章 14: Report
"You may go in now." The receptionist rouses me from my thoughts. Patting my skirt to remove any wrinkles, I walk inside Ranger Pierre's office.
My first impression is…hates the government. I don't know why; I just get that feeling from him. I don't know if it's the pictures of him standing triumphant over various pokémon or his dead stare into space even as I walk inside.
"So," he begins with a grunt, "Renée said you had something important to tell us?"
I nod, taking a seat opposite his obviously hand-crafted, wooden desk. I pause for a moment at how plush and perfect this chair is, but then I remember that my issue is slightly time sensitive.
"Yes, I was ambushed in the forest to the east by a hooded woman. She was of medium build, 25-30 years old, about 5'4" or 162.56 cm if you care for that. She had a Malamar that was used to hypnotize me for a period of four hours." Ranger Pierre seemed listless until I mentioned a Malamar.
He yanks open a drawer in his desk, shifting it by a centimeter. He thumbs through a few hundred files until he comes across one in particular and pulls it out. Holding it up—a front profile of peoples' faces—he asks, "Did they look anything like these people?"
I shake my head. "No. None of them."
He throws the paper on his desk, leans back, and begins rubbing his head. "You… You already tried the police?"
"Yes; however, Officer Jenny—"
"Officer Jenny is out on investigation. Yes," he says, completing my sentence.
"Uuuugh…" He groans, following that up with an audible crack to his neck. "So… If this is false, then you know that this can be bad…for you…legally…"
I narrow my eyes. "I'm aware of that. I was attacked by a woman with a Malamar."
He chuckles. "Really? How'd you escape then? Malamar don't earn the title of strongest hypnotic powers for nothing."
Rolling my eyes, I give a nudge to my Octillery Arms, making them fan out behind me. "I have a little advantage on restraining myself. These things allowed me to hide my consciousness, so I could fight back."
The Ranger leans forward, pausing for a moment, then going wide-eyed at the spaghetti arms stretching out across his office. "Huh." He swallows. "Explains a bit. Not everything, but a bit."
He leans forward more, over his desk, tapping his fingers on his desk. His eyes dart around, jumping from thought to thought. "You filled out the formal application with Renée, right?"
"Yes."
"Right. So. We have your contact information. We—Actually, I will search the forest. However, don't expect much out of this. The most I could maybe find is some evidence. Maybe notify the rest of the Rangers."
"I understand. I just needed some help on this. I know I have limits."
He gives me a small, quick smile. "Yeah. Right call." He opens another drawer on his desk, digging through a bunch of office supplies. Pulling out a walkie-talkie, with a click, it comes on and he speaks into it. "Hey. Hey! Ramirez! Come in!"
"…*click* This is Ramirez."
"This is Pierre. Listen. I'm going to check out the forest west of Camphrier Town for a possible rogue Malamar user. You good holding down the fort?"
"…Yep."
Ranger Pierre looks at me, side-eying me. "Well, best you be off. If there is a Malamar, you should get away from here. I mean, far, far away as you can. Malamar can be…vindictive."
———————————————————————————————————————
Sitting in the Pokémon Center, I thumb through my contacts, eventually getting to the S's. I mean, not many contacts in my phone to begin with.
Nicole: Hey Serena
Nicole: Watch out near Camphrier Town
Nicole: Weird lady with Malamar attacked me. Hypnotized me for four hours
Nicole: Just letting you know
Nicole: Hope you aren't already hypnotized
Anxiety boils in my stomach as my mind wanders to possibilities of what could be. There's a reason Psychic-type pokémon are so heavily regulated—more so than other types—with those capable of hypnotizing others having the harshest policies. Mainly, what is now referred to as the Clarity Law, which requires that those working at brothels, and other similar jobs, undergo a periodic test by the government to determine if they are working of their own volition.
It, of course, was an omnibus bill that was denied. However, it was simply split into several smaller bills and each individually passed. So, people still call it the Clarity Law, even though it should be plural.
One of those clauses, stipulates that hypnotism is not to be used on another person without their consent. This, for some reason, got a weird club in Kanto in some hot water, but they were able to prove consent for their members.
Hypnotism can even force a person to forget something. Making a person commit an act, then forget, or force them to constantly remember via recording, led to an uptick in…self-destruction. Some people even left a command that kept a person from doing even that.
So, yeah. I have cause to worry for Serena. And! I think I'm going to throw up. This…downward spiral has given me…a bad feeling in my stomach. Urg…
I'm…just going to…stop.
Okay. Onto other things!
Pulling out Vulpix's pokéball, I release her onto the table.
"Vul," she yawns, releasing a breath of air into my face. I involuntarily shiver in response.
"Yeah, I know, but you still need a name." She pouts, airing her grievances towards her nap's interruption.
"Pi."
"Alright, now that I have your ever so important permission… How about Olivia?"
"Vul."
"Annie?"
"Vul."
"Well, I don't know…fucking Elspeth?"
"Pix!" You have got to be kidding me…
"Really? Elspeth? An alternate form of Elizabeth. One that means consecrated by God?"
"Pix!"
"You know what," I mumble, rubbing my forehead, "sure."
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RunningOnJava
RunningOnJava Like I have put on my other work, I've been hit with burnout from college and stuff. Luckily, my posting schedule is 'I get there when I get there'. I most likely won't drop anything.
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