Chapter Text
The crew snuck around the city until they reached Sina and Dexio’s apartment, hoping the Team Flare outfits wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention. Dexio really didn’t want anyone from Team Flare in his home, but it was the closest option, and all things considered these two were… fairly harmless.
Sina grabbed normal clothes from her closet for them while Dexio and Sycamore talked in the kitchen.
“I don’t like the idea of Team Flare members being let off the hook like this,” Sycamore said. “How do we know they won’t start up their own world ending plot or something? They were pretty enthusiastic about Lysandre’s plans.”
“I get that. We’ll just have to keep an eye on them somehow. Maybe they can find some good honest work like the Lumiose Gang tried to. Are there any positions available at the lab? That’d make it easier for us to watch them.”
Sycamore sighed. “No, and I couldn’t afford to pay them anyway. I’m barely making ends meet as it is.”
Dexio hummed. “Well, we’ll think of something. I don’t really want to turn them over to the police. They’ll probably think we were doing something suspicious in Lysandre Labs too.”
“True. Besides, it seems the police aren’t as… how can I put this nicely? They aren’t nearly as competent as I once believed.”
Dexio laughed. “Yeah, no kidding.”
They were interrupted by Dexio’s holocaster ringing. Dexio answered it.
“Hello, is this Dexio?” Detective Looker’s voice asked. There was no visual.
“Yes sir, it is.” He jolted upright. He held his breath as he waited for Looker to continue.
“Well, I’m happy to report that this case has been solved. We have all the stolen pokeballs at the Bureau, could you swing by to come pick them up?”
“Yes! Yeah, I’m on my way, thank you so much!” Dexio shouted.
“Marvelous,” the professor said with a grin after Dexio ended the call. “You go get your Pokémon back, Sina and I will take care of these two.”
“Thanks! Bye.”
Dexio dashed outside, waving to Sina as he passed, and sprinted all the way to Looker Bureau. He went inside and found Dr. Xerosic standing awkwardly with Detective Looker sitting at his desk.
“Ah, Dexio, there you are!” Looker exclaimed, standing up.
“H-Hello,” he panted. He glanced over at Xerosic. “What are you doing here?”
“First of all, I would like to return your Pokémon,” Dr. Xerosic said, handing two familiar pokeballs to him.
Dexio snatched them away quickly, glaring at Xerosic like he’d try to steal them again.
“Secondly, I would like to formally apologize for all the trouble I’ve caused you. I got so caught up in my research and experiments that I didn’t think about the effect they would have on the people and Pokémon around me. I don’t expect your forgiveness, but I want you to know I am truly sorry.”
Dexio scoffed. “I’m sure you are. What did you do to my Pokémon? Did you experiment on them, too?”
Xerosic shook his head. “No, I hadn’t done anything with your Pokémon. I hadn’t reached that stage of my plans by the time I was apprehended, so they remain untouched.”
“Seriously? So, what’s going to happen now?” he asked Looker.
“Well, I’ll be taking Xerosic here to a high security interregional prison. He won’t be able to hurt anyone else anymore.”
“Wait, are private detectives even capable of arresting people?”
Looker cleared his throat awkwardly. “To be completely honest with you, I am not a private detective. I am an illustrious member of the International Police. My mission here in Lumiose City has been fulfilled with the arrest of this man, so I will be leaving the city soon.”
“Interpol, huh? I knew there was more to you than you were letting on!” Dexio said. “Uh, anyway, thanks for saving my Pokémon. Good luck breaking the news to Emma!”
He turned on his heel and walked out the door. His next stop was the Pokémon Center. Even if Xerosic wasn’t lying through his teeth, that would mean that Slowpoke and Eevee were still worn out from their battle and they would need medical attention.
He returned home afterwards to find that Professor Sycamore had taken the Team Flare grunts to his own apartment. He and Sina got their apartment back to themselves for the night, what a relief! Sina was in the kitchen making dinner, so he sat on the couch and released Slowpoke and Eevee from their balls. Slowpoke yawned and rested its head on its hands, looking up at him and Eevee stretched out.
“Vui!” It called up cheerfully, wagging its tail.
Dexio exhaled. “Are you two okay?”
“Vui? Eev-evui!”
“Poooke…”
Dexio smiled. “I was so worried about you two. I’m so sorry I let that girl steal you guys, and I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to you sooner.”
Slowpoke yawned again and closed its eyes. Typical. Eevee jumped into Dexio’s arms and started licking his face. Dexio laughed, a weight lifting off his chest. Good, they didn’t hate him. He hugged Eevee tight and it did its best to hug him back, its tail wagging like crazy.
Dexio buried his face in Eevee’s fur, his breath hitching as he tried to hold back the tears.
“I-I’m so sorry, you two. I promise I will never ever let anything like this happen to you again. I will be more cautious, pay better attention, and do everything to keep you guys from harm.”
“Sloow? Slow… poke.”
“You guys mean the world to me, and I don’t want to – I cannot lose you again. I won’t.”
“Vui! Evui!”
Slowpoke crawled up to where Dexio was curled up and placed its paw on his leg, and Dexio couldn’t keep the tears in anymore. He loosened his hold on Eevee to pull Slowpoke into the hug with them. They stayed like that for several minutes, Dexio sobbing into Eevee’s lush fur. He’d have to give it a bath later.
“Well, gang,” Sina called from the kitchen after a while. “Dinner’s ready!”
The hug broke up as Eevee darted into the kitchen excitedly, Slowpoke following at its much more sedate pace. Dexio chuckled and wiped his face on his sleeve, then got up and followed them in. All was finally well.