"So, everything's ready to go?" Zam asked, glancing up from his late morning breakfast to face his mechanical friend.

"Hell yeah dude!" Magnezone buzzed. "Got the word out to your bro last night, and we are looking to have a totally radical afternoon!"

"Thanks Magnezone," Zam smiled in appreciation before taking a generous bite out of his well-seasoned hash brown. "I would've finished up the buggy circuits myself and gotten everything ready but... well you know. Busy night."

"Yeah dude, gotta get that exercise in from jumping up and down on the bed!"

"Well, actually..." Before Zam could begin explaining the intricacies of intercourse to his confused Pokémon, a tired looking Taylor entered the room. "Morning!"

"Morning," she yawned as she rubbed her eyes. She sat herself down next to Zam and gave him a peck on the cheek before shaking her head and laughing to herself. "Waking up to your boyfriend speaking in Pokémon talk to a Magnezone sitting at the breakfast table. Just another typical morning then, eh?"

"Pretty much yeah," Zam smiled back before returning a quick kiss. "I made you a hash brown but you should probably give it a minute in the microwave. I didn't expect you to sleep in so late."

"I guess yesterday took it out on me more than I realised," Taylor shrugged as she stood up and made her way over to her plate of food on the kitchen counter. "Who knew running all over Goldenrod to catch a drunk Furfrou could be so tiring?"

"Yeah, last time I take a case from a sixty-year-old man with a habit of misplacing tequila," Zam said, recalling the couple's most recent adventure. An old man had paid them a fortune to find his prized Furfrou that he thought had been stolen but it turned out to just be an extremely drunk and confused creature terrorising the streets of Goldenrod.

"What's today's plan then?" Taylor asked.

"I was thinking we could go for a walk."

"A walk?"

"Yeah!" Zam grinned at Taylor's mildly confused face. "Just have a nice walk to the park and spend some time together. It's a gorgeous day for it."

For a moment she was silent, merely studying him curiously, looking somewhat puzzled. Eventually she broke into a wide smile. "Yeah. Yeah that sounds really nice."

"Excellent!" Zam exclaimed as he jumped up out of his seat. "Off we go then!"

"Well let me have a shower first; I'm not even dressed!" Taylor cried as Zam grabbed her arm and began making his way towards the door. "Honestly! You say one nice thing and then you turn into a dick again."

"I fail to see my resemblance to a phallus," Zam replied bluntly. Shaking her head and muttering to herself, Taylor finished her breakfast and left the room, heading for their en-suite. Zam shrugged, not bothering to attempt to figure out why Taylor's attitude could change so suddenly. There were some things in life that he just wasn't supposed to understand and Taylor was probably one of them.

Having finished his rather delightful morning meal, Zam stood up and checked to see that he was fully ready for this perfectly innocent activity. Once Magnezone had been returned to its ball, he had all of the required Pokémon and gadgets lining the pockets of his signature white suit. He'd been in the lab frequently this past week, brainstorming with Taylor to come up with some crazy ideas and he'd then go about designing and creating the tools until each was fully functional and ready for catching crooks.

It didn't take too long for Taylor to emerge from the bedroom. She was wearing some rather short, denim shorts and a light blue t-shirt that was on the tight side, showing off her curves quite nicely. She smiled at him when she noticed the way he was eyeing her.

"How do I look?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"The same as usual," Zam replied bluntly. She gave him a dirty look. "Which is to say beautiful!"

"Thank you," she smiled, giving him a small kiss before taking his hand as the pair set off.

The unpleasant part of the journey was traversing the streets of Goldenrod. The tall, glass buildings reflected the merciless sunlight onto the already hot asphalt road, making for a sweaty trip. People were out and about in tank tops and shorts, or sometimes even less, in a desperate attempt to stay cool on what seemed to be the warmest day of the year. As much as Zam loved the busy streets of his city, even he was glad when they reached the gate for Route 35.

"Trees!" Taylor cried out. With no need for consultation, the pair headed straight for the shaded area, rejoicing in the slight temperature drop.

"See, it's not nearly as bad out here," Zam said, momentarily letting go of Taylor's hand so they could both wipe the sweat from their palms. "Lots more shade and a very nice breeze."

"Never doubted you for a moment," she said, shaking her head. She'd begun to complain about the heat in the city so he'd opted for a scientific explanation as to why their situation would improve quickly. Obviously, he'd been correct.

"That's good. To doubt someone of my intellect would be most foolish."

"Zam?" Taylor said in an exasperated tone.

"Yes?"

"Less stroking your own ego and more being a really nice person who I actually want to be around."

"I suppose I could give that a go," Zam said, scratching his beard. "But what's in it for me?"

"Try using your massive intellect to figure it out." She shot him a grin. He gave a chuckle.

"Come on, we're not far off the park now." They linked arms once again, and with the mood feeling considerably lighter, set off on Route 35.

They didn't have the path all to themselves. Along the way were a handful of Pokémon trainers, all making the most of the weather. Taylor and Zam tried not to interrupt any battles, either skirting around them when the path was wide enough or simply watching the brief matches for long enough until the trainers realised they wanted to pass. Soon they came across a young couple, a camper and a picknicker, who were feeding Psyduck in a small pond.

"Look!" Taylor pointed as one of the small, billed creatures surfaced and eyed the newcomers.

"Feed me foolish humans!" the Psyduck quacked.

"He's so cute!" Taylor beamed. "Have we got any food? Maybe we could borrow some bread from those two?"

"The bread fuels my hatred for society!"

"Maybe we should just leave them be," Zam said, pulling her away from the pond before the angry Pokémon could attack her.

"Get back here ye bastards! My stomach demands it!" The psychopathic Psyduck's shouts were thankfully out of earshot quickly. Humans didn't realise just how lucky they were that they couldn't understand Pokémon. Knowledge of their tongue certainly had its uses, but you couldn't exactly report a wild Pokémon for verbal abuse, and some of the things he heard on a daily basis were outright disturbing.

"Well, here we are!" Zam smiled as they reached the end of the route. "The National Park!" The couple were met with an odd mix of peacefulness and mayhem. The noise provided by manic kids running and playing about was soothed by the gentle trickle of fountain water and the light breeze blowing across the trees. All around, wild Pokémon battled against various Bug Catchers, runners were out and about maintaining fitness and parents desperately attempted to keep their picnics safe from menacing nearby Beedrill. It was a near perfect blend of nature and people.

A jolly jingle played, causing Zam to immediately dart his head in the direction of the noise. The source was—of course—an ice cream van, and the man inside appeared to be waving them over. Clearly, the two of them looked as hot as they felt. Zam gave Taylor a glance and noticed how she was eyeing the van.

"Ice cream?" he asked.

"I really shouldn't..." she said with a big exhale.

He smiled. "Come on, it's my treat." She shook her head but couldn't hide the wide smile on her face. "What do you want? Honeycomb?"

"Alright fine," she conceded. A quick transaction with the ice cream man and they both had delicious cold treats in hand. Taylor's option of choice was honeycomb which was obviously a vastly inferior flavour to Zam's preferred raspberry.

Being just careful enough to avoid any unwanted brain freeze, the pair began devouring their snacks as they made their way to what appeared to be the only free bench in the entire park. Once seated, the pair let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. The walk to the park had been pleasant; however, rest was most certainly required in this intense heat, and so something as simple as sitting on a wooden bench felt refreshing. For a moment, they both sat there, finishing their ice creams.

"It's so beautiful out here," Taylor smiled. She had shuffled very close to Zam, clutching his right arm in both of hers and resting her head on his shoulder. "I could live out in the countryside you know. Just get away from it all."

"Maybe on a short break," Zam said. "It's too quiet though. I'd go mad if I was out of the city too long."

"Are you suggesting that you're not currently mad?"

"I'm just saying that I'd get bored too quickly," Zam explained. "I'd need to be doing something, and out here trouble generally doesn't find you. You have to go looking for trouble."

"And what about when you're done looking for trouble?" Taylor asked. "What about when you want to take it easy?"

"I doubt that day will ever come," Zam said truthfully. He knew in his heart that he'd never be able to live the life of an old man. He'd never even been able to live the life of a child. Looking around the park at all of the happy, smiling kids brought an odd sting of sadness. "You know I never had any of this."

"Any of what?"

"Childhood," he sighed. "I spent my days as a youngster shut away from the outside world. Constantly learning. Constantly studying. By the time I was ready to go outside, it was too late. I was already a young man."

"Zam..." Taylor said softly.

"I never even had the chance," he continued. "I didn't even know what Monfernobars were when I was a kid. No time for see-saws or slides or swings. Just constant work all day long. Was it worth it? Is trading youth and freedom for intelligence a worthwhile sacrifice?"

"Well, you're only young once," Taylor pointed out, "whereas your intelligence will last your lifetime. We all had to go to school Zam. We all had to learn."

"That's just the thing," Zam sighed. "I'm not entirely sure I even care, but whatever youth is and whatever kids enjoy, I missed it, and I'll never have the chance to get it back."

"Of course you care," Taylor said. He could feel her warm breath on his neck causing a slight shiver down his spine with every exhalation. "You wouldn't have mentioned it if you didn't care. You also probably wouldn't have mentioned it if you hadn't thought about it all already."

Zam glanced at her and smiled. She returned the look. "A second opinion couldn't hurt."

"Not that you think my opinion matters—"

"You know that's not true," Zam interrupted.

"Well, I think that being young and having the opportunity to play with your friends and having no responsibilities is obviously a lot of fun—"

"But?"

"—but it's not what life is actually about. There came a point for all of us when we realised we'd have to put in some actual work to get by, and believe me some people were not prepared for that jump into the real world. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though your childhood was far from perfect, it shaped you into the person you are today, and it probably helped you a lot more than you realise to ready you for life. It defined you to make you... well, you."

He looked at Taylor for the first time in the conversation and smiled. Their positioning made it awkward, but he managed to twist his neck round in order to kiss her delicate lips, a moment which he savoured for longer than usual.

"Awigh' mate new rule," a familiar voice said. Taylor instantly broke the kiss. "If 'ere's kids aroun', no tongue awigh'? It's pretty fackin' weird."

"Noted Tristan," Zam nodded. Taylor had gone back to leaning on his shoulder, and her cheeks were burning bright red. "You got my message I take it?"

"Don' you worry mate, the deed is done," Tristan grinned, looking rather happy with himself. "Your Magnezone don' 'ave an 'arf funny way o' speaking though. Took me bleedin' ages to figure out wha' 'is text meant."

"I get the sense that feeling may well be mutual." Zam grinned. If only the two of them could have a genuine conversation. That would be extremely interesting. "I'll see you later then mate. Keep in touch."

"Ait, see ya." Tristan walked away briskly, his trademark trench coat flapping around at his heels. Apparently a heat wave wasn't enough for Tristan to ditch the black leather that he always wore.

Zam glanced at Taylor who was giving him an odd look. "Does Tristan often make his way down to the park?"

"I don't know," Zam said truthfully. "I think he gets up to all sorts. It's entirely possible that he's got some work in the area or maybe he's just passing through."

"Well he didn't seem very surprised to see you," she pointed out. Zam didn't need to look at her to know she was eyeing him suspiciously.

"I suppose he didn't." Zam shrugged, trying not to make too much of it. Taylor didn't respond, but she watched Tristan carefully as he made his way around the park, stopping only to talk to some young mothers. If Taylor hadn't been so caught up in observing Tristan, she might well have noticed another familiar face making its way towards the pair.

"There you are!" Emily cried as she reached the bench. Taylor almost jumped a foot in the air in surprise.

"Officer." Zam nodded at his friend in the force. "You off duty?"

"Just undercover," Emily replied, explaining her informal clothes. "I've got an unmarked car round the corner; I'm just really hoping this guy shows up or my boss'll kill me. Anyways, I've got that stuff for you if you want it."

"Yeah, thanks. That'd be great, Emily," Zam replied, all too aware of the death stare he was receiving from Taylor. As Emily left to retrieve his latest toy, he turned his attention to the rather annoyed young woman he was sitting next to.

"Zam, why are we actually here?" she growled. Zam knew there was no pretending anymore.

"Look, there's no guarantee of anything happening, I just—"

"You knew what I thought this was," she said, unable to hide her anger. "You knew full well I thought this was a romantic date, not another bank incident."

"It's just a stakeout!" Zam defended. "Chances are, this guy won't show up, and we won't be in any danger."

"Zam, I know you too well!" she cried. "You wouldn't come to a stakeout to sit around hoping you might find some danger unless you were absolutely certain it would show up! And honestly, inviting Emily and Tristan?"

"And Weedle," he added quietly.

"What?"

"My associate, Weedle," Zam explained as he gestured to the arm of the bench where a tiny brown bug lay, staring up at the pair with its minuscule eyes.

"You have an associate Weedle?" Taylor asked.

"Of course," Zam replied as if everyone in their right mind should have an associate Weedle. "Any news?"

"My sources report strong evidence of the suspect approaching," Weedle replied. "We expect an arrival by the western gate."

"Thanks Weedle, you can have the rest of the day off," Zam said. The bug gave him a look that may well have been a smile if Weedle's mouth was visible, and then slowly slithered away, probably to find a nice tree to admire for a few hours.

"An associate Weedle?" Taylor repeated. Zam couldn't understand why this was such a difficult thing to believe.

"Yes, having associates out in the field is extremely useful. I have a whole network of wild Pokémon helping me out whenever I need them."

"But a Weedle?"

"Why not a Weedle?" Zam said. "Weedle is a creature not easily noticed due to its size and quiet movements. It makes for the perfect spy and the perfect lookout."

Taylor looked as though she had more arguments in her but at that moment Emily reappeared, wheeling what appeared to be a pink fluffy pram. "Here it is!" she announced.

"Thanks Emily," Zam grinned as he stood up and took the pram. "You should get back in that car of yours and be ready. I have word that he's on his way."

"Ok, everything's in place. Let's just hope this works," Emily said before turning and walking away again. Zam took a seat next to Taylor again, who looked an odd mixture of confused and furious.

Eventually she broke the silence with a large sigh. "Look, if you're going to drag me into this, at least tell me what's going on," she finally said. Zam rummaged around an inner pocket and pulled out his phone, all whilst keeping an eye on a broken bit of fence on the western border of the park.

"Two weeks ago, a man kidnapped a young girl," Zam began, showing his phone to Taylor. "This is a video of the kidnap. An incredible crime really, snatching a girl in broad daylight, within clear view of CCTV cameras. He's either some kind of genius or some kind of moron. Either way, taking a young child with no motive, no ransom demanded or anything of the sort is nothing short of vile and disgusting. We're here to apprehend this man and hopefully find the girl."

"But..." Taylor struggled to say. Her beautiful face had been twisted and contorted into a look of disgust. The little girl in the video was currently lashing out and screaming, but she was powerless to stop the man from shoving her into a large bag. "The man in the video is wearing mask. How do you know he's going to show up here? And how do you know it will be him if he does show?"

"Good questions," Zam grinned. He stopped the video and now showed Taylor a still image of the man. "We don't have any facial features to go off of but we have more than you might think. Notice how this was taken in the middle of the city and yet the back of his neck and arms show a strong tan. The vehicle that he eventually drives off in is a white van, with scratches all down the side of it. Also, take note of his hands. During the scuffle, one of his gloves flies off, revealing a rough hand, showing many signs of wear and tear such as calluses, cuts and his fingernails clearly have some kind of dark green paint underneath them. Oddly enough, it's the exact same shade of green as that fence over there, the same shade used predominantly for park fences."

"So..."

"So, we know he lives in the city, is some kind of white van man with a history of doing some form of manual labour around park fences," Zam said. "Interestingly enough, this is the only park in the area and its fence seems to be in need of fixing wouldn't you say?"

"Let me guess, Tristan broke it?"

"That is a very strong accusation to be making!" Zam said, trying to hide his grin. "The official story is that some youths broke the fence late in the night. And would you believe it, someone seems to have arrived to fix it."

Sure enough, a white van resembling the one in the video had just pulled up and a man of roughly the correct height had gotten out and begun work on the fence. Reaching inside his blazer pocket, he retrieved a pair of glasses and put them on. Of course, they weren't any old glasses, there was nothing wrong with Zam's vision, they were another invention and an extremely useful one at that. Turning a dial on the rim caused the lens to shift, giving Zam a new, zoomed in perspective.

"Can't be sure it's him," Zam muttered, half to himself and half to his friends listening in on the other end. The glasses also had inbuilt microphone capabilities and he was wearing an earpiece through which he could be fed information. "Emily, we're going to need someone to approach him, but carefully. We may only get one shot at this so we're going to need a master of subtlety."

"So then why is Tristan walking up to him?" Taylor asked.

"What?" Zam spluttered. "Oh shit!" Sure enough, Tristan could be seen walking briskly over to the suspect and whilst Tristan was Zam's friend, he really wouldn't have been his first choice to approach the crook. There was every chance that this would jeopardise everything.

"Awigh' mate, 'ow do I check an' see it's really 'im?" Tristan asked, his voice even less intelligible than usual through the earpiece.

Zam had no choice but to go through with it; Tristan was too close. "From what we can tell, he's got a tattoo of a Cradily on his right buttcheek, so get a really good look at his arse."

"Oh, for facks sake!" Tristan groaned. By now, the suspect had definitely noticed Tristan and was eyeing him warily as he approached. "Err... awigh'?" Tristan said when he reached the man.

"Ait," the man grunted back. Despite Zam's zoomed in vision, he could no longer see what was going on. Tristan was blocking the way.

"Some fing dis fence eh? I fought deez fings weren' mean' ta break!"

"On purpose by the look of it," the man replied. "Fucking vandals."

"Tristan, he's on to you! Get out of there!" Zam urged.

"Don' worry mate, I got dis!" Tristan insisted. For a moment there was a stunned silence. "Oh fack, I said dat ou' loud didn' I?" In an instant, Tristan was floored, pinned down by some kind of toolbox and their suspect was making a break for his van. The time for carefulness had passed. They needed to act.

"Emily!" Zam cried. "He's running away! We're going to chase him but we'll need you in pursuit as well!"

"And how the hell are we going to chase a van?" Taylor asked as Zam jumped to his feet.

"Like this," he grinned, pressing a button on the underside of the pram and hoping that Magnezone had finished wiring the mechanism properly. Thankfully, the pram responded and its wheels extended outwards, allowing room for the main body of the pram to hunker down. The fake pink exterior peeled away, revealing a metallic body, kitted out with pistons, an engine and a steering wheel. The pram was no longer a pram. It was a buggy. A racing buggy.

He jumped in and started the engine before he was severely winded by Taylor jumping in on his lap. "Taylor, it's only really built for one!" he wheezed.

"If you think I'm letting you put yourself in danger, alone, then you clearly don't know me very well," she said, as though she was his mother telling him off.

"You were just going on about not wanting to be in dangerous situations!" Zam protested.

"Shut up and drive!" It was a tight squeeze but they just about fit once Taylor had tucked in her arms so that Zam could reach around her and grab the steering wheel. Zam felt a rush of adrenaline when he hit the accelerator, the tyres gripping the dirt as the wheels spun, propelling them forwards. Even with Taylor partially blocking his view, he managed to dart in and out of scared children with great skill, flicking the steering wheel left and right with expert control until he was finally through the main gate and in hot pursuit of the white van man.

The buggy skidded as he turned onto the road with tremendous over steer. Fighting for control over the vehicle, Zam gritted his teeth and forced the steering wheel to the right, pointing the buggy in the van's direction. They were some way behind, given the head start the man had had but given the van was unable to nip in and out of oncoming traffic due to its cumbersome size, Zam knew he'd be able to catch up fairly quickly.

Meanwhile, Taylor had grabbed Zam's glasses and was shouting instructions into the microphone over the top of the deafening noise the buggy's engine was making. "Emily, he's heading south into the city! Now left onto Radio Road—oh fuck I'm gonna die! Sorry that was a right turning, maybe he's heading for the station... Zam watch the road!"

It was somewhat hard to concentrate with Taylor constantly screaming about her imminent death although in her defence, there had been several close shaves so far. Zam had been slowly closing the gap, weaving in and out of cars that obstructed his path, earning him some annoyed horns which Zam thought was rather unfair given that he was clearly in a high-speed chase. Some people definitely needed to learn basic road etiquette and some manners wouldn't go amiss either. Eventually, a loud siren from behind told him that Emily had caught up.

All the other cars on the road seemed to stop or jump out of the way, allowing space for the three vehicles involved in the chase, meaning they could now push their speeds to the limit. Zam glanced to his right and saw Emily in an unmarked police car draw level with him. She rolled down her window and yelled, "He's heading for the motorway!"

"Bollocks!" Zam cursed. "My engine's too small, I won't be able to keep up with—"

"Zam look out!" Taylor cried. Zam desperately flicked the steering wheel, just barely managing to swerve out of the way of a truck at the last second.

"Can your lot get a barricade going?" Zam yelled at Emily as if he hadn't almost been flattened.

"No time! I'll try and cut him off before he gets there!" Emily threw a Pokéball out her window and onto the road. An orange and black striped creature emerged and immediately began sprinting, clearly sensing the urgency of the situation. Its paws beat the road at some pace, its strong, muscular legs working effortlessly to keep up with the cars. "Arcanine! Use Extreme Speed to head off that van!"

"Next time you get in the road and run, you lazy git!" Arcanine growled but it obeyed nonetheless, shaking its shaggy mane before unleashing a burst of speed, its legs becoming a mere blur as it raced ahead of the van.

The man was clearly forced to slam his brakes and then attempt all sorts of manic manoeuvres to get past the Arcanine in front of him. As they gained on the van they could hear vicious barks and see spurts of fire as Emily's Pokémon desperately tried to slow the man down but it wasn't working as well as they'd hoped. Soon he'd reach the motorway and Zam would be forced to give up the chase.

"Zam, Arcanine can't keep this up much longer, that Extreme Speed is a very tiresome attack!" Emily yelled.

"Take the wheel!" Zam shouted, grabbing Taylor's hands and placing them on the steering wheel.

"What are you doing?" she cried as he struggled and squirmed free from under her so that he was now standing on the seat of the buggy.

"Something stupid," he grinned before leaping forwards, extending his legs and pushing himself out of the buggy. Zam pressed the button in the middle of his belt buckle, igniting his newly refined jet boots that gave him the ability to momentarily fly. He angled his legs carefully, pointing the jets in such a way so that his body had no vertical component of force. This meant that he neither moved up or down, the only force pushing him was the horizontal force caused by the boots which propelled him forwards just enough to gain on the van.

Zam aimed his right arm at the roof of the van and pressed the button on his watch. This was his newest watch and it fired a grappling hook which lodged itself into the roof of the van. The rope pulled taut, yanking his arm forward and probably dislocating it but it was worth it as he was reeled in, slamming him onto the roof of the van. Obviously feeling the van's latest passenger, the man sped up and began turning violently, trying to shake Zam off.

It almost worked, but Zam was attached and couldn't simply be shaken off. He took a deep breath and jumped, swinging around the van and crashing in through the passenger window, shattering the glass, slicing his body.

"Da fuck?!" the vile man yelled.

"Hello!" Zam smiled as he aimed the watch on his left wrist and fired two electrically charged metallic discs at the kidnapper. He was unconscious within half a second. "Goodbye!"

Zam reached over as fast as he could, slamming his foot hard into the brakes and flicking the wheel around, bringing the van to an almost safe stop just off the dual carriageway. He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He glanced over at the unconscious man sitting next to him before handcuffing him and then he jumped out of the van just in time to see Emily and Taylor pulling up.

"Officer Jenkins, a suspect and a promotion with your name on it," he grinned. They both wore faces of utter shock.

"That was... that..." Taylor struggled to say as she shook her head. "That was the most ridiculous thing you've ever done."

"That, Taylor my dear, was a walk in the park."