I made myself comfy on the big pile of pillows besides the unconscious Butterfree.

Ralts was guarding the Butterfree, though it was kind of unnecessary since she was all tied up.

The screen of my Pokédex illuminated the warehouse in a soft blue glow, pretty creepy if you ask me.

It wasn't quiet however, waves crashed against the river banks and cars honked in the distance.

Midnight had passed an hour ago, yet I didn't feel tired in the slightest.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins and kept me fully awake and ready to fight.

Ralts was a Pokémon so I wasn't sure if she even had anything like adrenaline, still she was pumped and ready to go.

That's why it was so anticlimactic that I actually had to wait for Hylla to pick up and it led me to doubt if she was even awake at 1 AM.

She had been asleep most of the time I was staying at her hospital but she worked for the League so I kinda thought she should've been available at all times.

Of course, that was an assumption on my part.

Luckily, after a few anxious seconds of silence, I got through.

The screen changed and the Pokédex informed me I was now in a video chat with a certain purple haired sociopath.

"Oh, it's you," Hylla smiled at the camera. "Good evening Mister Mysterious. Or should I say good morning?"

Still going with that nickname?

"Sup Hylla," I said automatically, then I took a good look again, "Wait, where are you?"

Hylla wasn't in a bedroom like I expected, no she was fully clothed and sitting behind a desk which wasn't out of the ordinary but the background was.

Behind her, I saw a large room with big metal cabinets and gray walls with instruction manuals written on them. The room was illuminated by a big neon light.

In the background, I could hear people vividly talking, though I couldn't make out any individual words.

It looked like she was in some kind of laboratory or something.

Hylla grinned. "That's classified information but if you really want to know,"

She picked up, what I later learned to be, her laptop and allowed me to the room from a different angle.

I saw a group of men dressed in heavy body armor preparing for something.

They all had guns on their belt and a rifle slung over their backs.

Different kinds of Pokémon stood beside them. I saw a Machoke, multiple Staraptor and a black crow-like Pokémon that I remembered from the Galar game but couldn't recall its name and a few wolf-like Pokémon.

She put the laptop back in its place and grinned. "We're near Eterna Forest. I was asked to assist with a raid and to look over all the data. It's all very classified,"

She put a finger to her mouth, "So don't tell anyone okay?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Sure. Look, I need your help but I don't have a lot of time."

She grinned, "Oh, so no time for small talk huh?"

"Can I borrow Charizard?" I asked, ignoring her playful jab. "Please right now?"

"Why?" she frowned, she tapped a few times on the keyboard. "Oh, wow. You're at Jubilife City?"

I wasn't even surprised that she knew where I was. "Mmm, why would you want my Charizard in the middle of the night?"

"Look, I really don't ha-"

"It won't take long, I'm bored anyway." Hylla said. "You need her for something crucial, otherwise you wouldn't call in the middle of the night. You're in a dark room that clearly isn't yours…mmm, near the abandoned docks, I see. That’s interesting…"

Her eyes widened. "You found Crimson huh?"

I blinked. "Yeah…"

She tilted her head. "Well, that explains it. So he has a second teleporting Pokémon? The league already suspected such a thing. You really think you can keep up?"

I ignored the way she made skips in her deduction and filled the gaps with stuff she shouldn't know; maybe she did have psychic abilities after all? A short ranged clairvoyant power wasn't too weird for this world of magical creatures.

"Yeah, now can I borrow Charizard?" I asked impatiently. I was a little bit irked by how much Hylla knew, but I was more worried about Crimson getting away.

I had no idea how much distance Crimson had managed to cover, it was possible that his first 2 teleports were an indicator for his travel speed but it could also be the opposite and that the distance he could travel would decrease as time went on.

"Mmm," Hylla mused, "Well, Charizard wouldn't mind going on a chase."

She typed away at the keyboard. "There's a Pokémon Center 3 minutes away from you. Just go west and at the end of the city block you should find it."

She grinned at me, "I'll send her your way. Call me when you're done, okay?"

I nodded.

"Also," she gave me a wink. "You now owe me one."

And with those cheerful words, she cut off the video call.

"Great," I muttered, then turned to Ralts. "Okay, we gotta run. Our transport is on the way."

"Ralts." She said and she ran towards the table, she managed to jump on top of it and rummaged through the pile of shit Crimson had looted in Jubilife City.

"Ralts!" She yelled and she threw something from the pile towards me. I caught it and smiled.

My good old backpack.

I opened it and to my amazement, Crimson hadn't even bothered to take out his own stuff.

After removing the TMs and purse Crimson had stolen I put my newly bought goods from my second backpack into my old one and slung my good old backpack over my back.

I released a sigh of relief. Backpack retrieved!

My eyes went over the empty room. Something caught my eye.

The silver gun that was still lying at my feet sparkled in the moonlight.

Crimson had dropped it and I tried to use it, only to find out I sucked at it during a gunfight, that’s usually not the time where you want to learn that kind of stuff.

Nonetheless, I picked it up from the floor. Curiously I looked it over.

It looked very similar to a design from my world, although I had no idea what the official name was. Something strange I did find, or rather didn’t find, was that there was no way to remove or insert ammo clips.

The entire thing was one solid piece of steel or iron; or maybe actually silver, I had no idea what it was made of but it couldn't be opened and unless I had to insert the bullets via the barrel my guess was that this was another one of those bullshit Pokémon world technology things.

I tossed the thing into my backpack anyway, finders keepers right?

"Come on Ralts," I said and she hopped towards me, I caught her and put her on my shoulders.

I decided to leave the Butterfree and the entire base behind, knowing Hylla, she would probably inform the police anyway and I had a certain red haired thief to stop.

----------------------------------------

Deciding this was the best spot to release Charizard I tossed the Pokéball at the ground.

I wanted to release her the moment the lady at the Pokémon Center handed me her Pokéball but I had to consider the sheer size of a dragon Pokémon and I also didn't want to scare off any pedestrians.

Luckily Jubilife City had a lot of parks for wild Pokémon and trainers to battle.

With an impressive roar, Charizard appeared in front of us.

Her head was facing the sky as she roared and for a second I kinda worried someone would complain about me disturbing the peace.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

However, after her quick show of dominance she faced me, I was ready to go.

"Ralts." Ralts greeted the dragon who was clearly very confused about where the hell she was.

Guess Hylla didn't inform Charizard beforehand. Maybe she thought it was funny.

"Hi," I greeted.

"Zard?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I asked Hylla if you could assist us. So yeah, wanna help us out?" I really hoped she would say yes, otherwise it would be all for naught.

Dragons are a proud species in the Pokémon world and I thought I had earned her trust last time. I really hoped I was right about that.

She stepped towards us and lowered her head. The big orange dragon let out a demanding growl and I did the first thing that came to mind.

I patted her head between the horns. She let out a satisfied groan.

"Ralts," Ralts informed me and she was right, we were in a hurry after all.

I stopped and Charizard gave me a puzzled look.

"We're chasing after a criminal who has a low range teleporter with him. Can I ride on your back?" I asked.

Charizard nodded and she turned around, she opened her wings and gestured to me to get on her back.

Awesome.

Ralts climbed onto Charizard's neck and I followed behind her, placing myself between the wings.

Ralts leaned into me while I grabbed Charizard's neck to get some leverage.

"Okay, fly South-East, not too high!" I commanded and Charizard flapped her wings a few times to gather lift before flying up.

It was a much better take off than last time, she flew above the streets and weaved between all the skyscrapers like she was born for this moment.

Flying in a city during nighttime was a lot different from flying above a forest.

The cool midair night brought forth a wind that was actually really nice. It was cold, but in a good way, it helped me focus and forget my tiredness.

Clouds wrapped around the moon, yet the moonlight shone through it and allowed me to see the entire cityscape below us.

It wasn't just the moon, a thousand tiny lights coming from traffic, houses and skyscrapers all added to the entire beautiful view..

Charizard growled victoriously and I had the idea she was smiling.

Meanwhile, I was trying to do the mental math of how far Crimson was.

He wasn't in Ralt's range but he couldn't have gotten too far, it had only been 10 minutes since he escaped.

Crimson could teleport but I had no idea about the interval between teleports, did it increase over time or decrease? There were so many unknowns.

Charizard soared around a skyscraper that had a big billboard announcing some kind of new product.

"Ralts!" Ralts suddenly called out. "RaRalts!"

I had no idea what she meant but Charizard understood it, she lowered her altitude and changed her angle slightly. Her wings began to beat faster.

The cityscape underneath us had changed quite a bit.

The mighty skyscrapers were now less frequent and replaced by apartment blocks and luxurious hotels. The never sleeping city had quieted down here.

The streets in this part of town were almost empty at night, I only saw a lone car drive underneath us and a few trucks, probably people who were coming home from a late night shift.

"RALTS!" Ralts announced. She stretched out her hand and pointed a finger straight forward.

I squinted my eyes.

My heart skipped a beat. Far away, standing on a large office complex, I saw a figure standing on a rooftop.

Seeing details was impossible from this far away but I swear I saw him distinctly holding a gun. Behind him I saw the shadow of a floating creature.

They disappeared in a flash a second later.

"Ralts!"

The Charizard changed directions and flew faster.

At the center of the horizon Crimson appeared on top of a large radio tower. I was only able to barely see his outline against the backdrop of the night. It disappeared a few seconds later.

Charizard began to beat her wings more aggressively. She tried to go even faster. From her low growling I could make up that she didn’t like how prey kept getting away.

She had already reached his last location and Ralts was informing her of Crimson's new location while he was teleporting. At least we could clearly see him travel.

I frowned. Crimson was traveling via rooftops, but why?

He could just teleport from house to house, making him impossible to track with the naked eye.

This made him stand out like a sore thumb and wasn't really logical...unless.

"Abra's Teleport is limited by line of sight!" I cried out, "He can't teleport to a place he can't see."

It made sense, from a roof he could see far more and thus more potential locations to teleport too. If he were in a street he could only travel to the end of that street. From a rooftop, he had much more range and options.

Abra was much weaker than Butterfree it seems, that much was clear. Butterfree had a bigger range and wasn't limited by line of sight. That’s why Abra was just a secondary Pokémon.

It made sense I guess, not every Pokémon is the same as in the games. Maybe Crimson never bothered to refine Abra's Teleport or maybe Abra was just a weaker species.

Charizard roared and spit out a flamethrower.

Underneath us Crimson and Abra had reappeared. Crimson found himself on a slanted rooftop that seemed to belong to some kind of factory. He lost balance for a split second, before regaining footing and got a hold on his surroundings.

He spotted us and raised his arm. His golden gun was aimed at us and it fired.

Charizard steered out of the way while at the same time shooting surging flames at Crimson, forcing him to teleport again.

The flames didn't burn the building, instead they just simply disappeared which was quite interesting, scientifically speaking of course.

He and Abra disappeared from sight and reappeared a few rooftops over.

Charizard flew towards them but the pair teleported again before she could continue her assault.

This time the pair materialized even a smaller distance away.

"Abra's getting weaker," I muttered and Charizard gave me a questioning look.

"Either Abra has only so much distance in total he can cover or every time he uses Teleport it gets weaker," I explained my theory.

Charizard nodded and I grinned. "Only a matter of time."

Crimson shot at us again, Charizard blocked it with her wings, making a sudden spin.

It almost threw me off but Charizard quickly returned to not being a rollercoaster.

I heard the bullets hit Charizard’s wings and bounce off them.

Crimson cursed and the pair teleported away, this time they teleported to a taller rooftop.

It was a high industrial building made of redbricks, it had a big pipe running over the roof and appeared to be connected to a big machine.

Charizard flew towards him and this time the pair didn't teleport away.

"Hold it," I told the dragon and she began to hover mid air, a small distance away from the building.

"You really don't know when to stop, do you?" Crimson snarled.

He was shivering in his nightwear.

It was a stark contrast to our first meeting. He didn't wear a mask and cape, he wasn't the one holding all the cards.

I allowed myself to grin, oh how the tables had turned. Here I was, sitting on a dragon with a psychic Pokémon while the thief was cornered, stuck with a Pokémon who was growing weaker by the second.

"I do love my revenge." I said my words loud enough so Crimson could hear it.

"RRRAAALLTS!" Ralts added, smirking evilly.

Charizard huffed and a small burst of smoke came out of her mouth. I had the idea she was generally clueless about the context, but understood enough to feel smug as well.

Crimson spat on the ground, "You really want to keep going?"

I laughed. "I have the high ground you loser. You're running out of energy to run. Just put an end to it."

The criminal gave me a small smile. "Fine, if you want to play that way I'll play along."

He raised his left arm and aimed his golden gun, without even looking he fired three shots.

I thought he wanted to shoot me but the bullets passed harmlessly.

Instead they hit a lone skyscraper behind us. The building stood out as it was the tallest in the entire area. All three bullets hit the same window and the glass panel shattered into pieces.

It created a distinct hole in the top floor of the skyscraper.

I frowned. "What was that for?"

"If you want to play, fine by me." Crimson snarled. "Let's play hide and seek."

He aimed his gun at me, Charizard twisted her body to tank the bullet if necessary.

Crimson didn't shoot, instead he lowered his gun.

"You have my other gun right?" He asked and I gave him a confused nod.

He pointed at the window he just shot. "If you're really that determined, let's see who finds who first."

He gave me the finger. "Come and get me."

Abra's eyes glowed white and the pair disappeared.

They reappeared standing in front of the shattered window, he gave me one final look before walking inside the darkened building.

"Are they actually inside?" I asked Ralts cautiously, unsure what to think of this unforeseen development.

"Ralts." She narrowed her eyes and nodded.

Charizard flew towards the building but she stayed a safe distance away, in case they tried something.

Two questions in Pokéspeak came at me, both wanting to know what to do next.

I sighed and explained the situation. "Crimson's luring me into a trap,"

It was kinda obvious, however it put me in a rough spot.

"He's trying to get me into a small confined space where he can use his superior snipe skills."

"Ralts." Ralts said and she made some weird motion with her hands that probably meant to explain something.

"No," I said. "If we wait outside there's a chance Abra's Teleport recharges and that could lead him to escaping for real."

I was unsure how long it took for Abra to get stronger but if it could get to its original strength our entire chase would all fall apart.

It took Abra three full teleports to escape Ralts' range, from there he could go any direction he wanted. Crimson knew our range now, so he wouldn’t make trailing him this easy again.

There was no point in calling reinforcements either, they would take too much time reaching him.

"Ralts," I said, "We're going inside."

Charizard made an unsatisfied growl.

"Ralts!" Ralts protested.

I gave them both a smile. "Charizard, you need to cover his escape routes, you would be too tall anyway."

Charizard let out a sound that was a combination of a growl and whimper.

"Ralts!" Ralts protested.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." I reassured her. "I'm not one to go into a situation blindly."

"Ralts." Ralts gave me a long stare but I didn't waver.

After that she let out a sigh, and pressed her fists together.

The shattered window was somewhere on the 30th floor, I urged Charizard to fly towards it.

"Cover the entire floor with your smoke screen," I commanded. "Then send a smokescreen into the building as well. Don't want him waiting for me at the entrance."

"When we enter I want you to find and take out Abra." I told Ralts. "Use your emotional sense."

Ralts tilted her head.

"I'll deal with Crimson," I declared.

It was almost poetic, a final duel, man against man.

Red vs Blue.

Never say Fate doesn't love her jokes.

I began swiping at my Pokédex while Charizard began covering the entire floor in a black, impenetrable smokescreen. It flowed out of the hole left by Crimson and blanketed the entire area.

"I give him 90 seconds to hide." I announced. Swiftly I tapped a button on my Pokédex. "There's no running now."