Fanfiction of the Month (September): Who Shot Brendan Birch?

[Breezy]

Who Shot Brendan Birch?

Anyways, this is a mystery as you can prolly tell from the title. This is on a few sites already but their all different versions and this one will prolly be different too. So. . . enjoy!

Also, this story is based on the characters from the Ruby/Sapphire game series (Brendan Birch, Wally, Steven, May).

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Chapter I:
The crowds were on the feet, stamping and roaring like a stampede of wild Tauros. Posters were held up high proudly, and people were whistling and clapping. The sun already set, and the bright stadium lights were turned on, shining on two Pokémon and their two trainers.

Brendan Birch turned his head to his right where people were chanting his name and holding up colorful posters. He blinked twice and smiled his pearly white smile, causing many of his girl fans to blush or faint. He turned back to the battle and observed his opposing trainer carefully. She was maybe around the same age as him and the same height, if not a little bit shorter. Her bandana that covered the top of her head swayed gently in the night time breeze. She too glanced at her side of fans which was to her right also. Even though she was far away, he could see her smile, causing the crowd to go in uproar. He also noticed that most of her half contained most of the opposite gender of her while his side held most of the female population in the Hoenn region. He rolled his eyes and focused back to the battle.

He took in a slight intake of breath, a nervous feeling sprouted in the pit of his stomach. His hands shook because he realized . . . it's over . . . he was going to win!

"Muddy! Finish her off! Iron Tail now!" Brendan shouted over the roar of the crowd.

Muddy, a Swampert with a stupid yet humorous personality, quickly flicked his normally blue and orange tail upwards, causing it to glow with bright, silver light. He then spun around once and whacked his opponent with his hard, steely tail. The Pokemon flew across the battlefield, splitting open a few boulders with her body because of the tremendous power of the Iron Tail attack. The Pokemon's back rammed into the wall and she skid down, tired and fainted.

"Blaziken is unable to battle! Brendan Birch from Littleroot Town is the winner!" the judge announced

The picture of the Blaziken faded off the screen and Brendan's picture took the rest of the screen up.

"Everyone, please take notice because from this day forward, Brendan Birch from Littleroot Town is hereby the new Pokemon Champion of the Hoenn Region!" the announcer cried.

A mixture of boos and pleased screaming rang through Brendan's ears as he returned Muddy and thanked him. He then turned to his side of his audience who were all giving his standing ovations and screaming at the top of their lungs, making Brendan's ear ring with annoyance. He felt his stomach surge with pride and pure bliss, not even noticing that the other half of the audience was booing him and giving him rude gestures. He couldn't help but smile but then it hit him- how was the other trainer feeling? He just squashed someone's dreams in at least a hour! Especially since . . .

Brendan flashed his fans a quick smile before running over to the other trainer. He stopped a few feet away from the trainer who was busy tending to her fallen Blaziken and giving her a few words of gratitude and praise.

The trainer injected a needle into the Blaziken's arm which Brendan saw as a Revive shot.

"You did a great job!" the trainer smiled as she rubbed her Blaziken's arm to soothe the pain. "I'm so proud of you! You couldn't of battle any better or harder." The trainer got out the Blaziken's Pokeball. "Return."

Brendan coughed slightly which caught the trainer's attention. The trainer quickly turned her head and looked up. Seeing who it was, the trainer evaded Brendan's eyes and stared at his shoelaces instead.

"Erm, I'm up here," Brendan laughed a little as he held out his hand.

The trainer looked at his outstretched hand and took it. Brendan used his arm to pull the trainer up.

"Look, I sorr-"

"Why is the Hoenn League Pokemon Champion apologizing to the understudy instead of making some speech about winning and bull like that?" the trainer retaliated sharply, her eyes quickly averted to Brendan's eyes. "Why is the League Champion here to make sure that I'm alright? Or are you here to say, 'I told you I would win,' because I feel bad enough okay?"

"Whoa, calm down," Brendan replied. He bit his lip in a nervous habit before he started talking again. "We've been really good friends right?"

"Right . . ."

"And I hope that friendship never ends because of this . . ."

The trainer sighed and held out her hand, "It won't. I promise. But you want to know something Brendan Birch? I'm proud of you. Your Pokemon, strategies, everything, were great . . . just . . . great."

Brendan looked at the trainer's hand and pulled her into a hug instead. "But do you want to know something too? I'm more proud of you May Maple."

---

"I . . . I can't believe May . . . lost!" Wally Wood, a green-haired trainer that took fifth in the league, said to May's dad, Norman, in disbelief. "She was assured to win! I BETTED MONEY ON HER!"

"Well you can't win them all Wally," Norman replied, glancing at the trainers that surrounded May, congratulating her for making it into the top three trainers of the Hoenn League. "This goes to show you, gambling is wrong . . ."

"But I betted like . . . two hundred dollars on her!"

"Holy shi-!"

"Norman! There are kids around!" Mrs. Maple clucked her tongue in disapproval.

"Sorry honey . . ."

"But still . . ." Wally cast a dark look towards Brendan, "still . . ."

"Brendan old buddy!" Steven Stone, grandson of the president of the Devon Company and former Pokemon Champion of the Hoenn Region, pushed his was through the crowd of people and patted Brendan on the back. "Good job today! Intense battle! How does it feel to be a Pokemon Master of the Hoenn region?"

Brendan smiled. "Well, its more different than I expected," he said, glancing at the window that showed tons of people holding signs that stated 'Brendan we love you!' and other random sentences like that. "Are you mad at me because I kinda took-"

"My title?" Steven finished the sentence and laughed. He patted Brendan on the shoulder again, "I'm not mad. Maybe a little sad that I'm no longer the newest League champion in Hoenn at first, but if I had to be replaced, I'm glad it was you. Good job once again buddy."

Brendan nodded and took a sip of his soda as Steven walked away.

"Am I mad?" Steven whispered in a harsh voice. "Of course I'm mad! I was one of the most admired Pokemon trainers in the entire **** region and then POOF! Its gone! My title, my glory, my everything!" He clenched on his plastic cup causing it to crack under the pressure. "Out of all the **** people too! The most arrogant and the most idiotic! That little bast-"

"Ugh!" May flopped onto the couch besides Professor Birch, Brendan's dad. "Brendan is getting all the attention! I mean, yah, he is the Pokemon Master but I'm in the top three! THE TOP THREE PROFESSOR! Doesn't that count for anything?"

Professor Birch sweat-dropped and patted May on the shoulder reassuringly, "Time will pass May, and people will stop hassling Brendan. Then you two can finally hit that Kanto region! You two still are going to the Kanto region right?"

May glared daggers at Brendan's back, a frown emerged on her face.

"Right?"

She flattened a cup with her right palm.

"Riiiiiiight. . . I'll take that as a yes then!"

"But Professor Birch. . ." May started to whine, "I mean, I know it sounds prissy, snobby, whatever word it is, but can't I get at least a 'Congratulations' from one person?"

"Erm. . . Congratulations!"

"Ah! Its not the same when you tell someone to say it!" May slapped her forehead and ran her hand down her face. "Just once, I would like to be the center of attention. When Brendan and I fought against Gabby and T.Y. a bijillion and a half times, it was always Brendan they interviewed! And now. . ." she sniffled.

"Now, now, don't cry," Professor Birch stated sympathetically.

"Its my party and I'll cry if I want to . . ." May sniffled again, "Wait. . . its not even my party! IT'S BRENDAN'S!"

The Professor couldn't help but sweat-drop again. "I believe someone is feeling jealous . . ."

"Am not!" May retaliated even though she knew it was rude to argue with an adult. "Why would I be jealous? I got second for crying out loud! There's no reason for me to be jealous! Right?"

"Look at May over there dear," Mrs. Maple pointed to the depressed looking May. "She should be out there with Brendan, talking about their incredible battle today and not sulking with Professor Birch!"

"I know . . ." Norman frowned and looked at Brendan from the corner of his eye. "He made my little girl sad and that Birch boy is going to pay!"

"What was that dear?"

"Nothing honey!"

---

"So anyways," Brendan was leaning on a tile counter top, one arm resting on it, the other holding his soda as he talked to the group of people that surrounded him, "Kapow! That Gardevoir is fainted ladies and gents! That's how I won against Wally and that's how he got eliminated!"

"Haha, your so funny Bren-dork!" Wally laughed sarcastically. Turns out Wally was standing behind the white-haired trainer. "Laugh of the night: Brendan and Wally's big battle! Latios!" he groaned and slapped his forehead.

Brendan chose to ignore him as he swirled his cup of soda as if it were a drink. "Hey Wallace," the white-haired champion said, trying to get the green-haired trainer angry, "since your back there," he shoved his half full cup of coke towards Wally, "can you refill that? I'm running kind of low. . ."

"Oh sure Brendan!" Wally said brightly, sarcasm clearly dripping off his tongue. "I'd do anything for the Pokemon Champion! Refill his cup, clean his room, wash his boxers with my tongue . . ." Wally walked towards the sodas and poured some coke into Brendan's cup, "shove a Pokeball up his bloody arse . . ." Wally looked up and saw different types of wine and drinks on glass shelves. Taking several, he poured some in different sized proportions, murmuring about other things he would do to Brendan, "Get him drunk, poison him, kill him with my bare hands . . ."

Norman opened the door and ran back over to his house.

"Honey! Where are you going!" Mrs. Maple cried out from the open window.

"Back home! I need to check something!" Norman yelled over his shoulder.

A few minutes later, a tired-looking Petalburg gym leader unlocked his house and walked inside. Looking back over his shoulder, he took out another key and went into his wife's and his bedroom. Holding the key in his right hand, he bent down and pulled out a small safe from under his bed. Not even bothering to remember the combination, he inserted the key into the hole and turned it. The safe opened with a heavy thud as the door hit the side of the bed. Reaching in, Norman felt something small but cold and steely. Pulling it out, he smirked. The object was none other than his trusty little old gun. . .

Back at the party, May was chatting up a storm with a trainer that took sixth in the league.

"I'm serious!" May complained. "That Birch can be so . . . ugh! Infuriating! He can be so arrogant too! Did you hear what he was talking about a few minutes ago? About him kicking Wally's butt in the pre-elimination round? He didn't have to make it sound like it was the best battle in the world either! Sometimes . . . I just want to take out a gun and shoot him in the head!"

"You don't mean that . . ." the trainer said with remorse. "He's your boyfriend for Latias's sake!"

"Still. . . a girl can sometimes hate right?"

"Whatever you say May. . . whatever you say. . ."

---

"Well thanks for coming!" Brendan smiled cheerfully as the last of his guests left. It was four o' clock in the morning and after a day of beating his girlfriend in a Pokemon battle, being announced as League Champion, and having a party full of people in his house sure could make you tired. . .

"Great party B boy," May was the last to leave Brendan's house. She kissed Brendan's lips lightly before heading outside, "See you tomorrow I hope? I mean, I know there's a fan out there hiding in your azaleas . . ."

Brendan laughed as he slid his hands down to May's waist, "I hope not. I don't need a stalker."

"Because you have me right?" May asked.

"Right," Brendan laughed again and reluctantly let go of May, "See you tomorrow then!"

"You mean later . . ."

"Well you said tomorrow too!"

"But I didn't mean it!"

"Whatever Yam! Love ya babe!"

"Love ya too!" May said cheerfully as she closed the door behind her. "But not today anyways . . ." she muttered under her breath as she walked slowly towards her house. "And did he drink or something? His breath smells really bad. . . but he didn't seem drunk so . . . whatever." May shrugged and walked over to her house.

Meanwhile, Brendan leaned against the door and sighed happily. Could his life get anymore perfect?

"Nope, it can't," Brendan answered for himself. Smirking, he pushed himself off the door and up the staircase. When his foot touched the first step, the phone began to ring. "Who calls at four in the morning?" Brendan asked himself as he walked over to the kitchen and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

The other person didn't have their Viv-screen on so Brendan couldn't see who it was.

"Are you alone?" the voice asked in a deep yet muffled voice.

"Err . . ."

"Yes or no!"

"My parents are asleep upstairs so . . ."

"No then! Next question! Are you Brendan Birch from Littleroot?"

"Is this a fan because I'm in no mood-"

"YES OR NO?"

"Who are you, you little-"

"YES OR NO ALREADY!"

"Yes!"

"Now answer me this then. Are you afraid of death?"

"Isn't everybody?"

"Then I suggest you duck," the voice advised as it hung up the phone.

"What the heck was that about?" Brendan hung up the phone and turned around. A dark figure stood looming from outside the window. Brendan squinted his eyes as if it were to help clear his vision. "Uh, yeah . . . you can go home because . . . I don't sign autographs this early in the morning . . ."

The figure stood there and Brendan felt shivers go up his spine. The form shifted a bit and Brendan saw it pull out something. Brendan used the moonlight high above the shadows head and he froze when he realized what the thing pulled out. A gun.

The gun glinted in the pale moonlight as the figure raised it. A thousand thoughts entered Brendan's head a mile per minute. His mom, his dad, May, his friends, Wally, Steven, May, the Pokemon battles he went through, the final battle, May, when he was a Magma agent, and lastly May. . .

Its funny how five seconds can cause so much unbearable pain inside and out . . .

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I was going to kill Brendan but in the middle of it when Brendan was going to get shot I was like, "NOOOO! I can't kill my favorite character . . ." so I didn't lol. He's just hurt. . . and besides, he can help give off clues too . . .

Anyways, I must go, hope ya like the beginning!

LaTeR dAyZ!

[Frostweaver]

I so read this on ffnet already... XD;; But I only read up to chapter 6 or 7 before I stopped reading due to being busy and all those stuff. Ha...

[Fixen]

The other parts are great, but I think the shooting part was a little quick.

[Bird_Trainer_Robyn]

i love this story. keep it up breezy.

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Sugoi! Very entertaining! It's suspenseful and quite a story you've made there Breezy! Continue on...

[Breezy]

Yay, reviews lol. ^_^ Well, have really nothing to say right now except enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter II:
"Brendan Birch, Pokémon Master and one of the best to follow after the famous Red's footsteps, was shot earlier this morning after a celebration party. More details to come-"

"Brendan Birch, at the young age of fourteen, almost fifteen years-old was shot last night at 4:18 a.m. earlier this morning. Investigators say that-"

"The Pokémaster's Brunch today was cancelled due to the attack on new Hoenn Pokémon Master, Brendan Birch. Condolences to him and his loved ones out there-"

"The question on everyone's mind today is: Who shot Brendan Birch? While this question remains-"

"Detectives are still not sure who and why someone would attack young Birch at four in the A.M. If you have any information, please contact our hotline at (745) 9-"

"Brendan Birch is currently being hospitalized at the Chansey Hospital on Rustbaro. We are getting thousands of e-mail's from Brendan's fans who are trying to console their grief. Take this one for example. 'It saddens me that after one day of being master, people are already out to get him-' "

"Young Birch who just won the Hoenn Pokémon League was shot in the left arm by 'a dark, looming shadow,' May Maple, understudy of the Hoenn League this year and girlfriend of Brendan Birch stated. It was she that flew young Brendan to the hospital on her Swellow earlier this morning. Doctors say that if Brendan hadn't ducked in time-"

"TURN IF OFF WALLY!" May cried in agony as she wiped her swollen red eyes with a tissue.

"What? Why?" Wally exclaimed, turning off the television with the remote control. "They're just news reports!"

"But they keep repeating the god**** awful news!" May wailed.

Wally threw the remote over his shoulder, making it hit a wall, causing the nurse secretary at the desk to shush them. He collapsed in an armchair and watched May blow her nose, being comforted by her mother.

"He's not dead May," he pointed out, "but you sure are making it seem like it."

"How the hell are you being so calm?" she blurted out. "He was your friend right?"

Wally didn't answer but instead stood up. "Your going to have to see him sometime," he stated quietly as he walked over to May. He held out his hand. "You are his girlfriend after all and you should be acting like one. Now who are you?"

May stood up slowly. "May Maple. . ."

"No! Who are you? Say it like you mean it!"

"I'm May Maple from Littleroot Town and my boyfriend is Brendan Birch who is suffering from a. . . a. . . gun. . . g-gun. . . sh-shot. . . WOUND!" she buckled back down to the couch and curled up into a little ball, sobbing.

Wally shook his head. "May . . . silly little girl . . . I feel like Winnie the Pooh . . . scary . . ."

"Give May some time Wally dear," Mrs. Maple said kindly. "She is feeling well . . . down that her boyfriend got severely wounded at the shoulder blade. She'll see him in time."

"When?" Wally asked stubbornly as he paced the rough carpeted floor. "He keeps asking to see her whether delirious from the medication or not."

"Tell Brendan that May isn't feeling up to it right now dear."

Norman rushed into the hospital, a flushed look on his pale face. "Tried to get here as fast as I could," he panted. "Heard the awful news from an old Viv-message from Professor Birch. Drove as fast as I could over here without running anyone over . . . or at least not intentionally." He patted the weeping May's head softly as if to soothe her before turning towards Wally. "Where is he?" he asked sharply.

Wally, taken aback by Norman's sudden directness, pointed down a dark hallway. "The South Hall, Room Twenty-six."

Norman nodded as a way of thanks and walked swiftly down the dark hallway.

"Well that was. . . odd," Wally admitted.

"Oh, don't mind my husband," Mrs. Maple smiled. "He's just tense that a boy he considers one of his sons' was shot."

Wally turned his back to Mrs. Maple and frowned. 'Is that why he's tense?' Wally thought to himself. 'Or is it because he was the one that pulled the trigger?'

Flashback. . .

Wally slammed Brendan's cup of soda into his chest, causing some of the liquid to slosh and splash all over Brendan's red, black and yellow shoes. Some girls gasped and one of them punched Wally in the back. He turned around quickly and glared coldly at the attacker.

"Leave us alone you. . . you loser!" she cried, punching Wally's shoulder again.

"Just go away Wood, you little fifth place loser in the competition," Brendan said arrogantly, causing some of his groupies to laugh.

Wally, who had learned to stick up for himself finally, just shook his head and smirked. Turning around to Brendan's posse, he laughed mockingly, "You're a bunch of little wanna-be's you know that? Laughing at jokes that aren't even funny. . ." He turned his attention back to Brendan. "I would watch your attitude Birch because you never know when its coming back to bite you back. . . or shoot you in the head!" He marched off angrily, ignoring the laughter behind him. Sitting down in a red plushy arm chair, he sighed, hoping that this stupid party would be over. Why did the top ten have to come to a party when it was only celebrated for Brendan anyways?

Playing with an empty Pokéball by spinning it on his pointer finger, he observed the room with careful eyes. May was whining to Professor Birch, Steven Stone, former Hoenn League Master, was busy clenching his cup, his left eye twitching, Brendan, of course, was gloating, probably talking about his battle against May, and Norman . . . where was Norman?

"Oh, there he is!" Wally told himself out loud as he saw Norman enter the room quietly if not suspiciously. Wally eyed Norman carefully as he walked over to Brawly and Flannery, two other gym leaders in the Hoenn Region. He watched Norman very delicately touch the top of his left leg, right below the hip. A intense, silver glare shone from underneath the thin sweater Norman wore over his regular clothes and Wally, if he squinted his eyes just enough, could see a chrome gun glinting in the lamp's light . . .

End Flashback. . .

Wally shuddered slightly. 'Impossible!' he scoffed in his mind. 'Why would Norman want to kill Brendan? He has no reason too!' He looked over his shoulder and glanced at May who was crying on her mother's shoulder. 'Does he?'

---

"Dad, I'm fine!" Brendan groaned as he jumped off the hospital bed, his left arm bandaged heavily and carried in a dark-blue sling. "They got the bullet out of my arm and-"

"How can you be so brave?" Mrs. Birch carefully hugged her son and gave him a tight squeeze. She cried into his right shoulder. "You were almost . . . you were almost-" she bawled, collapsing onto the bed.

"Its okay honey," Professor Birch rubbed his wife's back to soothe her. "Brendan is a brave boy . . ."

"Thanks dad," Brendan replied. "Now, I must go-"

"Wait a minute!" Professor Birch stated. "Just because I said you were brave, doesn't mean that you can go out. I want the doctor's evaluation before you are allowed to leave this room."

"Dad! You make me sound like . . . like a car or something!" Brendan complained.

"Vroom, vroom!" Wally joked as he entered the room.

"And besides, I want to see May!" the white-haired trainer complained. "She hasn't come to visit me yet and its already two in the afternoon. Did she even come when I was sleeping?"

"She's still out there . . ." Norman answered. "She hasn't left the lobby couch all morning and afternoon I've heard. She's just . . . shocked and scared I suppose."

Brendan ran his right hand through his snowy-white hair and sighed. "Where's my bandana?" he asked, noticing the emptiness around his head. "I won the League with that bandana . . ."

Before anyone could answer, the door flung open, almost hitting Norman in the back. There stood Steven in all his glory, his face shining with sweat, his clothes hastily thrown on considering the buttons on his shirt were in the wrong holes. He was calm despite the tension in the air.

"Brendan!" he gasped as he caught his breath. "Sorry I wasn't here earlier, I was at the Pokémaster's Brunch and I got over here as soon as I could. Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

Brendan laughed. "I'm fine Steven, no need to get all worried over me!"

The wooden door flung open again, this time whamming into Norman's back with a loud thud.

"BRENDAN!" May cried in alarm as she dashed over to Brendan and jumped onto him, causing the two to topple onto the hospital bed.

Brendan's breath was caught in his throat as he felt May's hand push down his left shoulder blade. So much pain and torture; you could see tears forming in his ruby-red eyes but he didn't cry out.

"Good to see you too, May," he managed to gasp out.

"Brendan Birch! Don't ever scare me like that again! I've been worried sick and I was afraid to visit you!" May exclaimed as her head fell on Brendan's chest, her chestnut-colored hair tickling Brendan's face. "Latios Bread Head, you got me so freaked out when I found you earlier this morning! And all the channels on the T.V were talking about how much pain you suffered, and . . . and-"

"Shh, calm down May," Brendan tried looking down at his girlfriend as he rubbed her back gently with his right hand. "Its alright. . I'm fine," he said softly. "Everything is going to be alright."

The room was silent if you ignored the muffled sobbing coming from May.

The door creaked open slowly and Norman flinched, hoping that the door wouldn't hit him again. The doctor that was tending towards Brendan swiftly enter the room, his white doctor's coat floating behind him gently.

"I hate to do this but I have to kick everyone out except for the parents," the doctor apologized. "I'm sorry."

"Quite alright doctor," Mrs. Maple said warmly. "May dear," she rubbed May's back. "May?"

"Sworry mwom," May sniffled as she got off Brendan's chest. She smiled wearily, "I don't think I've ever cried this much before in my life."

"Should I feel honored?" Brendan asked, smirking, ignoring the two salty wet spots on his faded green pajamas the doctor made him wear.

"You better!" May laughed. "I got two red and puffy eyes because of you!" She turned around and smiled at Brendan. "I'll be waiting for you Birch . . ." she giggled again before closing the door behind her.

"Ok, let's see," the doctor took off the sling and unwrapped Brendan's bandaged shoulder carefully. He examined the gunshot wound with his gloved hands and frowned slightly. "Well, its not as bad as it could of been. I already told you what happened so we'll leave it there for now." He got out some clean and unused white bandage from a desk drawer in the room and wrapped it around Brendan's shoulder gently. "If you're feeling pain, please let me know. And be careful even if there is a plaster cast around your arm. Even the tiniest push can cause a lifetime of pain," he chuckled. "Saw that May girl push you over through the door window. That must of hurt . . ." he chortled.

"Love hurts," Brendan replied simply.

"Anyways," the doctor said, "you are able to come and go as you please from now on and congratulations on becoming Pokémon Master!"

"Thank you," Brendan replied before the doctor exited the room. "So. . . can I go now?"

---

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'TAKE US IN?' " May heard Wally's voice from down the hallway. She rushed down the dark hallway and was greeted by bright light.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"They think one of us tried to kill Brendan this morning!" he said through clenched teeth, gesticulating towards four large men in brown overcoats and wearing dark shades over their eyes. One of them had his arm out raised, a shiny badge from the Hoenn Pokemon Police and detective agency kept in a black leather wallet clutched in his hand.

"I'm afraid you have to come with us too Miss Maple," the detective said kindly.

"May wouldn't hurt a hair on her boyfriend's head!" Norman retorted angrily. "Right May?"

". . . Right . . ." May said unsurely.

"I don't see why were are being taken in!" Steven exclaimed. "We're family and close friends of Brendan, why would we shoot him for Rayquaza's sake!"

"At the time of 4:18 A.M., about ten minutes after the celebration party for the Top Ten finalists in the Hoenn Pokemon League, a suspicious, shadowy character came at the Birch's living room window as Mr. Birch says. He says that it had to be someone from the party for to shoot him down so fast or someone that lives nearby."

"And what does that have to do with us?" Wally retaliated furiously. "Anyone could of shot Brendan Birch for all you know!"

"But all of you were the last to leave the party," the detective stated modestly. "While you are right that anyone could of shot Mr. Birch down, Mr. Wood, you four are the most suspicious suspects we've got. And if you are so sure that you didn't shoot him down, why are you making such a commotion about being brought downtown for questioning?"

"I'm not making a commotion!" Wally yelled. "I'll go down for questioning!"

"Fine, we'll all go and prove that none of us shot Brendan Birch!" Norman answered for all of them, "and I mean all of us."

"Very good then," a detective smirked. "Follow us . . ."

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*shrugs* I have no frickin idea what doctors do when someone gets shot in the shoulder so I'm just guessing here lol. Please tell me if ya know!

Now I'm rethinking . . . maybe I should of killed Brendan . . . But he does tell some clues . . . speaking of which, I threw in a few clues in this chapter. Did ya get them?

LaTeR dAyZ!

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Quite interesting. You brought out the characters quite well. I printed to read your postings. I've seen a few hints but still...

Your call. Keep going with a valiant story!

[Finglonger]

well, Ive never posted in this forum before, but this prompted me to. who doesn't love a good mystery?

[ThunderBlade]

aw darn.....hope you continue this soon! lolz

[Lily]

:O Breezy is good at making these suspenseful things. XD

Emotions...they were excellent on how you portrayed them, but it was a bit ironic how May was so angry and burning of envy at the beginning, and now she's sobbing all over Brendan...Hah. The way you write, it's as if every character has the capibility of being the one who shot Brendan. Honestly, I'm terrible at finding out this mystery stuff, but I've already made a guess on who did it although it would probably be wrong...I picked out all the obvious clues. XD

The flashback was stood out more, due to the difference in writing style between the original chapter and that flashback. And the character's personality seemed to switch a lot, which confused me a bit, as I sit here thinking if its part of the fic. o.o I mean, I understand May was mad at him in the first chapter, but then she sobbed and then giggled as she left the hospital bed. That just left me staring at the screen saying 'whoa.' The doctor's speech was used a bit incorrectly, since you should've put a 'have' instead of an 'of' but maybe that's how he originally speaks..

Otherwise, good plotline, although my brain hurt after trying to figure it out. Keep it up. ^_^

[D3L3T3D]

This is actually really good. Keep it up!

[Mr Cat Dog]

I have an idea who it may be... although I'm probably wrong (I usually am with murder mysteries such as this). Anyways, to review:

At times, there were several diction errors. These were mainly in the first chapter though... and you shouldn't be too worried about them. Your main problem them was the use of "of". You always seemed to use it in place of have, and that is really grammatically incorrect. Even when it wasn't in speech, you still used it... and it's really not correct. Other things were that personalities seemed to swap around between different characters, and general description was a bit lacklustre. But - enough of the criticism, and onto the praise! XD

What I liked about it is the way you've cleverly portrayed all the suspects as to having some sort of role in the attempted murder. (The one I think has done it hasn't been portrayed yet... but I'm hoping he/she will be). Your greatest asset with this fic is the actual plot itself, as it seems to be getting more mysterious as the chapters go on. You should be proud of yourself. Well done ^_^

[Breezy]

Thanks for reviewing guys, you all rock my . . . rocks! And my rocks appreciate the rocking.

Eh lame entrance. Anyways, here the latest (well actually, not the latest but the latest here) entry to WSBB! So enjoy!

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Chapter III:

The shady detective clenched roughly on May's wrist, causing his short yet sharp nails to dig into her skin and a slight growl to come out from Norman. The other three detectives pushed the others into the police department where they were greeted by an officer.

"I see you got the suspects," an officer known as Jacob stated. His pearly white teeth gleamed in the bright sunlight as he smiled at the suspects. His navy blue uniform complete with the Hoenn League Police Department badge was ironed so carefully that the creases could still be seen. "Good job boys, I'll take it from here. I'm going to need your help though Detective Tony." The police officer motioned towards the detective in the overgrown brown trench coat clinging on to May's wrist. "For, after all as you state, you are good at getting things out of people . . ."

"Where's Officer Jenny?" Wally questioned.

"Silence! All things can be used against you in court!" Officer Jacob barked loudly. "Heh, I always wanted to say that. Anyways, Officer Jenny deals with Pokémon or Pokémon-related crimes. I deal with the human crimes and such. Now follow me."

"Follow you where exactly?" Wally retorted angrily. "I'm not just gonna be taken in by some stranger!"

"Wally, calm down, please," Norman implored, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "You don't want to anger them . . ."

" 'Them' Mr. Maple?" Detective Tony asked cooly. "As in me? Oh trust me, even if you don't anger me, you'll be in for it that I can assure you."

Norman bit his tongue to steady himself from letting out a stream of cusses in front of the children.

"Shall we?" Officer Jacob said in a kinder voice then the detective as he pushed open the foggy clear doors. "We don't want the news reporters and the paparazzi bugging all of us like those two annoying reporters that interview trainers. Gabby and T.Y is it?" he nodded. "Yes, I believe it is . . . Anyways, let's go."

"How long do you think this will take?" May inquired, squirming her wrist out of Detective Tony's hand. "I want to visit Brendan Birch today again. I don't want him to make him worry about me." She rubbed her red wrist. "And I wanna check if he's alright."

"As soon as you are clear of all charges, Miss Maple, you are then allowed free to go," Detective Tony explained hastily, his eyes observing the busy streets. "Dangit, they found out already."

"Who? The news reporters?" Steven interrogated. Sure enough, as the silver-haired former Hoenn League Champion uttered those words, news reporter vans were speeding down the street in a straight line.

"Come on then," Officer Jacob pushed the four inside. "Follow me." He led the four trainers, gym leader, and League Champion down a well-lit hallway before taking out a key and unlocking the door. Pushing it open, he motioned them to go inside.

"This reminds me of those old detective movies . . ." Wally muttered to May as they entered the gloomy room.

Sure enough, the room did look like a classic old detective movie. A fan hanging from the ceiling went in circles slowly, one small and lone desk was pushed to the left side of the room, a few scattered papers littered on it. The room gave off that dusty and old scent in the air, making the room seem brownish-looking and antique. The only light in the room was the open door and the window where a pair of wooden blinds were partially opened. A light bulb swung from the fan but with all the dust on it, it looked like it could barely light up two feet in diameter.

"Well, have a seat." Officer Jacob gesticulated towards some wooden chairs and an old couch. "Sorry about the room, only one open you know."

Detective Tony closed the door behind him, giving a swift look towards the suspects. "Anyways," he began as he eyed the suspects carefully, "this morning at the time of 4:18 A.M. at the house of the Birch Family, Mr. Brendan Birch was shot in the left shoulder at least ten or fifteen minutes after the celebration party for him."

"It was for the entire Top Ten!" Wally yelled from his seat on the uncomfortable wooden chair. "Not just Brendan Birch you know!"

Detective Tony chose to ignore Wally's statement as he continued, "You four are the most likely suspects but if needed we can call in the other suspects."

"And may I question who are these other suspects?" May asked in a somewhat polite voice.

"Well, for starters Maxie, leader of Team Magma would be one considering Brendan Birch was a spying on them for the Police Force," Detective Tony started.

"And he was other things for them too . . ." Wally muttered.

"But considering we cannot find Maxie right now, we cannot actually question him," Detective Tony finished. "The next would probably the seven other gym leaders in the Hoenn Region for they, after all, were defeated by Brendan in battle. Third could be Professor Birch but we doubt it. The Professor was in bed when Brendan got shot . . . but then again, he could of stalled Brendan and then his partner could of shot him. Though, I do no see why the Professor would want to shoot his own son. Lastly, it could be Mr. Birch himself. Maybe he wanted even MORE attention . . ."

"Why would Brendan shoot himself though?" May pondered out loud. "Even I know he's not that stupid."

"You never know," Wally joked.

"Mr. Maple," Detective Tony took a seat from behind the small wooden table. "Where were you early this morning?"

"At my home, sleeping like a normal person," Norman said with a sharp tongue.

"Well that's interesting . . ." Detective Tony pondered, "for records show that you own a gun . . . for protection . . . do you use your gun for other reasons too?"

"No," the gym leader retaliated quickly. "I have no other reason to use my gun. If your assuming that I shot Brendan Birch, you are dead-wrong because Brendan is like a son to me! Trying to murder him is like murdering myself."

Detective Tony paced the floor in front of where Norman sat, his hand raised to his chin. He rubbed it as if it made him think. The detective then stopped and glanced at Norman, trying to read his face. Annoyed, angry, stubborn, but with a hint of fear was sketched on the gym leader's face. He sighed and walked over to the grimy window.

"Mr. Maple," he began, sighing, "how can we believe your telling the truth? You are the only one with a gun that lived a close distance from young Birch's house."

"Detective, I haven't had no need to take out my gun like I said before," Norman said tiredly, "in fact, I haven't taken out that gun for over five years! There are plenty of residents in the quiet town of Littleroot! Why aren't they here?"

"Because you're the only one with a gun in Littleroot!" Detective Tony snapped. "How many times must I tell you?"

"But like I've said before, I haven't taken out that gun for years!"

"Except last night am I right?" Wally muttered quietly.

"What was that Mr. Wood?" Detective Tony turned towards Wally.

Wally sighed and looked up and the chipped plaster walls. "I remember last night at the party," he started, "that Norman had a gun hitched on his hip when talking to two other gym leaders, Brawly and Flannery." The green-haired trainer leaned back in the straight-backed, uncomfortable chairs, almost falling off. "Yeah, when Brendan was making fun of me, I told him off then went down to sit. That's when I noticed that Norman was gone. When he came back, he went to the other two gym leaders with something shiny shimmering underneath his sweater."

Norman tried to hold back his snort, causing it to sound like an abrupt sniffle. He shook his head and laughed slightly, causing the others to look up at him with fearful or confused glances.

"That wasn't a gun!" he protested, smirking a bit. "I mean not a real gun!" he shifted up his sweater and pulled up a silver, chrome gun, causing the others to gasp and Officer Jacob to cast his left hand over his gun holder. Norman pulled the trigger and a flag marked with the word "BANG!" in red writing shot out, causing some people to jump up in surprise.

"See?" he said, laughing as he shoved the flag back into the gun. "Its not real, it was suppose to be a gag! All Pokémasters had to go through some stupid joke like this I remember! A few others I've met that were league champions went through a trick and now Brendan gets a trick done on him too! Isn't that right Steven?" he asked as he tossed the fake gun onto the wooden table.

Steven reluctantly nodded. "Its true. All Pokémasters had an idiotic prank pulled on them . . ."

"But then how come you didn't play your joke on Brendan, dad?" May asked.

"Slipped my mind," Norman said with a shrug. "It happens with old age I suppose."

Detective Tony rubbed his clean-shaved chin and walked over to the window, pulling the blinders to a close. He frowned, his cold silver steel eyes glaring at each individual suspect in the room. "Well . . ." he said slowly, "well . . ."

"Well what?" Norman asled, a hint of laughter in his voice. "I thought detectives were good with putting the pieces together."

The detective glared daggers at the gym leader before stomping off to the desk and sitting down in the black leather chair. Rubbing his fingers over his temples, he sighed quietly, "For now Norman Maple, I'll believe you. One of the rules under the gym leader's oath is to be honest. Hopefully you're not breaking the rules . . ."

"I have morals detective and being honest is one of them," Norman retaliated coldly.

Detective Tony pushed himself up from his chair. "And what about you Wally Wood? Where were you early this morning?" he calmly strode over to the young green haired trainer and looked him straight in the eye. "You have been known for having a 'grudge' against Mr. Birch. Surely you aren't that jealous of him now are you?"

Wally avoided the annoying detective's question and got up from the wooden seat. He walked over to the dusty, red wood table and sat on it instead if trying to get far away from the detective. A few minutes later of uncomfortable squirming from Wally, (considering he was under the glare of the understudy of the Pokémon League, the former League Master, a powerful gym leader, a police officer with a gun hooked at his hip and a shady detective) he jumped up unexpectedly and reached his right hand behind to the back part of his hip. A click was heard and Wally raised a gun.

"Move and I'll blast your head off!" he said cooly, "and this time, I'll have better aim now that it's daytime . . ."

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Fun, cliffhangers . . . ^^

LaTeR dAyZ! Hope you enjoyed!

[Deinonychus]

Oh my. Can't wait for the next chapter!

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Whoa whoa whoa, you give us Wally's thoughts at the second chapter and now here comes an unexpected surprise? O_o;

I liked the chapter otherwise. Mmmmm...

[Mr Cat Dog]

I had two big-ish issues with that fic. The first being Norman's oath, and the second was the climax.

I'll start with Norman's oath. If Norman did kill Brendan (and I'm not saying he did or didn't), then even an oath he'd sworn by the Pokemon League wasn't exactly proof. Unless it was some sort of legally binding contract, it really wouldn't have made much significance in a court case or anything.

The climax seemed rushed. Wally wouldn't just sit there for a couple of minutes whilst nothing happened. At least, the other characters would wonder what he was doing, or perhaps talk to themselves or something. Also - it doesn't seem to signify the mood well, as it would have worked better with an increase in tension.

Most other things with this chapter were fine. The length was good, the description was better than the previous chapters, and it seemed a lot more real the other two chapters. Keep up the good work. ^_^

[Breezy]

Here's chapter 4! Thanks for reviewing again! ^_^

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Chapter IV:
Wally's fingers ran along the edge of the smooth redwood table, picking up some dust with it. His right hand gripped the gun tightly, his pointer finger drawing nearer and nearer to the trigger. A smile tugged at the edge of his lips, causing the others to think he was going insane.

"What wonders you can do when you have the power!" he remarked, his eyes flashing dangerously in the dim light. "What should I do? Send you all to a lifetime of hell sounds good . . ." The green-haired trainer smirked and pulled the trigger with his finger. A second felt like a lifetime as an ear-splitting BANG was heard, causing everyone to wince and close their eyes tightly. It echoed throughout the room, sending shivers up and down everyone's spines.

"Now who did I hit?" Wally laughed mockingly. "Who is my second victim?"

May gasped, horrified. "Wally . . . how . . . h-how . . . HOW COULD YOU!" She clenched her fists together and sprang up from her seat, angry no doubt. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! How could you shoot that gun and . . . and . . . a-and . . . splatter ink all over my favorite shirt?!" She pointed towards the rather large black ink blob on her red and black tee. "I'm going to kill you!"

"AH! She's crazy!" Wally yelled as he ducked when May swung a punch at him. He climbed over the table, causing sheets to scatter to the floor. "MAKE HER STOP CHASING ME!" he cried as May followed, hot on his heels.

"Can't say you didn't deserve it," Steven remarked, watching the two trainers run around the room. "Honestly, pulling a prank like that in the middle of something serious!"

WHACK!

Wally collapsed to the ground in a heap, swirls in his eyes. "Wow . . . she can punch . . . hard . . . How did Brendan live when they were traveling together?" Wally took in a sharp intake of breath as May stepped on his stomach. "Ow . . ."

May huffed and kicked him hard at the stomach before stomping off to her seat, sitting down, and trying to wipe off the ink on her clothes. "You deserve all the pain you get today, Wood!"

Detective Tony rolled his eyes as the adolescence behavior before clearing his throat to get everyone's attention. "Thank you for quieting down. Now as I was saying before Mr. Wood pulled the childish prank on us," he looked down and glared coldly at Wally who only smiled innocently and sweat-dropped, "where were you this morning Mr. Wood?"

Wally put his hands behind his head and looked straight up towards the detective. "Somewhere over the rainbow where dreams come true and happy thought of love enter my head," the boy stated in a child-like manner.

"Seriously!" the detective barked. "The truth PLEASE!"

"You want the truth?" Wally sat up and stared at the door. "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! Okay, well maybe you can . . . I'll admit, Brendan and I aren't the closest of friends. Sure, we helped each other out of sticky problems when we were around each other and one of us needed help but still, we're rivals! We disliked each other with a passion ever since day one! But I would never shoot him! He's . . . ugh! I just wouldn't alright?"

"Oh, very convincing," Detective Tony rolled his eyes. "Really . . ."

"I'm serious for once!" Wally protested, rolling on his stomach and pounding his fists into the concrete floor. "I would never shoot Brendan Birch! I never even thought about hurting him! I don't even have a gun! Hell, I don't even know anyone with a gun besides Norman . . . and he would never let me use it . . ."

"That's right." Norman nodded in agreement.

"You know Wally . . ." Steven stood up and strode over to the window. He trailed a finger down the dusty window sill. "I heard you last night when you were pouring a drink that you wanted to poison Brendan . . . you know, shoving a Pokeball up his arse, killing him, you know, things like that." He wiped off the dirt and grime off onto his pants. "You lied about not thinking of killing him, maybe your lying by actually trying to kill him also . . ."

"Poisoning him?" May exclaimed.

Steven nodded. "Yeah, and I believe I saw Wood pouring something into Brendan's drink and it wasn't soda . . ."

"So . . . so that's why Brendan's breath smelled like alcohol." May gasped and pointed at Wally. "You tried to get him drunk didn't you? Everyone knows that when your drunk, you don't feel much!"

"Exactly!" Steven agreed. "You tried to get Brendan drunk so he wouldn't feel a thing when you tried to kill him didn't you?" The former Pokémon Champion smirked in triumph. "You're trying to rid the world of Brendan Birch because you were JEALOUS!"

"Like you should talk idiot!" Wally retorted angrily, jumping back onto his feet. "You're the jealous Pokémon Master!"

"Jealous?!" Steven scoffed. "Why would I of all people be jealous?"

"Make yourself sound important if it makes you feel better," Wally replied sarcastically, "for all we need is another arrogant Pokémon Master appearing on late night talk shows and complaining that the diamond buckles on their shoes are too tight and one of their millions of fans weren't in the stands last night, watching you during the most important speech of the century about why grass grows!" He rolled his eyes. "For Latios' sake Steven Stone, you were shaking with jealousy enough to score a ten on the Richter Scale! You clenched your cup so hard out of your anger that we can't recycle your plastic cup and now a family won't have their plastic pine tree for Christmas . . . ruin the holiday sprit while your at it huh?"

"Why I oughta . . ." Steven growled. "Are you going to believe this boy? I mean look at him! He has green hair and he's like what? Five years-old-"

"Correction!" Wally interrupted. "I'm fourteen going on fifteen soon! But I can be five at heart . . ."

"-And he's . . . arrogant!"

"Wow, word of the day huh?" Wally smirked. "You get one of those word-of-the-day-calendars for your birthday? Pity, I got you that too . . ."

May shuffled her feet on the floor and frowned. "I just remember something . . . when you were congratulating Brendan on his win and left, you were muttering something about being fu-"

"MAY!" Norman scolded.

"What? Just repeating what he said!" May smiled innocently. "Where was I? Oh yeah, Steven was muttering about being f-ing mad 'cause he lost his title to an arrogant and idiotic loser."

"And speaking of which, I need to ask, where were you coming from when you visited Brendan in the hospital?" Wally asked curiously.

"From the Pokémaster's Brunch like I said this afternoon," Steven retaliated through clenched teeth.

"That's what I thought . . ." Wally stated as he sat back onto the desk.

Detective Tony frowned. "Do you have to sit on my des-"

"You know," Wally interrupted, "when I was channel surfing in the hospital, they said that the Pokémaster's Brunch was cancelled because of Brendan and his injury . . . now, you said you were at that. What now? Are you so important that you got your own special little brunch?"

"Well, I . . . uh. . . um . . . er," Steven stuttered. "You see-"

"Arrest him Officer Jacob!" Wally cried in triumphant, smiling smugly. "He's the attempted killer!"

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Hmm . . . well. . . yeah lol. Sorry chapter is kinda shorter than usual.

LaTeR dAyZ!

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

A strange use of character emergence and all. Wally's Ink think was funny, and it's crazy how he can jump to conclusions and be so... weird.

[Gohan]

come on this is good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Breezy]

Ah, sorry, haven't really been posting here have I? Well thanks for reviewing guys, you really rock my socks if I was wearing any! ^^ Enjoy!

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Chapter V:

Officer Jacob didn't move from his position near the door but did manage to stare at Steven, questions lurking in his eyes.

"Hello!" Wally yelled impatiently. "We've got a killer in the room! Someone get him! Who knows what he will do next!"

Steven shook his head and rolled his steely-gray eyes. "You can't prove that I shot Brendan. All you got was my anger. Anger can make you say the stupidest things. Maybe you're blaming me to cover yourself . . ." he said thoughtfully, "hmm . . ."

"Are you saying that I attempted to murder Brendan . . . again?!" Wally asked angrily, jumping back onto his feet. "That's the most full-of-crap lie that I ever heard in my life and I've heard a lot of lies, trust me."

"We can't trust killers," May answered, a small smirk tugging at the sides of her mouth. "I would shut up now Wally. Wouldn't want something, oh let's say, the truth to slip out and get you in trouble now do you? We all know its you . . . worst rival of my boyfriend ever since day one!"

Wally scoffed at May and glared coldly at her. "Turning on me May? I thought you were better than that . . ."

"Well you were **** wrong then."

Wally bit his lip in a nervous habit before speaking again. "You know May, you seem the least likely to shoot B Boy out of the group of suspects . . . maybe you shot him so someone else would get in trouble while you skipped away, innocent, hands clean when they were really dirty!" He laughed mockingly at her before glaring at her again. "Understudy of Brendan Birch, rival, and girlfriend of the ruby-red eyed trainer. I remember a long time ago when Brendan called me, telling me that you were mad because he won against you more than you have against him."

"You can't prove that!" May remarked, crossing her arms and scowling at the green-haired trainer.

Wally simpered as he un-clipped his white and green PokeNav from his belt. He pressed a few buttons and turned up the volume on the device. He then held it arms length away from him so the entire room could hear.

"Listen . . ." The green-haired trainer pushed the middle button and an old Viv-message began to play.

"Tuesday, January sixteenth," the PokeNav droned. "Viv-message from Pokémon Trainer Brendan to Pokémon Trainer Wally. BEEP."

Brendan's face appeared on the small screen as he began to talk. "Hey Wally, I need to talk to you . . ."

Another voice answered, clearly Wally's. "Must be serious, you actually got my name right BRENDAN."

"Not funny . . . Anyways, I think May is mad at me . . ."

"PMS?"

Wally in real life sweat-dropped as the other occupants in the room looked at him confused and amused.

"No . . . Today, we battled and I won but when we went to the Pokémon Center, she was all mean and scary like she wanted to rip my head off with her teeth! Not like before when I won . . . she gave me a real cold glare and there was at least a three yard distance between us . . . Latios it was scary. I think she's mad at me because I won more battles against her now than she winning more against me . . ."

"Really? I'm sure she'll get over it with a good night of sleep. Anyways, I've got a question."

"Alright, shoot."

"When a guy-"

Wally stopped the Viv-message and sweat-dropped again. "You REALLY don't need to hear the rest of that . . . Anyways, there's your proof May Maple! Normally, a trainer wouldn't be too mad if a close friend defeated them. From what Brendan told me on another Viv-message, you said one sentence to him three days after that Pokémon Battle and it was, 'Please pass the sugar.' I think you're actually jealous . . ."

"Jealous?" May sneered. "Oh yeah Wally, I'm jealous! If I'm jealous, then you have to be too!"

"Yeah, I'LL actually admit, unlike you and Steven over here, that I AM jealous that Brendan won!" Wally said through gritted teeth getting angry. "I've been jealous of him ever since I met the kid in Norman's gym! He always got everything that I wanted and now he is that one thing that I always wanted to be! A Pokémon Master! So, yeah! I'm jealous alright!"

May shook her head. "Pathetic . . ."

Wally snorted. "Takes one to know one . . . Anyways, like I was saying, I think May Maple is the killer! She has all the reason to be and the perfect disguise also. She hid in the shadows and tried to give one of us the blame!"

"Mr. Wood does have a point," Detective Tony stated, leaning on a wall, his hat cocked over his left eye. "You are probably the least likely suspect out of all four suspects in this room Miss Maple and you have the reasons to shoot Mr. Birch."

May raised her arms in the arm and let them flop back down onto the dusty couch. "I swear I wouldn't do it! I love my boyfriend very much! He's one of my best friends too! And so what if he won the League? No biggie . . ."

"Hey, not just anyone can win the League," Steven pointed out, insulted that the girl trainer made fun of his title.

"Whatever . . ."

Wally rubbed his chin, looking awfully like Detective Tony. He sat back down on the table and looked at May with his eyes. "I'm keeping my eye on you May . . ." he remarked simply, dropping his hand to his side, "believe me I am."

The door opened and everyone turned their heads. It was another detective draped in a heavyy light brown trench coat just like Detective Tony who entered, a video tape clutched in his hands. He nodded towards Officer Jacob, walked across the full length of the room and deposited the video into Detective Tony's grasp. He nodded to the other people in the room and exited, closing the door behind him.

"Odd fellow that . . . detective," Officer Jacob piped up, causing a few chuckles and giggles to go around the room. "What did he give you Tony? More videos of por-"

"No!" Detective Tony said sharply, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment though the others beside Officer Jacob didn't know why. "Its not labeled . . ." he strolled over to a small and dusty T.V. perched on a filing cabinet that no one noticed til now, "but were going to find out now!"

Officer Jacob chuckled. "Since there are kids in here, better hope its not por-"

"Shut up!"

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Thanks for reading! ^_^

LaTeR dAyZ!

[Fixen]

Oh man...why did you stop?! XD

[Kylie-chan]

It is pretty different from the Serebii.net version.

Anyhow, you still keep saying "could of" instead of "could have." They really aren't the same.

Your spelling and punctuation was highly commendable. I did not have any other issues there.

Also, your description was great. I got the picture straight in my head.

Anyhow, the plot is absolutely gripping. It's the kind you can't stop laughing but you get that little chill in your spine... I think it was a combo of Norman, May, Brawly, Flannery, and Steven.

Wally, he's hilarious and very, well, likely, but somehow his story adds up. Also, he did put alcohol in the soda. His truth is twisted. He wouldn't shoot Brendan... Norman would definitely not let a little kid touch his gun... but he would alcohol-poison Brendan. He may have had another plan. I don't know, Wally's a bit hard to work out.

Norman would be the main culprit. He knew Wally would tell the police he had a gun in his hip pocket that night, so he swapped it with a similar one, or changed the wiring and removed all ammunition. Brawly and Flannery were definitely in on the plan. I think it was either Norman, Steven or Brawly who called up Brendan, as they're all men (Wally's at the stage where his voice would be breaking) and thus would be more likely to have a deep voice. May, I don't think, could have a deep voice. Actually, I think it was Brawly. Brendan would probably recognise Norman's voice as he's very close, although it was muffled. Likewise with Steven, who claims to be a close friend of Brendan.

Also, Norman was lying about not taking his gun out often. He didn't bother to remember the safe combo, which I interpret he knew it so well from using it so much he didn't need to pause and think about it. Thus, he was taking his gun out often.

Perhaps Flannery and Brawly helped with the plan.

As Brawly was calling up Brendan, Norman would be out in the azaleas with the gun. Being the owner of the gun, he would be the most familiar with it. He wouldn't let Wally use it - only he would use it. So he would have better aim in the darkness with it, probably.

May would have done the acting to clear all of their names. Also, she could have been in the azaleas. Being his daughter, she may have used the gun and known how to. Flannery doesn't come into the story much - she could have been busy transferring the gun from Norman to May discreetly, and thus would not have participated.

May would have slipped up - she said she'd see Brendan later. Perhaps eighteen minutes later - out in the azaleas. She meant tomorrow - but said later.

I don't think the Professor would shoot his own son, somehow. He's just sympathising with May.

Also, Norman's oath - well we didn't know what it said. People break oaths and promises. Also, Steven and Norman could have created the "practical joke on the Pokemaster" alias together, and May is like all innocent and asking questions. Secretly, she knows what's what. She's a drama queen and very good at her acting.

I'm glad I don't live near those lot. *shudders*

[Gohan]

oooh this is great cant wait for more

[oni flygon]

ack...I forgot about the fanfiction of the week... ><

Congrats! FF of the week!

[Kylie-chan]

Yippee, go Breezy, you deserve it!

It's funny. I never really thought of you, until you actually got Fan Fiction of the Week. (Ah, I envy you. Or do I? Maybe I've given up on fan fictions. Maybe, just maybe... I sympathise with Denny now...)

(Goodness knows you deserve it more than I, Queen of Bad Writing. Yes, the old un-self-confident DP is back after SOME people brought me back down from would-be good mood [I had a bad day yesterday. Fortunately today was an improvement.])

[Gohan]

this is great cant wait i stink at geussing mysteries

[Breezy]

Mmm, not really sure as to *why* this fic is the ff of the week but meh . . . *shrugs*. That's always cool though, I was really surprised when I saw my fic up here lol.

But ignore the ranting Breezy and just read the fic. ^_^ Thanks for reading and reviewing guys, they always make my day *smiles*.

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Chapter VI:

Wally rested his chin on his closed fist and stared at May, suspicion lurking in his eyes. "Hmm . . ." he murmured under his breath.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!" May snapped, angry that Wally accused her of shooting her boyfriend. "I didn't shoot him alright?! I wouldn't even think of it! It's so . . . wrong!" She shuddered. "I ran out of tears for him you know! I would be crying right now if I didn't!"

"You know what bothers me the most May?" Wally remarked, using his two arms to support himself while he sat on the table. "The news report said that you found Brendan this morning. Am I right?"

"Yeah I did," the girl trainer stated defensively. "No one else in the neighborhood had a Flying type strong enough besides me to carry two trainers to Rustbaro. I was the only one who could do it."

Wally shook his head. "No, you misunderstood me. I meant that you took Brendan to the hospital, that I already know. But what confuses me is how you knew that he was hurt first . . . five minutes later as you said in the television report. . ."

May scoffed. "I didn't give a specific time as to when I rescued Brendan. And besides, I live next door to him! All I have to do is look out my window and I can see Brendan's house if I crane my neck out the window far enough," she paused, "and why does it matter if I did find Brendan on the cold hard ground first anyways? Doesn't seem to have a big effect on the real issue right?"

"Wrong," Wally answered, staring at May with more suspicion lurking in his green-colored eyes. "Brendan Birch was brought to the hospital 4:18 A.M. this morning . . . what time did you leave your house May?"

"4:07 this morning or somewhere around that time," she replied, confused as to why Wally asked when she left.

"I see . . ." Wally replied. "Interesting . . . Swellow's are well known around the world as one of the fastest bird Pokémon in the world. So for your Swellow to make it to Rustbaro, he should of gotten there by at least 4:11 . . . plus you probably took at least five minutes to load Brendan onto Swellow and warn Professor Birch, your dad, and everyone else important. So its would be like. . . 4:16 when you got to Rustbaro and get him to a doctor at 4:18 . . ."

"I don't get what your getting with this . . ."

Wally ignore the curious looks everyone else was giving him. "Ten minutes . . . you found Brendan TEN minutes AFTER he was shot. Seems kind of. . . unlikely right? I've got a question. where were you AFTER the party?"

May crossed her arms and scowled. "Fine, I'll tell you what I did after the party! Okay, after everyone left, I walked to the door with Brendan, kissed him goodnight and went to my house NEXT DOOR to Brendan's, like you already know, at 4:00 A.M. I remember the time because I always remember the times that I get mad at him . . . okay, JEALOUS at him but this time it was because he won the League even though I worked harder-"

"How do you know you worked harder?" Steven questioned.

May ignored him. "-So I took a quick shower and dried my hair which only takes about five minutes tops making it about 4:05 A.M. I'm a fast sleeper so I hopped into bed and was out like a rock or however that dang saying goes. I awoke at 4:11 this morning when I heard a gun shot from outside-"

"How do you know that the gun was not silenced?" Wally questioned.

"Well, how do you know if it has a silencer on the gun in the first place?" May inquired back. "Anyways, I awoke from a gunshot coming outside being the light sleeper that I am and I ran outside in my pajamas. I barged into Brendan's house and saw Brendan lying cold, blood gushing from his shoulder." She shuddered from the horrid memory. "I shouted loudly as to awake Brendan's parents, carried Brendan outside, called upon Tai, my Swellow, and rode to Rustbaro, the closest hospital near Littleroot. And that's the story."

Wally sighed, clenching his fists together. "But-"

"Oh Wally, stop pestering the poor girl," Officer Jacob stated kindly. "Innocent into proven guilty and stories do not always prove the truth." He looked towards the television where Detective Tony was busy rewinding and fast forwarding it. "Hey Tony! Get to a place where it doesn't show the por-"

"I said shut. Up," the detective said sharply as he glared at the officer. Officer Jacob only smirked in return. "Anyways," Detective Tony pressed play on the VCR, "stupid Detective Homer didn't rewind the tape and then he taped er . . . something else in the beginning so I had to fast forward it to the right spot. Sorry for taking so long. Anyways, the 'detective' has gotten hold of a tape videoed by a guest at last night's party. Maybe this will help us . . ." he got out of the way and sat down in the straight back wooden chair.

The tape began to play as soon as the detective sat down. It was sort of unsteady like most home videos not on a tripod. T he video taper moved through the room making the video bob left and right with each step. He then stopped in the middle and move around in a slow circle, taping Wally spill soda on Brendan's shoes and getting whacked in the head by some girl ("Latios, that girl hit hard," Wally remarked, rubbing the back of his head), Norman talking to Brawly and Flannery, ("That was when I got the fake gun remember?" Norman remarked dryly) and the other guests in the room.

"Hey Joe, can ya come help us with this?" a voice from the television asked.

"Sure," the camera man replied, setting the camera on a wooden table but not turning it off. The camera started to tape Professor Birch and May chatting on the couch ("This is where I began to complain to the Professor!" May noticed). Sure enough, May began to comply to the poor Professor who shook his head, nodded, or sighed in response ("Well, don't he look like he's enjoying that chat," Steven smirked only to get whacked on the arm by the girl trainer).

"Its my party and I'll cry if I want to!" May on the video sniffled. "Wait . . . its not even my party! ITS BRENDAN'S!"

Everyone watched as a sweat-bubble formed on the Professor's head. "I believe someone is feeling jealous . . ." he noted, smiling.

"Am not!" May retaliated, both on the television. and real life. "Why would I be jealous? I got second for crying out loud! There's no reason for me to be jealous! Right?" (May in real life nodded. "Of course not!" she scoffed.)

"Anyways . . ." the Professor tried to change the subject, "I really need to get everyone out of my house by at least four."

"Four?" May asked. "Why four?"

"Because it's late of course!" Professor Birch chuckled. "These people have to sleep for at least three or four hours and so do I and Brendan. We have to get ready for that Pokémon Masters' Brunch later after breakfast. You're coming to that aren't you May?"

May on the television shrugged. "Dunno, might not wake up early enough for that or might be too tired or something . . ."

"Yeah, I really need everyone to get out by four . . ." the Professor trailed off, "but anyways . . ."

"So Wally," Steven said in a hushed voice, smirking as Joe, the camera man, came back and began taping the rest of the party. "Still think its May?"

Wally glanced suspiciously at May from behind his shoulder; he nodded, "Sorta . . . but I have my suspicions about Professor Birch now . . ."

Steven looked puzzled. "And why so?"

Wally stared at the black and white fuzz on the television for a while before answering, "Because Steven, when May and Professor Birch were talking to each other at the party, he mentioned that he needed everyone to get out of his by four . . ."

"So . . .?" Steven trailed off, not getting what Wally meant.

"Just saying . . ." Wally stared at the window, his eyes beginning to burn from the fuzz. "He needed to get everyone out by FOUR! The hour that Brendan was shot. Now I don't know why Professor Birch wanted to get everyone out at that specific time, why not two or three? He would get more time to sleep! But anyways, I've got the worst suspicion in the world . . ."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"That father wants to kill son . . ."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Um, fwee, thanks for reading. ^^ Know who it is yet?

LaTeR dAyZ!

[Kylie-chan]

That's it. Remember my old theory? Prof. Birch is now in the gang list. He got everyone out of the house!

And May wouldn't come to the Brunch because:

a) She knew it wasn't gonna happen (Birch was faking not knowing she couldn't come) as Norman/she was gonna shoot Brendan
b) She was jealous

Well Birch could hate Brendan for various reasons... maybe he likes May better, or, well, yeah... maybe he's (OMG) gay and wants to get Norman's love, etc. etc....

*I'm crazy so don't shoot me, find me a padded cell asap*

Actually perhaps Wally is framing Birch. Birch could have known someone was going to shoot, and he needed to get everyone out of the house so they couldn't be shot, and maybe he was going to get Brendan and himself out of the house too. Also he needed any likely culprits - that is, May, Wally, Norman, Brawly, Flannery, Steven - out of the house right away.

Cool chapter!

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

What an excellent theory Dark_Pikachu.

That chapter was suspenseful, Breezy. Oh, and it's spelt "Rustboro", not "Rustbaro".

[Gohan]

oh yes this is great!can't wait for more

[Breezy]

Ooh, you guys are good at this. ^_^ So close . . . Maybe anyways . . . >> Got more clues to plant and more- k, shutting up now.

So enjoy and thanks for reviewing!

And not that I mind or anything but shouldn't be thread be unsticked by now? =/

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Chapter VII:

The black and white fuzz was getting unbearable to the ears so Detective Tony used the remote that controlled the VCR to fast forward to the next scene. Wally, though, snatched the device out of his hand. Tossing it up and down in one hand, the green-haired trainer stated, "I've got another question . . ."

"Another one!" May scoffed, annoyed with the boy and his irritating questions. "Who are you suspicious about now Wood? Professor Birch?" She laughed mockingly. "How idiotic! We all know that the Professor would never try to murder his own son!"

"Ah, that is true . . ." Wally rubbed his chin, causing the girl trainer to roll her sapphire-colored eyes. "The Professor does love his son . . . or he does when he around others." His eyes cast to a dark green shade. "No one knows how the Professor treats his son when no one is around."

"What are you getting at Mr. Wood?" Detective Tony inquired. "The Professor has no reason whatsoever to try and murder his own son and I cannot think of a reason either. This idea of yours is simply idiosyncratic and uncanny!"

"Oh shove that pocket thesaurus up your arse." Wally shook his head. Detective Tony frowned but nevertheless thrust the hand-held thesaurus back into his coat pocket. "Now, I too can't think of a reason why Professor Birch would want to kill his own son but like May, he is the least likely suspect. Dare he shoot his son? To many, he would not. But as for me . . . I think he would."

Norman had confusion written all over his face at this point. "Professor Birch loves his son Wally. He has told me before that he sometimes worries about him while he's traveling even though my daughter is with him."

"Yet . . ." Wally paused, "this morning, Professor Birch was sleeping in his bed when Brendan got shot am I correct?"

"Yes Wood, you are," Detective Tony answered. "But what does-"

"What it has to do with anything is that the Professor was 'sleeping.' " Wally interrupted. "He went to bed at three o' clock right? If you think I'm wrong, I'm sure we can look on the tape and see. He only announced it to the whole world this morning . . ." He rolled his eyes. "I think that's suspicious, like we give a friggin' care that he's going to bed. But anyways, getting back on topic, Professor Birch could of easily climbed out of the window and shot Brendan minutes after May left! And no one would suspect its him, seeing as people thought he went to sleep."

"He does make a good point," Detective Tony frowned. "Jacob, call the officers on duty and tell them to bring Professor Birch downtown A.S.A.P. Tell them its urgent."

Officer Jacob nodded and opened the wooden door. Before leaving, he added, "Aw, does this mean I have to miss watching the por-"

"I said GO!"

Officer Jacob chuckled and closed the door behind him.

"Now Wally," Detective Tony turned his attention back to the boy trainer in the room, "explain to me how you think that Professor Birch shot his son."

Wally nodded, "Alright then. After the party and after May kissed Brendan good night, more than ten minutes passed. Brendan got a mysterious phone, asking him questions. Five minutes later, the person hung up and Brendan turned around. He probably saw the shadow peeking at him through his window and then the shadow try to kill him. Now, its possible that Professor Birch called his own house on his PokéNav and covered the camera part. He most likely knew that Brendan was going to turn around and go back upstairs. That's when he decided to fire . . ." He glanced darkly at the grimy window. "I already explained to you how Professor Birch got down and how he could get away with trying to murder his own son . . . he is a likely candidate."

"Yeah, but the question remains: Why would the Professor want to kill his own son?" Steven asked, puzzled.

"Well . . ." Norman piped up, "Professor Birch was a brilliant man backed when he and I were young trainers traveling. He knew everything about Pokémon; their attacks, personalities, you name it, he'd answer it. Though the professor didn't always want to be a . . . well . . . professor." Detective Tony handed him his pocket thesaurus who Norman, in return, threw it over his shoulder. "Anyways," he started again, ignoring the fact that the usually mature detective was making faces behind his back, "Professor Birch wanted to be a Pokémon Master, like young Brendan. But his dreams were crushed when a trainer by the name of Satoshi beat him in the finals. The Professor was furious! He didn't go the Pokémon Master's Brunch, or the beach party or anything like that! He stayed at home sulking. Back then, he was a sore loser. . ."

"Like Brendan before when he lost battles to me." May giggled, remembering old times.

"Right," the gym leader smiled, "so in conclusion, I think he might be jealous of the fact that his own son got the first dream he wanted causing him to go well. . . mad."

"You shouldn't of thrown that thesaurus away Norman." Detective Tony smirked in triumph.

"Whatever . . ."

"So what your saying is dad that Professor Birch wanted to kill his son for being champion?" May asked in shock. "Well that's stupid! I would think that the Professor would be proud that a Birch won the Hoenn title for Latias' sakes! I was wondering why he was talking to me instead of his son all last night and this morning!"

"Well, you never know." Wally shrugged in reply. "So, what do you know? We do have a reason why Professor Birch wanted to-" He was cut off as the wooden door slammed open, cracking the chipped plaster wall.

Officer Jacob returned, a grim smile on his face as he gently pushed a man with a small goatee thing going on. He wearing a lab coat, khaki shorts, and a blue button up t-shirt inside of the coat; the outfit of a professor. Professor Birch that is.

Professor Birch growled in the pit of his throat as he sat down grumpily next to Norman.

"Professor," Norman nodded as a greeting. "Welcome to our after party!" he joked.

"Can it Maple!" the Professor grumbled. This entire ideal played with the Professor's usual calm and peaceful carriage.

Wally looked at the Professor and smirked. "Professor Birch. . ." he said slowly, "where were you early this morning when Brendan Birch got shot huh? Out trying to kill him huh? Huh? HUH?"

"You went over dramatic with the 'huh's'," pointed out May. "One or two is just enough but three . . . whoa buddy!"

Wally ignored May and continued his rant, "I think you tried to attempt homicide!"

Professor Birch raised an eyebrow. "And why so?" he scoffed.

"Because you're the least suspicious and we all know that the least suspicious is always the killer!" Wally replied, smirking. "Am I right or am I right?"

"Er, do we have to answer that?" Norman inquired, rubbing the back of his head.

"No comment," May said simply.

"I'm allergic to answering. . . questions," Steven replied weakly, coughing slightly.

Wally rolled her eyes and paced the length of the desk. His emerald-colored eyes stared at the dusty wooden panels that covered the floor, his arms crossed at his back. The other suspects watched him dully, being reminded of those old mystery movies that were on late at night but then again, the room did have the right setting for it.

"Ah ha!" Wally cried triumphantly, waking up a few people from their slumber. "I know why Professor Birch did it! I remember he shouted that he was going to bed . . . and despite the fact that you may have a woman or two that long for you Professor, I don't think you are the cheating type," Wally smirked, raising his eyebrows as the professor sweat-dropped. "And you could easily climb out your window and shoot Brendan."

The professor shook his head. "There is the questions of how I got down two stories and where I got the gun seeing as I don't have one."

"Ah . . . well," Wally paused and sat upon the cherry wood desk, stroking his chin. "You could of borrowed a gun . . . from NORMAN!" he pointed towards the Normal type gym leader and laughed mockingly. "You could of borrowed the gun from Mr. Maple here! Everyone knows that all gym leaders have a gun hidden somewhere for protection!"

Norman sighed and rubbed his temples. "I told you once and I'll tell you again Wally. I haven't taken that gun out for years! I have never used a bullet on a person! That gun you saw last night was a fake! And if you must know, I left the party five minutes before May. I knew she wanted to 'talk' to Brendan by herself. Therefore, if I did help Professor Birch, it would be pretty hard for me to get outside the house without May being there."

Wally frowned. "But-" he was cut off bu the door slamming open.

An outraged Pokémon League Champion stood there, his ruby-red eyes burning with flames, a sling over his left arm. He marched angrily up to the green-haired trainer and pushed him off the desk.

Wally landed hard on his back, his green eyes piercing into Brendan's own orbs. "What the friggin' heck was that for Birch!" he spat out, disgusted. "We're in the middle of discovering who shot you this morning ya know!"

Brendan pointed an accusing finger at him, glowering ice cold daggers. "Don't bother anymore. I know who shot me. . . and I happen to be pointing to him right now!"

Everyone in the room gasped except for Wally who only glared back in return.

"And what proof do you have of this?" Wally inquired angrily.

Brendan reached into his pocket and pulled out a ski mask. He turned it outside out with his right hand and showed everyone the inside of it. Green hairs were planted inside it as if they were pulled out when the mask was pulled off.

Wally's eyes widened in horror. "Someone set me up!" he cried, jumping back onto his feet. "I didn't shoot you Brendan, honest!"

"I think the one who was shot and was the only real witness knows more than you do Wood," the white-haired trainer retorted smartly. "Now its my turn to tell my story."

"Oh joy, I can hardly wait," Wally rolled his eyes as he hopped back onto the desk.

Brendan walked the length of the room and sat down next to his girlfriend. He sighed outwardly before starting his tale. "It was a dark, luminous night-"

"I'm sorry Mr. Common Sense Man, how can it be both dark and luminous?" Wally interrupted. "If you look in Detective Tony's handheld thesaurus, the word 'luminous' means bright or beaming and the word dark is . . . well . . . dark!"

"Like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted . . ." Brendan ignored Wally's comment, "after I said good night to May over here, with nickname and other things of course," he winked at May, who blushed in return, "I was about to go upstairs when the phone began to ring. Not wanting to wake my parents up, who were already asleep, I went to the kitchen and answered it. A man began to talk . . . his voice was deep or either muffled by a cloth. He kept asking me questions and I was only allowed to say 'yes' or 'no'. The voice's last question was, 'Are you afraid of death' or something like that and I answered yes. It then said, 'Then I suggest you duck' and then hung up on me. I was confused when I hung up the phone; I turned around and I saw a dark-"

"Oh, was this shadow 'luminous' too Birch?" Wally smirked.

"-looming shadow at my window." Brendan glowered at Wally. "I told him that I didn't sign autographs this early in the morning or late at night-"

"Way to sound arrogant there Brendan."

"-but it didn't move. I saw him raise something and using the moonlight as a guide, I saw a gun glint in the pale light. Thousands of thoughts ran through my head and suddenly, unbearable pain shot up through my shoulder. I collapsed and blacked-out. I awoke in the Chansey Hospital in Rustbaro like you all remember and that's my story."

"But you see Mr. Birch, what does that have anything to do with Wally?" Detective Tony asked.

"You're the detective, figure it out!" Brendan challenged.

"Well, how is he suppose to figure it out when you don't explain yourself clearly?" Wally remarked. "You told us that you think that I shot you . . ."

"And I have the proof!" Brendan replied as he waved the ski mask in the air.

"A simple ski mask and a brush with a few strands of my hair could easily make that 'proof' you have there Birch!" Wally regarded, crossing his arms. "And your story only told the facts that we already know, not teach us anything new. While you may have the brain span of a gnat, not everyone in this room does too."

Brendan only chuckled. "Ah but, as I do recall, you spent the night in one of your other friend's house in Littleroot right?"

"So?" Wally questioned, confused.

"Well, your as much likely a suspect as Norman, May, or my dad too! So don't tell them that just because they live near me, they are the most likely to also attempt murder. Because then you would also be accusing yourself. Your one of my biggest and worst rivals Wood and you have many reasons to try and kill me."

"That is true," Wally admitted, "but still . . . no reason, no good."

Brendan scowled coldly at his rival. "I've always wondered. . . how and where do you get all your information? Hmm . . .? You know too much for your own good Wood! Now doesn't that sound suspicious?"

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Looks like were going back to Wally huh? Thanks for reading!

LaTeR dAyZ!

[Hiroshi Sotomura]

Oooh, the most likely switch. Makes me wonder how the doctor reacted when Brendan came out of the hospital, but nonetheless, Wally is starting to get quite... in about it. He's a suspect al-right.

[Kylie-chan]

oh I'm so tired so I'll just make it short.

Wally DID IT! I have two suspect "sets": my previous, and Wally on his own. Wally knows way too much, and Brendan has that evidence, and it would be hard for Brendan to make that evidence when he didn't go away from the party and he was in hospital the rest of the time, so unless May or someone framed Wally and gave him an anonymous tip-off... Well, they do this in books: if they're doing something secret, they never tell their friends, so if they don't know, the knowledge can't be tortured out of them. *drumroll please* WE HAVE OUR CULPRIT!

You made a few typos like Rustbaro instead of Rustboro, bu instead of by, and your instead of you're. Your is a possessive pronoun or whatever it's called, e.g. your story rocks. (Too true!) You're is a contraction for You are, like You are a great writer. (RL examples XD)

So, that's all I have to say, the story's consistent to my last review so enough said.

Good night and happy birthday to myself (OMG what am I coming to?)

~DP~

[Gohan]

oh this is great!I cant help thinking brendan shot himself because if someone threatebed to kill may if he didnt or something like that.if what wally said was true
the "the most unlikly suspect is always the one that did it" then brendan did it
I'm probabaly wrong though

[pichugirl]

But who would kill them self? If someone threatend to kill May he could kill the person who said it not him self. If you ask me I say Norman did it he is so calm about it like he doesn't care what happends.*dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnn* Norman is guilty!

[pichugirl]

Besides he's the only one with a gun and he could be lieng about saying he hasn't pulled it out in 5 years. I'd say about 5 minutes.

[Breezy]

But who would kill them self? If someone threatend to kill May he could kill the person who said it not him self.Actually, in my other fic Realizing Fate, Brendan was threatened by Maxie to kill Wally because if he didn't, Maxie would end up killing Brendan, Wally and May. I had a plot twister that Brendan was going to kill himself because he thought it would save May . . .

I just gave ya guys a clue lol. Fwee, fun times. ^^ If it helps with this story or not, I'm not telling. :P

[Drayano]

Nice Breez. Good suspense and cliffhangers you have. Also like someone else said, it's Rustboro not Rustbaro.

[Gohan]

haha cant wait for more.
yeah I read some of that Realizing Fate fic.thats what made me think maybe that would happen.

[kirbyfan]

Please write the last one!!!

[IceKitten]

Zigzagoon shot him! :P

Ph33r Zigzagoon and it's vaguely embarassed look o.o

[FireEmporer]

MORE MORE! ENCORE! ENCORE! Wow I love this! Take your time! I love this FF!

[Gohan]

yep this is great!!can't seem to figure out who's the most suspicios though.all them were prolly in on it.

[Breezy]

I knew I posted here! >> Chapter 8 coming up! ^_^ Have I posted this before, it feels like it heh. ^^;

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Chapter VIII:

Brendan raised an eyebrow and smirked, pacing the length of the redwoo table that Wally was sitting on. "Well Wood? Your information has to come from somewhere am I right?" He nodded. "Do you get your information from town gossip? Or are you always eyewitness? Or are you just creating these zany ideas in your tiny, little head?"

Wally sucked in his cheeks. "I did not make up anything that I just said today! I don't lie unlike some people in this room. . ." He cast a dark glance. "I'm just saying Birch, maybe for some things, I was eyewitness, and other information might just be very detailed and specific rumors going around but I wouldn't make up anything to get someone else in trouble and to protect my own arse."

"By saying that statement, you are aware that you are accusing yourself of being the attempted killer?" Brendan asked thoughtfully.

Wally nodded. "Yes."

The room filled with gasps; squeaks of chairs scraping on the wooden floor were heard the people sitting in them pushed backwards, trying to get as far away from the green-haired trainer and possibly, the attempted murderer. Officer Jacob fingered the trigger of gun that was still in his gun holder and Detective Tony was busy scribbling down notes on a yellow notepad.

Wally smiled evilly. "So Brendan, think that your all smart, finding out that I am the killer. . . or least thinking that I am the killer." Wally trailed his finger in circles on the small wooden desk. "Let's just say that May purposely lost to you during the Championship battle? There is proof that she did and yada yada yada and she couldn't deny it. Now, this information got to you. Would you believe it if you thought it?"

"I do not get what your getting with this but yes, I would believe what I believe," Brendan answered, puzzlement etched all over his face.

"Now if you were to tell me what you thought - though I'd ever doubt you confined your thoughts to me in the first place - and I accidently told May with you around, would you deny or agree?" Wally asked, wiping the dust onto his khaki pants.

"I would deny of course! I mean, no offense May, I wouldn't want you to get mad at me for accusing you of losing on purpose!" Brendan laughed nervously to himself as May gave him a death glare.

"I see." Wally grinned jubilantly. "Congrats Brendan! You just proved my point!"

"Oh," Brendan laughed, "and what would your point be anyways?"

"That you lie to make things your way," Wally responded, the grin spreading across his face if possible, "and don't even think of switching for that not only proves that you like to deny even more, it also proves that you want the easiest way out of things. Besides, if you had chosen agree, you would be saying that you accept all my 'zany' ideas. So ha! I win, you lose!"

"And what does this have to do with anything?" Brendan tried to change the subject. "That doesn't prove that you aren't the killer."

"Yes it does," Wally retorted. "Let's admit it Birch, you hate me the most out of all the people in this room. With that question I asked, it proves that you deny things in order for it to change something, good or bad. While you denied who the real killer was by blaming it on me, it protects the people that you do like and love. I find denying bad but for the reason for doing so is good. But. . ." he trailed off, "I believe you catch my drift by now don't you think?"

Brendan frowned, "I would give you the finger if my arm wasn't in a sling."

"You have two arms you know," Wally countered. "Though I would find it rather amazing if you did know how to count them. Ready. . . one. . . two! Good job! You get a cookie!"

"At least my hair isn't green . . ." Brendan mumbled under his breath.

"At least I'll still have hair when I'm fifty," Wally retorted, "unlike you who's hair is already turning white!"

"I was born like this!"

"Boys!" Professor Birch barked sharply. "That's enough!"

Wally and Brendan only deepened the intense staring contest between then, the air in the room growing tense, the musky, dusty smell in the room not helping one bit. Only when Wally stuck out his tongue and formed devil horns on his head with his hands was when the stress diminished.

"So maybe I don't know if you did try to shoot me," Brendan admitted, "but still Wally. . . still. . ."

"Yes Brendan, still. . ." Wally shook his head. "No matter what I do, not matter what you say, there is going to be that 'still' roaming around in your head. And there's nothing I can do to stop it. . . but speaking of which, I still think it is your old man over there Birch."

Brendan glowered, feeling insulted, "My dad? My dad wouldn't even harm a Nincada! And I especially know that he wouldn't try to hurt me!"

"That's right!" Professor Birch defended.

"Quite true; your 'Birch' bond is strong and perhaps indestructible. . ." Wally trailed off. "To others anyways. You Birch's must know the secrets of how to untie those strong knots that hold your family together. And who better then the 'man of the house'?"

"Yes Wally, my family does have a special connection between each other," Professor Birch retaliated. "And you are correct that it is practically indestructible, but not one of us would ever want to break it. Ever."

"And the fact that you announce to the party that your going to bed early. . .?"

"Its so that no one would interrupt me. I wanted to get enough sleep so that I wouldn't be tired at the now postponed Pokemaster's Brunch. Most of the other professor's from the other cities and continents were going to be there so I had to look my best and I didn't want to slip into dreamland when I was giving my speech . Its rather impolite if you start to snore and drool on the table. . ."

Wally tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, "Right Professor. I'll believe you for now."

Professor Birch smiled, "And when did you become the detective of this case?"

"Ever since Detective Tony was beginning to do a lousy job. . . which is like the first minute we've met him," Wally laughed, smirking at the real detective.

Detective Tony crossed his arms and scowled, "Well, I didn't have much of a chance seeing as you would never shut up."

"True. . ." Wally admitted, "but guess what? I have another suspect. . ." he glared suspiciously around the room. "Someone you would never expect. . ."

"Again?" May slapped her forehead and ran her hand down her face. "We're running out of people Wally! The only people you didn't questioned is Officer Jacob and Detective Tony! We all know they didn't shoot B Boy seeing as they didn't even know about the party til now." She smiled nervously at the two authorities. "Sorry about that," she laughed.

"None taken." Officer Jacob smiled.

"Eh, I actually have a life to go to a little kid's party," Detective Tony simpered. He noticed the dark glances coming from the three trainer's eyes, "I was joking! Sheesh, kids these days. . ."

"Anyways," Wally started, "I think the new suspect would be-"

"That wall over there Wallace?" Brendan joked.

"No. . ." Wally trailed off. "You."

Brendan snorted. "Me? Why would I want to shoot myself? That's stupid, even for me! Did I just insult myself?"

"Yes you did," Wally agreed, "and there are many reasons why you would shoot yourself. . ."

"For example?"

Wally drummed his fingers on the desk again, "Oh you know. . . you've had been getting a lot of attention lately seeing as you did win the Hoenn League. . ."

"Your point?"

Wally glared at the window where streams of sunlight where pouring in between the window's blinds, "I'm just saying Birch, your getting attention NOW. . . but what happens later when everyone forgets or when someone else gets crowned Pokemon Master?"

"I don't know!" Brendan exclaimed, his lips pursing. "I was hoping that everyone would remember me. . ."

"Question," Wally replied. "Do you know who Red is?"

"Uh duh."

"How about Gold?"

"Of course."

"Silver?"

"Yes Wood . . ."

"And Green?"

"Haha, poor kid but yeah, I do."

"Well that's good, you seem to know practicably all the famous people of today," Wally paused, "but you Brendan. . . you haven't seen to have done anything special."

"I've defeated Team Magma!" Brendan growled. "And I've seen, not to mentioned I've seen Groudon too!"

"Yes, that's true," Wally acknowledged, "but. . . another question. Do you know who Crystal is?"

"Uh. . ."

"What about Blue?"

"Isn't that what some people think who Green is?"

"Yellow?"

"Well, I-"

"And do you know who Orange is?"

"Oh I know this one! She was the one who went to the Orange Islands, found a family of captured Lugias, released them, and won the League right?"

"Brendan . . ." May trailed off before shouting, "THERE ISN'T EVEN AN ORANGE!"

"I knew that." Brendan sweat-dropped. "I was just testing you guys!"

"The point is," Wally interrupted the couple's bickering, "there are plenty of people out there that have seen legendaries and plenty of Pokemon Masters that have done great things. But only a few were remembered. You want to be remembered and knowing your arrogant, cocky attitude, you always want to be the center of attention, in the spotlight, always trying to get people to pay attention to you. But you did know that all the fame and glory would die in at least three months! So what would happen to you now?"

"I . . ." Brendan trailed off.

"So you decided to shoot yourself!" Wally rambled. "You thought, 'Hey, maybe if I shoot myself, people will remember me!' so you took a gun shot yourself in the arm! Where you got the gun is another mystery that I will crack sooner or later . . ."

"Uh, jackarse!" Brendan slapped his forehead with his only working arm. "The window in my house is broken because of a bullet from a gun! How do you explain that, 'detective'?"

"You could of easily shot the window down and then yourself so it would look like someone shot you . . ." Wally murmured.

"And the fact that the broken glass was found INSIDE my house?" Brendan brought up.

"Good point . . ." Wally confessed. "May told us that she awoke to a gun shot . . ."

"Yes a gun shot," Brendan piped up. "As in one."

"I actually awoke from glass shattering," May admitted. "Not a gunshot . . ."

"Ah ha!" Wally smirked. "You could of shot down the window, picked up the broken pieces, threw them directly under the window outside and then shot yourself!"

"That's . . . ugh!" Brendan glowered at the green-haired trainer. "That doesn't make sense! May, what time did you find me this morning?"

"At least fifteen minutes when I left your house . . ." May answered. "Like I said, I took a quick shower then went to bed, waking up five minutes later to glass shattering."

"That wouldn't be enough time to place all the glass outside my window!" Brendan stated, scowling.

"Fine!" Wally huffed as he jumped back onto his feet. "Maybe its not you then!"

The room was tense and quiet until May piped up.

"But then who's left?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

::shrugs at the Pokemon Champion parts:: Eh, too lazy to use the real info seeing as I forgot most of it. . . and also too lazy to look it up. . . yep lol.

Well thanks for reading and review. ^^

LaTeR dAyZ!

[Friesguy]

This is awesome. Hope you write more chaps. It leaves a big mystery on who's behind it. Personally I think Wally knows who did it, but doesn't want to say who it is. He knows quite a bit.

But those are opinions.

[Breezy]

Um, I'm allowed to bump as long as its a chapter right? Correct me if I'm wrong ja?

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any related characters.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter IX:
"But then who is left?" May repeated, her eyes resting on the wooden floor. "Another gym leader? A close friend? A fanatic of B Boy? A stalker? A hater?"

"Your mama," Wally replied, fiddling with some papers on Detective Tony's desk.

"Hey, that's mean!" May retorted, scowling.

"What?" Wally asked curiously. "My mama too . . ."

"It seems as though we have run out of suspects but we still have plenty of clues to find and many questions to be answered." Detective Tony stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You may all leave now . . ."

"What?" Norman asked, confused. "Your just letting us . . . leave like that?"

"Not unless you have something else to say Mr. Maple, but yes, you can leave," Detective Tony said cooly. "Just don't leave Hoenn. We will track you down if you do. I'll call you back later if I need you."

"Yes sir," Norman mocked as he opened the door and walked out. "See you back home May?"

"In a little bit dad," the girl trainer answered. She walked over to her dad. "I think I'm going to do some shopping to get rid of this stress. Buy a new shirt, get some new dolls for my secret base, the usual."

"Just don't spend all your money like last time. We don't need another credit card bill that reaches from the ceiling to the floor again because you were 'relieving your stress'." Norman rolled his eyes and left with his daughter, leaving four of the six remaining suspects.

"Yeah, I think its time I left to go see my aunt and cousin again," Wally shook his head. "I find it better to explain things to them in person then on the phone." He jumped off the desk and exited the room. "Wish me luck!"

"I hope they bite your head off!" Brendan said cheerfully.

"Whatever."

Professor Birch swiftly stood up from the wooden seat. "Yes, I better get back to the Pokémon Center. Mrs. Birch must be worried." And with a slight wave of his hand, he swiftly walked out of the dusky room and into the brightly lit hallways of the police station.

"You leaving too Steven?" Officer Jacob asked as Steven got up from the dusty black couch.

"I guess so," the former champion replied, stretching his arms. "I think I'm going to visit my dad at the Devon Corporation and see if he got the dream interpreter working yet. I wanna see what my Aggron dreams about." He strolled calmly out of the room. "Good bye Officer Jacob. . . Fat Tony."

"I'm not fat!" Detective Tony retorted as a chuckling Steven left. "Am I?"

"Maybe he watches a lot of mafia movies," Officer Jacob said with a shrug. He smirked. "Anyways, now that everyone is gone, why don't we go and watch that por-"

"Shut. Up," Detective Tony retorted, frustrated with the playful police officer. "There is no . . . you know what on this tape."

"Then why did you fast forward it?" Officer Jacob said smugly.

"Because I didn't want the kids to see!"

"Ah, so there is por-"

"I said shut it! And no, there isn't any po- anything like that on this tape like I said so go feed your perverted dreams some place else!"

"Ok, fine, whatever, so why did you fast forward it, detective?"

---

"Altaria!" Wally released his graceful bird Pokemon from her Pokeball. "Time to get some more clues! And what better place than where it happened? Littleroot Town!" he hopped onto his Flying type. Altaria majestically floated into the air, no motion of her flapping her wings, but then again, her wings were covered in puffy, soft clouds.

Altaria raised to a high altitude before shooting off straight towards the small town; Wally had to hold on tightly if he didn't want to fall off. A few minutes later, the bird and boy arrived in the tiny town of Littleroot. Altaria landed gracefully on the soft dirt floor but Wally wasn't so lucky; he flew head first into the someone's mailbox.

Wally groaned as he fell onto his back, eyes cast upward to the sky. "Ow. . ."

Altaria hummed a little note, her eyes flashing playfully.

The green-haired trainer rolled back up to his feet and smirked. "It's not that funny Altaria, you did that on purpose!"

Altaria burred again, her cloud-like feathers ruffling.

"Oh, so now your saying that you did do it on purpose?" Wally asked playfully.

Altaria nodded her head, humming another musical note.

"Ah, well, you can't always get your Pokémon to agree with you I suppose." Wally shrugged and returned his Pokémon to her Pokéball. "Now to get some clues!" The young trainer walked past a few Professor Birch's Laboratory and walked up the hill toward Brendan's house. His eyes were greeted by the sight of police cars. "Well apparently other people have the same idea as I do," he stated as he walked down the hill to Brendan's house. "Excuse me." He tapped a police officer's shoulder. "What's going on mister?"

"What do you think kid?&q