Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)
A Legendary Search
39. Agonizing Wait
"I trust that you got the note I sent?" The person in the office asked. Their voice was clipped, upset and impatient. They listened to the answer on the other end of the phone.
"Good. The boy got out. He's out there, somewhere. And he knows now. That means we talk in the code discussed from this second onward. Hold with phase two. The situation requires diplomacy. I will be in touch."
Their first break, as Tim's father called it, was at PCL. The director agreed to round everyone up in the courtyard for interviews one at a time, at least for those who agreed to it. The interviews weren't particularly groundbreaking, though no one there had a bad word to say about him. It was what happened after, however, that brought the first ray of hope.
After the last person they interviewed had left the courtyard, the director of PCL, Dorothy, had approached them. They thanked her profusely, with Dorothy assuring them it was no trouble and she'd felt they'd owed it to Tim (one of their own had apparently tampered with his father's car before the crash) and made to leave before a shrill, almost childlike voice called out that stopped Absol in his tracks.
"Phan! Phantump, phan, Phantump!"
Absol turned. "Sol?"
"Phantump, phan! Phan phan!"
Absol stiffened, then gripped Emilia's shirt and tugged.
"What?" she asked, baffled, but his response was simply to keep pulling. "Okay, okay…" she followed him, Meiko following her while a confused Dorothy followed Meiko, and the owner of the voice, a Phantump, approached them.
"Phan, phan. Phamtump, Phantump. Tump!"
The little ghost Pokemon then held out its hands, something in them. Absol moved to Phantump's side, then raised a paw and, looking directly at Emilia, jerked its paw at what Phantump held out as if to point to it.
"You want me to take it?" Emilia asked, and Absol nodded.
Reaching out she grasped the object in Phantumps' hands to find out that it was, in fact, two objects. One was a phone; the other, the phone's battery, removed from the device to render it useless. Emilia frowned. "Why do I need this?"
Absol sighed. He looked at Phantump. "Sol, Absol?"
"Phan…" Phantump floated up a little higher off the ground, then pointed at the phone. "Phantump phan!" pointing next at Absol, Phantump then seemed to mime writing something down on its hand, then reaching the hand it had used to "write" with behind it.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Meiko asked.
"I don't know…" Emilia said slowly. Absol actually reached up with a paw and put it on his own forehead, a very human expression of frustration that Emilia had never seen him do before. She had to wonder where he'd picked it up; she didn't even think it would have been from Tim.
"Phan, Phan!" Phantump did a little flip, then pointed at the phone again, then put its right hand behind it's back, brought it out, pretended to use it to write on its left hand, and put it back behind its back. Then it pointed to the phone again.
"What's it even trying to do?" Meiko asked, and a little frustration bubbled up in Emilia.
"I don't… I don't know. Hand behind it's back, and then…" Emilia trailed off, repeating the Phantumps actions for herself. Hand behind her back. Bring it up and write on her left, then put her right hand back…
"Wait a minute…" Emilia realized. "Reaching back… like into a back pocket! And then writing… Tim keeps his notebook in his back pocket! Pulling it out to write in, and putting it back… he does that all the time!"
Absol perked up, putting his paw back on the ground and nodding frantically.
"So then… this phone belongs to Tim?" Meiko asked, excited now. Absol nodded again.
"Phan, tump!" the little Phantump looked happy.
"How did it get here?" Dorothy asked, startling the two. They'd forgotten she was there.
"I don't know, but that does explain why the battery was taken out. It would make the phone untrackable." Meiko reasoned. "Tim must have left something in it… a clue, or something! And given it to Phantump somehow… and then… and then…"
"Instructed Phantump to give it to us… or maybe to Absol." Emilia finished. "Come on, we need to take this back. We have to turn it in… to the right people."
And they had. They'd taken the phone straight to Inspector Holiday, who'd directed them through the necessary channels to get it turned in, and was able to get them a copy of what was on the phone as well as Tim's father. He wasn't allowed to do any investigating, but someone in the team investigating the explosion owed him a favour and was willing to keep him up to date with the information they were finding. It took some time before they were given the information, but they got it.
The phone had clearly been left as a clue. It had been wiped clean, no numbers saved, no nothing… except two pictures.
The sight of the first one had made Tim's father's eyes widen. "That's… I forgot! I completely forgot… Tim got a letter in the mail the night of the explosion! He read it, and he went sort of pale… and then he had something he had to do at eight. He wouldn't tell me what, though, and said he was fine. But this…"
"This was what drew him out." Holiday agreed. Emilia's hands clenched so hard her knuckles turned white.
The picture had been of a piece of paper. It had been a simple, typed note with an address on it… the address of the building that had blown up. Below it, the note simply stated, "Something very bad will happen in the parking lot under this address if you are not there to stop it. Show up at 8 o'clock. Tell no one, or people die."
"Is this what we need, then, to prove Tim is innocent?" Meiko asked excitedly.
"It's not enough, unfortunately." Inspector Holiday said, and Meiko deflated. "It could easily be claimed that Tim made this note himself to try to make himself look innocent. If we get more proof that it wasn't him, then this will certainly be a piece of evidence, and it helps build his case, but it's not enough by itself. Well done, both of you. If Tim left this for us, then I've got no doubt he's working the case too, from his own side, and we need to keep an eye out for any more clues he might leave for us."
"Right! What's the other picture?"
The mood in the room dropped when Holiday showed them the other photograph. It was a picture of what looked like the back of the letter in the first photo, with a single letter on it. Even though there was so little writing on it, Emilia still recognized the writing as Tim's, spelling a one-letter warning onto the page:
H.
After PCL, they found he had gone to Cappucci Island; rather than go there themselves, however, they had simply interviewed the police lieutenant that had been there with Tim. Given that the ferry did not run often, they both decided to hold off on it for now; they would definitely get there, there were a few names written down for people that he had helped and they also knew he had gone there a second time not long before his first hospital stay that had been courtesy of Keith Norman. At this point, though, since the ferry times would complicate things, they figured they would leave that for last, and instead focus on the places in and near Rhyme City first. Which meant interviewing that police lieutenant, who turned out to be a vaguely familiar face; they'd met him at Tahnti park when Tim had rescued the Poochyena.
Brad McMaster was his name, and his interview turned into one of the most interesting ones, in Emilia's opinion, though she also privately thought that the man was a bit full of himself.
When they asked him about Tim, though, he spoke openly and honestly.
"To tell you complete truth, I don't like it much when other people run around playing detective. I fully and firmly believe that investigative work should be left to the police and others should co-operate with what they need and otherwise stay out of it. However, I won't deny that Tim Goodman… is very good." He'd said with a sigh, almost as if it pained him to say it. "I have a better code of ethics than to lie about that. He's good at what he does. And do I think he had something to do with that explosion? No, not unless you count possibly trying to stop it. If Tim is one thing, it's compassionate. He would never hurt anyone. And he certainly isn't doing it for attention like some of the media networks out there have been implying. I've seen him deliberately give credit to other people for things that… they didn't really do, just to stay out of the spotlight. He doesn't like attention. He just likes helping people. I wouldn't say I would ever call him my friend, but he's honest, he's trustworthy, and he's good. Maybe even the makings of one of the best."
They left that interview with Emilia almost feeling warmth in her chest. They'd had to park the car a ways down the street; as they'd walked towards it, a large truck with a flatbed had turned onto the street, with large metal pipes strapped down on it.
"You know, I just figured out what's been bugging me." Meiko had said suddenly. "These two. They're too quiet." Meiko had gestured at Plusle and Minun.
Emilia had looked at them. Now that Meiko had mentioned it, she was right. Normally the two Cheering Pokemon were endless chatter and energy. But both stood at attention on Meiko's shoulders, large ears twitching, eyes shifting around.
"You're right. They almost look as if-" Emilia had not gotten to finish her sentence. Something had rammed into her from behind; after a moment of confusion and panic, she'd realized it was Absol, and he'd plowed into not just her but Meiko as well, and had been pushing them hard, shoving them forward. She and Meiko had both stumbled forward, trying to keep their balance, and kept going as Absol kept shoving, suddenly forcing them several paces ahead. The two Pokemon that they had just been discussing the silence of began ear- splitting shrieks.
"Absol, what're-" but Meiko hadn't gotten to finish her sentence either, as loud crashing erupted. Somehow, the straps on the flatbed truck, passing them just then, had come undone, and the huge metal pipes were crashing onto the sidewalk. If Absol had not hustled them forward, they would have been underneath them.
"Oh my gosh!" Emilia had gasped.
"How…" Meiko trailed off, eyes wide. Suddenly, Absol had snarled, spun, and took aim at a rooftop. Opening his mouth, a bluish-white beam had come out of it, and as it hit the rooftop, something behind it had jumped. The rooftop froze, covered in ice, and the red blur that had jumped landed back on it. Plusle and Minun had both jumped off Meiko's shoulders.
The Scizor had glared at them. Absol, however, gave a snarl, and spat out a funnel a fire directed at it next; Meiko's partners joined in with Thunderbolts. Scizor had jumped off and darted away, too fast for eyes to follow. The Flamethrower scorched the building, but didn't set it aflame; Absol, it seemed, had adequate control. The Thunderbolts fizzled into the air. Emilia and Meiko had been stunned for several long moments before the latter had finally managed to get shocked words out of her mouth.
"Absol… knows Ice Beam? And Flamethrower?"
That had been nearly two weeks ago. The shock of the incident, had them racing back to GNN to report what had happened. And after that, it wasn't the only incident. Absol yanked Emilia out of the way of an empty car that had apparently been left running without the emergency break on, once, and twice shoved her and Meiko out of the way of falling objects. Plusle and Minun, too, seemed to be on guard and, at one point, both managed to use a Thunderbolt to blow a large vase falling from overhead into dust before it came low enough to be a hazard to the two of them. It made everyone on the team working to help Tim nervous, but no one had found a cause for anything… no reason to believe they were nothing more than accidents, except for one thing with the first incident- the straps holding down all the metal pipes had been cleanly cut, and they suspected by the Scizor Absol had chased off. Everything else appeared dangerous, but entirely accidental.
Still, Emilia had never been so relieved that Absol stayed stoically by her side. The only times he vanished from right next to her was in the dead of night; the first Pokemon meeting that Emilia had witnessed was just the first of many. None of the rest of them were quite so big, but it seemed like several of the Pokemon that turned up to them brought things. Emilia never saw what, but Absol took a few things from her apartment as well; a couple of containers, and a few cans of food. A can opener, as well, was one of the first things to go. She suspected that it had to have something to do with Tim… but said nothing. She figured it was best that she pretend to know nothing about it. Even if it was maddening. But other than those occasions, where Absol spoke with multiple other Pokemon outside her apartment building while leaving and entering through her window, he was with her, a solemn, stoic guard.
That made her think. Plusle and Minun, ever since Absol had turned up, stuck to Meiko like glue and were no longer their cheerful, carefree selves. They seemed like they were on the watch for something. And that worried Emilia.
Still, the team determinedly finished all of their interviews, until they ran out of people they could think to interview. Cappucci Island was where they headed last, but when they got there, they found a pair of people who might just end up being Tim's most staunch defenders out of the entire group that they had done interviews for. Both of them, a Dr. Waals and a boy named Milo, had been accused of crimes and had their names cleared by Tim, and upon hearing the situation, both were determined to do the same for him. Milo in particular seemed passionate about helping, declaring there was no way Tim was behind the explosion and was adamant about insisting, when the interviews were over and Emilia and Meiko were leaving, that they get in touch if there was anything at all that he could do to help.
"I promised Tim," he'd said. "I gave him my word that I would help! Just call- promise me!"
The two of them had promised.
After that, they began trying to speak with different officials to get details on the investigation. Inspector Holiday began looking into the incidents happening near Emilia and Meiko; that much at least, he could do, he told them. He looked into the Scizor they had seen as well, that Absol had chased off. He couldn't find any other reports of a Scizor causing trouble, but told them he would still look into it as best he could, and keep his eyes open. Every day, no other useful clues or even hints turned up. Every day passed by with no news. Every day, Emilia worried more and more.
One more week passed, then another. She continued sleeping poorly, waking up several times a night feeling upset. If not for Absol, she felt that she just might lose her mind. But whenever she woke, the Disaster Pokemon was there, curling up next to her, resting his head on her shoulder or on her leg in silent reassurance and comfort. She was so glad he stayed with her… though sometimes, she did wonder why. But each time he woke her from nightmares, she didn't care why he was there, and simply decided to be happy that he was.
"Hey, you alright?" Meiko asked her one morning. "I mean, I know you're not, really, but you seem like you're getting more and more anxious."
"Today makes four weeks that Tim's been gone, Meiko. Four weeks!" she lowered her voice. "Absol said he was okay when they parted, but… how is he now? Is he hurt? Where is he?"
"Hey, I'm sure he's alright. This is Tim we're talking about." Meiko reasoned.
Emilia looked at her in despair. "Four weeks, Meiko. Even if he's stayed safe, is he getting enough to eat? And it's getting cold… it was warmer than normal the night he disappeared, Meiko. His father said that he only took his shoes and his usual sweater. It's too cold for that now. How is he keeping warm? It's mid-December! It's been snowing!"
Meiko swallowed. "I, uh… didn't really think about the temperature. But Emilia, I'm sure he's fine. We have to believe that."
Emilia knew Meiko was right. But she couldn't stop thinking about Tim out there, cold and hungry…
She would give anything to have him back, safe and sound. Preferably before New Years. It wasn't something she'd even thought of before, but she wanted desperately to have New Years with him, if only to know that he was safe.
Both of their phones began ringing. Emilia and Meiko both scrambled to answer them, and found that Mr. Graham had called Meiko's phone; Hiro had called Emilia's on his behalf. They were being called back to GNN. Inspector Holiday and Tim's father were at the building; they had information to share.
A/N: H is the one after Tim... which probably did not surprise anyone. But the Pokemon meetings continue, Emilia and Meiko narrowly avoid a lot of accidents- too many to be coincidence- and time stretches on. Now into the cold months, Tim is out there without a coat, and Emilia can't stop worrying. But apparently, information of some sort has turned up; now what might that be, and is it good news or bad?