"Woah! That building is huge!" Chiluly marveled, pointing up at the spiraling towers that had once been Queen Perry's grand home.

Chevali noted them with mild disinterest. The towers of the Champion's Road were just as tall and twice as elegant; it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.

"Oh, yes! That's the castle!" their Sawsbuck guide, Hawthorne, piped up. "It's magnificent, isn't it? I can see it from my home, in the forest."

"Wow! That reminds me of the human city I live by. When the desert's clear, you can see the skyscrapers," Chiluly said as their chatter continued.

The constant talking was beginning to grind on his nerves. He was too used to serene silence in secluded mountains, the quiet only broken by him and Shao's quiet conversations and the trickle of water through the natural springs.

"Patience, Chevalier."

He let the words echo through his head until his annoyance dissipated, then turned his thoughts instead to the other pair of Pokémon trailing behind him. Even their presence was causing heads to turn around them.

Ghosts were not a common sight in such bustling, public areas. They were known for being rather reclusive and avoidant of such well-populated areas, so the appearance of a Chandelure and a Cofagrigus, no less, was probably quite startling to most of the townspeople. Unlike the pair in front of him, the Ghosts had barely said a word, though Chevali had caught murmurs of conversation passing between them every once in a while.

Despite their claims they were there to apprehend the murderer as well, something about Pharaoh made Chevali wary. He decided he needed to keep an eye on both of them.

Their pace slowed as Hawthorne broke away from the group to talk to a nearby vendor.

Chevali frowned inwardly. Is now really the time for socializing?

His concentration broke when Chiluly elbowed his other side, almost making him jump.

"So, whaddya think of all this?"

He considered a couple responses before finally landing on "Don't touch me."

She snorted and pulled away. "Somebody's prickly."

Chevali found that rather ironic, but chose not to comment.

"Hey, why'd we stop?" asked Burnout, who had floated up behind them while they'd been bickering.

"Hawthorne's talking to someone," Chiluly answered before Chevali could.

"Oh. Maybe he's getting directions?"

"I thought he lived here," rumbled Pharaoh in an annoyed tone.

"No, he lives in a little house outside town. He told me," Chiluly argued, puffing out her chest as if having the knowledge of Hawthorne's home gave her some sort of upper hand.

"It doesn't matter. He's coming back," Chevali said shortly, breaking the tension.

They all turned to see Hawthorne trotting towards them.

"Everybody is so nice here!" he said cheerfully, flicking his tail. "We need to head this way. Perry's advisor is still in the castle. I think she can give us more information."

They settled into their unofficial formation, with Hawthorne and Chiluly at the front, Chevali in the middle and the ghosts bringing up the rear, and headed for the massive doors.

Up close, Chevali had to admit the castle's architecture was impressive. It encaptured movement in a fascinating way, elaborate carvings and patterns moving upwards, guiding one's eyes up to the flowing pennants at the top of the towers, which were equally as impressive. The two Braviary sentries glared down at them as they passed, but made no move to stop their advance.

"They just allow commoners to waltz into the palace?" asked Pharaoh, slightly miffed.

Hawthorne dropped back to talk to them. "Yes! The Queen always made sure to make us understand that her city is our city. The first three floors of the castle are open to the public, to observe rare artifacts or socialize, or- oh, there's even a couple of restaurants in there! There's a lot of stuff to do. I've only been in once!" he told them.

Pharaoh still seemed unimpressed.

A startling thought rose to Chevali's mind. Was Pharaoh, perhaps, the ghost of a royal creature? Maybe he had once been a prince or a king. That would explain the gold plating and the jeweled staffs and the general disdain for almost everybody. It was nothing more than a theory, but he wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being the truth.

"How many floors are there, then? Where does- did- the Queen live?" asked Burnout.

"There are five floors, but the top one is the open air balconies and such. Perry lived on the fourth floor," Hawthorne answered.

Personally, Chevali didn't think it was a terrible way to rule a kingdom, if they could even call it such. Forming a bond of trust with the citizens, even if indirectly, was probably a fairly successful way to rise to and keep a steady hold on your power. And seeing the grief that overwhelmed the community, it had worked very well for her.

But perhaps it had allowed for weakness, as well. A chink in the armor. Had the murderer snuck in through the castle without ever having to actually break into anywhere? The more he learned, the more the situation interested him.

He probably could have changed his plan and spent the next few months in this city conducting investigations if he hadn't agreed to accompany this ragtag group. He had a feeling that he shouldn't desert them. Considering their current demonstration of teamwork, he didn't trust any of them to be able to fight their way out alone if they ran into trouble.

The cleanly paved courtyard gave way into polished gray-lavender tiles as they crossed the courtyard into the towering palace itself. It was buzzing with Pokemon, which Chevali assumed was normal, but the energy seemed quiet and subdued. Many were standing silently, holding bouquets of flowers or speaking to each other in hushed voices. The sadness blanketed them like a thick, silent layer of snow.

Chevali noticed Hawthorne's neck lower as they made their way across the floor, as if the grief was clinging to his fur and weighing him down. Even Chiluly seemed subdued. Chevali dipped his head slightly, feeling it was better to show even a shallow sense of understanding rather than parade in as if nothing was wrong.

He watched their surroundings with shaded eyes. The walls were framed with regal windows reaching from ceiling to floor, broken only by a spiral staircase on the left wall with a rope across the entryway. At the far end of the hall, which was the direction they were headed in, there was what appeared to be a reception desk. To the left, a massive doorway led into what appeared to be a ballroom, though it was blocked off just like the stairwell. The frivolity of castle dwellers never ceased to entertain him.

It was a thought in terrible taste, considering Perry was dead, but he briefly wondered what the queen would have done if she and Chevali swapped places. He lived at the top of the Champion's Road, a completely natural area with none of the hustle and bustle of this too-crowded city. Up there, almost nobody clung to material possessions, and even if they did, there was nowhere to keep clutter. He quickly dismissed the thought, no matter how interesting it was and returned to his observations.

To the right of the desk was a much more modestly carved doorway. The door itself, despite being quite soundly attached to its hinges, was flying back and forth as if it were one of a revolving fashion.

The one causing the flurry of movement was a short Audino with a soft-looking face, greeting guests at the desk and then running to gather files or supplies of some sort from the room.

Hawthorne seemed to notice her at the same moment Chevali did and said, "I think that's who we're looking for."

The other members of the group, driven by curiosity and anticipation, pushed forward, eager for a distraction from the somber atmosphere.

They idled in the line for a few minutes, but it cleared away suspiciously fast when the other visitors glanced back and noticed a pair of rather intimidating-looking ghosts floating behind them. It wasn't a kind of day where you wanted to risk getting your soul stolen. Burnout seemed mildly embarrassed by the sudden clearout, but Pharaoh didn't even spare a glance at the anxious passersby.

His aloof attitude grated on Chevali like nails on a chalkboard. Humiliation was one of the best virtues, learned from the very beginning of training on the Champion's Road. Never assume yourself better than your, no matter how weak they appeared. Overconfidence was a curse that would only weigh you down, and eventually be your undoing.

As they reached the desk, Hawthorne came to a halt and waited patiently, as the Audino had disappeared into the backroom again.

Chiluly, who barely came up to the counter, craned her neck to see over.

The group waited in awkward silence for a minute before the door swung open again and the stout figure hurried back to the desk as quickly as her little legs could take her.

"Hello, hello! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting!" she greeted without a second glance at her curious group of customers. "I know these are times of great grief and turmoil, but please be assured we are working out the best ways to keep the community safe as we speak," she rattled off breathlessly, sounding like she'd given this speech a hundred times already this morning. She probably had. "We have forms to fill out here, if you need renewals on door locks, window latches or other safety devices, otherwise there are-"

"Um, excuse me?" Chiluly cut in, causing the Audino to freeze mid-sentence and stare down at her with vacant eyes. "We're not here for door locks. We were wondering if you could give us more information on Perry's murder."

The Audino blinked at her, then glanced up at the rest of the group, and Chevali could practically see the surprise traveling through her body until it finally reached her head. For a moment, he thought she might turn and run, but instead she gave them a wide smile.

"Ah, yes! You must be bounty hunters! Thank goodness, not a single Pokemon has come by asking about that yet. Our 'police' force of sorts is very limited, as we're not used to such disasters, so we need to rely on outside help…"

She brushed the papers on the counter into a neat stack and hopped away from the desk, beckoning them towards the room on the right. "Come, come! I can tell you what we know."
Judging from the size of the doorway, Chevali would have assumed their entire group wouldn't fit in the room, but surprisingly, it was deceivingly spacious on the inside.

Moving single file, they carefully maneuvered around jumbled and scattered stacks of papers and into the center of the room, where the Audino turned and clasped her paws together.

"It is a pleasure to meet you! My name is Amelia Newtstrison, though that's quite a mouthful, so my friends call me Noot."

Chevali caught Chiluly's mouth curl up into a smile, as if she found it amusing, but he found it rather interesting when looking past the silly nickname. He had met very few Pokemon with two names. He wondered if it had something to do with her background in the royal castle.

"Queen Perry was… a very good friend of mine. I was her closest advisor, actually, and so I am thoroughly heartbroken to see her gone," she continued, lowering her eyes.

The sadness around her was almost palpable, just like it had been out in the hall.

"However!" she said suddenly, making Chevali blink at the sudden change in atmosphere. "I am confident in our kingdom's ability to bring her to justice, starting with catching the malicious fiend who ended her."

"So, do you know anything about this killer?" Hawthorne prompted, pawing at the ground absent-mindedly.

Noot frowned and twisted a paw around the fur dangling from one of her ears. "Unfortunately, not much. But we're not completely in the dark either," she amended thoughtfully.

Chevali wished she would just get on with it and refrained from sighing. Standing in this musty room was already grating on his patience enough.

"I can tell you this: I believe it may have been an old friend of Perry's- although, obviously not a friend anymore."

"You think the Queen had enemies?" Hawthorne asked in awe, though it was tinged with concern.

"Everybody has enemies," Pharaoh answered gruffly. "It doesn't mean they committed bad deeds. It just means that somebody out there is jealous of what you have."

For once, Chevali agreed with something the spirit said. It was merely the truth.

Hawthorne frowned and stared at the floor, sinking into his own thoughts.

Noot nodded in approval. "Exactly. Some friends are not always who you think they are, yes?"

That briefly made Chevali wonder if any of the acquaintances he'd made today had a secret agenda, but he found it hard to believe Chiluly or Hawthorne would do something so underhanded.

The ghosts, on the other hand…

"The only other knowledge we have right now is that we believe the culprit fled into human territory to avoid prosecution. If you want to head that way, I would be happy to point you in the right direction."

That sent murmurs through the group. Human territory could possibly be dangerous; Pokemon within their borders were captured and trained to fight, and Chevali did not want to be imprisoned by some lazy human. Though, he assumed he would be able to fight off any that so much as looked in direction.

Or maybe not. Modesty is the best policy.

Once the muttering had died down, Burnout piped up, "Anything else?"

"Well…" Noot hesitated, then frowned and shook her head, making her fluffy ears flap from side to side. "Unfortunately, no. But I appreciate all of yours willingness to help us in our search."

Hawthorne, who's eyes had been bright and hopeful when they'd entered the castle, dulled with disappointment.

"What's wrong?" Chiluly asked him, noticing the change immediately.

He rolled his shoulders back and sighed. "We've got a whole world to search and so little information? How are we ever going to find them?"

Chevali felt the sudden urge to console him. He had had his fair share of desolate moments, and it was never something enjoyable to endure without support.

"Think of this way, Hawthorne," he offered. "We only have so little information for now. We still have to travel through a fair amount of untamed land, so we can stop and try to get more information from other towns. Who knows? Maybe this murderer is leaving a trail of destruction that will make them easy to track."

Hawthorne lifted his head and cocked it curiously. "Well, I didn't think of that…"

"Plus, there's five of us!" Burnout chimed in. "If we need to split up, that could help us find information faster! Or, um, strength in numbers, too."

Pharaoh snorted, and Chevali braced for the scathing comment, but instead, he only said, "Don't worry, kid. We'll find them. It's what I've been trained to do."

Another tidbit that piqued Chevali's interest.

He'd never heard Pharaoh use kid, or any term of endearment, really, before. Although, at the same time, he'd barely known him for a day.

"Let's go! We can get a head start on them right now!" Chiluly crowed, nudging Hawthorne's side.

He gave her a hesitant smile and nodded. "O- okay! Yeah!"

Chevali's attention flicked back to Noot, who was watching them with a sort of bittersweet expression, as if the scene reminded her of something from her youth. Then her eyes met Chevali's, and she blinked.

"Wait!" she cried, startling them all.

They turned back towards her curiously.

"I- I do have one more piece of information, but I didn't want to give it out to just anybody. I don't trust every stranger with it. But you seem dedicated and trustworthy, and I think you are truly here to help us."

Now she had everyone's attention. They all leaned forward apprehensively, waiting for her next sentence.

"You mustn't tell this to everybody, as I fear people will start searching for the outlaw only for their own personal benefit. The murderer stole a very valuable treasure from Perry when they escaped. I do not know of its exact powers, but have you noticed that there are no Sigilyph circling the tower anymore?"

Hawthorne, who was the only one who had visited Magistrate before, took a moment to reflect and then nodded.

"Many believe it is because Perry is no longer with us, but the Sigilyph didn't just scatter the moment she died. There are some reports of witnesses watching the Sigilyph all fly away in one direction, towards human territory. That leads me to believe this treasure may have powers of its own- or ancient origins. Sigilyph were once the protectors of ancient civilizations, you know."

The room fell silent as the group took in the information.

"So, if we follow the Sigilyph, we find the culprit?" Burnout asked thoughtfully.

"I think that's your best shot! I can point you in the right direction," Noot agreed.

Hawthorne's ears pricked up. "Thank you so much, Miss Noot! We'll do our best to bring the Queen justice."

Chevali wondered if Hawthorne realized that to do that, they'd most likely end up having to fight this mysterious, murderous figure. He decided not to bring it up.

Noot smiled warmly and walked over to the lone window on the other side of the room. "Can you see the mountains over there? They're a bit far, but that's the closest border to human territory. There's a mountain pass up on one of the ridges, and a group of Herdier there that will help you across. Apparently, they've been having bandit problems."

"It'll be no problem for us!" Chiluly boasted, puffing out her chest.

Chevali arched an eyebrow and cut in before she could inflate her ego any more. "Thank you for telling us what you know, ma'am. I assume we'll make preparations and then head out that way," he said, turning his head to look back at the rest of the group.

They all gave excited nods or showed other signs of anticipation. Only Pharaoh watched him impassively. The spirit still made his skin crawl.

Noot gave a small bow. "Thank you again, friends! I wish you only the best of luck on your journey."

They each bade her farwell and filed out of the room, anticipation crackling in the air where only melancholy smog had hung before.

The moment they were across the castle threshold, Chiluly leapt in the air and cheered. "Big adventure? Murder mystery? Secret treasure with secret powers?!"

The last exclamation earned her a resounding "Shh!" from the rest of the group.

"This is gonna be AMAZING!" she yelled, ignoring the reprimands.

Hawthorne laughed and nudged one of her ears. "You say that now, but it looks like there's gonna be a lot of walking…"

"That's your problem!" Burnout joked, gliding in a circle around the two to emphasize that he did not, in fact, have legs.

The three of them laughed, then continued chattering about anticipation of adventure and premonitions of peril.

Chevali watched them with mild amusement, still acutely aware of Pharaoh also watching from the other side of the group, but more focused on the others.

At first, he had found Chiluly annoying. She was loud, the opposite of reserved and talked just about nonstop. It was definitely the opposite of what he had lived around for as long as he could remember. But the longer he spent with her, and the rest of the group, the more… energized he felt, as if their enthusiasm was contagious. It seemed laughable, but maybe that really was the case.

"So, are we leaving now, or…?" Burnout asked, pulling Chevali from his musings.

"We should gather supplies from here in the city first, shouldn't we?" Chiluly countered.

Hawthorne nodded slowly, but he seemed preoccupied. He had been staring off into space for a couple minutes now.

"Yeah, you're right," Burnout agreed. "We should split up and do that-"

"Oh, no!" Hawthorne cried suddenly, making them all jump. "That's what I was forgetting! I need to go tell Pekka I'm leaving!"

They all stared at him in confusion and he bowed his head sheepishly.

"Um… I live just outside of Magistrate with a friend, and I would feel terrible leaving without saying a word. Oh!" His face brightened. "Why don't you guys gather what you need, and I'll run back to the stable!"

After a few glances and murmurs, the group came to an agreement.

"We'll meet at the east entrance to the town when we have finished our preparations," Chevali decided, pointing a blade in the general direction.

Everybody nodded and then stood idly, as if they were waiting for further instruction.

Chevali sighed and swung his arm in their direction. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!"

"You WHAT?" Pekka cried, reeling back in shock. "Hawthorne, need I remind you that just this morning, you galloping through the forest in a fearful frenzy because of this mystery murderer?"

Hawthorne flicked an ear thoughtfully. "Was that really just this morning…?" It already felt as if it had been weeks since he'd ran off.

"Well, it's different now! I have friends to help me, and I feel more confident knowing I'm doing this for the good of the community."

The Accelgor leaned forward as if to argue, but paused. After a few moments of silent pondering, he sighed. "I could try to argue, but it wouldn't be fair to you. It's your life, and I can't just tell you what you can and can't do."

He gazed off into the forest, as if he was envisioning Hawthorne far, far away. "If you trust these new… friends, then I trust them too," he finished, looking back at the Sawsbuck. "I guess the best I can do is wish you good luck. Just promise me one thing, alright?"

"What is it?" Hawthorne asked as Pekka leaned forward and hugged his neck.

"That you'll stay safe."

"There you are, Hawthorne! We've been waiting for hours!" Chiluly announced as Hawthorne trotted towards the East Gate.

Chevali rolled his eyes, even though he found it mildly amusing. "It's been fifteen minutes."

Chiluly sent him a narrow-eyed glare, though there wasn't any trace of real anger behind it.

"Is it time to go?" Burnout asked eagerly, bouncing back and forth in the air.

Hawthorne nodded. "Did you guys get everything you need?"

"Yup!" Chiluly assured him. "Food, water, and stuff that might come in handy if one of us is mortally wounded!"

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Pharaoh said dryly.

They all laughed, and Hawthorne wove his way to the front of the pack.

"Well, what do you guys say, then?"

Chiluly pointed out above the forest treetops to the barely-visible peaks beyond them. "I say: to the mountains!"

"To the mountains!" everybody echoed, and with that, Chevali's most peculiar journey yet began.