Chapter 1

Death is not kind.

Death is unknown.

Death is coming for all.

That was the email sent from some loon that Special Agent Looker had just received. He was checking his email at the International Police Station in Jubilife City for confirmation that his son Andrew could finally receive a Pokemon from Professor Rowan.

Looker looked up from his desk and smiled at Andrew looking over case files. His son was practically a detective, everyone called him Rookie due to the fact that he was sent on different errands when he wanted to help the IPD solve a case. Andrew was a great help at times, providing fresh eyes that Looker and his partner Emma needed.

The ringing of his Poketch brought Looker back out of his thoughts. His wife Johanna was calling him from the video message function.

"Honey, when are you and Andrew going to come home?" Johanna asked. "It seems like you're always at the station doing police work…"

She continued, "I know that you often have to go on undercover missions, but a few more calls here and there would be nice."

"I know sweetheart, I'm sorry," Looker told his wife. "Things are just really busy right now. We're dealing with the thefts of Pokemon and the vandalism of the statue in Eterna City, along with false tips and crazy prank messages."

"Well…could you send Andrew back home for a little while? I would like to spend some time with him before he receives a Pokemon from Professor Rowan."

"Speaking of Professor Rowan, when I was checking my email I got a strange message from someone with a blocked email address."

"How odd. I hope you can find out whoever sent it and what they want."

"Anyways," Looker changed the subject, "Drew will get to Twinleaf Town by tonight, all ready for the delicious dinner that you made."

Johanna laughed. "Because all of my dinners that I make are delicious."

"Anything's better than Captain Beckett or Emma's cooking."

"Alright Handsome, I'll talk to you later."

"Good-bye Beauty, I promise I'll call more often."

Andrew, more often called Drew by his parents, closed the case file that he had been reading and sighed. It was a cold case regarding the murder of a woman named Agatha, one of the Kanto region's Elite Four. There had been no leads since she was found dead, and the trail had gone cold.

"Couldn't think of anything else to look for, huh?" Looker sat down next to Drew.

"Nope," Drew shook his head. "It makes me so mad. There are terrible people in this world. I want to know why someone would do this, and how could they even kill an old woman."

"Some people are just too twisted," Looker told him. "I've had to face people that wanted to kill all of the Pokemon in the world with an Ultimate Weapon, and people that wanted to rule the world by manipulating people's hearts."

"I guess so," Drew sighed.

"Your mom wants you to visit her in Twinleaf Town. You can take this Growlithe until Professor Rowan can give you a Starter Pokemon."

"Thanks Dad!" Drew hugged Looker and walked out of the International Police Station.

The International Police Station was next to the Global Terminal in the southwest side of Jubilife City. Jubilife City was a mordenized metropolis, a big city with plenty of things to do. There was the TV Station, the Trainer School, and the Poketch Company. The Jubilife Condominuims was an apartment complex before a mysterious fire had burned and destroyed several apartments. Another cold case that Drew wanted to solve.

Drew got on the red bike that had been a gift from his parents for his tenth birthday four years ago. That was when he was supposed to receive a Starter Pokemon from Professor Rowan, but Sinnoh's resident investigator on Pokemon evolution had been in the Kanto region for the past three years, and the Hoenn region for the past year.

Drew loved the fresh air, the feeling of the wind blowing through his face as he rode his bike down Route 202 to Sandgem Town.

The Professor's laboratory was closed, he was probably off on a field assignment. Drew knew that he had returned to Sinnoh, a Jubilife TV reporter had just interviewed him about his return on live TV.

Twinleaf Town had a sentimental value to Andrew, it was the place he grew up in. He just enjoyed living in Jubilife City more, he felt like working in his father at the Station was more exciting than helping his mother collect berries.

"Andrew, you made it!" His mother Johanna exclaimed in excitement. She hugged him and quickly returned to the stove. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright," Drew answered honestly. "I like helping dad with cases, I just wish I could help solve some of the cold ones."

Johanna gave him a sad, sympathetic smile. "I understand how you feel. You feel like you can't do anything except watch and wait."

Andrew nodded. "Right, and it sucks because I don't even have a real Pokemon, just dad's Growlithe."

Growlithe whimpered and whined.

"Sorry bud, I didn't mean that," he petted the Growlithe, which he had nicknamed Leo.

"Drew, I know you hate doing this, but would you mind collecting some berries for me at Lake Verity?"

"Sure mom," Drew sighed.

"Come on Leo, let's go," Drew called Growlithe as he walked out the door.

As they walked along Route 201, Drew noticed that storm clouds had begun to appear in the sky. On his way from Jubilife City to Twinleaf Town, the sky had been a clear blue without a cloud in sight.

Drew shrugged and walked towards Lake Verity. The people of Twinleaf Town told a legend that Lake Verity was home to the Being of Emotion, capable of calming the Deities of Time and Space alongside the Being of Knowledge and the Being of Willpower that were said to reside in Lake Acuity and Lake Valor

As he was picking Oran berries to help prepare for his mother's stew, he heard a girl's scream.

A girl about his age of fourteen was surrounded by a flock of Starly. They were squawking and flying towards her, trying to peck at her.

Drew ran over near where she was. The two locked eyes.

"The briefcase!"

A brown briefcase was just outside the tall grass where the wild Pokemon would not go. Andrew quickly opened it and found three Poke Balls.

There was no time to waste, he chose a random Poke Ball and threw it open.

Chimchar, a fire type monkey-like Pokemon jumped out. He banged his fist against his chest and cried out.

Drew grinned. Chimchar was the Starter Pokemon that he had always wanted!

"Chimchar, use Ember to burn the Starly!"

Chimchar spat out a barrage of flames at all of the Starly, which caused them to get burned.

"Now use Scratch!"

He scratched and clawed at all of the Starly, causing them to faint.

"T-thanks," the girl told Drew as she stepped out of the tall grass. "My name is Hikari."

Drew could tell that Hikari was unnerved by Chimchar. He had no idea why, Chimchar was a friendly little guy.

"Hi there," Drew bent down and talked to Chimchar. "I'm Drew."

Drew stood up and told Hikari, "Well, technically Andrew, but I normally go by Drew."

"Nice to meet you," Hikari told him. "I'm Professor Rowan's assistant. He was supposed to meet me here, but I have no idea where he went."

"Do you think he'd be mad that I used Chimchar?"

"I don't think so. But don't take my word, the Professor can be hard to read sometimes."

Hm, Drew thought, I'll have to use my detective skills and read him then.

"Leo!" Drew called as he and Hikari started walking back towards Route 201. The Growlithe came barreling towards him and pounced on top of Drew, knocking him over.

"Ah!" Hikari screamed.

"What's wrong?" Drew asked. "Leo's not going to hurt you, I promise!"

Hikari stated, "I just don't like fire types, okay?"

"Professor!" Hikari exclaimed when she saw him. However, she did not know the blue-haired, suit-wearing man he was with.

"It is good to see you again, Professor Rowan," the man told him. "I hope your travels to Kanto and Hoenn were illuminating."

"Indeed they were Cyrus," Professor Rowan replied. "I learned a great deal about their native Pokemon from my colleagues Professor Oak and Professor Birch."

"Alright, I hope we can speak some time regarding your research on evolution," Cyrus said. "But for now I must go, in all my years in Sinnoh I have never visited the beautiful Lake Verity, although I have heard wonderful stories."

"Professor, this is Drew," Hikari told her mentor. "He saved me from a flock of Starly. It figures that I would get attacked the one time I don't bring Piplup."

Chimchar held on to Drew's leg as Professor Rowan stared him down.

"Is that so?"

Drew could tell that Professor Rowan would let Chimchar stay with him. He wanted to seem like an intimidating, cold man, but deep down he had a big heart. He must have, otherwise he wouldn't take care of all of the Pokemon and give them to trainers.

"Professor Rowan, sir, my name is Drew. I was supposed to receive my Starter Pokemon a long time ago. May he please travel with me?"

Professor Rowan finally said, "Well, I suppose that you may take Chimchar with you."

"Thank you sir!" Drew exclaimed.

Hikari asked, "Do you want to give Chimchar a nickname?"

"Uh…sure." Drew looked at Chimchar, trying to figure out what would be a good nickname. Chimchar was a playful fire type that was powerful. He needed a strong nickname.

"How about Vulcan?" Drew asked Chimchar. The little Pokemon jumped for joy.

"Alright Vulcan, time to meet my mom."

"Drew, you should stop by the Pokemon Center in Sandgem Town to heal…Vulcan up," Hikari told him.

"Okay, I will."

As he was about to walk away with Hikari and Professor Rowan, Drew remembered that he had forgotten the bag of berries he had dropped.

When he picked up the bag, Drew saw Cyrus staring at the water in Lake Verity. He could hear him saying something, "The flowing time... The expanding space... I will make it all mine one day... Cyrus is my name. Remember it... Until then, sleep while you can, legendary Pokémon of the lake bed..."

Drew raised his eyebrows, but decided to return to Route 201.

Johanna exclaimed, "He's so cute!" when she saw Vulcan.

"Mom, he's cool, not cute," Drew said.

"Why can't he be both?" Chimchar agreed with Johanna's statement, nodding and pushing his chest out.

"Alright, I'm going to go back to Jubilife City in the morning," Drew told Johanna.

The two ate berry stew for dinner, and Drew fed Chimchar some leftover Oran Berries.

Vulcan tried shaking Drew awake in his bed. He was writhing in his sleep, trapped in a nightmare.

Drew was walking through darkness, and a dragon-like thing appeared in front of him. It roared and emitted a blue light.

A little pink figure flew towards the blue dragon, protecting Drew.

Drew shot awake, drenched in sweat. Vulcan stood next to him, looking worried.

"I'm fine little guy," Drew told him. "You don't have to worry about me."

Johanna had already prepared breakfast when Drew walked down the stairs. After they finished eating, Johanna handed Drew a Town Map of the Sinnoh region.

"What's this for?" Drew asked.

"Since Professor Rowan gave you Vulcan, you can travel around the Sinnoh region on a journey," Johanna told him.

"I thought you missed me and dad."

"I do, but I want you to go on your own," Johanna told him. "Be happy."

"Thanks mom," Drew hugged her.

Drew was surprised that there was a basket on the front of his bicycle.

"I thought Vulcan would like to ride instead of being stuck in a Poke Ball, at least until he evolves," Johanna shrugged.

Drew and Vulcan nodded.

"Bye mom, love you."

Drew, Vulcan, and Leo went through Route 201 to Sandgem Town, battling against wild Starly and Bidoof.

Drew was about to step into Professor Rowan's Pokemon Lab when a young man bumped into him.

"Watch where you're going," the young man glared at him. He had dark brown hair and cold eyes.

"Sorry," Drew apologized.

"Nah, it was my fault too," the young man sighed.

"Nico, wait!" Hikari called.

Nico's eyes softened slightly when he saw Hikari.

"Here are five Poke Balls from Professor Rowan," she told him.

"Thanks Hikari," Nico told her.

"I'm Drew," he tried shaking Nico's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Nico declined the handshake.

"Did you just pick a Pokemon?"

"Yeah, Turtwig," Nico said apathetically. "Look, it was nice…running in to you, I guess, but I've got to go."

"Maybe we can battle if we meet up again?"

"Sure."

"What's his deal?" Drew asked Hikari.

Hikari laughed, "Why do you want to know so much about him? Have you got a crush or something?"

"No! He just seems…interesting, dark, hard to read. Kind of like that Cyrus guy from yesterday."

"You're pretty analytical," Hikari noted.

"Well, I am almost a detective for the International Police."

"That's really cool!"

"I healed up Vulcan and Leo at the Pokemon Center."

"Good, Professor Rowan wanted me to give you these. He had to go out into the field." Hikari handed Drew five Poke Balls.

"Tell him thanks for me," Drew said.

"Actually…" Hikari began.

"I was wondering if…you were interested in a traveling companion?"

Drew grew tongue tied. He wanted to say "Of course, come on!" but he was distracted at the thought of traveling with a pretty girl.

"Sure," he finally said.

"Thank you!" Hikari hugged him.

"So uh, why do you want to travel with me?"

"Well, you saved my life, so I figured that I owe you one. Even though I haven't been past Jubilife City, I know nearly every Pokemon in a route thanks to Professor Rowan. I could help you if you needed advice or someone to talk to."

"And really," Hikari continued, "all I do is study the same old Starly and Bidoof every day. It's always the same thing, never a surprise. You're…interesting in your own way too."

"Thanks," Drew said. "Alright, let's go then."

Hikari nodded and grabbed her pink bike. There was a basket on the front for her Pokemon too.

"Vulcan, meet Piplup," Hikari told the Chimchar.

Chimchar waved to Piplup but she crossed her arms and jumped into Hikari's basket.

"I need to talk to my dad at the International Police Station." Drew told Hikari as they entered Jubilife City.

"Alright, I'll wait at the Pokemon Center then."

When she put her bike's kickstand up and set it in the bike rack in front of the Pokemon Center, Hikari kept her head down. She hated being in this city, and she didn't want to be seen by anyone that knew her, especially him.

"Dawnie?" A man asked from the street.

It was him.

"Don't call me that," Hikari snarled.

"Can you ever forgive me for what happened? It was a terrible accident."

"You killed her!"

"Please, I miss you, we all miss you," the man told her. "Will you come back to the Poketch Company with me and see everyone?"

"Fine..."

"Dad, look, this is Vulcan, my Starter Pokemon!" Drew announced as he walked inside the station.

Looker looked up from the case file he was working on and grinned.

"It looks like you don't need Leo anymore," Emma, Looker's partner, said.

Leo whimpered and looked sad.

"I'm sorry bud," Drew told him. "But you have to stay with Dad and Emma."

"What are you looking over?" Drew asked Looker.

"The fire incident that burned down some apartments in the Jubilife Condominuims," Looker said. "The strangest thing is that the owner of the first apartment that burned, Mr. Platinum, his wife was the only victim to the fire. Their daughter was the only one that made it out."

"Hm, isn't it always the spouse that's behind a murder?"

"We've been looking in to him, but there's no hard evidence connecting him to the crime scene."

"What if it's not him that was at the crime scene?" Drew suggested. "What if it was a Pokemon?"

Looker's eyes glinted with excitement. That thought hadn't even occurred to him.

"Emma, run the DNA of all fire type Pokemon in Sinnoh and see if there's a match at the crime scene."

"And then see if Mr. Platinum has one of them," Emma nodded. "Right, I'm on it!"

"Drew, you may have just helped us crack the case!" Looked and Drew grinned at each other.

Hikari walked unhappily into the Poketch Company Building. She did not want to be back here, she did not want to see them again.

"Dawn!" All of her cousins, aunts, and uncles hugged her. They all lived in the loft above the Poketch Company, courtesy of her father.

"It's so good to see you again. How is your internship with Professor Rowan?"

"It's going great, I'm learning a lot," Hikari said. "But I'm afraid I have to go now."

Hikari's father saw the police walking up to the building.

"Dawn, what did you do?!" He demanded.

"I haven't done anything," Hikari told him. "You're the one whose actions are catching up."

Looker and Emma entered the Poketch Company, showing their badges.

"How may I help you?" Hikari's father asked.

"Mr. Platinum," Looker said, "you are under arrest for the murder of Pearl Platinum."

Emma put him in handcuffs and began to read him his rights.

Mr. Platinum glared at his daughter's emotionless face as he was put into the squad car.

"Miss Platinum, are you alright?" Looked asked Hikari.

"I knew he did it...he's going to get what he deserves."

Looked and Emma returned to the police station triumphantly, and were greeted with applause.

"You did it!" Drew exclaimed.

Looker shook his head. "We never could have done it without you. You deserve to be a Detective."

"Thanks," Drew smiled.

"You know," Emma said, "the force is spread so thin across the region, we could use a traveling detective to help solve cases while the other members are focused on finding Team Galactic."

"Are you saying what I think you are?"

Looker nodded. "I've compiled a list of unsolved cases from around Sinnoh that need solving."

"I'm in!" Drew exclaimed. "Woohoo, I'm a real Detective!"

Looker handed him an official Police badge.

"You've already made me proud," Looker told his son. "Go catch those twisted people in this world like you wanted."

"You look so cute!" Hikari told Drew when he walked into the Pokemon center.

He was wearing a brown trench coat, white long-sleeved shirt, black slacks, and black boots.

"I'm officially a Detective!" Drew showed her his badge.

"That's awesome!" she told him.

"My dad gave me a list of unsolved cases throughout the Sinnoh region. If we're traveling together, then you're a partner of the police force. Is that okay with you?"

Hikari nodded. She looked at the first case.

"Let's get to Oreburgh City and find a missing Bastiodon fossil, Detective Drew."

Detective Drew. He smiled to himself. This journey was going to be interesting...

Three female figures were bowing before a man on a computer screen. They wore all black, hiding their identities, and the man was shrouded in darkness.

"Cyrus went to Lake Verity, Master Pluto. We believe that he is going to begin his plan to create a new galaxy."

"And what of the other knowledge seeker? Has she begun to start her plan to Link with the Deity of the Void?"

"We apologize Master Pluto, we have not investigated her under more scrutiny."

"Very well. Soon enough, they all will be shrouded in darkness, and Thanatos shall come for all."