I've done my nickle

Lucy glanced at the ground where the Skitty used to be. All she had wanted was a day off to do something interesting for once, and she already got stuck by this idiot. 

“Well why wouldn’t you just capture it if it keeps following you? Wouldn’t it make more sense to make it your own?”

He continued insulting the poor Skitty, and Hikari furrowed her eyebrows at him. But then he unexpectedly handed her an empty Pokeball. He tossed it her way and she caught it in the hand not holding the Skitty.

“Y-You want me to catch it?!” She was startled by his suddenness. She looked down at the kitten-like Pokemon. He nuzzled up against her chest. “Well, I have always dreamed of getting a Delcatty….”

She pulled out a pokeball and sent her Seviper after the tiny pink pokemon. One Poison Fang later, the puff was history, and Lucy whirled to face the man hiding behind her. She narrowed her eyes when she recognized him.

“Yoichi, you son of a bitch,” she growled, “You knocked me over because of a CAT? AGAIN?”

“Boy Luce am I glad to see you.  It’s always lovely to see your gorgeous smiling face when I need a hand.”  Yoichi picked himself up and brushed the dirt off of his pants.  “Also, it wasn’t just any cat.  That cat was a creature full of burning evil.  It follows me around every single time I’m in this town.  It doesn’t pay attention to anyone else.”  He folded his arms, looking at the spot where a Skitty had at one point been standing.  “Did you really need to sic your snake on that thing, I mean it’s evil but it wasn’t ‘completely annihilate it’ evil.”

She was just walking down the path that lead to where she planted yesterday to check on them when someone ran toward her at full speed. “Wait, hang on a second!” she yelled to the stranger as he headed straight for her. But he didn’t seem to hear her because seconds later, he ran into her, head-first. They collided hard and were both knocked off their feet.

On the way down, Hikari caught herself on her hands, but the stranger didn’t seem to be as lucky. Covered in dirt, they both picked themselves up off the ground. Hikari was about to ask what had him in such a panic but rather, he ran behind her.

“You’ve got to do something about that thing. Look at the evil look in its eyes.” he said to her. But Hikari was still puzzled until she heard a faint mewing coming from the ground. She looked down and saw the smallest Skitty she’d ever seen. She knew about what size they were supposed to be in the games, but this one was particularly tiny.

Hikari gasped at the kitten Pokemon. She knelt down and put her hand out to let it sniff her. The Pokemon seemed to smile up at her, so Hikari picked it up from under its front legs and cradled it.

     Focus turning to the light, Miho took a half-step back before taking another step forward. Various NPCs filed into view, their attention on the strangers, their intent unclear. Miho gritted her teeth. She was scared but she was becoming increasingly pissed off. Victory Road Online wasn’t marketed as a horror game but this was slowly turning into a frightening scenario. 

     Miho closed her eyes and exhaled an exasperated breath. “Let’s get this shit done, yeah?“ Concentrating her attention to the scowl on her features as to distract herself from her mounting fear and unease, Miho started to walk towards the NPCs. As she approached them, however, she noticed that very few were paying attention to her as opposed to Yoichi. 

“It’s just a notebook.”  He lifted his hands again to show he wasn’t holding anything else.  Yoichi flipped through the notebook to find a fresh page to begin taking notes on; as he clicked his pen he heard a nearby door slam open and looked up to see an NPC loading a rifle.  “What th-”  He managed to duck out of the way just in time for a bullet to obliterate a nearby telephone pole.

“What in the ever loving fu-”  Before he could even finish his sentence the NPC loaded another bullet and seemed to be roaring to fire a second round.  “Whoa, okay, let’s just calm down here.”  Yoichi side eyed Tsundoki.  “Did you know this game had guns?”

“No talking.”

Yoichi knocked his heels together and shut his mouth; he really wasn’t interested in getting his head blown off.  The man took a few steps off his porch, still aiming the gun towards the two players.  “We’re tired of you hoodlums running around our neighborhood stealing our stuff.  We’re done with it.”

“Uh...alright?  That’s why I’m her-”

“We know why you’re here.”

“Great.  So if I could just get some witness statem-”

     Silence returned as thought began to bubble. She was never one for puzzles and mystery. She hated the sort because there would be a guaranteed death of at least one and she always felt compelled to take notes. But if this was some NPC-related event then any information thrown their way had to be important. Games never usually threw red herrings and this hardly seemed like the type of thing that would end up signaling a plot twist. The beginnings of an idea started to formulate within her mind but she stayed quiet, allowing the conversation’s dynamics to rely mostly on Yoichi and Michi. For a moment, her gaze rested on the child. She couldn’t be related, right? Coincidences were a common thing in a world so small.

Footsteps neared the door and it swung wide open.  A man - assumed to be Michi’s father - scooped her up and immediately slammed the door in Yoichi’s face.  He stared at the door, shocked that he got shut out twice in one day in the same neighborhood.  “I...suppose we completed that mission?”  His Carracosta growled at a light that flicked on across the street.  Several NPC’s began exiting their houses.  They stood on their porches and just stared at the two players.

Karin was up and awake, snooping around her kitchen. There’s no food… she mentally moped. Technically, there was food—but only food that she did not like (more than likely purchased by one of the five squatters) and food that she would only eat in a cooked meal (like hell she was going to eat a plain egg). If she would not consume it (or if she could not prepare it in a way in which she would want to consume it), then it was not food. Why the fuck does Hugh have to be gone when there’s no—

—a loud slamming noise suddenly tore through the air. Karin rushed to the mansion’s main entrance, which was where the sound had originated. Upon arriving at the scene, she immediately clenched her teeth. One of the entrance’s two doors was lying flat on the ground. Looming over it, utterly unphased, was none other than Yoichi. “Kare-bear, have I got some news for you!” the policeman hollered.

“God fuckin’ dammit, Yoich!” Karin hissed, “If the news is that you’ve kicked down one of my doors for the fourth time this year—even though it’s only April—I’m well aware!”

“But that’s not what I wanted to tell you about.  The cherry blossom festival is going on and we need to go right now.”  Yoichi closed the last few steps and stood in front of Karin before shaking his head sighing.  “No, no you need to clean up.  You look like a hermit.  When’s the last time you brushed your hair?  You can’t go to a festival looking like a bridge troll.”  He shoved her away from the front door and towards the hallway that led to her room.

     She followed along after them in silence. Wary glances were cast over her shoulders as she walked. Many houses were dim but the porch and street lights lit like clockwork. Though bright, however, they did little to fend off the uneasiness settling about them. The area was quiet save for their footsteps and Michi’s humming, the noise echoing down long empty streets. Miho drew her jacket closer around herself. Sight flickered upwards at the sound of his voice. She frowned slightly. He knew the answer to that, or should be able to guess, which wasn’t good for her. Those were the type of questions meant to distract and she assumed he wanted to be distracted from the creeping edginess the neighborhood brought on.

     “No…” Miho was quiet again for a while before she hurried to fall into pace with him. “Are neighborhoods usually as quiet as this one?” Now it was her turn. “It feels like a set for the apocalypse or a horror movie.”

“Ah...no not normally.  At least not neighborhoods this close to the city.  It’s a little strange, but I suppose it must have something to do with those reports.  Still, I find it weird that they would be so wary of an officer.  You’d think after sending all those reports they’d be happy to see one.”  Yoichi was beginning to believe there was a lot more to this than what was just stated in the files.

     “Hi.” In comparison to Michi’s reaction, Miho simply held a hand up in greeting as she walked towards them. Crossing her arms and shifting her weight to one side, Miho nodded. “That would be a huge improvement.” She glanced at the cluster of houses; with the darkening skies, it looked almost ominous. Miho bit her lip then looked at Yoichi. “How was your night…thing?” It wasn’t that she was worried about him but rather she was concerned her fiddling had caused him trouble. All in all, it wasn’t his well-being but rather the fact that she may be at fault. Really.

“It’s some weird stuff.  I figured since we’re doing all this anyway, I might as well see why no one has bothered to come investigate these burglaries.”  Michi latched onto Yoichi’s hand and bounced up and down, clearly ready to head home again.  “Alrighty ‘chi, let’s get moving.”  She beamed at her new nickname and decided to take charge, leading the trio down the street.

    “Michi!” Miho called out. Michi’s shoes hit the sand hastily, sending up a cloud of dirt and dust as she made an abrupt break. Swiping down on her inventory again as the child waved goodbye to her friend, a bunny-themed jacket materialized in Miho’s arms. “Here, wear this. It’s getting a bit chilly.” Handing the jacket to the little one, Miho slowed down to allow Michi time to pull the jacket on. Taking the child’s hand, she faced forward and her lips set in their usual frown. The neighborhood had been creepy and the NPC interactions had been off. It was either some weird bug or they were reacting to something. Miho just hoped that the reaction would be over when they got there.

    Following close behind him and Michi, she looked up at the empty house. Pristine as it looked, there was an eerie air about it. Looking away from the home, Miho gently took Michi’s hand in hers as the pathway opened up to the streets once more. “Yoichi,” She began, turning her head to look in his direction. “I can take Michi over to the nearest nursery to wait it out…Message me when they call?”

It was curious that the NPCs reacted as strangely as they did, so as Yoichi made his way to the nearest Police Station he opened up his bulletins to see if anyone else had any strange encounters with the NPCs recently.  Nothing that immediately jumped out at him showed up, but he did note there had been several burglaries reported in the area. 

As Yoichi entered the station he immediately made a beeline for the front desk.  He slapped his hands on the table and braced himself for the worst.  “Listen, I want to switch shifts with whoever’s investigating the recent burglaries.”  The NPC working the desk lazily flipped through the book she was reading.

“There are no officers investigating.”

“Great, I’ll do it.”

The NPC set down her book and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.  She gazed up at him looking rather irritated.  “It’s not exactly high on the priority li-”

“That’s fine, if I investigate now then you won’t have to worry about it later.”  She stared at him silently for a moment before sighing and leaning back in her chair, waving him off.

We’ll need to call a few repairmen for that floor… five desks need to be replaced… two can be repaired… we’ll probably need seven new computers…Father will not be pleased with this mess. At least they didn’t get upstairs.

He snapped his attention back to the officer when he spoke.

“You and any other officers that come will take those two,” he gestured to the bound trainers, “and leave the rest of the mess in here to me. We’ve already had enough of a security breach here as it was. We don’t need any of your people where they’re not supposed to be. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

    Miho bit her lip again. Guiding Michi in front of her into a small half-hug, she inspected the house. Guilt started to gnaw at her and she puffed her cheeks in quiet competition to it. She didn’t need this now but she still felt responsible. Pursing her lips, she looked up at him. “You should go on ahead then, Yoichi.” Reaching behind her, she plucked a Pokeball from her bag. “I can do the rest from here. If anything goes down, I can use my Ralts and teleport us back. You have something you need to do soon, right?”

“I’ve got a better idea.”  He pulled out a notepad and pen that were tucked into one of the pouches on his belt and scribbled a note on it.  “We can get out of this...hostile environment and just leave a note.  They have my number now so when they do wander back we can just pop over again.  Two birds with one stone.”  

“This is like an episode of The Twilight Zone.  The Monsters are Due on Maple Street or something.”  He shook his head and ground his cigarette into the concrete to put it out before sticking the butt in one the free pouches attached to his belt.  “Let’s see if there’s a back door.  Maybe they have a key.  I’m honestly not against breaking into houses at this point.”

  Sight flicking upwards, she frowned. Miho felt the tiniest bit of guilt at having stolen his precious few hours. Though, she countered her own guilt, it was his job. The aide sighed. It was his job but he hadn’t signed up for all this. Great. She was feeling sorry for the stranger. Holding her tongue, she merely watched him as he walked up to an NPC’s house. Her brows furrowed with the man’s reaction. NPCs were unusual but an Officer shouldn’t elicit such a reaction…right?

  Walking forward, Miho knocked on the door, the sounds strangely loud in the hushed environment. Door opening with a prolonged creak, the man glanced at Miho’s plastered grin and Michi’s wide-eyed face. “Hello, sir, she’s lost. We’d like your help.” The conversation was short with strained politeness. Turning around, Miho immediately dropped her smile in favor for a scowl. She waited until the man had closed his door to talk. “House 2041, I think. Turns out they’re looking for a kid, might be Michi.” Miho tilted her head upwards to look at the sky before sighing once more. She frowned. “We should get her home soon. This place doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Let’s try this again.”  This time he made sure Michi was in sight before ringing the doorbell.  The ding could be heard even from the front porch, but there wasn’t much movement inside.  He pressed the bell one more time and waited another minute before giving up.