Get Hustled

The Long Arm of the Law

Serene had a pillow, which was a good start. She lay it down in the bathtub and sifted through her backpack to pull out an instant camera and her scrapbook she'd been keeping ever since she ran away from her foster parents. After flicking through a couple of pages, she smiled at a photo of her and Cody pulling stupid faces in front of a police station and giggled to herself. 
"I wonder where Cody is now," she whispered to herself and looked over at Lyka who was rolling around on the clean bathroom floor. She was probably being chased. Maybe she was hiding somewhere dumb, like the back of a moving van. Actually, that was most likely. 

Time seemed to shoot past like a bullet before she heard the sound of the room's door clicking open and closed. Serene quickly shoved her scrapbook back into her bag and swung it over her shoulder to lead Lyka out of the bathroom. Julie smiled at the sight of Sera and slipped her white gloves off. 
"Heya! I told the receptionist to print you a new key, by the way, they'll have it by tomorrow," she said and stroked her Luxray, "if you want, we could go get dinner? My treat!" Serene realised how hungry she was and nodded. While it didn't have the same satisfaction as conning someone into buying her dinner, a warm and happy feeling still surged through her and a genuine smile met her face. 

"Thanks, I'd love to!" she agreed and returned Lyka to his Dusk Ball, mimicking Julie returning her Luxray to its Great Ball. 
"There's a restaurant downstairs. It's a little fancy, but oh well," she sighed and beckoned for Serene to follow her.
Serene just smiled and followed her downstairs. 

"So, what's it like being a cop?" she asked with a shrug as they jogged down the stairs and toward the restaurant. Julie made a thinking face and got them a table for two next to the open window looking out into the city. They sat down with their menus before she finally answered, 
"It's alright, I guess. I've always wanted to be an officer and I've gotten into some pretty interesting situations before. Once I was chasing this criminal and ended up being taken hostage," she chucked to herself, gazing out of the window into the city. 

She didn't seem to take it very seriously, but Serene was extremely intrigued by this story. 
"What? What happened?"
Julie shrugged, 
"Oh, it was just something the criminal was pulling to get out of jail. Didn't work, obviously. No one can escape the long arm of the law," she told Serene, slamming her fist onto the desk and making Sera jump slightly. 

"They can be clever you know, though. Ever heard of Cody Commons? The cops still can't catch her," she argued and after realising she couldn't read the Kalos language and deciding just to get some water and some salad. 
"Hmm, yes I've heard of her. She was in a police lineup a few years back. She had a partner, but we could never identify them. They were probably always wearing some kind of disguise or professional makeup-job," Julie sighed and drummed her fingers on the table in frustration. 

Serene smiled to herself a bit but quickly snapped to attention when the waitress arrived. Julie ordered a chicken salad so Sera just took her best bet- ordering the same thing. 
"So if you were based in Unova, why'd you come over to Kalos?" she asked, thinking she was beginning to get some real information out of this woman. 
"There's this organisation we were alerted of ten years or so back and it's been rebuilt. I'm really just here to fill in for the officers that have to get on this case full time. Nothing special, honestly," she just shrugged and her amber gaze drifted back to the window. After a moment of silence, a scowl met the officer's face and she straightened her posture before pointing out of the window. 

"That man," she whispered, her spare hand going to her belt. Serene looked outside, confused. There was just a regular man lurking outside the hotel on his phone. 
"What about him?" 
"He's a wanted man. I recognise him!" Julie realised and immediately began to unhook the window to climb out.
"Wait, what?" 

Before Sera could object, Julie had climbed out of the window and sent out her Luxray and was confronting the man. 
"Police! Raise your hands above your head! I'm arresting you under suspicion of illegally transporting cash between regions!" she yelled, pointing at him. Serene began panicking now and the waitress came back. 
"Could you save our food for a bit? She's a cop," she requested with a smile before climbing out the window just in time to see the begin to break for it, running at top speed down the street. 

Julie quickly leapt onto her Luxray and ordered it to begin chasing after him, reaching for her radio. 
"Unit 407, requesting immediate backup! The subject is currently heading for Lumiose Tower," she said firmly into the radio.
"Gotcha, Julie. Sending backup to you right now," the radio crackled back, putting Julie's mind slightly at ease, but didn't let it distract her from the chase at hand. 
"Thanks, Kyle," she said back and focused her attention directly onto the man who was running for his dear life. 

"Come on, Lyka, we gotta follow them!" Serene snapped as she sent out Lyka and began running after them, practically springing off her heels and her jacket almost flying off her back. 
"Ugh! I came to Kalos to get away from these stupid chases with cops!"