Chapter 3: My World, Your Illusion- Our Investigation

I could only stand there in shock, as the rest of the guildmembers filed into the room to see the body.

"Euuugh!" Lucario stumbled back, his face contorted with disgust.

"Eeeeeee!" Ribombee let out a shrill scream.

"…Hehehehe." Blissey chuckled as a bit of drool escaped her mouth. She seemed transfixed by the bleeding body.

Greninja moved towards it and placed a finger on the pokémon's neck. "He's dead," she confirmed with a shake of her head.

"How could this have happened?" Metang demanded, casting everyone there with a suspicious glare.

"Well, it's obvious who the number one suspect is," Porygon said, sparing Lycanroc a look.

Before Lycanroc could react, Greninja waved her hand. "Restrain him," she ordered, as both Gengar and Marowak got up from behind Lycanroc and handcuffed him.

"Hey?!" Lycanroc struggled against the bonds. "What the fuck?!"

Gengar gave him an awkward smile. "S-sorry man…"

"Ahem!" Monotuff's voice suddenly echoed out from somewhere unknown. "Would everyone please meet me in Treasure Town's square right outside the crime scene? I have something important to tell you regarding recent events!" A small click was heard and then silence.

"I'm assuming that's when he'll let Lycanroc escape," Metang said with a nod. "If we hadn't found him out."

"I'm telling you I didn't-Urk!"

Marowak bopped her club on Lycanroc's head. "Be quiet so we can get this all sorted out."

Lycanroc grumbled as Marowak and Gengar dragged him out of his gym. Everyone else followed, but I hung back taking another look at the dead body. I felt sick to my stomach. Someone was dead. Someone was dead. Someone…

I walked out of the gym and positioned myself near the edge of the square. Everyone else was nervously or suspiciously glancing at everyone else.

"What's going on?" Everyone turned their heads to find Grovyle running down the street. He looked over everyone once, but he let his eyes linger on me for a couple of more seconds. I felt a chill run down my spine. "Did something happen?"

"S-s-someone's d-dead," Froslass said, holding her head and gritting her teeth. "M-murdered."

"But everyone's here," Grovyle said impatiently. "Who's dead?"

"A Zoroark," Blissey explained, calmly. "Age 19. Death by-!"

"Hey! Hey! Save the cause of death for the Victim File please!" Monotuff appeared out of nowhere.

"Waugh!" Zebstrika, who had been the closest, jumped back.

"Someone has killed! Someone has killed! Someone has killed!" The thing began to dance around in a circle, gleefully as the rest of us watched horrified. "There's a murderer, murderer, murderer! Now…" It suddenly paused and looked at us all. "Who could it have been?"

"Is this the moment where you let the killer escape?" Greninja asked. "Because unfortunately, we've already discovered who the culprit is." She kicked Lycanroc in the behind.

Lycanroc grunted. "I'm telling you it wasn't-!"

"Nope!" Monotuff interrupted.

"Listen to me for-huh?" Lycanroc blinked. "Wait are you telling me I'm right?! Hell yeah!" He grinned.

"Nope!" Monotuff repeated. "That's not how this is going to work."

"Then how is it going to work?" Porygon asked.

"First let me update your E-Badges with some new features like the great guildmaster I am!" Monotuff said, as the collars that were stuck on us suddenly beeped.

We all opened up the holograms to find that two new pages had been added along with some more rules. First, I took a look at the new rules.

6. Once a murder takes place, a guild trial will begin after a short period of investigation. Participation is mandatory for all surviving guild members.

7. If the "blackened" is discovered during a guild trial, then only they will be executed.

8. If the guild fails to discover the "blackened" during the guild trial, then everyone but the "blackened" will be executed.

9. A body discovery announcement will play when three or more people find the body.

10. More rules will be added at the Guildmaster's discretion.

"W-what?" I gasped. If I don't figure who killed the zoroark then I would be killed?

"I do not understand," Metang said with a shake of his head. "What exactly is a guild trial?"

"A guild trial!" Monotuff repeated. "It's a platform for which all of you will debate and argue for who you think the murderer actually is!" It began to spin around again. "If you figure out who Zoroark's killer is then I will punish them. If you don't…" It suddenly stopped and turned to us, the slash it had for an eye glowing. "Then I'll punish the rest of you other than the murderer."

Zebstrika gulped. "And this punishment is…?"

"Hmph." Monotuff raised a paw. "Execution, of course."

Everyone fell into a stunned silence.

"Of course, I'm not letting any of you go unprepared into this trial. You're free to investigate the murder for a bit of time!" Monotuff face suddenly seemed to stretch. "Oh, and about the motive…"

"You are planning to release them, correct?" Greninja asked. "After all someone has been killed."

"Nah!" Monotuff said.

"W-what?!" Gengar yelped.

"For added incentive, I think I'll keep the Destiny Bond motive till after the trial!" Monotuff laughed. "So, if all the innocent is lost due to punishment, then their friends and family will be lost too, but if the culprit loses then they lose their close ones." He continued to laugh. "It's a win-win!"

"Hey, that wasn't part of the deal!" Lycanroc shouted, struggling against his bonds.

"Keep your invisible pants on," Monotuff snorted. "Just figure out who killed Zoroark. No biggee."

"B-But then the culprit will lose everything," Ribombee stammered out. "That isn't fair!"

"Life isn't fair!" Monotuff retorted. "Since someone killed they should accept the responsibility of the game! After all, if I released all those pokémon then the killer might not have any motive anymore. They might admit to their crime!"

"I doubt that," Metang said smoothly. "After all, if they killed then they, of course, assumed that they would escape soon after."

"Well even then…!" Monotuff shouted. "The motive stays. More incentive is never a bad thing." It tapped its foot. "Besides shouldn't you all be investigating the truly disturbing case of the mysterious zoroark?"

"Yes, about that-!" Marowak began to say, only to find that Monotuff had suddenly disappeared again. "Of course," she muttered, shaking her head.

We all stood there in silence, digesting this piece of new information we were just given. I could barely understand it. A guild trial? Execution? I felt my throat close up. I just don't get it. This entire situation… it was just too crazy to comprehend.

I wanted to scream. My mind was spinning and I could barely-!

"Everyone," Metang's calm and assertive voice broke me out of my thoughts. "For now…" He seemed to hesitate. "We should do as it says."

Porygon snorted. "You cannot be serious. This is pure idiocy. We shouldn't do anything Monotuff says."

"But if what it says is true…" Ribombee said nervously.

"Then we'll all die!" Rather than sound nervous or panicked, Blissey instead sounded completely enthusiastic about it, a beaming smile stretched across her face.

"Exactly." Metang nodded. "We no longer have no option." He took a deep breath before he left his low voice bellow throughout the town. "This is now the first mission of the Ultimate Team! Investigate this murder and locate Zoroark's killer! I expect no stone left unturned and everyone to be alive at the end of this! Does everyone understand?"

"Yes!" I heard nearly everyone shout in response.

"Right." Metang lowered his gaze. "Then let us all get through this situation as an Ultimate Team would!"

Investigation Start!

Everyone else murmured a short agreement, while others like Blissey and Lucario shouted their enthusiasm. Everyone then split up, heading in different directions to investigate with the majority going into the Berserker Gym. I was left alone to stand there in the courtyard. I figured that it would probably be best for me to take a step back. I wasn't really the right person to investigate a murderer after all…

That is until Grovyle suddenly walked up to me. He gave me a look that I couldn't decipher, before sighing. "Your name…" he said. "Is Braixen, right?"

"Um…" I blinked. "Yes?"

"Right…" He nodded. "You'll be investigating the murder with me."

I frowned. "Actually, I thought it would better if I was on the sidelines? I don't really have any experience with investigating…" I swallowed. 'Investigating murders."

Grovyle gave me a cold look. "So, are you fine with doing nothing? Even with your life on the line?"

"Uh." I looked away, unable to answer.

"Hmph." Grovyle snorted. "Well you're going to help me," he said. "An assistant."

"An assistant?" I frowned but nevertheless nodded. "I guess if you think I can help in any way."

Another strange look was sent my way before Grovyle opened his hologram or E-Badges as Monotuff had called them. I followed suit, taking another look at the rules, before swiping to the left only to find a new screen. Most of the screen was empty with only there were words near the top that said, "Victim File #1." Bewildered, I tapped on it and the screen changed. "Interesting," I heard Grovyle say. "Mind reading it?"

I blinked, before realizing that he was talking to me. I cleared my throat. "The victim is Zoroark the Ultimate Illusionist," I read aloud. "He died at 4:33 PM from external bleeding." I looked up at Grovyle. "That's all it says."

"4:33?" he repeated, glancing at the corner of his screen. "Right now it's 4:50… so he wasn't killed too long ago." He swiped to the right again. "What's this?"

I mimicked his action and again there was another new page. This one had a long list that contained everyone's names. I tapped my name as the screen changed into one with a whole lot of information. Height, Age, weight, type, gender, move list… There was a lot of information on me, much to my chagrin.

"Braixen." Grovyle dismissed his E-Badge's screen with a wave. "Can you tell me what happened? Why was everyone here?"

I blinked, not sure why he was asking. "Lucario had called a meeting for taking down Monotuff." I frowned. "He told us that you didn't want to come."

Grovyle just stared at me. "I didn't say anything like that," he explained, with a slight frown. "I haven't heard anything about this meeting, before. Besides I was…" He suddenly fell quiet.

"You were…?" I prodded.

"It doesn't matter," Grovyle dismissed quickly. "Continue."

I frowned, but continued with my story. "Then Lycanroc appeared and used some sort of blue ball that started spewing this pink mist. Everyone, including me, was knocked out." I swallowed. "And… and then I woke up. I think I was the first one to."

"You were?" Grovyle's voice was laced with suspicion, I could tell.

That almost made me want to stop digging my grave, but I continued nevertheless. "Yes," I said with a nod. "Then I heard something crash into the window on the Berserker Gym and shatter it. W-when I went over to investigate it, I saw blood staining the glass, so I opened the doors and found the body. Then Noivern and Lycanroc woke up and were the next two people to see the body. That's when Monotuff's announcement played…"

Grovyle nodded. "That is three people. But did you say that Lycanroc also saw the body?"

I nodded and Grovyle sighed. "Yet he was also the one to put you all to sleep?"

Again I nodded. "Do have some sort of idea?" I asked.

"No. Not yet," Grovyle answered. "We have to investigate some more."

"Are we…" My voice died a little. "Are we going to see the body now." Despite my want to help, I wasn't very comfortable about seeing the dead body again.

To my surprise, Grovyle just shook his head. "No," he answered. "I want to check two places first. Kecleon's Shop and the Botanist Gym."

I cocked my head. "Why…?" I started to ask, but Grovyle was already starting to walk away. With a moment of hesitation, I followed after him.

Xxx

To my surprise, there were already two pokémon at Kecleon's Shop; Pelipper was perched on the counter watching Marowak as she stacked a bunch of wooden boxes outside the shop while mumbling to herself. Grovyle just waited near Pelipper patiently, so I just shut my mouth and watched her work. "What is she doing?" Grovyle finally asked as Marowak tossed another box out.

"We're looking to see if any Wonder Orbs are missing," Pelipper explained. "Since Lycanroc used a Slumber Orb on us, y'know." He glanced at Grovyle. "Or you don't."

"Wonder Orbs?" I asked with a frown. "What are those?"

"Ah…" Pelipper blinked. "I guess you wouldn't have used these before, huh?"

"Wonder Orbs," Marowak grunted, slamming another crate into the growing pile she was making. "They are basically magical orbs that can be used within mystery dungeons for a bunch of different effects. Like the one that Lycanroc had used against us. A Slumber Orb."

I nodded, mostly following the explanation. "So Lycanroc used a Slumber Orb on all of us." That was probably what had caused us to fall asleep.

"Those that mean he got it from here?" Grovyle questioned. "I'm assuming there would be a way to tell if something had been taken."

"There are some records of the items that Kecleon kept inside and, assuming that no one took anything before today, there's actually four things missing from the shop," Marowak explained.

"Four?"

She nodded. "There are three orbs missing, plus a Stun Seed is gone." She sighed and placed a hand on her helmet. "The seeds are actually rather organized but the orbs are a complete mess., so I can't tell what exactly had been taken."

"Hm." Grovyle seemed to ponder this news for a moment, as I and Pelipper stood at the sidelines watching. "Is there any way you could give us a list of the orbs here in the store and their functions?"

"Hmph." Marowak snorted. "Well I could certainly do it, but it would take some time. Are you fine with that?"

"As long as I get it before this supposed 'guild trial,'" Grovyle insisted.

"Well alright then." Marowak glared at Pelipper. "Oi, you."

Pelipper stiffened. "Y-yes, ma'am!?"

"Get me some paper and a pen from your gym," she ordered. "Do it quickly and maybe I'll step on you."

Pelipper went red. "Yes, ma'am!" he shouted enthusiastically, soaring into the air and towards his gym.

Marowak snorted. "How incredibly predictable." She said, rolling her eyes. "People like him aren't exactly the brightest when it comes to situations like this."

"Right." Grovyle just nodded, before turning away from the store. "Braixen follow." He ordered, heading towards the Botanist Gym.

"R-right!" With a short wave to Marowak, I hurried to catch up to my partner. Though at this point I would call myself a glorified sidekick…

Xxx

I was surprised to see Ribombee without Blissey inside of her gym and even more surprised to see Greninja here too. The two of them were in a deep discussion when me and Grovyle entered the greenhouse, but they quickly put a pause on it the moment that they noticed us. "Ah." Greninja said, coolly. "It seems that I wasn't the only one with that idea."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but Grovyle seemed to have a clue, as he nodded. "So I was on the correct track then?" he asked. "Ribombee grows Chesto berries here?"

"W-wait?!" Ribombee suddenly stammered. "You're not suspecting me, are you?!"

"She does," Greninja instead answered.

"H-Hey!" Ribombee looked a lot less calm than she would usually look with Blissey by her side. She shook her head. "Y-yes I do grow Chesto berries. And… and there is one missing from when I counted this morning! B-but I swear I didn't kill anyone!"

"Hmph." Grovyle didn't seem to care about that fact and instead folded his arms. "So, it's possible that someone could've taken a Chesto Berry to wake themselves up after the Slumber Orb was activated."

"Perhaps," Greninja gave Grovyle a suspicious look. "What were you doing by the way?"

"None of your business," he quickly replied, evading the question entirely. I shot him a look, before giving Greninja an apologetic smile.

To her credit, she didn't seem to put off about having her question dismissed like that. Instead she just gazed back at the garden. "But if a Chesto berry was indeed used then it might actually make Lycanroc innocent in this case."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Kyhehe…" Greninja chuckled softly. "I had forgotten that I hadn't told anyone about this."

"About what?" I asked, growing slightly irritated. Couldn't she just tell me already?

"Just before I fell asleep, I managed to knock Lycanroc out," she finally explained. "It wasn't much but I had hoped it would stop him from killing." She shrugged. "Apparently not."

"How?" I asked.

"It's actually quite simple. If you aim for a specific part of the skull, you can make the brain-" she started to explain.

"No, as in how did you not fall asleep from the Slumber Orb?" I quickly corrected myself, as I had little desire to hear about how to properly kill someone. Times like these I was reminded of the fact that she was the Ultimate Assassin.

"I did," Greninja said. "I just managed to get to Lycanroc before I succumbed." She seemed to frown under her tongue. "Though it was rather strange. It seemed Lycanroc had another orb and I think that he used it just before I managed to get to him. His entire body seemed to flicker the moment just before I kicked him. I didn't think much of it since I fell under soon after." She placed a finger at the tip of her mouth. "But now that I think of it, it is strange."

"It is," I agreed with a frown. He had another orb? Marowak did say that three orbs were missing from Kecleon's shop. That was the second one accounted for. But I had no idea what it did or where it was now. I turned to Grovyle. "Grovyle," I said carefully, interrupting his investigation of the garden.

He glanced at me, looking slightly irritated. "What?"

"Er…" I flinched. "W-what happens to orbs when they are used?"

"Hell, if I know," he grunted, turning away from me.

"They disappear," Greninja kindly answered, before a flash of realization flashed across her eyes. "They disappear."

"Is something wrong?" I asked her.

"No, no it's just…" Greninja mused. "I think I should test this out beforehand." She looked at both me and Grovyle. "Can I trust the two of you to handle this investigation?" she asked.

Grovyle frowned but shrugged. "No problem."

"Good." Greninja nodded, before hopping out of the greenhouse.

"What was that all about?" Ribombee asked, startling me. I had forgotten that she was even here.

"No idea," Grovyle grunted before he too turned towards the door. "Come on Braixen. Now's the perfect time for me to finally see the body." He walked out and, after saying a quick good-bye to Ribombee, I hurried after him.

"Do you have any suspicions?" I asked, nervously.

He eyed me carefully for a couple of seconds. "One," he admitted, finally.

"Who?" I cheered internally. If he only had one suspect, then this would be easy.

To my surprise, he shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said.

"But if you tell me then I can back up your claim," I insisted.

"I… I really doubt that you would," Grovyle said, slowly. "Anyway, my theory could change after we see the body."

My stomach churned, as we moved closer to the Berserker's Gym. "Are you sure that we have to check it?" I asked, weakly. "We have the information from the Victim File. There's really no reason…" My voice quickly died, when I noticed the scowl forming on his face.

"Stop moving," Grovyle ordered, and I did, giving him a confused look. "What's your problem?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, nervously.

"You're fucking pathetic," Grovyle said, coldly. I flinched, but he wasn't done yet. "Your life is on the line, yet you seem fine with not doing anything and letting everyone else do the work. Do you even want to live?" I opened my mouth to answer him, but he just raised his claws, silencing it. "Save it. I don't care. The only thing that matters is that you stay with me during my investigation. After that, I could care less about what you do. Throw yourself off Sharpedo's Bluff for all I care." He started to move again, past the bridge. "Now let's see that body."

In stunned silence, I walked behind him without saying a word.

The Berserker Gym aka the scene of the murder was still packed, though not so much that we couldn't even get in. Metang, Blissey, Zebstrika, and Lucario were still inside. Lycanroc was tied up nearby, mumbling softly to himself. "Hello," Grovyle greeted with a nod. I said nothing.

"H-hi?" Zebstrika noticed my downcast look.

"I'm assuming that you want to study the body?" Metang asked.

Grovyle nodded.

"I can help with that!" Blissey said, excitedly, bounding over to the body. "First as the Victim File says Zoroark did indeed die from external bleeding. To be exact from this hole in his stomach." She pointed to the small hole that was still leaking blood. "Funnily enough, the wound goes straight through the body, without really hitting any internal organs. I could've probably saved him if I had gotten to him earlier." She blushed. "N-not that I would've. It's just too beautiful…" She gazed at Zoroark's body transfixed.

"Um… right." Grovyle blinked, slightly disturbed by how happy Blissey was. "Anything else?"

"Meh." Blissey snorted. "What else he says…"

Zebstrika slid quietly near me. "She's been like that this entire time," he whispered into my ear. "I don't know what's gotten into her? She's like… enjoying this." I didn't respond.

"We know that he was struggling at one point," Metang answered. "There are some scratch marks along his wrists where the handcuffs are."

"And he has a large wound on his head. Compared to the wound on his stomach though, it seems like that one was made about…" Blissey stopped speaking and glanced at Metang.

"Around three hours ago," Metang supplied.

Blissey nodded. "There ya go." She grinned, happily.

"I'm telling you that I didn't do it!" Lycanroc shouted, angrily.

Zebstrika tossed him a dry look. "He's been doing that for the past half an hour," he whispered. This time I just nodded, halfheartedly.

"Hmm…?" Grovyle noticed a metal rod that had been placed against the wall. He moved closer to investigate it, noticing that the top was covered in blood. "This is probably Zoroark's blood," he announced to the others.

Metang nodded. "Most likely. I don't believe anyone else is wounded."

Grovyle moved closer to Zoroark's body. "What's this?" he asked, tapping the gray piece of paper that had been placed around Zoroark's mouth.

"Duct tape," Metang smoothly answered. "I believe Pelipper has a stash in his gym for packages."

"The floor is wet," Grovyle noted next, tapping his foot on the ground. It was almost like he was going through a list of all the relevant clues that could be found. He turned to me. "Braixen didn't you say that there was a bunch of water when you opened the doors?"

"H-huh?" I looked up surprised. "Y-yes, I did." I could remember exactly what had happened…

My feet heavy I moved towards the gym's doors and pulled them open. I jumped back, as cold water tinged red rushed around over my feet and spilled over onto the square.

"We can confirm this," Zebstrika said quickly. "This room was flooded. The sinks were overflowing, so the water got all over the floor."

"Let me out, you FUCKS!"

Blissey ignored Lycanroc. "Plus the stone doors are designed in a way that doesn't leave any gaps when they are closed. Water couldn't have escaped from here unless it got to the broken window."

"How do we know it didn't?" Grovyle asked.

Blissey gestured to Zoroark's forelegs, where his fur was soaking wet, up until it reached his knees. "From this," she explained. "If it went above the window then the water line on his body would've been higher about chest level."

"Right." Grovyle nodded, accepting that explanation. "I think that's pretty much everything. Now…" He moved closer to Zoroark's body, still hanging there between the bars of the exercise equipment. "Who is he?"

Silence. "We don't know," Metang finally answered. "However, I do know that they were originally 16 pokemon picked for the Ultimate Team. But with recent events, I didn't think much of it." He looked down. "I-I apologize."

"We know his ultimate title," Zebstrika said, enthusiastically. "He's the Ultimate Illusionist! Umm…" He blinked. "Whatever that actually means."

"An Illusionist could refer to a magician of some kind," Metang explained. "However, I think it has much to do with Zoroark's ability, Illusion."

"Right, right," Grovyle nodded. "But that's beside the point if we don't even know who this guy is." He scratched his head. "You say that there was meant to be 16 pokémon that were a part of the Ultimate Team but who's to say that this guy is one of them?"

"Hiya!" Monotuff popped into existence in the middle of the gym. "I can answer that question if you want!" It began to dance around, bouncing a Perfect Apple on its head. "Yup! Yup!"

"I'm going to murder you, you stupid thing!"

Grovyle ignored Lycanroc. "Well then, answer it. Who is this pokémon then?"

"Zoroark, the Ultimate Illusionist," Monotuff answered, easily. "The sixteenth guild member. He's been a part of this group since the very beginning." It tilted its head, suddenly confused by the question. "He was here the first day. Did… did none of you introduce yourself to him?"

"We didn't even know he existed," Metang insisted.

"H-How sad…" Monotuff hung its head. "The Ultimate Team is unable to communicate properly. They even ignored one of their team members until he was so cruelly murdered." It sniffed. "How cruel," it repeated.

Grovyle rolled his eyes. "Get out of here," he snarled.

"No, wait!" Lycanroc cried. "Get me out of these handcuffs first."

Monotuff glanced at Lycanroc, shrugged, and teleported away.

"FUCKING DAMMIT!"

Everyone continued to ignore Lycanroc, as Grovyle glanced behind Zoroark to check the broken window, that was positioned right behind the body. "Braixen," he said, addressing me again. "You said that… when you woke up, someone had broken this window, alerting you to the body?"

I nodded. "Yes," I answered, simply.

"Is something wrong with that explanation?" Blissey asked. "Someone broke a window. Who cares?"

"It matters because then the culprit wanted us to find the body." Zebstrika glanced at me, then at Grovyle. "Am I right?"

"Pretty much," Grovyle said with a nod. "However, the real question is why?"

"I think we can safely say that the motive is involved." Metang piped up. "But I'm assuming what you meant was why did the culprit want us to find the body. We all would've found the body without their help."

Grovyle nodded. "Exactly." He scanned Zoroark's body. "This just seems extremely… complex for simple murder. All they would have to do is kill and make sure they aren't found." He frowned. "Why hang him up like this…?"

Metang was quiet for a second before he answered. "I do not know," he admitted, and I could hear how annoyed he felt about that admitting that. "But I guess we'll save that for the guild trial."

Grovyle sighed. "You're right," he said, looking somewhat annoyed. "Is there anything else, that I should know about?"

"Jeez…" Blissey grumbled. "What do you want a confession note?"

"I'll take that as a no." Grovyle spun around and began to leave before he stopped in the doorway and glanced back at me. "Braixen get over here. We're leaving."

"Uhh…" Zebstrika glanced at me and back at Grovyle. "Maybe it would be better if Braizen stayed here?" he suggested, before glancing at Zoroark's body. "Or maybe I could take her to her room-?"

"No," Grovyle interrupted, giving Zebstrika a narrowed look. "She's my investigation partner for now. I need her by my side so that I can keep an eye on her."

Zebstrika flinched. "A-Alright," he said, backing away.

I gave Zebstrika a reassuring smile and mouthed my thanks, as Grovyle left the building. I began to follow, only to stumble just before I reached the doorway, but I managed to quickly catch myself without anyone noticing. I glanced down at what I had tripped over and found a rock. A rock was just sitting there in the middle of the gym, wet possibly from the water that had once flooded the room.

All of a sudden, I felt incredibly stupid. What was I doing?

Grovyle was right.

"Braixen…?" Zebstrika said carefully, moving closer to me in worry. He caught a glimpse of the rock that I had nearly tripped over, and gave me a look that was both worried and confused at the same time. "Are you sure…?"

I fake-laughed and just waved him off. "I'm fine," I insisted. "The body…" I scratched my head. "I think I might just be getting a headache after a seeing a dead body." I quickly made an excuse, to hide my quickly plummeting heart. It was taking all my willpower to not break down then and there.

Zebstrika seemed unconvinced, but without even him a chance to say anything, I left behind the scene of the crime.

Xxx

Grovyle headed into the guild, much to my surprise. "Why are we here?" I asked him, frowning.

"The motive," Grovyle replied. He glanced back at me and sighed, noticing my confused face. "The motive," he repeated, starting his explanation. "Monotuff said that if you were to die, then your closest would die."

"He called it…" I struggled to remember it for a second. "The Destiny Bond motive?"

"Destiny Bond is a move that only works when the user faints," Grovyle explained. "Basically the pokémon would use it against their opponent and after they had fainted, then their opponent would faint as well." He shook his head. "It's not a strategy that anyone really uses. After all, fainting would just get you kicked out of the dungeon."

I nodded, following along, as we climbed down the ladder. "So it's like Self-Destruct in a way?" I asked, drawing a connection.

Grovyle fell silent as he hopped off the ladder. "In a way," he replied, taking a right towards the Guildmaster's room.

I hopped off the ladder and froze looking at the main hall. "What happened?" I wondered aloud, noticing the scratch marks the adorned the walls of the hall, along with chairs from the mess hall that had been thrown all around the room. I spotted Gengar carrying a chair on his back, heading towards the mess hall. "Gengar?" I called out.

He freaked, and dropped the chair. "I didn't do it! I swear!"

I blinked. "Huh…?"

Grovyle narrowed his eyes. "Is that a confession?" he asked, mere steps away from the door to the Guildmaster's Office.

"N-No!" Gengar quickly said, his eyes going wide with panic. "It's just that…" He scratched the back of his head, thinking of the right thing to say. "You know, ghost-types aren't the most trustworthy of pokémon and with an ultimate title like mine, people are bound to be suspicious…" He quickly shook his head. "I was just cleaning up," he finally explained, lamely.

Grovyle just made a sound. "Do you know what happened here?" he asked, impatiently. I wisely chose not to say anything.

"No," Gengar admitted. "Froslass and I just found it like this. Of course, Froslass didn't bother helping me put everything back…" He had muttered that last part.

"Don't worry about it," Grovyle suggested. "Focus on investigating for now. If we're alive by the end of this, then we can worry about cleaning up."

"R-right…" Gengar nodded.

"Braixen, come," Grovyle ordered as he entered the office. I was right behind him, ignoring the look that Gengar had tossed me. He ended up, just giving up on his cleaning endeavor.

Froslass was already inside the room, muttering to herself and wringing her hands, distraught as she had been when the body was first discovered. Instead, I focused my attention on the screen that was still on hanging from the wall, with the numbers 999,997 on it. I institutively touched the collar around my neck and winced. I was almost glad that I wouldn't have to experience being electrocuted again.

"Wait… that doesn't make any sense?" Gengar spoke up, eyeing the screen.

"What doesn't?" I asked.

"T-that's exactly w-what I said!" Froslass stammered, angrily. "I-Is this s-stupid thing b-broken?!"

"Broken?!" Monotuff teleported in from out of nowhere. "Nothing I make is broken, how dare you?!"

"EEEEEE!" Froslass screamed, quickly hiding behind Gengar, who rolled his eyes.

"But you said that if someone died then by extension their family would die," Gengar pointed out. "Yet someone has died, and the countdown hasn't gone down at all."

I blinked. "If that's the case then it's not working," I pointed out.

"Hmph." Monotuff snorted and turned its back on all of us. "It's working perfectly. There's nothing wrong with the motive at all. I'm actually pretty satisfied righ now, if I have to be honest."

"S-So…" Froslass suddenly spoke up. "W-what if I were to k-kill Gengar right now? W-would I be a-allowed to es-escape? Or I could just kill everyone here and survive by myself…"

"What?!" Gengar backed away from Froslass, as she snickered ominously.

"Hm…" Monotuff tilted its head. "That might be a problem…" It clapped its hands, as all of our collars gave out a small beep. I quickly opened up my E-Badge and flipped through the pages, before finally noticing that Monotuff had added a new rule.

"If two different murders by two different murderers occur at the same time, only the one whose victim was found first will be the blackened…" Gengar read aloud, before squinting his eyes, mumbling the same sentence to himself again.

"Tch." Froslass scowled. "S-so it's a n-no, huh?"

Monotuff nodded.

Gengar let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Arceus…"

Monotuff disappeared.

"Once again, it leaves without any warning," Grovyle grumbled. "It must be enjoying this, watching us run around trying to solve a murder."

"On that note, did you guys figure it out yet?" Gengar asked, curiously.

"O-Of course n-not," Froslass hissed. "If that were the case, I doubt that they would be here right now."

"Ah…" Gengar chuckled awkwardly. "I guess you're right…"

"No," Grovyle replied. "At least Braixen and I haven't figured out the culprit. But we still have some time-"

"Ahem!" Monotuff's voice interrupted Grovyle. "Right, I believe I have given you enough time for investigation. So, now we're going to start the guild trial. Will everyone please gather on Sharpedo's Bluff and look for the hidden entrance to bring you down to the trial chamber!"

Grovyle scowled. "Never mind, I guess."

Xxx

It hadn't taken long at all for the four of us to reach Sharpedo's Bluff. We were the last pokémon to arrive and everyone else had already begun searching. Lycanroc was still tied up and had been left near the greenhouse to sulk. As I glanced at him, he seemed to struggle against his bonds for a second, before immediately giving up.

Grovyle turned to me. "Well this is where our temporary partnership ends," he told me, with a half-hearted shrug. He turned away from me and paused. "Good-bye." He walked away, towards Marowak. She glanced over in my direction, before handing Grovyle a slip of paper.

"W-what is this?" Froslass grumbled. "W-were you two in s-some sort of r-relationship? I-is this the f-fabled break-up, I h-hear so much about?" She floated away, snickering, and Gengar followed, but not before shooting me a concerned look.

I just stood there, stunned at how easily he had written me off. I began to move a few minutes later, heading to the edge of the cliff, where no one was searching and looked down at the sparkling water below.

I swallowed.

Grovyle was right, I suddenly realized. I have no place here. Someone's dead. And I'm probably going to be next. I'm useless in this situation. Useless. Absolutely Useless.

I should just…

"Braixen?" I stopped suddenly, a foot hanging off the edge of the cliff. My throat closed up and I scrambled back, into Metang. He managed to catch me, and twirled me around to face him. "What was that?" he asked me.

At that moment, I just fell apart and told my hero everything. About what Grovyle had said. How terrifying it was for me to find the body. Scared of potentially dying. And the general feeling that I was just holding everyone back.

Metang just patiently waited for me to finish, until I had lost all of my breath. Luckily no one had wandered over, so it was only the two of us.

"I understand," he finally said. "However I don't think you have anything to worry about. No one here hates you that's for certain. I'll have a talk with Grovyle after the trial and maybe make him see some sense."

"It's not only that," I muttered. "I just don't know what to do. This trial… there isn't really anything I can do to help is there?"

Metang paused. "No," he finally admitted. "While your testimony is invaluable, I'm assuming that's not what you want." He let out a sigh, which sounded strange coming from him. "Braixen your presence will be vital to this trial, everyone's is. You're going to have to make a choice on what you want to do during it, and I trust in you to make the correct one."

I looked up. "You trust me?"

Metang nodded. "But you're going to have to live right now. Just because you're scared… well I'm sure everyone here is a little scared. But, you're going to have to preserver through this trial, if you want to save everyone. Do you understand?"

I wiped the tears away from eyes. "Y-yes..." I muttered.

Come on, Braixen you can do this…

"Yes," I said a little more firmly. "I can."

Metang smiled softly. "That's great. Now then-!" The words were barely out of his mouth when suddenly Lucario shouted from nearby.

"I found it!" He announced, pulling away a large bush to reveal a set of staircases leading down.

Porygon, who I hadn't seen in the entirety of the investigation, smirked. "Excellent dungeon skills Lucario."

"Oh… uh…" Lucario flushed. "It was thanks to everyone else that we managed to find it so quickly! Not only me! We all worked together! That's what a team does."

Porygon seemed unimpressed. "Right."

"Perhaps we should just head inside," Greninja suggested. "No need to keep Monotuff waiting, if we can help it."

"Agreed." Marowak nodded. "Let's just rip the bandage off as quickly as possible." She was the first one to head down the stairs.

The rest of us followed her down and found ourselves in the jaws of the carved Sharpedo. "I didn't know that there was something like this here," Ribombee said, her mouth wide open.

"Hey…" Noivern looked around. "Is something supposed to happen?"

"Please make sure that every living guild member is inside," Monotuff voice instructed.

"Oh… we forgot Lycanroc…" Pelipper laughed nervously.

"I'll get him," Greninja offered, hopping back above ground, and returning a few moments later with a still-tied up Lycanroc.

"You're all assholes," he grumbled.

Before anyone could counter, the jaws of the Sharpedo suddenly slammed shut, leaving everyone in an inky blackness. A couple of us screamed, including me much to my displeasure. Come on Braixen you can do this…

A light flickered on above us, granting us some sight from some sort of glass contraption. "Florescent light," Marowak was kind to inform us.

No one really cared enough to ask for details.

After a few moments, I finally realized what was going on. We were all moving down. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach along with the shaking of the room around us and the fact that the staircase that we had come from was replaced by a set of steel bars.

None of us even bothered question it even, all of us too tense and worn out. And the main event had yet to start, we had all realized on our own.

Soon enough, our descent slowed down and stopped with a pleasant, "Ding!" The steel bars slid open to reveal the trial room.

It was actually rather beautiful in an ominous sort of way. It actually reminded me a lot of a graveyard. The floor and walls were covered in moss and overgrown grass, peaking out through the cracked stone. In the back, Monotuff was seated in a large intricately carved stone throne, a glass of… something in its arms. In the middle of the room, was a series of ten stone columns, them to covered in moss and grass. They were carved out with platforms at the bottom and some sort of armrests at the sides.

On one of them was a stand with a portrait of Zoroark, some faded out pink lines making an "X," across his face. I swallowed, when I realized that it was a gravestone in a way. He had been brutally murdered and this was how we were supposed to respect his passing.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Monotuff asked, waving its glass at us. "The stands are pre-assigned. Just find yours."

In complete silence, everyone split up to find where they would be standing. Lucario was the first one to find his place. He let out a terrified squeak, as he stepped into the platform and it started to float in midair. "What… what are these things?!" He cried.

Monotuff shrugged. "State of the art trial equipment. You should be happy I didn't skimp out."

I found my place at the east of the circle (if Monotuff could be considered north), but was unhappy to find that I was right next to Lycanroc. Going clockwise and starting with me it was: Me, Porygon-2, Froslass, Gengar, Ribombee, Lucario, Noivern, Grovyle, Greninja, Zebstrika, Blissey, Pelipper, Marowak, Metang, Zoroark, and finally Lycanroc.

"Ah…" Monotuff looked around to see that everyone had taken a spot. "I guess if everyone's ready, we can begin the trial." Was it my imagination or did his eyes linger on me for a bit. I blinked, and he had moved back to staring eagerly at his drink.

I drew in a sharp intake of breath, my mind racing.

Someone had died. Someone that we didn't know granted, but nevertheless, someone had killed another.

I didn't know who could've done it. All I know is that I hadn't been the one.

"So is everyone ready?" Monotuff asked.

N-No.

I was not ready.

"We are ready," someone said.

I didn't know whether or not to include the clues in this version, mostly because I thought it would be somewhat jarring. If it seems like people would prefer them included, then I'll be sure to do it on the next investigation chapter. If anything, not including clear "Clue get" signposts mirrors the step back from the investigation that Braixen. But if the reviews make it clear that this style isn't working I'll change it up in the next investigation chapter.

But on that note, perhaps some of you have figured out what's going on? The culprit perhaps? I'm very interested. If there's one thing I want to do with this story it is finish this case. This case is what got me back into writing this story.

Hopefully the next chapter comes sooner!

Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated! Especially this chapter was a bitch to write.