Chapter 28: Confession

Why, why, why?

There she was again… alone, in her room, with nothing but her tears to calm her down. What even was the point of continuing on with this stupid dream if she could do nothing right?

It has been another one of those days where she could’ve been doing something, anything, other than trying to please her parents. They literally didn’t care about anything she does; getting the best grades in class? Cool, don’t care; taking care of the house all alone? Didn’t ask for her to do that; staying in her room while playing video games or watching TV? Go do something productive you worthless daughter!

It. Was. Always. The same. Cycle.

She was nothing more than a liability to her parents, just a dead weight that just appeared in their life to just drag them down, or as her father put it, a useless hoe. Well… that must be a reason he always beat her up while drunk… he hated her.

No matter what she did, her parents would always hate her. She couldn’t stand that, why were they doing this? What has she done to deserve all of this? Why were her parents so… evil?

She may never know the answer, but honestly, she didn’t care anymore, things are the way they are in life.

It is an unfair game after all.

She wiped the tears out of her brownish face and muttered to herself as she brushed her messy long hair with her hand. “Just need to move on as always…”

The girl wanted to leave her house for a moment, to get this depressing mood that it always carried out of her system. She looked towards the drawer beside her bed and looked at her Nintendo DS before grabbing it and opening the window behind her. She jumped out of it and landed on the soft patch of grass, softening her fall.

She didn’t even bother to pick up her footwear, she just wanted to go towards her safe haven as soon as possible, to try to get her mind out of the recent scene with her mother as soon as possible.

Her house was near a cliff in the state of Pennsylvania, next to a small town. It was quite a peaceful place, all things considered, the girl and her (wretched) family basically lived in humanity’s origins, that is nature itself. However, she still had pretty good access to the internet, TV, and, of course, video games.

Video games were one of the things that kept her mind at ease along with her friend, away from the problems in the real world she always faced. The only reason she could afford a video game was because her mother just wanted to show off to her friends that she does care about her daughter. But in reality, she only cares about the clout and praise she receives by having her, that’s the only reason why they have kept her around until now… why was her mother so evil?

She shook her head, trying to make those terrible thoughts go away. She was close anyways.

She opened her DS to check how much battery there was in it. Thankfully, it had enough for a session of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Skies. She loved that game so much, the characters, the story, the gameplay, she loved everything about that world. She has always been a Pokémon fan, ever since she watched her first episode of the anime. Those silly little creatures always brought a smile to her face… oh she wished they were real. Her father never allowed her to have a pet, and the worst part is that he didn’t have anything against them, it was only to spite her… why was her father so evil?

After finally arriving there, she took a look around, taking in its sights. She was at the top of the cliff close to her home. She could see basically the entire town from there, seeing the sea of urbanization spread over a large area was such a sight to behold. Accompanying the sight was a nice pleasant breeze that flowed through the air, making her hair flow as well.

There was a tree near the edge, and it was her favorite sitting spot since she was able to do a lot of her usual things while sitting there. Doing so, she sat on one of the roots and leaned her back on the trunk, opening her console.

She was thankful for Pokémon appearing in her life, because of it, she was able to get through the hardships of her life. However… she wonders how much it can keep up before one hardship eventually breaks her…

---

After separating and going their own ways, Team Net all walked their way back to their respective home. Instead of this being a really talk-heavy walk as John expected, it was instead way silent, even for a Pokémon like Claire. He didn’t know if it was because it was nighttime or because of what happened in the human world, so he deduced it was probably the latter, he still had to confess what that was all about.

However, while on the way back home, another Pokémon that walked on the sidewalk revealed himself, stopping in front of them under a light pole. To John’s displeasure, it was another bug -looking Pokémon, with a red carapace (that for some reason looked completely made of pure steel due to how it was reflecting the light), two big pincer hands, a pair of wings, and a pair of antennas. He appeared to be wearing a pair of shades and a black trench coat (how did he manage to put those on and why he was wearing shades in the night, hell if John knew).

“Detective?” Claire asked while tilting her head.

“We meet again, young Vulpix.” The detective said putting a pincer on his side. “Have you been doing well after my visit?”

“Um…” Claire hesitated for a second before nodding. “Yeah uh, I’ve been doing well.”

“Is that the detective you told me about?” John asked and the fire fox nodded.

The Scizor then focused his attention on John as he hummed in confusion. “A talking infant Joltik?”

Crap, he forgot that he was only 1 week old in this body! The greenish Joltik stammered, trying to find his words to not get caught. “Uh… no, I’m just… one of those child prodigies. I’m just that small, but I’m in the… first year of high school, yep… name’s John, by the way!”

The steel mantis’ expression was basically unreadable with his bug-like features combined with the shades, making John a nervous mess in his mind. “Wait, shit! Did I mess up somehow? What did I say that doesn’t fit in with this word? Oh no, the school system! I must’ve messed something up because it HAS to be different from the human schools and-!”

“Nice to meet you, John. You’re a unique one, that’s for sure.” He nonchalantly said, no suspicion hidden behind his voice. He then looked at Claire. “Oh shoot, I forgot to give you my name that day, my apologies.” He put a pincer inside of his coat before pulling out a card and handing it to the duo. John took the card with his nubs and put it on Claire’s head to read it. “The name’s Reino. Detective Reino for you guys, and on the card there is my contact if you need me for any investigation.”

John tilted his head. “Are you a private detective?”

“Yes, I am. Being an investigator in the task force was getting kinda boring, so I decided to start my own business.” Reino explained while John put his card on the backpack. “But I’m not here to tell you the story of my life.”

Claire asked. “Then why are you here?”

“I would like to ask you the same thing, kids.” He said with a sharp look behind his shades, crossing his arms. “Why are you out here at night? You know of the dangers of the strange Pokémon around, right? Especially you, Miss Claire.”

“That’s… um…” Claire struggled to say.

John wouldn’t take any chances on Claire revealing anything important, so he answered for her. “Sorry, we were in our friend’s house and forgot about the Corrupted Pokémon.”

The Scizor flinched and removed his shades that literally seemed to get pulled onto the shell of his pincer. John could almost see a human in the steel-like bug due to his physique, clothes, and his way of acting, almost forgetting that he was a bug. Reino’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “You told him?!”

Claire responded. “Look, he lives with me, and spends the entire day with me, I was about to tell him one way or another!”

Reino sighed, putting the shades back on his head again, sliding them onto his head with ease. “In any case, your mother sent me to find you two, it appears that this is the first time this happens as she told me… mind elaborating on that?”

Claire rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, we had so much fun there that I forgot to warn mom about it.”

“Yep.” John agreed, trying to back up their lie. “We’ll try to warn her next time!”

The Scizor eyed them for a moment as they sheepishly smiled. “Well, let’s see if you hold that end of the deal. Come on, I’ll take you to your-” One of his antennae twitched, making him look to the side for a moment.

“Um… something wrong Mister Reino?” The Joltik asked while looking in the direction of where the detective was looking, spotting nothing aside from more light poles and some houses.

“It’s… nothing.” He responded a bit hesitant before looking back at them. “Come on, I’ll take you to your home.” John and Claire nodded as the Scizor turned around and started leading them, the duo following beside him. Out of curiosity, he asked. “Say, John… why are you living in a Ninetales’ house? Pretty weird to me because normally civilized bug-type Pokémon are a bit clingy with their children, so I doubt anyone would want to abandon you or leave you in an orphanage.”

John was caught off guard by that question. He struggled a little bit to come up with an answer. “Well um… I’m actually a child of a wild Pokémon…” Reino raised an invisible eyebrow at that. “I didn’t really like the wildlife, and since Galvantulas leave their children at an early age… I decided to just move into civilization right away… even if my mom hated it.”

The Vulpix continued, a sheepish smile could be seen on her face. John could definitely see sweat coming out of her if she could do it. “Yep, and my family adopted him since they saw him on the streets struggling, with nowhere to go…”

It was really tense telling a lie to an actual detective without knowing his expressions to see if he actually fell for the lie or not. That was making John’s anxiety pile up inside of him a little bit, making him tremble a little as he started thinking about the follow-up questions until the truth is finally revealed. However… “Huh, well good for you. Now all you need is an identity card when you reach 15 years old and you’re good to go as a civilian Pokémon.”

John stayed silent for an awkward moment before responding with a simple “Yeah…” before shutting up entirely.

The rest of the walk was, thankfully, uneventful and silent. However, throughout the walk, John noticed that Reino’s antenna was twitching quite a lot. Not knowing if it was a bug thing, he just decided to ignore it.

After reaching the house, the Scizor knocked on the door of the house, making sure to not break it with his hard pincers. After a moment, the door opened on its own, revealing a concerned-looking fire Ninetales. She looked at the detective first. “Did you-” She then looked down at John and Claire. “Kids!” Reya pulled them both with telekinesis into a hug, the Joltik almost disappearing into her fur. “Arceus, I was so worried something happened to you two!”

“M-mom… we’re fine…!” Claire said, having a bit of difficulty breathing.

“Yeah… we just uh… forgot t-to warn you that we w-were staying at a friend’s house…” John continued before they were both released from the hug, the Joltik falling on the ground immediately. “Sorry…”

Reya smiled in relief. “It’s alright… I’m just glad that you two are alright.” She then looked at Reino. “Thank you, Reino.”

“Eh, it was literally nothing, miss. I just found them literally going to your house anyways, so all I did was just lead them here under my protection.” He explained while crossing his arms.

“But nonetheless, thank you.” The Ninetales said with a smile.

The Scizor let out a weak smile. “You’re welcome.” His antenna twitched again, making him glance backwards before looking back at Reya as he adjusted his coat. “Anyways, can’t stay for long. Duty calls, you know?”

Reya chuckled a little bit. “Yes, I know. Have a good night!”

“You too.” The detective then looked back at Claire and John. “And you two stay out of trouble.” Not even bothering to see how they answered, Reino walked away. John thought that if he could, that Pokémon would always have his hands in his pockets for sure.

The fire Ninetales closed the door with her telekinesis and sighed. “You two really gave me a big scare, you know? With those dangerous Pokémon out there, you just gotta be concerned.”

Claire looked away a bit ashamed. “I know mom…” She then looked back at Reya with a small smile. “I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Yeah, sorry Reya, we just forgot about the current situation for a little bit…” John added next, fidgeting with his fore-nubs.

Reya sighed again. “Alright then.” She then looked at the Vulpix. “Your dad called me and said he’s a bit tangled with his work, he might come home a bit late.”

Claire nodded before turning to John. “Come on John, I think we need a bath.”

John hesitated a little bit, not wanting another scene with the snow bitch. “Do I really have to…?”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be like last time.” Claire said reassuringly with a smile. John nodded a bit hesitant and followed her to the bathroom.

After taking off her uniform and getting inside the shower with the Joltik, Claire opened the faucet and, soon enough, small droplets of water started falling on them, washing all the small bits of dust, dirt, and some dried blood off of them. Thank goodness John was small and Claire was with her uniform so that the adults didn’t notice the bloodied fur and fuzz.

Speaking of blood, John found out a more disgusting fact about this body. His blood was literally bug hemolymph, the same stain that made him puke in the past every time he accidentally stepped on a beetle of a roach. It kinda made his stomach rile up and his body shivers a little.

However, something even more concerning came true when the Vulpix asked. “So… would you finally tell me what that scene was in the human world? Why did you sound so… angry about it…?”

John felt his hemolymph run cold as he heard that question. There was no hiding it anymore, no more sugar coating, the truth either comes out either soft or hard. And he really didn’t want Claire to find out about the nature of humans the hard way, even with close encounters like before. “I think… I think it’s time that I talk about how I really died…”

Claire tilted her head in confusion and concern. “What do you mean…?”

The Joltik stared at the wall in silence before sighing. He turned to the Vulpix with a nervous look on his face. “I… I was killed by another human…”

Claire’s eyes widened in shock, her heart rate increasing a little. “W-… what…?”

John shivered a little as he heard her quivering tone, but he had to continue nonetheless. “You remember that scenario we saw in the human world when we were about to leave? Yeah… I was in one of those situations as well, along with three other friends. We were ambushed by the same type of people like the guy with the red mask… criminals.”

Claire leaned back a little. “B-but how…? I thought that every human there were pure beings. Or else, our world would be in danger!”

“I don’t know if the beings of this world sugarcoat it as much as possible, but I can assure you one thing… malice is a force no one can escape from.” John explained before sitting on the ground and putting a nub on his torso. “It’s a thing that I learned from when I was only ten years old…” He sighed. “You know, it was fortunate enough for me that you didn’t ask about my human parents…”

“W-what about them…?” Claire asked, some tears forming in her eyes.

“Well, for starters… I didn’t even consider them my parents. They neglected me, and saw me as nothing more than a mere tool to expand our family; they only pretended to care when I was hurt, never sang happy birthday to me, and if I remember correctly… never even said that they loved me.” Claire stayed silent after listening to all of it, looking downwards. “Humans are not what you imagined them to be from stories or fantasy tales… we are just like you Pokémon, without all the magic of course.”

The Vulpix nervously smiled. “M-maybe you got something wrong there. Y-you’re just exaggerating, right…?”

John sighed, brushing one of his sides to get rid of a water droplet. “Claire… I lived in that world for twenty whole years, I know what I’m talking about because I experienced it first hand.”

Claire shed a tear, all of her thoughts, fantasies, and everything related to humans, was all a lie. Was everything about the humans that saved the world a lie as well? She turned off the shower, not saying a word as she was starting to leave the shower box, a small purple aura starting to surround her.

“Hey.” The Vulpix turned to the squeaky voice of the Joltik, who was shaking off water from his body. “Just so you know, not every human is bad. I don’t know if you don’t count me as an exception now that I told you. But really, the majority of humans on earth are good people, even though some are a bit selfish.” He then looked back at Claire with a smile on his fuzz, responding as if he read her mind. “If this world hasn’t fallen yet by evil forces, then the humans here were the good ones.”

The Vulpix smiled a little bit as the aura around her started disappearing. “I see… thanks for telling me.” She sighed and looked back at the door, shaking the water out of her body. “I’m gonna go to bed.”

“You’re not gonna eat dinner or wait for your dad?” John asked while tilting his head.

Claire shook her head. “No, I got too many things in my head at the moment that I got a headache…”

John jumped out of the shower box and stood beside the fire fox as they walked out of the bathroom. “Alright then… goodnight Claire.”

Claire weakly smiled back at the Joltik. “Goodnight John.” She replied before both entered the twins’ room. John was about to use the laptop before he saw Elsa using it on the bed, clearly speaking to some people. “What the…?”

“Come on my subjects, there’s no need to say that you love this much. Because I know you all do.” She chuckled regally before looking at Claire and John, the Joltik already leaving the room. “Anyways, it was really a fun time, but I gotta go now. See you all tomorrow!” She pressed some keys before closing the laptop with a grunt in annoyance. “When I was really enjoying myself… you just had to show up…”

“Heh, I live here too, you know?” The fire Vulpix said with a low enthusiasm before asking. “By the way, who were you talking to?”

The ice Vulpix scoffed. “None of your peasant business.” She said before getting onto two feet and grabbing the laptop. She put it on the desk with the mirror as Claire lay on the bed, not saying any more words. Elsa noticed this and felt compelled to ask with a smirk. “What’s wrong? Did Johnny bug reject you or something?”

The fire fox sighed. “Just go away, I’m not in the mood to deal with your Tauros shit right now…”

“Tch, suit yourself.” Elsa said before walking out of the bedroom on two legs and closing the door behind her, leaving Claire all alone with her thoughts.

The room turned into an awkward silence for a moment, before the Vulpix shifted positions, leaving her belly in the open. She suddenly asked herself. “Is my dream even worth it anymore…?”

---

Reino was walking down one of many streets of Burgroth town, rubbing his pincers together to heat him up a little. It was almost winter after all, so it was starting to get a bit cold.

As the detective walked, his mind kept getting back to the small talk he had with Claire and that baby-looking Joltik. Something about his answer wasn’t adding up as a fact. If he remembered correctly, he heard some talk around the street about a Galvantula shouting out loud on the streets recently, apparently looking for their lost baby. What was more interesting is that some family took him in on a whim. Just what are the chances of a family of Pokémon suddenly caring for a random wild Pokémon?

Something was clearly up with that Joltik. Either he was a Zorua that completely managed to trick that family into thinking he was a small and defenseless bug type or the more unlikely option is that he could be a…

Reino’s antennas twitched again. This was basically happening throughout the entire time he was with that duo, and he knew exactly what that meant. He crossed his arms and sighed. “Can’t believe I got a stalker this early in my career, am I really just that hot as Pokémon say?” He turned around, spotting no one in the deserted street as he removed his shades. “If you’re a fan, I can give you an autograph for free right now if you want. All you have to do is just show yourself.”

“Boo-hoo, you found me!”

A childish-like robotic voice could be heard coming from some bushes next to the sidewalk. From them, a figure came out of it doing a front flip and landing in front of the Scizor. As the light came in, it revealed a figure that he wasn’t expecting. “You’re a…”

The figure revealed itself to be a Weavile, however with some major differences. It had gray metallic fur, the red feathers being replaced with some weird kind of reddish panels that had a strange glow. Its feet and claws were mostly still the same, although it could be noticed that its claws had four fingers and some wheels below each foot. Although its face is where the big differences came in. Its mouth was basically a grinning face with red teeth that didn’t move whatsoever, its eyes were green and red, the green being on an outer layer of the irises, and the yellow gem on the forehead was changed to a purple gem. The strange Weavile spoke, its grinning mouth flashing every time a word was spoken. “What’s up Bugsy, whatcha doing out here all alone? Your mate has dumped you? Aw, such a shame!”

Reino couldn’t believe this, a Corrupted Pokémon was in front of him, and speaking like a laid-back guy. What should he do in this situation? Threaten it? Arrest it right there? No, wait, this was his chance to ask some questions, and possibly confirm his theory. The detective recomposed himself. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

The Weavile gasped sarcastically. “Oh noes, I forgot to introduce myself!” It pointed a thumb to itself or… himself judging by the voice. “They call me Cass, nice meeting ya Bugsy!” He then put his claws on his sides. “I’m just strolling around the neighborhood at night, I like the night. It’s quiet, it’s dark… it’s lonely. It’s perfect for a small stroll!”

“Are you sure you were just strolling around? I could sense you following me for some time now in the dark…”

Cass rolled his eyes and made a metallic sigh. “Well, ya got me. But that doesn’t matter anymore! What matters now is that you’re doing something really stupid right now!” He leaned in while doing a fake whisper, Reino taking a small step back. “Who knows what terrifying beast might lurk in the dark, amiright?”

“Yeah, I know about that…” The Scizor looked aside before asking. “So… it’s fortunate that we meet, I have a small question for you.”

The robotic Weavile gasped. “A question!?” He then clasped his claws together while twisting his foot. “For me~!?” He waved it off with a claw. “You can ask whatever it is you want with me!”

“Are you familiarized with the word human?”

That made his smug and childish attitude drop, his voice changing into a more serious tone as he crossed his arms. “Why do you ask…?”

Reino shrugged. “I am just curious… do you know anything about that term?”

For a moment, it looked like the Weavile’s smile grew a bit wider. “Oh, I get it… you’re one of the Pokémon trying to interfere with our plans…” That made the detective’s eyes widen a little as Cass chuckled a little, shrugging as he spoke again. “Oh, did I say that out loud? Oops! But it doesn’t matter though, it’s not like you’ll discover the rest anyways!”

The Scizor asked a bit desperate now. “What are you trying to imply? Are you working with someone!?”

The Corrupted Pokémon lifted a finger. “Here’s a small tip for you, Bugsy! I’d suggest you stay out of other Pokémon’s business!” His tone suddenly shifted into a more menacing one. “You might live if you do just that. We wouldn’t want any casualties on this mission.”

“Answer me!” Reino demanded as a blue blade came out of his pincer, pointing at Cass. “Who are you working with!?”

The robotic Weavile then looked at his wrist with nothing on it. “Oh wowsers, look at the time! Gotta go, see ya sometime, Bugsy, Hehahahahaha!” With that, Cass turned around and skated away with his rollerblade feet.

Reino retracted his blade and stretched his arm. “Wait!” He would chase him, but it was night, and by the speed that Weavile left off, it seemed that he was way faster than him. “Dammit…”

Reino was a bit pissed. The answer to his theory was gone without a trace as to where it was going. It seemed that his only chance of solving this mystery was lost… however… what Cass had said, answered some things that were mysterious about the Corrupted Pokémon. They weren’t Pokémon being controlled by instincts, they were receiving orders from someone. But… from who?

“I’ll find the truth behind all of this madness… even if it’s the last thing I do.” That was the last thing he said before putting his shades on again and continuing along his way through the street.