Adrian Malcolm
The pink-haired girl felt her breath constrict as she watched the ball twitch. At this distance, nothing would stop that Perrzerker from scarring up her face. When the ball settled into her hand, its weight was almost welcome. She’d defeated an age-old enemy and now held its life in her hands. Harper handled the Pokeball like a soldier would a grenade. Each shift of her fingers was cautious as if it might explode at any moment. Her thumb swept into place over its button.

But this excitement was short-lived.

What had she gone and done that for!? It was kind of hard to rob a guy she just totally rescued, which meant she’d have spent all of tonight for nothing. And how the heck was she supposed to feed this cat? It’d probably rip her arm off if she tried! Monstrous punk or not, Harper wasn’t even sure selling it was an option. Doing that was kind of weird when you’re dad was a Pokemon too.

These thoughts ended when Adrian turned toward her. “You’re welcome! I didn’t want her to scratch you.” She rubbed her hip with one hand. “Those claws really smart.” And, being metal, they did a real number on your skin. “I never did like how sneaky that thing was.” When he shared his name, Harper beamed. “I’m Harper! But my best buds call me Batman.” Not really. Even the Castform seemed skeptical of that claim, whirling to face her with a thin brow quirked upward. “My parents are dead, and I keep to the shadows.” These things were said with the same singsong cadence.

Wow! He was cute up close. Even with that stupid disguise on. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before either.” Which is likely why she’d marked him in the first place. Her job was a lot harder to do a second time. As she turned to watch the Quagsire, her eyes caught on the Sprigatito. “Whoa! Lookit this, Adrian! It’s so cute!” Was that a cat? What was she doing in the garbage?

Harper approached it, offering the kitten a bit of the cookie in her pocket. It brought to mind her younger self—hungry and desperate for food in any place. It was still clumsy. “You want to sleep with us tonight? Bed’s pretty comfy!” Big red eyes just blinked up at her as Harper held her breath.

Ah, man. There went dinner for the night.

[[Attempting to capture Sprigatito.]]

Mei Liu
The young woman gave her feline companion one final stare before turning her total attention to Mei. “I’ll keep that in mind, Miss Mei.” Her hand flicked from the large ornate clock in one corner to her own wrist. “Maybe I can get a watch. Not all of them are for old men.” Though the ones she could actually sell tended to be. Cute stuff usually didn’t hold its value. Humans were weird like that. Probably just the patriarchy at work or whatever.


Some part of her was glad she was scrawny. It made getting in and out of places easier. And it stopped crazy old witches from eating her. Which she knew was ridiculous, but Hansel and Gretel had been her only book growing up. “You think so?” The girl chirped, rocking back on her shoes. No one had ever called her pretty before. Cute, definitely. Scrawny and in need of feeding, sure. But never a word like that. “What kind of flower do you think I am?” The cat under the table made a coughing noise. His golden eyes glowed with mean-hearted mirth. “I ain’t a weed, Poppa. Take that back.”


Judging by his return to grooming, the feline had no intention of rescinding the sentiment. It would not do for this kit to get a full head. There was little room for self-esteem and bravado amongst all the clouds.


The lady’s other question was met with an inward sucking of air. Harper reached into her jacket, pulling out her phone. “This man has a certain stone in his possession that the scientists need.” On the screen was a rather rotund man with a pinched nose and almost frog-like face. “He’s apparently showing it off at some stupid party and Daddy—” Her eyes moved to the cat. “Wants me to take the opportunity to grab it.” But, for some reason, she had to be a guest this time. Or some hired help, at least.


And, if she did this right, no one would know it was missing until it was gone. She had the decoy. The escape plan was in place. She just needed an in.

We'll take that Trapinch.

Normally, Harper would have been squealing at the Mareep. It was a cute, fluffy little sheep! It even had a shiny tail and stripes. And, then, there were its cute little hoofies! OMGEE!



! But her attention was, instead, fixated on the Purrserker. She’d met this grumpy gill before. When she’d been tiny—living in one of these warehouses—it’d terrorized her on more than one occasion. A lot of hard-earned spoils had been lost to its knife-like claws. It terrorized other Pokemon into this whole honey bait thing. They sat there and looked cute. It sprang on them like a bear trap.



Now, judging by its pose, the steel type was about to do the same to this guy. This left Harper with three options: One, she could wait for it to grab his stuff and pick up the scraps. Two, she could warn him and let him take care of the can opener cat. Or, three, she could finally get some revenge. And, at the same time, she’d look like a hero!



Cumulus really didn’t like the look in the adolescent’s eyes. It was the kind of scheming expression usually seen on cartoon villains. But whatever plan she had went up in flames. Or, uh, steel claws. The Crobat took down the Mareep. In that same instant, the cat charged.



“Hey! Mister! Look out!” Harper called from her perch. The cat jerked up red eyes to stare her down. She stuck her tongue out. Then, she remembered that this thing was a piston and now very angry at her. Oh, shoot! What now!? This thing was going to shishkabob here! “Moo! Hit her!”



The Castform jumped into action, tossing a high-powered weatherball right into the irritable cat’s face. It fell and rolled.



Harper knew she couldn’t let it get back up. A Pokeball was tugged from her knock-off purse and lobbed at the dazed cat’s head.

Attempting to catch the Perrzerker

Moo used Weatherball!

The dumpster stank of burning metal and otherness. But, no trash. This place hadn’t been used in like forever.



For some reason, as she approached it, Harper found herself thinking of hospitals But she’d never liked those much so that was totally weird. Her bright eyes showed a familiar emotion. The curiosity that most definitely killed a cat. “D :” The Castform, full of paternal concern, zoomed in front of her face as she drew closer.



When she came within arm’s reach of it, Harper ran her hand across the dumpster’s pockmarked surface. Her movements were almost reverent as she circled little rust circles. Tiny calloused fingers smoothed across the giant bump on its side. “It musta hit really hard, Moo.” The thief started, wrinkling her brow. “Looks like a Rhyhorn charged it.” That or an ornery Tauros. Which was only a funny image when it wasn’t charging at you in the middle of the night. “ > |” The Castform’s face shifted into a displeased expression.



This new level of concern was waved aside with the same level of nonchalance as the rest. “Don’t worry, Moo! I’m gonna be careful!” One hand gripped the bottom rim of the trunk as she quickly made her way up its handles and indented bottom. “Not like I ain’t done plenty more dangerous stuff.” Judging by his next expression—not visible from his trainer’s angle—that was exactly what the Castform worried about.



Harper threw her upper torso into the trunk, hanging from her waist. A lot of the dumpster’s base had been cracked and melted away. The Minor’s outer shell was cracked and disjointed, revealing a blinding blue light beneath. “Wow! It’s so bright!”



“?__?” The sound of wings drew the normal types attention. Old habits made him send a beam toward the side of the dumpster. Adults meant it was time to run in the olden days.



Her head jerked up, the strange motion a breeze thanks to her core. “Hi there, mister!” Harper’s grin was as bright as the Crobat next to him. “It looks like a Pokemon fell in the dumpster..” She flipped around, her legs now dangling ove the edge she balanced precariously on. “Really, REALLY fast.” One finger pointed to the Castform buzzling worriedly between his word and this weirdo-pedophile man. “ : / “



“It looks like Moo, just a LOT pointier.”

Uggggh! By Victini’s ears she was hungry! Sure, she had dinner but it didn’t seem anywhere near enough. And, it’d been veggies and lab-grown meat. Definitely not anything in her favorite food groups. Not unless you counted the butter on the peas as dairy. So, hankering for a snack, Harper wandered into the labyrinthine halls. She beeped Daddy’s card where required and circled closer to what she figured was the super-special pantry. The one a child could pick.

Something that was very true. She’d done it a gazillion times. But, engrossed in conversation with Tinkerbell and Mischief, the thief took a first right instead of a left.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to really set stuff apart. The same tiles and stuff. It didn’t help that the place shifted and grew like a Durant horde. One week the pantry was by the kitchen and next it was by the blood samples. Offices turned into labs and her favorite napping places were always getting covered up by furniture and rugs.

So, the fact that the door looked a little funky didn’t bother Harper any. “Let’s got momma some pudding cups—!” The door sluiced open. “Uh…”

Didn’t look like she’d find any Twinkies here.

The Impidimp peeped around one leg and her Tinkaton the other. “KATON!” The fairy-steel type yelled, wrapping a hand around its back-up hammer (one from a hardware store). The Impidimp, meanwhile, took a step back. Terror was evident in its gaze. But that was Mischief for you.

Bright eyes meet the room’s other occupant, narrowing slightly. The kid stepped into the room. “Whatcha doing?"

The stupid girl opened a very important meeting by mocking a disability. His disability! Stupid little brat.

Already acquainted with this female and her general appearance, Crookshanks saw little reason to gawk. Though the feline did spare the bird, a single, hungry glance. Finding the morsel not tender enough, he curled up on the rug. Beneath the table, his eyes narrowed at his ward’s legs. If she embarrassed him, he’d remind her why stripes were always in fashion.

His limp carried him to the sectionHarper had pictured a thousand different things waiting for this meeting. One of those fancy ladies with the big dresses and parasol. Maybe a real princess with pearls and bling. This woman, though, fell into a third category. 

Harper was reminded of those old black-and-white movies she’d sometimes catch through the windows. A person with a big hat and colorful, snakelike lips that belonged on a predator. That or a—yuck--jinx. But it was cool! Like a super ninja geisha lady!

“Uh, I don’t think I’m slouching—” Harper began with a perplexed expression. This is how she always walked! Though, wanting to impress the geisha-Fatale, the girl tried to straighten her shoulders. Her feet spread slightly farther apart as she did so. All this did was remind her how much she hated shoes. Especially these pinchy ones. The ones now rubbing against the welts Daddy just gave her ankle.

The woman’s other words were listened to with an almost feline expression. Her head tilted to one side. “Um, why is it an excuse though? I am late because he’s slow. I didn't know where we were meeting." An angry yowl came from under the table. “It ain't like I try to miss stuff.” She just didn’t really have a watch. And phones were still super-duper new to her.

“It’s nice to meetcha, Miss Mei.” Her head bobbed in a nod. “That’s right! I’m Harper, though I’m not really a Mann.” Not sure what to do with her hands-but knowing her gesticulations were not ladylike—the thief locked them behind her back. “Papa just thought I needed a synonym. A fake name, yanno?” Why did that word feel wrong? Oh well!

The lady knew what she meant!

Thank you so much!

Far above Adrian, a pink-haired figure watched the alley below. Her eyes flickered eagerly from person to person. What part of them drew her in varied. Sometimes it was the funny hats. Others it was the brightness of a Pokemon or the quality of their watch. One woman held her attention longer than the others. To be more accurate, the magpie in Harper was attracted to the fancy earrings. “Wowee! “ She hissed excitedly. “I bet those are worth a pretty chunk of change!”

The Castform behind her shifted briefly to his rainy-day form. Trying to rob that woman seemed like a really, really bad idea. The men with her were like Rillaboom and that smile barely reached her eyes. To him, it felt like a trap. But, so did everything. Cumulus was kind of—i.e. Extremely—paranoid. His head shook as he bumped his ward in the shoulder. The teenager rolled her eyes and muttered beneath her breath. “Spoilsport.”

With that target out of sight, Harper settled down to eye the next group. But quickly ticked most of them off for various reasons. He looked like a storybook prince. That guy had given her candy once. The one in the ratty trench coat was totally naked under it. That or he stank. Harper wasn’t sure which was worse. Finally, her eyes settled on Adrian. “What about hiiiim?” She queried with a wine. “Guy is probably a total-wotal bore.” The kind who didn’t want to be followed and totally wanted to blend in.

The Castform didn’t even get a chance to shake his head.

With almost cat-like precision, the pink-haired thief stalked Adrian into the wilder, less tame alleys. Her feet, silent, made quick work of familiar alleyways, easily skirting familiar trash heaps and shattered lightbulbs. As his journey continued, the Rocket would start to notice a light fog setting in. All she needed was another crowd for him to brush into. A place where an errant hand would go unnoticed.

Then, she saw the Pokemon. The next words weren’t a whisper. “Uh-oh.”

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.

Harper didn’t come here much. She didn’t like it. She knew all kinds of stuff happened past the card readers and sliding doors. A lot of it she didn’t understand. But daddy had always told her (in his own way) that wasn’t her job. Good girls did what they were told and didn’t ask questions. Which the pinkette always thought was silly. Weren’t cats like super-duper curious? Didn’t he ask people a ton of questions? Still, in this case, she didn’t want to know what happened behind closed doors.

Today, fortunately, her destination was far, far, faaar away from the land of antiseptic and bright lights. Apparently, the boss had a job for her. One that involved stealing some fancy jewel right out from under some rich loser’s nose. Which was fine by her. Gazillionaires would barely notice if you took a whole house, much less some fancy jewels. But, apparently, getting it off of the man the normal way wasn’t an option. Harper would only get a chance to take it at a fancy party.

This meant someone needed to teach her how to charm this ugly perv. And, since this was far outside her and daddy’s wheelhouse, a meeting had been set up. Even if this etiquette stuff sounded like snoozeville But it did mean she got to see her father, which more than made up for any boring yadda-yadda stuff. Careful to slow her pace to match his limp, the pink-haired teen fell into step with the Liepard. Cool eyes shifted to meet hers as he gestured towards a nearby hallway.

As he weaved between her legs to assume the lead position, Harper had to squish the urge to give him the world’s biggest hug. Father didn’t like being touched. It made him mad. “So….” A visible sigh ran through the Liepard’s speckled form. An exasperated sigh emerged between pointed canines. This frustration remained unvoiced, however. Trying to stop the fool from asking questions was like trying to dam whitewater rapids. It was far more efficient to let her talk herself to death.

“What’s this lady like? She’s a spy right?” Harper knew her name and little else. But just that brought to mind all kinds of stuff. Robes from Johto and straight, ebony hair held up by ninja stars and weaponized fans. Harper wondered if she’d be wearing a lot of makeup and if she could show her how to make her stupid cowlick stay down. “Are you two in looooooove~?"

” Crookshanks shuddered with revulsion. The very idea of him being with a human woman was absurd. Especially one with more miles than a county mail truck. After a few moments of tuning the child out, they arrived at one of the many lounges. “Liepard.” He jerked his chin toward the door handle.

Harper opened the door as requested, picking her head into the room like some pink whack-a-mole. “Hiiii~! I’m looking for Mei!” She grinned. “I’d apologize for being late, but time’s relative, and he’s slowwwww.” A hiss tore out of her mouth as the dark-type’s claws connected with her ankle. Any protest died in her throat as he gave her that look.

Laying atop a city rooftop, Harper stared up at the night sky.

As usual, the lights around her left plenty to the imagination. She could only remember one place she’d ever gotten a good look at the stars. And that’d been at her first foster home. But the weird lady’s smile reminded her of a Basculin and the softness of her voice was way scarier than anything Daddy did. Still, that big blue expanse had been pretty cool.

Her arms were laced behind her head, pink hair mixed in with the grime on the warehouse’s rooftop. Her legs rested upon the skeleton of the HVAC system. Tilting her head back a bit more, she caught the eyes of the grey lump floating above her. “What do you think it’s like up there, Moo? I bet it’s suuuuuuuper quiet. I mean they say that nobody can hear you scream. But can you, like, hear yourself scream?” Harper never liked it quiet.

Things came out in the quiet. All kinds of questions and thoughts and scary things.

She couldn’t sleep in silence because of it. Right now, the chatter of the workers below and the rattling of exhausts weaved a spell on her lullaby. Trapped in a bubble of silence, the Castform shifted into an icy, swirling form. “Oh, yeah! Totes mcgotes! It’s got to be freezing. I’d probably be a Harpersicle in no time!” She hummed thoughtfully. “What flavor do you think I’d be? Strawberry? Oh! Nah! That's too basic bitchy. What about--?” Before she finished her sentence, a light in the sky caught her eye.

It didn’t look like a plane neither! “Moo! Look! It’s a shooting star! We better make a wish!” Screwing her eyes tightly shut, the orphan wished for a hundred different things. But all of them went back to a four-letter word—home.

The Castform, meanwhile, kept his eyes wide open. He was a worrywart and didn’t like leaving his girl unsupervised. The last time he did that—well—he’d found her in jail. Because of this, he saw that this star wasn’t something burning in the atmosphere but a very real threat flying for the alley below them. “!?” A large metallic clang echoed as a bright light shot up from beneath them.

Harper sat up with a jolt, confusion plain on her face. “Uh—-” She started. “I didn’t wish for that.” Before the normal type could react, she was shooting down the fire escape line some kind of tetanus-bound spider money.

“Let’s go see it! Come on!” Her legs rolled beneath her as she touched the ground. “Heeeeelllooooo?”

x - 30-50 - PHANTOM THIEF - UP TO PLAYER

The Liepard who raised Harper was once the prized partner of an almost legendary phantom thief. Unfortunately, an accident left the cat crippled. The woman left him behind, albeit there was no reason she had to do so cruelly. Though he doesn't realize it, Crookshanks is trying to raise his ward to be her equal in the arts of larceny and grand theft. I see this person being extremely elegant. Perhaps they have turned a new leaf and are wanting to leave that life behind. Could they be Harper's parent and the feline's tail a lie?

SUGGESTED POKEMON:

x - 14-20 - HARPER'S FOSTER SISTER - UP TO PLAYER

Though Harper didn't spend much time in her foster homes, she did connect with a few of her foster siblings. This one is nearest and dearest to her heart. They truly care for one another. Harper has crept into her bed and slept on her floor many nights. How she feels about Harper's lifestyle is up to you. I'd like if they were much more chill than she is, though.

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x - 32-45 - HARPER'S PARENTS (OR FAMILY) - UP TO PLAYER

Harper's parents disappeared for unknown reasons. Her father the Liepard--according to what she's been told--stumbled upon her in an empty home. Maybe he kidnapped her? Was someone ashamed of an early pregnancy? Could tragedy have struck? I'd love to have her discover her biological family and get acquainted with them. They can be rich or poor. Any type of set-up too. Brothers? Cousins? Spinster aunts? Anything works!

SUGGESTED POKEMON: