Chapter 23

"Catch Him If You Can"

Having learned that Mr. Looker was arriving at JFK Airport, there was no time to lose in terms of catching him. The sooner we caught him, the sooner that the public can be made a little safer. Sure, we pissed off people on the roads, but what can you do when you have to catch a criminal?

"The hell is wrong with these people?" I yelled, honking my horn and yelling out the window of my car. "Let us through! Police!"

Naturally, our car wasn't NYPD, but we were law enforcement nonetheless.

"Dad, people aren't going to let us pass," I heard Tim say.

"Oh yes, they will," I said, reaching to my belt and pulling out a Pokeball. "Machoke, come on out!"

Activating the Pokeball, the muscular Pokemon Machoke on the hood of the car. His weight nearly crushing the car forward.

"Machoke, get us out of this traffic!" I ordered and doing as he was told, Machoke reached down and picked up the car. Head towards JFK, now!"

"Dad are you crazy?!"

"A little bit," I replied, grateful that one of my Pokemon was helping us out getting through the traffic, jumping on top of car after car, much to the annoyance and aggravation of New Yorkers everywhere. Eventually we got onto the highway thanks to Machoke and with my natural guidance, we were able to arrive at JFK Airport quickly.

"Okay Tim, you, Pikachu and Minnie May cover the north end of arrivals," I commanded, directing them towards the north end of arrivals. "Rally, you and I cover the south end!"

Drawing her gun, Rally followed me into the Worldport's arrivals hall south entrance, trying to get our target neutralized and removed without anyone getting hurt. Tim, Pikachu and Minnie May covered the north entrance. From there, it was a waiting game to find our target.

For 10 minutes, we waited and waited for our target to arrive. With our guns drawn, it seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, Rally looked to the corner of her eye and saw what looked like our target, wearing a brown trenchcoat and accompanied by several NYPD officers, much to our surprise.

"Detective Goodman?" the man asked, who looked strictly like our target. I could have pointed my weapon, but he had other officers with him, so I didn't. Still, he looked very much like our target. "The FBI told me you and your team will be here."

"Who are you?" asked Rally.

"Detective Looker of the International Police."

A sudden urge of confusion befell upon us at the revelation that our target was standing beside us.

"But aren't you…?" I stammered.

"The Looker you are looking for isn't even a name," he said. "It's only a cover story. Our true target is just getting off the plane. Keep your eye out, he's wearing a Yankees baseball cap."

"Tim, you and the others stand down, the Looker we are looking for is a coverup."

Listening on the other end, Tim and Minnie May each looked confused.

"A coverup?" remarked Minnie May.

"Sounds like it," Tim said. "But if it's not Looker, then who?"

…

At that moment, Detective Looker drew his gun towards a young Latino man in his mid-20's wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. In his hands was a brown suitcase with what looked like a "R" on the cover.

"Come on," whispered Detective Looker, urging us to follow him quietly and not spook our target. Just as the man was getting to the door, we pointed our weapons right at him.

"POLICE! FREEZE!" I called and the man dropped his suitcase and reached for his belt to release a Pokemon at us as he tried to look for a way to escape the terminal while passengers and staff screamed and ran for their lives.

Panting, the suspect opened the Pokeball and released a Scyther on us. Before I could reach for another of my Pokemon, Detective Looker and the NYPD officers opened fire on the Scyther, hitting it with bullets as it dropped dead. Tim, Pikachu and Minnie May ran towards the suspect as he drew a weapon out of his belt that looked like a knife. Channeling his inner power through his cheeks, Pikachu released a thundershock attack on the suspect, the charge hitting him in the leg and knocking the knife out of his hand.

Growling, the suspect attempted to regain his knife, trying to move with his leg frozen from the thunderstruck.

"FREEZE! DON'T MOVE!"

But the suspect wouldn't freeze as he managed to obtain his knife. Darting, Pikachu attempted to aim another electric attack towards the suspect's arm, but the suspect managed to take the knife and slash at Pikachu's throat, causing him to cry out loudly.

"PIKACHU! NO!" screamed Tim as the bleeding Pikachu laid on the hard floor. I darted over towards them and just before the suspect could strike Tim, I took out my taser and fired it into the suspect's back, causing him to scream loudly in pain, cursing and swearing. "Pikachu, are you okay?"

Several police officers ran towards Tim and the downed Pikachu as Rally and I got to the suspect, forcefully dragging him to his feet as he let out a loud cry of anger. Just then, he saw Kelly Shiragami, the interim head of ALERT security being escorted into the baggage claim area.

"You…" the suspect snarled.

"Is this him?" an officer asked, showing Kelly a picture of the suspect.

"That's him," Kelly answered, pointing to the suspect. "That's Looker or someone trying to pretend to be him."

The suspect kept his eye locked on Kelly as he was dragged away while all the attention focused on the wounded Pikachu as one of the airport medical staff arrived on the scene.

"Pik, hang on, little guy," Tim cried as the medical staff worked on stopping the bleeding. I dashed over to my son and hugged him as our own top Pokemon was dealing with injuries.

…

Later, I spoke on the phone with Lieutenant Hoshida and briefed him on what happened from St. Vincent's Hospital in Lower Manhattan.

"I'm sorry about Pikachu, Harry," he said on the phone. "I hope he pulls through."

"I hope so too, Loo," I sighed looking at Tim with his face buried in his hands. Pikachu's blood stained on his shirt. "So, Looker isn't even who we were looking for, but some young kid."

"Yeah, it's clear to me that I should have told you that Looker is really on our side working for the International Police. His name and identity were stolen by this suspect. Does he have any identification?"

Sighing, I couldn't say anything on account that I felt like I needed to be there for my son.

"They found a forged passport with the fake identification," I said. "They've also obtained information from Pan Am's Human Resources about who this guy really was."

Just then, Detective Looker arrived through the free moving doors of the hospital and it seemed that he had some news.

"Listen, Loo, I gotta go," I said. "I'll call you back."

"Okay."

Hanging up the phone, I walked over to Detective Looker and awaited what he had to say.

"It's as I thought," he said. "We identified the guy. He's someone whom we've been tracking for a while in Europe."

"Who is he?"

"Victor Gitano, a Team Rocket agent who was disguised working for Pan Am's ALERT division in Frankfurt as a security agent. We also believe he may be wanted in a series of Pokemon related murders in Vermillion CIty. My team is questioning him right now."

Part of me developed a sense of anger at this guy, knowing that he tried to kill Pikachu.

"We also brought the Scyther we killed to the medical examiner's office," he continued. "We're checking to see if he was brainwashed with the "R" gas Howard Clifford invented."

"Is it?"

"We don't know at this time, Harry," he said. "You might want to focus on your Pikachu right now…and your son."

So, being like any good father, I sat down with my son and waited for news on Pikachu's condition while at the same time, Rally and Minnie May joined the interrogation of Victor Gitano for actions.

…

…