Story Notes:
I don't Pokemon. Everything related to Pokemon is property of their respective owners. This is a free unofficial fanfic that belongs to me and AGNPH.
Chapter 1
Damn, it was cold. Sleet was coming down now, carving miniscule divots in the snow that had already fallen during the day. Or was it yesterday? I checked my watch, and was indeed past midnight. And here I was, leaning against my ratty car, staring at a shelled out mess of what once was a building. Fires hadn't even gone out in some places.
"Must be the goddamn chemicals or whatever they had in that place," Jeff said, thinking the same thing. Jeffery Camus was my partner. Or maybe I was his partner. He'd been a detective three years earlier, when I was a lowly grunt working at the force. Jeff was a good guy; he had three inches on me and seemed to have three days growth of beard every day, which I didn't think was possible. Anyway, he was a smart man, one that I could look up to. He was normally the one solving cases; I just tried to steal enough credit so that I didn't get fired.
"What do you think, Conen?"
That's me. Conen Williams. Yeah, a silly name. Some people have talked about it, some have made a big deal out of it. Some pester me enough that they get their faces realigned. The last guy lost a few teeth before I was done with him. Why the hell people had to get on my back for something my parents did was beyond me."
"Where the hell's your head at, Conen? You catchin' some sleep or what? Maybe I should drive back so you don't run your ass of the road."
Our language wasn't great, but we told ourselves that after what we saw, we got to say what we felt. Maybe we all just felt filth. Or maybe we were all trying to look tough in front of each other. Shit, I dunno.
"Shut up. I'm right here. I just want to get some sleep tonight. So what's the story here?"
"We got about a hundred phone calls reportin' an explosion," a uniformed cop said. "They weren't kiddin'. God knows what they were doin' in this place. They won't tell us anything."
"This place" was a Silph Co. laboratory, and it wasn't surprising that they wouldn't tell us cops anything, because some of what they did was surely illegal as hell.
"Anyway, after some sort of explosion, there have been a few electrical fires. The men here have managed to get all that under control, and we've started to bring out the bodies-"
"Bodies?" I asked, surprised. Nobody had told us that this was a homicide.
"Yeah, some dead Pokemon that they must have been testing on."
"Isn't that illegal?" Camus asked. Of course it was, and we all knew it, but that was how these things were addressed, I guess.
"Sure is, but we'll have a hell of a time proving it. There ain't much left to investigate, as you can see. Not to mention, these guys are gonna have the best lawyers in town, not to mention some spin on the local government. My guess is they pay a few minor fines and the rest gets swallowed by red tape."
"That's a damn shame, but we'll do our best to figure out just what went on here," Camus said.
"I hear ya. Well, good luck." The cop moved on to talk to whomever he had to talk to and left Jeff and me with the scene before us.
"I've seen some arson cases in my time, but nothing like this. Normally the building's hollowed out, but this thing's just splintered, man," Camus said to me. "I don't even know where to start."
"Here, sir," said a voice. We both turned our heads. It was some slick-sleeve I had seen before, but what was his name? Jeff solved the problem for me before it lead to an awkward moment.
"My name's Jeff, not sir. What's yours, kid?"
"Landon Matthews. You guys just getting here?"
We both grunted in the affirmative and the young (though shit, he was maybe two years younger than me) officer lead us into the destroyed building. The ceiling had collapsed, leaving the two-story building a lot closer to the dirt than it was the day before. Looking around at first, I was oblivious, but soon I could see what Matthews was looking at. It appeared we had stumbled upon the center of where the explosion had been. Matthews called it the "point of origin."
"We had to call the lab- the lab at the station, I mean- to send over the right stuff for a test."
"What test?" I asked.
"I don't know what exactly it is, but uh, anyway, we think it was an Electrode that went off, set the entire place up," Matthews said. "Apparently the guys can do a test to see if what's left is part of an Electrode."
"Well, shit, that's kinda gross, you know?" I said. "We're standing in dead bits of Pokemon?"
"Shit," Camus echoed. "Well, what the hell are we here for? They're already moving the bodies, we don't have any evidence to speak of, and a five year old could explain what happened here: the fucking building blew up."
"Well, here's where it gets interesting. More interesting, I suppose. There were only about a dozen, maybe less, Pokemon being held here. We've got a few survivors. Um, so... either of you train Pokemon?"
"You've got to be shitting me," I said.
"My wife's got a Meowth. I play with him when he won't shut up at night," Camus smiled. I was surprised at him actually. If the kid was implying what I thought he was...
"What I hear is we've got two Pokemon that need taking care of, and you two are prime candidates..." Camus seemed a little unsure now.
"This isn't our job. But...well... what the hell, huh Jeff?"
"Yeah, I'm game, I guess. Where are the Pokemon?"
"We managed to capture them. One's a Slowpoke, and the other's a Gengar. Thank God we found the Gengar while he was still disoriented, or he would have played hell with us. So, who wants what?"
As Matthews finished his sentence, there was the screech of metal scraping metal. We turned to see a small segment of the wrecked building crumble apart. And then something really surprised us. There was a high-pitched scream coming from the burning wreckage.
"Heh. You got a nervous buddy around here, Matthews?"
"Uh, that sounded like..."
"Sounded like you missed one, man."
With that I took off at a run through the ruins of the Silph building.
A part of the roof was covering some debris where the scream had come from. It must have been a sturdy part of the building to have not collapsed completely. But there was no real way in or out of the small area that was covered. Upon reaching the scene (two other officers were there too, looking around), it looked like smoke was still coming out of the wreckage.
"Hey!" I yelled. "Is there someone in there?"
There was a shout in reply, but there were no words to it. It didn't even sound entirely human.
"Get the goddamn firemen over here- Hey! Over here!"
They had barely hosed the broken structure down before I started prying away at the twisted metal (I was fortunate enough to be wearing my leather gloves). I couldn't move much of anything, but I managed to create a hole large enough to stick my head in.
In the bit of shelter was a Ninetales. I suspended my surprise for the moment and spoke.
"Come on out of here, this isn't gonna hold much longer. Come on now. You have to move; come on."
The Ninetales looked terrified. It wasn't panicking visibly, but it wouldn't start moving. I tried again, a bit different this time.
"I'm not one of the scientists. I'm here to get you out of here. There's enough space now to move. Come on, now, before this place falls apart. Just come toward me, and I'll get you out of here."
It seemed to consider this, but the Ninetales wasn't moving yet. Then, as the metal groaned and started to fall, it bolted, jumping into my arms and making me topple backward.
"You alright, Conen?" Camus was yelling. Honestly I just wanted to go to bed.
"I'm okay. You okay?" I said, addressing the Ninetales. It looked at me in a detached sort of way.
"He doesn't look like he's hurt," Jeff said. The Ninetales started at that, turning to glare at him.
"Umm... I think it's a she, Jeff. And I think she needs to get the hell out of here."
"I got the Pokeballs with the other two that got rescued. I'll let you handle this one, alright? You might as well leave, unless you feel like staying. You've done enough, I think."
"I'm inclined to agree with you," I said, climbing to my feet. "You gotta come with me now. Y'hear?"
She was zoning off again. I guess it was the shock or something. I didn't have time for this, but it didn't seem like I had a choice. I tried to plead my case.
"Hey, girl. You gotta come with me. I won't have to put you in a Pokeball if you behave. I'm not gonna toss you in a cage or some shit. Come on. Please, girl?"
She started following now, although I thought it might have been just to get away from the wreckage and the other cops. She stopped cold when we arrived at my car.
"I'm just gonna take you home, okay? Just back to my place. Look, I can't leave you on the street, I gotta take care of you. Just get in the car, okay? Please, girl. You've been through a lot, so let's just crash for the night. You'll be safe there."
The word safe seemed to do the trick. I opened the shotgun door and she hopped in. She wouldn't quit looking around. I clambered into my seat and started the engine. I wasn't sure if, being a fire-type, she was naturally warm or freezing cold in this weather.
I tried to keep my eyes on the road, but it wasn't that easy. Here in my dingy car was this regal Ninetales, who was still probably scared out of her mind. What the hell was I doing with a Ninetales? I was supposed to take care of her now? I suppose I could find some place for her to sleep, and maybe she could eat... wait...
"Hell," I breathed. I was going to have to find some food for this Ninetales to eat. I swerved the car into a turn lane, earning me a long loud honk from the car behind me, and pulled into a convenience store parking lot. After I parked hastily, I turned to look at the anonymous Ninetales riding next to me.
"I'm going to be gone for just a minute. I need to get you something to eat, okay?"
The Ninetales didn't respond. I sighed and opened up my door. Closing it and locking it, I looked up, and-
"What the hell?!" The passenger seat was empty. Just before I let loose a catastrophic string of obscenities, I felt something warm graze my leg. I looked down. The tricky little fox had jumped out behind me without me even noticing. I made a mental note to keep a better eye on her.
"Alright, you can come inside, but please, stay close. I'm supposed to look after you."
That seemed to be agreeable to her, so we walked into the store. Thankfully the clerk at the counter wasn't some nut who forced me to put her in a Pokeball, because I did have one for her.
"You need something?" the guy asked.
"Yeah, um... You got food for Pokemon? I need to..." I gestured to the Ninetales, who (thank God) was behaving and staying by my side.
"Yeah, second to last aisle, got a few different brands."
"Thanks, man."
We cruised down to the aisle and lo and behold, a whole bunch of Pokemon chow was waiting. I had my eyes on one of the medium sized bags. I didn't know how long I was supposed to take care of this Ninetales.
"Which one smells good, girl?"
She looked up at me with a bit of a blank stare. After a few moments she padded up to the bags and started sniffing. She sat down next to what must have been the successful candidate.
I lugged the bag to the counter and paid, then threw it in the back seat of my car. The Ninetales hopped right in the car when I opened the door. Maybe she was getting used to being around a human. But then again, she must have been around lots of humans in the lab, right? Maybe that was the problem...
The rest of the ride was uneventful. When we got back to my apartment building, I could tell she was shivering in the cold air, so we raced up the stairs (the elevator was broken) and into my modest apartment. The Ninetales stopped and looked around when entering, then sort of started looking around. I went straight to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of vodka, taking a swig with no soda or anything.
"Hey, um, just sit down wherever ya want... There's a blanket on the couch..."
She found it and curled up under it. For the moment, it seemed she was alright. She was probably going to have a rough few nights, though...
After another sip I put the vodka away. I honestly felt like going to sleep, but maybe I was inclined to take care of that Ninetales... and I didn't even know...
"Hey," I said, getting her attention. "What's your name?"
After I said it I realized I was an idiot and that of course Pokemon couldn't talk, but she hopped off my couch and, leaving me in utter puzzlement, started nosing through my record collection on the end table. Before I could make a reply, or at least express one in words, she found what she was looking for and brought me the record in her mouth,
"You want to listen to the Beatles?" This was just weird.
She scowled and her mouth started to glow.
"Whoa, okay, shit, don't burn my record! Umm... Your name is... John? Uh, Paul? George? Don't tell me it's Ringo."
She dropped the record and sat down, looking very impatient. She tapped the record with her paw.
"Um... Oh! Lucy! Your name's Lucy! No? Uh... This ain't easy, you know... Um, George, Paul, John and Yoko-"
A flame erupted in my living room and I jumped a foot in the air.
"Yoko? Your name is Yoko... okay. How about you that record back where you found it, Yoko?"
She scowled again (I was surprised she could do that), but she picked up the record and put it with the others.
"Come here, let's watch some TV or something."
She jumped back up and I switched on the tube, finding some news and leaving it there (there wasn't gonna be anything good on this late). She curled up next to me and I covered her with the blanket. My arm stayed around her. She needed some type of support... and... I didn't know what I was doing. But it seemed right.
Before I knew it, she was asleep, and pretty soon, so was I.Chapter End Notes:alright, there was no sex, but it's on the way! please be patient, and please review
"Must be the goddamn chemicals or whatever they had in that place," Jeff said, thinking the same thing. Jeffery Camus was my partner. Or maybe I was his partner. He'd been a detective three years earlier, when I was a lowly grunt working at the force. Jeff was a good guy; he had three inches on me and seemed to have three days growth of beard every day, which I didn't think was possible. Anyway, he was a smart man, one that I could look up to. He was normally the one solving cases; I just tried to steal enough credit so that I didn't get fired.
"What do you think, Conen?"
That's me. Conen Williams. Yeah, a silly name. Some people have talked about it, some have made a big deal out of it. Some pester me enough that they get their faces realigned. The last guy lost a few teeth before I was done with him. Why the hell people had to get on my back for something my parents did was beyond me."
"Where the hell's your head at, Conen? You catchin' some sleep or what? Maybe I should drive back so you don't run your ass of the road."
Our language wasn't great, but we told ourselves that after what we saw, we got to say what we felt. Maybe we all just felt filth. Or maybe we were all trying to look tough in front of each other. Shit, I dunno.
"Shut up. I'm right here. I just want to get some sleep tonight. So what's the story here?"
"We got about a hundred phone calls reportin' an explosion," a uniformed cop said. "They weren't kiddin'. God knows what they were doin' in this place. They won't tell us anything."
"This place" was a Silph Co. laboratory, and it wasn't surprising that they wouldn't tell us cops anything, because some of what they did was surely illegal as hell.
"Anyway, after some sort of explosion, there have been a few electrical fires. The men here have managed to get all that under control, and we've started to bring out the bodies-"
"Bodies?" I asked, surprised. Nobody had told us that this was a homicide.
"Yeah, some dead Pokemon that they must have been testing on."
"Isn't that illegal?" Camus asked. Of course it was, and we all knew it, but that was how these things were addressed, I guess.
"Sure is, but we'll have a hell of a time proving it. There ain't much left to investigate, as you can see. Not to mention, these guys are gonna have the best lawyers in town, not to mention some spin on the local government. My guess is they pay a few minor fines and the rest gets swallowed by red tape."
"That's a damn shame, but we'll do our best to figure out just what went on here," Camus said.
"I hear ya. Well, good luck." The cop moved on to talk to whomever he had to talk to and left Jeff and me with the scene before us.
"I've seen some arson cases in my time, but nothing like this. Normally the building's hollowed out, but this thing's just splintered, man," Camus said to me. "I don't even know where to start."
"Here, sir," said a voice. We both turned our heads. It was some slick-sleeve I had seen before, but what was his name? Jeff solved the problem for me before it lead to an awkward moment.
"My name's Jeff, not sir. What's yours, kid?"
"Landon Matthews. You guys just getting here?"
We both grunted in the affirmative and the young (though shit, he was maybe two years younger than me) officer lead us into the destroyed building. The ceiling had collapsed, leaving the two-story building a lot closer to the dirt than it was the day before. Looking around at first, I was oblivious, but soon I could see what Matthews was looking at. It appeared we had stumbled upon the center of where the explosion had been. Matthews called it the "point of origin."
"We had to call the lab- the lab at the station, I mean- to send over the right stuff for a test."
"What test?" I asked.
"I don't know what exactly it is, but uh, anyway, we think it was an Electrode that went off, set the entire place up," Matthews said. "Apparently the guys can do a test to see if what's left is part of an Electrode."
"Well, shit, that's kinda gross, you know?" I said. "We're standing in dead bits of Pokemon?"
"Shit," Camus echoed. "Well, what the hell are we here for? They're already moving the bodies, we don't have any evidence to speak of, and a five year old could explain what happened here: the fucking building blew up."
"Well, here's where it gets interesting. More interesting, I suppose. There were only about a dozen, maybe less, Pokemon being held here. We've got a few survivors. Um, so... either of you train Pokemon?"
"You've got to be shitting me," I said.
"My wife's got a Meowth. I play with him when he won't shut up at night," Camus smiled. I was surprised at him actually. If the kid was implying what I thought he was...
"What I hear is we've got two Pokemon that need taking care of, and you two are prime candidates..." Camus seemed a little unsure now.
"This isn't our job. But...well... what the hell, huh Jeff?"
"Yeah, I'm game, I guess. Where are the Pokemon?"
"We managed to capture them. One's a Slowpoke, and the other's a Gengar. Thank God we found the Gengar while he was still disoriented, or he would have played hell with us. So, who wants what?"
As Matthews finished his sentence, there was the screech of metal scraping metal. We turned to see a small segment of the wrecked building crumble apart. And then something really surprised us. There was a high-pitched scream coming from the burning wreckage.
"Heh. You got a nervous buddy around here, Matthews?"
"Uh, that sounded like..."
"Sounded like you missed one, man."
With that I took off at a run through the ruins of the Silph building.
A part of the roof was covering some debris where the scream had come from. It must have been a sturdy part of the building to have not collapsed completely. But there was no real way in or out of the small area that was covered. Upon reaching the scene (two other officers were there too, looking around), it looked like smoke was still coming out of the wreckage.
"Hey!" I yelled. "Is there someone in there?"
There was a shout in reply, but there were no words to it. It didn't even sound entirely human.
"Get the goddamn firemen over here- Hey! Over here!"
They had barely hosed the broken structure down before I started prying away at the twisted metal (I was fortunate enough to be wearing my leather gloves). I couldn't move much of anything, but I managed to create a hole large enough to stick my head in.
In the bit of shelter was a Ninetales. I suspended my surprise for the moment and spoke.
"Come on out of here, this isn't gonna hold much longer. Come on now. You have to move; come on."
The Ninetales looked terrified. It wasn't panicking visibly, but it wouldn't start moving. I tried again, a bit different this time.
"I'm not one of the scientists. I'm here to get you out of here. There's enough space now to move. Come on, now, before this place falls apart. Just come toward me, and I'll get you out of here."
It seemed to consider this, but the Ninetales wasn't moving yet. Then, as the metal groaned and started to fall, it bolted, jumping into my arms and making me topple backward.
"You alright, Conen?" Camus was yelling. Honestly I just wanted to go to bed.
"I'm okay. You okay?" I said, addressing the Ninetales. It looked at me in a detached sort of way.
"He doesn't look like he's hurt," Jeff said. The Ninetales started at that, turning to glare at him.
"Umm... I think it's a she, Jeff. And I think she needs to get the hell out of here."
"I got the Pokeballs with the other two that got rescued. I'll let you handle this one, alright? You might as well leave, unless you feel like staying. You've done enough, I think."
"I'm inclined to agree with you," I said, climbing to my feet. "You gotta come with me now. Y'hear?"
She was zoning off again. I guess it was the shock or something. I didn't have time for this, but it didn't seem like I had a choice. I tried to plead my case.
"Hey, girl. You gotta come with me. I won't have to put you in a Pokeball if you behave. I'm not gonna toss you in a cage or some shit. Come on. Please, girl?"
She started following now, although I thought it might have been just to get away from the wreckage and the other cops. She stopped cold when we arrived at my car.
"I'm just gonna take you home, okay? Just back to my place. Look, I can't leave you on the street, I gotta take care of you. Just get in the car, okay? Please, girl. You've been through a lot, so let's just crash for the night. You'll be safe there."
The word safe seemed to do the trick. I opened the shotgun door and she hopped in. She wouldn't quit looking around. I clambered into my seat and started the engine. I wasn't sure if, being a fire-type, she was naturally warm or freezing cold in this weather.
I tried to keep my eyes on the road, but it wasn't that easy. Here in my dingy car was this regal Ninetales, who was still probably scared out of her mind. What the hell was I doing with a Ninetales? I was supposed to take care of her now? I suppose I could find some place for her to sleep, and maybe she could eat... wait...
"Hell," I breathed. I was going to have to find some food for this Ninetales to eat. I swerved the car into a turn lane, earning me a long loud honk from the car behind me, and pulled into a convenience store parking lot. After I parked hastily, I turned to look at the anonymous Ninetales riding next to me.
"I'm going to be gone for just a minute. I need to get you something to eat, okay?"
The Ninetales didn't respond. I sighed and opened up my door. Closing it and locking it, I looked up, and-
"What the hell?!" The passenger seat was empty. Just before I let loose a catastrophic string of obscenities, I felt something warm graze my leg. I looked down. The tricky little fox had jumped out behind me without me even noticing. I made a mental note to keep a better eye on her.
"Alright, you can come inside, but please, stay close. I'm supposed to look after you."
That seemed to be agreeable to her, so we walked into the store. Thankfully the clerk at the counter wasn't some nut who forced me to put her in a Pokeball, because I did have one for her.
"You need something?" the guy asked.
"Yeah, um... You got food for Pokemon? I need to..." I gestured to the Ninetales, who (thank God) was behaving and staying by my side.
"Yeah, second to last aisle, got a few different brands."
"Thanks, man."
We cruised down to the aisle and lo and behold, a whole bunch of Pokemon chow was waiting. I had my eyes on one of the medium sized bags. I didn't know how long I was supposed to take care of this Ninetales.
"Which one smells good, girl?"
She looked up at me with a bit of a blank stare. After a few moments she padded up to the bags and started sniffing. She sat down next to what must have been the successful candidate.
I lugged the bag to the counter and paid, then threw it in the back seat of my car. The Ninetales hopped right in the car when I opened the door. Maybe she was getting used to being around a human. But then again, she must have been around lots of humans in the lab, right? Maybe that was the problem...
The rest of the ride was uneventful. When we got back to my apartment building, I could tell she was shivering in the cold air, so we raced up the stairs (the elevator was broken) and into my modest apartment. The Ninetales stopped and looked around when entering, then sort of started looking around. I went straight to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of vodka, taking a swig with no soda or anything.
"Hey, um, just sit down wherever ya want... There's a blanket on the couch..."
She found it and curled up under it. For the moment, it seemed she was alright. She was probably going to have a rough few nights, though...
After another sip I put the vodka away. I honestly felt like going to sleep, but maybe I was inclined to take care of that Ninetales... and I didn't even know...
"Hey," I said, getting her attention. "What's your name?"
After I said it I realized I was an idiot and that of course Pokemon couldn't talk, but she hopped off my couch and, leaving me in utter puzzlement, started nosing through my record collection on the end table. Before I could make a reply, or at least express one in words, she found what she was looking for and brought me the record in her mouth,
"You want to listen to the Beatles?" This was just weird.
She scowled and her mouth started to glow.
"Whoa, okay, shit, don't burn my record! Umm... Your name is... John? Uh, Paul? George? Don't tell me it's Ringo."
She dropped the record and sat down, looking very impatient. She tapped the record with her paw.
"Um... Oh! Lucy! Your name's Lucy! No? Uh... This ain't easy, you know... Um, George, Paul, John and Yoko-"
A flame erupted in my living room and I jumped a foot in the air.
"Yoko? Your name is Yoko... okay. How about you that record back where you found it, Yoko?"
She scowled again (I was surprised she could do that), but she picked up the record and put it with the others.
"Come here, let's watch some TV or something."
She jumped back up and I switched on the tube, finding some news and leaving it there (there wasn't gonna be anything good on this late). She curled up next to me and I covered her with the blanket. My arm stayed around her. She needed some type of support... and... I didn't know what I was doing. But it seemed right.
Before I knew it, she was asleep, and pretty soon, so was I.Chapter End Notes:alright, there was no sex, but it's on the way! please be patient, and please review