Sure, she might be a thief, but she had rules. Stealing from babies was a nope. The same went for old ladies, blind peeps, and starving families. But, this asshole? His dumbass went and put himself right at the top of her list.

It all started with her napping on one of those spinny things at the park. The sun and gentle rocking felt divine and all the other kids were stuck in calculus or something. That meant the bumpy thing with its french fry bars could be all hers. Well, hers and Tink’s. It also put her within running distance of the restaurant where she was meant to meet big bro. But her idyllic daydreaming was cut short by a loud yelp nearby.

Jerking awake, Harper bound from the merry-go-round to the swings nearby. From there, she launched herself up the slide. Upon this perch, the teenager stared at the greenery below. Instantly, her eyes narrowed to slits. Fingers curled into her firsts, leaving imprints on her palm. “Oh, you fricking butt munch.” Upon her little steel tower, it was easy to see exactly what a man was doing to his Bolthund. And the poor puppy-wuppy was now limping.

Awwwww! Nope! Nope! Not today, sir!

Sure, her dad didn’t love dogs. And she wasn’t a huge fan. But treating a Pokemon like that was super-duper not okay. In fact, when it came to Pokemon rights, the pink-haired girl was a total extremist. Each of her buddies stayed because they wanted to. Heck, she didn’t even know where one of their Pokeballs was. But this guy not only had his ass on full display but his balls too.

“Hey, Tink-a-dink!” The hammer-wielding beast looked up at Harper with a faux innocent expression. Its silver hammer rested heavily in its palms. Judging by its whitening knuckle, the Tinkaton wasn’t a big fan of what was happening either. “Wanna give me a hand?” After getting a nod, the parkour master slipped down the backside of the slide.

On the other side of the green, the man again ordered his dog to do an iron tail on a nearby bush. It was struggling and his owner’s stupid fat face was looking more and more like a frozen tomato.

“Just do what I do! And, SMILE~!” Rearranging her jacket into order, the pinkette slid down the hill. After a deep breath, she forced herself to grin big and bright. Her eyes filled with mirth.

“OMG! Mister Percy! I haven’t seen you in like forever!” Before he could do anything, the wiry teenager had thrown her arms around him. “I thought ya might have gotten crushed by one of those stars!” The man stammered and guffawed, acutely aware of how close this young woman was. The watch went first. Then, she coaxed his wallet out of a backpocket. This she slipped to the Tinkaton. “And you’re looking super good! I bet no one calls you Professor Wailord anymore!”

In front of them, the Bolthund stopped its training. Big scared eyes lit with a rare light as its tail gave a single wag.

Masterful fingers slipped to the back of his belt, searching out the clasp for the dog’s Pokeball. But, uh, it seemed kind of stuck. Had the guy glued it back here? Before she could process it, the man had shoved her away. “Excuse me, madam.” A nasally little puppet voice—like something you’d hear from a cartoon turtle. “I do not know you.”

Now, there was a problem. His Pokebelt had fallen behind him. Gosh! It’d been ages since she did something like that! And it’d be hard to explain how that’d ended up there. Trying her best to recenter herself, Harper gestured the fairy type towards the fallen loot.

“Awww, are you suuuure? I coulda swore we’ve met before.” A hundred times, totally. He was just another bully in a nice suit.