"So, we still don't know the cause of the earthquake? Or do we have some leads?" Lance asked. His Dragonite stood firmly next to him, looking seriously at the police officer in front of him.
"All we know is that there were some minors in here at the time, and they fell down this hole. Inside of it is an underground river. All we found is this," the officer replied, handing over a sheet of damp paper.
Lance scanned the paper. It was a picture of three strange looking Pokemon in a triangular position. The wrinkles told you that it had been looked over countless times, and the messiness of the tear told you it was from a book.
"A torn out book page?" Lance inquired.
A researcher, who had been studying the hole to the river, padded over to the two men. "The Pokemon on the page isn't like any you could find in the Johto region. However, there is a professor in New Bark town right now from a region up north. He's supposed to be leaving soon, though," she said.
"New Bark Town…" Lance tried to recall where he knew that name. It was the hometown of someone he knew, but couldn't remember at the moment. His mind was working too fast. "Down south, right?"
"Yes, sir," the researcher nodded. "He, Professor Elm, and Professor Oak got together to exchange notes. There was supposed to be two other Professors there, but one's region is having weird weather, so his ship was canceled until the weather cleared up. The other is studying in a mountain and cannot stray away from her work right now, as much as she would like to."
"How do you know all this?" Karen strutted up to the researcher and the officer. She flipped her long silver hair back behind her, placing her hands on her hips.
"Well, I am his, um, apprentice, you could say," she murmured, turning pink. Oh yes, she was intimidated by both of these Trainers. One of them was a member of the Elite Four, and the other was the Champion. Both of them together were so awfully strong.
"Hm," both said simultaneously. Lance could hear the faint crashing of waves in the hole under Victory Road. It was the only reason they were here in the first place - the earthquake had shaken the Elite Four Tower so violently, everyone at the Tower came outside in inquiry.
"We're going to have to tell Trainers that Victory Road is closed for a while," Karen said thoughtfully. She turned to Lance. "We could get Oak to broadcast it. That would give you a chance to see about that paper you're holding. I know you want to find out whose it is. You've got that look, Lance." Karen grinned.
Lance did indeed have 'that look'. "Yeah. I'll talk to him about it. Dragonite and I can go there now…"
"Go right ahead!" the officer chipped in. "Any information on who was unfortunate enough to fall in will help!"
Lance showed traces of a faint smile of thanks, glancing at Karen. "Be back later."
Dragonite looked up at his trainer, who ran outside the cave. Dragonite knew what to do. He spread his wings and started flapping as well. Dragonite flew ahead of Lance, and Lance jumped on Dragonite's back. They were airborne in seconds.
* * *
"Lance, my boy! Good to see you!" Oak grinned when Lance walked into Professor Elm's lab. Lance nodded, smiling lightly. "What brings you here to us old people?"
Another Professor in the corner chuckled. Lance gazed at the man curiously, saying, "Well, I found something interesting, and I wanted to talk to you about it."
The man, after taking notice, chuckled again. "What would that be?"
Lance handed the paper to the older man. After the long flight, most of it was dry. The other two Professors looked as well. The man frowned.
"This is that page of my book that was stolen. How did you get this?"
Lance shrugged. "There was an earthquake on Victory Road, and the floor caved in. Some kids were around at the time and fell in. We don't even know if they're alive, but we were wondering if you knew anything about this piece of paper that was found at the scene. Your assistant told me to come to you, Professor…"
"Rowan. My name is Professor Rowan." Professor Rowan was stunned by the piece of paper. "This picture is of the legendary Pokemon Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf. They are native to my region, Sinnoh. They are known as the Lake Guardians. I showed a couple of kids that were interested, and then I found this page of my book missing the next day. I suspected one of them stole it."
"Wait; there was an earthquake on Victory Road?" Oak questioned. "When?"
"Just yesterday. We've been trying to keep it quiet so no one would panic." Lance replied. " We of the Elite Four came to ask you a favor, Professor Oak…"
"And that is?"
"Could you and Mary possibly mention on your next broadcast that Victory Road is closed?"
Professor Oak smiled, nodding. "Of course my boy. Now, did you say that there were some children at the scene of the cave-in?"
"Yes. That's all we know, plus that page of Professor Rowan's book. It must have been left behind by one of the kids."
"Rowan, who was it that came in yesterday?" Elm piped up. He was getting excited quickly, because he already had a good guess as to who they were.
"Well, it was a girl and a boy, both maybe 12 or 13 years old. The girl had come in for a Pokedex examination, but Oak was not here at the time. Elm, I don't know where you were, but it was just I alone in the laboratory. She noticed and became interested in my book, so I let her look through it. That's around the time that I noticed there was the strange boy lingering near the door. So I called him in, and they both looked through it. The girl was kind, but the boy was rough and harsh. I remember their hairstyles, of all things. The girl was wearing an over-sized hat with pigtails and the boy had long red hair… I don't recall their names, though…"
"Lyra and Silver! They are the kids that fell down the hole!" Lance and Elm cried at the same time.
