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The screen froze on the figure of that person picking up the folder and leaving.
Oleander leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed. She sorted through the confusion swirling in her mind, trying to piece together the scattered clues and match them with what she already suspected.
'A traffic accident? More like a cover for murder.'
When Oleander opened her eyes again, her vision blurred, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. Clenching her fist, she endured the chill creeping up her spine, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and opened the attached file labeled Post-Incident Summary.
Luther's parents had left behind very little. There was a house in the city where they originally lived, and a modest home on the outskirts of Lumiose City where they'd briefly lived. Most of their money had gone into constant relocations, and settling in the city had drained their savings completely. In the end, Luther didn't even inherit a single PokéDollar.
He was taken in by Shiran, a family friend who had shared a close bond with Luther's parents. Once Luther came of age, the property titles were legally transferred to him.
Following a hunch, Oleander entered a name into the internal network's database.
His life was simple, almost too clean, like a quiet lake with not a single ripple.
But when she dug deeper, tracing his academic background and filtering through obscure records, Oleander's lips curved into a subtle smile.
"Should I say Luther's lucky… or cursed?"
After taking a sip of water, she felt her thoughts grow sharper. One thing was clear: before he became a Pokémon Trainer, Luther had truly been a child marked by misfortune.
The clues had been there all along, tucked away in the unnoticed corners of old files. The accident that killed Luther's parents had long faded from memory, buried with time, forgotten by nearly everyone.
But Oleander had chosen to question it. And now, she was unearthing what had been hidden under layers of dust.
She saved the file to her external drive, then deleted the original email and all associated data from her computer.
Though it was late, Lumiose City still glowed with lights. As Oleander gazed out the window, she quietly placed a small water cup behind her office door. A silk thread stretched from it to a tiny bonsai resting on a bookshelf nearby.
After locking the door with care, Oleander made her way down to the underground parking garage. As she left the building, a few coworkers and the security guard gave her bewildered looks.
It wasn't every day Oleander left the office past midnight.
Perhaps it was the lingering unease from watching the crash footage. Despite the empty roads, she drove with unusual caution.
A soft breeze drifted in through the half-open car window as she left the brightly lit city center and headed into the quiet suburbs.
A decade ago, the area where she parked had only a few scattered houses. Now, it had evolved into a neatly managed residential zone, developed around those early homes.
A patrol officer stopped her at the gate. After showing her ID and explaining her visit, he escorted her through.
The house where Luther's family had once stayed in still stood, unchanged, untouched by time. It was the only building in the neighborhood that hadn't been renovated, sitting alone at the far end of the community.
The patrol officer explained that, though the house had been abandoned for years, the yard and entrance were maintained regularly to keep the community looking presentable.
After he left, Oleander stepped into the yard and approached the front door alone.
The doorknob was rusted, and the wall paint had flaked away in patches.
Oleander didn't have the key, nor did she want to force her way in. Technically, everything here still belonged to Luther. Coming here without his permission was already pushing boundaries.
Circling the house, she found a window with a cracked pane. She reached in, trying to unlatch the lock, but her fingers couldn't quite reach it.
"Gastly, unlock the door."
She tossed a Poké Ball into the air, but it was Beedrill who emerged, blinking at her in confusion. It glanced from the window to itself, clearly thinking, You serious?
Oleander groaned and smacked her forehead. After too many late nights, even her brain felt like it needed a system reboot. She'd grabbed the wrong Poké Ball.
"You stay and guard the yard. Let me know if anyone shows up."
Beedrill buzzed in agreement and flew to a high perch.
Oleander shoved the correct Poké Ball through the window hole. Gastly emerged in a swirl of ghostly mist, slipping through effortlessly and clicking the lock open from inside.
She swung the window wider and climbed in gracefully.
The house, unsurprisingly, had no power. Oleander switched on her phone's flashlight while Gastly floated silently behind her, eyes sharp and watchful.
As the hallway came into view under the phone's glow, Oleander stopped dead in her tracks.
A cold sweat ran down her back.
This house had been vacant for over a decade, with the water and electricity long since shut off. By all expectations, it should've been choked with dust and filled with the stale scent of decay.
Yet the hallway before her was spotless. The walls were unusually clean, without a single cobweb or trace of deterioration, clear evidence that someone had been maintaining them with care.
"Gastly, do you sense anything?"
Gastly floated in place, concentrating. It hesitated, first shaking its head, then slowly nodding.
So… there was something, but not clear enough to identify?
"Ninetales, keep watch over this window."
Her Ninetales padded forward with graceful confidence, its fur shimmering under the moonlight like polished silk. After receiving the command, it positioned itself at the hallway's edge, gaze fixed and alert.
The living room's furnishings were simple: a worn but tidy sofa, an old television, a coffee table, and a few modest cabinets for storage.
Oleander placed a hand on the sofa's fabric, inspecting it. Her fingertips came back clean, no dust, no grime. The fabric felt surprisingly dry and well-preserved.
Even the plates set out on the table gleamed faintly in the dim light, as if they had been wiped down not long ago.
Gastly's expression had grown serious. It floated toward the staircase, eyes locked on the second floor.
Oleander noticed immediately. She silently recalled Ninetales and brought it closer.
Ninetales, now beside her in the living room, also reacted, its posture stiffened, ears perked, eyes narrowing. Both Pokémon could sense it clearly now: a strong, oppressive aura lingering above.
As Oleander weighed her options, both Pokémon moved forward instinctively, standing between her and the stairs, prepared for confrontation.
And then, it emerged.
From the second-floor bedroom, a shape drifted out, alerted, perhaps, by Oleander's intrusion.
As the beam of her phone's flashlight swept across it, she finally saw the figure clearly.
A floating, rule-defying sphere hovered in the air. It had a light pink head, a muted purple body, curled limbs, and a pointed snout tucked closely in sleep-like stillness.
Even asleep, could it react?
As the light touched it, the smoky mist that wavered above its body shimmered faintly, turning translucent before slowly fading into near-invisibility.
The Pokémon stretched lazily and opened its eyes, blinking at Oleander with an expression of gentle confusion, no hostility, just incomprehension, as though trying to recall a dream.
Was this… a Pokémon? But which one?
Oleander, born in the Kanto Region, had traveled through Sinnoh and Hoenn and eventually settled in Kalos. Even with all her experience, she could barely recognize this Pokémon, only vague memories of seeing one in passing on the quiet streets of Kalos.
That wasn't the strangest part. The question was: 'What was this Pokémon doing here?'
Had a wild Pokémon made a nest inside Luther's long-abandoned family home?
Or perhaps…
Ninetales, standing protectively at her side, shifted slightly. Its flowing tail accidentally brushed the edge of the coffee table, knocking something to the floor with a sharp clatter.
The sudden noise startled all three: Oleander, the floating pink Pokémon, and even Gastly.
Oleander crouched carefully and picked up the fallen item, keeping a cautious eye on the Pokémon's reaction.
It was a photo frame.
Inside, two people were locked in a warm embrace, surrounded by smiling Pokémon.
In the picture, standing lovingly beside Luther's parents were a Wigglytuff, a Mawile, an Amaura, and…
Oleander flipped the frame over, her breath catching slightly as she read the label on the back.
Musharna.
The photo had been taken twenty-two years ago.
(End of Chapter)