There were the files I had sought after, in the hands of that spineless traitor. Now she would pay.

I stormed into the bushes, Yamato and Kosaburo staying behind. That was fine with me. I prefered to solve the rest of this on my own. And to do that by punshing the offender: Musashi. The fool........her taunts wouldn't work on me. Yet they bothered me. The last thing she would do was that....especially that she wanted to impress me, not defy me....but I mused I was wrong.

"What are you, Boss? Too stuffy and up there to chase after me? Or are you just lazy?"

"You've tested me enough. Now I'll do more than fire you,"

I chased after her, crashing through the bushes and trampling grass. She ran faster, and that long red hair waved in front of me, tempting me to grab it.

I ran after her for awhile, neither her getting out of my sight or me getting within reach, but I eventually tired, and crashed into the incompetent.

"Ooohh...watch where you're---waaahhhhhh!"

She shrank from me, a completely different girl than she was while taunting. And she didn't have the files! Where could she have hidden it so quickly?

I shook her, demanding,

"Where are the files?!!"

Shaking her made her words come out the same, but was that fear in her voice? Why would she fear me if she was fearless only seconds ago?

"F-f-f-iles? Wh-wh-wh-a-a-a-t f-f-f-iles?"

I didn't count on her idiot partners to save her. Perhaps they were all collaborating? Whether they were or not, I wasn't able to find out at that time.

"Omaé........."

Kojiro was never this mad. His eyes seemed to be on fire, which startled me. But uncontrolled anger was useless against someone collected.

"Nani?"

"Iké, Metadogasu!"

Attack me? He probably thought that I was harming his partner. I was about to, but Metadogase knocked me over. Musashi stopped cowering, probably inspired by Kojro's move, and used her own Pokémon.

"Iké, Arboku!"

"Chhhhhhaaaaa-bokkkk!"

Both were hovering over me. I had to chance fighting with Garura. It was not very strong, but chances were a thing that everyone had to take.

"Iké, Garurua!"

"Garrrrrrrrruu........"

"Nyaaa! This'll be fun! Watching those two beat up Dan'in!"

Kojiro was angrier than Nyasu......maybe it was his duty to protect his partner. But Musashi probably wanted me dead. They attacked both myself and Garura: it was a very unusual Pokémon battle.

"Arboku, Bite!"

Those fangs that sunk into my skin were as sharp as razors, and the blood discolored the ground.

"Itaaaiiiiiiiii!!! Garura, Dizzy Punch!"

It missed, and hit Nyasu instead, but was too dizzy to retaliate.

"Metadogasu, Tackle!"

"Garura, Tackle!"

Both rammed into each other, and fell backward. Musashi took the situation into her hands with Arbok, and pointed at my head, ordering,

"Arboku-----Aci---"

Arbok glared at me, mouth filling with boiling acid. She could have put an end to me then and there, but something Nyasu saw prevented that. He parted the leafy bushes, and saw three children walking down the street.

"There's---"

"--Tiny boy!" Musashi finished, calling back Arbok, disappointed that it couldn't finish me off. Loyal things. I have a vase with one wrapped around it. I've never seen one not unreliable. Then again, Pokémon rarely are. It's their trainers who are.

"We'll fight you, later!" Kojiro announced, disappearing through the bushes. I went after him, and grabbed Musashi's shoulder.

"What if we call a truce?"

"Nani koré?!" Kojiro demanded, fire still raging in his eyes.

"Doushité? After you attacked me like that----whatever files you're looking for--"

She finally gave in. I'm not sure why I decided to help her, but having both off my back for awhile would be enough so I could apprehend her.

"Sa, where are we going next?"

"To the next Gym!"

"Démo.....we haven't eaten.....I want some ramen....."

"Shut up, Kasumi!"

One of the voices sounded familiar, and when I looked at him I knew why. You want to know why? That is for another time.

Musashi, Kojiro, and Nyasu blocked their way, and their appearance set off Satoshi's anger.

"Roketto Dan!!" he sputtered, stopping in his tracks.

"Nanda kanda to kikaré tara!"

"Kotae ageru yo no nasaké."

"Sekai no hakai yo semaé tamé!"

"Sekai no heiwa o mamoru tamé."

"Ai tu shinjitsu naku tsuranuku!"

"Raburri chaami nakatakiyaku!"

"Musashi!"

"Kojiro."

"Ginga o kakéru Roketto Dan no futari niwa!"

"White hole, shiroi ashita ga matteruze!"

"Nya-te-na?!"

All during that annoying speech I hung back in the shadows, still wondering why I bothered to help them. But for once, they were fighting well, at least for the first Pokémon Satoshi called out.

"Beroringa, go!"

"Berrrrrrrroo......"

Pink and fluffy. Not my idea of a devious, intimidating Pokémon. But you could never know.....

"Iké, Utsubotto!"

"Uuuutssuuuuuu....."

It was somewhat more intimidating, but Leaf Stones were somewhat rare, and Rufressia is the preferred Grass Type.

"Iké, Lizardon!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrroarrrrrrrr..."

Oh, no, I thought. An Utsubotto against a Lizardon. Stupid boy. Lizardon is a tank and a flamethrower at the same time. But it is hard to raise and its unevolved forms are weak to my favorite element. But it destroys grass easily. Kojiro obviously couldn't see that.

"Utsubotto, Stun Spore!"

"Gggggggggrrrrroarrrrrrrrrrr....."

"Lizardon?! Are you okay?!"

"Gggggrrrrroarrr....."

"Nyaaaaasuuu-nnaaa......It wouldn't fight, anyway! Nya!"

"Douzo......Lizardon...shake it off!"

The improvement in the fight was great. Lizardon did not seem to take Paralysis well.

"Grrroarrrrrrrr....."

"Beroringa, Lick!"

"Berroooooo!"

"Return, Lizardon! Go on, Pikachu!"

"Pikachu?!!"

So, that was their weak point. On a good day, they could only be beaten by their sought-after prize. I suppose that I had to step in, then. Low as I was standing, I would not recite that motto of theirs.

"Yaméro!"

They were surprised to see me. Apparently they only saw Musashi, Kojiro, and Nyasu.

"Doko----where'd you come from?!"

"Dan'in? We haven't seen them in a while!"

"I hope he has lots of Pokémon to sketch."

"Pika-Pika?"

So, they didn't see Dan'in lately. I would make sure they would see plenty of them. I suppose I was just a warm-up.

"Iké, Goronya!"

"Goooooo......."

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika! Pikaaaaa---"

A Pikachu against a Goronya. And I thought that Satoshi would know better. In any case, the Pikachu was as good as fainted.

"Goronya, Earthquake."

"Gooooooo!"

"Pikaaa-----chaaaaa....."

"Pikachu!!!"

As Satoshi was tending to his Pokémon, Musashi and Kojiro were sneaking up on all three of them, aiming a tranquilizer at Pikachu.

"Yamété!" screamed the girl. By earlier references, I mused that her name was Kasumi.

"Don't worry! It won't hurt the rat---much!"

"Pikaa-----chhaaaaa---"

It fell asleep, and Musashi leaned over to grab it. But Satoshi did not let us take Pikachu. What irony---and we worked so hard that day.

"Zénigamé! Fushigidané, go!"

"Zeeeeeenniiiiii!"

"Dané-Dané!"

He, for some reason, did not pride in evolution. But evolution was essential. To keep a Pokémon from growing was like preventing a human baby from saying its first word.

"Fushigidané, Solarbeam!"

"Dané!"

"Zenigamé, Bubblebeam!"

"Zeni!"

The two attacks combined somehow, and sent them flying through the air. Apparently I underestimated the power of unevolved Pokémon, but the main thing on my mind was: "What a ridiculous exit.".

"YA NA KANJIIIII!!!!"

They disappeared in a small white flash, and I turned my gaze back to Satoshi and his friends. I suspected that he would deal with me, having defeated the others.

As Satoshi called back his Pokémon, I tried to escape through the bushes, but the boy had another Pokémon to use.

"Kingu.....go!"

"Kkkkkrr--kkkkk-kkkkk......"

A Kingler? That was a bit of comfort to me, though the attack was not. I wondered how they survive this kind of battering every time they meet.

"Kingu, Hyper Beam!"

"Kkkk-----kkk---kkkrrkkkkkooo....."

Nothing much can be done if a Hyper Beam hits, except to take the damage. The sensation of flying through the air was a dizzying experience, and the land wasn't too soft, either. At least Mondo was there to break my fall.

"Itééééé!!!!!!! Nani---k--"

Muashi and Kojiro didn't notice the muffled screams of their friend, which I also failed to notice.

"We failed again......ya na kanjiii......."

"This time Sakaki-sama will fire us!" Musashi groaned, staring at Kojiro.

Mondo succeeded in getting out from underneath me, and appeared very dizzy. He began to comfort them, but only confused both Nyasu and himself.

"Don't worry about the Bossu......She'll succeed some year, sempaii!"

"Nyaaasu-nyaaa.....what are you saying?"

Kojiro sighed, and walked over to Mondo, moaning,

"He's Confused......shimatta....."

There was my oppurtunity. Kojiro and Nyasu were trying to help Mondo out of his confusion, while Musashi ate alone. I strode up to her. The sight of that girl made my anger rise, but if I tried attacking her again, I wouldn't get any information from her. A rational conversation was better at this point.

"Musashi."

"Hai?"

"I saw you with the files. Where are they?"

"Whoever-you-are, I did NOT have them! I was with Kojiro all morning!"

"How do I know that he didn't help you steal them?"

"Rrr......you're difficult.....I DIDN'T STEAL THEM! You can search me, if you want, démo, I didn't steal them!"

I nodded. Not thinking clearly, I thought that she actually had them concealed on her.

"Fine."

"You'll search me in front of them?"

I took her meaning, and took her behind one of the bushes. Kojiro, Nyasu, and Mondo weren't even paying attention, at least not until I searched the wrong spot and a slap on the face followed. Though it was justified, I felt like dealing the same damage. My most incompetent minion----yet, it was my choice.

In any case, I didn't find the files. Where could she have hid them? While they were asleep, digging through their campsite wasn't the right solution, since I only unearthed Digda and an angry Dugtrio.

I thought about the two murders---the one of the delivery boy and the one of the police officers. Wait.....the delivery boy......Madame Bossu was in charge a long time ago---before Musashi was born! She couldn't have stolen the files FROM him......she would be old by now! So, that charge was dropped. But she had possesion of it-----how she had it I did not know. Who would give her the files? No Dan'in is friendly enough to trust her with it. Maybe Miyamoto---but, she was on a mission at the time...I think. Who would be shrewd enough to do it?

I took leave of their campsite, and walked back to the Game Corner. Thankfully, Yamato and Kosaburo were still there, but Kosaburo was asleep on the floor.

"Yamato!"

"Sakaki-san?"

Her voice was cheerful, but not in a suspicious sort of way.

"Could you open the door to your office?"

"Nani? You want to see the dead body? We threw it in the garbage and---"

"NANI KUSO?!!! Did the garbage collectors come yet---?"

"Hai."

"Chikysou.......arigato...ja na!"

That was the worst impression I made, but my thoughts were so jumbled that I couldn't speak correctly. Besides, my first priority was to get to the garbage dump. Before I left, I overheard Yamato say,

"Ja ne! My, the Bossu is acting strangely. Wouldn't you say, Kosaburo?"

I arrived at the garbage dump. The trash was about to be incinerated. If I ever got out of this alive, I would kill those two. Not for real, of course. They were too valuable to exterminate, and I think I liked them.

The garbage truck poured its first load into the furnace. I watched for my chance, and jumped onto the second truck, where the skeleton still was. Why they wouldn't notice a skeleton wearing a Rocket Gang uniform was beyond me, until I saw the driver. She was female, with long red hair and blue eyes. I couldn't see what she was wearing, but I could hear what she was saying.

"Some disgusting trash! I would get rid of you if you weren't my only weapon against----"

That soft voice again. The roaring of the truck blocked the final name, which would have solved the crime immediately, but the engine drowned her out. For entertainment, she backed the truck incredibly close to the furnace: and the flames took my hat. I jumped off, slamming my knee on the ground, but with myself and the skeleton intact.

I entered the campsite making quite an impression on Musashi, Kojiro, Nyasu, and Mondo, who were about to leave. They would have recognized me if not for the cap I borrowed from the skeleton. But how did they get here so fast? Or at least...how did Musashi get here so fast?

"Nani---?!!!"

Kojiro hid behind Musashi, who shook in fear.

Then I noticed something. The skeleton still had a PokéBall on his belt. I released it on the ground, and to my surprise, it was a Ratta! But what surprised me more was that it had a collar. On it read: Sokiri's Ratta. Sokiri! He was under her! His son was under me, and he always talked about his father commiting suicide! By chance, I looked at the PokéBall, and it read: Sokiri. Looking for a coincidence, I looked at the underside of the brim of my hat, and it also read Sokiri. But the Ratta's fangs were the key to the entire murder. They were as sharp as a knife, and matched the wound Why didn't I figure it out before? There WAS no murder. And THAT'S why the wound looked strange---it was self-inflicted. But was this even the delivery boy. I read the opening of her letter, again.

"Addressed to ---------"

"Nyasu!"

"N-n-n-n-nani?!!"

He was obviously scared of the skeleton.

"Can you Fury Swipe?"

"Hai! Especially people!"

"No, thank you. Fury Swipe this."

I held up the paper, and he did as he was told. Sure enough, it was addressed to Sokiri. Of course, there was a chance that someone used his Ratta on him, but why was the wound so precisely made? And he did have a motive to do it: he was one of the more depressed members. At least, that's what I remember of his son's words. I chuckled as I called back Sokiri's Ratta. All that effort to find out a sucicde. It was pitiful. Or were my efforts not pitful? The second murder WAS a murder. It seemed ill-planned, but bloody nonetheless. And the crime of the file theft was not solved, yet. Someone stole those files from the corpse. If it was Musashi, I would know.

"That's------a--beautiful skeleton...oh, there's your name, Sokiri!"

"I know! Where did you get it from?"

"Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Tasutéké!!!"

That was when I stopped suspecting them. If she had stolen them, they would know that Sokiri was dead. And even if she knew that he was, she wouldn't address me as such. And with no knowledge of the files, they couldn't have killed the officer for them.

"Gomen."

"Dosuhité?"

"I wrongfully suspected you. Now go do your job."

I slipped.....again. And they immediately knew.

"Sakaki-sama!"

"Bossu!"

"Sakaki-san!"

"Kowaii!"

They stood straight up, not daring to move their eyes. But Musashi ventured a question.

"D-d-doushité?"

I guess I had to explain. Why I was always caught in the act like this I probably would never know.

"There was a murder and a theft, and I went undercover to avoid revealing it to the rest of you. However, you six know about it."

"Roku?"

However, Mondo was still infuriated that I had susupected them in the first place.

"Nazé da?! Musashi-sempaii and Kojiro-sempaii are so nice! They'd never do something like that!"

"I know, I know. Someone posing as you did---"

Then, Musashi and Kojiro froze. They seemed to know who I was talking about, and Kojiro shivered at the very thought of her.

"RUMIKA!"

"Daré?"

"She looks almost exactly like me, though I have a prettier face and much stronger!"

"Looks......exactly...like you?"

"Hai! She was my fiancéé!"

"And she was probably jealous of Musashi!"

"Matté.....that's it!"

"Nani?"

"When I was at the garbage dump, I saw the girl----she said: "I would get rid of you if you weren't my only weapon against---"

"Musashi-sempaii!"

"Hai. So....Rumika? Why would she do it?"

"Rumika wanted to marry me, and was about to, démo, I wouldn't! I belong with---I need--my future's with---I need to help Musashi!"

"Kojiro-----itsu? Since when did you have these wild thoughts?!"

She was straying off of the topic, and I interrupted their light conversation.

"Damé! Where did she get the Ratta when she killed the officer?"

"I'll answer that!"

"Daré?"

There was the girl. She DID look exactly like Musashi. Down to the blue eyes and the red hair.

"You thought you could get away from me, Kojiro-chan! That ugly rogue stole you away from me! What better way to make you pay then to turn your leader against you?!"

"Rumika!"

"And to answer your question about the Ratta, I borrowed it from a nice Dan'in--his Ratta looked exactly like those other bakas--couldn't help framing as many as I could!"

"Omaé.........how did you get into the Headquarters in the first place?" I asked.

"When a girl wants revenge, she can do anything!"

"I think she has that right....." Kojiro moaned, eyeing Musashi.

"Nyasuu......why the murder?"

"The officer was onto me, so what else could I do? You won't get these files, though!"

"What would you want them for?!"

"I brought along Flame with me! Here's the best use for these files!"

"Flame! Yaméro!" Kojiro ordered. He had a Gardie? How foolish. He should have brought it along with him and left Utsubotto home. He dove for Gardie, and I for the files.

But Rumika pulled its tail so hard that it had to open its mouth. And it didn't take long for the double R files to turn into nothing but ash. Those precious papers that I worked so hard to find......now destroyed. That was the final offense. I would take no more.

"Onoré......"

"You're so ungentlemanly! Don't call me that! I'd love to let you live, démo, I can't have any witnesses! Iké, Rufressia!"

The others were ready to call out their Pokémon, but I stopped them, this being my problem and mine only.

"Arboku---"

"Métamon....."

"Utsubotto......"

"Damé!"

"Doushité?"

"Those were meant for my eyes. I never got to see them. I'll take revenge on my own."

I then turned to her, pulling the brim of my cap down. "Gyaradosu, go!"

"Ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaarrrrrr!"

"Ruffresia, Petal Dance!"

Those cut like knives, but Ruffresia was no match for mine.

"Gyaradosu, crush her and her Pokémon!!"

She was faster than I thought, but she didn't escape unscathed, blood splattered on the ground. The other pieces of conversation I caught as I left the scene, hoping to vent my anger on a table or chair.

"Gaaarrrrr...Grrrrr...!"

"Flame...are you okay?"

"Garrrrrr......"

"Matté......where's Sakaki?"

"Gone? Doko?"

"Probably to throw around a chair. He looked pretty mad."

"Nyasuuu!"

They continued to talk about where I was. I was walking away, triumphant in solving the crime, and slightly satisfied in my revenge, but horribly failed in the recovery of that vital information that haunted me for many months after: the double R files.

THE END

CQF? Done. Yay. Look out for ATRRGPXII coming soon to a website near you! Thanks for reading this weird mini-series! I think......... Blue9Tiger signing off!