Destiny Village ~ Central Crossroads

[Namohysip]

"Did... did my radiance or wax not leave any residual energy?"

Maple paused, looking to Vix, then at S'more.

"I do recall a strange... waxy substance covering me," S'more said. "That was you, then?"

"Vix," Maple said. "Perform it now."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa frowned. "That energy signature is harder to explain, but it doesn't change the plan."

She cocked her head at Owen's shadow.

"Wishkeeper... Do you have any memory of the night's events?"

 

[Fusion]

Vix nodded, glowing in brilliant radiance once again. The flame inside her head fizzled and and roared, and as she took off her lampshade, a radiant glob of wax popped out and covered S'more again.

"Radiant wax, doesn't do much offensively, but coats whoever I want, and protects them from fire. I'm not sure if it works on blacklight flames, though, but I thought anything would have been better than nothing," Vix said, returning back to normal.

"Fun fact, it tends to smell of lavender," Puddle blooped.

 

[Namohysip]

"Wishkeeper... Do you have any memory of the night's events?"

The shadowy Charizard loomed above them, but his burning eyes held a sense of frustration. He looked to Owen, and Owen nodded. The dark cracks crawled along the lower half of Owen's body, and his eyes took on a calmer expression.

"...I know little more than Owen does," Wishkeeper said. "We are ultimately one and the same. Everything that Owen said is what I, too, believe is the truth."

--

After the Radiant Wax coated S'more, he grimaced a little but did what he could to not shake it off. "Didn't work too well against Blacklight flames, I'll tell you that much," S'more said.

"Strike me," Maple said.

"I do not believe my spectral attacks will do much against your current form," S'more said.

"That isn't what I'm looking for. Now, strike me."

S'more hummed, but then agreed, going for a swift jab, similar in posture to what he had done to Charizard. He'd moved so quickly--the only reason they could tell it was a strike was because of the sound. To the eyes, it was a blur. Even Owen, floating behind Wishkeeper, looked a little dizzied in trying to keep track.

Maple looked at her thigh, then ran her hand along her fur. She held it up for them to see.

"Wax residue," she said flatly.

"There is no such residue in my room. Feel free to verify." Wishkeeper shook his head. "But I would have certainly noticed something as odd as that. And as you also know, there was no wax on my scales, either."

 

[Virgil134]

"See? That means someone really must have framed Owen!" Cabot said to Maple.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded at the lampent with gratitute and admiration evident on her face. "Nicely fuckin' done," she said, with a low whistle. "Can't say I woulda thought of that!"

She pointed at Cabot with a flick of her tail. "Sailor's right. I still reckon we should get Breaker's take on Owen's memories, but I feel downright vindicated as of now."

 

[Namohysip]

Even Wishkeeper broke into a little smile. "I suppose that's one way to prove it," he said, but noticed Maple's expression was still one of concern. "Mm. Right. But that still leaves something for us to consider. I do not believe Mia is lying. Why, then, the inconsistency? How did Owen get an injury reminiscent of S'more's attack? Who deleted the security footage, and why?"

"To go through all of this effort to frame Owen..." Maple hummed again.

Once again, S'more returned to his deep thought, looking at Owen, his injury, and then at the others. Meanwhile, Arceus was drifting toward them, done with his tower inspection.

 

[Fusion]

Vix pumped her arm and laughed. "Man, I was so nervous! That means Owen's safe!" she cheered, bobbing around, proud of herself.

"Oh thank god, I didn't wanna be the one to have to put him down," Puddle fizzed.

"You wouldn't have been anyway," Vix rolled her eyes. "But that still leaves the question of what happened, and who tried to frame Owen..." she hummed.

"If his memories are recoverable, maybe Breaker can tell us what happened," Puddle suggested, shrugging.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa hummed in thought, her tail-tip tracing patterns on the ground as she consulted what she'd committed to memory.

"Owen's 'perceive' ability is quite somethin', wouldn't ya say? It's a key reason we perform so well in our coordinated battles, and it's a unique asset when investigatin'. I dare say Giovanni would go to the trouble of tryin' to eliminate him from our active roster, or have us turn on him entirely, if it meant us missin' out on that ability when we next return to the Isle of Light or wherever else the bastard is holed up."

 

[Chibi Pika]

Holy shit.

"You're..."--Starr shook her head to clear it--"you're telling me that not only did the assholes behind this manage to grab Owen from his room and stick the scarf on him and delete the camera footage, they also gave him an injury matching the type that S'more gave that Charizard. Only they didn't realize S'more got covered in fucking wax at the last second." She collapsed to the floor with a wave of dry laughter. "God, what a mess. Anyway. Yeah, someone's really trying to fuck with Owen."

 

[Namohysip]

"Tell me something new," Wishkeeper said with a wry smile. "I'm a bit of a cosmic plaything. I've resigned myself to this fate long ago."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Satisfied that the mood in the crowd had turned in Owen's favour, Brisa moved away from him and towards the most aggressively suspicious of the assembled mon.

"Lucario Shield," she said, offhandedly. "I hope you'll keep a tighter clutch on that scarf of yers after this. Wouldn't want somethin' like this happenin' again."

 

[Fusion]

Holy shit.

"You're..."--Starr shook her head to clear it--"you're telling me that not only did the assholes behind this manage to grab Owen from his room and stick the scarf on him and delete the camera footage, they also gave him an injury matching the type that S'more gave that Charizard. Only they didn't realize S'more got covered in fucking wax at the last second." She collapsed to the floor with a wave of dry laughter. "God, what a mess. Anyway. Yeah, someone's really trying to fuck with Owen."

"All that considered... Doesn't that mean someone inside the guild did this? They'd have to have known about all of us pretty well to have planned this out, or even to guess how S'more would have hit that Charizard," Vix hummed. "Well, other than me, I guess."

"Looks like it pays to be a loner," Puddle bubbled.

Vix ignored her bag. "Everything really does point to someone inside the guild. They knew to erase the footage, how S'more fights, and were able to grab Shield's scarf." She turned to the Lucario, humming. "Where do you normally keep that scarf of yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

"And while we're asking questions, where even is the security footage held here?" Puddle asked. "It'd have to be somewhere well guarded, probably. Someone could have seen something."

 

[Virgil134]

"Well, I'm just glad we managed to prove that you and Owen are innocent," Cabot said to Wishkeeper with a smile. "Would have hated to see you guys get treated like criminals for something you didn't do."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

They'd have to have known about all of us pretty well to have planned this out, or even to guess how S'more would have hit that Charizard.

"Alternatively, they coulda injured Owen after S'more landed the blow. That seems substantially more likely t'me."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Kate furrowed her brow incredulously at the turn of events. While she had suspected that things had been pointing towards someone trying to blow up the team, she didn't expect it to boil down to a setup of Owen specifically that'd be undone by some missing wax.

So they were back to square one about who the real culprit was, at least without instantly jumping to their own suspicions. But either way, whoever was responsible for this must really have had it out for Owen... perhaps that was as good a place to start as any.

"Hey, it's Owen, right?" Kate asked. "Have you run into anyone during your adventures who might have a grudge against you? This doesn't seem like something that one Pokémon could've pulled off on her own, so we might as well try and figure out if there could've been anyone who'd have a reason to help out whoever torched the guild hall."

 

[Dragonfree]

"The injury must have been dealt after the fight. Otherwise they wouldn't have known exactly how S'more would hit him." Mia paused. "Unless it was S'more."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Y'know, what if it's not something related to Giovanni?" Esper breastroke through the air until he reached Shield. He sat on the lucario's shoulder and leaned against his snout. "I mean, this guy caused us headaches and blew up the Isle of Light with Space Noodle. What if it's just some poor sap who got unwittingly wrapped in all this nonsense?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Lucario Shield," she said, offhandedly. "I hope you'll keep a tighter clutch on that scarf of yers after this. Wouldn't want somethin' like this happenin' again."

"Where do you normally keep that scarf of yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

Shield looked at his bag, frowning. "...I keep it here. I can't... wear it most of the time, too--too many memories to have it around my neck. But I can't get rid of it, either..."

Wishkeeper nodded, though he said nothing. It seemed reasonable from an emotional perspective...

"I didn't even know it could activate," Shield admitted. "I've already evolved. I thought it'd only be tuned to me."

"If I was framed," Wishkeeper said, "it's very likely that I never evolved at all. It was only to present the illusion of one. Which means someone had to have been able to steal your scarf and then plant it on me... without my realizing."

"There's no way that can all be done by one person," Shield said. If anything, this only confirmed that there were multiple spies, just as Giovanni had said...

"And while we're asking questions, where even is the security footage held here?" Puddle asked. "It'd have to be somewhere well guarded, probably. Someone could have seen something."

"Lower level," S'more said. "They didn't sense anything strange, and they left the building when the explosion happened. They saw nobody pass them by, either..."

"Well, I'm just glad we managed to prove that you and Owen are innocent," Cabot said to Wishkeeper with a smile.

"Mm." Wishkeeper seemed preoccupied by something else. "My innocence wasn't the important thing. What's important is how it was brought into question so strongly."

"Have you run into anyone during your adventures who might have a grudge against you? This doesn't seem like something that one Pokémon could've pulled off on her own, so we might as well try and figure out if there could've been anyone who'd have a reason to help out whoever torched the guild hall."

"Hmm." The Charmeleon looked up. "In this world? I cannot think of anything in particular that wouldn't also apply to all of us."

"Unless it was S'more."

The Marshadow in question glanced Mia's way, frowning. "How would I have gotten from Charizard to Owen with enough time to hit him?" he said. "I went directly from Arceus to here. I would have had no time to strike Owen in the same way... And to add, I would have left wax behind if I did."

Maple sighed. "The only way it could have been S'more, if we are exploring all options, would be if S'more struck Owen before Charizard attacked, and then deliberately replicated the same blow on Charizard afterward."

What if it's just some poor sap who got unwittingly wrapped in all this nonsense?

"Could there be another Charizard we aren't aware of?" S'more asked. "Goodness, they've been turning up a lot lately."

Arceus finally arrived, and it seemed like he had overheard enough to know what they were talking about. "If it isn't Owen, it's another one that has been taken control over. There was something strange about it, though..."

"The Blacklight aura?" Wishkeeper asked.

"Mm. If it was Diyem, he did not have any tendencies toward dark attacks. But if it was Sword, or Darkwhite, then I saw no corruption related to the fight you'd had previously with her, according to Maple's report. Both options seem equally likely... Or, as Esper said... another Charizard entirely."

"Hmm." Wishkeeper closed his eyes. "Does anybody else know a Charizard but isn't affiliated with, like, Darkwhite or Diyem?"

 

[Virgil134]

"Didn't we see one earlier at the Water Continent?" Pleo murmured.

"Wait, you mean Nutmeg?" Cabot asked. "But, Team Gyro is still fine, right? If Nutmeg would have gotten corrupted somehow, wouldn't she and Pita be missing right now just like Bone?"