Chapter 99 – Strangers on a Train
The four-carriage express train flew across Tubeline Bridge far faster than most of the battle subway trains that used this route. Anyone watching from the pedestrian walkway above, would barely have had time to register the nondescript black carriages, let alone have realised that it was transporting one of the most important figures in current Pokémon history.
The carriage and locomotive were one of a fleet maintained by the government to transport ministers and other top government officials, where regular commercial transport was unsafe or unfeasible for some reason. Built to withstand bullets and most Pokémon attacks, and fitted with luxury cabins, meetings rooms, dining facilities and office space.
The train had priority, with points and signals changed, and other trains held back to enable it to pass. For the next few hours, the battle subway would be running several late and delayed services. But it was all for a very important passenger...Special Prosecutor Heather Dunbar, appointed by the House of Representative Judiciary Committee to investigate alleged criminal activity by the Aether Foundation, and any collusion with the Prime Minster.
Heather was in her mid 50's. A striking and stern woman with auburn hair she normally wore back in a tight bun, and who always dressed in a black, slightly masculine suit and white blouse. A lawyer and civil servant with an impeccable record, she had served as the Director of Public Prosecutions for Unova, and the Solicitor-General under Vanessa Shinobu.
"Inspector Blake. Please have a seat."
Heather was seated in a large office chair behind a desk in the carriage directly behind the locomotive. She was reading a paper document and did not look up at the young man who entered the office through the sliding glass door that separated it from the rest of the car. A series of papers were stacked neatly in an in-tray on the corner, and a mania file lay open on the desk in front of her.
"I've just been reading your report," she continued, as the young man took a seat in front of her. "An excellent summary of the findings of the investigation so far. Do we have confirmation from the clerk that the indictment was file."
"I have the sealed copies with me. They'll be published on the internet before we arrive."
The young man was inspector Blake. Codenamed Lack-Two, he was a high-ranking member of the international police, seconded to the special counsel's team, and tasked with preparing reports and doing deep background for the investigation.
"Very good." Heather set down the report and looked up at Blade.
He was young man of only sixteen, with messy brown hair and dressed like a Pokémon trainer. In a blue tight-fitting shirt and grey pants.
"The evidence you uncovered about Shadow the Darkrai and his links to the Aether Foundation give us more than enough evidence to move forward with the indictments. And now that the President has been indicted, the Pokkén Tournament members will be unable to block any resolution to continue the investigation when we request it."
"Heh, it almost seems pointless given what's just happened," Blake replied grinning. "Months of investigating, of trying to flip Aether Employees and suspects and building probable cause to search Aether Paradise, and an imprisoned Necrozma just bursts out. I'm still disappointed that I couldn't find any evidence to suggest Lusamine had a Cosmog there. Nor anything about the creation of Type: Null."
Heather did not return the grin, but nevertheless said, "all in good time. Large criminal organisations are hard to unravel. Look at Al Capone. Notorious gangster, and all they managed charge him with was tax evasion. But that's all we need. And we have everything we need to put the president and several of her accomplishes in jail for a long time. Incidentally, did you ever find out what happened to Shadow."
"He was killed in a fight in the southern Galar region," said Blake. "That's all everybody seems to know. I have unconfirmed reports of a ceremony to bring him back to life, by a Pokémon cult. That's not included in the report, as I didn't think it relevant. Blade the Sneasel, seems to have been caught by a trainer, Cameron Kotetsu. Funnily enough, an old rival. I believe you were planning to interview him and Ash Ketchum earlier in the investigation."
Heather nodded. "They remain of interest. I suspect I will interview each of them once parliament extends the investigation. I am still not entirely sure how much they know, or whether they have any involvement. We also lack leverage to get information from them."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that," Blake interjected. "I might have something on them. Ash especially."
"Let's go through that once we're done with the committee hearing," Heather replied. "Now then." She shuffled the papers on her desk until she found one labelled chronology. "I just want to go over the facts to make sure our case is prepared for the committee. The president and the company are being charged under the RICO statue."
RICO was an acronym for Racketeering and corrupt organisations act. Legislation used to prosecution criminal organisations and gangs. It had been passed, first by the federal government, and then by each of the seven nations as a way of making Team Rocket admins and leaders responsible criminally for the actions of their agents. To succeed on a RICO charge, the prosecution had to prove that at least two enumerated RICO crime had been committed, by a person or group of people, who were part of a criminal enterprise, in course of furthering that enterprise.
"That means we can hold Lusamine directly liable for the experiments conducted at the P2 laboratory, including those on Shadow, Pyre and Raiee. She is also responsible for financing the operation through the cryptocurrency transactions. We have the blockchain records taken from several different computer systems that show that. And we have Poison Ivy's testimony. We can also link the president to a number of Pokémon murders committed by Shadow following his release from the P2 Laboratory. You recommended those counts be entered on the indictment, despite the clear legal problems me and several other lawyers identified."
Heather eyed Blake carefully as she said this, but he showed no sign of disquiet.
"The genetic modifications either caused or increased his serious aggression," said Blake. "Darkrai aren't normally outwardly aggressive. They cause nightmares in others as a defensive mechanism. This one stalked one of Ash Ketchum's Pikachu's, Ashachu, then tried to cut off his tail. He stabbed his Charizard and pulled an underdeveloped egg from inside him. All because of one Sneasel. A species Darkrai wouldn't normally mate with."
Heather pursed her lips. "Yes, but there were murders before the P2 experiments. Have a look at these."
She reached to the stack of files in the in tray and pulled out one containing several large photographs. They showed a Charizard, a Gyarados and a Dragonite on tables. All dead, all horribly disfigured, with missing body parts, scales, and wings.
Blake turned his nose up at the sight of them. "Ugh. Yeah, I know about these cases."
"And he was mating with the Sneasel before the laboratory as well," Heather added. "You're report confirmed that."
"Yes, but the Aether Foundation was responsible for introducing Shadow to Blade in the first place," Blake explained. "The timeline confirms that. That makes the Aether Foundation responsible for the decimation of Cleave's pack and the Absol's of the Giant Chasm."
"Not necessarily," Heather replied. "There's an issue of causation. The expert Pokémon connoisseur reports we received from Shadow. I have a copy of it here." More paper shuffling, to produce a short-bound volume embossed with the words, Shadow the Darkrai – Pokémon psychological profile. She opened to a page with the heading, Analysis, and conclusions. "I am of the opinion that the behaviour exhibited by Shadow is consistent with diagnostic criteria for anti-social personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder and Sexual sadism disorder. This behaviour is persistent in all reported sightings of Shadow and does not appear to have been influenced by human activity."
She closed the report and sighed. "We can't prove that Lusamine or anyone else in the Aether Foundation was aware of this at the time Shadow arrived in Unova. Further, I recall that, after the evidence was reviewed by the team, it was agreed that it was open as to whether it was indeed Altru Inc who transplanted Shadow into Unova. And given that the oil company had more to gain from the decimation of Sneasel and Weavile in that region, it is more likely the latter."
"If Shadow is still alive, do we need to track him down," enquired Blake.
Heather leaned back in her chair and shook her head. "No, we do not. The evidence recovered from the P2 Laboratory is sufficient to prove the experiments happened. The records of dead Pokémon and eye witness accounts from rangers and others are sufficient to prove Shadow's pattern of violence. As I said, we will likely have to discontinue the counts of the indictment that relate to Shadow's killing of wild Pokémon as there is no way to prove the Aether Foundation or the P2 conspirators caused it. We also have the testimony of Pyre the Charmander."
"Yeah, I think I understand," said Blake. "I would like to give some form of warning to Cameron though. If Shadow is alive, he could be endanger as long as he's got Blade danger. The evidence is that Shadow is quite protective of his mate."
"No."
Blake raised his eyebrows at Heather's suddenly stern tone.
"They're not mates. Not in the ordinary sense," she explained. "Shadow's not gay. At least, not how we understand sexuality in Pokémon, a romantic and sexual attraction between partners."
Heather retrieved the psychological profile again and read aloud, "Shadow's courtship with Blade appears to be motivated by a desire and need to exercise domination and control over the Sneasel. It follows similar to patterns to human victims who had experienced coercive control from a partner. The behaviours demonstrated in the witness reports include committing violent killings in front of Blade, and subjecting him to sexual humiliation, such as orgasm control, hypnosis, sexual degradation, and prostitution. In this regard, the writer refers to the trail camera footage that shows Blade being used sexually by a pack of Charmeleon, and the testimony from Pyre about being forced to having sex with Blade, and Blade being made to watch while Shadow used the Charmander sexually. While this conduct is not problematic where it is consensual, or at least not occurring in a context of violence, here it forms part of a pattern and practice of the Darkrai to make Blade feel both fearful of his mate, and to diminish his sense of self-worth to the point he becomes reliant on Shadow."
She set the report down again.
Blade frowned and coxed his head. "That's a big claim, given nobody's actually observed the Darkrai directly or personally. I mean, I'm not a lawyer, but would it be admissible."
"It's expert testimony, so it's admissible," answered Heather. "It doesn't assist the prosecution case, so it won't be entered into evidence, but it will have to disclosed to Lusamine's legal team as part of Brady Disclosures. I suspect they'll demand the connoisseur be cross examined, as the report indicates at the very least, as I've said, that Shadow's murderous traits likely don't stem from the experiments."
Blade considered this for a moment. "But if Shadow is possessive of Blade, like the reports suggest. That could leave Cameron and his friends in danger. Shadow won't like that Blade has a trainer."
Heather gave a cursory nod of the head. "I agree. Once the approval to continue the investigation is authorised by the committee, I will authorise you to send a target letter to Cameron and disclose some of the risks to him. Best thing for him to do would be to release Blade. I've already ruled out any serious involvement by Blade in any part of the conspiracy, and I don't wish to question him. Pyre's statements give us more than enough to prove our case. And of course, once the prosecution on the current indictment is underway, the investigation focus will change."
She leant back in her seat again and sighed heavily. "Remember, Shadow's acts of violence against Blade aren't really our concern. The courts don't have jurisdiction to settle disputes between Pokémon over territory or mates. That's for the law of nature. If Shadow were a trained Pokémon, the trainer could be prosecuted for environmental legislation breaches. Or, if Shadow were to kill another trainer's Pokémon, then Shadow's trainer could be sued in civil court. But wild Pokémon are left to their own devices."
A tiny smirk crossed her face. It was an odd look, for a woman who was ordinarily very stern. "It's ironic. The Aether Foundation exists to provide shelter and protection to Pokémon like Blade, who are threatened by other, stronger Pokémon. But right now, their main facility has been destroyed, and I suspect come tomorrow, they will have filed for bankruptcy. In a few months, their president will be on trial for treason."
Blake bowed his head slightly, looking sombre.
There was a moment silence, before Heather leant forward and continued, "The committee will want to know the directions of the investigation now that we have a way into the Aether Foundation. While we have to go where the evidence leads, I have two proposed paths. Firstly, We need to conduct a full search of the Aether Paradise, or what is left of it. Crucially, we need to secure funding to enable the use of submersibles and deep-sea divers in the sea below Aether Paradise. How will we justify that."
Blake scratched his head. "I think we have a statements from that private detective the Ninjas hired to investigate the facility, who talks about a basement level accessible in the main lift with a key, that doesn't show up on the schematics of the facility."
"True, but we've been denied warrants on the basis of the Rotom-dex dossier before," Heather replied. She peered at the document entitled Chronology once again, and then flipped through some papers. "But it looks like a former employee of the foundation said the same thing. Have a look through those papers and see if you can find it." She gestured to the stack of files on the corner of the desk.
Blake nodded and leant forward so he could pick up the files.
"Secondly," Heather continued, "I want to get the Foreign Office's co-operation in issuing international subpoenas in the Galar Region. The engineering, design and construction of Aether Paradise was all performed by Marco Cosmos subsidiaries, and Chairman Rose is the Foundation's greatest donor. If we can take depositions from engineers and get access to schematics and documents held in Rose Tower, we may be able to prove the existence of secret laboratories. Thirdly, I want to refocus our attention on Lusamine's children, Lillie and Gladion. Likely, I will authorise you to go undercover again, and see if you can get close to Lillie. We need to find out if she did in fact steal a Cosmog from Aether Paradise, and what became of it. And whether Gladion did in fact steal a Type Null."
"Excellent," said Blake, smiling to himself.
Heather pursed her lips, not approving of the apparent ravishment Blake had for this possible new assignment. But she said nothing. "We may end up sending Gladion a target letter. Local police in Alola have reports that he has affiliation with the local villain gang, Team Skull. Who are also suspected to have links to Lusamine. We haven't followed that lead, as the Alolan authorities were pursing that investigation."
Bladed nodded. "I suppose that only leaves the question of the link between the Aether Foundation and the Prime Minister's office in relation to Pokémon experiments. Which was the reason for the appointment of special counsel originally."
"And which has proven allusive, especially when the administration isn't co-operating, Heather replied. "Deposition notices served on government ministers and senior public servants have been challenged in court, and we've been denied access to classified material. All of that is being considered by the court, so we won't be able to purse those lines of enquiry until those matters are resolved. The government won't be able to use its own delay tactics as a reason to shut us down. And, of course, once we can seize Lusamine's personal documents and computers we'll know more about who she's been in contact with."
Blake nodded in an agreement, then coxed his head. "Do you have suspicions?"
Heather considered for a moment. "The Aether Foundation has an almost symbiotic relationship with Pokkén Tournament, as it does with Marco Cosmos. Reliant on the government for funding an always actively lobbying for conservation and environmental protections. About five years ago the Aether Foundation received a grant to research Ultra Beast incursions in Alola and Ultra Wormholes, including developing ways to fight and defend against them. If this was used to fund the creation of the Pokémon Type: Null illegally and either Prime Minister told either the auditor general's office or the International Police not to investigate it, then it could lead to an obstruction charge. But whether they'll be evidence of even that, let along more active collusion, remains to be seen."
Outside the window the river had given way to forest again before the train had plunged back into a tunnel somewhere beneath Route 9. The line would resurface again in about fifty kilometres or so, once it was past Opelucid City. Eventually the train would leave the mainline, and arch south on a restricted line that would bring it directly into the heart of Entralink, where the committee hearing was waiting. But there were still many hours to go.
"But enough speculation," said Heather. "I want you to go and find the full report on the investigation and apprehension of Pyre. It doesn't seem to be in this pile. I want to get some legal advice to ensure its admissible. And then check with the media team. The press release must be ready to go by the time we arrive."
Blake nodded and stood us. "Yes miss..."