"Promise me you will take care of Topa," Agnes said. "I give you permission to ignore Mother's rules. You shouldn't be forbidden from loving your pokemon."

She and Melissa had spent a few minutes talking, mostly about what life would be like for them now that Agnes was moving out. My human had been embracing her little sister the whole time, and I had jumped down to cuddle with Topa, who had not stopped grooming me. We hadn't had a chance to talk yet, not wanting to make noise while the two siblings were having a moment, and figuring we could another time.

I had dearly missed Topa's embrace, more so than I had missed Agnes's – her smell, the softness of her fur, the fluff of her tails. Her presence in general. The way she had immediately wrapped herself around me and spent a few seconds just sniffing at me indicated she too had missed me and my smell – unless she was simply smelling what odours I had picked up from Belish's house – and her large smile and wagging tails showed she was happy to finally see me again – as did mine.

"I promise," Melissa said. "Agnes, I don't want you to leave. You're angry with Mom and Dad but they will get better."

"No, they won't. I can't explain why to you yet, you'll have to grow up first. There are things – bad things – that you will find out and I don't want to burden you with yet."

"Then let me move in with you."

Agnes chuckled, then groaned in pain. "Melissa, I can't take care of you. Who will cook for you? Take care of you in the morning? Drive you to school? I'm not getting out of the hospital on my own two legs, that's for sure. I don't know if I will ever walk again."

"Take a handmaiden or two with you. We can't keep Ruby and Topa apart. Topa's sad."

The two humans peered at us cuddling on the floor. Melissa's eyes wavered in sorrow, but Agnes had a faint, almost comforting smile.

"You can visit me every weekend," she said. "Maybe even stop by after school. Topa can visit Ruby any time."

"I want to be with you."

Agnes embraced her sister. "I know. But we can't."

She kissed Melissa on the head and kept her in her arms until the small human finally freed herself of her sister's loving embrace.

"I'll keep your address secret," Melissa said. "And I'll visit you every day. And when you're better I'll move in with you."

"Okay," Agnes chuckled. "You go, now. The parents are waiting for you."

The young girl nodded, sniffing loudly, and kissed her sister on the head before rushing out. She had to hail Topa for her to follow, as the ninetales refused to break from her cuddle with me, and I let her go with a whimper. There would be no conversation for us that day – possibly forever.

The Saturday that followed, as promised, Doctor Belish and the police commissioner stood by Agnes's bed, wearing their full uniforms together with their impressive lineups of medals, both holding their hats in their hands by their hearts. Ilma sat by her trainer's right leg, slightly behind him, and the commissioner had, to my surprise, his talonflame with him, perched on his shoulder in absolute silence.

I laid against my trainer's side, her arm gently wrapped around me.

"Doctor Belish, Sir," Agnes said from her bed. "Forgive me for not standing."

"It would be criminal of us to ask you to," the commissioner replied with a large smile. "How are you feeling?"

Agnes shrugged. "I'm fine, considering. My entire body hurts, I have trouble breathing, I can hardly move, but, you know. I'm alive." She tightened her hold of me. "I have Ruby to thank for that."

"And you have us to blame for being in this situation."

"I don't think so. It was my decisions that led to all this. My inability to bond with my pokemon."

She coughed again, letting me go to hold a hand over her mouth and push the cannula into her nose so it wouldn't be shot out, then groaned and whimpered in pain as her arms returned to me.

"Let's get to the point," she said in a rale.

The commissioner nodded and pulled a small machine with a grid facing us and a few buttons on its side – probably a recording device. "Right. So, tell us what happened. Just what happened for now – you can give us your theories later. You have a theory, don't you?"

Agnes let out a deep sigh and began petting me, nodding without looking at her superiors. "When we made it to the edge of the Gloss Forest, Ruby immediately began behaving weirdly. She would smell things very intently, but she said she hadn't picked up any scents, and kept shaking her head when I asked her. I think I know what she was trying to tell me."

"After," Belish ordered.

Ilma and I nodded slowly. If Agnes had finally understood the lack of scents, it would be the greatest clue we had found so far. The humans needed to know.

"She showed me her progress on telekinesis while we were having a short lunch break, and we continued. I could tell she was nervous. Maybe even scared. She would peek at the forest regularly and kept her nose by the dirt. She kept that up until nightfall, and then she stopped and sniffed at the air. She was panicked."

Agnes and I shuddered in unison as images returned to me – and probably to her – the lack of smell that I remembered making me choke. She pulled me up to lay me on her chest and began petting me with a reassuring but trembling hand.

Agnes's voice wavered as she continued. "Then, there was a smell of rot. It was so bad I nearly vomited. And a giant white hand floated from the Gloss Forest."

"Excuse me?" the commissioner said. "A… giant white hand?"

Agnes nodded. "It was an illusion, of course, but I had no idea at the time. It was…" she shuddered again, and tears began falling from her eyes. "It was horrible. A giant severed hand, as tall as me, rotting and bleeding, with red nails so long and so sharp they looked like claws. And it floated there by the trees. It had no eyes but I could tell it was looking at us. And then, something wet touched me, and I was paralysed. It was a haunter."

Belish and the commissioner peered at each other with concerned frowns.

"You were attacked by a haunter?"

"Yes," Agnes whispered, her voice breaking.

She began sobbing and sniffing loudly, holding me against her as she could. I turned my head to the side with the intent to lick her cheek, but refrained, and put my head on her neck instead, wrapping myself around her as I could. By our sides, the two policemen remained perfectly silent, respecting Agnes's grief and trauma.

"There were voices," she continued through her tears. "Human voices. More haunter appeared and Ruby and I fought them off, until the men showed themselves. They wore long white robes similar to that of the old cleric order, and black masks. I couldn't see their faces. One of them gagged me so I couldn't keep assisting Ruby. They" – her body was shaken by a powerful sob – "they talked about killing her. And then…"

Her eyes lost in the great unknowns of her memory, she remained silent for several seconds, perfectly still as she stared at things in front of her that only she could see. All of us looked at her, but I was the only one displaying a worried frown – Belish and the commissioner had respectfully expectant stares.

Then, she broke into tears.

She covered her face with her hands, wailing loudly, and freed herself from me to flop into a fetal position on her side, her legs seizing as she hunched up on her stomach.

"It hurts," she cried. "It hurts."

Confused and worried, I hopped over her to see her again, and dug into her arms still covering her to frantically poke her with my head. Her hands liberated her face, palpating my back as if she were blind, until they found my side and she pulled me against her.

She wept into my flank for several minutes, her right hand on my other side to keep me against her and her left one running along my back to soothe herself, with me licking her hair in an attempt to comfort her as she repeated the same phrase in an irregular pattern.

Belish and the commissioner stood in silence, heads down. When I peered at them in search for help, they leered at each other with stares that were meaningful only to them. I didn't know what they were wordlessly agreeing on – I needed help to pull Agnes out of her crisis.

Once she stopped crying, it took her another few minutes to return to her neutral position, keeping me held against her, but gently turning down my attempts to continue comforting her. Yet, her sniffing and sobbing didn't stop – but they no longer stopped her from speaking.

"They talked about a lab and experiments," she whispered, wiping her tears. "One of the haunter used a real version of Shadow Claw to gut me. Ruby tried to burn them, but she was knocked out when I fell. I saw mist and…"

Her voice trailed off, but she didn't finish her sentence, her eyes lost looking for something that existed only in her mind. There was a silence.

"So the attacks have been orchestrated by a group of men," the commissioner said. "They are using haunter to kill fire-type pokemon, and are performing some unknown experiments, I assume on the bodies."

"That is what I gathered, yes. And, now that I know how important the sense of smell is to animals, I think I know what Ruby noticed."

"What do you mean?"

Her eyes wandered across the room, and locked on me. "The way Ruby behaved," she whispered. "She was frantic. Lost. I wasn't wrong when I said she hadn't picked up any scents, but not in the way I meant. I think she was not smelling anything at all."

My eyes widened, and I stood violently, barking with energy, my tails wagging enthusiastically. Belish peered at Ilma, who nodded gravely.

"It seems you understood correctly," he said. "So there were no scents in the forest at all?"

His question was towards me, and I nodded rapidly.

"What about the bodies? Same thing?"

I nodded again.

"I think it makes sense," Agnes said, her voice still exhausted from crying. "The white hand was an illusion. We know that Ghost-type pokemon can create illusions, they're probably responsible for the ghost stories that surround the Glossy Hills. Maybe even for the lights." I barked loudly and shook my head. "No? Either way, if they can play with a person's vision, why could they not also play with their other senses? That would explain why the clerics are using haunter. They're predators, so they can kill their targets, and with the power to modify senses, they can perfectly cover their traces. That's why they've been impossible to catch."

"This all makes a lot of sense," Belish said. "The discovery that Ghost-type pokemon may be able to toy with all senses is… concerning. We will submit this to the pokemon research centre for review. In your name."

"I don't know if it should be in my name," Agnes said.

"Why not? You made that hypothesis."

"Circumstances."

There was another silence. Agnes wiped her tears again, then brought me against her to lay her cheek against me. I pushed my head against her ear, causing her to giggle softly.

"This is bad," the commissioner said. "Based on what you are saying, we are not facing a lone serial killer, but an organised group. One that, somehow, knew haunter could manipulate senses before our scientists did. We are at a great disadvantage when it comes to information. We know nothing of them, but they know everything of us."

"How did scientists not know that?" Agnes asked. "Were there never any experiments on the powers of haunter?"

"No," Belish said. "It is outlawed to experiment on humans and pokemon, even harmless tests. There was no way this could have been verified. And haunter is not a legal pokemon to have, so we can't just ask trainers either."

Not legal? Why would some pokemon not be legal to own? Endangered species, maybe? Then, why would haunter be illegal?

The commissioner nodded. "Then, we are left with a few more questions. Who these people are, what their goal is, and why they target fire-type police pokemon."

I barked again, gathering attention to myself, and froze. How could I communicate my own conclusions? I had an answer for that last question – at the very least an hypothesis.

I turned my head to Ilma. "Ilma, I know why they target specific sorts of pokemon?"

She frowned. "Why?"

"It's our powers. The lights in the forest, they are the Will-O-Wisp move. It undoes the powers of ghost pokemon. That's why they target us, so that we don't reveal them."

"Do you know it?"

I shook my head. "No. How do I tell them?"

"Use your powers. Agnes will know."

It took me a few seconds of reflection to figure out what to do. I gently extracted myself from Agnes's comfortable embrace and jumped to the floor, rushing towards the bathroom of her hospital room to pick up some toilet paper which I brought her. She held it with a confused frown, allowing me to pick a sheet off of it, which I deposited onto the ground, away from everyone and everything.

I took a step back, thinking. My vision turned blue again, but instead of flicking my power at the paper, I sneaked it under the sheet, then threw real fire towards it as I jolted it upwards. The paper caught on fire as it flew into the air, and my focus shifted to the aura surrounding my body, which I pierced with several holes, pouring power through them and covering myself in unfire.

The humans watched me work with bewilderment.

"I did not know Ruby knew Flame Charge," Belish said.

"No," Agnes said. "That's not what she's saying. She's showing all her powers. The fire, telekinesis, Flame Charge. It's something related to her powers. Is that why these men target fire-types? Because of their powers?"

I nodded again, then frowned, and shook my head with one single bark.

"Because of one power?" Agnes asked. I nodded. "Can you show us?"

I shook my head, blushing in shame.

"She can't use it," she concluded.

"Your communication with your pokemon has improved drastically," Doctor Belish said. "For all the bad it's done, this trip was successful."

"It was needed," Agnes said. "We could not have found all this information without it."

"I will submit a request to the general of armies to have a military lockdown of the forest," the commissioner said. "And a request for scientists to study the powers of Ghost-type pokemon for the sake of this investigation."

Agnes sat up as she could with a loud groan. "Wait," she said. "Lockdown? My parents' mansion is within the boundaries of the forest."

"Then I fear their mansion is no longer safe to live in. I will personally contact them to let them know."

Agnes paled, eyes wide as she stared at the commissioner. She gave a hint of opening her mouth several times, but never said anything, and her stare wandered with distress around the room. Although I jumped back on the bed to lay on her and offer her comfort, she didn't move.

"Will my family be safe?" she asked. "They were here just a few minutes ago."

"They haven't left," the commissioner replied. "I asked them to stay, I wanted to question them on their decision to disown you. Cinder, would you be so kind as to fetch them?"

The large talonflame turned its noble head towards his trainer and nodded. He flew onto Belish's raised arm, who accompanied him and opened the door for him, then took off, manoeuvring with surprising ease in the narrow corridors in which he barely fit.

"Sir, I can't see them again. I just told them I wanted them out of my life."

The commissioner leered at Agnes with a frown between confusion and disapproval, then raised his head, looking down on her with authoritative disdain.

"You will have to suffer them this once more," he said in a tone that made it clear he was giving her an order.

"Yes, sir."

As we were waiting for her family to return, Ilma walked towards her and jumped on her bed, sniffing the sheets and sneaking under them to look at the bandage. She said nothing of what she was doing, even when I inquired, and eventually walked up to Agnes's head, who shyly gave her a few pets, avoiding her damaged fin. I glared at her with envy, but she snickered in my direction and hopped down, and Agnes pulled me over to pet me.

Melissa walked in first, then ran towards her sister – only to stop abruptly, intimidated by the two soldiers in uniform. The large talonflame waddled into the room, then flew back onto his trainer's shoulder.

"Come here," Agnes said.

She waved her arms and Melissa calmly walked into them as her parents entered, but were kept away by the commissioner.

"Doctor Belish," Sir said with a respectful nod. "What is the meaning of this? Why have we been summoned back?"

"There have been developments," the commissioner said in a sharp tone. "Your mansion is located within the boundaries of the Gloss Forest, isn't it?"

"It is, yes. We bought it at an auction many years ago, before Agnes was born."

"We we will be closing down the forest for good. It is no longer safe to live in. You and your family are required to move."

Sir didn't reply. Melissa stared at the two policemen with fear, and huddled up into Agnes's arms. Topa ran to her, standing by her feet and keeping her tails in contact with the young girl's legs, as Sir and Madam peered at each other with confusion.

"You can't just remove us from our home," she said.

The commissioner glared at her. "I can. The area is not safe. I will have the military close the forest. Nobody will be allowed in unless by my executive order."

Sir moved to the side to hold his wife, who jolted in surprise. "Understood, Commissioner. We own several other houses through the country, we will move to another one."

Madam peered at her husband in shock. "But…"

"How long do we have to move out?" Sir interrupted.

His wife gulped from the dryness of his tone, and gave him a servile nod without trying to contest anymore.

"About a week," the commissioner replied.

"Sir," Melissa said. "What about Agnes? Where will she live?"

"I understand Agnes was in the process of purchasing an apartment?"

"Yes," she groaned. "I just need to call."

"Then it's settled. She will move into the apartment, and you and your parents will move to whatever residence they choose. Given that Agnes is not currently operational and will remain in the hospital for an unknown amount of time, police will handle moving her effects for her."

"Melissa knows my room," Agnes groaned. "She can guide them."

I barked loudly to catch everyone's attention, then began whining, my eyes locked on Topa. The ninetales mirrored my whimpering and stood to be able to lick me.

"We can't separate them," Melissa said. "Topa takes care of Ruby. She will be sad."

"I'm afraid there is no choice," the commissioner replied. "You must be kept away from the woods for your safety. Your ninetales can keep you safe."

Our whimpering only increased in intensity at the news, and I couldn't stop myself from beginning to cry.

I didn't want to be separated from Topa for good. She was far too important for me – and her whining in unison with me indicated she felt the same way. We had gone through too much together. She would fall back into depression. Why could Melissa not move in with Agnes and a few maids? Why could they not move somewhere close in the town?

Agnes patted her sister's head as well as Topa's. "It's all right. This is only temporary until we catch the killers. You need to go with them, you will be safe. Topa, please don't be sad. You will be with Ruby too eventually. It's just for some time."

The ninetales vigorously shook her head, then turned to Melissa with another whimper.

"You want to stay with Ruby, don't you?" the young girl asked.

Topa nodded slowly, and Melissa lowered her head, deep in thought.

"Then I give Topa to Agnes," she finally announced.

Madam finally broke out of her silence to shout, "What?"

"I give Topa to Agnes," Melissa repeated. "I won't need to be protected if we move away. Agnes does. And we can't keep Ruby and Topa away from each other."

"Topa is your pokemon," Madam insisted. "You can't just abandon her."

Agnes glared at her, and Melissa turned around, challenging her mother's gaze.

"I am not abandoning her. This is for her sake, and for Agnes's sake." She turned to the policemen. "Since I own Topa, I am allowed to give her to my sister, right?"

"Indeed," Doctor Belish said, repressing an amused smile. "It takes very little paperwork to do. I can have a policeman give you the papers and guide you through them."

"That is very noble of you," Sir said. "Are you sure you want to give Topa to Agnes? You won't have your pokemon anymore."

"If I don't, then Topa won't have Ruby anymore," Melissa said. "I was never a good trainer for her anyway, right? That's what I learnt from Agnes and Ruby. But now they're friends. Topa deserves a friend, too. One better than me."

A tear fell from her eye, and she gave the ninetales a genuine but distressed smile. Agnes kissed her sister on the head, but didn't try to talk her out of her idea, and nodded proudly towards her instead. Front paws on the bed, Topa stared alternatively at Melissa and me, confused and lost.

"Topa," Melissa said. The ninetales snapped her gaze to her trainer. "I give you to Agnes, okay? Keep her safe. Keep Ruby safe, too."

Topa nodded, and Melissa held her cheeks to give her a long kiss on the head, then abruptly broke away and walked back to her parents, sniffing.

"It is settled, then," the commissioner said. He turned to Agnes's parents. "I need to talk to you two. Doctor Belish, I will entrust you with overseeing the moving of Agnes's belongings to her new apartment."

"Sure. I suppose we can have her backpack returned to her now that she's out of danger."

The commissioner nodded, then walked out of the room, Agnes's family in tow. Melissa shot one last desperate glance at Topa, then a smile, and disappeared into the corridor.

Belish turned to my human. "Between us, Agnes, I would like you to see a therapist. I can get you in contact with one of the army's psychiatrists. They are trained to deal with… that sort of thing."

"Please do," Agnes whispered. "What will happen to me now?"

"From what your doctor said, you should make a good recovery. You should be able to walk without issues eventually, but you will be weak for months if not years, and you will be sore for the rest of your life."

"But… my projects?"

"Given your predicament, I don't think we can accept your application for SWAT anymore. Your health no longer permits it. You will have to fall back to your second choice, but given your contribution to this investigation already, I think you will have a great career as a detective."

"I see," Agnes whispered, unable to hide her disappointment. "Will I still be promoted to sergeant once I graduate?"

Doctor Belish nodded. "Of course. You remain part of the military since you will still be a police officer, and as far as I can tell, you are still female" – Agnes chuckled with amusement, then groaned, tensing up –"so you will still have the default rank for women. You now have two pokemon, though. Do you want to bring Topa to your classes as well?"

The ninetales vigorously shook her head.

"She doesn't want to," Agnes said. "So no."

"Fair."

Ilma walked up to Topa and stared at her as the ninetales removed her paws from the bed and stared back.

"Shame," the vaporeon said. "I can tell you're strong. You would have made a fine addition to police ranks."

"I have no interest in serving police," Topa said. "All I want is to care for Ruby, and now for Agnes as well."

"Noble. I can understand that. I would very much like to spar with you one day."

"When time permits."

Ilma smiled wholeheartedly, then turned around and heeled her trainer as he too turned around to leave.

"Doctor," Agnes said.

Belish stopped and looked back. "Yes?"

"Is it possible to dream while in a coma?"

The doctor raised his eyes for a second, thoughtful. "Yes. A lot of coma patients report having extremely vivid dreams while unconscious. Some even report being unable to tell the dream apart from reality. Why?"

"I had a… strange dream."

"Something to discuss with your therapist, I suppose."

Agnes looked around the room, then nodded without a word, and Belish left the room, leaving her alone with us two pokemon – soon her two pokemon.