The landscape zoomed past them as they flew, Larry was keeping his eyes upwards though. He didn’t have a fear of heights, but he also didn’t have the strength to think the only thing separating him and a fall of several hundred meters was a flimsy cloth pocket. The only thing assuaging his fears was the knowledge that even if he fell, he was sure that a Pokeball could survive a drop like that, ‘I think they were pretty indestructible in the anime, right?’

  “You alright?” After takeoff, Maxie had strapped a set of old-school flying goggles onto Valerie's face and slung a flight scarf around her face in the hopes of quenching the eventual windburn. Fearow weren’t the quickest fliers, but the wind still whipped its passengers if they didn’t cover their bodies, and Valeries T-Shirt and Shorts combo weren’t covering much of anything to begin with.

  “Eheheh, no, no, don’t worry about it. It’s alri- Pfft! Hahaha!” Valerie broke out into giggles for the fifth time since takeoff, she fought to keep control of herself, “Hoo boy! That was great!”

  “Was it really that funny?” Maxie asked unsurely.

  “Oh, you don’t even know!” Valerie gushed, “My mom's always this controlling, naggy and annoying…” She omitted an obvious insult as she kneaded her hands against the seat harshly, “It's so funny to see her take a fall for once!”

  “Well, as long as you’re happy…Though I'd say you should strive for a good family relationship.” Maxie felt a bit awkward seeing the girl so happy at her own family's failures, but in his Pokeball, Larry understood. The woman had been strutting around like she was their queen the whole time he’d known her, bossing Valerie around like she was on a leash and disregarding her as a person their entire time. To see her trip and fall on her ass was quite funny, though he could agree it wasn’t ‘breaking-out-into-laughter-five-times-in-a-row’ levels of funny.

  Maxie watched the skyline, “Anyway, the flight should take around an hour, so we should get to the ranger tower by 5 PM, we’ll have to let Fearow take a small break in between.” Fearow gave a gentle caw back towards the two in agreement, saying a simple “Yeah.” Larry could discern.

  “Alright…” Having finally calmed down, Valerie simply watched the horizon pass over them. A silence descended as they flew and Larry finally calmed enough to trust himself to look somewhere other than straight up, not that his view out of Valerie's pocket was that great anyway.

  The silence was broken by Valerie as she asked a question that had been on her mind, “Is Fearow yours? You never told me about it.”

  “Oh, no,” She shook her head, “He’s a Ranger Pokemon, used by rangers who need a Pokemon for special occasions.”

  “Oh, that sounds useful,” Valerie commented as she looked down at the Pokemon with renewed interest.

  Maxie stroked the side of his body, “He might have a sharp glare but he loves his work. Once I’m done bringing you around, he’s getting handed over to another ranger to work some more.”

  “Fe-Fearow…” The bird agreed readily with a nod, Larry heard a quiet “They still need me.”.

  “Wow, you must love your work Fearow.” The girl asked gingerly, the bird nodded back in response, “Just make sure you also rest enough.”

  “He’s been working hard for the last fifteen years.” Maxie nodded, “Speaking of rest, did you get a good night's sleep last night?”

  The three made idle chatter as they flew along, taking breaks from flight in between. She told Maxie how Drew was doing and introduced Larry to her. She told her how smart and caring Larry had been, the insane quantities he could eat, her mother's nagging, and many other topics. However, the fact that she had experienced her first Pokemon fight was, for some reason, omitted.

  …

  They touched down just outside of the ranger tower at the beginning of Route 28, a variety of ranger trucks and police vehicles swamped the meager Asphalt parking space, so Maxie landed on a grass patch nearby. From their landing spot, a variety of people in uniforms could be seen milling about inside the ranger station and standing watch just at the foot of its staircase.

  “Brrr!” Valerie hugged herself and rubbed her arms vigorously in an attempt to warm up, “Is flying always that cold?!” Their flight hadn’t even taken that long all things considered, but with evening slowly setting in and it still being decidedly wintery the air high up was ice cold. Freezing straight through the stylish Summer Jacket Valerie had pulled out of her backpack just a few minutes after leaving.

  Maxie agreed, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm up, her ranger Outfit while more fit for flight, still not up to the winter atmosphere, “Yup, it sucks but nobody higher up wanted to spare a teleporter for this emergency. So we gotta live with it, it is what it is.”

  “Ugh…” Grabbing Larry's PokeBall, Valerie finally released him, “You’re lucky to not be freezing right now, Larvitar. We’re at the ranger station now, it's time for that interview. Or well, it's more fitting to call it questioning if it's in any way similar to the way they treated me.”

  Following Maxie, the three walked the two up a pair of officer and ranger who were making idle Chatter at the foot of the ranger tower, keeping watch out here in the boonies.

  “Ranger Maxine, so you’ve brought back the girl?” The officers turned from his conversation and his gaze turned down, “And the Larvitar, great!”

  “Sure did, Officer.” She nodded, “Who is supposed to do the interview and where are you going to hold it?”

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “Just up in the tower, the Seargent will do the interview, the others will need to keep their planning on the outside meanwhile. Let's go.” Their group followed after the office, up the tread plate staircase, and towards the tower.

  Larry did sweat a bit at the mention of an Interview, but he’d been prepared for this, he knew this was coming, ‘I've got no hair to slick back or tie to adjust, so I guess I'll be alright like this. Bring it on!’

  …

  The inside of the ranger tower looked like a sprawling mess, a gang of officers and rangers hung over a square table in the middle. Papers, computers, and a variety of cups were sprawled over the table. As the group entered, all heads turned to them. All the officers and rangers situated around the table looked seasoned and well-traveled, one of the officers even sporting a gnarly-looking scar running down his cheek.

  “I’ve brought the Larvitar, Sergeant.” The officer urged Larry and Valerie forward, all eyes bored into him as he entered. Slightly dying on the inside, Larry lamented to himself on the inside, ‘Ahh, I thought I was ready but I’m not ready! Not ready!’

  The man with the scar raised himself off of the flimsy office chair and strode over to them, “Good work, now everyone.” He picked a Pokeball from his belt, “We have an interview to do, so I say it's break time.”

  The tension left the room and some held breaths were released around the room as everyone made for the door. Maxie patted Valerie on the shoulder, “Good luck with your interview.”

  “Thanks…” Valerie looked the be just as anxious as Larry, even with all her experience in getting questioned by the police.

  After everyone had left, the man closed the door behind them. He pulled out a chair for Valerie to sit down on, Larry moved himself next to her as the police sergeant began talking, “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Seargent Norio Sato, the supervisor organizing the operation investigating what happened at Mt. Silver.”

  “From the information currently available, you and your father Drew Riston were both involved in the event to some degree. Rest assured, the officers who escorted you to the nearest center already took your statement, so we won’t have you give another one.” The man's large stature was intimidating as he leaned against the table and the large cut running up his face didn’t help. Where Valerie as a young teenager only reached up to the top of the man's stomach, the top of Larry's horn barely reached up to the man's knees.

  His face was unreadably stoic, “Your Pokemon though, is another story. From the way you described it, you caught him during or shortly after the earthquakes and fissures around Mt. Silver broke open.” Sergeant Sato approached, his boots sounding more akin to gunshots in the silent interior of old wooden floorboards.

  “Yeah, that’s right.” Valerie looked tense, “I was getting water to put my water against my dad's back after he got burned by that Moltres,” She turned down to Larry, “And when I was filling up bottles by a river, he was floating through it, unconscious.”

  Sato nodded back at her, “That’s right. That was already mentioned in your report. Today, we’re not here for your perspective, but for your Pokemon’s.”

  Nodding back, Valerie asked, “That’s right, how are you planning to take a Pokemons statement?” The man took another step as he expanded the Pokeball he’d been holding, “With the language barrier between Pokemon we will interview your Pokemon in another way.” With a quick throw into the air, the ball rebounded off the ground and opened, giving off a nice CLACK!

  A large, yellow-furred bipedal Pokemon materialized next to Larry and Valerie. Larry recognized it immediately, ‘Oh, a Hypno!’ It was far taller than he’d ever expected, being even taller than Valerie if she wasn’t sitting down and reaching just above the Seargent's chest.

  When Valerie locked eyes with the Hypno, her eyes fluttered awkwardly. The Pokemon quickly stopped its swinging pendulum, and her drooping head abruptly stopped, “Woah…That was weird. I didn’t think I was that exhausted.”

  Sato lightly poked the Hypno in the back of the head and muttered under his breath, “Don’t do that again man, we’ve talked about this.” He cleared his throat, “Sorry, that was Hypno. He could put you to sleep in a few seconds if he wants to and he’s a bit of an idiot.”

  Valerie shuddered at the idea and the Seargent chuckled, “Yeah, they have a reputation for a reason.”

  The Psychic-Types shifty eyes also didn’t gel that well with Larry, ‘Yeah, I don’t think I’d sit next to him on the bus…’

  Hypno nodded sagely and spoke a heavy, “Yes…” out loud, clearly knowledgeable about his reputation, though he didn’t seem apologetic. Sergeant Sato continued, “Anyway, he’s the key to interviewing your Pokemon. Hypno can use his psychic abilities to talk into a human’s minds, that is how we’ll take your Pokemons statement.”

  “Woah, that’s pretty cool!” Valerie was immediately intrigued, “Can he talk to me? I’ve always wanted to talk to a Pokemon!”

  Shaking his head, Sato answered, “Sorry, but Telepathy is hard work. It took a long time and a lot of pain before the telepathy began to work between me and Hypno and it works differently for every human. Telepathy between Pokemon is far easier, but it won’t be needed in this case.”

  “Telepathy also works far differently between different psychics, some can simply transmit feelings and emotions, others talk into your mind and there are even more esoteric ways other Pokemon do it. Some psychic types are better at Telepathy than others, but Hypno already has a hard time and I wouldn’t want to turn anyone into a vegetable today.”

  “Interesting, thanks for the explanation,” She immediately agreed, “So, how is this going to work?”

  Sitting down in a seat where a Laptop was set, Sato began, “I will ask your Pokemon questions and he will answer them to Hypno. Hypno in turn returns his answers to me via Telepathy and I will speak them out loud, recording them here on this Laptop.”

  ‘Finally, some way to talk to humans!’ He knew he could’ve attempted to write something down with his stubby little arms, or tried his hand at Meowth vocal coaching like in the anime, but he’d known Valerie for what felt like less than a day, and before today he didn’t have any use for human communication methods, so this was a unique opportunity for him.

  In his seat, the sergeant bent down towards Larry, even so, he still lorded over Larry, but he felt at least slightly more approachable, “From the fact that you are here, I can assume you agreed to be here, but I just want to get it on record.” He tapped his laptop's touchpad once, starting a recording, “Do you agree to get interviewed by Seargent Sato and his Hypno for the case of the earthquake at Mt. Silver?”

  Larry nodded, “Yes.”

  A small delay was noticed as Hypno streamed his answer into the police sergeant's mind, “You agree, great. Now for my first question, please identify yourself for the recording.”

  Musing to himself, Larry wondered how he should approach his introduction, ‘It’s fine for some random Pokemon in Mt. Silver to know I call myself Larry, they don’t really get the concept of reincarnation. But telling a human that some random Larvitar from Mt. Silver calls itself Larry? A bit suspicious…’

  So he went for the safe way, this was a battle of intelligence after all, “I’m Larvitar. I used to live in Mt. Silver with my mother, a Tyranitar.”