“Quite the mess you’ve gotten yourself into, Jalal. Though I gotta ask, why did you bring me into this?”
Jalal Attar crouched in an alleyway in Jubilife City. It was dark due to a power surge that had knocked out all the power in the city. It was being blamed on the “rogue PBI agent” but he had done nothing of the sort. It was just a stunt to turn public opinion against him. Anybody who had met Jalal knew he would do no such thing. But given he was an agent of the Pokemon Bureau of Investigation, not many people had met him. Thankfully, one person had, and was willing to stick out their neck to help him.
Jalal looked over his shoulder at the young man crouched with him. He wasn’t wearing his usual street wear but it was easier to hide that way. His brown hair was hidden under a navy blue hoodie, a glare levelled at Jalal. He was wearing jeans and sneakers, obviously not his favorites either. Given how long they’d been on the road, it was a worthy sacrifice. Neither of their outfits were in pristine condition. He was a fellow Sinnoh branch agent, like Jalal, and a fairy type specialist, named Dylan Thomas.
“I’m sorry, man, I didn’t realize they’d label us both fugitives. I figured I’d get hit but I never expected-”
“How could you not figure that out?” Dylan snapped back, causing Jalal to flinch. “You came to my house and told me you needed to lay low without any explanation. Then they saw you inside and labeled me as a fugitive because I was harboring you!” Dylan put his face in one of his hands. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. I’m just…” he paused then whispered, “Sloane…” Jalal needed no more explanation. It was well known around the Sinnoh branch that Dylan was a lucky fellow with a somewhat rambunctious girlfriend. She was a bit on the fragile side though so Dylan was constantly fretting about her. Now that he was a wanted man, not only could she be taken in for interrogation, but they also could not risk contacting each other and were completely cut off for the time being. If Jalal was in his shoes, he’d be worried too.
“I get it,” Jalal replied quietly. He looked out into the streets again before nodding to Dylan. “Coast looks clear. We should try to make a break for it now. If we can make it to the water’s edge we can surf to Canalave and catch a ferry out of here.” Dylan gave a sharp nod. Standing up slightly, Jalal took one last look out of the alleyway before dashing into the street with Dylan right behind. It was somewhat ominous to be traveling in Jubilife City with no lights on. Moving silently through the night, the two PBI agents ran past the Poketch Company HQ. As they were nearing the exit to the waters between Jubilife and Canalave, a bright light suddenly flooded their area. Jalal and Dylan both flinched, covering their eyes out of reflex. A loud voice came over the loudspeaker of the helicopter.
“Jalal Attar and Dylan Thomas, put your hands in the air! We have you spotted! You are under arrest for the illegal trafficking of an Ultra Beast.” Well like hell they were going to do that. Dylan was the first to recover, grabbing Jalal’s arm and bolting out of the helicopter’s spotlight. “After them!” The two agents sprinted for the docks not too far away, the sound of soldier boots behind them creating a sense of panic in Jalal’s chest. Dylan reached to his belt and unclipped one of his pokeballs. He clicked the center button but to his surprise, it would not open. He frowned before realizing what had happened.
“They set off an EMP!” Dylan said, slapping his pokeball back onto his belt. “The helicopter must have precautions against it but that’s why there’s a blackout. They wanted to knock out our pokeballs, our means of escape.” Jalal clicked his tongue in frustration and glanced over his shoulder.
“How good of a swimmer are you?” he asked as they nearly reached the docks. Dylan smirked a little and immediately began to take off his hoodie. The two threw their jackets aside, followed by their shirts. Jalal sent up a silent prayer that none of their pokeballs were knocked loose then dove into the water, Dylan right beside him. It was pitch black underwater, but there was nothing they could do about that. Jalal kicked his legs back, keeping his arms straight by his side as he shot forward as far as he could before forcing himself to resurface. Kicking off his shoes, Jalal began to do his fastest stroke, the breaststroke. As the helicopter propellers grew louder, Jalal and Dylan dove back under, going as far as they could before resurfacing. The one perk to this was that no pokeball was EMP proof just yet. If they couldn’t use their pokemon, neither could these losers.
Though there was another problem. If they had set off an EMP, then Canalave was probably impacted too. Communications may be impacted, but more importantly, that meant no ships were running. How would they get out of Sinnoh? If an EMP had really been set off, it was possible that power could be out for days, week, or forever. Was this ultra beast really worth possibly permanently knocking out power in one of Sinnoh’s biggest cities?
“Get down!” Dylan suddenly shouted, pushing Jalal underwater. Jalal barely had time to catch a breath before he was shoved under. Bullets suddenly rippled the surface of the water, missing the two. They resurface before diving back underwater again, trying to escape the gunfire. One good thing was that without the spotlight on them, Jalal and Dylan were practically invisible. Nearly to a piece of land on the opposite side of the water, the boys could see the helicopter keeping its beam trained on the edges. They’d have to bolt almost as soon as they reached the land. Diving under one last time, the two shot forward to the edge.
Jalal grabbed on first and pulled himself onto the land. He wasn’t in the spotlight right away, but at the sound of his and Dylan’s splashing, it shifted to them. The two immediately ducked into the trees at the edge, wood splitting from gunfire. Now barefoot and exposed to the elements, the soaking wet PBI agents dashed through the woods of Route 218 towards Canalave City. Shouts and gunfire echoed behind them as they reached the city’s edge. Just as Jalal had suspected, there were no lights on. The EMP had hit this city too. But Dylan didn’t hesitate. Grabbing Jalal’s arm, he pulled the electric type specialist into the city, sticking close to the shadows.
The two dashed for an inn on the edge of town. Soldiers were starting to enter the city behind them, Jalal noticed. He unclipped a pokeball from his belt and tried opening it. No dice. Dylan knocked on the door quietly, using a special pattern. There was silence and a chill crawled up Jalal’s spine as the soldiers drew closer. Then the door opened and the two men were pulled inside. Locking the door behind them, a man that looked eerily similar to Dylan glared at the two.
“What the heck have you done now?” he asked, his anger very visible in the light cast by a volbeat standing nearby.
“It’s a long story,” Dylan answered. “Look, Owen, I know this is short notice, but I need to borrow your clefairy. Is she out of her pokeball?” Owen nodded a little and whistled quietly. A clefairy scampered over.
“I always keep all my pokemon out of their pokeballs. I’m guessing that’s a good thing given you two don’t have any of yours out.” Jalal nodded silently, causing Owen to sigh. “Seriously, cousin, you have to explain this to me later on, okay?” Dylan held out his hand.
“Promise, just not now. We need to teleport to Iron Island.” Owen took Dylan’s hand and shook it as Jalal’s head snapped towards them.
“Wait hold up. Clefairy can’t learn teleport!” Dylan merely smiled at Jalal and gestured to the clefairy.
“Some can, but it’s generally unheard of nowadays. Jezebel here is one of the few that remain.” Dylan bent down and picked up Jezebel before holding out a hand to Jalal. “She can get us to Iron Island. At the very least, they won’t look for us there for a few days. We give Jezebel a few days to rest, then teleport to Fullmoon and Newmoon islands. At that point we should be close enough we can teleport to Mt. Coronet or Route 217. If we can make it to Snowpoint they might have a ferry we can take somewhere else.”
That sounded like a really risky plan but did they have much of a choice. Jalal glanced down at the beast ball on his belt. He hoped he was doing the right thing, then took Dylan’s outstretched hand.
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