Here we go! Starting to wrap things up a bit. I might have one or two chapters after this, then the epilogue. I appreciate all the support so far, and we've finally hit over 900 views! I urge you to keep reading, as this chapter gets a bit intense. Enjoy~ WARNING: SOME GORE TOWARDS THE MIDDLE, I'll place a warning when it's about to start and end.

Chapter 9

Detective John and I had burst through the doors of the Saffron City Police department and caught the attention of most Jennies and the miscellaneous other officers. We needed to see Officer Douglas, fast. Hopefully they had still detained her, or she might be a little difficult to find. I asked the help desk Jenny, hopefully she'd give me some answers.

"Gentlemen? You look like you've each seen Ghost Pokémon." The Help Jenny commented, unhelpfully of course.

"Forgive us for our untraditional entrance, miss…" John said as he attempted to catch his breath, "We need to speak to an Officer immediately."

"Well, I am an officer." Again, unhelpful, "How can I help you?"

"A specific officer," I replied, "An Officer Jenny Douglas of the Transit Police. She was here for questioning earlier."

"Ah, Officer Douglas was a strange one, though I've never met her prior to today," She tapped her pencil against her lower lip and made condescending sneers at us from behind her little desk that screamed false advertising, "She was being released and as she left she received a phone call in that hallway right there," She pointed with the same pencil she had fellated to a hallway behind us, one that connected the main entrance to the interrogation room, "She got all worked up over something, and then started screamin' and yellin'. Some Officers tried asking her what was wrong, but she just kept saying she had to go and ran out the door." John and I looked at each other worriedly.

"How long ago was this?" John asked quickly.

"Abouttttt… an hour ago, I'd say. Not too soon after you left, Detective Ketchup." She responded, pointed to me. I furrowed a brow and responded sharply:

"It's Ketchum. We need to know where she's headed, and she needs to be found, you need to send all cars to find her now."

"Who are you to give orders? And on what grounds?" Help Jenny stood up with her arms outstretched, hands gripping the edge of the desk. She looked down at me coldly, casting a shower over my entire body.

"For lying during an interrogation, giving a false alibi," I counted down with my fingers, Help Jenny shrinking back with every example, "aiding and abetting a criminal, accomplice to the murders of Violet and Lilly Waterflower, and either aiding or causing the murders of Ethan and Kris Gold." John nodded, and Jenny stared at me, dumbstruck.

"Uh, anything else?" She asked, blinking.

"She was quite rude, as well." I added.

"Well, those are some very severe charges, Detective Johnathon, I assume you've already cleared this with the Captain?" Help Jenny asked, looking at John. He slapped his forehead.

"I forgot. It was the spur of the moment," he said embarrassed. I made the mistake myself a few times, but my Commissioner was having none of that and promptly kicked my ass a few times, even after I caught the perp. Mostly slaps in the face and back of the head, along with a literal ass kick once, but damn did that woman have some brick hands. She called it tough-love, I called it PMS.

After John and I spoke with his Commissioner, a Mrs. Captain Jennifer Swalbert, whom preferred her title long and ridiculous, we were given information on Officer Douglas' last known whereabouts. I also informed her of the phone calls from the killer I got, as I'd forgotten before. She screamed at me about withholding evidence, and I apologized sincerely. I was still a little absent minded once and a while. She downloaded the recordings and sent them to be analyzed. I assumed she forgave me, because she gave us a Police Cruiser to tail the suspect with. Other cars were sent to search the rest of the city, but we followed our one and only lead: Officer Douglas was last seen going to…The Golden Nine-tails hotel.

"Oh, shit," I said sharply, eyes widening. "Brock!"

"Brock?" John asked calmly as he kept his eyes on the road. I saw that his Arceas' Collar necklace had slipped out from behind his undershirt, probably from running, and landed on his shoulder. It twinkled in the sun and reminded me of a song from an old Sunday service from when I was a kid. My mom liked to go to the Arcean Sunday service on Easters and Christmas, though that stopped when I left home at 10 years old. Back then I didn't even know Arceas was actually a Pokémon, I thought he was merely God.

"He's a friend of mine staying at the hotel," I tore my thoughts away from the Arcaen melody, thinking of Brock seeing a pretty Jenny, "If Brock's involved with a Jenny at all, there'll be trouble."

"Is he a criminal?" John asked with a slight twinge of apprehension.

"No, no," I said, waving my hand, "Just has a habit of hitting on women in uniform." We made a left on Mudkip Lane, and headed north up Forrester Rd. Officer Douglas could have gone anywhere by now. The trail was cooling, and getting colder by the minute. "But this time, I'm just afraid he'll hit on the wrong woman." We pulled up behind a car, which had stopped for a red light. Understanding that we had no time, John put the siren on. A loud wailing escaped the top of the vehicle and announced urgency. The car pulled onto the shoulder of the road, and we travelled forward uninterrupted.

"Perhaps you should contact him?" John replied. I raised my eyebrows and gasped when I remembered the note Brock had left me at the hotel. It had his number and to call him if I needed him. I decided to take my phone out and dial his new number. I put it to my ear and waited. It rang twice as we turned down Shawsheen Rd. Once more as we neared the end of it and the hotel was in sight. Finally I heard a click. Hearing no greeting, I spoke.

"Brock? It's Ash, you need to get out of the Hotel, go to Cerulean and stay with Misty at her gym. There's—"

"Ash, Ash, Ash. Predictable as ever." A male voice interrupted.

"This isn't Brock." I responded through gritted teeth, in a tone of extreme anger.

"You've gotten a bit smarter! It really has been so long." This voice. I knew this voice. I'd heard it at some point very recently. "Not that much smarter though. You couldn't even see through a forged note!" The voice dripped with sourness. He laughed as he spoke, and I heard feint sobbing in the background. John glanced at me with confusion, but returned to the road as we neared the hotel.

"Where is Brock? Where are you?" I was growing increasingly nervous, but kept my voice steady and tried to remain calm.

"I told you if you didn't end your investigation things would get ugly." My eyes widened as I heard the sobbing in the background grow louder. "The train leaves in ten minutes. I don't have to kill your friend, as he's not my target. I could just let him go."

"But you won't, will you?" I asked sharply.

"If you take his place, then yes." I gritted my teeth again. "Get out of the car now. Alone. No guns." I thought for a minute, trying to gather my thoughts. "The train leaves in three minutes. If you're not on it, you're as much of a murderer as I am." Click. Gone.

"Arceas' light! Was that—" John spoke as I interrupted him.

"That was him. He's got Brock and he's willing to make a trade for him." I gripped the bridge of my nose as John parked in the hotel lot. "He wants me."

"You can't be serious!" John gasped, "We have to call for back up!"

"He said to go alone, or else he'd kill him. I can't have another death on my hands." I said, thinking of the last phone call I'd gotten from the killer.

"So you're just going to go alone? I assume he told you to come unarmed as well?" I nodded, removing the gun hidden in my pants. I placed it on the dash.

"I'm taking Charizard, though. He'll keep me safe." I opened the door and got out. "You investigate the hotel, try to find someone who saw Officer Douglas; I've got to get to the train station in two minutes, can I make it?"

"It's a block down the road, it's incredibly close." He pointed to the North, past the hotel, and it was within my eye-line. "Good luck."

"Have Officers waiting to intercept the train in Goldenrod, okay?" He nodded at my request and I ran off towards the station.

When I got there, it looked as if it were on quarantine. They closed the station at around 5 am this morning, when word got out that the train might be dangerous. The fact that the train was operational, and I heard the hum of it, was incredibly strange. There were no lines of people waiting for their tickets, no one waiting to board, no one departing. The whole thing was surreal. I followed the hum of the train and spotted the vessel awaiting me at the gate. I crossed through the open metal doors that served as the entrance of the train and felt cold steel under my sneakers.

The entire train was barren. The seats and benches were empty, along with the family booths. For a moment, I thought I was on the wrong train, when I realized there was only one. As I entered further, I heard the metal doors closing behind me, and the train started to shake. I stumbled before grabbing a pole, and then I heard the buzz of the intercom.

"This is your conductor speaking," announced the voice of an oafish, burly man. "Prepare for departure." The train pushed forward, and pulled out of the station as I watched the world pass by.

I had tried opening the doors to the other sections of the train, but they were all locked and wouldn't budge. I was given no indication of what to do, so I resigned to pacing back and forth down the aisle. Suddenly, I heard the intercom again. It was the same man, but this time, he sounded much more malicious, oozing evil with every syllable.

"Detective Ash Ketchum, of the Goldenrod City Police Department. Quite a long title, isn't it?" A shiver ran down my spine as I listened to the soulless voice drone on. "Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town didn't stick, eh? I suppose a lot of things change, don't they?"

"Who are you?" I asked with a shout.

"It is a shame I cannot hear you. I would love to hear your sobs right now. Did you think I wouldn't know you were still snooping? You think I don't have ways of finding things out? I still have your friend, though I had to knock him out—he was making a fuss, you know—But if you want him free, you'll have to do what I tell you." The liar. I knew he wouldn't just let Brock go. I debated on whether or not I should release Charizard and have him burst through the train. That would just lead to problems, though. I just prayed I didn't have to answer any more riddles. The door leading to the next section of the train opened, and it revealed a Jigglypuff. I raised a brow as the little pink puffball waddled into the cart with a smile on it's face.

"Jiggly!" He cried happily.

"I told you I would remove your mask," The man snarled, "You hide behind a sense of Justice. You believe your morals to be unshakeable, and you think that you can save everyone." The Jigglypuff looked up, trying to find the mysterious voice. "This Jigglypuff has been infected with a rage serum. I got a bit of it from a friend who raided the Silph Co. building for me." As the voice spoke, I noticed the Jigglypuff had dropped its microphone, and stood staring at me with a blank expression. Its giant eyes had openedas wide as possible, its pupils dilating. "Soon, it will grow bloodthirsty. It will attempt to kill the first living thing it sees." It started to foam at the mouth.

"Oh no," I muttered. Jigglypuff started to grow angry, and it balled its fists. It lunged at me and grabbed me around the neck with surprising strength.

"Your morals will be tested. You will not protect, you will kill and advance. If you do not kill her, she'll kill you. That is a fact. You have to kill her, or she won't stop, ever." I grew cold inside as I grabbed the pink Pokémon and threw her across the train, into a window. "Once you succeed, you can come for me."

(VIOLENCE AND GORE WARNING)

And there I was. Face to face with a rabid Jigglypuff. Luckily it was too angry to be able to sing, or I'd be dead in seconds.

"Easy little guy, I don't want to hurt you," I said softly, kneeling down a bit. The cute little thing merely hissed at my and used pound on my chest. I coughed up a speck of blood onto the window in front of me and fell backwards. "Shit!" It lunged at me again, this time I grabbed it while it was still in mid-air.

"JIGGLY JIGGLY JIGGLY!" It screamed. "PUFF PUFF PUFF!" It had started throwing quick punches aimed at my face, luckily most of them missed. It was clear what I had to do, though I didn't like it.

"Maybe I can just knock you out!" I said as I rolled over, pinning the Pokémon to the ground. I then punched it hard on the side of the side. It hurt, but it didn't knock Jigglypuff out. She just got angrier.

"JIGGLY!" I yelled as it used rollout to escape, crushing one of my ribs in the process.

"Damn it!" I cried as I held my side. I stood up slowly. I had to end this. When it lunged at me again, I moved out of the way and let her collide with the wall. When she hit her head and fell, I took my opportunity and grabbed the little puffball. "I'm so sorry." I said with a deep sadness. I then raised my fist and turned my head away so I didn't have to watch. I brought my fist down as hard and fast as I could, right into its little face. I felt and heard bones cracking as it cried, and brought my fist up then down once more. This time I heard a squish, and almost puked when I felt wetness. I looked at what I had done, and I nearly passed out.

Before me, lay a dead Jigglypuff. By my hands. Its face was caved in and its bodily fluids leaked from a hole I'd punched in its fragile skull. I started to gently weep. I cried over the body of the life I had taken, feeling emptier and more miserable than ever. "Oh God, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." I repeated this over and over, until I heard the metal doors leading to the next section of the train slide open. I sniffed, wiped my eyes and slowly stood up. I still hadn't fully recovered, but I had to move on, and I had to save Brock.

(VIOLENCE AND GORE END)

"Excellent job," the voice of the man said with delight. "I guess you deserve a reward. Would you like to know who I am? Of course you would." I looked up with interest. "I'll give you a hint. I kept you from winning the Pokémon League." No way, I thought. There was no way it could be…Tobias?

I entered into the next section of the train. The section after this one was the cockpit of the train. As I walked deeper, we passed through a tunnel, turning on the darkness, save a few quick passing lights. Just then I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I looked at the caller ID, it was John. We had exchanged numbers in the police station. I answered it as I edged forward in the darkness.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Ash?" John called out urgently, "Ash, are you okay?"

"I'm…fine," I said, neglecting to mention the Jigglypuff. "What's going on?"

"I've found Officer Douglas, she was hiding in the basement, crying."

"Okay, and?" I asked, keeping my voice low still.

"She keeps saying she didn't do anything," He said with exasperation, "She keeps saying they made her do it."

"Who?" I asked.

"She wouldn't say. But my Commissioner just called and they've anal—yzed—the recordi—your pho—it—the," Damn tunnel was killing the reception. "-Hello?" Click. Now he was gone as well. I looked at my bars, there were none.

"Damn it," I muttered. "Hello?!" I called out, blinded by darkness. Suddenly, a leg jetted out in front of me as I walked, and I tripped over it landing face first. "Ow!" I cried.

"Woops! Sorry~" A woman spoke softly. She had a childish inflection, and she was definitely not sorry.

"Who's there?" I called out, backing up while still on the ground.

"Why, Detective Ketchum! I would have thought you'd recognize my voice! After all it was fairly recent that we met." I thought long and hard. I was rewarded with a glimpse of her as a passing light shined onto her. She was wearing some type of uniform. Behind her was a shorter creature, wearing a similar uniform.

"Carol." I spoke venomously.

"Ding Ding Ding!" She sang.

"Chop!" Her Machop called out.

"You were the woman on the phone. Who told me the answer to the Cubone riddle," Carol nodded, smiling. I only saw because we had just exited the tunnel. Her eyes showed no innocence as they did before, and her grin was as evil as any of the gangbangers and crack heads hassling kids for money that I was used to taking in. "Why?" She stepped closer to me, as I backed up, edging towards the other side of the cart. She kept smiling.

"Because I was unhappy. Now I'm not." Was her cryptic answer.

"What?"

"I've always been…different." She said, closing in on me, "Ever since I was a kid, I've let people walk all over me. Yes ma'am, sorry sir." She stopped, and looked out the window of the train. "I was raped when I was 14." Machop looked up at its sullen master with sadness, "I had never refused what someone had told me. When I finally grew the courage…" She looked back at me, "After he pulled out and rolled over, falling asleep, I lied there with my thoughts. That was when I took off my own mask."

"Carol…"

"I killed him before he even woke up. I concluded that people were monsters." She said, interrupting me as she started to walk towards me again. "People are horrible monsters who will step on anyone beneath them if it helps them advance. So, naturally when the police came looking for me, I ran. I ran from town to town, eventually taking the Magnet here to Kanto. That's when I met…him." She looked past me, at the cockpit. "He showed me how to vent my frustrations and cover my tracks. He taught me to kill, and in return, I'd protect him. I'd help him feed, and I'd take the fall if he ever got caught. He was the only person who ever showed me kindness. I love him."

"Who, Carol?" I had backed into the closed metal door, and Carol had finally stood inches from my face. She grinned evilly, and I felt her breath in my eyes. "Is his name Tobias?" She continued to grin, and then shook her head.

"It is not." She hissed. I stuck a hand behind my back, reaching for Charizard's ball.

"Who then?" I gripped the ball tightly, getting ready to release.

She edged even closer, putting her hand on my chest. She leaned in near my ear and whispered:

"Stephan." My eyes widened as I remembered Unova. "He says he used to be good friends with you." I shuddered and then grew angry. I had just murdered, I had just discovered that the killers had been under my nose this entire time, and Brock was still in trouble.

End of Chapter 9