Pokémon Obsidian | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 49: Drunk

As much as the police vowed not to let themselves be sidetracked by GoD's identity, they were. There were advantages to knowing. If they could work it out without GoD's notice, they could arrest him while he was pretending to be a regular person. Then they could target the remaining Admins. Without them, Cipher would be seriously compromised, however well-prepared they were.

It would also, of course, reassure those who were anxious that GoD was so casually amongst them, let alone the suspects who weren't GoD. They were all aware they were on the list. It was impossible not to know they were repeatedly interviewed and constantly watched because they were suspects.

Zjarror was conscious that even Lyndon was watching him. He took sick leave when Courtney died, but returned to work almost as soon as he booked it, because he couldn't stand sitting around in the empty house. His Trainers all knew they were training to take on Cipher. It unsettled them, too, that the Grand Master might have been amongst them.

Lyndon couldn't understand why Zjarror would be GoD. He didn't seem to resent that he had to quit his Astrophysics degree and return to Orre to marry Paisley, his teacher. He said he loved his job leading Area 9. Against Multi Battle challengers, he battled with one of Lyndon's best friends, Axley. They had to train together. Axley's vision was failing at 87, but his mind was still sharp and he hadn't noticed any suspicious behaviour.

The police suspected GoD was a drunk. That explained why he was sometimes hyper-alert, but at other times bizarrely careless. Lyndon wasn't sure if Zjarror was really a drunk or not. He thought he just enjoyed a few beers at gigs, but other fans were beginning to complain to Mt. Battle about his 'aggressive' behaviour in mosh pits.

Every member of Scandal disagreed. They insisted that when they saw Zjarror in their own crowds or at gigs they attended together, he was only moshing. Some female fans went as far as groping and licking Holly and Aiko because they were Alfie's granddaughters, but no-one complained about them. The band were convinced they hated him simply because he was a man who actually wanted to enjoy the music and didn't care for fan hierarchies.

It wasn't for Lyndon to investigate, but he cared about his Trainers. He didn't want those who worked with Zjarror, or Zjarror himself if he wasn't GoD, to be uncomfortable. He felt guilty when he sat in Area 9's break room to hack Zjarror's P★DA. It was heavily protected, which Lyndon knew was Ilirian's doing, but not as heavily protected as the devices known to belong to GoD.

He expected to find nothing. So it startled him when he found a stream of distraught texts from Paisley, vowing she would divorce him and return to Galar if he turned out to be GoD. She was texting because he stormed off to get drunk whenever she mentioned it in person.

The police weren't aware. When they spoke to Paisley, she displayed the 'Galarian stiff upper lip' and insisted everything was fine. Zjarror clearly wasn't at the top of their list. They were yet to inspect his devices.

His shift ended at 6PM, but he stayed, even when all but one of his Trainers left. He didn't want to go home. Axley went with Lyndon to check on him. As much as it helped Lyndon to bury himself in his work, he was grieving. He couldn't handle GoD alone. They sat beside Zjarror on the edge of the Zone 90 platform.

'Hey, dude. Is everything OK?'

'Been hacking, huh?'

'Sorry.'

'I guess I'd deserve it if I was GoD.'

'We don't think you are,' Axley said, 'For what that's worth.'

'Paisley does. We were trying for kids, you know, but she'd rather talk about GoD now. And I get it. She doesn't want to have kids with GoD. She doesn't want to be married to GoD. But what has my marriage come to, if she even considers believing I'm Grand Master of Cipher? If it's not that, it's something else about Cipher, or some inane gossip about whatever the other University of Orre teachers are up to, because they're all acting like the apocalypse is coming. "Natalya Korotkova's shagging Lumir!" And?!'

Axley blinked. 'Is he...?'

'Apparently, but who cares? My mind's still stuck on my nonexistent kids. And to be honest, I'm bloody sick of hearing about this crap. I don't want to talk to you about it, either, but I guess I've got to eventually.'

'How old is Paisley, again?'

'38.'

'You've got ages, Zjarror,' Lyndon said, 'Courtney was 55 when we had our twins.'

'Not if my wife leaves me because she thinks I'm Grand Master of Cipher!'

'Talk to her! If you're not GoD, what do you have to hide?'

'I don't want to talk about it. I'm not GoD. Obviously, I'm not GoD – I'm always here! That should be the end of it, but no matter what I tell Paisley, she's gonna bring it up again.'

'The problem is that he can apparently be in two places at once. Kazuki's tried to explain it to me, but I don't really get it. Something about Celebi existing simultaneously across time and taking him with it.'

'Oh, I get it. I did do two years of astrophysics.'

'OK, STEMlord.'

Axley sniggered. 'You can't talk, Grand Master Hacker.'

'Why don't we go for a drink and have a chat?'

'So I can feel bad about getting pissed while you lot are sober saints? No thanks. I think even Ilirian's getting suspicious of me. But it's alright for him, innit? They've ruled him out.'

'Last time I spoke to Ilirian, he defended you punching someone in a mosh pit. I don't think he's suspicious.'

'It's only in the last few days. He came to ask me about the time travel stuff and got suspicious because I got it. The basics, anyway. But it doesn't matter how it works. What matters is how GoD chooses to use it.'

Lyndon paused before he replied. He was going to tell Zjarror that Kazuki was working well into the nights with Chobin on simulations, a Robo Celebi and Seth's real shiny Celebi, which was left for him as an Egg by the kidnapped Celebi, as if it knew; but if there was any chance Zjarror was GoD, that was dangerous. Although he probably knew before Lyndon did...

'I gotta go. If I keep staying here 'til midnight, that'll be the end of my marriage without a secret life as a criminal mastermind...'

Zjarror probably wasn't going home, or at least not without visiting Quartz Town's Galarian pub, The Groovy Greedent, on the way. Lyndon let him go. GoD's identity aside, something else Zjarror said intrigued him.