Glass shattered across the wall, the vase crackling into bits as the oval body of a penguin crashed against it. His weight flopped against the ground, scarring across his supple flesh and stains of red seeping into his white chest. He heaved a heavy breath, his mind in a stir of unbridled misery as he attempted to push himself to his feet- only for his weight to give way against his arm, slumping against the wall with a stringing gasp.

Looking up toward his attacker, he watched them get closer and closer. A Tsareena, known by most for their beauty and elegance, in this moment terrified him more than any other being he had ever met. And raised in her hand was a steak knife, the tip of the blade sharpened to perfection.

"Should have minded your business."

He attempted to get up again- only to feel her foot fly forward, crashing against his neck and pinning him. He could only watched helplessly as she raised the knife, then swung down-

"Eiscue!"

With an abrupt scream, Eiscue flung his head up from his desk in a panic, breathing hard as he clasped a flipper to his heat. He…H-He had just fallen asleep at work again! He's fine. Fine. Fine fine fine fine-

Focus!

He turned his attention toward the cause of his awakening- a Herdier. They placed some paperwork on his desk then barked out the command, "Stay alive, detective. This is work, not a lounge."

"R-Right. Right. Sorry, I'm just-"

"Don't care."

The dog trotted off, message delivered and very clear. Eiscue could only sigh out- both in mild relief that he had avoided any further telling him, and in disappointment that this had happened at all. Then again with exhausted he's felt as of late it was bound to happen eventually- so many all-nighters can't be good for him, though he was never exactly a beacon of health.

Still…The fact it was that dream- no…That memory. It…It'd linger with him. For hours. Days maybe. Every time he thought back to that event he could feel the pit in his stomach grow wary-

No, focus! Focus on this, not that- this! Just get his mind off it, that's all he needed to do. If he weren't at work he'd forge an ice block to cover up, give himself that feeling of safety, but it'd probably just come across as unprofessional. Besides, he was on thin ice (heh, that's…kinda funny) with the janitor as of late ever since he found him in here after hours; last thing he needed was to get in even bigger trouble by tracking melted water everywhere.

And so Eiscue got started on his paperwork- and managed to narrowly avoid someone else's. A quick glance showed a Swampert and Oranguru laughing at him from across the room- their boredom meant his annoyance. You'd think grown men would realize not to throw things but he should know by now his co-workers had no real respect for his work. And…And he couldn't blame them. He barely respected his existence, he shouldn't expect more from anyone else…

Focus!

He smacked himself on the cheek- and recoiled. Ow! Okay, no doing that without the ice- no ice equals pain. Pain equals oblivious, oblivious means he's not doing good enough-

"Focus," came the whisper, and he closed his eyes…

Breathe in…Breathe out…

After a moment, he glanced down toward his desk; its cabinet, to be specific. He pulled it open- and there it was. Sitting there. A signed envelope, already opened. He couldn't help put pick it up, his eyes scanning its words briefly.

"...It'd help me get away from all this for a bit…"

"..."

"But if anyone got hurt while I was gone…If I wasn't here to solve the problem…That'd be on me…"

Shaking his head, he threw the letter back down into his desk, just as another figure stepped up to his desk; a Golisopod. "Hey, Pengu."

"Ah!" Jumped Eiscue, who forced a smile and nodded along preemptively to whatever he was about to be told. "Y-Yeah!"

"Chief wants us to check out this hotel uptown- lady ain't leaving her apartment or some crap," grunted the man, who trotted along in line, "come on."

"C-Coming!" he stuttered awkwardly, quickly grabbing his things on his way out. He just needed to focus; time to get to work. So just…Breathe in…

Breathe out…

"Is this it?" Eiscue asked, him and his on-the-fly partner walking down the hall of the hotel up to a door; room 407.

"Yup." Golisopod nodded, before smacking the penguin on the arm and forcing him forward. "Well, go on Unbreakable. If they got a knife or something I ain't taking it."

Eiscue tried to force a grimace- but he couldn't. With how big the man was compared to him, the thought alone of even standing up that kinda comment terrified him beyond any reason. Instead, he breathed in and shaped an ice block. "Ready…"

Golisopod threw open the door, and Eiscue ran inside-

Only to be met with a very well-kept room. It looked…Completely untouched even. The only exception was a woman laying atop a chair, sipping on some tea. She was…Glaceon. The Glaceon; of the Sinnoh gym leaders. One of the highest ranked of their entire region. The…The one who had invited him to the region…

For the chance of becoming champion.

"...What is this-" Eiscue began, looking back just in time to see Golisopod slam the door shut. "What?! Wait, where are you-"

"Relax, Eiscue." Glaceon spoke up from her seat. "I'll explain soon."

Eiscue looked back and forth between her and the door, realizing he had been played for a fool. "This was a set-up. You worked with my precinct just to get me here. Why?"

"I had to. You weren't returning my calls or my invite," Glaceon explained.

"I-I thought that'd mean I wasn't interested!" he stammered in a panic. "Oh no no no no, I hate this! This is so- you shouldn't trick people!"

"Ughhhhh, please don't make a big deal outta this," the Eeveelution whined, "I'm just here to get a straight answer. So go on, give it to me!"

"Well…I…I…"

And like that, he had fallen into a trap- while he could ignore as many messages as he wanted and just pretend to not notice, here he was, face to face with this girl who seemed to think highly of him, enough to want him in power. And he could just say no- he should just say…No! And yet he can't. He can't and he knows that. Not to her face, no. He couldn't even if he tried. This…This is-

…

"Why do you even want me?!" he asked in a panic. "I…I wouldn't be good at it! I couldn't be. I'm not made for that. This…This isn't…I couldn't…"

"Eiscue, just…Relax. I'm not going to force you to do anything," she smoothed out.

"B-But I need you to answer! I…I gotta know!" Eiscue practically begged. "Why was I chosen?!"

The room went silent once more. He scanned her face, looking for any sort of sign to her answer…And he found it. And he could feel his body freeze up.

"...Because I'm worried, that now with this all public…That someone will use it to do some very, very bad things…"

Shaking a glass in his hand, a long wing brought it up to a man's lips. He gulped down the bourbon than placed it back on the table beside him. He heard a voice not long after.

"Sir, I have the results."

"And it has what I needed?"

A large file was placed onto the table beside him. "Every representative and their name, as well as any other details we could gather. If they're involved with the champion's hunt, we'll know."

"Good. You may leave. I have much work to do."

He listened to her footsteps as she left the room. His gaze slowly turned toward the file- one which had a logo on it.

One of a yellow G.

His face remained hardened like stone, flipping it open as he started to read through.

"Soon…Soon it'll all come to fruition."

Player #3: Eiscue
Created by: Zealous Thaumaturge
Represented Type: Ice

Age: 30
Gender: Male
Hometown: Po Town, Alola
Received Recommendation from: Glaceon (Gym Leader - Snowpoint City)

"You've got a new case; pretty simple one all things considered, but the answer still needs to be found…What could Eiscue possibly offer as a champion of Sinnoh? Eiscue has been one of the lead detectives of Po Town, perhaps one of the most dangerous areas in the entire region, for the better part of a decade. He's been able to crack cases that'd leave most on his level hopelessly lost, and on top of that he's got a spotless record, with no reported instances of taking bribes or otherwise slacking on the job. He's truly dedicated to helping others as best he can, no strings attached. Sounds great so far…But like all things, there's a catch."

"And that catch is Eiscue himself has no idea how he has this job. He never wanted to be on the police force in all honesty- it wasn't part of any kind of passion, he just joined up because he needed a job and someone he knew put in a good word for him. And more than that he can't stand the sight of blood, violence, Hell, even just basic conflict can cause him to get a little queasy. Actually queasy isn't even the right word for it- he's a mess on just about every level, and outside his detective work he can easily come across as a painfully pitiful, outright pathetic man."

"Truly, Eiscue is an escalating case of expectation vs reality- an extremely unqualified personality who happens to be in charge of the most important work in the entire precinct in a town that really needs that level of skill. So now he's trapped in the work, constantly getting place onto cases he has neither any interest in nor the gag reflex to handle it. Which begs the question- why doesn't he just quit? Well…You know how he truly wants to help others- well, that's what carries him forward. No matter how much he hates it, he couldn't forgive himself if he knew he could stop something and chose not to. In the end, he now sees protecting people as his responsibility."

"Which is why he's here- he's ensuring the world becomes a better place, whether as champion or not. He couldn't turn a blind eye if he knew he could help. Which begs the question- will he manage to crack the case of the new champion debacle, or will this be the first time his reputation didn't precede him?"

Shortest chapter so far and yet I think this is easily the most condensed prologue in terms of focusing on a specific character- specifically the new peep (even if it ain't that kind bird), Eiscue. Little birdie may just be in on a little inside information. Hehe, good luck to him.

Oh, and a reveal that some of you coulda seen coming. Either way though, it is how it is, and man we're getting into it now. 3/18 done, that's like a sixth! Actually it's exactly a sixth. Eh whatever, math is for dorks.

That's all for now; later.

Chosen Characters
Eiscue (Zealous Thaumaturge) - Ice Type
Maractus (ShinyRedExp) - Grass Type
Tandemaus (Dark Arcanine 33) - Normal Type

Considered Characters
Corsola (Litini) - Water / Rock
Drampa (Tricky Magic) - Dragon
Florges (Slimeboisss) - Fairy
Hakamo-o (kitkatwithabat) - Dragon / Fighting
Indeedee (Litini) - Psychic / Normal
Infernape (InfernoMaster64) - Fire / Fighting
Joltik (Miss Leafea) - Electric
Klefki (Nihilego Fanatic) - Steel / Fairy
Kommo-o (zetsunaflames) - Dragon / Fighting
Lucario (TPReboot) - Fighting / Steel
Lycanroc (Spyrorocks389) - Rock
Malamar (Jeyko) - Dark / Psychic
Polteageist (Soul of the Witch) - Ghost
Quaquaval (Souldra) - Water / Fighting
Togekiss (Jalengu) - Fairy / Flying
Tropius (Plumfadoodle) - Flying
Turtonator (kitkatwithabat) - Fire / Dragon
Wormadam (WryterWarrior) - Bug
Zorua (Miss Leafea) - Dark