Stalking Through Lavender Town
Harry was still in a cast, but he was sick of sitting around in Celadon City waiting for the doctor to give him the okay to take all the bandaging off. They’d already been stuck in place doing absolutely nothing for five weeks. Dragonair was lucky; she’d broken more bones than Harry in her tussle with Grindelwald’s Rhyhorn, but she’d already made a full recovery. Harry was stuck with the dumb cast and shoulder sling for another three weeks, minimum.
He was getting ready to pull his hair out when Hermione called him after weeks of the silent treatment.
“Hermione!” He practically yelled into his PokeTek as her face was projected into the air in front of him.
“Harry,” she replied, strained. Still angry at him for hanging up on her, then. “I heard-” The pinched look dropped as she really took in Harry’s appearance. “Harry what happened?”
“Er-well,” he started uncomfortably to explain everything that happened leading up to the very visible injuries that distracted his friend from her anger.
Hermione sighed at the end of the long explanation, not interrupting nearly as often as Ron did when Harry told him about his latest catastrophe while laying in a hospital bed. “I can’t say I’m happy to hear any of that, Harry, though I am relieved that Team Rocket can’t keep preying on the people of Celadon City. Though I almost don’t want to tell you what I heard, now, since you’re still hurt.”
“Hermione,” Harry whinged.
“Oh, don’t start. I know better than to keep the information to myself. Anyway, I heard from a visiting researcher that Mr. Fuji in Lavender Town has been acting strangely recently, and that there have been a lot of strange things happening around the old Pokemon graves.”
“Wow, Hermione. Talk about creepy.”
“I’m just telling you what I heard! Anyway, I thought it might be something. Mr. Fuji is a leading researcher on Pokemon evolution. It sounds like the kind of thing Team Rocket would be interested in, don’t you think?”
Harry couldn’t deny that. “You’re right. I guess I’ll head that way, then.” Even though he really didn’t want to. Lavender Town creeped him out.
“But you haven't recovered yet! Team Rocket isn’t just going to disappear overnight. At least wait until the cast is off.”
He shook his head. “A little injury’s never stopped me before.” Then he added, a little too desperate to be anything but pathetic, “you could always fly over to meet me and help out.”
“Oh, I would Harry, but the Professor has me working on this huge project. I can’t leave for anything short of an emergency.”
“Don’t worry about it, Hermione. I was only teasing. Anyway, I should get going. I need some supplies if I’m about to leave town again.”
“Alright Harry. Remember to check in with Ron and me more often. And remember that if anything is really bad in Lavender Town I can come help you.”
“It’ll be fine, Herm. Go pet some Eevee.”
“I’m working with Meowth!”
Harry laughed at her indignation and ended the video call. He ran a gentle hand over Arcanine’s thick fur, watching as her ears twitched and she looked out in the direction of Lavender Town.
~*~
The hike between Celadon and Saffron City was long under the hot sun. Harry took advantage of Vaporeon’s skills with water and took several breaks to splash around in the fountains of water she made with Water Gun. He would have flown all the way to Lavender Town, but someone was being an uncooperative ass (not that he was surprised. A certain flying type member of his team was always copping an attitude).
It wasn’t a complete loss though. He ran into several trainers along the way who wanted to battle. He won more than he lost, and walked into the Saffron City gym one of his godfathers ran with a considerably heavier wallet.
~*~
Remus sent him off with so many pre-prepared meals and bars of chocolate Harry could hardly close his bag. Of anyone in his family who had to find out that he was doing dangerous things and getting hurt, Remus was the one he was least reluctant to interact with. He’d only been smothered a little bit, and he’d only been forced to stay in the city for two nights, instead of the week he was sure his mom would insist on.
Harry was well fed and operating on a rare nine hours of sleep when he struck out again, Typhlosion walking beside him for some extra exercise after so long cooped up in his PokeBall. Usually he walked with Vaporeon or Arcanine and left time in his day for some light training for the rest of his Pokemon. He missed spending time with Typhlosion though. With so much of his time and energy caught up hunting down Team Rocket, Harry’s usual routine was in total shambles.
It was a three day walk from Saffron to Lavender Town, four days if they walked slowly, and Harry wanted to make use of the travel time to also get his Pokemon back into shape. While he’d recovered from his injuries, complements of Team Rocket’s tortuous kidnapping attempt the previous year, he’d gotten into the habit of running sprints with Typhlosian every day. Every hour he and Typhlosian chose different goals, usually a tree in the distance, and raced to see which of them got there first.
Typhlosian was even nice enough to sometimes let him win. Harry pretended they were fair wins.
They picked up where they left off, Vaporeon joining them for short scads of time until the sun dried out her scales too much for comfort and she returned to her PokeBall to rest.
~*~
Tom was not jazzed about this particular Monday. Dumbledore called him at three in the morning, ignoring the time difference between Kanto and Hoenn as usual, to ask for help handling some situation in Lavender Town. He barely recognized the place, remembering only that it was home to the largest Pokemon Cemetery in Kanto. He told Dumbledore he would be there soon, after listening to the man actually ask politely and not falling for the round-about nudging towards volunteer work he always tried first.
By seven he was ready to leave, literally just having secured his place on Skarmory’s back when Lucius stopped him with a report of a major attack on Fortree City by some unknown group in blue uniforms.
He’d proceeded to call Dumbledore back and apologize for not being able to help the useless old man out. Normally he would have left a situation like this to his Elite Four to deal with, trusting in them enough to handle a group of thugs, but the report included the current medical condition of Bellatrix--arguably the strongest of his Elite Four–who’d responded to the emergency alert when the attack started. If they could put Bellatrix and all six of her regular team into the hospital in a few short hours of interaction then they warranted his full attention.
Dumbledore’s Elite Four would just have to actually do their jobs for once. Tom’s priority would always be his own region.
He only had two regrets--having to speak to Dumblefore the second time in a day, and not being able to see Harry who would undoubtedly stick his nose in dangerous business again.
Tom sighed, and got ready to fly out.
~*~
Lavender Town was the kind of place where people left their doors unlocked at night and borrowed cups of sugar from neighbors. Everyone knew everyone, and everyone was kind. It reminded Harry of the town where Ron grew up.
It wasn’t hard to get directions to the Pokemon House. A kind old lady on a walk with her Poliwhirl pointed him in the right direction with a wink and a euphemism for sex that almost went over his head.
The gravel road crunched beneath his feet, and Typhlosion made a mess kicking the pebbles around. Harry counted seven people that waved at him and said hello on the five minute walk. Wild.
The Pokemon House had a bright red roof a few shades darker than the tell-tale roof of the Pokemon Center and matching door. It was easily the biggest building in the residential area he’d seen so far, tall enough for three stories and twice as wide as any of the other houses on the block.
He barely knocked on the door before a bright-eyed young girl, maybe twelve years old, answered with a burly looking man standing just behind her. There was a nervousness in both their bodies that reminded Harry of the Pokemon he’d spent a summer helping rehabilitate at a sanctuary before he left on his journey with Ron and Hermione. The attitude didn’t track with the friendly nature of the rest of the town, especially since this is a public house.
“I don’t mean to intrude,” Harry started, “but I was hoping to speak to Mr. Fuji about some of his research.” If he didn’t pick the man’s brain about Mega Evolution Hermione would kill him over the lost opportunity.
“Mr. Fuji isn’t here right now,” the burly guy replied, his voice higher than Harry expected.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“Sorry, but he didn’t say.”
The door closed harder than necessary in his face and Harry stood there puzzled. They were obviously lying about something, but he didn’t have enough rapport or information to call them on it and force their hand.
With a resigned sign Harry went in search of a place to stay for the night.
~*~
There wasn’t an available room at the only inn in town, but the same old woman as before offered to rent out her guest room to Harry for the night. Harry almost didn’t want to spend the night after how touchy she’d been when they ran into each other again, but his shoulder couldn’t take another night on his sleeping roll until it was actually healed.
Luckily once he got into her house she didn’t do anything but make a pot of tea and tuck herself into bed. Harry took a cup for himself and went down to the hall into the very floral guest bedroom. He was long since used to ignoring Pokemon eyes observing him at night, so pretending he wasn’t being watched by a dozen porcelain dolls wasn’t a problem.
He laid in bed trying to figure out what was going on. People weren’t acting scared or suspicious on the streets like he’d seen in Celadon City, so maybe things weren’t as public here as they were there. It’s possible Team Rocket was operating quietly to avoid detection after Harry started poking around in their business so much. Then again, that wasn’t really their style, at least not in the year Harry had spent reluctantly pulled into their schemes.
~*~
Harry woke up to the feeling of being watched. He took in the room, remembering the various customized dolls and ended up looking at the old woman-Mrs. Figg-who evidently had been watching him sleep for some indeterminate amount of time. Harry froze and pushed down the urge to yelp.
After several minutes of watching her stare, he came to the conclusion that she wasn’t going to be moving any time soon. Tumbling out of bed rather awkwardly, Harry grabbed his bag and slipped into the bathroom before things could get any more uncomfortable.
With the comfort of a door between him and the increasingly unnerving woman, Harry changed into fresh clothing and went about cleaning himself up before setting out for the day.
He almost made it to the front door, but Mrs. Figg called out to him and insisted he eat breakfast while listening to her talk about the various cat Pokemon she’d raised in her youth.
For an excruciating hour Harry nodded along and hummed at the appropriate times before finally getting a chance to head out. He’d sooner sleep on the gravel road than stay another night with the woman. Something told him he’d be dealing with another stalker situation if he didn’t. That was the last thing he needed after living through the ordeal that was the police trying to gather evidence to get Rita off his back.
Honestly that was the last thing he needed.
He called out Arcanine to walk along beside him, her presence always reassuring when he was uncertain on what to do. He started walking along the old roads in the general direction of the Pokemon Tower, taking turns nudging Arcanine and being nudged back.
Maybe the people in this town were overly friendly, and this friendlier-than-average was their unsettled. Maybe townsfolk were just nicer than city dwellers.
~*~
The mood at Pokemon Tower was much more the vibe Harry expected in a place like this. Solemn, dark, creepy. Lots of tears and unexpected, unexplained noises. Hermione would enjoy this, though it wasn’t quite an emergency that would warrant calling her.
Harry had a bad feeling about the place, and Arcanine seemed to agree with how hard she bit and pulled on his shirt to keep him from going to the upper levels.
Still, duty called.
~*~
Harry was freaked out with the whole ghost-yelling-from-beyond-the-veil thing going on here. He was over it, 10/10 would never do again. If not for the Team Rocket Grunts he’d overheard before being attacked by said ghost, he would have noped himself out of there an hour ago.
Instead he was clinging to an equally freaked out Arcanine and trying to convince his body to move. The higher up they got the creepier the noises and shadows. Arcanine had accidentally used Flamethrower on air and dust three times already and was gearing up for a fourth when finally, finally, they came across actual people.
Harry had never been so relieved to see Team Rocket in his life. When a familiar head of red hair sent out an Arbok–that was new–Harry was all too happy to meet the snake with a battle-ready Arcanine.
Unlike in the cavernous dark of Mount Moon, Arcanine had enough room to move around. She used a familiar strategy they’d developed to help beat the Kanto Elite Four, running in circles around Arbok with Extreme Speed. Arbok could move its eyes fast enough to watch, but its body was too slow to land a move. When Harry thought Arbok was suitably dizzy he gave the signal and Arcanine Slammed it hard from behind. She took a Bite to her chest that forced her to back off, but Harry was quick to call out “Overheat.” Arbok was a little crispy, and Arcanine was proud as ever.
Harry took the gear the idiot Grunt had been using and moved up the next set of stairs without bothering to tie him up. Somehow he kept getting out of jail anyway.
~*~
Harry regretted not asking what the heck the little device was for. It was heavier than it looked and didn’t seem to change his vision when he peered through the part that looked a bit like binoculars. He almost tossed it on the ground to give his arms a break but his conscience, a voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Hermione, told him not to litter. So the device stayed, but he didn’t let himself feel bad when the stupid thing dropped as he was yelled at by the ghost again.
This entire place was a nightmare, and he was ready for Tom to mysteriously appear from thin air or walk out from behind a tombstone. He didn’t let himself think about the shit Ron would give him for grabbing on to one of Tom’s clearly strong arms--which he had absolutely not been ogling the last time they saw each other–like some stereotypical victim in a horror film. Though that’s what he felt like. Seriously, if he had to deal with the creepy parts, he should get the hunky man to balance out the universe.
Anytime time now. Anyyyyytime.
Harry registered how strange it was that he was expecting Tom to show up in his life again, but it was the man’s fault for making a habit of showing up when Harry was in the middle of taking down Kanto’s most influential criminal empire. It was completely Tom’s fault that he now felt scared and lonely.
Arcanine was tired from the battles and misfired attacks when they were scared, so he called her back and brought Typhlosion out instead. He might have leaned on Gengar instead if he didn’t know how much the ghost Pokemon liked to get a jump on him. Typhlosion was less prone to getting freaked out by anything and more likely to run off on Harry to explore, but he wasn’t ready to be left alone with his thoughts and the ghost lurking around wherever.
He sighed with relief when he saw the tell-tale marks of the upper levels of the tower-the arched windows clouded with dust and the blue tile flooring replacing the gray of the lower levels. He only vaguely remembered exploring this place late at night on a dare with Ron, Hermione trailing behind in a cloud of disapproval. Whatever Team Rocket was doing, they were probably doing it on the highest level where they’d have the most space.
Harry couldn’t for the life of him puzzle out what they would want in a giant Pokemon Cemetery, but he was sure he wouldn’t like it. He wondered if Mr. Fuji decided to sell out to Team Rocket like so many other scientists and researchers. Living in a small town like this one wouldn’t bring in the money the old man’s research would get in a big city with investors, though the cost of living was lower. So money would be a good motivator…or not? Then again, maybe he didn’t need the money so much as want it? Ugh. He missed having Hermione to do his thinking for him. His brain hurt from all the pointless speculation.
He’d figure it out when he got to the top.
~*~
Tom sighed again, the billionth time in the last five minutes it felt like, and listened to another eye-witness account of the mysterious group responsible for seriously injuring several residents and visiting trainers, and destroying a good portion of the Commercial District. They were lucky this Team Aqua hadn’t gone and destroyed the gym, or Tom would have to relocate the gym leader and make a public announcement to all the trainers currently trying to beat all the gyms and challenge either the Pokemon League or himself and his Elite Four. Not to mention the paperwork he’d have to submit. No, he was very glad they’d gone after the merchants instead. It was an easier thing to fix. Merchants were such resistant creatures, like cockroaches, and with a gym still standing to bring in tourists and Pokemon Trainers it wouldn’t take too long to get the city’s economy back on its feet.
He was more concerned with the reasoning behind the attack. There didn’t seem to be any clear purpose to it, and that was concerning. Team Rocket wasn’t, in his opinion, particularly scary because their movements were largely predictable. But if this was a terrorist group attacking without reason he wouldn’t be able to predict their moves and take preventative measures. That made them an infinitely more dangerous group as far as Tom was concerned. One he’d need to corral quickly and thoroughly to prevent any long-lasting damage from affecting the region.
Unfortunately, with only one or two incidents tied back to their group, Tom had incredibly little information to work with. It really was too early to be sure of anything. He needed more information, which would only come with more disturbances in the group’s name. More attacks would give him more clues and insights into their motivations. Still, he didn’t have to like not being in the know. Tom operated most comfortably when three steps ahead of everyone else. His current position was unsettling to say the least.
Still, he would persevere.
~*~
Harry didn’t hear anything up ahead, so he didn’t think to quiet his footsteps or try to be subtle about his approach. He didn’t remember how many floors made up the upper levels, but he learned with a Hydro Pump to the chest that it was four, not six like he’d guessed. The force of the blast knocked him back into the doorway he’d just passed through, sending an awful twinge through his shoulder and down to his side.
He was glad the attack hit him and not Typhlosian, though. It left his overprotective best friend poised to strike back fast and hard against the Blastoise responsible for the attack.
The Blastoise had a type advantage, but Harry was used to being outmatched in strength from a childhood of being bullied before finally finding a group of friends that stuck by him. The lessons he’d learned from those bullies stuck with him, though, and his Pokemon were trained to use speed when their enemy had the advantage of strength or type.
While Typhlosian grappled with Blastoise, Harry tried to get his bearings. He hadn’t had a chance to take in the room before getting attacked.
Looking farther into the room he saw an old man tied up and gagged propped up against a new but poorly maintained gravestone–Harry didn’t understand why people would pay to have their Pokemon buried here if they weren’t going to visit–that must be Mr. Fuji. So much for his joined-Team-Rocket theory. Standing beside him with one of the much-hated Shockers was a Team Rocket Exec Harry recognized. It was the woman who’d hurt Hermione.
Harry saw red.
~*~
Tom was tired of people. They expected instant fixes, which he couldn’t provide on account of him not being a goddamn miracle worker. Or carpenter. He’s not sure which they would prefer, but either way his job was not to reconstruct things. It was to eliminate the group that was responsible for the reconstruction.
Not that he was having any more luck with that. Team Aqua apparently vanished into thin air shortly after wreaking havoc and scaring everyone living in the general vicinity of Fortree City. The whole situation was giving him a headache. He wasn’t used to being outmaneuvered by criminal organizations. He’d become so spoiled by the predictability of Team Rocket he was out of practice with solving new puzzles.
While sorting through the paperwork-his least favorite part of the job-he wondered how Harry was faring with the latest Team Rocket debacle. He was certain to be there. Next time they crossed paths Tom would have to steal his contact information for easier stalking purposes.
~*~
Harry looked out at the aftermath of his battle somewhat sheepishly. The top most level of the Pokemon Tower had seen better days, and he honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up collapsing on top of the next floor down.
Oops.
Mr. Fuji was looking around at the destruction with an awed expression while Harry fumbled with the ropes still holding the man in place.
“You’ve got some spunk, boyo.”
Boyo? Really? “Er, thanks I guess. Ah, sorry!” Harry winced as he pulled the knot tighter instead of loosening it as intended. “Oh, for the love of-” He pulled out a Pokeball to call out Vaporeon. “Bite through this rope for me, would you?”
Mr. Fuji grunted as the ropes fell off and his arms swung to his sides. Now they just had to get down to the lower levels without being killed by the ghost and report the whole situation to the police.
Harry wasn’t sure how he’d support the injured Mr. Fuji all the way down when it became clear the man couldn’t walk on his own. Harry was strong, but not so strong that he could carry someone taller than him for that long, and Arcanine had fainted during the battle. There was no way she could carry the old man either.
Harry turned around looking for something to use as a crutch or cane, but had to stop and whirl around at the sound of footsteps. Tom? Better late than never, honestly. Harry wished he had the other trainer’s number just so he could call and express his disappointment. Not that he had any right to, it wasn’t like they’d agreed to take down Team Rocket together.
Instead of Tom a familiar head of graying hair rose from the staircase.
“Look at this mess! I thought you had more sense, Harry. Your mother assured me you had some sense in you.”
Harry raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. “Er, well. I guess things did get a little out of hand.” Despite knowing Minerva McGonagall for years, she still made him feel like he should be standing up straighter and using terms like ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’.
He knew she wasn’t really mad, the way amusement crept into her eyes as she looked at him before taking command of the police trailing in after her.
The presence of help set him at ease. There was an understanding between McGonagall and him Harry didn’t have with his Uncle Snape or with any of the other familiar members of the Elite Four. “So, now what?”
“Now you hurry off to the Pokemon Center, leave the rest to the professionals.”
Harry glanced over to Mr. Fuji and gestured subtly. “What about him?”
A second later, two members of the response team started loading the older man up on a stretcher to be carried out, deaf to the researcher’s protests of them being overly dramatic about his injuries. The scene drew a laugh from Harry and some mostly-concealed chuckling from McGonagall.
“Alright, then. I guess I’ll get going. Bye, Professor!”