rocket helps Team Rocket, not smaller criminal organizations. You're either with the team 100% or against it 100%."
Izuku turned back to the two men of law and asked them, "Detective Tsukauchi, Chief Tsuragamae. What kind of cargo were they carrying? You said there were poachers right? What exactly were they poaching?"
Detective Tsukauchi waved over someone, and an officer brought over a small creature that was already open.
The detective motioned to the open crate and said simply, "These."
The two boys curiously looked into the box and their eyes and jaws fell wide open once again! In the box were stacks of very familiar items stored away in egg cartons and insulated in bubble wrap.
"Gar…..are-are these.", Izuku stammered out, gobstruck.
Gar nods and says aloud, "They are. Pokéballs. No doubt about it."
"But how?", Izuku asked while looking at the two adults.
"That's what we'd like to know. Woof.", Chief Tsuragamae asked back.
"You know.", Gar started with an aggravated sigh while rubbing his eyes. "If you had just called and asked me, I would've helped. What is with people today and just assuming I'd 'go with the flow! Do you honestly think I would have refused you, had you explained everything previously?", He asked with a joking and serious tone, only to watch the two men deflate the accusation. Making Gar grow even more irritated as he pointed accusingly with his index finger, "Say sike, right now."
"What is so special about these Pokemon in particular that they need to be poached? Aren't there like tons of them in your universe.", Izuku drew away Gar's ire.
Gar's sighed to calm himself and answered in a calmer tone, "Yes and no. It's like the situation you have with animals in your universe. There are lots, but many of them are rare or exotic. Even the items they hold are really expensive. Marowak bones, Far-fetched leeks, Dragalge fins. A lot of rich people want them as pets, they have no idea how to care for them. Then send them off into the wild where they become invasive. The ecosystem gets wrecked etc.", He listened nonchalantly while waving his hand in a circle. "I can't even imagine what would happen if wild Pokémon suddenly started roaming your universe.", He told them with a stressful expression.
Trying to pull the current conversation away Detective Tsukauchi asked, "So what do you think these are? I mean, they beat us pretty bad so they could've taken a few creates, but they didn't. Once reinforcements came they just abandoned everything."
"Perhaps their…..cheap Pokemon.", Izuku offered, gaining the ire and growls from both dog Pokemon.
Gar shook his head and replied, "No such thing…..in my opinion. Well no use in standing around wondering about it, let's pop one open and see.", He said while picking out a random ball, pushing the button, and throwing it into the air.
The ball burst open and out manifested a Charmander that glimmered as it formed! The small Pokemon excitedly jumped into the air and expelled it's cry like a happy child playing peek-a-boo. It ran up and pounced on Detective Tsukauchi's legs, playfully biting his pants.
Both Gar and Izuku's eyes widened once more with their jaws dropped and bodies lost without feeling, only the shock!
"G-Gar! I-Is THAT-!?", Izuku tried to stammer out again, only to get tongue-tied.
"Yeah.", Gar mindlessly replied with a head nod accompanying his star-struck expression.
"I don't get it.", Chief Tsuragamae said, confused.
Both boys snapped their heads towards the two men, making them flinch, and Gar was the first to blow up at their comment.
"Whaddya means 'you don't get it'?! This is shiny!", Gar exclaimed like it should be obvious.
Leading both men to awkwardly stare at one another before looking back at both boys, with consistent unknowing expressions.
"A shiny Pokemon!", Izuku exclaimed right after.
Still no light of realization from the two men.
Gar sighed with aggravation as he explained more in-depth, "A shiny is a Pokemon of a different color, they're really rare and really valuable!"
"And?", They both asked.
"AND!?", Gar and Izuku shouted back.
Izuku then took a step back from his freak out and simplified it for them, saying, "They're like limited edition collectible figurines."
That was then the light of realization hit the two men and then nodded at one another, finally realizing what the two boys were so extravagant about.
Gar looked between the two men with a confused and disbelief expression strung across his face, palms up at his face as he exclaimed, "Seriously! That's what allowed you to understand it?!", The two men looked sheepishly at Gar who let out an aggravated grunt, slapping his face while waving off his previous statement, saying, "Whatever! Anyway, it's unlikely they're all Shiny Pokemon, so I guess we just grabbed-what Izuku?!", He asked impatiently if Izuku persistently tugged at his arm.
He looked over to the side where Izuku was trying to get his attention and saw several Pokemon scattered about with even more being released by officers. But it wasn't the Pokémon themselves that shook the words from his mouth, it was their color. All the Pokémon now present were their natural Shiny color!
"I'm guessing these are all Shiny Pokemon? Woof ", Chief Tsuragamae asked suspiciously.
As Gar looked around at the many many Shiny Pokemon littering about, mouth wide open and brain buzzing with several thoughts, he said mindlessly to no one with hands on his head, "But that makes no sense. How can there be this many Shiny Pokemon?! It's near impossible to find them in the wild, let alone breed them! I know, I've tried!"
Meanwhile, Izuku helped pry off the Charmander wrapped around the slightly panicked Tsukauchi. Who was getting nervous around the Pokémon's whipping flame-tipped tail. Izuku took the Pokémon into his arms and held him like a small child. The Pokémon reached up and licked the bottom of his chin. While Izuku holds the Pokemon, he notices something strange about its scales.
He rubs the Pokémon a few times before grabbing Gats attention and asking, "Something is fishy. Gar doesn't this Charmander feel…..weird?"
Gar turns his attention back to Izuku and pets the Pokémon's head, feeling its scales. He makes a few more strokes around its body before Charmander grabs his hand and playful bites it.
Gar put a hand on his chin and said in agreement, "Yeah you're right, Izuku. It does feel weird. Everything about this is weird.", He narrows his eyes, calmer than before, and takes another look around while suspiciously asking, "How can anyone acquire so many Shiny Pokemon in one go? Especially of the same species….can I see one of that Pokéball again?", He says out of the blue.
Tsukauchi nods and takes out a new Pokéball, placing it into the young man's hands. Gar holds the device and looks it over thoroughly before finally concluding.
It looked like a normal Pokéball at first glance, red top and white bottom, but look closer and you'll see several differences. The outer shell of the Pokéball was made up like shell scutes, with the whole thing covered in small squares. It was red on top, but when you got further from it changed colors ever so slightly that it turned from red to orange and then yellow. The bottom was a bike before diverging to other colors the further away you got. It even glimmered and reflected different colors depending on how light it was. The whole Pokéball looked like a color wheel.
"Just as I thought.", Gar said with an assured tone as the three people crowd around him. "Color balls.", He states plainly, getting confused looks from everyone. Gar sighs again while rubbing his face, and expands upon his previous statement, saying, "Color balls are illegal Pokéballs from my universe. When a Pokémon is successfully captured within one, said Pokemon is painted to their natural Shiny color. It's unharmful if not a bit irritating to the Pokémon. But it allows the illegal bulk counterfeit sale of fake Shiny Pokemon at top price. It's pretty annoying."
"Sounds like you have prior experience?", Tsukauchi asked with a teasing suspicion.
Gar blushes at his ears while lowering his head and said back in a pathetic tone, "I was young and dumb. Cut me some slack."
"If they're painted, then can't we wash them off? Woof.", Chief Tsuragamae asked.
Gar shakes his head while freeing his hand from Charmander, telling him, "Not that simple. Once a Pokemon is painted in a Color ball it doesn't come off."
Then a light bulb blinked into his head and he followed up saying with a thinking tone, "Though there's one exception."
He then unclipped a Great ball from his belt and threw it into the air. The ball popped open and a new Pokemon manifested in front of the three men.
It is a bipedal, beagle-like Pokémon with white and brown fur. It has a long tail with an end resembling a paintbrush. This paintbrush oozes with paint, and the color of the paint may vary for each Smeargle, as well as change in hue corresponding to its emotions. It has a footprint on its back that is the same color as the tip of the tail. It also has a round structure on its head with a point that resembles a beret. It has floppy, brown ears and a brown collar on its neck. The rings encircling its eyes are also brown, as are the eyelids. Its arms have two brown bands, and its legs have only one. Each of its limbs has three digits.
Boltund and Houndoom barked excitedly at the new Pokémob and began to lick it happily, leasing said Pokemon to scare them off with a harsh hiss and a whip of its tail! Making both dog Pokemon hide behind Gar, making him laugh. The Pokémon looked standoffish at Gar's reaction and turned up its nose while walking away from a few steps.
"What's that?", Detective Tsukauchi asked, as the Pokémon made an insulting snort at the man's description of it.
With an excited smile, Izuku sounds off similar to Rotom and lists off a simplified version of this new Pokémon Dex info. "Smeargle, the Painter Pokemon. It draws symbols with the fluid that oozes from the tip of its tail. Depending on the symbol, Smeargle fanatics will pay big money for them. There are more than 5,000 different marks.", He listed off excitedly.
"People actually pay for tail goop on paper? Woof.", Chief Tsuragamae asked incredulously, as Smeargle whips its tail and tries to spray its tail fluid at the dog man.
Gar chuckles at this and commands Smeargle while pointing at the Charmander, "Use Detoxify."
Izuku sits Charmander on the ground where Smeargle walks over and shakes out a clear liquid into its tail. Charmander thinks it's a game and tries to grab the tail, only to get a quick snap and hiss from Smeargle, making the small Pokemon still. Smeargle then sets off to work and begins to rub the clear liquid all over the smaller Pokémon's body. Within moments of making contact, the paint on Charmander's body melted off and revealed its natural orange color.
"The paint is coming off. Incredible!", Detective Tsukauchi exclaimed with intrigue.
Gar then switches off to Tsukauchi and says with a serious tone, handing off several things to him, "Detective Tsukauchi, hold onto Smeargle and unpaint all these Pokemon. If there are any more Smeargle among them use this TM it contains the move Detoxify.", He says while shoving both the Great ball and TM disk into his arms, nearly making the man falter. "Don't expect it to be of infinite use, Smeargle still needs to take a break. And don't worry, Color balls only have a one-time use, so when you return them they won't get repainted.", He assured him while giving a 'do you're best' pat on the shoulder.
Just before the young man could turn to walk away, Tsukauchi calls out saying, "Wait, how do I use this? And where are you going?"
Gar snorts out a breath and explains briefly, "Place the TM on the button of the Pokéball while the Pokémon is still inside of it. Then spin the TM and the Pokémon will learn it. As for me and Izuku, we're leaving to somewhat enjoy the remainder of this day.", Then snaps his fingers for the two Dog Pokemon to follow. He takes Izuku's hands and pulls him away while saying over his shoulder with a wave, "You know where I live so you can return Smeargle to me when you're done. If you find out who their dealer or sender is, let me know and I'll help you from there. See ya."
With that, the two teens and Pokemon leave to somewhat save their half-ruined day, unsure of what the future will bring. Especially finding the knowledge of whoever was responsible for this huge poaching scam, and Gar had a feeling he knew exactly who it was.