Fifth Elite of the Pokemon World

After the steaming hot meal was served, no one felt like talking, and everyone picked up their spoons and chopsticks to dig in.

In the courtyard of Professor Rowan's Research Lab, everyone's Pokémon were also happily eating after receiving treatment.

Mantine had a lot of food in its bowl, and Beedrill shared some of the food from its feeding bowl, even giving Mantine a few Berries as dessert.

Ninetales and Gastly did the same.

Mantine seemed very hungry and did not refuse, happily gulping down the food while lying on the ground.

Due to its injured wings, Mantine's eating was quite messy, with food occasionally falling around. Gastly kindly collected the spilled food and fed it to Mantine.

As the Leader of Professor Rowan's Research Lab, Vileplume was very busy. She pushed a cart, checking on the Pokémon's eating conditions. Whenever a Pokémon looked like it hadn't eaten enough, she would take another portion of food from the cart and give it to them, then collect the feeding bowl.

As she passed by Jumpluff, she placed a portion of Pokémon food down, and before Jumpluff could look up, she pushed the cart away.

Lance's Pokémon consumed a lot of Pokémon food, and Vileplume's companions, Bellossom and Oddish, surrounded them with feeding bowls.

Dragonite picked up a container of food and poured it into its mouth before setting the container aside.

Bellossom, who had been waiting nearby, took the container and ran into the Research Lab, continuously bringing out food.

Garchomp had not been very active today and did not need much food, so it finished eating early and lay on the ground, leaving the extra food for Luther's Marill.

Marill happily lifted Garchomp's feeding bowl and scampered back to her spot, enjoying her meal.

The sounds of a large group of Pokémon eating intertwined, bringing smiles to the faces of those who were eating in silence.

Diantha's Gardevoir did not eat outside; instead, it sat next to Diantha, using utensils to eat in a very human-like manner.

Everyone was used to such a scene by now.

As the heavy rain was about to stop, Diantha, Cynthia, and Lance finally arrived at Luther's side.

Shiran's body was covered with a rag that Luther had placed over its head. Lance stopped Diantha and Cynthia from moving closer and stepped forward alone to remove the rag and check the situation.

There were multiple abrasions, a noticeable bruise on the forehead, a stab wound in the abdomen, and the fatal injury was a cut on the neck.

Lance looked at Luther, who sighed, and Diantha understood as well.

Dragonite had princess-carried Oleander back to Town, where she was receiving treatment in the hospital.

The others waited in place for the regional police and the International Police, who had been notified and were on their way.

After handing over the two captured members of the "mob," they finished various tasks and returned to Professor Rowan's Research Lab, which was already eight o'clock in the evening. Everyone, feeling hungry, did not care about their wet bodies or sticky hair. Even Diantha, who usually maintained her makeup and appearance, ate faster than usual.

No one mentioned the events of the afternoon at the dining table; aside from asking for some seasoning, everyone remained quiet.

After finishing the meal, when Luther was the last to enter the bathroom and finished showering, he discovered that Oleander had returned to the Research Lab.

"You should be in the hospital." Diantha glanced at Oleander.

Oleander slowly walked to the window in the courtyard, opened it, and felt the refreshing evening breeze carrying the earthy scent after the heavy rain, remaining silent.

Lance and Luther were eating ice cream and sensed that the atmosphere was off, but Diantha's action summary was about to begin, so the two sitting together could only lower their heads and silently eat their dessert.

Marill was hugging the door frame, and Professor Rowan looked at her curiously, while she gazed longingly at the box of ice cream on the table.

Professor Rowan intended to go back to get a portion, but Diantha smiled and waved to Marill, handing her own portion of ice cream to her.

Marill, clutching the ice cream, slipped over to Luther's side, skillfully opened it, and extended her little tongue to lick it contentedly.

"Next time you want to eat, come to me, okay? I'm your master, you know."

Marill nodded while eating, and Luther felt she hadn't really listened.

Diantha placed the recorder on the table and began playback.

Professor Rowan had already sent the other staff away from the room, ensuring that no one present could leak any secrets.

The recording started from Luther entering Shiran's office to confronting Shiran, battling Shiran, Shiran's defeat and escape, tracking for a long time before arriving at the scene to rescue the injured Oleander.

The recording ended amidst the sounds of clothes rustling, and Diantha glanced at Oleander by the window before speaking softly, "That's all the content; let's take turns sharing our thoughts."

As the main participant in this incident, Luther took the lead.

"From my conversation with Shiran, I learned that this self-proclaimed 'mob' has ample funding. He mentioned that money is not an issue for them." Lance, with his keen investigative instincts, quickly chimed in.

"At the same time, we know that there are infiltrators from the mob within the International Police who can tip off Shiran. Shiran had to burn the basement to escape, which means there must have been very important documents there. However, we found very few intact documents at the fire scene."

"The black-clad Pokémon Trainer who was in the know was very familiar with the local terrain. Unfortunately, I couldn't find him. The two captured individuals are fringe members of the mob, the result of Shiran's persuasion, and they don't know much about the organization. They only know that joining them means they can be assigned powerful Pokémon."

"Powerful?" Diantha shot a sidelong glance at Lance.

"To them, yes." Lance chuckled and continued, "The useful data at the Pokémon Center is limited; most of it has been transferred here. I'll sift through it again tonight."

"Knowing that there are moles within the International Police, should we still hand the people over to them?"

"They're not fools. Given the severity of this situation, if I were a mole, I wouldn't act recklessly." Cynthia, digging into her ice cream, suddenly spoke up.

"As for Shiran... Luther said that Shiran resisted stubbornly, which led to him accidentally killing himself while trying to seize the knife."

Diantha turned her gaze to Oleander, "What do you think?"

"When the International Police ask, I'll say I killed him. Your boyfriend won't be in trouble."

Oleander's gaze had not been in the room; she looked up at the exceptionally clear sky after the rain, with stars twinkling, beautiful enough to make one tremble.

Lance glanced at Luther, then at Diantha, his expression ambiguous.

Luther understood Lance's look and shook his head vigorously.

Lance nodded in realization, giving Luther a thumbs-up to indicate he 'understood'.

'Here we go again?'

'What do you even understand?'

"The two members of the mob have already been transported to Kalos tonight. Inspectors Sister and Ulter will meet with us privately the day after tomorrow to understand the complete circumstances of this incident."

"Do we all have to go?" Luther asked.

"Yes, everyone."

Lance stretched lazily, "Perfect, Lumiose City has a lot of good things. Diantha, remember to prepare a card for me; I want to explore."

Cynthia, eating her ice cream, chimed in, "Me too."

Caught between Lance and Cynthia, Luther timidly said, "Can I get one too?"

Diantha shot a glance at Luther, who quickly retreated, "Forget I said anything."

"If you want to go find Minami, Luther, you can also check out Mismagius."

Upon hearing Diantha mention Mismagius, Marill bounced out, excitedly looking at Luther, who reached out to pat her.

Diantha picked up the recorder from the table, holding it in silence.

Cynthia suddenly stood up, twisting her waist and stretching her muscles.

"I want to see what my Garchomp is up to."

Professor Rowan coughed lightly, "I just remembered that some research data hasn't been organized."

With that, he walked out through another door.

Lance and Luther were momentarily stunned, suddenly feeling a cold breeze sweep through the room. The two, realizing something, leaned against each other.

"Lance, your Dragonite is so well-trained; teach me something when you have the time."

"Sure, sure, come on, let's go to the courtyard, and I'll tell you slowly."

In the now-empty room, silence continued.

Diantha slowly stood up and walked over to Oleander. Oleander finally pulled her gaze from the window to meet Diantha's cold eyes.

She had never seen Diantha display such an expression,anger... or perhaps disappointment.

"Slap."

A red mark was left on Oleander's face.

Oleander's gaze began to dart away, unable to meet Diantha's eyes.

With her head lowered, Oleander received another slap, the stinging sensation not igniting any anger within her; she trembled like a child who had done something wrong.

Diantha's third slap did not land. She looked at Oleander, who was enduring the pain, her face flushed and sweating, and withdrew her hand in frustration, letting out a long sigh.

"Do you know why I hit you?"

Oleander gritted her teeth and replied, "Shiran is dead ."

Diantha looked at Oleander with disappointment, shaking her head. "Someone like Shiran is unlikely to reveal any valuable information. Capturing him was more symbolic than practical. As long as we have his and the organization's data, we will have succeeded."

"Don't tell me your injury has nothing to do with him."

Oleander opened her mouth but couldn't find the words.

"Do you realize that if your wound were any deeper, you would be lying in a hospital bed, or in the emergency room, or waiting for someone to bring you flowers?"

"That was an opportunity!" Oleander cried out, tears streaming down her face, disregarding her injury.

Hearing Oleander's voice, Luther and Lance continued walking deeper into the Research Lab with their Pokémon.

Not hearing it was just an illusion.

Diantha fixed her gaze on Oleander's eyes. Unable to withstand Diantha's piercing stare, Oleander lowered her head again.

"You really could have died," Diantha sighed. "The past is already behind you. How many more times will you pay the price for him? How much more suffering will you endure?"

"You don't understand... Diantha, you are the cherished one, adored by everyone. You've never been hurt; everyone likes you. As long as you want, admirers will come flocking. But I'm different."

Oleander took off her coat, revealing a bandaged wound that was still seeping red spots.

"I've lost my life; I can't get it back." 

(End of Chapter)

You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon, and I've also activated a (date-to-date) subscription model on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395