Arun held a dopey smile on his face as they walked underneath Galactic’s cameras, listening to Pranav talk about everything they'd spend all their hard earned money on whenever members of Galactic walked by them. Their cheery demeanour was held until they reached their room, and the door was firmly shut behind them.
Arun sighed, “I don’t know how much longer I could have smiled for.”
“Wasn’t so bad for me.” Pranav grinned, letting himself flop onto Arun’s bed, Aken appeared a moment later, hiding underneath their bed as he chose to hover by Pran’s shoulder, “It’s easy to get excited about money.”
“I don’t like the sound of that, sounds like you want to spend it all right now.”
“Well not all of it.”
Arun shot his little brother a look, to which Pranav laughed and said, “Oh come on, how much money do we have right now?”
“The money we have saved? 2000 from that first robbery, which we I still say we should return-”
“Yeah na, not happening.”
“Figured. There’s also that 500 you got from that stupid bet, add another 250 we saved from our ‘paychecks’ and we’re sitting at a comfortable 52,750, or $5275.”
Pranav let out a low whistle, “That’s…wow, we’re pretty good.”
“The question is what do we do with this money?” Arun sighed, taking a seat by his desk. He unclipped his belt and let both Pokeballs rest atop the flat wood.
“First thing we should do is probably move it to another account.”
“Hmm. You don’t want Galactic tracking our payments?”
“Not all of them, at least. We should have money set aside for important shit like investments or something. If we come into some more money it shouldn’t be going into our Galactic account.”
Arun knew that tone of voice. He settled back in his chair, kicking his feet up onto his desk as he looked at his brother, “You have a plan?”
Pranav grinned back at him, “One that won’t put our lives in danger.”
“Yeah we’ll see about that. Spill.”
“Remember when we were trying to get our IDs from Joy?” Pran asked, sitting up on the bed now, idly scritching Aken’s head, “Getting IDs without Pokémon took time, but now that we have Pokémon…”
“It’ll be easier for us to get an ID…” Arun finished, looking thoughtful.
“On top of that we got an in with the Nurse. If she asks us about our Galactic IDs I'm pretty sure we could make up some sob story, see what happens.”
“Oh. About that.” Arun said, “Taliah knows Galactic does shady shit.”
His brother blinked, “Wait, what?”
“Yeah. surprised me too. But apparently the ‘Joy Clan’ has their own info network, and they're very well connected.”
“So why the fuck aren’t they doing anything about the crime syndicates that pop up every two years?”
Hm. Arun hadn’t thought to ask about that yet. He’d have to do that next time he talked to her, which would be soon if this was the route they wanted to go. It felt like a good idea, so long as they had money tied into Galactic their accounts could be controlled at will, honestly it was surprising they were given that 50k check at all.
Maybe the whole ‘grab some good attention’ was a better idea than he realized.
“If we’re doing this we need to be genuine.” Arun said, shooting Pran a serious look, “We don’t know what her family is capable of, and I don’t want her on our bad side.”
“Yeah yeah,” His brother waved, “But she likes you dude, she’ll be more than happy so long as we don’t abuse her trust.”
“Which we’re kind of doing right now by being all sneaky.”
“Eh. She’d understand. But let's talk about the fun part.”
Arun raised an eyebrow, “Which is?”
Pran’s smile was wide, “Spending that money of course! What do you say? A little R&R time for us, me, you and the wide world of Pokémon, ripe for exploring!”
Arun thought about it for a while, before nodding, “You know what. Yeah, let’s do it.”
“Wait…for real? I don’t have to give you the whole pitch?”
“You could if you want.” He shrugged, god knew Pran loved talking, “But we just went through some crazy ass shit. Let’s take it easy, actually enjoy ourselves today, we earned it. I’m thinking we get some new clothes, grab some food and chill at an arcade or a park somewhere, I can introduce myself to the new guy.”
Pranav stood slowly from the bed, walking to Arun and placing a hand on his shoulder. Pranav’s eyes were shining, emotion filling his voice as he said, “You mean I finally get to change out of these stupid NPC ass clothes?”
“Mhm.”
“You’re the best brother a guy could ask for.”
He flashed him a grin, “I know.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Arun didn’t care how many times he said it, but walking through Veilstone was just awesome.
Their first order of business was getting to the bank and cashing out on their check, they took their time though, stopping by to check out a few local battles that took place in the dozens of mini arenas carved into the city. Being a weekday, the battles were mostly between older teenagers, and perhaps a few older adults too from time to time. They were approached twice for a battle, which they’d politely declined, today was going to be a relaxing day.
They did promise to come back later though.
Veilstone always seemed to have something going on, even during the earlier parts of the day. Buskers played something more soothing instead of fast paced Jazz they’d go for when things got more hectic. He could see a duo of trainer and Kricketune playing with relaxed smiles as an older couple took the time to sway together nearby.
Arun was also a little excited and worried that his new “powers” were getting stronger. Stronger in the sense that he could manage the constant rolling waves of emotion that everything was giving off and sorting it out without being overwhelmed. Worried because he wasn't sure what to do with all the information that was coming his way.
“Man, this is nice.” Pran sighed, drinking in the sights as he casually strolled through the streets.
“Could you imagine the other towns?” Arun asked, smiling at a man who offered them some street food. It looked like an assortment of meat wrapped in steamed vegetables and absolutely layered in sauce. He bought two for only 75.
“Fuck you’re right.” Pranav’s eyes widened as he took a bite with Aken. “Holy shit this good! Fuck, can you imagine the other cities? I can't wait for this whole journey thing to kick off.”
“Not being followed all the time would also be fun.”
“And here I thought your skills were getting dull.”
It was a little difficult to tell whether it was paranoia or caution that alerted Arun to the man’s presence, but after seeing the same person pop around (in the same outfit too, Pranav wouldn’t stop scoffing about that) at every stop they visited or every battle Arena they spectated, it was pretty evident they were being tailed.
The question was, what to do about it?
“Think it’s Aurafire or Chronos?” Pran asked, keeping his voice low and a smile on his face.
“Doubtful. I’m hedging more on Galactic wanting to keep tabs on us.”
“Damn. So we can’t jump him, huh.”
“You’d probably lose if we did.”
A bark of laughter from his brother, who looked mock offended, “Brother of mine! How dare you!”
Arun grinned, “Ah perhaps I misspoke. I meant to say you’d be thoroughly trashed.”
“Aken! Can you believe this? We must reclaim our honor, in a Pokémon battle!”
Aken, to his credit, saw that his trainer wasn’t really offended, and settled on a determined glare at the mention of a battle.
Arun pondered for a moment, “You know…we should, right? It only makes sense to test our partner’s capabilities, right?”
“Yeah, but I’d rather not do it today. This weekend though, the gang is going out to train, we could follow along and battle then.”
“This weekend then.” Arun nodded.
“So what do we do about Mr.Stalker?”
“Same as usual, we’ll just lose him after the bank.”
Even before the bombs Pran and Arun had always been slippery individuals. Strict parents raised sneaky children, after all. Parties and late nights with friends, sneaking around the city to hang with girls that their parents would absolutely hate to know they were around, the two understood the basics of “city stealth”. Their skills evolved after the bombs, as they learned to quietly manoeuvre the abandoned and desolate streets to avoid others.
They’d been tailed more than once before, and this guy would be no different.
“Aken,” Pran said under his breath, “Keep an eye out for us would you? Let us know if we should be worried about Pokémon too.”
Arun caught the briefest flashes of annoyance targeted towards their stalker fellow before Aken complied, disappearing amidst a little mosh pit that had two Geodude’s break dance battling against each other.
They got to their destination pretty easily, it was one of the biggest malls in Veilstone, simply called the “Veilstone Mega Plaza”. Arun supposed the name was apt, if a little uncreative.
“Holy fuckin’ shit dude.” Pran whispered, as they crested the steps onto the levelled stone where the Plaza made its home.
Rather than a massive structure, it was a series of smaller buildings that all connected in an almost labyrinth-like manor, with open patios and parks made to take space in-between the ‘indoor’ parts of the mall. Some of the patios were just massive food courts, with picnic tables and cloths laid out on the grass as the smells of food from every region wafted over. Others were mini parks where Pokémon and kids lay about under the watchful eye of a bored but content looking ranger, likely parents dropping kids off so they wouldn’t get antsy.
Arun and Pranav decided they’d get food after they finished with their little quests for the day. Walking into one of the side buildings, glass double doors opened up to a beautifully lit interior that made full use of the sunlight streaming in from above. Despite them coming in during the early hours of the day it was still a little busy, and both brothers found themselves lost and asking for directions every two minutes.
They’d finally found what they needed in one of the chain banks simply called the “Sinnoh National Bank”. Walking into Pran’s complaints about everything being “Uncreative”, they were surprised to find a clerk calling on them almost immediately.
“Good morning!” The Clerk said cheerily, he had short cropped hair and small glasses that rested on his face, “How can I help you today?”
Arun glanced at the long line that also seemed to be surprised at their advancement forward. He shrugged, he wasn't one to forgo waiting in line, “Hm. We’re here to deposit a check.”
“Lovely! Do you have your IDs and check with you?”
Arun handed the man what was necessary, the two pulling out their Galactic ID cards to slide over to him as well.
“Perfect! Shall I split it 50/50 into your accounts?”
“No thank you.” Arun said, “15,000 into both of our accounts, the other 20,000 we’ll take in cash.”
The clerk blinked in surprise, “Oh? May I know why?”
Arun frowned, why the hell would a clerk need to know why? Just handle the money. Before he could speak however Pran stepped in with a light smile, “Ah it's just a little paranoia our dad instilled in us when we were younger. Always have some cash on you, you know how it goes.”
“20,000 is a lot more than just some cash.”
Pranav shrugged, “Guess it was a lot more than a little paranoia.”
“I see…very well then, just a moment.”
Deposits made, cash tucked safely away, the two brothers left, stopping into the nearby bathroom to get away from prying ears.
“Totally a Galactic plant.” Pranav said, leaning against the counter.
“Absolutely. Another Dorothy.” Arun shuddered.
“Did you see how short his hair was? Literally made for wigs.”
“Asking too many goddamn questions.”
“You think everyone is on Galactic’s payroll here?”
Arun sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I dunno. Are there other places we can store money without them knowing? It’d be kind of a shit plan to just walk in with new ids only to have them reported by Galactic.”
“Heh, true.” Pranav snorted, “I'm thinking Nurse Joy can help with that. We just play extra cautious until we get there, but no paranoia, just keep our cards close and don’t fuck around.”
Just then a Janitor walked by, nodding at the two with a slight smile before continuing on his way, a small pidgey nestled on his hat as the older gentleman whistled a tune while he brought up a mop bucket from behind him.
“....there’s no way, right?” Pran asked.
“....Can’t be.” Arun said, though he eyed the guy suspiciously.
“Man, I hate Galactic.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Their next stop, much to Pranav’s excitement, would be clothes shopping, or as his little brother put it “Upping our drip so we don’t look like brokies”.
Sometimes Arun thought his brother cared about appearances too much.
They decided they’d spend their extra 2000 from robbing two unfortunate grunts on relaxing for the day, their extra 20,000 would be split 50/50 for their newer accounts. The 500 Arun let Pran keep as pocket change, he earned it fair and square after all.
Both brothers were very appalled upon seeing the prices of what was considered “normal wear”. It was just like their real world, overpriced clothes that were decent, but definitely not worth 600 (it was a T-shirt, for crying out loud)
Their savior arrived as a familiar face, one they hadn’t seen in a little while.
“Scott!” Pranav said cheerily, waving his arm towards a familiar face. The boy was walking with Starly on his shoulder, chatting amicably with an older woman. Judging from their similarities, Arun could only guess she was his mother.
“Oh!” Scott grinned, “It’s you guys!”
Arun chuckled, “You guys? Did you forget our names?”
“Aha…maybe?”
“Are you two friends of Scott?” The older woman asked, smiling at the two of them. Like Scott, her hair was a dark shade of teal. Though while Scott’s was short cropped, hers flowed down past her neck before curling outwards. Arun could see their eyes were a little different, hers were sharper whereas his were round, but amusingly, both mother and son’s eyes crinkled up the same when they smiled.
“More like he saved us, two poor lost travellers in the woods.” Pranav said, clapping the boy on the shoulder, “Even offered a place at your household, though we didn’t want to intrude.”
“Ah!” Scott’s mother snapped her fingers, “The Unovans! I remember!”
“That’s us.” Arun nodded, “I’m Sirius, this is my brother, Felis.”
“Huh…” Scott frowned, “I swear it started with an A or something.”
“We might’ve given you a fake name. Sorry Scott, we weren’t in a good place back then.”
The boy was understanding, nodding as he said “Well you guys are looking a lot better now! What happened?”
Pranav grinned and brought out his Trainer ID, “We managed to snag a job with Galactic.”
Both mother and son’s eyes went wide, Scott’s Ma began to bow slightly but Arun stopped her before she could.
“Please ma’am.” He said, feeling slightly uncomfortable, “This is unnecessary.”
“But you gentlemen are Galactic! They are the best of the best! Sinnoh’s protectors!”
Yeah. Best of the best. Sure.
“It was luck that got us through. Besides, we owe Scott, you’ve raised a wonderful son ma’am, he helped us in our time of need.”
“Does that mean you two are trainers now!?” Scott asked excitedly, his eyes shining, “Oh my god! You are! You already have two!”
Arun’s fingers drifted across the Pokeballs in his belt as he smiled, “Yeah. This one’s my partner, Valor. He’s a Nuzleaf. This one is a Zubat, gifted by Galactic. I figured I wouldn’t say hi until we all got some food together.”
“I’ve got a Shuppet named Aken.” Pranav said, his eyes briefly meeting a shadow creeping along the wall, “But I’ll let him out when we get some food, too.”
“Well, what are you guys up to right now?”
“Just shopping for some clothes.” Arun said, “We’ve got some extra money, but we’re looking for a spot that doesn’t feel so expensive.”
“Oh goody!” Scott’s mom clapped excitedly, “We’re doing the same! I know a great place, if you want to follow.”
“Of course! Mrs…?”
“Please dear, just call me Willow.”
And that was how they landed at a small store called “Route 1000”, the sign there largely proclaiming “You’ll spend less than a thousand Poké shopping with us!”
The interior was manned by an older lady Mrs.Willow called “Stell”, who smiled widely at the two new customers. There was another kid working there, probably a grandson, alongside a Kirlia who sat by the registrar's desk, its legs dangling off the edge as it watched them with an unreadable expression on its face.
Both brothers immediately made a beeline for Pyjamas as soon as they spotted them. Having slept in their normal wear the whole time, one missed the soft silky texture of well made pyjamas. Stell cackled with glee when she saw their faces light up at the prices.
“Ma’am.” Pranav sighed, bringing the soft pair of pyjama pants close to his chest. It was all black with little Pokeball designs on it, “You sure know how to make a guy’s day.”
“What sweet words,” Stell chuckled, “If you’re impressed with that son, you’ll love everything else I have to offer!”
Pranav was adamant on four outfits each. Three would be an assortment of shirts and pants they could swap out for casual outings, but the last one had to be their “signature fit” as he put it. Yeah...they were probably going over their 2000 budget.
“Listen.” Pranav said to both Arun and Scott, walking back and forth like a sergeant giving orders to troops, “What makes a trainer memorable? DON’T ANSWER! Rhetorical.”
After a brief pause where he glared at the two who were about to ruin his speech later, Pranav nodded and said, “It’s their outfit! You think Cynthia would be such an imposing badass if she walked around in a t-shirt and slacks?”
“Yeah.” Arun nodded.
“Probably.” Scott agreed, “She’s really tall and scary sometimes.”
“Nay!” Pran continued, decidedly ignoring their insubordination, “Now if we wish to be on a league equal to theirs, we need to cultivate our own signature outfit, one that associates with us and what we wish to represent!”
“But I like my jogger wear…”
“Scott, listen buddy,” Pranav said, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “Do you want to be a trainer of great renown?”
Scott nodded.
“Do you want crowds to cheer your name as you step up on stage?”
Another nod.
“Do you want girls tripping over themselves to get your number?”
Scott blushed, causing his mother and Stell to snicker and giggle before they returned to their conversation.
“Then wear something more fashionable! Come on, start picking outfits, Sirius you better take this seriously, this is important.”
“Yeah yeah.” Arun sighed, though he did feel like Pran had a bit of a point. Every important trainer had a signature outfit. Even the Galactic Admins had variations in their designs, making them unique. It was always his childhood dream to be a trainer…so why not look the part too?
He hummed as he skimmed through some of the clothes. He definitely wanted green in his outfit, alongside green being his favorite color, his starter was also a grass type, so it would definitely match. But then what? He needed to also get something for the winter, it was starting to get really cold despite the sun, and the mountains funnelled wind so it was basically always windy in Veilstone.
“You look a little stuck dearie.” Stell called.
“Ah.” Arun smiled, embarrassed, “I’ve never actually been great at choosing clothes…and my brother has a bit of a point.”
“Of course he does, a good outfit completes a person.” She nodded sagely, “KIRLIA!”
The little Pokemon hopped down off the desk, leaping gracefully from clothes rack to clothes rack until it stood eye level with Arun.
“Go ahead and give her some thoughts about what you want, dearie, she can handle the rest.”
Arun sent a wave of sympathy. Not bothering you, am I?
Kirlia’s eyes widened, before she smiled and sent a wave of excitement back, Love work, show me.
He grinned at the Pokémon, the two pinging emotions back and forth as he sought to find something that suited him. Kirlia also helped by placing images in his mind, letting him see in real time how he’d look with certain clothes without actually putting them on.
Eventually Kirlia found something both of them liked. The upper portion consisted of three layers, a simple shirt, a forest green hoodie with black roses stitched into the arms and his upper torso, and finally a heavy brown jacket that completed the set. For the lower portion he had dark brown cargos, alongside some green-striped boots that would work both on terrain and off.
And of course, every good trainer needed a hat, so he got a little green beanie.
Admiring himself in the mirror, Arun felt…good. More like a person. Always wearing basic whites and greys, or the Galactic uniform had put a bit of a damper in his mind that he didn’t realize was there until he saw some color. He frowned at his hair though, almost reaching his shoulder blades now, perhaps he’d get a haircut soon too.
“Goddamn who’s that?” Pran said, causing Arun to break into a grin.
“What do you think?” He asked, gesturing at himself.
“I’m thinking we look like proper trainers now!”
Surprisingly, Pranav had found something similar to Arun’s outfit. A black leather jacket with a built in dark purple cotton hood was thrown over a simple dark tee. For his bottom half Pran decided on black cargos and black boots with purple stripes.
And he too, of course had a hat, though…
“Dude…is that a fedora?” Arun visibly cringed at the dark purple hat.
“Hold on, hear me out.” Pran argued, adjusting the hat and gesturing at himself, “Tell me this doesn’t look badass.”
“You gonna call me ‘M’lady’ next?”
“Oh come one! The whole ‘nice guy’ archetype doesn’t even exist here!”
Arun snickered, “Says who?”
Pranav made to retort but paused, before whirling to face Stell and Willow with a flourish, “Ladies.” He said, gesturing to the hat, “What are we thinking?”
“Hat’s fine but you’re all skin and bones dearie.” Stell sighed, “Get some weight in you, everybody appreciates being wrapped in strong arms.”
“Oh don’t listen to her Felis,” Willow argued, “I think you look wonderful.”
“And there we have it. My pride’s wounded but the hat can stay.”
Arun raised his hands in mock surrender, “Alright, alright, you win.”
He was totally going to get Pran to say “M'lady” sooner or later though.
Scott arrived shortly after, wearing dark teals and blues to complement his hair. Both brothers nodded appreciatively at him, but then the two of them began to point out his hat.
“I’m keeping my jogging visors.” Scott declared crossing his arms in defiance.
“Dude, please.” Pran argued, “You can do so much better.”
“Says the guy with the nice guy hat.”
“Motherfucker.”
Arun laughed.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They decided on lunch after saying goodbye to Stell. Surprisingly, all they dropped was about 1500 Poké, leaving 1000 left for their day out. Scott and Willow led them over to one of the bustling patios that had a sizzling food court.
The strange mixture between cool fresh air between bouts of warmth that tasted of food was surprisingly nice, with their local guides taking them to their favourite stand. Not knowing what was good, Willow ordered them four plates of Veillaj, a dish with rice placed on butter toasted tortillas, mixed with fresh vegetables and chicken (Pranav was adamant on chicken, paying a little extra to ensure it was), before being coated in sauces of all kind.
Sinnoh really liked their sauces, huh.
They also went to specialty Pokémon cooks, paying to get some quality food for their Pokémon. Valor got a nice looking Fruit Salad while Aken would dine on steaming broths of something. Pran’s partner seemed content with the food, so they didn't question it much. Scott’s Starly felt more than happy to be eating human food so they passed on buying anything special for her.
They chose to eat a little ways away from the vicinity of the mall, mostly so that his new Pokémon wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the sounds. Bats used echolocation right? Be a bit of a dick move to send him out where people were loud.
While the others ate he took some space away, Valor trailing him as he sat down with all three of their plates. The others recognized his desire for space, happily eating and chatting amongst themselves.
“Okay buddy.” He said to Valor as he held up Zubat’s Pokeball. “This is going to be two out of six for us…you ready to meet your new partner?”
A wave of affirmation with a hint of nervousness from Valor. It’s been a while since I had Juniors.
Arun laughed, ruffling the Nuzleaf’s head, “You’re going to be a great leader Valor, I know it. Now let’s see our new friend.”
Arun tossed the ball onto the grass, watching as the brilliant white light took shape into a familiar looking bat-Pokemon. He was thankful to see that the blue on Zubat was actually fur, and not just skin. As the creature formed Arun realized it was looking the wrong way, before he could say anything though it let out a shriek, adjusting itself towards his direction.
He sent out a wave of welcome towards the Zubat. Hello. Nice to meet you.
It seemed startled, flapping its wings in the grass to flutter back a few feet. Arun didn’t chase after, seeing how it felt a little startled. After a while it flapped back to its original spot, its eyeless face peering at him before returning a feeling of…curiosity.
New trainer. I serve, yes?
“If you want to, yes.” Arun said, sitting down slowly, “I don’t want to force you, but there’s a lot I want to do, and I think you can help me.”
Satisfaction, before more curiosity. I serve, you feed and make me strong?
“That’s the plan.” He chuckled, sliding a plate forward. It was a plate of Pokémon meat, of which he didn’t ask, but it looked more bloody than cooked.
A wave of hunger emanated from the little Pokémon as Zubat launched itself at the plate, diving face first into the food. It was a little interesting to see, it ate like a leech, sucking the blood and gravy dry before chewing the actual food. Something Arun noticed was that Zubat had feet. Tiny little things that were barely noticeable, perching on the edge of the raised plastic plate.
Arun glanced at his partner, “You know…I wasn’t sure how this would go, but I’m kind of happy it’s going like this.”
Valor didn’t seem to think so, if his apprehension was anything to go by. Uncertain. Never had a Junior so…wild.
The apprehension was replaced by Zubat’s hunger. More? You have more food? More blood?
“Yeah I can get you another plate, but I just want to confirm some things.”
Zubat looked from the plate to Arun, and shot forward. Unwilling to get his new jacket dirty, Arun snatched the Pokemon out of the air, wiping its wiggling face clean with a napkin before placing it onto his arm.
“Easy there bud. First things first, do you understand what type of fighting we’re getting into?”
Zubat made a sound similar to a scoff, the feeling of pride clear as day. Life and death. Hunter and prey. But we have the fangs. We hold the poison.
“That’s…a pretty good answer. So you’re willing to join me then?”
Affirmation, as its talons dug into Arun’s arm. Give me food, give me warmth. Born to fight. Born to die. Live happy. Die happy.
That…that was a mindset he wasn’t happy having his Pokémon have. What did that mean? Born to die? Arun sighed, he’d have to show his little buddy there was more to life than food and warmth, but for now, he was happy that Zubat was an eager member of the team.
“Well.” He said, standing back up. He let Nuzleaf climb onto his shoulders as Zubat perched off his arm, “We’ve got some money left, let’s get some food and introduce you to some friends.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More food was had, more talk was held. Scott seemed very eager to battle Zubat or Valor, Aken not so much due to the fact his Starly wouldn’t be able to properly land any danaging moves. Pranav brought up the fact they’d be training this weekend and he was welcome to join, his mother only too happy to have esteemed Galactic trainers assist her son in his dream.
They parted ways after that with a promise to meet again during the weekend. As they had no phone, Scott decided he’d just wait by the steps before noon, acceptable to both parties. Afterwards the two brothers took a quick break, relaxing by one of the louder patios so none could hear them talk.
Arun had Valor speak to Zubat in detail to get a gist for what being raised in Galactic was like. Being a Zubat, the Pokémon with the biggest population crisis, their egg clutches usually came in the dozens. Zubats were handed out freely to Galactic members, indoctrinated since birth that they existed to eat, fight, and die. The strong became Golbat, and were able to continue their progeny, the weak became food.
It made him angry, to think there were Pokémon raised for death, but it’d have to be a mindset he tackled a different day. Right now they had a tail to lose. Arun loosely wondered if buying the new clothes would make it easier for them to be discovered, but threw that thought aside as soon as they began walking through the city proper. Everyone wore something unique and colorful, their simple whites and greys were more noticeable.
Of course they had to drop off a bunch of stuff back at Galactic HQ, but then came the fun part. By the time they were making their way to Joy’s the workday had ended, meaning the streets were crowded with adults and kids alike going home or going out.
They started by walking through crowds together, then at a nod they split, keeping track of who was being followed. Thankfully the target this time was Arun, he could make out the familiar face of the man as he tried to keep up with his steps, looking just a tad flustered.
Aken had informed them that the guy did indeed have a Pokemon that kept track of them. That had him sighing in relief, he was using every trick in the book to lose the guy, but he somehow always ended up finding him eventually. Before they split Aken mentioned it was something flying, which meant Valor would be able to take care of it easily enough. Arun hummed, ducking into an alleyway he stopped to tie his laces, and sure enough, a Starly arrived, acting less like a bird and more like a tracker. It spotted him, swooping back to report to its trainer, and Arun kept walking, sending out Valor.
“Get some ground.” Arun said, gesturing to the fire escapes, “Stay out of sight, hit a Rollout as soon as that bird comes by.”
Valor nodded, leaping up the fire escape with barely a sound as he clambered up the side of a building. Arun increased his pace, ducking into a second alleyway. He heard the telltale flap of wings and the steps of the Grunt as they walked into the alley.
WHACK!
“What the fu-Starly!”
Arun smiled as Valor joined him moments later, a satisfied smirk on his face. There was something different about his partner as he landed…his skin was a different hue. Arun made sure they were out of sight before he asked to see Valor’s arms. His fingers brushing over skin confirmed Arun’s thoughts, it was hardened, flakes of rock falling off slowly as the effects of Rollout faded.
Something he’d have to look into next time.
It didn’t take long after that to reach the Pokecenter, He couldn’t spot Pranav right away, but his brother made himself known as he got close, joining him as the two walked up the steps.
“You figure out how he kept tailing us?” He asked.
“Had a Starly. Valor knocked it dead out of the air.”
“Heh.”
Entering the familiar building did ease some of the tension from Arun’s shoulders, and he couldn’t stop the easy smile that seemed to plaster itself on his face as the soft music began to chime in the background. Taliah was there, currently scolding a couple of kids for taking their battle too far, but shot the two a brilliant smile when she noticed them.
“Come back in two days, I’ll have the burns settled by then.” She said, her smile quickly turning to a glare as she stared down the kids, “Do not let me find you pushing your Pokémon this far again, am I clear?”
“Yes ma’am.” They chorused, looking thoroughly chastised, before they scampered off.
“Oooh, they’re in trouble.” Pran laughed, leaning his back against the counter, “What’d they do?”
“Kept pushing their Pokémon beyond their limits.” Taliah sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, “Of course their Pokémon were stubborn enough to follow, they didn’t realize it was a problem until they were basically collapsing on themselves.”
“Ouch.”
“More than an ouch, it’s going to keep me up for a while. But enough about me.” She grinned at the two of them, “Look at you both! I don’t see you for a while and you come back all…”
Pranav wrapped an arm around Arun’s shoulder, “Don’t be shy, lay it on us girl. Do we look handsome? Like models fit for a TV show? Future champs?”
Taliah laughed, “Sure Pranav, sure.”
“Well, that’s all I wanted to hear. Taliah it was wonderful seeing you again, but I think I'm going to leave you two alone for a bit.” With a smile and a pat on Arun’s shoulder Pran walked away, letting himself relax by one of the bookshelves where he and Aken began to browse.
“Hi.” Arun smiled.
“Hey.” She said back.
“Is that a new necklace?”
Her fingers traced the silver chain around her neck, a single teardrop-shaped sapphire hanging from it. “It is, a gift from my sister in Jubilife. What do you think?”
“Goes well with your eyes.” Arun said, nodding appreciatively.
“Ooh. Smooth.”
“I’d like to think I’m getting better.”
She chuckled, before her face turned more somber, “What happened? I heard a large number of Galactic left the city, and then I heard they returned but you didn’t check in for weeks. I thought something went wrong.”
“A little.” He admitted, taking off his beanie to run a hand through his hair, “I kind of did the exact opposite of what you told me to do, and healed some badly broken bones.”
She crossed her arms and gave him a look, to which Arun immediately protested, “It was life or death, Taliah! I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”
“And I’m guessing they put a Geas on you?”
“Mhm. Anytime I try talking about what happened down in the–-Taliah, you are looking gorgeous today.” Arun paused, looking a little surprised before giving her a sheepish smile, “See?”
“I see.” She snickered, “And thank you, you’re looking quite handsome yourself. Speaking of, what’s with all this?”
“Ah. We came into some money from the last mission, so we decided to splurge a bit. Oh! Valor also evolved, come up here buddy.”
Valor leapt up onto the desk, warmth radiating off his friend in waves as he beamed at Taliah, who clapped her hands excitedly before prodding at him.
“Look at you!” She gushed, feeling his arms and examining his body, “Strong arms, you’ve been eating well, a healthy looking leaf, good amount of tan, and a very sharp nose. You sir, are a very handsome Nuzleaf.”
A feeling of embarrassment replaced happiness. Thank you kindly ma’am.
“He says thank you.” Arun grinned.
Taliah responded by pinching Valor’s cheeks, to which he took with grace before she turned to him once more, “So this mission, I’m guessing Galactic is paying more attention to you now?”
“Part of Pran’s idea. Gain a better standing so they stop treating us like expendables. It’s uh…also why we wanted to stop by.”
“So it wasn’t just to see me?” She asked, crossing her arms.
“I’d say 90/10.”
“Uh-huh…so what’s the favor?”
Seeing as how it was time to be a little serious Arun leaned over the desk, bringing his voice low to a whisper. “Galactic keeping tabs on us means we have less freedom to move as Sirius and Felis. The last time we talked to you about IDs, you said it’d take a while, but now that we have Pokémon…”
“You’re thinking you want second IDs. A secret identity that can't be controlled, where you can make transactions or deals without Galactic knowing.”
Arun blinked, “That…wow, yeah. Yeah, that’s it.”
She folded her arms again, one finger tapping against her skin, “You do know it's highly illegal, right? We’re looking at jail time, fines, and a ban from the league.”
Arun sighed. Time to take advantage of the lady that had been nothing but nice to him and his brother, who also offered him a sense of relief and safety whenever he talked to her.
“Listen.” He said quietly, “I know what I’m asking could get all of us in trouble. But Taliah, you know what Galactic is, and we’ve seen their inner workings. We want out as soon as possible, but that doesn’t work if they control everything.”
“And Pranav’s idea to ‘get better standing’?”
“A backup plan, really. We show off how useful we are, Galactic gets less suspicious of us and pays us more than 500 a week. But that’s just it, a backup. The two of us want out as soon as possible.”
“And this will help you get out?” Taliah asked, still looking unconvinced.
“It’ll help us set up our savings so we don’t need Galactic anymore.” Arun argued. “Ideally, we leave them on amicable terms, get a geas set up so we don’t talk about it, and then fall back on our set up accounts so we don’t start at nothing.”
“And then what? What will you do after that?”
“Find Cynthia. Get her to remove our geas and help her take down Galactic.” The answer seemed to cause Taliah to blink in surprise, and he grinned, “What? You don’t think we’d do it? Our goals are to live it up a little here, can’t really do that with Galactic around, right?”
Taliah thought for a while, staring at Arun with a scrutinizing look. He did his best to appear as innocent as he could, which was easy since it wasn’t like he was lying. Truthfully there was a lot they could do with new IDs, not all of it good, but he figured since Galactic was going to lose in the end, may as well dust their hands free as soon as possible, right?
“Okay.” Taliah eventually said, “I’ll do it. But swear to me Arun you’re not going to misuse it.”
Arun put a hand on his heart, “Swear to God.”
“Who?”
“My version of Arceus.”
“Hm.” She finally let out a sigh, “That’s as good as I’ll get.”
Arun smiled again, reaching out place a hand on her shoulder, she snatched it out of the air, a fierce glare in her eye as she said, “Cross me Arun and I swear we will have problems.”
He blinked, before twisting his hand free to catch hers instead, “You know, one of these days when I’m not under watch by Galactic all the time, I’m taking you out on a date.”
“You better, and I expect something fancy for all the work you’re making me do.”
“Only the best for the best.”