Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 65: Guide

Janie didn't get her answer that day she visited Lyndon, or the day after. He was distracted. Alfie was still intermittently smoking on Camden's wheely Ponyta. The lock box Janie mentioned was at the Pokémon HQ Lab. It was only a matter of time until vandals discovered it, if the police hadn't taken it already.

Lyndon flew to the lab. It was cordoned off with police tape, but no-one guarded it to prevent people climbing over. The windows were boarded up. After the doors were smashed open, they were covered with thick steel sheets. Lyndon could only force his way in. He didn't want to do that, so he had Braviary drop him on the roof, where he yanked open a skylight. The attic was full of dusty boxes. Lyndon's landing disturbed a family of Wurmple and Dustox.

The boxes were filled with Poké Balls and machine parts. Most were broken. The lock box wasn't there.

A TV was still on in a cluttered kitchen. The speakers had been stolen. Wyatt's disappearance was on the muted news. Plant pots were smashed and chairs upturned. Lyndon agreed with Amethyst, although he had no idea she was at the meetings; let alone thinking that someone had to do something, soon, or Wyatt would be dead by the time they got there.

Food was going off in the fridge. A Venonat leapt out of the bin. There were only trays and plates on the bookcases. Sliding doors opened to the adjacent bedroom. Test tubes and notebooks were scattered across a desk. It seemed the occupant trashed it, in a desperate bid to grab their most precious possessions, before the police or vandals did. Lyndon checked the bookcases and under the bed, but there were only Pokémon books, a few fantasy novels and some stationary.

The computer in Datan's room, like the TV, was still on. Lyndon switched it off. The lab's staff were still paying the electricity, gas and internet bills, even though they couldn't set foot in their own home. There was no reason for the lock box to be in any of Datan's drawers or under his bed, but Lyndon checked just in case. They were all filled with computer parts, external hard drives and notebooks crammed with post-it notes.

Nothing in the Director's Office resembled a lock box. The desk's drawers were filled with Pokédex parts. Almost every piece of paper related to wild Pokémon. There was a line of framed photos above the bookcases, beginning with fresh-faced Reg Krane and Jude Mesquite outside their new lab in Gateon Port. They looked endlessly proud of the small, run-down building. Jude then stood with his kids... or rather, two of his children, because it took a while to sink in that Lyndon was actually looking at his grandfather.

They were in the photo of the Pokémon HQ Lab's grand opening, but their dad was already missing by then. Scientists lined up to celebrate the Purify Chamber's completion. Michael stood with Lugia. He and his team were on the battlefield at Orre Colosseum. Jovi was crowned Orre's Pokémon Professor. Lyndon's own face smiled back at him from the photo of Michael, the Orre League's new Champion, at Citadark Isle with his fellow Gym Challengers. Laila was there, too. The last photo was of Champion Zane and his friends in the Hall of Fame.

He's... my cousin. When Michael looked out for me... and gave me my Key Stone... he didn't know he was looking out for his nephew. What is it with this family and getting cut off from children?

The TV, radio and interactive white board in the lounge area were gone. Scratches were all that remained of a coffee table. Someone emptied the bookcases. Equipment in the Battle SIM room was smashed and missing parts. It was depressing to see.

Downstairs, another fridge was filled with rotting food. There was a Venonat in the bin there, too. Peering into Jovi and Hop's room felt like intruding, but vandals went in before Lyndon. Succulents in cracked pots, that were once carefully lined up, were about to tip off a sloping shelf. The drawers were all open. Underwear and socks spilled out. A battered suitcase, covered in stickers from Galar and Alola, was wide open and empty on the messy bed. Dust coated the check sheets. On one dented bedside table was a photo of Hop, Jovi and Zane with Leon, Abbey, Amber and Fayiz. There were two on the other. One was of Zane with his parents atop Citadark Isle. The other was of Jude and his children.