Ted immediately tensed up, an ugly look flashing in his eyes. Lucas, for his part, almost immediately began to crane his head over to look - at least until I grabbed his arm and squeezed.

  “Ow!” He yelped. “What was that for!”

  “I just told you not to look.” I hissed.

  “I- but- who’s Kane?”

  “A Pokémon Poacher.” Ted growled, his hands clenching and unclenching.

  “He’s the one who hurt Rakkyo, Ted’s Flygon.” I explained. “And the one who put Venus and I into a cage.”

  That got a look from both Ted and Lucas, and despite my frustration I could feel myself flushing with embarrassment.

  “A cage??” Lucas asked, eyes boggling.

  “Yeah, I don’t think you mentioned that.” Ted agreed.

  “Listen, it’s a long story. When I first got here,” I waved my arm around loosely. “I was in the middle of nowhere. Turns out I was a day or two’s walk from Kane’s poaching camp, and when his goons found me stumbling around, they knocked me out and threw me in a cage.”

  “Arceus.”

  “I managed to break out, rescued Venus and some other Pokémon, beat up Kane and his goons, then called the Rangers. Professor Rowan came a little while later and took me back to his lab. That’s where I met you, Lucas.”

  They were both staring at me.

  “You mentioned fighting Kane before, but nothing like that.” Ted said.

  “He threw you into a cage? That’s… that’s inhuman!”

  “Trust me, I know. I was there.”

  “And he hurt Rakkyo so badly he’s still recovering.”

  Ted started to scootch his chair back and stand up, but I used my other hand to grab his arm and pull him back down.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Stopping you from doing something stupid.” I said. “Look around, we’re in the middle of a restaurant, and most of the people here aren’t battlers. If we get into a fight here, there could be a lot of collateral damage.”

  He stared at me as if I had two heads.

  “Last time we fought Kane, I had to be the one to cool you down.” He said, but sat down. “What changed?”

  “I- I don’t know.”

  I let go of both Lucas and Ted, running my hands through my hair.

  “I still hate him but… I don’t know. It’s just not worth it to fight right now.”

  There was the ember of hatred for Kane deep in my heart, it still pulsed with an ugly desire to pay him back for everything he did to me and Venus, along with countless other Pokémon. At some point between our last meeting and now it had changed.

  My heart was no longer blazing with a desire for vengeance, it had morphed into something almost ice-like.

  I would have my revenge on Kane. Now though, I’d seen what I had to lose, and I wasn’t going to run off and do something impulsive.

  I let out an unsteady breath, and pulled my phone out of my pocket before punching in the number for the police.

  When I held the phone up to my ear, all I could hear was static.

  Frowning, I checked my phone’s screen.

  No bars.

  A particularly wild gust of wind rattled the windows of the restaurant, and the lights flickered again.

  “Shit.” I muttered. “I can’t call the police, I don’t have any service.”

  “The storm.” Ted said, eyes widening with the realization.

  Lucas pulled his own phone out, and grimaced at what he saw. “I’ve got nothing as well.”

  Even with all of the advanced technology of the Pokémon world, they couldn't even manage to make a phone network that worked in the middle of a typhoon.

  “So what do we do?” Lucas asked.

  I tried to look as calm as possible.

  “We wait.” I said. “And we watch, and try to stay as under the radar as possible. When we finish our meal we go to the Pokémon Center and use the landline to call the cops, and the Rangers, and everybody else we can. This time, we’re going to nail this bastard to the wall.”

  We were just finishing up eating our food, the already bland taste turning to ash in my mouth, when the door opened again, letting in the rain.

  A short, slender man with blue hair strode into the restaurant, looked around for a moment, then purposefully strode over to where Kane was sitting.

  He wasn’t received warmly by Kane as far as I could tell, but the two men shook hands, sat down, and ordered a beer for themselves.

  The other man was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Despite how striking the blue hair was, there were enough people in this world with strange hair colors (both dyed and natural) that it wasn’t uncommon.

  After a few exchanged words and downing their drinks, they both stood up and put on their coats, ready to head back into the night.

  “What do we do now?” Lucas hissed.

  I hesitated for a moment too long, and they were out the door.

  Scrambling, I made my way to the front door, peering out of the thick glass pane to only barely see the backs of the two men walking down the road through the downpour.

  In just a minute, they would be out of sight, and I would lose my chance.

  The wind and the rain soaked my clothes almost immediately as I stepped out into the street, making sure to keep the door shut.

  Kane and his friend didn’t even look back.

  I pulled out Venus’ Poké Ball, and released her. She hissed and looked up at me with a mixture of confusion and betrayal at being in the rain.

  “Now’s not the time!” I whispered. “See those two men?”

  She cast her gaze over to the barely visible forms.

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  “Kane’s there.”

  Venus froze, her red eyes narrowing.

  “We’re trying to find where he’s staying, do you think you can follow him without being seen?”

  She didn’t look back at me, her eyes fixed on Kane’s back, but she snorted.

  “See where they go, then come back to the Pokémon Center to show us where they’re staying. Can you do that?”

  Venus nodded.

  “Be safe. If they look like they’re going to notice you, just run back to me. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  She flicked her ear, then for the first time looked back up at me. Venus reached her head forwards, and licked my hand.

  “You’re a good girl.” I said, rubbing her head. “Be safe, I know you can do this.”

  She let me scratch her head for another second longer, then stepped away. The glowing yellow circles on her body brightened for a second, then disappeared entirely.

  If I hadn’t known she was standing next to me, I wouldn’t have been able to tell she was there at all.

  “Okay Venus.” I said with a tight smile. “Happy hunting.”

  /^\

  “Excuse me!” The nurse on duty said as we all ran up to one of the payphones on the wall, water pouring off of our clothes. “You can’t use that!”

  I turned, flabbergasted.

  “What?”

  “The storm! You can’t use the phones during a storm.”

  “But they’re landlines.” I said, gesturing. “Our cell phones don’t have service, the landlines will.”

  “That’s not the issue.” She sighed. “You kids these days.”

  Ted and I were both adults, but now wasn’t the time to argue that point.

  “It’s the electricity.” The nurse explained. “These are landlines, so that means that if a bolt of lightning hits the power lines outside, it can conduct the electricity and deliver a nasty shock. It’s our policy that if there’s a storm going on, our phones are off limits.”

  My mouth gaped like a fish.

  Is that true?

  I hadn’t used a landline in… ever? My parents had had a house phone growing up, but even that one had been wireless.

  “She’s right.” Ted muttered.

  “It’s an emergency.” I explained.

  “And it’ll be an even bigger emergency if you get electrocuted.” The nurse said stubbornly.

  Lucas sighed and stepped forwards, pulling out his Trainer ID. Something about his posture changed, and I wasn’t looking at a carefree teenager anymore, but a very serious Pokémon Trainer.

  “Miss, with all due respect, we are all Laboratory Trainers sponsored by Professors Rowan and Birch. Right now, we are in pursuit of a criminal, and need to use your phone. Please, let us take this risk.”

  It was her turn to look stunned, and at Lucas’ prompting Ted and I both pulled out our ID’s, showing her the truth.

  “I… fine.” She eventually said. “But be careful, and keep it brief, if you can. I’d rather not have to scrape you off of the floor if you get shocked.”

  “Thank you.” Lucas said, and we all turned and hurried back over to the phone.

  “Who first?” I asked. “The police, or the Rangers?”

  “Rangers.” Ted said. “They normally have a quicker reaction time, and they cover more area. They should hopefully have somebody who can fly out to meet us.”

  “Right.”

  I punched in the numbers, and waited anxiously for the phone to pick up.

  After a tense minute, the call connected.

  “Hello?” A cautious voice asked. “Canalave City Ranger’s Department. I see you’re calling from… Iron Island? How can we help you?”

  “Hi, this is Alina Knighton, I’m a Lab Trainer for Professor Rowan and I need to report that we’ve seen Kane here on Iron Island.”

  “I’m sorry? Who is this?”

  Lucas rolled his eyes, and took the phone from me, pressing the speaker button.

  “This is Lucas Akashi, Trainer ID 19960227, Lab Trainer for Professor Rowan, reporting on an APB put out by the Rangers.”

  The man on the other end of the phone grew more serious.

  “What can I do for you, Trainer?”

  Lucas gestured for me.

  “Oh! Uh, this is Trainer Knighton, ID 20060928, Kane is a Pokémon Poacher wanted by the Rangers and the police. We saw him here on Iron Island less than fifteen minutes ago with another man.”

  “Can you spell that?”

  “Kane, K-A-N-E. I don’t know his last name.”

  “Understood.”

  There was the sound of computer keys clacking across the line, and I tried to ignore the nurse listening in.

  “I see. We do have a listed APB for an individual named Kane, are you certain it’s the same man?”

  “I’m certain.”

  “Okay. I’ll reach out to the police to organize a response. Whatever you do, do not get involved. Keep yourselves safe and let us handle it. We get paid to do this, you don’t.” He was quiet for a long moment, and when he continued talking his tone was much softer.

  “There’s a storm going on all across the coast, and you’re right in the middle of it. We’re going to try to get some help out there, but we don’t have any teleporters on staff, and making the crossing will be risky at best. It might be a while before we can get somebody to you.”

  The mood of our small group plummeted.

  “So what are we supposed to do? Nothing?” I asked, feeling the ember of anger begin to heat up again.

  “Not nothing.” The Ranger said. “I can’t tell you what to do if an emergency breaks out, and I can’t deputize you over the phone, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  Ted straightened, smacking a fist into his palm.

  “I understand.” He said. “We’ll be safe.”

  “Good. Please, don’t get you or your Pokémon hurt.”

  We exchanged a little more info, including where we had seen Kane and what his associate looked like, then we hung up.

  “What was that all about?” I asked Ted.

  “Simple. We’re Lab Trainers, we’re supposed to help with emergencies where possible, so what the Ranger just did there was give us an out.”

  “Huh?”

  “We can’t act as a Deputy Ranger.” Lucas said. “Like making official arrests or anything. But we can act as Lab Trainers if there was an emergency, which is… honestly a pretty broad category.”

  The penny dropped.

  “Oh! So if Kane forces our hand by trying something, we can respond, but we can’t do anything proactive.”

  “Correct.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  I sighed, and turned to look at the rainy night outside of the Pokémon Center’s doors.

  “Now we wait for Venus to return.”

  /^\

  It took Venus almost half an hour to get back to the Pokémon Center, which by then I had given up trying to be calm and had instead resorted to pacing anxiously across the foyer.

  The nurse had given me a couple of dirty looks, but hadn’t actually said anything.

  When Venus finally did return, she looked incredibly proud of herself. She strutted in with her head and tail held high, almost pressing as she entered through the automatic doors.

  With all the rain, her black fur was absolutely soaked and hanging off of her frame limply, and I could tell that if it was any other moment in time she would be absolutely miserable and pathetic as she tried to get me to dry her off.

  Still, she was the best sight I’d seen all day.

  “Venus!” I cried, pulling Ted and Lucas’ attention to us.

  I ran over and skidded to my knees, ignoring how soaked she was to pick her up.

  She yeowled in protest, but didn’t stop me from holding her close.

  “Are you okay?” I quickly poked at her to see if anything was wrong. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

  Venus snorted, and bumped my hand with her head.

  She was fine.

  “Okay, okay, sorry.” I took a deep breath, reassuring myself that she was fine. “Did you find them?”

  She gave me a look, and flicked her ears and tail proudly. Water splattered across my face, but I didn’t care at that point.

  “She found them?” Ted asked, my two companions making their way over.

  “It seems like it.”

  “Are they far away?” He said, addressing Venus directly.

  She thought for a moment, then waggled her head.

  “Is that a yes or a no?” Lucas asked.

  “I think it’s a ‘maybe’.” I said, and Venus nodded.

  “Well.” I carefully put Venus down and stood up, making sure my raincoat was zipped up. “I think we should go check it out.”

  “Didn’t the Ranger say not to get in trouble?” Asked Lucas.

  “He did.” Ted said. “But he didn’t say anything about taking a walk. It’s well within our rights to wander the streets of Iron Island, even during a storm.”

  “And if we happen to run across some poachers making a fuss…” I shrugged. “Well. I guess we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”

  “Isn’t it cross that bridge?”

  “Not the way I’m planning on doing it.”

  Lucas sighed and hung his head, but when he raised it again, there was a spark in his eyes.

  “Well, I’d never say no to an adventure! Let’s go!”