I have two things I want to say here before the chapter.
1.) I know the last couple of chapters haven't been all that exciting and interesting and I do apologize for that. Yes I could have merged both Chapters 37 and 38 together, but I figured I'd separate them so as to have a filler flashback, which I'm not totally sure holds any interest to anyone. I know you all would like to see the flashbacks of everyone else, but that is to come in due time.
2.) I went and looked up the move list for Umbreon and discovered that Psy Beam is not within it. So that is a major error on my part, but being that I have had Zack use Psy Beam in previous chapters, I'm sticking with him knowing the move.
And like always, please leave reviews so I can know what to do better that helps me become a better writer. And I hope those who have followed ZAL since the beginning stick with it. There's a lot of excitement to come yet.
"D.C.A.?" Laura questioned. "Who are they?"
"The D.C.A. is short for the Department of Containment Association," the policewoman explained. "They're a government agency that deal in containing pokemon who cause trouble. It doesn't matter if the pokemon is wild or if they belong to someone. The more trouble a pokemon causes the more likely the D.C.A. will be brought in to handle the situation."
"What exactly do they do with the pokemon they capture?" my trainer asked.
"Something you kids wouldn't be able to handle," the policewoman replied as she glanced over towards Pete whose gaze shifted off elsewhere, causing the fur on my back to bristle a little as a sickening feeling settled in my stomach; an idea having crossed my mind.
"They... they don't kill pokemon, do they?" my trainer asked.
The policewoman sighed in response, her gaze shifting towards the ground in a solemn manner.
"That's horrible!" Laura gasped, a hand placed up to her mouth. "How can they do something so inhumane?"
"You really think killing pokemon is inhumane?" the policewoman questioned. "For pokemon, being killed is the best way to escape the inhumane nature of the D.C.A."
"Officer," Pete said with warning in his voice.
"They deserve to know, Pete," the policewoman said. "They're bound to know sooner or later."
"At least allow them to enjoy their journey," Pete said. "They're still young. They need not worry about them and what they do."
"I'm afraid it's a little too late for that," my trainer said. "It wouldn't have mattered if this situation was in another town or city, it wouldn't stop me from getting myself involved to do something at the very least."
"Me neither," Laura said in agreement. Both Pete and the policewoman stared at our trainers with a semi-bewildered look before Pete gave off an exasperated sigh.
"Kids," I heard him mutter from under his breath.
"So what does the D.C.A. do once they catch pokemon?" Laura asked. "They just don't outright kill them I'm sure."
"Not right off the bat," the policewoman replied. "Once captured, the pokemon are tested in both physicality and mentality in order to test their limits. Depending on their level results in how hard they're tested. To them, it's nothing short of torture."
"And they do this with any random pokemon in general?" my trainer asked.
"No," the policewoman replied. "The D.C.A. are only called out if a pokemon has been causing problems to the point where it gets out of hand. However, depending on how well-behaved a pokemon is also results in the level of difficulty they're given."
"How so?" Laura questioned.
"For example, let's say a pokemon has been throwing fits, enough for a fellow neighbor to call them in. As long as the pokemon cooperates with them, then all that's really done is a simple diagnosis with a few small tests to determine it's durability. If the pokemon remains well-behaved, it's returned to their owner and-"
"Wait!" my trainer said, having interrupted her. "You mean they take pokemon trainers' pokemon too? Even pokemon who are kept as pets?"
"The D.C.A doesn't see it like that," the policewoman explained. "To them, all they see is an unruly pokemon that needs to be brought in for examination and put through a multitude of tests. Compared to those who misbehave, pokemon who are well-behaved get the less harsher of being tested."
"I dare not think of what those unfortunate have to go through," Laura said sorrowfully.
"Trust me," Pete said. "It's a lot worst than you think. From what I've heard, the D.C.A. push pokemon beyond the limit they're not capable of going, forcing them to use their abilities when they have nothing left to give. They spend hours strapped to a table while the D.C.A. scan them, learning their strengths and weaknesses and how to use that to their advantage when testing them. They receive one meal per day, enough to keep them alive, but only for their own purposes."
"And I bet that once the pokemon's usefulness has ended, they leave it to rot and slowly starve to death," my trainer assumed. "If it's wild, that is."
"There are people who own pokemon who, if too much for them to handle, they do the same with them." the policewoman said. "But you're right. That's exactly what they do with pokemon when they serve no further purpose and leave them to their demise. It's a slow and painful death. Cruel you might say."
"That's not fair!" Laura said angrily, stomping a foot on the ground. "You're an officer of the law, aren't you? You should be able to do something about this... this... atrocity!"
"Believe me," the policewoman said. "If I had that kind of power, I'd shut them down in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the D.C.A. is a higher-up agency in the government. I have no say in what they do."
"But even the D.C.A. have to follow certain rules and guidelines," my trainer stated.
"All government related businesses have a higher-up they have to abide by; ones who allow what they can and cannot do," the policewoman agreed. "So yes, even they have rules and guidelines they must follow."
I snorted in distaste, disgusted by what I had heard. "It's sick that they'd be so heartless to do such a thing to pokemon," I growled out loud. "It'd be like doing that with humans. Hell, I bet there are humans out there who go through something similar." I sighed in exasperation. "How could they just so carelessly do away with one's life?"
"Not every human was made to show kindness and compassion," Ted said. "There's truly nowhere a pokemon can be safe without someone with evil intentions to be close behind."
"Is it always in the nature of humans to catch pokemon?" I asked. "Whether good or evil?"
"As much as it is for most pokemon to have the desire to be challenged and captured," Ted replied. "But only for those with the purest of intentions."
"You don't make a lot of sense, do you?"
"It's all about balance," he said with a small chuckle. "You'll understand one day."
"Maybe," I said as our attention shifted to the sound of what sounded like rubber grinding against the ground. We all watched as a sleek, shiny, white vehicle approached before long, two men dressed in white and wearing dark shades stepping out upon stopping and walking over towards us.
"Which one of you made the call?" the one on my right asked in an emotionless tone.
"That would be my wife who had done so," Pete told them, flinching as they glanced at him.
"What's the situation?" the second one asked.
"It's no problem that I can't handle," the policewoman suddenly spoke up, putting on a smile that would most likely fool a dumb person.
"If that were the case, we wouldn't have been called in now, would we?" the first one asked, silencing the policewoman rather quickly. Geez! They didn't have to go and bite her head off so blatantly. "As I thought."
"Well then," Pete spoke up, breaking the momentary awkwardness. "To brief you in, we have a pokemon running around stealing this town's belongings."
"How long has this been occuring for?" the second guy asked.
"About a week now," Pete told them. "We had hoped the situation would have been dealt with before then, but we cannot afford to wait around and allow our town to become a barren wasteland any longer."
"Not to worry sir," the first guy said. "We'll have the pokemon contained in no time."
"Er... thank you," Pete said as the men made their way back to their vehicle, going to the back of it rather than getting in to drive off. Opening a compartment, they took the next few minutes rummaging through whatever was in there before shutting it and walking back towards us, carrying some bizarre-looking equipment.
"What are they doing?" I asked, feeling uneasy as one of the men messed around with a square-looking device.
"Easy boy," I heard my trainer say as the D.C.A. goon advanced forward, continuing to fiddle with his device.
"Picking up anything?" the other guy asked.
"Give it a moment," the first guy answered as he fiddled a bit more with said device. "There. Got it." He fell silent for a brief moment. "I'm picking up readings of strong psychic energy."
I watched as he turned in my direction and began walking towards me, each step causing me to be more uncomfortable as he got closer until he came to a stop directly in front of me and looked down into my eyes. Though he was wearing those dark shades over his eyes, I could feel his gaze boring into mine, a feeling of hate and fear mixing together and threatening to overwhelm me and overtake everything about me. "Is this the pokemon who has been causing such trouble?" he asked without taking his eyes off me.
"No sir," Pete answered him. "The Umbreon actually belongs to this trainer here." He pointed to my trainer. "The pokemon we called you in to take care of is actually a-"
"Drowzee," the second guy finished. "The hypnotic psychic type pokemon. Level 22. Strong against Fighting types, Poison types, and Ghost types. Weak against Bug types and Dark types. Knows the moves Confusion, Hypnosis, Meditate, and Focus Punch."
"Wow!" Laura said rather impressed. "You know all that just by analyzing?"
"The stronger a pokemon's energy is, the more easily it is to learn its strengths and weaknesses, provided the amount of energy they leave behind when using their abilities," the first guy replied. "Much like the Umbreon here." He held up another weird device and ran it over me. "Level 26 Dark type. Strong against Ghost and Psychic types. Weak against Bug and Fighting types. Knows the moves Shadow Ball, Swift, Detect, Psy Beam, Quick Attack, and Iron Tail."
"His fur is unkempt with patches of them missing in several places," the second guy spoke as he clacked away at yet another handheld device. "He's got scars on his body, dark circles under his eyes, and seeing the state his stomach is in, has had poorly well-fed meals."
"He seems fine to me," my trainer calmly retorted back.
"Appearances can be decieving," the first guy said as he grabbed out a small stack of paper and wrote something upon it before tearing it off and handing it to my trainer.
"What's this?" he asked as he took it.
"Your first offense of risking a pokemon's health," was the reply. "I would suggest you take proper care of your pokemon. Three of these offenses received will result in the termination of your pokemon license . When that happens, all your pokemon will be confiscated and you will be sent home."
I could feel a growl creeping up on me so as to warn the D.C.A. that threatening my trainer was a huge mistake. However, as I was about to do so, I felt Ted place a paw on me. "Don't do anything that would speed up the result," he said.
As mad as I was, I did as he advised and surpressed the on-coming growl. My trainer remained standing where he was, quietly staring at what he had been handed as the D.C.A. resumed what they had come to do. "In any case, we shall resume our work around the perimeter of the town. The Drowzee most likely wouldn't be living in among where it would be eventually discovered. Sweeping the perimeter will help us discover from which way the Drowzee goes and comes from."
"Yes... of course," Pete said as the men went and packed up their odd devices.
"By the way," the guy on the right said as he was climbing back into the vehicle. "Give our regards to your wife since she didn't have the follow through to meet us." Pete remained silent as the D.C.A. backed their car up to turn around and drove off, leaving us to stand there watching after them in not-so-pleasant silence.
The mood remained silent and somber the remainder of the day and well into the night, even after we had all climbed into bed. Yet none of us save for Skitty found sleeping easy to come. Our encounter with the D.C.A. had left us all ill-mannered, especially learning just what kind of work they do. Pete had given us the offer to stay the night at his place, having felt guilty for what had transpired while the policewoman returned to her usual duties. I wondered if she was having as much trouble sleeping as we were.
"Hey," I heard Laura say. "You holding up all right?" My trainer remained silent in response. "That wasn't fair of them giving you that ticket. You're still only starting out."
"Of course it's not fair," my trainer spoke up softly. "They're a world-renown government agency who can get away with doing whatever they want."
"It sickens me," I growled lowly. "To think that they've been getting away with this for years. How could such a place exist?"
"Those in charge tend to look the other way and choose to not notice," Ted said with a hint of melancholy in his voice. "It's bitterly sorrowful!" I fell silent again, placing my head down as I continued to growl lowly.
"Don't worry boy," my trainer said upon hearing my growling, rubbing a hand upon my head. "I won't let them take you away from me. You /and/ Charcoal."
"The same goes for me," Laura said. "Though I'm worried about the Drowzee as well. We can't allow the D.C.A to catch him. I don't want to think about what they'll do if they do."
"What do you suggest doing then?" my trainer asked. "You know what will happen if you try going up against them."
"I know," Laura sighed. "But I just can't sit idly by and let another pokemon wind up going through all that."
They both fell silent after that for some time, no doubt racking their brains on how to save the Drowzee from being captured without having to go up against the D.C.A. I wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed since then, but I could finally feel exhaustion washing over me like a wave washes onto the beach. As I felt my eyes starting to droop and let myself drift away, my ears perked up upon hearing Laura say, "I think I have an idea."