"Yellow. Wake up."

I shrugged at the unwanted sound and turned around, replying with a content "No."

ChuChu decided that I didn't deserve the sleep and aided the male voice in waking me up. She bounced her tail across my face, lightly smacking my nose until I finally opened my eyes and groaned.

"What?"

I rubbed my eyelids and then internally jumped out of a window when I met the sight of those bland walls.

I fell further when I realised it was Lance who had been trying to wake me.

"You're missing the brief of a new, very important case. Get up and into the conference room immediately." I looked back at the man in shock and bewilderment having barely gathered my thoughts.

As Lance walked out of my room, he made a sharp comment directed at what I assumed was the group.

I was going to be humiliated on a new level. I grabbed my work phone, skimming the screen that displayed 4:13am in bold numbers whilst brushing my long hair into some sort of acceptable ponytail with my hands.

It's not humane to work at this time.

They were really doing their best to push me away, but this took the last Pocky stick.

The Poliwag drawn on the back of my baby blue pyjamas was the only thing the three could see as I defiantly sat at a seat that faced away from them. That didn't stop them from snickering.

"Shut it." Lance growled, "Yellow I'm sorry you didn't get the notification, I expected these idiots to add your number to the K-Z chat."

"You've never asked us to add anyone to the chat before." Green pointed out as he rested his face on a hand.

"Think long and hard about why you're getting this S-rank case right now." He met my eyes with an expression that suddenly made me feel less isolated.

"What's the case, Lance?" Red finally asked.

"This case was passed on from one of my sub-units led by a detective who's retiring soon. I decided to pass it on to your unit because what we thought was a one-off quickly became a string of burglaries; that sub-unit was getting nowhere. I think you're ready to deal with something more difficult and it's the perfect time now that your fourth member is here."

I uneasily glanced back at the others, who were sceptically looking between Lance and I, and tried to figure if that comment had helped me in any way.

"Are the files going to be transferred to us then?" Green drummed his fingers on the table, "Why aren't they here yet?"

"Because you need to let me finish talking, then come with me to the crime scene."

"Okay," Blue sighed impatiently, "Green shut up, let's get on with this."

"Before today, there had been two burglaries carried out by the same group; they call themselves the 'Queen's Maids'. Their strategy is simple but effective, they target small banks and enter like normal citizens, then unleash their weapons to collect the money at gunpoint. They've perfected the time between when the alarms notify the nearest precinct and use that to gain as much money in that frame. We've characterised them as thieves before murderers," He took a pause and looked directly at me, "But they have a specific way of leaving the scene."

"What?" Red asked, perching forward in curiosity,

"Upon arriving to the crime scene, they release a killed Pokémon from a Poké Ball that is then also crushed. We can't detect any traces of a pattern just yet, but attached to the Pokémon is always the same note that reads 'Check Mate'."

I wasn't the only one that gasped in horror at that atrocious fact but now my blood was suddenly boiling. How was this possible? Did people really have it in them to kill our most trusted partners?

"Is there anything we have on them?" Green finally broke the solemn silence.

"Some details. We're dealing with a trio of women, and there's definitely some sort of hierarchy between them. Even though they hack into security feed cameras during the initial transition to the building and the robbery, footage is always turned back on during the actual crime. It's almost like a publicity stunt. The only distinguishing information we have are the three masks worn: Gothitelle, Gardevoir and Vespiquen."

"You said before today," I suddenly gasped aloud as I remembered Lance's initial words, "What happened today?"

Lance frowned in frustration, "They hit Cerulean. It was completely out of the blue and the last two small locations of Silver and Terracotta town didn't give any leads. That's why I'm here now, I want you all to come with me to the scene. Some things might be different, and there's an important witness to talk to."

"What time did it happen?" Red asked as we got up.

Lance ran a hand through his hair, "Around nine."

I have no expertise and am probably less useful than the pen that Blue had been tapping for the past ten minutes. So why was I here?

"Yellow, run and change." Lance sharply pointed at me, and I burned red before nodding and rushing to save my dignity.

For once though, my mind wasn't focused on maintaining a good external image.

I was prioritising the murdered Pokémon.

*

"Hey, wake up."

"Not this time." I sighed and turned to my right side, then smacked my head against a flat surface.

I groaned as laughter emerged in the car, and rubbed my head at the impact from the window of Lance's car. Green looked more than a little annoyed at being used as a pillow through the journey, but Blue and Red were looking at the two of us and chuckling.

"Is he comfy Yellow?" Blue teased.

"More than the window," I replied groggily before using common sense, "Sorry Green."

Red snorted as Green rolled his eyes in response, "Next time I'll check how you work as a cushion."

As the car came to a halt, Lance commented, "Sorry to break your banter, but now we've got a crime scene to investigate."

Turning the switch off on what had probably been my first normal interaction with the group, I pushed open the car door and stepped out of the vehicle and into manic.

The Pidgeys that welcomed the break of a hazy dawn knew little of the chaos that had unfolded a few hours ago. In front of the bank in Cerulean, only a few people remained. What instantly drew my attention was a Nurse Joy and her Chansey, who were directing their skills to a small stretcher. There was a Pokémon there.

I ignored Red as he called after me, and ran in the direction of the tiny Weedle that lay quite still under their care.

"Excuse me, step back from the Pokémon." Nurse Joy looked up at me as I reached them, but I shrugged her away.

Everything around me seemed to melt at the sight that broke my heart. The little Weedle looked as if it had been scrunched up into a ball and then unwound roughly. It still looked like it was suffering with its eyes squeezed shut. I extended my hand to it slowly and tried to pick up a trace of life, energy or even an ounce of emotion. I felt nothing, yet at the same time, everything went cold.

"Lance," I whispered whilst stumbling back, nausea consumed me and tears filled my eyes, "Lance, I can't feel anything! I can't sense any life. There's nothing there."

"It's too late Yellow, I'm sorry." The man gently pulled me away from the startled Nurse Joy, and I covered my face as I quietly sobbed at the sudden hollow feeling that had emerged in me.

It felt void and unnatural, like something precious had been stolen. I wasn't attached at all to that Pokémon, but never in my life would I expect to see something so destructed. Something inside me had been shredded into small pieces and refused to be put back into place. With that sudden despair came sudden frustration.

It took me a few minutes of rubbing my eyes and ignoring my peers, who were staring at me as if I had grown a new head, to maintain myself. I knew my face now mirrored something similar to a Zangoose, but that feeling was still here. He was dead.

I looked back at Lance in sadness, "Does it hurt you when you see them?"

"Not in the same way as you," He stared at me thoughtfully, "Your emotions are very invested in the wellbeing of Pokémon."

I nodded glumly, wondering how any sick person could forgive themselves for this.

"Detective Lance?" A bulky man broke my daunting thoughts as he called to our supervisor.

"Ah, Noland." Lance beckoned the other three to come closer, "Noland works as a cop here in Cerulean, he witnessed an important portion of the crime. Noland, this is the K-Z unit I informed you about; they'll be taking over the case."

The man raised his eyebrows, looking around at us and particularly noticing my tearful face.

"What did you see?" Red asked, pulling out a small notebook and pen much to his peers amusement.

"Back at it with the tiny tools." Blue joked.

I looked at her in shock, how in Arceus' name could she crack a joke right now?

"I managed to get a description of the event from some of the temporary hostages, but I wouldn't trust it down to every detail because they contradict each other." Noland paused and rubbed the back of his head.

"We're assuming the first member entered the bank like normal. Then, the second entered and set off the alarm with her bag and whilst the security guard checked her, the third made an entrance. The alarm went off with this one too, but when security moved to person three, the other two used the opportunity. They fired a shot, some say more than one, and made everyone get down on their knees."

Noland waited for Red to finish scribbling his notes and then continued, "They threatened the cashiers at gun point as the Gothitelle handed out bags to be filled with money. Gardevoir was only shouting the times out to the group, and a couple of people say that Vespiquen walked around taunting them."

I shuddered as a visual idea of the scene came to mind.

"I was doing rounds nearby with my partner when the security alarm finally went through, and we immediately drove there after the call went out. When we came through to catch them at the back exit, they tried shooting at us whilst loading a black van. My partner got shot straight in her leg but I managed to get the Gardevoir in her lower abdomen. It wasn't a great move, but that got them speeding away as the Gothitelle shot my tires."

"And the Weedle?" I couldn't stop myself from quickly asking, "When did that happen?"

"That's one thing the hostages agreed on. Whilst placed in a line, the Vespiquen released the Weedle in front of everyone. The poor thing was near death already, all she had to do was sever the Poké Ball and it collapsed too."

"Thanks for all of that," Red finally put down his book, "Do you have any hunches?"

"Not a single clue, sorry," Noland shook his head, "But they've planned these meticulously, the crimes aren't spontaneous."

I gulped, and looked back at Nurse Joy as she packed up her equipment. The Weedle had been covered in a small white sheet that echoed with emptiness.

I met Red's eyes as I turned back, he had also seen the dead Pokémon and something between us immediately changed.

It was as if we had both made a mental agreement to avenge the murders.

A/N: Welcome to the main crime everyone, from here on the plot will start developing and I'm so excited.

I love writing this story, but it takes me a good few hours to write a chapter and that conflicts with college. I've started adding to the plot the moment I get on my bus home😂

Anyway, sorry for that randomness, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!

Baii xx