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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A Class Of Vintage

Chapter 1

A Disappearance

Car fumes shared their parts hand in hand with horns and sirens, shrieking with the dense congestion of other noisy clattering. This is how it always was in the early hours of Jubilife City, which welcomed the city to life once more, like a fine timed alarm clock. The high- rising buildings stood as a monolithic triumph, retrospectively, a marvel of Pokémon engineering. Some could say this city was the pinnacle of modern day life, as there wasn't anything like it in the world, but that statement in itself could be debatable. The busy city streets swarmed with pedestrians going on about their daily lives in a recycled fashion they did each and every morning as day break hauled their posteriors out of their slumbering states.

Three small, red ambiguous claws wrapped around the newspaper as money exchanged hands. A bipedal Pokémon with distinct dark yellowish skin stood adorning a wide brim fedora hat, with a black tweed overcoat stylishly unbuttoned down the front, with matching tweed breaches which were held up with thin black bracers, or suspenders if you will. Underneath the coat he was bare-chested, and wore no shoes either. This had become a very common sight in the middle classes.

The Pokémon let his pitch black pupils of his red irises scour through the headlines of today, conveniently dated :

"October 30th 1941."

The main article was focused on the unavoidable annual inflation which served the working and upper classes, who were able to work through the hardships. Unfortunately, lower classes had been adversely affected to the extent many had been forced out their humble homes, unable to keep with recent demands of high food prices and living costs. As an added effect, the inability to make an honest living would drive many more to a criminal life.

The stocky, bulked Rhydon behind the newspaper stand reached out to give the Ononokus his change.

"Keep it," The Ononokus answered, barely taking his eyes off the paper as he looked at the next page.

"What's with the big tip, Klinz?" The Rhydon asked, "Got a big case or somethin'? you seem pretty occupied."

"You could say that, but same old, same old..." Klinz, the Ononokus, answered. "How's things with you?"

"Still easy going. Paper's are selling and my family's well-fed. You must be getting it tough, though... Being from Isshu an' all."

"Yeah, sometimes," Klinz answered, "people are getting use to me now, but I still get a lot from some prejudiced strangers every now and then."

"You got it pretty tough, but Humix's ? they've got it a lot worse... Poor bastards."

Klinz grunted a little; he hated the word 'Humix'. it was a derogatory term used for a racist categorisation when referring to humans. They were, of course, not as lucky as you and I are right now: They had no civil rights to cast a vote, and no institution of proper laws had been instigated to protect them save for one. Worse than that, if one was ever murdered or attacked in any way, the police would simply turn a blind eye, do a small amount of paperwork, and shove the case in the back of a filing cabinet. It happened frequently, and society had adapted to the 'lower' nature of humans to the point it had come to be seen as the most common thing, and no one even cared of what life the victim had, or how and why they met their ends. After all, they were just humans. Klinz differed from most in his way of viewing humans, and seeing the sorrowful world he lived on saddened him.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Howard." Klinz told the Rhydon, turning around and walking away.

He rolled the paper neatly and put it in his innermost coat pocket. Walking at a somewhat calm and casual pace and taking some time to look around the city, the Pokémon made his way to the next high rise block of offices, known as the Central Jubilife City Police Station.

-/-

It wasn't long before he made it to the enclosure of his office. Turning on the lights as he walked in. After drawing his paper back out, the Ononokus lazily flung his overcoat to the side of the wall, where a peg perfectly caught the garment. He gave a near- silent chuckle to himself... The coat landed right in the spot. Just like the day before, and just like the day before that. The pleasure was short-lived, however, as he immediately remembered he was on the job. Letting out a stressed, slightly annoyed sigh, Klinz slumped back against his chair, feeling the softness of the cushions against his hard back. Then, just like he usually did when he arrived in his office, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of his proffered brand cigarettes. A well placed flick of his claw at the bottom of the box made a single cigarette leap at his lips. With the other claw he reached into his other pocket, pulled out a lighter, and held it to the cigarette in his mouth. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting out a relaxed, smoking puff shortly after. It was his first smoke of the day, and in the stressed times he was on, the relief it gave him came as a true blessing.

He dwindled in thought raising his heavy feet, planting them on top of his table that was a mess of paperwork, files, and some pictures of current criminal investigations. The pigsty of a table demanded order and organization, but as things were, he failed to give a damn. Life had not been going his way of recent and a string of unfavoured events had severely hindered his meagre efforts.

His weary mind slid into the depths of his memories... His cherished memories... Circling like vultures around a girl named Cassy; a girl who disappeared weeks ago. The thought brought a shooting pain to his very being. He didn't know how he let it happen, but he had gotten himself romantically involved with that human female. He couldn't say he had fallen in love with her, as he wasn't quite sure, and society's views, while entirely irrelevant to him, were still a pain to consider. But there was one thing he could be as sure of; He cared for her, quite deeply. He was twice her age, being in his late thirties, while she was only eighteen... A woman, but a sweet child at the same time; and all the time spent in casual and amiable banter with her provided him with some of the most memorable moments in his life. He would have liked to spend more time with her, as they had grown close in the short months he had spent with her.

He remembered:,

It was funny, how they met... It played in his mind, in a sepia filter, almost like one of the old movies he watched with her once. He could remember how awkward he felt, and probably how uncomfortable it must have been for her, but if she was here, they could both look back and laugh at it.

He met her at the end of a street corner. It was his blooper to assume she was in the oldest profession in the game, but his conclusion came based on the Pokémon females who hawked their assets on the other end of the very same street. Prostitution was being slowly clamped down on, and he had no evidence to convict her for this, or anything else. It was rather amusing, how he had made the assumption but at the time it made sense to him. She had this white sheet rolled out selling garbage she had made. No one would really want to buy it, of course, so she must have been selling something else.

Of course, he had to confirm his suspicion before making any allegations against her. She smelt nice, those hazel eyes and mahogany hair. Her clothing emphasized her figure through that dress in an alluring hour glass shape, very petite and elegant, he might add. He approached her, and even now, he thought, he could smile at what had stupidly left his mouth that day:

"How much would you like for your other services, and your place or mine?"

She reacted rather offended, and rightfully reddened his cheek with a harsh slap that he certainly deserved.

He drew his badge in a effort to calm the angered vixen, but it only served to induce a frightened plea to not be arrested for striking a figure of the law. Getting her to calm down took quite a while; he tried to convince her that he wouldn't hurt her or book her for it. She was not wrong in being afraid, however. Human holding cells were a very dangerous place where many a dark deed took place.

That day he bought one of her home-made flower bracelets, and apologized with well-refined etiquette worthy of a gentleman, although a little flirting wasn't misplaced either. What he had bought were considered good luck charms to bless the wearer with protection through their travels... To him, they were just flowers with a string fed through them, simple and easily made. But everyone needed an honest day's pay, and he saw nothing wrong with buying one, as long as it provided her with something to eat.

Cassy was the most adorable female. Surprisingly, he even found her to be more attractive than those of Pokémon species. Her shapely body was not the only thing desirable about her; in time, he had come to discover other qualities in her that were flattering, such as the gentle mannerism she possessed. She had a way in words, and a rather witty and sharp tongue. In any inclination what she was doing was perfectly legal, and an honest trade and the small money she gained allowed her to sustain herself.

She lived in a poorer quarter of the city in an established human shelter with others of her species. Every morning he had to start his day buying one of her charms to see him through, and of course the allowed him to get better acquainted with her, until the day came in which he boldly decided to dive in and make a move, setting a date for them and inviting her to dinner.

Cassy was unique; she saw no barriers, the issues that others might have seen like age and species failed to affect her. Much like him, she didn't care.

Things were going well; Klinz cherished the heaven-sent moments they spent together, and he thought he had found someone he could be really interested in. Life was going well, until that day she just disappeared.

When he arrived at the shelter asking about her whereabouts he was unable to get an answer as the humans barricaded themselves from him. Moving on he found an Eevee at the corner of that same street Cassy worked, however, this young lass was dealing with more 'sexual' needs. The busty little number did know something: Cassy had been talking about leaving the city. With this being taken onboard, Klinz assumed, was probably what she had done. She had left him, and it did upset him to see that she left without saying goodbye.

Then that damn incident last week on that assignment. It hadn't been a good week for him at all. He screwed up on the biggest case of his career: A kidnapping. But the victim wasn't any common citizen of Jubilife; it was a senator, and due to failures in his judgement, Klinz carried the blame for the loss of four officers and the death of the victim itself. This was made worse with all of it going public, creating quite a splash in the media and the boom of criminal activities that followed. This week really sucked the proverbial lollipop.

He nestled within his chair, a little off- mood, blowing the plumes of smoke which ascended from his mouth. Taking the cancer stick from his lip he reached down and put out the cigarette butt in a nearby ashtray. A tiny headline in the smallest article of the last page of the news section suddenly caught his attention:

"Over the course of the last two weeks several human bodies have been discovered around the city. More reports have been filed at the authorities regarding further, more recent disappearances. Victims have been found, reportedly, eaten, burnt and frozen, along with other damages to the body ranging from laceration to complete mutilation. There are no suspects and the local law enforcement authorities have placed the case on a lower priority to favour Pokémon cases, and will be looked into at a later date. "

"Bastards . . . ."

Klinz muttered in frustration. He was starting to do something no member of the police should. He was questioning the law he himself enforced. Were they not there to protect and serve the citizens of Jubilife, regardless of their species or condition? He wanted change, just like very few others did, but he knew he could not triumph in changing everyone's perspective by himself.

He was brought back to reality as the door flung open, a smartly-dressed Blaziken in her uniform stood there, wrathful vengeance plastered across her pissed-off face. She stepped in with authority, slamming the door behind her.

"Listen," She said, obviously upset, small flames bursting from her wrists, "I'm not in a good mood. You screwed up big time last week! And I'd have had my balls chopped if I had any! A big-ass investigation is going to be conducted on my capabilities because of this!"

"Calm down, Cap," Klinz answered, looking at the blazing fury of the chaotic woman standing in front of him, "blowing up at me ain't gonna help."

"That's Captain to you!" She answered, "They wanted your badge handed in. You know I had to metaphorically rub my snout in shit to stop it from happening? They finally came to a compromise with me. I'm going to have to withdraw you from the case. As of now you're only tackling the manure-wreaking cases no one else wants."

"Listen, I'm sorry to have gotten you screwed over for my mistake, alright? Now how about we drop this boss and subordinate crap and you talk to me off the record, Melissa?"

She took a deep breath, establishing a balance of emotions within herself, having vented her frustration at him. Shit rolls down hill, when she got it in the neck, so did he.

"Fine, I guess I'm just getting stressed. If I don't pull through and my guys don't start receiving better results I'm gonna be withdrawn. There's only so much I can do to keep you in the force in the first place, and face it, the guys above don't like you. If I get kicked out you're not gonna be here for long."

Klinz looked at the captain. He knew she went through a lot of trouble for him more than once, but he rarely thought about how big the trouble she went through was in the first place."Listen, thanks for sticking your neck out for me. Don't worry about me too much I can get a job anywhere. Just take care of yourself first, but if you want to assign me to a low priority case, can you pull some strings and let me have the one regarding human disappearances?"

"Why the hell do you care about these humix's?" Melissa asked in an annoyed tone.

"They're called 'humans'," Klinz answered, "We all bleed the same, don't we? I just need to do this, Melissa. Could you doll and perhaps help me out here?"

"Fine, it works for me… As long as it keeps those assholes off my back feathers. I'll ask the receptionist to bring the files up to you. I'm also gonna assign you to another case along this one: Human trafficking. Good for you, as seen as you care about them so much. Though you'd better watch out: Even though these are low priority cases, they're probably a hell of a lot more dangerous. They could even be connected."

"Much obliged, and thanks for the info. If they're connected it would certainly help out. I wish you weren't so hot-headed all the time, though. That way someone might even ask you out someday."

The Blaziken's eyes began to burn in anger.

"Like you, I take it?" He cheerily smiled keeping his ears open to the rest "Keep going like that, and I'll personally ask you to hand in your badge."

"Whatever. I've always found those hot-headed tantrums of yours rather cute, in a way."

The Blaziken blushed. It was out of character for her as she was normally built of sterner material, but the Ononokus's words caught her a little off-guard.

"Damn it,Klinz," She said, regaining her composure, "you can flirt with the receptionist all you want. You try pull that shit on me, I'll fry your ass."

The Blaziken stormed out as Klinz smiled. The two were close, and often indulged in a little after-work drink every now and then to unwind. He stopped to think. Maybe he had been taken off the case, but, at the same time, had been given a lucky break. His amusement died down and he became serious again. Cassy worried him; perhaps she never left the city.

Humans were very looked down upon in society, being denied the rights Pokémon had and not receiving equal treatment, he wanted to help them. Thanks to Cassy he had grown to look at them in a different way. Unfortunately, there weren't many others who thought like him, and equality was something that didn't happen overnight.

There was a gentle knock on the door, which had seen some abuse over the years, mostly from Melissa kicking it open almost every time something ruffled her feathers. The captain was hot-headed, indeed.

"Come in,"

The door slowly opened, and a Weavile walked in. That was Sally, the receptionist. Shy and mild-mannered to an extreme, but that in a way helped make her oddly charming.

"Hi," She said in her little voice, smiling shyly, "Sorry to disturb you sir, but I have the files I was asked to bring you…"

"No need to apologize," Klinz replied, "I love seeing that smile on such a delightful young lady. Dump them down anywhere you like."

She walked over mildly bashful as she placed the files down on the table.

"So… When are you going to ask me out?" she finally gathered the courage to ask in her frail, little voice.

"A nice drink as friends would be nice. I'm going to be tied up with this new case this week, but sometime after that. Sound good?" He knew he was prone to broadcasting the wrong signals to women, but he did emphasize the 'friends' part.

"Sure, I'd love to!" She replied in an upbeat voice, as she left the office with a little swagger of her hips.

Klinz did have a reputation with the ladies, although it was more of a habit to flirt with anything cute on two legs. He wasn't a bad guy or a swinging scumbag like many who did the same were, but he just couldn't find the right girl. So, he kept his options open. The only time he even started thinking of a more committed relationship was when he was involved with Cassie, but she disappeared before he had the chance to venture any further down that path.

He reached over with rasping claws, taking hold of the files, and rooted through the contents, scanning over the various events that had transpired. He quickly realized none of these cases had been followed up, and he felt shame. Shame that he was a part of an authority that ignored so much pain just like that. The Pokémon stood up after reading some of the files and looking through various pictures of crime scenes. Most were of humans, and he figured, the best place to start would be to go around to that human shelter again. Well, 'shelter' was dignifying for the place it was. It was more of a gypsy settlement, really. Perhaps he could dig up something useful there.

-/-

An hour later . . .

Klinz rolled up outside the human shelter. A badly-built outer wall kept many small tents and 'houses' inside of it, most of which were falling apart. There were a few humans by a lit trash can trying to keep themselves warm while some others scavenged for anything that maybe of use. The atmosphere around the area itself seemed to be darker, and the stench of sewers filled the air. It was a terrible place to live in, and revolting for most Pokémon to even pass by, but he had gotten used to it over time.

The place offered him a chance to kill two Pidgey with one Rock Throw: While he searched for information on his main case, he could just as easily ask about Cassy, but this was only probable if fate would so kind enough, for the humans to even let him in to begin with. Slavery had been abolished some time ago and humans were free to try and grow through life on their own with no need to be owned, but thanks to some Pokémon who still clung to those old ways, the wings of what few dreamers who dared to progress were cruelly clipped, or never found again. Slums like the shelter were a perfect example of that.

The area for the shelter had been purchased and designated to humans by an unknown benefactor, someone he'd have to trace later. Whole families and groups of more than ten humans were forced to live in places that were meant for just one, lying side by side to shield each other from the harshness of the environment. Klinz began to walk down the muddy trail into the shelter, and most of the humans that saw him reacted just like they had the last time. The Ononokus tried to make the effort to speak with them, however was greeted by unwelcome outcomes of them zipping up their tents and closing or barricading their homes out of fear. That didn't strike the detective as odd, in this circumstance. After all the disappearances and crimes against their race, he'd think any human who wasn't afraid was crazy.

The Pokémon knocked firmly on the side of the door frame of one of the dwellings. The small makeshift hut had no door, instead having just a mere cloth hung across it for privacy. The only response he got were whispering, rustling and faint noises coming from inside. Since he got no response, Klinz pushed the fabric aside with gentle motion, and slowly entered. Inside he discovered there a woman, holding two younger ones close, probably her children, trying to protect them from the invader.

"Listen," The Pokémon said, trying not to frighten the human as he pulled out his badge in hopes he would dispel her fear a little, "I'm not here for trouble. I just want to solve all the disappearances. I'm a good guy, see? My name's Klinz. I'm trying to help here, but I need you to help me as well. Otherwise things will keep happening. Now, could you tell me what your name is please?" He was trying to use simple terms and use his negotiation skills.

"Klinz?" The name seemed to awaken something in the human as she began to slowly rise, carefully putting her children aside. "The one Cassy… What have you done to her?" She suddenly cried out as she sprang and lunged at him. Klinz quickly reacted, shifting his foot to the right, sidestepping the humans advancement and taking hold of both her hands. As he did this, the little ones looked on with terror.

"Calm down!" He said as the woman struggled in his hold, "I don't know what you are talking about! Talk to me so I can understand!"

She looked into his eyes for a while, and, realizing they were sincere, loosened up as Klinz let go of her hands in order to enforce his goodwill. The woman started to open up and talk.

"All she could talk about was you. Klinz this, Klinz that… She was in love with you. She said she had finally found her soul mate. The last we saw of her was when she said she was going to spend the night out with you. She never returned. We just assumed you lied and sold her or worse. She worked real hard making those silly bracelets so she could feed herself. Even when she had so little, she was happy in only having one bite and sharing the rest with those who had nothing."

"Yeah, she was one of a kind," Klinz looked down, delving into painful memories, " I know she's missing, but for the sake of investigation, I must know: How many others from around here have gone missing?" He needed to think more like a detective and look at the big picture. It was imperative his focus be driven in the right direction, all the disappearances were just as important and not just the one he emotionally cared about. Otherwise he wasn't doing his job and was just snooping around for something personal. 'It's my job,' he thought, 'Well… Maybe it is a little personal.'

"Theres only over a hundred of us original settlers left," the woman answered. "We stopped reporting 'coz the cops never did anything. We knew we were on our own."

"So how many exactly have gone missing?"

"I lost track, but there's only about half of the original settlers left now, but new humans hear of this place as being a safe haven and keep coming. We don't hear from most once they go, though; they just seem to vanish. I miss Cassy. She was my niece."

"I see, so you were close."

"Yeah. After all, I did change her diapers when her mother was out working. As for your questions, I've told you all I know."

"Can you tell me where Cassy's shack is?" Klinz asked. The woman provided what seemed like unimportant information, but to him it was the start of a trail to follow.

"It's the one in the corner of the shelter, next to that Oran tree."

"Thanks," Klinz answered with a slight bow of his hat as he stepped out of the house, back to the depressing outside.

He had never seen Cassy's place in the months they dated, and always wondered why she was so ashamed of showing him the place she called home. He walked across the fear-ridden settlement, finding it easily enough, located right where he was told. He was surprised it was so small. There were no doors but instead, like most homes located here, there was a long cloth covering the frame. He had to hunch as he entered, given the place's small size and his large own. He wasn't claustrophobic, but he felt suffocated in there and wondered how anyone could even live there. There was no room to move, and, making estimates, the place was about the size of a double bed. Did she really live like this?

He looked around, seeing the crudely-constructed shelves she had mounted to the walls. They were simple but they did the job. She only had three dresses it seemed, and probably those which she probably had been given or handed to, by a charity. One of the shelves caught his attention and warmed him inside, inspiring a smile from him. It was a picture of both of them cuddling, she really looked remarkable right there. It was their second date, he remembered. She couldn't afford to have the picture taken and he had to almost force her to have it done, and naturally forever the gentleman, he picked up the bill. There was an empty box of cigarettes that he must have thrown away, and a pen he once gave her to write something down. It was touching, how small things that seemed so meaningless could also mean so much. She had made the small tokens of their dates into a little shrine that represented their love.

His eyes glanced around the room to see if there was anything else, and he noticed she had carved their initials into the wood itself. All the signs of blossoming love through a young romanticist, helplessly lost in love. He was left speechless. He knew he meant a lot to her, but it was not until that day did he know just how much how much. She couldn't have left town, not just like that after seeing al this. Someone was behind it, and he would find whoever did it and introduce himself-and his claws- to him.

He finally looked down, feeling hollow. But, perhaps by luck that drew upon his being, he noticed traces of dried-out blood on a bedsheet that covered the grass. Was it Cassy's? The fabric was scuffled, with multiple creases in that part only. Signs of a struggle, it seemed. She wasn't exactly strong. Something was seriously wrong. He felt as if he was going to cry, was it only just beginning to set in, that he was falling in love with a dead person? or had he been in love all along and been to unable to see it? He felt as if he would choke as a knot developed in his throat.

He got himself out of there as he panted, making his way out of her little home. He regained a hold of his emotions. Klinz continued on with his investigation, making a few more futile attempts to get information from the residents with little joy. Finally, the time came to leave. Klinz was disappointed; he got many bits and pieces, but those things were hardly enough to get a concrete lead. The only things he got apart from that were a heartache and the painful realization he had, indeed, been in love, but had been too blind, or perhaps too stupid, to notice. He got to his car and reached for the door handle on the driver side when he heard a voice call out to him. The Ononokus stopped dead in his tracks.

"Mister!" The voice called, "Mister!"

He turned to greet the origin from which it was coming from, to find a three foot midget. No, wait, it was a human infant to be precise. He crouched down, to be at eye level with her and noticed twinges of pain lacing her expression.

"What's wrong with your eyes, little human? Those tears don't seem fitting for a pretty little lady."

"Cas . . .Cassy is my big sis, I . . . I was there when it happened. They came and took Cassy."

His eyes sharpened as his attention was fully caught by the girl. She knew something?

"Who came?" He asked with urgency.

"Two bad Pokémon a-and, and they hurt her, they . . . . Hit her. She tried to fight them, but she couldn't…" She continued, sobbing and struggling to keep talking. "I ran away… I was scared . . . I'm a bad person. I . . . I left my big sis!"

"Hey," He placed his hand on her shoulder, careful not to hurt her with his claws. You're not a bad person; they are. Do you remember what they looked like?" He couldn't believe he was, perhaps, getting close to something at last.

"No, I didn't see their faces," She kept stuttering, "They were hidden with masks, Cassy tore this away from one of them when they were hurting her." The little girl held out her hand, she must have been no more than four years old from what Klinz could tell. The digits of her hand unfolded to reveal a pendant of some sort. The peculiar item had a round, blood-red stone, it was oval and the design was that of a six point hexagram. She tilted her hand, gently dropping it into his.

"That's ok, don't worry," The Ononokus said, "at least you're safe." His words were meant more for comfort than realization. Truth be told, none of them where safe with all these killings and abductions.

"Please Mister," She said, practically begging, " bring my sis back."

"I promise I'll do what I can," His words inspired a soothing smile from her face. Maybe this wasn't such a dead end, and he had at least some form of clue from the perpetrators. The young human infant skipped away towards the shelter, stopping mid way to cheerily turn and give a small energetic wave, before she continued.

Klinz opened the door to his car and got in . . .

-/-

The Ononokus had arrived back to the familiar domains of his comforting office. He needed a good smoke to relax before he could think like a detective. A sudden knock abruptly came. Knock? More like a bulldozer as Melissa barged in with her usual door abuse. She probably wasn't upset at him this time, but old habits are hard to break. He stared evidently at his cigarette, faintly amused with that last thought.

"A little warning before you rampage in would be nice," He told her calmly, "I could have been getting my jollies off to pokéboy mag."

"You're such a pervert, and act a little more professional will you? I've got something you might be interested in. Those two cases you are working on are somehow connected to each other, and that Humix you were involved with was seen with this guy," She said as she pulled out a few photos. "That's her on the left, as far as we could tell things turned nasty and she ran off. Our anonymous source also photographed this," Her thin fingers rolled over the photograph, swapping it to the next like a slide show. This one showing a car with two other gagged humans.

"Our annonymous tipper thinks they're abducting humans, probably for trafficking. And then we have this one with the same Pokémon a few days later. Now this is from a crime scene. There's a few mutilated humix corpses with real nasty burns and severed limbs. The Pokémon's dead too, but he's not a bloody mess like the humix. He just has a few precise incisions to his jugular. But there's more…" She turned to the final photograph which was a close up of the Pokémon's neck. It bared the same familiar six point star he had seen on the pendant he received earlier. "This was found on his neck. Maybe it's some gang symbol, but that can't be determined at this point. This possibly means both cases are connected somehow."

"Thanks Cap," Klinz smiled, "And here I was, thinking you didn't give a damn about the humans. It's nice to see you helping me out with these manure-wreaking cases." he used 'manure-wreaking' as a volleyed, snap term to muse on the one she used earlier that day.

"I'm helping you because I don't want you off the force for one stupid mistake. I didn't want to tell you this, but if you don't produce results… with the recent cut backs, my bosses, those fat Purugly government officials are looking to reduce the size of the police force, and they will be looking at low priority members. It's out of my hands who stays and goes, they get to call the shots and evaluate who goes capiche?"

"I get it, so my name's gonna be at the top of the list."

"I'm sorry, as it stands it probably is, but if you can get this case rounded up and solved, I can go back with the file and at least fight back a bit if it comes down to that. No pressure for you, right?"

"None at all… Just one more favor: can you find out who owns the plot of land where the human shelter is?"

"I'll do my best," Melissa answered, "goodnight."

It was time to call it a day. It had been taxing and long, and it was in days like this Klinz was relieved to finally get home. With some good sleep, he could work better the next day and might even have better luck.

-/-

Klinz took the tiring stairs up to his third floor apartment. He had hidden his concern and thrown it to the back of his mind. There was nowhere for his emotions to hide. He knew dwelling in his feelings wouldn't help him anymore. In fact, it could even hinder him. But he couldn't help worrying. The notion had stayed with him all day what exactly did become of Cassy?

He took the bottle of gin with tonic water to his bedroom, setting it neatly on the bedside table. It wasn't like him to drink at night or mingle in depression, but he wanted a stiff drink. He poured the gin into the glass and left the tonic on the side, then knocked it back. He paused for a bit, remembering her smile. All the girls he was constantly flirting with? They meant nothing. It was all talk. But Cassy, it had only been a week and he already missed her sorely.

He poured another glass, deciding he preferred to drink it neat. His hand began to shake uneasily as the glass slipped from his fingers. It felt like an unsettling feeling overcame him all of a sudden. The air felt chilled to a point it would bite. With no warning the overhead bulb burst, shattering glass, causing the shards to come down around him like rain. Klinz pulled out the lighter from his pocket and lit a candle which he kept conveniently at his bedside. It wasn't uncommon to have power surges and power outings every now and then.

The air was so cold and the unnatural chill would have made the hairs on his arms stand up if he had fur. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was like nothing he felt before. He wasn't afraid, but he wasn't lacking on concern either. Something else was there in the room with him, and he could almost feel its presence.

"Show yourself," He called into the air, knowing someone could hear him, "who's there?"

No reply came, but something was forming on the corner of his room. It was a subtle and faint outline, but it was really there. There was a hardly audible whisper coming from every direction. It was growing louder as the silhouette of the apparition grew more visible.

"Klinz?" came the voice from all directions again, but he knew it was calling him. Had he lost his sanity? He shook his head to rattle himself out of it. Maybe the drink had gone to his head due to his extremely high metabolic rate, a trait of his species. Even so, that couldn't be the answer. There's no way he had even come close to having enough to make him merry.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Then like a piercing sound, the thousand otherworldy whispers came again in their haunting form.

"I needed to see you again … So desperately"

He recognized the voice. Even though it sounded a little different, there was no mistake in it… Klinz felt his heart pounding against him as he realized who it was.

"Cassy?"

"Yes . . . . I love you…"

Although he failed to fathom he had been in love, and that she was the real deal at the time. The blatant fact that he was ignorant to it astounded him. But age never really did bring maturity in the affairs of the heart; that first hand experience did. And what he was about to say would take some of the massive weight he was carrying on his shoulder and relieve some of his guilt.

"I love you too," Klinz whispered through a choked breath. "Why did you have to die, Cassy?" The Pokémon that seemed unbreakable was crumbling inside. As is usually the case, he didn't know what he had till he knew he had lost it. He took their time together for granted and not once had he told her he loved her, he didn't even know he did till earlier in that day when it all started to sink in.

"Who did this to you?"

"I don't know," She answered, "I can't remember the last hours of my life… Or even how I died… It's all so dark and misty… I'm scared." She said in a trembling voice. It was strange to hear such words from a ghost. Did they even feel fear? Apparently, they did.

"Please try," He told her in his attempts to comfort her. Anything she remembered would be a big step towards the answers he sought .

"I'm sorry, I can't!" She answered. Nothing is coming to me. I feel so restless… It hurts."

"Don't worry," Klinz answered, his voice becoming raspier, "I'll find out whoever did this… I'll find him… And I'll rip his heart out."

-/-

Written By - Zana An

Editing And Idea Concepts By - Noxxi