Kenny’d never really thought of himself as any kind of family guy. Like, he loved his family, obviously… but who didn’t? And of course it was really just him and Nana now, what with Huck gone up to Pewter for good way back in ‘97, and everybody else getting themselves chewed up even before that…

  So yeah, not the biggest part of his life, not for a long time. If you’d asked him a couple days ago, he’d have proudly said he was focused on his career.

  But as his feet ate up sand, then grass, then smooth concrete brickwork, Menard Kaneth was forced to admit that if somebody were to offer him a million pokes right that second to just fuck off and do his job, he’d smash their ugly face in without even stopping to see if they actually had the cash after.

  Unless they were carrying, like, a big obvious suitcase or something. I’m not dumb.

  “Kenny!” the bossman called from behind his back as they got within spitting distance of Nana’s house. “Slow down! Seriously- dude! Unless you’re planning on fighting the blues yourself, stop for a damn second!”

  I could do that, he thought, his teeth pressed against each other like his jaw was a vice. I’ve got the ‘mons for it, now. But despite the frustration and, yeah, fear clouding his head, he obeyed. “Fine.” Don’t know why you’re so fuckin’ concerned – street’s ‘r empty this time’a day anyhow. Ain’t gonna get caught just walkin’ around.

  Hoshi let out a muffled curse as he staggered to a stop just inside Kenny’s field of vision. “Fuck, man,” he wheezed, out of breath. “Holy shit, I figured with your build… you must skip leg day… but…”

  Then the girlfriend followed, placing a hand on her lover’s back. Casca looked a lot better – she hadn’t even tried to keep pace. “Wow, yeah. I guess the juice goes all the way down.”

  “It does,” Kenny answered impatiently. “You all caught up, Boss?” I know it ain’t exactly rational, but I’ve gotta do this. Right now, no waitin’. He’d been doing his best to push it down, the knowledge that his life as a normal dude was over, the crushing number of things that his name getting into the system would change – but like fuel drawn into an engine, all pushing it down had done was make the eventual explosion bigger ‘n hotter.

  His feet itched inside his boots, and his fingers too. Adrenaline rushed up and down his veins, scouring his innards clean like acid etching his bones. No waitin’. If I do… I’ll actually just fuckin’ explode fer real.

  The senior grunt finally caught his breath. “Yeah, I’m good.” Kenny moved- “But don’t run, it’s suspicious. Seriously, the extra minute we take walking won’t matter – and we’ll want to do this stealthy, anyway.”

  Kenny moved, marching forward with a gait that wasn’t quite a jog. “Stealth?” he sent back. “How’s that gonna work? Look – I can see the damn cop car from ‘ere.”

  Hoshi gave him a side-eye, and the grunt realised Grampy’s accent was probably coming through stronger ‘n usual. Then the man’s purple eyes narrowed.

  “Yeah, I see it. But don’t worry.” The tall, thin Rocket gave Kenny a sharp smile, his wide lips seeming to lift off the edges of his head like they were barely attached to his face. “We’ve got a Pokémon with Camouflage. And she’s a pretty smart one, too.”

  “Call in,” came the scratchy voice of the station girl, and for a brief moment, as the second consecutive day of sitting in her car doing sweet fuck-all unfurled before her mind’s eye like a seer’s premonition, Willow was tempted to tell a little fib – to pass along some non-existent suspicious activity, or make-believe a biker had brazenly passed by her car going twenty over. Something that would let her turn the engine on and actually go somewhere.

  But no, that would be wrong. So instead of doing anything even theoretically useful, she just flipped the broadcast switch and put on her Jenny voice. “This is Yelsa, oh-one-nine, vee-see-bee. No activity.”

  The officer on the other end sent two bursts of static in a voiceless understood, then left the channel open for a lingering moment just in case she had any other comments. Willow – whose paperwork name was Yelsa Kigumi, to add yet another layer of obfuscation between her Jenny identity and her real, flesh-and-blood self – felt the ‘Jenny out’ forming on her tongue like it had a thousand times before-

  But something stopped her. “Oh heck,” she muttered, activating the radio again. “Scratch that, got a stray dugtrio nosing around the neighbour’s garden.” It was honestly a minor miracle that she’d seen it; the conjoined mole monster had popped up in the shadow of the house, and with its dull brown colour it was only that slight movement that had alerted her.

  “Need backup?” asked the station girl, and Willow grimaced. Pure ground. Bad matchup for Speedy, but…

  He can handle a wild Pokémon, plus I’ve got the machop in reserve. Thing’ll probably just run anyway. “Looks like just the one. Shouldn’t be trouble – I’ll call in again in a minute with an update. Jenny out.”

  The slight static of the open line died as her hands followed a procedure drilled bone-deep into each knuckle by her fifteen-year career. Gun: hostered with the safety on. Pepper spray: just where she’d left it. Pokéballs: firmly secured to her belt, enlarged and ready to go. Baton: present.

  And so, after only a moment’s pause to don her police cap, the officer stepped out onto the empty street and took confident, measured strides towards the ground type. A triple-tap to his ball bid Speedy, her lifelong companion, to release himself, and the stealth function that she’d chosen as default did its job. The electrike joined her without a sound, smoothly matching her pace as he took his place at her side.

  People said that a Pokémon’s heart grew to match their trainer’s, and Willow’d seen plenty of evidence to collaborate the old saying; when she’d been a child, Speedy had acted like a giant puppy, and when she’d had her juvenile rebellious phase, he’d followed her lead to become surly and aggressive.

  And when she’d finally grown up and gotten a real job, the electric type canine had transformed yet again, becoming calm and dutiful almost overnight. Hopefully he’ll evolve soon – not that I’m hoping for a fight or anything. The sly thought brought a smile to her face. Should probably pick up some more of those treats he likes, the old ones are probably a bit stale…

  It was only as the two stepped up past the curb and onto well-maintained grass that the dugtrio finally noticed them, whirling and wiggling its noses with a trio of hisses.

  “Sorry, big guy,” she said as Speedy responded with a warning growl. “I’m afraid that pensioner’s garden is off-limits. You’re pretty far from home; why don’t you move on back the way you came?” Wild Pokémon might not understand orders the way trained ones did, but tone and body language could get you pretty far – and with a dog at her side and her hand on her baton, hopefully the message was crystal-clear.

  A moment of tension as the evolved ‘mon took stock of them, its three pairs of eyes moving independently in a slightly eerie display. Willow had always found that type of Pokémon creepy – the dugtrios and magnetons of the world, that toed the line between a single living thing and a colony. C’mon. I know Speedy isn’t evolved like you are, but are you really willing to fight it out over some radishes? Worryingly possible; if the thing had weaved its way through the city’s plumbing to get here, it was probably starving. Maybe injured? If its avoiding the routes it probably-

  Movement interrupted the thought, and Willow half-drew her baton out of instinct, the order to Bite forming on her lips – but there was no attack. The dugtrio smoothly submerged, disappearing with a loud, resonant hiss and leaving behind only a small patch of disturbed sod and a few chewed leaves to mark its passage. The Jenny eyed the ground suspiciously for a moment – and then sighed. Well, that was a little anticlimactic. Not that I’m itching for a fight, but…

  But waiting around all day, hoping for some low-level gangster to maybe do the stupid thing and come back home wasn’t exactly her preference. Yeah, criminals were dumb as a rule, but it’d been days; he was probably halfway to Muskovo by now – or just holed up in the woods. Their secret base got completely blown up. This whole thing is such a waste of everybody’s time; there are twenty bikers going around scaring folk for every one of these missing Rockets, we’d be a lot better off going after them than chasing ghosts.

  The sigh ended. “Well, that’s that. You good, Speedy?”

  A quiet yip.

  “Good boy. Return.”

  Her electrike disappeared, and Willow gave one last lingering look to where the dugtrio had dug down. Then she turned, a forced confidence plastered over her boredom, and started the short walk back to her car-

  Only to curse and break into a run within three steps. “Damnit! When-?!” She reached the opened door as Speedy released himself again, and Willow stared at the drenched insides. The seat was soaked – and more importantly, so was the radio. Who could’ve possibly- I didn’t hear anything! She flicked it on, but there was no subtle hum or even any burst of garbled static; the machine simply stayed dead.

  “On guard,” she commanded as her head turned left and right, scanning. Streets look empty. “Check underneath.”

  As Speedy sniffed around the underside of the vehicle – a longshot, but she’d actually caught a couple of kid delinquents trying it once – she reached for her personal radio; a much more compact and short-ranged tool, but hopefully one that would solve at least part of this. Come on..! But after only a second it became clear that neither of them were going to find success; Speedy retreated and shook his head, whining, while her walkie-talkie produced only static.

  “Damn it all…” It’s just after lunch. Her partner, who was guarding a different house a bit to the east, must have succumbed to the same temptation she’d resisted and gone off somewhere outside the handheld’s tepid range.

  And so, with no culprit and no radio to report her situation, the Jenny could only stand and stare at her vehicle in building frustration. Doesn’t look like anything was stolen, at least… Fucking vandals. Nobody respects the police in this city. The thought was lukewarm; while all her papers might be ruined, she could easily imagine a similar – though much more serious – ‘prank’ happening in Celadon. Or, Arcus forbid, Saffron…

  She continued to stare, reluctant to sit on the sodden leather, but after pacing around the car and letting Speedy sniff around to no effect the officer was forced to give up.

  Willow returned her Pokémon a second time, rooted around for what was left of her paperwork, and despondently sat on the hood of her police car as she watched it dry. She had two choices: either drive back to the station and swap cars, or wait for said station – or her damn useless partner – to notice she wasn’t calling in. Which could take hours; we’re short-staffed even on good days, and these days aren’t very good.

  Leave her post, or leave herself vulnerable without a way to summon backup…

  Could this be that Menard guy? A vein pulsed in her forehead. Arcus, I hope so. If he’s actually come, I’ll show him the difference between a criminal and a trained officer!

  Another sigh found its way past her teeth as the street remained quiet, fate deciding not to take the bait. Well, I guess I wasn’t doing anything anyway…

  “…Boss, she’s jus’ sittin’ there.”

  “I noticed.”

  “…Boss, it’s been like ten minutes.”

  “Yeah, my watch works as good as yours.”

  “…”

  Yeah, yeah, I get it. My plan was dumb. Shut the fuck up.

  The two male Rockets peeked out from the edge of the house, staring at the distant Jenny as she sat like a hood ornament on the front of her car. Hoshi’s jaw clenched as she continued to not move an Arc-damned muscle. “I don’t get it!” he whispered loudly to his subordinate, girlfriend, and girlfriend’s Pokémon. “Jenny are supposed to return to the station if they suffer an equipment malfunction. She’s breaking regulation!”

  Casca looked up from where she was sitting on the grass, entertaining her staryu with a pack of cards. “Told you I should’ve had Candy hide under the thing and hit her ankles. The rest of us could’ve run up and swarmed her easy while she was on the ground.”

  “Casca, you saw her look under there. It wouldn’t have worked.”

  A shrug. “She looked inside first. And they didn’t follow her back, so you were right about the wax muffling her scent – it might not’ve smelled her even close-up. Would’ve been better than letting her put her guard up, right?”

  Hoshi sighed, pulling back from the edge to lean against the white-painted wood. For a moment he watched his girlfriend play along as Candy flipped over seemingly random cards; the staryu wasn’t very good at memory, but she did seem to at least grok the objective. Should maybe try that with Crow later. She’s always pretty smart, but I’ve never been sure exactly how–

  His thought was interrupted by a low growl from Kenny, who was still eyeing the cop. “I’m goin’ over there.”

  “Wait-”

  “She ain’t leavin’, Boss. We’ve got a time limit, right?”

  “Yeah,” Hoshi answered, “One measured in days. Just stay cool; another few minutes and those papers’ll be dry. She’ll probably check the inside to see if it’s aired out enough to put them back, and that’s when we’ll hit her. Probably…” His voice lowered as he switched from giving an order to stream-of-consciousness muttering. “Probably go in with everyone? Or would that attract too much attention..? I should leave Champion in his ball at least, we don’t wanna kill her…”

  Another growl, and Hoshi’s nose wrinkled. “Kenny, Arc, come on. Nothing’s going to happen to your grandma in the next few minutes – if you need to do something, release a Pokémon and explain the plan.” Dexus below, my head’s pounding. Should I take some more painkillers? Kenny moved- “And remember to use the silent release.” No, too many will just make me groggy later. There’s some stuff I wanna grab from my apartment, so I’m guessing there’ll be at least one more fight…

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “I remember,” Kenny said, putting deed to words by pressing a thumb to the lens and clicking it softly but rapidly. A moment later Bubbles the sandshrew appeared, his emergence much stealthier than the normal release – though also slower.

  Hoshi closed his eyes and let Kenny’s voice wash over him as the grunt spoke to his Pokémon, trying to put a workable plan together with the pieces he had.

  Man, I hate stakeout duty…

  Usually Willow would at least have some crosswords to keep half her attention, but whoever had decided to drench her ride had managed to get every single piece of paper completely soaked. Probably wasn’t the Rocket – if it was, he’d have shown up by now. She didn’t exactly know the guy, but the dossier she’d received had painted a pretty good picture: ex-pro wrestler expelled for steroid use. Big guy, ugly, a couple summary misdemeanours, but nothing really big on his sheet – until now. A petty criminal, short-sighted and motivated by money… except now he’s a terrorist, forced to be a footsoldier along with the rest of his gang friends.

  Honestly, the fact that Team Rocket was still around after all this time was kind of embarrassing in a distant, professional sort of way. Rebranded or not, the gang was the biggest stain on Kanto’s reputation since… well, she couldn’t think of anything comparable off the top of her head. Some ancient-history type stuff is definitely worse, but that’s an entirely different category. Rocket’s on us.

  Though maybe that chapter was finally coming to an end. With Apollo behind bars, their main forces disabled, and the remaining ‘executives’ on the run…

  Willow blew out another sigh as she watched the sun slowly crawl across the perfect blue sky, feeling its warmth on her skin despite the year’s late chill. Okay, I’m starting to seriously lose focus – time to change tack. If the perp happens to visit his granny while I’m away, I guess I’ll just take my lumps.

  Her mind made up, the Jenny slid off her car’s hood and around to the still-open door. “Blah, just about as wet as when I left it…” she murmured, but a damp seat wasn’t quite enough to change her mind. She half-heartedly threw her papers into the slightly drier back, and squelched down into the driver’s seat.

  Her skirt immediately failed to keep the moistness from reaching her skin. Ugh. The officer reached for her keys, gave them a firm turn, and-

  And something hit the back of her car, causing her to jolt. Willow whirled, identified the culprit through her driverside mirror – that fucking dugtrio popped my tire! – as Speedy’s ball was tugged free from her belt. “Howl!” she cried, throwing and rolling out of the vehicle in one smooth motion-

  Only for something cold to punch her in the spine. She grit her teeth as her roll turned into something more ungainly, ice-water pouring down her body as the probably-a-Water Gun pushed her three, four, five metres down the street.

  With a silent thanks to her sturdy uniform for getting between the attack and her body – and between the street and her body, for that matter – she rose, releasing her second Pokémon as Speedy’s move sounded out. Howl always made her heart start racing, and this time was no different; the sound was like liquid electricity soaking through her pores and into her blood, lightening her muscles. She felt strong, and there came the urge to cry out along with her electrike – but she suppressed it, instead reaching for her whistle as her standard-issue machop appeared just in time to receive the buffing move as well. Inhale-

  “Don’t,” came a deep voice from behind her back, and she whirled again, her hand dropping to her baton-

  “Don’t,” sterner this time, and Willow froze. Holy shit. Her eyes instantly slid past Menard Kaneth to the nidoking standing at his side, the fully-evolved Pokémon giving her a cocky smirk – and then they went further, to the ursaring, machoke, raticate, vileplume, and primeape.

  Then, finally, to the man who’d spoken. Narrow face, flat nose, big bushy eyebrows – that’s Hoshi Mutsu. The late Gym Leader’s godson had warranted a special dossier, and his weirdly-proportioned face was etched into her memory even harder than her nominal target’s. Damnit. Where that fuck did they get all these Pokémon? They’re grunts, low-lifes even by criminal standards, why the fuck would the Rocket higher-ups..?

  But it wasn’t the new, likely-stolen Pokémon that worried her most – no, it was the raticate she’d already seen as a rattata in his file.

  People said that a Pokémon’s heart grew to match their trainer’s, and Willow’d seen plenty of evidence to collaborate the old saying; criminal Pokémon were worse than wild ones, even when they weren’t killers. She’d seen it over and over, a petty burglar or wifebeater’s ‘mon erupting into sudden violence the moment their master saw the blue wig and panicked. That raticate had a nasty spark in its eye, the look of something that wanted to hurt its opponent – and that look, in turn, made her even more wary of its trainer.

  Her mouth moved on autopilot as her brain desperately attempted to put together a set of actions that would let her take out – or at least escape from – multiple evolved Pokémon. “Hoshi Mutsu and Menard Kaneth, both wanted for conspiracy, espionage, and petty treason. I am placing you under arrest; if you surrender now, you will be detained peacefully and be given fair trial. Resist, and I will be forced to restrain you physically.” Do I go for my pistol? A Water Gun isn’t on the escalation list, but in a second I’ll be surrounded, and then-

  Wait, where did that Water Gun come fr-?

  A spinning blur hit her in the wrist, her baton went flying, and for a single moment she waffled between drawing her taser or firearm – I’ve never had to shoot someone; if I pull the trigger I’m definitely dead; the nido will just shrug off the shock-

  She didn’t get to make a decision; something sharp dug into her ankles and pulled her down, and the last thing she saw before the bright daylight street gave way to cold earth was Speedy savagely biting at a staryu, the water type’s silhouette running like ink as her machop tried to fend off four other monsters.

  “Guts, finish it.”

  The stubborn dog finally went down to the combination of the raticate’s half-learned Sucker Punch and follow-up Quick Attack, its bright green fur almost seeming to dim as it lost consciousness. “Good girl, keep an eye on that one. Kenny, anything in the- oh, for fuck’s sake.”

  His subordinate was already halfway across his house’s lawn, and for a moment Hoshi closed his eyes and let the fantasy of just leaving him to his own devices play out on the theatre stage of his eyelids.

  Then he put the frustration in its box, and turned to the hole in the street. Ugh, smells like shit…

  Well, that made sense, since it led to the sewers. “Bubbles! You hear me down there?! Bring her back up!”

  Raising his voice was hard – he instinctively wanted to try and keep a low profile, but that cat had escaped its bag when the Jenny’d had her dog use Howl. His eyes anxiously played over the surrounding houses as the sandshrew awkwardly ascended to street-level, dragging the squirming police officer after him by the collar. Any of them could be calling the blues right this second – somebody must’ve noticed us. And landlines were cheap enough that even the older side of the city had to have a few; they probably only had minutes before another Jenny or ten showed up.

  The cop spat gravel as Bubbles released her, and for a moment Hoshi’s heart tensed – but the Pokémon had understood his orders; her gun was gone along with her other equipment, the holster chewed through and left underground.

  Among the missing objects was her hat. Huh, you know, I think I can tell it’s a wig. She’s… blonde?

  “This was a dumb move, kid,” the Jenny said, and along with her true hair colour there came another revelation: she was much older than he’d assumed. High thirties? Maybe low forties, even. The makeup, wig, and general level of fitness had made him think she was nearer his own age, but on closer inspection she was old enough to be someone’s mom. “Fucking stupid. But look, I get it – times are tough, it seems like the only way to make shit happen is to go a little crazy. We’ve all been there. But…”

  Kind of a potty mouth, too.

  She spat again. “But this is too far. Rocket’s gone off the deep end – you’re the Gym Leader’s godson, right? You really wanna keep working for the fucks that-”

  “Shut up,” Hoshi interrupted. I don’t need you to tell me that, blue. “If you’re gonna try and convince me to turn myself in or some idiotic shit like that, then you’re wasting your breath. Casca?”

  His girlfriend emerged from the back seat of the black and white vehicle. “Not much here; Candy was pretty damn thorough. Hey blue, you wouldn’t happen to have a secret compartment with all your hyper-sensitive documents inside, like, under the seat or something, right?”

  The Jenny was a professional; Hoshi could see the urge to insult Casca for her flippant attitude pass through her and disappear like water dripping through a sieve. Her face calmed into a mask that may as well have been made of clay for all he could see through it – and of course, the colours shimmering across her face turned grey as well. Useless as always…

  Though the telekinesis has been pretty okay, so I’ll have to thank the Doc for all the puke-inducing training when I meet him again.

  “I’m not saying this for my benefit,” the officer said, wig askew and brow creased with a shadow of discomfort. “You really should turn yourselves in. You’re flunkies, minions, grunts; your convictions will be pretty soft, in comparison to what they could be if you let things go to their natural end. You’re young, you’ve got time to turn your lives around.”

  Hoshi looked at the blue-clad woman, kneeling on the street, with her Pokémon knocked out and being watched by a fully-grown ursaring – and Guts, though she cut a much less impressive figure. Does she mean that? No, she can’t possibly think we’d get off at this point – and she probably doesn’t know the full story anyway.

  He wet his lips. “Hey.” The Jenny turned, just in time to miss the exaggerated eye-roll Casca sent her way. “Were you there? When the academy blew up?”

  A moment of silence, and then she slowly, warily stood. Hoshi was tempted to knock her down again just on principle – you really shouldn’t let an opponent get back on their feet – but the Pokémon at his side calmed his nerves. “No,” she answered. “I was stuck at home – some kind of problem with my paperwork. Only got back out here because a bunch of officers were there, and got- and received injuries.”

  Hoshi took a breath; slow and deep, in and out. “How many people died?”

  Her teeth flashed out in a grimace, white bordered by vibrant red – somehow, her lipstick had survived being dragged halfway to the sewers unscathed. “You… You already know about Surge.”

  It hadn’t been a question, but Hoshi nodded anyway. “Yeah.”

  “Other than him, a few Gym trainers were caught by the explosion. The rest got by with light injuries; there was a wall between them and the trap, and enough of their Pokémon knew Protect to block what went through. A bunch of Rockets died – I don’t know the exact number, maybe ten or fifteen.” She shrugged, her body language still wary. “Don’t ask me why they blew themselves up, I have no idea. A few League agents were injured in the blast, and eight officers – one girl lost a foot when the floor turned into shrapnel.” Her jaw set. “Does that answer your question?”

  He breathed deeply again, red dripping down the sides of his view. Does it? I wanna know if it was on purpose… But how would I even determine that? Would somebody who was there know? One of the Gym employees, or… In, out. Is it even possible to sort it out, short of tying Jessie and James to a chair and- and pulling teeth or some shit until the truth I wanna hear presents itself?

  Hoshi honestly couldn’t say. “Sure,” he lied, taking a step back. “Alright, here’s what’s going to happen: I don’t feel like riling up the rest of the Jennys, so we aren’t going to kill you or anything. You’ll go back in the hole, and Bubbles will seal it up; crawling down to the sewers and then finding your way back to the surface should give us enough time for Kenny to do his business. If that’s fine then nod – and if it isn’t then nod anyway, ‘cause I don’t care.”

  Kenny’s heart was beating in his ears as he opened the door, a rapid k-thump k-thump k-thump like a distant train going over uneven tracks. “Nana?” he called out, voice smaller than it should’ve been. “Nana? It’s Menard, are you in?” What if she’s not here? Would- would they stick her in jail ‘cause a’ me? No, that’s dumb, stop bein’ fuckin’ dumb-

  “Menard!” answered Nana’s familiar voice from the living room, and one knot in Kenny’s heart untied itself while a different one replaced it.

  “Nana! I’m-”

  He entered just in time to get smacked in the face, the impact of the porcelain sugar-bowl more surprising than painful. He fumbled to catch it, succeeding after a frantic near-miss that was probably real funny to look at from outside, and froze with his eyes locked on the bone-china sculpture of a rabbit. Don’t. Don’t freeze up, we’ve got shit to do. Slowly he looked up, and saw his nana giving him a terrible scowl.

  Silvia Kaneth didn’t cut an imposing figure like her husband had, or her sons, or even what Kenny could remember of his aunties; she was tiny, wizened, with big glasses that made her eyes look like a cartoon character’s. But even still, when she raised her voice he cringed. “Menard Kaneth, what’s this I hear about you being a wanted man?! I’ve got officers coming around, and a spook from the Silver League tossed up your room!” She paused, but he couldn’t find any words in time to satisfy. “Well? Speak up!”

  He forced it. “‘M sorry Nana, it was just, like, a little side-gig type thing. You get me?” A sharp look forced him to continue. “No, fer real! I wasn’t doin’ nothin’ bad, jus’ hangin’ round the Gym listenin’ ‘n stuff. Got a Pokémon, fought tha Gym Leader all proper-like, it was all goin’ great – hadn’t no idea all this crazy shit was goin’ down, cross me heart.” Glad the Boss ‘n his piece ain’t here, ‘r they’d never let me hear the end’a it. Be makin’ sailor jokes ‘till the League strung us up…

  Nana marched forward, and Kenny braced himself for a tantrum – but all she did was snatch the tiny hollow statue from his hands and put it down on the dining table. “Menard, I know I raised you better’n this. You’re a criminal?”

  He winced. Look on tha bright side – could be so much worse. Could be I came in ‘n she thought I was Grampy come home. “…Yeah. ‘M sorry. I jus- I was outta a job and needed tha money. No other work fer knuckleheads like me…”

  Her lips pursed, and a brief silence passed. Out in the street Kenny thought he could hear voices, just faintly – but that was probably his imagination. Eventually his grandmother blew air through her teeth, sitting heavily at the table as she looked down. “I suppose you’ll need to be getting on, then.”

  His wince deepened. “There’s a plan, Nana, ‘n a good one. We got safehouses, got a place in Saffron, ‘n if ya come wit’ me we can-”

  “Menard,” she sighed, cutting him off. “Oh, Menard, what am I going to do with you?”

  “Nana, I…”

  “You know, I was always afraid of this. Richard was always on one shady business or another with his business partners from out west, but when Huck and the girls stayed clean I thought that part of my life was all over and done…” She sighed again, and Kenny had nothing to say – so he let her talk. “I wish Gladdy and your father were here, they’d know what to say… because I don’t. I really don’t.”

  “…’M sorry,” Kenny said for a third time, and the repetition did nothing to strengthen the words. “I gotta- I’m a wanted man, Nana. I can’t stay here.”

  She nodded, her expression sad enough that he felt like his throat was trying to strangle itself from the inside. “And I ain’t going with you, Menard. I built this house with my bare hands, it’s where I belong.”

  The two looked at each other silently, and slowly, haltingly, like the waves gradually receding as the tide went out, Kenny edged backwards. “I’ll come back,” he said, and his nana gave him a lukewarm smile.

  “You better.”

  When he got back outside, things had changed a bit; the first thing he noticed was that the blue’s Pokémon were gone, and the second was that the hole Bubbles had made was roughly collapsed, leaving a big divot in the brickwork of the street.

  The third thing he noticed, after approaching, was that Orange had a new piece of her own. “Woah,” he commented as he eyed the holster strapped below her belt. “That the Jenny’s?”

  Casca answered without looking at him, her attention held up with actually securing the thing. “Yeah. Damn straps are overcomplicated as shit…”

  “Uh, you know how ta- how to use that, right?”

  She looked up, revealing a raised eyebrow. “Duh. I’m training to be an agent – and I’m not dumb enough to pick up a gun I can’t use.”

  “Right…”

  “Kenny,” the Boss called out, saving him a moment of awkward silence. “Come over here, got something for you.”

  He obeyed, and a second later found a baton plopped into his hand. “Oh. Is this-”

  “It’s from the officer too, yeah. I’m keeping her taser for myself – as well as these.” Hoshi reached into his pocket and showed off two Jet Balls. “Can’t use ‘em, but better we have them than the enemy. Are you- I mean, how’s your grandma?”

  Uh… “She’s fine. She’s gonna stay here while I’m… away, It ain’t like she’s wanted, right?”

  The senior grunt gave him a searching look, and Kenny had to repress the urge to snap at him. I’m fine, Boss. Just… I’m fine. Whatever Hoshi saw apparently satisfied him, because he nodded.

  “Well, I’m glad you got that off your chest. Ready to go? We smashed her radio, but the police could still show up any second.”

  “Yeah, I’m about done over here,” Casca commented from the side, and Kenny blinked.

  Ready to go? “Boss, you didn’t think I came here just for Nana, did ya?” The expression he made told Kenny that he actually had, and the ex-wrestler grinned. “Man, did you forget? I’ve got a secret base ‘a my own! Help me get my bike out – we’ll be at that Tanya chick’s place in no time!”

  A beat of silence – and then Hoshi actually facepalmed, hard enough for it to echo slightly in the empty street. “Holy shit, I actually forgot the hoverbike! I’m fucking out of it… Yeah, sure, let’s get right on that – but I want to swing by my apartment first.”

  His look turned cold. “Chances are we aren’t gonna be back in town for a while…”