Pokémon: The Price of Caution.

Over the course of about fifteen minutes, Vulpix and Mudkip do what would have taken the firefighters hours to do alone. As they work, several groups of people and pokemon escape the burning building and are quickly herded away by the EMTs, Nurse Joy, and a pair of Chanseys. With Vulpix methodically pulling away swathes of fire and Mudkip making reignition impossible, nearly the entire outside of the Pokemon Center had been put out. Smoke still pours from the inside and flickers inside could still be seen, however.

Brendan pulls a bottle of water out from his bag and offers it to his panting, dehydrated Mudkip, who snatches the bottle from his hand and sucks down the water in an impressive half-second. The boy then pulls out his PokeNav and glances at the time. "Officer Jenny has been in there for twenty minutes..."

Lee sighs and rubs his forehead with his thumb and index finger. "And you want to go in and help?" At Brendan resolute nod, Lee groans. 'What do you think, love?'

Vulpix mulls the question over then looks up at him and nods.

'Shit. Outvoted. Of course.'

Lee crosses his arms and closes his eyes, debating his next words. "Alright, we'll help, but this is how it's going down. Vulpix and I will go in, but you and Mudkip are staying out here."

"What!?" Brendan yells in outrage, his face twisting into a scowl. "No way! We're-!"

"Going to run in and get killed?"

Brendan stops at the question, his expression frozen.

Lee opens his eyes, and although feeling bad about it, glares down at Brendan, making the boy wilt. "Look at Mudkip," Lee orders.

Brendan slowly turns to look down at his panting pokemon, who doesn't seem to be listening. Watery strands of drool hang from the edges of his mouth and there is the slightest tremor in his legs.

"Mudkip is exhausted and Shroomish will be no use in a fire," Lee states, uncrossing his arms and easing his glare. "A spent amphibian water type will dehydrate near instantly in such conditions, and that's a death sentence for both of you. Vulpix, meanwhile, is fire-retardant and has her pyrokinesis, but she can't stress herself protecting both of us and potentially helping the people trapped inside. The less she needs to spread herself out, the better."

The younger trainer's shoulders slump. "But... I..." He looks around, seemingly lost for words. "I don't want to be useless is the thing," he softly replies. "I'm a lab trainer just like you and we're supposed to be leaders and help people and all that, right?" 'Oh jeez...'

Lee's own shoulders slump. "Look," he begins, wrapping an arm around Brendan's shoulders. "You won't be useless. See all these people out here?" Lee asks, using his free arm to gesture at all the onlookers, some watching them. "This rattled them something fierce," he says a bit softer, making Brendan blink. "They would use an overbearingly cheerful brat of a hero who helped put out the Pokemon Center fire. Go reassure them, let them know we got this, because the wellbeing of the people affected by a tragic event is the most important thing here, and that includes peace of mind." He could feel Vulpix frown without even looking at her, but his words seem to have the desired effect of perking Brendan up. He regains his usual grin. "Alright, if you say so, but if you come out covered in soot with a smoker's cough then I'm laughing. Just warning you now." Lee snorts and lets him go. "You get to hear the cough anyway because after this shit I could really use a cig. Let's go, love."

Vulpix takes point and leads Lee right towards the entrance of the Center. He glances back to see Brendan and Mudkip take off towards the crowd of onlookers. Lee turns back just in time to see Vulpix dislodge several small, candle-like fires by the entrance and let them wink out.

The pair advance inside, carefully looking over the wet, burned lobby and ignoring the still screaming fire alarm. Other than a few smoldering spots, the fire is totally out here. The sprinkler units above are still intact for some reason, so Officer Jenny and Azumarill had to have been the ones to contain the fire.

"Remember what that guy said when we got in town?" Lee asks the vixen at his feet as they turn down a hallway to follow a thin stream of smoke, making her look back and nod. "Supposedly a berserk pokemon started the fire, but nearly half the damn building was in flames when we got here. If we have to face down something like a Charizard this early in our adventure then I quit."

Vulpix chuffs in amusement and her lips pull back into a thin vulpine smile.

Lee and Vulpix venture further on, glancing into the various exam rooms they pass to find each one already evacuated. Most are intact, with just the water-soaked doors sporting burns like the hallway, but a few of them are burned and melted beyond recognition. As they walk, the smoke becomes heavier, forcing Lee to put his arm over this mouth and nose to use his sleeve as a crude filter. Vulpix, being so low to the ground, avoids the smoke entirely.

At the end of the hallway they walk, the path splits right and left, to the left is an undamaged hallway, to the right...

Lee grimaces as his scars flare.

To the right is a flaming hellscape. The entire hallway sans a thin, damp path on the ground is coated in fire. Again, the sprinklers haven't deployed despite being partially melted slag by now. Something curious to see is the electrical outlets in the hallway are all blown out, some of them sparking. The rolling smoke, roar and crackle of the flames, and the shrill tone of the fire alarm make for a dizzying amount of sensory overload.

The scarred man closes his eyes, takes deep breaths, and reaches his mind out to Vulpix, who grasps his with her own near instantly.

With their combined focus, the little fox puts out the fire section by section, pulling the flames away from their fuel and letting them wink out of existence with a short woosh that can't be heard over the other noise. Man and fox slowly advance bit by bit, and with the fires dying, the smoke clears a little more each second, finally revealing a set of ajar double doors at the end of the short hallway. Above the doors is a sign that reads Nursery. There is a sudden, violent crackle like a taser hooked directly to a power plant, followed by a shrill shriek of pain and the sound of a body hitting the ground right beyond the doors.

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