MatchesMassa: Helloo0o0o! I'd like to thank Pinkbubble13, AshliiofPallet, krikanalo, and image of nothing for their lovely reviews, feedback and advice. I've taken all of your collective feedback and happily have been trying to integrate it into my story. I feel bad for misleading people into thinking the last story would end with pokeshipping love but, as you can see, this is a Noir tale and these things rarely work out but...I'm not saying THIS book will end with love but I will say.. this won't be the final book in the series, and I do have plans, so please stay tuned :) Enjoy~

CHAPTER TWO

It wasn't a long drive back to the station after that. The cool evening air splashed against my face as I leaned out the window. The stars had abandoned the city, thanks to all the bright lights, and all that was left was blackened night. The beat cop that had picked me up hadn't spoken much since his arrival. I was thankful for that. On nights like this, I found it comforting to get lost in my own thoughts. Tonight, I wasn't comforted at all. I had been plagued by 'what-ifs' and 'whens'.

Giovanni Sakaki. Born and raised in Kanto, I met him a long time ago when I was only a child. Back then, I had no idea what he was up to, scheming and sticking Jessie and James on me everyday, trying to get my Pikachu. All I knew was that he was bad news, needed to be stopped.

But like the rat he was, he never managed to get stopped for long. Wind up in jail? Bribe a guard. Hell, recruit him, Giovanni will pay more! In later years, after the disbandment of Team Rocket, he struggled to keep his empire afloat. He turned to selling weapons overseas, mostly to Orre and Kalos. Orre was a problem, though. Guns were the last thing those people needed.

Orre and Kalos were constantly at odds. Team Cipher and Team Flare constantly butted heads, and eventually, Team Cipher rounded up a bunch of folks, strapped a couple bombs to them, and then attempted to blow up the Tower of Mastery. They failed, instead destroying a couple of small buildings, but this did nothing to prevent the people of Kalos from getting extremely upset. A war was brewing, and Kanto, Johto, all of us in the East… well, we could only watch in horror.

I was just starting out in the academy when this was all going down. I was around 19-ish, maybe closer to 20. Recaps were on the news every day, the media only making people panic. "They might strike here, next!" they'd say. "Hide your kids!"

None of us knew Giovanni caused all of it, until around a year later, when the leader of Team Cipher was detained. He sang like a canary, and Giovanni was officially in trouble. He went on the lamb for a couple years, before finally apparently disappearing off of the face of the Earth. Eventually, sightings of him in the Orange Islands sprang up, and when they found him, well wouldn't you know it? Birth certificates, blood tests, social security numbers...all saying that he was a Mr. Roger Sagaki, raised on the Sevii Islands, moved out to the Orange Islands recently. Everything checked out.

We all knew it was him. That it was that scheming bastard Giovanni. But in the eyes of the law, he wasn't. There was no way to prove it. So they let him be. I heard that he was a recluse these days, staying in his giant fortified mansion, overlooking the Islands, keeping a watchful eye on the sea, and thus, the world. Maybe he had changed. Maybe he wanted a fresh start. But monsters like him didn't deserve fresh starts, only bitter ends. He'd evaded his for a long time, but if he actually had the balls to return… well.

I'd make sure he'd meet his end, rotting in jail for the rest of his days. No guards. Just a dark room with no windows. No noise. Nothing but himself and his sins.

It wasn't just his crimes against humanity that bothered me. He was notoriously cruel to Pokémon. I'll never forget about the bondage he put Mewtwo through, turning him briefly into the monster that made him nearly destroy the world. He'd also reformed, his own reformation being genuine. But Giovanni couldn't let him be. He hunted him, determined to own the strongest being in the world, control it, and make it conquer the world for him. Mewtwo evaded capture, but none of us ever saw him again.

"Hey, uh, Detective?" Asked the patrolman driving, "You alright, sir?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine Officer…" I paused.

"Thompson sir," He replied with a nod. He was one of the few officers I'd seen with dark skin and hair. Probably from Orre. "This is actually my first week on the job."

"I see. Well, welcome to Hell," I joked, causing Officer Thompson to cringe slightly. "I'm kidding. Goldenrod is a good city to start your career. I was a beat cop here myself about six years back."

"I'd like to someday be in your league, Detective Ketchum," Said Thompson.

"Rule one, nobody likes a kiss-ass," I replied, Thompson nodded. This kid was like a bird, just fallen out of the nest, "Rule two...just work hard. Do your job, focus on where you're at now. If you do it well, you might make homicide, maybe even Vice one day. Where'd you go to school kid?"

"Born and raised in Phennac City in Orre sir, attended the police academy there, and moved out to Johto as soon as I graduated." He turned the wheel left, taking us down past Johnson Ave, closer towards the station.

"So, you grew up during the War?" I asked.

"..Yes sir," He nodded. "After the war, Orre became a depressing place to live. I wanted to get out here, where things weren't so blight."

"On these streets, Thompson...you always gotta look on the blight side." I sighed. "We got rapists, murderers, kid-touchers, all the classics. Everywhere has their share of problems, underneath the shiny surface of it all."

I saw Thompson take that in. He'd understand it fully after about a year. If he didn't kill himself or quit the force, I'm sure he'd make a fine cop. He did endure the War as a child after all.

Finally, we made it to the station. I stepped out of the car, and closed the door behind me. Looking down through the window, I spoke to Officer Thompson once more.

"Tell Detainment to bring the Grunt to a cell. I'll deal with him after I talk to the Boss Lady, alright?" I asked.

"Yes, sir." Thompson nodded. I walked away, towards the entrance of the building. The door creaked as I opened it, walking inside. I was greeted by a Jenny, sitting behind her desk. She smiled at me and I nodded back.

"Is the Commissioner in her office?" I asked. The secretary Jenny wore a low-cut V-neck shirt, that, if it were cut any lower, well, it would have been a belt. I nearly broke my neck trying to keep my eyes on hers.

"Yes, Detective, she's expecting you." She smiled with a wink. I had been getting more attention from the Jennies lately. I didn't know why, and I didn't care. They were all the same to me. Well, of course, except the Commissioner. She and I were good friends.

I walked upstairs, passing desks littered with papers that spilled onto the floor. I tried to avoid them, like a child pretending the floor was lava, but there were too many, and I might have left a footprint on one or two. I eventually made it the the Commissioner's office and I knocked.

"Come on iiiin!" I heard from the other side. It was the over emphasized call of a woman expecting.

I made my way inside the rather large private office. The blinds had been closed on the windows, blocking the night sky from view. The Commissioner had listened to public radio, and had lowered the volume when I walked in.

"Hey, Jen," I greeted, "Got a Grunt holed up in holding downstairs. Was gonna se if I could get some info out of him before I clocked out."

"Don't worry about it. Let him stew in there for the night, you can talk to him in the morning. It's late. What are your plans for tonight?" She asked.

Jenny wasn't in her usual uniform. She was wearing a dress, that well, looked like she had been poured into. Her bust-line wasn't as prominent as the Secretary downstairs, but it was still there. The dress was a long dark blue number that extended to just below her knees. If anything, Jenny had modesty.

"I was just going to kick back, maybe take Pikachu for a night-walk," I replied, leaning back against the door frame, crossing my arms. "Maybe try to catch some Buzzball highlights. How about you? Looks like you've got something fancy planned."

"I was going to go out for a couple of drinks with some of the Jennies downstairs...why don't you come along." She stood up out of her chair, and then sat down on her desk.

"I don't think so," I said, shrugging. "I'm trying to cut back on my drinking."

"Ash," She said, "We both know that you're going to drink when you get home. Might as well be social about it." Jenny pouted a bit, sticking out her lower lip. "Come on, you haven't hung out with me for weeks."

I looked over dress clung to her hips, like a napkin wrapped around a wine glass that had been flipped over. She only dressed like this when she went out to drink, other wise it was either the uniform, or sweatpants and a t-shirt. Her light blue hair was hanging low, cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall. It sure matched the color of one.

"I don't know." I said, looking away. "I really wanna know what this guy downstairs was up to…"

I didn't even hear her walk over to me. She placed a hand on my cheek and turned my head to face her.

"Stop being a baby," She said, "Come out and have some fun. Lord knows you're overworking yourself and you need it. Please?" I rolled my eyes and slumped back with a heave and a sigh.

"Fine, sure, whatever," I said, "I'll go to the locker rooms downstairs and change into my streets, but I'm not gonna look as fancy as you guys."

"You look fine, don't worry!" She said with a smile, patting my head. "It'll be good to get your mind off of...whatserface."

She meant Misty. I had brooded about her getting married since I found out, over six months ago. These things happen. You grow apart from people you were once so close with, and before you know it, boom. They're married, have a steady job and are way happier than you are. It sucked, I have to admit, knowing I was beat to the punch.

Misty Waterflower. The only girl I ever loved. But...well, there would be no romance between us I suppose. Not unless the divorce rates in this country were painfully exact. Nope, no romance. Romance...is a bus that pulled up to the station and went on through. I wasn't a scheduled stop, what can I say?

Fresh out of a shower in the locker room, I sat on a bench. Looking at my shoes, old and worn, I couldn't help but feel the same way: Old and worn. I was 27 and I felt 47. My birthday passed 3 months ago, and it, like most, came and went. I woke up the next day with a hangover, except I was a year older. Same shit, different age. I stood up and looked at the mirror. I hadn't put my shirt on yet. I was still pretty fit, I did much jogging and went to MMA classes on weekends. My body looked healthy but looking up at my face well… let's just say, I was running out of youthful energy. I looked like I'd hit the bottle one to many times, both figuratively and literally. I touched the scar on the top of my forehead. The one I got from…

From that rabid Jigglypuff. I didn't notice at the time, I guess it was the adrenaline, but apparently it had bit me. Sure, I was treated for rabies and the like, came out clean but...scars are forever. This one being a visual reminder of the blood that stained my hands. I'd never killed a Pokémon before. Never thought it'd be an unwilling pawn at that. But life goes on. For some of us, easier than others.

I put on my black t-shirt, slipped into some blue jeans and packed my uniform back into my locker. I was going out for the first time in weeks, but I dressed the same as ever. Trying to show a little effort, I tried combing my black hair, but with no gel or anything it never stayed in place, instead staying the violent mess it always had been. I shrugged and exited the locker room. I met Jenny outside, with a couple of others who whistled at my appearance. I rolled my eyes, as we all got into a cab.

END OF CHAPTER TWO