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"Zelda, rattata!" Ed barked, before meeting the intruder's charge head on. He swung his nightstick with crushing force at the boy's left side. If he could take down an Arcanine, he could take down this weedy brat!

Meanwhile, Zelda boiled through the door, intent on the rat. He'd make a nice midnight snack!

Ed rocked back from the shove, but didn't let that slow him down. "Zelda, pursue!" The growlithe darted after the rattata, nails scoring into the linoleum. At the door, she paused for a moment, nose to the floor, before bolting after one of the copies.

Snatching Zaire's pokeball from his belt, Ed releases the illusion pokemon. "Zaire, sic 'em!" Zaire became a black and blue ball of snarling fur that leaped for the Rocket grunt's arm, white teeth bared in a ferocious snarl.

Zaire released the arm and dropped to the ground as the sudden movement jerked her around rather painfully. That hadn't had as much effect as she had hoped. Fluffing with determination, she snapped at the meaty part of the calf nearest her.

Ed whirled to face the threat behind him, thumb flicking his flashlight on. He aimed the powerful beam directly at the thief's face, and swung his nightstick in a cross-body swipe at the male's right hip.

~~~

Zelda, hot on the Rattata's tail, wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. Her first awareness of the lamppost was when Gangrel swerved to avoid it. Zelda tried to do the same, but a paw slipped on loose gravel, and she ended up clipping it with a shoulder. It took her a moment to get her paws back in order, by which time, the Rattata had pulled ahead by quite a bit. Determined, she resumed the chase.

"Zaire, guard!" Ed snapped. Zaire immediatly stopped trying to snap and bite, and instead stood stiff-legged with a low growl rumbling in her (admittedly rather small) chest.

Ed holstered his flashlight and nightstick, pulling out his cuffs. Grabbing a wrist, he snapped a silver bracelet on, expertly bringing that wrist down to the small of the thief's back before reaching for the other hand. "You have the right to remain silent..." Ed began rattling off the rote arrest phrases telling the arrestee of his rights.

~~~

Zelda tried to dart around the large cat to continue pursuing the rat.

"Nope. If it were, I'd have to arrest my boss, the red-headed file clerk, and the barista down the street, just to start with. And the barista's red-eye is way too tasty for that," Ed said, placid as ever as he hauled the thief to his feet.

Zaire toned down her growls a bit after the cuffs were on, but remained alert.

"Nah, I just wait for my bosses to retire. Less effort," Ed said lazily. He directed the thief down the hall, towards the holding cells. As he did, he made a mental note to chew out the night shift. Had no one noticed that a fairly noisy fight had taken place, or seen the Rattata or Zelda streaking out of the building like their tails were on fire?

Zaire heeled next to Ed, growls having subsided, but fur still puffed threateningly.

"Nah, I was one of them brats that liked to throw off the bell curve. Can't you see me with pimples and a pocket protector?" Ed asked facetiously. It was certainly fun to wind this guy up!

"Didn't get lazy until they gave me a pup with more energy than a power plant. Couldn't keep up with that ball of energy even straight out of the academy, so ah just stopped trying. Kept my blood pressure nice and healthy," Ed grinned.

"Yeah, Team Rocket is a model organization. That's why the hospital in Motterossa was overflowing with injured kids last time there was a Rocket gathering. Because kidnapping children, blasting them with enough tear gas that several almost died when they escaped, and then firing rockets at them, is real honest," Ed sneered. "Real stand-up crowd."