Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)

A Legendary Search

8. The First Question

They were not permitted inside the damaged building. Tim and Pikachu had expected that, of course, but they skirted around it as close as they could, looking carefully for anything they might be able to see. The only thing they found there was debris.

When they searched the wider area, they came up empty until Tim knelt by the road several feet from the café. "What's this?"

A Police officer nearby overheard him. "Oh, we were looking at those, too. We're running the make and model on those tracks, just in case."

Pikachu came over to examine the black tire marks that Tim was looking at. "Huh… someone here in their car left in quite a hurry, to leave these tracks. I didn't hear any tires squealing from inside, so they might be older than that… but, it's also more than possible that I just didn't hear them over the noise that Feraligatr and everyone else was making, so they could be important."

"So this could be our culprit, then…" Tim said softly.

Pikachu bent down to put his nose to the ground.

"Could be. Now I think these were from the incident, actually; I can still smell the rubber. That means it has to have been recently, because skid marks from a car actually doesn't leave rubber behind, or at least not much. And these marks were definitely made by someone accelerating here, you can tell by the shape."

"Huh? You can?"

"Yeah, if you know what to look for. It can be crucial information, you know. This set of tracks, here… It might have been our culprit getting out of here after releasing Feraligatr, but it also might just have been someone seeing the incident that decided to hightail it so they didn't get hurt. Still, draw the tracks in your notebook, Tim. The police will probably get better analysis with their equipment, but that doesn't mean a drawing of the tracks won't come in handy if we find a suspicious car."

"Right."

Tim pulled out his notebook and entered all the notes he could regarding what had happened during the incident, then began carefully drawing the tracks. Pikachu glanced around the area.

"Hmmm…"

Tim looked up at him, pausing his drawing. "What are you thinking, Pikachu?"

"Just looking- several of the shops around here have cameras. I know the area pretty well. But these tracks… the place the car that left them must have been stopped was in a blind spot. They'd be invisible to any footage reviewed."

"That sounds suspicious to me." Tim went back to his drawing.

"Yeah, it does. It could still be a coincidence, but… it's looking more like this was a planned attack. What I can't figure out, is why."

"Mmm…"

Pikachu waited as Tim finished his drawing. Once Tim put away his notebook, he stood up.

"All of the people have left the area other than Pablo and Ludicolo. We can talk to them again before we leave, but for anything else, we might need to see if Holiday will let us look at the notes they got from the statements they took."

"Yeah…" Pikachu looked around again. "I feel like we're being watched, though…"

"Watched?" Tim looked around again.

Across the street, from behind a garbage can, a small brown Pokemon stuck out its head.

"Sen?"

"Oh, speaking of watched, hi there!" Pikachu called out. "You were the one watching us?"

The Sentret came out, cautious. "Sentret, sen."

Pikachu began walking across the street toward it. Tim followed, staying a little behind; he knew how careful Sentret were.

"Say, did you see what happened over here?"

"Sen, sen, sentret"

"Oh, you say you were watching the whole thing from behind this garbage can? Think you could tell us how it started?"

Sentret had a lengthy reply to Pikachu's question, its name- cries interspersed with squeaks and whistles. Tim and Pikachu waited patiently while it spoke, Pikachu translating only when it was done.

"So you were watching from here because one of the customers usually comes out and gives you a treat, huh? And a black car with dark windows pulled up and released a Feraligatr from a Pokeball. You didn't see them because you were on the wrong side of the car for the open window, but you know it was a Pokeball because you saw the red light from the release. Once the Feraligatr was released, it went crazy, and started destroying the first thing it could reach. It smashed the nearest car first, which started everyone running and screaming, but you stayed hidden here so you could watch. And the car that released it drove away really fast the moment Feraligatr started attacking the café? And it was chaos after that. Is that all correct?"

"Sentret."

"Ok, thank you. One more question: when the Feraligatr was released, was it aimed at somewhere? Or was someone maybe trying to direct it?"

"Sen, sentret."

"Alright, thank you very much."

"Sent." The Sentret ducked back behind the garbage can for a moment, then Tim saw it run off in another direction.

"What did it say?"

"He said that the release was aimed towards the café. Sentret didn't hear anyone trying to give any orders to Feraligatr, but since they aimed at the Café and left only when they knew Feraligatr was attacking it, I think it's safe for us to theorize that the Café, or someone in it, was their target."

"Yeah. Pablo is still here, so we might as well ask him if he knows anyone who would want to destroy it."

"You got it."

Crossing the street again, Tim and Pikachu made their way to Pablo and Ludicolo, intent on asking both of them what they might know. When Tim told Pablo about the tire marks and that he thought it might mean someone had sent Feraligatr right at the Café, Pablo was shocked.

"Trying to destroy my café? That was the intention?"

"Well, there's no way to know for sure right now. Maybe it wasn't the target. Maybe it was something else nearby. Or maybe it was a person inside your café. It's gotten pretty busy lately, there were several people in there."

"Come to think of it, Tim, they might have been trying to come after you, if that stone really does have something to do with R." Pikachu commented thoughtfully, and Tim immediately glanced at him, trying to control his shock.

Tim forced himself to look back at Pablo. Pablo was watching, after all, and it would look pretty odd if Tim broke off a conversation with him to talk to Pikachu, given that Pablo couldn't understand him. He would talk to Pikachu about it later.

"But, while it may not be your café, we'd like to start by looking at that possibility. Is there anyone that you can think of that might have something against your café, or against you?"

"No, no one at all. I mean, everything has gone really well with my Café. I've seen some clients angry with the detective agency above me, and there've been one or two people who weren't entirely happy with their order here, but no one furious enough with me or my shop to do something like this."

"Didn't like their order? They must have had strange taste." Pikachu scoffed. Tim, his notebook already pulled out, began to write in it.

"Angry with the detective agency? That's one thing we didn't think of, actually. Maybe they were after the agency above the shop, trying to bring it down. I'll have to see about talking to Mr. Baker too. Is there anyone in particular who caught your eye?"

Pablo shrugged. "I know they ended up having to call that Inspector Holiday to escort one person out of the agency. I've got no idea what that was about, though."

Tim made a note in his book to ask about that, too. "That seems intense."

"Oh, whatever the man was yelling about, it sure was interesting. Something about effort going into finding someone, I think, but the man wasn't making a lot of sense."

Tim made another note. "And is there anyone suspicious you noticed today? Any time today. Or any people who have been coming around lately outside the café?"

"Not that I've noticed, sorry. A lot of people walk by all the time, so I wouldn't recognize someone who watches from outside too much. Plus, now that it's gotten busier, I've had to concentrate more on what's inside than what's out. There is a new patron who's been coming each day for the last four days or so, but I don't think he had anything to do with this. He was the man who got hit in the head with the brick. If he knew this was going to be happening to the café, I'd've thought he'd make sure he wasn't going to get hurt that way."

"You're probably right. I'll ask about him, just to be sure, but I don't think he'd know anything since he was inside the whole time."

"We won't be able to ask him personally, though. Not with him completely out of it. Too bad." Pikachu commented.

"Is there anything else that you've noticed? Cars or even Pokemon lurking around that don't seem to do anything? Something that seemed off? Anything at all in the last few days that maybe struck you as odd. Even if it's small, it might still help."

"Humm, let's see…" Pablo thought hard.

"Now that you're mentioned it… I did notice one thing from outside. There's been a black car outside the last few days with someone in it that just reads the newspaper. The windows are tinted, but they've had the driver's side window open. He's there from pretty early in the morning; I'm not sure of the exact time. I've just kind of happened to see him, around during the breakfast rush. I'm not too sure when he leaves, either, but he's always gone before lunch."

"A black car… alright, thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Anything else?"

"No, I'm pretty sure that's it. Nothing has ever come into my café that seemed strange, I'm certain of that. But if I think of anything or hear anything else, I'll let you know."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."

Pablo shook his head and ran a hand across his face to the back of his head. "If you can find who did this, Tim, I'll owe you big. I mean, it wouldn't change anything, but knowing they were caught… well, I'd have better peace of mind."

"I definitely plan to catch them. Don't worry, Pablo." Tim told him.

Pablo smiled at him. "If ever you need a favour, let me know. You're really a good guy, Tim. The best I know."

Tim shrugged, embarrassed. "I just hate seeing people in trouble if I can help."

Leaving Pablo, Tim and Pikachu headed towards Tim's car.

"So, Pablo saw a black car hanging around during the breakfast hours every day the last few days. Sentret said it was a black car that Feraligatr was sent out from." Pikachu mused.

"Probably, it was the same one. The person sending Feraligatr out was watching the café or agency for a few days before acting." Tim said.

Pikachu nodded. "That's what I was thinking, too. I don't think it's likely that they were after the agency- we can't officially rule that out, but it's not likely, because they sent that attack when the agency was empty. Not much point in attacking when the agency was empty, but the café underneath is full, unless they were after a specific person in that café. So they were watching for a few days, trying to figure out the best time to go after them. I doubt it was Pablo they wanted. They would have been watching the café for the entire day if it was, since he's always there. Which means it was someone else there."

"Yeah… a regular there every morning for breakfast." Tim agreed.

"Like us."

Tim glanced at Pikachu. "You really think their target might have been us? There were plenty of people in that café." He whispered.

"That's true, but like I said earlier, if the stone really does have something to do with R… well, we're the ones that stopped it, or at least stopped the carnival from being turned into a catastrophe from it. On the other hand, it's true that it might be someone else and the colours being similar to R is a coincidence. After all, Mewtwo got rid of the cells, and they can't make R without them. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what analysis comes back on that stone. I mean, it is also still possible that whoever it was was trying to learn the times that certain people were going into the detective agency, or even one of the other buildings around here. The timing of the attack just… makes more sense for the café"

"Yeah…"

Back at the station, Tim spoke with Holiday first, who told him that he couldn't let Tim listen to the recorded statements, but could tell him what they had found. It seemed that a couple people had mentioned a black car they'd seen in the area, but no one had seen anyone release the furious Feraligatr, or seen inside because of the tinted windows or a bad angle, or a newspaper in front of their face.

No one had noticed anything else, nor gotten the license plate. Tim let Holiday know that Pablo had remembered seeing a black car loitering outside the Café during the breakfast hours in the last few days, then caught up with Mr. Baker and Amanda when he saw them leaving.

They, too, had come to the conclusion that Feraligatr was likely sent toward the café- no surprise there, the café had sustained nearly all the damage. Tim let them know what he had found out, then brought up the possibility of the real target being the agency.

"I guess we can't rule it out, though I would think anyone after the agency would have directed it to the stairs, not the side of the building. Still, once we're allowed back in there, Amanda and I will go through all of our case files and see what cases might have left someone angry enough for doing this sort of thing, as well as any cases involving a Feraligatr." Mr. Baker told Tim. "In the meantime, you be careful too. If the target was someone in the café, then that target could just as easily be you as any other person."

"I will." Tim promised.

"Yeah, no kidding." Pikachu commented. Amanda's Fletchling cocked its head at him, but stayed silent.

"Pablo mentioned that once you had to get Inspector Holiday to escort someone away?"

"Ahh… yes, we did once. I remember him." Mr. Baker nodded. "I'll look into him, just in case, but I don't think we have anything to worry about there. He contacted us because his wife went missing, and came the day after we took the case, furious that we hadn't found her yet. He was so angry that we had Frank escort him off the property. I don't think we have to worry about him, as we did find his wife about six hours later… she, ah, had been cheating on him and was with her boyfriend." The man sighed. "Still, I'll check just in case, since that is the only incident that turned nasty inside the agency."

Tim winced. Part of him wished he hadn't asked.

"Alright, then. I'm going to head back to my apartment for now, and make a few phone calls to see if there's anywhere we can temporarily run the agency from. I'll call you both if I get any word." Mr. Baker told both Tim and Amanda. Both of them nodded.

"I hope you do find somewhere." Tim told him.

Mr. Baker nodded and left.

"Wow, one thing after another, huh? The R case wasn't that long ago. It's nice when the agency has steady business, but having so many big incidents? I'd rather take a pass on all the danger." Amanda stated, her face clearly showing her concern.

"Me, too. Best thing here is to get to the bottom of it quickly, before something else happens." Tim sighed.

Amanda nodded. "You're right, I guess. Well, guess all that's left for me to do is go back to my apartment and wait for permission to get into the agency and help go through cases."

"Fletch? Fletchling." Amanda's tiny partner finally spoke up.

"I don't think there's much you can do, Fletchling. Right now, I don't think there's much anyone can do. We just have to wait and see what we find out. But keep watch over Amanda, and help with what she asks you to do. That would be doing what you could to help." Pikachu told it.

"Fletch!"

"That's the attitude to have!"

"Let me know when you can get back in there. I can help, too." Tim told Amanda. "I'm sure it'll be a big job."

"Actually, if you do want to help, you could see if your father has any of his old cases at his apartment to look through. He was the best detective we've ever seen, so he handled a lot of cases."

"Actually, I've gone through all of those in my spare time." Tim admitted. "I don't think there was anything in there that might indicate something like this. I could check them again, though."

Amanda smiled. "Well, I will let you know. And if you find anything, let us know! We all want this resolved as soon as possible."

"Right. I will."

Amanda left then. Tim and Pikachu, having nothing else to do and no other leads to go on, returned to the apartment once again. Given that it was late afternoon, they opted first for Tim to make a late lunch, then Pikachu waited while Tim called his mother. News of the café was going to get to his mother at some point, as he'd told her about Emilia and Meiko and how they worked at GNN. She'd started watching the channel on her computer to get the news going on in the city where her son was living and where her husband had gone missing. Tim could only imagine what his mother's reaction would be if she saw him on GNN news in the middle of the café disaster without hearing from him first.

Tim left a message on her phone; no doubt she was at work. Still, she should get the message he left about him being fine before seeing anything about the incident, so Tim wasn't worried. Once he'd finished the message, he got out Harry Goodman's case files and put them down next to Pikachu.

"Ok, Tim, you've gone through these already; pull out the ones you know for sure will have nothing to do with someone possibly setting a Feraligatr on the building. We'd need to look at criminals he caught or clients that were unhappy with him."

"Well, none of the cases here involve upset clients. All the notes I remember seeing were people happy with his results. But criminals he caught, there are a few of in here. I'll see if I can find them."

Tim and Pikachu spent the rest of the afternoon and were up late at night sorting through them, but eventually both concluded that none of the cases in Tim's apartment really worked as motive. Most of the criminals were either still in jail or genuinely seemed to be trying to turn themselves around, from what they could tell on the internet, though Tim did write the names of those in the latter category down so they could be double-checked.

Tim, for once, was able to fall asleep right after they both got in bed. The struggle with Feraligatr had been good for one thing: Tim had been too exhausted to lie awake wondering where his father was.

When morning came, Tim automatically looked for his red hoodie before remembering what had happened to it. With a sigh, he pulled on the green one again, then looked at Pikachu.

"Well… what would you like to do now, then?"

"Hmm…" Pikachu put a paw to his chin. "Yeah, guess we can't really go to Pablo's café, huh? Let's see…"

"I could make breakfast here, if you want."

Pikachu had been (insultingly) startled the first time he found out Tim could cook. Since then, he'd never had any complaints about it. Tim was no master chef, but he knew how to look after himself in that regard.

"Huh…" Pikachu was clearly considering it, before his face lit up. "Oh! Hey, I know! How about we go to that café in Tahnti Park, instead? That was a nice place. Should be quiet enough to discuss our next move, too."

"Huh? You have an idea?"

"I have a suggestion, yes. Don't know if we can go anywhere with it, but we can discuss that once we get breakfast. Why don't we go there? I don't have any problems with you making breakfast if you want, but I kind of like having a different scenery than inside the apartment for breakfast…"

"Alright, if that's what you want."

At the café in Tahnti Park, they were served by Slurpuff, like last time. The coffee was good, but Tim had to admit that Pablo's was much better. Still, there wasn't anything he could do about that, and saying anything about it would just be rude, so he drank it without comment, planning to thank both the girl running the café and the Pokemon who worked with her.

That didn't stop Pikachu from commenting, however.

"Mm. Not bad. But I sure wish we could be in the Hi-Hat café right now. Fresh air is better out here, of course, but even though the coffee is pretty good, it doesn't even hold a candle to Pablo's."

Tim rolled his eyes, but since the girl running the café was passing next to him, he kept his mouth shut. Sometimes, he slipped up and spoke to Pikachu in front of someone, earning a strange look. But he tried to remember he needed to be more careful than that.

Once the girl had passed, he decided to let the comment go- the girl couldn't understand Pikachu, after all, and Slurpuff had gone back inside- and instead softly asked his partner,

"What were you thinking earlier about what we should do next? We haven't heard anything yet about that stone, or any other leads."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that stone. I still think it has something to do with R. I was thinking earlier that maybe the finished R product didn't contain Mewtwo cells, and that's why Mewtwo was satisfied that all of his cells had been retrieved. And that might be true. Maybe the process of being turned into R destroys the cells. But I was wondering if he could still feel it out there. He might be able to tell us if there's any remaining R out there that needs to be destroyed. And we know he could tell us more about what happened to Harry. I have no idea why he didn't tell you more. If we could find him, we could be sure about everything."

"Huh? Pikachu, it's not that easy to find a legendary Pokemon. Mewtwo isn't just going to be hanging out around a street corner or hiding in a tall patch of grass. How exactly do you expect us to go looking for him?"

"I know, I know, but there must be some way to track him down. Think, Tim. It's obviously been done before. R was supposed to be a miracle medicine made using Mew's cells, but instead, they ended up with cells from Mewtwo. They got those cells from somewhere."

Tim blinked. "Ah… you're right. How did they get those cells? Mewtwo wouldn't have just handed them over willingly."

"Exactly. That's our first question, right there. If we find out how they got those cells to begin with, we may be able to find out just how to find Mewtwo. And if we can track him down again, then he'd better give us answers. I may not remember everything about that accident, but I know I made a deal to save Harry. I held up my end and made my choice; that should have meant Mewtwo brought Harry back to us. I don't understand why Mewtwo just left. And I don't like it. I want Mewtwo to tell us what he knows."

"Yeah… me too." Tim sighed. "So, if we're going to try to find out where they got Mewtwo's cells… we'll have to start at the other end of the chain, huh? With the people we know who had them."

"That's right. Tim, find out when the Ferry for Capucci Island leaves- I hope we're not too late. It's time to visit Dr. Waals again."