Evelina

  —

  I hated working in cities.

  It wasn't exactly harder than the wilds, it was actually much easier, and far more common, but I still despised it.

  Especially this city.

  Celadon's police department was top-notch, even compared to the rest of the world, and especially Indigo. Those Team Rocket fucks had deeply infiltrated this city at one point in the past.

  Now, it was excruciatingly hard to work here. Oh, sure, the alleys were still alleys. The shops were still shops. The Centers were still Centers. There wasn't much to differentiate between Celadon and Saffron other than size and population density, except for one teeny, tiny difference.

  The plants.

  Why were plants such an issue? Well, when the police force was heavily integrated with the Gym Trainers, all of whom had Grass types?

  Good luck getting a proper assassination in when the trees themselves could serve as sensory organs.

  The chances that the tree and planter full of flowers and shrubs in front of me were being used by a Grass type at that moment were so infinitesimally small that I shouldn't even think about it, really. They weren't used like that unless there had been an alert, an incident, some reason. It distracted me from my target, and distractions were a great way to get caught.

  Or to die.

  Still, the bounty on this one girl was more than enough to overcome my hatred of working in Celadon. It was enough to overcome my hatred of Team Rocket. It was barely enough to overcome my disgust at killing a child, but the sheer number of zeroes was enough. Once again, barely, but that much money could buy me a way out of this life. A horrible life of killing those unfortunates who had irritated those in power, or just those with enough money saved up.

  Most of my targets had been far more casual than this. I killed civilians, not trainers. Businesses were usually quite happy to have one of their competitors 'accidentally' fall out of a window, or to choke to death as a previously unknown 'allergy' asserted itself. The petty revenge killings were a bit harder to deal with, in all honesty.

  So she dumped you because you were cheating on her, and now… You didn't want her to be able to, what, move on with her life? Fucks sake, scumbag…

  Still, money was money, and with enough of it I could finally get my record, and more importantly, my information scrubbed. I wouldn't be remaining in Indigo, of course, and I would never attempt to kill a child again… Anyone, really, but this was going to suck. I would probably need some very discreet therapy, somehow, once I got to wherever I went after this. Alola, almost certainly.

  Bright sun, shining sands, and lush, tropical jungles should be enough to scrub my mind of my crimes.

  Eventually.

  I shifted on my bench as my target exited the Gym.

  The Savage Trainer, Tiny Tyrant, and gleeful exterminator of Team Rocket. Honestly, I didn't have a problem with her, or her going after them. I despised what they did to Pokemon. I didn't have any Pokemon of my own, not after my disastrous Circuit ended with scars, shattered dreams, and tear-filled nights remembering the sounds of my first and only team as they fought off that huge Persian.

  For me.

  As I desperately ran away, leaving them to their fate.

  Still, most Pokemon weren't suited for something like this anyway, especially in cities. Blending in was much easier when you don't have a Pokemon standing on your shoulders. Sure, Pokeballs, but I hadn't been able to find one willing to work with me in years anyway, much less one I could trust enough to tell them what I actually did for a living.

  I slipped behind the Tiny Tyrant as she walked with her adopted sister and the… cousin? I think the… girl? I think she was the Champion's cousin, and that had almost given me pause when I had done my research. Still, if anything were to give me actual pause, it would be the Tyrant Queen.

  Luckily for me, and unluckily for her 'daughter', it was illegal for her to just walk down the streets. Her and most large Pokemon, to be fair, but her more than most. If this went badly, sure, she could release herself and not be fined.

  I wouldn't let that happen.

  I did my best to watch them out of the corner of my vision as I followed them. Nobody was entirely sure why, but humans, along with Pokemon, could feel when they were stared at. Aura was the most common explanation, but I felt that was something of a cop-out. Every time there was something esoteric and hard to explain, people said 'aura' and just left it there. It felt lazy to me, honestly.

  It was still a fact, though, so my eyes never came to rest on them fully.

  The group of children obviously had no idea I was there as I blended in with the light pedestrian traffic. I may not enjoy my line of work all that much, but I was good at it. I didn't have much of a choice, now did I? I preferred to continue living freely, not locked up in a maximum-security prison… Or just executed after all this time, all these contracts, honestly.

  When most people thought of assassins, at least here in Indigo, they often thought about ninjas. Sure, ninjas could assassinate, but they didn't focus on it. Most pictured an assassin as a sniper of some sort, or the kind to bury a blade in your heart in the dark. Sure, I'd done that before, but usually only when I had been instructed to send a message. Most of my work involved open windows or poisons in food.

  This would be a little different.

  For one, I had a needle. That was it, just a needle… one tipped with Toxapex poison, in fact, very concentrated Toxapex poison. Poison that was rare in this part of the world. One poke, and she would be dead less than half an hour after the initial five or so minutes of numbness. An excruciating half hour, and I felt even worse about that part than killing a child. A gun would have been faster and less painful, but not assured, and the payout was too large to leave things to chance.

  Still, this wasn't going to do itself. I broke off from tailing them and began passing through the back alleys of Celadon.

  The back alleys of most cities were dimly lit places, often dirty unless you managed to catch them after a cleaning day. The back alleys of Celadon were the worst for someone in my line of work.

  For one, it was bright. Celadon, more than any other city I had worked in, had been designed with light management in mind. While there were absolutely dark alleys in Celadon, the vast majority had been designed to run east to west as much as possible, and received more than enough sunlight to support plant life. The ivy covered walls lent these alleys a strange sort of 'jungle ruin' vibe, even if the ivy was frequently, meticulously pruned. I honestly wouldn't have been that surprised to find a Victreebel in one of the darker corners, waiting to lure in prey and digest them alive.

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  I pulled the safety tip off of my glove as I walked down the alley. I didn't run, just walked with purpose. Even the most unaware civilian remembers a running woman, one not dressed for exercise, and I very much didn't want to be remembered after this. My single-fingered glove was tightly strapped to my wrist, and with my index finger now one of the most potent close-range weapons in the world, I smiled to myself, ready to finish one last job.

  Yes, this job would haunt me for years to come… but they would be years I could live, not just survive.

  I hadn't even meant for my first kill to happen, honestly. The police believed me when I told them he just fell, but that was highly inaccurate. He had been so smug as he told me all the ways I would continue to serve him and his company. All the ways I would obey, if I wanted my mother to have a nice, comfortable end of her life, and not the 'basic' life that universal income gave. It wouldn't have been bad, universal income was more than enough to live comfortably off of, but she deserved better than the standard. She deserved all the comfort I could provide.

  He could have easily gotten me blacklisted in our industry.

  His leer had been just a stroke too much, though, there on his balcony that evening. Just the slightest bit too much, and me just the slightest bit too drunk. I regretted it the second his eyes had widened, as he began to tilt backwards off of the rail. I regretted it more when he landed head-first, three stories down.

  I regretted it far, far more when I found the small sack of cash that had been left on my bed that same night. The cash, the burner PokeNav with a single number, and the picture of me pushing him. Apparently he'd pissed off more than just me, and I had technically stolen an active contract right out from under someone.

  That had been ten years ago, and my sweet, kind, caring mother had long since passed away peacefully, not quite in luxury, but comfortable. Unfortunately, services of the kind I provided always came with a few barbs that made getting their hooks out so much harder. I still chose my own jobs, of course, but there was only one way out of this life, and that was to have the evidence, the blackmail, disappeared. A very costly thing, of course.

  I had nearly made it to the end of the alley, ready to intercept them on their way back to the Pokemon Center, to casually poke her as I bumped into them, when my world shifted.

  Shifted wasn't quite the right word for it, however. My vision wavered like a heat mirage, and suddenly I was on top of a small building. The accumulated dust and grime that occurred even in a city like Celadon hadn't been meticulously scrubbed from the short walls I found myself surrounded by, and I knew instantly this area was almost never accessed.

  I also knew I was fucked. Especially as what sounded like a mischievous child spoke from behind me, humor lacing his voice.

  "Nice job! She certainly doesn't look like an assassin, but I guess that's the point? Especially that nice little point on her finger. It just looks like a shitty nail job and crappy glove instead of a deadly weapon." I spun around and grew confused.

  It was a Rotom Phone, but it was more of a Rotom Tablet, huge and thick. How did it have a voice program like that?! Those were government property!

  Its ghostly lightning-bolt form appeared on the screen, eyes dancing with amusement. Crackling, electric amusement as it hovered there.

  "Too bad she tried to assassinate an assassin. One with very observant defenders."

  My left, needle-free hand shot into my jacket. No time to regret the noise this would cause, but I couldn't poison a phone. I could shoot it, though, and make my escape-

  "Nope, not happening!" The flash of electricity was so massive I nearly bit my tongue as my entire musculature locked up, and after an instant it stopped as I fell backwards, slamming my head into the rooftop.

  Thankfully my heart hadn't stopped, but considering I was still locked up, it might not stay that way for long. Luckily I had gone all the way with my custom glove, and the flat bar of metal behind my index finger stopped me from making a complete fist and poisoning myself to death.

  The Rotom laughed a few times, then began to giggle.

  "And there we go! Evidence acquired. Erin doesn't need to know about this scum, but if you have any trouble, somehow, just head back to her. If I need to, I can easily get this swept under the rug. I know a guy who looks out for her, after all…" It paused, tilting its head to the side.

  "Just don't do it up here, please? I think you have enough juice for another trip, right?" It was looking behind me, but my eyes refused to cooperate.

  It must have been a positive response, as it floated down to stare me directly in the face. The jovial, happy attitude dropped entirely, and I saw rage in its eyes. It's voice was still childish, but if I had been able to I would have shivered from the coldness in its tone now.

  "I wish I could come along and record this, but Erin expects you to disappear and do random, insane shit. However, I'm expected to be there and record her random, insane shit. Have fun, Stabby. Don't make it easy for the attempted child murderer." Stabby?!

  It zipped away from my field of vision just as I began to have some control over my twitching body.

  The world shifted again, but for far longer this time. When the shifting ended, I found myself face-down in a forest, the taste of dirt and grass filling my mouth. I rolled backwards, spitting as I did, and then I grew truly afraid as I saw the only other being in this small clearing.

  The tiny Clefable hovering in the air was smiling at me. A fae smiling at me was bad enough, but the shine in its eyes snarling at me was worse. How the shine snarled, I had no idea, nor did I want to know.

  My hand shot for my pistol again, but even as it entered my jacket the abomination was moving in a flash, so fast I couldn't fully track it with my eyes. A sharp, warm pain began to flow from my wrist up my arm, and I glanced down in horror to find a… rock embedded into my shattered wrist. No, not just a rock, it looked like the very tip of a stalagmite, or stalactite too, I guess. No longer than one of my fingers, it was embedded into me.

  I had been hurt before, suffered a broken collar bone once, even. This pain was like nothing before it, radiating out as my heart somehow began to beat even more frantically, and I barely muffled my scream as I threw myself backward, away from the tiny monstrosity smiling, snarling at me.

  Then it flashed forwards, and I felt a ripping, tearing sensation in my right hand even as I fell back to the ground. I knew what had happened before I even looked. I had two weapons on me, and this thing had been far too fast for me to draw my pistol. Now, I didn't even have my poisoned needle.

  Or the finger it had been on.

  I was dead.

  I knew that for a fact. Humans did not win against Pokemon without firepower or their own Pokemon, and my only other chance to kill it, to even slightly slow it down, had just been literally ripped away from me.

  This agony was far worse than my shattered wrist, and I screamed. Or, really, I began to. The instant my mouth opened I found it filled with water from what looked like a tiny Water Pulse, and I began to choke as it hit the back of my throat.

  Then the agony in my left wrist spiked as the conical rock was removed, and before I could even feel minor relief, it had been driven under my left kneecap. I screamed hard enough that my mouth was cleared, but an instant later the pointed tip found my throat.

  I thought that was it for me, and prepared to die, but… it had barely driven the rock into my throat at all. I still felt blood run down my windpipe, but my screams were… feeble, mostly just air coming out of a torn pipe.

  It had shredded my voice box.

  It didn't want me to make that much noise.

  It was still smiling at me as it lifted a stubby finger to its mouth, bloody spike of rock held in its other tiny hand. Both its face, and its shine were smiling, now.

  Then it's smile dropped as it laughed. Slowly, darkly, and so angrily amused.

  Then it flashed again, and I felt another wave of agony radiate out from my right kneecap this time.

  It's amused, furious eyes met my terrified, pain-filled ones once more, and despite myself, despite the situation I was in, despite my misdeeds, my horrible choices in life, I prayed to Arceus.

  Not for life, no… I prayed for a swift end.

  Based on this things smile, I wasn't about to receive anything close to a miracle.

  —

  Alex

  —

  "Dexter, where are- there you are! Listen, help me convince Alex that clothes shopping right now is a stupid idea! We have enough to get us through to the end of summer, and we'll need warmer clothes then! If we buy new outfits here in 'fashion city', we'll get to wear them a few weeks, a month at the most, then never again! We'll have outgrown them by next year!"

  Erin looked almost pleading as she said that, and I knew she just didn't want to go clothes shopping while she was still being punished, even if she did make a decent point.

  I smirked at her, voice light and amused.

  "Well, Leaf and I will probably outgrow them, sure, but I kind of doubt you'll grow at all, much less enough to-" I leaned out of the way of her hand, laughing, even as Dexter zapped her, smiling extra widely. He looked very satisfied as he did so, more than usual, even.

  Then again, Dexter really liked to zap her… Us, really…