Part Three - Invasion

Chapter Twenty Three

Tracer stepped out of the mini market, clutching a fresh cigar in two claws while his other paw tucked the newly bought pack into the inside pocket of his trench coat. Clean air washed over him and he took in a deep breath of it before reaching for his lighter. Widget scratched behind his ear with a rear paw then looked up at him with a little grin. Before the eevee could speak, a loud ring came from Tracer's pocket.

The delphox reached inside and pulled out his pocket computer. Socket. He let out a long sigh and stubbed out his cigar on the wall of the building before answering. It was better than letting it burn away to nothing.

"Yes, Mayor?" He recoiled slightly from the screen. Oddly enough, she had an ice pack pressed against her jaw. "Have you had a tumble, ma'am?"

"No, I have not had a tumble," she snapped. "I'm ringing you as a last resort, Tracer. I know you're terribly busy rounding up space pi - wait a moment. Are you in Meta City?"

Tracer glanced around at the high buildings and clear sky then nodded. "Yes. Not too far from your office if you want me to meet you there?"

"No. No, that won't be appropriate at all. You are meant to be in the outskirts! What are you doing in my city?"

"Buying cigars," he said. "They don't sell them in the outskirts, and I'm not reducing myself to those thin, vile sticks they try to pass off as cigarettes."

Socket sighed and removed the ice pack from her face to reveal a rather large, red bump around her jaw.

"Please tell me you didn't bring that ragamuffin of an eevee with you?" she groaned.

Tracer glanced down at Widget who returned his look with raised eyebrows. He flinched away and looked around blankly at the buildings. To cover his tracks, Tracer pretended he was doing nothing more than trying to locate the source of a convenient siren.

"Of course not," he said. "What can I do for you?"

"Can anyone else hear this call?" she asked.

"I can lower my voice."

"Good. Do that. Now listen, this is of dire importance, Tracer, and under no circumstances are you to let this out." She paused to retrieve a fresh ice pack off Tweak. "A human has found their way into System. I tried to apprehend it, but it attacked me, as you can see."

Tracer raised an eyebrow and leant back against the wall. "A human? Are you sure you're not sick, Mayor?"

"No, I am not sick. They attacked me, then escaped into the streets. Goodness knows where they are now. Two of my guards fainted and the one who didn't is receiving expensive therapy to deal with the shock! Before some unfortunate catastrophe unfolds, I need to you apprehend this human and bring it back to me."

"All right." Tracer scratched his ear. He didn't remotely believe the gothitelle's nonsense. Too many late nights, that's what it was. He sighed. "What does it look like?"

"At the moment, an ape-like creature with long black hair, wearing a white robe."

"At the moment?" he repeated.

"Yes. At other times it looks like the prehistoric pokemon, archeops."

Widget let out a loud laugh and shook his head. "She really has gone mad."

Socket's face fell and she dropped the ice pack. "You did bring that ragamuffin with you!"

Widget grimaced and mouthed a quick apology to Tracer. The delphox shook his head and sighed.

"Sorry, Mayor," he said. "Go on. Human. Archeops."

"You don't remotely believe me, do you?" she said. "Well, that can be easily rectified. I am going to forward you the CCTV footage. It may aid you in your search. Do be careful. We have this creature listed as 'dangerous and unstable'. Also be aware I will pay you well for your services. We'll cover that in the email."

The image cut out and Tracer lowered his computer with another sigh. She really did sound like she believed it, and if she was willing to send him CCTV footage then something must have happened. Maybe something that had been completely misunderstood? A rogue attack from another psychic type pokemon inflicting the gothitelle with an illusion. Maybe even a rogue zorua or zoroark had invaded the mansion disguising itself as a monster the mayor had described as a human. Those things were grotesque in pictures.

His computer beeped and he opened up the email. One video file, marked with the current day's date. He crouched down enough for Widget to see and lit up his cigar as he waited for it to load.

The image was crisp, showing every detail of colour in the sparse room. The same date stood in the top right corner, joined by seconds rolling by beside the time. Under the green and white sheets was some kind of bird, but it wasn't a bird for long. It switched to some strange creature sprawled on the bed, snoring loudly. Socket strolled in and stood there, watching it. Tracer raised his eyebrow and removed his cigar to puff out a stream of smoke.

"If this is an alien creature," he said to Widget, "then why has she given it a bed?"

The eevee shrugged. "Peace offering?"

Tracer grunted and continued watching the video. The creature's form changed again shortly before the room filled with several other pokemon. Two of them he'd only seen in paintings. Legendary. What were they doing there? Socket leant forward to touch the creature and it span around to bite her.

"Certainly hostile," said Widget. "Pretty cool looking though, huh?"

Tracer said nothing as he watched the rest of the video. They'd given it some form of tablet, and after it took it, it sat in its white-robed form, stable. Then, it attacked. Smacking the gothitelle right across the jaw before taking the jar of tablets and strolling from the room. So it had wanted the tablets. Whatever it was, it clearly had no control over its shape-shifting ability. Had the tablets fixed that?

The pair watched the video one more time, then sat in silence against the shop's cold, stone wall. The video footage itself had been hard enough to digest. From the nature of the transformation, it wasn't a zoroark. Or, if it was, they were highly skilled. But why would a zoroark have wanted the tablets? Most of Meta City was filled with psychic types. Even those strange legendary creatures accompanying Socket were rumored to have been psychic type. A zoroark could have made short work of them all. So what was this creature doing? What was Socket doing?

"So," Widget said, dragging the delphox back into reality. "That's a human?"

"Seemingly."

"Doesn't look like any of the ones I've seen in history books." He paused. "The archeops is pretty on point, though."

Tracer 'hmm'd and scrolled through the email. The price Socket was willing to pay was certainly generous. Maybe she was aware how dangerous the human really was, and knew he'd be risking his life. Nevertheless, things didn't add up. Why would she give a dangerous creature a bed? Why show him if it was secret? Why lie? Of course, she hadn't lied outright. She'd said she'd apprehended the creature. That meant taken into custody. Bed or not, it was in her custody at the time. But still... was she helping it? Trying to coax it out of posing a threat by being welcoming? Or was it something much more sinister?

"Are we taking the job?" Widget asked all too keenly. "'Cos this has got me pretty excited, I must admit."

"Yes. We're taking the job." Tracer sent out a stream of smoke then flicked ash into the drain. "But I am beginning to wonder," he said slowly, "if Socket has told me the entire truth."

...

Annie trudged through the dirt-ridden streets. It was a stark contrast from the bustling city. Enough to make one wonder if they'd stepped through yet another porthole into another world.

It also stunk.

Boarded up buildings made up the most of the scenery, their yellowing stonework marred with various posters. Outdated concerts; clubs; products; video games; wanted criminals. All of it was covered with graffiti. A lot of it was insults aimed at the mayor, some of which still dripped with fresh paint.

She kept her eyes forward, scanning the route ahead. It was quiet. Good. She had grown tired of the looks and screams from the pokemon in the city. Their obnoxious voices had given her a headache. Despite the stench, it was a nice change of pace.

Blinds across the road rattled and she caught a round face staring out at her, but it didn't linger long enough for her to get a good look. The blinds whizzed shut, blocking out the peeking tom.

She folded her arms and pouted. "How am I supposed to get back home?"

She stood still, mulling over the recent events. If she was in the world she'd left, only later, and pokemon didn't know what humans were... did that mean they eventually did go back home? She scratched her chin and looked up at the yellow-tinted clouds.

"So I time traveled... if I'm a time archeops then I should be able to get back myself." Pause. "One would think. Now how do I do that?"

Her hand found the pill bottle in her pocket. Magic pills that held her form. All she needed to do was time it right then she could hold the form of the archeops and work out how to get back.

Something shuffled ahead of her. Whimpering. Someone was crying? Whatever it was, they were limping. Or crawling. She couldn't tell.

She crept forwards, following the sound to a building slightly taller than the rest. Wooden steps ran up to the door that stunk of rot, and looked like something had turned them into a snack then given up. The whimpering came from beneath them. A small, fish-like creature floundered and flopped, dragging itself along the damp ground. Its eyes were screwed shut, and it was leaving behind a trail of red.

Annie stooped and grabbed it in both hands, lifting it up to her face. The creature yelped and opened its eyes, which widened slowly as it took her in.

"What are you crying for, little fish?" she asked.

Its mouth dropped wide open and it let out a panicked scream. She looked back over her shoulder, turning her head left and right.

"What? Is someone following me?" she asked.

"What are you?" The fish's voice was male, young. A choked sob came from his throat. "Don't eat me!"

Annie frowned down at the orange and white fish. "Eat you?" Her eyes fell on the red lacerations in his side. "Oh... I thought you'd crashed into some paint."

He shook his head, wincing with the effort. "No. I'm trying to get home..."

She lowered him slightly to eye the buildings. "Which one is your home?"

"The river," he said. "I live in the river..."

His voice was awfully weak, and growing weaker with each passing moment. Of course. Fish. River. It all made sense. The poor creature needed water. She tucked him under one arm and trotted along the road past the rotting stairs. If the fish was going to stand any chance at living, then she was going to have to find him water. Any kind of water. Enough to transfer him in.

Her mind lurched back to that blind and she turned one-eighty and made her way back to the house. It wasn't too far away. She found it instantly, since that round, orange face was staring out at her again. It vanished, but she reached the door and banged on it with such force it shook.

No answer.

She took the handle and forced it open, almost walking straight into the orange pokemon. Loose skin hung around his waist like baggy pants, and a sickly pale red mowhawk stood erect in the middle of his head. His sleepy brown eyes narrowed at her and he raised a paw to shove her away.

"Get out!" he snapped. "I don't know what you are, but we don't want you here."

She held up the fish. "I need water for this."

"Go find your own water!" he growled. "We're on short supply here. I ain't givin' out charity!"

"But he's dying," she said. "Just give me some water so I can take him back home."

The baggy pokemon's leer fell away to be replaced by surprise. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was an 'uhm'.

"What's going on, Trojan?" Another pokemon strode into the hallway.

This one Annie recognized. A skuntank. Her long tail wasn't carried along her back like she'd expected from pictures. Instead it was dragged behind her like a purple carpet. She eyed Annie curiously. Fearlessly, actually. Then her eyes went to the fish.

"Did I hear you right?" she asked Annie. "You want to help that goldeen?"

"Goldeen?" Annie looked down at the fish. He was panting, now. His little gills fluttering back and forth. "Is that what you are? Well, yes. He's lost, like me. I want to get him back home."

The skuntank frowned slightly, inclining her head on one side. "It looks like he escaped from the fishery."

"Fishery?"

"That's where they turn pokemon like your goldeen friend there into food." She looked up at Annie. "Meat, to be precise."

Annie almost dropped the goldeen. "Pardon?"

"Meat," the orange pokemon, Trojan, spat. "You know what that is? Or are you an oblivious vegan?"

"Oh, I know what meat is. But I've not tasted any in years." Annie looked down at the goldeen again. His eyes were wide open, almost bulging from his head. "Doesn't seem very nice here, though." She turned to the other two pokemon. "How would you like being turned into kebabs and burgers?"

The skuntank looked up at Trojan and nodded to the stairs behind him. "Get her some water."

Before Trojan could mount the stairs, a firm "No" stopped him in his tracks.

Yet another pokemon, this one resembling a tall owl, strolled from the room behind the skuntank. The most alarming thing about him was the silver, ornamental sheath over his beak which ended in a vicious point.

"The water we have will kill him in a heartbeat." The owl reached behind Annie's head with his wing for a metallic quiver of arrows and threw them over his shoulders. "I'll get some from the river. Hopefully he'll survive long enough."

"Oh, come on, Waveform." The skuntank sighed. "You take that quiver everywhere. What you really need is a bucket."

He fired her a glare over his shoulder. "I'll get one from the outhouse." He nodded to the goldeen. "Patch his wounds and keep him moist."

Trojan folded his arms and huffed. "Guess I'll go and find some thread and needles then." He clambered up the stairs, muttering to himself. "Helping a flippin' water dweller. What a joke."

The skuntank nodded for Annie to follow her into the kitchen. A large wooden table stood in the center, surrounded by chairs. Six in total. The sink was overflowing with dirty crockery and the work top looked like it needed a jolly good scrub. Annie flopped into one of the seats and set the goldeen on the table.

"Wait! Wait!" The skuntank rose up onto her hind legs, clutching a towel in her forepaws. "Lift him back up. There'll be blood everywhere."

There certainly was blood everywhere. The towel did a good job at soaking it up, and the goldeen was set back down on top of it. His eyes were screwed shut as his breaths came in shallow bursts.

"How long ago did you find him?" the skuntank asked.

"Shortly before I came here," said Annie. "I don't know how long exactly. Maybe seven minutes and thirty two seconds. I know I'm a time archeops, but... I don't know about time details."

The skuntank's brow knit together and she opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as a small tin clattered onto the table. Trojan threw himself down into a chair and leant back, pushing the seat onto two legs as he kicked his feet up onto the table.

"What the jack is a 'time archeops'?" he scoffed.

"An archeops who can travel through time," Annie explained. "Although I don't recall trying. I'm trying to get back to my own time, but I haven't the foggiest how."

The two pokemon exchanged glances.

"Well, maybe you can explain a bit more once we've helped this goldeen," said the skuntank. She reached for the tin and clawed it open. "My name is Webber - Web for short - and the grump there is Trojan. The decidueye who just left is Waveform. We're the only three pokemon that live here." She looked up at Annie while clutching a fine needle between two claws. "What's your name?"

"Annie." Annie paused. "I think."

Trojan raised an eyebrow. "You think?"

"Well, I'm considering changing it to Time Archeops."

"Forgive me for saying this," said Web. "But you look nothing like an archeops."

"I don't at the moment, no." Annie took some thread from the box and began to unwind it. "I go between forms. Right now, I'm a human. Pretty stabilized thanks to these magic pills I got off the mayor."

She pulled the tub from her gown pocket and slammed it onto the table.

Trojan's large eyes widened. "You got those off the mayor?!"

"Yeh. She gave them to me. Said they'd hold my form."

"Just... gave them to you?"

"Well, she wanted something in return. So I gave her a good clobbering and now I'm here." She pointed to the needle in Web's claws. "You might wanna sterilize that. Got any fire?"

"Yes... right." Web shook herself and looked over at Trojan. "Light?"

Trojan reached into his baggy pant-like fur and tossed a lighter over to Web. A small smile played at his lips and he chuckled.

"You clobbered the mayor?" he asked.

"Darn right I did," said Annie. "I don't do paybacks. Besides, something didn't smell right. She had this weird look in her eye. Hungry. Made me paranoid."

She craned her neck around to look over her shoulder at the wall. The window was awful grimy. She could barely see through it. Oh well.

"Have we got any sitrus berries, Trojan?" Web asked. "He's gonna need some if he's gonna survive."

Annie looked back round at the skuntank. She'd pulled the goldeen closer as she stitched up his wounds. Most of them were concentrated on his right side, and the formerly off-white tea towel was dyed a bright red.

"You don't think he'll survive?" Annie asked.

Web shook her head. "I wouldn't hold your breath, girl. He's lost a lot of blood."

"Huh." Annie leant back in her seat and tucked her arms behind her head as she watched the skuntank work. "How's he supposed to get back home if he doesn't survive?"

"In an urn," said Trojan bluntly.

"Don't be ridiculous," said Annie. "How's he meant to swim around in an urn? Way too small."

Trojan raised an eyebrow and pushed himself back up in his seat. "Are all humans off-key like you?"

"Trojan!" Web snapped. "Don't be rude."

He snorted and stood up. "I don't have time for this. Once the goldeen is fixed, both he and the... time archeops... can get the jack outta here. I want nothin' to do with any of them."

"'Either'," Web corrected. "Make yourself useful and grab some sitrus berries from the larder."

He snorted and stomped from the room.

"Don't take it personally, girl," Web told Annie. "He lost his brother last week."

"That was careless," said Annie.

The skuntank frowned slightly and snipped off the loose thread. "I'd hardly call it careless. He was awful sick. This air does no favours for the body." She paused. "You said you arrived yesterday?"

Annie nodded, and Web's muzzle creased in thought.

"So you really aren't from here?" she asked cautiously. "You haven't a clue what's going on?"

"Nope!" Annie yawned widely. "Don't rightly care, either."

"Oh, I think you'll care." Web began sewing up one of the goldeen's smaller wounds. "You seemed rather upset that pokemon eat meat. To be honest, I'm not keen, but beggers can't be choosers. If you got those pills off the mayor, then I'm assuming you were in Meta City. So you'll have seen the difference between Spool and Meta."

"Yeh, it stinks here," said Annie.

Web chuckled. "Proxy City smells a lot worse, believe me. But anyway, the air is poisonous. Ideally you're meant to wear a mask, but I severely doubt they filter out everything."

"But you're a poison type, right?" Annie asked. "So it wouldn't bother you."

"Doesn't matter," said Web. "It affects everyone, whether you're grass, poison or steel. It's pollution. A poison in its own right in that it kills everything. If you're exposed to it for long enough, you'll eventually get cancerous tumors afflicting your lungs and air ways."

Annie scratched her nose. "Huh. That doesn't sound pleasant."

"Far from it." Web cut the thread and examined the goldeen's remaining wounds. "They don't look as bad. They'll heal on their own, given time. But a freshwater fish like this isn't going to survive long here."

She waddled to the sink and washed her paws. The water that came out was tinted with a faint yellow. Web grabbed another tea towel and wet it thoroughly. This was tossed gently over the goldeen, and the skuntank joined Annie at the table.

"It's not the best water," she said. "But I don't want him to dry out."

Trojan stormed back in and tossed yellow berries onto the table. They bounced about, clattering onto the floor and bouncing off walls. Annie shrieked and dived under the table with a cry of "Bakudan!"

"There's your berries," said Trojan. "Now I'm goin' out for a bit. Don't you dare follow me."

Web gathered them up, casting Annie an apologetic look.

"Seriously, Trojan!" she said. "And don't go graffitiing the detective's office again!"

Annie crawled out from beneath the table and pulled herself back into her chair. She grabbed one of the sitrus berries and examined it carefully.

"I know these," she said. "They gave them to me at the hospital. Sour things, these."

"They do the job," said Web. "Hopefully they'll perk him up, but... anyway. Where is it you're going?"

"No clue." Annie set the berry back down. "I was looking for a way to get back home. But I guess I have to wait until the tablets wear off then I can change back into an archeops and try to re-enact what I was doing before I ended up here."

"Well, I certainly hope you manage." Web paused her peeling of one of the orange fruit. "I've never met a human before. But I have heard stories. If you're from a different time, is it the same world as this one?"

"System? Aye."

"Before you go anywhere," Web said slowly, "would you mind telling me what it's like?"

Annie chuckled and leant back in her seat. "I'm afraid I didn't see much outside the white walls of a mental ward."

Web sighed and finished peeling the fruit. "That's a shame. I'd like to know if it really did have trees everywhere, and how clean the air was."

The door opened again and the decidueye strolled in, sloshing water over the edge of a green bucket.

"Got this from the river," he said. "Should be okay for a goldeen, right?"

"Perfect," said Web.

She dropped the fruit to retrieve the bucket, but Waveform pushed past her to place it beside the worktop. Instead, Web scooped up the goldeen and popped him into the water with a soft 'plop'.

"He won't drown, will he?" Annie asked.

Waveform looked over his shoulder at her and narrowed his eyes. "He's a fish."

"Doesn't mean he can't drown," said Annie.

Waveform shook his head and sighed.

"Did you run into Trojan?" Web asked him.

"Yeh. Told me this human hit the mayor," he said. "Well... 'clobbered' was the word he used."

Annie yawned and stretched, drawing another look from the decidueye. Something flashed behind his eyes. Curiosity? No... Whatever it was, it made her a little nervous. She masked her fidgeting with another yawn.

"You have anywhere to stay?" he asked.

Web looked up at her, waiting for an answer.

Annie scratched her nose again in thought. "I don't think so."

"Then she can stay here," said Waveform. "Fine by me, anyway."

"I was hoping you and Trojan might agree to that," said Web. "At least until her friend here is fit to leave."

"The little fish isn't my friend," said Annie. "I don't have friends. I was trying to help the lost fish get home, that is all."

Web smiled and a small chuckle left her nose. "That's what friends do, girl."

Annie waved a hand and stood up. "Whatever. I'm tired. Is there a bed? Or do I have to sleep in hay?"

"There's beds." Web moved past Waveform towards the door. "Come with me, girl. I'll show you around."