Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 38: Under Investigation

Dirk didn't defeat Hebon on his second attempt. His Pokémon were, yet again, exhausted from impatiently crashing through the cave and agitating every bug and Gym Trainer. Hebon commended him for returning to Mt. Battle regardless. At least he was determined.

Chalcedony made it to Area 5, almost halfway up the mountain, before losing to the first Trainer there. Zileh lost her 36th battle. Rustie temporarily deposited Raboot in the PC Storage System. She didn't want to be suspected of using a Shadow Pokémon again. Chalcedony was already battling by then, taking on Area 5's Trainers until she won, which she likened to Bagon banging its head and her stubbornly chasing fame. Rustie wasn't sure she had the courage to tell her that she wasn't sure she wanted Raboot after all. Chalcedony was so kind, even getting those autographs for Rustie... but she felt like she was about to snap. She didn't want to be constantly reminded that she had to give Raboot away.

Lyndon and the Area Leaders happily signed Chalcedony's guitar. No-one at Mt. Battle had ever seen Lyndon in such a bright mood. Only his family and close friends knew why. After their depressing lack of success, he didn't want to share any good news until doctors were certain their child was likely to be carried to term.

'You know,' Zileh said to Chalcedony over a shared pizza in the cafeteria, 'I've been thinking. I know you don't want to think about Raboot, but like, in general... keeping promises when it's right to keep them and keeping them in every circumstance, ever, aren't the same. And only keeping promises it's right to keep is sometimes the right thing to do. Things change.'

'Why are you smarter than I am?'

'I'm not. I'm just seeing it differently because I'm not, like, in your shoes right now. And I guess maybe I seem like an old person 'cause all my family's way older than me. My mom was 51 when I was born. So she's 65 now. My dad's nearly 70!'

'Wow. How did that happen?'

'They were trying for a kid for, like, 30 years, but my mom had nine miscarriages and one stillbirth. Then when she thought she couldn't anymore, they stopped trying and boom! I happened. My cousins were finishing school or going to college when I started school. But they were all really nice and helped my mom and dad out, so I spent a lot of time with them and my uncle Grason.'

As unlikely as it seemed to suddenly conceive a healthy child at 51, that made Chalcedony think Zileh couldn't be Fire Agate. If she was, that meant all of her relatives knowingly lied to her about her age. It sounded like they were good people. What decent person could do that and still sleep at night? Unless they really didn't know how old she was... but how likely was that?

'They were all Pokémon-mad, but I don't know as much about Pokémon as Rustie does.'

There was a commotion in the lobby. Zileh stood to investigate. She beckoned Chalcedony to the glass doors. As soon as they left the pizza unattended, Zileh's Golbat – which was now Crobat – gulped the remnants down in one go.

Two men in uniforms they didn't recognise confiscated the reception staff's bags and coats to search them. Even the elderly Move Deleter was thoroughly searched. Panicked Pokémon were released. An Orrean policeman scanned them with an Aura Reader. Trainers were abruptly pulled from their challenges. One of the men was Teleported to interview the first Area Leaders and inspect the Break Rooms. Lyndon was no longer smiling when he returned to reception. He argued with the policeman, who promptly handcuffed him. The Poké Coupon Exchange clerk took shelter in the cafeteria.

'He was a total dick! He brought up Lyndon's "criminal record," but that doesn't even include Cipher, because he was never charged with anything. It's literally just when he was arrested for protesting outside the Supreme Court for justice for Laila... and the Kantonian guy asked if he was Alfie Addison's son.'