Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)

A Legendary Search

12. Tracking Leads

The next morning, after having coffee and breakfast in Tahnti Park, Tim left on the same path as yesterday, only to hear his name called just like he did yesterday.

"Woah, hey Tim! What are the odds of two days in a row?" Meiko asked him. This time, Emilia was with her.

"Meiko, Emilia! I… didn't expect to see you again, either. Going to GNN again?"

Emilia shook her head. "No, we've got today off. But we've decided to take Plusle and Minun back to where we found them."

Both of the Pokemon she mentioned were riding Meiko's shoulders, one on each. Plusle looked completely healed; Minun still showed marks that were healing, but nowhere near as bad as it had been two days ago. A clear testament to the advancements healing injuries had made since both hospitals and Pokemon Centers had started working more and more with the abilities of Pokemon.

Both started chattering upon seeing Pikachu, who laughed and told them,

"Slow down! One at a time, or I won't be able to understand either one of you!"

"What were you doing around here?"

"Oh, since the Hi-Hat Café is… unavailable, for now, Pikachu and I have been getting breakfast at the little outdoor café in the park here. We had it once before and liked it well enough, so we thought we'd come here for now."

"Oh, and that's why we keep running into each other. I live on the other side of the city, so usually I take the train and get off at Tahnti Station." Meiko said. "I took the company car Emilia and I share two days ago so I could get these two to the Pokemon center, but normally I let Emilia have it." She gestured to her shoulders, where Plusle and Minun were still chattering cheerfully.

"My, my my!"

"Pla pla pla!"

Tim smiled. "I see."

"Well, I guess we better go, though." Meiko said. "Emilia's coming with me to take these little guys back. I've gotta admit, I'll kind of miss them. I like their energy."

"Pla pla pla pla!"

"My my!"

"I think they're going to miss you too, Meiko- they just said they like you." Pikachu chuckled.

Tim glanced at him, then back at Meiko. "I think they'll miss you, too."

"Oh, hey- Tim, why not come with us? I want to ask you about what, exactly, happened on Capucci Island? You said you weren't going there for a case, but the next thing we know, something happened over there. They guy who was interviewed, a… lieutenant Brad, I think, spoke a lot about it but never mentioned you. But I have a hard time believing you didn't run into it."

Tim sighed. "Oh, boy…"

"Aha! You did have something to do with it, didn't you? Come on, don't leave us hanging!"

"What happened, Tim? We won't tell Mr. Graham if you don't want it known, but I thought it was strange too, when Meiko said you were going there." Emilia added.

Pikachu laughed at him. "Well, go on, Tim. Don't keep the ladies waiting."

Defeated, Tim told them, "Well, I wasn't going there intending to get into anything. It was an… unpleasant surprise. A friend of mine over there got into trouble…"

"Alright! Well, come on then. Tell us all about it on the way." Meiko said cheerfully, indicating the approximate direction of the destroyed Hi-Hat Café. Tim nodded, and the group of six people and Pokemon headed off while Tim figured out the best place to start.

"Wow. The things some people will do." Meiko shook her head as Tim finished his explanation.

"That's just terrible…" Emilia shook her head sadly. "I'm glad you were able to help, Tim."

"That Brad guy totally took all the credit, though! He was up in front of that camera, telling it like he solved it and… and preening in front of our new camera, and all he did was show up and listen to the conclusion that all of your work came to." Meiko fumed, gesturing to Tim.

"That's alright. I don't do it because I want attention, anyway. You thrive on filming, and some people enjoy being on the other end- but not me. It makes me uncomfortable." Tim muttered.

Emilia gave a gentle laugh.

"Oh, really? We couldn't tell." Meiko teased.

Tim shook his head. "Anyway, we're here, aren't we?" He gestured in front of them.

When Emilia and Meiko looked where he'd pointed, the realized they had indeed reached the area Pablo's café had been before being half demolished.

"Oh… you're right." Meiko's voice, energetic just a few moments ago, was much more subdued. Crews were already at work repairing the shop, with the area around it barricaded so no passers-by would venture too close and get hurt. "Well… I guess this is it, little guys."

She knelt down and carefully pulled a Cheering Pokemon off each shoulder. "Be good, guys, and be careful. Maybe I'll see you around, huh?"

Both looked at her.

"My?"

"Pla?"

Meiko smiled at them both. "I'll miss you, too… but here's where we separate. You go back to doing whatever it is you like, but keep out of trouble, alright?" she stood up straight. "Bye."

Turning, she took a deep breath and let it out before starting to walk away. Tim and Emilia kept pace with her.

"Wow, harder goodbye than I thought."

"I'm sure you'll see them again." Emilia told her, and Tim nodded.

"Who knows, maybe they'll come around here more often just to see if they can see you. They really did seem to like you, too."

Tim's last word was nearly cut off by beeping. Recognizing his ringtone, Tim pulled out his phone.

It wasn't a caller, but someone had sent him a message. Reading it, Tim's eyes widened.

"I have to go. Inspector Holiday wants to see me down at the police station."

"No trouble, I hope?" Emilia looked worried.

"Not exactly. They've finished their analysis on that stone that was attached to Feraligatr's head. He wants to talk to me about it."

"Oh, cool. Maybe give us a run-down on it when you're finished?" Meiko asked, not quite as lively as usual.

"Uh… I'll have to see. If I can, I will."

"Awesome. We'll see you later, Tim!"

"Bye, Tim. And good luck, I hope you get something useful from it."

"Thanks, Emilia. Goodbye."

When Tim reached the police station, he found not just Inspector Holiday, but Mr. Baker and Amanda waiting for him there. After polite greetings, they all went into a separate room at the station so Inspector Holiday could speak to them privately.

"We analyzed the stone on that headband set-up and what we learned about it was… not good. When we compared it to our analysis of R, we found that it was very similar. It showed many of the same components and was lacking in just a few key ones. Our best guess is that they tried their best to replicate R without Mewtwo's cells, and this was the result. It causes effects that are very similar, but they don't seem to be quite the same. We found a small electronic chip in the stone as well; in this particular case, I suspect that it was designed to use the help of radio waves to affect the Pokemon, or perhaps to control its movements. We weren't able to trace the chip, unfortunately. It seems to have been manufactured very carefully, there's nothing traceable on it, and in this case I don't think that the chip was actually working; it wasn't transmitting anything, and we couldn't detect anything transmitting to it. Our best guess- and it's only a guess- is that maybe they were trying to make it so that it would communicate with a remote, but it was a dud.

"As for the effects on the Pokemon being different, well… believe it or not, let's just say I prefer the original R." Holiday sighed as the other three started in shock.

"You prefer the original R? Why on earth would that be?" Mr. Baker asked. Tim felt alarmed as he looked.

"It appears that this false R causes the Pokemon under its influence terrible harm, worse than the real thing." Inspector Holiday said sadly. "The Feraligatr is still in critical condition, being treated at the Pokemon center. The nurses do think that it will be able to pull through, but it's a struggle for it. After our studies on it, it's probably a good thing that they didn't use the stone on any weaker Pokemon that we know of. We can't say for sure without testing it, which we won't be doing, but from everything we can tell about this stone and false R, our best theory on the aftereffects is that a stronger Pokemon will be able to hold up against them better. We aren't so sure that a weaker Pokemon would have any sort of chance."

"That's so terrible…" Tim murmured. Holiday nodded.

"Indeed. Whoever created this and was willing to use it even with those effects must be very dangerous. We'll be putting a task force together specifically for getting to work on this case and tracking this person, or persons, down."

"We'll lend a hand, as well. If we come across anything, you'll be the first to know." Baker promised. Amanda nodded.

"I'll help too." Tim told him.

Holiday looked at them all. "Thank you. But all of you be careful. Especially you, Tim. Given that you stopped the incidents related to R the first time around, they may want you out of the way. It's even possible that you were the target in the attack. Don't get careless."

"I won't. I'll be careful, I promise."

The warehouse really was rundown. Tim suspected that for it to be in this bad a shape, it must have been starting to crumble a little back when Dr. Waals was meeting the researchers here for his cells. Ivy was growing up the walls, the paint was patched over the whole thing, and not only were shingles missing but parts of the roof as well. The boards that had once been over the windows must have been bad to start with when they were put up, to have all rotted off. And the door hung at an angle, connected to the building by only the rusting bottom hinge. Tim suspected that the door would be on the ground before too much longer.

All in all, it didn't really look safe to go inside, but they wouldn't find anything if they didn't look for it.

Tim and Pikachu searched the grounds outside it, first, then went in. It was partially dark despite the sunlight coming in through the windows and holes in the roof, and smelled musty. Everything was coated with dust, and when they entered, Tim could hear the sounds of things scurrying away; timid Pokemon, no doubt, not wanting to tangle with the people who had come in and disturbed their home.

"Well, I'd say that at least it looks very likely that no one disturbed anything after Dr. Waal's cell-supplying researchers left, except maybe leaving more garbage behind. I don't know how easy it'll be to find traces of them left behind, but let's get started and see." Pikachu said.

"Right."

Systematically, they searched room by room, going through every corner and crack. Pikachu searched low, underneath shelves and through scattered rubbish long forgotten; Tim searched higher, looking through the dusty, almost empty shelves and discarded boxes of junk.

The people who had left had clearly had no problem leaving their garbage here. Most boxes were either empty or filled with other boxes that had been crushed smaller. The garbage on the floor was mostly from food packages. Tim and Pikachu both figured it was likely that for a little while, teenagers had come here to snack on fast food and candy they weren't supposed to have, until the building was run down enough that it didn't look safe to go inside. Opening one box on a shelf, Tim coughed as the only thing he found was dust.

"I'm really surprised no Trubbish or Garbodor or something have found this place yet." He said once he had most of his breath back.

Pikachu gave a humorless chuckle. "You've got a point there. It would be a paradise for them, at least for a little while."

They continued searching. They worked through lunch, ignoring when their stomachs started growling- they'd done that before- until they both were satisfied they hadn't missed anything.

Unfortunately, their search turned up empty. The researchers, while possibly leaving some of the present garbage behind, had been thorough in packing up everything that might have been of use.

"Well… I guess that's it, then." Tim sighed. "The end of the line."

"I guess so… it bothers me to stop here, but I guess if there's nothing to investigate and no leads to go on, then there's nowhere to take the case…" Pikachu said, his brows narrowing in thought.

Tim had sat down to lean against a rickety shelf as he and Pikachu finished the search; now he stood and was about to suggest going home when a very cold wind rippled through the warehouse, chilling both person and Pokemon. Both began shivering.

"Wh-what? Why is it so c-cold all of a sudden?" Pikachu chattered, wrapping his arms around his body the best he could.

"And where did that wind come from?" Tim asked. He'd reflexively done the same, though he wasn't really too cold after the initial chill. It might not have been his favourite red one, but his green hoodie still did the job of keeping Tim warm. "The walls and roof aren't so broken down to allow wind like that in here."

"I dunno. It's almost like-"

Pikachu broke off and both he and Tim yelped in surprise and maybe a little fear as something leapt out at them from the shadows under the shelves.

A/N Well, this chapter is on the shorter side and skips locations a lot, but it's a good thing Sunday was the 24th and not tomorrow. Tomorrow's going to be too busy to post anything, lol. Sorry for the cliffhanger.

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