The Boss

Awkwardly, Nova scampered back to the alleyway that he previously marched out of.

While having his embarrassing shonen protagonist moment, he forgot to take his only belongings with him. Picking up his tattered backpack, he took inventory.

A notebook detailing his current findings of the world and Pokemon as a whole. A few potions he managed to dumpster dive for, mixing the scraps of nearly used ones together. Rations that he stole from the orphanage that he'd been barely eating from. A single antidote, and what he thinks are the item 'Black Glasses'.

It could just be regular shades, but he figures it couldn't hurt to take it with him just in case.

Nova took his backpack and made sure the coast was clear before heading to his destination. After all, he wouldn't want to be robbed or kidnapped. Especially since he looks like a malnourished kid with something valuable in his bag.

The last time someone tried to rob him and didn't own a Pokemon… let's just say he won't be having kids anymore.

It took roughly fifteen minutes until he saw a Mandibuzz circling above him, watching him. In front of him was a large, abandoned power plant that was surprisingly clean in contrast with the filthy city around it.

As soon as he walked too close the Mandibuzz swooped down and landed in front of a man who was most definitely not standing there a second ago. The man looked stoic while the Mandibuzz glared at him as a warning.

"Oi, kid. Turn the hell aro-" the menacing-looking man began to say.

"Can I touch it?!" Nova blurted out.

Nova's face was the embodiment of childlike wonder. Despite him having seen Pokemon before, those times were a rarity and there was something about seeing real Pokemon that filled him with fascination.

To their credit, the man simply raised an eyebrow at him while Mandibuzz stopped glaring and cocked its head to the side.

"O-oh uh, my bad. I- uh- let me just start over." Nova stuttered out after realizing what he had just done.

Taking a breath and closing his violet eyes, Nova's face lost all playfulness as he became deadly serious.

"Let me join you."

Mandibuzz squinted its eyes at Nova before looking back at its trainer as they seemingly had a silent conversation. It was only a moment, and then it cawed and suddenly took off into the sky again.

The man merely glanced at Mandibuzz flying away before looking back at Nova. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the buzzing of his earpiece. It was a few awkward seconds of him listening before he said, "Roger that. Follow me. The boss is interested in you for some reason."

That raised alarm bells in Nova's head but he couldn't think of any reason the boss would even care about a child like him. In the end, he figured he'd find out from the boss.

Nova blinked a few times and then realized the man was walking away before hurriedly following behind him. It was a short and silent walk since the power plant was only a few meters away.

As soon as the man walked in, he disappeared into the darkness that was the abandoned building. Nova was a bit hesitant to walk into a completely dark building filled with gang members, rationally.

Yet he walked in anyway.

The moment he stepped foot into the building, he froze. Years of living in an orphanage that would put children through 'reconditioning' honed his sense of danger. While he never went through that pain, being conscious as a baby tends to make you more observant than the average person. And at that moment, it felt like if he took one more step, he'd die.

Of course, he was right. As the lights slowly turned on and he looked up and saw a Drapion's stinger-like claw looming over his head. There were other people in the moderately sized entrance room but he was laser-focused on the Drapion, trying to rack his brain on how to escape this situation.

'Obviously, I'm not gonna be faster than this thing but I've only just walked in. All I'd have to do is duck and jump backward, closing the door. I doubt it'll follow me or even graze me but I do have an antidote just in case. After that, I'll just leav-'

"Enough, Drapion." a woman's monotone voice rang out. Drapion hissed before scuttling from wall to wall, leaving the room.

Nova let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as the feeling of imminent death eased up. Calming down, he looked to the speaker and noticed that anyone who was previously present left when he wasn't looking.

A young woman stared at him, standing next to an Absol. She had spiky long silver hair and piercing blue eyes. Her expression was as stoic as her voice was monotone. Nova mused in his head that although she wasn't as menacing as he imagined a gang boss to be, her gaze felt like he was being dissected and analyzed the more she stared.

"...So, you're the bo-" Nova began before being interrupted, annoying him slightly.

"This is a gun." She began, pulling out a gun and cocking it back. She squinted at his face before continuing. "So you already know what it does. Good."

Nova was wondering where this was going before she put the gun on the floor and slid it over to him. He stared at it before raising an eyebrow at her and picking it up.

She then snapped her fingers and Absol walked into a different room before returning, holding a duffel bag with its teeth. Dropping it in front of Nova, it walked back to the woman's side with a huff.

'Please don't be what I think it is...' Nova mused. His face remained calm, but he really didn't like where this was going. He reached down and unzipped the duffel bag, causing something to roll out.

It was a child. A little girl with brown hair, who looked no older than Nova. Tied up with duct tape on her mouth, she stared at Nova with panicked and crying eyes.

"Kill her."

Stunned, Nova held the gun in his two hands and visibly grimaced. He opened his mouth to protest but seeing the boss' cold face slowly shift into a glare, he decided against it. Instead, he looked the child in her eyes and mouthed 'Sorry.'

The child's eyes widened, and she began to struggle intensely, pulling at the ropes she was tied in and kicking the air. It was a pitiful sight and only became more pitiful when Nova noticed that she peed herself in fear.

Gripping the gun tight, he pointed the muzzle at the little girl. His breathing quickened and his heart rate skyrocketed, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Sweat ran down his back as he closed his eyes, put his finger on the trigger and-

*Click. *

'...Huh?' Nova opened his eyes, confused. There was no gunshot, and the girl who was previously peeing her pants was just staring at him.

"Oh, you passed." The stoic boss said from across the room, a small smile on her face.

"...What?"