Chapter 3

~Jack Blake~

Stepping out of the forest felt amazing. Liberating. It felt like finding home after being lost for a long time. Which was why he really wasn't in the mood to deal with this shit.

"Hand over your money and all your valuables if you want to keep your life!"

He sighed. In front of him was a fellow, dressed in black with his face obscured. He was well built at around 1.80m with a decent physique. The Pokémon he was using for this attempt at robbery was a Stunky.

They left the forest at dusk and this guy seemed to want to use the twilight to score some money. It wasn't the worst of ideas but he really should choose his targets better. With a quick step while lowering his body, he slipped out of his field of view. The startled Skunky was just preparing for an attack when it was suddenly hit with a seed that quickly sprouted and grew all over him, restraining his movements.

The robber had no idea what was happening and went down as clueless as he ever was after being hit in the neck with a bit of Aura coating his hand. The Aura invading his body shocked his nervous system and he flopped to the ground bonelessly.

Looking at the heap on the floor and the overgrown bundle just a few metres away, he sighed once again. 'Was this really necessary? Why did that dude decide to ruin my mood just after we hyped ourselves up?'

He didn't find an answer to his question and picked the guy up instead. He then reached for the empty Pokéball that had fallen from his hand and stepped up to the brambles that were holding the Skunky down. Even though it had the Poison Typing, which resisted the Grass Typing, the difference in strength was just too big for it to overcome the attack, making it quite pitiful.

"Look, fam. You have two choices here. Either you return yourself and stay inside until I hand you guys over to the local police or I break the ball and leave you here. Defenseless. Just beside the entrance of an area filled with predatory Pokémon."

It took the mon less than 5 seconds to make the choice. Transforming into a red beam, it returned to it's 'home'. Since he couldn't shrink the ball, he put it into one only his backpack's side-pockets. Glancing down at Phantump, who floated beside him proudly, he reached down to softly pat her head.

"Well done. You waited until it was preoccupied with me and you hit it from it's blind spot. A perfectly executed surprise attack."

She beamed up at him and he could feel his mood rise with her enthusiasm. Putting this unnecessary episode behind him, he dragged the idiotic criminal behind him. He didn't really worry about him waking up at the rough treatment. If he did, he'd just be punched out again. 'In fact, please do wake up. I still have some frustrations to work out.'

For the first time, he truly took in what he knew as Route 205. His smile returned fully at the picture that presented itself in front of him after they stepped from the twilight into the last rays of sunshine. Those were gleaming on the water's surface just down the road while several Lotads were playing around in the natural pond right before the city's entrance. A wooden walkway spanned over it, allowing easy traversal as proven by the last travelers hurrying in the direction of Eterna City.

Some more mischievous Lotads were trying to snipe them with weak Water Sports and Water Guns while giggling away. Those hit were either a bit annoyed or jolly enough to laugh about their misfortune. One especially daring little girl started a splash war with those rascals and was loosing badly while laughing.

'This is the idyllic picture I wanted to see when leaving the forest.' He looked down at the guy he was still holding by his leg. 'Not this idiot trying to rob me.' He could feel the minuscule weight that had settled on his head when Phantump decided she didn't want to float any longer. After taking in the scene for some more moments, he decided it was time to get a move on.

Soon they reached the walkway and he avoided a Water Gun from a nearby Lotad and wagged his finger with a grin.

"You'll have to do better than that."

He smiled provocatively at the clearly pretty young Pokémon that seemed to actually be pouting at him. He was in a playful mood so he decided to humour them a bit. That first try was all a distraction as from the other side, there were several of his relatives readying their own attacks.

It seemed they chose him as their collective target. He chuckled a bit as he let go of the robber's leg to avoid the first shots by sidestepping. For the next few, he bobbed down, letting them shoot harmlessly over his head.

The shots were getting more daring as they started to cooperate actively and his evasive maneuvers turned into a real workout as they challenged his acrobatic abilities. He was having fun if he were to be honest but all good things had to end.

A rather strong-looking Ludicolo appeared from the other side of the Pond and angrily called out to the group of Lotads playing around. They stiffened before hurrying over to who he assumed to be their mother.

One of them turned around and waved at him and he waved back, causing some excited chittering among them. When he started to pay attention to his surroundings again, he noticed that they had pulled an audience. The little daring girl from before. She was seven, maybe eight years old.

Sporting turquoise hair, fixed in place with a hair clip in the form of an azure flower, she pulled off the main character look quite well. She was wearing a white summer dress and no footwear, opting to carry her sandals around instead. Her face was split by a beaming smile that made her green eyes sparkle with childish delight as she came up to him and called out in excitement.

"Those were some awesome moves, mister! Where did you learn to bend like that? I wanna do that too!"

She was jumping up and down in front of him and he smiled a bit helplessly at her excitement. It reminded him of one of his cousins from his earlier life. She was just as lively and mouthy as hell.

"Self-taught, I'm afraid. I lived in the wilds for some time to temper myself so I had to learn how to dodge and dodge well at that. Learning those 'awesome moves' as you put it was more out of necessity than anything else. 3 points out of 10 for comfort, though. Can't recommend the experience to growing girls."

She lost some of her excitement but bounced back almost immediately.

"I'm Amelia by the way. Mom said if I talk to someone, I have to introduce myself since it's good manners."

He hummed a bit and nodded.

"True enough I suppose. The name's Jack. And this lazy fella is Phantump. She's like family to me."

Amelia looked down and saw his little one waving at her from his shadow with amazement.

"How did I not see her before? And why is her lower half in the ground? Is she a ghost?!"

He blinked. Right. Phantumps were not native to this region. Most people wouldn't know her species here. And she was a child who probably wasn't truly educated in all things Pokémon yet.

"Well, yes. She's a ghost type. But the reason you didn't see her before is that she was annoyed that I was moving around so much and hid inside of my shadow to get some peace and quiet. Sorry, by the way. I got a bit carried away."

The last statement was directed at Phantump, who waved it away nonchalantly with a fake casual air. He smiled gently. She was getting more and more expressive and that included quite a bit of sass. He loved that she was developing a personality unique to herself. It made him proud that she felt secure enough with him to do that.

Not thinking about their audience for a moment, he knelt down and pulled her out of the shadow and into his arms again. She quickly protested with a panicked 'Phaaaahh!' as if to say 'Not in front of others!' but as always, he ignored it and cuddled her until she half-sulked half-enjoyed the affection.

"If you weren't as cute, I would have less reasons to hug you. But let's be honest here. You'll always be cute in my eyes."

He murmured lowly to her, making sure only she heard him. He had the distinct feeling that she just rolled her eyes at him but it was honestly hard to tell with with those pale blue wavering lights.

"Awww that's sooo cute!"

The sudden outburst turned the attention back to Amelia, who was wringing her hands as if trying to stop them from doing something else. 'She wants to pat her, eh?' He came to this conclusion because her eyes contained the same fervour he felt every time she was doing something especially adorable. He looked down at his little girl, who was looking right back.

They held the eye-contact for a moment before she let out a resigned 'Phaah...'. That was Amelia's permission to pat her head and as such, he let her know. With a silent squeal, she patted Phantump's head with surprising care, causing her to release a content 'Phaah.' before she could stop it from slipping past her mouth.

~...~ ~...~ ~...~

Soon they were following a babbling Amelia into the city as they decided to finally move on. He found it a bit strange that neither she nor anyone else had remarked on the fact yet that he was dragging another person behind himself into town. Even stranger was the fact that all those who did notice just shook their heads with either amusement or annoyance.

He got the feeling that he wasn't the first one to do this. And probably to the same person too. He glanced down at the unconscious idiot. 'You are a special kind of dumb, ain't cha?... I probably didn't help his intelligence any by slamming the back of his head against every single log that made up the walkway.'

Musing idly on this matter, he continued following the girl who told him that her mother could help him with everything he'd need. Since it would be dark soon, he decided to make sure she made it home in one piece anyways so checking if there was truth to her statement or if she was just a child bragging about their parents made no difference to him.

"Aaaand we are here!"

She stopped in front of a quaint little house, painted yellow, with a sizable garden leading to and slightly beyond the edge of the City. Suddenly, there was a small commotion from the garden and a small dog like creature jumped over the fence with an enthusiastic 'Groooowl' as it made it's way towards them only to playfully tackle a giggling Amelia to the ground. It then proceeded to douse her face in spit by licking every single square millimetre of it.

"Ewww, stop that Ramses! How often do I have to tell you not to lick my face? It's icky!"

'She would be more convincing if she wasn't still giggling.' He thought with a wry smile. The hair colour as well as the Pokémon gave him an inkling why she thought her mom would be able to help him. His hunch was proven correct when the door opened and a fondly exasperated woman stepped out with her arms crossed in front of her rather modest chest.

Her eyebrows were pulled into a stern line, though the amusement glimmering in her amber orbs gave her away as much as the slightest of smirks on the corner of her burgundy lips. She was dressed casually with jeans and a light yellow blouse. Her sleeves were rolled up, hinting at the fact that she was doing some manual labour before coming out to greet her wayward daughter. He nearly laughed when he heard her call out.

"Amelia Roselia Jenny! What did I tell you about staying out too late?!"

She had the 'Mother Voice' down for sure. The girl stiffened and looked at her mom in panic before turning around to search for help from him. He sighed. He didn't want to be pulled into this but he did have a bit of a hand in making her get back late.

"It's partly my fault. The Lotads outside of the city ambushed me and we got a bit carried away. Your daughter made sure nothing happened to me."

Hearing him covering for her, Amelia nodded with enthusiasm under the suspicious eyes of her mom. Finally, after a long moment of sizing both of them up, she sighed.

"Fine. No punishment this time. But don't let it happen again, young lady. Or else!"

Amelia giggled and nodded before running towards the garden with Ramses, the Growlithe, hot on her heels.

"How much of that was actually true?"

She asked him in lieu of an introduction. He laughed before making a 'so-so' gesture with his hand.

"She did tell me you could handle all my problems, which counts I guess. Now that I know you are law enforcement, I finally get why she wasn't surprised at me dragging that fella with me."

He held up the robber, making Officer Jenny's left eyebrow rise. There was recognition and annoyance in her eyes before she pressed her index finger and her thumb against the bridge of her nose.

"Damnit, Marko. How often do you want to go through that spiel?"

This time, it didn't sound like fond exasperation at all. She sounded as if she was done with the shit of this guy. 'So he is a repeat offender.' He mused as she went into the house without telling him anything. She came out again with handcuffs and a strange device that looked a bit like a metallic cork that was slightly too short as well as a device that looked like a the derpy child of a walkie talkie and mobile phone.

"You did take his Pokéball with you, right?"

She asked him while cuffing the idiot named Marko. He nodded sedately as he pulled the ball out of the pocket he pushed it into. She reacted with surprise at the fact that the ball was activated.

"He had time to pull his Skunky on you?"

She asked curiously while sealing the ball and... corking it? He shook his head at the question.

"No, he already had it ready when I left the forest. He tried to ambush me. But..."

He pointed at himself with the words 'Martial Artist' and at Phantump with the words 'Hidden in my shadow'.

"Ah."

Was her answer as she registered the situation the guy slipped into. She then looked him over a bit worriedly.

"You didn't rough him up too badly, right? He's an idiot and a small time thug but he also helps old people cross the street and carries home their groceries."

'What?...' He really couldn't get his head around that. What the heck was wrong with that dude? Why not decide for one side? If he wanted to be a good Samaritan just be that and the same counted for being a criminal. He sighed for the umpteenth time this day.

"He should be fine. He'll probably have a killer headache when he wakes up, though. As for the Skunky, we threatened it into submission after I knocked the dude, Marko, out."

She nodded as if she'd expected the answer or at least something close to it before calling someone, presumably law enforcement, on the strange device. After a short conversation, she turned to Jack and looked at him curiously. She didn't say anything but kept staring at him with those questioning eyes and slowly it became a bit uncomfortable.

"If you want to ask a question or three, why don't we get this over with? Staring at me won't really tell you much."

He crossed his arms and returned her somewhat amused gaze with a stern one of his own. She was teasing him, he realised. 'She should have a small measure of trust for me since I brought her daughter home and her own instincts are probably telling her that I have no ill will against her or the town.'

Trusting his own deductions, he made that suggestion and it was quickly accepted. He didn't expect to promptly be invited to dinner, though. Sitting in the living room he made sure she was truly ok with it and wasn't just offering out of politeness.

"Are you sure you want to host a stranger at your table? I wouldn't want to impose."

It was only proper to ask before simply accepting. While he'd like to eat something other than highly nutritious protein based poffins after such a long time, he didn't want to make them uncomfortable. She waved his concerns away, though.

"That's the least I can do for accompanying my rebellious daughter. I know she can be a handful but I love her with all my heart."

He nodded with a slight smile while looking at Phantump, who was resting on his lap, slipping in and out of sleep.

"I'm not truly a father but I get it. I think she is a natural member of her species instead of an egg-born one. When I found her, she was certainly utterly alone in an area where her kind isn't native. It also didn't take long for her to trust me, making it more likely that she was a newborn. I'm glad I found her. She certainly makes life interesting."

He missed the soft smile he got from the police officer. He did however hear her teasing remark.

"Well, you two do look like father and daughter. You guys have the same blockhead."

Strangely, it was a completely awake Phantump who got slightly indignant while he just laughed. He could be a bit hard-headed. He knew that. So calling him a blockhead wasn't entirely wrong.

After some more friendly banter, he asked if he could possibly take a shower to wash off the months long stay in the forest.

"Sure, up the stairs, first door to the left is the bathroom. There should be some gender neutral shampoo too so help yourself to that."

One heavenly rebirth via shower later, he returned as a new man and searched out his host to thank her for her grace. He found her in the kitchen. It was a well equipped one that felt homely and well used. It was clear that she cooked most meals herself from the practiced way she moved through the room while cooking, making him respect her more.

While the scope of cities was a bit smaller in this world than in his past one for the simple reason that there were way less people in much more space, it was still decently sized. As such, crime must have been a daily occurrence. Finding time to care that much for her homelife must have been a challenge.

When he carefully inquired, she waved it off and told him that she was only responsible for the area from the forest to this corner of the city, and only in a supervisory function for an entire team of law enforcement officers. Additionally, there were teams stationed in other sectors too and she could ask for reinforcement any time she needed it.

He shook his head a bit. He didn't know much about his old world's systems, but he couldn't help but find the way things were run here a bit strange. 'To each their own, I guess. If it works well, why change it?' Still, it had to be a major workload and she still found time to care for her daughter. Inspirational was the word he associated with her.

After being pulled into cooking together after stating that he had some experience in the kitchen, which was surprisingly fun, they had dinner. Amelia was entirely too stoked at their presence and was vibrating in her seat, much to their collective amusement. After a scrumptious meal, they decided it was time for the professional aspect of his presence.

"What I'd like to know first is quite simple. What's an an Advanced-Stage Trainer doing in this corner of the region?"

'How did she get the impression that I'm that strong? I haven't even tested out how far along I am and we are pretty green with, well, everything. Better be as honest as possible.'

Instead of verbally answering, he simply slid over his ID. It was as Civilian as they got. Not even a registered Pokémon on it. She looked at it with complete incomprehension before looking back at him with dead eyes. Then her glance wandered down to Phantump, with whom he was playing absentmindedly.

"...Eh?"