Law Keepers

Jennifer gave the two royal guards a very sarcastic look. “Hello, gentlemen. How can I help you?” She scooted the crime log Percy was writing in closer to her with a paw. “I hope you don’t mind waiting, though. I’m very busy right now.”

“Don’t be coy with us, Jen!” The Fairy Type Rapidash, Edgeworth, stomped past Xander and Melrose before slamming a hoof onto the desk. “The Police have been purposefully withholding information from the Knights of Silver! Admit it!”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow and laughed. “You can’t be serious.” She laughed a little harder, but Edgeworth’s accusatory expression didn’t shift. The Arcanine stopped laughing, and her face contorted into a frown. “Holy shit, you are serious.”

“There have been numerous reports on the news about Team Outlier, and hardly any civilians have come to us with the news.” The other Rapidash approached the desk, muttering an “excuse me” as he passed by the smaller pair of Pokémon. “Now, I’m not accusing you of anything nasty Jennifer. However, you aren’t holding anything against us for the Nickit incident… are you?”

“What? How insecure could the both of you possibly be?” Jennifer rolled her eyes and pointed towards the book below her paw. “All the records in this log get passed along to Rosaline.” Melrose’s ears flicked. “You can check through it yourself, but it would take very little sleuthing just to find I’m telling the truth.” The Arcanine took a moment, letting out a low growl. “The law is above some petty nonsense about an escaped convict. If you two respected that, he wouldn’t have gotten away in the first place.”

The fiery Rapidash mumbled, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “You do hold the incident against us… Knew it.”

“I don’t hold it against you, Phoenix, for fuck’s sake. A lady can be angry about a botched arrest, can’t she?” Her snout curled into a snarl. “Anyways, it’s the citizens themselves that are causing issues. I knew they were going to the Radio Station before the Police, but it looks like they’re avoiding the Knights as well.”

“Preposterous!” Edgeworth scoffed and trotted across the room. “The Knights of Silver are the respected royal guard of Constella! Heroes of the populace for generations!” He placed a hoof pridefully against his chest. “Certainly we’re much more popular than some crummy news broadcast, and we are especially more beloved than the police!”

Jennifer’s ears fell. “If you feel that way, why did you think I could have possibly been hiding something from you? As always, your logic is stunning.”

Edgeworth hid his flustered face by turning his back to the officer. “The idea that you were acting out of line was our only lead! Of course I had to make sure you weren’t up to something nefarious.”

“Lead?” The Arcanine snarled and bared her fangs at the Rapidash. “It was a random assumption based on your unchecked prejudices against me, you lousy excuse for a–”

“H-hey now!” Melrose finally spoke up. “Everyone should just ease up, okay? Something real weird is going on… and here y’all are– yelling at each other!” Her cheeks sparked as she hopped up onto the desk, pointing her finger at Jennifer. “So, cool it!”

The cop gave her a disgruntled look, but eased up when her intern nodded. “She’s right.” Percy crossed his arms. “No one is getting any work done like this.”

Phoenix nudged Edgeworth with his shoulder, and the glitzy knight gave a resigned sigh. “Fine, we shall leave you be and investigate elsewhere. Come, Phoenix.” The Rapidash stuck his snout in the air as he stomped out of the Police Station. Phoenix tipped his head towards everyone as a farewell before following his friend. Their departure left an uncomfortable silence before the Magnemite started to clean up.

Jennifer glanced down at Xander, “I’m so sorry about that.” She opened the log again and scanned over the details Percy recorded. “Everything seems to be in order, so let’s get the actual investigation underway.” She cued Percy to remove one of the slips from the basket, which he did. He also took out a small tray of ink. “Can I get your signature, please?”

Xander lifted himself up against the desk to look at the slip. It wasn’t much, it just seemed to keep record of when the bystander submitted the log and gave permission for the police to begin taking action. Xander looked up at the Arcanine, giving her a head tilt. “Why do you need something like this?”

“It’s not super streamlined to explain, aside from just saying ‘it’s what we’ve always done,’ or something. But, the main reason is that Adstrum has three major enforcers of law: The Royal Guard, Adstrum Police, and Defense specialists on Exploration Teams. It’s very important that we distinguish how we take clients and handle public affairs, at least that’s what the Prime Minister insists.”

Xander supposed it made some amount of sense, but was still mildly unsure. Signing the slip was straightforward enough, but he couldn’t figure out what the point was. Still, Xander dipped his paw in the ink and set it on the paper, leaving an imprint. Once it was signed, Percy picked it up and gently blew on the ink to make sure it was dry, before setting it inside the log and closing it in like a bookmark.

“Not yet, Percy.” The Acanine looked at the Machop, who looked entirely unsure at this point. “Unless you want to go scrambling around the city for this young Pokémon, that is.”

Percy facepalmed, “right, of course. Sorry, Ma’am.” He opened the book again, setting it open faced on the desk, then raced over to another drawer. He set it on the desk for Xander to see. “We need your residency.”

“Oh– I…” Xander’s ears tucked anxiously against his head. “I actually don’t live in Constella.”

Melrose jumped in, still on the desk. “He’s my escort!” She smiled, “My papa asked him to keep me safe while I stayed here in the big city during my time at Red Academy! Right now, he’ll be staying at the Drowsy Munna.”

“Alright, no problem then.” Jennifer smiled. “I know where that is. I’ll fill in the contact stuff myself, if you’d like–”

“Wowie! You’re going to Red!” Percy’s eyes lit up. “Maybe we’ll be classmates! I’ve been waiting for my acceptance letter.”

“Really! Ohmygosh!” Melrose hopped off the desk to gleefully nudge the Machop.

The two of them started a conversation about being excited to go to school, but Xander couldn’t help glancing at the Officer again. He could still see that hint of guilt, and after looking at that letter she was reading when they walked in– Xander was pretty confident he had pieced together the truth.

“Well, come on Rosie, let’s get back to the inn. We need to deliver these groceries.” Xander started to leave the Police Station without waiting for his friend. He had a feeling that, if he didn’t, it would be a very long wait for Melrose to finish her conversation with Percy.

“Aww, alright! Bye, Percy! Thank you Miss Jennifer!” Melrose waved goodbye as she followed her friend out of the building. The Machop returned the wave, and the Arcanine nodded with a smile. Once the door was closed, Melrose hurried so she could catch up to Xander.

As the two began their walk to the Drowsy Munna, Xander slipped deep into his thoughts. Melrose would have been crushed if she wasn’t admitted into R.E.D. Academy. What was going to happen to that other Pokémon? He seemed just as excited as Melrose did, and they would probably become good friends if they were in school together. But, they weren’t, and now his stomach was twisting. Melrose shook the Litten out of his daze, a worried frown on her face. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Xander mustered a nod. “I think being in that Police Station overwhelmed me a tad. I feel like I could use a nap.”

Melrose’s expression shifted to a teasing smile. “You always want a nap, sleepyhead!” She giggled, but eased up when Xander seemed insecure about it. “Sorry, I don’t want you to think that’s a bad thing…”

The two of them stayed quiet for a while, an unfortunate state caused by Melrose’s silence in particular. Her eyes got a little misty, which snapped Xander to attention. “Hey- Hey– I’m not mad at you. Don’t cry, please…”

“It’s not that…” She mumbled. “I just feel like a real jerk. Why didn’t you tell me you were trans!” She frowned hard at him. “I know I don’t know a lot about those types of things, but–”

Xander put a paw to Melrose’s mouth. “I wasn’t really super sure about it. I’m… still not. You didn’t do anything wrong, and it’s not like you were making me uncomfortable on purpose.”

“I knew it!” Melrose pushed his paw out of the way. “I knew I was making you uncomfortable! Dammit…” The mist in her eyes started to pool.

“It’s not like you can read my–” Xander tried to keep a straight face, but he started to laugh. “Hnk– mind…” He snorted.

Melrose growled slightly. “What’s so funny, huh?!”

Xander pointed a paw towards a nearby window, one that gave off a faint reflection. Melrose turned to look, and saw the Xander’s-Paw-Shaped splotch of ink on her mouth. It was faint from being mostly dried out, but it was just visible enough to look silly.

Melrose couldn’t help it, she also started to laugh. The Pikachu’s laughing made Xander laugh harder, and soon– both of them were cracking up so hard that they had to lean against a wall to stay upright. The fit of amusement lasted a good few minutes, and, once they had started to simmer down, Melrose placed a hand on Xander’s head.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been a little emotional lately! Papa says jolly Pokémon like me bounce so hard between tears and laughter that it’s hard to keep up!” She gave her friend a little pat before pulling away.

Xander gave her a soft smile. “It’s been a wild couple of days for you. I’ve been a little emotional myself.”

“Ha! I can’t imagine you being all that emotional for some reason… You seem so reserved!”

The Litten wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but he kept the smile on his face for Melrose’s sake.

“We’ve taken long enough to run a couple chores, huh?” Melrose giggled. “Let’s get back on track.” She stuck her tongue out. “And, get that paw of yours washed!”

---

Xander was rinsing his paw in the kitchen sink as Melrose helped the elderly Psychic Pokémon put the new goods for the inn away. “You’re such a helpful dear, Rosie.” Gloria sang as the Pikachu placed the bread in the bread box.

“Don’t worry about it, Ma’am!” Melrose chirped as she removed the tea, coffee, and sugar from her Treasure Bag. “Where do you want all this stuff?”

“Remmy and I plan on having a little breakfast-beverage station near the front for tenants! Hohoho!” Gloria pointed towards the front desk. “For now, let’s just set it all over there. I need to see if our kettle still works!”

“Has business really been so bad that you don’t even know if you have functioning appliances?” Xander pulled his paw out of the sink and shook it hard, trying to get all the water off. It didn’t hurt, but it was still mildly uncomfortable for the little Fire Type.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss, Xander!” Gloria cooed, waving her hand dismissively. “The Drowsy Munna does just fine, we just don’t pull in the cash like we used to… that’s all.”

Xander shot her a look of disbelief, but the old Hypno didn’t notice. She instead helped carry the sugar over to the front, Melrose walking beside her with the tea and coffee. While they were doing that, Xander inspected the tea kettle Gloria had left out. It probably still worked, right? He picked it up by its handle and carried it over to the sink, filling it with water. He winced when the faucet splashed at his nose, letting out an involuntary hiss. Gloria and Melrose laughed at him as they walked back into the kitchen.

Once it was filled with water, Gloria put it over the stove top and tried to ignite the flame. It made some clicking noises as the gas activated, but the fire was struggling. “Darn thing… Always giving me a rough time.” She looked down at Xander. “Think you could give me a hand?”

Xander looked at the stove, and when Gloria didn’t move her hand from the nob– he realized what she meant by that. “Sorry, Ma’am, I don’t know Ember.”

“Oh? That’s a real shame.” Gloria gave him a frown at first, but it shifted to a look of reassurance as she rested a hand on his head. She scratched him softly behind the ears, and Xander couldn’t help purring. He sort of hated that he liked it so much. “Don’t worry young’n. Some Pokémon are just slow learners! I’ll keep budging with this.”

Gloria pulled her hand away and kept patiently flicking the heat on and off until the small fire formed. The water in the kettle started to heat despite the rusted bottom, and everyone in the room became rather pleased about it. “It might take a hot minute, but it’ll heat the water just the same!” Gloria cackled at her own pun and stepped away from the stove.

Xander really started to notice how run down this place was… yet, Gloria and Remmy seemed totally unbothered. He was almost jealous of their contentment.

Once the hot water was ready, Gloria made her husband and the two guests some fresh tea. Xander remained mostly quiet as the three of them chatted, Melrose being eager to tell the two elderly Pokémon about her day.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to the Academy for lunch? I’m sure Zephyr wouldn’t mind at all.” Melrose gave Xander pleading eyes, but the Litten shook his head no.

“I have a few more chores to do today, and I wouldn’t want to make you stay and help me with those.” Xander shrugged his shoulders, and sighed when the upset look didn’t leave his friend’s face. “I’ll swing by for dinner, okay?”

Melrose perked up and nodded her head happily. “I’ll hold you to that! You better fear a massive beat down if I don’t see you there!” She punched at the air like she did earlier that same day as she walked over to the front door. “Bye, Mrs. Gloria! Bye, Mr. Remmy!”

“Goodbye, dearie.” Gloria smiled as she waved. Her husband gave a subtle wave at the Pikachu as well.

After Melrose left, Xander stood up and stretched. “Would it be too much trouble to ask if I can take a nap? I promise I’ll do some work afterwards. I just need like… 30 minutes?”

“Oh, Xander, it’s no trouble at all.” Remmy floated the tea set into the air and started to carry it back to the kitchen. “Trust me, Gloria and I understand the importance of sleep! Oh-hohoho– HACK–” Remmy’s laugh turned into a cough, and Gloria rubbed his back carefully. Xander could spot the worry in her eyes this time.

Still, he tried to give them a grateful smile. “Feel free to wake me if I’m out for too long.” His tail swished as he scampered along to his guest room. He closed the door gently behind him, but his face became gloomy the second no other Pokémon’s eyes were on him. Today had felt so long, and it was only just the afternoon.

Wasting not a single second longer to crawl into bed, Xander tried to get cozy enough for his catnap. He tucked his nose into his belly, using the blankets more like a nest than an actual covering.

If I really am a human, it’s pretty weird that I find sleeping like this so comfortable. I wonder if that comes with turning into a Pokémon? I haven’t given it much thought…

Xander continued to think about this possibility, having been too distracted before now to attempt piecing anything together. His memory still failed him; there wasn’t a single clue as to what happened to him before waking up in Nightshade Grove. Melrose treated the occurrence like a fairy tale, but also believed it to be true with some form of confidence. And, Gaius… He treated Xander so differently after Melrose brought it up. His stomach suddenly sank. Was she telling Pokémon at the school that she was friends with a human? That sounded like something she would absolutely do without considering Xander’s feelings about it. While the thought pulled him into his own irritation, his tail lashed and slapped at Xander’s face. The Litten bit at it out of shock, and the sudden self inflicted pain sent him jumping into the air and yowling.

Gloria opened the door, having heard the sudden cat-screech. “Is everything alright, Dear?”

Xander was standing on his bed with an embarrassed blush swamping his face through his fur. “Y-yep! Nothing is wrong! Sorry!”

Gloria gave him a weird look before closing the door. Xander sighed into his chest before attempting to get comfortable again.

He tried to regain focus on his own mysteries, but all his thoughts cycled back to how little he knew. Xander couldn’t even make educated assumptions, as the knowledge he possessed of this world was so barren. It felt a little selfish with everything going on for him to think about himself so much, but having amnesia was frustrating– and hardly a soul could relate to Xander’s turmoil. His brain struggled for something to settle on, a thought that could help lull him to sleep, but his breathing found peace when Xander picked out a first step to uncovering… anything.

The Pokémon of this Kingdom, especially the capital, seemed keen on keeping records. So, first things first, Xander needed to find if there was any trace of him in Adstrum before he woke up with no memories.