"Oh, I'd forgotten that Nouveau Café was one of your favourite haunts, Taunie."
An unfamiliar voice said and Taunie immediately sat upright as we both looked at whoever had said that.
The man standing at the edge of our table was tall… he was genuinely tall and he had brown hair pulled up into a tight bun at the top of his head, and in that bun, I kid you not, were two hair accessories; a small Pancham clip and a Buneary clip, sitting there as if this were completely normal.
Large sideburns ran down both sides of his face and his eyes were behind a pair of visors so I couldn't see their color but they were the kind with the single horizontal tinted lens and he was wearing them on a beautiful morning.
He was also wearing a black suit with gold buttons, a green shirt underneath it with a matching green tie, green gloves on both hands, and green shoes while a Quasartico Inc. pin sat on the collar of his jacket.
Just what kind of clothes was he wearing? And what kind of hair was that? And who wore visors in the damn morning?
"And forgive me…" He looked at me. "May I have the name of your boyfriend?"
Taunie's cheeks heated up as she twirled one finger around a strand of her hair.
"Hey there, Vinnie. Let me introduce you both." Taunie said and she didn't deny the boyfriend thing, which I filed away for later consideration. She was very bold.
"Vinnie, this is Paxton and he's the newest member of Team MZ as well as a tourist. And no, he's just a friend." She said with a smile.
Friends told each other how cute they were? Yeah, right.
"And Pax, this gentleman is Vinnie… he's a big shot from Quasartico and a friend of mine." Taunie said and I looked at the guy properly.
We sized each other up and once again I noticed something about Vinnie that I had not fully clocked before.
His sideburns were something else entirely. I'm not one to comment on someone's appearance but I genuinely think this man needed a good barber and I wouldn't have minded dropping the number of the woman who did my hair, she would sort him out.
Vinnie cleared his throat.
"I am the CEO's Secretary in title, though in reality I am often her errand boy." He said. "Regardless, I am pleased to meet you, Paxton." He extended his hand.
I took it and immediately regretted it.
His hand was considerably larger than mine and the grip was too much for my smaller palm. I don't straight up dislike my body but damn, couldn't I be a bit bigger?
We withdrew and he nodded at both of us.
"Please accept my apologies on behalf of the company for any inconveniences you may have suffered due to our Urban Redevelopment efforts. Even our beloved Prism Tower is closed to visitors until we can complete some renovations." He said. "If you came here hoping to see the city's sights, Paxton, I apologize that this is a truly sorry state of affairs."
"You don't need to worry about it." I said while taking another sip of the Creamy Charizard, the foam leaving another line across the side of my lip.
"Pax's right. We're excited to see the city become somewhere people and Pokémon can live in harmony." Taunie said while pressing her hands together.
I raised an eyebrow internally.
I was personally more happy about not having to travel outside the city to find Pokémon than anything else.
It was also the Wild Zones that helped me get paid, though not nearly enough… A two-week vacation to the Galar Region would run me 100k in flights alone and let's not talk about lodging.
I really needed more money.
"I'm very glad you both understand." Vinnie said. "With that, I'm afraid I must be getting back to work. Please excuse me and enjoy your day."
He turned to leave and I watched him go, genuinely wondering why he had even come to the café if he wasn't going to order—
"Oh, I almost forgot." He turned back around, walked to the counter, and addressed the woman behind it. "I want two Fire Blast Roasts."
She nodded and attended to him and he left Nouveau Café with both cups a minute later, disappearing back into the street.
I sighed.
"Is that how all Quasartico employees look?" I asked. "I genuinely think they need some different aesthetics."
"Well, Vinnie looks a bit unusual but I think it gives him class." Taunie replied, finishing the last of her Ember Roast. "Just like yours actually… It makes you look cool."
I ran a hand through my glorious hair and nodded.
"I guess you're right." I said. I was still sitting on what she'd said earlier but how was I supposed to bring it up naturally?
"You know I wasn't lying when I said you looked cute up close." She said. "But don't take it to heart, I don't mean anything by it."
So she was flirting and didn't mean anything by it. Sure…
"Sure." I finished the Creamy Charizard in one go and dropped the cup into the bin beside the table. Taunie did the same. "We've delayed long enough. Let's head to the Bureau. Emma should be waiting but hold on..."
Taunie nodded as we stood up, she waited as I went back to the counter and soon… I waved at the woman who had served us and the man behind the counter in the truck and Taunie did the same with more warmth.
Fletchling resettled on my shoulder while Floette drifted back to float between us.
"Alright, let's head there now." Taunie took hold of my hand and held it. "Hopefully we don't run into any more distractions."
"Are we jumping rooftops again?" I asked.
She laughed.
"Not at all. It honestly isn't that far from here. Come on." She started running, pulling me along behind her. "Let's go Pax."
…
"Fuck." I muttered under my breath.
We had been making decent time.
The route from Nouveau Café took us along the base of Prism Tower… walking the circular wall that ran around it the way a road runs around a roundabout before cutting into the Rouge District.
The tower was even more imposing at street level than from the rooftops.
Taunie walked with one hand in mine and pointed things out as we went… the location of the Centrico Pokémon Center, a shortcut she used through an alley between two office buildings, and even a wall mural that had gone up recently from a local artist.
She knew this city the way someone knows a neighborhood they grew up in, which meant she also knew every person who waved at her from doorways along the way.
The Bureau was right past Rouge Plaza, which I could see from where we entered the district. We almost made it.
Instead she pulled me into a crowd that had gathered in front of Wild Zone 3.
"No need to curse Pax, we just have to see why they're gathered." Taunie said while pulling me closer into the press of people.
One thing about Taunie that I had just figured out was that she was very comfortable with physical contact.
I didn't know if that was just with me or with everyone but I focused on the more important thing instead.
"Sure, like it isn't obvious." I sighed.
At the front of the crowd, five people stood between the gathering and the Wild Zone entrance.
Four of them were women, all wearing the same fitted uniform… white gi with orange accents that had a logo on the shoulder. They stood in a loose arc behind the one in the middle and the person in the middle was the man.
And just… what the hell were people eating in this world?
The man standing there was built like someone had decided to take the concept of physical fitness seriously and then kept going past the point where most people would have stopped.
He was tall, powerfully built, with golden-blond hair that had four thick tufts at the crown rising upward and his long bangs flaring out to the sides of his head.
His face was angular with amber eyes and a mole near his lower left lip.
He was wearing a fitted black sleeveless top with a vermilion thunderbolt pattern running across it, vermilion and dark grey belts strapped around his stomach and waist with baggy white trousers, fingerless gloves and sandals as well.
A black full-length compression sleeve ran up his left arm with the same logo on the shoulder and he carried a strangely pouch at his hip with some discolored patches stitched onto it.
I'm not gay but… those muscles. That was my dream build. How unfair was everything in this world? Could I not exist somewhere in peace without constant oppression?
The man closed his eyes and the entire crowd went quiet, including me.
I genuinely wanted to hear what he had to say. Given the amount of people he'd pulled in, it couldn't be something completely stupid.
"My name is Ivor and I speak to you all today on behalf of the Fist of Justice." He said, his voice reaching across the whole plaza without him raising it much. "Thank you for your time and attention. Now let me ask you… if the people of Lumiose truly wish to coexist with wild Pokémon, why not get rid of Wild Zones and let Pokémon run free?"
Excuse me?
I at least thought this man was going to make sense.
Wild Pokémon were dangerous, there were documented cases of Wild Pokémon attacking defenseless trainers and ending their lives. Even among species that generally didn't attack unprovoked, there were exceptions… Wild Beedrill for example were famously territorial and in Kanto, Viridian Forest had a documented history of swarm attacks on trainers who wandered too close and that was just one of them. Getting rid of Wild Zones wasn't coexistence, it was just removing the thing that made coexistence possible.
"Some of you might wonder why I would suggest such a dangerous thing." Ivor continued, opening his eyes. "Your concern is understandable… Wild Pokémon are strong and they can be very scary."
He folded his arms and the four women behind him smiled. "But please, put your worried minds at ease! Simply join the Fist of Justice and watch your Pokémon battle prowess skyrocket!"
Oh. So this was an advertisement for a dojo. If he wanted to advertise it he should have just led with the build… There were definitely people in this crowd who would sign up immediately based on the arms alone like ME.
"Once you reach our upper ranks, you'll even be able to take on Pokémon in hand-to-hand combat!"
The crowd was quiet for a moment.
So he was suggesting they remove Wild Zones so he could teach everyone to fight Pokémon bare-handed.
What exactly did he plan to do against a Gastly? It was a Ghost type. What was the punch going to connect with? And beyond Gastly… what about a Charizard? A Dragonite?
I'd watched Fletchling take on a fully trained Pikachu yesterday and even she had to work for it. The idea that a civilian who had attended a dojo for a few months was going to go fist-to-face with a wild Beedrill and come out with anything other than a medical bill was optimistic at best.
I gave him credit for the conviction… He clearly believed it and the four women behind him clearly believed it as well but belief wasn't the same thing as a plan.
"The Fist of Justice is here to help all the good citizens of Lumiose train and grow strong! Once we are joined in strength, then we can finally make Wild Zones a thing of the past!"
Honestly, it was a noble goal underneath it all. Helping people train to be able to defend themselves was never wrong but the approach was the problem.
Even Quasartico, in its effort to have Wild Pokémon live among people, had built containment systems for that very reason. Both sides were missing something but that wasn't my concern right now since it was time to go.
"Tawn, l—"
"He's got an interesting idea I guess but that'll never happen." Taunie just decided to open her mouth.
One of the women turned immediately that was blonde with freckles across her face turned to us.
"Hey! You in the back! Once you taste my strength first-hand, you'll understand the truth of Ivor-sensei's words! I challenge you to a battle!"
"See Tawn, this is exactly what happens when you open your bi—"
The woman had already crossed the crowd and stopped in front of me.
The hell? I wasn't the one who spoke.
"Sounds like you're getting called out." Taunie said while putting both hands on her waist.
"I was just standing here." I turned to the blonde. "She was the one who said something… You should battle her. Are you blind or something?"
"Like I said." She pointed at me. "I challenge you to a battle." Every head in the crowd turned toward me. "I, Josée… probably the fifth-strongest disciple in the Fist of Justice am ready to throw down!"
Arguing further would be pointless. She was dead set on doing this, I hadn't even said anything but here we were.
I looked at her properly for the first time… she was around my height with an athletic build and the freckles across her face gave her a younger look. Hey, she was beautiful.
"Alright." I sighed. "How much are you staking?"
"Staking?"
"In an official battle you stake prize money. I'm not battling without something on the line." I said.
"Let's go ₽4,000 then." Josée said, stepping forward.
I looked at her evenly.
"The Fist of Justice just hyped themselves up to the whole city… promised to protect people and teach them to fight strong wild Pokémon hand-to-hand and the best you can stake against a trainer you're forcing into a battle is ₽4,000?"
There were murmurs in the crowd and Josée's jaw tightened.
"Fine. ₽15,000. I hope you have enough to pay me back." She looked around at the gathered crowd. "Clear up! We need space to battle!"
People moved back and Taunie stepped aside too, waving and calling good luck in my direction. I didn't acknowledge her.
She was the reason I was in this in the first place and I needed to focus. Josée put distance between us across the cleared street.
"Flo~"
Floette was floating beside me, looking up and I patted her head.
"Don't worry. Go join Taunie. I'll be there in a bit." I said. Floette let out a happy cry and drifted over to Taunie's side.
Now I looked at Josée properly across the cleared space… The Fist of Justice was a fighting dojo, Fighting-type Pokémon were the obvious call but a dojo built around empowering regular people would have thought about common counters.
They'd know Flying types were a problem and they'd have something prepared so I'd have to read the battle as it developed rather than just run the same pattern.
Ralts shifted on my head, adjusting her grip on my hair and I smiled.
"Don't worry if Fletchling goes down then you'll help us out."
"Rara~"
Our Rotomphones flew into the air and met with a crack of sparks.
"Pokémon Trainer Josée has challenged Pokémon Trainer Paxton to a two-on-two official battle with ₽15,000 on the line. Do both parties accept?"
"Yes." Both at the same time.
"Send out your Pokémon!"
"Fletchling, you're up." Fletchling soared off my shoulder and landed in the cleared street with a sharp cry and her wings spread.
Josée stepped back and stomped her foot on the ground… the impact was loud enough that I felt it slightly through the pavement, either she was genuinely that strong or she'd done that particular stomp enough times to have perfected it. I was honestly considering joining this dojo.
"Machop, you're up." She threw the Pokéball in a hard, flat arc and it opened mid-flight, releasing a Machop that dropped into stance.
It was the same build as the ones in the Royale yesterday with grey-blue skin, three brown ridges on its head. It wasn't the best-looking Pokémon but it was surely a strong one
"Come on! Win for Ivor-sensei! Start with Low Kick!"
Machop dropped into a crouch immediately and launched across the ground in a low sweeping kick, the motion carrying it forward fast and flat with its leg extended aiming right at Fletchling's feet.
The crowd instinctively leaned back.
I didn't need to say anything since Fletchling had already read it but damn she was really cutting it close.
Fletchling held position with her wings tight and her body completely still as she watched the foot come until the last possible moment when the distance was almost nothing, and then launched upward with a powerful flip, the kick passing clean underneath her as she cleared it, landing in a drop behind Machop before it had even finished the follow-through.
"Fletch!" She turned immediately.
"Ember into Quick Peck." I said.
She didn't wait… Her beak opened and a tight burst of Ember tore through the gap, the orange flame catching Machop square across the back before it had finished turning around.
Machop cried out and the crowd noise went up, it staggered from the heat but kept its feet, spinning to face her with its hands raised.
Machop was tougher than it looked but Fletchling was already moving.
The white Quick Attack aura wrapped around her frame and she drove forward at full speed, the impact hitting Machop mid-turn and sending it stumbling backward, before she pulled up cleanly with her wings beating hard as she began the tight ascending loop that set up the drop. The crowd tracked her arc as she climbed.
Josée crossed her arms in an X in front of her chest, leaning into the call.
"Focus Energy and tank it!"
Crimson energy flared across Machop's body, the energy gathered at the core and radiated outward through its frame as it set its feet and crossed its arms into a high guard.
Fletchling came down at full speed, tucking her wings tighter to build more velocity, beak aimed directly at the center of the cross-guard.
Quick Peck hit with the full weight of the drop and the full speed of the descent combined.
The impact shook the ground below the two Pokémon as dust exploded off the pavement in a wide ring from the point of contact.
Several people in the crowd flinched backward from the pressure of it.
When it cleared, Fletchling was standing in the centre of the blast radius with her wings settled and her small chest rising and falling.
Machop had been driven back several metres with its arms still locked in the crossed guard position as the bruising across both forearms was dark and visible even from here.
It was still standing.
My eyes went a bit wide… A full-powered Quick Peck with momentum behind it and Focus Energy had eaten it.
This Machop was considerably tougher than the ones in the Royale. Josée hadn't been lying about her position I guess.
"Alright Machop, Rock Sma—"
"Mach~"
The arms dropped. It swayed once with its legs giving out from under it by degrees, and folded face-first onto the pavement with swirling eyes.
Machop was done.
I let out a slow breath and wiped a bead of sweat off my forehead.
"Phew, false alarm."