Arthur's Notes

Big thanks to VGS2 and ravengal for pointing out my numerous mistakes in the last three chapters!

Snute shook her head with a sigh, aiming her dinky little flashlight at the back of her APER Gear. It was a few failed attempts before she managed to slide her badge into the square slot within the device's case. She turned it over after seeing the screen come to life, with a green status light flickering on just above.

A few prompts appeared on the screen. She tentatively tapped a box with a paw, which highlighted in response.

"Touch-screen interface," the ninetales muttered. "That's good."

To Snute's delight, her badge seemed to have already registered her identity into the system.

With only a few more setup steps, she had herself in, registered as the device owner, and locked access to only respond to her badge. She then briefly nosed through her bag, pulling out two small modules with plugs on their end. Two hardware expansions that Aundei had given her to start out.

One was a shiny, black rectangular prism labeled "Electromagnet". She plugged it into the top. To her dismay, it was the same length as the rest of the device, covering up the rest of the ports up top.

The second addon was a smaller silver cube labeled "Vibrator". Luckily, it only covered one part. Snute had been shocked when the glameow had given it to her, but he didn't seem to understand the connotation. Even so, the ninetales was unable to fathom any practical purpose for such a device beyond the shameful.

Aundei had claimed that the two addons were just ones they'd never used and had laying around. She was, admittedly, a bit offended by her supposed "team-mate" dumping his trash on her, but whatever works.

"And now," Snute purred, "the fun part."

With one swipe of her paw, a menu labeled 'tools' pulled down. It had numerous empty spaces - for addons, she presumed - but there were several icons already present by default.

"Okay... Let's see..."

The ninetales tapped the first icon. As a bright beam of light shone into the room, she jerked away with her eyes squinted, thunking her head against the wall in the process. With a pained groan, she turned a dial labeled 'intensity' on the side of the device to adjust the flashlight's brightness. Once it was down to a reasonable level, she began pointing it around.

The pink curtain separating her space from the rest of the room almost appeared to glow. She next pointed it upwards. On two supports jutting from the wall, a few rulers from her bag sat, functioning as a temporary replacement for her broken shelf. She grimaced at the memory.

She began to turn a second 'mode' dial, which featured notches instead of turning smoothly.

The flashlight flicked through a few different modes. Visible light, colored light, infrared, ultraviolet... She noted them for later. The next two icons were a laser pointer and a camera, each with similar settings.

"Silly?"

Snute shouted in surprise at the cat snouting through her curtain. Her APER Gear left her paws, flying into the air. Looking up, she leapt out of the way just in time to avoid it thunking her head. Instead, she gave a shrill yelp as it landed on one of her tails. She quickly yanked it away, sending the device atop it flying into her face.

Aundei grimaced, giving a sympathetic hiss through his teeth.

"Oh, shoot!"

The ninetales turned a glare on the glameow, with a fire in her eyes that by all means should have melted her.

Aundei frowned lightly, glancing up and down Snute's form. A freshly swelling black eye joined the bump on her head and bandaged wound on her neck.

"What do you want, Glameow?"

Aundei gave a chipper grin.

"Well, I wanted to know what you were doing up, but now I just want to get you some orans!"

Snute shook her head.

"I was just trying out the APER Gear."

Aundei gave a brighter grin.

"Oh! Well, have fun, then! I'll go get you those berries."

"I don't want-" Snute cut herself off as she looked up, noticing he'd already left. With an annoyed sigh, she turned her sights on the ceiling, aiming her APER Gear's flashlight. She briefly cringed as a spike of pain shot through the wound on her neck, but she grit her teeth and bore it.

The panel she'd previously removed hadn't been put back.

Her focus then flicked to her 'shelf'. One of the rulers she'd placed up there chose that moment to fall. With a shake of her head, Snute began to reach down toward her bag, but halted as an idea struck her. The ice-type's gaze flicked over to the APER Gear.

The ninetales' eyes flicked across the tool menu for a moment, before stopping on one in particular.

"Electromagnet..."

She turned to look at the wall behind her. She stuck one paw to it to appraise the material, before nodding. With a tap of the icon, the shiny black addon atop the device glowed with a blue ring, humming quietly. Tentatively, she began holding it toward the wall. Upon getting within a close range, it flew out of her grasp, impacting the wall with a "clang"!

Experimentally, she placed one forepaw on it, attempting to force it further down the wall. It didn't budge. She shivered at the thought of getting her poor little toes between the wall and that magnet.

"I'm back, Silly!" came a call from the room's door.

Snute's eyes widened. She had to act fast.

She slung her bag over her shoulder, then stepped one hindpaw onto her Aper gear, then carefully balancing as she raised her forepaws up onto the ceiling. Upon getting comfortably up, she lowered her upper body back through the hole. She tapped the electromagnet icon with her nose, then gripped the APER Gear in her maw with one swift motion. She pulled herself back atop the ceiling just in time to avoid being seen by Aundei as he nosed his way in.

The glameow looked around, confused, as he set a small basket of orans down on the bed.

"Huh? Silly?" he ventured, glancing around the room. He gave a shrug shortly after. "Ah! Must have went to the bathroom, or something."

After concluding herself to be a safe distance away, Snute removed another ceiling tile, peeking down into the space below. It appeared to be a janitorial closet of sorts. She pulled out her APER Gear, flicking over to the map function. Numerous options appeared, such as Manual, Manual Public, GPS, Sonar, and a few more. With a shrug, she opted to select "Manual Public".

A grid-based map of the guild-ship's first floor filled her screen, with a pixelated ninetales bobbing up and down to mark her location. She rolled her eyes at the inclusion.

It was a room in the east wing of the ship, notably smaller than the others. She did a quick comparison on the map, deducing the room to be about a tenth-lounge large. It appeared to be just across the hall from her and Aundei's room, as well.

Her eyes drifted across the map, with her brows soon furrowing in confusion. There were numerous spaces on the map where there very clearly should have been rooms, but none were labeled there, and no entrances were featured. Surely the guild would have had their own HQ mapped out accurately, but why would they waste that much space?

By her calculations, there was at least a half-lounge worth of unused space! Blasphemy! Rather annoyingly, one of said unmarked spaces appeared to be just behind the wall she'd be sleeping against.

"Perhaps I'll look into that sometime," she muttered.

With a shake of her head, she bagged her APER Gear, before beginning to lower herself down from the ceiling. She made sure to not repeat the mistake of going head first. It was still a struggle to shimmy down, but not nearly as much as before.

As soon as the sheer friction released her, she entered freefall for a moment. Much to her dismay, she felt her rump lodge into some sort of container with a snap. A wet container, no less.

With a groan, the ninetales looked down to find herself stuck inside of a yellow bucket. A broken end of a wooden pole laid on the floor nearby. It did not take long to locate the rest of the object, as she'd become aware of a slightly scratchy object wedged uncomfortably between her cheeks.

Snute gave a displeased growl, attempting to dislodge herself from the container to no avail. She couldn't do much with her hind-legs stuck in the air, but she didn't want to spill the liquid inside anywhere. Her gaze scanned around the closet in search of anything to help free herself. She gave a short gasp upon spying a pair of red eyes in the corner. Her heartbeat briefly peaked, before settling again as she recognized the eyes' owner.

An absol. Yuku, or Kysen? Judging by the older looking face and lack of a neck wound, she'd assumed the latter.

The absol gave a nod, frowning.

"Evening, Snute."

She gave a frown in return.

"Hello."

Kysen stepped forward, inclining his head toward the ninetales curiously.

"Why were you in the ceiling?" questioned the absol. After a second, he added onto his inquiry. "And, why are you in my mop bucket?"

The ninetales growled lightly, narrowing her eyes.

"Are you gonna help me, or what?"

With a sigh, Kysen moved around behind Snute. She eyed him the whole time. She gave a brief, frightened squeak as the sharp edge of his horn poked against her lower back, before lodging itself down into the bucket with her. Her cheeks flushed in a mixture of outrage and embarrassment as the flat end pressed into her rump, then prying her free with a swift movement.

The ninetales found herself face-down on the floor, before slowly raising herself back up. With a huff, she channeled ice aura into the soapy water lacing her backside, quickly uncondensing it into a harmless cloud.

Snute glanced over to see the absol holding his broom steady as he finished duct-taping it back together. He turned to give a polite nod to the ice-type.

"So," he started, "next time you're sneaking around, look before you drop. Got it?"

Her face reddening, Snute gave a low growl.

"Speak of this to anyone and I'll rip that horn off."

Kysen gave a light smirk.

"I'd like to see you try, young lady," the absol quipped. As the ninetales narrowed her eyes, he gave a small laugh. "Don't worry, I won't tell."

"Yeah, whatever, old man."

As the ninetales stood to leave, she saw the absol's face fall into a more serious expression. His red eyes seemed to almost pierce into her soul.

"Make with haste to your room, young lass," Kysen said. The ninetales shook her head, turning to leave. Kysen soon continued. "To be within the guild halls past midnight is not for the faint of heart."

Snute's eyes narrowed.

"Is that a threat?" she growled, turning back to the absol. She let out a gasp, stumbling back in surprise as she found the space empty. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she made her way out of the closet.

Snute lazily plucked her APER Gear from her bag. She carefully moved forward on three legs as she operated the device.

The time was displayed to be 11:32 PM.

"Twenty-eight minutes..." muttered the ninetales. Her brow furrowed. "Am I really gonna take that absol seriously?" After a moment further of ponderance, she shrugged with yet another sigh. "Wasn't planning to stay out here that long, anyway, I guess. It doesn't matter."

Inu sat with his arms crossed behind his head, leaning back against a large, gray office chair. He occasionally kicked off from the desk to lazily spin it around.

Each time the chair spun, the koban atop his head caught the sun in just the right way as to reflect it directly into Taffy's eye. The minccino cringed each time, trying her best to ignore it as she shuffled through the papers. She reached up to adjust her glasses, before nudging the sleeping smeargle beside her. The dog jolted awake, looking around frantically, before settling down with a relieved sigh.

The minccino and smeargle both looked over to make eye-contact with the meowth on the other side of the desk.

Inu ceased his spinning as the two's attention focused on him. He gave a bright grin.

"So, we finally gettin' down to business, or what?"

Taffy gave a smile of her own, nodding. She cleared her throat before speaking.

"Of course, darlin'. Yuja and I are just gonna ask you a few questions, if that is okay?" Taffy soon crossed her paws together on the desk, taking a more serious expression as she leaned forward.

The meowth did his best to mirror the posture, doing his best to hide his smirk.

The smeargle took notice, raising an eyebrow.

"Something funny, Inu?"

The meowth shook his head, clearing his throat.

"Sorry! Serious atmospheres just kinda crack me up."

Satisfied, Yuja gave a nod.

"Well," Taffy began, "I guess we should start with the easy stuff. Did you get a good look at the Draco-shredder's face?"

Inu shook his head, glancing down.

"That's a no. They just had the mask on, again."

Taffy and Yuja both shared a glance. The former looked a bit disappointed, with the latter seeming unsurprised. The smeargle was the first to speak after turning back.

"I suppose we shouldn't have expected anything else, but it didn't hurt to ask." Yuja pulled out a pencil. She flipped through the pad briefly, before tearing out one sheet and sliding it across the desk. Inu glanced down to see a fairly accurate drawing of the killer's mask. The smeargle continued shortly after, flipping to a new page in her notepad. "Do you notice any inaccuracies here? This is our most up-to-date depiction, based off from a combination of Aundei's report and past eye-witness accounts."

Inu scrutinized the drawing closely, eyes scanning across it. His brows raised as he focused on one detail in particular. The meowth looked up.

"The drawing depicts seven tally-marks. There were nine last night."

Taffy's eyes seemed to widen, whereas Yuja only blinked contemplatively.

"That so, Darlin'?" Taffy questioned. "Because, Aundei insisted it was seven."

Inu felt a bit of sweat form on his brow.

"Well, I made sure to count it several times. I don't mean to call Au' a liar or anything."

Taffy shook her head, while Yuja began to sketch in her pad. The minccino removed her glasses, nervously beginning to wipe them with a cloth. She spoke up again soon after.

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions or anythin', but..."

Yuja raised an eyebrow.

"Go on," urged the smeargle.

The minccino nodded, letting out a breath.

"Assuming neither Inu nor Aundei are incorrect, combined with the fact that we have two confirmed kills since the last encounter, these tally-marks may be a body count."

Inu shook his head, visibly disturbed.

"But, they've only killed four pokémon!"

Yuja gave a nod.

"Inu's got a point, Taff'."

Taffy put her glasses back on, tail flicking to the side.

"Four that we know of."

The smeargle sighed, crossing her arms.

"Yes, that we know of. We don't yet have enough evidence that the tally-marks mean there's any more. Don't fear-monger while we have no provable pattern."

Taffy looked away, twiddling her paws together.

"...Sorry."

Yuja placed a paw on her back.

"Me too. I should have worded that more politely."

Inu cleared his throat, grabbing the two's attention.

"Forgive my intrusion, ladies, but I'd assume you had more than one question for me."

Taffy adjusted her glasses, nodding.

"Yes, sorry, darlin'." The minccino picked up a short stack of index cards from the desk, briefly shuffling through them. She gave a satisfied nod before speaking. "So. You said you got no facial details, correct?"

Inu was about to nod, but stopped short.

"Well, there was one thing."

Taffy's ears perked up.

"Oh?"

Inu nodded.

"They had purple eyes." The meowth's brows furrowed after he spoke, seeming to look up and down Taffy's form as Yuja scribbled in her notepad. "Come to think of it, they looked pretty similar in colors to yours, Taff'." He smirked as Taffy's eyes widened. "How do we know you aren't the Draco-shredder?"

The minccino seemed to hyperventilate a bit.

"M-me?! I'd never!"

The meowth barked out a laugh.

"I'm just joshin' ya'. It's not too unreasonable to be a coincidence."

Taffy sighed in relief, visibly relaxing.

Yuja shook her head.

"We can't leave out any suspects, I'm afraid. I'll have to note this detail."

Taffy's relief sank further, becoming more akin to deflation.

"Good point, darlin'," she sighed, shaking her head. Flicking through her index cards again, she asked the next question. "Okay... Did you manage to catch their species, darlin'?"

The meowth shook his head.

"No dice. Couldn't have been much taller than either of us, though."

"Got it, got it." Taffy paused to let Yuja scribble before continuing. "And... Did they use any techniques aside from the usual dragon-claw?"

Inu paused to consider. After a brief hum, he shook his head.

"They used an electric attack of some sort. Really hurt, left me paralyzed." His eyes lit up shortly after. "Oh! I tried to shadow-claw them, but it went straight through. No damage at all."

Taffy's ears perked up.

"Shadow-claw, you say? That's ghost-type, right?"

Yuja gave a nod.

"It is. Our suspect is most likely either normal or fighting type, then."

Taffy shook her head.

"No, darlin'. Ghost-type attacks can hit fighting-types. Just not the other way around."

Yuja gave a nod.

"That's right. Apologies."

Taffy looked back to Inu.

"One last question, for now. Did you pay attention to their voice, at all?"

Inu nodded.

"Yeah. It was pretty monotonous, actually. Couldn't really tell what was between their legs, if you catch my drift."

Taffy's face flushed a bright pink, while Yuja just face-palmed. The minccino continued shortly after, fidgeting with her glasses.

"That's... Quite crude, darlin', but thank you for the information." As her blush died down, she cleared her throat. "Dismissed. Have a good one."

The meowth gave a long stretch and a short yawn as he hopped down from his chair. He gave a flinch as a spike of pain shot up his back, soon reaching back to massage the bandaged surface.

"You, too, Taff'. Now, I've got a late morning nap to get to."

As the meowth walked out the door, Taffy put a paw beside her mouth as she leaned forward to shout.

"Don't forget to submit your full report of events later!"