Hi again everyone... um.. welcome to Chapter 4! Here is another chapter for you all today, honestly I couldn't think of a good title for this chapter, but I'll keep this title for now until I decide to edit this again later.

We finally get to see a new day in this world and the start of where things will begin to seem more different. Just to clear it up now, I am trying to write a brand new PMD story while keeping the elements of the game I like a lot. The idea for this story was before Sword and Shield came out, so you can probably guess where my setting will be based. Sort of.

I'm going to leave it at that. So here is chapter 4, see you at the bottom.

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'Thoughts'

"Speech"

Dream

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Chapter 4: Impressions & A Proposal

Faces, familiar faces, obscured in light and shadow. A tall girl with a rather sharp bump of hair pouts at him, "Mouu, Shinichi!"

The same girl again looks down at him, she seems much taller now, "Nee Conan-kun?"

He happily replied, "Mmm —nee-chan!"

Like how he couldn't see any faces, he couldn't hear her name. But something told him that she was smiling back at him. Then, the scene changes, his vision becomes blurry and everything around him becomes distorted. It slowly clears up, and he finds himself in the cavern. Right, he was with someone, he wanted to protect someone. He turned his head to see who it was. It was that girl, tears streaming down her face with a terrified expression.

"Shinichi, why? Why did you leave me? Why didn't you protect me?" The girl cries, he tries to reach for her but instead of hands, he sees his blue flippers. The girl looks all around, looking everywhere but his direction until her head seemed to be fixed on one spot. He looks that way and sees the salamander approaching her as she held her hands out trying to get it to stay back. But then, the creature began to morph, long silvery golden hair falls from its head, a black coat seemingly forms onto its body, claws slowly transforming into hands holding out a gun pointed at the girl.

She cries again, "Shinichi! Help!"

The once black salamander was now replaced with a tall man looking dangerously at the girl. No, he can't do that, he can't be here! He had to do something, he couldn't let him fire!

"Shinichi, where are you?" The girl called out desperately, tears streaming down her face as she stared straight at the barrel of the gun.

The man's mouth moved, he didn't hear a single word but it looked liked he mouthed, "Sayonara."

He couldn't move, he needed to go, then heard a voice. Whose was it he didn't know, it was a loud cry that caused him scream!

"No! No! R—!"

He wakes up screaming, he doesn't remember why. He doesn't remember what it was he just saw. Was it a dream or did it really happen? It mattered not for he didn't remember. All that was left was the feeling of fear, of helplessness, of grief. He's soon feels the warm embrace of someone bringing him into a hug, his screams begin to simmer down into whimpering sobs.

"Shhh, it's okay. It's okay. You're safe." This voice, it belonged to Treeko-nii-san. It was soothing and reminded him of a loving parent or sibling. His head rested upon his chest and he calmed down as he heard the steady heart beat of the gecko. He felt comforted, it felt so familiar, like a far off memory he no longer remembered but his heart still knew.

When Treeko no longer heard the whimpers of the little Piplup, he loosened his hug and knelt down at eye level to meet his gaze.

"Bad dream?" Little Pip looked away from him and nodded hesitantly.

"Want to talk about it?" He asked while rubbing the little one's back.

Conan/Shinichi shook his head, "I.. I don't… remember what I dreamed."

Treeko looked at Pip who wasn't looking at him at all, he was a bit skeptical, but decided not to push the matter. If, no, when he was ready, he would talk about it on his own. It had only been a day and somehow he was becoming attached to the young boy. He wasn't usually the type to get too attached to others, especially little children, but with Little Pip, he was growing to care for him. Maybe he saw something similar to himself in the boy. Maybe he was developing brotherly bonds with him. He didn't quite know. All he did know was that, Little Pip was lost and memoryless and he needed to be there for him. That was it.

After Treeko stopped rubbing the boy's back, the two got up without so much as another word to each other. Shinichi/Conan was lost in his thoughts, trying desperately to remember what had terrified him in his dream. This was no night terror where a child wakes up screaming for no absolute reason, it had to be something he forgot that was forcing its way back into his mind. Something like a memory. Yeah, that had to be it. But the more he thought about it, the more his reasonings felt flimsy. He then decides to stop thinking about it and focus on the task of putting on his bowtie and glasses. Treeko grooms himself a little as well before they head out of the sleeping quarters. As they pulled back the curtain covering the entry way, they are greeted to the sight of the Pokémon that had saved them yesterday, Ralts.

"Good morning you two!" Ralts greeted happily.

"Good morning," they both greeted back with a little less enthusiasm.

"If you need to wash up, bathroom is down to the left of this hallway. The mess hall is up on the 2nd floor. Just go walk to the main floor, up the stairs, and go to the right of the open offices, can't miss it."

Shinichi/Conan nods while Treeko-nii-san says thank you to the officer and soon they make their way to the bathroom. Was the small green Pokamon waiting outside because they heard him scream? He decided to just stop thinking and follow the gecko to the bathroom to wash up and be awake for the day. He probably shouldn't have put on his glasses if he was going to splash his face with water. Oh well.

After using the bathroom, which Shinichi/Conan found he had no trouble using in this penguin form - huh, strange - he was now more alert. He then thought about the events from last night. From what he remembered, Treeko-nii-san and he were offered to stay at the temporary sleeping quarters of the station so they could give their statements the next day, or rather today now. How had he gotten here again? He remembered walking and then… Oh yeah, he ended up being carried sometime as they walked, he must have fallen asleep. It felt a little embarrassing to think about being carried and made him feel all the more like a child in need. He was nearly a grown adult being reduced to childish behaviors… huh? Wait, I'm almost an adult?

Before he could ponder on that, the green gecko had grabbed his flipper as they entered a large space which must have the main floor that Ralts was talking about. It was quite a sight, smooth stone white floors mixed with various shiny rocks, egg white walls plastered with many different colored papers, and a ceiling that stretched pretty high. It didn't seemed to be organized and there were a lack of bulletin boards. In this space, there was a single light brown circular wooden desk smack dab in the middle with several Pokémon on each side. Some of the staff were assisting the Pokémon at the desk while others were sitting down looking at some paperworks. Facing the front of the desk, which was to their left, there was a large entrance with tied up red and blue curtains. Sunshine was pouring through the opening making the whole place feel brighter as the light bounced off the reflective stone embedded in the floor. To the right on the back wall, there were two flights of light grey stone stairs. One led up to the next floor, the other lead to the lower level or levels, which he guessed was a basement level where they possibly handle interrogations and questioning sessions. Straight down was another hallway that looked identical to the one they had just exited, maybe it held other temporary quarters or maybe file rooms, he could only guess.

Treeko-nii-san was holding his ha… flipper as they passed the desk and went up the stairs. As they ascended, the chattering and pitter patter of movement became louder and louder. He was greeted to the sight of a sea of desks when they came up, a bunch of Pokémon sitting either filling the paperwork, taking statements, or some other tasks that required their skills. His attention was shifted to the left side of the room, he saw the wall where sea of desks ended, and just directly in front of his view was another hallway identical to the ones downstairs. The only difference was the bronze plaque above the hall that seemed to specify this was for meeting rooms as well as the Chief's office. On the right side was an open mess hall, the destination they were to head. Ralts was right, it wasn't hard to miss. The mess hall had a pale yellow stone floor instead of white, also there were several mahogany wooden tables with matching no back benches. Each table could sit up to 3 to 6 small or medium Pokémon per side. He noted the 3 windows on far right side of the wall and saw a couple of workers in line, the ones who left the window turn around with food in hand. He figured they must have a lunch line system here.

Treeko-nii-san led him over to the line and they waited until it was their turn to claim the food. Once they got to the window, he had shown both badges and they received what looked like two giant apples. Though he was corrected and told that these were "Perfect Apples" and not "Giant Apples." Apparently the difference between the apple types is the taste sensation. A Perfect Apple has some strange ability to appeal to anyone, no matter their flavor preference. It also was enough to satisfy your belly to be completely full. Perfect Apples were truly just that, perfect. It was a mystery how it was possible, but no one ever really questioned it. Once they sat down at an empty table, Shinichi/Conan bit into the apple and fell in love. It really was so perfect, it appealed to his pallet for the mildly sweet and sourish, bitter taste. It kind of reminded him of biting into a lemon pie, one of his favorite treats back home. Now if only he could get some coffee to go with this, then it would be complete. But did they have coffee in this world? If so, did Polkémon drink it? Then again, would that even be good for him since he was a child again… again? There go those strange thoughts, he had a feeling there was more to them than he understood. Well, he wouldn't worry about it right now, he would just relax and enjoy this delicious apple.

As the two enjoyed their treats, they spotted Chief Oricorio coming over to sit at their table. She had some food too, a perfect apple and a couple of big seeds. As soon as she sat down, she greeted them, "Good morning boys!"

"Good morning Chief," they both greeted back.

"I can see you're both as energetic as a dancer itching to try out a new move." She smiled sweetly, but the boys were lost on the her expression. She paid it no mind.

"So," she breathed, "are you both ready to give proper statements about what happened last night?"

"We sure are Chief, though Little Pip may need some assistance since it's first time." Treeko glanced at the little Piplup to which he returned a sour look.

"I don't need help wi…"

"I'm sure you don't." Treeko interrupted rolling his eyes playfully. This earned him a Piplup looking quite miffed, crossing his arms not looking at him as he went, "Hmmph."

The bright red bird Pokémon watched as the two interacted and laughed a bit, they looked back at her puzzled on what she found so funny.

"You know, you two are almost like brothers. It's pretty cute." They both went wide eyed as she giggled at their reactions again.

"Chief… I… I… huh?" Treeko's words felt like they was failing as he tried to come up with a response.

She could only giggle at poor Treeko who was trying so hard to find a rebuttal to her statement. Her gaze shifted to the little Piplup who was looking away while attempting to eat his food. The thoughts form last night came back to her mind and her expression shifted from smiles to seriousness.

"Little Pip," he turned to look her way, "I have been playing it over and over again in my mind, like a dance routine that needs review for each and every step, and I still do not entirely understand."

"Understand what?"

"How did you do it?"

"Huh?"

"Last night, your overall deduction was quite spot on, you noticed things that others missed and pieced together the truth of this case." He titled his head, still not understanding where this conversation was going.

"To put it simply, just who are you child and how could you solve the case so easily?"

Treeko watched as Little Pip begin panic a little. He decided to step in and answer the Chief, "Well… Chief Oricorio, since you brought that up, I guess now's a good a time as any to tell you about his situation." The red bird's head tilted to the side, curious about what Treeko had to say. He continued, "I found him sleeping in the Grassy Meadow, when he woke up he didn't remember a thing. Not about who he was, what kind of Pokémon he was, or anything like that. He didn't even remember his own name."

Chief Oricorio's looked over to the Piplup who was looking down with a troubled look on his face. She brought her wing to her chin and asked, "So he doesn't remember who he is?"

"Not much, though he does remember some things about humans, but that doesn't help since they're all just Clafairy tales."

Conan/Shinichi looked at him in shock. Did Treeko-nii-san really not believe him? I mean, he said what he said earlier when he revealed the truth, but why wasn't he saying everything to the Chief? Then again, it was fair to assume no one else would believe him. If a crea… Pokamon of this world came to Earth and turned human, then claiming it was a Pokamon, they would most likely be seen as crazy and taken away to a mental hospital. Did they have something similar in this world too? Would he be taken away if they found out? He sighed, as much as he reluctant to admit it, the gecko was the only one he could trust right now. If Treeko-nii-san decided to omit some of his words, he'd trust it was for a good reason.

By the time Treeko finished explaining everything else, the chief nodded. "Well, thank you for informing me of this situation Treeko. But now," she turned to Pip, "I want to hear from you."

He looked up a little surprised, "From me? About what?"

"I want to confirm it with you. The things Treeko has said, are they true?"

Conan/Shinichi nods and lowers his head, "Yes Chief-san, it's true. I can't remember anyone from my life before Treeko-nii-san found me. I'd like to believe I have someone out there, but… I don't know anymore. All I have now is whatever he taught me and the stories about humans. Other than that, I remember next to nothing about this world and what to do. I'm just a helpless child right now." He spoke the last part quietly.

He looked so solemn. The red bird's eyes softened, the poor child is really going through a lot. This must have been causing him a lot of pain and confusion. But as much as it was real, her detective instincts kicked in, something wasn't quite adding up. Something was left unsaid which only he knows about but doesn't want to voice. What could it be? The look in his eyes was genuine, he really believed himself to be lost, the emotions were real, but what was it that was off? Maybe it was because of last night. If she didn't know his story, she would have guessed this youngling was either a prodigy or had been exposed to these kinds of dangers since birth. Was he hiding something or did he really not know how he attained such skill? He was such an enigma, a paradox of a young child with experience beyond his age. There was just something about the little water type, something she saw in him that excited her. So she decided to ask him a question, "Piplup,"

"Ye... yes?" He answered hesitantly to this name.

"Do you like solving mysteries?"

Shinichi/Conan blinked. Huh? Now mind you, if he were his original self, his answer would have been absolutely yes, also adding his reasons why he enjoyed them. But he isn't right now, and he doesn't remember, so this is how he responded.

"To be honest, I think before my memories were lost, I probably enjoyed a good mystery. Last night is the only experience I can draw from, and from the way it went, I would say it's the only proof of my enjoyment for mystery solving."

"I see." She mused. "You know, there's just something about you Pip, something I just can't ignore."

Both boys were lost, but Treeko was the one who asked, "Huh? What are you saying, Chief?"

"I want to do something that is unheard of, but I feel confident to do it."

"Huh?"

"Young Piplup, I want to train you."

"What? (Eh?)"

"I want to mentor you."

"Eh?!"

"I see a potential in you, your skills and abilities to solve cases are on par with those in the field already. It won't be permanent, only until we find your family. But given your kind are quite proud, I'm sure they'll be impressed to have a son of theirs do a grown Pokémon's job so soon."

Shinichi/Conan and Treeko were shocked, still trying to grasp what Chief Oricorio was saying. Though Treeko knew, the look in her eyes was one filled with determination and drive.

"You're serious." Treeko stated, it wasn't a question.

"I am." Chief Oricorio nodded.

"But he's just a ch…"

Some of the officers called out to the chief interrupting what Treeko was trying to say. She waved for them to wait.

"Well, it looks like I'm needed. Treeko, after you and Pip here are finished with your statements, I want you both to come meet me in the office. Hopefully by then, I'll have talked with my sisters about keeping an eye out for any parents or party missing Pip here."

Treeko nodded, "Yes Chief."

"Well, I hope you'll think about what I said. I'll see you later in the office boys."

"Yes Chief." Both boys responded back.

The Chief left walking to the officer calling her while quickly finishing off the last of her seeds, meanwhile both boys watched her go. They were quiet, thinking about different things. Treeko was concerned, sure "Little Pip" was bright and even showed he had a knack for deduction shows, but he was just a child. A lost child with not a memory that he could confidently call his own. He was worried that this child was being pulled into something a little more than he could handle. Even without memories, he wasn't even aware of what the world had to offer. When did he grow so attached? When did he begin to care? How fast had he grown attached to this little mystery with a strange idea about being a human.

As for Shinichi/Conan, he was thinking about what was just brought up by the Chief. According to her, he had great skill and talent in the world of mysteries. He could find clues and piece them together to find the truth. But as Treeko was trying to say before being cut off, in their eyes, he was a child. He was inexperienced, didn't know about this world, and pretty much defenseless. Earlier he had only said he was helpless to agree with Treeko's words, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized, it was correct. This new world was nothing like the one he came from. Sure, the basics of society match up with how small towns would be run, but the different creatures… er… PokÉmon, typing, attacks, abilities, this was all going over his head. It was becoming too much. What was this? Some grand adventure RPG mystery series? He was barely great at the video games the Shounen Tantei Dan gave him, practicing hours into the night attempting to pass the first stage or gain experience for the next level. Huh? Shounen Tantei Dan? Who are they? A name but not faces, just how many of these loose memory slips did he need to organize? He really needed a notebook. Looking at his flippers, he wondered if he'd be able to write. Holding things didn't seem to be a problem, but could he still write?

Treeko looked over to Little Pip, as he was examining his flippers. He looked puzzled, face all scrunched up as he was thinking hard about something. Was he seriously thinking about the offer or something else? The little blue penguin's head suddenly looked up and turned to him, eyes wide with curiosity as he made eye contact. Treeko could only smile, and petted his head rather roughly. He got annoyed and they looked away from each other and went back to finish the last of their meal. They both thought, whatever happens, they would just take this in strides. They'll worry about this matter when the time comes to meet the Chief.

TBC

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So what did you think? I really just went with the flow this time while creating the new chapter. So let's go over a few things, just in case:

The dream from earlier is our little Meitantei's vision in the cave as well as a bit of his fears resurfacing when he failed to be a protector. At that moment, he no longer saw the little Pokémon he was with but someone else. Somewhere deep inside, he still remembers that he needs to be on guard, he needed to protect someone in that moment. It's a good thing Treeko was there to comfort him and calm him down.

Now for the rest, we finally got to see the station. I don't really know what they look like so I took a bit of inspiration from DC Episodes and maybe also used a similar design to Zootopia's main floor. Just a little. Hopefully it made sense.

Chief Oricorio as you can tell, she likes to jump ahead at times. Last chapter with her punishment and this chapter with her proposal. Treeko is really becoming concerned for Pip's wellbeing as well as his need to know things to simply make it out there. This proposal could be reckless and well, there is just a lot to consider. As for Conan/Shinichi, he's having a couple more memories slip through as well as having some doubts about him and mystery solving. It's not that he doesn't like it, he just feels he doesn't have enough evidence to be absolutely sure. Enjoying mysteries and stories are one thing, but solving them, he wasn't sure. As it is in Ch 1, he remembers mystery literature, but cases he solved, those will come back slowly like last Ch. Another thing to add to the list of problems in this new world.

One other thing to add, Conan/Shinichi isn't using Treeko's first name yet, it's more out of respect since he doesn't know him well yet and because I don't have a name for him. xD I'm sticking to Pokémon names unless they personally get to know each other or will be a reoccurring character. Doing my best to use honorifics since I think that is something that would come naturally for him.

This note got longer than I thought. Before I forget, thank you to those that followed the story and hope you enjoyed this and what's to come! That's all for now... well... Thank-Q for reading and I'll see you for the next chapter!

Posted Chapter: 07.16.2021