#ooc: hooray finally an opportunity to sort of write this

[i-can-haz-catmons]

⚙️

The calm waves lapped against the rocks at Big Wave Beach. Two figures stood on the rocky mound at the end, staring out at the water pokemon. One fumbled around in the pocket of their purple Alolan shirt. Good. It was still there.

"How much sick leave were you able to wrangle out of them? Did you get them to actually give us a holiday this time?"

"I... Actually, I quit."

"What?! Are you sure they got all the neurotoxin out of you?"

"That's what they said, too. I can't properly hand in my notice for a few more weeks. You've got five months left now, right?"

"Yeah. I can't wait to get back to actually doing stuff. And this time I'm not gonna be an idiot and get caught. So... what was it that finally convinced you to quit?"

"Everything in the last few months. When I was with Team Miracle Eye, some of their indoctrination tactics seemed... familiar, if you know what I mean."

"You're really saying the international police are as bad as a literal cult?"

"No, but sort of. Some of the younger psychics there were like me when I was younger. Lost, confused, vulnerable. Perfect to be taken in by someone who recognized their abilities. They could learn to use those abilities to protect themselves and the people they love. At least interpol won't try and dispose of you if you try to leave."

"I dunno, we haven't left yet. But hey! 'We're trying to preserve law and order' or something."

"That's what I thought. They convinced me I'd be able to use my aura sense to fight crime. I could be an agent working in the shadows to protect the world."

"Yeah, I guess 'you'll never actually do much about the problem and swoop in heroically after the local 10 year old does the important bit' doesn't sound particularly badass."

"At the end of the day, we're just tools who can swoop in and arrest hundreds of grunts who don't know better. Maybe a few admins if we're feeling ambitions. Once we're in, we're not people, we're skills. Ferris is the good team leader, Fontaine is the disposable one who's good at fighting, you're the computer person, I'm the aura lady and Lila would have been yet another UB bait."

"So much for protecting your loved ones, heh."

"At least we were the ones to find her. If I can't protect anyone else, I can at least protect my little sister from falling for the same trap I did."

"But by extension, you're also stopping the Alolan beaches from losing a good lifeguard, which is probably protecting quite a few people."

"I guess so. She does a good job here. I'm... so proud."

...

"So, what are you planning to do once you quit?"

"I... I'm not sure. I've been thinking about possibly starting a PI gig. Using my aura skills to track down missing people, items and pokemon, you know? It's not saving the world, but this wasn't exactly that either. Maybe I'll finally have the time and energy to do some more music on the side, too. But whatever I do... I really want to do it with you, Kat."

It was time. Kat steadied their breathing as subtly as they could. The sky glowed orange as the sun began to set.

"Yeah, I'd like that too. It's been nice having someone like you around through all this, even if you seemed a bit uppity at the start. I was worried when I left we'd fall apart. I'd go back on my way and you'd probably arrest me again at some point. But now we're both going to leave. We can finally just be us. We won't have to worry about being separated because we're 'distracting each other'. There's so much more we'll be able to do. And maybe..."

This was it. They winced as a stray pebble dug into their knee. They reached into their pocket and displayed the ring they'd been waiting this entire "vacation" to unveil.

"...Maybe we can also get married?"