Pre-chapter A/N; Since everyone is asking for one of these, here's a breakdown of the character names before we get into things
Broly - Kleavor
Quicksilver - Pidgeot (dead)
Kisame - Milotic
Igneel - Charizard
Kenpachi - Tyranitar
Ino - Gardevoir
Snorlax - Snorlax
Tsunade - Clefable
Gai - Hakomo-o
Magnezone - Magnezone
Hashirama- Trevenant
Special thanks to the folks on pa-atreon for making this possible. Now without further ado let's get into it.
I swept away from them with a scowl on my face. This city was falling apart, and I was barely able to deal with it. Once again, I cursed Blaine for leaving, and the Mayor for saddling me with his responsibilities. Speaking of Blaine though, I had some free time so investigating his disappearance could finally move up the schedule.
The flight to the volcanic gym was short , but as I'd been working non-stop for what felt like an eternity, it was a necessary pleasure.
When Igneel and I landed, I neglected to return him to his ball, just in case the paranoid gym leader had left any traps behind. The gym hadn't been searched yet, because it wasn't a priority, and Oak had asked me to prevent anyone from doing it before he did.
The request was a simple one, and I still owed him for the help he'd been providing so I hadn't asked any questions. I was going to search the place first to satisfy my curiosity though. I'd promised to prevent the authorities from doing it, but I'd never agreed to refrain myself. Not the strongest defence out there, but more than enough for me to justify this to myself. I didn't answer to Oak, so explaining myself to him was unnecessary. Igneel and I walked in and started looking around the place. My two targets were clear. Blaine's room and his lab . The man walked around with a lab coat so it was fair to assume that he'd have a laboratory of some sort, and if he was anything like Oak, then that would be where I'd find the most information.
I decided to start with the bedroom. We had to consult a map of the place that was helpfully pasted in the entrance hall, but we found the Leader's quarters easily enough. Entering it, I was shocked at its appearance. The place was immaculate, with not a thing being out of place. For a man that looked as scatterbrained and roughshod as Blaine did, I expected the room to be in the most dire of states, with clothes tossed here and there, and food on every surface. The room I stood in was the exact opposite. It was measured, meticulous, and organised. The books were perfectly arranged, in a descending order based on vertical size. He'd even separated books with different widths to different levels of the shelf, with the widest but shorter books taking the lower levels.
A paradise for someone like my sister (from my first life). She'd been intent on everything having in its perfect place, and I knew now that if she and Blaise had ever met, there would have been sparks flying. Love at first sight or something equally ridiculous. That was enough thinking of the past though. I had goals to achieve here. I opened the closet, finding matching pairs of lab coats hung on hangers, and the multiple copies of the same outfit folded neatly on the cupboards floor. I rifled through them, and found nothing. THe drawers were next. I took a deep breath to steel myself as I searched through Blaine's underwear, and had to close my eyes and think of positive things to survive searching his dirty laundry. At the end of all of it though, I'd found nothing useful. The only other place I was yet to search was the bathroom, and I entered when I finally decided that the entire room had no more secrets to yield to me.
It was,, like the rest of the room, neatly organised. The soaps were separated according to body size and function. The neat bottles of shampoo and conditioner he had almost made me laugh at the absurdity. I'd imagined Blaine rubbing shampoo on his bald head, or even worse, attempting to condition his bald head. THe thought of him sitting down for five minutes, waiting for the conditioner to do its thing almost drove me to tears at the imagery. When I was finally satisfied that there was nothing more here, I made my way to the laboratory.
It was all the way on the other side of the lab, and was uniquely missing from the map at the entrance. Only the fact that I was sure he had one made me even start the search, and it wasn't until I gave up on searching on my own and released Ino and Broly to help that I started making any progress. Broly couldn't go underground because most of the gym was made of metal, but he could still check for false walls easily. Ino was using her telekinesis and mental abilities to scan for anything afoot.
At the end, we'd been forced to double back to the entrance and ended up finding the entrance to the lab in a janitor's closet only a few feet away from the gym's entrance. How did I know that we'd found it? Well, I couldn't see what other use a hidden elevator would serve in Blaine's gym. I swallowed my frustration as the trip seemed to take an eternity. When we finally arrived, it was to a chamber so large that it put every lab I'd seen to shame on that metric alone. My shock didn't stop there though. Much of the lab was equally as impressive. Rows of supercomputers as tall as Igneel lined the route from the entrance to what I suspected of being the central workstation. The lights of the lab were on, so I could properly appreciate it. Or at least I would have, if not for the smell that assaulted my nose as I got deeper into the lab. The vats that were scattered around were all empty, so I could not guess at what was causing the smell. It wasn't until we rounded around one of the computers and got a good look at the central workstation did I realise what I'd been smelling.
The death and decay had been coming from a single source. A single stationary source, slumped against his chair with his neck bent at an odd angle. I didn't need to go any closer to know it was Blaine's body. The lab coat and bald head were distinct. I resisted the urge to vomit in self-revulsion as thoughts ran through my mind. A man laid dead in front of me, and my first thoughts weren't about what killed him, or who, or even to call the police. My first thoughts were on how fucked I was. I couldn't call the police, but I had to. This was suspicious enough, and there was very little chance that dozens of people hadn't seen me flying towards here. His body would be found eventually, and if I didn't report it I'd be the first suspect. Not like I wasn't going to be a suspect eventually. Ino tried to calm me down by reminding me that we were in a hidden lab, but that did nothing for my nerves. We'd found it. We weren't police officers or detectives, but we'd found the lab easily enough. When Blaine's disappearance was eventually investigated, this place would be found, and then we'd be right in this same situation, but looking even more suspicious.
I was tempted to have Igneel turn the body to ash or for Ino to teleport it to the middle of the ocean, but I had no idea what clues we'd be leaving behind if we did that. I had no idea what league detectives used in their investigations, and the fact that the person in question was a gym leader did even less for my nerves. It wouldn't be just detectives and police officers. It would be ACE trainers that would look into cases like these, and if detectives scared me, ACE trainers had me pissing my pants while curled up in a corner. They were the cream of the crop, and I had no interest in messing with them. With all that being considered, I had only one choice.
"Hello, I need to report a murder" was all I said when the person at the other end of the crisis hotline spoke up.
I wonder how quickly this case is going to end up getting kicked up the ladder.
XXXX
The answer to that question was 'very'. The moment I'd given the identity of the victim, I'd been transferred to an ACE hotline. From there, it had taken less than an hour for me to find myself sitting in a corner of the lab while ACE trainers and detectives stored everything away. I did my best to sink into my meditation to avoid showing any signs that would have them questioning my innocence. The fact that the trainers had ignored me after asking me to step aside and return my pokemon wasn't doing any good for my nerves. They hadn't asked any questions, or even so much as looked my way since then.
Eventually, when they'd seemed to have gone over the place from top to bottom and taken pictures of everything that wasn't empty space, and even some pictures of the wall, at times, two of them began walking over to me. I did my best to maintain my calm facade and prepared to give the story I'd come up with. A duo of a trainer and a detective began making their way to me.
"Mr Oak, was it? Interim Gym-leader of Cinnabar?" The trainer asked first as they got to me. I only nodded in reply, waiting to see where this interrogation would be heading.
"You're in a bit of a sticky situation, young man" The detective said next. She was an ageing woman, with grey hair pulled in a tight bun, and wrinkles around her lips and eyes. Her suit was neat and fit her well. She looked to be in her sixties, but with how this world fucked with the normal ageing process, I wasn't going to be betting anything important on it.
I said nothing in reply to her. THe movies always said to avoid volunteering information or being goaded to answer questions that weren't being asked so I just stood with my back against the wall and focused on my aura.
"I'll explain it to you, hotshot. You were the last human to see the gym leader, and the first to find his dead body. You were nowhere to be found for the earlier hours of the attack, we've done a bit of asking around, and you've now been awarded the position of interim gym-leader. Forensics have determined that his death was the work of a powerful psychic type pokemon, or one otherwise skilled in telekinesis. Your Gardevoir is quite famous. You see, you have the means, the motive, and the opportunity. There aren't many cases as open and shut as this one. Take it from me, I'd know" My mind began racing as she continued to speak. I could see all the things she was saying and how when you put them all together, it was difficult to see how I wasn't guilty. Oddly enough, the more she spoke, the more I calmed down. My worries were laid to rest as I began to see a way out of this situation.
I knew one thing. I wasn't being arrested, so all they had were those assumptions. I'd done a lot of studying on the league's laws when I landed in this life. Being a law student in my former life, I couldn't resist the urge to study an entirely new legal system.
"Is it, really though?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Open and shut" I clarified when she looked confused. "I know I didn't do it, and we know you can't prove anything you've said. Circumstantial evidence is still valid in law, but if you think you can rely on purely circumstantial evidence to build a murder case, you must either be stupid or incompetent." I finished with a smug smile on my face. I'd missed this feeling. Being a pokemon trainer and participating in battles was exciting, but I'd forgotten the thrill to be had from outwitting an opponent in mock trial. This wasn't my uni's moot and mock courtroom, and the stakes were much higher here, but the feeling was exactly the same.
"Oh good. A smartass. Just like your father. You're right, of course. I can't prosecute you on circumstantial evidence, but for a crime like this, circumstantial evidence is all I need to detain you for the maximum period in an ACE cell while we gather evidence. Donnell Oak, you're under arrest. Since you're such a smartass, I'll assume you know your rights and won't bother reading them to you. Hand over your pokeballs, and keep your hands where I can see them."
What the actual fuck? Was she insane? Even the ace trainer with her looked shocked. Of course they sent a nutcase here. The worst part was that she was right. I could sue the league to hell for this, but I could not resist the arrest. Legally, at least. I could escape. ACE trainers or not, my team was strong, and I couldn't feel any blackout fields and if I was betting Ino's strength against any of their psychics, Ino would win hands down. I wouldn't be resisting though. They could only hold me for 48 hours, and the choice between a lifetime on the run and 48 hours in a cell wasn't much of one. I wouldn't be fully cooperating either, though.
"You're well within your rights, and I won't resist" I said in a lazy drawl as I unbuckled my pokebelt in a familiar movement. I didn't pass it over to her like she expected though. I stood still for a few seconds before tossing the belt to my left, where Ino materialised out of thin air and caught it before teleporting away.
I'd never returned her to her pokeball, only told her to hide herself, and I'd kept her appraised with our mental link throughout. She wasn't happy with my decision to surrender but she understood the reasoning.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not keen on leaving my team of pokemon in your possession." I said, trying to infuse as much disdain as possible into my voice. I didn't bother resisting as she wrestled me to the floor, and clamped down the handcuffs on my wrists, while growling all the while. I smiled, in fact. Pissing her off might have gotten me into this mess, but I couldn't deny that it was fun. When she finally pulled me to my feet, I could feel a few bruises beginning to develop on my face and other areas where she'd hit me during my 'struggle'. I was so going to enjoy suing the fuck out of the league for this.
XXXXXXX
Three hours in a league cell, and I was beginning to regret the choices that led me here. This wasn't the worst prison I'd ever seen. In fact, when compared to the prisons in my old world, this was a five star hotel. Maybe that was because this wasn't actually a prison, but a holding cell in the ACE trainer headquarters. There weren't any bars or windows, just a massive door that I suspected to be made of titanium and a massive ceiling light mounted on the ceiling. The atmosphere wasn't uncomfortably hot thanks to the air conditioning system, and the bathroom was clean. It wasn't a bad place, but it was so fucking boring. I'd tried fixing that an hour in, but I hadn't succeeded in getting the attention of any of the guards I knew were outside.
Seven hours in, and I'd thoroughly reconsidered every move I'd made since arriving in this world, and even a few in-between. I could see so many ways I could have done better. I could have been so much more efficient with my training. There were things I hadn't even touched with my pokemon in favour of expanding their strengths. Don't get me wrong, expanding my team's strengths wasn't a completely bad idea, but I hadn't spent nearly as much time on overcoming weaknesses as I should have. I could have had an elite level team already, but they just had those fucking weaknesses holding them back. At least, when I got out of here, I wouldn't have any lack of activity to do.
Sixteen hours in, and some food had been slid under the door. At least, they didn't want to add human rights abuse to the abuse of power lawsuit coming their way. The food had been crap, but it was technically edible, so that was fine. Fine enough, at least. With a few extra hours of thinking, I'd come to realise that this was Oak's fault. If he hadn't asked me to keep the cops away, I wouldn't have been curious enough to go investigating myself. Plus, I was sure the woman had lashed out because of who my father was, and not the admittedly rude way I'd answered her intimidation tactic. No one had tried to question me since I came in. I guess it was all to avoid having to call in a lawyer for me. Classic. When I'd chosen to become a human rights lawyer in my first life, I'd never thought that my rights would be the one in need of defending, albeit in a second life.
Twenty-six hours and counting, and I was beginning to consider the possibility that I might have made a mistake or two in my counting. I guess sleep deprivation was a bitch. The lack of a clock made me very hesitant to do any sleeping because then I'd lose track of the time I spent here. Every novel on interrogation always said to avoid disorientation. If I ended up losing track of things, then I was more likely to suffer a mental break. They also mentioned avoiding sleep deprivation, now that I thought about it.
Twelve hours since I woke up, and I was beginning to become sure that I'd only slept for about four hours. I'd played every single game that could be played with one player, and even a few that couldn't. My game of mental chess had been most exciting if I was being honest.
From there, the rest of the forty-eight hours passed in a blur and I found myself jolted from partial consciousness by the door being fully opened. The two ace trainers at the dior had faces that looked to be carved of stone and I silently followed them, once they motioned for me to. I guess my stay in prison was about to end. I'd had two meals, won three games of chess against myself, and practised every word I knew of French, Latin, and Mandarin about a dozen times.
XXXXX- THE PROFESSOR
I'd been blessed with three sons, but on some days it seemed like a curse. One son in the hospital and the other in league custody. Donnell had always been a strange boy, but I could not for the life of me see the logic behind his actions. David had joined ACE in a burst of ambition. I couldn't bring myself to refuse him, for he had never been one for dreams and goals. Now that he had one, I'd enjoyed the changes in him. The focus, the interest, everything around it. After these injuries, I wondered if there were any changes worth this.
His prognosis was altogether very positive. He was in full physical health for the most part. Whatever bruises and bumps had been on him had been healed in his first few hours at the hospital. Mentally, however? It was much too soon to tell. Most of his team was dead and gone. Metagross had already shared memories of what happened with Alakazam. Every single member of his ACE team, and even his pokemon team had fallen to Giovanni and his Mewtwo. Metagross had only managed to secure his escape with the cooperation of his pokemon and ACE teammates. They'd done all they could to distract Mewtwo enough to allow it.
Now that I got to look at Mewtwo in such a light, it was clear what it was. I'd thought that Giovanni's experiments were still focused on our mutual goal, but he clearly seemed to have branched out. The name suggested some relationship to the legendary psychic, Mew. I could have sworn that we'd used the last of the DNA we found in the creation of subjects Alpha and Beta. No. Donnell and Sabrina. I couldn't afford to think of them as subjects anymore. It wouldn't work out for anyone if I kept down that path.
The path that had cost me the love of my life. I was an idiot, but I'd learned my lesson. Some things were best left alone. Giovanni, Blaine, and I, had thought ourselves geniuses. Beyond the league, and all that came with it. Beyond morality and decency. Our experiments showed that. Hundreds of pregnant women, seeded with cloned or replicated samples of Mew's DNA to create the perfect pokemon trainer. A pokemon trainer who was part pokemon himself. Who could understand and join them like no other. I was ashamed to say that none of those children survived. Only half the mothers did.
After that loss, I'd thought it over, but Giovanni and Blaine had wanted to continue. They'd wanted to keep going, and when Blaine theorised that it was only because of the cloning process that the failure had occurred, I'd consented to allowing my pregnant wife to be used in the next phase, with pure, unadulterated DNA samples. The science was sound. Everything about it was practically geared for success. The son of a champion level trainer, and a woman directly descended from the first champion himself, with multiple other champions in her bloodline. The pedigree was immense. We were right, but only partially. That experiment gave me Donnell, but cost me my wife. Donnell was an extraordinary trainer if I was being honest with myself. He was a late bloomer, but once he'd hit his stride, he'd hit it hard and never stopped. Elite-level after only a year of training. Interim-gym leader already. Admittedly, I hadn't been the best father, but I'd been good enough to ensure his success, because that was what he was. My biggest success, and my biggest failure. An interesting dichotomy.
Even more interesting was Sabrina. Donnell showed no external manifestations of his unique birth, but from birth, Sabrina had proven to be extraordinary. A psychic without peer. Already more powerful than any recorded human psychic by the age of 4. It had taken a lot of influence and intimidation on my part to ensure that she wasn't being recruited into some black ops project or the other. That had probably cost me a bit of goodwill in ACE. Not like I'd had much of any in the first place. I'd tried to abolish the organisation after all.
Donnell and Sabrina. Alpha and Beta. If fate existed, then it was, no doubt, laughing in my face. They'd become friends some time while outside my influence. No one had noticed it during the meeting, but they shared many glances and messages. Admittedly, the porygon I'd installed on Donnell's pokedex that had transferred itself to the rest of his technology had helped me in figuring that out, but once I'd been alerted to it, it was easy to see. Even apart from all that. Donnell's pokemon had taken refuge with Sabrina of all people. His dislike of me, as much as he'd tried to hide it, seemed to have been internalised by his pokemon. I wasn't against the development, but I'd keep a watchful eye on them either way. It was my duty. So was dealing with Giovanni.
I'd thought that my message after he'd gone after Donnell was enough to clarify things, but it seemed that I must be forced to make my point even clearer. His little war of conquest against the league was equal to dog barking at the door. Annoying. Terribly annoying, but nothing more than an inconvenience. He'd caused damage with his opening salvo, don't get me wrong, but the retaliation coming his way was going to be both swift and brutal. Anyone with half a brain could see it coming. David's Metagross had already given their report, and the League was already taking steps. All his assets in Viridian had been seized, and all his contacts were being relentlessly investigated. If he'd continued with his slow buildup, he might have succeeded. If he'd abstained from pissing off the entire region in a harebrained scheme, he might have even managed to beat the League in the court of public opinion, curtail their influence, and become champion in all but name. Now? He'd be lucky if he wasn't dead by the end of the week. He was finished.
XXXXXXX- Donnell Oak
"I can't deny being surprised to see you here" I said after the ACE trainers finally left the room. Leaving me alone with my elder brother, Dantaryon Oak, bigshot corporate exec in Hoenn. He'd abandoned the trainer lifestyle, whatever expectations Oak had of him, and most of the family to like the corp life in Hoenn. He'd been a banker, but latest reports suggested he'd since moved up the ladder and was now a Senior Vice-President of Devon Corp.
"Why would that be? I've always cared for you, Donnell." My raised eyebrow was more than enough to communicate my scepticism. Dontaryon Oak cared for no one who wasn't Dontaryon Oak, and quite frankly, I didn't have the mental strength for the power plays and jabs that had plagued our interactions since childhood.
"I had people watching you, and the moment they told me you were in custody, I rushed…"
"What do you want, Dontaryon? This song and dance tires me, and in case you can't tell, I'm not really in the mood." I said, interrupting him from spinning one tall tale or the other. He was a good liar. Easily the best of us all.
"Fine, if you're going to be this way. We've been watching you from Hoenn. Your rise has been nothing short of meteoric, and after the league unjustly arrested you, we decided to intervene and offer you another option" Whatever he was leading up to wasn't coming quickly enough, I thought, as I scratched my neck. My skin felt itchy. I couldn't put it past ACE to taint the sheets with some sort of skin infection.
"Misters Oak" I heard from a semi-familiar voice, as the president of the league himself walked in. Charles Goodshow was iconic in his trademarked purple suit, looking none-too pleased to be here. Don't get me wrong, he smiled, nice and widely. It even reached his eyes, helped by the crow's feet he'd developed with old age. Something I just couldn't trace told me it was fake. That he wasn't happy to be here. No, not just that, he was pissed.
"Welcome to Kanto, Mr. Dontaryon." He said while shaking my brother's hand. The shake was short and abrupt, before he turned to me, and I could see the look on his face morph to pity and sadness. That wasn't genuine either. Nothing about this man was genuine, my instincts screamed at me. I didn't want to be in the same room with him, as naked as I felt without my team. Dontaryon might have been an asshole piece of shit, but he was family. He wouldn't hurt me. This man, though. Something told me he'd knife me in the back for a slice of bread even though he already had two loaves.
"We're extremely sorry for all this nonsense. The moment I found out, I rushed over here. It might please you to know that all the people involved are being punished severely" He said with a tone, that for how genuine it sounded, still managed to grate at my ears. This man had no chance of convincing me of anything.
"Thank you, but I'll still be suing the league" I said with a bright smile on my face. Dontaryon looked like he was barely resisting the urge to double over in laughter. I sent him a wink. The lines between Donnell and the man I'd once been had blurred so much they were now non-existent. Dontaryon was my brother. I could vividly remember the two of us sneaking around the house, a four-year old me chasing him around, and being his shadow. We'd been inseparable back then. He'd grown up into an asshole, but echoes of that bond still existed.
"Whatever for? While we are sorry for their actions, everyone involved still acted according to the law." He said with a look of confusion on his face. Even his confusion wasn't genuine.
"Abuse of power, for one. The maximum possible custody time without any concrete evidence, and without involving my lawyer, or even questioning me. It doesn't matter whether the power was in their rights. What matters is the reasons for the use of the power, and I'd love to watch you convince a judge that it wasn't abuse. Human rights violations too. Anything and everything I can sue you for."
His smile was still intact, and I swallowed the urge to punch him in the face to finally get a genuine reaction out of him.
A/N; As you can tell, this is the second half of what had once been chapter 41. Thanks for reading. We just started chapter 49 on the pa-atreon page. Feel free to join me there if you feel like supporting my work. Same username as up here. The link's on my profile.