Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 46: Ruled Out

When Scarlet hung up her jacket in Scandal's practice space, it suddenly clicked with Holly what was missing. The Team Magma hoodie that Aiko left there was gone.

'Any idea when it disappeared?' Scarlet asked, 'Could that be when they bugged the lab?'

'I also found these boot prints... I don't think they're big enough to be Chess or Ilirian's.'

'Let's see...'

Scarlet took out a flashlight. She knelt to examine the imprints.

'These particular prints are recent. Like, the last 48 hours. The rug's already springing back. And yeah, I can see they're too small to be yours, Ilirian, but for good measure – take off your shoes. Both of you.'

Everyone grimaced. Scarlet thought at first that Ilirian was reluctant because he was hiding something, but the real reason became clear as soon as the first buckle released the smell.

'Jeez, dude... do you ever change your shoes?'

'No,' Holly replied, 'He wears the same boots all day, every day. I should've pulled GoD's boots off. That would've ruled Ilirian out.'

Scarlet pulled on gloves to feel their feet for fake toes. Satisfied, she measured them. GoD was a size 10. Ilirian was a 12.5, but Chess was a 10. There were no marks on Ilirian's feet to suggest they were being shoved into boots too small.

'Thanks, y'all. You can put your boots back on, Ilirian. Please put your boots back on.'

'OK, OK... I would've thought Guzma's feet stank.'

'His whole body smelled, but not that bad. He owned multiple pairs of shoes. Y'know... I just lost to Horace, up top.'

'That's nothing to be ashamed of,' Holly said, 'Yeah, he's weird and he hasn't taken the traditional route as a Trainer, but he's actually really strong. I guess all that time in Duel Square counts for something.'

'How long's he been hangin' out there?'

'Since he was, like, 13. He used to skip school to sell that shitty ready dinner. Then he used the profits to buy a scooter. Which makes him sound very GoD-like, but he was open about it all at the time.'

'We know he really was flogging that stuff all over Orre,' Chess added, 'Because he tried to sell it to us, too...'

Aiko giggled. 'He almost sold some to Yan.'

'You went to Galar together, right?'

'Oh, yes. Holly, Ilirian and me went every summer, unless Holly's mom was acting. Sometimes Chess came, too. Horace only spent one summer there, but we did spend a lot of time with him then. He was only eight, so he wasn't drinking or anything. He was always a great Trainer.'

'I see... anyway. I came to hear your story, Ilirian.'

Ilirian relayed his story up to the point he hacked the radio. The Ilirian his friends knew could never repeat a ridiculous lie more than once. Something would change, but it did not. They were sure he was telling the truth, as bizarre as it was, but...

'But what did you – not GoD – go to research?'

'Holly mentioned damaging time. It made me think of Cyrus and the Distortion World. I wondered if a Shadow Celebi could end up behaving like Giratina. But I ended up scanning through the books GoD took out. I'm not gonna claim I understood it all, but I was sort of on the right track with the Cyrus theory. There was a theme running through the books – the secondary effects of time travel. I don't think GoD is just worried about what might happen to him while he's time travelling. He's actively looking into how he can use it.'

'Right... well, I'm not a physicist, either. Can I give these books to Kazuki?'

'Go ahead.'

If Chess was GoD, he was indeed a good actor. He looked puzzled. Scarlet thanked the young musicians and left. She could question them again later, if she needed to. For now, her priority was checking the CCTV at GOSS to confirm Ilirian was telling the truth.

In Alola, she was used to calling Charizard with her Ride Pager. Clinging to Hawlucha's legs was much less comfortable. It was exhausted after the battle with Horace, but still a fast flyer. Its pride wouldn't allow it to hold back. Scarlet wanted to reward it with Poké Beans, but if Cipher were listening, they knew where she was headed. There was no time. Hawlucha knew it would be doted on later. It happily returned to its Ultra Ball.

Scarlet studied the footage. Ilirian's Golurk landed like an antique rocket in the parking lot. He sprinted off into the library. The man who was supposedly GoD was already there, hiding in his fluffy winter coat. That was suspicious. There were people in Orre who barely felt the heat and always wore jackets. It could also be cold at night, but even in areas that saw snow, it was difficult to find heavy winter coats.

Where did GoD even get that? Galar, probably. They knew he used Galarian phrases. How did he find time for trips to Galar when he was reviving Cipher and leading the development of an underground city?

Ilirian headed to the physics section, as he claimed. It did seem GoD recognised him. Scarlet watched GoD's body language. If he was pretending to panic, he missed his calling as an actor. Ilirian took out his laptop to hack the machine. What he didn't see was that GoD, who struggled to mask a limp the more he walked, transferred his borrowed books to an unassuming blue car.

Once he sat in the back, it drove away. Ilirian remained in the library, poring over physical and digital books and intermittently glancing at the hacked CCTV. Scarlet had to smile. He hacked everything smoothly, leaving no fingerprints, but was on CCTV doing it. That was how his friends described him. Was it really possible that this was all staged? Scarlet almost questioned why Cipher hadn't wiped the tapes if they knew GoD had been caught, but that would be exactly why they didn't. It would only make him look more suspicious.

The lobby was empty when GoD returned at 6:13AM. He wore the same coat. In the library, Ilirian zoomed in to the live feed from the lobby. Scarlet zoomed in, too, but GoD knew what he was doing. His face was shrouded in shadow. Something did glint, unnaturally, under his hood. He wore a wig.

As GoD entered the library, Ilirian shut his laptop to jog to the campus shop. He indeed bought a huge University of Orre hoodie and the infamous polka dot face mask, which he pulled on outside after melting the tags with his lighter.

He returned to the physics section. As soon as GoD saw him, he grabbed an armful of books and hurried to the bathroom. Scarlet checked that no-one else entered before GoD, or after Ilirian followed him, but they did not. The man in the fluffy coat and man in the varsity jacket were indeed the same person.

Scarlet still wasn't sure why Ilirian needed the ominous get-up. GoD already knew who was following him. All he did was make himself look suspicious. As for the supposed GoD, who could be bothered to walk around with a bag full of costumes? She was sure he was now wearing a different wig. Where were his winter boots? Ilirian followed him to the lecture hall, where Lumir was due to begin at 7:15AM.

There were no holes in the story. He indeed returned to the library, where he sat three rows from GoD to attempt to hack his devices. He continued to leaf through books until he left.

The librarian answered Scarlet's question about what happened to the winter boots. They were in the lost property box. She took them back to the NCPD offices, but there was no evidence to be found on them. Whoever this was... he was hyper-alert and bumbling at the same time. Scarlet was sure, now, that they could rule Ilirian out. So who was it?