Chapter 54: Nothing to Hide
Triple battles. Crazy, chaotic, action-packed triple battles.
Cody hated them.
"It's a gimmick that will never catch on," he had said before. He could respect double battles for the concept of teamwork, whether it be between his pokémon or his team with another trainer's, but triple battles were just a chaotic mess. It was already hard enough coordinating two pokémon, but three? It was a waste of energy.
Yet there he was, battling in a triple battle with a trainer who insisted that triple battles were the next big thing. Cody accepted the challenge for two reasons: first, while he doubted it would be the next big thing, triple battling would at least help him practice his multitasking in multi-mon fights. And second, he had the feeling that the trainer who challenged him only insisted on triple battles because he could get easy wins in a chaotic environment. He was determined to beat the guy at his own, stupid game, taking his money to boot.
Cody made it easy on himself: he brought Antonia to the fight. She would get by in this battle with minimal instruction from him, since as he expected, the Golbat she was fighting was sloppy, allowing her to isolate it on the battlefield. This gave him time to focus on Reflet and Ferrari.
Ferrari was not a team player. He never worked with his teammate, but only alongside them. As a battler, he was doing much better. Otherwise, he still had the emotions of a carrot.
Reflet was a far more interesting case, as she already knew how to battle, but she was having difficulty adjusting to her new skill set. Going from an Eevee to Espeon was as if she were trained to be an Olympic sprinter, but was forced to compete in archery instead, as very few skills carried over. She could still run fast and she easily picked up psychic-running boosts and the faux precognition, but otherwise, she was rebuilding herself from the ground up.
"Icy Wind," the other trainer ordered.
"Rollout!"
Ferrari was currently engaged with a Snover, a foreign tree-like monster that bent ice to its will. Above where the Snover stood was a small cloud that pelted enemies with snow. The Hail cloud wasn't big enough to cover the whole battlefield, as the Snover limited its size to protect his allies, but it did pelt any foe who came within arms reach of the tree. But Ferrari's instincts kicked in. Bugs typically did not like snow, so he knew to avoid the hail. He had spent the battle swiftly dodging the ice-monster's attacks while taking a second here and there to pelt it with Poison Stings. It was an arduous process, but it would keep Ferrari safe. That was until the trainer called for an Icy Wind and Cody knew that he had to switch strategies as well. Ferrari took damage from the hail pellets but struck his target before rolling out from under the cloud again.
Reflet was having her own problems. She was squaring off with a Beheeyem, who was outclassing her in the psychic-powers department. Cody's Espeon was getting better at using psychic-based attacks, even though she was getting quite a bit of kickback every time she tried using Confusion or Signal Beam.
[I can't handle this! It's too strong.] And she couldn't trade partners. Whenever she tried to use Confusion on the Golbat or Signal Beam on the Snover, the Beheeyem found a way to intercept her. It was doing everything it could to keep her isolated.
"Psychic!" the opposing trainer ordered.
"Light Screen!"
This was one thing that Reflet had down pretty well. Using her psychic energy, she converted the rays of light into a yellow-tinted barrier that blocked the psychic blast. The shield wouldn't last forever, but the mud-colored, alienesque pokémon's attack was blocked, at least for the moment. Instinctually, Antonia took advantage of this situation to switch things up. She flew in broad curve behind the barrier and came out from behind the other side, slamming herself into the Snover. Before he was clobbered, the Snover had unleashed an Icy Wind that blew into the screen as it tried (and failed) to hit Ferrari. The Venipede was too fast, however, and it hit the pursuing Golbat with a Rollout.
The Beheeyem was unaffected by the chaos and shot a second psychic blast the way of the Espeon. This time, the Light-Screen shattered, but Reflet was ready. She shot a Signal Beam, suffering significant kickback in the process, so the move missed wildly. The Beheeyem seemed unafraid of its inexperienced foe and slowly approached as its brethren fought Antonia and Ferrari behind it. Reflet tried a Confusion, but the Beheeyem floated right through it, unimpressed by the effort.
"Reflet!" Cody shouted, ready to give another order, though she had her own idea.
[Let me try it!] she telepathically shouted back.
Her body began to blur as she appeared to vibrate from side to side. Cody had seen her try this before, and it looked to her like she was trying to use Double Team as a defensive option, but she couldn't quite create the visual replicas she needed. In truth, she didn't know what she was trying to accomplish either. She had told Cody that she was trying to dodge attacks, so it must have been an instinct for her.
"Finish her!" the opposing trainer shouted eagerly, and his pokémon readied another Psychic, only for it to be blocked by an armored wing. Antonia had intercepted the blow, shaking off the hit as if it were a gust of wind. Since Reflet was the only other pokémon of Cody's that she liked, the Skarmory was willing to defend her without any instruction, especially since she had just laid out the Snover with little difficulty. She flew forward and began striking her second target down with Steel Wings. One after another after another after another in a merciless fashion until the Beheeyem could move no more. When she was finished, she turned her armored head to see Ferrari hit one last Rollout. The centipede pokémon had taken hefty damage from the Golbat's Air Cutter, but he was persistent. And just like that, the battle was over in a blink of an eye.
"Hell yeah!" Cody quickly made his way to Antonia, giving her a firm pat on the back as congratulations. He would have done the same for his Venipede, but the bug wouldn't have liked it. Again, strictly business.
"You did well," he complimented as he knelt near Reflet. "Pulled that Light Screen up at the right time."
[You're kidding, right?] she asked, her tone frustrated and her eyes glossed over. [I couldn't do anything to stop that thing. If it weren't for Antonia, I would have lost.]
"But you didn't, did you?" He was a little saddened by the fact that she couldn't see the progress she was making. She wasn't quite up to par, but she'd have a few more weeks to catch up for the Crystal Cliffs gym. If not, she'd be ready for the gym after that. Everything would work out in the end.
When he looked up again, he saw that the other trainer, the tan-skinned boy with the dark hair, was walking away.
"Hey!" Cody shouted out, but the boy didn't seem to hear him. "Hey, you!" He ran up to the other trainer and got in the way of his path. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Uh…" The boy's face paled, but he held his hand out. "Good match. You really took me by surprise."
"Yeah, thanks, now my money?" he asked, holding his own hand out, but not to shake with the other boy. "We agreed on a $100 bet, remember?"
"Oh… right. I… I didn't think you would win," he answered sheepishly, his eyes darting away nervously.
Cody blinked. "What's that supposed to mea-"
"It means he doesn't have the money," Brooke answered coldly as she stepped up next to her friend. "He was betting money he didn't have."
"No, I'm good for it!" the guy said, his eyes widening. He pulled out his wallet and looked inside, feigning surprise at it being empty. "I just have to go home and-"
"I don't believe you," Cody answered. "Unless you let us follow you home and-"
"No, just wait here, and-"
"You've gotta be shitting me," Cody interrupted, his face getting close to beet red. "You asked for a battle, you suggested the $100 wager, and you asked that we have a freakin' triple battle!" He was angry at himself too for letting this happen. Usually, trainers would ask to show each other the money on the line before the fight, but it had never been a problem before, so Cody stopped asking a while back. He definitely learned his lesson there. But even having a full team compared to this guy to enforce the wager didn't change the fact that this guy had no money.
"Look, times are tough!" the kid argued, but Cody wouldn't hear it.
"You deceived me, knowing you couldn't pay. If you had just wanted to do a wagerless match, I would have been okay with that, but you just tried to scam me!"
"Well, you can't prove shit," the guy said, but Heather stepped up at this.
"Idiot, the camera is still running." She was recording the battle and she hadn't turned it off just yet, now having approached and aiming it at the trainer again.
There was an awkward silence as the guy turned his face away from the camera. He was cornered and he knew it. Antonia stepped up next to her trainer, glaring a hole in the kid's chest. She didn't know what was going on, but she could tell that the guy was pissing off her trainer, and she wasn't taking kindly to it.
"Screw this, I'm outta here!" The trainer bolted the other direction. Antonia screeched at him as he ran, but she didn't pursue, not without Cody's permission. He would never allow that since she'd probably kill the guy.
"You could totally catch him," Brooke said when she noticed Cody didn't take off after him.
"Or go to the police. We have evidence," Heather suggested.
"No… forget that." In truth, he already didn't care enough anymore. He was too exhausted from the long, boring day that he just didn't feel like it. That, and he remembered that this kind of guy was the type that the Brotherhood reached out to. If he was already an agent, going after him could get him in trouble with them. If he wasn't one, turning him into the police would make him even more likely to be a recruitment target. Plus, if the guy really was as poor as he said he was, did Cody really want to make his life worse? Or did he deserve what he had coming? It wasn't like he was an abusive asshole like Reflet's last trainer or anything. He was just a scammer.
"If you don't do anything, he's probably gonna do something like this again to somebody else," Heather noted to him.
"Probably…" Cody admitted. That didn't make him feel any better, so he turned to Reflet. "Do me a favor?"
[Sure.] She looked forward and squinted, emitting a vibrating sound as she focused on the runaway. He was almost out of sight, but before he disappeared from view, he tripped, falling forward on the sidewalk he was running on. A perfectly placed Confusion, but a light one, so he didn't get hurt.
[I… I can't believe I just did that. Why can't I do that in battle?]
"Good question…" He assumed that maybe it was because battling was hectic, but she had an easier time focusing outside of it, especially when it came to doing something for her trainer. By now, the guy had gotten to his feet again, so he didn't look like he had gotten hurt. Still, that did make Cody feel a little better, even if what he asked for was illegal. He just knew that he wouldn't be making a habit of it.
The pokémon center in Braighton was relatively busy that afternoon, as there were lines for nurse's station was quite long. There was a long line for the terminal as well, and Cody had an idea as to why as he watched several frustrated trainers pound their fists against the keyboard, one after the other as they reached it. He figured that they must have been housing their pokémon at the Gracen Research Institute, since he himself was getting frustrated with the PC earlier that day. For some reason when he had tried to make a withdrawal, he received a message that his access was suspended. He tried to call the institute to figure out what was wrong, but he couldn't reach any phones. He assumed that there must have been some sort of power outage or something, but by then, he figured whatever the problem was would have been fixed.
"You did well," Brooke encouraged Cody as he stood in line, glumly staring into space. "I mean, you won."
"It was a waste of my time. I could have battled a decent trainer and won actual money. Instead, I battled in a stupid, dangerous format that nobody uses and got nothing out of it. What did I learn?"
"The importance of teamwork?" Heather questioned, giving him a meek smile, but she knew that meant little. Had that situation happened to her, she would have been just as pissed.
"I need to start asking people to show me their wallets. Lousy ripoffs…"
The day had been pretty bad in general. He wasn't able to make pokémon withdrawals and when he battled, he found out that every trainer in the town seemed to be at a lower tier. Even in handicapped matches, he was winning with ease. As much as he was willing to live by his mantra of battling everyone, he felt so unchallenged.
This line is taking forever. He didn't feel like talking about that battle anymore, so he looked up at one of the nearby flatscreens that hung from the ceiling. Despite the clamor, he could make out what the reporter was saying, and he was glad that he could.
We've received news from the Skitrexian Pokémon League today, regarding Chien Dao's replacement in the Elite 4. Following extensive deliberation, the Skitrexian League Council has nominated Martin Hornsby to become the newest member of the Elite 4. The nomination was made and delivered to Hornsby in private and he has accepted the nomination. The coronation ceremony iss scheduled to be held on October 30th in Anheli City on the steps of the Skitrexian League.
Martin Hornsby is currently employed as the gym leader of Loamford City, a position he has held for nearly twenty years. Under his management, the gym has an impressive record of having the highest tier-by-tier success against incoming trainers, making it statistically one of the most difficult gyms to win a badge from. The gym specializes in rock and ground-type pokémon; Hornsby himself is a rock and ground specialist who has also been known to dabble with steel and grass types among others. In his time, Hornsby has placed consistently high among global tournaments, won the 1990 Diamond Beach Tournament, has challenged the Skitrexian League twice, making it to the champion on both attempts, and has raised the famous Stoneridge, his Rhydon, arguably considered by critics to be the most powerful not-fully-evolved pokémon on earth.
Within the time of his transition, Hornsby and the league council will decide on a new leader or leaders of the Loamfird City gym. It is likely that Hornsby will receive another chance to topple the champion within the next few years following his promotion. Skitrexian Champion Richard Kaiser has already commented, stating that Hornsby is one of the craftiest trainers he has ever faced and he looks forward to battling him again.
"Holy shit…" That was all Cody could muster as he looked up at the big screen. Hornsby undoubtedly deserved the position, given his success as a gym leader, but having to fight one of the craftiest trainers in Skitrex at the level of the Elite 4 sounded nightmarish to undertake, if not fun to watch.
In other news, continuing coverage of the Gracen Research Institute break-in, we have received word that withdrawal and deposit transactions will be online again by 12 AM tonight.
He was about to tune out, following the Hornsby report, but a report that the place where his pokémon were was broken into caught his attention.
"Cody-" Heather began, but he nodded.
"I know." The frustration he felt from the long day had vanished as now, concern had taken its place. Elesa was at the facility at the moment. Was she okay? He was sure she could handle herself, but he had to be sure.
As reported earlier, the facility was broken into late last night, and several employees were injured, but Dr. Blake Merrick, the head researcher of Gracen, reports that nothing was stolen from the premises and that he and his staff were unable to identify the assailants or what their intentions were for entering the premises. Dr. Merrick reports that he and a few scientists were working late when the break-in occurred and all who were present agreed to cooperate with the authorities, although no conclusive identification has been made.
This is Vivian Gold, Skitrexian Trainer News.
For a few moments, the trio said nothing. It wasn't for a lack of things to say, but mostly because they had reached the front of the line. Silently, Cody handed his pokémon to the nurse, gave her a curt nod, and waited for the two girls to do the same. Following that, they all stepped away from the desk.
"What was that all about?" Heather asked.
"Not sure, but it explains why I couldn't make deposits or withdrawals this morning. I'm just glad that nothing got stolen. So long as my pokémon are… wait, why was nothing stolen?" That didn't make sense to him. If nothing was stolen, what was the point of breaking into a highly-guarded facility like Gracen?
"Maybe… maybe they didn't find what they were looking for?" Brooke suggested, shrugging.
What would they be looking for? Were they thieves after a rare pokémon that a trainer was keeping there? Or maybe the research that Merrick cherished so dearly? Or maybe… his thoughts drifted back to rare pokémon. There were pseudo-legendaries there, such as Dragonite. Probably shinies as well. Or powerful pokémon that belonged to the best trainers in the region. But he also remembered the one pokémon at Gracen that was far rarer than all of the others combined.
"Or maybe they found what they were looking for…"
Brooke didn't seem to pick up on what he meant and Heather looked even more confused.
"I'm sorry," Heather began, "did I miss some-"
"It's nothing," Cody assured her. He took out his cellphone and began dialing. "Gonna try to call them again, just to be sure that my pokémon are okay and-"
"They are fine. You on the other hand, that has yet to be seen.
Oh, damn it.
He recognized that voice. He turned with the other two to face none other than Dr. Blake Merrick himself. The long-haired, bespectacled man looked just as irritated with Cody as he had the last time, although now there looked as if they were a few more grays in his sandy-brown mane.
"What the… How did you…" Cody stammered, a little bit stunned that the scientist had seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "Why-"
"You!" he pointed at Cody with a swift, harsh jab of his finger. "And you!" he said, going through the same motion, but this time, pointing at Brooke. "We are going to have a private conversation right now. If either of you value your livelihood, you will do as you're told."
"I'm sorry, but wha-" Heather spoke up, but she got cut off.
"Now!" Merrick barked even louder, drawing the attention of everybody in the pokémon center. "And you!" He finally looked over at Heather, pointing his right index finger at her. "I have no need for you, so as long as your friends cooperate, they should be fine. So stay out of this"
"Cody, what's going on?" Heather asked, almost frantic, unable to understand what was going on anymore and not understanding why Cody and Brooke looked far more calm, albeit worried.
"We'll be fine," he responded, nodding to her. "Trust me."
She didn't look convinced, but she said nothing else, stepping back from the group.
"Come," Merrick ordered again, beckoning for Cody and Brooke to follow. They exchanged one last glance at each other before following the doctor. Cody was already forming suspicions on what was going on, but he would have to hear it for himself.
Down the hall and to the right, Merrick pulled the two of them into a dimly lit room with a table and three chairs, very similar to the one they were interrogated in at Gracen. They were greeted by the chilly presence of Reaper, the giant Dusknoir who eyed them with his one, crimson eye as they entered the room.
"Sit!" the doctor barked, harshly jabbing his finger towards the two seats across from where the Dusknoir stood. The two of them sat down across from the Dusknoir and Merrick sat next to his pokémon. He looked as though he wanted to start yelling at them, but it took every bit of restraint to hold him at bay. He managed to keep a cool composure, despite his agitated breathing.
"So wait, you had this planned?" Cody asked, still a little confused about what was going on. This definitely wasn't a spur of the moment meeting. How else could he have gotten a private room like this at a pokémon center? "How did you know we'd be here?"
"You tried to make a withdrawal today. All withdrawals are traceable to a trainer's location from which the request was made. It was declined, of course. All the trainers who keep pokémon with us have been suspended from making withdrawals or deposits until further notice."
"I know. And this has to do with the break-in at the institute?" Cody assumed. "We just heard about it on TV when we got in. I figured that there must have been some technical difficulties on your end because when I tried to call, the line was dead."
"Hmph," Merrick grunted. "Calling it a technical difficulty is an understatement. So let me break it down for you two." He turned away, speaking slightly louder to make up for the change in direction of his voice. "Sometime between the times of 12:50 PM and 1:10 AM last night, the Gracen Research Institute was breached. A group of about twenty-five, give or take, orchestrated this break-in, while simultaneously cutting our power and blocking our communication to the outside world. Naturally, we have security for situations such as this, but each of our officers was brought down quickly before they could properly mobilize to even assess the threat." He turned around and touched the Dusknoir's shoulder and held his head. "Even the Reaper was taken down. It took multiple foes to pull it off, but in the end..." He shook his head and looked up, even angrier in expression.
"Wait, some burglars were able to pull all of this off?" Brooke asked, raising an eyebrow. "Cody said that your place is locked up tight."
"These were no ordinary burglars," Merrick hissed, his eyes narrowing. "If they were, we wouldn't be having this conversation. This was a strategically detailed heist, like the kind of thing you'd see in a movie. These people, they knew exactly what they were doing and what they were looking for. Every movement was perfectly coordinated and with purpose. If I had to guess, there may have been somebody coordinating them with communicators, they were so fluid. Within minutes of us discovering them, they rendered our defenses useless and infiltrated our lab and-"
"They said on TV that nothing was reported stolen," Brooke interrupted. "But you said they knew exactly what they were looking for. What was that? Why didn't you report-"
"They were after the Regice," Cody answered. It was a guess, but it was a logical one from everything he had put together.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Brooke confessed. She did look bewildered, so he explained it to her.
"Think about it: the last thing the Institute wanted was for the public to find out that the Regice is there. The break-in was reported, but I'm sure that you and your staff lied and said that what they were looking for wasn't there and that you didn't identify them out of some sort of fear of retaliation or that news of the Regice would go public. Is that correct?"
Merrick looked very annoyed with both of them now. It was probably due to the interruptions that he looked so irritated, but he nodded. "That is correct."
"And you're interrogating us right now because you think we had something to do with it?" he guessed next.
Merrick didn't answer him right away. Instead, it looked as though he was trying to restrain a new burst of rage as he stared at the table and one of his temple veins pulsated.
"William Sake, one of my employees… One of the most brilliant men I know. He's sixty-eight years old. He should be retiring in a few years, but he and his wife lost their savings in the bad market a few years back, and he's taking care of his two grandchildren following their parents… Never mind. The point is, one of those crooks broke his arm and almost killed him for that Regice. I've been called a cold, uncaring man before… but my pokémon and my employees are the closest things I have to family, and when they're threatened like the way they were last night, I do not take kindly to it." The look he was giving the two younger trainers was that of pure rage, just pulsating at the surface, ready to explode.
"And you think we have something to do with it?" Cody asked, trying not to set the man off further. "Who would I even tell?"
"How should I know? I know next to nothing about either of you!" Now, the rage was pouring out. Cody had to assume that the Dusknoir was dampening the noise somehow because Merrick wouldn't just be shouting out his secrets in that small room if there wasn't a risk of somebody hearing him. "The only people who knew about that Regice were my most trusted colleagues and employees; men and women whom I trust! You two are just two stupid kids who I had to bribe to keep your mouths shut, but apparently, that wasn't enough! Hell, I didn't even bribe you!" He glared daggers into Brooke now, who backed up in her chair at the sight. "What's your angle? Your boyfriend here is at least a good trainer with lots, so he'd be more likely to keep his mouth shut for the free boarding of his pokémon! But you- I don't even know you! I-" He was leaning over the table now, face beet red, and that's when Cody stood up.
"Okay, back off!" Cody shouted back, fuming in his own right. "She didn't say anything! Neither of us did!"
"Am I supposed to believe that? I don't trust kids!" Merrick bellowed, his voice reverberating in the tiny room as he stood to face Cody. "What about your friend, the brunette? Did you ever say anything to her? I know what you kids are like!"
"N-no, we never said anything to her," Brooke stated, her voice quivering as if the room had dropped another twenty degrees. The one-eyed ghost made it feel cold enough to begin with.
"Or your pokémon? Did she say something?" Merrick demanded. "I know that Espeon of yours saw that Regice when she was still an Eevee. Did she tell anybody about it after evolving?"
"Of course not!" Cody and Reflet actually had this conversation soon after she evolved. His Espeon remembered the Regice and promised not to say anything. "She would never betray my trust. That's like me asking you were sure if your Dusknoir hadn't betrayed you!"
The towering ghost remained inexpressive, but Cody's comment seemed to shatter Merrick's rage. His face softened and a few seconds later, his breathing slowed. He must have related to that accusation on some level.
"You make a fair point," the doctor admitted, pushing some of his long hair back, as it had fallen in front of his face while he was yelling. "The Reaper would never do that and I doubt your Espeon would have as well. She must really care about you if she evolved that way, after all." In that brief moment of calm, they both sat back down to regroup.
"Look, there has to be an explanation," Cody suggested coolly. "Like, how did they get into the Institute to begin with? If memory serves, a Pidgey can't so much as fly over that wall without triggering an alarm."
"Correct," Merrick answered. "They used the maintenance door codes, and the only two people who had access to those were the head groundskeeper and myself."
"Okay, so where is the groundskeeper now?" Cody asked.
"I don't know," Merrick admitted, scowling. "I called Joe as soon as I was able, but he didn't answer his cellphone. I called the apartment complex he was living at, but they said that he had chosen to leave the day before, forsaking the deposit on his lease. He's nowhere to be found."
"Okay, so there's your answer: he did it." Cody announced as if the case had been solved, but his assumption was premature.
"No, it's not that simple!" Merrick snapped in annoyance. "Joe definitely had something to do with this, but he didn't know about the Regice. Why the hell would I tell that to the groundskeeper? And there's no way that he could have found out about it on his own because he didn't have access to any of the labs. We would have had security footage if he was ever anywhere he wasn't supposed to be."
"What about a pokémon?" Brooke suggested. "You accused Reflet, but what about another psychic or ghost-type? Something that could teleport or pass through the walls? There are a lot of trained pokémon at the facility, so for the smart ones, couldn't one of them accidentally or purposely-"
"No, we've taken precautions," Merrick answered, less annoyed with Brooke now, as her question was definitely worth asking. "See, most modern buildings and appliances are built with materials that have been treated with poltergeist repellent. It keeps pokémon from teleporting or phasing through structures, and it keeps Rotom from getting into your electronics. Otherwise, criminals would be teleporting into banks on a regular basis. Our buildings have it and the door to the cold storage has it as well."
"Okay, but what about through the mountain itself?" Brooke asked.
"Wouldn't work. For a pokémon to teleport through something, it has to know exactly where it's going," Cody explained. He had been reading up on the subject, just in case his Espeon picked up the technique. "Even if an Abra had a general idea of where the chamber was, it would have to know exactly which direction and how far to teleport, and even then, it might be too far of a 'jump' for it."
"And pokémon can't burrow in either," Merrick added. "We have sensors to make sure they don't burrow too deep. It's how we keep Diglett and Onix in the Institute and how we keep other pests from entering. As for ghosts, a lot of people don't know this, but it takes a significant amount of energy for a ghost to phase through solid objects. Even if they were able to bypass our sensors, they wouldn't be able to reach the chamber without passing out."
"So…" How do I put this in a way that won't piss him off? "What about your employees then? The ones you trust, I mean."
Surprisingly, Merrick gave him a calm answer to that question. "I already talked with all of them and I can confirm that they are not lying. There are also former employees who worked for me in the past who knew about the Regice. While I am incapable of questioning them, I would assume that if they had told somebody, something like this would have happened years ago. Either way, I have nothing to hold over their heads now if one of them is guilty, but I doubt any of them are. The Reaper had pegged them as trustworthy and I trust his judgment."
"So that leaves us?" Cody asked, swallowing with anxiety.
"Yes…" Merrick said, his tone growing grave once more. "The two trainers who stumbled upon my secret and a few weeks later, I get raided for the legendary pokémon that you two found. Or... it could just be one of you. And if I had to guess which one of you it is, it'd be you." He was looking over at Brooke when he said that and the girl's face paled.
"What, why? Why would I-"
"Because I don't know you," he repeated from earlier.
"Wait, that's not fair, she-" Cody was cut off by Merrick holding a hand up at him.
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Mr. Storm: I don't like you. I had no problem boarding your pokémon, but you yourself, your very existence has made my life ten times more difficult than it needs to be. That being said, I can tell that you care about your pokémon and that you're passionate about being a trainer. I can respect that and you would have the most to lose from this situation. One wrong move and I could sour your name among everyone in the scientific community in Skitrex. And trust me, my influence extends pretty far."
He turned back to Brooke and his scowl deepened. "You, on the other hand, I have no idea who you are or what you stand for. You have at least few pokémon, but something tells me that there's no passion to be a trainer within you. Maybe you just got into it because it was the trendy thing to do, but you have no need for a scientist's services, not like your boyfriend. Therefore, you have nothing to lose if you get caught and potentially, something to gain."
"I don't know what you think you know about me," Brooke began, her voice soft but cool, "but I would never do anything that could possibly harm Co-"
"There's another thing that bugs me," Merrick interrupted, subtly pointing his finger at her this time, rather than using his rough jabs as he was earlier. "Something about the way you talk and how your voice sounds… it's very convincing that you have nothing to hide. So convincing that it's suspicious. You might be able to fool everybody else, but I really don't like people in general and I can smell Tauros shit a mile away."
"Okay, now you're just being a dick," Cody cut in, irritated that he felt as if he couldn't use any stronger words with the doctor. "Neither of us have anything to hide. How can we prove it to you?"
"Simple: let him be the judge," Merrick answered, nodding sideways towards his Dusknoir.
"Wait, what?" Cody asked.
"You want to know how I could tell that my employees were honest? Do you want to know how I could tell that they had good intentions? I use the Reaper. While he can't read minds, my Dusknoir has an uncanny ability to tell if somebody is lying or not. I bring him with me when I conduct interviews of my staff and none of them have failed me yet. If I hadn't had my HR guy hire the groundskeepers, I would have caught Joe long before he got close enough to betray me. Whatever. I learned my lesson there."
"Well, what's he think of us so far?" Brooke asked, hoping that would resolve any doubt.
"He wouldn't know yet. He's been more focused on dampening the room and keeping this conversation private. But now, he'll be focusing more on you two." He nodded at his ghost and the silent Dusknoir refocused his eyes on the two teenagers.
"Now," Merrick continued, "I'm going to ask both of you a few questions to establish a baseline. On the third question, I want you to deliberately lie, just to set a baseline for lying. Understand?"
They nodded and Merrick began.
"What are your full names?"
"Cody Michael Storm."
"Brooklyn Nicole Mitchell."
"Okay, now, what does a Pikachu evolve into?"
"Raichu," both Cody and Brooke answered simultaneously.
"What color is my watch?" Merrick raised his left wrist, showing off a decadent, silver watch.
"Bronze," Cody answered, remembering to intentionally lie this time.
"Gold," said Brooke.
"How we doing so far?" the doctor asked his Dusknoir. The ghost simply nodded.
"So far so good," Merrick stated. "Your baseline has been set. Now for the real questions."
"Alright." Cody didn't know why he felt so nervous, knowing he was innocent. Maybe he was nervous that the Dusknoir would produce false positive. Was this pokémon really that good at reading people?
"On the day we met, both of you discovered the Regice. Was this discovery accidental?"
"Yes," they both answered.
"Were either of you sent by a third party to search the Institute in some manner?"
"No," they both answered.
"Did either of you take evidence with you that day pertaining to the existence of the Regice?"
Evidence? What evidence could I have possibly taken? Cody said "no" a second after Brooke and he hoped his delay wouldn't hurt his case.
"Have either of you told any other human or humans about your discovery of the Regice?"
"No," they both answered. For a moment, Cody wondered why Merrick had used the word "human", but he figured it out when the next question came around.
"Aside from your Espeon, have either of you told any pokémon capable of understanding complex human speech about your discovery of the Regice?"
"No," they both answered. Other than Reflet, the only other pokémon to hear them talk about that subject were the two Venipede and the Torterra they rode on. None of those pokémon would be able to comprehend what they were saying. And they had never mentioned it to Cortez or Kisses, two pokémon who would have understood what they were saying.
"Have either of you told any pokémon capable of mimicking complex human speech about your discovery of the Regice?"
What, like a Chatot or a Meowth? Cody answered "no" a second after Brooke again as he felt mentally stumped for just a second.
"This next question is just for you, Mr. Storm," Merrick said, breaking the pattern. "I won't be questioning your Espeon, as I know that an Espeon would never betray a trainer that they love. But can you confirm that you have talked with your Espeon about the importance of keeping the Regice a secret before she could have discussed it with anybody else, person or pokémon?"
"Yes," Cody answered. It was actually something they had discussed when Reflet was still on bedrest, following her evolution.
"Since discovering the Regice, have either of you had your mind read by a pokémon or a human with psychic powers, either of which had advanced mind-reading capabilities?"
"No," Brooke answered immediately. Cody, on the other hand, was unsure.
"I don't know," he said.
"You don't know?" Merrick asked, looking over to his Dusknoir, who shook his head no. "That was a lie. The Reaper thinks that you do know."
"Um…" He had no idea how to phrase what he wanted to say. Darkrai was in his mind, so did that count? Surprisingly enough, Darkrai had never brought the Regice up. The golem must not have been a part of its plan. But he didn't want to talk about Darkrai there. Maybe if it was just Merrick, he'd feel okay enough with it, but he did not want Brooke to know. Her suspicion was enough as it was.
"I… I've had nightmares from what I believe is a pokémon. They happen from time to time. But it only happens when I sleep. But I can promise you that that has no connection to this situation, as far as I'm aware. I've been having that problem long before we found the Regice." He noticed that Brooke was looking at him weirdly.
"Looks like you're telling the truth," Merrick said, although he looked unconvinced. "Did either of you have any knowledge of the intrusion that occurred at my facility last night?"
"No," they both answered.
"Did either of you have any involvement in the intrusion that occurred at my facility last night?"
"No, they both answered.
Merrick looked over at his Dusknoir again, who nodded. Then he looked back and sighed. "I hate to say it, but it looks like you two are off the hook then. The only risk would be whatever is eating your dreams or whatever you said was happening. Still, it's unlikely that that had anything to do with what happened. In all likelihood, it might have been one of my past employees. Of course, now, I can't do anything about that. They have nothing to lose, now that they work for other companies. One's working for Silph, one's on the research team for Ideal Imports, two of them-"
"Wait, stop, hold on," Cody interrupted, holding up one of his hands. "One of them went to I.I.?"
"Yes, why? Is that surprising?" Merrick asked, his interest suddenly piqued again.
"These guys that attacked Gracen, what did they look like?" Cody asked.
"You remember the Cipher takeovers that took place in Orre, mid-2000s? They were dressed like them, except in all black. As you hypothesized earlier, we told the authorities that we were unable to provide any specific details about their appearance, but in truth, we withheld this information to prevent any sort of significant retaliation. Why?"
Cody's face was going pale. He suddenly remembered that he couldn't give them away either. If he did and if somebody within the Brotherhood found out, they could go after him. Or his family and friends. But Merrick wouldn't let him backtrack.
"Who are they? What do you know, Mr. Storm?" he asked fiercely, banging his fists against the table.
"I can't tell you…" Cody muttered, looking down at the table. "They'd kill me…"
"Wait, what?" Brooke clasped his hands in hers, and he looked up to see her face. Her eyes seemed to have doubled in size, they had widened so much.
"Need I remind you that my staff and my entire operation were in jeopardy last night?" Merrick growled, leaning forward so that his face was inches away from Cody. He honestly looked like he was going to bite the young trainer. "So, you can tell me everything you know about whoever "they" are, because if you don't tell me, I will kick your pokémon out of my facility. And if you try to get back at me by releasing info about the Regice, I will do whatever I can to ruin your name."
He had no choice. He had to say something. He knew that Merrick could never say anything publicly without risking the Institute, so in all likelihood, his word would be kept safe. But this was not the way he wanted to break the news to Brooke. He was hoping for something a little less forced.
"Whatever I tell you two… I mean, you three," he corrected himself nodding towards the Dusknoir, "You won't tell anybody else? The lives of those I care about would be at risk."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Merrick impatiently groaned.
"You know I won't say anything," Brooke said, clutching his hand and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Okay…" He inhaled deeply and divulged one of the biggest secrets he had. "They call themselves the Brotherhood of Life. I don't know what their long-term goals are, but they claim to be peaceful and they do a lot of charity work, but-"
"Peaceful?" Merrick asked, his anger showing through his twitching eyes. "They threatened to kill my staff!"
"I don't know, they got some real freaks in that group." The one who came to mind was that Casper dude who stalked him for a while. He shuddered at the thought of who they sent to deal with Merrick if they were extreme enough to scare him. "But they claim to be working to some peaceful ends through some shady means. I know that they've been recruiting too. They tend to focus on recruiting failing trainers and that they've been using the Haven Houses to do it."
"Wait, Haven Houses?" Brooke asked, anxiety straining her tone as her eyes widened again. "I have friends who work for Haven House. Are you saying that they're a part of some evil organization or something?"
"No, I don't know, maybe?" He wasn't sure if everybody who worked for Haven worked for the Brotherhood. Hell, he wasn't sure if the organization itself as a whole was evil, even if there were members that did evil things. What they did to the Institute, however...
"God, Cody, why did you never say anything like this to me?" Brooke asked. She tightened her grasp on his arm and she looked incredibly agitated.
"It's… I…"
"How do you know all this about them if they're so secret?" Merrick asked. He was looking more curious than critical then, as his expression had softened slightly.
Cody looked over to see that the doctor was still very suspicious. Even though he had passed the lie detection test, he was still being questioned. He decided to give the short answer.
"I… I accidentally did something that caught their attention a while back, doing something they didn't like. They wanted to bring me in for questioning and I refused. They also wanted to recruit me and I refused. So they attacked my friends and I. I was eventually brought to see their leader, but they let me go. But if I say anything, they'll… they threatened my family and friends. Since then, I've been watched by them. They told me that if I mind my own business they'll eventually leave me alone."
"And I.I. is behind all this…" Merrick mused.
"I don't know, they're at least backing them financially. The guy in charge of the Brotherhood itself is Wendell Douglas. He goes by Father Ezekiel or something. You ever hear of him?"
"Of course I've heard of him. I know every major researcher in this region and beyond. Douglas though… Never would have pegged him for something like this. Then again, he's a narcissist. Brilliant, but full of himself, so I guess I'm not surprised he's involved."
If he's a narcissist, then what the hell are you? But Cody knew better than to say that. "So, what now?"
"Right now? Nothing." The doctor looked sullen, now that he was out of options. "It looks as though you two discovering the Regice and the raid on my facility have no connection. In all likelihood, it was my former employee who now works for I.I. who was behind all of this. As far as I'm concerned, we're both in deep shit. I can't say anything without exposing myself and you…" He shook his head at Cody. "I don't even know what kind of mess you've gotten yourself into, but you seem to have a knack for it. You can keep storing your pokémon with me, so long as you keep quiet." He stood up, stretching his arms up before letting them fall in unison with his sigh. "Quite frankly, I'm glad it's gone. That Regice was nothing but trouble. I just hope that they leave us be as they promised. Though we will need to get some proper A.C. units installed… Pity." He looked down at the teenagers and scowled. "Get out, go. I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about now, judging by the fact that she had no clue that you were so popular, Mr. Storm."
"Yeah, we need to talk. Now." Brooke actually looked somewhat pissed with him, her brow furrowed and her lips in a frown. Still very cute, but also a bit scary.
This is gonna be awkward. He definitely wasn't ready for this conversation.
"You really can't hear a thing?"
[Not at all. Quiet as a crypt.]
Heather couldn't hear anything either, but she figured Crescent would have been able to pick up something. Last she checked, Dr. Merrick was not quiet and her Lunatone had psychic-enhanced hearin. Even as they stood next to the room that the doctor had brought Cody and Brooke into, they didn't hear a peep.
[If I were to assume, it would be that something is dampening the sound and blocking my senses. Could be a ghost-type. Or some sort of frequency is being played at a tone that inhibits my hearing.]
"Probably the first," she whispered, remembering that Dusknoir that Merrick used to battle with Cody.
[Very possible. Ghosts make it very difficult to… hold on, do my ears deceive me?]
Rather than point out that her pokémon didn't have ears, Heather asked, "What? You hear something?"
[Whatever was dampening my hearing has weakened in force. It's still hard to make out, but…] For a moment, they sat in silence as Cresent listened. Then, without warning... [Regice?]
"Regice?" It was that pokémon again. "What else are they-"
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Heather and her Lunatone both swiveled around to see that a cross-looking nurse had found them eavesdropping.
"Sorry, we-"
The woman scowled. "This room was reserved for a private affair. I suggest you mind your own business."
"Fine, fine. Come on, Crescent." Sulking, Heather walked back to the lobby, her pokémon floating behind her. They found an empty couch in the pokémon for the trainer to sit on and for her pokémon to float above.
"So, you're certain of what you heard?" she asked.
[Positive. I'm sorry that I cannot tell you more,] her moon-shaped pokémon lamented.
"No, no, you did what you could. But who said 'Regice'?"
[It was the angry man, the one who brought them there. His phrasing sounded like a question, but I couldn't pick out much else. Does that help?]
"It might," Heather said, although it didn't offer her much to go on. This was the second time she heard of this Regice since their stay in Ashlin. Even the times she had gotten away with a little bit of spying, she hadn't heard that word again. "So, let's review: At some point between the Moss Creek Festival and the night before our arrival at Ashlin, Cody and Brooke found a Regice. It's a huge secret, apparently, because neither of them have mentioned it to me directly and they still don't know that I know. But it came up in conversation with Merrick just now and he's mentioning Regice. Then, you have that news report about how the Gracen Institute has been broken into, but nothing was taken, and then, the doctor shows up unannounced, pulls them into a private room, and starts mentioning Regice… this is all connected."
[Mmm, a puzzle. How I love puzzles. Where do the pieces fit?]
"Beats me… But it sounds like Dr. Merrick knew this Regice existed, unless it was just brought up to him today, but why would Cody bring it up to him and not me? Merrick must have known already. But…"
[But maybe the Regice was what was taken from the angry man's facility?] Crescent guessed.
"But it was said that nothing was taken," Heather pointed out. "Plus, wouldn't there be some sort of record of a Regice being there?"
[So maybe it was a secret Regice? Perhaps he had a reason to be quiet.]
"I… I suppose that's possible." In fact, that made sense, unlikely as it was that there was a Regice there. There were no public records or scientific hypotheses about there being a Regice in Skitrex, so it must have been a secret, if that were the case. There would be no way that she wouldn't have known about that Regice if it was public knowledge. "Who took it then?"
She already had some assumptions. Brooke's involvement made her think it might have been the Brotherhood, but that was a huge leap of faith to make since it was just a crazy hunch she had. What the organization would want with a Regice was beyond her.
"I still can't ask them about it without looking like a snoop. I just need to… God, I don't know what to do."
[You could have words with the angry man upon his return,] the Lunatone suggested, but she shook her head.
"No, he's a dick. He probably wouldn't listen to me. He can't help me and I doubt I can help him." Still, she had no ideas herself. Even with the questioning of Brooke and her pokémon's spying, she was getting nowhere. All this lying-in-wait crap was getting to her. A brief silence followed before Crescent broke it again.
[Heather, may I ask you something?] Its tone was softened some. Odd, since the Lunatone always projected its voice in the same, whimsically, hammy demeanor, regardless of the situation.
"Sure, you can always ask me anything you want." Admittedly, she didn't feel like answering any questions, especially to Crescent of all beings, but she humored her pokémon regardless.
[What if you're wrong about this?]
It was a good question, but she groaned at it regardless, mostly because she had already asked herself that same question in her own head a hundred times per day.
"I probably am," she admitted. "Like, 70% chance I'm wrong about everything about her. Maybe more. Sure, she has friends in Haven, but so do a lot of people. I mean, one of my friends back home volunteers there. And I get why she got weird about me following her. It was a little creepy." The more she talked about it out loud, the crazier she sounded.
[If you believe you are likely wrong, why do you pursue this? What do you plan to accomplish?]
That was a better question that she didn't have a good answer for. She guessed that a 30% chance of being right was reason enough to be suspicious, but in all likelihood, she was wasting her time. And was it even 30%? She had no proof.
[Is it because you desire him in the way that creatures like yourself do?]
"What do you- Oh…" Her cheeks flushed and she got what it meant. "It's not like that. I mean, sure, there was a time, a year before I caught you, but… I'm with Jared."
[Are you? Then where is he?]
"Crescent, you don't need to be in the physical presence of somebody all the time to be with them," she explained. Of course, Lunatone didn't have romantic relationships with each other, so it felt as though she was trying to explain emotion to a robot.
[But you chose to be away from him to protect a friend who might not need you to protect him after all. And despite your lack of evidence, you keep insisting something is wrong.]
She had nothing to say there. She stared into her moon's red, emotionless eyes and couldn't provide an answer. For a pokémon who couldn't contemplate human emotion, it was really giving her the business on her decisions.
[If you want me to spy from time to time, I will. You are my trainer and I will follow your leadership. But introspection is key to understanding what we do who makes who we are.]
Gee, Cody's right. Psychic-types are weird. Nevertheless, she did think about what it had told her. She didn't know how long it was before she saw Cody and Brooke coming through the hall that they disappeared through. Rather, Brooke was dragging Cody by his wrist and she looked uncharacteristically upset. That was curious, as she was never cross with him. If anybody, it was usually Heather who got those mean looks from her during their conversations.
"They're heading towards the dormitories," she said to her Lunatone, nodding in the direction of the hall the entered. "Let's go."
[No introspection?] her Lunatone asked.
"Nope," she answered stubbornly as she stood up. "Just curiosity." That was mostly true, at least.
Despite practically dragging him to the room in the pokémon center that they had snagged for the night, Brooke wasn't actually mad at Cody. Knowing the information that had been provided to her by the Brotherhood, of course he would be hesitant in telling her anything about the group. She knew that. But the Brooke he knew didn't know this information, so she played the part of being upset.
What had really gotten to her was that interrogation they just sat through. Playing the part of the girl who didn't know what the hell was going on was easy. However, Merrick unnerved her. The first time he had them locked in a small room, his attention was directed at Cody, but that day, she took on a lot of the attack, as apparently, he was seeing through her act, even if he couldn't prove anything. The Dusknoir also made her very nervous. As her reports had shown, she was able to fool a pokémon with truth detection abilities nine times out of ten, but with so many questions, she was afraid she'd slip up. Putting it simply, she just had to mentally remove herself from the scenario as she had in the past and say what needed to be said without hesitation. Some of the things that she said weren't lies at all. For example, she had no idea what the Brotherhood had in store for the Regice, as she was not passed any info on it. Hell, Michelle didn't even know. So answers involving whether or not she knew about the attack were actually truths. That being said, that question about the watch was a little concerning, as she had to make sure that the Dusknoir perceived that answer as a lie. Had he perceived it as her telling the truth, it would have been very suspicious.
But beyond that, the Brotherhood… had they really hurt Cody or threatened his friends and family? She wasn't naive enough to believe that the Brotherhood never had any shady dealings; from her perspective, the fact that she was being trained as a mole was an easy indication of that. But would they really go that far over some kid? There was a lot of information in his file that had been redacted, but she figured that it might have been some clerical stuff that was above her pay grade. However, now she was curious and concerned. But also, getting him talk more about the Brotherhood was what she wanted for the reports she was filing. Telling her wouldn't get him in trouble, as that was her primary goal for the time being. On top of that, she suddenly had a few questions of her own that she wanted to be answered.
"I'm in trouble now, aren't I?" he asked, giving her a tired stare. Following the questioning, he looked exhausted. Seeing that brought her expression of anger down, but she still gave a presentation of irritation.
"You need to tell me about what that was all about," she demanded. "Not the Regice, but the thing about the Haven Houses and the Brotherhood of whatever they call themselves."
"Yeah… um… where to begin?" The room had four beds (two sets of bunk beds) and he sat on the one to his left, looking away from her. She sat next to him and turned his face towards hers with her hand.
"First," she began, "I need to know why you've never said anything to me. I've been traveling with you for about two months now and it never came up."
"Okay, how was I supposed to bring this up? I told you, I have people to protect," he explained again.
"But I feel like the only one who didn't know was me. Who else knows?"
"Heather and Jared, but I would have kept them out of it if I could have," he admitted. "Reflet knows too. And I imagine Heather may have said something to Crescent, but I wouldn't know. I was going to tell you eventually, but-"
"But why eventually?" she asked, trying to push him further. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I like you!" he blurted out, his frustration spilling over. His cheeks pinkened, but he continued through his embarrassment. "I mean, duh, you already knew that, but seriously, what was I gonna say? That some underground organization that recruits people through soup kitchens has been stalking me? How would any sane person react to that? Either you think I'm crazy and you get the hell out, or you believe me, you think I've got too much baggage and you get the hell out. Which is it?"
"Option C?" she offered instead. "Maybe I would have got it. Maybe you could have trusted me?"
"Do you get it? Do you get what I've been through with these people? I've been trying to mind my own business so they'll leave me alone. Every time I keep having to hear or talk about them, I feel like I'm adding time to my sentence. I just wish they…" His voice drifted up and he turned away before he could finish that thought.
All Brooke could wonder about was why Cody was so against the Brotherhood. Obviously, threats had been made against him that she hadn't known about, and if this was true, his fear was justified. But couldn't he see the good that they had been doing? Even though she didn't have all the details about the Brotherhood's long-term goals, the organization had helped so many, such as herself. But she couldn't speak about what she actually knew without revealing herself. So she went with what he knew she knew.
"Is this why you don't sleep well?" she guessed. It would make sense if there was any Brotherhood-related trauma, but he shook his head.
"No, that's… that's something else."
While Brooke was curious about his terrible sleeping habits, assuming that they had something to do with his paranoia of him having his mind read, she decided to focus on the subject at hand. "You know… if what you're saying is true and the Haven Houses are a part of this Brotherhood… Haven Houses have helped so many people. They helped me get on my feet and gave me a warm place to eat and sleep when I ran out of money. Mallory, my friend back in Baybire, she was homeless until they took her in. Are you saying this is all a part of some big conspiracy?"
He didn't seem to have an answer at first as he opened his mouth, but closed it again when he had nothing to say. If Brooke had to guess, he was looking for a way to phrase what he wanted to say delicately. When he finally spoke again, he was far quieter than he was seconds before.
"I know they've helped people…" he admitted. "If it weren't for all this shit, I'd be all for them and what they do. I've seen people they've helped… and I've seen the people they couldn't help. I've seen criminals driven by poverty. I saw some dude who froze to death outside. The fact that the Brotherhood has gained this much traction in this region probably says a lot about… well… I don't know I guess it means that a lot of people here need help." He looked up, sheepishly. "Honestly, I line up a lot with many of their beliefs on helping others and social justice, but after what I've witnessed-"
"What you witnessed? You mean being attacked?" She was still trying to justify that one in her mind. She couldn't believe that Cody had done anything that was worth justifying those attacks, but she couldn't bring herself to doubt the Brotherhood either.
"Look… I'll show you something. It's not something I like to talk about, but I owe you this much." After taking a long, drawn-out breath, he took off his jacket and then slowly, his shirt.
Something that Brooke had noticed was that Cody never liked to take his shirt off around her. Even when she got him alone for a makeout session, he would always get really touchy and weird whenever she tried to touch him under his shirt or take it off. Early on, she thought maybe it was a modesty thing, but that wasn't it. It was the scars. As he had told her on the day they met, trying to tame a Skarmory had taken its toll on his body. The scars that covered his skin had faded nicely, almost to the point that one sort of had to squint at them to notice them at a distance. But he must not have liked people staring at them. Especially the one in the center of his chest, crossing one pectoral to the other at a diagonal. Something about that scar looked different. It was longer than the others, deeper-looking, and far less faded. Whatever it was, she doubted his Skarmory had made it.
"Cody… this is what you wanted to show me?" When he didn't respond, she stepped forward and peered closer at the deep scar. "This one?"
"That was the Brotherhood's doing. Well, one of their footmen at least." He turned his head away so he wouldn't have to look at her. "They sent this crazy guy after me. I don't know what the people in the Brotherhood are like as a whole, but this dude was a nutcase. The first time he came after us, we managed to overpower him as a group. The second time, it was just me. Thanks to my pokémon, we were able to get away, but not before he did this." He looked down at the car. "Guy just pulls a knife on me and does this, just because I didn't want to go meet the guy who sent him. So yeah, I want nothing to do with them. The farther away I am from them, the better."
Well, that definitely explains a lot. "I just wish you could have told me. I would never have brought you to that Haven House or-"
"Nobody knows about this," Cody interrupted. "Heather and Jared know, but like I said earlier, I would have kept them out of it if I could have. Merrick now knows, but I know he's bound to silence by what he has to lose. My parents don't know, because if they did, my mom would end my career as a trainer on the spot. None of my other friends know. Not even my best friend knows, though I'm not sure if he'd even believe me. And now you know, I guess. Not the way I wanted you to find out… if I ever wanted you to find out."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" she asked.
"You know," Cody began explaining while putting his shirt back on, "Heather told me that I'd have to tell you eventually if I wanted anything between us to work out. But another reason I haven't told you any of this on my own was because sometimes, I have no idea about you. You just showed up in my life by pure chance and you want me to trust you with this stuff, but… how do I know you're not disappearing tomorrow? How do I know I'm not just one of those guys you hung out with because you weren't making it as a trainer? How-"
"You know that's not true!" Brooke cut in, her anger no longer a facade. "Of course I care about you! You're a good guy! You're my friend!"
"Just a friend, right?" he scoffed, looking away. It seemed as if he were trying to hide his frustrations. "Or are we more than that? Because if we aren't, that's fine, but why would I involve somebody who's just a friend in this part of my life if even my best friend doesn't know?"
Angry as he was, he had a point. Why would he tell her something that he hadn't told Lawrence if they were "just friends?"
"Is this… is this some sort of ultimatum?" Brooke asked, not sure what answer to give him if he said yes. She didn't want to lead him on any further than she already had. Yet she couldn't help but feel bad for him and all the stuff he had been through.
"No. It's not. I'm just so tired of this. Whatever world-saving scheme the Brotherhood has, I want nothing to do with it. I've said it to them before, but I wish they would believe me." He sat down on the lower bunk of the bunk bed to his left, covering his face with his hands. "I wish this would just disappear."
She sat down next to him, delicately placing a hand on his shoulder. He didn't respond to her touch like he normally would have, so she spoke instead of waiting for him to say something else.
"I know this isn't how you wanted me to find out. But I just want you to know that we're in this together. You can trust me; I promise you that."
The look he gave her was far softer than his intense expressions he wore earlier. He wasn't smiling, but not frowning either and his brow wasn't furrowed. He looked like he was on the cusp of believing her, so she pushed him a little further.
"And you're right: I get why you hadn't told me. If it's going to take commitment for us to be honest with each other… maybe we can talk about that."
His exhausted expression faded for a few seconds. A little bit of hope lit up in his face "You mean that? I mean, I don't want to push you into doing or anything you don't want."
"No, no, I want to. I really do." They locked eyes for a moment and Brooke could tell that he believed her. She expected him to kiss her then, but instead, he laid back on the bed, shifting his legs onto the mattress.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I just need to rest," he replied simply.
"Okay." Without saying another word, she slid in behind him, moving in to spoon with him. She didn't want to overwhelm him with anything else.
The way she saw it and the way Michelle would see it, her mission was accomplished. She finally got Cody to talk about the Brotherhood and express his opinions on it. He had said to members of the Brotherhood before that he wanted nothing to do with them, but saying this to her, not knowing who she was, confirmed in her mind that he had no other motives. Plus, she could tell he wasn't lying.
There has to be more to this, she thought to herself. Did they really need to send her for this? There had to be more. The redacted information in the dossier had to have the answers as to why he was such an important focus. But no, that wasn't her concern. She had played her part and she would likely be extracted soon. Still, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Cody. After what he had been through, his fear of the Brotherhood was justified. Seeing how the organization that was meant to help others had turned somebody like Cody to justly fear them was making her question everything she was standing for. Could she be a part of an organization that acted this underhanded when she had absolutely no idea what was going on beyond her sight? What the hell would a charitable organization need a Regice for? Why would it employ sociopaths to kidnap others? She knew there were shadows within the Brotherhood, but until then, she had never considered how dark they could have been.
There was possibly one last thing Michelle wanted her to figure out while she was still there: the nightmares. While it was not her primary objective, Brooke was told to gather what information she could on the subject. It was one of those "know your enemy" situations. The Brotherhood was very big on gathering whatever information they could on their targets. When Cody was talking about the Brotherhood's attacks against him, she thought that maybe it was PTSD that caused his nightmares, but since he didn't want to talk about them when she tried to make the connection between the attacks and the nightmares, she figured that it had to be something else. She would try to get Cody to tell her on his own so she could officially report her findings, but she wondered what more that would take.
Report. As she lay there next to him, she mentally started to compose the report, as she wouldn't be able to do it on her phone until she was alone. Obviously, reporting Cody's avoidance of the Brotherhood was key, as it would likely clear him of the intense observation he was under. However, the fact that he had alerted Dr. Merrick about the Brotherhood's presence… that was problematic. In all likelihood, Merrick would keep to himself on the matter, since he was at risk as well, but the fact that Cody had told one of the leaders of the Skitrexian scientific community about the Brotherhood was a huge security breach. There was a chance that they could extend the observation period on him or something worse… That "something worse" would not have crossed her mind if she hadn't known how traumatized he was by the Brotherhood.
No… I won't do it. I'll leave that part out.
That had pretty much become Brooke's mantra in the past few weeks. She wasn't supposed to let herself fall this deep, but she had. Every time there was some sort of physical interaction between Cody and herself, she left that information out of the report. But this time, it was no longer protecting herself, but him as well. The way she saw it, she owed him that much. From her perspective, he was just some guy who got caught in the middle of a situation he wanted nothing to do with, so extending the observation was pointless, while any worse harm that could come his way from the breach would be cruel. Also, it had to do with the fact that the job was no longer fun for her. At first, the deception was sort of like a game. While she liked Cody well enough from the beginning, playing the role of the mole was exciting. But now that she felt this connection with Cody had run too deep for her to enjoy the role anymore. It no longer felt like a rold at all.
Michelle warned me about this.
She knew she shouldn't have let herself get this attached, but now, she was letting Cody think that they had a chance of being something other than just friends with benefits… That wasn't even a farce anymore.
I'm in such deep shit. But as she lay there with him, she almost didn't care.
[Could you hear them well? Or do I need to repeat what they said?]
"No, I heard them…" Heather replied glumly. She was sitting against the wall next to their room's door, pulling her knees against her chest. It was her room too, so she could have gone in, but she didn't. She had heard the conversation and knew that the two of them were having a moment, so she gave them their space. That, and she remembered why she had her Lunatone do her spying for her, as it made her feel like less of a rat.
[So, what now?]
"I don't know…" By the sounds of things, Brooke was off the hook. She seemed genuinely surprised about the fact that the Brotherhood was a little less pristine under a microscope. Then again, maybe it was just an act? But that wasn't upsetting to her, so much as that Cody was letting Brooke in closer. As Cody's friend, she had encouraged it, but also as his friend, she was fearful. She still didn't trust Brooke, regardless of whether or not it was logical to do so.
Maybe it's right about me, she thought, looking up at Crescent, who floated above her. Maybe I'm too emotionally tied to this. Maybe that was the case. She felt as though Jared was slipping away, and now Cody was too. Maybe that was an overreaction on her part, but it was all she could think about.
I won't let that happen. If that means more spying, so be it. But at that point, she knew that the only reason she was still searching was because she wanted to be right.
