Mari frowned when this guy didn’t even seem to notice her.  He was just hanging onto one Pokemon and walking with another.  Who had two Pokemon out at once?

Well, she did sometimes when she felt bad about them being shoved in those balls, but that was when she was stopped somewhere.  When she was on the road, not so much.  There was too much potential to meet someone or something that would wipe the floor with her and her Pokemon.  She would avoid those kinds of situations whenever she could.  This guy and his lycanroc looked easy enough to just jump.  That could be fun.  Maybe could scoop the money up that fell out of his pockets and go hang out in town for a bit.

She nudged Bandit.  The liepard gave the loudest call he could.  He, at least, was raring to go.  “Hey,” she called out herself to hopefully catch this guy’s attention.  Now that she could see the blue-looking thing in his arms a bit, though, she fidgeted slightly.  He didn’t have a bunch of water-types, did he?  That would suck.  She’d have to go spend a night in the Pokemon Center if that was the case.

The world was nothing like he had been told, that had been clear almost immediately. It had only been a few hours since his escape, a very narrow one, and he had now reached the city he’d seen at the horizon. Actually, he was a bit inside it now and it was now dark. For the first time since his escape, he had slowed down and descended from the roofs to the streets. He’d been warm until now, but as he slowed down, the sweat was cooling him off and it was first now that he noticed how cold it actually was. Crossing his arms over his chest, he rubbed his hands over his bare skin. Even if he hadn’t experienced cold weather before, he knew he needed to either find shelter or more clothes. His body could handle more than the average human’s, but he wasn’t invincible. How to succeed with any of that, he didn’t know. It would be easy enough to break into some place, but he also knew that wasn’t right.

Yoyo was pacing in an alley, trying to stay away from the larger streets where he could more easily be spotted, when he heard someone scream. Without hesitation, he ran towards the sound, which was probably a stupid idea, but he couldn’t help it.

What he found was a man pushing a woman up against a wall and she was clearly not happy about it. He couldn’t let this go by him. “Hey, ugly!” he yelled, gaining the man’s attention. The man was at least twice Yoyo’s size, but he had no doubt he could easily take him down. He could see from a mile away that this man was slow, which was to the boy advantage, but if the man hit him, he was very sure it was going to hurt like hell.

Immediately, her fingers clenched around the flask on her hip. 

             “ Sweet Ancestors above... “

This starter is for @coffeedetective

Mair wasn’t expecting too much business that day. It was raining heavily and all of her appointments had called to cancel. She didn’t expect any walk ins. She was surprised to see someone enter her shop.

Honestly, Mari hadn't expected to see anybody involved in the warehouse situation ever again. She didn't even think about it that often, unless she was wondering for a brief moment if anything ever came of the anonymous tip that was supposed to go out.

Really, she figured the three would flee the state. She didn't think one would be watching her from across the street, waiting at a crosswalk. It had even taken her a second to recognize him, and she considered that a second too long.

Bandit was pacing around Mari, stopping sometimes to look down the path.  Mari was just sitting in the grass, waiting.  She knew exactly why Bandit was acting anxious.  Someone was coming.  Mari counted her pokeballs, making sure she had them all.  She hoped whoever it was had a lot of grass pokemon.  She’d love an easy fight.  

@coffeedetective

The following is an excerpt from a journal kept by one nineteen-year-old Marian Cochran.  

September 6, 2012

She’s out!  Viper was paroled!

Thank god.  Things have sucked since I got out.  I hate it.  Working as a cashier is crap - I’ve dealt with one too many ‘let me see your manager’ assholes - and I can’t even do anything fun.  Nobody wants to do anything with me anymore.  I can’t even get my friends from high school to talk to me.  It’s like I caught the plague or something.  

You’d think with how big Midland is, word wouldn’t get around to everybody.  It’s probably different with people I used to know, since they’d wonder where I’d gone, but still!  

I can’t even get my parents to talk to me, though, so it’s not like it’s that surprising anymore.

But that’s what makes is soooo great!  Because Viper actually likes me!  She doesn’t care that I was in jail!  She was, too!  And she had the best idea ever!

I don’t have to work at that stupid place anymore.

And I don’t have to talk to my probation officer anymore.

And I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.

Because she says we can leave.  Just like that!  I hadn’t even considered it.  But she makes a ton of sense.  I don’t have anyone here but her.  I hate what I’m doing.  And she says I can make so much more money if I just quit working altogether and start stealing things again.  She even said she’d teach me how!  I’m halfway there already:  I can pick locks!  I just have to learn how to sneak around, right?

And honestly, if nobody wants me here, what’s the point of staying, anyways?  What’s left for me?

We’re going tomorrow night.  Headed to some bigger city, she said.  ‘Big city, big opportunities!’

@coffeedetective