Alola to a New World!

Unicorn Deputy Phosphorus (Phos for short) was stuck with griffon Senior Deputy Plith on scribe duty for the interview the Chief ordered for the dog monsters. Or, more accurately, the interveiw with the strange pup, who for some reason was the most eager fighter out of all three dogs and the least mistrusting of the ponies. The two scribes sat behind tinted glass, the interrogation room spread out in front of them like a TV screen larger than their budget could ever afford.

Two figures sat on opposite ends of a table in that room: the pup sat nervously with its paws folded on the table and crumbs from a cafeteria meal still stuck to its whiskers. The Chief himself was the interrogator, sporting a fresh notebook, a pack of pens bound by rubber bands, a steaming mug of coffee and a wide, smug smile just for the occasion.

All for show.

The real transcribers sat behind their rusted old typewriters while the coffee machine brewed in the back, already tapping away. They began the base sketches of their work, describing the scene and the expressions, posture and known history of the two subjects. They settled themselves into a clip, not rushing the steady taps on the typewriter keys, but never letting a second pass without the steady stream of taps and Dings.

“So, little puppy,” Chief started, increasing the flow of typewriter noise. “Now that the Colonel has cast a translation spell on you, now don't worry,” the pup tensed at the word ‘spell’. “it’s a harmless one, and all it does is let the two of us talk.”

The pup didn't look convinced.

“See, you could understand me before," the Chief explained. "but I couldn't make heads or tails of what you were saying, and that's just going to get in the way of an interview. So right now you can say whatever you want, and I'll understand your every word loud and clear.”

The pup sat back into its seat. It mumbled something…

“I'm sorry? Couldn't quite catch that, hey,” Barodius jokingly called over his shoulder. “Can we get that spell recast? Maybe a megaphone spell to go along with it.”

The pup giggled, then stood up, “Hey look,” it cupped its paws over its mouth and called out “it’s working!”

“There we are,” Barodius flipped open his notebook and grabbed a pen in the side of his mouth. “Well, then, let's start simple. You got a name, kiddo?”

“Yup!" The pup thudded back onto his chair. "My name’s Gon Freecs.”

“G...oh...n…” Barodius muttered as he wrote, the typewriters starting on the base colors. “Freaks. Alright, Gon, mind telling me about your little family? Where are you from?”

“Uh, okay. I live with my aunt Mito and my grandma Abe on a smaller island just off the coast of Akala island, it's kind of shaped like a whale, so…”

Phos's brow furrowed, and she took a moment to write ‘Akala Island’ but clarifying that she had no knowledge of such a place.

“Alright,” Barodius shifted the pen in his mouth to give one side of his teeth a break. “When you say Akala and Whale Island, what does that mean? Where are these islands?”

“The Alola region,” Gon replied, not missing a beat. “That’s where we are now, right? This,” Gon shifted again, Barodius straightening in his chair. “this is Alola, right?”

Barodius set down his pen, regarding Gon much more seriously than before.

“Hawhinny,” he said, looking Gon in the eye. “We are in Hawhinny.”

Gon shrank, brow furrowing, paws sliding off the desk and falling out of sight into his lap. “Okay. I...think I get it now.”

“Get what?”

“What Tapu Lele said to me, about the ‘move’.”

What, no! Phos was still working on blending, she wasn’t ready to start shading the whole thing! The stream turned to a flood, who was Lele, what was the move, when did they talk, Lele is in Cassarina’s lab, what are they saying now? Phos’s blood was freezing over with the fear that she had missed something. Typing became a numbing tedium, an avalanche of information pouring through her mind, her horn and the keys she was magically manipulating were the floodgates that let them spill and run free over the paper, already as wide open as it's open as its rusted, waterlogged hinges would allow.

Plith cast a sideways glance at the hyperventilating unicorn next to him. He swallowed and scooted away a couple of inches.

“Describe,” Barodius continued slowly, as if sensing the imminent demise of one of the transcribers sanity. “describe what ‘Tapu Lele’ meant by ‘The Move’.”

Gon took a deep breath and a moment to think.

“Tapu...Tapu Lele said that she was confused about why her sacred ruins had been moved without her detecting anything, and why this place looks so different from home. She...she thinks that maybe Arce--that a really strong legendary might have moved stuff from Alola onto your islands. Like the Ruins of Life and a bunch of Pokémon.”

“Okay, I think I got all that,” Barodius scribbled away on the notebook. “Still dunno what a legendary is--”

“A god.”

Barodius snapped back up. “A…?”

“Well, they are! Kind of...maybe…?” Gon shrank so much he was practically ducking under the table. “It’s...probably more complicated…”

“It’s fine, Gon,” Barodius laughed uneasily. “you didn't do anything wrong. Now, can you tell me--”

“Can Tapu Lele answer some of these?” Gon blurted, his unrest and embarrassment seeping into his voice. “I'm just making you more confused.”

Barodius heaved a sigh, letting a pause hang in the air.

“Yeah, we'll just ask Lele to clear up anything you have trouble explaining.” he cracked a smile, trying to catch Gon’s eye. “so don't worry about it if you don’t have an answer, okay?”

Gon nodded without looking up.

“Now, how about the--what was it--Ruins of Life?”

“Oh, well, Tapu Lele lives there, and uh...eh...maybe you should ask her…”

Phos was starting to slow down after fifteen minutes of nonstop rapidfire typing. Her paper was twice as long as Plith’s, and as he peeked over to read it he found entire paragraphs that were near unintelligible. This...probably wouldn't be an issue for a unicorn, as she could cast an editing spell to decode it. But those kinds of spells were usually a bit complex--

“Alright, Gon, I think that's all the questions I have for today. You've been a good kid, so don't keep that aunt of yours waiting. Deputy Phospherous will take you to your family's sleeping quarters.”

Phos all but slammed the typewriter across the desk and threw herself at the door, tearing out of the room and leaving Plith in the dust, wings spread out in an imagined attempt at flying away and a talon pressed to his thumping heart.

Phos fixed her frazzled mane and glasses just as Gon and the Chief were just exiting the interrogation room. She forced herself to appear unconcerened, as if she had been standing idly by all along. As soon as goodbyes were exchanged Gon and the exhausted Deputy trundled down the hall. Gon was yawning and dragging his feet all the way and Phos digging deep into her last shreds of self-control to keep herself from doing the same.

Barodius watched them until they turned a corner. He took his pager out of his shirt pocket and typed up a message to the head forensic scientist.

Dear Cassarina,

Done with coffee. I’d like you to look over both transcripts. Edit to your liking.

He clicked send, then let the pager fall from his hoof to ths floor. He suddenly smashed it with his hoof, grinding the slightest scrap of evidence to pieces.