Pokémon: Out of the Woods | A Galar, Unova & Sinnoh Fanfiction

Chapter 53: The First Arrest

Heather stood. She was about to throw Garchomp's Poké Ball. She saw purple hair. Her gut reaction was to forget even sending out a Pokémon and kick whoever it was off the ladder, because she was sure it was Karot, but then she saw a Hisuian Lilligant below. The eyes that were equally startled to see her were green. It was Laverne.

'Yikes! You scared the shit out of me!'

'I could say the same thing about you. What are you doing here? Didn't you beat Allister?'

Heather's boot still hovered over his foot. She uncertainly stepped back to let him up. Lilligant scampered after him.

'Yeah. I beat Allister. But Ballonlea Stadium was shut. First there were those protests. No-one could even get to the stadium. Then there was that Dynamax stuff... and I got to know Bede better than I ever wanted to when I tried to help him clean up. That guy is... an acquired taste.'

From all Perry told her, Heather could imagine Bede being difficult to work with. He preferred to work alone, but when he did need help, he ensured everyone left thinking they were unwanted volunteers, not necessary helpers.

'Well, this is a dead end.'

'Oh, well.'

'There's only room for one tent.'

'Oh, I'm not looking to camp.'

He hesitated, about to explain what he was looking for, but he never said it. Heather was impatient. Garnet would be.

'What are you doing out here?'

She noticed that he, too, was given a Snag Machine. It was switched on. His eyes darted around.

'Look... Team Plasma has to be hiding out here somewhere. It's where I found Lilligant. It's where that Dynamax stuff came from. And Grunts ran into Hammerlocke from here this afternoon.'

'I know. We battled them. I've looked everywhere, but they're not here.'

'I doubt they're anywhere near the path. But if I can get up this cliff...'

He climbed onto his Togekiss. It promptly delivered him to the top of the cliff that hid the valleys beyond from view.

'So can they.'

'With their malnourished Woobat and Rookidee? They'll struggle.'

'But they must be somewhere out here...'

He took a pair of stargazing binoculars, like the ones Wisteria borrowed from Whitby, from his bag.

'You need daylight, dude.'

'It's too hot.'

Heather was apparently right, because he put the binoculars away and took out a camera and portable tripod instead.

'Not to worry. The lens can see things we can't.'

Heather was vaguely curious at the same time as she was convinced Laverne wouldn't find a thing, even in broad daylight. His appearance bordered on suspicious, but he was such a buffoon that she couldn't suspect him of anything. He blinked when she appeared beside him.

'What? I love rock climbing.'

She actually only learned that rock climbing was a sport when she saw an ad for it in Motostoke. She learned to scale the rock faces of Orre's deserts as a child, hiding from anyone who could recognise her mother. Still, it was a reasonable excuse for her skill. Roto-Search told her that it was popular in both Elemar and Orre. Laverne set up his camera in silence. The shutter was still open after a full minute.