Investigation of a Murder
Hi guys, I'm back! Just a quick reminder before you read- please review! I've gotten over 150 views, which is amazing, but reviews are the best thing for a fledgeling fanfiction writer. Anyway, I do not own Pokémon, constructive criticism is appreciated, but flames are not, same old drill.
Last time…
They continued down the streets. Suddenly, Sammy, who was a little behind Agatha, was grabbed by two strong hands from behind. He was steered around to look at the stern face of an Officer Jenny. Looking ahead at Agatha, he saw that she had been grabbed by another police officer, a man.
'What are you two doing outside? Civilians are not allowed out on the streets!' she said angrily. 'Can't you see? There's a curfew on!' Sammy was shaking with fear.
'I swear, I don't know what's going on! We've only just arrived in the city a couple of minutes ago, we don't know about any curfew! Why aren't we allowed on the streets?' Sammy gabbled quickly, almost incomprehensibly. Jenny shook her head, her lips drawing tight.
'There's been a murder. Alfonso Rocketto is dead.'
Sammy and Agatha gaped in surprise and shock, as the tight lipped Officer Jenny looked at them.
'H-how did it happen?' asked Sammy in shock. The police had released the two, and they were now standing beside one another.
The man spoke in a deep voice. 'Murdered, by a gang of crooks. We think it was because he had some sort of connection to them… he always did seem to have more money than he should, by some accounts…' The man trailed off darkly.
'You think he was a criminal?' asked Agatha.
'That's our guess. We never found any concrete evidence, though. We think it was a squabble over gang territory, or maybe he refused to give them some information or money. Really, the possibilities are near endless. We think that they went off towards Mount Silver, and tried to escape to Johto, but we don't know for sure,' the male officer said.
'My worry's for his kid.' Officer Jenny said sadly. 'Little Giovanni's only eight, and he saw his dad get murdered right in front of him. He's traumatized- -doesn't think he can trust anyone. He'll have to go into foster care.'
Sensing Jenny's distress, the man stepped in. 'We'd better get you kids to the hotel. Joy's set up a Pokémon hospital there too, you can heal your Pokémon there,' he said gruffly, but not unkindly. He steered them towards the hotel, Jenny following.
The hotel was a tall, multi-story building. As Sammy and Agatha entered, they saw a very flustered pink-haired woman behind the receptionist's desk, surrounded by ringing phones. As they watched, she picked up one. 'Hello, this is Joy… No… no… why would I want that? I'm sorry, your Charmeleon is still in critical condition.' She picked up another phone, and held it to her ear. 'Hello this is… Yes… No! I'm sorry, he's not here… nor is she. For the last time, no!' She slammed down the phones, groaned, and put her head in her hands. 'This job is too much for one woman to take… My stupid mother's idea that the whole family gets into the business…' she muttered under her breath. She looked up at Sammy and Agatha. 'Sorry kids, what can I do for you?' she asked a little breathlessly.
Officer Jenny stepped in, and put her hands over the two children's shoulders. 'These two need a room for the night, and their Pokémon to be healed. I'll pay,' she said charitably.
'You don't have to-' stammered Sammy before he was cut off. 'I insist,' said Jenny. 'You kids should get out of this city as soon as you can.'
She handed over 100 Poke in a small pouch to Joy, who placed it in a cash register. Everything appears to be in order…' she said. 'Just a sec-' She rummaged under her desk for a moment, before pulling out two room keys. 'Your rooms are numbers 64 and 65', she said, reading off the keys. 'Third floor.'
Joy resumed her phone conversations, and Sammy and Agatha took it as their cue to leave, saying their goodbyes to the police officers in the process.
As they walked through the corridors in silence, they noticed a room on the second floor with its door open. Inside was a small child with dark hair and gray eyes, sitting on a bed, alone. He looked around eight, and was dressed in a small business suit. He had evidently been born to wealth. His room was empty, other than a bed and a cupboard in a corner. His eyes were rimmed red, but he wasn't crying anymore. He stared bleakly out at Sammy and Agatha.
'My father was innocent, you know. He was framed by the real criminals,' he said in a hollow voice. 'They tried to force his knowledge of the Legendary Pokémon and their locations out of him, but he wouldn't tell, so they killed him in cold blood.'
The boy's flat monotone cut through Sammy and Agatha like a knife. Sammy realised with a shock that the boy must be Alfonso Rocketto's son, Giovanni. He looked at Agatha, and knew that she had come to the same conclusion. She walked forward, as though to place her arms around the child.
'I'm sorry-' she said, but Giovanni pushed away from her.
'They all say that. They all say they are sorry for my loss, and that they feel my pain, but they don't. They think my father was a liar and a criminal. They think I will grow up to be the same, but I know that I can't trust any of them. If I want anything, you have to do it yourself, you can't rely on anyone.' Bitterness leaked out of the young boy's words. Agatha stepped back from him, close to tears.
'But we're not like that! We really do want to help!' Sammy said. 'You can't just shut everyone out! That won't help you, or anyone! We can help, and I swear from the bottom of my heart that I will find your father's murderers, and I will bring them to justice!' By the end of this rant, he was pacing up and down Giovanni's room, almost shouting. The young boy looked up, eyes still dark and sad, but with a new gleam of hope.
'You really mean that, don't you?' he said wonderingly. 'If you really want to help, they were heading towards Mount Silver. If you hurry, you might still be able to catch them.' With one look between them, Sammy and Agatha turned, and ran back down the hallway towards the exit. Back in his room, Giovanni looked out the window.
'Maybe… I was wrong…'
The ghost of a smile appeared on his face.
Sammy ran through the hallways with Agatha in tow, ducking and weaving through the small groups of people. On the stairwell between floors one and two, they saw Joy heading up the stairs holding two Pokéballs.
'There you are! Your Pokémon are fully hea-' she began brightly.
'Thanksgottagobye!' said Sammy, breezing past her, grabbing Growlithe's Pokéball.
Joy was ruffled by this, and was just getting over it when Agatha ran past as well, grabbing the ball containing her Ekans. 'A thank you would be nice!' she called to Agatha, who was sprinting through the streets out of Viridian after Sammy. 'Kids these days…' she muttered.
As they ran through the small hills outside Viridian, Agatha caught up with Sammy.
'So, what's the plan?' she asked breathlessly.
'Go in, find the criminals, beat them, and bring them to the Viridian police,' Sam said.
"Right. And why are we doing this again instead of leaving it to the authorities?" Agatha asked.
"Because we're a couple of stupid kids who don't know any better?" Sam replied.
Agatha smiled. 'Sounds good to me!' she said, fishing in her pocket for Ekans's Pokéball, and Sammy did the same. They continued running until they found, at the base of Mount Silver, a small group of men in dark clothing. Their uniform consisted of a black leather jacket embossed with an interlocked LE in gold, surrounded by three spheres; red, blue, and yellow- the fabled orbs of Moltres, Articuno, and Zapdos! Under the jacket they wore white shirt and long dark pants. The men seemed to be arguing about something.
'Now the cops are onto us, what do we do?' said one of the men, a Furrety looking one.
One of his cohorts, a big burly man with a scar running down from his eye to his cheek, hit him. 'Coward! If the police come, we will defeat them! We will be indestructible once we reach our goal!' he yelled as the smaller man fell to the ground.
Another man walked up to him, this one with a pinched looking face, like he was in permanent disapproval. 'Yes, but we haven't reached that point yet. And may I remind you that the police outnumber our little taskforce at the moment, so it isn't wise to go around provoking fights with them.'
The scarred man turned around, fist raised. 'Say that to my face, you filthy little-'
'Stop,' said a tall man who had thus far been removed from the tensions between the three men. He had high cheekbones in an angled face, with harsh, cruel, amber eyes, and silver hair, although this was evidently not from age, as the man looked to be in his late twenties. He was wearing the same uniform as the others, but was clearly in charge, as seen by the deference shown to him by the three, who backed away from each other in nervous fear.
'You fools.' He continued in a soft, yet immeasurably cruel voice. 'You injure each other for the pettiest of reasons, while the Viridian police are still on our tails. IDIOTS!' he yelled, and even the scar faced man cringed and flinched back from his fury. 'We drew attention to ourselves in Viridian, which was admittedly, unwise when we brought so few of us. When we make our next move, it will be in Pewter-I have interest in its museum. We will be better prepared then. Come, let us retreat through the mountain. We can plan there.' He stepped elegantly down and away from the three men, and began walking towards the cave entrance to Mount Silver.
'No!' shouted Sammy angrily. 'You aren't leaving here without paying for what you did!' He released Growlithe from its Pokéball, who at first was bewildered, but then saw the men and growled softly at them in a half crouch. Agatha stood beside him, Ekans hissing at her side.
The leader looked up at them coolly. 'Yet another trainer trying to bring me to justice-and so young, too! You can't have been out here for more than a week!' His underlings laughed thuggishly. 'Deal with them. Amuse me,' he said, eyes glinting with malevolence. He stood back at the mountain entrance, watching.
The criminal with the pinched face spoke up. 'You heard the boss! Send out your Pokémon!' he said, releasing a Zubat, which fluttered in the air.
'Right!' said the Furret-faced one, sending out a Rattata, while the scarred one grunted and released a Rhyhorn, which pawed the ground, sending clouds of dust flying.
Furret face made the first move. 'Rattata, tackle that Ekans!' The rodent complied, building up speed for a collision.
Agatha smirked. 'Ekans, dodge, then use Wrap and Bite together!' As the Rattata approached, the snake dodged out of the way, leading the Normal type to crash into a tree. As it recovered, Ekans wrapped its coils around its lower body and unleashed a wicked Bite attack. The rodent shrieked in pain, struggling to escape the snake.
The scarred trainer laughed thuggishly. 'Rhyhorn, use Take Down on that pathetic Growlithe!'
'Growlithe, Ember!' yelled Sammy as the Rhyhorn began to charge at his Pokémon. Growlithe fired a small burst of flames at the rhino, but they splashed harmlessly off its hide. Growlithe was so focused on his attack that he didn't notice his charging opponent, who barreled through the flames and collided with Growlithe, sending the smaller Puppy Pokémon flying a few meters before he collided with the ground, throwing up a small dust cloud. Rhyhorn, however, continued running until it collided with a tree, lodging its horn deep inside.
Scarface didn't seem to notice the damage taken by his Pokémon, and laughed again. 'Rock beats fire, rookie. You'd know this if you'd been training Pokémon for more than a couple of days!' he taunted.
Sammy was incensed. 'We can beat you anyway! We don't need a type advantage, do we, Growlithe? ' he addressed his Pokémon, who had risen shakily to his feet.
'Lithe!' it barked in agreement.
However, despite his bravado, he was sincerely worried for his Pokémon.
Growlithe's Ember did nothing to it! I can't even touch it! I need a plan…Sammy thought furiously. Then he noticed Rhyhorn pulling its head out of the tree. It looked dazed, and the rock armor on its head had small cracks running through it.
That's it! Growlithe can't injure it, so we have to make it injure itself!
This thought gave Sammy new hope- Rhyhorn could be damaged, he wasn't completely doomed!
He smirked. 'Growlithe, use Swagger!' he shouted. Growlithe tensed up, and Rhyhorn glowed a sickly red, which made the criminal's Pokémon close its eyes in reflex. When they opened, they were bloodshot and red. It bellowed in rage, and chased down Growlithe, glowing with the light of a Take Down attack. Growlithe leaped nimbly out of the way, wincing slightly as he landed, and Rhyhorn collided with another tree. Sammy smirked again. 'We've got this one in the bag!' he exulted, as Scarface looked shocked.
As Ekans drew a tighter hold against Rattata, it sunk its fangs deeper into the rodent's flesh. The Normal type was near the breaking point, when the man with the pinched face's Zubat swooped overhead.
'Zubat, use Confuse Ray!' the man yelled. Twin helixes of golden light shot out of Zubat's eyes and hit Ekans. The effect was immediate. Ekans opened its yellow eyes, dazed, and released the Rattata from its hold. As the rat gasped for breath, ribs aching in severe pain, the Zubat came over for another pass, using Leech Life to draw out the Poison type's energy.
'Oh no! Ekans!' screeched Agatha. 'Use Poison Sting in a spray!' The snake hissed foggily and opened its mouth to release a spray of poisonous barbs…in the opposite direction of its opponents. Agatha sweatdropped. 'This is gonna take a while…'
As Agatha struggled with her two opponents, Growlithe continued playing matador with Rhyhorn. The rock type, enraged due to Swagger, continued chasing Growlithe, but had too little in the way of reflexes to avoid crashing into trees when Growlithe dodged his Take Downs. Scarface was desperately trying to regain control of his Pokémon.
'Snap out of it, Rhyhorn! Use Rock Throw!' He yelled, but it was no use. Rhyhorn was too angered by Swagger to listen to his trainer, and so continued using Take Down in the vain hope that it would hit Growlithe. However, Growlithe was too quick, nimbly jumping over the clumsy attacks, and peppering the rhino with Ember attacks. Scarface began to sweat. If it kept going on like this, he was going to lose to this kid! In desperation, he ordered the one move that he was sure wouldn't miss.
'Rhyhorn, use Earthquake!'
The battle was going badly for Ekans. It was taking heavy damage from its enemies, and was only dealing glancing damage. However, both of its enemies had successfully been hit by Poison Stings, which damaged them over time. Even so, Agatha was unsure if Ekans would be able to remain conscious long enough for the Stings to have much of an effect.
'Ekans, try to hit Rattata with a Bite!' yelled Agatha, sweating bullets. The snake hissed and jumped towards its opponents. However, due to its Confusion, it missed its original target of Rattata, and instead its jaws latched on to Zubat's small legs. This extra weight proved too much for Zubat to handle effectively, as the bat had to flap extra hard in order to remain airborne, and kept ducking and falling. By some miracle, Ekans managed to remain holding on. However, on the ground, Rattata was charging up for a wicked Hyper Fang, which if connected, would most likely knock out the battered snake.
However, by sheer luck, this was when Rhyhorn's Earthquake hit the battlefield, opening up cracks and fissures in the earth, and thrusting up rocks from the ground. This damage was too powerful for Rattata to sustain, and the Normal type fell unconscious. Furret-face stood in shock that his Pokémon had been defeated, as he returned his damaged Pokémon to his ball.
Growlithe, however, did not find the effects of the earthquake fortuitous at all. Unlike Ekans, Growlithe was bound to the ground, and so took the whole force of the attack. It took all of Growlithe's willpower to stay conscious as the earth shook around him. His vision blurring, he vaguely made out the shape of Rhyhorn barreling towards him at full pelt, and this time, Growlithe was too stunned to dodge. He lay sprawled in the dirt, waiting for the terrible impact, squeezing his eyes shut to brace for the impact… that didn't come. The Puppy Pokémon opened one eye. It appeared that Rhyhorn had missed, and hit one of the rock pillars that had sprung up from the Earthquake, and its horn had lodged in it. As the rocky monster tried to extricate itself from the product of its own attack, Growlithe limped slowly towards it. Its adversary looked to be in bad shape. Its rocky armour was cracked, and in one place, completely broken off, revealing the soft pink skin underneath. Its massive form heaved with every breath it took. Growlithe looked at it, struggling to remain standing.
'Growlithe, use Bite on the part where the armour has broken off! Finish this!' yelled Sammy. Growlithe half barked, half whimpered in pain, and sunk its teeth into the exposed skin. Rhyhorn bellowed, thrashing around, but Growlithe held on firm until the struggles ceased and the Rock type keeled over unconscious. Sammy's Pokémon stepped back, amazed at what it had wrought.
Scarface howled in rage. 'HOW COULD I LOSE TO YOU! YOU SHOULD HAVE LOST! RHYHORN SHOULD HAVE CRUSHED YOU AND YOUR PATHETIC PUPPY! AAARGH!' Practically frothing at the mouth from anger, he returned his defeated Pokémon. Growlithe collapsed into the dirt, not defeated, but severely weakened.
Ekans released its grip on Zubat's leg from exhaustion, falling to the ground with a soft thump. The eyeless bat swooped down, and used Wing Attack on the battered snake. To Ekans' credit, it managed to score a powerful hit against the bat's left wing, but still was knocked back on the ground, and collapsed. Agatha returned her Pokémon. 'Don't worry, Ekans.' She murmured softly to the Pokéball containing the snake. 'You did your best.'
She tucked the Pokéball into her belt, and grinned ruefully at Sammy. 'It's all on you and Growlithe now! Do it! And make that bat pay!'
Growlithe stared down Zubat. They both were heavily damaged, barely able to remain standing, or in Zubat's case, flying. They both released their attacks at the same time, Growlithe an Ember, and Zubat a Gust. However, possibly due to exhaustion, Zubat's Gust careered wildly off-course, while Growlithe's Ember hit dead on. The bat shuddered, and then fainted to the ground.
'YES! We won, Growlithe!' Sammy exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. He ran over to his Pokémon, and sprayed a Super Potion over it. Flesh healed, fur grew back, and broken claws mended themselves as Growlithe was fully healed. The duo looked up at the man with the silver hair, who was glaring at his subordinates, his eyes akin to chips of ice.
'You lost. To a pair of children. Pathetic.' He paced over to them. 'If you want something done right…' He took a Pokéball from his belt. 'If you want to take me in, child, you must first defeat me.'
In a flash of red light, an enormous Pokémon appeared. It was dark purple, and stood erect. It had a long, sharp horn on its head, and spines leading down its back. Its arms were massive, and ended in claws. 'NIDOKING!' It roared to the heavens.
Sammy's mind was racing. Nidoking's armour is even thicker that Rhyhorn's, and it's even bigger. Still, I think I might be able to pull this off.
'Growlithe, use-' Sammy began, but the man interrupted.
'Nidoking, Hyper Beam.' He commanded softly. The great beast roared, and an enormous beam of orange energy built up in its mouth and was released, creating a huge explosion that shook the earth, causing small rock slides on the mountain above them.
Sammy shielded his face from the shattered debris, and was shocked to see Growlithe fly out of the explosion; fur charred and in some places completely burned off. It appeared that at least one of its legs was broken, and Sammy could see the blinding white of bone protruding from its stomach. It was still alive, but this could only be told because of the slight rise and fall of its chest. Sammy looked up from his fallen partner tearfully. 'WHAT ARE YOU?! HOW CAN YOU DO THESE THINGS!' he screamed in anger, pure hate in his eyes.
The man smiled coldly. 'I am Finis, the leader of LegEnd. I am but a man, for now-and I do these things because no one can stop me.' He said with menace. 'I find the unnecessary death of children distasteful, but I promise you, if you meddle with us again, it will be the last thing you ever do. After all, in what sane world could a child destroy a criminal organisation?'
With those chilling words, Finis left through the tunnel into Mount Silver, his three cronies following behind him. Sammy and Agatha heard Nidoking roar, and a smash came from inside the cavern, collapsing the entrance to the tunnel behind the criminals. Sammy slumped down on the grass, cradling Growlithe's body. 'We failed,' he said bleakly. 'We couldn't defeat them, we couldn't avenge Giovanni's dad… all we did was nearly get ourselves and our Pokémon killed.' He slumped lower into the grass. 'We're useless.' He returned Growlithe into its Pokéball, his eyes looking hollow, the same look he had seen in the eyes of Giovanni.
Agatha saw her friend spiral deeper into despair and self-loathing, and so took him by the shoulders. 'Listen to me, Sammy. No one could have beaten that guy without years of training. We're still just rookies. But remember, we will see these guys again, if not in Pewter, then later, and we willbring them to justice. Trust me.' Sammy looked up, and got a steely new look of determination in his eyes. A ghost of a smile flickered on his face.
'You're right, Agatha. There's no point beating ourselves up too much over it. All we can hope for is to be better prepared and stronger next time. Come on. We have to get back to Viridian.' He stood up, and stepped towards Viridian. Agatha smiled. He still wasn't quite back to his normal self, but it was a start. She followed him.
Giovanni Rocketto sat in his room in the hotel, watching the entrance to the path to Mount Silver, watching for a sign that the criminals that had ripped apart his family had been brought to justice. His heart leapt as he saw Sammy emerge from the path into the city, but fell when he saw the look of sadness, his drooped posture, and above all, the lack of the murderers defeated and in tow. He felt as though his heart had been run over by a steamroller. He had opened up, and allowed himself to hope, and then had been disappointed, as always.
'You can't trust anyone.' He whispered, and the look in his eyes grew angry and jaded. 'If you want anything, you have to do it for yourself.' He backed away from the window, and resumed the posture he had been in before Sammy and Agatha came.
'You can't trust anyone.'
So that's a wrap for the longest chapter yet, eh? What did you think? And thanks to Ri2 for helping me with ideas for this chapter. Please review!
Next Time- Viridian Forest
