The group was just as surprised as Gardevoir was to hear Infernape was coming. They were still processing that he was kidnapped, hypnotized, and somehow managed to escape all within a single night They started to move once again, not wanting to waste time. Gardevoir tried again to convince Infernape that maybe fate was on his side, yet he remained firmly in denial.
Sceptile contacted the Nihoneran Hero Association and managed to get the group instated as deputized Senshi. They were allowed to do hero work, but they would not be paid nor receive recognition for their actions until they took and passed the written and practical exams. The group agreed and continued on their quest to save the world.
A cold stone room lay underground, not a window in sight. A small pedestal was in the middle of the room. On the pedestal sat a shark-like, bipedal draconian Pokémon, almost completely enveloped in chains. She stared down at the floor in guilt and shame. She flinched as she heard a noise and a figure drop from the ceiling onto the floor. The figure had a masquerade-style mask and white hair made to look like a flower. Her hands resembled a bunch of roses and violets.
"Garchomp, I've got some food for you," the voice quietly called out, revealing a picnic basket.
"Roserade, what are you doing?!," The prisoner scolded, "This is breaking and entering and assisting a criminal. You'll be arrested, maybe even killed."
"It's worth it for my best friend. Now open up." Roserade pulled a rice ball from her basket and held it before the dragon type. Garchomp hesitated for a moment but gave in to her growling stomach. She bit into the rice ball while Roserade remarked,
"There we go. I was worried I'd gutted it." Garchomp shook her head silently, swallowing her dish, and she thanked Roserade for the dish.
Roserade then set the basket down,
"Alright, he's my theory," she began. However, she was quickly interrupted by a pessimistic Garchomp,
"Here we go,"
"Don't 'here we go' me," Roserade said, "I'm trying to figure out the truth!"
"The truth is I killed her! Why can't you understand that?" Garchomp answered harshly. Roserade shook her head,
"I need to visit the scene of the crime, but the wound was bigger than your claw! You couldn't have done it!"
"You're picking at meaningless detail," lamented Garchomp, "Besides, even if you were right, the execution is in days."
"It doesn't matter if it's bugger all, I want to rescue you."
"I don't need rescuing, I'm guilty, I should pay for my crime." Garchomp sighed as she took a bite out of an apple.
"Don't say that, you didn't do it." Roserade comforted, gently rubbing Garchomp's head. Garchomp shook her head,
"Yes, I did. It could only be me." Garchomp looked like she wanted to say more but stopped herself. Footsteps faded in from the iron door and Roserade said,
"I'll see you soon." before leaving.
Roserade sighed to herself as she crawled into the vents. Garchomp was so aggravating to deal with sometimes. The smoking gun was somewhere, but where? Mawile had to have made some enemies, surely Garchomp couldn't be the only suspect. But no matter what, she would prove Garchomp's innocence because she's her friend, and that's what friends do. Plus Garchomp followed the law to the letter. It was impossible for her to do it.
Roserade was in the nearby cavern homes at the time of the murder, needing to document the history of Stalagmiton's ancient people. They were more isolated than the rest of Nihonera. Their history fascinated her, though not quite as much as the disappearance of the humans almost 2,000 years ago that enthralled the historical community. She had a few residents living alongside her. In short, she had an airtight alibi.
She then arrived outside, waving a rose bush away so that she could crawl away. It was a very tight squeeze, sort of like being born, but eventually, she made it. The rose bush then returned to its original position. Roserade then snuck out of the castle. Her goal was set: Tomorrow night, she'd sneak into the victim's room and find proof that Garchomp was innocent. She just had to figure out how.
The next day, the group arrived at a small city called Stalagmition. The buildings were incorporated into a hollowed-out cliffside, a hole visible to allow sunlight to enter the town. The sunlight centered on a central plaza. The group decided to stop by the town to pick up supplies and rest. Infernape and Gengar went to a grocery store to pick up traveling supplies. Gengar paid for his stuff and met up with Infernape. He noticed something on Infernape's receipt that confused him.
"Infernape, why the fuck did you spend 2000 on orange water flavoring." Infernape flinched but managed to respond,
"I don't like the taste of normal water, so I get this orange flavor stuff to make it taste better." He elaborated, which only left Gengar with more questions than answers,
"I get that but, you don't need twen-"
"Yes, I do." Infernape interrupted quickly. "You can talk shit about me all you want, but don't insult my fucking orange water." Gengar was surprised at Infernape's rapid response.
Ampharos stumbled from behind, having grabbed a multitude of items. Amongst them were a flashlight, a dinky little pocket knife, a rape whistle, a paper bag, and a fake wallet.
"Uh, Ampharos, buddy. What's with all that?" Infernape asked. Ampharos told him,
"I-I don't wanna be mugged! I want to be prepared in case something happens." Ampharos' eyes were then filled with dread, "Oh god, what if they have a gun?! What if there are two muggers?!"
He began to hyperventilate into the bag, the sound of crumpling paper pulsing with every breath. Infernape began to try and ease Ampharos' worries,
"Amp, don't freak out. I heard this city has a low crime rate."
"What if I'm the unlucky one?!" Ampahros yelled unintentionally, working himself up. Infernape shook his head,
"You won't. There's- There's a lot of police here! They'll protect you."
"What if they're bad policemen?!"
"Then he'll be blamed for an arson down the street," Gengar remarked
Infernape erupted with a spit take,
"NO! No, you do not get to make that joke!" He laughed. Gengar shrugged his shoulders but Ampharos still wasn't eased. Gengar decided to take a more extreme measure to help the electric type.
He led them both around the corner. They went behind the convenience store. Gengar then raised both fingers,
"Alright, don't panic, and don't tell anyone about this either," before his arm phased into his waist. Infernape and Ampharos both looked at each other in confusion.
"Shoot me."
Infernape and Ampharos were both flabbergasted but were quickly shut up by Gengar.
"You heard me! I want you to aim a blast at me. The strongest one you got. Naturally, the electric type freaked out at the notion.
"WHAT?!" But Gengar cut that off at the heels,
"Listen here! Listen! I am trying to help you."
"N-No! You're my friend!"
"Just trust me!" Gengar insisted. Ampharos took a deep breath and held the weapon to Gengar's face, his hand shaking as though he were having a seizure. Gengar told Ampharos,
"Pull the trigger as soon as I move, got it?"
"Gengar, no." Infernape interrupted, "I can't let you do this." Gengar then rolled his eyes,
"If you let me finish, you'll get it."
The three stood for what felt like hours, Gengar with his hands raised, staring down Ampharos with a weapon,
"Ya think Furret's cute?"
Ampharos sputtered and spat in embarrassment,
"Wh-Wh-Wh-WHAT?!" he screamed as his face turned bright red. Gengar then expertly moved out of the way, grabbed Ampharos by the arm, and pinned him to the floor. Gengar then let go of him,
"And that's how you take down a guy. At a longer distance, throw an attack or use that fucking flashbang you Ampharos…What's plural for Ampharos? You thunder sheep have in your forehead." he said. The thunder sheep fell limp into Infernape's arm, nearly passed out from the shock but grateful for the lesson. He could feel his nerves calming down. Making his forehead gem flash bright was easy. He could do that.
Gardevoir meanwhile was taking the time to explore the town. Seeing the people, the architecture, the sights. She noticed a large stone castle that was partially buried into the side of the cliff. She thought to herself,
"This must be the town hall. Why is it so grandiose? Must be old." She then noticed someone in a hood and cape sneaking into an alleyway with some sort of box underneath. Her curiosity got the better of her and she started to follow the figure.
Gardevoir followed closely behind the shady Pokémon as they traveled in between the buildings. The hooded figure then noticed that she was being followed and started running. Gardevoir saw this and yelled out,
"HEY!" before giving chase. She had no clue who this was but the box that the person had her concerned. A hooded figure hiding something underneath their coat was too suspicious to ignore. They chase through the city for a while, the hooded figure making abrupt and sudden turns to avoid Gardevoir. The figure then stopped,
"What's your problem?" They accused before yelling out, "GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU CREEP!" Gardevoir sputtered in horror,
"NO-I-um-I'm not a-I'm sorry," she composed herself and asked the question, "What are you carrying?"
"It's a picnic basket, now go away!" The figure badgered at the psychic type. Properly embarrassed, Gardevoir bowed,
"I'm sorry, I should have just asked." The figure rolled her eyes,
"I don't need you to condescend to me. If you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way-." Gardevoir grabbed the figure by the hand,
"Show me the basket." She demanded.
"I will not." The figure smirked. Gardevoir smirked back at her,
"Very well." Gardevoir then closed her eyes and started to read the figure's mind while having a firm grip on her hand.
The figure struggled to escape Gardevoirs grip.
"Let me go!" The figure demanded she did not want to fight and make a scene. This psychic type was asking too many questions and now she was scared that her jig was up. And she only had a few days left. Suddenly, Gardevoir let go of the figure, a somber expression on her face.
"Roserade, let me help you." She asked as she extended a hand for her to take. Roserade removed her hood,
"Y-you aren't gonna turn me in?" She seemed scared. Gardevoir shook her head in confirmation and Roserade reluctantly took her hand. A vine then abruptly wrapped around Gardevoirs neck. Gardevoir gasped as the sudden shock as Roserade responded, "This is in case you're lying, love."
Roserade dragged Gardevoir towards the left side of the castle. After evading the guards, they snuck into a space in between one of the castle towers and the castle itself. A big rose bush sat next to the tower and Roserade waved her hand in front of it. The roses parted and revealed a small vent which the two entered. Roserade and Gardevoir then crawled in. Roserade struggled to fit in whilst Gardevoir had an easier time due to her skinny physique. The two navigated the tunnel until they stopped at a vent cover. Roserade pulled it away and hopped down first with Gardevoir going second.
Gardevoir looked up at a podium that held a prisoner. A voice erupted from the podium,
"Roserade, who is that?" She asked in anger but Gardevoir noticed a hint of fear in her voice.
"Calm down Garchomp, this is a friend. Her name is Gardevoir and she wants to help." Gardevoir waved nervously,
"So, what is happening?" Roserade turned to Gardevoir in confusion,
"I thought you read my mind?"
"I did," Gardevoir answered, "I was already invading your privacy so I only looked for what was in the box and what you were doing. When 'feeding my friend' came up, I didn't imagine a friend in prison." Garchomp, rather reluctantly, decided to explain, trusting that Roserade picked a good-hearted person
"There was this woman, Mawile and she was... incredible. She was married to the mayor of the town and we were close. She was involved with…something. Then one day, we got into a fight and I... snapped." Gardevoir simply nodded, although her mind was buzzing. "I was being... completely irrational and I killed her in cold blood. The trial was quick, deservedly so," Garchomp conceded. Roserade was quick to respond,
"How many times have I told you not to say that?!" Gardevoir looked at Garchomp and then to Roserade before floating up to Garchomp.
"Gardevoir, what the bloody hell are you doing," Roserade scolded as quietly as she could. Gardevoir didn't face Roserade but said,
"Getting answers."
Gardevoir landed on the pedestal in front of Garchomp. On one knee, she stared into Garchomp's eyes.
"Garchomp, are you lying to me," Gardevoir asked with suspicion in her voice. Garchomp didn't say anything. Gardevoir's suspicions were confirmed, Garchomp was hiding something, she just wasn't sure what.
"You don't have to hide anything from me. I want to help. I promise." Garchomp stared into Gardevoirs eyes as sighed,
"Mawile was…was…was," She couldn't bring herself to say it. This left Gardevoir intrigued and anxious. What was happening here? She decided to peer into Garchomps mind to find the answers she desired. This time, she would follow the proper mind-reading procedure.
"Will you let me read your mind," she asked. Garchomp nodded. Gardevoir continued, "I will search your mind to figure out who Mawile was as a person and what happened. Will you let me explore these memories?" Again, Garchomp nodded. Gardevoir then gently held the dragon type's head and closed her eyes, ready to find the truth.
If only it were that simple.
(A/N) Alright, couple of things. First of all, I am incredibly sorry for the state this chapter was released in at first. There is no excuse for it. You have my word, It won't happen again. Secondly, this chapter ended up running long so I'll be releasing the second part of this chapter tomorrow. Don't worry, there will still be a chapter next Saturday. Finally, don't hesitate to leave a comment. I what to learn what people like or when I fuck up. This fanfic is also on AO3 if you are more comfortable there. That's everything. I'm going to bed now.