Logan and Wilder made their way out to Route 7 without running into any Detectives and missing Officer Jenny entirely. Logan looked over at Wilder when he stopped aer at the edge of Route 7, just out of the entrance to the city. He pointed silently at 2 kids nearby, no older than 10, battling their Pokemon, a Rattata and a Spearow. Ae looked at Wilder, aer eyes pleading. "They're just kids, Wilder. Why don't we wait for some adult to come by?"
Wilder pulled a face. "What, and get someone who can actually remember our faces because they won't start crying the second we take their Pokemon? No way! Kids are the easiest, plus these two look like they just because Trainers, that makes this even easier!"
Logan frowned and turned to look at the two kids, fully enveloped in their battle. "Logically, I can understand what you're talking about, but..."
Wilder cut aer off with a clap on the back. "Ah, you remind me of my first time stealing Pokemon. I was a little hesitant as well. But the second I saw the kids' faces, I knew I could never do anything else."
Ae nearly dry-heaved as ae felt for Scyther on aer belt. "Right..." ae muttered, finding Scyther and pulling him out. "...Right. Okay. Scyther, let's do this thing!"
Wilder smiled. "Now you're getting it, kid! Raticate, you know what to do!"
The two Pokemon came out of their Pokeballs and Raticate immediately ran to the Trainers, sneaking up to take the Pokemon's Pokeballs, and brought them back to Wilder. Wilder looked over to Logan. "Right, kid, now you knock the Pokemon out, they'll just return to us."
"Scyther," Logan cleared aer throat. Something was stuck in it. "Scyther. Quick attack, on Rattata and Spearow. If you could."
Scyther gave aer a look. Logan frowned. "Scyther," aer voice broke. "Do it."
Turning toward the Pokemon, Scyther raised one of his blades. Them?
"Yes, them, Scyther," Logan hissed. "Just do it already!"
Scyther gave aer a look that said he didn't think ae approved of this, and he definitely didn't, but did as he was asked anyway. The Rattata and Spearow were each knocked out with a single hit, and Wilder returned them both to their Pokeballs, snickering. The two kids looked over to find where their Pokemon went to find Logan and Wilder standing there. The shorter kid took a step toward them. "Hey! How'd you get our Pokemon?!"
"Oh, I think you mean our Pokemon," Wilder said with a smirk. "Raticate, teach the boy a lesson, will you?"
Wilder's Raticate dashed toward the boy and nearly clawed his face off. The boy shrieked and jumped back. The other boy just looked at Wilder and Logan, tears pricking his eyes. "You can't take my Spearow! Please, he was my first Pokemon! I caught him myself!"
Logan bit aer lip while Wilder laughed. "Get lost, kid! They're ours now!"
The boy looked froze, his eyes wide and trained on Wilder. His knees buckled, and his legs connected with the ground with a gentle thump he buried his head in his hands and let out a muffled sob. Logan couldn't watch any longer turned to Scyther, and whispered, "Scyther, startle Wilder when he's walking away. I'll get the Pokeballs and walk these kids to the nearest center."
Scyther nodded and dashed off, hiding in the entranceway to the city. When Wilder turned, Scyther jumped out and Wilder shrieked, dropping the Pokeballs. Logan picked them up, and rolled them over to the boys, holding a single finger to aer lips. The short boy saw aer and nodded. Wilder turned to Logan. "Hey, kid! Would it kill you to keep an eye on your Pokemon?!"
Logan kicked the ground with their toes. "Sorry, boss. You go on ahead, I'll talk to Scyther."
Wilder nodded, looking around. "And find those Pokeballs, will you? They must have rolled away. We'll have to get gear to come back out tonight and get new Pokemon if you can't find them."
"You got it, boss," ae said, and Wilder stalked off after getting his Raticate. Logan rushed over to the kids. "Are you two all right? Raticate didn't hurt you or anything?"
The taller boy was staring at aer in shock. The shorter one shook his head. "No, your partner's Raticate just scared me," he said defiantly. "You were the one who hurt our Pokemon."
Logan winced. "Yeah, and I'm not proud of that. I didn't have much of a choice in joining Team Rocket, but I can choose my actions. I'm sorry I had to knock out your Rattata, but if I didn't do something, Wi--my partner would have taken your Pokemon and kept them. Come on, I'll walk you two to the Pokemon Center."
The shorter one was about to protest, but the taller one held up a hand. "They're trying to make up for what they had to do, Joey. Cut them some slack."
Logan didn't bother correcting him on pronouns. Ae used they/them as an auxiliary set anyway. Joey huffed, but nodded. "You're not holding my hand, though."
Ae laughed. "Trust me, kid. I don't want to. I just want to make sure you're safe."563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakaY0PZ6pq
The taller one stood up and held his Pokeball with both hands, close to his chest. His eyes shone with unshed tears, though whether they were from before or after Logan gave him back his Pokemon, ae couldn't tell. He stuck his hand out. "I'm Bill."
Logan took it. "Logan. You can call the police on me if you want to, once I've left. I won't stop you. I just want to make sure you two boys are all right, and your Pokemon are healthy."
"You're pretty nice, for a Team Rocket grunt," Bill said.
Logan cracked a smile. "You're not half-bad yourself, for a Pokemon trainer. Let's go."
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