In the end Twinkle managed to lead them out of mt. Coronet. Which was all good and well because somewhere between the endless dark halls and the stale air, Yun had started to doubt if she even knew where she was going or if she had understood the assignment at all. Yun was about ready to fall to her knees in gratitude when she emerged from the cave onto a platform leading down towards route 208. The sun had started to set, painting the landscape below in a rich golden hue. She couldn't wait to set up her tent past the treeline, and finally get into dry clothes. Ideally she would have a shower, but she'd never make it to a camp site or Hearthome before it got truly dark and that meant it was about to get colder.
There were some trainers milling about and most let her be, though there was one jerk who saw her two weary looking Pokémon and decided to take his chances. She had no qualms about sicking a very energetic, well rested Tenno on the boy's team and couldn't even be bothered with a 'good day' when she plucked her victory money out of his hands.
Later, despite a pair of warm socks and dry pj's, the cold tremor running through her body would not leave her and she started to wonder if maybe it would have been better to change in the depths of after all. She had been cold for too long and now she could wrap herself in her sleeping bag all she wanted but she just could not get warm. If only she had a space heater or...
She grabbed for Tenno's Pokéball and realized she had something better. He blinked in confusion when she released him right on top of her chest. None of her Pokémon slept close to her, instead they all took their own corner of the tent. Reign was still poisonous and unaware of it while asleep, Twinkle weighted too much which resulted in Yun being unable to move if she slept on her sleeping bag, and Tenno body temperature was warm enough to make her uncomfortable. At least it usually was.
"I'm c-cold." She said, shivering miserably.
Her bird, bless him, immediately understood his assignment and nestled on top of her chest. A gust of hot wind caressed her cheeks as he tucked in his wings. A warm glow almost seemed to spread through her with his presence.
"Thanks, you're the best." She mumbled gratefully before nodding off to sleep.
The next day was spend speeding through route 208. She had really wanted to look around more, but the condition of the fish in her care made her antsy. It hadn't even wanted to eat anything, in fact it had barely moved at all, the shallow rise of it's breath the only indication it was still alive.
If there was a record of how fast one could pass through the route, Yun must be holding it by now, she thought while panting before the Center. Hearthome city was a gigantic city, second only to Jubilife city, and thus had multiple Pokécenters but even then it had taken Yun a lot of running around to encounter one.
She had to pause regularly to catch her breath while explaining the situation to the nurse Joy manning the desk. The pink haired woman took the Pokéball from her hands and told her to wait there. It wasn't long before she returned, confusing Yun when she handed the ball back to her.
"It's empty," She explained, "We're going to take awhile. In the meantime, I suggest you head by the police department and have them trace the Pokéball. Abandoning unreleased Pokémon is a crime, after all."
Yun nodded, throat too dry to do more than croak a response, before heading out once again. Though she had done nothing wrong, there was something about entering a police building that made her nervous. The automatic doors opened and she was greeted by a chubby cheeked man at the reception.
"Hello there, are you lost?"
Yun resisted frowning, wondering how young this man thought she was. As she was rather small for her age, she attempted to stand tall while gathering her courage.
"N-no, I'm here to... report a crime?" The last part was spoken as if she was posing a question but she held out the empty Pokéball in front of her, clutching it as if it was a lifeline. Briefly, she explained what brought her there and the man's expression turned serious.
"I see," He said gravely. "If you could follow me I'll take you to someone who can... help."
He led her upstairs and they passed numerous desks with officers and regular people filling the chairs. Their destination was a small office, a drowsy looking man with short hair and a five o clock shadow sat behind it. Yun noted that he was not wearing a uniform.
"Detective Myoga, this girl needs your, eh, expertise."
Without saying anything, the detective pushed some files to the side and gestured at the seat across his own. Quietly, Yun sat down, trying not to fidget.
I'll leave her in your care then." The receptionist smiled encouragingly at her before taking his leave.
While taking a sip if his mug he pulled his keyboard closer and addressed her. "So, I assume you have nothing good to tell me, today."
She shook her head, throat still very dry. "I-I do not." She coughed before asking. "How did you know?" Then she felt her cheeks redden and ducked her head because of course she wouldn't be at a police precinct to talk about nice things.
From between her bangs she could see his lips quirk in a small smile as he offered her a bottle of water for which she mumbled her thanks. "Well, my department deals solely with cases of Pokémon abuse, so... just a hunch, I guess."
Despite herself, she too allowed a smile to form on her lips before taking a large gulp of water. Then she cleared the expression off her face as she retold her story for the third time. This time making sure she skipped no detail, including her thoughts on the matter.
"...and then nurse Joy told me to come here."
The man led out a deep sigh as he finished typing what Yun assumed to be her statement. "Unfortunately, not unheard off."
"But why... I don't get it. You can just release your Pokémon, right?"
He gave her an unreadable look. "Under a certain level, sure. But if you've trained your Pokémon above the area's threshold, releasing it might disturb the local wildlife and in worse case scenario, it could prove to be dangerous for young trainers like yourself."
Yun thought of the Honchkrow and how it had made those Murkrow band together. Last she had heard, they were attempting to track the trainer who set it free, now she understood why.
"So that's also illegal?" She asked.
"It is legal as long as you put in an official request for the release and then do it in a designated area, accompanied by a ranger. So, in other words, it's a lot of hassle and many people can't be bothered."
Mulling it over, Yun still couldn't grasp what went on into that boy's head. It was a fish, not a dragon, he had about just as much chance of harmlessly releasing it while undiscovered, as throwing it away locked inside it's ball. This was just cruelty, nothing more.
"So, what now?"
"Can you hand me that Pokéball for a second?"
Wordlessly, she handed it over and watched in interest as he plugged it into a device she had never seen before. Something then appeared on the detective's screen, whatever it was made him frown and run a hand along his face.
"So the kid has done his homework, huh." He leaned back into his chair. "Unfortunate, the Pokéball's been wiped clean, and quite obviously too."
At Yun's clueless expression he asked for one of her own Pokéballs which she handed over almost reluctantly.
"There's a system in place to track who owns, or has owned, which Pokémon connected to all Pokéballs currently on the market. Too many crimes committed with or against Pokémon have made this a necessity. Every Pokéball has a unique tag, which is why they can only be used once."
Turning his screen forward so she could follow along, he continued. "When we read a Pokéball, this is what that is supposed to look like." He showed her a rather basic lay out that only really featured letters and numbers on a white background, on the top it said Skorupi, male, estimated power lvl 22. "OT stands for original trainer, and if you see here the same number is below the current trainer so that should be you."
Rummaging through her bag, she fished out her trainer card, and sure enough, the same number engraved on it glared back at her from the detective's monitor. "I see." So that's why you had to hand over your trainer card every time you purchased Pokéballs.
"Now look at the one you brought in."
It was completely blank, there wasn't even any information on the Pokémon that lived inside.
The detective continued. "It's a crude job, very noticeably tampered with. You won't be entering the league with this but... it's effective. I can't restore the original data."
Yun frowned at what that implied. "So, this guy is getting away with it."
He shrugged. "I'll contact the center, find out what type of Pokémon it is. Then I'll look out for trainers who got this species healed around here recently, and then I'll check if any of them currently don't have that Pokémon any more. It's a long shot, possibly a waste of time, but it's still my job to try."
She had to wonder what the chances were of that boy ever bringing his fish in for healing. Very unlikely, she thought. Bowing her head, she held out her hand. "Can I have Reign's ball back?"
"Sure, you can have both back." And he pushed both Pokéball into her hands before she could protest.
"Don't you need it for evidence?" She tried.
"No kiddo," He smirked, "the point of wiping a Pokéball is that there is no evidence left to trace. Finders keepers, by the way. Though if you intend to train the Pokémon you found I suggest giving it a new ball."
With that last piece of advise, he send her on her way, and Yun figured she had nothing better to do than to return to the center. Once there, the nurse recognized her and asked her how it went before informing her about the fish. Apparently is was very malnourished and it's skin was the result of a bad allergy left untreated.
"Can you find him a good home?" After she had explained what the detective had told her, Yun thought to ask.
The nurses grimace told her it was not that simple. "Eh, fish Pokémon aren't that popular in the first place and the medication it needs isn't going to be cheap. It's also not likely to do well in the wild, like this. It needs to heal before that can happen."
"What's going to happen to him then?"
"We can send him to the Pokémon shelter, if you like, though Hearthome's shelter is not a no-kill establishment." She trailed off then, allowing Yun to connect the dots.
"Oh..." She just replied. A few seconds passed in silence.
"How expensive are the meds?"
The Nurse gave her a wide grin then, knowing where Yun's line of questioning was taking her. The price was certainly... enough, and begrudgingly she thought of the white envelope hidden in her bag but for now she could make do with what she received for Akane's stash of Pokéballs. In return for taking the sick Pokémon out of her hands, the nurse gave her a single room with a big bathtub without extra charges.
So Yun finally had that overdue shower and then she took a nice, relaxing soak in the tub while pondering her new predicament. She would take the fish once it was doing slightly better and nurse it back to health. In the meantime she wouldn't train it, she decided, but after it was fully healed, she would find it a big source of water and set it free properly. Like it should have been.
She wouldn't name it, she decided, because naming it was bonding with it and Yun didn't want a fish on her team for the reason that most people didn't. It was impractical. Because while they were equipped to breathe on land, they weren't really made to move on land. That meant that for most battles, at least the ones that weren't near a water source, they had a huge disadvantage.
There were separate clubs and tournaments for enthousiast of aquatic Pokémon, but Yun could not count herself among them. It was only because they aired these events in the league's slow season that Yun had even ever watched a few.
It was the next day that she received her new charge and she realized why the nurse had offered her a room with a tub. Despite intensive healing, Fish still looked terrible and miserable. He, she dubbed him a he for simplicity's sake, was just small enough to be able to turn around in the tub if he had the energy for it, which was only when she fed him.
There were no more loose scales hanging by his side but the skin still looked awfully red and inflated and Yun supposed he was skinny for a fish, lacking in expertise as she was. For now she was asked to add a solution to his water twice a day, let him soak for 5-10 minutes and then refresh his water. Later, she would have to work with pills, though she wasn't sure how that would work out yet. He was fairly subdued during the time she watched him, if not plain morose, so she set to talking to him in her spare time.
Yun told him a variety of things, from stories of her team and battle strategies, to comforting words, to her innermost thoughts. She had wanted to include her rather unfavorable opinions on his previous trainer but thought better of it. Though Fish wasn't very responsive, it might just open up old wounds and the boy was best left forgotten.
So, to an unresponsive audience, she babbled on. Hoping to offer Fish some comfort and companionship.
"... and after that we'll look for a nice big water source for you. Maybe lake Valor, I've heard it was absolutely stunning. And it's pretty close to Veilstone city too."
Sitting on the edge of the tub, she grinned at Fish, whom she could swear was looking up to her now.
"That's where the team will have to challenge Maylene, we need to get a badge from her."
AN: This chapter's a little bit shorter then most. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed regardless. Until next week!