Fury and Confusion (A Pokemon Fanfiction)

Chapter Three

"What?" Gladion pulled the beer back from his mouth. "Wasn't there something in the news about a girl who got washed out to sea?"

"It's not her, mate," Guzma knocked back another shot and quickly poured a fourth. His gold chains glittered in the low incandescent light of the bar. There were several other Team Skull members here but most kept their distance. The low rumble of bass-heavy music rippled in the background.

"And how would you know?" Gladion took another sip. Beer wasn't exactly his first choice, but he had to drink something when he was out with the boss.

"I swear to god," Guzma slammed down his shot and turned around towards the rest of the Team Skull goons. "Do none of you FUCKS pay attention!?" He growled at their shocked expressions before turned back to Gladion. "They just announced on the TV this morning that they found that girl's body. From what they were saying, she drowned shortly after she fell from the cliff. There's no way this girl is her."

"Huh," Gladion sipped his drink again and grimaced at the taste.

"Anyway," Guzma sighed. "She's around your age and all these other fuckers are liable to scare the shit out of her. Last thing I want to do is make her panic and shut down before I figure out what the hell we're gonna do with her."

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital when your boys picked her up?" Gladion kept glancing up at the bartender. Half his head was shaved, the other half left long and dyed in a myriad of neon colors. One of the more flamboyant styles among Team Skull.

"I considered it," Guzma took another shot. What was that, six?" "But none of the boys I trust to drop her in front of a hospital unharmed are ones I want to risk getting caught by Nanu or his lackeys. If I sent some of the idiot newbies, they might fuck something up."

"What, is she that pretty?" Gladion snickered.

Guzma whirled in his stool, grabbing Gladion by his front collar. "Don't joke about that shit, boy." His voice was like acid. "Whoever she is, she's a human being. The whole point of Team Skull is that we take care of our own. I'm not risking her getting hurt by some hot blooded lowlifes."

"Your hot blooded lowlifes," Gladion pushed Guzma off him and turned away. Suddenly the beer tasted even fouler than it did before. He felt his muscles tense. "Even so, she should be taken to a hospital."

"Doc Turner took a look at her," Guzma threw back another shot as he settled into his seat again. "Said she was medically okay. A bit cold when they picked her up apparently, but that happens when you're floating in the middle of the fucking ocean. Plumeria took care of her good, though. Didn't even need to dump any drugs to make room since it's been such a shit month."

Gladion hung his head. It was starting to look like he didn't have a choice about this.

"What's her name?" He grumbled.

"That's the thing," Guzma snickered. "She doesn't have one."

---

Gladion brushed past the two guards standing outside Guzma's mansion. They were part of the old regime and they stood silently in standard uniform, no deviations. No colored hair or piercings either. Gladion recognized them both as members of Guzma's own inner circle, but he couldn't recall their names. They were men who had been with Guzma since the beginning, supposedly. The real criminals, the ones who cleared out Po Town.