[The Hunter] Episode 1 - Reiko Isshin

Every few weeks... I have that same dream... A mother and a child, sitting in a field... I don't see a father in the poor-quality GIF that is this vision... Their shape is just too blurry to see clearly who, or what they are... Are they human...? Are they Pokémon...? they look very happy... Before I can even recollect their shape... I wake up.

"Who are you?"

The burly man asks, now with his entire face and part of his shirt bloodied out. He spits out a tooth as I keep my boot on his chest and my pistol pointed as his eye.

"My name is Reiko Isshin. I am a bounty hunter and mercenary-for-hire. The big guys at the government put a nice price on your head. I wonder if I can rip it off as easily as the P12000 flyer I ripped off the Pokémon Center wall..."

He proceeds to spit on my face. I am fed up with this asshole. I pull out a Poké Ball from the strap on my bag. "Ok, now you lost your privilege to be beaten down by me. Emily!"
I throw the ball on the ground. From the ball, a Mawile is released. She snaps her knuckles.

"I'm ready! throw me at 'em!!" Emily shouts, eager for a battle.

"Arceus Almighty! Your Pokémon can talk!!" the thug says, his bloodied face now petrified with awe.
"You can do wonders with enough patience. Emily, Iron Head!"
She readies the attack. I quickly move away as she, with a big smile on her face, slams her jaw-horns directly on the thug's face, smashing his nose in and rendering him unconscious. I lift his limp body and cuff him with his hands behind his back. "Excellent job, Emily!" I said as I started carrying the thug's unconscious body towards his car, to take him to the nearest commissary.
"No, Thank YOU for letting me hit a bad guy for once, big bro. I actually needed to get outta that ball!" Emily said with a sarcastic tone.

Her name is Emily, a Mawile that has been by my side since day one of my journey. I didn't plan to have Pokémon of my own, but I found her on the side of the road just out of Petalburg, my hometown. I gave her food, and she sticked to me immediately. She wouldn't let me go. I gave up, I captured her and named her Emily, like the name my mother would have liked to name me if I was a girl.
I felt alone, and bored in my first weeks of my journey, so I decided to teach her the human language. After 2 grueling years, she caught up on the skill, and finally had the capacity and ease of word of a normal human. She is loving, sarcastical and much of a comedian. She's not only my Pokémon, she's not only my best friend, She's the closest I've ever had to a sister.

"How about some sub sandwiches at Metro? Just promise you'll behave." I tell Emily.
She replies happily "Just if you let Armaldo and Inna out when we arrive. They need some fresh air too. "
"Don't worry. They'll be out to grab lunch with us." I say as I put the body in the back, grab his keys, get Emily inside the car, start it and drive towards Slateport.

We reach the commissary. I carry the thug's bloody, semi-conscious body to the counter.
"Oh. Good morning. Welcome to Slateport commissary. How can we be of service?" The receptionist greets me. I take a piece of paper with the thug's face out of my wallet, with the letters 'WANTED' over the picture and a number under it. I slam it on the counter.
"Oh! You came to claim a bounty on... Rupert Kalem, am I right? We'll take the man and confirm the bounty. would you like to receive your payment with a deposit in your bank account, or in cash?" The pretty woman behind the counter asks me.
"Cash, if you don't mind." I reply as two policemen come by my side and take the thug away.
"It's the man. Bounty confirmed." One of the officers immediately say after looking at the cuffed man's ugly mug.
"Cash it is. Just a moment" The secretary tells me as she walks away for a few minutes. She then returns with a small wad of bills. "Here you go, mister. P12000."
"Thank you. Have a nice day." I tell her as Emily and I walk out.

Now in front of Metro, I pull out my other two Poké Balls and I throw them in the air. A white flash brings out both Armaldo and Inna in front of me.

The first one is an Armaldo. I got him as a reward in one of my mercenary jobs. A shady dude told me a certain scientist owed him money, and I got hired to beat him down and terminate him. When I arrived at the lab and I started smashing his face in, He begged for his life. He promised he would disappear from the map, and in exchange for his life, he gifted me a Poké Ball, containing the Armaldo. He is a little clumsy, but is very loving, and is quite the capable fighter and guardian even if he is not as tall as me; he is even able to stop a few stray bullets.

The second one is Inna, a Gardevoir. I rescued her from an abusive trainer I encountered in Littleroot, 6 months ago. He was severely abusing her physically, so I stepped in, and sent his own physical health to oblivion. Gardevoirs are supposed to protect their trainers, no matter how abusing they are, but she didn't even tried to. Instead, when I finished with the douchebag, she picked up her own Poké Ball from his belt, handed it over to me as she hugged me tight. She has been with me since then. She's caring, loving, kind, stern and an excellent cook; almost like a second mother.

"Ar!" My Armaldo growls happily as he sees me, and clumsily nuzzles my chest, I rub his head in respond.
'Is is lunch time already? Thank Arceus, I'm hungry!' Inna tells me through telepathy. She almost never makes any sounds when it comes to talking to me, instead she connects with my mind and talks to me from there.
"Yup. We're eating the best in Metro! I already got my paycheck!" I cheer as I show Inna the money. We walk inside Metro, ready to gobble down on the best ingredients.
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Cashier: Welcome to Metro! What will you order?
Reiko: Get me 2 Premier Meatlovers 12CMs, a Pecha-Bluk 6CM, and a Vegetarian 6CM, with Tamato Berry.
Cashier: Excellent! I guess some of them will be for your Pokémon. Would you like Poffin bread for P100 extra?
Reiko: That'd be swell. What would you like, guys?
Armaldo: -maldo!
Emily: He says He'd like Spicy. I'd love to have Sweet
Inna: *Telepathy* I'll have Salty(Dry) Poffin
Reiko: Then it's settled. 2 Premier Meatlovers 12CMs, one with Spicy Poffin bread, another with Sour Poffin bread, a Pecha-Bluk 6CM with Salty Poffin bread, and a Vegetarian 6CM with Sweet Poffin bread, please?
Cashier: *gets confused* Poffin bread for you too, sir?
Reiko: Got a problem with that, miss? 
Cashier: No-no-no! It's just... Curious for a human to eat Pokémon food, that's all!
Reiko: Yeah... I get that a lot.
Cashier: Ok. We'll have your order soon.
Reiko: Thanks.
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I walk away and Emily, Armaldo, Inna and I sit around a nearby table. Awaiting our orders.

Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Reiko Isshin(The 'h' is mute). I am a bounty hunter and mercenary-for-hire. I am 20 years old, I measure 1.85 meters and I weigh 69 kilograms. I have medium-size black hair that covers my ears and part of the back of my neck (Seen the hair from Fire Emblem Awakening's Robin? Just like that, but jet-black). I have dark-gray eyes that complement my yellowish-pale skin. I normally use light blue jeans, brown hiking boots, a long-sleeved gray shirt, a beige-colored tactical vest where I keep spare mags and ammunition, and I always carry with me a S&W 5906 Civilian Model, which was modified to shoot physical bullets, rubber bullets and even stun darts for shooting Pokémon. I had a very nice life so far, with my mother Ryoko managing a bakery and my father Kazuma working as a security chief in Kalos. I never actually had a passion for Pokémon, and I wasn't interested at all in becoming a trainer, or a breeder, or a coordinator; what I actually had a passion with, was with weapons: Guns, knives, swords... Name it, loved it. I taught myself how to handle the weapons, and refined my accuracy, to the point I could hit a can with a slingshot from 50 meters away.
When I was 16 years old, we received a notice that my father was murdered during a criminal attack. The rage and desire to get rid of the scum of the world made me gather my gear, buy a pistol from the Petalburg Armada, and start my journey as what I am now. It has been a very profitable job, as there is always people who need a beatdown or a bullet to the head, and not necessarily bad people all the time. As time passed, I decided to keep my morality completely neutral, hitting both "good" and "bad" people alike, because as my teacher always said "Too much light will blind, too much darkness will lose. Keep them both equal, and the road you follow will always be true.".

Our orders arrive. We grab our sandwiches and start to chow down. Emily always finds a way of finishing earlier and everybody else. My Armaldo quickly makes a mess on the table, and Inna proceeds to clean it up. 

As I ate, my mind started stirring memories. With 4 years doing this, I managed to almost clean the criminal grime that was stuck on Hoenn. But I wanted more. I wanted to settle down. I wanted to buy a big house and make it my center of operations for my business. But I also wanted to keep on traveling and doing my job on-the-go. That's when I made my choice. We would be leaving Hoenn, and settle down elsewhere. But where...? That's when my mind snapped. 

Kalos.

My father was murdered in Kalos. I want to know what happened to him. Was his death justified? Who killed them? What was this mysterious company my father worked for? I want answers. And it's finally time for me to move onward and out of this region.

"Emily, Armaldo, Inna, We're moving out." I shout as I stand up.
"Huh? to where?" Emily asks confused.
"To Kalos. It's finally time for all of us to get outta Hoenn and take our journey to new boundaries. We grab the ferry tomorrow morning." I reply to the group. 
Everyone, including the people and employees of Metro look at me with a slight smile on their faces. My soul was filled with determination, and nobody would take it out of it.

Little I knew, an odyssey of mythical proportions was about to unfold for me. Destiny truly held a greater purpose for this mercenary...