#and this weekend we’re doing halloween activities so my week long of awful is hopefully done for 😌

[feelslikegold]

good morning witchy gf <3

[zdbztumble]

“Jewel of the Seven Pokemon!” Chapter II

Got this out faster than I thought!

The aim now is to have two chapters out a week, Mondays and Fridays, with the finale landing on Halloween. The writing’s going well and fast, so hopefully I’ll keep on schedule.

Chapter I can be found here!

FF.Net.

AO3

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Ash wasn’t an expert on filmmaking, but he knew enough to realize how weird it was for a major studio to shut down a movie indefinitely. It had to mean big trouble – something like a fired star, a lost Pokémon, or the set caught on fire. That might be cool to see, if that was what shut down Jewel of the Seven Pokémon – a totally destroyed set. A firefighting squad might have even turned up. Ash could find out what Water-types they used for firefighting in Unova.

Whatever had shut the film down, though, it didn’t look like they’d get to find out. The guy who made the announcement wouldn’t answer any questions but kept insisting that there was “nothing to see here,” and that what was left of the crowd should go check out the rest of Worldwide Pictures.

Of course, all that was left of the crowd anymore was Ash and his friends.

“But you haven’t explained why the autograph signing should be canceled as well!” Cilan was right in the guy’s face, slapping the back of his right hand into the left’s palm over and over. Iris stood behind him, pulling faces.

The studio worker sighed and massaged his temple. “Mr. Christopher was only here –”

“Sir Bela would be the correct address, given his title.”

“Fine – Sir Bela was only here to work on the film. When it was called off, he had to leave on personal business.”

“On that short a notice? This is a most unpalatable taste, sir!”

Meanwhile, Misty was hitting her head against a streetlight pole over and over. “It’s not fair!” she moaned. “I entered that stupid raffle, I had so many fights with my sisters to get them to watch the Gym, I flew all the way out here – and it’s never been made into a movie before! No one ever gives that book any credit, and people were at least gonna get to see the story, and now it’s…it’s all over.” She sighed and slumped down to the ground, her legs sprawled out to either side. Pikachu “cha’d” in sympathy and patted Misty’s head; Oshawott sniffed, worked tears into his eyes, and gave Misty a big hug.

What a ham, thought Ash. Misty too, for that matter; it was just a movie, after all. But even if she was overdoing it, Ash could see she really was upset, and that this wasn’t the time to kid her about it.

“It’s OK, Misty,” he said, kneeling down to put a hand on her shoulder. “They said it was suspended, not called off. Maybe they just need a break. You could still get your movie.”

“…You might be right…” Misty mumbled, in that way she had whenever she didn’t want to admit Ash had a good point. He chose to ignore that.

“Sure I am! Now, c’mon.” He pulled Misty up onto her feet. “We don’t need to stay around here feeling left out all day. You’ve got a whole weekend to fill, and on the way here I think I saw the studio where they draw the cartoons for Emolga the Wonder…ah…”

The alley between the soundstage they were in front of and its neighbor was a long one, and it wasn’t easy to make out what was at the other end. But Ash could definitely see something; tall, shiny, red. And on its head…I know what that is. It’s one of those…whaddya call it…

The figure looked around twice and hurried past the alley, just as Misty’s hand waved in front of Ash’s face. “Hello – earth to Ash. What’s wrong?”

Ash grabbed her hand and gently pulled it down, never looking away from the alley. “I think – I think I just saw a Bisharp. In a beret.”

***

Cilan still wasn’t satisfied over the canceled autograph signing. Short of any dire emergencies or criminal activity, a simple explanation wasn’t asking for much. But the studio attendant clearly wasn’t going to volunteer any information, which made Ash’s sighting of a suspicious Bisharp seem a much better use of time.

“You’re sure you saw it pass this way, Ash?” Cilan asked. They’d cleared the studio alley to reach the other side of the stages, but there was no sign that anyone had passed by, much less a Pokémon in Kalosene headwear.

“Positive,” Ash insisted. “It was here, looked around, and ran off.”

“It was probably just one of the Pokémon that work in the studio,” suggested Misty. It was a reasonable inference; crew members regularly made use of their Pokémon in filmmaking, and a Pokémon busy with production tasks would want to keep out of the way of tourists.

“Maybe,” said Ash. “It looked awful sneaky, though. And where’d it go, anyway?”

“Try looking around, Ash,” said Misty, a note of impatience in her tone. “There’s nothing around here but soundstages.”

“Yeah, but what about the doors?”

“What do you mean, what about the doors?”

“He has a point,” said Cilan. “The soundstages on this side of the street –” he motioned to his left, where the Jewel soundstage was – “have no doors facing the road, while the stages on this side –” he motioned to his right – “have the large loading doors facing the road. Those couldn’t have opened and closed in the time it took us to pass through the alley.” Ash leaned in toward Misty and gave a proud “hah!” Misty shifted Oshawott into her left arm so she could push Ash back by the face.

“There are smaller entrances on either side of the stage, of course,” Cilan went on. “But we should have been in time to see anyone rounding the corner. Hmm…” He put a finger to his chin and started tapping as he paced in the road. A part of him felt rather silly for dwelling on the matter. Misty’s notion of a Pokémon crew member was still the most likely explanation; certainly, there was no evidence to the contrary. It would be just as well that they spent the rest of their time at Worldwide Pictures seeing the rest of the lot –

“Um – Cilan?” Iris gulped. She raised a trembling hand and pointed behind him. “If you want answers, maybe that creepy guy has them…”

Cilan turned around, and felt the tremors come on himself – though certainly not on account of anything “creepy.”

The tall, thin frame. The deep-set red eyes. The snowy hair and beard, with wisps of black left around the mouth. The cane with the silver Zacian head top. Sweet Arceus! It is the man himself!

The man gave a slight smile and nod, and then said, in a deep and projecting voice, “Hello. I –”

“YOU’RE BELA CHRISTOPHER!” Cilan and Misty shouted together, but Cilan made it to him first. “Sir Bela, it’s a pleasure – an honor! – to meet you in person! May I say that I consider yours to be the greatest portrayal of Mycroft Abode ever put to screen! And your yet-unmatched feat of portraying his brother as well is – OOF!” Misty gave him a hard shove and took his place before Sir Bela.

“I love your movies!” she squealed. “I watch Blasko Has Risen From the Grave every October! And just this year I finally saw Count Blasko – the one you made in Alto Mare – and I – HEY!” This was no time for etiquette; Cilan shoved Misty aside and reclaimed his pride of place.

“Your musical albums are quite the eclectic taste!” he said. “A conceptual heavy metal album narrating the entire life of King AZ is certainly unusual, but I found it to be – OW!” Oshawott – still in Misty’s arms – beaned Cilan with his shell, and Misty moved back in.

“But you were just as good as the hero in The Sableye Rides Out!” she said. “Is it true you have a whole library on the occult like you had in that movie?”

If she weren’t behaving as such a ruffian, thought Cilan, Ash’s friend would be quite charming right now. But these indignities could not go unanswered, and Cilan’s questions about Sir Bela’s world record for cinematic swordfights demanded answers. He sprang up, elbowed Misty aside, and talked right over her. But Misty just pushed back and spoke up in turn, until Ash’s voice cut through: “Calm down, guys!”

“Yeah – no wonder this guy canceled his autograph signing!” added Iris.

The reality of their situation – shoulder to shoulder, jockeying for position, all in front of Sir Bela Christopher – made Cilan’s stomach drop. He stepped back from Misty and gave a tug to his bow tie; she chuckled sheepishly and raised Oshawott and Pikachu up to hide her face.

Sir Bela only seemed a little nervous at their behavior, however. He gave another nod and tipped his cane. “I appreciate your enthusiasm for my work,” he said. “And I am sorry to have canceled that signing. But with the film we’re making being suspended you see – and now my Bisharp has gone missing.”

“Your Bisharp?” said Ash. “Does it wear a beret?”

“Sometimes, yes. Have you seen him?”

“Yeah, right around here.” Ash waved toward the alley. “We were just trying to figure out where it went.”

“What is going on with that movie, anyway?” asked Iris. It was slightly irksome to Cilan that the two least interested of their party were asking the most pertinent questions, but that was the key point he wanted answers to himself.

Sir Bela sighed and leaned on his cane. “Terrible business – simply terrible,” he said, shaking his head. “The studio would never want it publicized, of course.”

Ash, Iris, and Misty all moaned, and Cilan slumped forward a little. “Well,” he said, “I suppose I understand their position –”

“It began almost as soon as we started shooting,” Sir Bela went on, as if he hadn’t even mentioned the studio. “Never seen anything like it before. Nothing at all. Didn’t have an inkling of trouble on the way from Galar. And there was all sorts of worry that I’d find some, believe me. I was asked to carry the jewel here.”

“The jewel?” Ash cocked his head to one side, Iris to the other.

“Do you mean the ruby from Jewel of the Seven Pokémon?” asked Misty.

“Surely that would normally be a prop made for the production,” said Cilan.

Sir Bela nodded. “Ordinarily. But the producers insisted – insisted! – on authenticity. A real ruby, from a real southern archeological site. They got it on loan from one of our museums. Completely authentic – though, of course, the hieroglyphics on the setting of the piece they loaned indicates it was made for a prince, not a princess.” He gave a small shrug. “That’s a producer for you.

“We brought this jewel – Bisharp and I – to the producers, and filming got underway. We began with the scenes – do you know the novel?”

“Yes!” Cilan and Misty said together. “No!” Ash and Iris said together, at the same time. Cilan was more than a little pleased that Sir Bela heeded him and Misty and didn’t derail his story.

“We began with the scenes in the cave below the mansion. That was the first set prepared, you see. It all went very well. Bisharp did wonderfully – he’s always done wonderfully, for all the years I’ve had him – as did the Cofagrigus. They were brought in from the south too, you know. No idea from where. Well, we broke for lunch, and we came back, we had to get the first shot with the jewel. And as soon as it was placed onto its mark, all of the Cofagrigus reacted very – very strongly.  We got the shots, but it was extraordinary behavior. And, as the days went by, it spread to all the other Pokémon on the cast and crew – even to my Bisharp.”

“What sort of ‘extraordinary behavior,’ Sir Bela?” Cilan asked.

“Refusing to take direction. Acting as though they didn’t hear their Trainers. Leaving the set for hours at a time. It all came to a head this week. One by one, they’ve all vanished. The Cofagrigus first – all seven of them, together, gone this Monday – and then the rest. Bisharp was the last. I can’t make any sense of it at all. And not just the Pokémon – the film equipment has been vanishing too.”

“Hmm…” Cilan bent his head and put a hand to his chin. Abnormal behavior after the introduction of the jewel…begun by the Cofagrigus, who lead the way in vanishing…and pilfered film equipment to cap it all. With no clear trigger. Of course, the odd behavior coinciding with the introduction of the jewel in a horror film about said jewel offered a useful signpost on the affair, but it couldn’t possibly be the cause.

He was vaguely aware of Ash, Iris, and Misty musing aloud about the situation. The only words he heard clearly were Misty’s: “It’s a mystery, all right.”

“‘All right’ indeed,” said Cilan. “And that’s why –” he spun around, produced his cap and magnifying glass, and struck a pose – “it’s detective time!”

“I beg your pardon?” said Sir Bela. Cilan adjusted his hat and knelt before him.

“Sir Bela,” he said somberly. “I, Detective Cilan, Pokémon and Film Connoisseur, will solve the mystery of your wayward production and return your Bisharp to you!”

“He’ll even throw in a headache at no extra charge,” Iris deadpanned; Cilan didn’t even dignify the comment with a sour look.

“Is he really a detective?” Cilan heard Misty whisper.

“Cilan’s a lot of things,” Ash replied, with a light chuckle. “But count me in to help! Whaddya say, Misty – wanna get in on another adventure?”

“You bet!” She stepped up and clapped a hand on Cilan’s shoulder. “You don’t think I’d pass up a chance to help Bela Christopher, would you?”

“If we must, we must,” Iris sighed, her feigned indifference undermined by her smile and Axew’s happy cry. Cilan grinned himself, nodded approvingly, and turned back to a rather stunned-looking Sir Bela. “Well, sir – where would Mycroft Abode suggest we begin?”

“Young man,” Sir Bela said sternly. “I am not the characters that I portray in the cinema.” Cilan winced and stepped back. I’ve overdone it again, haven’t I? He had heard that Sir Bela could be rather sensitive about people ascribing his roles to his personal life. This meeting was going nothing at all like Cilan had hoped –

Sir Bela’s red eyes shone, and his moustache gave a friendly sort of twitch. “But I’m sure the production will appreciate your help,” he said. “Shall we visit the set?”