𝐀𝐏𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐏𝐒𝐄 | [VARIOUS/Reader] | POKÉMON

VII

7.
NIGHT SHIFT

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pov. y/n
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I awoke to the steady beeping of my pager. Immediately, I'm wide awake and reach for the nightstand. Grasping the small machine, I read the few keywords displayed on the tiny display. The room is entirely dark, except for the bit of light coming from the screen.

There are exactly three different kinds of melodies this thing can play. A slow beeping sound, signalling something less important that still requires my assistance.

Then the fastest set of beeps, telling me I need to hurry 'cause something's up shit creek and the villages survival depends on our interference.

Right now, it's a moderate beeping. Something bad for sure,- but I wouldn't have to fear about everything I've built to crumble within minutes.

Of course, I still hurry. Moderate didn't mean it couldn't escalate into something worse. I pull on clothes and harness and stash my knife into the sheath on my lower back. I manage to get out the apartment without waking little Touya,- the first miracle tonight,- and knock on my neighbour's door. It takes a couple of minutes, but soon after a tired face greets my own.

Casey rubs her tired eyes, her usually tied lilac hair sticking into all directions. She wears striped pj's and no socks. Her voice is raspy as she speaks.

"On the go?"

"Yeah," I utter.

She nods firm. I hand her my keys; she knows the drill. Whenever I'm not home and Touya is on his own, I have people I can go to. After the third, I was basically swarmed by friends who gave me their condolences. Many wanted to help. And to this day, I'm taking them up on their offer.

"How long will it take?"

"Can't tell you yet."

"Right. Be careful out there,"

She gives me a warm smile, closing her own door and I watch as she disappears through ours. I swallow hard, hoping Touya wouldn't be too sad seeing I was gone. I hurry up the corridor and take off from the roof, the city beneath me almost completely dark. All that still shines, are the few street lanterns on the market. It's 3am, there's no one awake at this time of hour. And our city does not have the electrical capacity to support illuminated billboards and blinking lights throughout the entire night.

I make my way to the front gates, as instructed by the pager. What I find leaves my breath to disappear. I grasp Noiverns fur tighter, muttering a dreadful, "Arceus".

Beyond the walls, there's light. A caravan has halted in front of our gate, their lanterns shedding enough brightness to see the gigantic scale of it. There's so many men and women, children and Pokémon. Some Tauros are in the middle of being fed, others slept.

Humans have gathered around our border control units, and I notice a red-haired man between it all, trying to negotiate. He's doing his best, but the crowd's mad. I do understand why. They want to get in, it was dangerous out in the open such as they were right now.

I land a few meters away from the turmoil, and look at Noivern, shrugging. She does the same.

"Y/n."

I look to my side, see Cyrus walking over. I watch as he approaches. He halts besides me, and we study the situation together.

"Wow," I utter after some time.

"Wow is an understatement."

"Do we even have enough space for all these people?"