Chapter 18

Conspiracy

-???-

A full moon was out tonight. It dominated the attention of the night sky. The stars looked like dying lightbulbs compared to it. I sat upon the window sill with the curtains flapping in the cool wind of the night.

The door slowly creaked open. A middle aged man walked through the door. He looked around frantically while clinging to his briefcase. He obviously couldn't see me.

"Hello, Mr. Smith." I said.

He flinched and bumped into an end table. He clutched his briefcase to his chest.

"I-it's you!" He gasped.

I approached the man. "Yes it's me. Now give me the parts to the Master Ball."

His graze dropped to the briefcase and he nervously shifted it around in his arms.

"Come on, Smith. Give me the parts; we had a deal."

"What do you want with the parts? Why not have the Master Ball as a whole?"

"No questions. Just give me the briefcase and I'll let your daughter live. Just like we discussed." I smiled.

He hesitated then handed over the briefcase. I snatched it from him. I open it up to check if everything was there.

"Everything seems in order." I closed the briefcase.

My hand reached down to my belt and pulled out a silenced handgun. I put a bullet in Mr. Smith's head before he knew what happened. His body dropped to floor. A pool of blood formed around the hole in his head.

I walked over to the opened window.

"Only one more thing left, and then Kanto will be made into my image."

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-Griffin-

"GRIFFIN BLACK!!!! I COME HOME FROM EARLY FROM VISITING YOUR AUNT AND YOUR NOT IN ASHER'S APARTMENT LIKE YOU SAID!!! WHERE ARE YOU?"

"We are just outside of Saffron City, Mom." I said quickly.

"SAFFRON FRICKING CITY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?"

"I know where Asher is."

There was a pause. She hasn't seen her first born son in almost a year.

"You do?"

"Yes. I'm going after him. I have Liam with me, and we are among trustworthy people. I'm gonna bring home, Mom."

I heard my mom getting choke up over the phone.

"Be safe."

"I will. Bye, Mom."

I ended the call and handed the phone back to Mia.

"That went better then expected." I sighed.

I looked up to the trees. Nuz, now a Shiftry, was hopping from branch to branch. He even showcased his new Solar Beam move. My other Pokemon were looking at him in awe.

"We should be approaching Saffron in a little bit." Zoey finally said.

"The ground has been killing my back. I can't wait until we get a PC room." Liam whined.

"Wussy." Mia said.

"I'm not a wussy!" Liam exclaimed.

"Sleeping on the ground is part of a being a Ranger, so get used to it."

Liam shut up after that. We continued walking with minimal conversation. I realized that we weren't far away from our target. Only a few more days until we have to confront the thieves and save Asher. If he's alive. I shook my head. I had to stop thinking like that. He is alive. He's Asher Black for the love of Arceus.

After passing over a hill, we spotted the colossal sky scrapers of Saffron City.

"Last on there is a rotten Eggxecute!" Liam announced.

He immediately pushed me over and took off in a dead sprint. Mia and Zoey followed him.

"Liaaaaaam!" I shouted.

I sprung back up and took off after them. My Pokemon started having their own individual races along the way. I managed to pass Mia with my anger filled burst of speed.

"Coming for ya, Liam!" I said in a crazed voice after I passed Zoey.

Liam looked back and fear seized his face and squeezed it until he was pale. He tried speeding up but I was right on his tail. I jumped onto his back and dug my knees into his spine. He flopped on the ground face first and leapt off of his back and continued to run to the gates of Saffron. I slowed my pace down as I entered the city. Umbreon was right after me, closely followed by Kit.

Frogadier hopped up to next to us, along with Hex and Nuz. Mia and Zoey showed up shortly as did a limping Liam.

"You deserved that by the way." I smirked at my best friend.

"Screw you." He muttered.

"What's going on here?" Zoey pointed to a house across the street. Police men were all over the place.

"A homicide investigation is what's going on." A squeaky voice said.

I turned around to see a boy slightly older then us. He had pale skin and pitch black hair. He had round glasses that sat on the edge of his nose. He looked as though he hasn't sleep in days but was hyper from drinking caffeine. A camera was hanging from his neck as he held a note pad and a cup of coffee.

"Homicide?" Mia croaked.

"That's what I said. A homicide of Mr. Robert Smith! He was a worker at Silph Co."

"How do you know all of this?" I asked.

"I am an investigator for my own enjoyment. I'm also a writer for a newspaper here. I know all the gossip in Saffron!"

"Who are you again?" Zoey asked.

"Simon Porter, at your service!"

He stared at Zoey for a long time. Simon approached her slowly as he finished off his coffee cup. He tossed it into a nearby trash can. Zoey looked very uncomfortable. Simon stuck his nose in her hair and sniffed. Zoey immediately round house kicked him down the sidewalk. He landed with a loud thud.

"Perv!" She spat with a red face.

I noticed that I was angry at this new Simom guy as well.

"Worth it." Simon announced weakly.

I marched right up to Simon and got ready to punt him in the ribs. I heard a loud screeching noise and before I knew it, a Meowth was clawing at my face. I pried it off my face and threw it at Simon.

The Meowth stopped its attack when it landed in Simon's arms. I swore under my breath. I noticed some type of miniature tape recorder attached to the Meowth's neck.

"What information do you have for me today, Bartholomew?" Simon whispered to the Meowth.

"Information?" Mia asked.

"There are multiple Meowth's like Bartholomew who help me collect information through these recorders. They walk around town, getting the juicy stuff." Simon licked his lips at Mia.

Liam stiffened and his left eye started twitching with irritation.

"You do realize that's spying. That's illegal!" I said.

"Not if the cops don't find out!" He shouted triumphantly.

A couple of the Police men from the house looked towards us.

"My cover has been blown!" He panicked.

He snapped two quick pictures of Zoey and Mia and ran off with Bartholomew in his arms. Zoey and Mia screamed and ran after him.

"We better follow them." I said to Liam.

We ran after the girls through the streets and alleys of Saffron. Surprisingly, Simon could run fast. He lead us to a shabby looking apartment complex. Liam and I lost track of them as they entered the building. We found them after following the screams of Simon.

Simon's apartment was worse then the actually building. Papers were everywhere. Pictures and document were pinned to every wall along with notes in marker. Everything was just a mess. It smelled awful as well. To add to all of that, there were Meowth's everywhere.

Simon was on the ground as the girls were kicking the crap out of him.

"That's enough!" I said, pulling Zoey away from him.

"For now." Liam added.

Simon slowly got up and walked to the window, acting as if nothing happened. He opened it and scooped up a couple of his Meowth's.

"Go and collect information swiftly!" He threw them out the window.

We just stood there with our mouths agape. He was one weird guy.

"Anybody want to hear about the homicide?" He turned around and asked excitedly.

"Not really." Liam answered.

"Excellent! Now where to begin?" He started shuffling through some papers.

We all let out a collective groan.

"Ah! Here it is." Simon announced. "I've been doing a little snooping, and I've found quite a lot. Robert Smith was working on a secret project for Silph Co. Rumor has it that he was working on building another Master Ball. You know what a Master Ball is?"

"Yes!" I said.

"Calm down. I was just checking. Anyway, apparently his work also went missing when he was shot at point blank tame in his house. My guess is that his killer took it. I've also noticed a string of crimes in the last few weeks. First, the Kanto Academy was attacked and something was stolen there. Second, a Mega Ring was stolen from a Mr. Fuji, and now this has happened. These might be connected. Then again, no one has died in the other two thefts, so they might not be connected. But I think they are. And I know who has been orchestrating all if this!"

"You do?" Zoey asked quickly.

"Yes! It is none other than..... Asher Black! He has been missing from his post for quite some time now! It would give him the perfect opportunity to plan these attacks!"

I grabbed Simon by his collar.

"He's my brother, you idiot! The people who have been doing this, captured him!"

"How do you know?"

"Because we've been tracking these people down!"

Simon was silent for awhile. I let got of him.

"I-I apologize." Simon said.

"It's fine."

"Thanks for the information." Mia said.

"Yeah that really helped with our mission, to be honest." Liam added.

"We should probably go." Zoey said.

"Come back anytime." Simon smiled.

We exited his apartment and walked to Pokemon Center in silence. Thoughts were bouncing around in my mind. Did the thieves plan to use the Master Ball to catch Mewtwo? What do they have left until their plan is complete? Would we be able to stop them?

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Author's note: Sorry for the wait guys! Let's just say semester test hit me like a freight train. I was also kinda lazy as well. Once again sorry for my silence on Wattpad. I have an announcement to make as well. I have entered Edge of War in the Pokemon Watty Awards under the Adventure Category. I am really excited because I have never participated in one of these events. Do you guys think I have a chance? If so, show me some support in the comment section. Should I enter The Protectors? What category do you think it goes under? Thank you for your patience and understanding!

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