MATURE: - Complete Sentinels

[whtwlf]

Sentinels


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Summary​

Two field agents are forced to put aside their differences and focus on their work for a shadow organization tasked with defending humanity against the soul destroying properties of ghost Pokemon, and return Pokemon and lost Human souls to the world of spirits.

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Table of Contents

Chapter One
Chapter Two​

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Characters​

Bailey "Bud" McKenzie: A 24 year old field operative with a history of hunting down ghost type Pokemon prior to joining the Division. Bailey is friendly, outgoing and headstrong by nature, though she does have a habit of coming across as pushy, impulsive, or impatient. She can often be seen pushing her partner's buttons more often than she should. Bailey was originally a Pokemon trainer who was interested more in seeing the world and battling new people than collecting gym badges. After an unfortunate series of events, she was recruited by the Division. She was given the call sign Bud by her handler because of her habit of trying to make friends out of just about everyone in her training class. Her primary Pokemon is a Zoroark named Blair which she caught prior to joining the Division. Despite the organization offering her a dark type Pokemon to help her on the job, she turned it down in favor of Blair. Bailey towers over her partner with a considerable 6'4" of height, a fact she never lets him forget. She speaks with a lilt that becomes more pronounced when she's distressed or drunk.

Samuel "Sirius" Grimly: A 20 year old operative with a good moral compass, a strong sense of honor, and a serious demeanor who often times comes across as uptight. Sam comes from a long line of operatives and feels compelled to follow in their footsteps. He was one of the youngest individuals to ever be recruited into the organization; thanks in part to his family's involvement in the Division along with his strong work ethic and natural talent for the job. He was given the call sign Sirius by Bailey after the Houndoom constellation, his choice in a Pokemon partner, and his serious nature; much to the young man's chagrin. His primary Pokemon is a Houndour named Dante which he received upon request for his tenth birthday, bred for the sole purpose of assisting him in his future work. Like Bailey, he turned down the Division's offer for an organization issued Pokemon partner. He speaks with a slight drawl common in Southern Unovans.

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Notes: If you have any questions regarding lore, please feel free to ask. There might be parts, especially those to do with military/organization speak, that might be confusing to folks who might not be familiar with that sort of thing. Feedback is always, always welcome. I also might on occasion throw in some one shots that don't necessarily fit in with the plot's chronological progression, but I will tag them as being extras rather than chapters. When I have time (aka when it's not 0059 in the morning), I plan on adding little snippets of facts to the end of each chapter. Think Attack on Titan's transition cards between episode segments.

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Warning: This fic may contain excessive gore, horror, violence, and death down the line. Chapters will be marked with a warning.

 

[whtwlf]

Chapter 1

"Oi Sirius, Sirius… what kind of flying type Pokemon do they keep in the zoo?"

She could hear the quiet static of an open mic and a heavy sigh. It was all the invitation she needed.

"Zubats." She was sure he could hear her wicked grin spreading. "Get it? Zoo-bats." She waited a few heartbeats for a response over the radio that she knew would never come before breaking out into poorly stifled snickering.

“Lock it up, Bud. For the last time, have some radio discipline and focus,” came the slightly distorted, disgruntled voice of her partner through the headset. Still grinning, she raised her OD green spotting scope.

Darkness blanketed the small, run down house they’d been sent to investigate. She began scanning at ten meter intervals for movement from the street to the abandoned home. Despite her vantage point from a nearby rooftop, she could see nothing. She lowered the scope and keyed her mic.

“Sirius, what do you call a romance movie on a DVD?”

“What, Bud,” he replied tersely, “What do you call a romance movie on a DVD?”

She bit her bottom lip, fighting the urge to laugh, “A luvdisc.”

The unmistakable sound of someone adjusting their gear came from below, “That’s it, I’m comin’ up there.”

“Whoops. That’ll have to wait, Sirius,” she shot back with a smile, spotting an eerie, blue-violet glow from the second story window of a house down the block, “We’ve got movement, top floor.”

A frustrated groan came from below as Bailey tossed the scope back into its case. She swung her legs over the edge of the roof and slid down the ladder. Despite her considerable height, weight, and gear, her boots hit the pavement almost soundlessly. She turned to face her partner with a self satisfied grin, her free hand brushing her sandy blond hair back.

“Don’t worry, Sirius, there’ll be time for jokes later.”

Samuel’s dark eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head before he pulled his patrol cap low. “C’mon, Dante,” he said, addressing the Houndour at his side.

The two humans fell into formation, rifles at the ready, with practiced ease. They approached the house with combat spacing and Dante took point, searching for an entrance.

Calling it a house was more than a little generous. What might have once been a cozy two story cottage at the edge of town now looked like a mess of broken windows and ivy overgrowth surrounded by a crumbling cobblestone wall. It seemed like the kind of place that teenagers would dare each other to spend the night in a cheesy horror flick that ended with the captain of the football team and head cheerleader making it out alive and going steady. Bailey’s face scrunched up in distaste at the notion.

Dante lead the pair through a gap in the wall around the back side of the property and up to the house, brush and overgrowth screening their approach. They pressed their backs against the cold brick work, slung their rifles, and scaled the rusting metal latticework running up the side of the building.

Bailey clipped her rigger’s belt and a length of paracord to the rung closest to the window she’d been scoping out. She inched her way over to peek inside, weapon once again at the ready. The corridor was mostly dark apart from the moon light spilling in and the faint glow coming from the staircase at the far end, and she could hear what sounded like a muffled voice inside. The black fatigue clad woman eased her way back towards her partner.

“Negative contacts,” she whispered down to Samuel, “But it looks like there might be something down on the first floor. Someone or something is chattering in there too. We might have to speed this up a wee bit.”

“Dante," said Samuel as be began climbing up after Bailey, "Head for the front door and break it down.” The Houndour tore off, full speed towards the front of the house in response.

The full tang knife sheathed on Bailey's vest came out in a flash and she slid it between the dual window panes. While she worked the simple hinge lock open, Samuel keyed his mic, "Control, we've got movement and we're headin' in." Their response came back with a green light as the window was forced open and the two vaulted through, bringing their weapons to high ready.

The grating sounds of splintering wood and screeching metal mingled with screams from below. Dante.

The two ran full tilt towards the stair case with Bud on point, one hand reaching for one of the Pokeballs clipped to her rigger’s belt. The scene came into focus. A teenage boy was sprawled on the living room floor beside a broken coffee table, his hands raised in defense. He sat there staring wide eyed and unmoving at the strengthening flames of three Chandelure hovering over him. Dante, covered in bits of pulverized wood, shot to the teen's side and stood with hackles raised and teeth bared, barking furiously.

"Dante! Go!"

As the Houdour rushed one Chandelure, fangs flashing white, Bailey's pokeball cleared the railing and she shouted over the din, "Blair, flank!"

With a flash of red, more than 170 pounds of Zoroark fury dropped from the second floor on top of another Chandelure and the battle began.

At that, civilian’s trance was broken and he ran screaming for safety. He dove over an ancient couch, sending a plume of dust into the air. Samuel made a break for the couch as well, taking cover behind it next to the trembling young man.

“Can you hear me, sir? Are you alright?” He shook his head furiously in response.

"N-no, the b-b-basement. She’s... she’s still trapped in the basement!” he stuttered, a trembling finger pointing in the direction of the kitchen.

Samuel’s eyes widened slightly and his head snapped up. “Bud, basement!”

“On it,” she bolted from the base of the stairs, weapon up. She called over her shoulder, beckoning the Zoroark to her side. “Blair, on me!” Though looking a bit reluctant to leave the fight, the monster streaked to her side, dropping the unconscious Chandelure in her jaws. Both of them charged toward the door leading to the basement level.

Blair took point, dipping her shoulder and slamming the door clean off its hinges. She transitioned to all fours and took the stairs two at a time with Bailey hot on her heels.

Standing ankle deep in stagnant, putrid water was a cornered teenage girl swinging a cast iron poker at a crowd of Litwick and Lament. Aside from the ghost Pokemon party, something about the scene struck Bailey as being a little off. Every swing of the girl’s poker grew slower as the flames burning above the Pokemon grew brighter.

“They’re draining her life- Blair, night daze.” The command was barely out of Bailey’s mouth as Blair raised her powerful forearms, a thick crimson aura licking up her arms. She balled her clawed hands into fists, bringing them crashing down. A shock wave of water and dark energy shot out towards the mob. The creatures, now having met an actual challenge with the dark-type offensive, let out a cry of indignation and made a break for it.

“That’s right, get lost you wee devils!” Bailey and Blair turned to clear the rest of the room. With the threat gone, the young woman dropped her make-shift weapon and slid along the wall into a crouch and placed her hands on her face. Bailey stooped down next to her, snapping her fingers, “Can you hear me, lass?”

The girl, looking as if she hadn’t slept in a week, nodded her head slowly. “Why?” she murmured with considerable effort.

“Tch, they lured you lot in here because they wanted a few tasty souls.” She turned her attention back to the Zoroark pacing through the black water, “Pick her up and we’ll check on Sirius.” The Zoroark gave a faint nod as it padded over to the half conscious young woman, scooping her up. Meanwhile, Bailey slowly moved up the stairs until she was at the doorway with her weapon raised. She called out, “Basement, clear!” The red, tell tale glow of pokeballs lit the far end of the house before Samuel gave his answer, “First floor, all secure! I was able to capture all those Chandelure.”

“Come on then,” she called back to her Zoroark. The group made for the exit, careful to step over what was left of the front door.

While they had been inside, a clean up crew had cordoned off the area and an ambulance waiting on standby near the perimeter. A fire team rushed past them and into the house to conduct a secondary sweep and round up the any stray ghost Pokemon.

The werewolf-like beast set the young woman down next to the paramedics. They began to check her over as she sat there in a stupor. As the teenage boy was led to the ambulance, their eyes locked. There was a spark of recognition that turned, rather suddenly, into what looked suspiciously to Bailey like burning anger.

“You jerk! You left me to die!” she hollered, an accusatory finger pointed in his face.

He placed his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest, “What? No! I was going to get help.”

“Is that why you were screeching like a Golbat and pushed me towards them?!”

“Look, baby, it wasn’t-”

“Don’t you baby me, tool bag!”

Bailey watched the screaming match escalate with amusement dancing in her bright green eyes and an impish grin spreading across her face. She absentmindedly recalled her Zoroark.

“Uh, right… I think our work here is done, right Bud?” he asked, recalling Dante to his pokeball and making a beeline for their ride home.

“Oh aye, we’d better get back to base and all that,” she answered, only half way paying attention as she joined him. She glanced over her shoulder one last time at what was most probably two newly single teens. "So much for the jock ending up with the cheerleader."

“What’s that, Bud?” came Samuel, already having climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Oh, I was just asking a question, Sirius. What do you call a knight from the middle ages in dragon armor?”

He slammed his door shut, she grinned.

"A dragonite."

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Division Facts: Known plainly as the Ghost Division, this unit is a part of a larger organization meant to defend humanity against Pokemon that are unusually dangerous. This division, of course, specializes in ghost type Pokemon. Operatives that work in the field are referred to as Sentinels, those who work at division headquarters or protect it are called Sentries.

 

[Jimmy 3 People 0]

I actually don't think I've ever seen a cop/spy Pokemon fanfic, and from what I've read, it looks interesting. The prose is well-written; it reminds me of my own, actually, and you use a healthy variety of words to keep things from becoming tedious. Bailey seems like a fun joker to counteract Samuel's relative seriousness, which, to me, looks like a bit of a gender reversal - I usually see the female as the serious one in these kinds of settings. They probably carried out the operation a bit too easily, but it's the first chapter, so I can understand that as a way to establish "okay, these are the main characters and this is their shtick." Overall, I enjoyed reading what you've got so far, and I'm looking forward to more!

 

[whtwlf]

Thank you kindly for the review! I'm glad you find the story's premise interesting and enjoyed the writing. I'm looking to subvert quite a few tropes through out this story, so hopefully you see a bit more of that before I'm through. And you are absolutely right in saying that this mission went off without a hitch (almost). I wanted the audience to see what it looks like when a mission goes right so they can understand just how terribly things can go wrong when I finally start to dip into the horror genre.

This will be my first attempt at writing unsettling or scary fiction, so please feel free to continue giving feedback!

 

[Flaze]

I read this a few months bacck, originally I was planning to post a review back then but...things got a little ahead of me and couldn't. I honestly hope this story continues because while the first chapter did have its up and downs I liked the general feel of it and the idea behind him is interesting if anything.

Bailey and Samuel have good chemistry with each other and that helps carry a lot of the chapter, even if said chemistry isn't exactly a match that hasn't been seen before, but it works for now. My only problem is that the flow of the chapter went a bit off for me a few times while reading, and it kind of took a little too long for the main event to undergo, I get that the first part was set up for the rest but it could've been shorter in my opinion.

The battle was described well enough, it's not particularly engaging yet, maybe a little stiff but it does the job without throwing the reader out of the story. Description in general is good, with it being just enough description to make things easy to imagine without it being too much.

Again I really hope you can continue this, I like the idea of them being kind of ghost busters-like and I can see it going to really fun places.

3/5

 

[whtwlf]

Oh wow, thank you for the well through out review. I'm glad you liked the concept and despite not having updated for months, I do plan on working on this when I get breaks from work. I'd like to make the fight sequence more engaging if it's lacking. What do you recommend? I plan on doing more in the future so I reckon it's important that I know what works and what doesn't.

 

[whtwlf]

Chapter 2


It wasn’t that Samuel hated pop music, he actually enjoyed just about anything on the radio. But listening to Bailey belt out the current top 40 between puns and cheesy jokes during commercial breaks was enough to test the patience of any mortal man. It had been two hours.


“Do you even know the lyrics to this one?” Samuel asked, his voice flat.


“Nope,” she sang cheerfully.


He knew that snapping at her would count as a victory in Bailey’s book, so he resigned himself to frowning in protest instead.


Not for the first time Samuel wondered what he had done to deserve this. He was a good troop, right? No disciplinary action, no botched missions, perfect scores on his annual performance tests. So why had leadership assigned her to him?


Bailey wasn’t a bad partner, far from it. Despite getting into her fair share of trouble, she had pretty good scores herself. She wasn’t much for planning missions, but she had a knack for reading a situation on the fly and making split second decisions. The talent had salvaged a few missions in their two year long partnership.


No, she wasn’t a bad partner at all, it was just that she never stopped messing around. He wasn’t sure serious was a word that even existed in her vocabulary. The only time she ever seemed to tone down the jokes was in the heat of a tough fight.


At the sight of their destination a few blocks down the road, Samuel nearly sighed in relief. Finally.


In the predawn light, their black four door sedan pulled up to a fenced in warehouse on the industrial side of town. The lot sat adjacent to small private airport and it looked as though it had seen better days. Much better days.


A heavyset man in a simple black security guard uniform ambled out of the shack by the gate with scanner in hand and made his way to the vehicle. Samuel had the driver side window down and two ID cards out. The guard wordlessly snatched the cards from Samuel's dark hand and scanned them.


“Good morning, Reggie,” Bailey greeted with a crooked smile.


The surly guard merely grunted in reply, looking less than thrilled. He handed the cards back to Samuel before walking to the rusted gate, removing the padlock, and rolling it open.


“Why do you feel the need to antagonize people?” Samuel asked when the window rolled back up. He drove through the open gate and up to one of the many garage doors on the east side of the warehouse.


Bailey stifled a yawn and shrugged, “Tch, I’m only being social, Sirius.”


Samuel shook his head in a halfhearted show of disapproval.


After a few moments the garage door began to open. It stopped when there was just enough clearance for the car. Samuel pulled into the garage and parked up next to the fleet of black, unmarked vehicles. The duo climbed out of the car, pulling their vests back on and slinging their rifles.


“Or you could try lettin’ folks alone so early in the morning,” he answered, making his way towards the elevator and a desk centered in the garage.


Behind the desk sat a young man, leaning back in his office chair with his head resting against the wall behind him. Samuel rolled his eyes at the sight of drool and the sound of light snoring. He tossed the keys. The clerk woke with a yelp at the sound of metal hitting the desk top.


Bailey pressed the down button on the panel beside the elevator, “Oh aye, it's me who should leave people be in the morning?”


“He was sleepin’ on post,” he defended with a grumble.


The pair stepped onto the elevator and crossed his arms over his chest, “I’d expect anyone else to do the same for me.”


She made a noncommittal noise, though when Samuel glanced over he could easily spot the amusement in her eyes. There was no winning with her.


“Hey,” he tried once more, “it’s better that I found ‘im instead of his supervisor.”


“Mhmm…”


Why did it still sound like he was losing even when she agreed with him?


With a happy ding, the metal doors of the elevator slid open and the pair stepped out.


Despite having worked at the Division for so long, the sight that greeted them never failed to impress him. The massive lobby they stepped into was a high ceiling affair, built to accommodate the ever vigilant Golurk that protected the facility.


Two of the colossal Pokemon in question flanked the elevator that acted as the primary entry point. Three more pairs guarded both sides of the long corridor circled the entire perimeter of the facility along with the smaller corridor that ran inward to the operations center. Though not visible to the entrance, Samuel knew even more of the great guardians kept watch at every junction of the small corridors that radiated out through the complex from center like spokes on a wheel. All of them stood in shadow, their glowing runes only the adding to their imposing air that they projected.


The lobby was silent save for the sound of their boots on the polished floor as they shuffled their way to the entry control point. Fatigue was finally starting to set in. The entry controllers that waited for them behind two way glass. The duo flashed their badges for inspection and were buzzed into the interior. After a quick stop to check their weapons and equipment into the armory, which was blessedly empty during the lull between shift changes, they made a beeline to their unit’s office.


Not more than a few seconds after entering the empty room, Bailey had already flopped onto the couch across from the Chief’s desk. She kicked her feet up onto the arm rest, laced her fingers behind her head, and closed her eyes. She looked entirely too comfortable.


“C’mon, Bud, we’re here for a debrief, not a nap,” he insisted, opting to stand instead.


She lazily opened one eye, looking up at him as he frowned, “I’m not going to rack out or anything.”


“And what if someone walks in? You know, someone like our handler. Lead Operative Sarkis ringin’ any bells?” His frowned deepened and he continued, "I'm not getting briefed because you decided to slack off."


“Oh come off it, Samuel, Nails isn’t going to care.”


He scowled out right at the mention of his name, "Could you at least pretend to take this seriously?"


She began to laugh, the beginnings of a reply on her lips.


“Two years and you two idiots still can't get along?” came the unmistakable and irritated voice of the supervisor in question, “Incredible. And that's Lead Operative Nails to you, McKenzie.”


The laugh died in Bailey’s throat and she shot up from the couch, standing at attention.


Samuel fought the urge to run a hand down his face in frustration. He asked himself yet again what he'd done to deserve this.

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Division Facts: Field operatives are divided into the following ranks: Recruit - Operative - Lead Operative - Chief Operative - Assistant Commander - Commander. Lead Operatives are put in charge of up to 8 Operatives and Recruits at a time. They must act as leaders in the field, handlers behind the scenes, and on occasion, babysitters to unruly troops.

 

[Flaze]

The pair stepped onto the elevator and crossed his arms over his chest, “I’d expect anyone else to do the same for me.”

The part where it says that they entered the elevator should be fixed, at first you're talking abotu the both of them but then you're focusing only on Samuel.

I like that you decided to focus more on Samuel's and Bailey's relationship outside of work here, it was a better way to clarify what they're like and how they feel around each other a bit more. Their interactions are good enough, it's nothing too impressive since it's the usual "serious one and bubbly/rebellious/free spirited one" that works as a default for these types of things but it's not done badly and at least it was good enough to entertain without either of them falling into any big stereotypes, I still enjoy Bailey though.

The chapter might've been a little too short and it kind of ended right at the point it should've gotten more interesting considering that we were going into the meeting, so maybe lenghten your chapters a bit. Also add some more description for when describing the surroundings or the setting, it's not exactly bad when you're listing things if you want to get through it fast and here it works well but I'm mostly adding it as a heads up just in case.

 

[Olive]

Perhaps it's just the two week long X-Files marathon I've been watching, but I really do adore the concept of this story

The prose is nice and snappy, something I particularly commend you on, and despite the somewhat dark topic, you manage to give things a very light feel. At least so far, it's been an enjoyable little adventure story. Easy to read, easy to keep up with. A nice change from some of the heavier stories one tends to come across. I guess to put it plainly, this story is fun.

This concise style does tend to leave a bit of a deficit in the department of description. I barely know what the two characters look like, and I'm pretty much left to make the settings into whatever I want. Not that I have a problem with using my imagination to build a world around the text, and what little setting clues you do provide give enough material to create the larger pictures with. Don't get me wrong, I actually like the minimalist approach you take. It allows the story to keep its quick pace, while giving the reader just enough to work with.

Lastly, I must commend you on the character interactions. Despite the fact that Bailey and Sirius, mostly Bailey, act a little like caricatures, their conversations feel so very natural. The dialogue flows, which is something I always enjoy being able to read. That said, and as I already mentioned, their personalities seem quite polar. I know that was intentional, but it makes them seem just a tad cartoonish. I'm fairly confident that as we get to see more of them, they'll both be able to develop a few more angles.

I really am eager to see where you end up taking this. Will you make it episodic, with each chapter featuring a separate investigation, with some sort of subtle plot developing bellow the surface? Or will you make the whole story plot driven and center everything around that? No matter what, you've set yourself up quite nicely, and I am quite inclined to stick along for the ride.