Pokémon BW: Rise of Clarity (book 3 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 23: Castelia City

"Wow," Alex breathed as we turned the corner on the bridge. Below us traffic zoomed by while the sea stretched on both sides. We'd left behind Pinwheel Forest and now the last stretch of Skyarrow Bridge lay before us. Beyond that lay the looming skyscrapers of Castelia City, sunlight glinting off their gleaming sides. The city curved outwards into the ocean with the rest of the place obscured behind the buildings. Even from here we could see the bustling of people and traffic. A luxurious ship was docked at one of the several ports, passengers embarking for today's cruise.

I whistled. "Castelia has got to be bigger than any city in Alola. Heck, it might even beat Lumiose."

"It isn't actually," Robert said, shaking his head sadly. "As a proud Unovan it pains me to say this, but Lumiose City is bigger."

"Who cares!?" Alex started jogging ahead of us. "It's a big city! We need to enjoy that big city life! Now c'mon!"

I shook my head and was about to run after her when Robert stopped me. 

He held out his device and said, "Here. I did a little digging into that lawyer guy and this is what I found."

I took it and read the news article. After a minute, I stopped walking. I glanced at my friend.

Robert nodded grimly. "I made the same connection."

"What is it?" Alex asked curiously, jogging back over. 

I handed it to her. "It seems that Carlos Herz was a lawyer for a key witness in a criminal investigation. An investigation into what is believed to be a major criminal organization."

Alex raised an eyebrow, finished reading, then handed it back to Robert who tucked it away. "I'm right when guessing that this is probably the same criminal organization we've run into a couple of times now?"

"With our track record, it's a safe bet," I sighed, then did a quick glance around the bridge to make sure no one else was near us. Far back behind us was a woman and her Ducklett gazing at the water below, but she was nowhere near us to hear our conversation. "But this definitely means that the Executioners were hired by this organization," I went on. "Which makes it a lot harder for us to stick our noses where it doesn't belong. We could end up being their next targets."

Both Alex and Robert nodded. Maybe after seeing that guy beheaded in Nacrene had made them painfully aware of who we were dealing with.

"But we can't ignore anyone in need, you know that as well as I," Alex told me and I nodded reluctantly. She went on. "If investigating too far would likely end in our gruesome deaths, then I do have an alternate idea."

"What?" Robert and I asked simultaneously.

Alex grinned. "How about we ask a real detective to do the digging for us?"

...

"I just want to say this first," Looker hit the papers on his desk to make sure they were all aligned together. He looked up at the three of us in front of his desk. "You all have a knack for trouble."

"We didn't even say why we needed to talk to you," Robert protested.

Looker rolled his eyes and slid over on his chair to the window, cracking the blinds open to stare out at Castelia below. "I'm here for a certain case, so I hope what you all need is quick."

"How much do you wanna bet?" Alex asked me.

"It's pretty much certain," I nodded.

"Absolutely," Robert agreed.

Looker groaned. "What are you three talking about?"

When Robert had called the detective, we'd been surprised to find out Looker was already in Castelia City in an Interpol branch office. Once finding the right skyscraper among so many, we travelled up to the 25th floor to his office to talk with him. Other people in suits tapped away at their desks in scattered cubicles while others were up and about on break.