Ms. Lori was a Looker for the Pokémon League. Lookers seemed impressive, as though they had authority over everything, but in truth, being a Looker was just as dangerous as being an Officer Jenny. Both Officer Jennys and Lookers ranked among the professions with the highest fatality rates published annually by the Pokémon League. After all, not every villain focused on grand schemes. Some were simply evil, and there were even fewer limits to what they would do.
These people were also priority targets for the League, but even so, they kept emerging. Those with little ability were easy to deal with, while some clever, cunning criminals would even set traps. Officer Jenny Qian, whom Heath had seen last time, had encountered just such a situation: someone had blown up their base outright, and she had died in the line of duty.
All he could say was that there were too few people like Giovanni-smart enough to know that if he used lethal force, the League would respond in kind, whereas if he kept his organization under control, the League would turn a blind eye. Most people had no such thoughts and wished they could make headlines every day.
"..." Heath arrived silently at Vermilion City's funeral home. Many people stood there in black suits, their expressions solemn. They were clearly Ms. Lori's colleagues or the like, though they probably had not been particularly close. Then there was a group crying so hard they could barely breathe: a middle-aged man, an elderly couple with graying hair, and several children gritting their teeth and clenching their fists, their eyes terribly swollen and red. These were probably Ms. Lori's family. Heath even saw some others who looked just as grief-stricken; those were probably her friends.
Heath did not know any of them.