Loki's POV

     I explored the area with not only an open mind but with attentiveness. Nothing will distract me from this case no matter what, and seeing as how I already having multiple suspects, I feel as if this is going to be a very long trial.

     I entered the room one last final time to see Inu and pay my respects. Doing this, I noticed Rayne and Galant having a conversation.

     "I see something odd here," Galant remarked as he held the chin of the corpse, glaring at the cut marks. "One cut is way thinner than the other two, could there be a Pokemon that has those feats?"

     "Boo!" A different voice called out from the closet. It was Sam, no, Sammy? "Did I surprise you?" For some reason, I never knew I needed to hear that monotone voice again. I gazed at the chill Braixen in surprise.

     "You're alive?" I spoke out in confusion. Rayne and Galant now seemed to notice I was in the room--but it was all thrown aside at the sight of Sammy.

     "I died?" A soft smile creased her lips as she hopped out of the darkness. "Sorry for 'dying' then. Anyways, I have really big plans. I made a deal with Sam to help you guys," for some reason, she was getting teary-eyed.

     I tilted my head in confusion, softly gazing at the Braixen.

     "A deal?" I questioned her, she slowly walked closer to us.

     "I made a promise to Sam that she will stop all murders for a week," a warm smile greeted me, Sammy looked up to all of us—a frown now grew over her features as her voice croaked. "B-But now...I'm participating in the killing game a-and...I don't want to d-die," she hiccuped, softly shaking her head in denial.

     My feet moved on their own as I hastily approached the Braixen, tightly curling my arms around her into a warm hug.

     "Thank you so much, Sammy. Thank you..." I felt those words slip out of my lips subconsciously. The Braixen wrapped her arms around my mane before sobbing onto my chest.

     It only took half a minute for Sammy to calm down, I gave a side-glance to Galant and Rayne, and almost as if I commanded them--the two trudged their way up to us.

     "That was really brave of you, Sammy, thank you so much." Rayne calmly verbalized as Galant nodded on queue.

     "Yeah, I never knew you could do something so generous." The Gallade had now spoken.

     "I-I'm sorry, you guys have to get to investigating before your time runs out. I know a couple of things since I used to work with Sam, come on!" Her voice was still shaky, but nonetheless, I believe all her words. We followed her around the building until she turned an abrupt left into the kitchen. She seemed to pause—only to take one gaze and verbalize a realization mutter.

     "Aha!" The Braixen called into the air before placing her paw on a specific tile of the wall, and suddenly, the walls were shifting sideways into one another—a secret room was on the other side. "This is the research library," Sammy called once again before entering. We all entered in a single filed line, we were so mesmerized by the existence of this room. There were multiple books laid out on shelves, neatly tucked side-by-side. The Braixen skipped over to a large one labeled 'Linked murders of Kalos'.

     Sammy pulled it off the shelf and flipped it open, quickly skimming around and finding a specific page.

     "The bloody-voiced Absol, a very well known serial killer in the land of Kalos, has had multiple cases of murders involving her ex-lovers--which always fall upon the category of being female. Her famous--and repeated methods of killing have mostly been consecutively proven to always end with a slice of the neck. The claw marks perfectly fit the diameter of an Absol's, however, the bloody-voiced Absol only uses two claws to finish the murder," Sammy read the whole page out loud to all of us before gazing up to us to take her breath. "This is quite odd, seeing as how the murder has three claws. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but it could be a huge help to you guys." She finished before giving us a warm smile to end her reading.

     "That could be really essential, thank you for everything, Sammy!" Galant called out hastily before pacing his way over to the book. He seemed to gaze at something for a while before turning to us again. "Alright, as much as we all want to stay in this room, we have to look for more clues." He finished as my subconscious nod was enough of a start to leave the area. I turned around before rushing silently over to the outside, attempting to remember where the garage was located. For being here this long, I still can't remember where everything is. As cramped as I feel...I still can go anywhere I want.

     "I believe it's to your left," Rayne sternly announced before trotting ahead of me. I brought myself back to reality and followed the Manectric--who paused as soon as she noticed the garage door open. Grace was shuffling through multiple things and suspiciously whimpering. "Grace." The Manectric called out to her in seriousness.

     "Please help! I can't find it!" Grace called back to us, almost like she was talking to someone else.

     "Find what?" I called out to her as she turned her head in a surprise of my voice--but soon answered my question.

     "The needle! There was a needle that exactly fit the puncture wound on Inu's body--it's gone!" Her voice was extremely, almost like she had seen a ghost for the first time.

     "Shit," I heard Rayne curse for the very first time. "This could be an after-murder act to hide evidence. Only the murderer themselves would do this, we need to catch them in the act somehow." Rayne continued before dashing away from the Eevee. Galant followed with her, Sammy and I chose to stay near the Eevee.

     "Grace, just calm down, everything will be okay!" Sammy enthusiastically called, Grace seemed to jump at the sound of a new voice.

     "Sammy? What happened, I thought you died?" Grace inquired--only causing the Braixen to silently giggle.

     "That's what everyone says," the Braixen stopped giggling and gazed directly at the Eevee. "I sacrificed my power to stop all murders for a week after the trial."

     "Really?" Grace gasped.

     "Absolutely."

     "What do you mean by power, though?"

     "Since I am Sam's sister, every time I am about to be attacked, Sam would stop it immediately. Not only that, but I also have a safe place to stay in with her...I no longer have that privilege," Sammy took her breath. "Summarized in simpler terms, I am participating in the killing game."

     Grace couldn't speak, it seemed like she tried but nothing came out of her lips.

     "T-Thank you so much," Grace hopped onto the chest of Sammy's to embrace her in somewhat of a hug. She seemed to slip down until Sammy held her with another embrace back.

     I turned around to sense someone near, and I was correct. An Absol, clutching a needle with her maw glared at me for one second—approaching me the second one. She softly placed the needle down onto the grass and stared directly in my eyes. "I found this in Alice's room. Don't only keep that in mind, but also keep the needle in a safe place, please." I was quite confused at her words. Alice of all people? She seemed to be one of the nicest Pokemon in the building.

     "Alright, I will." I nodded on queue and clutched the needle, slowly pacing my way over to the garage's shelves and placed it on the highest one. "Sammy, please introduce yourself to everyone, I'm going to do something important." Sammy nodded at my voice without even looking. I walked elsewhere to finish my job...

     Sherwood's POV

     My eyes attentively noticed something strange by the stairway.

     "Hey...Leon...use your aura to find what I can't see here," I called out to the Lucario behind me. He murmured something incoherent as I felt his aura power-up. He paced in front of me with the appendages on his head rising into the air—a light blue mist was emanating from his now completely shut eyes.

    "There seems to be a bloodstain here," he informed me as my theory was proven correct.

     "Bloodstain?" Alice questioned from behind me.

     "Shut up, murderer! Your claws match perfectly!" Kanom's remark was heard halfway across the room.

     "S-she's innocent until proven guilty, dumbass!" Aubra snapped from another side of the room.

     "What's wrong, never sworn before?" Kanom exclaimed his tease back, Leon's appendages lowered after that.

     "Hey everyone, 'shut up contest', go!" Grace hissed as she entered the room. Finally, everyone did indeed stay quiet after her genius words. "How is everything, Leon?" The Eevee went straight to the Lucario.

     "There is a bloodstain across the walls of the secret stairway, the bottom of it, of course," Leon answered before turning back around to gaze down to Grace.

     "The trial starts very soon." He chose those words to say before jumping inside of the closet and dashing up the stairs—he was heading to Vince's room.

       DING DONG, DONG DING!

     "Hey everyone, I'm sure you met your new friend, right? Hell yeah, you did! I watched you all greet her so nicely—remember, she heavily betrayed me by stopping all murders for one week. What a bitch...anyways, head outside to the fountain for the beginning of the trial or something..." Her voice went from cocky remarks to...whatever that ending was.

     "Does Sammy have to participate in the trial? What does she know about the murder?" Laker questioned before the Braixen entered the room with a small frown.

     "Sadly, I know more than what I could tell, you know—I sure can tell you during the trial, so let's get going." Sammy softly spoke, almost commanding all of us to leave the area.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

     INTERMISSION:

     My eyes adjusted to the light outside, my heart had never felt so relieved to finally breathe from the outside world. I was stuck in such a hell, I don't know how 'they' do it. Twisting the lock in a complex code 'she' taught me, I finally gazed outside of heaven. Surprisingly, I paused once the area greeted me. For being such an isolated area inside, the outside was...lively.

     I took my first step against the grass and the birds greeted me with their songs. I didn't care, I was finally outside.

    Sadly...I had to go back inside at some point.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

     Sherwood's POV

     I couldn't help but notice everyone in the room had claws. Due to that, I noticed Leon was nowhere to be found.

   "Where is Leon?" Of all the times to think about when we first met, I thought about the Lucario and I's past. We started off hating each other--then here I am, worrying about his safety, it's quite ironic.

     "I'm here! No worries," he announced to the crowd that had built up in front of the Braixen fountain. A warm smile is all I could give in relief that he wasn't hurt.

     "Finally, we have to start the trial now," I replied, quickly shifting my direction to the Braixen beside me. "Hey, just wanted to let you know I'm super grateful for everything," Sammy smiled at my thankful message before turning to glare directly at the Braixen statue.

     "Let's start..." She said in a low voice before stepping on the platform, the dull orange growing brighter. I stepped into the circle, following multiple of the Pokemon in front of me. Before we knew it, we had been stepping on the platform in an orderly fashion. The concrete below us suddenly shifted to fall like an elevator, I still haven't grown accustomed to how fast it fell.

     The area around us seemed different, this was because Sammy was now with us, and as nice as she is—I worry for her safety. My eyes landed on Loki, who was fidgeting with her claws in anxiety. Her eyes landed back on mine as I gave her a small smile and, a brighter, but still warm smile was given to me in return.

      My eyes then landed on Laker, who stared back at me in return. His eyes ignored mine as he gave Loki a mean glare.

     Due to that, I shifted my gaze directly to Galant, who smirked confidently at me. He mouthed a 'you okay?' at me, causing me to nod.

     Before I could even see anyone else, the soft, but fast clicks of the cement below me began to grow slower. The whirring of the machines grew silent as the walls ahead of us shifted wide open, an orange room greeting us.

     "Hello! This trial's color will be orange, not because of me, but in honor of Sammy's power in any situation~!" Her voice sung from the throne as Sammy chose to ignore her sister's comments and walked ahead.

     "Oh! Sammy, my dear sister, your pedestal is over there!" The evil Braixen enthusiastically called from her throne, motioning over to a very long noose, which hung from the neverending ceiling above us. "I call it the Inu—get it? 'Cause it's a suicide! Hah!" Sam wheezed from her throne.

      "I hope you die, too." Sammy boldly hissed back at her sister, ignoring the rope and standing on her actual pedestal.

     "It wasn't a suicide." Rayne sternly remarked as she had finally reached her pedestal.

     "I agree with Rayne, Inu would never resort to suicide." Leon huffed out from his side of the room.

     "Whatever, we can mention this all during the trial, Sam has something to say first!" Laker smirked from his pedestal as Sam smirked with him.

     "Your little Weavile friend here is correct! Since your betraying friend here sacrificed her position of power to save you for one week, after this trial I will no longer be in the building. For now, let the trial begin!" She wanted to get this fast and over with, it seemed.

      "Let's start before Loki's bitch arse starts blaming me, yeah?" Laker tapped his feet as the Zoroark scoffed lightly.

     "I was not blaming you, you were just my suspect because of your claws. Also, why are you working with Sam all of a sudden, huh?" She called back to Laker in anger.

     "Well, we tested everyone's claw size and there are three other Pokemon who match! Guess who one of them is, miss Zoroark?" That remark from Laker caused the Zoroark to completely stop talking.

     "Now that I remember, who else fits the size perfectly?" Galant questioned as Laker sighed.

     "It's me, Loki, Sherwood, and Alice who fit the wound perfectly." He gave Leon a disappointed glare, the Lucario shut his eyes and crossed his arms. I couldn't help be feel concerned...why am I being so concerned over everyone?

     Leon's POV

     I felt the appendages on my head rise as I shut my eyelids close after Laker's comment. Reading everyone's emotions, I noticed a good rate of confident Pokemon. Laker seems suspicious, and Alice is...sad.

     "I would like my privacy." I heard Alice announce directly to me before my eyelids rose, my appendages lowering.

      "For all I know, you could have killed someone," I remarked. My only weakness in being able to read all thoughts and emotions is that they could very easily tell the sensors on my head are reading them—causing them to switch their thoughts to something irrelevant.

      "A suspect reading everyone's thoughts? That's so funny," Kanom snickered as he gazed directly at me.

     "What do you mean, I don't have any claws?" I hate that my voice was extremely shaky--Kanom and Laker knew something that no one else knew...

     Kanom gave me one glance and shifted his attention to gaze at Aubra.

     "Aubra, you were one of the people who had matched—but your claws were too wide. You're safe...for now." He ended his statement sternly.

     "Oh, you're so lucky your claw doesn't match," Grace hissed to the Toxicroak in utter disgust, causing him to chuckle. "You find everything funny, don't you?" Her voice was lower and disgusted than normal.

     "We're digressing from the topic." Sammy began her statement professional--giving each one of us a stare before continuing. "I know something you all don't," her stare had now landed on Sam, and it never moved.

     "Wait, wait! Before you say it, are we sure it even was a murder? I know you guys won't believe it was a suicide, but even Grace herself mentioned that Inu was yelling suicidal things before she passed away," Aubra mentioned. "I know you guys don't want to believe it but...what if It could have been a suicide?"

     "Yeah...I believed that as soon as I found this," I sighed into the air before levitating an object into the air with my aura. It was a bloodied knife.

     "Wait what? Where did you find that?" Aubra replied before glaring directly at me in suspicion.

     "Oh, it was shuffled under the covers in Vince's room. I was reading things with my aura and suddenly found something, I pulled it out and there it was—a bloody knife." I huffed out those words, the Absol seemed to be satisfied—yet still confused. "Anyways, what were you going to say?"

     "This goes against your logic but..." Sammy began.

     "The science shows the murderer could be a four-legged Pokemon," those words slipped out of the Braixen's lips.

     Somehow, I did believe it.