Nothing is what it seems

Author's note: I realized this story had one big weakness... Pallet town is WAY bigger than supposed. Just bear with it and I'm sorry not to have given an explanation. Sorry for the long delay btw and anything wrong I could have done. This chapter is kinda long cuz I don't do them by length but by events... try to enjoy anyway. First time I do first person point of view. YAY!

Part 3 – Escapade

In a distance far enough for our hero, Gary relaxed a bit after having checked to see if anyone had followed them. For a moment, he truly had been scared at the thought of hurting or, in the worst scenario, killing the poor Jake who, by the time they got about a mile away, was shaking uncontrollably out of fear. Anyhow, it was the least concern of Gary as he proceeded through the city.

"Please let me go! I have a wife, a child also a cat and a dog and goldfish and euhh cockroaches …"

"I get the point, don't worry you'll see them soon enough" the fugitive replied amused as a chuckle echoed. "That is… if you cooperate" he added menacingly, staring right into the policeman's eyes with a straight and serious face. "Got it?"

"I'll do anything you want, please don't kill me!!" If Gary's goal was to have some fun out of the poor man this unfortunately was too much for the agent that unfortunately wet his pants in fear. A bit surprised and not to mention repelled by the growing odor, Gary ignored him as he tightened his grip around his arm, placing as much distance as possible with the captive fellow, and dragged him in front of a store. Jake looked around him: There was a sea of people too preoccupied with their own little business to notice his situation or himself even though his presence should have been emphasized with the port of his uniform. Just as he thought everything was hopeless for him and that he was a goner, Gary released his arm and, most amazingly, took a pen out of his pocket along with some paper on which he wrote something before tending him what he believed being a check.

"Here you go. Sorry for the… inconvenience. Go find yourself some spare pants…" Gary, along with the check, offered him an apologetic smile.

"Th-thank you…" Wet pants managed to mutter, still shocked, avoiding his kidnapper's eyes by looking down at his check. The amount written on it was $250, more than his whole outfit reunited. More shocked than ever, he looked up in hope to face Gary but it was too late as Gary Oak was already disappearing in the crown. It wasn't just a coincidence if they had been heading downtown; it was the best spot to easily escape as he was now already invisible to Jake's eyes… and so was his destination.

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Gary was now at one of his former favorite hangout: the library. He had planned to stay there until its closure. There weren't a lot of people and he could think without disturbance. He went sit to a table to clear out his mind about the day's events.

"I can't go on like this if they catch me I'm done for… I … I gotta find a way to innocent myself… like finding clues… or catch the real criminal…! So reckless… I'm not in a movie; I can't run away and hope for everything to turn out fine…"

"What a bastard that murderer" he added to himself, out loud, when a woman starred at him blankly as if he was insane. "Ha ha ha, this book is amazing… I'm just too much into it." He tried to explain himself showing the lady the closest book around that unluckily was a dictionary. The woman threw him the nastiest look ever before getting up of her seat and exiting the place, she thought now being a cuckoo's nest, leaving behind her one really embarrassed Oak. "All that trouble because of one crazy dude killing people on my account" he sighed, in a lower tone. He rested his head on the table, concentrating himself on the case some more. "Brock was surely already dead…" Gary thought. "I was tricked into the warehouse by the assassin with a note… he then hit me, I lost consciousness and woke up as a suspect number one when really I'm the victim." Gary renewed his sigh. "I don't have my pokemon with me and the cops are probably guarding the mansion and gramps' lab… I could have gone back to the scene of crime and make Arcanine sniff out the real criminal since he must have been in the warehouse too…" probably not the last sigh from a long series to be continued escaped Gary's mouth. Deceptions kept on falling down on him. "Oh yeah… it was raining yesterday night… the scent must have been washed away… Damn it, growlithes from the police could have found a clue or anything if it wasn't for the rain. They probably didn't even bother searching carefully for clues in the warehouse as they had enough evidence against me…" Gary's finger was making imaginary circles on the table, their number was increasing as much as Gary's thoughts. "The rain!" Gary suddenly exclaimed after a moment getting his head up.

"The murderer must have left footprints on the ground since there was mud! I gotta go back check" Yes, Gary would go back tonight, when the people would expect him the least, to the mansion to check if this theory was good. Also, he would have to gather some stuff he'd need to survive in the jungle that was the human civilization. Anyhow, as it was still just afternoon, Gary switched his objective of a search for clues for one of an entertainment until ten, when the library would close. A book would do. After a quick search, he finally found the book he was looking for.

"So now where was I at? Oh yeah…" he flipped through some pages "Page 445…"

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As Gary had suspected there was only a few policemen posted at the mansion; No one sane would return to the scene of the crime in such a situation… no one but Gary. More quiet than an ekans if possible, Gary sneaked into the garden and headed to the warehouse whose area was delimited by bands written warning on them. Without getting too close and hidden in the shades of the night, he examined the still present footprints on the mud. Unfortunately, he hadn't considered the other's footprints after they discovered the corpse... Catherine's, Ash's, Misty's and all the policemen's that followed after. He didn't know the total of person that walked to the warehouse so it was useless to try and identified each footprint. Giving up, Gary went near his room window where his favorite tree awaited.

"Just need to get my stuff… Hop!" He easily, with years of practice, climbed the oak and hoped for no one to have locked the window of his room. Luckily for him, chance was finally on his side, not only no one had locked it but it was also opened probably to let some fresh air into his chamber. Silently, he jumped into the room, throwing a quick look at the door who, conveniently was half closed.

"Rather half opened would have said Misty" Gary mocked his friend's lack of optimism. No noise… it was late, they probably were all sleeping; the day had been eventful and the nuns usually went to bed around 11 o'clock and it was long past that hour. Gary, without losing a minute, went to his closet before getting out of it a bag he would use to transport his belongings followed by various objects scattered all around his room he could come to need on his journey for the truth. Soon, his laptop, some change clothes, cash, credit cards and his beeper, a cell phone would be useless for the risks he'd give him to use it, were piled in the bag while Gary also put his favorite reversible coat on for cold and lonely nights. He suddenly stopped in his gathering as footsteps could be heard. With great reflexes, Gary quickly tiptoed next to the door, back facing wall, patiently waiting for the incomer to make his entrance. Blond hair… It was Catherine! He completely closed the door and pulled her his way, making sure not a sound would escape her mouth by placing his hand on her crimson soft lips.

"Shh… it's me, calm down" he waited for her body to slightly relax before releasing his grip. In one day he had become quite the kidnapper.

"Gary?!" She exclaimed "What in the world are you doing here? You're wanted!" She added in a lower voice after Gary's silent order to lower it.

"I… came to get some of my stuff" He replied

"Gary… just turn yourself to the police, please…"

"Catherine, I didn't do it, I DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!" Gary shook her, a little too violently as she got frightened.

"That hurts!" Gary, realizing it, stood surprised at his actions as Catherine used that moment of doubt to break free.

"Cath..." He used his nickname with tenderness "Cath, believe me, I'm not a murderer" he pleaded almost doing puppy eyes but she didn't dare once to look at him in the eyes… especially not those eyes. "Cath, it's still me! The same Gary you always knew! The one who loves you more than anything remember?" Gary leaned in for a kiss but his fiancé avoided it smoothly.

"Sorry Gary, I just remembered: I told Casey I'd be right back, see I was heading to the…bathroom and hmm I wouldn't want to give her any suspicion and…" she started to explain

"It's okay, go." Catherine was almost through the door. "Wait! Catherine, this morning how did you know we were at the warehouse?"

"Huh?" she was genuinely surprised by the question that made no sense to her but seeing Gary's serious face she wasn't willing to take the risk not to answer. "Everyone was looking everywhere in the house, then Ash and I tried outside and we noticed footprints on the ground leading to the backyard. We followed them."

"Were there just mine?" This time Catherine took a long moment before answering as she was trying hard to reminisce this detail.

"… I think that Brock's were there also… I'm not sure though"

"Just Brock's and mine?"

"Sure, who else's?"

"The real murderer's ones" Gary said in a curious tone tainted with seriousness.

"Hmm, I'll come back later" she promised almost apologetically before exiting the room, probably not wanting to stay here any stay longer.

Gary was lost in his thoughts, finishing packing. He added some hygienic articles and a pair of sunglasses that could come in handy for disguise. It was a little bit depressing, Catherine wasn't any help. That thought alone pinned down all his motivation. She was scared and not too cooperative; did she seriously think he was the one to have killed them? Her answer also was too vague… He needed to be sure about the footprints but only Ash and she could know and Ash wouldn't be too talkative from where he was now. His last resort would be Misty but it wouldn't be surprising she didn't put any attention to the prints or maybe there were too many to exactly know how many persons went to the warehouse. Of course, she could tell if there were any footprints going the opposite direction, exiting the warehouse, but the risk to go in Misty's room that was also the girl's one was too big of one for this information that wasn't even certain to be given and she could freak out and call the police. He was thankful Catherine didn't do it but still she didn't trust him. A little moment occurred and once he was done with everything, Catherine rejoined him, looking calmer.

"Sorry for the wait, May was using the toilets." She smiled, seeming sorry. It was just then that Gary realized, from his angle to the door, that Catherine had come back the opposite direction she had left. This meant she had done a detour but why would she do that?

"It's okay"

It wouldn't be to warn the policemen downstairs; it would have taken more time and with the noise that going up and down the stairs would have caused, it would have time to easily escape in the dark. There was no phone in the girl's room and even so, she would have lasted longer explaining everything to the others if she had done that… But there was one in the unused room next to his on the side she came from. She couldn't have…?

"So… what are your plans?" she asked casually, opening a dialogue. "Where you're heading to?"

Catherine didn't trust him, it was now evidence.

"I'm thinking of leaving the town but for now the toilets look quite appealing too." He lied. "Are the others asleep?" Catherine just nodded. "Ok, I'll go use them too and take some toothpaste on the way, stay here." he kissed her lightly on the lips, before disappearing by the same door she used. Two could play this game.

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Just as he was as quietly as possible making his way through the dark corridors wondering how he would escape, he stopped when he caught a glimpse of Richie, Casey and May standing right before the girl's door talking to a certain redhead. He was now eavesdropping their conversation, he didn't really have a choice anyway as he couldn't turn back. To his displeasure, time was unfortunately running out.

"C'mon Misty, let's all sleep together in the living room like Richie proposed" Casey tried to convince her.

"You know… Gary escaped the police… It'd be safer if we were all together, y'know, just in case he's still after one of us." Richie suggested again, in his usual concern voice.

"It's okay" Misty reassured him "Gary's not stupid enough to come back here. Officer Jenny thinks so too and anyhow people are guarding the place."

"Think again" thought Gary, a grin plastered on his face.

"Well, it's true that Gary wouldn't kill his motive, so it's easy for you to rest assured" rudely commented May. She was the most tainted by the events"

"Don't tell me you've joined the blond side? ... Gary wouldn't kill anyone especially not for me, he knows better since I'd kill him afterwards myself! Catherine's saying all sorts of things just 'cause she's scared to death." Misty snapped back at May.

"Anyway, you did tell me today that you had something for the guy. Your opinion is not what we could call neutral. Let's go sleep guys, Miss I-know-better won't move." With that she left with Casey chasing after her:

"Wait up, May."

"We… better go find Catherine now… Goodnight Misty" Richie apologized before following them downstairs while Gary sighed in relief they didn't go his way.

He glanced at Misty who was quite thoughtful, reminiscing about the last memories he had of her. Would she be willing to help him? It was the best options of all the others… if there was any other. Unfortunately, he could easily recall the Catherine fiasco... He had to hurry; the police would arrive anytime now. In a way similar to what he had done to Catherine, he abruptly pushed Misty inside the room, pressing the same hand against her mouth, waiting for her to calm down. When she got the message, he let go.

"Gary? What in the.."

"World am I doing here, I know" he completed "Sorry no time for chit chat, I need your help" Misty stared at him intensely with a 'are-you-serious' face, nonetheless he didn't blink. "Please?" he tried his puppy eyes again on a different girl.

"What do you need?" Misty instantly gave in

"So he does work huh?" Gary grinned, proud of his achievement, he quickly regain his seriousness after seeing Misty not so reassuring looking face "Hmm… I need to escape… the police, it's coming"

"Why?" This time it was Gary that was staring at her as if she was the most stupid person on earth. "I mean why would you do the most obvious thing to do?" She rephrased her question. Gary was about to answer when they suddenly heard the front door fling right open along with sirens resound. Misty emitted a strident cry, took Gary's hand before hitting it through the window that shattered to pieces leaving a big hole before Gary could even react with even a sound. Footsteps were climbing the stairs and, that, quickly. "Quick, hide in the closet." She then pushed him inside without waiting for any answer from her friend. She partly ripped her clothes, put the more mess as possible in the short laps of time she had before laying down on her knees like a victim. The rescuers weren't long to arrive.

"Miss, is everything alright here?" asked a policeman from the other side of the door. Misty didn't answer. "We're coming in"

The fellows broke down the door. The scene before their eyes was a scared to death damsel in distress pointing to a broken window where a little amount of blood was staining it while pieces of glasses were spilled on the ground. Some part of the room was a mess as he someone had been fighting another person. "What happened here?" asked the lead of the group, approaching carefully. "H-he escaped… b-by the window… Pigeott… He wanted me to come with him… I refused and he…" Misty, like her former door, broke down but in tears.

The leader with signs, commanded to the other ones to chase after Gary while another man not in the same outfit and with gloves went take pictures of the room along with a sample of the blood on the window, probably for analysis.

"You're not trying to find fingerprints, doc?"

"The blood will be enough and this is a room, too many people were accessing it" the impatient man answered before leaving. The officer turned his attention back to Misty, who seemed still frightened.

"You're safe now miss, but before letting you go rest I'm afraid I need to ask of you some questions."

"Sure… but please can we go maybe somewhere else?" she begged

"I understand" the law representative nodded. They both walked out the door as Gary praised Misty's acting talents to himself even though he only had heard the act.

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An hour of uncomfortable position later, Gary heard the door open followed by its lock. Not long after, someone opened the closet. Gary could finally get up to his relief… his whole body ached from the play statue session more than after a yoga one. The long yawn he let out amused Misty.

"Are you alright?" she asked with a smile

"Sure, been better. What took you so long?" he joked "No seriously, I thought I was in for a night in that closet… How did you come back?"

"I persuaded them that the place I'd feel the safest would be in this room as you would never come back here. The doctor came to my help saying I needed some time alone and a place where I felt safe after this traumatism and added that he had taken enough photos of the place. A nice man that doctor."

"Are you sure he didn't want to get in your pants? You know you're the vulnerable girl and..." Gary didn't dare to give further explanations. Misty's look reminded him of the one he got at the library. "Gotta admit you were pretty good out there." Gary stretched himself, yawning again.

"Yeah… I guess me volunteering to help my sisters in their show finally paid off. Anyways we both need out beauty sleep, wanna try a bed this time" she teased

"Yeah… but what if someone comes in?"

"I locked the door idiot and we'll share one by the way. If I have to open the door, you can still hide in the sheets and the lights will be out. Also I'd rather not have two beds unmade when I'm only using one. Even I couldn't find a valuable explanation."

"T-the same bed?" Gary gulped, visibly surprised "The same bed? You sure?" Gary asked again. Misty couldn't help but to find his manners awfully cute.

"Yes, I just told you idiot." Misty went turn off the lights

"As you wish, but please don't jump all over me" he warned jokingly

"Don't worry, I'm not into fiancés" Misty played along

"Even this one pecular fiancé" he designed no one but himself of course, even in the dark it was evident

"No way, Catherine can be one scaring girl when she wants to" At this name Gary felt a rock crushing him. "What's wrong?" Misty said, sensing his discomfort. She gestured him to get into the bed first. Gary explained her how Catherine didn't trust him and was the one to call the cops. Gary took a moment of silence to reflect on it afterwards, face facing the ceiling and hands under his head.

"I'm sorry, Gary"

"No, she just turned out not to be the one I believed she was"

"You're wrong" said calmly Misty "She was the woman of your dreams if not you wouldn't have been about to marry her. It's your bond I guess that failed, not her." She offered him a tiny smile… well Gary guessed it to be a smile as he couldn't quite see all the features in the dark.

"The woman of my dreams you say? Hmm, you might be right. I loved her so much… Her laugh, her hair, her voice, the way she dressed, I loved everything about her."

"Love." Misty corrected. "You forgot to mention the sex too" she added playfully

"Damn right you are" he grinned, slightly turning his face towards her. "She had beautiful eyes" He said piercing Misty's with his "Like these. Crimson lips as inviting as a sip of lemonade in a desert" He leaned and gave her a brief peck.

"Gary…" Misty tried to stop him verbally once.

"Like yours" he nonetheless continued "Oh and nice cute butt any 13 years old boy would shamelessly drool over" he slightly caressed Misty's. Misty slapped his hand off it.

"Gary" The name sounded more emphasized.

"Like these again" he ignored her again "And finally a pair of boobs any guy would just want to grab an-" This time the slapp was directed to the face.

"You're crazy you know that?" she commented while Gary let out a low chuckle, reaching his hurt cheek.

"Crazy about you" he stuck out his tongue, exaggerating his movements to make sure Misty could see it. She just sighed. "You know" he added after a short period of time "It's crazy how all my concerns vanish when I'm with you"

"Funny… mine on the other hand start with you" she giggled briefly "Let's rest now, you'll need it later" she turned eher back on him.

"Thank you" Misty didn't reply. His mind off of his concerns about the whole crime and Catherine, Gary was finally about to sleep when he felt Misty slightly shaking. It's true that with the window broken, the room was kind of cold. He closed the small gap between Misty and him with his own body and wrapped his arms around her, hoping to offer her some heat. Faking to sleep, Misty cursed her heart for beating so fast while a wave of guiltiness overcame her when the memories of Ash and Brock stroke. She tried her best to ignore the feeling and by the same occasion to try to fall asleep, wish that arrived some time after.

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"Misty! Breakfast's ready" May's voice was heard as she tried to open the door that was locked. Startled, she suddenly woke up from her sleep embrace. Probably due to the comfort of her position, it was hard to get up or even give an answer.

"Yes, coming!" unnecessarily signing Gary to stay silence while she answered.

"Are you feeling better Misty?" asked a concerned May through out the door. "You know, I didn't mean all the things I told you yesterday night… you know about you being Gary's motive." After a moment of silence, she added regretful of her previous acts. Another one of those killing moments followed before Misty gave out a reply. "And I shouldn't have talked about those feelings of yours and-"

"It's okay… I know you didn't mean it anyway." she cut her off, blushing furiously as the subject, oblivious to May, was in the same room, heck in the same bed. Hopefully for her, Gary didn't react or question her at all.

"Do you want me to come in?"

"No no, it's gonna be alright." she refused politely to Gary's relief. "I'll join you in a bit."

" 'kay."

Gary and Misty heard the footsteps distanced themselves from their location. Gary hurried himself out of their bed and went get his bag that he had left in the closet a few hours ago. He took something out of his bag. Coat now on, he looked at the clock in the room. The little needle was stuck on the number seven while the bigger one was on the four… maybe it was time for him to leave that place at once. Seeing him looking intensely at the window, Misty asked him if he was about to leave. Gary nodded. He looked around him, the room that had comforted him that night when he was desperate for cozy hopes; he seemed really reluctant to leave the place.

"Outside, I'll just be on my own again." he answered Misty's questioning look. "'Even though I'm flooded of people in the city, I'll feel so lonely on my own" he admitted.

"You're not." Misty joined him, putting her hand on his shoulder trying her best to consol him and offer some warmth to his cold solitude. "If you need… anything, you can count on me" she added a smile to her small speech.

"Hey, thanks" Gary grinned back. "And well, if you need some gariness in your world I can still drop by again, y'know"

"Idiot" she whacked his head softly, barely touching it. Their foreheads were only separated by her still present hand. "Leave, now."

"You're sure gonna regret these words later" he whispered back and then went comb through his bag, taking something out, and went to the window and stood by the hole they had made earlier. "Here" He then vanished from Misty's sight.

"Idiot… you're going to hurt yourself playing monkeys" she sighed and went to take the object Gary had thrown on her bed before he jumped on one of the trees by the window. It was a beeper. A smile emerged.

"Misty! You're coming?"

"Yeah, yeah, coming"

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Gary was now back on track. This has been a nice rest from reality but now he needed a new plan. For now, the best to do was obviously get the heck away from the police. They probably were carefully searching through this sector of town and with time, his face would become more and more acknowledge as a fugitive one. He just hoped that the fact he told Catherine he was attending to leaving the town would concentrate the police forces near the port, train station and route 1 the most used way to get out of town and all far from where he was really headed: the commercial center.

Gary's P.O.V

It might have seemed a bit stupid...it probably was but I needed to kill some time. My new plan, which was probably way more stupid, was to try to get the police to cooperate. Tonight, I'd go to the commissariat and try to get Officer Jenny to believe my story. What other choices did I have? I had absolutely no clue whatsoever on this case. The murderer was a flawless tactic maker. I didn't have the slightest idea of who, how and why! I stepped into the big building, sacred place for hundreds of teenage girls, looking for a shop that might have an interesting collection of items. Or maybe a gift for Catherine, after all, she was still my fiancé. After all, Misty was surely right… It only was our relationship that was at fault. I should have worked harder on it… Maybe after all this is over, we can make up and get married like planned. I'll re-propose in the most romantic way my brain can come with. Misty always used to say that I was romantically challenged… that'll show her. Yup, a gift is the perfect thing to… A GIFT… Dammit I'd almost forgotten! I quickly rushed to the pokemon section of the mall, that was at the third floor, combing all the shops for the item that might redeem my conscience.

An hour later, that's when I saw them and unfortunately they saw me too. I quickly put the now trapped in a shop custom plastic bag object and tried to make a run for it. The two policemen, who were probably patrolling the sector, instantly contacted other units with their talkie-walkie at my sight. Was it my infamous luck? Almost all law forces should have been about more than 3-4 miles away! How come they recognized me instantly? I was famous, yes, but besides if those two male officers were in one of my fan clubs, this wouldn't have been possible. Someone had probably recognized me while I was searching for my item and notified it to the police. I gotta admit I hadn't been that careful, showing my face around. If my guess was correct, then this place would soon – or worse be already- crawling with angry policemen not too content with my making them run all around the city. Hmm, not such a good sight… I immediately snapped back to reality when I saw one of the two blue-clothed men approached me. I quickly took the stairs to the second story of the store with a pace looking anything but suspicious. Luck was finally on my side as an unexpected wave of people going downstairs too helped me lose the guy –or so I thought- as I was greeted by more of his kind. Catching a few 'Get him!', 'He's there!' and 'He's escaping' fly by, I quickly enrolled myself in the second crowd going to the first floor. Urging myself not to run and get unwanted attention, I speed walked to the man's toilets, where relief I could obtain.

"Don't piss in your pants" a man advised me with a big grin after seeing how hurriedly I had entered the room. I ignored him.

Locking myself in one of the cabins I quickly lowered my pants…. before taking them off completely. In the blink of an eye, I took one of the two pairs of spare pants I had in my bag and trade my current blue jeans for black ones. Time slipping out, instead of getting rid of my coat and changing my shirt, I simply wore backwards as it was a reversible one. On top of that I put the cap I had on before flushing and exiting the cabin. The guy who had previously seen him enter was dumbfounded as he didn't recognize me anymore. I added my sunglasses to the touch, now I was completely unknowable. I exit the place without taking the time to wash my hands; probably why I heard him mutter 'Yak' before the door closing up.

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I was now out of the building, thanks to my clever stratagem, I had been able to get passed by all the officers I needed to, without any danger. I took out of my pocket one of this morning's purchases: a new beeper. I had bought it while in my disguise, knowing just too well how policemen tend to make the same mistake; never thinking outside the box. It was now the second time that I was seen at a place but escaped the police by staying at that same place. Only, this time things may have turned bad if I hadn't changed my outfit.

Flashback

I was walking in the first floor, joyously seeing the policemen exit the place one by one as I stumbled on a conversation between one of them and what seemed like higher ranked one. There wasn't any other officer nearby; it seemed like the both of them were on a break. The superior one was talking casually at the mere policeman. They seemed to know each other which would have explained this casualty.

"This fugitive keeps on escaping us… I'm starting to feel insulted" complained the last one

They were talking about me, obviously. Next to them was a phone cabin which I pretend to go using to follow carefully the rest of the conversation.

"You should be, this guy escaped the police twice before and this is just another point for him now."

"But Butch, you gotta admit that guy's lucky. It's like god's on his side"

"Or he's just simply incredibly smart or incredibly stupid" replied the called Butch

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure Mr. Oak is still somewhere in this mall."

"No way, that'd be extremely stupid!"

"Or extremely smart" added Butch

"…" the other interlocutor paused "Yeah… You sure are smart! I'm sure glad you're on the justice side now! It takes one criminal to read another!"

"I've redeemed myself from all this former rocket stuff… I can't wait to catch that Gary Oak when I'll officially be in command of this case. Enough talking, let's go buy ourselves lunch." The two of them were leaving now as Gary tried to take in the new information.

End of Flashback

This Butch guy will be trouble later… I guessed the representatives wanted to end this affair quickly due to bad publicity. Politicians… I sighed. If I recalled correctly, that guy used to be one of Team Rocket elite agents, after testifying and giving some undeniable evidence against Giovanni, leader of the former group, he purged only one year of prison and shortly after joined the law in a high ranked position. It was both Catherine and Misty that had informed me of that, the first one by interest; everything related to Team Rocket, especially their fall, interested her as she had suffered greatly because of them. While for the second one, the reason was because her crush and best friend was one of the main elements to their defeat. Ash Ketchum and his friends had helped greatly to the victory over Team Rocket by defeating their leaders and preventing their world domination plans. I didn't know what to think of the great Ash Ketchum… My opinion of him, even with that event, had never rose a bit. Nevertheless, I was well-mannered enough to know not to speak ill of the dead.

'I need to see you' I text tapped with my new beeper, sending it to Misty's. I didn't want that Butch guy to get to me before he even tried to. That done, until I receive the answer, I went kill time to, yup you guessed it, the library. Maybe, I will have the time to finally finish that stupid book.

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I finally got the answer in the afternoon at the library, at the price of disturbing everyone in the place with my beeper. I was thankful to god, if there was one, that yesterday's lady, the one with the killer glare, wasn't there this time. I read my reply.

'Let's meet at the ZIT! At 8'

There was quite an amount of time left until that time, so I pleasantly plunge back into the reading of my beloved book. At the same time picturing the expression Misty would have tonight when she'll know why I had called her.

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The constructive area for the new fast food restaurant 'ZIT!' that was going to be build, near the beginning of fall; I was heading there as planned by Misty's message. I was ten minutes late but Misty would probably understand as I have to be extra careful about hiding my whereabouts. Strange place for a meeting even though there were only few streetlights and persons passing by which would be a good thing for me. Just behind a pile of big steers, destined for the future building, held on together tightly by a solid rope, I finally spotted a feminine silhouette waiting for something…or someone.

"Maybe it's not the right spot" I heard it mutter while I was closing up the gap between us.

"Sorry I'm late, Misty"

"Gary?" I could manage to make out the words from her cry. She visibly was as surprised as I was. This wasn't Misty "Oh my god… I should have known better! You made that phone call right? I thought the voice was kinda funny too… You want to kill me right?" her level of anxiousness was rising by the second.

"Wait… What phone call? I was supposed to meet Misty here..."

"Misty? What do you want with her? Just get the heck away from her, you hear me?" May threatened me not even answering my questions or letting me ask them. Few people started to stare at us while I was surprised at how her mood changed in not even 5 seconds. Come to think of it… I came to hate surprises and the one that awaited me. The mountain of pipes behind her had suddenly come down on her.

May was crushed by the pipes. Cries from the pedestrians nearby were asphyxiating my thoughts as the pedestrians themselves were paralyzed by shock. I tried by instinct to dig her out of her situation but those pipes were way too heavy. I could barely budge one. She probably has been crushed as it is now. Looking around me, I saw a few people, bolder than others, dialed numbers with their cell phones. It wouldn't be too wise to stick around. For the I-don't-know time in the day, I ran away like a caterpie faced to pigeotto.

I couldn't believe it! May? Dead? And all those witnesses who saw me! But wait! I didn't even touch her… So the murderer was watching my every move huh? Knowing more than anyone that the police wouldn't listen to another of my stories, I ran for it. If there was an award for best scapegoat, I probably should be running for it… This was not the time for lame jokes. I sighed… it was a burden sometimes to be good at everything.

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End of part 3

Author's note: Shame one the one who thought Gary was going to pooh! Ok, I know this was VERY long… to me like to you but still I hope you did find some enjoyment. Hmm, I'm sorry for killing May. At least that's one suspect off the list! Ok, that was corny. Next chapter won't be out in awhile. At least I've introduced you to another important character Butch, in fact he's a key character. It's now possible (but I don't expect anyone to achieve this miracle) to elude the mystery. The motive can be found while the murderer will have to wait to the final chapter… that is if you have good imagination. C ya !

michelicious