Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 49: Prisoner

Sherman was beginning to doubt the report he picked up. It offered convincing evidence that Theta was treated unfairly and the Pokémon HQ Lab were creating Shadow Pokémon, but the longer he was there in Orre, the more holes he saw in the evidence. Cail showed him the CCTV footage. Theta indeed fell in after trying to push Chalcedony. Sherman doubted Cail and his staff were able to manipulate video footage, especially in the short gaps between battles.

Before visiting Jovi at the police station, he read up on the lab's history. It was built to honour the late Professor Jude Mesquite's passion for protecting Pokémon. The scientists dedicated their lives to Shadow Pokémon purification and, with Jovi as Director, habitats of the Pokémon she brought back to Orre. They were respected by every renowned Pokémon Professor.

Ein, on the other hand, could have reformed since serving his life sentence for inventing Shadow Pokémon... but Gallego Labs were secretive. Visitors could only see the lobby and one chemistry lab. Their only ties to Pokémon research were Theta's vague claims of being a 'biologist,' yet they were beginning to hint at Ein or even Theta replacing the disgraced Jovi as Orre's Pokémon Professor. When Sherman visited, an old man returning from work at a nearby warehouse asked if he was a cop, because the lab was 'creepy' and had 'a secret basement.' Ein insisted the basement was a residential area. That clearly wasn't true. Staff returned home to Phenac City every night.

Knowing all that, Sherman didn't need to interview Jovi and her colleagues. He knew they were innocent. He interviewed them to submit a full report to HQ regardless. They agreed the scientists couldn't be charged with violations of Pokémon League policy. Even if they were producing Shadow Pokémon, for which there was no concrete evidence, there were no international rules regarding them. They appeared only in the Orre League's rules. It was for them to investigate.

One person Sherman couldn't help finding suspicious was Courtney. He remembered her wild eyes being front page news when she broke into the Mossdeep Space Center to use the Pokémon energy in their new rocket to destroy the world. What was she doing in Orre? Did she really move to a desert wasteland to be with a nondescript, mentally ill toyboy almost half her age, after being obsessed with her boss Maxie for so long? He didn't want to interview her. She creeped him out, but she was the only outstanding name on his list... so he reluctantly climbed onto his Pidgeot's back to fly to Team Magma's lab.

The small building was easy to miss. It was built in the hollowed-out walls of the mountain to prevent habitat destruction. The receptionist offered a guided tour. Children's voices, singing Baby Carvanha, floated from the break room. The atmosphere was certainly less ominous than it was at Gallego Labs and, apparently, there was nothing to hide. Sherman's guided tour even included the bathroom. They were proud of the toilets that were painted to appear as upside-down Numel. Scientists continued with the work they were already doing on detecting and preventing natural disasters and climate change. Since Jovi was arrested, they also stepped up their Pokémon conservation work.

It wouldn't have surprised Sherman if Team Magma became the next victims of the investigation, even though he had to admit it was clear that they, too, were doing nothing wrong. They even became respected scientists in Hoenn. He didn't like them, because he had to listen to his mom's rants about her dead plants for days after they revived Groudon, but he knew really that they did reform; which he could see clearly in the difference between Gallego Labs and every other scientific institution in Orre.

There was nothing he could do. He was a Pokémon League regulation officer, not a cop. The lab was only his business because its director, Courtney, was a member of the Orre League. She was staring blankly at seismometer readings when he found her in a dimly-lit room where, behind a glass screen, another woman experimented on what the tour guide called a 'Magma Suit.'

'...Yes?'

Courtney's heels squeaked on the shiny floor as she turned. Sherman got the feeling those empty eyes, that seemed to see nothing, actually saw more than he could imagine.

'Can I... help you?'

'Uh, Dr. Massey, I just have to ask you some questions about your work here and the Orre League...'

He read questions from a sheet. No matter what he asked, or what the reply was, Courtney's expression and tone remained frozen as they were when he walked in; or at least they did until he asked why she left her beloved Maxie for Orre. Her eyes suddenly lit up. She actually smiled. Sherman couldn't even continue to find her creepy when she gushed about how 'cool' and 'intelligent' her husband was. It was clear they adored each other.

In his final report, Sherman concluded that, at least from the Pokémon League's point of view, there was nothing suspicious about any member of the Orre League. He was glad to get away from Ein and Theta. They tried to be sickly sweet at first, but it became unbearable. He hoped his decision would see Jovi and her colleagues released from their cramped cells at the police station.

It made no difference to the police. The scientists were arrested for 'distributing Cipher propaganda' and potentially producing Shadow Pokémon. They didn't care what some Kantonian guy thought.

If Sherman had been allowed into Ein's basement, he would have known why Chalcedony never saw who called her name. Ruhul was seized and tossed into the back of a van before he could send out any Pokémon. A neighbour, Gurks, saw the Machoke who grabbed him. He reached for his Wailord's Poké Ball. That would show them, or at least that was what he thought before he found there were six burly men in the van. Wailord never got the chance to scare them. Gurks was thrown in on top of Ruhul before his fingers closed around the Poké Ball. They were gagged and blindfolded. From the length of the journey and the blast of heat before doors locked in refreshing air conditioning, they guessed they were taken to Phenac City.

An elevator beeped. It swept smoothly down. The blindfolds were torn off to reveal a dirty corridor flanked by cells. Ein and Theta weren't involved in the last Cipher incident, but they knew enough about it. Znider's minions weren't smart enough to separate Amber, Trip and Bianka. That allowed them to escape. The Gallego Labs 'security guards' ensured Ruhul and Gurks were at opposite ends of the corridor. In the cell Ruhul faced was a girl with a cloud of platinum hair tinted pink. Her jade eyes were restless.

Before he could attempt to speak to her, he was roughly grabbed by a Rhyperior. He was still gagged. He couldn't even make a sarcastic comment about how he'd only just arrived. Rhyperior dumped him on the floor of a room so pink, it was nauseating. False nails scratched his neck. Theta struggled to haul him up onto a bench. He grew so sick of her trying, he stood and sat of his own accord. She ripped the gag off.

'You are so going to help me if you value your life, old man.'