Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 40: Sister

Amber planned to take Camden with her to Mt. Battle on her day off. It was a while since her last serious battle and she only needed to clear Area 9 to finally reach Lyndon. The police presence was off-putting. She didn't want Camden to get strip-searched if she was accused of hiding something in his clothes. They were put off the park, too. Last time she took Camden and Lyric, in her borrowed Regirock onesie, an older boy shoved them off a slide before Amber could intervene. He yelled at her about the 'Alfie Clan.'

So they stayed home to bake cookies instead. Camden gleefully attacked the dough with his football-shaped cookie cutter that once belonged to Lyndon. It wasn't long until they went into the oven. Amber took out her guitar for sing-alongs with their Pokémon. Her 'how to play Baby Carvanha on guitar' video was unexpectedly popular, but she hoped Camden wouldn't ask for it. The catchy tune never left her head.

Of course he did. It was his 'favourite song.' He was dancing with patient Charizard when a key turned. Amber abruptly stopped playing. The door creaked. Cassia walked in. That was a relief.

'Arreet? Thought Ardos had got a key for a minute there.'

'My elegant dance steps could never sound like Ardos.'

'Hello!' Camden exclaimed, 'Auntie Cassia!'

'You get cuter every time I see you, you little rascal.'

'Look! My Zubat!'

'Wow! Your very own Zubat? How lovely!'

Amber laid her guitar against the couch. 'I'm guessing you're not here for a chat in the middle of the Gym Challenge.'

'Yeah... but it's probably not what you think it is.'

'Not the C-word?'

'I don't think so.'

Amber nodded to Charizard. 'Can you go play with Cam in the kitchen?'

Camden happily accepted a lift onto Charizard's shoulders. It switched on the stereo. A Baby Carvanha cassette was already in there.

'You lot think the sewer's the worst part of my life, but it's actually Baby Carvanha.'

'I take the piss, but it never ceases to amaze me that you have the energy to be a mom and to deep-clean yourself and Charizard every time you go down there.'

'Anyway. What's up? Cam will be back any minute.'

Cassia reached into her pocket. 'You recognise this?'

In her hand was a heart-shaped pendant as fiery as the sunset. It glinted in greens and blues when it caught the light.

'...Fire agate?'

'But it's not just any old fire agate, is it? I'd recognise my mom's jewellery a mile away. I had a look at Roto-Search and it's not Abbey's or Alfie's. It's Fire Agate's pendant.'

'Oh, man... where did it come from?'

'A challenger. Rustie Clark.'

'Did she take it to you, or...?'

'She was wearing it. I noticed it before we battled but I didn't like to say anything then. I waited until afterwards, but she lost and did not take it well. She tore it off so hard it broke the gold chain and threw it at me, bawlin' and shoutin' that she didn't want "to be Fire Agate."'

'Whoa... I think I met her at Hexagon Coffee. She was with Chalcedony – the girl with blue hair. She seemed nice.'

'I guess it was the straw that broke the Camerupt's back. That nause – Theta Gallego – was mithering them again before the challenge. She cut off some of their hair and blamed it on Chalcedony.'

'This just gets weirder. Baby Lovrina took a hair sample from someone wearing Fire Agate's pendant? Am I living in one of these conspiracy theories? What even is the Alfie Clan, anyway?'

'They touched on it briefly at the last League meeting... it's some "theory" that's come from the Gallegos to convince people they're the good guys. Alfie's an easy target and I guess they want to get back at him for shopping Lovrina. Fire Agate's death was a hoax to incriminate her, of course.'

'Did Rustie say anything else about the pendant?'

'No. I tried to ask and she stormed off. She was like, "this is the Gym Challenge, not the suck-Alfie-Addison's-dick challenge." I didn't like to bother her friends about it. For what it's worth, Theta took some of Michael's hair, too.'

'I'm... lost. I probably ought to tell Mum about the pendant, but...'

'I know. That's why I came here, really. I was gonna tell my mom, but I feel like Abbey – and Alfie – deserve to hear it first.'

'She's never been one to talk about grief. I mean, she'll talk about how great her grandparents were 'til the Miltank come home, but there's not much to say about Fire Agate. She wasn't around long enough. So... I don't know. It hurts her just to talk about it. I can't imagine how much it'll hurt to see that.'

'But if the pendant came back to Orre when everyone thought it was washed away... is there any chance anything else did?'

'Like what?'

'Like the body. The body of a baby that wasn't dead after all.'

'But it was in the stroller. They identified it. Unless you mean... that wasn't her body? Then who was it?!'

'I don't know. Gretchen and Lovrina were the ringleaders. They're capable of anything.'

'What'd be the point? Lovrina wanted her dead, didn't she? I guess they might've intended to use her against Alfie... but even in the state he was in, he'd have let Abbey call Anabel then. It would've been too risky.'

'So maybe they dumped her.'

'But it was front page news. Everyone, everywhere knew Alfie Addison's kid had been murdered. Someone would've thought an abandoned baby in Orre was suspicious.'

'Yeah, but they thought she was dead. They weren't expecting her to suddenly appear. With Gretchen, who knows? Maybe she killed the other kid and Fire Agate was a replacement.'

'Oh, bloody hell... but that means she took a dead baby to Alola. Even if she got out of Orre, wouldn't Alolan security have kicked off? It's more likely they just took the pendant and sold it. Maybe they even planted it on someone they didn't like.'

'Very possible, but... it's got me wondering.'

'I really don't want to drag Lyndon or Courtney into this. They've got enough on their minds and he already went above and beyond for Sandile... but they are our people if we want to do some digging.'

'Bit dodgy with all those coppers and Pokémon League HQ people running around. But I must admit, I'm being nosey as hell. Where did a rando from Nascott City get such a snazzy pendant, Amber? Where did the owner before her – if there was one – get it? Why didn't anyone ever question it? Everyone who watched the news saw the pendant. They know what it looked like.'

'Can you play with Cam a minute? I feel like Charizard's about to throw himself out of the window. I'm gonna get Courtney.'