PokeWild

The door opened with a swish.

Beth kept her head buried in her hands. She refused to look up and give them the satisfaction.

It was only going to be another acquaintance or co-worker come to gawk. Another face she’d only recognise from an end of year party or a cross department event. People that had never known her name before today.

She closed her eyes. There was only so long she could stare at the same spot on the metal table.

“What were you thinking?”

The voice cut her to her core.

Beth raised her head to stare, dismayed, at Tach. She’d known he’d come eventually but she thought she'd have more time. More time to.. she didn’t know, but she couldn’t face him, not now.

He must have come directly to the police station from the field. His clothes were scuffed and there were splotches of dirt and mud on his red Ace jacket.

Not that she was much better. Running back to Saffron in the dark had left her wool jumper torn and puffy. It was still dusty from the caves. And blood stained. A couple of falling rocks had hit her as she escaped. She liked this jumper. The blood would be such a pain to wash out.

Arceus, what was she thinking? What did her jumper matter now?

What had she been thinking? How did she let this happen?

When their eyes met, it was Tach’s expression that hurt the most. It wavered between disappointment, hurt and apathy. He looked at her like she was a stranger.

“I.. I really messed up.” Beth stammered, feeling her eyes dampen.

Tach sighed and stepped to the side away from the doorway to lean against the wall. He let his head fall back until he was staring at the roof. He looked worn, weary. Old even, in a way he never had before. It hurt to see him like this, to know it was because of her.

“Have they found David?” Beth asked, desperate for both a distraction and the news. She pushed herself up and tried to straighten in her chair. It was a struggle not to wince as her shoulder ached. She bore it anyway. She didn’t get to complain about that.

The police hadn’t handcuffed her when they left her in the room. She’d caused a stir when she burst into the station in the middle of the night, but they’d just led her in here to take a statement. Their attitude had changed as her story went on, but they hadn’t cuffed her.

Oddly, she thought she’d feel better if they had.

“No,” Tach said, still staring at the ceiling. “He crossed through several streams. And once it began to rain the Growlithe lost all traces of his scent. It’s too dangerous to send teams out in the dark. They’ll try tomorrow in the light with a Raticate.”

“Oh.”

“He’ll be fine,” Tach said tiredly. “This close to the season start, the stronger Pokemon will have retreated from the routes or will be focusing on teaching their offspring a few last lessons. We’ll find him tomorrow.”

“And Team Rocket?” Beth asked. Hearing that had made her feel a little better, but she knew the statistics behind the Oak laws better than anyone. A lone unprepared trainer lost in the wilds did not last long.

Tach let out a grumble that was closer to a rumble. It was oddly similar to his starter’s.

“Gone. The raid shelters have multiple entrances and exits. Traces of their presence were found, but nothing substantial. It’s early yet though.”

Beth felt like dropping her head back onto the table. It had taken her quite some time to get back into the city and to the police station. It had taken longer still for the police to interrogate her and prepare a team to check out the tunnels. Plenty of time for everyone to escape and clean house.

Someone knocked on the door.

Tach grimaced and raised a hand to rub his eyes. When he looked back at her he was all business. This was the face of Ace Tach. Calculating. Hard. He reached for the door handle only to pause.

“Hold nothing back and do not lie.” Tach stressed that last word. “Only the truth you understand? Answer every question.”

With that cryptic warning, Tach pulled the door open and left.

She dropped her head into her hands again. Her wooly jumper was wet.

-.-

Beth felt the shift in the air before she heard the knock.

Everything felt.. muted.

She lifted her head up to look at the door but it didn’t open. Between the odd feeling and where she was, it took several seconds of staring for Beth to realize the knock had been for her?

“Come in?” Beth said hesitantly.

The door slid open soundlessly and Beth froze as Sabrina Voyant walked in.

Sabrina Voyant, the youngest gym leader in Kanto. The Psychic Master.

Beth had never met her before, only seen her in public gym challenges. This was a very different experience to watching her from afar as part of a crowd.

What Beth noticed first was Sabrina’s hair. It was dark, almost purple-green and fell from her head like a stream, meandering back and forth against gravity before resting against her hip. Not one strand was out of place and Beth couldn’t see any signs of braiding or hair ties. If it fell straight it would reach past her calves.

She idly wondered if Sabrina had a team of stylists to care for it and if they had been woken up at this hour because of her.

Sabrina looked at her for a second before blinking. She turned to face the door and raised her hand to close it just as soundlessly.

The brief movement gave Beth a chance to recover from her surprise and prepare herself as Sabrina seemed to glide over to the table and sit down opposite her.

“Elizabeth Rye. Thirty six, unmarried. License number K685OZ-CEL. Two registered Pokemon. Relocated from Celadon fourteen years ago for a position in the Saffron League Administrative Office.” Sabrina recited in a soft voice, pulling a file from a messenger bag that Beth hadn’t noticed before.

The file flicked open on the table and Beth blinked. What was that? Sabrina’s hand had moved and the file had opened, but something was off with the movement.

Beth looked back up when Sabrina did not continue and found herself facing an unflinching stare.

“Ye-Yes. That’s me.”

“Begin with your first encounter with Team Rocket.” Sabrina instructed, still fixated on her.

“I didn’t know they were Team Rocket. Daria only told me who they were Monday before last. Monday the 13th.” Beth clarified.

“Daria?” Sabrina asked. There was a flicker of interest in her eyes.

“Daria Parry. She’s a Saffron local. Last season I enrolled her in the League recovery program. She didn’t earn the two badges and I didn’t hear from her until she contacted me again two months ago. She.. she seemed to be back on her feet.” Beth answered sadly, remembering Daria’s visit.

She made it a habit to keep an eye on anyone she signed up, even if she wasn’t strictly supposed to. When Daria didn’t reappear in the months after failing to earn her second badge, Beth didn’t think she ever would. It was a happy surprise when the woman walked into her office again, looking healthy and confident.

Sabrina made no reaction. She continued to watch Beth.

“I gave all of this information to the police,” Beth said to fill the silence. She didn’t want to go through all of this again.

“How were you recruited?” Sabrina asked, ignoring Beth’s implied question.

“I thought it was a normal training group. Daria invited me to several evenings where we battled and went through exercises. They were welcoming and friendly. No one seemed to care that I only had Fuzzy and Geodude. They-” Beth faltered. “They found my job very interesting and had lots of questions.”

How had she been so stupid.

“Names and Pokemon.” Sabrina ordered.

Beth recited who she could remember. She now doubted that she had been told anyone’s real name. No one had used names often in the group, often referring to each other with nicknames or affectionate terms instead. She’d thought it endearing. Now she felt like a fool.

“And after Monday the 13th? Why did you not report to the Saffron police?”

Beth hesitated. She had glossed over this with the police. Beth opened her mouth to do so again, but paused. ‘Hold nothing back and do not lie.’

“I’d already told them too much about League procedure.” Beth swallowed but continued, ignoring how her hand had begun to tremble. “I was already in trouble and.. one of the Rockets has a Butterfree. Daria promised they could help Fuzzy evolve. He.. He’s old.”

Her hand stilled as it spilled out of her in a rush. It was the one thing she didn’t regret about everything. In a roundabout way, it had worked after all.

Sabrina reached into her messenger bag and pulled out another file. Now that Beth was watching, she could see why the movement was wrong. Sabrina made no physical contact with the file. It floated through the air unsupported.

Beth made no outward sign but her heart beat a little faster. It was not her first encounter with a psychic or a member of the Voyant clan, but she’d never seen anyone use their abilities so casually or smoothly. They didn’t call Sabrina the Psychic Master for just her Pokemon.

“Tell me about the victim, David Smith. His file is incomplete.” Sabrina asked. Her soft voice sharpened at ‘incomplete’.

For some reason, that sharpness made Beth angry. Her files were not incomplete. She did not make mistakes. Not.. not with her files.

“His file has all the required details.” She refuted. “The league recovery program allows DNA to be substituted for information.”

Sabrina blinked before reaching into her small bag. There was a whisper of a sound and Beth stared as Sabrina pulled out a thick copy of the league regulation manual from the small bag. A manual that could not have fit inside it. Sabrina set the heavy manual down on the desk and the pages began to fly open without input. When the pages stopped, the manual lifted up slightly and tilted towards Sabrina. She began to read.

A few seconds later, the manual dropped to the table with a slight thud and Sabrina stared at Beth accusingly.

“That clause was for the original program.”

“But it wasn’t removed when the program was restarted.” Beth smiled back. She never broke the rules, just bent them. After years of working with the League there was no need to break them. She knew that manual, and what it didn’t cover, off by heart.

Beth’s heart began to race as a flurry of sensations filled her. Hate, pride, desire for freedom, anger, longing, repentance, tiredness, lethargy. It was intense and all encompassing.

Then it was gone. A dullness settled over her again and everything seemed less vivid.

“When did you first meet the victim?” Sabrina asked, pulling Beth back. Her face was a blank slate again.

Beth blinked groggily. “Monday the 13th.”

There was that flash of interest again.

“He walked into the center just before Daria. It was clear he needed the program. He looked like he'd been living rough and smelled.” Beth grimaced. “I was correcting his STATs when Daria arrived. She asked about him. It’s how Team Rocket knew who he was. It’s my fault.”

“46%.” Sabrina stated. “Why was Team Rocket interested in him?”

“His score was oddly skewed. He answered the most basic question incorrectly yet got several of the indepth ones right. He later admitted to having ’niche’ knowledge. I-We thought he was from a settlement or clan.”

“Not Johto? Smith is also a common Pewter name.” Sabrina asked, her face giving nothing away.

Beth pursed her lips. “He doesn’t have the accent from either and he didn’t know what the STATs are. He could be from a Johtoan sovereign, they don’t have to..”

Beth trailed off as she remembered who she was speaking to. Sabrina Voyant would know all about sovereign privileges.

“He gave no further indication of where he was from?”

Beth shook her head.

“What do you know about the attack on Sunday the 20th?”

“Nothing,” Beth whispered. “I was told about it during my interview with the police.”

Sabrina switched to questioning her about the old war shelter and tunnels, other bases and anything she knew about Team Rocket and their plans.

“What happens now?” Beth asked.

She looked up and matched Sabrina’s constant gaze. Sabrina had been silent for a minute or so now, questions expended.

Sabrina blinked her eyes and tilted her head, drawn out of her thoughts.

Beth frowned as Sabrina’s eyes started to brighten, moving from a dark, dark blue to pink and-