There's nothing better than a plan coming together.

Maybe it was a megalomaniac trait I developed during my stay in this world, maybe it was the adrenaline rush that was clouding my mind, or maybe it was simply me following my destiny.

Crimson would go down tonight, I felt it.

As the wind brushed through my hair and I looked up at the moon I could myself feel being watched by the Gods of this world.

Moments like this made me feel invincible, sitting on top of a mighty dragon and watching the sleeping city underneath me move on.

I somehow got to this world and I wasn't about to do something mundane.

Tonight I would end Crimson's career.

Tonight would be the start of my own legend in this world.

"They're still apart right?" I asked Ralts. She nodded and made a weird movement with her hands.

I paused for a moment.. "So they’re trying to separate us."

It was a simple strategy, smart even.

Ralts could take down both Abra and Crimson but I wouldn't be able to take down Abra unless knives dealt critical damage to Psychic Pokémon.

I considered sending in Ralts alone but I had no idea how Crimson would react to that.

Crimson's movement made it look like he was looking for a final confrontation, something that would fit his self involved worldview.

Ralts' emotional radar told us he had been moving around at the top floor, not going up or down or making an attempt to flee. Maybe he couldn’t?

I had no idea what this building looked like from the inside, the outside suggested it was a run of the mill boring insurance company.

Through the windows I could see desks and shelves thus it led me to thinking this had to be an office.

It was ironic.

This was an insurance company and right now Crimson had already caused collateral damage, I couldn't be the only one who thought it was funny right?

There had to be stairs somewhere in the back of the building but Crimson hadn't bothered to use them apparently.

Empathy Sense was such a hack, knowing where someone was at all times gave me so much more options.

I looked at Charizard. I briefly wondered if dragons could get a sore throat. She had been busy after all. The entire floor was now covered in a hazy low hanging smoke screen that would soon fade.

Charizard's Smokescreen made sure I couldn't be killed the moment I entered the building, considering Crimson couldn’t shoot me through the smoke, which was very nice.

I took out the kitchen towel I brought along and sprayed the contents of the water bottle on it.

Most of it clattered down, some of it landed on Charizard's wings.

However it did its job, making the kitchen towel drenched in water. I wrapped the towel around my face and tied it into a knot, turning it into a makeshift facemask and preventing me from inhaling too much smoke.

Strangely, Charizard's Smoke Screen wasn't like real smoke.

Breathing in real smoke would make your lungs swell and fill it with liquid which is very unhealthy.

Charizard's smoke just makes your throat hurt very badly and it stings in the eyes but unlike smoke that came from real fire there was no risk of suffocating which was odd.

My guess was that it wasn't actual smoke (also, the Smoke Screen didn't burn you alive which smoke could) but something that looked very similar and that the people of this universe lazily called it Smoke Screen.

It sucked, otherwise Crimson would be out of air before he could even escape.

Still, it stings and it hurts and it would make Crimson very uncomfortable.

I put on my glasses, not that I actually needed one but they would protect my eyes to some degree.

The glasses were just plastic mock versions for people to see how it fits. They were slightly modified by me so they wouldn’t be knocked off easily, but still, cheap plastic.

Yeah, I had enough money to burn.

Ralts didn't need any protection, being a Pokémon after all. To her, Smoke Screen was just an accuracy lowering move, though she could use her emotion sense powers to bypass that problem.

I put away the empty bottle in my backpack and took out the silver gun.

It was kinda heavy but not in the wrong way but more like how a sword should be heavy to be balanced.

To me the silver gun was kinda useless at the moment, my aim sucked and unlike Crimson I wasn't trying to kill someone.

I would if it was unavoidable but I'd rather not.

Still the gun could help me, a lucky shot could always occur, however it wasn't about to rely on it.

I took out my knife and held it in my left hand, for some reason I felt more confident holding a knife than without one, was that messed up?

Perhaps, a knife isn't a very heroic weapon, it belonged to serial killers and yanderes.

I didn't consider myself either one of those, mmm, I had a knife and a gun.

"Damn, I really feel like I am cosplaying some vigilante or something.”

"Zard?"

I chuckled, "Nevermind that, just keep pouring in more smoke around and inside the building."

Smoke Screen would prevent Crimson from sniping me and force him to get close and that should make up for my lack of accuracy.

"Okay, Charizard, fly us towards the window please."

She reluctantly flew towards the window, clearly worried about our wellbeing. Ralts hopped off first, not at all scared. It was a small jump, yet my heart skipped a beat when I jumped from Charizard's back towards the hole in the building.

Glass shards fell off the edge as I stepped on them and they disappeared from sight.

"Okay, final direction for Crimson?" I asked Ralts and she pointed towards the left, though I couldn't see shit thanks to the smoke.

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I nodded. "Okay. In the words of the famous detective. The game is on."

I offered her my fist and she answered the fistbump. "Good luck girl."

"Ralts." Ralts said, she narrowed her eyes and then suddenly turned around and disappeared into the smoke.

She probably said something cliché like: you better come back alive.

I turned to face Charizard who hovered in front of the window, flapping her wings and in the process sending the smoke deeper into the building.

"Welp you know what to do, keep the smoke pumping," I said and I gave her a big grin, only to realize she couldn't see it.

She gave me an unsatisfied growl.

"Crimson is cornered and practically done for," I sighed. "I already told you. The police should arrive soon anyway, I just have to keep him entertained so he doesn’t teleport away again."

Somehow Charizard managed to scoff.

"You do trust me right?" I said, playing the guilt card.

Charizard huffed and sent a burst of black smoke my way.

"Good girl," I chuckled before I turned around to find Crimson.

The building had already been dark before Charizard blanketed it entirely in smoke but right now it was like playing a horror game.

I couldn't see far, only a couple meters at most. The smoke smelled horrible and the drenched kitchen towel only managed to filter most of it.

Imagine if someone decided to throw rotten eggs and spoiled milk into a blender and then evaporated it.

Still, the thought that Crimson had it worse made me smile.

I walked across a desk with some paperwork on it, my gun and knife both ready.

The entire place was a big office hellscape, an endless row of desks, shelves and cabinets. Stacks of paperwork filled some tables, apparently just left there while other desks were mostly empty.

If my sense of directions were correct I should be around the center of this floor.

The building had multiple big pillars running through it, dividing the place in equal squares. It provided me with some cover.

This place kinda gave me the creeps, though it was the design and not the situation I was in.

It was like somebody had copied and pasted this entire place multiple times.

The air conditioning vents, the inactive ceiling lights, bookshelves and desks all repeated themselves like an endless hell of paperwork.

Just another day at the office.

I heard someone cough, it sounded far away but that was only because I was walking at such a slow pace that it made a small distance look big.

A quick look around told me I was surrounded by big pillars on four sides, perfect.

I knelt down underneath a desk.

"There's no running now."

My voice echoed through the building and I moved myself to a new location.

"You're cornered and trapped, It's over."

I heard a laugh echo, "For you maybe."

It was still far away from me, the sound came from my left, I moved again.

"It's funny how you never stood a chance, want to know why?"

"Don't cry victory too soon.." Crimson snarled and I heard his gun click.

It sounded further away again, was he zig zagging around my location?

There was a reason Crimson and I were monologuing.

One we were both aware of.

Right now we were playing a game that went deeper than hide and seek. Both Crimson and I were limited in sight and only vaguely aware of each other's position.

Sound didn't carry far through the thick smoke and we constantly had to check each other's position. It was the best way for the both of us.

I didn't want to wander around with zero idea where I was going and neither did Crimson.

So instead we talked, everytime we spoke we shared our position.

I told him mine and he told me his, a dangerous dance in which the first person to find the other would most likely win.

Crimson however was at a disadvantage.

He was tired, not at all dressed right and cornered. Time wasn't working in his favor either.

I had no idea where Ralts and Abra were, probably doing their own battle somewhere else.

The odds were definitely in my favor, Crimson was getting desperate and the police were on their way.

That was why I was making myself comfy behind a desk.

"It's a secret but I've been summoned by the creation trio themself with a glorious goal in mind. You're nothing more than an obstacle to level me up."

It was not necessarily a lie, just a guess with a lot of assumptions.

I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes, they were getting dry from the smoke.

"Tssss, and here I thought you were from the police or something," Crimson taunted, "Guess you are just another lunatic."

He chuckled and I heard his footsteps hesitate.

My eyes closed, I did the mental calculations.

He was making a wide arc around me, interesting.

After a moment of mind breaking silence he asked. "Nothing to say blue?"

My eyes widened, damn he had gotten close.

I counted the seconds in my head, gun and knife ready.

"HahaaahaaaHaaa."

My laugh rolled through the building. "Arrogance, you mongrel! You truly think you can stop me, you stupid fool!"

I wondered if I had overdone my laugh, nah it was good.

Suddenly I could hear Crimson's footsteps, they were very close.

Only a few meters away from me every step thundered through the building.

"Here's a tip blue," I heard Crimson's voice next to me. "I found you," he said and I heard him actually pull the trigger before the bang came.

3 more bullets followed, all deafening in their own way.

"Guess you shouldn't talk like that," Crimson muttered.

I raised my gun and took aim.

Just to be sure I fired 4 times..

This time it was different.

The sound was horrible and it felt somehow louder than before. Bracing myself for the recoil didn't help a lot, the shock and flash still almost paralyzed me.

Still, my aim was clear.

A crunching sound followed by a horrifying splash sound that echoed through the building.

It was almost impossible to miss, Crimson stood only 4 meters away from me and his back was turned to me.

I couldn't make out his facial expression, yet I could've guessed it.

This time there was no snarky one liner or finishing line. Only an agonizing scream that shook me to the core.

The lower part of Crimson's leg had exploded, it was torn open and looked like a meat grinder had gone over it.

He collapsed, his left leg was unable to support his weight; still he held a gun in his hand.

Crimson stumbled forward and I made a dash for him.

I flipped my knife in my hand and aimed the grip at his hand and slammed it down.

He dropped the gun as pain spasmed through his arm. I followed my strike up with a hit to the back of his head to knock him out.

With a kick his gun flew away and landed somewhere in the darkness, probably underneath a bookshelf or desk.

Crimson kept screaming so I hit him again, almost in blind panic.

He stopped after that and quietly lied on the floor, the only sign he was alive were the jerky breaths he heaved.

"Fucking game over," I muttered, still kinda in shock.

Sinnoh's infamous bank robber was lying knocked out on the floor with a small puddle forming around his leg.

I began chuckling.

The craziness of what I just had done finally came down on me.

It was morbid and totally insane to laugh while someone's bleeding out next to you but I just couldn't stop shaking and laughing.

My chest began aching from the maniacal laughter and I couldn't help but to wonder if I was finally getting my breakdown, it was bound to happen.

I had been in this insane world for quite some time and now I was standing over someone I promised to take down.

Somehow I had managed to do what others couldn't.

"You are trapped," My voice came from behind me, "You played right into my hands, did you really think I would just roll over and let you get away?"

This was enough to make my hysterical laughter stop.

I calmed myself down and managed to recollect my thoughts.

Had to contain Crimson and tie him up, check up on Ralts and Abra and tell Charizard that everything was alright. Also, perhaps I should tend to Crimson's wound and close it.

"You ran out of luck. So don't keep the police waiting, Crimson." My voice droned on and I turned around and walked towards the desk.

The desk he had shot had multiple holes in it, woods had splintered around it and I counted at least 4 holes.

I walked around the desk and knelt down.

"You can stop playing the recording, Oracle." I smiled as I retrieved my Pokédex from underneath the desk.

The screen blinked and the Pokédex lady stopped playing the recording.

"Now Oracle, how much money does Crimson have on his head?"