Chapter 36

Custody

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Chapter 36.1

By morning five, Cinder's patience had burned through to embers.

April had witnessed the decay, piece by painful piece.

Initially, the Quilava had stationed himself at the Pokémon Center entrance as afternoon bled toward evening. Routine dictated that Ravina, after café work, would return. The pattern held.

Then Ravina hadn't come back.

Night one. He waited.

Morning two. Pacing began.

By the third, every hiss of the automatic doors sent his head whipping around, red eyes fixed unwaveringly on the entrance, until the newcomer once again proved disappointing.

Now, five days in, he'd carved himself into the building's daily rhythm.

Door.

Window.

Treatment corridor.

Back to the door.

His vents smoldered more often than not, but April noted with a knot in her stomach how the flames erupted into proper, crackling heat whenever an unfamiliar face approached the front desk.

Owlbert's vigil operated on an internal clock, precise as ever. Perched high above reception, motionless to the casual observer, his head never tracked the entrance but always swiveled precisely when expected rhythms broke. His crimson eyes marked each minute of Ravina's absence.

Routine hissed in his ears. Absence screamed disruption.

Down on the floor, a different vigil persisted. Toni remained tucked into Nikola's fleece, leaving only when a particular cadence of footsteps or a specific name sparked recognition.

As April approached with morning meal portions, Toni emerged.

"Piii?"

April halted her approach. Toni's head rotated toward entrance, then back to April.

PINK?

THERE?

WHERE?

April had learned to translate the fractured psychic impressions.

"No." She kept her voice even as she knelt.

Toni's head drooped.

Nikola shifted, pressing closer against the little Togepi, her fleece crackling with worry.

"Not yet," April promised, fingertips brushing Toni's shell.

"I'm searching."

The words tasted bitter on her tongue. She was medical staff, not detective. Yet here she was, with two desperate Pokémon and another wearing a trench in the Center floor.

A few hours unaccounted for? That was vintage Ravina, impulsive but predictable.

Vanishing overnight? That raised legitimate concern.

But five days without a single word, no message, no borrowed phone, no ridiculous excuse about something she shouldn't have touched, not even an apologetic explanation involving some forbidden object?

That was not Ravina at all.

Victor's disappearance amplified the strangeness. If Ravina had landed in typical trouble, Victor would have spun a tale dramatic enough for everyone in Violet City to hear by now. Yet both had vanished without a trace, leaving silence in their wake.

April's calls stretched beyond frustration. The café manager confirmed Ravina had completed her shift before leaving alone. Nobody at the Center had seen her return. Town hospitals admitted no matching patient. The Rangers offered only bureaucratic shrugs. Even Bugsy's network of informants yielded nothing.

Each answer that wasn't Ravina only deepened April's simmering anger.

The Center doors slid open with their familiar sigh.

Cinder's flames erupted instantly, embers flaring to angry fire at his back.

April looked up.

A woman wearing the Slowpoke Café's apron stepped inside, her face familiar from April's occasional caffeine runs, though the name escaped her. Not Selene.

The café worker's smile was polished practice, holding at precise professional angles. "Nurse April?"

April's spine straightened, her peach-colored eyes sharp as diagnostic tools. "Speaking."

"I'm here regarding Ravina Shales." The name hung in the air like smoke.

Across the lobby, multiple sets of ears swiveled toward the conversation. Cinder's flames, previously smoldering embers, burst to full height behind April. Owlbert's head rotated with predatory precision from his high perch. Toni stirred within Nikola's fleece, her small form vibrating with psychic distress.

April's expression remained carefully neutral. "Where is she?" Her tone was calm, deadly serious.

The woman maintained her placid smile. "Currently receiving specialized care." The words dripped with corporate reassurance.

April's patience thinned to a razor's edge. "Where, specifically?"

"Ms. Proton has arranged appropriate accommodations for her treatment." The woman spoke as if this solved everything.

Nikola shifted, her black eyes narrowing as sparks crackled through her wool. Toni's agitation radiated through the fleece like a tiny tuning fork struck against glass.

April's arms crossed decisively, her physician's coat sleeves crinkling. "You're telling me that someone has my sister, but you don't actually know her location?" Her voice dropped lower, dangerous.

The woman blinked, her manufactured smile wavering for half a second before resurfacing.

Behind April, Cinder vented angry sparks against the linoleum, leaving scorch marks on the floor.

"My instructions are to collect Ravina's Pokémon and personal effects." The café worker retrieved a folder from beneath her arm as if that explained everything.

Silence descended, heavy as a patient's final breath.

Toni emitted a soft warble from Nikola's fleece.

April stared, then extended one hand, fingers spread. "Show me."

The document slid into her grasp. Pages filled with medical jargon, legal terminology, and official-looking signatures, each word a carefully constructed barrier to truth.

April scanned page one. Then flipped to page two. Then returned to the first line, her mind cataloging every loophole buried in the text.

The woman rebuilt her composure, professional mask sliding back into place. "As indicated, Ms. Shales's employer has assumed responsibility for her treatment. We're simply here to facilitate the transfer of her Pokémon and belongings so—"

"No."

The single word cracked through the lobby like shattering glass.

"Excuse me?"

April slapped the folder back against the woman's chest, fingers splayed with deliberate pressure.

"No."

"But the authorization..."

"I read it."

"The documentation clearly..."

"Ravina." April stepped forward, peach eyes burning with intensity that made the worker flinch. "Left her Pokémon. With me." Her chin angled toward the living wall behind her.

The café employee squared her shoulders, retrieving the crumpled folder. "We have written authorization."

"Not from Ravina."

"The signature..."

"Then bring her here." April's smile was pure venom. "Let her tell me herself she agreed to this."

"She's not presently in a condition to travel."

"Then let me speak to her."

"Her condition..."

"Phone."

The woman's polished composure flickered.

April's gaze sharpened, cutting through corporate jargon like a scalpel.

"A call."

Silence stretched.

"Video."

The woman's fingers tightened on her clipboard.

"Message recorded in the last hour."

Nothing.

April exhaled slowly, steam-like in the sterile air.

"I thought so."

The woman shifted her weight, professional mask cracking. "Nurse April, Ms. Proton has assumed responsibility for Ravina while she receives care."

"No." The response was immediate, absolute.

"Her employer…"

"Is not her family." April stepped closer, hips swaying with predatory calm. "This is not an administrative matter."

The woman's smile finally failed entirely, her control slipping. "We have proper documentation..."

April's palm slammed flat on the counter between them. "She left these Pokémon with me. She called me 'big sister' three times last week. She knows I'm the only one who can brush Toni's shell exactly right. So either bring me Ravina, preferably conscious, or take your paperwork and leave."

April leaned forward, voice dropping to a whisper that carried more threat than any shout. "Unless Ms. Proton wants to explain why she attempted to seize property from House Hunsie without direct consent."

The café worker's cultivated smile disintegrated like paper in flame, revealing the desperation beneath.

"We are fully authorized to take custody."

April's gaze darted momentarily to her rear support, a silent summons answered without words.

Blissey materialized at the treatment-room doorway, its generally gentle face set with uncommon firmness. Miltank positioned itself farther down the corridor, hoof planted with deliberate weight. Beyond the glass partition, Milotic's elegant head breached the water's surface, its usually placid eyes regarding the intruder with unnerving stillness.

The worker registered each appearance, her professional detachment fracturing with every Pokémon arrival.

Cinder observed her reaction, understanding growing in his smoldering gaze. His flames burst to full height now, licking the air with controlled ferocity, a warning written in fire.

April's posture remained relaxed, her voice deceptively calm in the charged atmosphere.

"You possess documentation. Nothing more."

The worker's throat worked as she swallowed, eyes darting between the advancing fire and the stationary sea of opposition.

"If you believe I'm violating League protocol," April continued, "then involve the League officially."

She shifted weight with casual confidence, stance unchanged despite brewing confrontation.

"Any alternative approach," her tone hardened with in warning, "I strongly advise the same."

Cinder advanced one deliberate step, flames casting dancing shadows across the frightened woman's face.

Her frantic gaze flickered from fire to water to the unwavering healer blocking her path.

"I'll inform Ms. Proton immediately."

"Please do." April replied with finality.

The woman fled, polished composure shattering with each hurried step.

April's voice cut through the lobby's tension.

"And tell Lauren she needs to speak with me."

The employee froze, fingers hovering above the door panel.

April's tone hardened like cooling lava.

"Now."

Door seals hissed shut, sealing off the outside world.

Cinder lunged toward the exit, flames flaring hot enough to scorch the air itself.

April's command stopped him cold.

"No."

Red eyes whipped toward her, fury smoldering in their depths.

"Not by yourself."

His vents sputtered angrily, ears pinning flat against his skull.

"I know," she murmured, crouching until her eyes met his blazing gaze. His desperate pacing traced a pattern of frustration on the linoleum before he fixed his attention once more on the street beyond the glass.

April's palm rested firmly against his shoulder, heat radiating through her uniform.

"We'll bring her home."

Toni's questioning chirp rose from Nikola's fleece, psychic impression cutting through the tension.

PINK?

April's attention shifted to the tiny shell-bound hatchling.

"Yes."

Even to her own ears, the certainty sounded false.

She straightened, fingers closing around the phone receiver.

Five minutes ago, this had been a concern for a wanderer who returned late.

Now it was war.

Lauren Proton possessed answers.

Lauren Proton coveted her team.

And in claiming Ravina without consent, Lauren had armed April with a weapon sharper than any scalpel: rage.