Remus didn't need any other reason to keep running. The image of his father's face looming over him, ready to go on a screaming rampage, was more than enough to motivate him.

His four legs threatened to give out more than once, but that didn't bother the Lycanroc.

As soon as he'd gotten that eviction notice on his apartment door, Remus knew he needed to get as far as possible from that place. The ashes of the past would not be washed away as long as he remained there. Of course, that was rather a moot point, given that he legally could not do so.

So he scampered down the streets of Pastoria City beneath the October sky, nearly losing his footing on numerous occasions. Once, he nearly crashed right into a hot dog stand, but was able to correct his trajectory just in time.

To Remus, Pastoria City was a melting pot of various types of humans and Pokemon. He may have lived here his whole life, but he'd never fully understand it, for lack of a better word.

Priests and nuns from the local Church of Arceus walked along the city's avenues, hands in their pockets. Business people, with Pokeballs in one hand and suitcases in the other, strutted around as though they owned the place.

And then, of course, there were numerous other Pokemon much like Remus himself. Some were with trainers, some without, but none of them seemed to be in such great a hurry as the Lycanroc.

At one point, Remus even leaped over a sign with the word CONSTRUCTION on it. Had he been looking more carefully, he would have seen that the sign also said the sidewalk was closed.

As soon as Remus landed, his four paws sank deep into the mud with a squelching sound.

No, it's not mud. It's CEMENT.

The Lycanroc cursed under his breath. He tried to raise his paws out of the muck, but couldn't. He was immediately tempted to use a certain word that rhymes with "muck."

"Get me out of here!" Remus yelled, but nobody paid attention to him. No one stopped to see if he was all right. Everyone just walked right on by, not caring.

The Lycanroc grunted as he tried to remember the consequences of getting stuck in wet cement. He was fairly certain it was hazardous somehow; exactly what risks he ran, he did not know.

"Arceus, this isn't funny!" he groaned, hoping that the name Arceus would mobilize one of the nearby priests to help him out. After all, wasn't part of being a good follower of Arceus helping out your fellow living being when necessary? Wasn't that how you got to heaven?

The reprieve did not come, however, leaving Remus stuck in the muck. He bellowed out that curse word, once again trying in vain to extract his paws from the cement.

"Ha ha! Look at that! A Lycanroc, trapped in the cement! We'll have easy pickings from him!"

Remus' heart stopped as he sank deeper into the cement. That voice had not come from him; who could it have been?

He was afraid to find out, but he forced himself to turn his head to the right, upon which he saw a pair of Toxicroak in the middle of the adjacent street.

It was then that Remus noticed that the roads in this part of town were made of cobblestones, several windows were smashed in, and the brick and stone walls looked as though they'd seen better days. Clearly, these Toxicroak inhabited the seedier part of town.

"I'm calling the cops!" Remus yelled. He was bluffing, of course; he did not have his phone with him, having left it behind at the apartment to avoid detection. But he didn't want the Toxicroak pair to know this.

One of the Poison types guffawed powerfully, as though he'd never heard of anything so hilarious in his life.

"I'd like to see you try! They'll just think you were in a gang battle, and what are you even doing here anyway? You're from the upscale part of town!"

"It's hardly better than yours!" Remus exclaimed. "Please, don't rob me! I have nothing of value!"

"Pleading won't get you anywhere" the other Toxicroak announced. "Now, empty your pockets, and we'll help you out of the cement."

"If you two won't trust me, how can I trust you?"

"It's simple" the other Toxicroak replied, a glint in his eye. "You don't have any choice but to trust us. If you don't, then you'll be stuck in that cement until it hardens. And when that happens, good luck getting out."

The Toxicroak brothers (at least, Remus assumed they were brothers) both had a good laugh at Remus' expense.

"Please," Remus replied. "I'll give you everything I have, even if it's not much, if you'll just let me escape the cement. And I'll never come around this part of town again."

One of the brothers (they looked basically interchangeable) raised an eyebrow. "I would think not, actually."

"But why not? Can't you two help someone out who's in need? Isn't that the right thing to do?"

The other Toxicroak brother shook his head. "I'm afraid not. This world favors the bold, after all."

"I'm sure you'll find a way; if not, the cops will come by and arrest you for going inside a construction zone."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Both brothers laughed again before turning around and walking away.

"Guys, come back! I'll give you everything - I'll join you if you want! Don't they say that if you can't beat them, join them?"

But the brothers did not acknowledge Remus, instead preferring to keep on walking, probably not giving a single thought to the Lycanroc's plight.

So that's great, Remus thought to himself. Even when I promise to align with the Toxicroak brothers, they don't seem to appreciate it. Man, they really are vicious.

A few more minutes went by, during which time the Lycanroc could practically feel the cement hardening around his paws. If he were to be extricated now, it would hurt, though not nearly as much as remaining trapped would.

And if the police come, I'm screwed. They'll hand me back to my father.

Just when Remus thought everything was hopeless, another Pokemon came running down the sidewalk. This one was, if anything, even more intimidating, with its beak striped in dark red and black, as well as its black eyes with no whites.

It was a Krookodile.

Even if the Krookodile wanted to devour him, Remus knew that he had to take a risk. He had to plead for his life, because if he wasn't able to get himself out (and he wasn't), he needed someone else's help. In other words, he was desperate.

"What are you doing here, Lycanroc?" the Krookodile asked Remus. The voice was clearly male, but it didn't sound domineering or condescending at all.

Remus snorted weakly. "It's not like I chose this, Krookodile. Please, get me out of here."

"How would I do that?" the Krookodile replied. "Get in with you? I wouldn't think so!"

"Just grab a stick or something. That should be good enough."

"Okay then. You just stay right back."

Remus could hardly believe it. His luck was simultaneously catastrophically awful and exceptionally splendid. At least, it would be the latter if the Krookodile kept his word.

A minute passed. Then another.

The Lycanroc wondered if his potential savior wasn't actually a savior after all. Maybe he was only paying lip service to be polite, without actually solving the problem Remus faced.

But then the Krookodile returned with a stake, the type often pounded into the ground around construction sites. "I don't know how I didn't think of this earlier," he said.

The Krookodile handed Remus one end of the stake, then said, "Hold on tight!"

The Lycanroc braced for severe pain to arrive, and sure enough, it did. But it was a small price to pay as he was freed from the cement pool.

"I've learned my lesson" Remus said quietly. "Thank you so much; I don't know how I can repay you."

"Just stay out of sticky situations from here on out, dude" the Krookodile responded. "If you don't want that to happen again, preventing it is up to you. By the way, the name's Monty. Monty Squall."

"Remus Dominion" the Lycanroc responded. Monty had just saved his life; being transparent was the least he could do.

"Awesome" Monty responded. "Now, I did rescue you, but it'll come on one condition."

"What's that?" Remus asked incredulously. "Please don't be anything insane." In the back of his mind, though, he felt certain that he'd do anything that kept him alive. That's how determined he was to get to safety.

"It isn't," the Krookodile said. "I would like you to join us, Remus Dominion."

At first, the idea seemed somewhat far-fetched. But given that the Lycanroc was homeless now, and had almost been mugged and/or died through entombment in cement, he really did have nothing to lose.

"Sure" Remus replied, nodding. "I'll do whatever you want. Just take me to your leader or whatever."

Monty frowned. "We're not aliens, Remus. But yeah, I'll show you the way to our base."

Remus noticed that his toenails had largely been burned off by the cement, leaving bleeding holes in their wake. Every step caused him to grimace, but he knew it could have been far worse.

"This neighborhood is known as the Labyrinth District, and it really lives up to its name" the Krookodile said as he jogged through the streets, Remus only a few steps behind. "I know it like the back of my hand, but if you've never been here before, it's nearly impossible to navigate."

"And this is the seedier side of town, I take it?" Remus responded.

"Indeed it is," Monty told him. "At least, that's the word most often used to describe it. But the maze-like nature of the district makes it harder for them to catch us, so that's nice."

Harder for them to catch us.

In the heat of the moment, Remus had agreed to join Monty's group, but he wasn't so sure now if that had been a good decision. His hand may have been forced somewhat, but he'd still had free will.

The seriousness of what he'd agreed to caught up with him.

I might be joining a gang. I'm not sure what they want me for, but it can't exactly be anything good.

Monty led Remus through the narrow, curvy streets of the Labyrinth district. Broken glass existed in many places, but the colorful hot dog and fruit stands the rest of Pastoria City was known for were nowhere to be found here.

I don't know what I'm in for. But this clearly isn't the nice part of town.

After a considerable distance, Monty stopped in front of what looked like the door to a bank vault. It was easily the most elaborate such structure in the entire neighborhood, at least that Remus had seen so far.

"This is it," the Krookodile announced. "Welcome to the lair of Harley Danger."

"Harley…wait, what now?"

"Harley Danger. Some might call this place the Danger Den, but we've never bothered to give the place an actual title. It's just our HQ. Let me type in the passcode."

"What is the passcode?" Remus asked. "I think I should know it, just in case I'm ever locked out."

"The passcode is 41262816" Monty replied casually, punching in the mentioned digits. After that, Remus could hear the lock audibly disengage, and seconds later, the door swung open.

"Wow" the Lycanroc muttered. "That's actually pretty cool."

"I agree, it is pretty cool," Monty said. "Anyway, the others will be pleased to meet you. Welcome aboard."

Remus stepped into the compound, and his mouth hung agape almost instantly.

The area was a lot larger on the inside than it had appeared from the outside. Bags with the letter P on it and a line striking through them (the universal symbol of Sinnoh's currency) were strewn all over the floor. There were also a number of crates stacked three high.

"What are those crates for?" Remus enquired. "They look pretty much empty."

The Krookodile shrugged. "If we ever steal something really special, that's where we'd put it. So far, though, it's just been money."

There's that word. Steal. They want me to steal.

"I don't know if I can steal anything," Remus admitted. "Even if I need to do it to survive. It's just…not something I want to do."

"Well, buddy, look at it this way," Monty replied. "You're in debt to us, because I got you out of that literal mess. A 'mon's word is a 'mon's word, and you did promise you'd join."

It was then that the Lycanroc knew there was no getting out of it, even more strongly than he'd known before. No matter what Monty the Krookodile wanted him to do, he'd have no choice but to oblige.

"Fine," Remus said sadly. "It's just…not going to be easy for me. I can't go from zero to 'lie, cheat, and steal' on day one, you know?"

"Don't look at it that way, then" Monty insisted. "You could see it instead as repayment. Stealing would be something like, I dunno, expecting me to save your ass earlier without doing anything in return."

When the Lycanroc did not respond, Monty raised his arms in the air and smiled so widely it looked fake.

"Hey, come on, it's not all bad!" the Krookodile insisted. "We have a good time here. I've never had more fun in my life before I met Oran."

"Who's Oran?"

Monty smiled; this time, it seemed like a genuine one. "You're about to find out."