Icy blue eyes watched me with an almost childlike glee. The jaw of the white fox hung wide open, revealing a scary row of white fangs. It silently sat on my body with its 9 tails draping over my body.

I had the idea that it wasn't about to move anytime soon, the happy smile made it clear the nine-tailed fox was perfectly content with the situation.

"So this is Snowflake," the guy with red hair explained as he crouched down next to me on the floor. "Don't mind her, she's not going to harm you, and neither am I. My name's Caleb by the way, your name was Dusk right?"

"Dust," I corrected him, not feeling completely at ease but Caleb's calm demeanor definitely helped me relax despite the fact that I could not freely move my body.

Caleb had long hair with a deep red color. It was long but not girly long. A green-colored hair band kept it from falling over his face.

A sheepish smile was present on his face, telling me he was also not really comfortable with everything. He had brown colored eyes and he looked quite handsome, he couldn't be older than 20. He wore a big black t-shirt with sweatpants and black heavy boots.

"Nice meeting you Dust," Caleb smiled sincerely. "Though next time please don't point a knife at my throat please?"

Damn this guy was good at this game. If I were anyone else I would have been crushed by guilt, however knowing I made a mistake and admitting it are two wholly different things.

"I woke up in a random room without my stuff, locked up and the last thing I could remember was being attacked by a girl out of nowhere. You can understand my confusion, I hope?" I said with a mocking voice.

"Haha" Caleb scratched his head with an embarrassed smile. "Yeah, that does put things in a different light. I am sorry about that, though it can all be explained."

Fay appeared next to me, glaring daggers at Snowflake. The fox ignored Fay completely and kept looking down at me with that dumb smile of hers.

"He is speaking the truth about being sorry," Fay told me, apparently now being able to detect lies.

"So what is going on?" I asked, refusing to apologize for threatening his life.

"Well, the Commander should be arriving any minute, he can probably answer your questions better than I can."

"Can't you answer them now?" I subtly tried to move my body but Snowflake's weight made it impossible to move even an inch.

"Yeah I could but-"

"Okay, where are we?" I asked abruptly.

"I am actually not allowed to tell you everything," Caleb finished his sentence. "Nothing serious, just some official stuff."

"So we are in Sinnoh?" I asked hopefully.

Caleb shot me a disappointed look for even trying.

"Kanto?"

Nothing.

"Unova?" I tried.

His mouth stayed closed.

"So we are at sea," I finally said.

Caleb winced and I knew I was right. This person couldn't lie if his life depended on it.

"Can we talk about anything else?" He weakly offered.

"Sure, why am I here?" I went to my next question.

Caleb brightened up, apparently glad to talk about something else. "Oh, well the short version is that you and your Pokémon needed medical care and we were so kind as to provide you with a place to recover."

"And the long version?" I asked skeptically.

"Uh, Sabrina, that girl that knocked you out? She messed up hard." Caleb said with a harsh tone but quickly added. "But there's nothing for you to worry about."

{I don't like that girl,} Luna shared with me, {I can almost feel her nearby. She just feels so odd.}

"I agree," Fay nodded curtly, she had taken the liberty to sit next to my head on the floor because why not.

"So I am with the Hunt?"

Caleb eyed me with a grin. "Oh, so you recognized us? That's good! Yes, we are the Hunt and right now you're at our base."

"Next question, what is the Hunt?" I asked and his smile dropped. I knew the basics but more information is always helpful.

"Aww, I thought you knew us."

"Nope, but a girl riding a Tropius said something about it," I clarified. "So what's it?"

"Well, the Hunt, which I am part of." He pointed at himself with pride. "Are a group of Pokémon trainers and Pokémon. We are a big deal you know? The first-ever specialized team for B and A level threats. We are like heroes, man."

"Huh, so the supposed heroes knocked me out? Yeah I can see how Sabrina fucked up. But why would you put me in a cell?"

"You weren't locked up." He protested weakly.

"When you can't escape most people would call that-"

"Okay, I get it!" He raised his arm. "You see we don't actually have a sickbay yet so we just put you in one of the available rooms, didn't think you’d freak out the moment you woke up. We just thought: ‘Hey, he will probably just wait for someone to check up on him’ but that wasn't the case."

"You could at least give me my backpack and Pokémon," I weakly countered.

Caleb gave me a stare. "You had 2 firearms in your backpack. Would you give someone who just recovered from a deadly battle access to a gun?"

I groaned in my mind. Did they go through my stuff? I quickly went over everything that could put me in a bad spot.

"Well, what about my Pokémon?"

Caleb glanced at Luna, "We would have put you all together if it wasn't for Ralts causing trouble and freaking out the moment she got healed."

"Pfffftt." Luna spat dismissively which was a very good counter-argument.

"Okay, I get your reasoning, but that's a very good excuse to put me in a creepy as hell looking room without an explanation, a way out or anything at all."

"You are being sarcastic aren't you?"

"You genius."

I felt a wet strong liquid over my face and realized that saliva dripped on it. It felt weird, I never had a dog but I imagined it would feel like this, a combination of both disgusting and oddly nice feelings.

Both Fay and Luna sent a glare at Snowflake who seemed to be very happy, not that she had shown any other emotion so far.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

"Can you please get the Ninetales off my chest?" I cried out.

Snowflake's tails began happily wagging around my body and the fox began barking out a few cheerful sounds like a dog. Both Luna and Fay got to their feet and backed away from Snowflake with a freaked-out expression on their faces, somewhere between shock and confusion.

"Yeah, about that," Caleb grimaced. "I actually can't get her off your chest, that's another reason why we need the Commander here, he might convince her. Unless you want me to kill her but that might be even more troublesome."

"Something is seriously wrong with this Ninetales." Fay hissed as her claws sprung from her hands.

{Get away from her!} Luna sent me a message telepathically, skipping the part where I literally couldn't move.

"Easy easy!" Caleb got up and glanced nervously at my two Pokémon like they were two timebombs waiting to explode. "There's no need to be distressed, Snowflake is harmless."

"What is going on here?" A powerful new voice arose.

Through one of the heavy black doors, a big muscled guy stepped into the room.

All the eyes, except Snowflake's, turned to face him.

When he entered the room I just knew he was the guy in charge of this circus.

True to his title he was big and well-muscled, like he spent a lot of his free time in a gym. He had a tanned skin color and blond hair that was shaven short. Gray eyes pierced into the room with a thick eyebrow above them, making it look like he was looking to yell at someone. He wore a tight green shirt that was really good at showing off his well-trained body. Underneath it, he had cargo shorts and the same kind of boots Caleb wore and around his waist he had a black belt with six Pokéballs clipped to his side.

He had a strong voice and walked with big strides, he looked like everything I imagined a commander would look like.

The Commander gazed into the room with a judgemental look. His eyes landed on me and I had the feeling this guy wouldn't be nearly as easy-going as Caleb had been.

Luna and Fay stepped closer to me.

"Steel!" Caleb hastily tried to make it look like he was not at all in a state of panic. "The patient, Dust, is awake."

He said it like the guy couldn't see that for himself, or maybe he just wanted to look like he was doing his duty.

"Why is he on the floor and why is Snowflake sitting on him?"

I had been wondering the same thing for the last 5 minutes.

Caleb was beginning to look nervous. "That's actually a funny story with a lot of confusion and misunderstanding but it's all fixed, well mostly, Snowflake doesn't want to move."

I noticed how he didn't mention me coming into the room and holding him hostage. I was okay with that. Caleb subtly shot me a pleading look, guess he really doesn't want to look bad in front of his boss.

"Yeah, lots of confusion." I repeated what Caleb had said. "Still got a lot of questions but can you please move the freaking Ninetales of my chest?"

The last part was a bit more aggressive than intended but I had an itch forming on my face and I really wanted to scratch it and wipe it clean.

"Snowflake move!" the Commander said with a demanding tone.

The Ninetales in question made a whiny noise and gave the Commander a sad look. Puppy eyes, ears low and all her tails limp. It was so cute I had the urge to give the sad fox a big hug and drown myself in her soft fur.

"Now."

Snowflake remained seated and resorted to shooting the Commander a glare, this time showing off her fangs. A low growl followed.

The Commander shook his head, like he was disappointed and let out a sigh. "Just for now, you can see him later if you want but I need him for now."

Wait?! Do I get a say in this?

"Yip." Ninetales happily barked and she lowered her head to gaze down at me. For a final time she licked my face before jumping off my chest and charging out of the room like her business here was done.

Not weird at all.

A big hand was stretched out to me to offer a grip and I took it. With a mighty jank I was pulled to my feet by the Commander.

"Sorry about that. I can reassure you that normally doesn't happen." He shot me an apologetic look. "I don't know what has gotten over her. She's been like that since she saw you in the Na'Al-gal Desert"

"Uh, yeah weird shiz, happens a lot to me." I muttered, "But thanks anyway."

"See, everything is fine.'' Caleb smiled. "Well, I should go and check on the weapo-"

"No, stay." The Commander didn't even look at him while he said that.

Instead, his gaze remained on me, not so subtly studying me.

"In hindsight, that can wait. I'll stay here." Caleb didn't seem to be happy about the situation but unable to speak up about it. I could understand his feelings, this guy was intimidating as heck.

"My name is Eric Steel," he shook my hand and almost crushed my bones in the process. "I am the one in charge of this place."

"Sup," I replied and pointed at my two Pokémon. "The blue one is Fay, and she's Luna. But I assume you already know my name."

"I do indeed, Mister Wildfire and I can imagine you have a lot of questions about everything and I am sure you might be able to answer a few of our own."

"Yup, where am I? Why am I here, what do you want from me and when can I go?" I asked rapidly, not feeling merciful at all. After all, I had a lot of victim cards I could play.

He gave me a long look before giving me a sympathetic nod. "Why don't we sit down so I can explain the situation we find ourselves in." He pointed at the chair Caleb had sat on before I entered the room.

His cards were still scattered all over the floor. They were Uno cards and it looked like he had been piling up draw 2 and draw 4 cards. It was the first time I had seen any of my products with my own eyes but it was nice to see them and that they sold well.

I sat down on the chair and Eric took the other chair which left Caleb without one. The redhead uneasily leaned against the counter.

"So does anyone want a drink or something?" He meekly offered as he tried to lean against the kitchen counter but discovered that it was too low to lean against.

"A Galar's Bitter for me," Eric said without giving Caleb even a look.

"Can I get some water please?" Fay turned her red eyes to me. "I am feeling quite thirsty."

{I need some coffee.} Luna said before teleporting onto my head.

She was bigger than she was before but not to the point she couldn't sit on my head. I took her off anyway because having a Kirlia sitting on your head would make me look a whole lot less serious in front of the Commander.

Luna shot me a knowing smile as she realized my reasoning.

Fay joined her on the table with a quick jump.

"Can I have some tea please?" I asked as Caleb opened a cabinet that was actually a fridge on the inside. "Also water and coffee for my Pokémon please."

No one thought it was weird, Caleb acknowledged my order and took out a plastic water bottle from the fridge. He tossed it in my direction and I caught it with one hand.

I handed Fay the water bottle, meanwhile Caleb placed a green glass bottle in front of the commander.

To me, it looked like it was just beer but a Wooloo picture had been plastered in front of it.

"So Dust, let me start answering your questions with a statement first."

Eric leaned forward. "Hereby I officially apologize for all the unfortunate events that have happened to you and the Hunt is willing to compensate for your discomfort."

I blinked. "Say what?"

Caleb began to boil water in a black, old looking kettle. The sound was slowly getting louder and in the process more annoying, Caleb kept looking at the kettle like his gaze could heat it up faster. Silently drowning in embarrassment.

"What part is so surprising?" The Commander asked, annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Everything," I lied.

"What do you know about the Hunt?" Commander asked.

"Not a lot, most of it from what I heard on the news."

He sighed, "Caleb do you have the introduction video ready?"

"Uh no, told you we are still working footage of Hunter J's battle, I heard they are working overtime to make it more family-friendly."

"Ugh, never liked the entire idea anyway, way too complicated." Eric commented before turning to me. "Okay, let me try to explain our situation real quick. Right now you are at the headquarters of the Hunt which is short for Hero Unit for Nationwide Threats. We are a special team that exists out of the best Pokémon and Pokémon trainers in the world. Follow me so far?"

"Yup."

"It's one of the most important projects to date but we are not like the Rangers or League special forces." There was a sense of pride in his voice, "The Hunt is a collaboration between Kanto, Sinnoh and Unova with all three regions working together to fund and support the project. But of course, there have been collaborations in the past but none like this, can you guess why?"

"More firepower?" I asked, although it was a rhetorical question. He was right about the Leagues working together in the past, especially during S level threats considering those affected almost all regions.

"This time it is all in the eye of the public." The Commander explained. "Before missions were kept in the dark, now it will be completely the opposite. Now the spotlight is on the Hunt, a collaboration between three Leagues to create a team of heroes that can deal with problems no region can deal with on their own. To be short, we are supposed to be a beacon of hope for the people."

"Pretty cool right?" Caleb grinned.

"It kind of does sound cool," I admitted. The world of Pokémon does really have a problem with B and A level threats that can easily kill thousands within a day. Even simple natural disasters were more common than they should be. And although such numbers were a mere statistic compared to the total amount of the population it was still a dark part of reality people lived with.

"There's a lot of PR involved in all of this, more than ever before and despite only three regions being involved the entire world is watching us. Next time the Scorchers burn down a city we are the ones that should intervene. There's a lot of time, money and effort put into the hunt to make it as big and appealing as possible."

The Commander groaned. "You can imagine the disaster if word got out about one of our own, attacking a civilian during our first mission. And not just one of our own but Sabrina, the famous Psychic."

He shook his head.

"That is a PR nightmare waiting to happen."