Nick walked around the Shadow Factory, wondering what to do

Nick walked around the Shadow Factory, wondering what to do. He looked above the factory. A shadow ball was cast down upon him. A dark figure stood on top of a smokestack. It formed a shadow ball and shot it down at Nick. He rolled out of the way.

"Jeez, what was that all about?" He asked himself. The figure jumped down from the smokestack, on to the ceiling, then on to the ground. It stared at Nick with big eyes. Nick pulled out a pokédex and aimed it at the figure.

The 'dex responded, "No information at this time." It said. "Curse you, dex." Nick said to it. The figure walked out of the shadow that covered the front side of building from the glaring moon. It was a Combusken with a note taped to it's hand. Nick took the note from the Combusken's hand and read it. The note read:

"To whomever gets this note. :I've left my Combusked to travel with whoever finds it. This is not a shadow pokemon or any other kind. It's just a regular Combusken. So please take good care of it and I hope that the person that finds it will give it some nice TLC.Sincerely,
Jerry MorganP.S. There is a murder mystery going around as to who killed me.

Nick crumpled the paper. "I know this Jerry Morgan. He was a very famous singer back in Kanto." He said. Nick looked at Combusken. "Care to come with me and help me figure out who killed your owner?" Nick asked the Combusken.

It nodded it's head. Nick took out a pokéball and tapped it on the Combusken's head. A minute later the ball clicked. "Now I just hope we can solve this mystery." Nick said, hopefully. He opened the pokéball and Combusken came out from the bloodshot red beam.

"Let's go solve this mystery." Nick said. He began to run, with Combusken following after.

It was a quarter to 7 AM when Nick and Combusken finally came to the Old Coal Mines. This is where they were going to look first. Nick and Combusken looked at eachother.

Nick pulled out the Magma caller Maxie gave him and turned it on. Maxie appeared on the screen. "Oh, hello, Nick. How can I help you?" He asked. "I'm going to need your help again." Nick said. "Ok, where are you at?" Maxie replied. Nick held the screen to face the Old Coal Mines. "I'm at the Old Coal Mines. Bring your team along also." Nick said. "We'll be right over." Maxie turned off his caller. Nick turned his off also.

Footsteps could be heard within the Mines. Nick and Combusken ran in. "Who's in here?" Nick asked, shouting. A shadow past in front of Nick. He ran after the shadow. "Combusken light a small flame." Nick said. Combusken let out a small flame from it's mouth.

There were maple torches hooked against the wall. Combusken looked at it and shot the flame in to it. All the torches lit and the whole dungeon lit with lights.

Nick stopped running. He began to hear helicopter blades. He ran towards the sound. Maxie hopped out of one of the helicopters. "What's the emergency?" He asked. Nick looked at him. "A murder." Nick replied.

Maxie hopped back a little. "A murder." He said. "This is just going to be crazy." Maxie said. Nick took out his cellphone and dialed in 911. "911, what's your emergency?" The person on the other end asked. "There's a murderer going around Torae. I need officers, quickly." Nick said. "They'll be right over." The other person said. They hung up the phone, as did Nick.

Police sirens could be heard from a mile away. About a minute later, the police cars stopped in front of the mine. Officer Jenny got out of the first car. "A murderer you say?" She asked. "That's right, a murderer." Nick replied. "When did you last see him/her" Jenny asked. Nick pointed his thumb at the mine. "I saw him run down the left hall in there." He said.

More officers got out of the car. "I'm pretty sure that the hall loops around back to the center/entrance." Nick said. The shadow was revealed as it ran in to the center area. It was a poochyena with a dog collar. An officer walked up to the poochyena and looked at a tag on the collar. "Jerell Darcy." The tag said. The officer picked up the pokémon and walked towards Officer Jenny.

"This pokémon is property of someone named Jerell Darcy." He said. Maxie looked at the Poochyena. "I know a Jerell Darcy, he was my best friend back when I was a kid." He said again. "That's plain weird and shocking." Nick said. "We better go find him then." Officer Jenny then said. The officers got back in the cars and got ready to follow a magma helicopter. Maxie and Nick got in to one. They flew deeper in to the wild.

Team Magma copters came from all directions. Police cars rushed through the road. All vehicles/machines were heading for the Hidden Dojo. The helicopters landed on a plain of grass. Nick and Combusken jumped out of the first helicopter that landed.

"I don't know why I choose places like these but we always find a clue leading to the person that did it." Nick said. Maxie jumped out of the helicopter. "I guess it does." He said. Nick began to hear fighting within the dojo. He ran over to the sliding doors and opened them.

Machop, Machoke, and Machamp were battling throughout the huge dojo. Nick walked in. The pokemon didn't notice Nick. Maxie and the officers followed Nick. Nick closed the sliding doors behind him. He walked out of the main room in to the hall.

A small pat of blood lay on the floor. "Seems like we have more than a regular murderer. We have a mass killer." Nick said. "Wait. I remember something." Maxie said. "My friend couldn't kill anyone. He was a pacifist." Nick looked at him. "And you finally remembered that?" Nick asked. "Pretty much." Maxie replied.

Nick sighed. "Okay so it isn't your friend." He said. A flash popped in his head. "I heard about a criminal on the loose on tv. It was probably that guy." Officer Jenny and her team looked at Nick. "That's the guy we're trying to catch." She said. The officers nodded their heads.

A note was pinned to the wall further down the hall. Nick walked over to it and unpinned it. It read:

"Dear reader,HA! I knew you would come to the hidden dojo to find out where I was. But you're out of luck, big time! I'll give you a hint as to where I might be. It's one word. Heat. I hope this hasn't helped!Criminal Mastermind."

"People like that just urge me to get them caught." One of the officers said. Nick looked at the word "Heat" carefully. "Inferno Volcano!" He shouted. "What?" Maxie asked. "There's only one place in Torae that goes with heat. And that place is Inferno Volcano." He explained.

"Then what are we doing here? Let's go to Inferno Volcano." Maxie said. Officer Jenny and the other officers walked out of the dojo and back in to their cars. Maxie and Nick walked back out and in to the helicopter. All vehicles/machines headed in the direction of Inferno Volcano.

Magma helicopters flew over the volcano and departed to land on the other side. Nick and Maxie hopped out of the helicopter. Nick looked over the mountain side. He saw the police cars coming towards the volcano.

Rumbles could be heard from inside the volcano. The police cars circled up the volcano side. Nick heard helicopter blades coming. It came from the side of the mountain Nick and Maxie were on. It was the Twilight City News Station.

The helicopter landed next to the Magma Helcopter. A news reported hopped out of the helicopter. A cameraman hopped out and aimed the camera at the newsman.

"I'm Joe Larson, Twilight City News." He said. "I'm here with a teen named Nick." Nick looked at him and walked over to him. "So, Nick." He began. "What's the big mission for now?" He asked. Nick looked at him. "Gonna catch a mass killer." Nick replied. Joe hopped back a little. "Catch a mass killer? Seems dangerous doesn't it?" He asked. "Not really." He replied. "There you have it. I'm Joe Larson, Twilight City News." He got back in the helicopter and so did the cameraman. They flew off back to Twilight City.

Nick, Maxie, and the officers walked in to the volcano. The rumbles became louder and louder. A pokémon screech came out. All of them ran toward the sound. A pokémon lay on the ground, eye's completely closed.

"What did you do to this pokémon!?" Officer Jenny and Nick said together. The criminal mastermind looked at them. "I shot it." He said. "You did what!!" Jenny asked. "I shot it." He said again. "Growlithe, come out!" Jenny shouted, tossing growlithe's ball in to the air. Growlithe popped out from the beam.

"Charmeleon, Combusken, come out!" Nick shouted, tossing his charmeleon's ball in to the air, followed by his Combusken's ball. A regular Combusken and a Charmeleon with a white hat popped out. "Use Flamethrower!" Jenny and Nick commanded. Charmeleon, Combusken, and Growlithe shot a flamethrower at the Criminal Mastermind.

He charred from the 3rd degree burn. "Ok, that's it!" He shouted. "Venusaur, Torterra, come out!" He tossed 2 pokeballs in to the air. Both opened up, shooting out a red beam. One revealed a Torterra and the other, Venusaur.

Nick smiled. "Flamethrower, followed by fire blast, Combusken." Nick said. "Charmeleon, use flamethrower at full power." Combusken charged a ring of fire and an orb of fire. He shot it out at torterra. The orb stayed in the center of the ring. Torterra got knocked back far, nearly slipping in to the lava. It walked back. Charmeleon charged a large orb of fire and shot it at Venusaur. Venusaur got knocked back, almost slipping in to the lava.

The flamethrower kept going, rapidly bringing Venusaur's health down. "Combusken, keep using flamethrower." Nick said. "Officer Jenny, you can return your growlithe." Officer Jenny nodded and returned growlithe. The criminal mastermind became nervous. He called his pokémon back to their balls. Officer Jenny ran behind him. She put handcuffs on him and led him out of the volcano. "Killing pokémon, seriously, what were you thinking?" Officer Jenny asked, putting him in a cop car.

The other officers walked out of the volcano. "Well, Maxie, seems like we're done here." Nick said. Maxie nodded. "Yes we are." He said. "Charmeleon, Combusken, Return." Nick returned his pokémon to their balls. Maxie and Nick walked out of the volcano. Maxie got back in his helicopter. "I'll see you around." He said. Nick nodded. "Yeah." He replied.

The helicopter took off from the mountain side. Nick walked down the mountain, heading back to Twilight City.