Loki's POV

     I glared deeply into the Eevee's eyes, before nodding and smirking.

     "Grace cannot be the killer!" I called out as everyone turned their glare to me before Lancer blurted out.

     "How are you so sure? Tell us why?" The midnight Lycanroc frowned at me before I smirked wider.

     "How did the Eevee reach on the counter?" I mumbled out to the group as they all glared at me like I was insane.

     "By jumping, of course?" Laker the Weavile spoke out in concern with his British accent.

     "No! Grace herself told me that she cannot jump well! She has a bruise...but she won't tell us why," Kanom the Toxicroak objected with a slight accent to his words, I just can't seem to know which.

     "Well that's simple, it's because the victim fought back and hit her on wherever she was hurt!" Inu huffed out and smiled at her own comment. I couldn't just stand and let it happen.

     "Objection!" I called out as Inu along with the group snapped their heads in my direction once more. "Inu, Grace had the wound before we even saw the dead body, so it would not have been possible to have wounds from Vince fighting back, hence the whole idea of her jumping to the knife rack!" I smiled in pride at my objection as everyone began to slowly agree one by one.

     "Well, I suppose Grace is cleared for n-" Leon began to speak as Lancer yelled out.

     "I disagree!"

Contradiction time!

(A contradiction is basically when a singular person disagrees with another's point, meaning a one on one worded battle will happen between the two. In this case, it is Loki versus Lancer. Hope this is clear to understand, and enjoy!)

     "That is not it for this little Eevee!" Lancer cockily growled as I glared at his confident stare.

     "Alrighty then, prove it!" I called back as he smiled.

     "Oh you little foolish Zoroark, you have forgotten the most suspicious thing the Eevee has ever done! That powder you found on Vince's face was SLEEP POWDER! It was found in the garage by Inu, along with a dry-blooded knife stored in a cardboard box!" The midnight Lycanroc began. I could not interject, his point seemed valuable, but there has to be a lie in there...

     "O-Oh r-right! I totally didn't forget that!" Inu stammered as she smiled in utter confusion.

     "So, what's your point?" I replied as he chuckled to himself, he seemed a little too confident for this.

     "The powder was found on the Eevee's face!" Lancer replied to my comment as his brother interrupted.

     "But brother, is it possible it was used on her too? She did state that she was knocked out somehow," Talus spoke back as his brother shook his head.

     "Perhaps a quick sleeper, it was just a coincidence." He huffed out before speaking once more.

     "Maybe she used it on herself by accident, an-" There is it! A weak point!

     "Objection!" Lancer's glare shifted from confident to annoyed.

     "What now, fox girl!?" He yelled out as I sighed.

     "There is no possible way she used it on herself by accident. Going by the logic that the sleep power works instantly, there is no way she would be able to comfortably get inside the sleeping bag at that very minuscule amount of time! Not only that, there is no evidence that she had access to the knife anyways!" I called out as he froze. Lancer seemed to have nothing else to give, so Grace's pedestal was shifted back into its regular position.

     "Thank you, Loki..." she sighed in relief as I nodded and smiled at the Eevee. I stared at Lancer as he had another smile written on his face. Not again...

     "Well Loki, that was impressive, but I have another point. How did she know it was from the garage?" He murmured before turning to me.

     "She said herself she began exploring the area once everyone was grouped up in the living room," I fought back as he shook his head.

     "But that was where the dry knife was, right? She has to be the most suspicious her-" Lancer fought back as Leon called out.

     "It's my turn now!" Leon smirked as the Lucario glared directly at the Lycanroc.

     "Grace herself was a witness to you leaving the room, correct?" The Lucario addressed as Lancer froze. "You left the room at night time when no one was awake, correct?" Leon smirked at the Lycanroc.

     "This brings a whole new story, right? How you murdered Vince? You took the knife, entered the room, and murdered hi-" Leon was about to finish but was interrupted by Rayne.

     "No." Her demeaning voice shattered Leon's hope. "Either Vince would have woken up everyone, or Grace would have seen him with the knife, there's no way he just carried it into the room with ease," The Manectric spoke in her cold voice before Galant continued.

     "Well, there was a hole in the wall connecting the hallway and the room, so he could have passed the knife into there and got it from the other side." The Gallade conversed out before Aubra called out.

     "B-But! Why were there two knives with blood on them?" The Absol stammered out to the group. These single words that formed into a sentence stumped everyone. How could there be two knives with blood on them? What was the point of doing that? And to add to that, how was there sleep powder on both Vince and Grace?

...

...

...

     "That's it!" Alice the Ninetales blurted out. This shook me as I have rarely heard her speak ever, but her voice soothed everyone once she did. Her soft voice spoke once again, like music to my ears.

     "The culprit used the sleep powder to sedate the Greninja, and then killed him after that!" The Ninetales proudly spoke. I really wanted to agree, but there seemed to be a problem with that...

     "Alice...then if that was the case, how were there two wounds? The first one seemed to be a cut, the second one was the killing wound," I replied as she smiled and turned to my direction.

     "Simple, Loki. The culprit tried to kill Vince, but Vince was prepared! He dodged it in time and only got a simple cut. Sadly, after that...he died died died!" Alice babbled. You know, the statement is extremely believable...if she didn't end it like she were a crazy person. But either way, that seemed to be the truth.

     "Well, Gruta no think that right!" The soft-hearted Machamp yelled out as Alice was startled.

     "Oh uh, Gruta sorry," Gruta apologized as the Ninetales shook her head.

     "No, it's fine, silly. Say what you think is wrong," the fire type smiled at the Machamp, who nodded.

    "If Vince dodge attack first, then he could have called other people in room to wake up!" Gruta spoke as we all stared at each other for a while.

     "Well, is Gruta wrong?" The Machamp seemed worried about something, Laker the Weavile was the first to nod.

     "Well, were lookin' at each otha cause I think you're right, son," the Weavile sheepishly smiled to the Machamp as Gruta glared at him with one of the scariest faces possible. It wasn't like a creepy smile, more like one of those serious faces you see from Machamps.

     "Really!? Good! Gruta make sure he right from now on!" He spoke out as I smiled at him.

     "The guy is right, though. He would have called everyone else as a first priority. Sorry, Alice, that's thrown out the window," Kanom sighed, before turning to the Ninetales. Alice nodded in understanding, before staying quiet. I felt bad...

     I shifted my attention to Lancer, who was still puzzled. He seemed to think of something, and whatever it was, it seemed like something very important.

     "But, what if I told you that she could be right if she adjusted her statement a little," Aubra spoke from beside me as she turned to glare at the Ninetales. "Alice, you could actually be right. The culprit most likely snuck up and failed to kill Vince, which is the cause of the sleep powder!" The Absol smirked at the crowd of Pokemon.

     "It seems like you're onto something," Galant commented as he earned a nod from the Absol.

     "Yes indeed. After he failed to kill Vince, he threw the sleep powder at the Greninja, and he fainted!" The Absol continued. I couldn't help but agree with the statement until I realized something.

     "Wait a minute, how was Vince conscious? Was he not asleep by that time? There's no way he would just be randomly awake..." I questioned as Aubra gave me a polite smile.

     "Well, that's quite simple. The culprit must have done some mistake to accidentally wake up Vince, and causing him to not die as quick as the culprit wanted him to." Aubra answered as I was left speechless. Could this be the actual answer?

     "That is false!" Rayne spoke from the other side of the room as everyone shifted their attention to the female Manectric.

     "What does miss tough girl have to say now?" Inu blurted out as the Manectric sighed.

     "There is no way the culprit was able to use the sleep powder as a backup plan because if assuming he shook the bottle of powder at his face, there would have been more of a mess on the ground. Technically speaking, the culprit somehow got powder on Vince's face - that's true, but wouldn't the bottle be more...empty? That's if my hypothesis is right," Rayne practically lectured as we all stood stumped at her idea.

     "Wait, if you're saying that there's barely any powder, you mean that..." Sherwood whispered as Rayne nodded.

     "The killer was a bipedal Pokemon," she finished as Talus shook his head.

     "That's a hypothesis, no? Are you sure we can just ride this on by a guess?" The midday Lycanroc doubted as Gruta began to speak.

     "Gruta believe that could be true! Because killer could put little of sleep powder on his hand, creating little mess!" Gruta spoke loudly as Kanom hissed.

     "Hey! You aren't supposed to be agreeing, this limits us bipedal Pokemon to being the culprit!" The Toxicroak folded his arms as Gruta groaned.

     "Gruta sorry..." The Machamp murmured as I began speaking once more.

     "No, Gruta, it's fine. But sadly, it actually could be one of us who actually committed the crime, but I will do my best to prove my innocence and everyone else's. Except for the culprit, of course." I spoke proudly in the beginning but near the end that kind of faded away.

     "Yeah, I can prove my innocence, too!" Laker called to my left as he smirked at everyone.

     "We...still have yet to cover why there are two knives?" Aubra silently spoke before she stumped everyone once again.

     "Arceus, how many times are we going to ignore that question? If we cannot figure out how there are two knives with blood on them, we can't figure out the case..." I told myself as the whole group went quiet once more.

     We could not figure out the case as quickly with that simple question, so we were all just stuck in our minds as the case flew by our heads. How did they use two knives...how did they use two knives..?

...

     Galant's POV

     I kept still, completely thinking this through. If we did not solve this, we would all be at risk of dying. Our lives are at stake, and if we do not solve this, the murderer will leave scot-free! I cannot let that happen.

...

     Now that I think about it, it won't hurt to guess a little. The idea of the culprit messing up is a really good hypothesis on Alice's case, so I may be able to follow that up.

     "Now, Alice could be correct with the attack missing, and Rayne could be correct on how the bipedal Pokemon sprayed the powder on the victim after his attack missed...which would mean that the culprit did something to wake the victim up like...tripping...or doing some loud noise. After that, the loud sound once Vince hit the ground unconscious must have woken up Grace," I followed up the idea as Laker began.

     "Well, only Grace? Also, wouldn't she have seen Vince laying unconscious with a cut or something? At least she could have seen the culprit with the knife or something..." Laker was right, but there was only one way the culprit was able to do that.

     "In the room, there was a hole connecting the room to the hallway. There is no way it was made by the culprit because I believe Gruta said himself he saw the crack before the murder happened. There is a possible way he threw the bloody knife on the other side of the crack, which could explain the very small dry bloodstain on the ground. If that bloodstain on the ground is dry, then the knife used for the cut on the arm was the dry knife in the garage!" I called out.

      This could actually be it, with the help of others, we actually figured out something that seemed like the truth.

     "Wait, if Grace was awake and didn't notice Vince while Lancer left the room then...that could mean that Lancer is the most suspicious here!" I heard Inu blurt out from my left as I nodded. I shifted my attention to the quiet midnight Lycanroc. A little too quiet, perhaps...

     "Hm? Oh, right. Did you not hear what Grace said? I said I was going to the bathroom. You have absolutely no proof that I left the room and caused the murder and no proof that Vince was awake. What if I went out before or after the murd-" Lancer huffed out before being interrupted by Talus.

     "Brother, your logic is impossible. If you went out after the murder, you would smell the blood, correct? Not only that, Vince was out of his sleeping bag in the murder scene, so you would have seen it. I believe Vince was awake before the culprit got the murder weapon...because Vince woke up by the sound of Lancer leaving the room - he just did not show it. He did sleep quite near the door. How else will there be just a random cut on his arm? This could further prove Galant's idea..." Talus listed as I stood baffled. That could actually be a reason why Vince was awake during the time Lancer wanted to kill him.

      "Looks like I was wrong," Rayne began speaking as she sighed. "That hole in the wall is actually near Vince, so that could have been the transportation of the knife. But tell me, that explains one knife? What happened to the other, and why is it fresh?" The Manectric began speaking once more as Loki continued.

     "Well, the first knife is dry, and the cut on his arm is not bleeding, however, the one on his back is indeed bleeding. The knife found in the kitchen trash can is fresh. My guess is that after his plan failed, he threw the knife into the hole and hid the sleep-powdered Vince in the sleeping bag. After that, he planned to leave but was caught by Grace. This all ties to the story of how Lancer left the room. Isn't that right, Lancer?" Loki finished speaking as the midnight Lycanroc was quiet once more.

     "Come on, brother. Please speak to prove your innocence! I don't want you to be guilty!" Talus pleaded to his brother as the red Lycanroc continued to be quiet.

     "Before he was caught by Grace and after he placed the sleep powder on Vince, he possibly threw the knife in the hole, which explains the dry blood on the ground. When he went to the bathroom, he actually went to hide the sleep powder bottle as well as the knife. I believe he took a long time since the blood is drying by now. He possibly wanted it to seem like the crime took place a long time ago to confuse us. After hiding the knife, he entered the room with sleep powder curled in his fist. He snuck up to Grace and threw the powder on her, causing her to sleep. After that, he had already grabbed a new knife and finished the job - placing the fresh knife into the kitchen trash can. All he had to do now was pretend to fall asleep..." Laker finished Loki's hypothesis, before speaking again. "So..? Are we right, Lancer?"

     The red Lycanroc kept crying as his brother sobbed out.

     "Lancer? Brother? Please don't tell me this is right, speak! PLEASE!" He pleaded once more as Lancer began sobbing.

     "I deserve this, just...stop talking," Lancer sobbed.

     "Boring! I wanted him to go crazy," Kanom the Toxicroak yawned as Loki groaned.

     "You guys always have to make everything so blunt, just let him explain why he did it," the Zoroark spoke out as everyone agreed. Everyone kept quiet as Lancer took a deep breath.

     "I just wanted to escape with my brother. When I first came here, I really hated everyone. But now, seeing as you all are working together to get the best possible ending to this killing game...I regret it. I'm so sorry for starting the killing game..." Lancer stopped sobbing as he sighed heavily.

     "Galant...just explain it...explain the whole story to everyone," he called out to me as I nodded in response.

      "Here is the whole story, everyone." I began.

     "The culprit prepared the knife, making their way over to the garage. Scouting out multiple bottles, they picked up one of them labeled "Sleep powder"...

     "Making their way over to the room, they walked up to the conscious Vince. They swung the knife down, aiming to the head. Vince was luckily already awake, so he evaded the attack, and rolled to the side. Only getting a cut to the arm, the culprit used their back-up, and curled some sleep powder on their hand, before throwing it on Vince. Vince collapsed on the ground, and the culprit knew this was too much sound, so they carried the Greninja to his bag, and tossed the knife to the other side of the hole..."

     "The culprit began to leave the room but was caught by Grace. They told the Eevee they were leaving and left the room with the door open. Grace thought nothing of it and attempted to fall asleep. Unsuccessful, she kept trying for a long period of time. Seemingly about an hour, the culprit had already hidden the knife in a cardboard box and had placed the sleep powder bottle where they found it. However, the culprit returned to the room with a new knife and a little bit of sleep powder curled up in their fist."

     "Successfully closing their distance between the Eevee, the culprit threw the sleep powder carefully onto Grace, and she was fast asleep. After that, it's only obvious to say that they finished the job after that. With a stab on the back, Vince died. Not bothering to bring him back to his sleeping bag, the culprit left the room and placed the knife in the hidden kitchen trash can."

     "Returning to the room, he closed the door and all he needed to do is pretend to fall asleep..."

     "This was the story of the culprit, and that culprit?"

     "Is YOU, Lancer the midnight Lycanroc!"

     The whole statement was hopefully taken into the heart by every single Pokemon in the area.     "That's...correct...It has to be," I heard Rayne hope to my left. Talus was sobbing uncontrollably - poor thing.

     Lancer kept quiet, glaring at the ground beneath him. It was over...

     "Looks like you all are finished! Hehe, it is now VOTING TIME!" Sam called from her chair as we all snapped back into reality. My pedestal shifted, and from inside of it, it pulled up a black pad. The pad shined into light as it gave me multiple options. I glared to everyone else, they too had it. I began focusing, before tapping on Lancer...

     "After choosing, a large TV will drop down, this will tell you who is ACTUALLY the killer!" Sam cackled as I grew worried. Am I actually right?

     Am I?