Chapter 31: Not the War Expected

Rin stared at the massive bridge, tipping her witch hat backwards to see it pass over the bay and reach the sprawling city beyond. “Castelia City…” she murmured, looking out over the water to the largest city on the Unovan continent. “I didn’t think the bridge would be that long. Sakura, do you just want to catch a ferry, or keep riding across?” Behind her, her hired Cyclizar chirped as she munched on an energy bar.

From where she was in the process of grooming Ren, Sakura hummed for a moment, before shaking her head, vocalizing her response a few moments after that as she realized that Rin couldn’t exactly see her right now. “I think we should cross the bridge. It’s apparently something important to do as a Unovan, and an ‘unforgettable’ experience.”

“Alright then.” Rin looked over at N, who was gently rubbing his Cyclizar behind its crest. “Are you up for another hour of riding?”

“I am.” He smiled slightly before turning back to his temporary mount. “I’d never met this species before. Their wheels have grown to be in symbiosis with humanity; it’s really rather nice.”

“We’re the most populous dragon species in all of Paldea, and since mother brought the family over, we’re expanding rapidly,” the happy dragon-type purred. “Are any of you interested in investing? It’d be nice to have some humans around who can fully understand us.”

“Neesan, it wouldn’t exactly be a bad idea to request that okaa-san invest in their business, especially if we can get a partnership regarding the use of your translators,” Sakura suggested with a thoughtful tilt of her head, nodding towards Rin as she patted Ren, standing up as her Umbreon checked himself over with an amused huff.

“Hmm. I’ll ask her next time we talk.” Rin whistled, calling her team back over to return to their balls, and remounted her lizard-bike with a smile. “Alright, next stop, Castelia!”

N and Sakura both mounted up, Ren remaining out to perch on Cyclizar’s back. The three kids directed their mounts to gallop up the ramp, scrambling up the bike path to reach the bridge itself. Rin smiled as they crossed over the four-pillar expanse, looking south to gaze out over the water, the light from the low sun bathing the whole area in a golden glow. “Good plan, Sakura. This is beautiful,” she called out over the quiet hiss of passing air and the trump of paws on stone.

Sakura, after she had taken a moment to appreciate the view, looked ahead, frowning, “Hmm? Rin, did you see anything about a toll booth or something on this bridge?” she asked, Rin turning to see a small gathering of people at the far end of the structure. At her sister’s reply in the negative, Sakura hummed in consideration, pulling out her phone, “I’m calling Mom, I think.”

As they approached the crowd, Rin frowned. The people seemed anxious, and for good reason; rather than some sort of attendant or a performance, a small group of uniformed Jennies and a smattering of other police officers manned a small barricade, checking trainer cards and directing Stoutland to sniff at bags and briefcases. “Not a toll booth, some sort of checkpoint.”

“Weird. Really weird. This wasn’t here last time we brought tourists across,” Rin’s mount muttered. “Line’s moving quickly, at least.”

Sakura leaned over to get a better look around the line as she ended the call. “Mom says she’ll look into what might be going on, but she’s not heard anything new. Huh. Should we dismount?”

Rin blinked. “Why?”

“To be polite?”

“Oh, right.” Rin climbed off the dragon, then walked forward towards a newly freed-up Jenny, hand raised in question. “Hello, what’s going on?”

“Problems in the city. Citizens should stay out of the downtown, west end, and docks areas, and be advised that many city services are delayed or suspended–” The officer’s words cut off as she scanned Rin’s offered Trainer Card. “What?” She looked at Rin, then back at the card. “Hold on, you’re a mage?”

“... Am I being conscripted?” Rin asked with a rather large sigh, wincing as Officer Jenny nodded, “Professor Juniper- my adoptive mother, told me it was unlikely that I would be, so may I asked why, Officer?”

“You’re a two-badge trainer, you’re marked as combat-capable since you’re registered as a full-strength mage, and you have a decent team.” The Jenny sighed. “Look, you’ll likely just be assigned to patrol duties in the safe areas for few days–”

Sakura stepped up beside her sister, presenting her own Trainer Card. “Registered psychic and mage. I believe I’ll be serving beside my sister?”

“...yes, that checks out. Wonderful,” Jenny said regretfully. “Two preteens being pulled into a gang war, what a wonderful world…” She paused as the radio in her pocket chirped, and she reached down to lift it up. “Yes?”

“Officer Theresa Jenny?” At the affirmative, the voice continued. “Are you still holding the Tohsaka-Juniper sisters?”

“Yes, and their friend. We were about to let them through to rendezvous at the Pokemon center in Midtown.”

“Send them to the Dockside Precinct, please.”

“...the hell? Repeat that.” Jenny barked incredulously.

“Dockside Precinct. Apparently someone wants to talk to them.” Jenny looked back at the girls, uncertain at the blunt statement and how it related to the young women.

“Officer, may I ask who wishes to speak to us?” Rin requested, a minute frown dusting her lips briefly before her resting neutrality returned. Pausing, she reached down for and tapped Agate’s Pokeball, releasing the Espeon; while Agate’s predictions of more specific future events beyond the weather was extremely hazy, it would still be rather useful to have her impressions.

“Who’s ordering that?” Jenny asked.

“I heard her, officer. Yeah, it’s one of the out-of-towners, Captain Bles.” The dispatcher responded. “Apparently, she knows these girls from a previous incident.”

“Ah, in that case, I don’t think either of us have an issue, right nee-san?” Sakura replied, a small honest smile blooming as she looked towards Rin, who simply nodded in acquiescence.

“I don’t foresee anything particularly awful happening,” Agate murmured, “But, well. There’s a looming sense of danger that’s resting on the horizons. Something akin to a hurricane, if I was predicting the weather.”

“If you all think you can handle it, I’ll give you directions,” Officer Jenny responded. “Let’s be quick about it; I’m holding up the line.”

Rin nodded, looking at their hired mounts. “Thank you for your service; I don’t think we’ll need you within the city.”

“No problem. Send us a message if you want us to come find you again anytime soon!” The lead Cyclizar barked before the three dragons took off back down the bridge.

“We probably will… sorry, officer, I didn’t want to bring them into what sounds like a war zone.”

“No problem.” Jenny replied before beginning to offer directions to the small group.

--(0)--

The streets of Castelia weren’t empty, and seemed mostly normal; but the people on the streets moved briskly, often with Pokemon beside them or moving in groups. In contrast to the friendly greetings and gatherings in the streets common elsewhere, no one seemed inclined to linger, and the courts and parks were empty of battlers.

N frowned as he looked around. “I’ve been to this city before, with my family. It wasn’t like this. What’s changed?”

“...Captain Bles was involved in dealing with the gangs, I believe. At least, so she mentioned in our last talk,” Sakura offered. “If they’ve acted up here…”

“Local news is mentioning gunfire and street battles down near the docks and the west side,” Rin said, walking as Libra held up her device to read. “You’re spot on.”

“That’s not good,” N said quietly. “But why is she calling for you?”

“Neesan and I helped the Captain a while back, in a town called Brasston. We helped foil a raid on the town by a group of gangsters. It’s likely she requested us because she knows how we operate.” Sakura answered their tagalong-slash-friend, palming her two other Pokeballs with a frown, “On that note, Rin, we should probably let out the rest of our teams. Something about seeing such a large city so deserted is… It’s honestly quite frightening.”

Rin nodded, Gregor appearing atop her hat and Agate forming at her side. “Right. It reminds me a little too much like Fuyuki during the Grail War.” She frowned. “Now that I think about it, it’s almost exactly like that.”

“Ah, what’s the Grail War?” N frowned as Noibat fluttered to grip his cap and Zorua hung off his shoulder. “I don’t think I’ve heard of anything like that…”

“Not important.” Sakura shook her head, shooting her sister a mildly reproachful look.

“...it’s not important right now,” Rin agreed. “Something from back home that won’t happen again for another fifty years or so.”

“If you say so,” N said agreeably as the group approached the police station, a smattering of tents bearing Pokecenter emblems covering their parking lot. As they got closer, a bright flash of light lit the front of the station, a pair of uniformed men dragging a man in a suit and jacket appeared before the trio of children. After taking a moment to check their surroundings, the pair of police officers dragged the suited man into the precinct as a Beheeyem floated alongside. “I don’t think this is normal, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” Rin agreed as they entered the precinct, watching as the suited man was dragged through the doors in the back of the station. The lobby was not quite full, but clusters of people and a line in front of the desk made the space feel more crowded than not.

A policeman at the entrance checked a tablet computer as the kids entered, frowning. “Reason for entry?”

“We were called here by Captain Bles,” Rin said bluntly.

“Really?” The officer looked shocked. “She told me she had some trainers coming in to work with us, but you look pretty young.” He accepted Rin’s trainer card. “Two badges, though… and magic? Huh. Aiming to be the next Heroes of Truth and Ideals?”

N coughed as he glance back and forth between Rin’s dark outfit and Sakura’s much lighter one. “Erm, I don’t think they’re doing so intentionally…”

“No, we’re not going for that,” Rin elaborated. “I just like this outfit.”

“You do wear it well. And it matches your abilities.” Rin and Sakura turned to meet the familiar cool gaze of the tall police Captain. “Miss Toshaka, Miss Juniper.” She raised one eyebrow at N. “And you are?”

“Natural Harmonia Gropius,” Their third member introduced himself. “...I go by N,” He said as Bles’ eyebrows rose in surprise.

“I see.” She nodded to the boy. “Seeing as you’re not registered in our systems, I assume you’re not a badge trainer?” At the shake of his head, she indicated the seats in the lobby. “Then I’ll have to ask you to wait here. I have an assignment for your friends, but you’re not qualified.”

“I understand.” N nodded, then turned to take a seat.

Bles beckoned both the girls down the hallway, notably not asking them to return their teams. “I know my message implied you had no choice, but thank you for coming regardless.” She offered as they made their way down the hallway. “I’ll be completely honest, this situation is strenuous in the extreme, and we need all the support we can get.”

“What exactly is going on, Captain Bles?” Rin queried, hand on her hip, “The news hasn’t exactly been forthcoming, and, well, neither Sakura or I had any idea this was going on before we arrived in Castellia.”

“A gang war,” Bles said grimly as she led them into what seemed to be a break room of some sort. “Do you remember the inciting incident which has sparked the recent unrest?”

“All three gang leaders were assassinated, you said,” Rin replied as they took seats around the room.

“Yes. Now, Castelia has always been a major hub for organized crime; shipping, high population, and wealth are major draws for such things,” Bles explained. “However, up until the deaths of their leadership, all three organized syndicates held the city as neutral turf; they wanted to do business here, not fight over the city and risk the League coming down on their heads. Now, however, that restraint is gone, and several underbosses of the gangs are trying to make their marks by driving out the others and becoming the sole leadership of Castelia’s underground.”

“So, the League is going to step in soon, right?” Sakura asked.

“Yes, but that has its own issues. The League is dealing with major issues in Kalos and significant issues in Kanto; when their agents get here, they’ll be shock troops aiming for a quick resolution, followed up by second and third string patrol teams. Meanwhile, Castelia is a major port and a tourist icon; we need the gang war resolved quickly and cleanly, and right now, we don’t have enough information for that to be possible.”

Seeing as she had their attention, Bles pulled a file out of her coat, laying it on the table. “That’s where you both come in. Right now, we have no idea where the gangs are actually based out of; we have them ‘contained’ to the docks, downtown, and west side, but they’ve deployed more firepower and forces than we expected. There have to be bases in the contested territories, safehouses they’re using.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, the local police are known factors, as are the local league assets. My hope is that you can find out where the gangs’ primary bases are located, and mark them so we can deploy the League assets promptly, and spare the city a lengthy investigation. And I need someone who can defend themselves; normal trainers tend to flinch when their opponent starts targeting them directly. I know neither of you will. Any questions?”

“May I request that we each be provided with a method to leave if things go utterly south? Agate is good, but teleportation isn’t her specialty,” Rin requested, not providing her answer just yet. After all, this was a lot to ask a child. Even the benefits that would come with having the League indebted to her and her sister had to be weighed against their lives, after all.

“Of course. If you agree, I will provide you with a group of support Pokemon for the duration of the mission, including a teleporter,” Bes sighed. “I am asking a lot of you two, but I will be honest, with the recent corruption scandal, the entire force is desperately low on trustworthy manpower. This flare-up couldn’t have come at a worse time.” She stood, sliding another set of files onto the table. “Here’s everything we know about the situation. I will say this; failure is most certainly an option.” At the girls’ starts, Bles shook her head. “You are both deputized, but your deaths are to be avoided at all costs, including that of the mission. Be careful, and if you can get the information without fighting, all the better.”

Biting her lip, Rin looked to Sakura, “What do you think, Sakura?” With a small smile, Sakura nodded. Fighting the grin threatening to break out on her face, Rin nodded towards Captain Bles. “We’ll do it.”

“Thank you,” Bles said quietly. “We have rest space in one of the local hotels; wait for morning, and I’ll have your Rentals ready.”

--(0)--

“You’re both weird.” N said bluntly as the girls prepared for bed, his two Pokemon curled up beside him. “You’re running into danger for the police?” His brow furrowed. “Why?”

“I’m not really doing it for the police. I’m doing it for the city, and for Captain Bles in particular. And because it’s the right thing to do.” Rin said after a moment’s thought. “I was taught, kinda hypocritically, that a magus– mage, sorry– is supposed to use their powers to protect those without, at least in abstract.”

Sakura coughed.

“Yeah, they meant more ‘hiding magic’ than ‘keep people safe’, but I prefer the latter interpretation,” Rin said firmly. “I think law and order are important, even if the ones running it aren’t the best. People are going to get hurt, and more will get hurt if we don’t help.”

Sakura nodded. “Rin isn’t the kind of person who can stand by when ordinary people get hurt, and I hate men like these. This is a horrible situation, and these men are taking advantage of it in the worst way possible.”

“We’re both looking forward to a fully justifiable target,” Other added, fangs gleaming. “This is a chance to let some malice out without needing to hold back… too much.”

N looked at Other, pursing his lips, then looked out the window. “All of you are going into war. This all started because three men died. You said you thought this was all planned?”

Sakura nodded absently, thinking back to their prior conversations. “Someone will be trying to take advantage of this,” she said simply. “For good or ill. If the League purge succeeds, there will be room for growth, or for new powers to rise.” She looked over at N. “...like Plasma, perhaps?”

N jolted. “Ah…” His brow furrowed. “No. None of…” He trailed off. “Maybe someone misguided. Plasma wants peace between humans and Pokemon. This doesn’t help with that.” He looked back at Sakura, then directly at Other. “Death isn’t peaceful. Or, it may not be.”

Rin looked at N, and frowned. “If you say so. There’s a lot of people who are too stupid to realize the long-term consequences of their actions. And some idiot hero types might have killed the bosses assuming it’d kill the gangs,” she offered, admitting other perspectives. “But those types tend to brag, and so far, no one’s admitted to the killings that we know of.”

N looked down. “Not Plasma, though. At least… I hope not.”

The rest of the evening was spent in silence.

--(0)--

Sakura looked down at the ball in her hands, turning it over with a frown. “I never really thought about how one handled ‘rental’ Pokemon before.” She said, releasing the Elgyem from inside, who gave her a stoic wave as she floated to head height.

“It’s just like Temp work for humans, or so I’ve heard.” The psychic type said.

Rin, meanwhile, was shaking hands with a Gallade, the upright psychic-type looking over her curiously. “You seem stronger than our other escorts.” She said, sparing a quick glance for the Herdier which made up the third member of their loaner team.

“I can scrap fairly well, but I trained in healing and telepathic observation more than anything.” Gallade corrected. “I’m a bodyguard first and foremost, not a soldier.”

“Neither Sakura nor I are looking to get into a fight.” Rin replied instantly, “It’s simply good to know that we have options in case we absolutely have to.”

“Good plan,” Gallade responded.

“Not a good plan. Come on, can’t we just ambush a few?” Other grumbled from Sakura’s shoulder.

“We shouldn’t take unnecessary risks, lass,” Gordon admonished. “Focus on what we can do safely, and we can have fun later.”

Rin nodded at her smallest team member’s words. “Right. So, from what the locals have managed to figure out, the Wild Men are by far the weakest of the three factions fighting here. Captain Bles notes that a lot of the ones they’ve captured smelled like gray water.” She frowned. “I honestly don’t know what that is.”

“Wastewater. Used water. Sewage,” Herdier growled. “So they may be operating out of the sewers, or at least using them to get around.”

“The sewers might be a good place to start, but I’m personally more inclined to believe that they’re using them to get around, not living in them. There’s a lot a human can get used to, same for Pokemon, but getting used to a smell of that strength would be more detrimental than helpful in a turf war,” Rin mused, looking towards Agate with a frown on her face. “What do you think, Agate, Ren?”

“I concur with Rin.” Ren barked in agreement, his tail lashing in agitation as he answered, “Especially due to how common canine and feline Pokemon are in this region. Several of their species would stereotypically refuse to even consider traveling through a sewer, let alone live in it.”

“Good points.” Gallade nodded. “Do you have any spells which can track them without heading down, or will we have to brave them to find their hideout? I’m all for not stepping in wastewater, thank you.”

“Maybe if we catch someone, we could retrace their steps with magic?” Sakura frowned. “Most of the spellcraft I’ve learned recently, and it was focused on combat and utility. Rin, do you have any tracking spells in your arsenal?”

Rin nodded. “I do have some that would work; mostly to read something’s history,” she allowed. “We will need to catch someone who’s used the sewers recently, though.”

“...oh, so we will be fighting! That’s great!” Other chuckled.

“Or we could just steal their boots,” Rin retorted.

“Knowing this group, I suspect violence was inevitable,” Agate murmured, looking over to see Gordon and Ana exchanging words as they prepared for battle. “I suggest an ambush.”

“Right,” Rin agreed, snapping her fingers. “Alright, let’s head into the warzone, and focus on the Wild Men for now. We can worry about the others once we’ve nailed down the first group’s base.” Looking around at the group nodding in agreement, Rin smiled. “Let’s go.”

--(0)--

The Docks, at first glance, didn’t seem much different than the rest of the city; somewhat weathered but well-maintained buildings, green spaces, and plenty of colorful decorations lined the streets. The differences, however, quickly became obvious; stones and wooden sheets blocked doors and windows, curtains were drawn in every exposed home, and every business was shut down. Oddest of all, save for a few marauding groups of Murkrow and Patrat, the streets were basically abandoned, small groups of people scurrying together with bulky pokemon escorting them between homes and closed off shops.

Rin led her sister up a fire escape, releasing more of their teams as they crested to the top. Now with some height, she looked around, grimacing as she spotted a vehicle slowly patrolling down a street, windows rolled down and a Claydol perched on the roof. “...okay, that’s…”

“Definitely Uptown Men. They pretend to have class, that blacked-out vehicle is just their style,” Gallade chimed in. “I’m sweeping the streets, and there’s a lot of worried people around– and several knots of aggressive ones.”

“We should be able to roof-hop to get near a gang group, then. So long as we can take them cleanly, I guess,” Rin muttered. After several moments, she shook her head than looked back to the group. “But then, if we can’t… Okay, so our objective is to simply tag a gang member with a gem. Alternatively, if it comes to a fight, we can try to take something from the gang member, but I’d rather it not come to that. On that note,” Pausing, Rin produced a rather nice cut of topaz, “Other, if you could stick this on one of the gang members, that would be wonderful.” Reaching up to touch the brim of her hat, she continued. “Gordon, if you could attempt to get a piece of clothing off of as many of the gang members as you can, that would also help a lot. We don’t want to start a fight here. This is a residential district, and we don’t have the backup or force for it.”

“Got it, lass. I’ll rappel on down and snag what I can. Going to make a distraction for me, then lass?”

“I’ll handle that part. Gallade, Elygem, teleport me back if you need to, please,” Sakura murmured, peering over the side of the building. “I think those look about right.”

Rin peeked over, seeing a group of people in camo jackets and leather cautiously walking down the alleyway, two of the group of five visibly armed, all five with a pokemon out beside them. Before she could react, Sakura swung herself off the building, landing on a fire escape a few meters above the gang members’ heads with a clang. As one, the group looked up.

Sakura’s normally composed face was screwed up into a convincingly frightened look. “Eek! Don’t shoot!” She wailed, the men below flinching at the sudden harsh sound.

Gordon whispered as she drew the eyes of the group below. “Now’s our chance, do what you need to do!” He hopped off, landing on the rim of the roof and descending on a line of silk towards his targets. Other ducked into the shadows, popping out and tucking the small stone into the man in the rear’s oversized boot.

Not willing to jinx it quite yet, Rin kept a beady eye on the group as they jeered at her sister, a permanent scowl plastered across her face at some of the… word choices the gang made as they did so. Eventually, the gang moved on, not bothering to shoot the supposed civilian and draw attention as they walked off, reaffirmed of their supposed manliness. Sakura scrambled back up the fire escape, hopping back onto the roof and wiping away her Fake Tears. “Did we tag them?”

“I got a kerchief, a pair of glasses, and a wallet,” Gordon remarked, hauling his loot back up to the rooftop.

“I slipped a gem into one of their oversized boots,” Other reported, scowling. “I wanted to tear them a new asshole for what they were saying about Sakura though.”

“Agreed.” Rin gripped Sakura’s shoulders. “Next time, give me more warning.”

“Would you have let me do it if I had?” Sakura asked.

“Yes,” Rin said bluntly. “I would have, I’d just want to know so I could have a Fire Blast prepped.”

“...you can do that?” Gallade asked.

“She can, at least four times out of five. The last turns out more like a flame burst.” Agate said.

Rin gave her sister a quick hug, then let her go and put on her mask of professionalism. “Right, so. We have some things we can do a historic scrying on, and a tracker just in case. Give me a few minutes, and then we can go home in on their base– without having to go in the sewers.”

“That’s good.” Sakura looked out over the city, eyes narrowing. “I wonder what drove them to this point? It’s all going to end badly for them.”

“We’re probably going to find out,” Other said grimly. “Let’s hope it doesn’t splash on us.”