Chapter 30: Getting It Back

“Were you ever gonna tell me you could’ve been a policeman?” Ezera asked, crossing his arms as he tapped his foot.

Having their decision already made meant that Ezera and Dewott needed to find something to do until afternoon came. That led to them sitting around in the mess hall while Flin’s group napped in the corner.

“It isn’t important much,” Dewott signed, waving his paw dismissively.

“Uh, it’s pretty important now don’t you think? Did you arrest anyone while you were there?”

“I mainly did administrative work. Arresting seemed too much for me at the time…“

“Hm, true, I know my first one wasn’t exactly smooth…” Ezera remarked. Images of him riding the growlithe surfaced in his thoughts. He missed those initial days of weirdness. “Would you do it now?”

Dewott waited a second before nodding. He pointed to Ezera’s heart then tapped his own chest twice. “I would. It’s different now that you’re my buddy.“

Ezera was glad his face was green, now it couldn’t show any redness. “Hey, I’m sure you would do it with or without me.”

“I’m glad it was with.” Dewott smiled, clasping his paws.

Nevermind, his face might just turn red after all. “Okay, you choose. Do we want to work on your Aqua Jet, or keep sitting here? I’m fine with either.”

“I’d like to sit here, but if we’re fighting policemon, I should get Aqua Jet down. Don’t laugh at me though.”

“I’d never do that to you. The only person I’d mock is Litleo, and that’s only if she really deserves it.”

The pair went outside to train, soaking up the time in a barrage of Aqua Jets and Protects. Eventually the sun reached its midpoint, causing the guild to reconvene in the lobby as agreed. Sirfetch’d walked up to the podium while Watchog tailed him. The bookkeeper also carried a clipboard and a few rolled up papers in his armpits.

“Adventurers, I hope you had ample time to recuperate and decide. Now then, let’s get to it. Who wants to assist in the jailbreak?” Sirfetch’d queried.

Watchog held his clipboard up, ready to scribble names down.

“Count us and Flin,” Ezera stated, raising a hand.

Team Piksqueak shortly followed suit.

“We want to help too! Ruffy would chew us out if we didn’t,” Pichu chimed in. She rubbed her paws together, electricity crackling on her cheeks. “And we’re not bad at being criminals, hehe.”

“I’d volunteer too, but somemon’s gotta cook for those of us here,” Applin said.

Ezera observed the rest of the guild members. Yamper kept nudging Purrloin, and eventually the cat relented.

“Alright, add us to that list. Since my dearest Yamper wants to so bad,” she called out, nuzzling her boyfriend’s head. “I need to know how to stage Litleo’s dramatic story anyway.”

Ezera kept looking. Most had sympathetic faces— although some glanced away. It made sense the count was low, they were putting a lot on the line for a hunch. ‘It’s not a lot, but it’s better than nothing.‘

“I believe that to be enough for a successful mission. Like Raichu noted, the town will send pokémon after you. Are you prepared to be hunted?” Sirfetch’d questioned.

The pokémon volunteering declared a unified “yes.”

“Good. Everymon who isn’t part of this mission, dismissed.” Sirfetch’d waved his leek to shoo them away. After the crowd cleared, he continued to say, “Moving on, we do not know when or where the convoy that will transport Liepard will be. Walrein, can I leave acquiring that info to you?”

“Not to worry, Guildmaster,” Watchog replied, bowing. “I will need some help, however. Dewott, may I ask for your paws in the matter?”

Dewott went wide eyed and pulled at his scarf. “Sure.“

“Second, we must create a plan of attack.” Sirfetch’d thrust his leek in a straight jab. “Walrein, could you explain to us what you’ve brought?”

Watchog put the clipboard down and unfurled the papers in his arms. “At the Guildmaster’s request, I visited Kaiyo Town’s library to procure some news articles about previous jailbreaks.”

“Ooooh, what do they say, what do they say?” Pichu asked, hopping a little too excitedly.

“In one incident, a few highly dangerous outlaws escaped after their associate knocked out the entire convoy with a Slumber Orb. In another incident, one convoy was ambushed by a gang that used over twenty Blast Seeds to KO and destroy the carriage carrying the prisoner.”

“That’s kind of insane…” Ezera muttered. Dang, why didn’t he think of using items? Making all the police fall asleep in one fell swoop would be nice. “Are these tactics we can use?”

“Not quite,” Watchog answered. “To adapt to these mistakes, police convoys now include the following…” He straightened up, clearing his throat. “A pokémon that employs Misty Terrain to negate status effects. Each ‘mon will also carry a Reviver Seed to prevent quick knockouts. Furthermore, prisoners are placed in a box only openable by magnezone.”

It suddenly hit Ezera that jailbreaking wasn’t gonna be as simple as he thought. He kind of figured they could run up to the convoy, do battle, and book it with Litleo in tow. ‘Oh my God, they’re so stacked!‘ He rubbed his fingers, frowning. “Maybe they won’t be as protective for Litleo? It’s not like she’s a notorious gang leader.”

“I doubt it, sir. Murder is a serious charge, and the arrest was ordered by Duraludon, of all pokémon.”

Ezera’s hope sank further. “How are we going to do this?”

“That’s what we plan for!” Sirfetch’d rallied, smirking. “Most of the policemon are skilled at fighting and will make use of their paralysis or hypnosis. How will we counter that?”

“We could all eat some Chestos before fighting,” Yamper suggested. “Paralysis isn’t a problem for me and Piksqueak, but the rest of you…”

“Ooh, ooh! How about we and Yamper fight the electric-types?” Pichu said, jabbing her own puffed out chest. “We can direct their electricity to me! I’ve got Lightning Rod!”

“Electric vs electric? You won’t be able to knock them out quick,” Purrloin argued, leaning on one leg.

“We can find a way! We’re good at that too,” Pachirisu assured, holding Pichu and Morpeko’s paws.

Purrloin shrugged in response. “I can nab their Reviver Seeds. Should be no problem for an actress like myself.”

“What can we do?” Flin asked, their blue eyes peering out from their shields.

“You could lead the charge in,” Dewott signed, signaling to everyone before driving a paw forward.

“Yeah, you could do the thing you did to uh, me and Litleo when you… ambushed us,” Ezera finished sheepishly.

Flin covered their eyes. “…Yes, we can do that.”

“I want to remind everymon that there’s a chance other convicts will be in the convoy. Exercise caution not to release them too,” Watchog warned.

Sirtetch’d beamed at their swift thinking. “Good. We will have to be quick. Once we attack, expect backup to be alerted to our location. We’ll split off into three groups, but the where will have to be decided on tomorrow after I make plans with the Vicemaster.”

“You’re coming with us, Guildmaster?” Morpeko said, dropping the berry she was nibbling.

“What kind of guildmaster do you think I am to sit on the side?”

“You won’t be able to participate in combat. That would send the council into a rage,” Watchog advised, gathering his papers.

Sirfetch’d harrumphed. “That won’t stop me from leading all of you afterward. You are dismissed, adventurers. We will take action soon.”

Ezera couldn’t stop thinking about the apparent firepower Watchog described the convoy would have. He felt a tad relieved that they at least had some counters to it, but it all came down to execution. ‘We can do it. We didn’t save Litleo only to lose her to stupid prison.‘

It would help if Roca was on their side, but as it stood, she hated Litleo’s guts, and they also had no idea where she was.

Ezera dispelled his musings. They had a jailbreak to prepare for, and he needed every training he could get.

---

“Hiya, Ezera. Long time no see.”

Ezera opened his “eyes.” This wasn’t where he fell asleep! This was-

He was back in the white void again without a body, but this time, a myriad of colors swirled around on top. If he had to describe it, he would call it a tie-dye party.

Right, the voice was here too.

“I see you noticed the colors. Pretty, aren’t they?” the voice said, its wisp form flickering.

It was way better than the bland white.

“I getcha. I said it before, this is what it normally looks like.”

Normal… huh. Is that why they could speak so soon again?

“Well, not exactly. I can technically talk to you whenever, but it takes a lot out of me.“

So what did they have to say now?

“If you do go breaking Litleo out of jail, can I ask you to take the scarves again? She’ll need them for motivation.”

Wait, how did they know about the jailbreak?

“I told you, we’re connected in more ways than one. Don’t be too freaked out, I know what you know.”

Didn’t that mean they also had access to his other memories?

“You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t be intrusive. Promise.”

That sounded… reassuring enough. Ezera had little reason to doubt it, although he wasn’t sure he could do much about the voice if he tried. There wasn’t a manual on how to evict inner, non-physical entities.

“Heh, you’re funny. Times like this make me wish we… ah, nevermind.“

What was their connection to the scarves then?

“Hmm…” The wisp floated around.”Have you ever wondered about the times I speak to you? As in when?“

Not particularly. It seemed random more than anything.

“Think of the scarves as my Linkbead. It’s our channel of talking.“

The white void dimmed for a moment, causing the wisp to get close to Ezera.

“Seems like you’re waking up. It’ll be a good bit before we talk again, so… Good luck, Ezera. Keep her safe.”

---

Ezera gradually awakened to the sun beaming on his face. Mildly annoyed, he rolled off the warm side of his cushion and rubbed his eyes, before looking to the right expecting to check on Dewott. Instead, the cushion was empty.

‘Hm, when did he leave?‘ Ezera scratched his leg, remembering his dream. ‘Right… they told me to bring the scarves again.‘ He trudged towards the two pillows under the window and pushed one aside. Litleo’s scarves were neatly folded behind them, their gold specks barely shining in the shadows.’Would these really work for motivation?‘ he thought, reaching out.

A tiny sense of vigor filled him as his hand ran down the fabric. Ezera withdrew at the sensation, and the vigor faded as fast as it came. ‘Huh?‘ He reached out once more, and again the energy came back. ‘Does this have to do with the aether it collects?‘

So absorbed was he into repeating the feeling that he failed to notice Dewott walk through the archway until he tapped Ezera’s shoulder.

“Dewott! Morning,” Ezera greeted, quickly spinning around and hoping he didn’t appear too weird.

Dewott waved despite carrying an orange and pear in his paws. He held out both, motioning for Ezera to pick.

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Ezera took the pear and inspected it. Not that he didn’t trust Dewott, but he was very particular that the food looked clean on the outside… This time, it was good enough. “It’s pretty late for roll call isn’t it?” he said, biting into the fruit.

“Roll call already happened. I came back to wake you up.“

“Huh? Why didn’t you bring me down with you?”

“I heard you shuffling a lot last night. I assumed you fell asleep late.“

“Ah…” Ezera’s tail moved side to side slowly. “You aren’t wrong there. It’s just hard not having Litleo here.”

“I have partial good news about that. We’re going into town again with Rapidash, first to talk to Duraludon, then possibly see Litleo.“

Ezera’s tail increased its speed. “That’d be nice.”

Dewott bit into the orange, skin and all, causing Ezera’s brow to quickly furrow. “Partial bad news is, I’ll be with Watchog while you talk to Duraludon.“

“Mm… are you not gonna peel it first?” Ezera asked, half-acknowledging his statement.

Dewott innocently glanced at Ezera, then the orange, then Ezera. “Am I supposed to?“

A chuckle left Ezera. “I guess you don’t have to. Where I’m from we almost never eat the skin.”

“It’s one of the best parts.” Dewott motioned to the pillows hiding Litleo’s scarves, taking another bite. “What were you up to?“

“Oh, can you touch these and tell me if you feel any different?” Ezera said, lifting one up.

Dewott kneeled, frowning. “Is it okay to be fiddling with it without Litleo here?“

“I just need to check something.”

Dewott extended his left paw, keeping it on the scarf for a few seconds. He retracted it and moved his paw side to side. “I feel the same.“

“Weird… Um, Litleo already knows this, but there’s this voice that talks to me occasionally.” Ezera scratched his head. “Okay, that makes me sound super crazy.”

“They’re not dangerous?” he signed, facing one paw out and curling his digits.

“No, they seem to be fine. I don’t know what they want, but they’ve been helpful. And in my most recent dream, they told me to take the scarves with us during our jailbreak.”

“That doesn’t seem the most appropriate.“

“Maybe not, but Litleo told me she wanted to give them back once Rockruff was found. We won’t be able to come back and get them. I think it’d be nice to let her do that,” Ezera explained. ‘I’d give Elessedil something if she ever returned…‘

“We’ll have to be extra careful with them.“

Pling! Pling!

Ezera tapped the Linkbead on his scarf.

“Are you ready, dears? We are departing now,” Rapidash stated.

“Yes! We’re coming down,” Ezera responded. He fixed the pillows to their normal state. “Alright, let’s go.”

---

Ezera never thought he’d be visiting town hall again so soon, much less meeting the equivalent of the president in charge of everything. When he was human, he never went to his city’s town hall once. And if this experience was anything to go by, it would probably stay that way.

He and Rapidash waited for Duraludon’s assistant, Abra, to let them in his private office. Ezera honed in on his hearing, and it didn’t sound like Duraludon was entertaining guests presently. Was he making them wait out here just because he could?

‘Dewott actually saved himself by getting to go with Watchog… I wonder what he’s up to?‘

Abra floated out of the door’s way. “He will see you now.”

Ezera and Rapidash entered the private office together. Luckily the entryway was large enough to fit both of them on account of Duraludon’s own wide width. The councilmon’s space was shaped like an oval, and the walls were colored in a minty green. A display case to the left hosted plenty of achievements and awards that assaulted Ezera right off the bat.

‘At least now I see where his ego comes from,‘ he thought, craning his head to view the top shelf. He turned to join Rapidash, standing a few feet from Duraludon’s desk. There were some perfectly good lounge chairs behind them, but Ezera didn’t know if they avoided it because Rapidash couldn’t sit on them, or Duraludon would tell them to get off. Probably the latter.

“Good morning, Duraludon,” Rapidash said, adding some feigned friendliness into her tone.

“Mm, yes,” he replied plainly, scribbling on some paperwork. “What is it you are here for?”

“The matter I spoke to you about earlier. You must admit arresting Litleo on such short notice is hardly fair. Release her and give us a chance to prove her innocence.”

Duraludon softly scoffed. “There is nothing to prove, Calyrex themself deemed her guilty. Going against them would surely bring disaster,” he refuted, still scribbling.

“What if Calyrex had deemed you committed a crime you knew was untrue?” Rapidash said, narrowing her eyes.

“They wouldn’t, because I don’t engage in such behavior.”

The words flew out of Ezera’s mouth faster than he could think it. “Do you really think you’re that good? Your behavior screams corrupt! Litleo wouldn’t-“

“Is this what the guild recruits, Rapidash? Tactless rabble?” Duraludon said over him.

Rapidash signaled to Ezera to back off. “He is feeling agitated, and rightly so.”

“Litleo is going to prison, any further argument is pointless,” Duraludon reiterated.

Rapidash approached his desk and placed a hoof on the paper. “What if we procured evidence to the contrary? It has been done before.”

Duraludon glanced up. “Ha, apart from bringing Rockruff back alive, I’m not sure you have any other evidence.”

“Would showing you a memory be sufficient enough?”

“We both know memories are fickle and easy to manipulate. You will need nothing short of a legendary to tell me Litleo is innocent.” Duraludon pulled the paper out from her hoof, shaking it.

Ezera glimpsed a dark green seal near its top, its design looking oddly reminiscent of the one on Minne’s cane. ‘Don’t tell me…‘

Duraludon leaned back. “Ah… but I recall being told from a certain ‘mon that Rockruff has a sister, correct? If she tells me Litleo is not at fault, I will consider pardoning her. Is that fair?”

Ezera’s stomach flipped over. ‘Roca?! Crap, she hates Litleo’s guts. She’d never say Litleo wasn’t at fault.‘

Rapidash paused, then nodded. “It is reasonable enough.”

“A warning, if and when the sister comes in here, if I suspect any hint of coercion from you, Litleo will never roam the streets again,” Duraludon warned.

A Dragon Rage would’ve left Ezera right then if Rapidash wasn’t present. Man, he wanted to hit Duraludon right in that metal face of his. Where and how did someone grow to be like him?

Rapidash bowed her head. “We will keep that in mind. Thank you for your time.”

One dirty look and exiting the office later, Ezera squeezed his scarf tightly. “Sorry about losing my temper in there. It’s kind of… instinctual for me when I hear someone like him speak that way.”

“I understand, dear. We are lucky Duraludon is in a decent mood today. He must be riding the high of Minne’s talks,” Rapidash explained, pensive.

“I bet. I think they’re both trying to make sure Litleo doesn’t get out too. I saw a seal on the paper he was working on. It has the same mark Minne’s cane does.”

“Is that so? I will have to investigate that later…” She turned her gaze upward. “Nevertheless, it appears we have to move on with Dewott’s suggestion in the end.”

“Yeah… Roca’s definitely not helping Litleo now.”

Rapidash began trotting. “Shall we move on to the police station?”

“Yes please.”

---

Dewott tapped his scalchop over and over as he and Watchog wandered through the police station. What the bookkeeper wanted him to do here was quite simple, yet his unshakable, nagging doubt made it a bigger deal than it needed to be.

Luckily the place was the same as he remembered, so he tried focusing on the familiarity. Large cubicles full of dividers, papers rustling, and wading through the many policemon reminded him of his time here, as brief as it was. Getting through the application process was a nightmare since he didn’t have Reuniclus’ gadget at the time, but by some miracle he managed to get hired. Then it was a matter of adjusting to his life there…

Dewott doubted any of the ‘mon he worked with remembered him. He stayed behind doing clerk things, admiring the others’ work because at least they had pride. A decent goal to be proud of.

And him?

He always had a goal, just now it was more… attainable. Hopefully.

“Here we are,” Watchog remarked, pointing to a sign on the wall. He pushed on the handle and let Dewott enter first.

For all intents and purposes, Manectric’s office could be called pretty standard. He didn’t attempt to spruce up the room, opting to keep the simple furniture and forgoing any extras; A desk, a couple filing cabinets, and a brown couch occupied the inside.

Manectric stepped away from his desk to greet them. “Watchog, Dewott. Have a seat if you want,” the sheriff offered, gesturing his paw.

Watchog remained on his feet while Dewott made himself small on the couch. “Thank you for seeing us. We’re here because the guild has been thinking about how to improve our outlaw catch rate.”

“Isn’t it decently high already?”

“It is, but we think it would be a good idea to learn the techniques your precinct employs for further success.”

Manectric rearranged the pages on his desk, tilting his head. “I don’t know if there’s much we can offer, but that isn’t a half bad idea. Maybe your teams can teach us a trick or two.”

“If both our parties agree, we would compensate you for the lessons as well,” Watchog added.

“I like the sound of that,” Manectric said, smiling. “I can take you to meet our instructor. He’s just down the corridor.”

“That would be great. Dewott can wait in here, if that’s okay?” Watchog said.

“Yeah, sure. Dewott’s a good kid, I remember when he worked here.”

Manectric plodded out and Watchog winked to Dewott as he closed the door. Immediately, Dewott rushed to the pile of paper lying on the right side of Manectric’s desk. Taking advantage of the sheriff’s trust surely wasn’t honorable on its own, but it was for a good cause— or so Dewott repeated. He thumbed through the pile swiftly, taking care not to mess it up lest the sheriff sense somemon tampered with it.

‘An uncaught inteleon and incineroar mugger, reports of a misdreavus thief, some stoutland’s retirement form… Could they not have drafted the transport plan yet?‘ That would put a big Sticky Web in things. Dewott pivoted to the filing cabinets, reaching to pull the top drawer out. They weren’t labeled so he’d have to glean what was in them quickly. Filing cabinets without file names… who did that? Manectric, evidently.

As he scanned through the folders, Dewott didn’t spot anything related to prisoner transfers. It was mostly closed cases and loose ends in other investigations. ‘I don’t have enough time to look through all these.‘

He had just put the drawer back when the handle on the door jiggled. Dewott froze. ‘They just left! They can’t be done already!‘ He threw his scalchop on the floor and dropped to his knees.

“Sheriff? Oh- hey! What are you doing in here?” a plusle said. His minun friend appeared behind him.

Dewott pointed to his scalchop. “Dropped it.“

“Next to the sheriff’s desk?”

“Tried playing catch. Failed at it.“

The minun grabbed the plusle’s ear and whispered into it. “He’s a guild member. I always heard they were a little kooky.”

The plusle hummed in agreement.

“If you’re looking for Manectric, he went to find your training instructor,” Dewott signed, making a circle with his paws before touching two digits to his head.

“Oh, thanks bro. Told you your face was so ugly he avoids you,” the minun said to the plusle.

“Shut it, bro! You’re even uglier-“

Their voices faded as they shut the door. Dewott exhaled, loosening his scarf.

‘At least they didn’t ask more questions… I have to hurry. Where else-‘ His attention trailed to a thin tray underneath the middle of the desk. Duh. That’s what happened when his panic got the best of him— he should’ve checked there from the start. Dewott slid the compartment out, and the first paper he saw read:

Urgent:  Transfers to Kaiyo Central Prison

Prisoners: Litleo, Morgrem, Zigzagoon, Pawmi, Cacnea

Convoy will travel north along Free Frolick Field. Assigned medium detail.

Skimming downward, he read the escort would be traveling tomorrow in the afternoon. ‘It’s so soon. That’s not a lot of time to prep supplies.‘ Dewott pushed the tray back in and returned to his seat. If they couldn’t restock on supplies during their journey, they’d have to fit what they could now and scavenge later. On its own, not much of an issue, but if pokémon were coming after them…

His ears perked up at Watchog’s voice.

“…you would be doing us a huge favor,” Watchog said, swinging open the door. He gazed at Dewott. “All is well?”

Dewott gave him a thumbs up. His whiskers twitched as Manectric plodded inward and glanced over his desk.

“I’m under orders not to allow visitors…” the sheriff began, sniffing the air.

‘Oh no.‘ Dewott got to his feet and inched towards Watchog in the most natural way he could.

Manectric ultimately shook his head. “Our organizations are like partners, however. I’ll tell the guards to expect you. Just no funny business, you hear?”

“Your assistance is appreciated,” Watchog replied.

“It’s a darn shame about Litleo, I thought she’d be part of a leading team.”

“Yes, well… Some things are just unfortunate.” Watchog put his paws behind his back. “We’ll be heading out. Adieu, Manectric.”

“Keep yourselves out of trouble.”

Dewott did a leap in his head upon leaving Manectric’s office. He didn’t get caught somehow! He shook out his arms, getting rid of his pent up nervousness.

“If you’ve gotten what we needed, I’ll be returning to the guild. Rapidash and Ezera should be on their way here,” Watchog announced. He patted the side of Dewott’s arm. “You did good work, sir.”

Dewott hid his small smile underneath his scarf. In the grand scheme of things, it was almost unimportant, but he was allowed to celebrate the little stuff, wasn’t he?

---

“Damn it…”

Litleo turned over in the straw bed, unable to sleep anymore. Or at all, for that matter. The lack of windows anywhere in the cells left her to internally deduce it was sometime in the morning.

Hooray, now she had another day to kill by simply staring at the wall.

Wasting away in a jail cell… Not the most exciting thing in the world. She’d rather clean Gana’s quarters ten times over than sit here. Then again, she supposed it was a good thing she hadn’t been transferred to prison yet. Going that far away meant Ezera and Dewott would likely not see her at all.

The minutes ticked by and Litleo’s lamentations grew into a budding annoyance. Thoughts of yesterday’s accusations floated to mind. Yeah, it crushed her, and she hated how she couldn’t bounce over it.

‘That bastard Minne… who tells somemon that their friend, their brother, is dead in front of thousands of pokémon? No, something’s up with him.’ She bit her lip, ignoring the slight pain. ‘I need Rapidash to search my memories.‘

Litleo groaned. She needed a plan, but there wasn’t anything she could pull off by herself. ‘Is it all just hopeless…? What would Rockruff do right now?‘

The door to the cells creaked open, and Litleo didn’t bother glimpsing at who the next victim of arrest was, instead still keeping her back to the barrier. The patter of the footsteps sounded quick and light as they went down the hall, until it neared her cell and stopped.

‘Who could it be now?‘

“Hiya. You called?”

Her heart rate spiked. That was… Rockruff’s voice?! ‘Now I’m really losing it. I’m calling him in a daydream.‘ She’d never entertain such a fantasy normally, but her half-tired, half-lucid brain said to entertain it because, what else could she do?

“You said the guild is where the crazy ‘mon went, didn’t you?” fake Rockruff said.

‘How is it that you’re fake and I’m still imagining you saying crap like that,‘ Litleo thought, covering her face with her paws.

“That’s just who I am. Just like how you are who you are.”

‘What in the world does that even mean?‘

“It means trust yourself, dummy.”

Litleo got up, chin falling to her chest. ‘That’s the stupid thing, I can’t. I don’t know how Ezera and Dewott seem to trust me more than myself.‘

“If you don’t know, ask. Getting to the point’s always been your motto.”

Litleo backed up and sat against the barrier. It resisted her weight, buzzing and trying to push her off, but she stayed put. ‘Won’t that make them doubt me? How will I look if I’m unsure?‘

“You’ll look like their partner. Did I not drill it enough that Ezera had to take over for me?” fake Rockruff stated.

‘You two would get along too well.‘

“I’ll be the judge of that when we reunite, hm?”

She knew it to be a futile effort, yet… Litleo turned her head to the right, thinking that if she did it quick enough, Rockruff would be seen running down the hall. Alas, the empty concrete addressed her, and her partner existed just as much as the chances she’d walk out of jail this instant. Litleo shook herself out, grounding her again in reality.

She really needed some sleep.

Once more, the door down the hall creaked, and the recognizable clop of Rapidash’s hooves reached her. Litleo gasped slightly, eyeing the direction it came from. That definitely wasn’t fake. Rapidash… and Ezera and Dewott!

The latter two came running up to her cell.

“Litleo! Are you okay?” Ezera realized the foolishness of his question. “I mean- are you…”

“How are you feeling?” Dewott signed.

“I could be a lot worse. But, I’m… better, after seeing you guys,” she admitted, feeling some tension leave her legs and heart. ‘This is real, at least.‘

Ezera smirked. Before he knew it, some water built up in his eyes, and he rubbed them to clear it. “Crap, sorry. Don’t mind me!”

Litleo raised an eyebrow but decided to move on. There were things she wanted to say, except the issue of Team Punker sitting nearby complicated that. “Don’t look, but there’s a recognizable pair of faces behind you guys…”

Instantly Ezera disobeyed that and glanced behind. “Hey, no way-“

Morgrem beat him to the punch. “It’s the wimpy dragon. Come to see ya little girlfriend?”

“She’s not my-“

“I’m not his-“

“Girlfriend,” they finished at the same time.

Litleo and Ezera made eye contact, then stared at the ground. ‘Ugh, this is stupid.‘ “Whatever. Ignore him, it’s what I’ve had to do. Why are you here?”

“Actually, dears, there’s a room we can use to keep our conversation private. If you could?” Rapidash said to the magnemite that guided them.

The barrier vanished as the magnemite sent an electric signal to the switch above Litleo’s cell. “Zzt, make your way to the interview room. I will stand watch outside.“

Rapidash ushered Team Rebound into a single room placed at the end of the hall. It was set up like Litleo expected— that being a metal table and a few metal chairs occupying it as the only furnishings.

“They sure are good at decorating comfortably,” Ezera commented, folding his arms. He received silence for his half baked joke. “Anyway… have they been treating you okay? We had to drop the satchel off so we can’t exactly give you anything.”

“They put me in the cell and gave me an Apple. I suppose you can call that okay,” Litleo answered. She, Ezera, and Dewott formed a triangle facing each other. It looked like Ezera was about to try hugging her, but he kept his distance.

“It pains me to say we won’t be able to release you, Litleo. Duraludon is set on incarcerating you, and will only concede if Roca states you are innocent,” Rapidash explained, standing over them.

“You can scratch that, I doubt Roca will ever forgive me. Do you have a backup plan?”

“I believe that’s a question best fit for your teammates,” Rapidash said, distaste entering her expression.

“…Should I be concerned?”

Rapidash sighed. “Patience, dear. I’ve come for another reason-“

“If it has to do with reading my memory, you… have my permission,” Litleo interrupted.

The other three pokémon went wide eyed.

Litleo’s brow furrowed. It couldn’t be that shocking to them. “We’re out of options, okay? If I still had a choice I wouldn’t do it.” The three of them kept on staring. “What?”

“To be honest, dear, I was expecting a lot more resistance from you,” Rapidash said.

“Geez, I’m not that stubborn.”

Rapidash rotated a chair so it faced herself. “Very well. Sit here for me please.”

Litleo jumped onto the cold furnishing, her momentum causing the legs to squeak across the floor. “I hope this is worth it…”

“Try to focus on what you remember about that day.” The Vicemaster met Litleo’s gaze, unblinking and seemingly asking for a second time if Litleo was sure. Litleo held it, and the next second Rapidash’s eyes glowed pink.

What did she remember? Litleo thought back, stilling her swishing tail and gulping down the uneasiness in her chest. The menacing, clouded figure appeared at the forefront of her mind, followed by hers and Rockruff’s sprint down a forest. Then… claws. Shouting. Metal? The sky. Blank. Nothing.

“Calm yourself, Litleo,” Rapidash commanded.

Litleo didn’t realize her breathing had gone slightly erratic. She took one deep inhale, and let it out.

A minute passed. Then two. Then three.

‘What’s taking her so long? Does it mean she’s… found potential memories?‘ Litleo’s tail flicked left and right anxiously.

At last, some five minutes later, Rapidash staggered to the side, but she quickly caught herself. “I have good news… and bad news.”

‘Who could’ve guessed that?‘ Litleo bitterly thought.

“What did you see?” Dewott signed.

“The bad news is, it’s all…” Rapidash sucked in a breath. “One big cobweb. I do not know how to describe it other than navigating an ariados den. There are fragments here and there, but your memories have purposely been made unreachable.”

Litleo’s claws flexed outward. On purpose? So her gut feeling was right! She figured it being unreachable to be the case; Certain things triggered them to come back, so they still existed, she just couldn’t think of them at will. But it led to… how? What damn pokémon was in her head to block it purposefully?

She scowled, mane heating up. “Rapidash, is it possible for you to block memories?”

Rapidash shook her head. “With anything relating to minds, psychics will always need consent.”

“Then doesn’t that mean… I let somemon in my head? I wouldn’t do that!”

“Yes, it’s quite an enigma…”

As per usual, getting answers led to other questions. Litleo sighed, rubbing a forepaw to her head. “Can I get those unreachable memories back?”

“This must be the work of a powerful psychic. Retrieving them would take skills we don’t possess.” Rapidash held up a hoof to stop their responses. “The good news is, one place I did recognize from your memories is Prosperity Vale— I believe answers may lie there. The issue is that Prosperity Vale resides in the center of the continent, and is quite the trek on its own.”

Litleo angled her head downward. “So, what? You guys are going to have to investigate without me?”

Ezera and Dewott shared a knowing, if not trepid glance. “Like Rapidash said, be patient. And ready.”

Litleo wasn’t sure she liked the vagueness of it all. The Vicemaster keeping it a secret made sense, but for Ezera and Dewott to be in on it too? The worst thing they could do was try to attempt a jailbreak, and that-

The heat in Litleo’s mane drained out. They couldn’t be that crazy… could they? They’d do that for her? The question lended itself to what Litleo wanted to discuss, so she opened her mouth and said, “Ezera, Dewott. Thank you. And Rapidash too,” she quickly amended.

“For what?” Ezera replied. His fidgeting halted.

“For trusting me when I know you have your own doubts, and even when… I don’t trust myself. I might not understand why you-“

“We know you wouldn’t hurt those you’re close to. You’re protective like that,” Dewott signed, creating an X with his arms before hugging himself.

“And I trust you because I can.” Ezera folded his arms, taking on a wider stance. “If we had a little more trust in everything we do, wouldn’t we all be a little better off?”

Dewott pretended to have a link between his and Ezera’s head. “Agreed.“

‘There’s Ezera being himself again,‘ she thought, shaking her head. “Where’s the reason in that?”

“Who said everything needs a reason? This is me.” Ezera held his hand out, a fiery determination emanating in his words. “And I didn’t make our team motto for nothing. I’m sticking to it. To lend a heart…”

“To lend a hand,” Dewott continued, putting his paw in.

“Do I really have to say it?” Litleo didn’t need eyes to know how her teammates’ stares were boring into her.

“You’re ruining the moment,” Ezera scolded.

“I wasn’t aware we were having one.”

“Say it or we’re leaving you here.”

“You’d really do that over not finishing the team motto?”

“Wanna find out?”

Litleo lightly shoved Ezera. She breathed in and added her paw to the mix. “We’ll do our part so everyone can stand.”

A grin stuck onto her teammates. As for Litleo? She had to admit it was slightly uplifting… only slightly.

Rapidash cleared her throat, amused at what just unfolded in front of her. “I hate to break this up, but we must go, dears. Magnemite will suspect we are up to no good in here.”

Ezera tapped Litleo’s paw. “We’ll see you soon,” he said as Rapidash opened the door.

“See you,” she replied.

The magnemite waited until Rapidash and them fully departed, then escorted Litleo towards her cell.

Her steps came down firmly as she went along, no longer dragging across the floor. Jail wasn’t so suffocating when she had ‘mon on the other side waiting.

At last feeling her head comply with wanting to take a break, Litleo went to the straw and plopped down.

One thing was for sure about it all:

She wouldn’t take this lying down.