The two continue to converse and engage, even after Zach gets off work. They can be seen traveling down the path toward the apartment. However, intense light causes them to stop and pivot toward the source. And that’s when their eyes open wide.
“Oh,” Betty says. “That does not look good…”
“Oh shit!” Zach utters. He speeds off toward the burning building. “Ralph! Ralph!” Betty follows suit and tails him. Upon arrival, the site is surrounded by firefighters and a couple of Team Rescuers, where they are stopped before venturing further. The blaze is already dying under the streams of water spraying them. “What happened?! Where’s Ralph?!”
“Easy there,” says a squirtle in a firefighter uniform, showing his hand to the riolu. “No one is to come any closer while we do our job.”
“Where is my friend?! What happened here?!”
Jay appears beside the squirtle. “Chief, the blaze has been contained. You can- Oh, if it isn’t the runt riolu and the famous clown brionne.” Kenji comes up to join as well.
“Hey!” shouts Betty. “I’m no clown, you fat buizel!”
“What did you just call me?”
“Where’s Ralph the Scorbunny?!” Zach interrupts. “Where is my friend?! What even happened here?!”
“Stop asking questions,” Jay tells him. “You can’t be here.”
“I’m not leaving without my friend!”
“Well, he ain’t here,” says Kenji.
Zach faces him. “What?! Where is he?! What did you do with him?!”
“Calm down, you stupid riolu! We didn’t do anything to him! He’s not even in that shit shack.”
“What even happened here?” asks Betty. “What caused the fire?”
“We are not sure,” says Chief Squirtle. “We got a call in around twenty minutes ago. By the time we arrived, the whole place was up in flames.” He turns and looks at the charred remains of the apartment. “Looks to be under control now.”
“I need to get in there!” Zach utters. He launches forward but is stopped by the monferno and buizel. “Let me go!”
The squirtle turns back to him. “You can’t go in there! The site is not secure!”
“I’ve got to find Ralph!” He and the others freeze when the whole structure caves in and collapses in on itself, leaving nothing but a pile of charcoaled materials. “Ralph!” He manages to push through and run to the site. “Ralph!”
“Stop!” calls the chief. “Come back!”
“Zach!” Betty chases the riolu, catching up to him as he stands in front of the ruins. “Oh Arceus… Looks like there’s nothing left…”
Zach falls to his knees. “F-fuck…” Betty places a hand on his shoulder as she’s beside him, watching as the fire dies and the smoke billows into the atmosphere.
***
The two pokemon enter the tavern and make their way to a table. There, they sit down without another word. Zach holds both sides of his head as it rests on the surface of the table. Betty keeps her focus on him, flat-mouthed and lost for words.
“Hey there,” says a familiar voice from beside them. They turn to the source, causing Zach to quickly pick his head up in an instant. “You both hanging out again?”
“Ralph!” Zach nearly stumbles over when he bolts out of his chair and wraps his arms around him. “Thank Arceus!”
“Whoa!” Ralph chuckles. “Missed me that much, huh?!”
Zach lets go and takes a step back. “Ralph… I thought I lost you…”
Ralph tilts his head. “What…? Lost me? Why do you think that?”
“Something terrible has happened… We were walking back home-”
“Your place’s gone,” Betty injects. Ralph keeps still.
“The whole apartment,” Zach continues. “It was all up in flames! I thought you were inside and that you perished…”
“I just left to come to work twenty minutes ago,” Ralph explains.
“The fire chief wouldn’t tell us what started the fire… Not even Jay or Kenji would, either…”
“Those two were there, huh…? I suppose the rest of Team Rescuers were, too…?” Zach and Betty nod. “Why am I not surprised…?”
Betty narrows one eye. “Wait… You know something, don’t you…?”
Ralph sighs and nods. “I think I know what happened… Come with me, both of you…”
“You can’t tell us out here?”
“No… Too many pokemon are listening. It’s best if we find a private place. Now, come on…” He leads the two pokemon down into the cellar, where he closes the door. “Team Rescuers were behind the fire…”
Both pokemon get taken aback by the statement. “What?!”
“Shhh… The monferno was the one who set the apartment on fire… On my way to work, I ran into him… He was questioning me on my interaction with you both in the tavern the day of Julie’s funeral and my affiliation with you… I only told him little, and he wasn’t pleased with it… I told him I was late for work, so I went off… I didn’t look back… I heard him talking with Ezma and Cindy, though…”
“So, Kenji the Monferno started the fire…?” asks Betty.
Ralph nods. “He didn’t act alone, of course. The rest of Team Rescuers were in on this.”
“And you know for certain?”
“I used to work with those guys, Betty. I’ve learned a lot of things when I was part of the team…”
“Why are they doing this…?” asks Betty. “Zach didn’t do anything wrong to any of them… Cindy was the one who killed Julie, and the others barely did anything… He was just trying to move on…”
“They’re not doing this to get back at us, Betty… It isn’t an act of revenge; it’s a witch hunt… They’ve been targeting us because we’re known as ‘misfit pokemon.’ These are pokemon who possess one or more flaws and don’t match their ideals of perfection in society… Basically, pokemon with disorders or who aren’t perfect. Worst part is, almost the whole town agrees with the guild on this… Even pokemon who interact with them aren’t safe…”
“I thought Team Rescuers were supposed to protect pokemon regardless of their statuses and what they do… Why target pokemon who are different, yet have no direct issues with them?”
“Things have changed… They aren’t for the core values anymore…”
Zach sighs with ears drooped down. “There’s no fighting this, is there…? There is no hope… What do we even do…?”
“Hey…” Ralph walks over and puts his paw on the riolu’s shoulder. “Don’t feel discouraged. We just need to stay out of their way and cause no problems.”
“Where do we go, Ralph? The apartment is gone and we’ve got nowhere else…”
“We have enough money to rent a room here at the tavern. It’s a bit pricey, but it’ll suffice.”
“Why not go to my cousin, Mary Azumarill?” utters Betty. “She’s the mayor of Heroto. Surely, she can help…”
“There’s really not much she can do,” says Ralph. “Even if she does, it will have little effect.”
“We’re on our own,” Zach tells her. “There’s no one to help us…”
“Don’t lose hope, Zach… We’ve got each other, right? We just need to get through this, okay…?”
Zach looks to Ralph. “Y-you sure…?”
Ralph gives him a smile. “We just have to be positive… Come here…” The scorbunny wraps his arms around the riolu, giving a warm hug to comfort him. Zach doesn’t hesitate and accepts. Betty watches without another word. A small frown occupying her face.
