Chapter 3. Officer Jenny

Words : 1589 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

A few hours of searching later, Alex found his target—a patrolling Officer Jenny with an Arcanine by her side. She was a tall woman with dark green hair, wearing a blue police uniform along with a mini skirt. She looked surprisingly beautiful in real life. Alex knew he had the right Jenny when she had an Arcanine by her side because Arcanines are a sign of a Jenny’s rank in the police force. If it were just a Growlithe, she would not have been strong enough to hunt for corrupt cops. They would have simply outranked her. “Officer Jenny, I need help.” Alex quickly recounted his interaction with the man, starting from when he was beaten to within an inch of his life yesterday to finding the booklet at his apartment today. One might have considered leaving that part out, but considering the psychic Pokémon they have in this world, it was better to come out with the truth. Of course, the missing cash need not be mentioned, nor the intentional provocation of the fight today. Along with the story, Alex also gave up Rattata’s Poké Ball. Poké Balls are all registered with the League, and jailbreaking them leads to some serious criminal charges, so it was best to get the adoption officiated. “You poor thing. Where are your parents? Where do you live?” “I’m an orphan, but I left a few months ago because I was being bullied. I thought I could go out by myself, but I was wrong. I still don’t want to go back, though. The orphanage director is stealing all the money I make myself, so I don’t want to go back there just so he can steal my money again,” Alex said with the most pitiful and downcast expression he could manage. In all honesty, he was having a more difficult time acting as a downtrodden child than during the fight with the man earlier. He had always lived his life with his head held high, so acting as he was now was a new low for him. “Alright, leave everything to me and Arcanine. I promise to take care of everything.” “...Okay.” And with that, the show was a success. What followed was an epic tale of friendships, betrayals, and adventure, but it had nothing to do with Alex, considering he was immediately sent to the Pokécenter for a checkup. Pokécenters double as hospitals for people. He did, however, manage to get some brownie points with Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and the nurses when they found out how malnourished, frail, and injured he was. It took about two weeks before he finally had some meat on his bones. The medical technology here may not be as advanced as on Earth, but whatever science couldn’t tackle, Pokémon meat and healing moves more than made up for it. As for Officer Jenny, she managed to successfully handle the case within a week. Many criminals in the slums and corrupt cops were arrested. Plenty of contraband was taken off the streets, but it was all ultimately just a drop in the bucket. After the first week of being in the Pokécenter, Alex was visited by a rather weary Officer Jenny. She shared some of the minor details of the arrests, which included raids and contraband confiscation. Among the arrests, quite a few were wanted criminals who had bounties on their heads, which Alex was entitled to a portion of as the primary contributor to the information that led to the arrests. Unfortunately, not only was he a minor, but he was also under the care of the orphanage, which had direct access to all his assets. “Is there nothing I can do, Officer Jenny? All that money will still go to the orphanage director, and I will never see a single Pokédollar out of it when I turn 16. The orphanage doesn’t even include enrollment in any schools, and they don’t even have books in the orphanage. Am I just supposed to give them all my money and time until I turn 16?” “Alright, calm down. I’ll look into that as well. If what you say is true, then you will have a solid case on your hands that would allow me to go and arrest them. I need evidence, though, which might be difficult given the circumstances.” “Is it legal for the orphanage director to pocket all of my parents’ money and assets?” “Technically, no, as they can liquidate it for you at the time of your admission to the orphanage and spend it for your sake until you turn 16, at which point whatever remains are returned to you. During this free period, they can claim the cost of raising you from those liquidated assets. It will be difficult to catch them without solid evidence of embezzlement.” That made it impossible to have any sort of legal accounts of ownership. “If I found a Pokémon, can they just sell it and take that money as well?” “Technically, yes, they can, so long as it is justified to be for your own sake.” “What about when I was out of the orphanage for the past few months? They can’t possibly justify spending my money when I wasn’t even there.” “They can claim ‘availability of benefits’ while you are gone. Just because you didn’t sleep in their bed doesn’t mean it wasn’t provided to you. You simply refused to claim the provided benefits.” That made it impossible to own anything until Alex turned 16. There was no loophole. Whoever designed this system intended to rob orphans of their assets, no matter how large or small. Terminologies like discretion, judgment, justification, etc., could all be subjectively used to take every single Pokédollar that the orphans owned. With a visibly downcast expression, Alex deflated by resting his back on the bed. “I guess the mayor of the city must be in on it as well,” Alex muttered under his breath, to which Officer Jenny made no comment. She too fully realized how easily the law could be corrupted with the right placement of words. Unfortunately, they could do nothing about it. Even her powerful family would not go out on a limb to rectify this because it was seemingly a well-made law that took the interests of the orphans to heart. In a perfect world, orphans shouldn’t be burdened with money at all until they become adults at 16. They should leave these complicated matters to their guardians, who should know better. Unfortunately, when even the mayor supports this exploitation of laws, they could do nothing about it because they would then be overstepping their boundaries into the territory of the League. “Don’t worry. I’ll personally look into this matter. Just wait for my good news. In the meantime, look who I brought with me.” With a flash of red light, Rattata materialized on the bed. Alex smiled at his partner in crime, while the little rat in question smirked back at him as well. They may not be particularly close, but they did have a tacit understanding between them. Alex would provide resources, and the rat would provide services. A win-win for both sides. Unfortunately, Alex might not be able to keep up his end of the bargain. “Hey, little rat. How’s it going?” “Rattata.” Alex assumed that meant he was fine as well. “Rattata was very cooperative with the investigation and arrests, so his opinion was taken into account when the question of his ownership came up. He refused his old trainer and instead chose you as his new trainer. Congratulations on your first Pokémon.” “Sigh. Can you help me free Rattata before the orphanage finds out? They will sell him as soon as they find out I had any sort of assets. As a matter of fact, can I get the bounty rewards in cash as well?” Rattata was quite shocked at being released. It gave Alex a very deep look, which he returned in kind. Just like that, they now knew which plan to follow. “I can release Rattata now, but then he would have to be taken to a daycare center or breeder. With regards to the bounty rewards, we cannot give them to you without the orphanage’s consent.” “Can’t you just release Rattata with the money? You can say that I refused the reward and instead give it all to Rattata, the real owner of the reward.” Officer Jenny took some time to consider that possibility. Technically speaking, it was possible. “I suppose that’s possible. It would be quite risky for Rattata, though. A stray Pokémon with money is tempting for anyone.” “What do you think, buddy?” Alex asked. “Ratta.” Rattata nodded somewhat begrudgingly. Alex understood that it was a bit of a stretch, but it was necessary for their current situation. “That settles it then. Let the little rat out and just leave me for dead.” Officer Jenny wanted to comment on that negativity or at least encourage Alex, but without any sort of evidence, it was impossible to ensure anything at this point. She could only do her best to rectify the situation. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do. You get some rest,” Officer Jenny said as she returned Rattata to the Poké Ball and left Alex to ponder his current dire situation. ----- Support me on Patreon patreon/babywrath

Chapter 3. Officer Jenny

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