Chapter 9: Road to the Elite Four- Once Remembered

A small mental note to keep is that the Dojo is just another name for the Fighter Gym and vice versa.

Gengar wasn't here.

I had realized this even though I was still dizzy from witnessing the body. After discovering the body, Grovyle and Greninja herded me out of the room and into the hallway outside. They did the same with Pelipper, who seemed stunned by the discovery, and Ribombee who was sobbing nearby. Porygon had gone topside to inform everyone else who hadn't been around when the body that was found.

I dry heaved, memories of Zoroark's body springing up into my mind. The bodies were not similar, with Lucario's seemingly a little less mutilated than Zoroark's. The thing that had killed Lucario was clear.

"Braixen?" I looked up to see that Porygon was back, hovering only a foot away from me. "Are you alright?" he asked, gingerly though with the same condescension he always spoke with.

"I… uh…" I choked back a sob, not knowing what was fully wrong with me. I didn't act like this when we had found Zoroark's body. Neither when Metang was executed. So, why was seeing Lucario dead having such a profound effect on me?

Porygon seemed to study my face before sighing. "After you're done with your little sob fest," he said sternly. "Talk to me. I need to tell you something." He floated away, heading back inside.

I watched him go, rubbing my eyes. I could see some of the others already entering the room to witness Lucario's body and from my spot, I could hear all the reactions.

Suddenly Monotuff's voice came back. "Would everyone please meet me in the Fighter Gym's basement?" it asked.

Well, there it was. I couldn't avoid it anymore. Not unless I wanted to face Monotuff's wrath. I dragged myself back inside to join the large group that had formed around the body. It was a tight squeeze since the basement wasn't made to hold so many pokémon, but I managed to find a small space at the back corner of the room near the elevator that gave me a direct line of sight towards the body.

Monotuff teleported right next to the body. It gazed at the silent, mournful group of us, before shaking its head. "Looks like someone isn't here," it said.

I blinked. Oh right. Gengar still hadn't appeared.

"Oh well." Monotuff shrugged. "We'll just continue without him." It cleared its throat. "Well, looks like one of you bastards killed another one of your guildmates!"

"Oh, shut it," Zebstrika said dully.

"Um…" Ribombee raised a hand. "Are we doing another trial, then?"

Monotuff nodded. "Yep! After any murder, a trial must always follow!" It waved a paw. "And with it comes investigation time and a new Victim File!"

A ding came from my badge and I opened the hologram for the first time since I had explored the new rooms. Monotuff had sent me and, I assumed at least, everyone else a new Victim File. I tapped on the words and the screen displayed the new information. I closed it without reading it. I just… wasn't ready at the moment.

"So is this it?" Blissey smiled. "We're supposed to investigate Lucario's death?"

"Of course! Monotuff exclaimed. "Those are the rules after all." It perked up. "Oh, and, just in case, I set up the motive in the guildmaster's room. You can replay it all you want if any of you need a refresher on that masterpiece."

"A masterpiece?" Lycanroc muttered. "That stupid thing?"

"Well, in the end, someone has killed," Monotuff said with a shrug. "So, whether or not the motive worked, the end goal has been accomplished."

"How can you say that?" Greninja glared. "Someone has died."

"I say that because that's what I wanted to happen, in case you haven't noticed," Monotuff pointed out. "In my perspective, everything is going per my plan."

"And what exactly is that plan?" Porygon asked warily.

"The killing game!" Monotuff rolled its eyes. "Duh!"

"Useless," I heard Porygon mutter.

"So, this is it?" Grovyle asked, with a grimace. "We're doing this again? One of us is Lucario's killer and at the end of the trial you're going to…"

"Execute them, yes," Monotuff said with a nod. "But if you accuse incorrectly… well y'know."

Everyone gave each other uneasy looks. None of us had been expecting this when we woke up this morning. It was supposed to be a rather normal day, not one where we woke up to find one of our friends dead.

"Well then…" Monotuff clapped its hand. "Let the investigation begin!"

Before anyone of us could stop it, Monotuff disappeared right before our eyes. We all just stared at the spot where he disappeared in silence for a few seconds, before finally, Grovyle opened his mouth. "Guess that's all we're getting," he mumbled.

"Are we…" Ribombee's voice quivered "Are we really doing this, again?"

"We have no choice," Marowak said grimly. "The killer has forced our hand. We've got to find the murderer otherwise we will be the ones executed."

"Don't worry," Grovyle's eyes narrowed as he stared at Lucario's dead body. "Whoever the killer is… they'll certainly face justice."

I rubbed my eyes. Grovyle was right. Whoever the blackened was, they would get what was coming to them. They killed our friend, right after we were all getting to know each other. It was finally starting to feel as though we could all live through this situation.

I grew only more determined when looking at Lucario's body. I refused to be like how I was during Zoroark's trial. The killer was just like Metang. Someone who had killed just to save their own lives. I promise Lucario, I would find the killer.

I would make them pay.

Investigation Start!

I watched as Grovyle left the room, along with several other pokémon following him. I assumed that they were leaving to investigate some other areas of the guild.

Recalling what Porygon had asked of me, I moved towards him. He noticed me coming and waited until I was right in front of him. "So, are you finally done with your sobbing?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah," I said determinedly. "I'm going to figure out who did this to Lucario."

A smile seemed to grace Porygon's features for a second before it disappeared. "Good," he said seriously along with a nod. "So where are you going to start?"

I faltered. "I-I thought you were going to lead."

Porygon paused before shaking his head. "No," he answered sternly. "I'm going to keep an eye on you while you investigate. During the last trial, your knowledge and discoveries were the lynchpins in proving that Metang was the killer. However, if you had told us everything from the beginning we probably would've been able to solve the mystery faster."

I winced. "Oh… uh… sorry." I didn't bother to mention that most of my conclusion came at the heat of the moment.

Porygon hummed. "So, this time I will be following you acting as an…" He paused as if thinking of the right word. "An assistant."

"Are you sure?" I asked nervously.

"Yes." He nodded. "So again, where will we begin?"

I thought about it, before finally making my decision. I took a deep breath. "I want to check the body," I said with an air of finality.

Porygon looked slightly surprised. "Well if that is your decision," he said, floating towards the body of Lucario. I took another deep breath, before following him, so that I was standing right in front of the body. I grimaced seeing the blood that staining the floor and Lucario's body. His eyes were closed, so that if I ignored the large arrow sticking out of his chest then it looked like he was sleeping.

"Braixen," Porygon said quietly. "The victim file. Have you read it?"

I blinked. "O-Oh, r-right!" I quickly opened it up and scanned it. "Victim File #2- The victim is Lucario. He died instantly due to an arrow to the heart. He was found in the Fighter Gym's basement and died at 10:05 PM last night," I read to myself.

Clue: Victim File #2

Porygon tilted his head. "Surprisingly forthcoming, isn't it?"

"Um… I guess?" I replied. I wasn't sure what Porygon was referring to. It was like what I read when Zoroark was murdered, wasn't it?

He sighed. "The last victim file that Monotuff provided us," he said. "Didn't contain anything about where the body had been found or the weapon that killed him." Porygon gave me a look. "That was a talking point in the previous trial, remember. We couldn't correctly identify what the weapon was until the very end."

I blinked. "You're right!" I exclaimed, taking another look at the file. "Does that mean that the arrow is the murder weapon?"

"Most likely," Porygon said with a nod. "Monotuff did remain a neutral third party for the duration of the previous trial. There's no reason that we can't trust the information in the victim file." He took another look at the file. "What were you doing at 10:00 PM last night."

"Uh…" I had to think back. "I don't know what I was doing at that time exactly but I'm pretty sure last night I was in Blissey's class with some of the others."

"Oh?" Porygon seemed interested. "Who else was present?"

It took me a second to remember. "I was there obviously. Froslass was also there. Blissey was the teacher so she was there. Greninja, Pelipper, Noivern, and Marowak." I frowned. "Though, Blissey in the middle of the class, in order to pick up some berries from Ribombee's gym."

Porygon frowned. "Do you know what time she left and came back?" he asked.

I shook my head. I wasn't keeping track of the time, unfortunately.

Luckily, Froslass, who had been overhearing our discussion, came to our rescue. "S-she left 9:42 PM," she answered for me. "C-came b-back at 10:00 PM ex-exactly." She sniffed haughtily. "I-I s-still d-don't trust that b-bitch."

I cringed at her use of language, but Porygon seemed unfazed. "Interesting…" he muttered.

"The class ended at 11:00 PM," I finished my account. "And I believe everyone in the class went to sleep."

Clue: Blissey's Class

"What do you think this means?" Porygon asked me.

"Um…I think it means that everyone who was a part of that class is innocent," I said. "Lucario died during that class so anyone who was there couldn't have killed him."

Porygon gave me a polite nod. "Excellent line of reasoning," he complimented. "Now what do we next?"

"Investigate the body," I said firmly, turning to the body and finding, to my surprise, that Blissey was already next to it. She was looking it over with a narrowed gaze and muttering to herself.

"B-Blissey," Froslass scowled. "Wh-what are y-you d-doing?"

"What does it look like?" she replied, turning to the ghost with a smile. "I'm investigating the body. That is the first step in discovering who really killed Lucario after all."

"A-and if y-you're the k-killer?!" Froslass accused.

"Froslass!" I exclaimed. "Everyone that was a part of the class last night is innocent! I just finished saying that!"

Froslass scowled. "F-Fine," she relented. "Whatever."

"Well with that settled, I did just finish my investigation of the body," Blissey said. "And I can confirm that the Victim File is correct. Lucario died instantly the moment that the arrow pierced his heart." She looked thoughtful. "There aren't any other wounds on his body. There isn't anything out of the ordinary with his killing blow other than the large arrow and it doesn't seem like his mind was harmed, so I can rule out a psychic's interference!"

Clue: Lucario's Wounds

Greninja, who was nearby, seemed curious. "Nothing strange about it at all?" she asked.

Blissey only nodded.

"That's strange," she murmured.

"Why?" I asked.

She gave me a strange look before sighing. "Lucario's a steel-type," she explained. "Something like an arrow should've have been able to pierce his body, let alone his rib cage."

Froslass frowned, as her hand reached for the arrow embedded within Lucario's body. "Y-you m-mean this ar-arrow?" she asked.

Greninja's eyes widened when she noticed Froslass reaching for the arrow. "Wait no, stop!" she cried, holding out a webbed hand.

"H-Huh?" Froslass's hand closed around the feathered base of the arrow. "W-what?!" She looked slightly scared. She quickly withdrew her hand. "D-Dif I d-do something wr-wrong?"

Greninja blinked. "You're not… hurt?" Mystified, Froslass simply shook her head in reply. With that Greninja folded her arms, looking distracted.

"Greninja?" I asked. "Is there something wrong with the arrow?"

"Yes." She sounded like she wasn't really paying attention to what I was saying. "Sorry. If you need me I will be inside the Storage Room. I have an idea from where the arrow originated from." With those words, she gave Porygon and Froslass a nod, before leaving.

"What was that all about?" Blissey blurted out without a hint of subtlety.

"Something is strange about the arrow more so than we originally thought," Porygon replied dryly. "Obviously."

Clue: Froslass's Touch

Clue: Arrow

I took a closer look at the arrow, trying my best to downplay the fact that I was looking at a dead body in my mind. Think about the killer, Braixen, I thought to myself. Just think about how the murderer must be laughing at us trying to solve their murder.

"The arrow," I suddenly announced. Yes, I could see another thing strange about the arrow. "It's at an angle, pointing up at the ceiling."

Porygon squinted. "You're… right," he said surprised. "It's pointing up at a 65-degree angle. Interesting."

Clue: Arrow's Angle

My eyes were drawn to the spike on Lucario's chest, where I found another strange oddity. A small amount of bright green liquid was located just on the right side of the spike. I looked over his body again, but I couldn't find any more of the liquid. "What's this?' I asked, pointing to the spot on Lucario's chest.

Porygon's eyes narrowed. "Some sort of paint?" he suggested.

I nodded in agreement but couldn't help but think that there was something more to the paint in question.

Clue: Paint

"I think that's all you're going to find on the body," Porygon said quietly. "I believe we should look somewhere else now."

I nodded and took a step back, away from the body- no, Lucario. I had been unconsciously referring to Lucario as nothing more than another clue that was a part of the investigation, when only about a couple of days ago, I was having a conversation with him about-!

"Braxien," Porygon said quietly. "You're doing it again."

I flinched and looked at both Froslass and Porygon, the former giving me a strange look that I figured was worry and the latter gazing directly into my eyes sternly.

I swallowed. Now's not the time, Braixen, I chided myself. "The phrase," I said, turning my attention to the sentence that was written on the wall above Lucario's body. Written in his blood. "Is it related to the motive that Monotuff gave us?"

"I would assume so," Porygon answered.

Froslass squinted as if that would help her read the message better. "I am the cursed human," she read aloud. She made a face. "I-Is the k-killer outing th-themselves?" she asked.

Clue: Bloody Message

"It could be a taunt," Porygon reasoned. "Maybe they believe there isn't any way to correctly identify themselves as a cursed human." He rolled his eyes. "Whatever that may mean. However…" He frowned. "I do remember hearing the term sometime in the past."

"You do?" I blinked. "Do you know where it's from?"

"It was related to that earthquake incident, I believe…" He looked at me. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

Mystified, I just shook my head, before I suddenly remembered something. "But if it was some sort of big event then could some information on it be found in the Archive Room!" I suggested excitedly.

Porygon looked a little surprised. "Yes, I suppose you're right," he replied with a sigh. "I guess that's just one more thing for us to check during this investigation."

"Wh-what's st-stopping you f-from g-going now?" Froslass asked.

"The obvious," Porygon drawled. "We've still got one more place to investigate." He turned expectantly to me as if I would have the answer.

Thankfully, I did. "The trail," I said, firmly, pointing to the floor where the small thin trail of blood led from Lucario over toward the elevator, which was currently closed. I remembered it closing the moment that we entered the room, but at the time, I didn't catch whoever was inside.

"We have to investigate wherever Lucario might've been," Porygon said firmly. "If the blood on the floor is really his, then he might've been in his own gym before he had died."

"But why would he come down here?" I asked. "I thought Lucario hated this floor."

"True," Porygon admitted. "That's just another thing we're going to have to figure out." He gestured towards the button that would call the elevator down. "Braixen if you would do the honors?"

I swallowed and took another long look at Lucario. Don't worry, I promised Lucario, praying that he could tell what I was thinking from wherever he was. I'll find out who did this to you. With that, I pressed the button to call the elevator down.

It took a while before the doors opened again, revealing the inside of the lift. I sharply inhaled when I noticed that the trail continued into the elevator and stopped at a bloodstain on the left wall. "Well that is unnerving," Porygon murmured to himself, floating onto the lift. I followed him, doing my best to not glance at the bloodstain, clicking the button to head up while doing so.

The doors creaked shut and, with a groan, the elevator began to move up. We faced the direction where the doors would next open. The two of us were silent, but I was too nervous about what we would find to even speak up. So, when the doors finally creaked open, I let out an involuntary squeak at the sigh of another blood trail leading from the elevator over to the east side of the Fighter's Gym, ending in a large blood pool.

Clue: Blood Trail

"I suppose…" Porygon said, as my mouth fell open in horror. "We may have been mistaken in our assumption on where the death may have taken place."

It took a while before I found my voice. "He died, here?" I guessed, uncertainly. I wasn't sure about it but if Lucario had bled out within the gym and was then dragged into the basement it would make some sense.

"That's my current suspicion," Porygon replied with a nod, before gazing around the Fighter's Gym. "Though there's certainly a lot more of interest around us."

I followed Porygon's gaze, towards a small scrap of paper close to the largest blood splatter. I carefully stepped over the blood and snatched it up.

"Well?" Porygon asked impatiently. "What does it say?"

I cleared my throat, though that didn't help my stammer. "M-Meet me in the Dojo at 10:00 PM," I read aloud. "Go through the front door. I know your secret and your connection to that incident. I know who caused it. Wait for me in the Dojo."

Porygon hummed. "I think it is obvious who the message was for."

"Lucario," I found myself whispering as I turned the letter over to see if there was anything on the back. I frowned, finding a small blotch of paint on the back. Just like the one I had found on Lucario's body.

Clue: Lucario's Letter

A sudden knocking drew my attention towards the back door of the Fighter's Gym. "Hello?" Zebstrika's voice came from the other side. "Anyone there? Can someone open this door?"

"Oh!" I jumped from where I was standing and quickly went over to the door. I was about to open it for them, since I figured it was still locked from before, when the door swung open, without any input from me.

He trotted in, shaking his mane along with Pelipper and Noivern right behind him. "Thanks," he said with a nod towards me. "I figured that someone would be on the other side of this by now…" His voice died when he took stock of the scene within. "Oh…" he muttered quietly.

Noivern peered around the room, looking less shaken than the other two. "Arceus…" she grumbled. "Why is this murder so much more bloody than the other one?"

"I… honestly couldn't tell you," I answered sadly. I was doing everything I could to keep my stomach from churning. Only the thought of bringing Lucario's murderer to justice kept it settled for the time being.

"Urgh…" Pelipper, on the other hand, was doing so great as his entire body had turned a sickly green color. "I… think I'll wait outside," he said quickly, rushing back through the door.

"Hmph." I glanced to my right to see that Porygon had wandered over. "I was hoping to ask the bird a few questions. But…" He turned his attention towards Noivern. "For the time being, I was hoping to ask you and Braixen a question."

"Me?" I blinked. Why hadn't Porygon just asked me when we started investigating together.

"Aw, sweet!" Noivern grinned. "I've always wanted to be a witness in a murder! Hella yeah!"

"Noivern…" Zebstrika muttered. "You should try to take this seriously…."

"Noivern and Braixen," Porygon said. "I want to know exactly why the two of you, along with the others, choose to use the basement and elevator in order to come here."

Noivern blinked. "Oh, that's easy. The doors were locked."

"Greninja explained this before, Porygon," I said a little weakly.

Porygon gave me a level look. "Except that Noivern, Zebstrika and Pelipper were able to open the door just now without any help from us," he pointed out dryly. "Tell me, how you were able to mistake something as simple as a locked door?"

Noivern faltered. "B-But I swear it was locked when we checked." She turned towards me. "Didn't you unlock it for us Braixen?!"

I shook my head. "No," I answered, mystified. "It was unlocked when we arrived."

"And I can assure you, neither Braixen nor I unlocked it," Porygon added.

"T-Then I don't know," Noivern stammered. "I swear I'm not the killer!"

"Hey," Zebstrika said, interrupting Porygon's interrogation. "We didn't bother to check if the door was already unlocked or locked before we opened it. We just assumed that someone had unlocked it."

"Well no one other than Braixen and I have ridden the elevator up," Porygon pointed out. "So, there's no one else-!"

"No, wait," I suddenly interrupted my brow furrowed. "I remember… just before we found the body… the elevator's doors were closing. I… I think someone was behind them going up to the Dojo." I looked at Porygon. "Maybe that pokémon opened the back door."

Clue: Elevator

Porygon stared at me, before scowling. "Excellent," he drawled. "Another detail you forgot to mention."

I looked down. "I guess I wasn't thinking about it until now…" I couldn't help but mutter.

"Though…" Porygon's eyes narrowed. "The elevator did take some time to arrive for us. Perhaps it was coming down to the ground?" He looked like he was frowning. "In that case, there wouldn't be any reason for them to go through the front door."

Zebstrika perked up. "Should I go and check?" he asked.

"Of course," Porygon said with a nod. "Just go around the divider to get there and make sure your voice carries."

I blinked. "Divider…?" I turned around to realize what Porygon was talking about. The large divider that normally hung from the ceiling was now on the ground, separating the two halves of the Dojo. She couldn't see the front door entrance on the left side through it. Not only that, it seemed the blood trail only existed on the right side. "When did that fall?" she couldn't help ask, as Zebstrika trotted past her, heading towards the thin sliver of the room that would allow him access to the left side.

"I couldn't say," Porygon answered. "But anyone on the ground on either side, wouldn't be able to the other. It would be near impossible without a luxray's eyes."

Clue: Dojo's Divider

"Hey!" Zebstrika's voice echoed from the other side of the building. "You were right! The front door was locked over here. I just opened it!"

Clue: Dojo's Locked Doors

As I gazed around the building once more, something else caught my eye. "Was that open before?" I asked aloud, pointing at the windows on the ceiling, where one of the windows closer to the middle was open.

Porygon glanced up. "You tell me," he said, looking towards me.

I couldn't do anything but shrug. However, it did seem like an important detail. I couldn't recall a moment where Lucario even touched any of the contraptions within the Fighter Gym, preferring to keep it plain as possible during their training.

Clue: Open Window

We searched around the Dojo a little more with Noivern and Zebstrika's help but wasn't able to find anything else of interest within the Fighter Gym. Porygon and I met near the front door of the Dojo to coalesce our findings. "So Braixen," Porygon said, starting the conversation. "Do you have any current suspects?"

"I suppose…" It took me a second to put what I was thinking into words. "Anyone who wasn't with us when we discovered the body is a suspect. The person who operated the elevator before we arrived couldn't be in two places at once. So that would leave…" I thought back to that moment. "Gengar, Blissey, Zebstrika, Lycanroc and Marowak."

"Excellent," Porygon said with an approving nod. "However, Lucario was killed at 10:05 PM last night. So anyone who wasn't near you during that time may also be a suspect."

I took a second to think as my heart sank. "That would leave… Zebstrika, Lycanroc, and Gengar, then," I said, glancing at Zebstrika.

"Well then." Porygon nudged me forward. "Go ask him."

I swallowed and made my way over to my friend. Zebstrika was looking between the blood splatter and the ceiling with both disgust and curiosity, clearly coming to his own conclusions about the murder. "Um…" I said haltingly. "Zebstrika?"

He glanced towards me. "Um… yeah, Braixen?"

"I was wondering what you were doing last night," I explained. "Specifically… at 10 PM," I finished weakly.

He blinked. "Oh, sure I was just…" He paused and narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute… you can't be seriously suspecting me, can you?!" His mouth fell open. "I couldn't have done it even if I tried, Braixen!"

I could only at the ground. "Please," I found myself whispering.

Zebstrika huffed. "Well to tell you the truth I was with Lycanroc." When I gave him a surprised look, he continued, "Remember when he broke a part of my gym the day before? Well, I forced him to help me fix it, which is why he and I weren't present for Blissey's class. Ribombee was also there for a while with some berries as snacks. Though at some point Blissey asked her for some berries and the two left to get them, but Ribombee returned afterward pretty quickly." He gave me a level stare. "You can check with the both of them, they'll back up my story."

"T-Thanks." I bowed my head. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean-!"

"It's alright," he interrupted. "I understand. Need to all the information you can or else we're all screwed. Just trust me when I say that I didn't do this."

Clue: Zebstrika's Account

I nodded and returned to Porygon. "Did you get what you wanted?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered. "Um… I think he has an alibi. We should ask Lycanroc and Ribombee about it to make sure."

Porygon nodded. "Of course. But you know if they confirm his alibi then, the only other suspect we have left is…"

"Gengar," I finished for him as we walked out of the Dojo. "We should pay him a visit at the end."

"We should confront our main suspect at the end when we have all of the evidence," Porygon reasoned. "That way-!" He paused; his attention drawn towards Pelipper rummaging around the nearby grass. He groaned. "Pelipper what the hell are you doing?"

Pelipper perked up. "O-Oh sorry, I was just…" His voice trailed off before he continued. "Well, I found something strange here." He moved aside. "Take a look."

Porygon and I shared a look and moved so that we were next to Pelipper when I finally understood what the Ultimate Deliveryman was talking about. Partially hidden in the grass were two items. One was a steel ladder that I recognized seeing within the storage room and the other was a highly advanced bow, the likes I had never seen before.

Clue: Abandoned Bow

Clue: Abandoned Ladder

"Pelipper…" Porygon said slowly. "Did you see anyone else out here?"

"Huh?" The pokémon blinked. "Er… no?"

"Braixen," Porygon said now addressing me. "Do you understand what this means?"

I swallowed, having a good feeling of what exactly I was looking at. "Yes," I answered, my voice an almost whisper.

Xxx

"We should check the guildmaster's room," Porygon said as we climbed down the ladder into the guildhall.

I gave him a surprised look. "For the motive?" I asked. "Is that really necessary?" Really, I was just still somewhat embarrassed by my reaction to the motive that I wasn't in any hurry to relive the scenario.

"Yes," Porygon said as he hopped off the ladder and I quickly followed, noting how dark it was in the main hall. None of the torches were lit. "It's a necessary part of the case. The message near Lucario's body mentioned the cursed human. The game also had the same exact term. It stands to reason that we may need to replay to gain the full context."

I let out a hesitant sigh before nodding. He was right of course. I had to check the motive again. Otherwise, I might not be able to solve who killed Lucario.

"But we should also try to talk with Gengar," Porygon said, just as Marowak sauntered up to the guildmaster's room. She glanced in our direction the moment that she heard Gengar's name.

"I wouldn't bother," she said, coming up to us.

Porygon looked mildly surprised. "And why is that?"

"Because I've already tried," she supplied. "Knocked on his door and everything." She rubbed her club against the tip of her snout in frustration. "He wouldn't answer and refused to at least open the door." She shrugged. "You're tough out of luck smart boy."

Porygon scowled. "That little…"

"At least we still can check the motive," I assured the Ultimate Hacker, though secretly I also was rather disappointed. Why wasn't Gengar leaving his room?

"Also, Braixen…" Marowak said a little slowly. "I was wondering this, but why is your tail glowing green."

"My tail…" I turned my head to see that Marowak was right! There was a spot on my tail glowing a light green in the darkness. I let out a yelp and nearly jumped a foot in the air. "Get it off! Get it off!"

"Stand still!" Marowak ordered as I froze. She gingerly picked out an object from my tail, one that I had stored while in the Dojo. "Is this a letter."

"Hmph." Porygon huffed. "Fascinating."

I looked closer to see that it was Lucario's letter, the one that I had found in the Dojo. The paint on it was glowing in the dark. "How is this possible?" I wondered aloud, taking the letter from Marowak and marveling at the color.

"Some sort of luminescence, perhaps?" Marowak suggested. "Similar to how morelull makes light in forests?"

Clue Updated: Luminescent Paint

"This is fascinating and all," Porygon said a little impatiently. "But shouldn't we move on to investigate the motive.

Marowak and I exchanged a look and the two of us nodded. I stored the letter back in my tail.

The three of us walked into the guildmaster's room to find that Ribombee was already there. "Oh!" she said sounding surprised. "I didn't think anyone else would come! Are you here to replay the game?"

Porygon nodded. "That's exactly what we're doing." He nudged me forward. "Alright, Braixen start playing."

"Huh?" I blinked. "Why me?"

"Because you're the one who's most acquainted with the controls," Porygon drawled.

"Oh, right," I squeaked out. I supposed that made sense. I picked up the controller and once I did the screen turned itself on, showing the logo for the game, "Pokémon RED," with the words, "Press START," right below it. I pressed START and glanced at Porygon, waiting for instructions.

"Just play it exactly how you did last time," he ordered.

I swallowed and nodded, beginning my replay of the game going through the exact same motions until I reached the ending (though all four of us were a little surprised when the medicham's move missed again). After a few seconds of black screen, the title screen popped back up prompting me to hit START. I let out a sigh and placed the controller on the floor. It was a lot less scary on the second go around.

"Let's discuss." Porygon turned towards me. "What do you think Pokémon RED is, Braixen?"

"Oh… um…" I thought for a moment trying to find the right words. "Well, Monotuff called it a video game which is a game that humans played. I think might be a visual story like a play but I can control one of the characters in it."

"That's actually a decent way of describing it," Ribombee chuckled.

Clue: Game

"And what did Monotuff describe the person you were playing as?" Porygon asked.

"As something called a pokémon trainer," I answered immediately. "Monotuff described them as a human who would enslave pokémon and have them battle other pokémon, with some being wild and other owned by other pokémon trainers."

Clue: Main Character

"The pokémon that this trainer had…" Marowak said a little slowly. "were the pokémon gardevoir, ekans, and medicham."

Clue: MC's Pokémon

"The guy was also very mean and cruel," Ribombee muttered. "To everyone. He blamed his pokémon and everyone around him for everything but never blamed himself."

Clue: MC's Attitude

"Anything else you may have noticed, Braixen?" Porygon asked.

"There was a Ranger that I could talk to," I recalled. "He mentioned that he failed to save people and how he wished he could see in the dark. He was…" I faltered for a second, suddenly feeling a little bad for the Ranger. "He was crying and wouldn't say anything else after that."

Clue: Ranger

"There was also that Pokémon Center," I continued. "They said they couldn't heal the trainer's pokémon because all of the beds were already taken by pokémon injured in a recent disaster."

Clue: Pokémon Center

"What about the ending?" Porygon pressed.

"Well at the end," I recounted. "The main character tries to enter a cave but is stopped by a guard. There is a battle but I lose and the guard calls the main character a cursed human and cries…" I involuntarily shivered. "…cries blood. Then there's a scare and everything goes black."

Clue: Normal Ending

I shook my head. "That's everything within the game that seems important," I said, still a little mystified by the meaning of it all.

"Good." Porygon gave me a nod. "Well then Braixen, if you'll start a new game then."

I recoiled. "Wha-? Why?" I cried.

"I was hoping that this time, you might choose to go left instead of right when you reach the crossroads," Porygon explained. "We haven't explored that part of the game yet. There may be some clues that we initially missed in our first two playthroughs."

"He's right, Braixen," Ribombee said a little nervously. "I don't want to see any more scary scenes, but to solve the murder we need to do it."

I sighed. "Alright," I found myself mumbling, picking the controller back up and hitting START again. The screen once again changed and I manipulated the main character to head up to the crossroads. However this time, instead of taking a right I took a left. I stiffened once the screen changed, expecting another scare, but nothing happened. It just showed a straight path lined with some trees.

"Keep going," Marowak urged.

I nodded and continued to follow the path until I reached a small cave similar to last time. However this time there wasn't guard blocking it. I managed to get inside with no problem.

The game seemed to take some time to load, but after a while, it showed the inside of the cave, lined with rocky walls and a few stray boulders. The main character kept heading to the left following the path of the cave but…

"I'm not controlling him anymore," I said, desperately trying to get the trainer to stop moving, but it was no use.

No one else said a thing their attention fixated on the game. After a while, the trainer reached a clearing where in the middle of the clearing was another pokémon, one that I recognized as a ninetales.

The trainer skirted around the ninetales, as a dialog box popped up with the words, "Heh… heh…" I could only watch as the trainer suddenly dashed forward and grabbed one of the ninetales's tails.

The ninetales stood up instantly, and it quickly made the trainer back away from the pokémon. The ninetales looked angry as it spoke.

Ninetales: You dare touch one of my tails, human! You do realize what happens when you do?!

Trainer: …

The tails of the ninetales seemed to flare around her and the pokémon began to glow a light lilac color. She took another step towards the trainer and fired a small flame at the boy. However before it could reach her, a gardevoir suddenly appeared between the two, letting the small flame hit itself.

Gradevoir: Run!

Ninetales: Interesting. Do you wish to save Gardevoir, human?

But it was already too late. The trainer had already run away, sprinting back to the cave's entrance. The gardevoir fell to the ground, its arms wrapped around itself. The ninetales made no move to stop the trainer from running away.

Ninetales: What a foolish human. Fleeing from himself and his friend…

Ninetales ignored the convulsing gardevoir behind it as it shook its mane.

Ninetales: A prophecy. That human will one day be reborn as a Pokémon, a shadow of the self he tried to hide from himself. And when the human finally becomes a pokémon, the world's balance will be upset…

With those ominous words, the game faded to black before finally returning to the title screen.

It was a while before anyone spoke. "Interesting," Porygon finally said.

"Yeah…" I said finding my voice.

Clue: True Ending

Clue: Ninetales

"I can now see what the term 'cursed human,' refers to now," Marowak said with a shake of her head.

"You do?" I asked.

She nodded. "I think Grovyle and Lycanroc are in the Archive Room currently. You might want to tell him what happened in the game."

"Alright," I said uncertainly, not sure as to why she wanted me to go there.

"I suppose we're done here then," Porygon said, turning towards me. "Except… I suppose we have to ask someone about their alibi." He gestured to Ribombee.

The Ultimate Botanist suddenly grew frightened. "What?" she squeaked out. "Did I do something wrong?!"

"Um…" It took a second to find the right words. "I was wondering you were last night. I didn't see you during Blissey's class."

Ribombee visibly relaxed. "Oh, is that all?" she asked. "I was with Lycanroc and Zebstrika helping them fix the Racer Gym until 11:00 PM when we all went to bed. At around… 10 PM I believe, Blissey asked me to gather some berries in the garden. Afterward, Blissey went back to her own gym and I returned to Zebstrika and Lycanroc to give them some snacks." She gave me a curious look. "Is that what you needed?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod. Both Zebstrika's and Ribombee's alibi's checked out. All I had to do was check Lycanroc's.

"Well then," Porygon said to Marowak and Ribombee. "I suppose Braixen and I will leave you two to your devices." He headed out the door.

"Thanks for your help!" I said bowing my head.

"No need," Marowak dismissed. "We're all just trying to get some justice for Lucario."

"We're behind you one hundred percent, Braixen!" Ribombee insisted.

I nodded and ran out of the guildmaster's room, trying to catch up to Porygon.

Xxx

We climbed down back to the floor below, but instead of heading to the room that contained Lucario's body, we instead arrived at the Archive Room. Entering it, I found two pokémon there that I hadn't thought would investigate together. Well… I suppose it was only Grovyle investigating while Lycanroc sat nearby, like a guard, picking at his teeth.

The two looked up when we entered. Grovyle looked between Porygon and me. "Are you two investigating together?" he asked. When I nodded, he made an uncommitted grunt and looked back down at the books he was reading.

Lycanroc gave us a suspicious look. "You aren't to lock me up, again are you?"

"No," Porygon answered smoothly.

He relaxed. "Thank, Arceus. I wasn't in the mood to be a suspect again."

Porygon and I exchanged a look. "Well actually…" I slowly said.

"You're kidding me!" Lycanroc roared. "I swear I'm innocent, again! I was with Zebstrika and Ribombee last night! I was fixing his stupid window since he couldn't climb the ladder."

"Did anything else happen?" I asked.

"Well… I suppose Blissey came to ask Ribombee for some berries, but Ribombee came back pretty quickly and we finished our work around 11 PM." He gave me an annoyed glare. "Is that all you need?"

"That should be fine," I quickly said, trying not to get on Lycanroc's bad side.

Clue: Lycanroc's Account

Grovyle looked up. "Oh, are we recounting what we were doing last night?" he asked. "Well, my alibi is not the best, as I was in the mess hall eating. But I did see something interesting." Seeing that he had perked our attention, he smirked. "I saw Gengar and Lucario heading topside. They were both carrying some slips of paper."

"Like a letter?" I asked, pulling Lucario's letter out and showing it to Grovyle. "Like this."

Grovyle blinked. "Exactly like that actually," he answered.

Clue: Grovyle's Account

"What are you reading, Grovyle?" Porygon asked.

Grovyle didn't answer Porygon for a few seconds as he turned a page. "I'm assuming you read the message above Lucario's body." He asked. "About the cursed human?" When Porygon nodded, he continued with, "I'm checking to see if the term has ever been used before. I thought there would be something amidst all these reports."

Porygon tilted his head. "Look for anything mentioning the words, 'meteor, star, Groudon, and Rayquaza,'" he offered, as Lycanroc and I looked confused.

Even Grovyle didn't seem to understand what Porygon getting but looked through some of the boxes for a couple of seconds before pulling out some papers. "Here," he said handing it to me. "Something about two events called, 'The Falling Star Incident,' and 'The Groudon Incident,'" he explained.

"Do you know what happened?" Porygon asked us.

"Amnesia, remember?" Grovyle grumbled. "Not that I do."

Porygon looked at Lycanroc and me only to be disappointed when we looked just as confused as Grovyle. "It was a pretty big deal," he drawled. "In the latter, Groudon went on a rampage that led to multiple earthquakes and multiple villages getting destroyed. A lot of rescue teams tried to provide damage control, but many lives were lost. In the former, there was a star that was falling from the sky that would destroy the world. A rescue team performed a pilgrimage to the sky to ask Rayquaza for help to save the world."

I blinked. "Oh, I heard about that!" I exclaimed. My mother had talked about it in passing, but when she mentioned it, it didn't sound like a big deal. Well, we were far away from the epicenter of the disasters, so we weren't as affected. "But what does this have to do with a cursed human?"

"Well…" Porygon said slowly. "Both events were said to have been caused by a cursed human." He scanned the files. "In the file describing the falling star, it even mentions a human cursed by Ninetales."

Clue: The Falling Star Incident

Clue The Groudon Incident

"Interesting," Grovyle folded his arms. "I suppose this what the message is referring too."

"Maybe," I said with a helpless shrug. I still couldn't wrap my head around it. What would be the purpose of killing Lucario? He was terrified of anything human-related! I sincerely doubted he would have anything to do with a cursed human.

"Hmph," Grovyle dusted his hands and stood back up. "Are there any areas of interest that I should investigate?"

"The Fighter Gym," I answered.

He nodded. "Got it," he said, leaving the room. "Let's get out of here, Lycanroc."

Lycanroc blinked. "Oh… uh… I'm coming!" He ran off, following Grovyle out of the room.

Porygon turned to me. "Well then, Braixen where to next?"

This time I already had an answer for him. "The storage room," I said. "Greninja said she wanted us to visit."

Porygon blinked. "Excellent work," he praised. "Afterwards, I have something to show you myself."

"You?" I frowned.

"Well, we'll get to it…" Porygon said with a tilt of his head. "For now let's get to the storage room."

Xxx

I didn't think that I would ever have the need to come back to the storage room, but there I was with Porygon of all pokémon. I gulped, as I looked around, the number of items within the room making my head spin. I spotted a shelf that contained some ladders and another with some composite bows. Well, I suppose it was pretty obvious where the killer located the items used in the murder.

Greninja was waiting by one of the shelves near the bows that contained a bunch of arrows. She noticed us approaching her and waved. "I suppose you've seen the Dojo?" she asked.

I blinked. "Yeah, but… how did you know about it?"

She shrugged. "Pelipper came by and explained what was found," she explained. "He wanted to know if you could find bows and ladder in the storage room."

"Well he was right," Porygon drawled.

Greninja nodded. "He was," she agreed. "But I actually wanted to show everyone who came by this." She gestured to a nearby shelf where a bundle of green arrows was held. Ones that seemed remarkably similar to the one that had killed Lucario.

I raised a brow. "Um…" I said nervously, not wanting to insult her. "This is great, but we already know what killed Lucario."

"Do you know what type of arrow this is?" Greninja asked.

Porygon and I exchanged a look. "No?" Porygon answered.

"It is something called a Decidueye arrow," Greninja explained. "To explain in the simplest terms it's an arrow that Decidueye makes and uses itself. It's actually known in the underground as a pretty effective assassination weapon for killing ghost-types."

I recoiled. "Wha-what?" I cried, surprised at the revelation.

"It can also be used to trap pokémon in place even if they are not ghost-type," she continued, ignoring my surprise. "I've heard of the arrow being used before, but never had the chance to use it myself. A fascinating tool if I do say so myself."

Clue Updated: Arrow

Porygon narrowed his eyes. "Which makes you suspect, since you know about its properties."

Greninja shrugged. "I have a decent alibi," she replied.

Porygon glanced at me, but I could only nod. "She was with us last night," I explained.

"I'm not sure how much this will help with the case," Greninja admitted. "After all, Lucario… isn't a ghost-type. Perhaps the culprit didn't know about the arrow's special properties."

"Well, thanks anyway," I said bowing my head. "You were a big help!" I meant what I said. Even if the revelation might not help us in the long run, it was still nice of Greninja to try and help.

Greninja chuckled. "Oh, you're so sweet and naïve Braixen. Never change."

I blinked, but before I could ask, Porygon began to tug me away. "Come on, Braixen," he said, as I turned towards him. "Our investigation may almost be over, but I have one last thing to show you. And only you." His eyes flicked over to Greninja who just ignored the two of us.

I nodded and followed Porygon back outside as he led me to a spot close to the Dojo's Basement. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching and tapped the wall twice. Much to my surprise, the wall slid open, revealing a rocky tunnel leading straight.

I glanced at Porygon in surprise, as if expecting him to explain, but he just ignored me. "Follow me," he ordered, heading inside the tunnel. After a moment of hesitation, I followed him in, as the door slid shut behind me.

We walked in silence for a couple of minutes, before we reached a dead end, but one that had a light shining from above. I looked up to see the sun shining through a small grate. I blinked, recognizing the shape. "Is that…?"

"Yes," Porygon said with a nod. "It's the grate right outside the guild. They used it as a sort of security system to check which pokémon would come inside."

I looked around the clearing we had reached to find that it had some books lying about along with some blankets. "Who was living here?" I wondered aloud.

"Me," Porygon answered. "I've been staying here doing my best to act as a sort of grate master. I've been keeping an eye on who leaves and who enters the guild for the past few days."

My eyes widened. "So that means-!"

"I know exactly who left and entered the guild last night, yes," he answered. "I haven't told anyone else this. You're the first one." He cleared his throat. "To start, I did see Blissey leave the building at 9:48 PM exactly, since I was using the clock attached to our badges to keep time. At 9:55 PM Lucario left the guild and at 9:58 PM Gengar left the guild. At 10:03 Blissey returned to the guild. At 10:10 Genger returned. At 11:00 PM sharp, Zebstrika, Ribombee, and Lycanroc came inside. And At 1:00 AM, Blissey left the guild but never returned."

Clue: Porygon's Account

My eyes were wide. "That's…" I breathed. "That's incredible. This is amazing evidence!"

"I'm glad you agree," Porygon smirked. "Now then-!"

"Ahem!" Monotuff's voice suddenly echoes throughout the tunnel, surprising the two of us. "I suppose that is enough time for your investigation. The guild trial will begin shortly. Everyone is required to gather on Sharpedo's Bluff to begin the trial!"

Porygon could only sigh. "I suppose we shall wait for the trial until we can finally unravel this mystery."

Xxx

We were the last ones to arrive at Sharpedo's Bluff.

Well, actually that wasn't true. I noticed that we were missing one other person. "Where's Gengar?" I asked, drawing the attention of everyone.

"Hmph." Marowak scoffed. "He hasn't come out of his room."

"What?!" Monotuff suddenly teleported itself into the center of the small circle we had formed. "He's supposed… Argh! I'll go get the little coward. All of you wait here!" It disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

We all stood there, as an awkward silence settled over everyone. I could tell that no one really had an idea of what to say.

"No! No!" Gengar's voice drew my eyes behind me, to see Monotuff dragging the Ultimate Infiltrator by his head over to us. Gengar was struggling, constantly punching Monotuff's stubby hands, but surprisingly he couldn't force him out of its grasp. "I don't want to-! I'm not interested!"

Monotuff ignored him and dragged him over until he was right next to the entrance to the elevator, before letting Gengar go. Gengar crawled away from Monotuff, before glancing around, wincing at our suspicious looks. "Uh…" He chuckled weakly. "Hey… there guys… uh…"

"Well, now that's fixed!" Monotuff said cheerfully. "Time to start the trial!" He disappeared.

Gengar seeing that everyone was staring at him, bolted down the stairs. Everyone seemed to exchange a knowing look, before following him down into the elevator.

Once the last pokémon was inside, the jaws of Sharpedo's Bluff snapped shut. No one screamed this time, already used to what would happen, as the ground beneath us shuddered. The elevator we were trapped in began to move down.

After a long wait, longer than the first time I felt, there was a small, "Ding!" and the steel bars slid open to reveal the trial room. We all filed in and headed to our spots. My stomach churned when I realized that two more portraits had been put up where Lucario and Metang used to be, a pair of pink lines crisscrossing across their faces to make and "X."

"Is everyone ready?" Monotuff said, already seated in its throne.

"No," Gengar squeaked out.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Monotuff exclaimed.

I took a deep breath, gathering my courage, and spared a look at Lucario's picture. I promise, I vowed. I promise, Lucario, I'll find who killed you and make them… make them… I faltered in my thoughts, remembering Metang execution.

Did I really want to have someone in this room end their lives in such a twisted way?

Monotuff raised its arms. "Well, then! Let's begin the murder trial of Lucario, the Ultimate Fighter!"

Clues:

Victim File #2- The victim is Lucario. He died instantly due to an arrow to the heart. He was found in the Fighter Gym's basement and died at 10:05 PM last night.

Arrow- The arrow that killed Lucario is called a Decidueye arrow, which is an arrow that the grass-type uses. Despite, not having any ghostly properties the arrow itself can be used to trap pokemon in place, but it cannot kill them. Greninja mentions that the arrows are deadly to touch to ghost types even if not handled by a Decidueye.

Arrow's Angle- The arrow had pierced Lucario's back at a 65-degree angle pointing up. At least that is what Porygon says.

Froslass's Touch- Froslass accidentally touched the arrow but she wasn't harmed by it. Greninja's worry seems a little misplaced…

Lucario's wounds- Blissey says that Lucario's death was instantaneous. There are no other wounds on his body and there isn't anything out of the ordinary with the killing wound. His mind wasn't harmed, so no psychic moves were used against him.

Dojo's Divider- A large thick slab of wood was dropped in the center of the Dojo splitting the building into two parts. On the right side is the back door, the elevator, and the blood trail. On the left side is the front entrance.

Luminescent Paint- A small amount of this paint was found on Lucario's chest on his spike.

Lucario's Letter- A letter addressed to Lucario was found in the Fighter's Gym. Contains the same paint that was found on Lucario's body. Says, "Meet me in the Dojo at 10:00 PM. Go through the front door. I know your secret and your connection to that incident. I know who caused it. Wait for me in the Dojo."

Blood Trail- There is a blood trail leading from the right side of the barrier and to the elevator. Continues in B3F from the elevator to where Lucario's body was found.

Abandoned Bow- A bow was found hidden outside the Dojo in the grass.

Abandoned Ladder- A ladder was found toppled over and hidden in the grass, just outside the Dojo.

Open Window- A window is open near the ceiling of the Dojo.

Bloody Message- A message written in blood was found above Lucario's body. It says, "I am the cursed human."

Elevator- Braixen saw someone using the elevator when her group entered the basement to discover the body. When she and Porygon later called it back in order to head to the surface, it took a while to open, probably because the elevator was currently at the surface. There is also a large bloodspot on the floor of the elevator.

Dojo's Locked Doors- The doors to the surface entrance to the Dojo had been locked and the one way for them to open them was to take the elevator from the basement and open them that way. They lock from the inside and cannot be unlocked from the outside. However, when Braixen and Porygon had been investigating the Dojo, it was found that the Dojo's back door was unlocked, but the front doors remained locked.

The Falling Star Incident- An event that shook the pokémon world. A star was said to be falling from the sky by Xatu and a rescue team ended up making a pilgrimage to Rayquaza in order to ask him to save the world. Somehow, against all the odds, they succeeded. However, there was a consensus among most pokémon that it was a human cursed by a Ninetales that caused the imbalance in nature.

The Groudon Incident- A period of time when Groudon went on a rampage that led to earthquakes and multiple villages getting destroyed. Many rescue teams attempted to save as many pokémon as they could, but many lives were lost. It only ended after a couple of rescue teams managed to defeat Groudon and lull him back to sleep. It is rumored that a cursed human was behind the incident.

Porygon's Account- Porygon was hiding underneath the grate that led to Wigglytuff's Guild so he could see everyone that left and entered the building. At 9:48 PM Blissey left the guild. At 9:55 PM, Lucario let the Guild and at 9:58 PM Gengar left the guild. At 10:03 PM Blissey returned to the guild. At 10:10 PM Gengar came back. At 11:00 PM Zebstrika, Ribombee, and Lycanroc returned to the guild. At 1:00 AM, Blissey left the guild but never came back.

Blissey's class- A lot of people were attending Blissey's class on medicine during the time of the murder. These people include Braxien, Blissey(obviously), Marowak, Noivern, Pelipper, Froslass, and Greninja. At 9:42 PM Blissey left the class saying she would pick up some more berries at Ribombee's gym. She came back rather quickly at around 10:00 PM. The class ended at 11:00 PM when everyone went to sleep.

Ribombee's Account- Ribombee was at Racer Gym the entire night, until 11:00 PM when she went to bed with Lycanroc and Zebstrika. However, she says that Blissey came at around 10:00 PM to pick up some berries for her to use for her class, so the two left to pick the berries. Blissey returned to the gym while Ribombee went back to Zebstrika and Lycanroc to provide them with some snacks.

Grovyle Account- Grovyle says that he was in the mess hall that night eating, He did see both Lucario and Gengar, both carrying letters, leave the guild, however.

Lycanroc's Account- Lycanroc was near the Racer Gym fixing a window that had broken the day before. He was with Zebstrika and Ribombee since Zebstrika couldn't exactly use the ladder or fix it himself. Blissey came by to ask Ribombee for berries and the two left, but Ribombee returned with some snacks. They finished the job at around 11:00 PM.

Zebstrika's Account- Zebstrika was near the Racer Gym fixing a window that had broken the day before. He was with Lycanroc and Ribombee. Blissey came by to ask Ribombee for berries and the two left, but Ribombee returned with some snacks. They finished the job at around 11:00 PM.

Game- The game was called "Pokémon Red" Monotuff called it a video game, which he claims is a game that humans would play on a screen and control people in that game using a controller. Braixen isn't sure what this meant, but after playing it she deduces it like a visual story that she could somehow control the outcome of.

Main Character- The main character is something called a pokémon trainer, who catches pokémon and battles, other trainers, with them.

MC's Pokémon- The only pokémon that the main character trainer has is a Gardevoir, Ekans, and Medicham.

MC's Attitude- The main character whenever he talks acts rude and cruel to everyone around him. Whenever Braixen accidentally lost a battle within the game, the MC would blame everyone else, especially his pokémon, except himself.

Ranger- A pokémon ranger at the start of the game. Starts to sob about failing to save the rest of his team and wishes he could see in the dark. Doesn't say anything else when talked to.

Pokémon Center- A pokémon center next that is next to the Ranger. Claims that they cannot heal their pokémon because all of their beds are already taken by pokémon who were saved.

Normal Ending- At the end of the game, the main character tries to enter a cave, but is stopped by a guard that moves in front of him. The guard screams at him and called him a CURSED HUMAN and begins to cry HYPERREALISTIC BLOOD. A jump scare appears with his face before the screen turns black.

True Ending- To get the true ending, you have to go left at the crossroads into a cave nearby. Inside is a ninetales facing away from the screen. The MC becomes uncontrollable at this point and goes to touch the ninetales's tails. Ninetales turns on the MC and suddenly looks angry and tries to curse him, but the gardevoir suddenly appears and takes the curse for him. The trainer runs away.

Ninetales- At the end of the true ending Ninetales watches the MC run away as the gardevoir is cursed in his stead. She prophesies that he'll be reborn as a pokémon in the future and that'll he'll be the shadow that he always tried to hide from himself.

Oof, that took some time!

Reviews and constructive criticism are appreciated as usual!