Lance

  —

  "I truly do not care how your department somehow let something this obvious avoid notice! Let me be very clear on this, Jennifer. If an officer refuses to accept a mind reading, they are fired, and under surveillance! I already have similarly verified police coming from all over Indigo to help with your MESS!" Her face grew red and angry as she began to argue with me!

  ME!

  "Mind reading can't be compell-" I cut the fool off with a snarl.

  "No, it can't be! It can be used as the primary requirement to continue working as a defender! In fact, that's exactly what is happening! I don't think you understand what is happening to your job, your entire department right now, you foolish, incompetent, possibly corrupt MORON! What is happening is simple!" I leaned in, enjoying the look of terror on her face.

  This fucking idiot! Right under the city!

  HER city!

  "You are going to submit to a mind reading, or you are going to be placed under very strict surveillance for the rest of your life, which you will only be experiencing at your Clans estate! Then we are going to do the exact same thing for your immediate subordinates! Then theirs! Then theirs! Oh, and while this is all happening, what will your little grunts be doing? They will be waiting patiently for us in monitored warehouses. If they run? They are added to the known roster of Team Rocket, immediately." She tried to cut me off, but I just rolled right over her.

  "It is a very simple thing to not be branded a Global Terrorist! Show up when you're called! Don't be one! That's it! If they're sick, injured, PokeNav dead? We'll go check them out, I'm not a monster, I'm not irrational in my justified RAGE! If they run, though? No mercy, and I will rip every secret they have ever heard from their shattered minds!" I slammed her with my aura, once, and watched her eyes tremble.

  "Now, Jennifer Jenny of the Jenny Clan, will you prove yourself to be an honorable policewoman, or are you about to prove yourself something far worse?"

  Sooo glad I wasn't Black Blackthorn, or Thorn Blackthorn… Well, I guess a lance is a huge thorn, kind of… How many Jennifer's were there, though? How many Joyce's in the Joy Clan? What happened at family reunions? Are they like Porygon, and they just add a 2?

  …

  Joyce Z?

  "I-I'll… I'll submit to the mind reading…" Good. I knew she wasn't a sympathizer or informant, but she didn't know that I knew, and the fool needed to realize how precarious her position was, and what this will do to trust in Indigo! Directly under Kanto's biggest city!

  Arceus above…

  This was going to be such a long day!

  Doing something good and worthwhile and right!

  All day!

  My day off!

  At least I don't have to deal with that infuriating menace right now…

  Dear Arceus, please let me just get through this before Giratina's spawn causes another mess…

  —

  Patricia Greenwood

  —

  My life had fallen into a comfortable routine lately. One that I quite enjoyed, in fact.

  I started my morning off an hour before dawn, as usual. I tried to keep some premade breakfasts around, or at the very least, plenty of leftovers. I enjoyed cooking, but in the mornings? I'd rather enjoy watching the sun come up, sipping on some coffee with Maddy, and enjoy the silence…

  I would also enjoy the sounds of fury as Wukong woke up from his slumber. From inside. Because apparently Wukong liked AC. He hadn't damaged anything yet, and he was actually more gentle with the door than Maddy was, arms and hands being a great advantage, but it was still startling in the mornings to hear it from behind me in the living room. I forgot he was there most mornings.

  Without Erin's dragons I didn't do much butchering. I was only one person, so I didn't eat a whole lot of meat, even if I loved it. Nothing like two teenagers, two kids who were still growing… The Rattata were omnivores, but still loved meat, and they and the Ekans, Lily, and Poochyena had more than enough meat in the new walk-in refrigerator/freezer I had ordered. Far more than enough, actually, because Wukong loved acting as my hunter.

  Even if he couldn't move nearly as fast as Leto, and couldn't reach the plains… And those delicious Ponyta…

  Wukong's 'good morning' screeches were also the sign for the day to start for everyone else.

  It was usually around that time that my valet would just appear at my right elbow, ready to serve. I loved him dearly already, but I think he knew it was a little much occasionally… Because I could swear he smirked at me sometimes… He had also requested to be my personal Pokemon, and was now named Alfred.

  Why Alfred?

  I had no clue, but Erin had let him actually read her mind briefly, and he had been ecstatic to receive such a name. Apparently all Indeedee could do that, they just required explicit permission each and every time… because to plunder your charges minds is not to serve… Not even surface thoughts, like all psychic Pokemon couldn't help but read! No, they only heard what you needed until they were given permission…

  I loved the Indeedee, and would be forever grateful to them, which they knew, but they could be exhausting with their serving, sometimes…

  It was slightly worrying that he had started training with Wukong and Maddy, however.

  Not to mention Petals…

  Apparently Bellosom were not just adorable, happy gardeners that could, and did, make produce grow quickly, even as they danced and made beautiful music. They were apparently tiny little powerhouses, too.

  That would explain why Wukong loved to fight her… When she wanted to, which was rare, especially considering it had only been a few days, but it gave him an entirely new way to direct his rage.

  He was attempting to see if he could just burn the poisons from his body with his sheer rage, but so far Petals hadn't lost to him. Their spars generally ended with his eyes closing, rage impotent as she blasted him with an absolute torrent of Sleep Powder.

  Maddy could win, but only if she played it smart. If she got too close, Petals would simply erupt in… petals. An absolute blizzard of them, and in fact, that was the Moves name, according to the Professor. Petal Blizzard. Maddy never got close now, not after the first time the torrent of petals had fouled her wings, dropping her at speed into the ground. She'd rather try and snipe her from high in the sky.

  Petals had been quite the surprise, but a very pleasant one all the same. I still don't know how Erin had forced herself into contact with her when she was still a Gloom, but I was very grateful. So was she, because this was what she had wanted, why she had forced herself into the sunlight for so long, even though her lower body was sensitive to it. To be wanted, needed, and to make herself and others happy in a beautiful garden. That was it, more or less, even if she had her own personal desires. I loved Bellosom, even if Petals was a bit special.

  Petals had been ecstatic when I took her to Viridian City briefly. Well, the city itself was interesting, but not something she liked as a Grass type, and she had laughed at the small parks dotted throughout the city, but the gardening center?

  I'd had to raise her spending limit five times! She made good choices each time, though, and only got obstinate once when she required a small, decorative, not seaworthy boat for the pond… She got it, but I wasn't enthusiastic about its chances of remaining afloat, even if she weighed so little…

  My garden hill wasn't going to be bare for long, that was certain. I hadn't even recognized most of the flower seeds she chose, not to mention the small shrubs, decorative grasses, and of course, more crop seeds of all varieties. I had recognized most of the vines she intended to grow from the edges of the levels, down the sheer sides. Various types of Berries that grow on vines instead of trees, a small variety of different grapes she swore she could grow, a very pokey blackberry bush for an entire wall she promised me wouldn't run wild, even a few sprigs of honeysuckle just for the lovely smell.

  The small pond at the top was constantly topped off from the large pond by a tiny solar-powered motor, and thanks to the extensive landscaping work done by the builders, as long as the pond was filled, the hill would be watered. Well, once the plants were established, that was, the soil was dry and solid for a good foot before it became damp. Those Dugtrio had been quite fascinating to watch as they built the hill layer by layer…

  Petals had taken to the rescues like… like a little dancer who just wanted to spread good cheer, honestly. They were nervous the first day, but after the first evening, and her beautiful music and dance, they had warmed up rather quickly. Everyone had, and Mrs. Maple was no exception.

  Mrs. Maple was now also technically my employee? I mean, she did get paid, but it was mainly just to be here most days, to be the human in charge if I had to leave. I had some vague plans for the future of the Ranch, including a sort of 'community center', but here, so that any residents or future adopters that wanted to visit them, could… Not that many would, but eventually…

  They had finally warmed up to Mrs. Maple, though, that was for sure. The baking helped, absolutely, but simply being around them for a while had helped the most… Although she still went rigid when poor Charizard dropped by. She still visited to chat almost daily, but without Leto, I wasn't exactly roasting meat all day long anymore, so it was generally for shorter periods of time.

  I had also reached out to our first possible re-homing, with the worker who had almost cried at a Rattata, a Rattata that had watched her with wide eyes the entire day. She was still interested, and while I trusted my own judgement in people, that wasn't how it worked, legally. We should hear back from the agency I had hired for the task soon. If she had no red flags, and he wanted to go with her, we might soon be one rescue shorter at the Ranch.

  Which was great, truly, but… it would make me sad to see, but it would make me sadder to deny him the opportunity to be loved, and more than I could manage by myself, or even with Mrs. Maple and Petals…

  Still, I had the feeling I would be receiving more soon. My daughters were about to travel to another city, and Erin smelled trouble… Maybe literally…

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  They had won their second and first Badges from the Cerulean Gym yesterday, and… well… I felt horrible for Misty, I really, truly did. Those girls had far over-trained for their Second Badge! The other girl was fine, she hadn't known.

  That had been quite the surprise, and while I was very happy for Alex, it had worried me, too. Not because of her, no, she was perfectly fine…

  Erin liked to ramble, though, and she hated the thought of 'Fate'. Yet Erin somehow encounters the Champion, basically dominates him because Dragonite is the actual team leader, and somehow gains him as a highly bitter, reluctant ally? The same Champion who then dropped off his young relative to travel with them, who just so happened to be trans? With probably the only person in the world who wasn't currently, but knew exactly what it felt like? Who would help her?

  One of Erins greatest fears was Fate controlling her, driving her actions, her life itself. Why did it seem like… so much happened around her? She wasn't supposed to be Arceus Champion, but she certainly seemed to have a lot of coincidences.

  They seemed to lead to her helping more people, which was good, but… My poor daughter never got to choose, and it seemed like all she did was help others have a choice. A chance at life, a chance to be themself. She was proud of it… But she still believed she was a monster…

  I was quite certain she saw herself as a… necessary evil. A tool in the hands of whatever fate had led her to the Lowlands. Someone with no choice, and therefore no future. I wasn't stupid. She thought she didn't belong here, and never would… The worst part is, I knew that she should be able to, how did she put it? Advance. She should be able to make progress, to advance, because that was the whole point of life by her own admission and true belief… Even if I didn't exactly believe it myself…

  I had a horrible feeling that she couldn't, and that I knew more or less why, and that terrified me.

  If there was one thing my daughter feared more than fate, it was going back to her old world. Death was never an easy reality to accept, but there was always the knowledge that you would be back. You might be a Magikarp, but you would be back here, in this world, with everyone you cared for, even if you never knew it.

  She was terrified that when she died, she would just… sink back down. She wasn't from Hell, no. Apparently that's more or less where Hope was from, but Erin? I don't think she saw much difference between Hell and her old world. She hadn't grown, then journeyed here. She believed that she had been transplanted from her old world to this one, and she was convinced she was lesser, darker than us… and now she would be stuck that way.

  So she had… given up. Accepted her aura, how it had tinted her mind, accepted her desire to hunt them down, accepted her choices, accepted her fate. I knew she was just trying to have an impact, to leave something behind when she died that said she was here, and had made a difference… even if she wasn't here, anymore.

  It wasn't fair.

  Why did my daughter have to get everything she wanted… Just, not for her? She was able to help Alex achieve something she had never been able to, that she had prayed for her entire previous life. She gave the rescues a choice, even if it was an unfortunate one, a choice she didn't have. She probably saved Leaf's life with a wish… A wish we were fairly certain was for family, family in her favorite world, her favorite escape from her old reality…

  She had chosen strangers' futures over her soul, and it was a bitter pill for me to swallow. Erin never lied, and she didn't regret her choice, never would.

  Even if it sent her back to a place she viewed as hellish.

  Forever.

  My PokeNav rang, and I felt my tensions begin to rise.

  There was no real need for them to rise… Except, I never got calls at this time… If my daughters needed to let me know something during the afternoon, not night-time, well, they would text me… I also don't recognize the number…

  "Alfred, could you be a dear and- oh, of course…" He was already going inside, rushing for the pain medicine. The headache was already beginning…

  "Patricia Greenwood, who is this?" I don't know why I said that, considering the face on the screen. It was a distinctive face, and it was currently red with fury.

  "Lance Blackthorn, Ms. Greenwood. I think you know why I must be calling, judging from your face."

  He was very correct, unfortunately…

  —

  I finally received a call from Erin, after she had Rotom ignore my first one.

  First ten.

  "I had hoped to never have this conversation again, Eri- Why are you covered in blood?!" Arceus preserve me, she is drenched! Her face is more dried blood than skin right now! How did they let her walk out of the police station like that?! She's in the woods!

  She rolled her eyes at me and scoffed.

  "Well, I'm covered in it because humans are full of it, and the corrupt, infiltrated police department here held me! Honestly, I'm surprised some is still liquid, I mean, most of it's dried, but still!" Her tone was so flippant, so casual as she spoke.

  "It's not all good news like more rescues and dead Team Rocket assholes, though. I broke one of my kukri…" She seemed sadder about breaking her vicious blade than she did about… well, I don't feel bad for what she did to them eithe-

  "I mean, it was the third decapitation, so sure, even it was getting dull, and I should have known better! Then I still gutted that one guy with it! I could have possibly fixed it after that, I have the compound for it, but noooo, I had to get inventive!" Oh, dear Arceus… What would she consider… inventive?

  "Hecate actually shattered some of their minds. She wasn't too happy with what they were… thinking about. Very loudly and proudly thinking about. She removed their ability to think, so… bad thoughts gone?" I don't know why I'm surprised, honestly. Hecate is sweet and adorable, but she is vicious, too… Like Erin, and her entire team, actually…

  "Kallen actually didn't do much this time, just acted as backup protection in case Hecate's Protect broke, got a few as I rushed past…" He already had a double digit kill count, that was fine!

  "Cerberus found out that he does not like the taste of humans, but he will still happily take a few chunks out before they stop moving. I think he preferred their screams to their taste, honestly. He was not happy to hear the inside of that place, let me tell ya! He didn't even need to see the horrors to rage…" Cerberus was so gentle, too, so loving… Although, that may be why he was so mad… Arceus, his jaws were absolutely horrifying, even if he was so controlled around us…

  Chunks…

  "Seraphina melted the boss's hands off when he tried to pull the whole 'Oooh, I'm a big dumb middle-management villain, I'll hurt the Pokemon if you don't stop and let us kill you' card, and he actually resisted my aura partially, so I couldn't just freeze him in terror like the rest I had to fight instead of assassinate. She was so proud of herself, too!" I could easily see that, honestly. She was sweet, like Erin's whole team, yes, but far more obviously vicious than Hecate… Arceus preserve us, her Acid was terrifying, even compared to Kallen's…

  "He's alive to interrogate, though, because Hecate healed his stumps… I mean, she got a little out of his head before then, only as much is legal for her to skim, as a Psychic Pokemon, technically, even if she can also read emotions and follow those thoughts… No laws broken!" She just kept going!

  "Honestly, I had more trouble with…" Her face tightened up, eyes haunted and shining with tears.

  "I had more trouble with the Pokemon that… adjusted. The Pewter cell was so small they didn't have any of those… This was a base… They didn't believe me and Hecate, couldn't…" Her voice was so sad, before she perked up a little, a vicious grin on her face. Because what other type would she have these days…

  "Team Rocket has thirty two less members today, though… Well, from me, and twenty or so more that are maimed for life, sure, because fuck them, and we were kind of in the groove after they finally wised up and noticed the bodies, and my music was thumping, if low volume, so grateful to Rotom for helping me make that one…" Arceus above, almost three dozen people in two hours?! By herself?! Twenty more maimed?! As she listened to music?! Probably her horrifying music, too!

  "And of course, they had a spy in the police department, multiple, and no fucking procedure for it either! I mean, Jenny in Pewter is really nice and at least somewhat competent, for here, I guess,-" Excuse me? What?! She is a good policewoman, Erin!

  "-but your police and detectives are just so shit. Like fucking children in power! No, let's not check the giant system of tunnels beneath the largest city in Kanto! It's not like the police don't keep Alakazam on retainer! They can't sense emotions, no, but they can sense gatherings of minds! Take a fucking stroll you incompetent fucks!" Oh, that wasn't good… She was right, and worse, she was getting mad again…

  "Then I had to wait for Lance! Lance! I had to wait on Lance, let me just repeat that! I broke zero laws! They were holding me for no legal reason! They abused their pitiful little power! That spy I sniffed out is lucky he was wearing a police uniform in the lobby! It was the only thing that stopped me! Only! You don't need limbs to be interrogated!" I was truly beginning to worry now, as her fury only continued to grow.

  "They surround me like a rabid do- Growlithe, herd me outside and into a van! They were very, very lucky they never touched their guns, because I know for a fact that Hecate's Protect can stop bullets! Now! One finger on a trigger and I would have needed Looker! I could tell exactly how weak their shameful little Pokemon were, they couldn't have stopped us if I had chosen to resist!" Rotom's face slid into the corner of the feed, and it was worried.

  Not scared, it was truly worried about her. Considering she was pacing, hands clenching and unclenching, as she snarled? She looked far too much like a tiny Leto for my liking at the moment. I was worried, too.

  "Erin, how about you calm-" She whipped around, snarling face directly in front of Rotom. It wisely backed up.

  "Calm? Oh, I am calm! I'm so calm, in fact, that I passed through the other side of calm, looped back around, and went right back to furious!" Her glare wasn't angry at me, but the fury didn't need to be directed.

  "I'm so calm, in fact, that I haven't asked you why you're on Maddy's back, why I can barely hear you over the sound of wind! Because obviously, you just have to rush here! Not that I'm not grateful, I very much am grateful and I love you, but for fucks sake!" She turned and roared into the ground.

  "I won't be here when you get here! I need some alone time. Alone, Rotom! Talk to Leaf and Alex… and Lance. He's a good guy under all that him-ness, and too involved now, especially after I opened my big fucking mouth in there! Loop him in on everything you want to, I do not give a fuck anymore, not that it would do me any good! Who cares what I want? It never matters, anyway!" She hung her bandoleer on Rotom, turned, and stalked off, shooting Rotom a glare when it tried to follow her.

  "Rotom…" It gave me a sad look.

  "She's fine, honestly, Ms. Greenwood… She just needs some time alone, away from idiotic, corrupt police, good-hearted but egotistical Champions, away from her team, her family, her phone…" It sighed.

  "She just needs time to process what she… saw down there. What we saw, none of us are exactly happy right now, we're just not human and don't have to deal with your stupidity as a species… Well, they don't, I'm stuck dealing with you humans..." I frowned at them.

  "Not what she did?" It shook its head, letting out a chuckle.

  "She had fun today, Ms. Greenwood. A lot of fun. She was right, too, she didn't lie, not that that's a surprise… She never played with them, she put them down fast, if brutally… She just had a lot of fun doing it. Like, far too much, almost. Almost!" It giggled a little.

  "I kind of did, too, honestly! I mean, I was recording everything for proof, yeah, but I still got the one who shot her! Nobody ever expects the phone to know Electro Ball! I mean, kinda expected, but still!" Excuse me, WHAT?!

  "Rotom, my daughter was shot?!" It winced.

  "She's fine! It broke through Hecate's Protect, but it was very slowed down, and it didn't hit anything vital. She said she… would…" Now Rotom began to look mildly panicked, and I unconsciously gripped Maddy's neck, drawing a pained cry from her momentarily.

  "Rotom, she said she would what?" It wasn't looking at me as it responded. It wasn't even on the feed anymore!

  "She said she would get it looked at when she got back to the Center." It told me, from the woods!

  "Rotom, is my daughter walking around with a bullet in her?" Its face actually slid back in momentarily, looking somewhat amused.

  "I mean, I know for sure it's not deadly, even if it hurts… I almost think she's doing this on purpose… I think she's going to sue the Saffron Police Department, actually. She is livid with them, and despite the blood-soaked fourteen year old, they were legally in the wrong, and illegally held her, against Lance's orders, even!" I could see her doing that! I could see her winning, too!

  That didn't matter right now!

  "Rotom, go chase after her!" It was shaking its head already.

  "I don't have a tracker on her or anything! She's decently fast, and after her training? For all I know she's right here listening! I highly doubt it, but let that sink in. I can't find her anymore these days, and I can sense electrical impulses… Not well or far, sure, but she is stealthy, Ms. Greenwood, especially with her aura… She'll come back in when she's ready… It stopped bleeding, and it's not a bad location, no large blood vessels…" It laughed, then just kept laughing, and my frown only grew.

  "Why is my daughter's gunshot wound funny, Rotom?" It was laughing so hard a chat box popped up, unable to work the complicated voice controls.

  "Because she got shot in the butt! She'll be fine, but she got shot in the butt! The BUTT!" I scowled at them… But…

  I mean…

  Erin would find it funny, though…

  Even if she wouldn't be sitting down comfortably for a while…