Chapter 12 - Lost and Found

"Hey, Sparks?"

The Raichu glanced up from the common room table, where he had been sitting and eating lunch. It was the middle of a relatively quiet and somewhat sunny day. Ziggy was in his room reading a couple picture books for cubs. It had been a tough day yesterday, so the two had agreed to take things easy for today.

"Hey, Danika. What's up?" Sparks greeted the Sneasel as she approached the table. She had two manila-coloured files in her claws.

"Um…Can I talk to you?" she asked as she glanced around. Javier and Tora were also in the room, talking to each other on the couch during their lunch break.

"Sure. Absolutely," Sparks replied.

Danika leaned in a little closer and said, almost in a whisper, "…In private?"

Sparks then noted the serious look on her face. "Uhh, yeah sure…" he replied. He too glanced over at the room's other occupants, and then over towards the door to the dorms. "We can go to my room."

"Alright."

Danika stood back to let Sparks stand up, and then followed behind him as he made his way to the dorms. He passed by Ziggy's room, sneaking a glance through the slightly-askew door to see that Ziggy was still reading, and then opened the door to his own room.

Once the door was fully closed, Sparks sat down on the bed while Danika sat down at the chair next to his desk. "So," she said, "I guess, first of all, how're you doing Sparks? Feeling any better?"

"Ah, yeah…" Sparks said with a sobering look, "I think so, yeah. I just…got hit really hard yesterday for some reason. Ziggy came to talk to me and it helped me get my priorities back on track. Somehow, by the grace of Arceus, I didn't have any nightmares last night. So I'm feeling better today. Thanks for asking."

Danika nodded and smiled. "Good," she said, and then her smile disappeared again as she glanced down at the files she was holding.

"So, what's up?" Sparks asked, "You find something while sorting through the old files?"

"I sure did…" Danika said.

Sparks chuckled awkwardly. "Well, c'mon. Don't keep me in suspense. Wha'd you find?"

The Sneasel held up the two files and looked at Sparks. "I, uh…"

"What?" Sparks gently pressed.

"I think I found Ziggy's parents."

Silence filled the room as Sparks looked at Danika incredulously, unsure if he'd heard her correctly.

"Not-not like actually found them," she hurriedly added, "They're deceased, like Ziggy said, but…I think I found their files."

Sparks furrowed his brow. "Are you certain…?" he asked cautiously.

"Like ninety percent sure," Danika said.

"Uh… Well, all right. Let's have a look then…"

Danika nodded and handed both of the files over to Sparks. He opened one of them up, revealing an old citizenship record for a male Floatzel named "Mateni". Sparks glanced over the information about his age, date of birth, occupation and other such stuff. He saw that another Floatzel was listed as his mate.

And there, written down near the bottom, was the most noteworthy part of the file. It said 'Child: Buizel', with an asterisk next to it, and slightly further down was a footnote that said 'ACP'. Sparks hadn't even known that citizenship records tracked Alternatively Coloured Pokémon, but that's what was listed here. This was a Floatzel who had a shiny Buizel as a child.

Sparks opened up the other file, which featured a female Floatzel named "Leilani". She also had Floatzel listed as a mate, and she shared the same surname as Mateni so this was more than likely his mate. Their similar dates of birth corroborated this. As an aside, Sparks was starting to realize how inadequate these older citizenship records were, and how much of a tough job Danika was ploughing through.

Once again, the same thing was listed at the bottom. 'Child: Buizel*' and the 'ACP' footnote. By a cursory look, these two Pokémon did indeed seem to be Ziggy's parents.

"There's no place of residence listed," Sparks observed.

"Yeah," Danika replied, "It's a stupid holdover from when Pokémon were more nomadic back in the day and just lived wherever they could build a shelter. They only changed that just recently, like within the last couple years."

"I see…"

"But they're from the same region. Look in the corner, they've got the same town symbol. I dunno which town it is, I'd have to look that up, but they're from the same town. Ziggy said he was from a town just outside of Radiant City, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did. I forget which one, but yeah that's right."

Sparks looked at the two files again. It certainly seemed to add up that these might be Ziggy's parents. He looked closer and saw something that his paw had been covering up earlier; a date next to the child section. It seemed to indicate the child's year of birth.

"You see the year, huh?" Danika asked.

"Yeah. That's… 14 years ago. That's about how old we think Ziggy is."

"Yup," Danika said with a nod.

"What about Ziggy? Is there a file for him?"

Danika shook her head. "No, there wouldn't be. These are citizenship records for adults. Ziggy would only have a birth certificate, and I don't have access to any of those."

"Why in the world are these formatted like this?" Sparks grumbled, "How hard would it have been to put the name of the child on here? Ugh. Well, anyway, this is definitely an interesting find. I'm…honestly not sure what to say about this."

"You and me both. I haven't shared this with anybody except you."

"That's probably for the best right now," Sparks murmured. Ziggy's long-lost parents? Could these really be them? It seemed more than likely at this point. How would Ziggy react if he was shown this? His parents had vanished from his life so early on that he didn't even know a single thing about them. Sparks honestly wasn't sure if he should show this to Ziggy at all.

"Sparks?" Danika spoke up, "You're missing the big whammy."

"The big what?" Sparks asked, giving her an odd look.

"Look at the day Ziggy was born," she said. Once Sparks had glanced down at the date again, she then said, "Now look at the date they both died."

Sparks' eyes shifted up to the top of the records, and then they opened wide. "Wait…What?" he muttered.

Ziggy's date of birth and his parents' date of death were marginally different. According to what Ziggy had told them, they had died right after he had been born. However, these records showed that not to be the case. Both parents had identical years of death, but it was seven years after Ziggy's date of birth.

If these were Ziggy's parents, then they died when he was seven years old.

"But…but that means…" Sparks mumbled.

"Yeah, it's the most troubling part…" Danika said.

"But he said…"

"I know what he said."

Sparks furrowed his brow in confusion and looked at the dates again, to see if they had magically changed. Obviously, nothing was different. Mateni and Leilani, the parents of a shiny Buizel, both died when their son was seven years old.

"They…were alive when he was a cub," Sparks murmured.

"Mhm…"

"Then how did…?" Sparks trailed off as his one question blossomed into ten more. "He would've…if they were alive when he was seven, then he would've…"

"Mmmmhm…"

"Wait," Sparks said, holding up a paw and backtracking a bit, "When would Ziggy have gotten one of these things?" He waved one of the files to indicate what he was talking about.

"The same time everyone gets one. The same time you got one. Age 12."

"I thought it might've been different outside of the city."

"Nope."

Sparks fell silent and he sat for a moment, deep in thought. Afterwards, he spoke up and asked, "Is there a way we can be certain that this shiny Buizel is actually Ziggy?"

"Well," Danika replied, "It'd have to be with his birth certificate, which I don't have access to as I said. We can make a request to obtain it, but as obviously no-one here is a blood-relative of Ziggy, that's not gonna be easy. Especially since we don't even know if 'Ziggy' is his real name or not."

Sparks groaned softly at the thought of red tape.

"I'm pretty sure it is Ziggy, though, Sparks. You know how rare ACPs are, and to have not just two from the same town, but of the same species, and at the same age, would be a huge coincidence."

"Right…"

The room fell silent for a moment, and then Danika stood up and walked towards him. "I know…you're probably thinking the same thing I am. Right?"

Sparks simply lifted his head and looked at the left wall of his room. Sitting just beyond that wall was the very Buizel in question. "I am…" Sparks said with trepidation in his voice.

"I definitely am, Danika…Has Ziggy been lying to us?"


Two very awkward days had passed since Danika had brought this information to Sparks.

The decision had been made to sit on the information for a while so that they could both give it some better thought. Nothing had to happen immediately, so life with Ziggy in the guild could continue as normal for the time being. Or rather, that was the intent at least.

Sparks had simply focused Ziggy on his chores instead of doing anything more involved. He cited the incident at the market, saying they both needed to unwind a little bit more. Ziggy was perfectly content to do his chores and seemed relieved that nothing more challenging was coming his way for the time being.

Presently, Sparks sat at the table in the common room watching Ziggy sweeping the floor. His tired brain was filled with conflicting thoughts. Ziggy seemed innocent enough as he went about his work dutifully, but Sparks found himself in a position now where he simply didn't know for sure. What was the truth? What was the real truth behind Ziggy's origins?

Ziggy caught his eye and waved. Sparks smiled and waved back. The Buizel went back to sweeping and Sparks sighed. Things had definitely been awkward. Sparks knew that Ziggy could tell something was up. Ziggy knew that something was bothering him.

Sparks simply didn't know what to think. He was still feeling a little self-defeated over his episode in the market and it was making it difficult to think clearly. Ziggy's story had always been shrouded in questions, and now there were a whole lot more of them.

"Don't forget behind the couch, Ziggy," Sparks called over. Ziggy looked up and nodded at him. Sparks truly hoped that he was wrong about Ziggy lying, but couldn't fully convince himself that he was.

The door opened suddenly and Carmen briskly stepped into the room. She caught sight of Sparks and marched right up to him. "You wanted to speak with me, yes?"

Sparks was slightly caught off guard and confused by her question. Then, he remembered that it was Danika who had wanted to talk to Carmen, but Sparks had been the one to ask her. "Ah, yes. Yes, Carmen, me and Danika."

Carmen nodded and said, "By the grace of Arceus, I have 15 minutes to spare. Come to my office."

"You got it."

Once Sparks made sure Ziggy would be okay in the room without him, Carmen led him upstairs where they retrieved Danika from her room, and then the trio made their way to the guildmaster's office. Carmen sat down at her desk across from them, and then the two explained to her what they had found. Danika brought along the files to show her, and they ended by bringing up the possibility that Ziggy had been lying.

"Lying?" she repeated.

"It's possible," Danika said.

"Lying about what, exactly?" Carmen asked. There was no skepticism in her voice. She merely wanted to gain a full understanding of the situation.

"Well," Sparks answered, "He's been claiming to have been homeless and on the streets his whole life, being forced to steal food to survive and all that, because he was orphaned as a cub. But these records seem to indicate he was in his parents' company until he was seven, so that whole backstory might be fabricated."

"To what end?" Carmen asked.

"Possibly…to take advantage of our services in order to get free food and lodging," Danika explained.

Sparks winced.

"Indeed?" Carmen pressed in an even tone.

"You said it yourself, didn't you Carmen?" Danika continued, "You said that Ziggy seemed well-spoken for someone who'd been living on the streets his whole life. If he was, in truth, brought up by his parents, that would explain that."

After a moment, Sparks nodded. It was a logical explanation.

"Do you really think that, Danika?" Carmen asked.

"Honestly? I don't know…" she replied.

"And you, Sparks?"

"Uhh…" Sparks frowned for a moment and shook his head. "I…don't want to believe that Ziggy would do anything untrustworthy to us. I feel like I know him well enough to at least say that he wouldn't…but if he lied about his parents?"

"Then it is a possibility…" Carmen finished for him.

"Yeah…" Sparks said glumly.

Carmen then turned back to Danika. "While this is troubling, none of this is really solid evidence of any wrongdoing. I assume you both agree that confronting Ziggy about this would not be the best idea. There must be a way to confirm if these really are Ziggy's parents. I assume that's why you two are here right now?"

Danika and Sparks shared a glance, and then Danika said, "I would like to probe the city records and find out if any other shiny Buizel were born in this time frame. If not…then those are his parents."

Carmen made a thoughtful hum and brought her paws together before her muzzle. She tapped her digits as she was silent in thought for a moment. "We don't have full access to those records, Danika. I can make a case for you to get this information, but this has to be important. The city is not going to play ball just to satisfy a passing curiosity."

"I know," Danika admitted, "If these old records weren't so woefully inadequate, I wouldn't have to do this."

"I can agree with you there…" Carmen said as she cast another glance at the files, "Who thought any of this was a good idea…?"

"I do think this will be important," Danika said, "As a precautionary measure, at least."

Sparks winced again and gave Danika a sidelong glance.

"All right," Carmen said, "I'll see what I can do."

Danika then noticed that Sparks was looking at her. "I hope we're wrong about this, Sparks," she said.

"Yeah…" he said. It was a little relieving to hear her say that, at least. "Yeah, me too…"

"Oh, by the way," Carmen said, "On a bit of a lighter note, Sparks, you might enjoy hearing this. Sometime in the next couple of weeks or so, Dante will be back in town."

Sparks' ears had been drooping ever since Danika had shown him the files, but they perked right back up the instant he heard the name. "Dante? He's coming to visit?"

Carmen grinned and nodded. "Just got his letter this morning. He's not sure when he'll be here, but it'll be before the holiday season for sure."

"Really? Wow, that's fantastic! Good heavens, I'm not even sure how long it's been since I last saw him."

"Dante, huh?" Danika said, "I've never actually met him. Heh, I just heard the stories."

"Well…That's something to look forward to, I suppose. I wonder what he's been up to…"

"I'm sure a lot of our alumni will be excited to meet him," Carmen said, "The Active Team's almost completely different than it was the last time he was here."


Sparks groaned and took another sip of coffee. It had been six days since that horrible incident in the marketplace. Sparks had been trying to keep a positive attitude to pull himself out of the funk he'd fallen into that day. However, the questions surrounding Ziggy and his parents had been holding him down.

Ziggy himself had been busy doing his chores. Only Sparks, Danika and Carmen knew about his parents; nobody else had been told. As such, Sparks tried his best to assign Ziggy jobs that were in the company of others, such as helping Liz in the kitchen. To his credit, the Buizel didn't seem like he was letting the incident get him down too much. Though, Sparks knew that was bound to change once Ziggy headed out the door again.

He and Danika were still playing the waiting game while Carmen tried to get permission for their records probe. Sparks tried to behave like nothing had changed, especially around Ziggy, but it was difficult. As far as Sparks knew, Ziggy hadn't lied about a single thing since they'd met, so if he really had lied about his parents then Sparks didn't know what to think. What was his reason for lying?

Ziggy definitely knew something was wrong. He had asked Sparks a few times if everything was okay. Sparks tried to cover his bases by just saying he was still stressed out about the marketplace incident. Ziggy was a smart kid, though. He could tell that there was something more going on, and Sparks knew.

Sparks tiredly glanced around. It was late in the evening and members of the team were just starting to get back from their expeditions. Dinner would be served in just over an hour. In the room, having already returned, were Kona, Jules and Akash. Kona kept giving him concerned looks, but otherwise nobody was really talking to anyone.

The door to the common room opened. Sparks silently hoped it was Danika or Carmen, here to proclaim that they'd solved the mystery of Ziggy. This was not the case, however, as Terry and Rico stepped through the door.

"Ah, good to be back!" Rico commented.

"Nice job climbing that tree, Rico," Terry said.

"Haha! A successful day all around!" Rico then headed straight for the couch and flopped onto one of its cushions. Terry followed behind him and sat next to him.

"Good day, you two?" Kona asked.

"Great day!" Terry chirped.

"Another successful mission by Terry and Rico!" Rico chimed in.

"Nice, nice," Kona said, "It's been a while since we've had a team as tight-knit as you two. I think I can count on one paw the missions either of you have taken without the other."

"Yup! We're inseparable and unbeatable!" Rico said proudly. Terry simply chuckled quietly.

"Easy now…" Kona said with a playful roll of his eyes.

"Hi, Sparks!" Terry said, waving to the Raichu, "You look tired. Are you okay?"

Sparks shook his head and said, "That's just what it is. I'm tired."

"Oh, okay."

"Hey, by the way…" Akash spoke up quietly, though loud enough for the pair on the couch to hear, "Where were you two yesterday?"

"It was our day off," Terry replied.

"Yeah, I know that, but where were you? You were outta the building all day! I'm pretty sure I went to bed before you two even got back."

Terry hesitated for a moment. "We, uh, we were out…somewhere. Rico and I, together, I mean y'know, the two of us…went to this place in the city. Y'know, saw some stuff."

Akash tilted his head. "All day, though?"

"Yeah, all day. Allllll day long. Lots to see, lots to do. Didn't really have a chance to come back to the guild until late, because were out…uh…out, um…" Terry glanced at the Pokémon at the table, all of whom were looking at him now. He wilted slightly under their combined gazes.

"Must have been really interesting, then," Kona commented, "Where was this place you two went?"

"It was…in the city, y'know. I forget the street name because I was- because we were…" Terry continued to fumble over his words for a moment, and started to look nervous. "I don't…remember where it was…or what it-"

"Sweetheart," Rico said, interrupting him as he leaned over and gently wrapped his paws around Terry's neck, draping them across his fuzzy chest. "It'll probably be a lot easier if you just tell them we were on a date."

The room fell completely silent, and Terry's face instantly lit up like a Tamato Berry. His eyes shot open wider than dinner plates. He was frozen on the spot for a few seconds before looking back over his shoulder at the Riolu and hissing, "Rico!"

"What?" Rico said with a laugh. He then gestured to the others with his paw and said, "Everybody's already figured it out."

Terry blinked a few times, then slowly turned to look at the others. "…Really?" he quietly asked.

Sparks, Kona, Akash and Jules all shared a glance and then nodded.

Terry's face turned even redder. "Oh…"

Rico hugged him a little tighter and said, "He took me to see a stage play, which I thought was gonna be boring but there were cool sword fights and action scenes in it. Then we ate at a fancy restaurant and ended the day on the hills south of the city, where we sat on the grass and watched the stars." He chuckled and kissed the top of Terry's head. "It was awesome."

"Aww," Kona said with a smile, "That's really sweet."

"Sounds like a wonderful day," Sparks added, "I'm glad you had a great time."

"Oh, we definitely did," Rico said.

Terry was still just sitting there in Rico's embrace, slowly suffocating under an overwhelming blush on his cheeks. When silence returned to the room, he squeaked out another question. "You all…really knew already?"

"Dude," Jules said, "It was pretty obvious."

"You two are like a perfect match for each other," Sparks said, "You do everything together, and I don't think I've ever seen either of you get mad at the other."

"I think a lot of us were just waiting for the inevitable moment when the dating would start," Kona added.

"Oh my gosh…" Terry whispered, "I feel silly…"

"Aw, c'mere you fluff ball," Rico said with a chuckle, pulling Terry back and causing the Eevee to fall backwards into Rico's lap.

"Wah!" Terry cried out in surprise.

"You're cute when you're flustered."

Terry looked up at Rico while upside-down for a moment and then pouted. "You're gonna embarrass me in front of all our guildmates every chance you get now, right?"

"Mmmmaybe…" Rico stuck out his tongue, earning him a light bat on the cheek from Terry's paw.

"So," Sparks spoke up, "When did this all start? I mean, when did you realize that the two of you were more than just friends?"

"A few months ago," Terry answered.

"Middle school," Rico answered simultaneously.

Terry's eyes bugged out for a moment and he looked up at Rico in shock. "Middle school?"

"Uh huh."

"You never told me that! Are you serious?"

"Absolutely," Rico said with a grin, and lifted one of his paws to boop Terry's nose, "And I was so happy when you finally worked up the courage to ask me out."

Terry didn't even react to the boop. He was still staring at Rico in awe. "You…I didn't realize you've been…for that long…" He gulped before saying, "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, or break any boundaries. I knew that if it was mutual, then you would eventually ask me." Rico chuckled softly and added, "I had faith that we'd be together. Somehow I just knew."

"Aww, Rico…" Terry reached his paw up again, though this time to caress Rico's cheek, "Now look at all the lost time we gotta make up for. I gotta take you on a date every day for like two months!"

Rico laughed at that. "You're sweet."

"Just don't start making out on the couch," Jules piped up suddenly, "There's a guild rule about that." Again, Terry and Rico responded simultaneously.

"We weren't gonna…!" Terry replied indignantly.

"There is?" Rico said incredulously.

"Either that," Jules said, "Or Carmen really didn't like me bringin' my girlfriend in here to…Y'know, it's probably that, now that I think about it…"

"Well anyway," Kona said, quickly trying to divert the conversation, "We're all happy for you. This is only gonna make your guild partnership even stronger."

Terry laughed, looking as if he'd finally shaken off his case of Tamato-face. "Heck yeah! Team Terry and Rico are better than ever!"

"Boo-yah!" Rico chimed in.

A moment later, the door opened. Again, Sparks' hopes rose up, and they soared when he saw that it was Carmen. "Hello, everyone," she said, glancing at all the occupants of the room, "I trust we all got some good work done today?"

A chorus of responses followed, with everyone talking about the jobs they had done that day.

"Sparks," she said, addressing him, "Danika's project got clearance. I'll tell you more about it later."

The Raichu's ears perked up. Carmen was clearly trying to keep things confidential from the other guildmembers for the time being, but he understood her message. Danika had gotten clearance to probe the city records, and she was likely doing just that at this moment. He silently celebrated in his head. One step closer to the answer.

Carmen then made her way over to the table and sat down, stretching her limbs and letting out a sigh. She looked like she was just a few degrees away from 'overworked', which was how she usually looked. It was a skill of hers she had developed over the years, so she never crossed that threshold.

"Well, good work, everybody," she said in a more conversational tone, "What are we talking about?"

"Terry and Rico's date yesterday," Kona answered plainly.

"Oh Arceus…" Terry moaned, covering his face with his paws, "We're gonna be the office gossip, aren't we?"

"Ah, indeed?" Carmen said, responding to Kona, "I had a feeling yesterday's outing was a date. We're all talking about it now? No longer a deep, dark secret?"

Terry moaned again, but Rico just snickered. "Whatever. I'm just happy bein' happy."

"Oh, of course," Carmen said in a more friendly tone, "We're all happy for the both of you."

"The two of you are cute together!" Kona said.

"Shut up! No we're not," Rico retorted.

"By the way, I'm glad for your newfound love, but Terry you need to start your combat training this week. No buts, buddy."

"Oh… Right, yeah, okay. Sorry I took so long…"

"Had other things on your mind?" Jules quipped.

"More important things, obviously," Rico said cheekily.

Sparks watched as the group continued their friendly banter. Eventually Terry started feeling less and less embarrassed about his relationship with Rico being out in the open, and was soon smiling and laughing along with everyone. Sparks had seen the connection they shared from the moment they both joined. He was happy to see the two of them together, and it brought back melancholy memories of past relationships of his own.

Everyone was laughing about something Sparks hadn't been paying attention to. He glanced around at all the smiling faces, but noticed one outlier. Akash was sitting still, looking off into the distance with a blue look. Sparks frowned sympathetically, noting the Deerling's muted orange coat. The seasons tended to play rough with Akash's emotions. Autumn and especially winter had a habit of making him feel down for no apparent reason.

He knew Akash didn't like others fussing over him so Sparks didn't bother him. He simply made a mental note to try and find something fun to do with Akash sometime soon. He remembered that Dante would be in town soon, so maybe there was an opportunity there.


"Sparks?"

The Raichu glanced up. He had been sitting on the couch in the common room, perusing some documents Carmen had given him about prospective work for the guild. He saw that the one who had called him was Danika, and the Sneasel was just poking her head through the door that led to the hallway.

She didn't say anything else. She simply used her claw to beckon him over. A quick shiver ran up Sparks' spine. He immediately got up and made his way over to her, and then silently followed her. She led him up the stairs and eventually to her office.

Once they were both inside and Sparks had closed the door, he simply asked, "What did you find?"

Danika regarded him with a troubled gaze. She bit her lip and drummed her claws on the desk next to her. The fact that she wasn't answering right away, and seemed as if she was about to deliver bad news, made Sparks' blood run cold. He figured she had found exactly what they had been looking for. She'd found evidence that Ziggy was lying and tricking them, and the feeling of despair that went with such a notion began to well within him. What would they do now? Could Ziggy stay with them? Should he stay?

"I, uh…" she finally spoke up, "I didn't find anything."

Sparks blinked. What? That was pretty much the opposite of what he had been expecting to hear. "What do you mean you didn't find anything?"

Danika frowned. "I probed the records, and I searched birth certificates. I searched for the year that was listed on these files…" She held up the files for the two Floatzel. "…and I gave myself a five year buffer in either direction…"

"Uh huh," Sparks said with a nod, "And?"

"There was nothing," she said, shaking her head, "There are no birth records for a shiny Buizel in that time frame. The last recorded shiny Buizel to be born was from 30 years ago, and that definitely isn't Ziggy."

Sparks' ears drooped and he gave Danika a confused look. "But…What does that mean? There has to be a record of a shiny Buizel. He's in the kitchen with Liz right now!"

"It means," Danika responded in a low tone, "that Ziggy's parents never got him a birth certificate."

"What…?" Sparks murmured

"Sparks…I think we've been looking at this the complete wrong way," Danika said with a sigh, "Ziggy wasn't lying about growing up with parents. He was telling the truth."

"Then, what?"

Danika looked up at him sadly and said, "Sparks…Ziggy's parents abandoned him."

Sparks felt a chill run over him, making his fur stand on end. "No…" he whispered.

"If Ziggy had grown up with his parents, as we had been assuming, they would have gotten him a birth certificate," Danika explained, "The city records the moment an egg is laid in the hospital on the parents' record, which is why it shows on these two files, but a birth certificate is the responsibility of the parents to get. This gives them a chance to wait for the egg to hatch, pick out a name, and other such matters. Obviously there's penalties and fines if they put it off…"

Sparks listened intently. He'd never had cubs, so he hadn't known the process behind getting a birth certificate.

"On a whim," Danika continued, "I checked law enforcement records from this date." Again, she indicated the date of birth on the parents' files. "There were no recorded fines or penalties. If they'd raised him, but neglected to get him a birth certificate, I would have found some…"

"But you didn't," Sparks said softly, "and so…"

"So what probably happened was they laid his egg in the hospital, abandoned him, and then told the officials at the city that he'd died in the egg or something, so no fines were imposed…"

Sparks glanced away and held a paw to his forehead. All of this new information swirled around rapidly in his head. "Oh no…" he murmured, "Oh, Ziggy…Poor Ziggy…"

Danika sighed. "I feel really awful that we just jumped to assuming that he was lying…when the reality is so much worse."

"So…" Sparks spoke in a terse voice, "Everything Ziggy told us is still true…except that instead of his parents dying when he was a cub…they just left him out on the street?"

"That's the way it seems…"

"Oh dear Arceus…" Sparks could only shake his head in disbelief. "How…could someone just leave a little cub out on their own to fend for themselves? How could anyone be so cruel? So heartless? So…selfish?"

"I know, Sparks…" Danika murmured. She removed her glasses for a moment and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her claw. "I don't understand it either…"

Silence filled the room for a moment as the two Pokemon simply sat, deep in thought. Sparks could feel a heavy cloud of depression stemming from pity for Ziggy and what he'd gone through. Plus, like Danika, he was feeling upset with himself that he had assumed Ziggy was the one who had done wrong. He was just relieved he hadn't confronted Ziggy about it and had chosen to wait until they had gotten more information.

"So…What do you think?" Danika spoke up.

"Hm?"

"What should we do?"

He turned to look at her, seeing that she was frowning in concern. "Do about what?"

She held up the two folders she was still carrying. "Do we show him?"

Sparks eyed the two folders. The information about Ziggy's parents. The parents, they now knew, had abandoned and betrayed their own son.

Looking up at Danika again, Sparks found he wasn't sure how to answer. What they had discovered about Ziggy's parents was horrible. He didn't want to have to be the one to tell Ziggy that the parents he had never known actually turned out to be despicable Pokémon. But, in some way, Sparks felt like he and Danika were obligated to share what they had learned. However callous they may have been, they were still Ziggy's parents. They were the ones to thank for bringing Ziggy into this world in the first place.

He sighed in frustration. "How come everything we learn about this kid just brings up more questions?"

"He is an enigma, that one…" Danika agreed.

"He's such a nice Pokémon. He doesn't deserve any of the crap he's going through…"

"Do you think…?" Danika paused. "D'ya think they abandoned him because…he hatched shiny?"

Sparks winced. "I wouldn't be surprised," he replied darkly.

"Oh no…"

Another couple minutes of contemplative silence passed by. Sparks found he couldn't focus on a solution because he was too distracted by his disgust. The very idea of parents doing this to a child was unfathomable to him. Plus, the fact that they had both died at the same time implied that they had stayed together as mates, even after abandoning their child. They had both come to terms with the decision to abandon Ziggy, fully agreeing with one another to do it.

"Well," Sparks said, eventually deciding to break the silence, "We should tell Carmen what we found, in any case."

Danika glanced up at him, and then nodded. "You're right."

"She's the only other one privy to this at the moment, and she helped orchestrate the records probe."

"She's not gonna like what we're gonna tell her…"


The following day, Sparks entered into the common room with Danika a few steps behind him. Looking in he saw that Ziggy was at the table, eating from a bag of chips, and Kona was sitting a fair distance away from him reading a book. It was early in the afternoon, so nobody else was in the room.

Sparks glanced over his shoulder at Danika for a moment. She didn't look happy, and Sparks couldn't blame her, but she nodded to him.

"Hey, Ziggy?"

The Buizel looked up and saw them, his eyes lighting up a little when he saw who was at the door. "Hi, Sparks. Hi, Danika."

For a moment, Sparks just stood there and tried to think of exactly what to say. After a couple seconds of silence, he resigned to simply walk over and sit down next to Ziggy. The Buizel eyed him curiously as he did.

Danika took a few steps in and closed the door behind her. She was holding two manila-coloured files, which were now painfully familiar to her and Sparks.

"What's wrong?" Ziggy asked.

"Um…Ziggy?" Danika said hesitantly, clutching the two files, "We, uh…We found something. As you know, I've been sorting through old citizenship records and stuff like that. Obviously you know, you've been helping me. Um…"

Sparks watched as the Sneasel self-consciously rubbed the back of her neck with her other claw. She had never been comfortable when it came to delivering bad news. He gave her a nod of encouragement.

"W-what is it…?" Ziggy asked nervously. The Buizel looked over at Sparks curiously for a moment before looking back at Danika.

The Sneasel gulped, fidgeted for a moment, and then eventually sighed. "Ziggy…" she spoke in a heavy tone as she held up the files, "We…found the records for your parents."

The silence that followed was thicker than chowder. Before there had been the occasional sound of Kona turning the page in his book, but even that was absent now. Nobody moved and, for a while, nobody said anything. Ziggy was looking at Danika and not him, so Sparks didn't know how he was reacting to this.

"Are…" Ziggy's voice was so quiet it was almost imperceptible. "Are they…alive?"

Danika frowned and shook her head. "No, they're deceased," she answered, "I just found their old records."

The silence returned with a vengeance. The pause was even longer this time, and felt even heavier. Sparks regarded Ziggy, still unable to see his face. The Buizel occasionally made subtle movements of his head, but nothing more. It seemed like an eternity had passed before Ziggy finally said something more.

"Oh… Okay."

Sparks looked down at the Buizel in surprise. His answer had been so plain, almost conversational in nature. It was as if somebody had just told him his bedsheets would be out of the wash in five minutes. He acknowledged the information, but nothing more.

"Buddy…?" Sparks spoke up. When Ziggy turned to look at him, Sparks was taken aback by what he saw. There were no tears in the Buizel's eyes. There was no sign of sadness, remorse, fear, anxiety, anger, regret or longing. There was no curiosity for more information. There was nothing at all. Ziggy looked unperturbed by the information. A moment later, he simply went back to eating his chips.

Sparks looked up to Danika, who seemed to share his bafflement at Ziggy's reaction. "Um…" she spoke up, "Do you…want to see…them?"

Ziggy looked up at her for a moment, and then shrugged and said, "Not really."

"…No?" Sparks said, his voice quiet and hesitant.

Ziggy turned back to look at him. "Not really, no," he repeated, "I didn't know them. They weren't there for me, so…whatever."

Sparks' jaw dropped a little. He shot Danika a look, who just looked back at him helplessly. "They weren't…?" Sparks murmured softly, taken aback by what Ziggy had said.

"Well, you two both looked really sad when you came in here with my parents' files," Ziggy explained, "Instead of being happy, so I know that means they did something bad."

Silence filled the room. Sparks just stared at the young Buizel for a moment, his jaw still hanging open. "B-buddy…"

"They abandoned me, right?"

Sparks' mouth worked uselessly for a moment as he tried to formulate a response. He glanced over at Danika again, who simply shrugged. Eventually, he just sighed and looked Ziggy in the eyes with a sympathetic gaze. "That's what we think, yes…"

"I thought so…" Ziggy murmured, his tone going dark momentarily before going back to sounding normal, "Well, whatever…"

"Ziggy…I'm sorry, buddy," Sparks said, "I'm sorry that this happened…"

Ziggy shook his head. "It's fine, Sparks. Whatever. I didn't know them. I'm not upset at losing them because I never had them in the first place. If they didn't want anything to do with me, then I don't really want anything to do with them."

"That's fair, I suppose," Danika said, causing them both to look over at her, "We just thought we should tell you. Didn't feel right to keep it a secret from you."

"Well, uh, thanks," Ziggy replied simply.

Sparks bit his lip. He had come in here fully expecting to have a weeping Buizel in his paws. He had mentally prepared himself to deal with an anguished Ziggy, but the expected explosion of emotions ended up being nothing more than a dud. He didn't quite know what to make of the circumstances. Was Ziggy's reaction to this a healthy one? Should he care about these two, or was he right in wanting to just cast them aside? They had callously abandoned him, after all.

"Uh…All right, then," Sparks said, "I guess you really don't want to talk about it, but…Y'know, if you ever change your mind and you do, just come find me. We can talk about anything you want."

Ziggy nodded. "Thanks, Sparks. I know."

A rather awkward silence followed this, and Sparks eventually decided to just get up and end this unusual interaction. He walked over to Danika, shrugging to her. She seemed just as conflicted about Ziggy's reaction as he did. He could see her fidgeting with her claws as she held the files, as if they had information within them that was just begging to burst out.

"Might as well go put those files onto the computer and file 'em away, right?" Sparks said to her.

"Yeah…Yeah, I guess…" she said, without much conviction in her tone.

"Not much else to discuss here…" Sparks then started to head for the door, with Danika following behind him.

"…Wait."

Sparks and Danika both turned back to Ziggy. "What?" he asked.

"I guess I'm…just a little curious about something," he admitted.

"What's that?" Danika asked.

He paused for a moment before asking, "Just…What were their names?"

Sparks and Danika shared a look. Then, Danika looked back at Ziggy and said, "Your father's name was Mateni, and your mother's name was Leilani."

"Oh," Ziggy said with a nod, "That's neat…"

"No way…"

All three heads turned towards Kona. Sparks had forgotten he was even in the room. "Huh?" Ziggy asked him.

"Sorry," he said with a quiet chuckle, "My mom's name is Leilani too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She lives over in Lively Town now. I haven't seen her in a long while, but we still write to each other. I think you'd like her if you met her, Ziggy. She's very sweet."

"Is she a Samurott…?"

Kona shook his head. "No, she's a Dewott like me. She never ended up evolving, but that suits her just fine."

Sparks took a step back and watched as Ziggy and Kona started to fall into a casual conversation about the Dewott's family. Just like that, the awkward topic of Ziggy's parentage had come and gone. Not with a bang, but with a whisper, as if it had never been brought up in the first place.

"Sparks…" Danika whispered from beside him.

"Hm?"

"…You think he's gonna be okay? You don't think he's, like, bottling up his emotions or anything?"

Sparks took one more look at Ziggy and then shook his head. "He doesn't bottle up his emotions," he answered, "His emotions control him. I think he…legitimately just does not care…"

"Wow…"

"It's…a little shocking, but I guess it's not unheard of. He has no frame of reference. He doesn't even know what having parents is like, so he doesn't know what he's even missed out on."

Danika gave him a look, and then glanced one more time at the two files in her claws. "Well…All right, then…"

"Yeah…" Sparks said. A moment later, Danika walked out the door, taking the two files with her. As shockingly as it had begun, another chapter on the mysterious story of Ziggy the Buizel came to a quiet, unceremonious end.