Chapter 38 - The Prison

There are some unspoken rules in life that people should abide by:

Always be kind to your elders.

Don’t litter.

Never spend months without calling your parents, and when you do, definitely don’t spring it on them that you just got arrested.

As Celeste watched her mother fume with anger, she was happy enough she didn’t litter.

“I told you, Mum, the guy was from the same group of poachers I met in Alola!” Celeste’s voice trembled. She was way past nervous laughter now. “Remember? The ones who were trying to capture that Ninetales. With the big ‘R’ on their chests?”

Tia’s jaw tightened. “And you know that because a Lapras showed it to you in a vision?”

Celeste bit her lip, averted her eyes, and nodded silently.

On the other end of the line, Tia took a deep breath, audibly struggling to find patience within her soul.

“Of all the stupid, irresponsible things you’ve pulled over the years, Celeste...” Tia grunted, clearly failing to find anything but frustration in there. “This one really—”

“Now, now, dear.” Celeste’s father interrupted, placing a gentle hand on his wife’s shoulder. “What matters is that Celly is... well…”

Tia looked at her husband, her eyes narrowing menacingly. “Otto, dear, she’s in prison.”

“Yeah, but that is… solvable... She looks... healthy.” Otto scratched his head for a moment, and Celeste could hear her mother’s Sandslash hissing at him from the back. “So... Opal told us about a tournament?”

Celeste perked up at that. Despite everything, her father seemed happy enough to get a smile out of his kid, and before Tia could start scolding her again, he gently began to massage his wife’s shoulders.

“I actually won,” Celeste said, letting the pride she still had left seep in. “It was amazing, dad. You would not recognise Powder. She’s grown so much!’

Tia scoffed, brushing her husband’s hands away as she slowly clapped. “Well, now that you’re a strong trainer who won an entire tournament, I suppose there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Mum...”

“Bear with me here for a moment.” Tia raised a finger, assuming the same tone she did when giving a lecture. “Let’s imagine that ranger was indeed a dangerous poacher. I’m really curious about what your plan was.”

Celeste looked down at her feet, her voice barely audible. “I was going to make sure he didn’t run away…”

“Right... brilliant.” Tia nodded, crossing her arms. “Now that you and your six-month-old Pokémon are the champions of a small local tournament, I suppose you are unbeatable, right?” Leaning back in her chair, she continued, relentless. “Was this a one time thing, or do we have a new vigilante in town?”

“I...” Celeste’s words got caught in her throat.

“No, I get it,” Tia insisted, ignoring some exasperated whispering from her husband behind her. “You had to act quickly. It’s guilty until proven innocent, right? Very fair.” She scoffed again. “Why bother questioning the things that happen around you now that you are so, so very strong and can punch away anything that seems wrong?”

“I didn’t say any of that,” Celeste muttered. “I… I knew I should’ve called Opal.”

Tia groaned, but Otto stepped in before the situation could deteriorate further. “Enough, both of you... That’s...” he trailed off, bringing his hands up to the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. “This arguing won’t solve anything.”

A knock on the door behind Celeste interrupted the conversation. “One minute!” an officer called out.

She had wasted all her time... Great.

Otto let out a sigh, turning to face his wife. “What’s done is done, Tia. We can discuss it later. Right now, let’s focus on figuring out the next steps.”

Celeste averted her eyes, but nodded silently. “I need a lawyer...”

Tia’s stern gaze softened for a moment, her eyes betraying the whirlpool of emotions within.

“We have some contacts in a law firm in Goldenrod,” Tia said, her tone gentler. “I think I can arrange for someone to fly to Four Island. It might take two or three days, though.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “Look, I...” The weariness in her voice was unmistakable. “We worry we won’t always be able to get you out of trouble... especially if you keep wandering further away from us.”

Before Celeste could respond, the officer entered the room. Pressing her lips together, she once again nodded quietly to her mother.

Her parents would be able to make this go away… right?

—*——*—

Four Island, a quiet little town in the middle of the ocean, had a police department that reflected its low crime rate. It was a narrow, unadorned building whose glory days, if they ever existed, were long since gone. In the entrance, above an automatic glass door, whose movement sensor seemed glitchy, the letters F.I.P.D. stood out. A tall fence, crowned with barbed wire, encircled the premises, enclosing a small yard at the back. Further beyond, beautiful pine trees rose above the fence, marking the boundary where the woods and caves stretched towards the northern edges of town.

Woods that Celeste would not get to visit now that she had been arrested…

This wasn’t her first time in that police department, of course. A mere two weeks ago, she and Lori had attempted to inform the officers on duty about the Lapras’s vision. Of course, no one had listened... and Celeste couldn’t help but think that if they had, maybe things wouldn’t have got this bad.

During that time, they had been allowed only into the reception area in front of the building before being turned away. As they entered that same reception, part of Celeste desperately wished they would be turned away again…

Unfortunately, her hopes were crushed before they could even start to grow. The girls were soon led past the reception and into a room in the back where they would wait to be processed.

Whatever that was.

Lori went first, leaving Celeste alone with an officer in the waiting room. The initial ten minutes with only her thoughts felt like an eternity of agony. Anxiety built up as memories of the battle with Ryder kept flashing back in her mind and the realisation that her Pokémon still hadn’t been taken to a centre consumed her. Powder had been badly hurt, and she needed medical attention.

But beyond all that?

Beyond all that was the sinking feeling that she had made everything worse. The poacher was free and now knew that Celeste, and possibly others, were aware of their identity. Locked up and unable to fight, she and Lori were powerless.

Eventually, Celeste managed to quiet her panic and tried to distract herself by studying the notice board affixed to the wall. At first, her attention was caught by a large flyer promoting a Growlithe training bootcamp in Cinnabar Island, which she thought sounded cool. It was a collaboration between the Kanto Police Force and volunteers from the local Fire-type gym.

Other notices adorned the board as well. A festival poster, a message asking people to respect the “communal kitchen,” and even an advertisement for an IT job from four months back…

Celeste frowned at that last one and her eyes shifted toward the police officer responsible for watching her. He was a small, middle-aged man with a thick moustache and messy raven hair. His cap sat carelessly on his head, and his shirt had too many unbuttoned buttons. The man looked bored out of his mind and Celeste couldn’t help but to notice the quietness surrounding them.

She’d expect more voices in a police department….

“Are you understaffed?” she finally asked, startling the policeman.

He didn’t answer her right away and tried to tell her to be quiet. Celeste had never been good at that, though, so she kept insisting on the small-talk until he caved in.

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In the hour she spent in the room, she discovered that the officer’s name was Adam. He was from Seven Island, an even smaller place than Four Island, that didn’t even have a police station—a fact he emphasised quite a few times. He told her that his island had some ruins, although only “the scientist types” ever visited it.

Apparently, his youth on Seven Island had been calm, yet terribly dull. Seeking change and excitement, he moved to “the big city in Kanto,” which he never really bother specifying, and attended the police academy there. However, he found that the big city was “a cesspool of corruption and pollution,” so he eventually returned to Sevii, hoping for “nicer and cleaner waters.”

“…and there’s always a demand for police officers across the islands. Nobody wants to come to Sevii,” Adam chuckled, shrugging nonchalantly. “Take our Jenny, for instance. She’s from Fuchsia, hates this place with all her guts.”

“Aww, I think it’s nice,” Celeste said, forcing the biggest smile she could muster, which wasn’t much, given the situation. “There are cool beaches, cultural festivals. What’s not to like?”

Eventually, as more time passed, Celeste also opened up to Adam, sharing her entire story with him. She recounted the encounters with the poachers, starting from their first meeting in Mount Lanakila and the subsequent vision from the Lapras. She told him how she felt a desperate need to take action when she spotted Ryder and how that turned out to be the most challenging battle she had ever had. Surprisingly, Adam believed every word she said. Breaking protocol, he even allowed her to make a call to her parents to see if she could get herself a lawyer.

“Sorry for interrupting your call,” Officer Adam apologised, offering a small smile, later on as he guided her from the room with the phone to another office. “I... um... heard some yelling?”

“Mum and I don’t always agree about things… but she’s getting me some help,” Celeste sighed as they stopped by a metal door labelled Chief Jenny Rose. “So, um... I should have asked earlier, but what comes next?”

Adam looked down. “Jenny is our chief here…” He chuckled, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “Anyway, she’s going to ask you some questions, have you sign some papers, and then you’ll be searched. They’ll take your fingerprints and a mugshot. It takes a while, and she’s thorough...”

“Can I explain everything to her?” Celeste asked anxiously, taking a glance at the door.

“You can... but she’ll argue that you don’t have enough evidence to back your claims...”

Celeste bit her lip, feeling completely out of her element. “Can I post bail... or something like that?”

“Look...” Adam continued, his voice cautious. “The laws regarding Pokémon magic are iffy, and Jenny won’t do iffy. She’ll focus on the facts. You attacked someone in front of dozens of witnesses and caused a lot of property damage. She can say that you’re a threat and keep you here.”

“I’m not—” Celeste began to protest but caught herself, lowering her voice. “I’m not a threat.”

Adam nodded sympathetically. “I believe you. You seem like a nice girl. But the chief... she won’t care.”

Once again, Celeste glanced at the door, her heart tightening with fear.

“Listen... your best bet is to gather solid evidence against this poacher guy. Don’t mention it to the chief, but I can try to run a background check on him for you,” Adam offered with a warm smile. “If he turns out to be involved in illegal activities... well, you still attacked someone and put others in danger, but you can argue that you were a concerned citizen trying to protect the local population from a dangerous individual. If your lawyer is skilled and Ryder is dirty, there’s a chance you can get away with some community service, maybe even less.”

Celeste blinked, tears welling up in her eyes once more. The truth was, she knew very little about the law, especially Kantonian law, and she was terrified. “I don’t even know what to say…”

Adam placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and nodded towards the door. “Be brave now, Celeste.”

—*——*—

The movies had taught Celeste many things about prison. They told her she’d need to wear a brightly coloured jumpsuit, make deals with some powerful inmate and become jaded and tough. Maybe she would get herself into an elaborate escape plan that had many complex moving parts, or maybe she would be there until old age, complaining about the system.

The movies, however, had left out one important detail: the never-ending bureaucracy.

It began with the questioning. Officer Adam wasn’t kidding about Jenny’s thoroughness. At first, Celeste considered waiting for a lawyer before answering anything, but she soon realised she had nothing to hide. So, for what felt like the millionth time, she recounted her story.

“I’ll need to call the police department in...” Jenny flipped through some papers to confirm the information.

“Malie City,” Celeste said wearily.

The policewoman nodded and continued her relentless questioning for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she presented Celeste with a printed summary of her statement, expecting her to sign it.

And that was when the never-ending stream of forms started.

The first one was a booking form that Celeste had to fill out. Hers was a special version for foreigners because, of course, besides everything else, Celeste wasn’t in her home country.

Fantastic.

Then came the jail policy form, which Celeste had to read carefully, sign, and agree to. She was so exhausted by this point, but it seemed like no one cared.

The forms just kept piling up.

There was a form for her mugshot, another for her fingerprints, and yet another demanding a DNA sample.

Why the hell did they need all that for?

As if that wasn’t enough, the next form was for granting permission to search her, followed by another form for searching her shadow. Which was a thing. Finally, there was a form requesting authorisation to search her mind for psychics...

“Wait, what?” Celeste stopped just short of signing the last form. “Searching my shadow is weird enough, but there’s no way I’m allowing anyone into my head...” She paused, a new idea forming. “Actually... can I submit my memories as evidence?”

Jenny took the last form from Celeste’s hand and shook her head. “Psychic evidence is usually too flimsy and easy to manipulate...” She studied the paper for a moment. “Don’t worry about this one. It’s only a formality. We’re still waiting for our police-issued hypno... We couldn’t search your mind even if we wanted to.”

“Right...” Celeste sighed, deflated.

“Next, I need to take inventory,” Jenny declared, her voice just as exhausted. “Since you didn’t have many personal belongings, this should be quick.”

The woman placed Celeste’s bumbag on the table and, wearing a glove, began emptying its contents. A few empty pokéballs, a funny pen with a snowflake on top, a half-eaten bar of chocolate that actually belonged to Aria, the thunderstone Celeste had been meaning to sell, two antidotes, her trainer ID, and some money—2000 pokédollars—scattered around, since she didn’t have a wallet.

Jenny looked unimpressed as she handed Celeste a sheet of paper for her to double-check and sign. And even then, it still wasn’t over.

“We also need to file your Pokémon,” she said, placing three pokéballs from a bag onto the table.

Celeste’s eyes widened at the sight of her pokéballs and she pointed to the white premier ball. “Powder needs a centre! Now!”

“She is in stasis in the ball. Don’t worry.” Jenny narrowed her eyes. “Do you want to leave the Pokémon in someone’s care for now?”

“Delia Ketchum,” Celeste replied promptly. “If you can’t find her easily, maybe Olga. I’m not sure of her last name, but everyone knows Olga, right?”

Jenny sighed. “This Delia girl has been waiting in the reception for hours, insisting on seeing you... At least that saves us the trouble of contacting her...”

“Can I talk to her?” Celeste asked hopefully.

“You can see her tomorrow during visiting hours,” Jenny replied, without even glancing back, as she placed the pokéballs into a machine that resembled those at Pokémon Centres. After a few beeps, the machine spat out a small paper. “Eevee, Vulpix, Alolan variant, and Slowpoke. Is that correct?” Jenny finished, handing the paper to Celeste for her signature.

After that, Celeste was dismissed and escorted by Officer Adam again. For a moment, she felt a glimmer of relief, thinking it was finally over.

But it wasn’t.

In another room, she took the mugshots, which turned out as awful as expected. Then came the fingerprints and DNA sample, which was fast at least. After that, there was another intrusive search, and finally, she was led to the place where her shadow would be scanned.

It was a small and overly bright room, occupied by a large Noctowl. Celeste could barely make out anything in there, but she was instructed to stand in the middle, where another bright light shone from behind. As her shadow extended in front of her, she took a long breath and got ready to face whatever the owl would do.

From a speaker on the ceiling, a voice commanded, “Use Foresight.”

Instantly, the Pokémon chirped, and its eyes gave off a piercing red glow that spread outward like flashlights. The glow intensified, gradually filling every corner of the room.

Impatiently, Celeste watched as her shadow was consumed by the light.

And then the weirdest thing happened.

At first, it felt like a gentle bump against her leg. Startled, she took a step back, and the voice on the intercom complained.

“Sorry,” Celeste said, moving back to her position, still staring at her leg in confusion. There was nothing there... Was she so tired she was imagining things now?

The bird Pokémon resumed its search, and this time, instead of a bump, Celeste felt a strong tug on her leg.

Still, she couldn’t see anything there.

As the lights grew brighter, the tugging sensation intensified. It transformed into the feeling of something clinging to her leg, creeping upward. It was an indescribable and eerie sensation that defied comprehension. Still, she continued to stare, fixated on her leg, as the light completely engulfed her.

Only when the room was entirely bathed in the red glow of Foresight she saw it.

Well, not even an it.

By her leg, in the light, was a pair of eyes, red and yellow, filled with dread.

Those eyes met hers, pleading and… longing…

Before Celeste could utter a word, the red glow dimmed out, and the eyes vanished. Her shadow lay motionless before her, and a nod from the Noctowl indicated that it was free of any ghosts.

“You’ve passed,” the intercom voice announced, but the trainer remained in shock, her gaze fixed on the owl.

What the hell had just happened?

—*——*—

Four Island Penitentiary had a capacity for eight prisoners, divided between two rooms. In the space between, an office area housed a few officers engaged in idle activities. One woman played with her Growlithe, while two men seemed enthralled by a game of checkers. Officer Adam greeted everyone cheerfully as he guided Celeste through a small door marked “Women’s Ward.”

She expected something small, but there was only one holding cell there, which seemed excessively small. In front of it, there was a desk where a guard in charge was flipping through some book.

“Once people are officially charged with a crime, they are transferred to the larger penitentiary over at Two,” Adam explained, noticing Celeste’s confusion. “But that rarely happens, and we’ve never reached capacity.”

The officer gestured for Celeste to enter the holding cell, and she complied, too tired to complain about anything. Inside, she found two bunk beds on opposite sides, a table near a small barred window, and a compact cubicle that she suspected was the bathroom.

Once Adam bid her goodbye, Celeste shifted her attention to her new living quarters. To her surprise, Lorelei wasn’t the only other person present. Another girl, blue haired and attire reminiscent of Mr Rime, caught her eye.

“You got caught?” Celeste couldn’t help blurting out.

The girl frowned. “Do... I know you?”

Celeste blushed. “No... sorry. I watched your show earlier today... with the puppets.”

“Oh...” The girl offered a faint smile. “In that case, I’m Topaz.” Remaining seated, she theatrically bowed, placing a hand over her chest. “From the Twilight Topaz Troupe. And yes... I got caught…”