Part 70
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The pattern, the pattern... it's getting too eccentric now, too close... it's picked up speed, the closer that Roxy gets to the end of her journey here in Kanto, the closer it gets to her.
For many long nights, I've wondered why exactly, this... thing... that's chasing Roxy, the league champion, hasn't attacked yet? As this journey goes on, she and her Pokemon only get stronger and stronger. It's at the point that even the Gym Leaders here in my native Kanto don't seem to stand a chance. She's able to take their challenges undaunted, and pass out relatively unharmed...
Wait, could that be it? Could that be the crucial point? Perhaps it's because Roxy isn't weakened enough following her battles... but what confrontation would be strong enough that it could reduce her to a defenseless state that it could take advantage of?
Roxy is essentially at the pinnacle of trainer ability in this land. I hear Viridian City Gym just fell to her ability as well...There really isn't a person in here or Kanto that can really compare to her... other then, maybe... could it be... Red?! If Roxy were to fight a trainer of Red's strength, she and Red would both be reduced to a weakened state that would make them relatively defenseless. Even in the Pokemon League, Roxy was surrounded by the walls and security of league, but if she were to challenge Red high in Mount Silver, she would be defenseless... Completely defenseless... Could this creature be of such cunning, such hatred and drive be?
So there's no other choice...
This old shotgun of mine clicks so pleasantly, so echoingly... I haven't held it since that day, since that one night... But do not worry, my comrades, I will pay tribute to your sacrifice against evil with it, a tribute of blood and sweat. Maybe your sacrifice was meaningless towards the defeat of Team Rocket... but it was meaningful to me.
Sometimes one needs to make a stand, even if it is senseless, even if it is pointless. Perhaps I can't stop this monster, but does it really matter if I fall to him or not, making a senseless gesture in the end? Isn't that just what life is itself, a pitiful, senseless gesture? Perhaps even if I die, just maybe I can end this menace once and for all, just maybe...
Mount Silver looms so ominously in the distance... soon I'll have to take to my feet, striding up those hills where my car will take me no further. This serene forest air chills my heart in a different way then this apprehensive task ever could. It tempts me to turn away and forget this task, not risk the loss of my life in this beauteous world... But what kind of man am I if I abandon that girl to such a death, forsake her for my own safety!?
No, I will enter this hall of the Earth, and defeat that abomination once and for all, do unto it as it has done unto my fellow men and women, and even innocent Pokemon here in this world... It shall atone in blood and gore.
... it has been a long time since I've worn these sunglasses... even in this darkness I can see perfectly with them... These sunglasses were a good friend of mine when I was a member of the force, as much an inanimate object can be... It feels... good to wear them again.
A man once said... without courage, virtue has no meaning. Maybe this is courage, or maybe its foolhardiness. I don't care anymore. I will take care of my prey before it can take care of it's...
Show time...
...
"A wild detective appears."
Funny how the world works...
A Totodile, eh? I wouldn't have been able to guess...but standing before it, I can see it in its eyes, that empty dark look that I've seen so many men, but now transplanted and amplified in this beast... How horrible those eyes look... It's like looking into a pit of hell itself.
It's anxious... While Roxy doesn't seem to be here yet, my assumption was at least partially right. It wasn't expecting to be set upon so suddenly, I am sure, nor by someone such as me. If I can just injure or kill it, perhaps I can help her...
"So how about it, bastard, your teeth versus my shotgun... your ivory against my lead."
Look how it tenses, readies... I wonder how many lives have been consumed still living by its fiendish mouth, so many forgotten to eternity...
W-what!? Who shot...
No, it... can't be, it can't be! "G..."
"Giovanni!?"
"You will not kill that creature... no, it will become mine." The orange clothed man said, tossing a tropical shirt to the ground.
"Y-you're... back!?"
"A temporary visit. Team Rocket is dead and done, those stupid administrators don't seem to realize that... I am able to accomplish much more in my Caribbean tax haven, in rich "retirement". Doing a little bit of underhanded trading and breeding on the side, of course... A creature of such a nature could sell very well in certain circles. "War" profiteering and retirement fit together so well, don't you think? This little Totodile has proven himself to be quite the killer at that. Just imagine what someone with the sole ability to produce 'abnormalities' such as it could gain..." Giovanni said with a chuckle.
Damn... So that's what he wants. He wants this killing machine as a market commodity. He must have figured by intuition with the news stories going around the world what I figured out with research and detective work. Damn.
"No... you won't capture this beast. It's head and life are mine, not yours. I will kill it, and you, in order to make this world a better place!"
Drawn by Amaya
"You'll take it upon yourself to make the world a better place!? Hah! We'll just see how well your shotgun fairs against my unstoppable Pokemon then..." Giovanni said, his self assured superiority surrounding him like an aura.
"You'll regret that." Giovanni said, his anger restrained by his calm nature.
"Yeah? You'll regret everything in hell. But for a start..."
"Regret this."
It's over... finally over... I feel a weight lifted from my shoulders. My friends avenged... an evil slain... Yeah, yeah! Maybe a single man can make the world a better place! It's not pointless, it's not...
Wait... what happened to...
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Death Investigation Report -
Victim Name: Tengankyou Rykuin
Crime Scene and Autopsy Details: The victim's remains were found in Mount Silver's mountain pass. His corpse was extremely mangled, with its inner organs torn out by some unknown method after its stomach was cut upon by a series of sharp implements. The corpse suffered numerous bone breaks and severe dismemberment of the left arm. The exact cause of death, however, cannot be determined.
There were two sources of blood at the crime scene, the victim's and another's, but the second source wasn't found on scene. DNA testing has turned up inconclusive, and the amount of blood cannot be determined as of being a fatal quantity. The investigation is continuing, but thus far there are no leads.
Note: The body is currently being processed for state funded cremation, as the autopsy has been completed as much as the coroner could achieve with what little remained on scene. The victim was a former-police turned private detective, with no known family or relatives to his name. A will was found amongst his files, and a lawyer is processing it. Without impediments, his body will be cremated and interned in the unlisted-section of the Lavender human burial grounds.
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