Seizing Saffron
After the clusterfuck that was the situation in Lavender Town--the police there were really not as laid back as the rest of the town–McGonagall tracked him down at the Pokemon Center just to give him a thorough lecture. Then he was made to feel stupid about not knowing that the device he confiscated from Team Rocket was meant to reveal hidden Pokemon, and that the ghost was a Marowak murdered by Team Rocket warning people away from danger.
Incredibly unsettling mystery solved.
Harry really needed a few days to relax. He wanted to visit Hermione, but she was a whole day’s flight away, and his flying Pokemon wasn’t fond of carting him around very often. Harry liked to save those flights for emergencies.
Instead Harry headed back to Saffron City in the hopes of taking a break from destroying criminal empires in favor of hanging out with his quiet godfather and doing some training at his gym. Arcanine was kind enough to carry him most of the way from Lavender Town to Saffron, significantly cutting down their travel time.
As much as he loved the outdoors, Harry breathed a sigh of relief when the glow of Saffron City became visible. His legs were covered in bug bites, his nose was sunburnt, and he needed to take a real shower. He hadn’t stayed long in Lavender Town, anxious to get away from Mrs. Figg’s hospitality and the scolding looks McGonagall kept giving him when they crossed paths. The police were none too fond of him either, and the only reason he wasn’t being charged with property damage was because Mr. Fuji kindly vouched for him.
Needless to say, Harry got himself out of there as quickly as he could and was more than happy to be back in Kanto’s largest city. If only Kanto’s largest city felt the same way.
Harry found the tension in the air unfortunately familiar. Unlike in Celadon and Lavender, Team Rocket didn’t even bother trying to operate under the radar here. There was no way Team Rocket didn’t have his face on their network as a major enemy at this point, so he pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt and kept his head ducked. When he was young and visiting Moony he used to run around the city using service roads and alleys behind skyscrapers to avoid getting caught by his parents, which he now sought out and used to stay out of view.
He’d passed through hardly more than a week before. How had things gotten so bad so quickly? Why hadn’t Remus contacted the League for help, and where the hell were the police? Why were the police always so unhelpful? Honestly Harry was getting tired of doing all their work for them, lack of resources be damned.
It was a tense walk to the Gym his uncle ran, and an even more tense moment of trying to figure out how to sneak past the Team Rocket grunts guarding the door before deciding to just walk in like he belonged. Fuck it. If they wanted to stop him they could go ahead and try.
For fucking once the Potter luck acted in his favor, and for whatever reason they didn’t stop him from going in, barely even looked at him. Okay then.
Harry found Remus sitting at a scuffed table in the kitchen. Most of the gym trainers apprenticing sat with him, picking at a cooling dinner. When they met eyes Remus looked...different. This wasn’t the face Harry usually saw smiling and calmly explaining why his parents worried so much about him doing stupid, dangerous things. Instead he was seeing the calculating face of one of the most respected Gym Leaders in Kanto. He’d only ever seen his godfather like it once before, when he challenged the Saffron City gym over two years ago.
“What’s going on?”
One of the gym trainers, someone Harry didn’t recognize from his many visits to the gym, jumped and looked around nervously. The others didn’t look much better.
“Sit, Harry. It’s a long story.”
He pulled out one of the empty chairs, wincing at the sound it made as the legs dragged across the tile.
Remus, at least, didn’t share the new meekness that held his apprentices, “Team Rocket’s holding the city,” he said under his breath.
“But I got in just fine.”
“They’re blocking the main streets, keeping anyone from leaving. It would be too obvious that something was going on if trainers and tourists started reporting that they were blocked at the entrance.”
Harry had to admit that it made sense. “Okay, but how did things escalate so quickly? I was just here.”
“They showed up a day after you left for Lavender Town.” One of the long-time apprentices pitched in. They’d sparred together before. “The police are being held captive in the cells at the station, and they’re broadcasting some kind of frequency that blocks all communication from the radio tower.”
“Sounds like you have things under control.”
Remus gave him a stern look for the sarcasm. “Did I mention that they’re also holding dozens of children captive to keep me compliant while they raid Silph Co. for whatever thing they want to steal?”
Ah, Remus was angry enough to snark back. If Harry didn’t know better he’d call the man out on it. “I guess it’s a good thing they aren’t trying to keep me compliant, then. If I go now I can mess up their plans before they notice something and hurt any of the captives.” Or so he hoped.
“We’ll need some kind of distraction, just in case.” Remus thought aloud, “Something that won’t endanger the captives but will keep the Grunts watching over the city busy enough to be slow if anyone catches on to what you’re doing.”
“Sir,” the same gym trainer as before butted in, “Isn’t that too dangerous? I thought we were going to wait them out.”
“That seemed like the best plan at the time, yes. But Harry isn’t being monitored. They won’t use the threat of the children against him because so far as they know he doesn’t know about it. He’s just a kid that likes meddling with their plans.”
“Exactly. See, all that trouble was good for something.”
Remus gave him another look. He had the stern parental thing down pretty well considering he didn’t have any children of his own.
“Eat something before you leave, Harry,” Remus said, reading Harry’s intention to race off easily. “If you pass out from hunger half way through storming the Silph building it won’t do anyone any good.”
Harry planted his butt back in the seat, having already been half way to standing, and practically inhaled the meal set in front of him. The others filled him in on any other details they picked up since Team rocket arrived. It wasn’t much, but he’d learned that anything could be an advantage in these little missions of his.
In a matter of minutes his plate was clean and his chair fell to the ground in his haste to get up and moving. He threw a sheepish glance Remus’ way as he righted the chair, then sent them all a two-fingered salute. He’d be damned if he let children rot under the tender loving care of Team Rocket any longer than needed just because he wanted to take a break.
~*~
Luckily the Silph Co. Skyscraper wasn’t a difficult building to find. It towered at least four floors above the other offices and company buildings that choked up the city center.
The main entrance was a complete no-go, but an ex-girlfriend used to intern with Silph before going on to work with another company in Unova. Back then Harry would meet Cho during her lunch break. She used to sneak out the back door that was intended only for custodial uses to smoke and grab the lunch Harry brought her.
The door didn’t open gently, he really had to use his shoulder before the hinges started to cooperate. Another bruise to add to the list, it seemed. On the bright side, some idiot decided not to guard the door, so that was good for Harry.
~*~
Dumbledore calling him in the middle of the night needed to stop. It really, really did. Tom could accomplish near-superhuman feats on little to no sleep, but the old man was pushing even his limits. Also, he had no interest in old men calling him in the middle of the night, period. Creepy.
Tom was back in the Kanto Region only because the old man had practically begged him to check out a “bad vibe” he had (and really, bad vibe, could the man not act his age?). Tom wished it was a shock to find that there was actually a problem in Saffron City, but it wasn’t. Dumbledore may be aging less than gracefully, but his mind was sharp as ever.
The bigger problem, though he was loath to consider anything more troubling than the ease with which Dumbledore called him, was the seemingly ironclad defense Team Rocket set up around the corporation. With no roof access and nothing connected underground bigger than a water pipe, he had few options for infiltration. He was sure he stunk from trying to find a way into the building through the sewers, but forcing his way through the floors prematurely would only take more time and energy, neither of which he wanted to spend.
Shitty choices indeed, but he’d worked with worse. Pasting a brilliant smile onto his face despite the reek even he could smell, Tom walked right through the front doors. He batted an eyelash here, initiated a suggestive bit of contact there, and in no time he’d made his way past the foolish young men and women in the lobby up to the second floor.
He was in. His faith in humanity, however, was at an all-time low.
~*~
Warp Tiles were the fucking worst. Harry was so sick of being beamed from one place to another, always inconveniently close to another goddamn trainer itching to fight and “prove themselves to the boss” as if they’d win with such poorly treated Pokemon. He can’t tell what floor he’s on anymore, he doesn’t know where he’s supposed to go, though he’d bet good money that the executive’s office was at the top of the tower and whoever was in charge of today’s heist was up there too.
Not that any of that mattered when he kept stepping on Warp Tiles and coming up on doors completely blocked off without a Card Key.
Could it get any worse?
The answer, which Harry should have known, was yes. He’d had the Potter luck running in his favor before, so of course the bad luck would come back twice as unlucky. He looked for an exit from the room full of Team Rocket trainers he’d just stepped into, but there wasn’t one. They’d boxed him in. The only way he was getting out was the locked door behind him.
Fuck.
~*~
The Card Key really made getting through the damn building easier. Tom only wished he’d thought to swipe one off of the touchier trainers on the first floor, though it was a forgivable oversight. He hadn’t known to look.
Tom pushed on, eliminating trainers with quick, brutal efficiency. He needed a shower and to sleep for a day, but he could do neither before liberating the city.
Faintly he heard someone call out, “Typhlosion, Flamethrower!”
He couldn’t help the way his lips tugged upwards in the slightest of smiles and his feet changed direction, following the familiar sound of Harry battling his way through a Team Rocket operation.
The room, overcrowded with people and Pokemon, reminded him of their first meeting. He couldn’t help the laugh that slipped past his lips, he didn’t even bother to try, and grabbed the PokeBall to send Blaziken into battle beside Harry’s fiery partner.
~*~
Harry took advantage of the far reach of Typhlosian’s fire attacks to keep his Pokemon from taking on too much physical damage. He wasn’t really getting anywhere in terms of clearing a path to get out, but he wasn’t losing either. Yet, anyway.
He jumped out of the way of a stray Poison Sting and watched the Beedrill responsible flail under the intensity of an Overheat.
But Typhlosian was fending off two Houndoom so how…
The Pokemon was vaguely familiar, he recognized the unique coloration but couldn’t place the trainer. The trainer's voice commanding the Pokemon, however, was becoming increasingly familiar between their frequent run-ins and Harry’s dreams. Not that he’d admit the dreams.
Harry started clearing out one side of the room while Blaziken and Tom took the other. Their Pokemon danced around each other, quick to adapt to working together. Harry was amazed, Typhlosion hadn’t gotten along with some of his other Pokemon this well; still didn’t with Dragonair.
When the battle settled and the last Grunt cleared out to go hide in whatever crevice they reserved for such circumstances, Tom and Harry met in the middle of the room.
“Fancy seeing you here, darling.”
“Are we really doing this again? There’s a time and place, Tom.”
“No time like the present.”
“You’re insufferable. I can’t believe I was happy to see you.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. I just helped you out of a very sticky situation.”
“Yeah, I guess. Thanks.” He let loose a heavy sigh, “Anyway, if you're here I’m guessing the children are safe?”
Tom cocked his head. “What children?”
“What do you mean what children? The children Team Rocket are keeping hostage at the Police Station! Didn’t you do any snooping before coming in here?”
“When it comes to Team Rocket I’ve learned that it’s usually a straight-forward operation. You’re telling me they actually thought things out this time?”
“Yeah, I was surprised too. But if we’re both here I think one of us should keep going up while the other goes and frees the kids.”
“What the hell is the Gym Leader doing?”
“That’s why Team Rocket has the kids, keeping Remus trapped without literally locking him in. And before you ask, the police are all in holding cells.”
“Hm. I think you’re right about getting the kids out sooner than later. There was some kind of commotion in the northern part of the city when I flew in, but I doubt Team Rocket is going to let it distract them from the captives for long.”
Well, at least Remus figured something out. “So…”
“How are your Pokemon.”
“Fine.”
“Then I think you should stay here, I’ll go figure out how to get everyone free from Team Rocket at the station.”
“I would have thought you’d push to stay here and play hero.”
“Oh, I think you’ll find it’s much easier to play the hero to a bunch of children than to you. And I’ve been to this city’s precinct before, I’m familiar with the layout.”
“Well, alright then. Shall we meet up once this is all over?”
“I wouldn’t dream of missing it darling.” Tom drew something from his pocket and handed it to Harry: a sleek black card. “That should get you through all the locked doors. It’ll be easier to finish up here.”
“Er, thanks.”
Tom winked and walked out, something about the air around him making Harry want to roll his eyes at the dramatics. Even the way he walked was over the top sometimes. The tall Pokemon ruffled his already messy hair and followed its trainer.
~*~
Tom wondered why he’d volunteered to deal with children. He didn’t like the loud noises or sticky hands, the lack of boundaries killed him and they just wouldn’t shut up. How had this happened? Why?
He was going to give Harry so much shit when it was all over.
~*~
Karkaroff put up a better fight than the last time they clashed when Harry finally found him. He hadn’t expected the sudden improvement in his opponent’s battle style. It threw him off, messing with his team’s timing.
Harry was down to his last Pokemon. Typhlosion did well to wear down Karkaroff’s Nidoking, but he couldn’t quite keep up after expending so much energy reaching this level of the building. If there’d been more time, less urgency, Harry could have healed up his team better in preparation for this final confrontation. Unfortunately, his internal Potter Luck switch was flipped to ‘bad’ more often than not recently. It just wasn’t in the cards.
Karkaroff had the advantage. Not only were the type match-ups in his favor, but the layout of the office made battle easier for him while working largely against Harry. Still, Harry wasn’t going to let him win. His Pokemon fought too hard to bring it down to this last match up, and this was far from the worst situation he’d squirmed his way to the top of.
He was glad that no one else was around. Without the weight of additional eyes or people to worry about getting caught up in the crossfire, Harry could move without worry.
It wasn’t that he wanted to hide, necessarily. He just didn’t exactly want people to know everything about his Pokemon team. With Team Rocket putting his face up as enemy number one and people wanting to know about his parents through him, some things he just wanted to keep between him and his friends. There was enough attention on him already.
Grabbing his last PokeBall from the leather cord around his neck, Harry kissed the lightning bolt for luck and settled in for an intense battle.
“Alright, beautiful,” he called out as he threw the PokeBall. “Let’s show him a real Thunder!”
~*~
Three hours later, Harry found Tom trying to pretend like the ogling children weren’t bothering him outside of the Police Station. Karkaroff escaped despite Harry beating his last Pokemon and now he just wanted a distraction. He should have been able to apprehend one old man.
Distraction from recent failure. Right. Either he could go drink hot chocolate with Remus or let Tom tease him. Scratch that, Remus had official business to do.
“Hey Tom, walk with me?”
~*~
They stayed mostly in companionable silence, choosing instead to enjoy the city as it should be. Team Rocket fled in a hurry, leaving the streets mostly empty and quiet. People were still too shaken to start back to daily life just yet.
Tom breaks the silence as they come to a stop, admiring a fountain in one of many courtyards, “You still haven’t shown me that sparky Pokemon of yours, Harry.”
Harry scoffed. “And I’m not going to.”
“But it must be important, and it seems cruel to keep the poor thing locked up all the time.”
“I’m not forcing it to stay in the PokeBall. And why do you think it’s an electric type anyway?”
“Besides the fact that you walk everywhere?” Tom leaned in, finger tracing the mark etched into the PokeBall he wore around his neck. “You’ve engraved a lightning bolt into the PokeBall. And it seems fitting that someone as sparky as you has an equally sparky Pokemon.”
“Tom, what does that even mean?”
“Show me, Harry, I really want to see.” And wasn’t he just too close for comfort? Harry could feel the heat radiating off him.
He pushed a bit against Tom’s chest. “Go take a shower, you reek. What were you doing, swimming in the sewers?”
A sly smile. “Something like that. I’m afraid I must be going anyway. I have work to do.”
Harry ignored the rush of heat to his face when Tom reached for his hand and brushed gentle, barely-there lips across his scarred knuckles. “What kind of work? I can’t imagine you doing anything serious, with how often you blow in and out of my life.”
“You could always come to Hoenn and find out.”