Thursday, May 11 th , 1989

The graveyard was quiet except for the occasional worker carrying things in and out of the closed-off crypt. The family memorials lined the grass with very few visitors around. Kitiku crutched alongside Captain Bourbabel toward the Bryson family monument. He sat down on the grass and looked up at the large marble tree. On each branch hung a carved marble tag, with information about the family member who had died from that town. He looked up at the newest tag that hung down and sniffled.

"I m-miss him... s-s-so m-much," Kitiku whispered. His tears crept down his cheeks, and he reached his hand out to touch the base of the memorial tree. His ears twitched as he heard Captain Bourbabel shuffle closer and saw his hand had reached to touch the memorial tree. Kitiku moved his hands around the base, clearing out the small mud pit which had rested underneath the marble. There, a large candle holder stood, rusty and wonky, but its shape, a shield with a houndoom engraved into it, was as clear as the day it had been made. The full moon, slightly less clearly, had been carved into the base of the holder.

"The full moon? I thought your family was religiously tied to cressellia," Captain Bourbabel said as he rubbed his moustache before he reached into his pocket, took out a small gold coin and placed it beside the candle holder.

Thank you. Kitiku raised his hands and signed, "When my dad married my mum, her parents refused to let them be together because of religion. So, my dad promised to change religion for me and my big brother until we turned 14 and were old enough to choose ourselves. I am 13, and I think I want to stay with the cressellia religion."

Captain Bourbabel nodded and took out a box of matches. He lit the candles, making sure each wick caught alight enough that the miserable weather wouldn't immediately put it out. He slowly got up and walked away from the tree.

"T-thank y-you." Kitiku took in a deep breath. One of the deepest he had ever taken and signed, "I miss you, Pierre. Every day without you is so hard. Dad doesn't seem okay anymore. He is drunk all the time. I caught my first pokémon. Her name is Zanha, and she is super strong. She is a bronzor. I know it is a she because she told me so with her psychic powers. I started school, and I am doing great. I wish you were here too. James is a good friend, my best friend... but he isn't you. I feel jealous of how he always says you are his big brother... but you aren't. You are mine. Is that wrong? Sorry for taking up much of your time. I am sure you have a lot of after-life stuff to do. May the spirit of cressellia protect you."

Captain Bourbabel walked back over to Kitiku, extended a hand and pulled him back onto his feet. The bushes on the edge of the graveyard rustled, and Captain Bourbabel felt a chill down his spine. Are we being watched? No, I don't think so. Something isn't right, though. He glanced around. Where are all the soldiers? I doubt they are all at the pub. He looked back at Kitiku, still in tears. I best get you home and talk to your mum and dad about how you feel. Captain Bourbabel slowly walked back onto the street, occasionally turning around to make sure Kitiku was still behind him.

They walked together through the busy square and to the straight and long Quigk Road back toward the west of the town. Captain Bourbabel waved to the citizens as they walked by, smiling. However, his ears tuned in to the whispers coming from the citizens who had walked by.

"Isn't that the weak Bryson boy?"

"Things were better when Tak was a Lord."

"Wouldn't last five minutes in the real world."

Interesting. Captain Bourbabel cleared his throat and said, "So, you still want to be a doctor? I think you'd do great as a doctor. You are clever. Not everyone can learn so fast." His tone was calm but assertive enough to turn heads. "Lord Ikur told me you are learning how to work in the pharmacy. That's a pretty important job." He glanced back to see Kitiku nod. He looked around at the citizens and noted their change in expression from mocking to more curious. "Never let anyone belittle you," he whispered to Kitiku.

It wasn't long before they arrived back at the Bryson household. Kitiku reached for the door and knocked gently. The door swung open, and waiting in the corridor was an orange blob with tentacles. Oosho, Mr Bryson's octillery, crisscrossed his long legs and scowled, letting out a pent-up "shoo" noise. The sound of Mr Bryson's footsteps came through the small household, and he arrived at the door reeking of alcohol.

"What has he done?" Mr Bryson said, sounding less drunk than he smelt. "I already have to deal with this arsehole telling me shit..." Mr Bryson raised his thumb and gestured to Lieutenant Tomilson in the living room.

"I told you, Mr. Bryson, the kid isn't in trouble. I think that maybe you are struggling to take care of him and your actual son. James is a good kid..." Lieutenant Tomilson said, glancing at James, who had tucked himself into the corner of the room. He turned to face Captain Bourbabel and Kitiku. "Sir, you agree with me, right?"

Captain Bourbabel paused before saying, "On what issue? The fact that the town's people are poor and need more financial support? The fact that we are hated and assumed to be forcing our beliefs onto their children? The fact that these people feel like we have taken their land and their rights? You cannot simply ask if I agree without specifying."

"He wants to take James," Mrs Bryson said. Her words knocked Captain Bourbabel back a little. "He thinks we aren't able to take proper care of him. Our son."

Captain Bourbabel turned and closed the front door behind him and felt Kitiku's hand grip his arm. Ah, yes. Kitiku must feel like this conversation would be about him if his brother were still alive. Also, I know he isn't doing too great mentally right now...

"It isn't like that. Look, it is so obvious he isn't your kid. Giratina knows what would happen if the Lords took a closer look at the blood tests today. He is a Spitz. We know it. It wasn't super hard to figure out." Lieutenant Tomilson said. His hand wrapped around his knife. "Why else would there be no records of him existing? He is adopted, yes, but-"

"You are wrong. There are no records because they didn't fucking exist." Mr Bryson walked up to Lieutenant Tomilson and pushed him. "Hanson Rei isn't the kid's dad. Fact." He pushed Lieutenant Tomilson again, harder. His shoulder ached from the old wound he obtained, but yet he glared into the Lieutenant's eyes. "The kid was tormented and harassed and poisoned repeatedly. Fact." He pushed once more. "Now he is safe. You want to take him somewhere, torment him, kill him and then arrest us and what?" Mr Bryson raised his hands to shunt Lieutenant Tomilson back into the fireplace.

James pushed past them both, running to Kitiku and standing in front of him. His hand is on his poké ball, ready to fight. He looked at Captain Bourbabel. However, Captain Bourbabel scribbled something down on his little notepad and didn't notice him.

"Tauros shit!" Lieutenant Tomilson, his face filled with rage and his fists bursting with energy, swung a punch. It landed squarely on Mr Bryson's shoulder, making the much shorter man stagger back. "I would never hurt the kid. Also, it is so obvious you used to be a Lord. You still even fucking wear your ring. I should arrest you for that right here, right now! The Lords would be so eager to find one of Madison's Lords. As for the missing son, well, it is clear he served Madison and died doing so. If I handed you over, giratina knows what they would do to you all. As for James, well, he doesn't simply exist!" Lieutenant Tomilson took a deep breath and said, "I don't care what happens to you or the rest of this plague-ridden family. A flying salamence could hit the other kid, and I wouldn't care. I want to take James Spitz off your hands."

Kitiku erupted into tears at Lieutenant Tomilson's words.

"Kitiku... I..." Lieutenant Tomilson said, looking at the distraught boy. "I didn't mean..."

"This is clearly not getting anywhere." Captain Bourbabel stepped forward in between the two men. "I need to talk to you about Kitiku anyway, and I think he wants to say something to you all." He turned around to where Kitiku had been standing. "Kitiku? James?"

A second later, on the southern side of town, James and Kitiku landed awkwardly around the back of the market. Beside them spun Kitiku's bronzor. Kitiku reached out and touched the bronzor, petting her metal body over and over.

"Woah... Zanha can use teleport? I didn't think that pokémon could teleport. I guess Zanha wanted to get us away from there." James looked around the market and then back to Kitiku. "It is late. We don't want to get caught out after curfew. So, we should walk back soon." He smiled at Kitiku, walked over to the stalls, and looked around. It is pretty quiet. Usually, the soldiers are out at the markets at this time. Like there are still some around, but a lot of the usual suspects aren't here. "Hey, er... Kuti? I am sorry about them fighting."

"N-not y-your f-fault. I-I just w-want to s-see S-Sutton. H-he is nice a-and will understand." Kitiku squeezed the bronzor as tightly as he could without falling over. Kitiku looked around the market from the side.

"He buys berries here every evening, right? So, he should be here," James said. He peered around the market and glanced between stalls, but to his surprise, there was no Sutton. That's odd. Maybe he is late? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lioa enter the market. "Li?" He waved to Lioa.

Lioa raised his hand and waved back. His mind shot back to the words of General Greiss, and his eyes stared at James's neck where the stone hung down. He plodded over, still covered in mud, and patted James on the shoulder.

"Hey Li, have you seen Sutton? Kuti needs to see him about something important. Stuff at home has exploded, and well... yeah." James looked at Lioa, scanning up and down his mud-covered clothes. "What happened to you?"

Lioa shrugged. "I think I saw Sutton up at the holy building," he said. "We should go up there. Look, I feel real bad about the whole fight thing." He nodded at Kitiku.

James nodded back and walked through the market, glancing back at Kitiku. The tarps from the stalls blew lightly in the wind as the group walked through the market and back onto the street, heading north to Quigk Road. Yeah, it is way too quiet. What is going on? The cobbles were more unstable under his feet than they were by the school or up at the Bryson household. As the bells from the holy building rang out, he turned and looked up. Seven? Damn, it is so late. Each step seemed to drag on, and the streets around the teens narrowed in. On their left stood the town stadium, silent and cold. The lack of cheers escaping into the air filled his stomach with a sense of dread.

"Boys? What are you doing out this late?" a familiar voice rang out.

"Lord Orag?" James looked over to him. "Stuff got heated at home, and we needed to get away. Kuti wanted to see Mr Sutton, but we can't find him anywhere. Li said he saw him up at the holy building so we were heading there." James looked down at the cobbles and continued to walk along the street. James turned to see Kitiku struggling to bow.

No bow, no sir, nothing. These boys are nothing but trouble, Lord Orag thought. Still... He walked over to the teens and sighed. "You aren't supposed to be out, regardless. However, I can see this is important to you so I will tell your parents about it. After you see Sutton, I expect you to go straight home, and we will talk about it tomorrow in my office. Do you understand?"

"Alright," James said and nodded.

Lord Orag's eyes drifted over the group as they continued to head northbound. It is definitely too quiet out here. He turned his wrist, pulled up his holo device, and tapped to type. Is there any update on the Rei situation? He then tapped the pad once more and typed, Lady Reynaldo, can you make a call to the Bryson and Takui households, informing them that their children are heading to the holy building? He paused and added, I suspect they are in danger. Please send parents to pick them up. Lord Orag sighed and waited until the boys had faded from view. Best stay close to them, Aaron, he thought.

The holy building was in sight, and James looked around. The group walked through the square out in front of the tall, overbearing, holy building. The steeple stared down at them. James glanced around once more. The back of the holy building had been bordered up. Something he hadn't noticed during his shenanigans with Raab. That's odd, James thought. The crypt is all closed off.

"You don't think he went into the crypt, do you?" Lioa said. His palms started to sweat, and he felt sick. They are down there... and then they get the stone, and we can go home, he thought.

"Maybe... let's go," James replied. "As soon as we find Sutton, we can get home and go to bed. Kuti, stay here. These stairs look pretty steep." He placed his hand on the wooded planks that had been placed over the doorway. This looks loose, he thought. Carefully, he bent down and pulled himself through the gap. His arm in his sling bashed against the side, and he held his breath. He wanted to scream, but the sound that had come from further into the crypt had forced him to bite his cheek to stop himself. He felt for the steps with his foot and turned to Lioa. He beckoned him through the gap and made his way down the crumbling stone steps.

Behind James, Lioa stepped carefully and quietly on his tiptoes. He extended his arms to the narrow walls and held himself upright. His fingertips grazed the tops of spinarak and joltik webs, which had coated the pathway down. Ugh, great. Sticky, he thought. "How far does this staircase go?" Lioa asked.

"Probably six or seven metres down. Maybe ten," James replied, a slight shiver in his voice. "Here, up ahead, is the archway into the crypt. I really don't like it down here. Mr Sutton? Hello?" The sound of groaning came up ahead as he entered the main room for the crypt. Wooden planks had covered the stone flooring, and a torch was lit at the end of the room. "What the actual fuck?" James said. He stepped onto the planks and crept closer to the torch. He felt his feet begin to wobble, and a loud crack rang out. His feet lost their grip as the plank beneath them disappeared into the ground below. James desperately reached out to grab onto the next plank, but his hand couldn't quite reach it. James fell into the darkness below.

James felt his body jerk upright as his eyes opened. He could see the top of where he had fallen through, twenty metres above him. He turned around, only feeling the sharp stabbing pain from his shoulder. How am I alive? he thought. He placed his hand down on the ground to get himself up onto his feet. His palm had brushed against something wooden in texture, and his fingers were tucked into a hole. He glanced down at where his hand was.

"Agh!" James yelped and scrambled back up onto a lip. He stared down into the dirt pit below the small ledge he had pushed himself up onto. All he could see were bones. Human remains in the darkness. "Okta, we need to get out of here," he said. His hand grabbed hold of his onix's poké ball. However, once again, in the distance, he heard the groaning. He turned to see a narrow corridor ahead.

Lioa led his friends to a trap, but only James fell in. What mysteries or creepy things will he find in the cavern under the crypt?

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