Chapter 4: My World, Your Illusion- The Trial

It was Metang who had answered Monotuff. Out of everyone he seemed to be the calmest about the current situation and he floated there, waiting for the discussion to start.

Monotuff nodded. "Well then, I guess I should give a basic explanation of how this class trial works then." It cleared its throat, as we all gazed at the thing silently. Monotuff fidgeted under the stares, before starting to speak. "This is a class trial, in which you all will use the clues and evidence that you have gathered to create arguments for who the blacked may be. Then you will vote for who you believe the blackened may be."

Its voice grew more sinister. "Correctly vote and the blackened will be punished. Vote for the incorrect person and I'll instead punish everyone other than the blackened and that person will be allowed to go back home! And if you don't vote then I get to kill you!"

I gulped. So, there wasn't even a way to avoid voting and not participate.

"Then let's get this amazing, despair-filled class trial started! Begin!" Monotuff shouted, the smirk on its face growing slightly wider.

A silence followed Monotuff's small speech. "S-so where do we start?" Ribombee asked.

"I've never actually done anything like this before," Pelipper laughed nervously, but it quickly died when no one joined him.

"I believe we should start with the murder weapon," Greninja suggested her eyes narrowed. "If we can figure out what the weapon was then that's just one step closer."

"Agreed," Porygon said, with a nod.

"it's not like we need it when we already know who the killer is," Zebstrika muttered under his breath, stealing a glance at Lycanroc.

"I FUCKING SAID-!"

"Regardless, building a proper case against Lycanroc comes first," Metang interrupted. "If we vote too hastily and end up being incorrect, then our lives are forfeit along with the ones that have been connected to us by the motive."

Zebstrika sighed. "Right." He still gave Lycanroc a sneaky glare, which he responded to by just crossing his arms and giving a small huff.

"Alright then!" Lucario said, enthusiastically, somewhat managing to bring up the mood from its downward spiral. "Let's first figure out the murder weapon!"

"Judging by the Victim File…" Marowak started to say. "Zoroark died from external bleeding. It also lists three of the wounds that he had. That is..." She eyed Monokuma carefully. "If we can trust the information that Monotuff is giving us after all."

Monotuff looked slightly irritated. "Of course, you can trust the victim file!" it snapped, rather quickly.

"We can trust it," Blissey said. "I double checked all of the wounds on Zoroark's body and made sure that everything listed in the victim file mirrored my autopsy." She let out a small giggle. "However, I can tell you that the killing wound was most likely the large hole in the body's chest area. The other two wounds in the victim file weren't enough to cause his death."

"In that case, the only weapon that we found in the Berserker Gym was the steel pole," Metang said smoothly. "Not only is it the only thing in the gym with blood, but it also matches the wound in Zoroark's chest."

Grovyle nodded. "I agree," he said, his arms folded. "At the very least I didn't notice any other weapon that could've caused that wound."

"I guess that's settled then," Marowak said. "I guess we can narrow down that fact that the steel pole was also what caused Zoroark's head wound."

"Most likely," Blissey answered. "Hitting him on the head was most likely done to render Zoroark unconscious so that they could tie him up in between the exercise equipment."

"Alright," Gengar said, shakily. "We know that the steel pole was the weapon. Whatever. What I want to know is who the fuck is this Zoroark, guy?!" He slammed his hands against his stone column. "He suddenly shows up dead when we never even knew that he existed!"

"Maybe we should ask Lycanroc," Zebstrika muttered, shooting Lycanroc a look. Lycanroc clenched his teeth and seemed to be holding himself back from launching himself at Zebstrika. He took a deep breath, calming himself down, as I watched.

"G-Gengar i-is r-right," Froslass stammered. "H-he came out of nowhere! H-He w-wasn't even a part of the motive!"

"The motive?" Ribombee asked.

"Yeah," Gengar scratched the top of his head. "Monotuff did say that if someone had gotten killed then the ones connected to them through Destiny Bond would also be killed, right?"

"That I did," Monotuff confirmed, chowing down on a Perfect Apple.

I frowned and tried to think back to when Monotuff had introduced the motive. It was slightly hard given the fact that I had gotten electrocuted, but I did somewhat remember Monotuff saying something like that. "But the number didn't change," I said, speaking up for the first time during the trial.

"Correct," Metang answered with a nod. "If that's the case then we have two options. One Monotuff somehow did something wrong. Or two-"

"Two is that Zoroark was immune to that part of the motive for some reason," Greninja finished for Metang. "However, that can easily be explained if he wasn't a part of the motive in the first place."

"Well?" Porygon demanded, his eyes narrowed at Monotuff. "What's your answer guildmaster?" he asked it. "Did you just happen to make a mistake?"

"Nope!" Monotuff quickly said. "There haven't been any mistakes made in regards to the motive. In fact…" Monotuff's strange grin grew wider as it said its next words. "Zoroark was always a part of the motive."

A silence fell everyone as we all digested this new information. "S-So t-then," Froslass was the first to speak. "W-why did the number not change?"

"So, he was immune to the motive like Greninja suggested," Noivern said. "That isn't fair! Why was he the only one?"

"Perhaps, there's something about the motive that we are missing," Ribombee suggested, thoughtfully. "If I recall the number corresponded to the number of people that Monotuff took hostage from us."

"That is correct," Metang said with a nod. "We also know that the number would go down every day and would also lower itself if someone were to die." His voice got low. "Including if someone were to be executed after this trial…"

"Nevertheless, this does not explain how Zoroark was immune to the motive," Porygon scowled.

Lycanroc shrugged and scratched the tip of his snout. "Maybe he didn't have anyone that Monotuff captured," he suggested halfheartedly.

Everyone turned to look at Lycanroc.

"Yes…" Metang said slowly. "If that was the case, his number would be zero and the count wouldn't have gone down when he was killed."

"I-is that possible?" Zebstrika asked, his eyes wide.

"Obviously," Blissey said in a snarky fashion. I gave her a confused look. Blissey's attitude and personality had done a complete 180 at the start of the trial. No…she had been acting strange since they all had found the body. "The count is still the same."

"That makes sense." I turned to look at the person who was talking, who happened to be Grovyle. "It would make sense for him to hide then. Having zero connections to the people captured would make someone a target for murder."

Noivern looked confused. "How so?" she asked.

Lucario grimaced. "What's better?" he asked the room quietly, his eyesight trained on the ground, unable to look anyone in the eye. "Killing only one person or killing more than that."

"…oh…" Noivern mumbled quietly.

"Hmph," Marowak snorted. "This motive is craftier than I expected it to be." She narrowed her eyes at Monotuff. "You're sick."

"Thank you!"

"That's nice," Porygon said dryly. "So, we have our motive and our biggest suspect."

"Lycanroc, right?" Zebstrika asked eagerly.

"You can't be serious!" Lycanroc snapped, equal parts angry and flabbergasted. "I just gave you an answer! Why won't you assholes believe me when I say that I'm innocent?!"

"Because you're the one who put us to sleep," Noivern pointed out. "Who else could it be?"

"I don't remember that!" Lycanroc protested. "I didn't go to your stupid meeting. I was just staying in my room, when…" He hesitated.

"When…?" Gengar pressed.

"Urgh…" Lycanroc grimaced. "I don't know what happened. One minute I was standing in my room, the next I was outside. Then I felt something hit my head and everything went black." He scowled at me. "When I woke up I found her in my personal gym with a dead body."

"Can we take that as an admission of guilt?" Porygon asked, dryly.

"Fuck you."

"I'll take that as agreement."

As Lycanroc let loose a string of curses at Porygon, Lucario turned to Grovyle. "Grovyle did you see Lycanroc? You were the only other person who wasn't at the meeting."

Grovyle stayed silent for a couple of seconds, before shaking his head. "No," he replied. "I definitely didn't see Lycanroc before I came up after the body had been discovered."

"I guess that settles it," Pelipper said, letting out a small sigh of relief. "That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be…"

"Y-you d-didn't do anything though…" Froslass muttered.

"Ah," Greninja suddenly piped up. "There is something about Lycanroc's story that does make some sense, however."

"What is it?" Blissey asked.

"I do distinctly remember knocking him out, just before I fell asleep from the slumber orb," she explained. "So if anything that part of his story does check out."

"Wait…" Gengar said slowly. "If Lycanroc was knocked out, then how did he could he kill someone?"

"Exactly!" Lycanroc grinned. "See, of course, it wasn't-!

"Quiet," Porygon hissed. Lycanroc quickly clamped his mouth shut, realizing that it wasn't a good idea to continue talking. "Yes," Porygon continued now addressing Gengar. "That is true. If we trust what Greninja says then Lycanroc wouldn't have been able to set up the murder scene while knocked out."

"Maybe he had something to wake himself up!" Zebstrika argued.

"A reviver seed, maybe?" Lucario suggested.

"There wasn't anything like that missing from Kecleon's Shop," Marowak dismissed.

"There was a chesto berry missing from Ribombee's farm," Greninja pointed out.

"Then Lycanroc used that!" Zebstrika said with a nod. "That makes sense!"

"W-wait!" Lycanroc said, his eyes wide. "I didn't-!"

Amid Lycanroc panicking, I finally found my voice again. "But chesto berries are used to wake someone up from sleep," I pointed out, nervously. "The fact that Lycanroc was knocked out means that a chesto berry wouldn't work on him." An eerie silence fell upon the room that I did not like. "R-right?" I asked, shakily.

"S-she's correct," Ribombee said. "You would need a different type of berry or herb to wake a pokémon from unconsciousness."

"Ha, yes!" Lycanroc cheered, pumping a fist into the air, before quickly quieting down when he noticed everyone sending a glare his way.

"Fine," Zebstrika said angrily. "Then we just need to find a way to prove Lycanroc managed to wake up after he used the slumber orb."

Porygon hummed. "I disagree," he said. "We shouldn't be focusing all of our energy into proving that it was Lycanroc. There are still some mysteries that we have to figure out." He looked around the room with a bland expression on his face, though he always looked like that, so I had trouble figuring out what he was thinking. "The body was propped in a strange position. How about making that our next talking point?"

"Fine," Zebstrika relented.

"He was handcuffed to the exercise equipment," Marowak described. "Perhaps to keep him still so that the killer could more easily plunge the weapon into his body."

"Those handcuffs came from the Berserker Gym," Metang explained. "Since the body was found inside, we can assume that the killer always had access to them."

"And the duct tape?" Marowark asked.

"Duct tape?" Pelipper paled.

"W-what?" Froslass stammered. "Y-you h-have s-something to s-say?!"

"Well you can find duct tape inside the Deliveryman Gym," Gengar pointed out.

"Then it must've been Peli-Pelipper!" Froslass accused.

"Wait it wasn't me!" Pelipper wailed holding his head.

"I don't think it was Pelipper," Grovyle said. "Anyone could have gotten duct tape from his gym. It doesn't have any sort of lock on it, correct?"

Pelipper nodded silently.

"So there," Metang said, conclusively. "All the materials involved in this murder was readily available by anyone. Anyone could've taken the duct tape from the post office and anyone could've taken the handcuffs from the scene of the crime."

"What about the exercise equipment that Zoroark was attached to?" Porygon asked sharply. "Is that any sort of lead we could possibly follow?"

"Eh…" Lycanroc scratched his snout. "I dunno. Braixen and I just set it up the day before."

All eyes turned to me. I gulped. "Is this true?" Porygon glared at me.

I nodded. "Y-yeah," I said, finding my voice. "He kinda forced me to help him…"

"Forced-?!" Lycanroc started to yell before Greninja shushed him.

"Did you notice anything strange when you were setting it up with Lycanroc?" Marowak asked. When I shook my head, she sighed and turned to Lycanroc.

"Nah." Lycanroc scratched his chin. "We followed the directions perfectly."

Pelipper groaned. "Another dead end."

"Not exactly," Grovyle said, suddenly turned his glare into me. I took an involuntary step back, as everyone turned to look at Grovyle.

"What are you talking about?" Metang asked, unable to hide the surprise from his voice.

Grovyle's brow furrowed. "I haven't finished my testimony," he said flatly. "Before I came up from the guild hall I was attacked by Braixen and stunned with a seed. A Stun Seed to be specific."

Everyone fell silent, digesting the information I assumed, but I could barely pay attention. My head was spinning, trying to grasp his new information. "That's… that's not true…" I finally said, dumbly. "I was asleep. Like everyone else."

"Unless you managed to escape," Grovyle countered. "Perhaps using an orb from Kecleon's shop?"

I blinked. "Huh?" I could only say, a sinking pit in my stomach.

"You were also the first one to wake up," Grovyle continued. "You were the first one to discover the body." His eyes swiveled to Noivern. "Isn't that right?"

"Um…" Noivern awkwardly scratched her head. "Y-yeah, s-she was. I only woke up because of her." She glanced at Braixen nervously. "She was definitely the first one at the body at least as far as I know."

"And how do you know that she wasn't the one who killed Zoroark before you arrived?" Grovyle asked.

"Uhh…" Noivern blinked.

"What are you getting at?" Marowak asked dryly. "You're accusing the partner that helped with your investigation."

"I'm just saying we're taking Braixen at her word far too easily," Grovyle said. "I know what I saw. And I saw Braixen shooting flames at me trying to kill me."

Pelipper perked up. "With her stick?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a rude phrase in Fennekin lines that involve procreation," Porygon dryly point out, as I shot Pelipper a horrified look.

"Oh." For whatever reason, he didn't apologize and instead just turned his head looking bored.

"We already know that Lycanroc killed Zoroark," Zebstrika spat.

"No, we know that he was the only one unable to use the Chesto berry in order to wake up," Grovyle said. "Greninja's account confirms as much."

Blissey giggled. "So out of all of us, you're saying his word is the only one you can trust."

Grovyle nodded. "Exactly." He folded his arms. "So, all we need is an explanation on how he appeared in the clearing from his room as he says."

"Ah." Marowak looked mildly surprised. "Are you talking about the missing orbs?"

Grovyle nodded.

"There are only a couple of orbs that can move pokémon from one location to another," Marowak explained. "I believe the two main ones are known as the Switcher Orb and the Rollcall Orb."

"I know about those," Lucario said with a nod. "A Switcher Orb switches the place of two pokémon through teleportation and the Rollcall Orb teleports teammates to the pokémon who used it. However, both can only be used on people that you at least know the face and name of."

"Right." Grovyle nodded. "And we can narrow it done to only one." He turned to Greninja. "Did you see another Lycanroc, before you fell asleep?"

Greninja thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No," she replied. "I'm fairly certain there was only one."

"In that case, it's probably the Switcher Orb that was used," Grovyle reasoned. "That way the two Lycanrocs can switch their positions at the moment just before Greninja attacked the one that she saw."

A moment of silence followed before I heard Zebstrika snort. "You can't be serious," he scoffed. "You're telling us that there are two Lycanrocs? What's next there's like a billion of me?" He let out a short laugh before looking blankly at Metang, the unofficial leader of this discussion. "You can't be seriously humoring this."

"I'd have to agree, Grovyle," Porygon said. "If I must remind you, you weren't at the meeting. What makes you think we can trust your word?"

Grovyle sighed and rubbed the tip of his leaf as if choosing his next words very carefully. "What do we know about our victim?" he finally asked.

"Our-?!" Zebstrika growled.

"Don't try and twist my words!" Grovyle snapped, his patience wearing thin.

"He was supposedly our sixteenth team member," Pelipper answered, a bit nervously.

"Male. About eighteen or seventeen years of age. Died due to blood loss," Blissey ratted off quickly like she was reading stats.

"He was known as the Ultimate Illusionist," Ribombee said.

"Fitting for a Zoroark," Pelipper muttered.

"Ah." Greninja closed her eyes. "I understand what Grovyle is saying now."

"What? What?" demanded Noivern. "I don't get it!"

"An Illusionist," Metang murmured.

"Exactly," Grovyle nodded. "I propose that Lycanroc wasn't the one who activated the Slumber Orb. Rather it was Zoroark himself who activated it."

"Oh." Gengar blinked. "In that case, Lycanroc's testimony actually makes sense. If we are assuming one of the orbs used were a Switcher Orb then Zoroark was just switched with Lycanroc, while he was inside in his room."

"Exactly." Grovyle nodded. "Which means that someone was the one who switched the places of Lycanroc and Zoroark was probably Zoroark himself. A Switcher Orb can only be used to switch the places of its user and another pokémon, so it's not like another one of us could even attempt it like how it happened."

"True," Porygon agreed. "But I don't see how Braixen is suddenly the killer."

"As I said," Grovyle stressed. "Braixen attacked me with one of her moves and I had managed to dodge it before getting hit by a stun seed." He gave me a look. "We know that someone used a Chesto Berry to wake up from their forced sleep. I do remember Braixen going into the Botanist Gym before the murder."

"And she did help me set up my weights," Lycanroc mumbled, as I sent him a horrified look. He noticed it and looked away scratching his head.

"That isn't definite proof," Grovyle replied, ignoring Zebstrika's seething glares at both him and Lycanroc. "But it is something to consider."

"Alright then," Noivern said, tapping the bottom of her mouth with her claw. "You said Braixen attacked you… then why did she leave you after attacking you-"

"She stunned me," Grovyle corrected. "With a stun seed. It's one of the items that was missing in the shop."

"Stunned you," Noivern corrected. "So, you could be easily killed, dude. Why didn't she just finish the job, you know?"

Grovyle rolled his eyes. "I don't know," he drawled. "Why don't we ask Braixen about it?" All eyes turned to me.

I sucked in some air. "I-I d-don't…" I stammered helplessly. "I was asleep."

"That isn't a good defense," Metang said, gently. "We already established someone used a chesto berry to wake up from the effects of the Slumber Orb. The problem is that we don't know who took the Chesto berry from the garden."

I could only stare at him. "I was asleep," I repeated, weakly, my head turning. A way for me to defend myself… I just didn't have one.

"Wait a minute, Grovyle," Greninja suddenly said coming to my rescue. "If what you're saying is true then Braixen decided to attack you and could've… but then decided to switch targets in the middle of her plan and kill Zoroark?"

Grovyle narrowed his eyes, not at Greninja, but at me. "Yes," he confirmed, not looking towards Greninja. "I know that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

"It doesn't," Gengar piped up. "If Zoroark was under his illusion so that none of us could ever see him, then how would Braixen know about him?" When Grovyle didn't answer, he pressed him by saying, "Zoroark was invisible to us, so unless she knows an easy way to see through illusions there was no way for her to know that he existed."

"They are right," Metang agreed, turning to Grovyle. "Do you really believe that Braixen could've possibly committed a crime like this?"

Grovyle continued to glare at me, before finally turning his head to the side. "No," he scowled, not at Metang but at me. "But I promise I did see Braixen try to attack me and I remember her as the one who threw the Stun Seed."

"I-It's t-true," Froslass stammered out. "The way the main hall looked after he was killed proves what he was saying." Grovyle nodded.

"Well in that case," Pelipper muttered. "Couldn't it have been Zoroark that attacked you?" As all eyes turned to him, he balked. "I'm just saying!" he snapped, nervously. "If the guy disguised himself as Lycanroc then what would be stopping him from disguising himself as Braixen in order to trick Grovyle and kill him!"

"Why would he need to disguise himself as Braixen if the only person there was Grovyle?" Lycanroc pointed out with a scowl. "He was going to kill him anyway."

Grovyle was quiet as Marowak chuckled. "Aha, I understand," she said, eyeing Grovyle. "Scared of a little fire, are we?"

Grovyle stiffened. "Says who?" he shot back.

"All you small grass types are terrified of a little flame," Marowak mocked. "I was wondering how a stun seed had hit such a speedy pokémon like you but… you were doing your best to avoid the flames right? Well…" she chuckled. "Illusionary flames."

Grovyle glared at her. "She caught me off guard and managed to corner me," he admitted. "I threw apart the main hall trying to get away, but eventually I was hit by the stun seed."

"And…?" Porygon asked.

"And the final hit never came," Grovyle explained. "I don't know what happened to Braixen. The paralysis faded after a little while and that's when I came to the surface and found all of you in the clearing." He gave Porygon a scathing look. "Is that good enough?"

"Good, sure," Porygon admitted. "I don't understand why you didn't come to the meeting, however."

Grovyle scowled. I could tell that this line of questioning wasn't what he had planned, or it was something he hadn't anticipated. "No one told me about it."

"You're wrong!" Lucario contradicted. "I know for a fact that I told you about it. You just said that you didn't want to come!"

Grovyle shrugged indifferently. "How could I have done that if I had never heard of the meeting before the investigation?"

"Why you…" Lucario growled.

"Hmm…" Metang hummed. "Grovyle says that he was never told about the meeting, yet Lucario claims that he did tell Grovyle about the meeting. Either one of them is lying or both are telling the truth."

Ribombee stared at Metang. "How could both of them be telling the truth?" she asked. "One contradicts the other."

"We know that Zoroark was an illusionist… and that he disguised himself as Lycanroc," Metang explained. "That's what makes the most sense with Greninja and Lycanroc's testimony. Who's to say that he wasn't mimicking people even before that?"

Blissey blinked. "That would be… well crazy," she pointed out. "Someone would've noticed."

"Not if they were incorporating themselves naturally," Greninja argued back. "Let's be honest, we barely know each other so if he pretended to be us, it would be rather hard for us to figure out it was an imposter."

Ribombee glanced at me, worriedly. "We did run out of food one day," she said, thoughtfully. "I was wondering what happened… perhaps Zoroark took it for himself."

"Um…" I raised my hand awkwardly. "I did see Lycanroc in Kecleon's store before the murder," I admitted. "I thought I was seeing things at first because I ran into Lycanroc afterward inside guild hall."

Porygon just stared. "And you only thought to mention this now?"

I flinched. "I mean…" I started to say, before realizing that I really didn't have any excuse.

"Hm…" Metang hummed. "Then it's most likely that Zoroark was there to take some items from the shop and used Lycanroc's form in order to avoid raising any questions if anyone saw him."

"What the fuck, man?!" Lycanroc raged.

"So all this time…" Zebstrika said. "Zoroark has been around, he's just been invisible or disguising himself as one of us?" He made a disgusted face. "That's kinda creepy."

"You mean the Grovyle I was talking to was actually…" Lucario's face paled. "Zoroark?"

"Yes," Metang said with a nod. "Which means that Zoroark intentionally tried to get Grovyle not to come to the meeting so that he would be alone?"

Grovyle was silent for a few seconds. "Correct," he agreed with a mutter.

"Which means if Zoroark was meaning to kill had had specifically aimed for Grovyle," Metang continued. "So that begs the question…" He turned his entire body to face Grovyle. "What made you so special to our victim?"

Grovyle was quiet, but anyone could tell that he was internally furious. He turned his eyes towards me and I unconsciously let out a small squeak of fear. He was mad at me. Something about this trial hadn't gone the way that he had wanted it and he was furious.

It only lasted an instant as he turned to Metang to answer the question. "I don't know," he replied, coolly.

"What's your Ultimate title, Grovyle?" Metang asked as everyone seemed to perk up. "In fact, I don't recall you ever telling me or anyone else what it was."

Grovyle gave Metang a suspicious look. "Why does that matter?" he asked.

"Don't answer a question with another question," Marowak scolded. "You're dodging the question."

Grovyle scowled. "I don't remember."

A variety of reactions from everyone. I was mostly surprised. He never gave off the impression that he didn't remember. "What do you mean?" Metang asked.

"I have amnesia," Grovyle explained further, holding his head. "I can't remember anything from before we woke up in our rooms at the guild. Other than my name, my memories are completely wiped." He eyed Monotuff. "I assume that thing has something to do with it."

Monotuff shrugged. "I dunno. If your brain is broken then it's not my responsibility to fix it."

"Amnesia?" Blissey repeated, looking curious. "No head injury." When Grovyle shook his head, she looked a little more thoughtful. "Maybe something traumatic occurred before coming here?"

"Something more traumatic than this?" Grovyle pointed out, gesturing at the trial room around them.

Blissey chuckled. "I guess you're right…"

"That still doesn't explain why Zoroark targeted you specifically," Metang pointed out. "Amnesia isn't a substantial motivation for Zoroark to target you."

Grovyle was silent for a second. "It could have something to do with the motive," he finally said with a scowl.

"Motive?" Gengar blinked.

Grovyle took a deep breath. "Like Zoroark, I also have zero people connected to me due to the motive," he admitted. "A person with their entire past wiped from his mind doesn't really have a family to look back on." He sighed. "I assume that Zoroark since he had no one connected to him from the motive, though he could kill the least amount of people by killing me and escaping." He scowled. "And I managed to win in our fight then at least only one person would ever die."

When he finished explaining, everyone fell silent. "But," Pelipper suddenly said. "If the murderer wins then don't all of us die in the end?"

"We never knew that," Greninja muttered. "Not until after the murder. Something like this…" She gestured to the room. "None of us could've predicted it."

Marowak closed her eyes. "In that case, by aiming for Grovyle, he was hoping to minimize the death count." She glanced at Grovyle. "You're saying he confronted you, instead of stunning you in the back."

Grovyle nodded. "Yes. I thought it strange at first, but perhaps he was just trying to give me a chance to fight back."

"By pretending to be someone else," Lycanroc muttered

"So, if Grovyle is telling the truth," Porygon said. "Then he should've died, instead of Zoroark."

"So, something happened that caused Zoroark to change his mind," Lucario realized. "Or the true murderer attacked him." He scratched his head. "Arceus, this is confusing."

"Yeah…" Pelipper agreed, chuckling nervously.

"So Zoroark was trying to murder Grovyle, but someone else killed Zoroark before he could finish the job?" Noivern asked.

"Yes," Metang answered. "That seems to be the case. In which case the question we must now answer is exactly who stopped Zoroark from killing Grovyle and how they brought him to the Berserker Gym."

"Umm…" Noivern raised a wing. "My question still wasn't answered."

Porygon glanced at her warily. "What question did you ask again?" he asked, wearily.

Noivern scowled. "I asked why Braixen didn't kill Grovyle when she had her chance."

"We established that the braixen who attacked me was actually Zoroark," Grovyle answered, dryly.

"Okay then. Why didn't Zoroark finish your snarky ass off?"

"Because someone intervened," Metang replied, patiently. "We've discussed as much."

Noivern scowled and, for once during the trial, I could relate to someone else's frustration. "Then why didn't that person kill Grovyle instead?" she finally spat out her main question. "If Grovyle was stunned and Zoroark under Braixen's guise was still up and moving, who's the better target?"

Most of them fell silent as they contemplated her words and I couldn't help but feel impressed by Noivern's ability to connect the dots like that. I hadn't even contemplated that dilemma and I had been the one who was accused.

"Grovyle, obviously," Porygon finally said.

Zebstrika stamped the ground with his front left hoof nervously. "Maybe the murderer was just a sick guy?" he suggested.

"We could be dealing with someone psychotic," Blissey recommended.

"That would be terrifying," Ribombee exclaimed.

Metang hummed. "Yes, it might be the grief and despair of the situation that caused the killer to do some unconventional things." He looked up. "In that case let's discuss-!"

"But that doesn't make sense."

Everyone turned to me, as I covered my mouth, horrified that I had just interrupted Metang.

Lucario's voice was low. "What do you mean?"

I let my mouth flap for a few seconds as I sought the exact words I wanted to say. "It doesn't make sense," I finally repeated. "We already know that Zoroark targeted Grovyle because the number of hostages that Monotuff had taken from him was zero. We also know that Zoroark was the same. Wouldn't it make more sense for the killer to know that Zoroark was disguising himself as me? I mean…" I swallowed. "I…I already lost someone. So, if the killer killed me then they would be killing my entire family in the process." Again, I swallowed. "Though, what they think saw was Grovyle and I fighting, not Zoroark and Grovyle fighting."

Metang was quiet for a moment. "If the blackened was in the right state of mind and had the motive of only saving their loved ones," he said slowly. "Then yes, they would most likely try to avoid killing more than one person."

I beamed, just happy that he agreed with me. "E-Exactly-!"

"But in that case, there's another possibility," Metang said. "The possibility that the blackened used another orb to teleport Zoroark disguised as you into the Berserker Gym."

I blinked. "What?"

Metang turned to Lucario. "You said the other orb that could teleport pokémon was called the Rollcall Orb?"

Lucario glanced at Metang warily. "Yeah…? But that would require the pokémon using it to actually be inside the Berserker Gym."

"Exactly," Metang's eyes gleamed. "I hypothesize that the killer teleported Zoroark into the Berserker Gym and killed him there. That way they didn't have to know about the fight Grovyle and Zoroark were having in the guild hall. Rather all they would have to do is teleport Zoroark to them."

"But-" I started to say but flinched when I saw Metang give me an exasperated look.

"Braixen, this is a murder trial," he said tersely. "We have no time to discuss frivolous theories."

I winced. "Y-yes, sir-"

"Don't." I looked to Grovyle, who looked absolutely furious. "Just don't."

"I-I'm sorry?" I stammered.

"Stop acting like a coward," Grovyle spat. "Your life is in danger. If you don't find the courage to speak up now than when will you?" When I didn't answer, he sighed. "You're smarter than you let on Braixen," he confessed. "So it's extremely irritating to me that you don't ever use your brain. The times when you did speak up during this trial was when you actually pointed out something extremely helpful. But even though you were accused of being the killer you sat back and let everyone else defend you, when it should've been you who did that." He scowled.

"I just didn't know what to say-!" I said, fumbling for an excuse.

"Don't lie," Grovyle accused. "You know full well that my accusation didn't make sense." I winced, which he definitely noticed. "The only reason you didn't refute it is because you're scared, right?" I hesitated, before nodding. "Your life is on the line," he repeated. "Do you not believe that warrants speaking up?"

Metang's gaze darkened. "Grovyle you shouldn't force someone to-!"

"He's right."

With wide eyes, Metang turned to me as I sucked in a deep breath. "I'm sorry," I apologized to everyone. "I just… I'm just not sure if I deserve to have a voice since I don't really belong here." When no one really said anything and instead just exchanged a guilty look, I continued, "I'll try and… and contribute more, if I can."

Another deep breath. "Lucario you said that both the Switcher Orb and Rollcall Orb could only be on someone that the user already knew, right?" I still couldn't keep the shaky tone out of my voice.

Lucario blinked. "Yeah," he said with some hesitation. "Well kinda. A name and a face are all that's really needed."

I steeled myself. "In that case, if the killer were to use the Rollcall Orb like Metang suggested than they would have to know Zoroark existed. But…" I fidgeted uncomfortably. "none of us knew that Zoroark was here until he died. Not even Grovyle."

Grovyle blinked. "T-that's true."

"In that case…" Another breath. "The killer would've had to know that Zoroark already existed before he was killed… and they chose to tell none of us about it."

"Then perhaps the killer was out of his mind," Metang suggested smoothly. "And captured Zoroark while he was attacking Grovyle."

"No…" Greninja said carefully. "A zoroark's illusion ability is strong. The only way to actually break it is to land a hit on a zoroark first. And that only way to do that…"

"Is by surprising him," Grovyle finished, closing his eyes. "I don't remember hearing anything else after I was stunned. It was almost like Zoroark… disappeared after fighting me." He scratched his chin. "It did seem like he just teleported away."

"So then…" Ribombee smiled timidly. "A Rollcall Orb was used in order to teleport Zoroark into the Berserker Gym while he was in the middle of attacking Grovyle?"

"Yes." Metang sighed. "That seems… most likely."

I took a proverbial step back. I had said something. I had actually said something. I was half mortified and half relieved at the idea that I had actually contradicted something that someone said with my own words. Especially since that person was Metang.

I could feel as though this case had taken a huge step forward. All of us were close- extremely close to solving this mystery.

For the first time, since coming to the guild, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Monotuff just yawned.

Guild Trial Suspended!

Xxx

Monotuff Theatre

"Destiny is a strange thing," Monotuff said, standing on a wooden platform and speaking to an empty audience. "It's a path that everyone walks but we can't even see it. There's no map or anything." It tilted its head. "I asked my local barber for directions, but he said to ask my butcher!" Monotuff laughed, before it fell silent, realizing that no one else was.

"But it's strange. Sometimes we think we're going a certain way when suddenly out of nowhere your path seems to change. But in reality, the path was always on that route. There was no sudden change. If we were to take two identical rattata and place them in the same exact maze at the same exact time they both would finish at the same time. It's just science."

"Why am I talking about this?" Monotuff asked. "To prove a point. Whatever happens during this trial was just destiny. There's no changing it and no stopping it. Whatever disappoint we may feel about the outcome just know that it was destiny guiding it."

Monotuff bowed. "Thanks for listening."

Sorry for the long wait in between updates. I choose to finish my other story and start a new one in between. Still, I plan on updating this!

I'll try to update this next over anything else. The next chapter is basically the main reason I rebooted this story over its original. I'm pretty excited.

We'll also see some more of the Danganronpa staples in the next chapter(Contradictions and whatnot hopefully). Not a whole lot since I'm still trying to mainly keep this a story. Especially since Braixen has been extremely quiet for most of the trial so far. I still hope everyone enjoyed the chapter despite its inconclusive end.

Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated.