You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon, and I've also activated a (date-to-date) subscription model on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
Luther's parents' study wasn't large and mostly held a mix of personal items.
Four bookshelves lined the walls, filled with books and file folders. Oleander scanned the titles carefully, her fingers brushing over the spines.
When Luther's parents moved to Lumiose City, they had already graduated. Based on their career paths after that, neither had chosen to continue in academic research.
Yet interestingly, the shelves held a surprising number of books on Pokémon science and scholarly theory.
It seemed they hadn't completely turned away from academia after all. Maybe they'd kept up a quiet passion for research alongside their regular jobs.
Oleander opened the sealed file folders one by one, flipping through their contents. Most of it was leftover coursework and research notes from their academy days, valuable perhaps, but not what she was looking for.
The paper she hoped to find wasn't there.
What caught her attention, though, was the submission timeline of two research papers; they had been submitted just a week apart.
Anyone who's ever written a serious research paper knows that kind of work couldn't be completed in just seven days.
A paper that was rejected couldn't be revised and resubmitted that quickly. The only logical explanation was that Luther's parents had anticipated the first paper might fail, and had prepared a backup in advance.
Oleander glanced through the pile of miscellaneous odds and ends in the corner, but her efforts turned up nothing useful.
Sighing deeply, she sank to the floor, a little disappointed.
It made sense, really. Luther's parents had only lived in Lumiose City temporarily, they wouldn't have left anything too important behind.
Noticing Oleander's downcast expression, Musharna gently tugged at her sleeve and led her toward the door.
"Alright, alright," Oleander murmured. "I'll take you back now."
But instead of heading to the window, Musharna moved toward the front door.
That didn't make sense, the door had been sealed with a heavy padlock. There was no way to open it without a key.
As Oleander puzzled over this, Musharna had already stopped beside the sofa.
With a quiet psychic push, Musharna shifted the sofa aside. Oleander blinked, startled, then quickly caught on.
She crouched and tapped the floor lightly with her knuckle.
A hidden compartment.
Running her hand across the wood, she found a faint indentation. Pressing down hard, she heard a low creak, and a narrow gap opened in the floorboards.
Oleander pried it open. Inside was a slightly rusted iron box. Nothing else.
Just as she reached for it, Musharna stepped in front of her, nudging her back with a serious expression.
Musharna misunderstood; she thought Oleander, who had come to share the news of her Trainer's passing, was after something valuable. The box had been precious to her owner, and now this stranger wanted to open it without a second thought?
Realizing the situation, Oleander immediately backed off. She found some cloth, carefully wrapped the box, and placed it on the table, clearly showing she had no intention of opening it.
Musharna seemed satisfied with that.
"Alright then," Oleander said with a faint smile. "Tonight, I'll teleport you to Hearthome City so you can meet Luther. For now, be a good Pokémon and return to your Poké Ball."
Seeing that Musharna made no move to resist, Oleander quickly recalled her, tucking the Poké Ball safely into her coat.
She picked up the box and hurried to her car, heading straight for the nearest Pokémon Center.
"Please help me send this Pokémon to a Trainer named Luther in Hearthome City, Sinnoh Region," She told the Nurse Joy on duty.
Joy reached for the Poké Ball, but Oleander suddenly hesitated, pulling it back just before their hands met. Joy raised an eyebrow, confused, but Oleander's lips curled into a playful, almost mischievous smile.
She'd just thought of something interesting.
"I remember the Pokémon Center offers custom delivery services now, right?"
Joy nodded, pulling out a clipboard. "Of course. What would you like to include?"
First, Oleander dictated a letter, explaining everything Musharna had gone through.
As Joy jotted everything down, she occasionally glanced up at Oleander with a conflicted look, as if unsure whether to say something.
"Use a red box with hearts on it for the packaging," Oleander continued. "Spray some light perfume on the letter, and schedule a flower delivery in the Sinnoh Region. Make sure the flowers arrive at the same time as the Poké Ball. And sign the card with the name I just gave you."
Joy opened her mouth, tempted to ask about Oleander's relationship with Luther. But after rereading the romantic, almost theatrical wording of the letter, she thought better of it.
If it wasn't love, it had to be something just as deep, maybe even resentment. Either way, best not to ask.
"What time should we schedule the delivery?"
"Around eight in the morning."
"That'll fall into the premium time window," Joy noted. "Would you prefer a more affordable slot?"
"It doesn't matter," Oleander said as she swiped her card, paying upfront without hesitation.
Around eight o'clock, Luther was probably just finishing his morning run and heading back to the hotel for breakfast. Oleander wondered whether he'd still be able to enjoy it after what was coming.
Watching her leave, Nurse Joy gave an involuntary shiver.
Back at the car parked outside the Pokémon Center, Oleander wasted no time. She retrieved the iron box and opened it.
It hadn't been locked. Inside, resting alone, was a small, yellowed notebook.
"A diary?" She murmured in surprise.
Flipping it open, Oleander was immediately taken aback.
The first entries dated back to Luther's parents' university days at Rainbow University, written during the height of their blossoming romance.
Interestingly, both of them had contributed to the same entries, it was a shared diary, a private conversation captured in ink.
As their relationship deepened, so did the diary's tone. Their exchanges became more affectionate, filled with emotional confessions and tender remarks.
Oleander, a trained agent with the International Police, had read her fair share of sensitive material. And even though the diary was dripping with sentiment, she pressed on, painfully.
Professionalism came first. Who knew if there was vital information buried in the midst of their heartfelt scribbles?
Eventually, she cracked a window and stepped halfway out of the car to breathe. The emotional weight of the entries was suffocating.
Love notes, inside jokes, memories... entry after entry, the couple poured their hearts out on the pages. It was overwhelming.
By the time she reached the middle of the diary, Oleander felt like she was drowning in twenty-year-old, emotionally expired "Poké Puffs" of affection.
But then, something caught her eye.
The diary shifted tone as it documented the origins of an academic idea.
It was Luther's mother who first brought up the concept of Pokémon mutation, a rare, natural deviation in a Pokémon's evolutionary path not influenced by external factors like Evolution Stones or regional traits. Luther's father had supported her theory, and together, they co-authored their first research paper.
The diary didn't include the full content of that paper, but from what was written, it matched Oleander's earlier suspicions.
The couple hadn't believed the first paper would be accepted. That's why they prepared a second one, building further on the Pokémon mutation theory.
"Did we do something wrong?"
"We just noticed something others didn't. Don't worry."
"Still… I feel like we should just burn the first one."
After that, there was a week-long gap in entries.
"We burned it! I feel so free!"
"No more academic stuff for us."
With that declaration from Luther's mother, the diary returned to its previous rhythm, snippets of their daily life, sweet nothings, and shared dreams.
The romance resumed.
(End of Chapter)