The SS Ambition pulled into the Hau’oli City harbor in the late morning. Cashe was once again on a balcony overlooking the gangway as the giant cruise ship approached the docks, this time with Emilia, Lindon, Marcus, and Lisa.
The ocean teemed with life. Finizen rode in the wake of the ship, splashing through the clear blue water. Hundreds of Wishiwashi, schools of Luvdisc, and darting Arrokuda made way as the ship moved through the harbor. Cashe saw herds of Corsola slowly crawling along the ocean floor, Shellder watching suspiciously as they marched past. Wingull swept through the air, gathering around the ship in hopes of finding snacks dropped by its passengers and Crabrawler skittered around the beach, keeping their distance from children playing on it.
The beachfront ran the length of the city, white sands pristine in the morning sunlight. The city was quant and sprawling, more of an amalgamation of villages than a proper metropolis. Most buildings' rooftops did not reach Cashe’s current height, though there were a few larger towers rising above the rest at the far end of the city.
A crowd had gathered outside of the docks, hundreds of tanned faces watching the cruise ship come to port, waving and calling out in greeting to the passengers on board. As trainers and guests departed, they mixed with the crowd and it soon became clear that most of the locals were at the docks to meet someone getting off the cruise. The only exceptions Cashe could see were a few news crews that were pulling aside a few trainers for interviews, seemingly at random, and a few police officers with the distinctive hair color of Jennys.
“We should go now,” Marcus said. He was still subdued from his loss, but he seemed to be making amends with it, no longer actively brooding in Emilia’s presence. “If we get lucky we will be able to sneak by when the reporters are busy interviewing other people.”
The group made their way back into the main atrium of the cruise ship and down the stairs. Exiting was slow going. Most of the guests on board were not trainers, and therefore did not have easy access to the amazing Silph Co technology, meaning there was a lot of luggage that needed to be carried off the ship in addition to the people.
After thirty or so minutes of waiting in line. Cashe exited the cruise for the last time, stepping into the morning sun and making his way down the gangway. He followed behind Marcus, who was keeping a sharp eye out for reporters, and kept his head down. Lindon was behind him and did not pick up on the social cues, waving to anyone who looked his way, thoroughly enjoying the welcoming the cruise got. He only stopped to cast conspicuous glances between Cashe and Emilia.
As such, it wasn’t long before someone noticed him, and subsequently, them. Somewhat surprisingly, however, it was not a reporter.
Marcus came to an abrupt halt, nearly causing everyone behind him to stumble. Cashe lifted his head up to see three officers blocking Marcus’s path. They were led by an older, blue haired man with a grim expression on his face. He was flanked by two young Jennys - going by the hair - both holding solid, black batons.
“Can I help you, Officer?” Marcus said, his voice holding a slight tension. It looked like even in the pokemon world, the police were not always a welcome sight.
The leading Jenny ignored him, looking over his shoulder and right at Cashe.
“Apollo Cashe,” he said, “You have to come with me.”
***
Cashe sat in the small interrogation room, head in his hands. The room was no different than any from his previous home. Or so he assumed. He had only been in an interrogation room once previously, when someone at his bank was being accused of insider trading. But he doubted there was much creative thought being put into the layout of a dark box.
That was all the room really was, a dark box. A metal table sat in front of him, complimenting his uncomfortable metal chair. He was cuffed to the table by a chain just long enough so he could move his hands, but just short enough so that he could not sit comfortably. The overhead light was simultaneously bright and dim. The light managed to irritate his eyes, but did not fully illuminate the room. He suspected both were intentional. One to make sure he was uncomfortable, and the other to let the two way mirror that dominated the wall of the right side of the room work.
Police tactics apparently did not change much between the two worlds either, as he had been dumped in the interrogation room to be left alone and ‘stew’. Cashe was pretty sure it didn’t work, even back on Earth, but he also knew that police didn’t really care about that sort of thing, at least back on Earth.
So he sat, his “arrest” replaying in his head. He was not actually arrested, apparently only being detained for ‘questioning’, but it was the same to him. He was still tied to the table, and he was not given a choice in the matter.
Emilia had not taken the pronouncement lightly, and had marched along the entire way to the local police station beside them, ignoring the reporters who noticed the commotion and followed her as she shouted obscenities at the officers. Cashe was thankful for it, not only as a show of support, or to make the reporter’s footage essentially useless, but also as entertainment. Emilia was creative with her insults.
Just as Cashe was beginning to relax, even smiling a bit as he remembered Emilia’s colorful tirade, the door to the interrogation room opened in a rush, revealing two officers.
The first was the grim faced man who had detained Cashe in the first place, while the second was an astonishingly beautiful Jenny. She sat down at the table and favored him with a warm smile, while grim face stood at his shoulder, checking his restraints as an excuse to get inside his personal space.
Cashe felt himself chuckle involuntarily. Turns out the police really were the same wherever you went.
“Something funny?” The man sneered down at him. He planted his feet and crossed his arm, leaning right up to his face, “You think you’re a big man, Mr Poisoner? Think that means anything to me?”
Cashe ignored him, unwilling to speak. He did not know the laws of Alola. He did not know if he had a right to counsel for his interrogation. In Canada, he would not. The best defense was therefore silence. Emilia had been on her phone speaking to someone as he was dragged into the back of the police station, having finally calmed down enough to think straight. He was sure help would arrive before things got too bad.
“Ignore him, Apollo,” the woman across from him said. Her voice was pleasant, almost kind. She paused, as if she had made some kind of mistake, “Can I call you Apollo?”
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Cashe continued to ignore them.
The woman moved on, unperturbed, “My name is Alexia,” she said with a smile that did not reach her eyes, “I apologize for my partner. Please don’t blame him. He’s having a bit of a rough time with the arrival of a new Team. It's stressful for all of us.”
Oh. He was here because of the robbery incident. He thought this was because of punching Steven Stone III.
“Hey!” Grim-face shouted in his ear, “She asked you a question. Answer here when she speaks to you!”
Cashe did not point out that she had not, in fact, asked him a question.
“Relax, John,” Officer Alexia Jenny said, giving him a disapproving look, “We just want to know a bit about what happened on the ship. Captain Robinson says you witnessed some events that no one else did?”
Officer John Jenny snorted, “We know you were involved, poisoner. Fess up!”
Cashe returned his head to his hands, groaning internally. The captain reported him as potentially being involved. Emilia was right. She was a bitch.
“The captain said you seemed to have a good amount of knowledge. We would appreciate it if you shared with us now,” Alexia continued, “We need all the information we can get in order to take on a new Team.”
Cashe leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. He closed his eyes.
“You know who never talks?” John growled. The sound was right next to his ear, “Criminals. All this silence makes you look awfully guilty.”
Cashe continued to ignore him. He heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor.
“It looks like you don’t want to talk right now,” Alexia said, “Well come back at a better time. The sooner you speak with us, the sooner you get out of here.”
Cashe heard footsteps and the presence next to him moved away. He heard the door open and shut. He sighed and opened his eyes, alone in the room once more. It was going to be a long day.
***
Over the next few hours, he was questioned three more times by the pair of officers. Each time they asked leading questions about the robbery, Mr Maple - who’s first name was apparently Max, and Cashe’s interactions with the group Mr Maple led. By the end, even Officer Alexia’s patience was wearing thin, and she was no longer able to maintain a calm façade.
“You’re only digging your own grave by ignoring us like this,” she warned as she left the interrogation room the last time, frustration clear in her voice.
When the door opened for a fifth time, not a minute later, Cashe was sure he was about to be moved to a jail cell for the rest of the night, but instead a stranger entered the room.
He was a well dressed man in a sharp blue suit. He was balding, head pale and shining under the irritating overhead light, the little hair he did have cropped to a neat trim around the edge of his head. He entered the room without preamble, sitting in the chair across from Cashe and dropping a briefcase on the table in front of him. His movements were neat and precise, as if the idea of doing anything at less than maximum efficiency was offensive to him. He did not say a word, popping open the briefcase with a click and removing a single piece of paper and a pen from it.
“Sign,” he said. His voice was as fastidious as the rest of him, neutral and clipped, the word only coming out in case Cashe had some sort of aversion to looking at paper.
Cashe took the paper and the pen as offered, his hands awkward in the chains. He read over the paper. It was a fairly standard contract between a client and a lawyer, from the looks of it. The only variation from the norm was a complete lack of remuneration.
Cashe read it twice and signed, passing the paper back to the lawyer, who took the paper and signed it as well and deposited the paper into his briefcase.
“Have you told them anything?” The lawyer said.
Cashe shook his head.
“Nothing at all?” The lawyer raised a single eyebrow, looking professionally skeptical. Cashe was under the impression that everything the man did looked professional.
Cashe shook his head again.
“Good.” The lawyer nodded, “Now, I have a few questions for you.”
Cashe looked over at the mirrored window.
The lawyer didn’t even follow his gaze, “Do not worry. If they are listening in on this conversation, you will be the last of their worries.”
***
“You have something to say to us, Apollo?” Officer Alexia’s pleasant facade was back as she and Officer John returned to the interrogation room, “It’s unfortunate that you had to get lawyers involved.” She and Officer John stood across from him, his lawyer having claimed the only other seat in the room.
“You will address Mr Cashe through me, Officer,” Cashe’s lawyer said, his tone brisk and insistent. His name was Hampton. Cashe did not know if that was his first name or his last name. Hampton had introduced himself as such and did not elaborate on the subject.
“If we don’t like what you have to say, you’re not getting out of here, no matter who your lawyer is,” John promised with a glower.
“I think you will find it is quite the opposite,” Hampton said, “You have no reason to hold my client and Mr Cashe will be leaving with me at my earliest convenience.”
“Mr Cashe is the subject of an ongoing investigation,” Officer Alexis said with a smirk, “An investigation into a Team. We have a right to hold him until we feel he has satisfied our curiosity.”
“The police do not get to determine if a new Team has formed, only the League can do that. Which they have not.” Hampton pointed out, “My client is a victim of this new ‘Team’, if they do exist,” he scoffed, making it clear he thought the entire thing was a ploy created only to harass Cashe, “It is only because of my client’s cooperative soul that he is still here at all,” Hampton gave Cashe a look of disapproval, “Mr Cashe has, against his better interest, provided a full account of the incident, to the best of his recollection. Again.” Hampton slid a sheet of paper across the table to the officers.
Officer John picked it up, scanning it with a skeptical eye. Officer Alexia, on the other hand, wrinkled her brow in concern, “Again? He provided us with no such statement.”
“He did,” Hampton said, providing a second sheet of paper to the officers, “This is a sworn statement from both Miss Emilia Oak and Mr Lindon Stroute corroborating Mr Cashe’s testimony that he has already provided a full account of the incident, in excruciating detail, to an appointed keeper of the peace, namely, one Captain Robinson.”
Officer Alexia’s eyes widened and her lips pursed in frustration, “Captain Robinson reported that he was likely involved.”
“While I am sure that the captain’s actions were well intended,” Hampton said, his tone heavily contradicting his words, “her opinion is irrelevant. Mr Cashe has already reported a comprehensive account to the proper authorities. The continued detainment of Mr Cashe is therefore not only unnecessary and unjustified, but also illegal.”
“We will want to follow up with this,” Officer John said, flicking the paper in the air.
“And you may do so. Through me.” Hampton reached into his briefcase again, producing a business card, “And questions you may have for Mr Cashe, you will address to me. If you fail to do so, you will be hearing from a judge regarding the harassment of my client.”
Officer Alexia scowled at Hampton and glanced from Emilia and Lindon’s signed statement to Cashe’s statement in John’s hands. “I will need to check on this,” she finally said. She turned and opened the door to the interrogation room.
“Officer,” Hampton called out, causing her to pause before she left completely. He reached into his briefcase a final time and produced a pair of bolt cutters that were bigger than the briefcase itself. They clattered onto the metal table, causing both officers to jump in surprise. “If you do not return swiftly and with the key to my client’s restraints, I will be freeing him myself.”
*****