It was decided that Wendy would patrol the back and alleyways of the building, Shin would take the front and left, and Terry would take the right as they searched for the dealers at large. When Terry asked why he was only given one side to patrol, Wendy only answered with an honest, "You aren't responsible enough. At least Shin had the nerves to talk to the chief about another folder."

At that point, Shin had to stop the car to separate the wild lashes of his friend on the level-headed girl.

When they finally managed to arrive at the scene without any injuries, they proceeded to get into position, and Shin took this time to find the dumpsters that Wendy had told him to hide behind. The stench of garbage stung his eyes, but he chose to stay vigilant, his eyes scanning for any suspicious stragglers on the streets in front of him. He began rotating off from dumpster to dumpster, switching areas as he went. There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary except for the occasional street Pokémon going about their days rummaging for food.

As he began to transition to the next receptacle, he felt a firm push against his back forcing him to trip over his feet onto his palms. His gaze then locked on Wendy's frosted ones who surveyed him intently, unfazed by the nudge of his weight. "Why are you here? This is the back of the building," she interrogated tonelessly.

Shin backed up slightly, still hiding from the open. "Sorry, I didn't notice," he replied truthfully. "I thought this was a subsection." Wendy pulled on the corners of her lips and readjusted the collar of her black uniform.

That was when Shin noticed the red and white pokéball clipped to her obsidian belt, reflecting the distant glow of the sun. He found himself rather surprised, as she tended to live her life alone from the periodic moments he saw her.

Out of spite, he decided that he would take the time to get to know his new teammate, at least so that he could deal with her better when Terry had his outbursts.

"You have a partner?" he asked. The girl nodded, extracting a few headshots of considerable suspects from her breast pocket and looking over them. Shin bit his lip from the awkward silence he had received. "May I ask what Pokémon?"

"A Ninetales," she answered plainly, her eyes darting rapidly to each side as she examined the details of the photos.

"Does it have a name?"

"She does." Shin waited patiently for her response, but Wendy only slipped the pictures back into her vest and began to peak around the corner.

"...Okay." There seemed to be a hesitation in her actions as if she were pondering making any subtle mistake.

Without turning to face him, she spoke with a hint of caution in her droned voice. "You have a partner?"

Shin could only manage an exhale at the irking question, his lips dry. He watched her still body. "No, I don't," he said.

This caught her attention.

"Ever?"

Shin dithered in his reply. "It's complicated." The man wiped the sweat that had begun to drench his now shiny forehead. He drew in the air tentatively, gently closing his eyes. "I wanted one as a kid and... let's just say that I knew what it was like for a brief amount of time before it was all over."

Shin could feel his own mouth move for him, and his thoughts were taken aback. Why on Earth did he tell her that? A complete acquaintance that he had only learned the name of that day? He had never even been this detailed with Terry about that time. It was as if his head had started to tip an overflowing pot, his secrets and nightmares seeping out from the brim.

But when he could read Wendy's expression once more, her orbs appeared to be glinting with a perception of understanding, like she could sense the vulnerability in his what he had just said. The two adverted each other's stares for a split second.

"...Lu."

"What?"

"My Ninetales' name is Lu. I found her as a Vulpix being attacked by a horde of Mandibuzz and saved her. She'd been helping me get here ever since." Her explanations were short and clean, leaving no detail out of place. It was like she refused to dive into the true emotions of her experiences, beckoning something inside of Shin to implore for more.

"You've wanted to come here?" he asked her. Wendy leaned against the brick of the alleyway, cupping her gloved hand on her upper arm with a disdained stare.

"My parents wanted me to become a lawyer. I wanted to be an officer. Lu was the only one there by my side to help me." She kept her gaze on her pokéball as she elucidated. "My parents hate me, but here I am now, and I'm satisfied."

A hush swept by her, and, as if only for a precious second, the expression on her face shifted into one of deep pain. It was then that Shin knew that behind that confident façade was someone as scarred and traumatized as he. It divulged the man of an eerie thought: She was his own mirror, glaring back at him in resent of the past. Constantly fighting for what she believed in despite the consequences with her Ninetales, just as Shin had always wanted to do.

He found it odd that in the span of such a short amount of time, it felt as if he had known the young woman for his entire life.

Shin finally saw Wendy take this time to recuperate from her story, blinking away the thoughts scattered through her brain. She then turned to face him, her monochrome mien plastered in front of him like nothing had happened. "Why are you still here?"

"Eh?"

"You need to go back to your area. It's been unattended for a while. You might have missed something."

Shin could only gape at her sudden change in mindset. She mimicked that of a Ditto, transforming from one specimen to another without breaking a sweat. He sighed, lifting himself from his resting position. "I'll see you around." Before he prepared himself to dodge back over to a previous hiding spot, he stopped himself, loosening the strain that had filled his muscles throughout his entire conversation. "Lu is a pretty name," he added. Shin then darted away, but not until hearing the movement of Wendy's clothes from behind him along with a slight, intrigued pause.

While Shin snuck out and around to the front of the facility, he spotted Terry grumbling to himself and kicking the pavement with his scraped leather shoe, completely exposed of his cover. He had his arms crossed, his fingers tapping the creases of his elbows. "Arceus, I hate that woman! She thinks she can do so well with everything she does...!" He punted an empty plastic water bottle on the ground, watching it hit the brick walls. "I'll show her. I'll get those damn dealers. Then we'll see who's the 'responsible one' here." His sight soon caught onto the lingering Shin and he scoffed, pink flushing to his cheeks. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be patrolling?"

"Aren't you supposed to be hiding?" Shin countered, earning an irritated growl from his friend.

"I'll know when to hide!" Terry clenched his hands into tight balls of fury and his knuckles began to go pale.

Shin exhaled, remembering his recent encounter with Wendy. "Wendy's got a point. If those dealers see you, they'll want to avoid the area."

"I'm aware, dammit! I know what I'm doing!" Terry retorted rather loudly. "Don't compare me to what she can do— whatever she can do!"

Shin bit his lip, praying that no one had picked up on Terry's outraged torrents. He was aware of Terry's short temper. It rarely bothered him, and he was one of the only people who were able to tolerate it, let alone settle it down. The man found that it required him to be by his friend's side for the majority of their training days, and later, he noticed that Terry had taken quite a liking to Shin's leveled presence. However, it never stopped his fiery attitude from having a burst or two on occasion. It usually led to very loud and intense interactions until Shin managed to extinguish the flames.

Shin hastily shook his head in a desperate attempt to pacify him. "Ter, I'll never compare you to her no matter what her skills are, you know that. You're more important to me than she'll ever be," he reassured him sincerely. "But please, just try to calm down for now. I just don't want us scaring away the criminals, and I don't want you to be vulnerable to an attack." Shin held out his left hand at the redhead. "Now come on, let's—"

A faint clanking of metal echoed from a nearby alley.

The two men stopped in their tracks and looked over in the direction of the sound, eyes wide and ears alert. A cold nip dispersed from the back of Shin's neck. He began to listen hard for another inkling of sound.

Ever so quietly, the young man heard sidling footsteps approaching closer, and with it, the clicking of nails on the smooth concrete. "Terry..." Shin mouthed his friend's name, glancing over to see him just as attentive as he. His hand hovered over the pokéball on his belt like a gun, just in case if anything began to escalate.

From within the darkness, a Pokémon revealed itself: A slender Umbreon in a crouched position, the top of its ear torn off by what seemed to be a sharp object. It was clearly in a battle pose, baring its fangs for the men to see and preparing to strike at any possible minute. Terry cursed to himself. "Dammit, it's probably a guard Pokémon!"

Shin started to back away slowly. "We need to get Wen--"

The Umbreon suddenly leaped at Shin claws first, getting snagged on the fabric of his vest as he tried perilously to rip it off. It snarled through its teeth, eyes gleaming an unsettling red as it pinned him down to the ground and mercilessly attacked at Shin's chest; It was as if needles began to stab into his flesh. Right before him, Shin witnessed an immense ball of shadows amalgamate dangerously close to his face. He raised his arms instinctively to shield himself from the point-blank shot, but he soon felt the weight of the Pokémon being thrust off of him from a heavy collision.

To his relief, the familiar sound of O'Malley's roar rang through his ears. Shin shoved himself up to examine the scene, spotting Terry fiercely ordering attacks onto the Umbreon. "Throat Chop!" The Incineroar lunged at the other dark type with its hand firmly poised for impact.

However, the Umbreon only smirked cunningly.

Shin observed in complete horror as its body seemed to transmogrify in front of his very eyes. Its fur faded from its charcoal pallet to one of dirtied pearl. Its voluminous tail thinned and split at the tip, its ears fanning into long bristly tufts that curled around the skeleton of its new face.

And when O'Malley's attack had reached the creature, it swiftly tossed the large feline aside as if he were a mere feather. Terry's golden eyes terrifyingly widened. "What the hell is that thing...?!" he choked. Shin, who was still absorbing what he had just witnessed, managed to grab ahold of his concentration.

It changed... into an Espeon?!

...

...Why does this all seem so familiar?

"Use a dark-type move, hurry!" he found himself ordering. Without hesitation, Terry pointed a finger at the alien target.

"Darkest Lariet!"

The Incineroar spun wildly, only to be met with a harsh Quick Attack to the side of his body. He stumbled, and the Pokémon's shape began to transform again in the blink of an eye. From its mouth, as its newly-obtained fins rippled in the wind, an intense burst of water surged at O'Malley, sending him crashing down.

Terry flinched at the sight of his damaged partner, ignoring the Vaporeon that had begun to prowl ever closer to him.

Shin tensed. "Terry! Move!" He hurled himself at the Pokémon before it could pounce, and it growled as Shin glared down at it.

But as the man drew up the energy to immobilize it with his grip, the Pokémon's fur spiked abruptly, and powerful volts were sent into Shin's body. Every vein and artery felt like searing needles shooting under his skin as if he were being cooked alive by a neverending bolt of lightning-- he couldn't even force out a scream.

"Shin!" Terry tackled the Jolteon with full strength, only managing to get himself slightly shocked in the process before the Pokémon lost its concentration and the electricity broke around it. It hissed at him, and its body morphed into a mongrel-like state as if it were a pure fluid. Its eyes somehow continued to shine a piercing red, despite its alterations, and aspects of the creature began to take on different forms of its many evolutions, its colors flashing like a bloodied canvas, leaving its spectators speechless and utterly confounded.

Then it crouched once more, running its disfigured tongue onto its curving lips, ready to bite into its new prey...

"Lu! Giga Impact!"

A blur of blue flew past, taking the Pokémon with it and smashing it into the cracked walls. Shin caught a glimpse of the graceful Ninetales that bounded back to survey its enemy in the new crevices of the walls with its sapphire gaze. He finally turned to Terry, who had realized his chance.

"Fire Punch!" O'Malley rose haggardly from the rubble, his fist beginning to kick up crackling flames. With one final effort, he slammed the Pokémon farther into the brick barrier.

It yelped, yet somehow, when it dropped to the floor in defeat, it looked as if it had only sustained minor injuries from a light battle. In a flash, it quickly retreated from the alley in an unknown direction like a phantom, still in its undefined physique.

Terry rushed over to Shin's side, who was still dazed from the acute attacks he had received. "Oh god, are you alright?!" He placed a hand under Shin's head to support it as he coughed away the lingering smoke.

"Barely," Shin replied weakly, still wheezing. Terry hoisted him up and stood by as Shin attempted to regain his balance. As they did so, Wendy ran from around the corner to the site, calling back Lu to her side. She gawked at the two, her heart racing.

"What happened here?" she demanded. Shin exchanged her look with a baffled one of his own.

"I... have no clue at all," he responded, recollecting the events of the battle. His body began to tingle, numb from the current that had previously passed through him.

"Wendy, Shin's been hurt and O'Malley needs to be healed. We'll tell you everything when we get back to the station," Terry told her urgently, hobbling Shin over to the car as his Incineroar followed closely behind. Shin gripped his shoulder tightly, a lurch forming in his throat as he stared into the alley once more.

"Terry, wait, we have to--"

"He's right, Shin," Wendy suddenly interrupted, a small wavering in her voice. "We need to get back. We can come by again later." She tapped Lu with her pokéball and the Ninetales disappeared into a red light. "I'll drive." Terry tossed the keys he had stealthily snatched up from Shin's back pocket into her outstretched hand.

No... Wait...!

As much as Shin wanted to plead, his body had been too tired to speak another word. He could only reminisce at the sights he had seen that afternoon...

...and the rusted metal collar that he had caught hanging ominously from the Pokémon's neck.

And as he was carried to the back seat of his beige SUV, he could have sworn he saw a pair of luminous crimson eyes watching him from afar...

...waiting, growing ever impatient, for his presence.