“Temporary recruits for Interpol?” N found himself repeating the words, not quite understanding. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

  “I mean what I say!” this “Looker” responded. “You would be, ah… how do you say it in Unova… deputized? For a limited time, under my direct supervision, you would have the power, and some of the responsibility, that comes with being an agent of the organization. It is a way for you to do what it seems you were already planning to do without the… messiness, of dealing with the League during the cleanup.”

  That… didn’t sound terrible. So this was the guy that the Shadows had spotted earlier? They had seemed to think that working with him wouldn’t be a terrible idea, even if their research on him hadn’t really gotten off the ground.

  However, that didn’t account for Mimikyu’s strange reaction. Why did he seem to recognize this guy? It would be far from the first time the little spirit had seemingly known someone he shouldn’t have, and he had a feeling that asking would just result in him going back to that story on how he was “human” once.

  Well, no reason he couldn’t use it to his advantage if Mimikyu knew something strange again.

  “What do you think, Mimikyu?”

  Trainers talked to their Pokemon all the time, didn’t they? He could put on a little act of being… well, like Ash, he supposed. The “do-gooder” trainer type.

  “I don’ know much about Interpol, but I get the feelin’ we can trust him,” Mimikyu responded after a moment’s thought.

  “Was that a wig?” Mawile loudly asked. “Do you do contests? I didn’t see you at the lake thing. Is there another contest nearby? Here, maybe?”

  Looker, not understanding her, simply smiling down at her. “And hello to you as well, Mawile!”

  Marowak tugged on her arm, pulling her back. “Shh! He doesn’t understand you anyway!”

  “Rotom can translate, right Rotom?!”

  Rotom ignored her request, keeping away from Looker. Did they have history? Or was the Electric type simply trying to keep distance with any sort of officers? It was hard to tell, and with Rotom’s story so fresh in his mind he couldn’t help but grasp at all sorts of newly possible explanations…

  Looker simply laughed. “You sure have a lively group of Pokemon with you! And so diverse in their origins… you must travel a lot!”

  He said it with a smile, but like the Shadows upon his arrival, something about it set N on edge. He gave the man an awkward, forced smile and nodded. “Ah, yes, I suppose so. And I think we’ll take you up on that offer to work together.”

  “Wonderful! Then let us be off!” He started marching away.

  He shot the Shadows a look, but they looked to have as much understanding as he did in that moment. “Um, where to, exactly?” He asked as the group started to follow.

  “The Great Marsh, of course! That’s where that no-good man ran off to just a short while ago!”

  N frowned. “You saw him run off and didn’t follow?”

  “Correct!”

  N paused, waiting for an explanation, but got none. He looked to Mimikyu, but the fae just gave his best approximation of a shrug. “I dunno, he’s a weirdo but I think he’s worth our time.”

  N sighed. “May I ask why you didn’t immediately follow if you were already investigating?”

  The “Looker” hummed. “One might say… intuition! A gut feeling! And look what it got me? All sorts of helping hands! Much needed for a crime scene as large as the marsh!”

  “Right…” This Interpol officer was definitely turning out to be strange. Was that just the sort of organization it was?

  “Ah!” Looker smacked his forehead. “I am forgetting! I can hardly deputize individuals that I do not even know! Introductions are in order! The Pokemon I recognize, but human companions have a tendency to have human names, and if things occur as I suspect they might, I will need something to put on my forms!”

  There was a moment’s hesitation, wariness of being questioned by some sort of officer, but N didn’t truly have anything to hide in that regard. He’d dealt with the League and the police with no issues.

  “I am N.”

  Looker tilted his head. “As in the letter? Or does it simply read that way?”

  “...the letter.”

  Looker nodded as if he’d suspected that all along. “I see, I see… and you three?”

  They hesitated for longer, before one spoke up. “We are R,” he pointed towards the Shadow to his left, “G,” himself, “and B,” finally the one to his right. “Do not be ashamed of confusing us for each other, it is a common mistake.”

  A brow slowly raised on Looker’s face with every letter he was given. “So my companions for this mission are N alongside RBG… Well, worse code names have been given. I, myself, think Looker is a bit much, but if they want to insist that I am handsome, I am not going to fight them on that too much!” He laughed, and N laughed along with him, silently wondering if the RGB the Shadow had given held any meaning at all or if they’d just listed off some letters.

  Mimikyu asked for him, turning slightly on his shoulder. “Seriously? RGB? Kinda ironic ta name yourselves after some color when yer whole thing is bein’ in black ‘n’ white, don’cha think?”

  Mawile laughed. “Those aren’t colors, they’re letters, silly!”

  He could feel the way Mimikyu rolled his eyes. “Letters that stand for colors. RGB is red, green, ‘n’ blue. They’re the colors that get used in screens ‘n’ stuff. I guess there are only so many combinations of letters that fit a trio, but still…”

  Was that it? Colors? Perhaps he should ask them later.

  As he was wondering about that, the Looker led them into the observatory for the Great Marsh, flashing a badge to the women running the counter and speaking to them in whispered tones for a moment. He quickly ushered them through once the one in charge nodded, and they were let out into the swampy, mucky, somewhat dry area at the entrance to the marsh.

  Looker turned to face them with a smirk on his face. “I have had word with the lovely ladies in charge! We will not be removed after so much time has passed like regular patrons of the Great Marsh. We can search the premises without such worry! However, given what we are facing here, we are still on a time crunch, and there is much ground to cover! I do not like the idea of any of us facing threats alone should we stumble upon a plot in progress, so I suggest this! The three fellows in matching outfits may stay together, searching the eastern half of the marsh, and N and I shall go together while we search the western side.”

  “That’s fine with me,” N replied. He had a feeling the Shadows might want to split up a bit differently, but this made the most sense if you placed finding that grunt as the highest priority rather than keeping himself safe. He could see them ready to make that argument as he turned to face them. “You three are fast. I would only serve to slow you down.”

  “But-”

  “If you three get through your side quickly enough, you’ll be free to join back up with us.”

  They didn’t like that, but they didn’t argue against it either.

  “Ah, but do not use your worry for your friend here as an excuse to be sloppy!” Looker reminded them. “We are here for a reason! And besides, I am a trusted agent! I shall ensure that no harm comes to any under my watchful eye!”

  He spun, and then his outfit flew away, replaced by a bulky trench coat.

  “How in the–”

  He ignored their confusion, tossing something at the Shadows. “Handcuffs, for the case in which you find our man first! By the power granted to me, you may detain him! This is not some Unovan movie, however, so do not be roughing anyone up! Give us some sort of signal, and we will rush to you, in which case I will take over from there. Understood?”

  One of the Shadows leveled N with a harsh look, and another seemed to do the same with Mimikyu.

  The third just nodded, taking Looker’s attention as he replied with a simple “Understood.”

  Looker smiled. “Then let us begin! Come, N!”

  The two groups separated, and N grimaced as Looker led him and the Pokemon between some trees to the left of the entrance.

  “Don’ expect me ta muck aroun’ in this after I jus’ got a brand new disguise…” Mimikyu muttered from his shoulder.

  Even on what appeared to be normal grass, N could feel the way it was sucking and pulling at his shoes as he walked, trying to keep him in place and sink him down into the ground.

  Mawile whined behind him as she trekked through the muck, and Marowak seemed to be attempting to dry out the path in front of him with his flames, to limited success.

  Looker sighed as Rotom floated on ahead of them a bit. “Ah, if only we could all float above the surface so easily. But! Where we struggle, our man should struggle just as much! These Galactic types… they tend to be dim witted, in my experience.”

  N hummed. “You have a lot of experience with them?”

  “Well of course! You did not hear this from me, but at Interpol we are… interested in their organization. It started as simple white collar crime, shady business transactions between regions, shell corporations that all led back to Sinnoh… when we first began to investigate, it was assumed that there was simple corporate espionage and money laundering. Common stuff, you know?”

  N in fact did not know. Was that really so common? He knew humans caused problems wherever they went, but he was obviously more focused on how Pokemon suffered rather than human victims. He saw out of the corner of his eye the way that Rotom levitated closer, intent on listening to as many details as possible.

  “But, when we started digging closer… ah, I should not get too into detail on an ongoing investigation. Let it just be said that at the moment, I am in charge of the operation looking into them, and I have been following a trail of their crimes for some time now. Five different locations so far…”

  Huh. So this guy really had been looking into them for a considerable amount of time. Much longer than N, by the sounds of it. Part of him felt relieved knowing that someone had been trying to do something. Another part of him wondered if Looker really was making any headway with this investigation of his if he’d been after them for so long and was out here alone, “deputizing” people like him and the Shadow Triad, when Galactic had the League on their side.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “And you?”

  “Hm?”

  “Perhaps I am assuming much, but you seem to have been investigating Galactic prior to this as well… oh, watch your step there! Things are going to get a bit unpleasant from this point forward”

  N observed the way that the mucky grass turned into swampy water with a few tufts of grass peeking out of it. He considered the fact that Looker was leading them down a path that led to more of that. The way his shoes would be ruined.

  “Might I make a suggestion?”

  “Well of course!” Looker replied, already ankle deep in the murky water.

  “Perhaps we could enlist the help of some of the locals?”

  Looker tilted his head. “The Great Marsh is a protected area, there are no locals here. And, while the employees were quite accommodating, I doubt they want to be involved so directly in our investigation.”

  “No, not like–” N sighed. “Mimikyu, would you happen to know if there are any Pokemon around here who could do for me what I am doing for you?”

  Looker blinked. “Oh. Oh! Help of the local Pokemon! Of course! That would indeed be quite helpful! Are you thinking of catching one?”

  N ignored the man for a moment as Mimikyu hummed. “Ehh… the Pokemon here tend ta be on the smaller side… A Drapion might be big ‘nough for ya but they can be kinda… hmm… the back of a Gyarados? Or…”

  N frowned. He knew that the average wild Pokemon tended not to be huge, but surely in a protected place like this there would be someone willing to give him a ride. It was a small ask, and he could give plenty of berries in return.

  He looked around with his own eyes.

  In the gross water in front of them was a Quagsire leading a little troupe of Wooper around. Some sort of Bug type was flittering above the water at frankly insane speeds, sending ripples over the surface and fast enough that he could barely catch the fact that it was red and had four wings before it flew off out of sight. A Bibarel was lazily floating along the surface, some vines were squirming around a half submerged log….

  Nothing seemed big enough to carry him.

  “Oh! Oh! What about that one!” Mawile shouted behind him.

  He looked over to where she was pointing, and spotted nothing but a tropical tree of some sort.

  Until it moved.

  What he thought to be a curved tree trunk turned out to be a long, long neck. Giant leaves formed a sort of necklace around the base of that, which led into a sturdy body supported by thick, short legs. Leaves as tall as he was sprouted out of its back, swaying in the wind. There was a helmet of sorts on its head, made of that same leafy material, and from its neck hung some long yellow fruit, unlike any he had seen before.

  “Huh,” Mimikyu muttered. “A Tropius works.”

  N walked right up to the rather sizable Pokemon, having to look up a bit to meet its gaze as it turned to watch him approach warily.

  “Excuse me, I was wondering if you might be able to help me?”

  It huffed. “Come on kid, just give me the bait and be on your way,” a feminine voice urged him on. “Knew I shouldn’t have come this far forward into the marsh…”

  “We ain’ yer typical trainers comin’ through ‘ere,” Mimikyu explained from his shoulder. “We ain’ lookin’ ta catch anyone, my friend ‘ere was jus’ hopin’ ya could give ‘im a ride on yer back while we look for a criminal in the marsh. Would make the process a whole lot faster for us.”

  Her eyes narrowed and she craned her neck forward, leaning down to meet Mimikyu’s eyes. “Is that so? Last I checked, trainers aren’t supposed to have their Pokemon out in the marsh…”

  “I’m not your average trainer,” N replied in a hushed tone, hoping Looker wouldn’t overhear. The man was giving him space to work, which he appreciated. “Or a trainer at all, really. I would pay you in berries, whatever kind you want. Could we work something out?”

  Tropius blinked. “You– did he just understand me?”

  N nodded.

  “Huh. Not average indeed…” She brought her neck back to a more natural positioning, looking over the group. “If you give me some berries up front, I wouldn’t be opposed to carrying you. I just hope you realize that I can’t carry all of you.” Her eyes focused on Marowak and his flames as she clarified that.

  N reached for his things, pulling out his supply of berries and showing it off to the wild Pokemon.

  “Well, I would be open to paying some of your friends as well, if you know any who would be willing?”

  She gave him a considerate look. “Give me just a moment…”

  Lucas didn’t really know how to train his Pokemon.

  He’d reluctantly given the TM for Shock Wave to Porgyon2, and the Grass Knot he’d gotten from Gardenia went to Bibarel. New moves, more coverage. He knew that much was a good idea.

  He still wasn’t entirely sold on using Porygon2 in battle though, and a single new coverage move would allow Bibarel to do something against that Gastrodon, but it wouldn’t turn the entire match around.

  So that left… training…

  What was training, exactly? He’d never really devoted time to it. His experience with training so far in his journey had consisted of having his team battle trainers and wild pokemon they passed by on their journey. Once or twice he’d had his team spar against each other, and maybe that had gotten them a bit of progress, but…

  That wasn’t really training, right? And his command system didn’t count either. Teaching his team the command system he used was another beast entirely. It was usually a simple enough thing, just repeating stuff a few times until they understood. Pokemon were smart enough for stuff like that.

  Time dedicated specifically to training? With the express goal of getting stronger? That was an area he lacked real experience in.

  So here he was, out on the rainy route 212 because that felt more like the training montages he’d seen in movies than the sun and sand of route 213. Rain made training more intense or something, right? He hoped so, because he was getting his clothes soaked through for the sake of it. His Pokemon were suffering with him, as he had his whole team out at the moment.

  Bibarel was getting some practice with Grass Knot on the Pokemon that lived at the water’s edge, the local Quagsire and Shellos and Buizel having a generally unpleasant time.

  Porygon2 was shocking the nearest pond, running off with an Agility when the Gyarados who lived in the pond got upset, and then repeating the process over and over. He wasn’t sure how long it would be before the Gyarados went down or managed to catch the Normal type. And then an Octillery had apparently hit the newest addition to his team with an Octazooka once before Porygon2 fried the Water type, so… it was going good? He thought? Maybe?

  Torterra was trying to work on his speed to… limited success. Lucas knew that his starter was a heavy hitter, so the moves or power behind them hadn’t really been a concern. Right now, Torterra was doing his best to evade the Poison type attacks from some Ekans and Grimer whose territory he kept invading without being allowed to counter attack. It was Lucas’ thinking that focusing so much on dodging would get his reflexes up or something….

  He tried to ignore the way that Torterra kept glaring at him out of the corner of his eye.

  “Torterra…” the Grass type grumbled.

  This was legitimate training! Probably. He hoped…

  With the egg still not hatched in his bag, that left two remaining Normal types who he was really pouring his attention into.

  Eevee darted towards Togepi with a Quick Attack, startling the little guy before giving him a playful nudge with his fluffy tail.

  Togepi would cry a little bit, pout, and wag his finger before Lucas ran in to stop him from unleashing a Metronome.

  So far he’d failed to stop a Yawn that put Eevee to sleep for a few minutes, what Porygon2 told him was a failed attempt at Imprison, and a Return that had actually managed to send Eevee flying with a startled yelp.

  So. Not a perfect record or anything, and Togepi had failed to use anything else so far, but…

  Ugh. There really wasn’t any progress being made on that front.

  As far as Eevee went, he’d pulled out the Fire and Thunder stones in his bag, offering them up to the Normal type.

  Eevee had considered them for about 10 seconds before turning around and walking away.

  So! Flareon and Jolteon were off the table, apparently.

  That was… well, it was news. Also very limiting.

  He still wasn’t about to get another Water or Grass type and find himself doubling up on another type after having his team filled with Normals already, so that left waiting until Snowpoint to get Glaceon, or hoping that one of the evolutions he didn’t really understand happened somehow.

  He hadn’t spontaneously turned into a Fairy type evolution, so Lucas thought he was safe from that, but he didn’t really know how to tell… and with Espeon and Umbreon…

  He looked at his Pokedex, currently unoccupied so that Porygon2 didn’t get it broken during his training session.

  What is “high friendship”?

  Did it just mean being friends? Did they have to be best friends? This didn’t mean anything to him!

  Yeah, his Pokemon were his friends. Of course they were! They were together every day, it only made sense. But if Eevee hadn’t evolved yet, then obviously it took more than Lucas just considering them “friends”.

  And on top of that, he didn’t get the day and night thing. Was it specifically under the sun or moon? Or, like, did Eevee just know if it was day or night and evolve according to that? It was rainy and gross out right now. Lucas couldn’t see the sun. The clock on his Pokedex told him it was still day, but would Eevee know that? Or would Eevee suddenly decide they were best friends and evolve into an Umbreon?

  It bothered him that he didn’t know, but if he was being honest he’d take any evolution Eevee was willing to give him at this point.

  Caught up in his moment of failed research, Lucas didn’t notice in time that Togepi was using Metronome again. He didn’t notice at all until Eevee yelped before marching up to him, his fur absolutely covered in mud and one eye forced shut by the goop.

  Lucas sighed, gestured for Togepi to waddle over to them, and pulled out a brush. He’d gone through this enough times that he thought it a worthwhile investment.

  Sit down on the wet grass, his clothes were a lost cause anyway. Rub the mud out of Eevee’s eyes, using the rainwater to clear it away. Rub Togepi’s head, while also giving him a disappointed look, or at least his best attempt at one that was kind of ruined when just looking at Togepi made him smile. Run the brush through Eevee’s fur, trying to get all the mud and dirt out of it.

  It was almost ritualistic, the way that Lucas ran through it. These two frustrated him, even if he loved having them on his team.

  Togepi preened even under the tiny bit of attention he was getting, rocking back and forth under Lucas’ touch. Lucas hated how volatile Togepi was. Still so childish, whining and not pushing through battles when they got tough. He’d hatched a while ago, hadn’t he? He should be past that by now. Gastrodon’s Blizzard shouldn’t have had such a strong mental effect on a Pokemon who’d been in more than a few battles. And yet, Togepi had pulled through and gotten them more than one important win. Metronome wasn’t a move they could rely on, but it was a move that had provided results, and Lucas appreciated Togepi immensely for that. Besides, it was hard to stay mad at Togepi with how adorable the little guy was.

  Eevee leaned into his knee, rubbing his face against the fabric of Lucas’ pants. He wasn’t entirely sure if that was a gesture of affection or if Eevee was just trying to get more mud off his face with his pants as a cleaning rag. Eevee… he was a bit of a special case, wasn’t he? It hadn’t been much, but Eevee had gotten some battle experience from someone else before him. He wasn’t sure if that meant the Bebe chick who’d gifted Eevee to him, or the person that she’d said she’d gotten Eevee from, but someone had bonded through battle with the little guy.

  Maybe N would think it silly, but as a trainer, Lucas knew there was a special connection between a Pokemon and their trainer. It made Lucas wonder sometimes if Eevee missed his old trainer. Was that why the weird friendship evolution thing wasn’t happening? Did Eevee think of someone else as his best friend?

  At the same time, though, Lucas couldn’t help but feel like… maybe personality-wise? He and Eevee had more in common than anyone else in his team. The way Eevee got all proud when he managed something in a battle, the way that battles seemed to excite him in general… The others participated, and he hadn’t heard any complaints, but none of them loved it the way Eevee did. They didn’t live for it the way Eevee did. Even during their very first meeting, Eevee had thrown himself into battle when Rotom was acting up. Lucas also got the impression that Eevee was quiet like him, too. It wasn’t quite to the extent of silence, but he seemed to talk less than the rest of his team. Eevee only seemed to open his mouth when a fight was on the line. Porygon2 was turning out to be a bit of a chatterbox. Togepi was always making some sort of noise, desperate for attention. Torterra spoke often enough, even if it was rarely at length, not afraid to chastise or offer someone help. Bibarel… well… Lucas didn’t want to be rude to one of his most reliable Pokemon, but he sort of thought Bibarel lacked the thoughts to put into words in the first place, rather than just being quiet…

  Eevee leaned into the brush as Lucas continued running it through his fur, prompting Lucas to get at specific spots.

  What had he been getting at?

  Eevee, right.

  He slowly stopped giving attention to the one who had put the two Normal types in this situation, rubbing the spot between Eevee’s fluffy ears and smirking as the Pokemon went limp.

  His smirk turned into a full blown grin as the dreary, rainy day was interrupted by a bright, white light.

  Imagine trying to get around the great marsh on foot. N has connections, he doesn’t need soggy feet like Lucas.

  As always, feedback is appreciated. (If you’re actually looking for a response, discord is the place to be)