Arc 2, chapter 4: Punished

Courtney sighed as she walked away from the birthday boy’s room, feeling almost ashamed for having told such a downer of a story when she went to cheer up her son. Maxie had always acted rather strangely on his birthdays, but today, he seemed particularly down. It bothered her immensely, and the fact that there was seemingly nothing she could do about it made it much worse.

 

She wanted her children to be happy, after all.

 

Idly, Courtney studied the paintings on the walls of the manor as she walked. They’d been in her family for generations at that point, and each and every one was an artist’s interpretation of a famous historical event. There were kings, battles, and feats, which was well and good, but every now and then, she’d come across a painting depicting a famous human. There were many—as expected for such an oft-mythologized group of figures—and every last one seemed to depict them as rulers, which was funny, because if the myths were true, they were anything but.

 

Courtney stopped in front of one of them, which featured the fabled ‘hero of paradise’ sitting atop a frozen throne. She’d come to learn that there were no accounts of said throne ever existing, but that was hardly as important as what the hero stood for. He didn’t just save the world—he actively endeavored to make it a better place with the founding of Pokémon Paradise, a place of prosperity, made to combat the despair of the time. And for his efforts, the world became a place of hope. For a time, anyway.

 

“Hope, was it?” Courtney muttered to herself.

 

“Reminiscing, are we, sister?” a gruff voice asked. “I remember when I read those stories to you when we were children. Happy times, those were…”

 

Courtney, thoroughly unsurprised at her new guest, calmly turned in the direction of the voice, which happened to be coming from an Emboar. “I suppose knocking isn’t your strong suit, Blaise.”

 

“Ah, I suppose it isn’t.” His voice was laced with the same melancholy it always was those days, but Courtney had gotten used to it, even if it pained her. “Is Maxie glum as ever?”

 

“I promise he has his happier days. He’s just… strange about his birthdays.”

 

“What an odd young man.”

 

“What an odd young man indeed,” Courtney agreed. “I suppose I shouldn’t let him turn out like you, lest he become even gloomier.”

 

“Ah, there it is…”

 

“Yes…”

 

The silence that followed was painful.

 

“…Alright, fine. I’m curious. What have you been up to, hm?” Courtney asked. She knew it’d be nothing but bad news, but she asked anyway.

 

“Same old, same old…” Blaise replied, sounding particularly tired. “It’s difficult to overthrow the system from the inside.”

 

Courtney gave a weak chuckle. “That’s why I’m living out my days in a manor. Leaving it all behind is much easier, you know.”

 

“And give into despair like that?” Blaise replied, shaking his head. “Nonsense. I may as well be a dead man if I do that.”

 

“Implying you haven’t died many times over already by now,” Courtney replied.

 

“It can certainly feel that way sometimes…” Blaise admitted. “But sometimes I make progress, and progress is progress. There’s always something to be hopeful over.”

 

“I fear hope has worn away what’s left of you, brother.”

 

Blaise snorted. “How’s Tabitha? We got a little sidetracked there.”

 

“She’s… fine. If doing things that worry me a tiny bit.”

 

“If anything, the fact that she’s aligning herself with outsiders should comfort you. Those easterners are nothing if not reliable.”

 

“But what if she falls into a trap she didn’t expect?”

 

“Spreading her wings can only be good for her, in my view. She can’t just sit on a pile of money for the rest of her life, can she?”

 

“She very well could, though. That’s the issue.”

 

“Apathy is the enemy of fulfillment.”

 

“Or so they say,” Courtney added.

 

Blaise sighed. “Ah well. I suppose you haven’t done much since we last spoke, have you?”

 

“…Well, the league has been making more of an effort to have a presence in this town. I’ve been trying to push back on that, of course.”

 

“Good. They don’t need their tendrils in even more parts of these isles.”

 

“Hah. I feel exposed even doing this much…”

 

“Good luck with that, then,” Blaise replied, as they made it to the foyer. He then sat down on a nearby couch. “I hope today goes well for everyone.”

 

“One can only hope,” Courtney replied, walking towards the door. I suppose it’s a bit ironic for me of all people to say that…

 

“Going somewhere?” Blaise asked.

 

“Just a bit of an afternoon stroll,” Courtney replied. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

 

“Ah. You enjoy that, then,” Blaise replied.

 

“I will,” Courtney replied, opening the door. “See you on the other side,” she added just before closing the door behind her.

 

Quietly, she walked down the path towards the gate, feeling somehow even worse. It was painful to see what her brother had become, what the system had twisted him into. She knew that deep down, he was the same idealist he was as a child, but that boy had been buried beneath years of hardship, and probably would never see the light of day again, only able to influence the man. I wish he’d just let go. Can’t he see how badly he’s destroying himself?

 

In her brief stupor, she failed to notice she’d already made it to the gate. That’s strange. Where is Aldan? He was supposed to be my bodyguard.

 

She briefly considered heading back up the hill and into the Manor to find him, but for some reason, it felt like too much effort.

 

I need to clear my head…

 

Mildly annoyed, she started walking to a particularly large tree near the perimeter of the property, and sat down underneath it.

 

She felt rather tired.

 

She slowly lay down underneath the tree.

 

Her vision was… hazy?

 

By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late. She was well on her way to succumbing to what appeared to be a Vileplume’s sleep powder.

 

“Rest easy, Courtney Vaporeon. You’ll have no need to worry about anything once we’re done here.”

 

For some reason, the assassin’s voice was oddly comforting, yet deeply disturbing.

 

 

---

 

 

Unable to concentrate, Maxie hopped off of his bed and started walking down to the foyer himself. It was better than sitting in his room and moping about things he couldn’t control, that was for sure.

 

Courtney’s probably out on her walk by now, along with Aldan… Jacob thought. Is Blaise here yet? He’s always interesting to talk to. Not that Courtney likes it when I talk to him…

 

As he passed by the paintings in the hallway, Maxie found himself wondering where his mother was. She’s out on her walk, right? The second he happened to pass Morton in the hall, he decided to ask.

 

“Morton. Mom just left with Aldan for her walk, right?”

 

“Yes, Prince Maxie,” the Simisage responded. “She left about an hour ago, and Aldan left minutes before her to be her bodyguard. Why do you ask?”

 

“No reason…” Maxie replied. She’s normally out for two or three hours, and the party starts in four or so. That means she won’t be back for a while… “Thanks for clarifying.” I’ll assume I have about two hours to myself. I might as well start using that time to greet people as they come in…

 

When he made it to the foyer, he found his uncle calmly sitting down on a couch, nearly taking up the entire thing. Crazy how big Emboar actually are… “Hey, Uncle Blaise. What’s up?”

 

“There’s the birthday boy…” Blaise sighed, clearly straining to smile. “How have you been doing, my nephew?”

 

“About as well as always…” Maxie replied. “Anything interesting happen to you since we last met?”

 

“Well…” Blaise started, lowering his voice, “I ‘convinced’ your cousin to pay his workers properly. That was interesting.”

 

“You know he’s coming here today, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Isn’t it kinda risky for you to be here?” Maxie said, squeezing onto the couch next to him. “He might get some ideas.”

 

“Oh, if he’s smart, he won’t,” Blaise chuckled. “I’ve got the dirt on him.”

 

“What kind of dirt are we talking?” Maxie asked.

 

“Hush now, that’s a secret. I’ve got to play with my cards close to my chest, you know.”

 

“I see…” Maxie trailed off. Nobody else is here yet, huh? “You arrived kinda early, didn’t you?”

 

“Well, I prefer to be punctual. That’s something you and I have in common.”

 

“No kidding…” Maxie replied.

 

As if to spite the both of them, the door opened, and Tadame, of all people entered. “I can’t believe I got invited…” she muttered to herself.

 

“What are you talking about?” Maxie asked, not realizing that wasn’t directed at him. “You got invited the last three times. Why would this year be any different?”

 

Tadame blinked, the bags under her eyes all too apparent, before responding. “Oh, uh, not sure. Hello, Prince Maxie. And, uh…”

 

“Blaise,” the Emboar replied, cutting her off. “You’re Maxie’s…” he trailed off for a second. “…Combat instructor. We have met, yes?”

 

“It must’ve been a while…” Tadame replied. “Anyway, Prince Maxie, I was wondering if your sister was actually able to get done what she said she was going to get done. I’m, uh, not exactly the person that should be asking, but I would really like to know.”

 

“You’d have to ask her directly about that, sorry. I don’t exactly pay attention to what she does too much.”

 

“Ah,” Tadame replied. “Sorry, that was a little bit out of line…”

 

“You’re fine,” Maxie replied.

 

As the guests continued to flood in, Maxie greeted them individually, only pausing to check his fancy new watch for the time. It’s been about two hours, three since Courtney left. She should definitely be here by now… I know that she never took exactly that amount of time, but still! It’s starting to get to me.

 

“Hey, Maxie?” Wally asked, who had been with him for nearly ten minutes at that point. “The watch is cool, but, uh, you don’t need to constantly be glancing at it. Something on your mind?”

 

“Mom’s not back yet,” Maxie replied. “She left three hours ago, she should be back by now. It’s weird that she isn’t.”

 

“Maybe she just got distracted?” Wally suggested. “Or maybe she’s planning a surprise for you. You never know, right?”

 

“Well, it’s not like her. Besides, she knows I don’t like surprises, anyway. Why would she do that now?”

 

“Uh… I think you might be overthinking this. Just enjoy your birthday, dude. There’s nothing more to it.”

 

“You know I don’t always feel great on my birthdays, Wally.”

 

“I didn’t, actually…” Wally admitted. “Wanna tell me why?”

 

Maxie paused a moment when he realized the mask slipped, then sighed. “It’s nothing, man.” He then stood up. “I’m going outside. I need to clear my head.”

 

“I’ll be here if you need me, for some reason…” Wally replied. “I wish you a successful seventeen more years.”

 

“Yeah, you too…” Maxie replied, stepping outside.

 

It was starting to get pretty dark out by now, but the sun hadn’t finished setting just yet. It was a beautiful sunset, all things considered.

 

A brief glance down the hill revealed that his mother was still not home, just a few more guests. Where the hell is she? Frustrated, Maxie started walking downhill, and eventually made it all the way to the fence.

 

He found a blue strand of fur. She was definitely here somewhere… As he gradually followed the loose trail of hairs—Vaporeon were surprisingly shaggy for Pokémon that look like fish—he started to grow more and more suspicious of what he was seeing. Eventually, he found what looked to be the end of the trail around a tree.  

 

The very same tree he used to sneak out of the manor property on occasion.

 

The dread started to set in. Quickly, he raced back up to the Manor and found Wally again.

 

“Hey, Wally? My room. Now.”

 

“Woah, dude, slow down. What’s—”

 

“Just follow me, okay?”

 

Without much more argument, Wally followed Maxie to his room, where Maxie took out hoods for the both of them and tossed one to Wally.

 

“What is going on, Maxie?” Wally asked.

 

“Wally, you can scan the area around you for other minds, right?”

 

“I’m not that good at it yet, but yeah.”

 

“And you know what my mom’s mind looks like, right?”

 

“Kinda.”

 

“And you know how to teleport with someone else, right?”

 

“I’ve done it a few times.”

 

“You, me, the middle of town. Now.”

 

“Dude, slow down, what are you—”

 

“Just do it!” Maxie nearly shouted.

 

“O-o-okay…”

 

In a blink of the eye, they were in an alleyway pretty close to the middle of town.

 

“Now search for her. If she’s still out on her walk, she should be pretty close by.”

 

Wally looked confused at first, but closed his eyes and sat down anyway. “It’ll take a moment. You’re making me scan all of Root City right now, you know that?”

 

“Just hurry up and do it,” Maxie snapped, a palpable panic in his voice.

 

The silence that followed was agonizing. Maxie’s mind started racing, bouncing between denial and every worst-case scenario he could think of. Please hurry up Wally, I’m counting on you right now…

 

Wally made a strange face, which was enough to get a reaction out of Maxie by this point. “Well? Speak up!”

 

Wally held up a hand. “One second…”

 

“Dude, it’s been nearly ten minutes. Surely you—”

 

“I know you’re worried, but I can’t do what I can’t do. Please give me a moment.” He seemed to be well aware of what was going on by now.

 

Maxie started breathing funny. “You’re killing me, Wally…”

 

Finally, after nearly forty minutes, Wally stood up, and shook his head. “She’s definitely not in town.”

 

Maxie jumped at the opportunity to cling onto his last shred of hope. “We’re going back to the party and doing another scan. We have to be sure.”

 

“A-are you sure? People are going to ask questi—”

 

“Don’t argue, just do it!”

 

Wally, now clearly understanding what was going on, nodded, and took them back to Maxie’s room. He sat down.

 

Another ten minutes later, he stood up, and shook his head.

 

The dread set in for real. In the very least, Courtney was missing, or worse. Immediately, Maxie started forming an action plan.

 

In a twisted way, this was exactly what he needed.

 

“We have to tell everyone. Now,” Maxie stated, already thinking about what needed to happen after that.

 

“B-but the party—”

 

“What the hell are you going on about? Screw the party! This is urgent!” Maxie marched out of the room, and ran straight into Tabitha.

 

“O-oh, shit…” Tabitha said, cursing under her breath. “Hey, Maxie, have you seen Mom? She should be back by—”

 

“No, and Wally scanned Root City for forty minutes and couldn’t find her either.”

 

Tabitha looked pale. “A-are you sure?”

 

“Positive,” Wally replied.

 

They heard the sound of a window breaking somewhere further down the hall. Before either of them could think, Tabtiha and Maxie raced down the hall, and looked down into the grass below. They saw a cloaked figure, racing off into the night, carrying something.

 

“Bastard!” Tabitha said, leaping down, and chasing after the figure. “Go get help! I’ll try and stop him!”

 

Maxie said nothing, and did as Tabitha asked, practically sprinting down the hall to get help. By now, there was a crowd forming, perhaps curious as to what all of the commotion was, so Maxie didn’t mince words.

 

“Mom is missing and someone broke into the house! We need a search party to go looking for her!”

 

The mixture of panic and disbelief that spread through the room was immediate.

 

“Don’t make jokes like that!”

 

“Where has she gone? I heard a window breaking!”

 

“One of the butlers hasn’t been seen all day either, has he? Where has he gone?”

 

“Everyone quiet!” a single gruff voice shouted, which unmistakably belonged to Blaise. “Maxie. Does Aldan normally leave right before your mother when she goes out?”

 

Maxie froze. He hadn’t even considered that. “N-no, he doesn’t. They normally leave together.”

 

“…There’s foul play afoot. Where is Tabitha?”

 

“We saw a cloaked figure running into the forest, and she went after it.”

 

Blaise did not seem to like that. “Whoever here is a strong fighter, go after her! Maxie, you’re coming with me. We’re rallying the local guard to organize a proper search party.”

 

The following few hours went by like a blur. Maxie saw Blaise practically ordering around the city guard, people yelling at each other in the streets, and most of all, panic and confusion.

 

By the time a few hours had passed, Maxie wanted to just collapse from it all. It was like the world had decided that today was the day that his life was going to go downhill. He desperately wanted to find a reason that this was happening, but he had to keep standing to do that.

 

Jacob needed him to keep standing. He needed answers.

 

Tabitha’s attempt to chase down what looked like a potential culprit hadn’t ended well. She was uninjured, thankfully, but she’d utterly failed to stop whoever had broken into the Manor, or even get an idea of what species they were. The best she could do is that they were probably an electric type and a quadruped, which didn’t exactly narrow it down. There were a lot of those, especially with that thrown in there.

 

Wally couldn’t be bothered to help any further for some reason, which led Jacob to question their friendship. What a shitty coward. He knows he’s one of the only psychic types in town, dammit!

 

Of course, when they finally found what had become of Courtney, it was bad news.

 

Maxie stumbled towards the pit she’d been dropped off in, desperate for answers. As if to mock him, her death had been as gruesome as possible. What was left of her was a bloody mess, the only detail Maxie could make out being her face, twisted into an expression of pain.

 

That was all Jacob could analyze before both him and Maxie could take seeing it no longer.

 

Maxie collapsed on the spot, sobbing. He didn’t want to believe that it was all real, but it was. It was staring him in the face, but he couldn’t accept it.

 

Happy birthday, Prince Maxie.

 

 

---

 

 

The funeral was a nice service, at the very least. Maxie watched diligently as the casket was lowered into the ground, his mind not really sure what to think of everything. It had all happened so quickly, so efficiently, that he really didn’t have time to get his bearings on the situation. It had all just… happened. Quickly and cruelly.

 

Maxie breathed in a heavy sigh. She’d said previously that she wanted an open casket, but the body was so badly damaged that nobody could make it look presentable. It was just another sting to a very painful situation.

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, then looked up. It was Blaise, who’d taken up residence in the Manor since Courtney’s death. He’d been nice to have around, but it didn’t do much to fill the void in the household, especially with Aldan still missing. Maxie knew that he was trying his best, and he appreciated that, but they’d never been close before this. He’d been more of a source of interesting stories, if anything. That was better than nothing, but not by much.

 

“It’s always shocking…” Blaise commented. “Someone who’s always been there… just gone.”

 

Quietly, Jacob tried to remember anything like this happening beforehand, only to realize he’d never experienced loss like this before. Not once in his twenty-six year original life had he actually lost someone close to him.

 

Maxie didn’t take that information well, and tears started welling up. “I don’t know what to feel right now. I just feel… empty. Like something’s missing.”

 

“That’s called grief, Maxie. That profound sadness that makes you feel numb to the world.” He shook his head. “Not too easy to pick yourself up after, is it?”

 

Maxie quietly shook his head instead of saying anything.

 

“Sometimes it can feel like your soul’s been sucked out of you. But wounds will heal with time.” Blaise gave Maxie another pat on the back. “It will get better eventually.”

 

He’s probably right…

 

 

---

 

 

About a month went by.

 

The wound hadn’t exactly healed, but that was partially Maxie’s fault. He’d been closely following the hunt for the killer, after all. At the very least, they’d tracked down the ringleader of whoever had broken into the Manor that night.

 

Blaise was adamant that this group couldn’t be behind the murder.

 

“It doesn’t add up in the slightest,” he explained to Tabitha and Maxie, upon being asked.

 

“But how so? You’re not going to tell us there were two sets of criminals at the manor that night, are you?” Tabitha asked.

 

“It’s more logical than assuming there couldn’t have been, given the circumstances. Consider the actual sequence of events for a moment. Sometime in the afternoon, someone ambushes both her and Aldan, or someone separates them, or someone deals with Aldan ahead of time. Hard to say which.” By now, the butler had been presumed dead as well. For whatever reason, the killer hid his body well. “What matters is that if their goal is to both steal from the Manor and kill your mother, then breaking back into the property when they did is nonsensical. They just happened to break in around the time when it was likely that her absence would start to become more noticeable.”

 

“Maybe they’re just stupid, or they were acting on bad information,” Maxie suggested. It’s a weak argument, but it doesn’t feel like it’s that much more of a stretch. “They broke in during the party, after all.”

 

“Maybe. But my gut says that if they were really not all that bright, or uninformed, then luring away Aldan would’ve been beyond them. That required not only precise timing and excellent stealth, but also knowledge of when your mother normally goes out to walk. They would have to plan and prepare around that. Surely they would’ve noticed that it’d be easier to break in around the same time as your mother’s disappearance, no?”

 

Tabitha huffed. “Then why are they trying to get the ringleader sentenced so quickly? The trial is going to be this month.”

 

Blaise sighed. “Because, and I don’t say this lightly, someone is hiding something. Someone with real power orchestrated this murder, and they want absolutely nobody knowing about it.”

 

“Y-you can’t be serious…” Tabitha objected. “Why would someone want her dead? She barely did anything.”

 

“Trust me, I’ve seen this song and dance before, and I’ve used cases like this to blackmail people in the past. They want someone dead, so they have some group of thugs be blindsided and take the fall for it. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. A good assassin knows how to divert the blame.”

 

Maxie and Tabitha fell silent. The idea that the real culprit was still out there was a chilling thought. The idea that their mother was dead because it made some else’s life easier was an enraging one.

 

This was exactly the motivation that Jacob needed to act.

 

Maxie stood up suddenly, and slammed his paws down on the table. “I’ll find the bastard, then. I’ll bring them to justice. If I can’t, I’ll make their life hell. No way I’m letting this slide.”

 

“Are you sure?” Blaise asked. “My line of work is a dangerous one. If you’re not careful, you might meet the same fate as your mother.”

 

“I have to do it. I’ve been looking for a purpose like this my whole life.”

 

“Hey,” Tabitha said suddenly. “Be careful. You’d be risking said life, you know.”

 

Maxie paused. “…I’ll try.”

 

Jacob had no idea what he’d gotten himself and Maxie into.

 

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