The New Normal - 15-12 - Interlude - Looker

The New Normal – 15-12 – Interlude – Looker

It had been a long journey by ship to Unova, but for once, he was grateful for the downtime. It allowed him to brush up on his crafted backstory, not only for the sake of his own memory, but also for his partner Croagunk, who he had specifically brought for this infiltration.

Unlike the previous undercover operations that he had to perform in the past, this one was particularly tricky. Firstly, he had never needed to try to infiltrate a group that purported to be for Pokémon rights. Normally, it was the opposite, as criminal groups tended to be abusive towards their own Pokémon.

Secondly, it was the first time he had to consider the fact that there was someone that could speak directly to his own Pokémon. It meant that his Pokémon could accidentally expose flaws in his cover story unintentionally.

That was why he had chosen to only bring Croagunk along, which he justified in his cover story by stating that he had released his remaining Pokémon back into the wild. Of course, in reality, he had certainly not done something as stupid as that. He and his team had been together for far too long for him to abandon them like that, and the trust that they shared was unbreakable.

Yet amongst them, his tiny and unassuming looking Croagunk was his most trusted companion. It was the partner that was assigned to him when he had first joined the International Police, and it instantly stood out compared to all the other Pokémon that he was used to dealing with.

For one, it had no intention of evolving into a Toxicroak, and instead preferred to maintain its unevolved form in order to disguise its true strength; because despite its harmless looking appearance, his Croagunk was very proficient at quick takedowns, sneaking around, and ambushes. It had trained itself to be by far the most skilled and cunning of his team. And just like he had done, Croagunk had trained itself to be equally as resistant to Psychic mind-reading as he was.

Perfect for an undercover operator.

Eventually, they had arrived in Unova, and he quickly disposed of his notes so that he wouldn’t left any evidence for PLASMA to find. He tidied up his appearance a bit, making sure that his new look differed heavily from his usual appearance. After ensuring that everything was in place, he stepped off the ship with his Croagunk walking next to him and was immediately greeted by the PLASMA contact.

It was an old man with a long white beard, dressed up in what looked like religious garments – akin to what a bishop would wear.

“Greetings, Hilbert. It’s so nice to finally see you in person. I am Giallo, one of the Seven Sages and co-leader of PLASMA. Thank you for coming over so quickly.”

The old man shot him a pleasant smile while he said all this, which quickly turned into a surprised frown as Looker, now in his disguise as Hilbert, grabbed onto Giallo’s arms with both of his hands and violently shook them with an eagerness found in a rabid fan.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you! You don’t know how excited I was when I found out that I wasn’t alone in my thinking!” He said, making sure that his smile was wide and near-manic, “All of my former friends and family called me insane! But now I know it’s just that I haven’t found the right people yet! Isn’t that right, Croagunk?”

“Croa!” His partner nodded enthusiastically, before ‘accidentally’ jabbing him in the leg, making him wince as he ‘stumbled’ slightly. It was the signal that the person in front of him was starting to get uncomfortable with his over-enthusiasm, so he let go of Giallo and pretended to rub at the place where Croagunk had ‘punched’ him.

“…Your enthusiasm is certainly appreciated.” Giallo responded after a small pause, probably to get over his shock at Hilbert’s enthusiasm. “PLASMA is always ready to welcome those who are able to fully understand the message, which you definitely seem to have.”

“Of course!” He pounded his chest, “It’s how I became an Ace Trainer in the first place! Once I set a goal for myself, I’ll finish it to the end. No matter what!”

Giallo shot him a small smile, but Looker was able to catch onto the calculating look in the man’s eyes. He was studying him, trying to get a good sense of his personality in order to manipulate him. It wasn’t even subtle; any rookie could have spotted that. I guess Giallo was underestimating him because of how much enthusiasm he had shown for the ‘cause’.

Just as he hoped. Playing dumb was a tried and true method of lowering someone’s guard.

After the brief introductions, Giallo ended up escorting him to a faraway location, almost to the most southeastern part of Unova, in a small little island near Nuvema Town. There were a couple of buildings on this island, which seemed to all be owned by PLASMA and served as their main base of operations.

…Interesting to note that a supposedly ‘publicly’ funded group could have access to their own private island of sorts. It might be a small island, with the buildings looking rather rundown, but the fact that they had something like this already demonstrated that PLASMA’s origins were not as humble as they liked to pretend.

He made sure to not let any of that show on his face as he asked Giallo another question, “…Is this where I’ll be staying? With other people of PLASMA?”

“Originally, we had planned for new recruits to stay together in bunk beds. However, recruitment levels were not as high as we originally anticipated.” Giallo explained with an unmistakable tinge of sadness in his voice, “But that’s good news for you, as you’ll be having a room to yourself. Consider it a reward for your enthusiasm.”

Excellent. Not having to share a room with others would make things easier. They would certainly keep the room bugged, but that was easy to work around.

The two of them walked together for a bit longer, and Giallo looked like he was about to split off from him for his other duties when they were suddenly approached by a green-haired teen.

“Ah, Giallo, is this our newest recruit?” The newcomer asked. Looker immediately recognised him as N, the man that John had specifically warned him about.

“It is, Lord N.” Giallo nodded, and Looker inwardly noted the very strange title that Giallo had used with N, “I was just about to send him on his way. Would you like a word with him?”

“If he doesn’t mind indulging my curiosity.” N gave off a small smile towards Looker, “I have a lot of questions to ask.”

“Sure! I’d love to speak to someone who finally understands me!” He replied with just the right amount of enthusiasm, “…But maybe you could give me a few minutes? I’d like to put down my stuff and get changed – I’ve been wearing the same set of clothes for days now.”

“Oh, of course. Go right ahead and take your time.” N agreed easily, “Though, why don’t you leave your Croagunk with me? I’ve always wanted to spend time with a new Pokémon from Sinnoh.”

“If you want to?” Looker turned to Croagunk and gave him a questioning look, communicating silently with his partner. His partner pretended to tilt his head thoughtfully before replying with an eager nod, while also subtly informing him that it remembered its duties.

Croagunk would help him sell his own cover story.

With that, he split off from his partner and headed to his assigned room. As soon as he stepped inside, he took out a miniature scanner from within his coat and turned it on. He received four pings back, letting him know that there were at least four electronic devices found within his room, confirming that he was being monitored.

Unfortunate, but expected. It meant that he couldn’t drop the ‘Hilbert’ façade anytime soon. That might have been draining on any other agent, but not for Looker.

He was born for this kind of thing.

A.N. I felt that it would be good to have a follow-up chapter with Looker’s POV as he arrives in Unova. One of the things I wanted to highlight was Looker’s future connection with N, with all of the potential changes that could occur from this, as well as the false persona that Looker has crafted for himself.

And I also got inspired and repurposed the ‘gag’ of Croagunk in the anime, where he always used to mess with Brock whenever Brock got too ‘enthusiastic’. I felt like having that kind of fake dynamic with Looker as Hilbert would be interesting. Also, props to those who noticed why I chose ‘Hilbert’ to be Looker’s fake name. Hope you enjoyed!