The hideout that Looker wanted us to help raid was located at Virbank City, a port city in southwestern Unova with many hangars, docks, and waterways. Apparently, this hideout is important to Team Plasma and the success of this raid might mean a breakthrough in the investigations on the Plasmas.
The interpol met up with the Unovan trainers that the Unova League had pledged to provide us, with Looker being the main point of contact between the interpol and the local authorities. The plans were laid out and discussed, rehashed, and subsequently finalised before we break off to conduct our individual preparations before the real thing begins.
The Plasma hideout turned out to be a series of hangars clustered in the northeastern side of the city. As such, our forces were split up to cover the huge area that we have to comb. I'm not sure if Looker simply wanted all of us to get some leadership experience or if he had other motives, but he split all of the interpol members up to the point that there was one of us in each smaller squad. Each individual squad is responsible for the raid of the hangar being assigned to us.
So, yeah, here I am, a soon to be fourteen year old girl, being responsible for leading a squad of trainers that are all obviously older than I am. Not only that, I'm certain that they are more familiar with this song and dance than I am.
No stress, Looker said. Just do your best, Skye said. This is normal, Akamu said. If they don't listen, just beat them into submission, Vance said.
Yeah, right. No stress, no stress at all.
We had about half an hour to familiarise ourselves with our temporary colleagues, so that was what I did. The first thing I noticed about the squad I was assigned to was that they were all guys. The second thing I noticed was that we were the smallest squad in terms of numbers. Including me, we only have six trainers. The third thing I noticed was that the members of my squad seem to be different from the bulk of the manpower being provided to us by the Unova League. Their different attire said it all.
"Our names? I'm afraid we cannot disclose that to you, ma'am, but we are known as Team Liepard. See the numbers printed here? Mine is 1, so call me by Liepard 1. That guy with the number 2 is Liepard 2, and so on."
These trainers were dressed professionally, and when I said professionally, I meant professionally. They were covered from head to toe in what I assumed were kevlar armoured suits, their faces obscured by helmets with reflective visors that prevented me from even glimpsing at their faces. Their getup really reminded me of some futuristic fps game from my old world, something similar to the lines of Halo. A number is printed over the chestplate where their heart is, which was what Liepard 1 was telling me about. The same number is also printed on the shoulder plates of their armoured suits.
If they had any discontent with my obvious inexperience in such an operation, they didn't show it. In fact, I'm glad I asked them if there's anything I need to take note of before embarking on this raid because they were very helpful and actually gave me lots of tips. Even the least experienced trainer in Team Liepard had two years of experience as an operative under his belt.
"Don't use your real name in such operations, never know when the bad guys might find out and send word back to their HQ if you missed one or two of them. You don't want them to harass you when you are off duty. Unless you are a famous public figure, like the Gym Leaders, then there's no point in going by a codename since everybody is going to know who you are anyway."
"You might also want something to cover your face with the next time you go on such missions. I mean, the interpol definitely has the budget to tailor individual gear for each of you, right? Trust me, the lesser you show yourself, the better."
"Why are we dressed differently from the other squads? See those trainers with plain uniforms there? Those are trainers under the Unova League. People like us and the ones over there-" Liepard 1 pointed to Skye's squad and Akamu's squad, whose squad members are dressed similarly to mine, "- work for the Dandolos family."
"Wait, you guys are not League trainers?"
"No, we are here because Lady Leticia ordered us to. The League had requested the Dandolos family to assist in the coordination between the interpol and the League to resolve the Plasma issue, I'm sure you know about that."
Guess I learn something new everyday.
"What made you guys decide to work as private hires instead of becoming League trainers?" I asked, feeling curious. Becoming a League trainer is the most favoured option for trainers regardless of the region, simply because the respective Leagues are the biggest employers in the trainer industry and thus, have the capability to provide better welfare. Working as private hires like Team Liepard did is also an option, but the career path might not be as stable and the benefits really depend on how generous your employer is. Powerful families are known and are allowed to hire trainers to build their own private force, subjected to the respective Regional League's approval on a case-by-case basis, just like how mine did to guard our family's farm and interests and how the Dandolos family did in order to better fulfil their duties to the region.
The popularity and importance of the annual pokemon league tournament in every region is not just because of the entertainment value it brings, but also because it is an opportunity for employers from all over the region to scout for new talents to bring into their fold. I myself had received offers from the League forces immediately after the conference, be it from ACE, Rangers, or the LSDF, but I had rejected them all simply because I wasn't interested and also because I didn't have an urgent need to find myself a stable job.
As for offers from private firms or other individuals, I received none, but that was because nobody was dumb enough to try and employ a Vera since we are the equivalent of nobility in our region. It just wouldn't look good for either side. For people who descended from a family like mine, the only "employer" we could possibly work under would be the Regional Leagues that we belong to, because we would be then seen as "contributing to the safety of the region" as per our family's duty. It's simply a matter of perception and appearance that we are obliged to show to the public. Otherwise, the only other jobs we can work on are the types that our families are known for or to simply start our own businesses.
Liepard 1 simply shrugged his shoulders after hearing my question.
"It's simply the best choice."
"She's not going to understand, she's an eight badge trainer," Liepard 5 said somewhat sarcastically. I don't think he means ill will, but I definitely sensed jealousy and a little bit of hostility oozing out from his words.
"What he means is that we all individually suck as trainers," Liepard 3 quickly cut Liepard 5 off before he could continue ranting. "All of us here, we came from humble backgrounds that do not give us much assistance in our career. Team Liepard is an elite team even within the Dandolos family, but we are not that skilled individually. Liepard 1 here is the strongest here at seven badges, I'm a six badge trainer, and Liepard 5 has the least badges at five badges."
Liepard 2, who had been most silent the entire time, finally spoke up.
"If you became an eight badge trainer at your age it would either mean you really are talented, or you have some sort of background to provide you with the resources and backing you needed to rise to that level. For your case, it's probably both. It's the same for your region too, right? That most trainers would drop out of their gym circuit at around the fourth or fifth gym?"
I nodded in affirmation.
"These trainers have reached their plateau, or hit their skill cap as we would say. I'm not too sure about Hoenn, but in Unova, there are only so many places that would take such trainers in, the quote-unquote "failures" or "dropouts" like us. Unlike Elite trainers who have competed in a League at least once and have proven themselves, we don't have many choices in our career. Beggars can't be choosers."
Liepard 2 held out two fingers.
"The most popular choice would be as you said, to become a League trainer and join their ranks. Why is this the most popular choice? Pay is decent, there are always vacancies available due to the high death- I mean, ahem, turnover rate. Progression is guaranteed as long as you do your part, we have opportunities to learn under more experienced trainers so that we can get stronger and possibly earn another badge or two to beautify our resume."
"That option is for pussies-"
"Shut up, Liepard 5, stop being annoying," Liepard 2 turned to growl at him, shutting him up instantly, before turning back to continue our conversation. "The other option is the one we took, to become private hires. There are pros and cons in doing so as compared to becoming League trainers, but we were also lucky enough to be able to join a renowned family like the Dandolos. The career path and progression for private hires isn't guaranteed, for one. The pay really depends on how well-off our employer is and how generous they are, but more than that, the main reason why we joined the Dandolos is because they are the Dandolos, a family renowned for their expertise and history with Dark types. This alone is a very tempting offer for Dark Specialists in itself, and all of us here are Dark Specialists who have reached a plateau in our individual skills."
"I think I understand now. Instead of picking the safer route of having a more stable pay and somewhat guaranteed career progression by being a League trainer, you guys place more value on the knowledge and prestige that the Dandolos family could possibly provide to you should you work for them?"
"That's basically it. Like I said, we lucked out with the Dandolos, because they are generous with the pay they are handing out to us. Granted, it is stated in our employment contracts that taking part in dangerous and highly confidential stuff is going to be the norm simply by being affiliated with the Dandolos, but we knew what we were signing up for when we handed in our resume. Not only that, we were also taught knowledge about Dark types that we couldn't possibly have found out from anywhere else and if you work hard enough, like what Liepard 1 did, you might even be given a powerful pokemon from Grimsley himself. A pokemon which is an offspring of a pokemon from an Elite Four's main team, where else are you going to get your hands on a pokemon like that?"
The bisharp standing beside Liepard 1 let out a metallic scratchy huff, looking pleased after hearing those words. From that alone I could tell that the bisharp is the pokemon in question which Grimsley had gifted to Liepard 1.
I can understand the reasoning behind the choices made by the members of Team Liepard. Be it talent, knowledge, or background, I had no lack of these the moment I was born simply because I am a Vera. I never thought about how these had positively affected me as a trainer because I had all of them in the palm of my hand to begin with. I always knew I had a headstart compared to my peers, but I never did truly comprehend just how big that head start was.
However, trainers like them, people who came from ordinary backgrounds and have no avenues to access the knowledge they need to progress further into their career, have to actively search for ways to get the knowledge and resources required to further their skills in order to clinch the prestigious title of Elite trainer. Becoming a League trainer or becoming a private hire for a renowned family are two ways out of many to do so. I had seen and heard of my father and brother giving out pokemon to the trainers working for our family as a reward and recognition for their hard work, but I never thought to think deeper into the significance of such an action until now. The knowledge, prestige, and rewards that come from working for a renowned family is certainly an important factor to consider if I were in their shoes.
"That said, any chances of us working for your family?"
"I don't think Leticia or Grimsley would be pleased if I were to headhunt their trainers that they had sent to help me," I replied dryly to Liepard 4's remark, even if we were all aware that he intended it to be a joke. "But if you are the most elite team with none of you being an eighth badge trainer, I'm starting to wonder just how powerful a team of eight badge trainers trained by the Dandolos would be."
The members of Team Liepard looked at each other quizzically. In the end, Liepard 1 was the one who answered.
"I'm not sure how to explain this, but it doesn't work that way, at least for Dark types. This is because we are… uh, a team, you see. For Dark types, strength may not necessarily be additive, in the sense like one plus one might not be equal to two. We place more emphasis on the…"
"Synergy," Liepard 2 helpfully answered when Liepard 1 struggled to find a suitable word.
"Synergy, between the members of the team. If done well, one plus one can be greater than two even if the individuals are weak individually. If done poorly, one plus one might even give you a deficit even if they are all world-class trainers or pokemon. You… get what we mean?"
"I… think so?" I replied, a little unsure, while my mind goes back to what Sidney shared with me that day when I consulted him about Dark types. "Does that mean that my addition to your team is actually…? You know, negative, since you guys have already perfected your teamwork and all that between yourselves?"
"To be perfectly honest?"
"Perfectly honest."
"We don't know until we try out, because we don't know what you can do, and you don't know what we can do besides the brief introduction we did earlier. Chances are, our original synergy will be affected negatively in one way or another, unless you are a pro like Grimsley who is able to immediately adapt his pokemon to all kinds of shit no matter what team they are being drafted into. I would say not to worry too much about it though, because being able to adapt is a very prominent trait in Dark types and as Dark Specialists who live to command them, we have to be able to do the same. If you are unable to get used to working around us in such a short timeframe, then we simply have to be able to work around you. You will see."
And boy, I only truly understood what they meant when I finally saw them in action.
The time to kickstart this operation eventually came. I finally understood what they meant by that they simply have to be able to work around me if I wasn't able to quickly adapt to working around them.
The feeling I experienced was very similar to what I witnessed back on Five Island when Jayce's pokemon did all the work in dispatching our foes. Each of the pokemon Team Liepard commands simply knows what to do with minimal instructions being issued. It's like they all knew where they had to be at, what they should be doing, how to not get in each other's way without being told despite how the situation at the battlefield was constantly changing. It's like what Liepard 1 had said, to adapt is a trait of Dark types and their Dark types had adapted to working around my pokemon in less than a minute.
Individually, it would take a long time for their pokemon to take down our foes if we were to assume that they had to fight one-on-one. However, that changes the moment if there were additions. Liepard 2's cacturne certainly wasn't able to take down an eelektross, but it just had to use a feint to provide a brief opening for Liepard 1's bisharp to capitalise on to slit its neck and take it down. Their teamwork was so seamless that I could have mistaken for both pokemon to have been trained by the same trainer.
It's not just limited to their pokemon too. It's obvious at a glance that my pokemon are definitely stronger and possess better firepower individually, and there is little doubt that they are able to take on most foes on their own without further assistance. But if any of Team Liepard's pokemon spotted any openings created by my pokemon during the course of the battle, they would immediately take advantage of it in a blink of an eye, ending the battle much faster than we could achieve if my pokemon were to work on their own. Somehow, they also managed to not hinder us in the process despite the fact that this was our first time working alongside each other.
It's the exact same thing I had seen Jayce's pokemon do back at Five Island, even if I had to admit that what Jayce's pokemon had done was a lot more brutal and efficient. He's not a Rocket Executive for nothing, even if he was technically an undercover spy.
I think I'm starting to understand now, what Grimsley and Sidney were talking about. I think I'm starting to understand the kind of teamwork that Grimsley was talking about in our conversation.
My job was mainly to compensate for the lack of defensive options that Team Liepard had because Dark types are not known for their defensive capabilities. Bigblue, Lily, and Ness were able to prevent the worst from hitting us. Rena supplemented our defensive capabilities with her psychic abilities while Fuzzy and Archer ran interference. Hulk was left to rampage by himself to create some chaos for the Plasmas, giving us the distraction we need while Joy hitches a ride on his broad shoulders to provide him some support and healing every now and then. My ghosts were tasked by me to scout the place so that we do not let any Plasmas slip by and if it was convenient for them, they were also more than welcomed to sabotage the battles in our favour.
"Hah, ghosts! Now I know why you were accepted into the interpol at your age. Even I sure as hell don't want to be on their bad side."
"Less talking more working, Liepard 3. Traveller, our next stop?"
"Eyes on my pangoro, he knows where to go. My banette is leading him."
I decided to stick with the codename of Traveller until I decided on a better codename for myself. Hulk's job for this operation is to be our unstoppable battering ram, charging into the fray with the rest of us following behind. Once my ghosts are done with scouting the place, Hulk is what we need to break through their defences and scatter them so that we can pick off the Plasmas hiding in this hangar one after the other.
Hulk punched through a wall, showing that there was more to what was being hidden behind the facade of a wall. A quick whisper from Wacky notified me that there was nobody in that hidden room that was full of important looking computers.
"Hulk, wait! Don't destroy the room!" I called for Hulk to stop before he continued with his rampage, and redirected him elsewhere to continue with his job. I quickly approached a computer terminal and Jarvis popped out from where he was hiding in my Xtransceiver before disappearing into the terminal itself. Team Liepard immediately understood what I was trying to do and formed a defensive perimeter around me.
"A porygon? Cool," Liepard 4 whistled while helping to cover our backs with help from his liepard. I left a few ghosts behind with the instructions to help look after Jarvis before turning back to Team Liepard.
"My porygon-z will be fine, let's get a move-on."
"If you say so," Liepard 1 nodded in acknowledgement before commanding his pokemon to cut a way through, creating so much chaos that Fuzzy faced no resistance in zapping the Plasmas silly until they were unable to move a finger from the paralysis.
Got to thank Elesa for teaching us how to master Thunder Wave once this is all over.
"Someone's trying to book it!"
Liepard 5 pointed to a corner where a few Plasmas were trying to escort someone out of the hangar, who was obviously someone of importance to them. If this person is as important as he seems to be, then there's no way we are going to let that happen.
Hulk crouched low before taking a huge leap into the air, letting out a deep roar as he attempted to quickly close the distance with Joy firing Charge Beams from where she was riding on his shoulder. The Plasmas immediately took countermeasures, releasing a conkeldurr to stop Hulk in his tracks. The rest of us immediately followed up only to be stopped by a tangrowth.
One moment we were trying to catch up to the fleeing Plasma VIP, and the next moment all we could see were a sea of thick green vines snaring us all. In one move, that tangrowth had effectively restricted our movements and ensnared us. I was lucky that Rena managed to put up a protective barrier in time, but the amount of vines wrapping around the barrier had also effectively halted our charge.
Team Liepard wasn't as lucky. They were all caught up in the vines together with their pokemon and were unable to move at all. That tangrowth was a smart one too, because it tied them up such that they were unable to access their pokeballs to release other pokemon out for battle. Bigblue, Ness, and Lily were also caught up in that unexpected counterattack. Archer is still trying to fight back by slicing the vines within his vicinity and with Fuzzy sticking close to him for protection, but it's just a matter of time before he's overwhelmed by the sheer number of vines and gets entangled as well. Hulk was still occupied with that conkeldurr so I sent Dolly and Wacky ahead to lead our friendly group of ghosts to intercept that Plasma VIP, but a powerful sawsbuck appeared from practically out of nowhere and was able to force them to a stop. Their battles wouldn't end anytime soon.
Now, I do have a few options available. The most obvious one would be to release Toothless to burn those vines down, but he's currently undergoing puberty and had grown to be a little too big to fit in enclosed spaces. I also am not certain if he could control his output properly to not accidentally hit Team Liepard with friendly fire. I could also call on Flamel for the job, but I have no idea how flammable these vines are. Again, I do not want to accidentally burn my allies.
Judging from how Archer's efforts are actually working in preventing the vines from ensnaring him and Fuzzy, at least for a short while, cutting these vines off is probably the safest and best option short of burning them off. If this fails, then I would have no choice but to call upon Flamel or Toothless and hope I don't accidentally give Team Liepard anything more than a slight burn.
There are only three pokemon I have on hand who are naturally born with the abilities to utilise powerful slicing motions. Archer is one of them, but he's currently preoccupied and barely able to fend for himself as it is. Kel is another, but her size is too small to be of any effective use for our current situation. That leaves me with the last option, the pokemon who is both big enough to create a difference, but also small enough to not collapse the place after I released it from its pokeball. That candidate is also our newest member who may or may not cooperate with us. Honestly, I never thought I would need to call upon haxorus for this raid and I never tried commanding it before. I have no idea how this would go.
Still, seconds are ticking and time is precious. I have to try.
I took out haxorus' pokeball and brought it close enough to my face so that I could whisper to it.
"Haxorus, sorry for disturbing your rest, but I really need your help. I need you to cut off these vines for me so that I can have a chance of investigating where that little girl you seeked had gone to."
Haxorus was strangely fixated on that little girl. If it's for her sake, then the chances of him cooperating with me would be higher. To my relief, haxorus' pokeball wiggled in acknowledgement after hearing what I had to say. It was willing to cooperate.
Rena quickly let a gap through her barriers for me to release haxorus. Haxorus' pokeball flew through the hole in the barrier and opened, releasing an angry dragon with dangerously sharp tusks. Haxorus roared in fury, its voice reverberating through the entire hangar, and it charged.
Tangrowth immediately recognised haxorus as a threat as more vines emerged with the use of Grass Knot to trap haxorus in place. Haxorus didn't care, its jaws releasing embers of draconic fire in response before it erupted into a huge blaze that enveloped its entire body. I would admit that it was a smart move, even if it's a little reckless. Draconic fire is not as flammable as normal flames and does not spread as quickly. By coating its entire body in flames, it would be able to burn off the vines attempting to wrap around it but similarly, haxorus would be inflicting constant damage to himself with this method. Somehow or another, these draconic flames also did not easily set these vines aflame, something which I viewed as an advantage because it would mean that the chances of us accidentally burning our allies would be low.
Haxorus sped ahead, brutally swinging its twin tusks about and cutting off the network of vines that were in its way. Tangrowth's hold around us started to loosen from how fast haxorus was clearing out the vines and how it had to direct more and more of its attention to haxorus who was steadily getting closer and closer. Haxorus' presence had considerably lessened the pressure Archer was facing and soon, Archer was able to cut a way out and free us, allowing us to get back into action and assist haxorus.
Not that it really needed much assistance anyway.
"I can handle things here, somebody needs to track down the person they were escorting!"
"Liepard 4 and 5! You guys are on the job! Move!"
Liepard 4 and 5 immediately did as commanded by Liepard 1, rushing out of the hangar to track the Plasma VIP that the Plasma grunts were trying to escort out of here. By now, I was able to finally get close enough to get a good look at how haxorus was faring.
Haxorus was busy spewing flames out of its mouth while savagely swinging its twin tusks from side to side, cutting off the mass of vines that the tangrowth was using to try and desperately defend itself. Haxorus knocked it down a second later, crushing the tangrowth under its foot before burning it into an unrecognisable mess with Incinerate.
Looking at haxorus, I can honestly understand why dragons are so feared. If this is what an untrained adult dragon could do, it's no surprise that Dragon Masters like Drake and Lance are held in such high regards.
"Dolly, Wacky, out of the way!"
I knew that things were not ending there when I spotted that enraged gleam in haxorus' eyes. I barely managed to call out to my ghosts before haxorus went charging off again. This time, haxorus had targeted the sawsbuck that was able to prevent my ghosts from pursuing our target with its expert usage of normal type moves. Dolly and Wacky managed to scatter just in time as haxorus collided into sawsbuck, the two pokemon locking their horns and trying to overpower the other with their physical strength. The sawsbuck didn't succeed because haxorus managed to overpower and eventually toss the sawsbuck into the air with a powerful twist of his neck. Its twin tusks began to glow and just as sawsbuck was about to fall back down into the ground, haxorus gave another powerful slice that resulted in a gruesome spray of blood.
Guillotine
It's starting to get increasingly obvious that haxorus was losing himself in his blind rage, continuously mauling and descreting sawsbuck's headless corpse. Its eyes caught movements and his attention was now brought to the battle between Hulk and the conkeldurr, a battle that Hulk was obviously winning.
Well, shit.
"Haxorus, you can stop now- Haxorus!"
Damn it, haxorus is really getting out of control.
"Hulk, dodge!"
Haxorus charged at the two fighting types in a frenzy and I doubt he recognised Hulk as an ally at this point. Hulk was able to get out of the way in time and I could tell he was pissed for almost being implicated by friendly fire. Conkeldurr was on the losing end to begin with, and it didn't last for more than ten seconds after an insane haxorus was trying to rip it limb from limb with its tusks.
I could recall haxorus back into his pokeball and end everything here, but I know that this is not going to solve anything. I wasn't previously aware that haxorus was prone to bouts of insane rampages because it showed no such inclinations, but now that this problem has surfaced, haxorus needs to know what kind of danger and trouble his behaviour brings about for everyone around him.
The good thing is, we have completed the tasks assigned to us on our end and the only thing we have to do now is to wait for Liepard 4 and 5 to return with the Plasma VIP in tow. This gives me the time to try and talk some sense into haxorus, who ended conkeldurr with Guillotine just like how it ended sawsbuck and was still trying to pick a fight with any moving objects he sees.
"Lily, restrain him. Everyone, assist."
My pokemon sensed the change in my mood and immediately leapt into action. Haxorus took it as a challenge and it was clear by now that he was no longer able to differentiate friend from foe. Haxorus tried the same trick it did with tangrowth, but while tangrowth had much more vines than Lily it does not boast the incredible regenerative powers Lily possesses. Those flames need to be far hotter than that to stop Lily in her tracks.
Fuzzy provided the distraction Lily needs by flitting around haxorus in high speed flight. Thanks to that, Lily managed to wrap her tentacles around haxorus, who is struggling with all of his might and attempting to cut his way through with his tusks. Lily was not stupid enough to let them happen to her and was taking great care of avoiding his tusks. I could see the effects of Giga Drain rapidly setting in from how haxorus' struggle started to lessen. Bigblue and Hulk were more direct in their approach. Bigblue simply punched haxorus at the back of his head with Ice Punch and slammed it into the ground while Hulk used a Body Slam to get haxorus to stay down, and then decided to just sit on haxorus and physically hold his head down, preventing it from struggling at all.
I walked up closer to haxorus until we were less than a foot apart, my steps unhurried and the rest of my pokemon by my side. I could observe how the look in haxorus' eyes was starting to clear and knowing that haxorus wouldn't be able to move an inch unless my pokemon allows him to, I knelt down to talk to him once we were just an arm's length apart.
"Are you able to listen to reason now?"
Haxorus growled, and I can still hear the hint of defiance in his voice.
"I'm not going to apologise, because I think this is warranted as your actions were starting to endanger everyone here. Wacky and Dolly were one thing, they could easily recover from most wounds because they are ghosts, but you nearly sliced Hulk's arm off back there. That certainly crossed the line, don't you think?"
Haxorus looked away shiftily. Good, if he is capable of feeling guilt, then it means he is capable of listening to reason.
"I understand if you are unable to bring yourself to trust anybody after what you have been through, and I know you are not exactly happy with me being your trainer because in your mind, there is a far better candidate that you want to follow. I don't mind that, really, but just as I'm sure that back in the wild there are rules to follow in a dragon pack, there are also rules that we both have to follow here in human society. You get that so far?"
Haxorus didn't reply and didn't even look in my direction. Hulk wasn't pleased at the lack of response and gave haxorus another painful punch on the top of his head, causing haxorus to yelp in pain.
"Do you get what I am saying so far?"
This time, haxorus replied with a growl, although it was still not looking at me.
"I will be frank about your circumstances. Under usual circumstances I wouldn't be able to keep you by my side. I only managed to do so because my family I belong to is given many special privileges, and also because I am qualified in the eyes of the law to be your caretaker. I don't know if you voluntarily give in to your rampages or not and I'm willing to give you the benefit of doubt, but I can safely tell you that if you continue to be this reckless, if you are going to endanger yourselves and everyone around you like how you did this time, I'm going to be forced to give you away. Why? Because you have proved that I'm a trainer incapable of restraining and rehabilitating you whenever you go on another of your rampages."
Haxorus finally decided to look at me.
"Let me spell this out for you. If I am forced to give you away, I do not know who I will be giving you away to because I might not be able to have a say in it. Your new handler may or may not be nicer than I am, but I do know for sure that their job would be to rehabilitate you so that you will not be a threat to everyone around you. If they fail like I did, they will be forced to give you away to someone who is presumably more qualified than them, and this cycle will keep repeating if you continue to display the behaviour you just showed us. This cycle will continue until one day, everyone thinks you are a lost cause because nobody was able to break you from this behaviour. If you are thinking that we can simply release you back to where you came from, I'm sorry, we cannot, because there's no guarantee that your berserker behaviour would not create more problems for human society if you accidentally wander too close to a human settlement and accidentally go into another fit of rage like you just did."
Haxorus showed how displeased he was with that statement with how he was baring his fangs at me. I simply ignored him and continued.
"And when every single handler you came across has failed and everyone thinks that rehabilitating you is a lost cause, what do you think will happen? We will be left with no choice but to put you down. Nobody will be able to protect you then, nobody will be able to save you, not even me even if I want to, because you had proved to everyone that I was incapable of keeping you in line and you had proved that you are a threat to everyone around you. Believe it or not, I really don't want that to happen, because since young I was taught that pokemon should be respected and cared for, that humans and pokemon can be friends and live alongside each other, but for that to happen I cannot be the only party trying to make things happen, I need you to cooperate as well. It takes two hands to clap. If falling into a blind rage like you did earlier is not something that you can control, let me know, we will figure something out, but you cannot just charge into battle like that without letting us know in advance that you are susceptible to implicating us in friendly fire, especially when you are aware that Rena is always around and is capable of acting as your translator. That's unacceptable."
Haxorus had quietened down by now. He's listening.
"Let me simplify it for you: your chances of encountering the little girl you are pining for are much higher if you follow me because I'm working on the case that is related to her disappearance. Until we are able to find the little girl that you want to follow, you are stuck with me. So, in order to help each other to reach our individual objectives, let's set some very basic ground rules."
I held up two fingers.
"One, if I say stop, you stop. I'm going to turn a blind eye if you decide to go all savage like how you did here and rip our opponents' innards out, but there are times where we have to capture them alive. So, if I say stop, you stop. This is rule number one."
Seeing that haxorus is not objecting to it, I continued with rule number two.
"Two, under no circumstances will you endanger us, and I mean it. My ghosts' intangible properties aside, what happened when you suddenly interfered with Hulk's fight when he was clearly winning had endangered him. From now onwards, if you hurt any of my pokemon in any way, shape, or form due to your recklessness, you will have crossed the line and mark my words, I will make you pay the price. Are we clear about this?"
Haxorus grunted an agreement and I smiled. This talk went well, all things considered.
I patted haxorus on the head and signalled for Lily and Hulk to let haxorus go.
"Still, thanks for earlier. You really saved us from the tangrowth back there, we wouldn't have won without you," I stroked haxorus and scratched the bottom of his jaw, who had risen up to his full height after being released from his bind. There is a faint tinge of red around his cheeks.
Is haxorus… blushing?
I was holding haxorus' pokeball in my hand all along, just in case he goes on another uncontrollable rampage and I have no choice but to recall him back into his pokeball. I wasn't expecting haxorus to quickly tap on the switch of the pokeball with his snout, almost like he was trying to escape and hide, and voluntarily recall himself back into it.
Huh, haxorus is actually weak to praise. I never knew.
A slow clap brought my attention back to Team Liepard. More specifically, Liepard 2 was the one clapping.
"Bravo, wonderful speech. I never thought dragons could be reasoned with."
"Clearly you haven't seen the truly absurd things," I rolled my eyes as the image of the little girl instantly calming haxorus with a touch flashed across my mind. Compared to what she had effortlessly done, what I did was unimpressive. I gave Kratos the talk too when he was still a stubborn larvitar and it still took me a month or so to finally get him to listen to me, this was nothing.
"Alright, less talk, more work," Liepard 1 interrupted the conversation and began to order the remainder of the squad around. "Liepard 2 and 3, secure the perimeter, back to work we go. Traveller, I think you can report to Command that we are done here."
"Will do," I affirmed and relayed our situation to Looker, who had also confirmed with us that Liepard 4 and 5 managed to capture whatever VIP the Plasmas were trying to escort out of here when we raided the place. It's a successful raid no matter how you look at it.
Liepard 1 then pulled me aside out of earshot of anybody else, invoking my curiosity.
"Yes?"
"You are an Ability Holder, aren't you? The way you understood what your ghosts told you during the operation, that's not natural. Even if your espeon is acting as your translator through telepathy, you understood them too fast. Whatever you did, it is not telepathy."
"I…" I opened my mouth and my first reaction was to deny his claim, but I failed to form a proper and convincing reply from the sudden surprise by Liepard 1's question. In the end, I decided to just admit it.
"Yes, I have the ability to communicate with ghosts. If you want to report this to Leticia or whoever it is you report to in the Dandolos family, it's fine, I'm not exactly trying to hide this from them."
I couldn't see the expression on Liepard 1's face thanks to his reflective visor, but he did look around to double check that we weren't being listened to before he continued talking to me with a soft voice.
"Look, Traveller, I don't know what it is like for Ability Holders in Hoenn, but in Unova, you have to hide your abilities. I'm not proud of it, but I'm also not ashamed to admit that there is very strong prejudice against Ability Holders in Unova. The discrimination has lessened, sure, but bad things have happened before to those people and it will definitely happen again. I don't want you to be a victim too. If you want to talk with your ghosts, it's fine, do it when you are sure that nobody is looking. If you have to do it when somebody is looking, act as if your espeon is helping you with its telepathy. If people suspect and confront you like I did, deny, deny and deny no matter how they press for an answer."
"I… I see. Thanks."
"No worries, just keep this in mind," Liepard 1 looked as if he was released from a huge burden that he had been carrying for a long while after hearing my reply. He soon walked away to help his squad in apprehending and securing the fallen Plasmas that we had neutralised during the raid, leaving me to my thoughts.
If there's one thing Liepard 1 had made clear, it was that Unova is definitely not a paradise for people like me.
Unova is not a safe haven for people who are born different with a gift very few possess.
Character and pokemon list:
Velda Vera, Age: 13, Female, Pokemon Trainer, Member of the International Police
Pokemon on hand:
1) Rapidash (Flamel), male
2) Swampert (Bigblue), male
3) Banette (Dolly), female
4) Flygon (Snap), male
5) Absol (Kelsa), female
6) Charizard (Toothless), male
7) Cradily (Lily), female
8) Espeon (Rena), female
9) Pachirisu (Fuzzy), male
10) Tyranitar (Kratos), male
11) Clefairy (Joy), female
12) Nidoqueen (Ness), female
13) Pangoro (Hulk), male
14) Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
15) Scizor (Archer), male
16) Lapras (Chill), female
17) Gengar (Wacky), male
18) Haxorus, male
Vance Vera, Age: 20, Male, Heir to the Vera Family
Pokemon on hand:
1) Gengar (Macky), male
2) Sceptile
3) Salamence
4) Metagross
5) Gallade
6) Walrein
7) Electivire
8) Weavile
9) Magmortar
Name: ?
Age:?
Codename: Looker
Director of International Police
Pokemon team:
1) Sableye (Sparkles)
2) Mismagius (Missy)
3) Cofagrigus
4) Gengar
5) Golurk
6) Toxicroak
7) Chandelure
8) Mr Mime