FicWad

"I have to go. Call the police and send them to Sashi's place immediately. I think she is in danger." Burnet says over the phone to Doctor Ōpūnui. She had sprinted off beside me, not missing a beat.

With her phone still in hand, I notice her dial another number. "Come on. Pick up, pick up, pick up." She grumbles to her phone. Then, with no response, she hangs up and dials a new one.

"Hey Miku, I heard about what happened yesterday. How is Kukui?" The sound of an older woman's voice answers in concern, still on speaker.

"Not now, mom." Burnet shoots her down swiftly between pants. "Get to the Ashoka's house now." Without explaining further, she hangs up, still running breathlessly. Lei stares wide-eyed at his mother from her arm, fear keeping him silent.

We skid to a halt at the front of the house, and I reach my hand out to the doorknob to rush inside, but Burnet snatches me by the arm before I can enter my sister's home.

"The children." She gasps in fragments through strained breaths, clutching her chest in pain. "Could be dangerous. Just wait."

"What's wrong with you?" I ask roughly, shocked by her sudden pale complexion.

"It's nothing." She pants.

"This isn't "nothing" Burnet," I growl, squinting at her. Though her skin has lost its color, her cheeks remain red as sweat drips down her face. It's warm outside but certainly not hot enough to warrant this kind of reaction.

"I wasn't expecting a run today." The white-haired woman retorts, turning her back and walking towards the house to lean against the wall.

I roll my eyes and huff in irritation, struggling to catch my own breath. I push aside my sudden concern for her. If she wants to put herself in this condition, that's her own choice. I think to myself.

I want to ignore her command, but my daughter's safety is just as important. I can't go barging into a potentially hazardous situation with her by my side. I tap my foot impatiently on the ground as we wait, scanning the yard and sides of the house for any misplaced signs of danger.

It's only a couple of minutes before I see a black speck in the sky, fast approaching. A Flygon being used as a Ride Pokèmon skids to a halt on the ground within the garden, and an older, dark-skinned woman jumps off its back, then hurries over to us, her silver curled hair still in rollers.

Burnet grabs a still-shocked Himiko by the arm and pulls her away from my grasp, "Take these two back to my place and wait for the police. I'll explain later." She says to her mom, handing her son over and my daughter's arm. Then without another word, she begins to make her way to the door of the house.

"Please be careful, sweetie." Her mom calls after her, looking frightened. I see the woman take a few steps back towards the Flygon, a Pokèball in hand, ready to defend against whatever we seem to be worried about.

I follow suit, glancing back at my child, surprised by the swift thinking of the white-haired woman. I feel a slight burning of shame in me that my first thought was not for my own daughter's safety.

We waste no time opening the door and walking in now. I hear sirens in the distance, still a ways off, and know that the police are already on their way. We are aware that time is precious, though, so we don't wait for them to arrive.

I notice nothing out of the ordinary but for my sister's bo staff by the front door, though I recall seeing that was there this morning before I left.

"Sashi," I call out into the silent home, but I don't expect a response. So instead, I grab hold of the tall wooden stick and arm myself with it. I've never used this type of weapon before, preferring hand-to-hand combat when sparring, but knowing I have some type of defense is slightly soothing.

"Burnet, have you had any martial arts training?" I call to her with a sudden realization of the perilous situation the woman has put herself in by coming inside with me.

"No," Her answer is swift. "Let's stick together, though. If someone is impersonating Kukui, one of us alone could be easily overpowered. But, at least with the two of us, we stand some chance." Her voice shakes in fear, but she continues moving, her eyes flickering with churning emotions. Her color had already begun returning to her olive-colored skin.

We peak upstairs, into the sunroom and even the kitchen. Still, nothing seems off, but for the eerie silence.

"The Delcatty should have heard us by now," Burnet frets. "It's too protective not to investigate us barging in as we did. Hop!" She calls uselessly. I don't suppose she was expecting a reply either, but I do note the lack of presence from the fierce little Pokémon as well.

We round the corner towards the lab downstairs. I feel the hair on the back of my neck begin to rise. The room has become colder, but I'm unsure if the chicken skin on my arm is from adrenaline or a sudden drop in temperature.

A ripped piece of paper sits on the floor below, and as we descend the steps, I catch sight of a few more. My heart begins to drop, knowing how organized Sashi is. She would never purposefully allow her or Kabir's research notes to be strewn about in such a way. When we finally see the basement in full view, I have to grab hold of a wall to stop myself from falling over, the bo staff slipping from my fingers and plummeting to the floor with a noisy clatter as I bring my other hand to cover my mouth.

Desks were tipped on their sides, with expensive-looking machines lying shattered on the floor. One wall of bookshelves was charred black and still smoldering in some places, the books on them ruined. One shelf had collapsed completely and lay in pieces in a heap on the floor; its contents ripped to shreds. There are clear signs of both a Pokémon battle and one between humans.

I can't see any signs of my sister, but I do notice the door leading to the backyard has been smashed to pieces, glass scattered across the floor. Clearly, someone broke into the home that way.

To my horror, there are also a few pools of blood spread about, too large for someone as small as Sashi to survive without immediate medical help. A trail of smears shows the swift exit of someone badly injured, pointing to the direction of the deadened forest behind the house.

"Anya, help me," Burnet says behind me. She was crouching by the toppled bookshelf, straining to lift it.

I run to her, over the fallen debris, anxiety bubbling in my chest at what or who I may find under this that only the woman saw. The pit in my stomach drops as we shove it away.

Lying in a crumpled heap, unmoving, was Hop.

"No," Burnet whispers beside me. She reaches down and runs a hand along the cheek of the cat, ending on her throat to check for signs of life. I already know the answer, but I can't help myself as I look over at the Professor, hoping her prognosis differs from mine. To my surprise, the young woman notices something that I don't.

"There isn't much time. We need to get it to a Pokémon Center right away. Do you know where its PokeBall is?"

"Uh, that," I say after looking around. "They keep all of them on that shelf in the corner, by the machine." I rise to my feet swiftly but feel my heart sink once more as I realize the shelves with the depressions for PokeBalls are completely bare. Even Kabir's are missing. "They're all gone. All the Pokémon. They must have been taken as well." I say as fury rises in my stomach. First, they attack and take my sister, and now they steal all that she loves too. What monster would do such a thing?

"Maybe not, though. Sashi usually keeps her balls on a belt if she's not at home. Maybe she had them with her." Burnet tries to reason as she sees my anger rise.

"If she has them with her, she would be here right now. There's no way she could be defeated in a battle by a single person. She's practically been Training Pokemon since she was in the cradle. And where are Kabir's?" I snap back at her, raising my voice.

"I don't know, but your yelling isn't helping." She answers, stopping her work and staring at me.

I throw a few angry curses at the frustratingly calm woman. My mind flashes with a thousand emotions as I growl my uncontrolled fury out. "I'm not sure if you've realized, but my sister is missing, and there's a huge puddle of blood that doesn't bode well for her survival. How are you just going to sit there and act like you aren't concerned?"

"I saw that too." She nearly whispers as she bows her head and returns to treating Hop. "What do you suppose we do? We can't give chase. You only have that Pidgeot but no clue how to battle, and my Munchlax isn't very strong."

I don't know how to respond to her now, so instead, I spew out more furious curses as I begin flinging papers and books off the table in front of me, searching desperately, but for what I don't know anymore.

She's correct. My dislike of these creatures puts me in a severe handicap right now since I've never learned to battle with them and never cared to try and catch any. My anger rises at my foolishness, and I take it out on the machine in front of me, yanking it off the table and throwing it to the floor. I reach my arm up to pull the shelf down as well, my fury not quelled.

"Anya, calm down," Burnet says gently, grabbing my wrist and pulling me away from my carnage. "You're doing more damage than good." Then, closing her eyes and sighing with a shaking breath, she continues. "We need to find a way to get this Delcatty to the Center, or we could lose it. I know finding your sister is important, but there's nothing we can do. The police are on their way. How about we let them handle that, and you and I can work on saving something precious to Sashi."

I stare at the hand on my wrist and suddenly think about what she must be going through. She just found out her husband is in some strange coma, but her first act when she learned this was to immediately try to help me get to my sister. Burnet leaves my side once more.

She's right. My anger won't do us any good in this situation. I think to myself in frustration. I sigh as well and try to push down my emotions as I hurry back to the spot where the white-haired Professor was now carefully moving the purple cat to a clear space.

With my anger ebbing, I begin to think more clearly, and my training as a Doctor finally starts to return. I glance quickly around the room and locate something that'll help us transport the patient.

Rising to my feet once more, I begin to rip the backing off one of the bookshelves. It's heavy, but it's large enough to hold Hop. "This can help us keep it stable. We shouldn't move it around too much, or we'll risk furthering its injuries." I say between grunts as I try to pry it up.

"Smart thinking," Burnet says, coming over and helping me pull. With effort, we finally get it up and move the still unresponsive Hop onto the platform. "I'll stay with Delcatty and have one of the police officers drive us to the Pokémon Center." She says.

"Yes. That's a good plan.." I answer, knowing her understanding of Pokémon health will be far more useful than my human care knowledge in a situation like this.

The sounds of many voices and footsteps, both inside and outside the home, can be heard now, the sirens finally reaching the house. The police have arrived, and it sounds as if they brought the whole force. I see flashes of blue uniform as several officers make their way around to the backyard.

Banging on the steps pulls both mine and Burnet's attention as we see Officer Jenny rushing downstairs with her partner, a brown and yellow weasel Pokémon I don't know the name to. She takes one quickly calculating sweep of the room with her eyes, evident signs of a lost battle all around. Pulling in a deep breath, as if steadying herself, the officer then calls over the radio.

"Everyone round up and head out back. The Professor is missing. There are signs of a battle and serious injury, so approach anyone with caution. Fan out and search west. Keep your Partners with you and only search in teams of two. Do not lose sight of each other. Do not go alone."



To Be Continued…