Hop stood alone against an endless void of darkness. Where am I? He thought, his arms shivering in the cold.
He extended his arms forward, looking down at the sleeves of the beige jacket he was wearing. He was in his casual clothing. His hand patted at the empty space where his Poké Ball belt usually was. He really was alone.
Hop suddenly turned around. He didn't know why, but it just felt right. In the distance, he could see a while speck getting closer and closer. Wooloo. As Wooloo ran closer to him, a bright light suddenly appeared around Wooloo. The silhouette of his form changing behind the light. The Pokémon stopped in front of Hop, and the light faded. Before him, was his precious Dubwool. His first ever Pokemon.
Two more lights suddenly filled up the void. Cinderace and Corviknight appeared next to Dubwool. He smiled, of course, he'd never be alone. His friends would always be there for him no matter what.
Suddenly dozens of lights filled up the void. Hop blocked some of the blinding light with his arm. Cramorant, Trevenant, Heatmor, Snorlax, Bolthund, and the rest of Hop's Pokémon were standing right before him. In the background, he could see Gloria, Leon, his mom, Raihan, Bede, Sheildbert, Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and the rest of the people he met along his journey. His arms relaxed, it was so warm.
No matter what he would never be alone.
Hop reached his hand out to pat Dubwool on the head. His eyes widened in horror. The moment his hand touched the top of Dubwool's head, Dubwool exploded into a cloud of ash.
"NOOO!" Hop screamed, while wildly waving his arms around trying to grab his other Pokemon. Each time he touched another Pokemon, they exploded into a cloud of ash as well.
"Please, please, this can't be happening." Hop begged. Everyone around him turned into ash, forming a swirling storm of ash around him. He fell to his hands and knees, the ash burning his eyes and throat. Tears welled up in his eyes. He was all alone. Cold.
Oh, that's right. He thought miserably. I was too weak, I couldn't save anyone.
Ash covered him like snow. His vision was hazy.
Suddenly Leon's voice filled up the void, echoing.
"Hop, it's too dangerous."
"You're going to get hurt."
"Why do you keep insisting?"
"I'm not letting you."
"I don't get it why does it matter so much?"
"As long as I'm the chairman I'll never let you become a detective!"
Each time Leon spoke, his voice crescendoed, until he was screaming.
Everything went black.
Hop woke up with a yell. He was drenched in sweat and covered in bandages. He had a cast around his left arm and an IV tube bandaged to his right arm.
"Hopscotch it's okay, you're safe."
Hop looked to his right. Raihan was sitting on a chair to his right, looking at him. Raihan's eyes were round, full of concern. To his left, light shone through the curtains of the large window. He was lying down on a light blue mattress, with a white blanket on top of him.
Memories of the night flooded his mind. He jolted up.
"Where is everyone?" Hop asked, panicking.
"All of your Pokémon are fine…" He paused, averting his gaze from Hop. "Except for Trevenant. He's in the hospital as well, but he should be fine." Due to Trevenant's ghostlike nature, he could take more major hits without permanent damage.
"What about the Rotom?" His voice was full of doubt. Deep down he already knew the answer.
Raihan was silent.
"Raihan, he's fine right?" His voice was shaky.
"I'm sorry."
Hop stared down at the blanket. His eyes were red and glassy.
"Gloria will be here soon, she went to get food." Raihan tried to change the topic.
"I want my Pokémon." Hop stated plainly.
"They're at the police station with officer Jenny." He paused, "I can bring out my guys if you want." Raihan offered, trying to cheer up Hop any way he could.
"What about the others?" Hop asked, ignoring Raihan's offer.
"They should be wherever you left them. Uh- I can go get them."
"They're with Sonia."
"I'll tell Sonia to bring them." Raihan messed nervously with the strings on his hoodie. "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
"No."
They sat in silence for around 5 minutes waiting for Gloria. Raihan sent a message to Sonia while waiting.
The door slowly creaked open. Gloria entered the room holding a brown bag with a picture of a Swirlix on it. Her eyes widened when she noticed Hop was awake. She threw the bag on a nearby table and ran over to Hop, putting her hands on the plastic railing of the bed.
"I- I'm so glad you're okay." She wiped away tears from her eyes. "I don't know what I would have done if I lost you." She choked on her words.
"I- I brought Eternatus if you still need it." She forced a smile.
Raihan stood up, "Gloria let's not talk about that."
"It's fine." Hop grumbled.
Raihan picked up the brown bag off of the table. "Why don't you eat?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Look Hop it's okay. You're safe." Gloria reached out her hand towards Hop.
"I can't believe it." He murmured to himself while placing his hand on his forehead. "I'm still so weak."
Gloria placed her hand on Hop's shoulder. "You're strong, none of us would be able to do anything."
"Yeah, you're one of the strongest people I know." Raihan added.
"Shut up!" Hop batted away Gloria's hand. "It doesn't matter how strong I am, I wasn't strong enough!" Hop yelled.
"Don't tell yourself that." Raihan raised his voice. "I sparred with you, to help you with anything goes battles, you've gotten so much stronger."
"Raihan, it's been 6 years. Of course, I'm stronger. That doesn't change the fact that I couldn't do anything. After all this time I'm still useless." Hop lowered his hand. "I just need some alone time… please." He looked up at Gloria and Raihan, holding back tears.
Hop sat in his Hospital bed for 3 hours. It was now dark outside, the time was 8:43. A nurse had checked in on Hop and gave him some medicine. He'd been shot in the left shoulder. He wouldn't be able to move it for a while. In his right arm, the IV tube in his shoulder was feeding him nutrients, they'd been worried that Hop would be out cold for a lot longer.
The door creaked open and closed. Hop looked up. It was Officer Jenny. She stood in front of the closed door, looking at the ground.
"I'm sorry it was my fault."
Hop stared at her dumbfounded. "What are you talking about?"
"It was your first day, I should have never let you do that. What was I thinking?" She said exasperated.
"Look it doesn't matter anymore." Hop sighed. "I was still weak."
"Hop look at me please." Officer Jenny said softly. "I was your superior, no matter how strong you were, I shouldn't have let you chase a guy like that. Noone on their first mission, no matter how strong they are, would be prepared to fight someone like that." She walked over to Hop.
"If- if I never became a detective, then that Rotom would have never died." Hop said weekly
"Look, the fact is that you're still alive, and because you chased him, no matter how reckless it was, we can save more Rotoms." She hesitated before finishing her sentence.
"Save more Rotoms? What are you talking about."
"Rotoms can't just possess any gun, it has to be heavily modified for that to work." She paused, still a bit hesitant. "We did analysis on the gun and it wasn't handmade. The entire thing was manufactured by a machine - someone's manufacturing them." She extended her hand towards Hop. "We can still make this right, save those Rotoms. As detectives."
Hop closed his eyes in a moment of self-reflection before reaching out and grabbing her hand. "As detectives." He murmured.
They let go and Officer Jenny walked back towards the door. She opened it a bit and stuck her head out. "You guys can come in now."
Dubwool, Cinderace, Corviknight, and Zamazenta bolted out of the door and to Hop's bed. Cinderace burst out in tears, making incoherent noises. The rest of his Pokémon looked at him teary-eyed, glad that he was okay.
Hop reached his hand out to pat Dubwool on the head. He flinched before touching the top of Dubwool's head. When his hand made contact with warm and fuzzy wool he smiled weekly. He lifted his hand up and patted Cinderace on the head, trying to calm him down.
"It's okay, I'm here. I won't ever leave you guys." Hop murmured. He moved his hand to Zamazenta's chin, scratching it lightly. Zamazenta let out a few reassuring barks.
"Don't worry I know you did your best after I fainted. It must have been difficult." Zamazenta was silent for a moment. He nodded vigorously as a few tears fell down his face.
Corviknight was staring at the floor, unable to make eye contact with Hop. Hop reached down and ruffled Corviknight's feathers. "It's not your fault, you don't need to blame yourself."
Corviknight let out a squawk in protest, he'd been the one that didn't take the case seriously, and he gave up hope the moment he left his Poké Ball.
"It's okay, we all need to get a little stronger." Hop looked up towards Officer Jenny who was still standing at the door. "Where's Bolthund?"
"He was really tired, he's still resting with Nurse Joy." Officer Jenny averted her gaze, "Do you want to know what happened with the shard thief?"
Hop let out an uncomfortable sigh, "What happened."
"The thief didn't have the shard with him, the trail's gone cold."
"Can't you question the thief?" Hop asked.
"He was," Officer Jenny paused uncomfortably, "mauled to death."
Zamazenta made a couple of proud barks.
"He deserved it." Hop sighed, he wasn't sure what he felt. Relief, happiness, anger, or regret? Maybe a part of him was happy the man died.
"Yeah… I'm sure you're tired and need some rest." Officer Jenny quickly left before Hop could ask anything about the Rotom gun investigation.
Hop relaxed for one of the first times that day. He was surrounded by his Pokémon, friends and they were all safe. He smiled, because of everyone's efforts they would be able to help more Pokémon. He closed his eyes, basking in the warmth.
The following morning, a nurse with her Lilligant gave Hop his medications. They removed the IV tube attached to his right arm, and Lilligant used 'Aromatherapy, calming Hop's body. He would be discharged at around noon but was informed not to perform any strenuous activities like exercising. His Pokémon were still sleeping, they must have gotten little sleep being worried about him.
Hop opened Instagram on his Rotom Phone. Raihan hadn't posted anything since the ones he posted during the police investigation.
"Can you tell everyone I'll be discharged at around noon." He sent a quick message to Raihan.
Hop looked through his DMs. Shielbert had sent a message to him that said, he wanted to talk somewhere private where they couldn't be overheard. What could be so important? Hop thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by knocking at the door.
"Come in." Hop said without looking up. It was probably just another visit from a nurse.
"Hop."
Hop's eyes widened recognizing the voice, his head snapped towards the door. "Lee."
"I'm so glad you're okay."
"Don't worry I'm okay, thanks for checking up on me." Hop forced a smile, knowing what else Leon wanted to talk about.
"You're not still thinking of becoming a detective, are you? You've had enough right?" His voice was soft, but his expression was anything but soft.
Hop gulped. "No of course not, you don't have to worry about me doing anything like that." He lied nervously.
Leon said something about helping Hop get a job, but Hop didn't register anything. He froze. Something felt off. "Lee, how did you know I was in the hospital?" Hop had talked to all of his close friends, and those in the police academy about keeping his detective work a secret.
"Oh, the hospital contacted me."
Hop gripped the bedsheets. Why are you lying? Hop thought. He had looked at the paperwork for the hospital. Raihan had filled most of it out when he was asleep, and nowhere was Leon written as a contact.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything." Hop chose his next words carefully. "Do you think the guy deserved what happened?"
"Yes, of course he did! Do you see now how dangerous the world is, there are murderers, and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Leon smiled at Hop.
"Lee. How do you know all of that? That he was a murderer, and he died?" Leon froze, his breath hitched. The room was dead silent. It was like time froze for a moment.
"I just looked, as the chairman at the um-" Leon stumbled over his words.
"Police reports?" Hop interrupted.
"Y-yeah those." Leon scratched the back of his head nervously.
"I haven't written it yet."
"You had a partner right? I just looked at that one." Leon averted his gaze.
"Leon you're a terrible liar." His voice was full of malice.
Leon realized he screwed up the moment Hop stopped calling him by his nickname. "Look Hop it's just that I'm really worried about you, and that I still think that you shouldn't do this detective stuff."
"When did things get so bad between us? We can't even have an honest conversation anymore." Hop sighed. Ever since the Galar Particle panic things between the brothers began to become tenser. That was when Hop first decided to become a detective.
"Look I'm sorry, I'll just leave. Don't become a detective Hop." Leon headed to the door.
"Lee, I want to know the truth, I'm curious… as a detective." Hop's expression was cold, his gaze seemed to look directly into Leon's soul.
"I- I don't have time for this." Leon slammed the door shut.
Hop sighed, looking at the table to his right. Corviknight was sleeping next to the brown bag. Battle Café. He thought, noticing the picture of Swirlix on the bag. He put his hand into the bag and pulled out an egg salad sandwich. His favorite. Hop smiled, perhaps he'd been too harsh with Gloria and Raihan yesterday. He'd have to apologize later.
Hop scarfed down the sandwich. He really was hungry. He reached in the bag to see if there was anything else. He pulled out a butterscotch scone. Corviknight's eye peeked open, observing Hop bringing the scone to his mouth. Corviknight's stomach growled.
Hop turned towards the proud bird who was looking away, with a blush. Hop chuckled before breaking the scone in half and leaving one of the halves in front of Corviknight. Corviknight hesitantly took a bite. And then another. And another, until all that remained were crumbs.
"Wow you really were hungry, I'll make some curry for you guys later." Hop said in between bites of his scone.
"Hmpf." Corviknight turned his head away from Hop.
"I'll make some dry bone curry~" Hop said playfully.
Corviknight's head snapped towards Hop, drool forming at the edges of his beak. Upon realizing what he just did, Corviknight's face lit up in embarrassment. He let out an angry squawk before flying away and perching himself on top of the cabinets.
Hop looked around, Dubwool and Zamazenta were sleeping on the ground next to his bed, while Cinderace slept with his face on the floor and legs on the couch. How did he not have back issues?
Hop checked the time on his Rotom Phone. 11:18. He traced circles in Dubwool's wool impatiently. When are they gonna get here?
Hop's head perked up. Knocking on the door. "Come in!" He yelled excitedly.
The door burst open, Gloria ran over to the bed and hugged Hop as gently as she possibly could. "You're doing better!"
"Yeah!" Hop paused, "Sorry for snapping at you guys earlier."
"Don't worry, it's all good man." Raihan leaned on the frame of the doorway.
"The food was really good."
Gloria let go of Hop, looking at the empty bag. "Your favorite sandwich right, oh and the scones were Raihan's idea."
Hop scoffed.
"What, you didn't like my joke? Butterscotch scones for Hopscotch." Raihan sported a playful smirk.
"I wish there was a food I could tease you with." Hop grumbled.
"How about rye bread Raihan?" Gloria suggested.
"Hmm... that doesn't roll off of my tongue as well."
"Excuse me." The nurse walked in with her Lilligant. "Let me change your casts and bandages real quick, and then you'll be ready to discharge."
The nurse changed Hop after shooing everyone else out of the room. Hop looked down and saw his stomach wound for the first time. It really did look pretty nasty, no doubt there would be a scar.
"Try standing." The nurse instructed.
Hop slid off the bed and onto his feet.
"You did that pretty easily."
"Yeah, I had to go to the bathroom earlier." Hop chuckled.
"Oh right, um congratulations on being discharged." The nurse led Hop out of the room.
After waving a quick goodbye to the nurse they made their way outside.
"Where are we going?" Asked Hop.
"A bar." Raihan stated plainly.
"What."
"I rented out the whole focking place, perks of being the champ." Gloria rubbed her nose excitedly.
They traveled to a remote area in Hammerlock that Hop had never been to before. The bar itself looked pretty fancy. Sonia sat at the bar, drinking some sort of pink cocktail. Her Yamper ran around on the floor excitedly. Sonia also brought Hop's Heatmor, Cramorant, Pincurchin, and Bolthund.
Bolthund ran, tackling Hop to the ground and licking his face.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Hop cried. "You're standing on my stomach." Corviknight swooped in, picking up Bolthund off of Hop.
"Hey, no fair." Gloria complained while poking Sonia, "don't start drinking before us."
Sonia chuckled, "early Pidgeotto gets the Caterpie."
"What are you a boomer?" Raihan teased.
"I'm only a bit older than you." Sonia pouted, a bit tipsy.
Gloria and Raihan let out all their Pokémon. All the Pokémon, except Hop's Snorlax who violated a couple of size restrictions were running around wild causing a mess. Some of them might have accidentally drunk some of the alcohol.
Raihan slammed a glass of beer on the counter. "And then after all of that talk he lost so easily!" Raihan was wheezing, slamming his fist on the table laughing. "You should have seen the look on his face!" Raihan was by no means a light drinker, but 7 beers was no means a light drink.
He smiled looking around a bit. Gloria was cursing at the chandelier on the ceiling, while Sonia was listening to Raihan's stories, very tipsy. He took another sip at his second beer. Maybe he should indulge himself, just once.
