A quick note before getting into the chapter: I understand that Drowzee is spelled with two E's instead of a Y, but this is Zack's point of view and being that he's never met a Psychic type pokemon in his life, calling a Drowzee Drowzy is how he believes is spelled. I wanted to clarify that it is not a typo, but how Zack sees it. It is a bit ironic though seeing as how Zack is part Psychic. Go figure.

Chapter 45: New Team Member

"What… just happened?" Ted asked as we all stared at the pokeball that now housed that Psychic type. And by all I do mean Laura, my master, Ted, the goons in white, and I. To answer Ted's current question, I had to take a step back and wonder why I felt compelled to smack the ball. Come to think of it, where did all that 'batter, batter suh-wing' stuff come from? I figured it'd be best to disregard that, seeing as how I was snapped out of thought upon hearing the goons in white speak.

"The target has been captured. Proceed with retrieval." I watched as one of them pulled out a handheld weapon with some sort of weird hook grabbing doohickey attached to it.

"Zack!" Ted yelled.

"Get the ball!" my master yelled as the weapon was fired, only for the ball to be moved by a sudden appearance from Skitty.

"Nope!" she said as she batted it away and chased it, nearly avoiding the grabbing hook. "Mine!" The men in white began charging in attempts to retrieve the ball. I began to charge up a Shadow Ball to stop them in their tracks, but was stopped as Ted ran into view.

"No Zack! Don't forget what will happen if you attack them!"

I ceased my attack instantly, recalling what had happened just the other day as the men ran past. Laura was already en route to intercept the ball from Skitty, having picked it up and making the attempt to run when one of the goons shot the hook gun thing. It went sailing through the air before wrapping itself around Laura's legs, causing her to trip.

As she fell, she turned in the middle of her fall, landing upon her back rather than her stomach. Nevertheless of which position she landed in, the result was still the same: the ball she held was released and went flying right towards the other goon who stretched out his hand to catch the incoming object. Just as the ball was mere inches from his hand, however, Ted was somehow suddenly over where he was, leaping into the air and grabbing hold of the ball, only to be grabbed himself by the scruff of his neck upon landing.

"Ted!" I heard my master yell out. "Toss it here!"

"Give me that!" the goon who held Ted demanded as he made the attempt to pry the ball from his claws. Ted, luckily, was quick to the draw and tossed the ball towards my master, being tossed back in response as the goon in white gave chase. The ball sailed over my master's head, grazing his fingers in the process. My master turned, managing to grab the ball as it landed just as the goon following grabbed his arm. "Give that Drowzy to me!"

"It's not yours to keep!" my master said as he struggled against him. "Laura caught him so he belongs to her!"

"Stubborn brat," the goon said with a tsk. "Resisting the D.C.A will result in termination of your license and team. If you don't want that to happen, you will give the Drowzy to us."

I felt helpless that I couldn't do anything. No matter how anyone looked at it, we were going to lose one way or the other. It was enough to cause me to grit my teeth together, growling with frustration. I watched with this feeling as my master ceased his struggling and made to hand over the ball when someone suddenly yelled out, "Not so fast!"

Everyone paused as they looked up from where the voice yelled out from; the familiar form of the blue-haired policewoman standing upon the top of the cliff being recognizable as she jumped and slid down the cliff, jumping off with a flip as she landed.

"You two," she said as she stood and pointed at the goons in white. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"Our job," said the goon who was fighting with my master.

"The Drowzee has been contained," said the other goon. "Our objective is to return it ot headquarters where it will be dealt with professionally."

"And that's only if you capture him," the policewoman said. "To which you did not."

"It matters not who caught him," the first goon said. "Our objective remains the same."

"In that case, allow me to remind you boys the rules stating as such," the policewoman said as she pulled out a book and opened it, holding it up for them to see. "Rule number one hundred seventy-six states that if a trainer is to capture a pokemon before the D.C.A. have the chance to apprehend them, then the D.C.A. must respectfully give all rights towards the trainer to keep the pokemon and do with it as they see fit."

I glanced back over at the goon who was by my master who appeared to have a scowl upon his face. I smirked internally, knowing we were winning the case.

"By forcing a pokemon from its trainer, you hereby break the rules; therefore are terminated from the Association. And you wouldn't want that to happen now, would you?" She closed the book as she asked this, giving them what I'm sure was a really scary glare had I actually been facing her fully. The goon by my master gave off a simple, "Hmh!"

"Even the D.C.A. have rules and guidelines they must follow," the policewoman said.

"Very well," the goon said after a few moments of silence. "We shall abide by the rules and give fair chance to the trainer." I kept watch on them as they walked back towards their vehicle, the goon who fired the hook gun unwrapping it from Laura's legs as they packed up their gear and proceeded to drive off.

"Let this be a warning to you both," the first goon said, pausing to look back at both Laura and my master. "Consider yourselves lucky this time around. We won't be as considerate the next time we cross paths." With that said, he climbed into the vehicle and before long, they were both long out of sight. I released a sigh of relief I hadn't realized I was holding as I turned to check on Ted.

"You all right?" I asked, walking up to him.

"A bit scuffed and completely damp to the fur," was his response. "Other than that, I'm fine."

"Are you kids all right?" the policewoman asked, having grabbed my attention.

"I think so," Laura replied with a bit of a wince as she rubbed her back.

"We're thankful you showed up when you did," my master said. "They would have taken the Drowzy otherwise."

"I really hate to agree with them, but they are right in you two being lucky. I'm just glad I took the time to read the rule book thoroughly. Aside from that, I see you've managed to catch the Drowzy."

"Yeah," Laura said as my master handed it back to her. "Honestly, it was the first thought that came to mind. If it weren't for Zack though, the D.C.A. would have most likely captured him."

"So now that you've saved him, what do you plan on doing with him?"

Laura looked down at the ball she held, a look of thought crossing her face as she determined just what it was she was going to do. "Well…" she started. "It wouldn't make sense to release him. He'd just go back to taking things no matter what town or city we go to. So, I think the best bet is to keep him."

"That sounds like a wise idea," the policewoman said. My master, on the other hand, was too keen on it.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked. "He doesn't seem like the type to cooperate willingly."

"Oh noodle sauce!" Laura said. "I'm sure with time he'll come around. Besides, the others will be a good influence for him." She fell silent as she stared at the ball. "I wonder though: what should I name him?"

"You can think about that on the way back," the policewoman said. "I'm sure your Teddiursa needs to be treated."

"You're right!" Laura said. "I almost forgot!"

The trip back to town took roughly around an hour, or so said the humans. As a pokemon, time was meaningless to me. All I knew that when I was hungry it was at some point during the day. Usually when the sky was lighting up, when the sky was bright, and when the sky fell dark. I was still a bit curious on how my hunger related to the night since I couldn't tell when the sky would light up again. And just what was Ted even saying. Wait! Was I supposed to be paying attention? Or was that the lack of sleep I've been getting? Or rather, not been getting? Huh. Now I wasn't particularly sure anymore what was happening.

"You ok there, Zack bro?" I heard Ted ask me.

"I don't judge the time of day which it currently is!" I randomly yelled out.

"Good to know," he said. "I would like to apologize though for making you worry."

"It's kind of hard not to when you pull something like that," I said. "But in a way, I can understand your reasoning. Heck, I probably would have done the same in your position. That reminds me, how did you survive the storm?"

"I found a small crevice in the cliff wall," Ted replied. "Both the Drowzee and I managed to take shelter there though the Drowzy was less than grateful."

"Sounds like a rough night for you," I said.

"Indeed."

I had wanted to say something about my moment with Skitty to him, but never got the chance to as we found ourselves back within the town, being surrounded by the townsfolk. I didn't feel like that was entirely the case though. Perhaps that there was a part of me that didn't want to say anything and for the life of me couldn't figure out why.

That thought aside, having the crowd dispersed by the policewoman, we were all led back to the house we've been staying in with Ted being treated to right away by someone who had some expertise in treating the health of pokemon or whatever. While that was going on, I took notice that Laura was staring at the ball that held the Drowzy, a pensive look plastered upon her face. "Still trying to figure out a name for him?" my master asked as he sat down across from her.

"Mmm-hmm," was her response.

"It can't be too hard to name a Drowzy. How about Sleeper? Or maybe Dreamer?" Laura shot off a side glare at him, causing him to cringe in fright. "I'm only trying to help!"

"Those are lame names," Laura said. "I like thinking of cool names for my pokemon."

"You have a Skitty named Skitty and a Teddiursa named Ted," my master pointed out. "If you ask me, those are way too common names for a pokemon."

"Fine then," Laura said. "If you want creativity, then how about…" she paused momentarily as she racked her brain; thinking of a name to choose. "Oh! I know! D.Z."

"D.Z.?" my master questioned.

"Uh-huh," Laura replied with a nod.

"Where do you get a name like that?"

"Obviously from his name," Laura explained. "He does have a D and a Z in it. And it sounds cool."

"Whatever you say, I guess," I heard him mumble.

"What was that?" she asked irritably.

"Nothing! Nothing!" he quickly defended.

"Better be," Laura said as she stood up. "All right, D.Z. Come on out!" The ball opened up and let loose a white light that took the form of the Drowzy who was currently inside. The Drowzy, or rather D.Z. in which it sounded more like Dizzy, blinked opened his eyes, rubbing them in the process to better clear his vision before he took a look around.

"What the-?" he said confused. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Hey D.Z.!" Laura said as the Drowzy looked at her. "How're you feeling?" I watched as the Drowzy stiffened, slowly backing up as he raised up his arms, his eyes taking on a bluish glow as I recognized what he was fixing to do. Quick on the draw I rushed forward, intercepting the attack meant for Laura. I barely felt anything as I felt an invisible force try to hit me, but failed doing so.

"Hey," I said to him. "That wasn't very nice. Pokemon aren't supposed to harm their trainers."

"The hell are you talking about?" he asked, shooting me a very nasty glare. "Just leave me alone!" He turned and ran straight for the door, reeling back an arm to punch through it.

"Hey! Stop!" I shouted after him as he thrust his fist forward, only to trip suddenly and bash his head into the door. Said reason for his tripping was due to the fact that Skitty was lying right there playing with a small ball, unawares of the Drowzy making an attempt to escape. She stopped however as the Drowzy tripped over her and looked in my direction.

"Hi Zack!" she said with a wave. "Good thing Ted's alive, huh? I wasn't worried in the slightest."

"Uh… yeah. Sure. Me too," was all I could say.

"Well I guess that answers your question," my master said to Laura, whatever the question was to begin with. Laura only sighed as she recalled the Drowzy to his ball. It was definitely going to be some time before I began calling him by his new name.

"No matter," Laura said. "I should have expected him to be hostile. Fear not though. He'll change for the better in time."

"I hope so," my master said as the guy whose house we were staying in approached them.

"So you've managed to save the Drowzy from the D.C.A. I see," he said. "On behalf the town, I'd like to thank you."

"It's no problem really," Laura said. "It's what we pokemon trainers do after all."

"There's still the problem of retrieving everything the Drowzy's taken from the town," my master said. "I highly doubt that he'll be willing to reveal where he's been living at this whole time. And even then, there's the possibility that he'll try finding a way to run off and start the problem all over again."

"That's a fair point," the house owner said, prompting me to wonder why I couldn't remember names all too well. Come to think of it, did I even know what my master's name was? Was it ever mentioned? Did I perhaps miss out on hearing what it was? Should I make a mental note on asking either Ted or Charcoal? And didn't I go down this train of thought before? Hmm. Perhaps I should start making mental notes of keeping tabs on what I think about, if my thought process allows me to remember. And speaking of Charcoal, I couldn't wait to tell him all that has happened, but that can wait until he's had the time to heal.

"I suppose everyone's belongings are forever lost," the house owner said with a sigh. "With how far in distance it is from here to any city in particular, we'll never be able to find what the Drowzy took."

"Not necessarily," the policewoman said as she joined the others in sitting down. "I have a pretty strong hunch where the Drowzy may have taken what he's stolen."

"You do?" my mater asked with hope.

Officer," the house owner said. "If you know where we can find our stuff, please, tell us."

"You all remember the bridge that your Teddiursa dragged the Drowzy off of?" she asked as she looked over at Laura.

"What about it?" she asked.

"Past that bridge, there is a cave that a group of trainers I helped were being held hostage by a group of Squirtle," the policewoman explained. "I'm betting you anything that's where the Drowzy has been living at."

"That's great news to hear!" Laura said happily.

"It's all thanks to the two of you though," the policewoman said. "If you haven't arrived when you did, we wouldn't have had a clue as to where to look. Thankfully, coming across the bridge jogged my memory of what lied beyond that."

"Well then allow us to help!" Laura said. "I caught the Drowzy, so anything he's done becomes my responsibility."

"Count me in too," my master said. "With more people to help, we can have everything back here within a day."

"Are you certain?" the house owner's wife asked as she joined in on the conversation. "After what your pokemon went through, we're more than grateful for your help."

"We got ourselves involved in all this when we could have just walked away," my master said. "So consider us to see this through."

"You truly are caring trainers," the house owner said. "It's very rare to come across young beings such as yourselves."

What are we waiting for then?" Laura questioned. "Let's rally some of the townspeople up and get your belongings back!"

"And I'll be the one to lead since I'm the only one who knows where the cave is," the policewoman said.

"All right!" my master said, pumping a fist downward. "Let's go Zack!"

"Right behind you," I said as I got up to follow, only for my vision to blur as I felt myself stumble and fall flat on the ground.

"Oh no!" I heard someone say. I couldn't tell who though. "Is he ok?"

"Oh right," I heard my master say. "Zack hasn't gotten any sleep over the past few days. I'm thinking he deserves a bit of R and R."

"I suppose," Laura said. "But who will come with us then? Charcoal's still recovering from Cerulean and Skitty's a bit too distracted as is." I looked over to see Skitty dangling from the wall, her claws stuck within.

"Help!" she cried out. "The wall's got me and won't let me free! Call a house wrecker!"

"And then there's Ted who just spent the entire night out in a storm saving D.Z.," Laura went on, only to stop as Ted hopped down from where he sat, tugging on Laura's pants.

"I'm more than capable of helping," he said, smiling at her.

"Hmm? You sure Ted?"

"Definitely," was his reply, along with a nod.

"Well, if you're sure," Laura said.

"No worries," Ted said as he turned to look at me. "Sleep well, Zack bro. I'll handle things from here."

"Thanks, Ted," I said with a yawn. "Guess we're even now, huh?"

"Perish the thought," Ted said, waving a paw dismissively before I turned about and searched for a place to sleep. Once I had, I shut my eyes and felt the sweet embrace of sleep take me.