I stared out of the clear glass beside me, watching the citizens of Saffron city manoeuvre to their destinations. They looked so free, with no weighty burdens planting them into the firm grips of K-Z.

Despite our pivotal revelation about the sisters yesterday, we had spiralled back into an abyss. After returning back from a trip in Kalos two years ago, they had vanished from the public eye. We had approached Lance but his decision of keeping our information private was the deflating truth.

If we were to search for the Polazos on a larger scale, we would need to publicly announce what we had so far. Considering Vespiquen was the mastermind behind the crimes, it was unlikely that a press conference would do anything but fuel her motive. Rather, she could retaliate against us by just eliminating the sisters; they were replaceable in this course of action. She was our target.

"Yellow?" Red's voice burst my bubble and I looked across at him, skimming past his face and shifting my sight to the woman in the booth behind us.

"When we ask her questions she ignores us." Green raised his eyebrows at Blue, then took a bite of a burger that looked larger than his ego.

I stirred a fry in my sauce and dully replied, "There's no pleasing you, is there?"

Something inside me just felt exhausted. Working on this case had physically kicked me in the gut, but it was having its toll on my mental health too. The group themselves were inconsistent, each of them treated me in a different way that only increased my confusion. I hated the environment, the lack of sleep and most of all, the constant work that had been ultimately pointless.

"Any suggestions in that bright mind?" Blue tilted her head at me curiously, taking a neat sip of her drink.

"Nothing." I flatly replied, focusing my attention on the few fried potatoes left.

Red cleared his throat before I had leaned my head back to the glass, "Look, let's go through it again."

"We've done that at least thirty times in the last hour," Blue dismissed him with her hand, "Let's change the subject for a few minutes."

The three began to speak with their eyes, something I had become accustomed to earlier. In response, I leaned my head against the glass and closed my eyes. Could Jirachi wish this away?

"We - well I - want to start over."

I opened my eyes in surprise and immediately regretted meeting Red's keen face, "What?"

There was an earnest expression in his face that immediately made me straighten my body, then look back at Blue uncertainly. Her lips formed a gentle smile, unfortunately, Green's were in the opposite direction.

My thumbs dug into each other under the table as I anxiously stared back at Red. "What are you talking about?"

"I think we need to start over," he repeated, "You've been valuable to us since the case started, it's only fair to treat you how you deserve."

My stomach lurched in disbelief; this was ridiculous, "You're only saying this because of Blue. I bet you only care because of my parents."

I hung my head back down, disappointed at that glimpse of hope that had almost emerged. K-Z were Red, Green and Blue. Not Yellow.

"Your parents?" Red echoed, "what has that got to do with anything?"

"I can't believe it!" Blue's voice snapped my head upwards as I met her flashing eyes, "you really didn't trust me to keep it confidential?"

Wait. Did I wrongly assume?

"I- I just..." words seemed to suddenly evaporate from my head as I was knocked with sense, "I don't know why else you would suddenly change your minds."

"Listen to me," Red's calm voice split the anger and bewilderment between Blue and I, "I don't know anything about your background, Yellow. What I do know is enough to prove that you've earned acceptance. Nobody has survived the way that you have-"

"Not nobody." Green elbowed his friend and received a glare.

I looked between them in utter confusion, "What does this mean?"

"It means that I gave these idiots a slap of reality yesterday," I felt Blue's hand pull mine apart as they ceased to graze my skin, "You've been a help, and I personally like you."

I felt my cheeks blush in embarrassment. It was partially humiliating to know that Red hadn't spoken from genuineness, but rather from Blue's nudge. But more importantly, I felt like I had made my first friend after a long time.

"Th-thank you." I whispered as Blue's eyes pierced mine.

She shook her head in response, "I don't know which of us has more trust issues, but sooner or later, you're going to have to depend on us."

*

"She's got a sadistic streak for sure." Red leaned against his chair and looked at Lance with a hint of frustration, "but there's nothing significant in the dates."

"This is really getting to me," Blue chewed on her bubblegum furiously, "Vespiquen is playing with us, we're not getting anywhere."

"I agree," Green murmured, "we can't track their vehicle and none of our leads are substantiated. Are you sure this case belongs with K-Z?"

I snapped my head towards him, "what?"

"What?" Green met my eyes.

"You don't want the case?" I tilted my head in confusion, I thought they were invested in their work.

"It's not that I don't want it, but if we're getting nowhere, surely it would be more efficient to hand this to a higher unit so we can move on with all the other cases."

"You can't, that's not fair on the Pokémon." I looked back at Red, "You don't agree, do you?"

He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "I don't like the idea of giving up, but if we're getting nowhere-"

"What I find amusing is that you all think you have a choice." Lance slapped his hand on the table before us, "You're stuck with this case, there are lives on the line so suck it up and keep working."

"We can count on you for comfort." Blue sarcastically muttered.

Maybe they were so tough because of Lance.

"Now I'm getting up to go and check on your Pokémon, but you four are staying right here."

We all exchanged a glance of bemusement as Lance sauntered out of the room, rapidly talking to himself about a missing Bellsprout family.

"Well I guess that's that." Blue groaned, "let's browse around our ideas."

I copied the others as they retrieved the charged copies of identical laptops, placing mine in front of me. Blue had quickly talked me through the system and tools yesterday, but I didn't have any bright clues to follow on.

"Hey," Red snatched my attention away as he tapped his little notebook, "What about checking out the masks? We can sort through the names of people who have bought Vespiquen masks."

"Hate to break it to you, but she could have easily taken the mask from someone else." Green shook his head, rejecting the suggestion.

I cleared my throat, "There's also a lot of people who bought that mask for last years Halloween party."

"Oh yeah," Blue snapped her finger and grinned, "The Bug type was in last year, I was a Beautifly."

Green snorted, "How could we forget you throwing silver glitter at every single person present?"

"Well someone wasn't there." I watched as Blue shifted her gaze to glare at Red.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "I just wanted to finish work. Which I want to do now too."

Red's face transitioned back to being unreadable and for once, I don't think I had made the conversation awkward.

"What about the Pokémon?" I tugged on my ponytail and attempted to change the subject.

"Oh we get it Yellow, you love Pokémon." Green snapped.

"No, I mean the victims," My scowl was reserved for Green, "can we try to predict the next one?"

Blue began chuckling as she threw a pen onto Green, "Jerk."

"Okay," I lowered my eyes nervously as Red gratefully smiled at me, "What do you have in mind Yellow?"

"Spearow is a predator to Weedle?"

"No correlation to Wartorle or Charmeleon though." Blue pointed out, "What about types? Water beats Fire, and Fire beats Bug."

"But Bug has no advantage over Flying or Normal." Red shook his head.

"Why a dual type? Do you think there's a relevance?" Green probed.

I could feel my brain become more and more tangled in an intricate mess of information. Somehow, we needed to fill all these empty gaps to create the bigger picture. It was exhausting though, all of our suggestions were easily disproved by each other.

"It doesn't make sense to me." I murmured.

"Alright that's it!" Blue slapped Green's laptop lid down, earning a passionate glare, "Lance is going to a new beloved Bellsprout case, we're sneaking out."

I looked at her in pure bewilderment as silence settled between the four of us.

"Mm," Green stood up and stretched his arms, "I could do with a change of environment."

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" I blinked rapidly, "Are you actually leaving? We need to work."

"Welcome to K-Z, Yellow, where we all fly to Chrysanthemum Island to blow off steam." Red smiled to himself and then followed the actions of his friends.

I remained seated and looked at them in dismay, "You mean you're taking a break? When there are Pokémon that could potentially be dying?"

"We aren't taking a break, we're just changing our environment. You'd be shocked at how change helps your thought process develop." Blue smiled to me, then extended her hand to me.

I doubtfully stared at it for a second, then let her pull me up, "So... We're going against Lance?"

"Loosen up," Red placed a hand on my shoulder and I immediately flinched, "we won't be gone for long and I know you're sick of this urban area."

I bit my lip hesitantly, "You're right... But what if we get into trouble?"

Green snorted, "You're not a child, you're eighteen. This is the prime time for a little rebelling."

"Have you ever spoken without being offensive?" I found my calm resolve disintegrate at his patronising tone.

"Well, we've definitely got a good scoop of hostility for the trip. Now, Yellow, I'm going to go and pack you some holiday essentials."

I found my feet moving against my will as Blue continued to talk, "You and Red should go pick up our Pokémon, Lance was obviously preoccupied with Bellsprout. We'll head straight out when we're done, then meet you there."

"How is this happening?" I wondered aloud, "He's going to kill me."

"I'm not scary." Red looked at me in offence as he took Green and Blue's empty Pokè Balls.

"Not you," I smiled softly, "Lance."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

A/N:
I've written a few chapters in advance so each Saturday I'm planning on uploading one, that way I can release work despite not writing during exam season.

Sudden change of events and settings here, there's lots to happen next!

See you in the next chapter, baii!