I'm back with another update. Thank you to everyone who followed/favorited my story and for the reviews I got.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. It belongs to GameFreak and Nintendo. Please don't sue.


Chapter 2: Separated

Ah crud. I had lost sight of Scoot after she ducked around a corner. I was just mere seconds behind her, but once I got there she was nowhere to be found. I began combing each and every street to find her.

This one? No. Here? No. This street? No. C'mon please? No. No. No. NO! ARRGH! Where could my Eevee have gone? I bent over to catch my breath. Time had taken the liberty of zipping ahead while I was preoccupied, it was already nightfall and still no sign of her. I felt as though I had torn the city apart looking for her. I didn't want to stop, wanted to keep going, but I felt sore all over. Reluctantly I decided to call it a night and head home.

On my way back, I still kept my eyes peeled for any flashes of brown fur and my ears listening out for distinctive Eevee sounds. Reaching my house, I was really hoping Scoot had found her way home. As I unlocked the front door I held my breath. The whole house was deathly quiet, as if waiting for me to act. Finally finding the light switch in the dark I flicked it, illuminating an empty hallway.

"Scoot?" I called. No response. Quickly ducking into all the rooms, it became clear she wasn't present. There was a flap installed on the backdoor that she could go through. Before you ask, my parents were away. They were out on a month long business trip, leaving me and Scoot alone in the house. Not that I minded. We liked having the house to ourselves. But with them gone, it became more evident how lonely I now was.

Heading into the lounge, I kicked off my shoes and collapsed onto the couch. Before succumbing to sleep, I set my phone's alarm to go off in 5 hours and placed it on the coffee table. I'd be up bright and early to continue the hunt.

I must have fallen asleep immediately, as it felt like mere seconds that the alarm went off. I groaned, just five more minutes. I fumbled for the irritating noise maker, only to accidentally knock it onto the floor. Arceus dammit!

I gave up and slid off the couch. I'm not a morning person. I'm nocturnal and function best at night. That'd probably explain how I could last so long the night before. Oh that's right! Scoot! Rushing into the bathroom to splash water on my face, shoving a piece of bread in my mouth, I bolted out of the house to continue my search.

Having had a night to ponder over it, it dawned on me that I had been going about this the wrong way. Maybe someone had found Scoot and had taken her in. Perhaps a stray Eevee had been reported? Should I go to Pokémon Control and ask if an Eevee had been turned in?

But then my mind turned to a bleaker possibility. What if...? Oh no. Oh Arceus, please no! Could Scoot have been kidnapped? Now that I think about it, it was like Scoot just vanished into thin air without a trace. If someone had found her, you'd think they would have waited around for the owner. But if Scoot was taken against her will, she'd be whisked out of sight as quickly as possible.

I rushed back to where I had first lost Scoot. Now that daylight had made itself available, I could take a good look at the area. The street was an industrial area, full of shops and factories, but no residential houses. Well that sure makes Scoot getting taken into some person's house even less likely.

If Scoot was taken against her will in such a short time span, there had to be some sort of clue left behind. Alrighty then, time to channel my inner Sherlock Holmes! Wait, does he even exist in this universe? Darn it. Focus! Focus! Search for clues! *clears throat* I bent down and examined the ground. I saw black streaks on the ground. Were these skid marks? The fact that they were here at all, suggested whatever vehicle left them had sped off quickly. They also seemed to start very close to the corner where I had lost sight of her. Hmm, could Scoot have dashed into an open van and the doors shut on her? I gazed in the direction where the tracks headed off.

Well at least it's a lead. Better than me blundering around the city like a headless Torchic. Huh, I wonder if a Torchic could survive without its head. On second thought, let's not go there. Anyway, the skid marks ended quite abruptly, but gave me a good idea of where they were headed. But I need more to go on, at least a vague idea on what it looked like. Any security cameras? Nope. Meh, guess that would be too convenient. Okay, maybe I could just ask around.

Following several unsuccessful attempts at getting information from the store people, I entered the one opposite the street. It was an ice cream place. Not too many customers at this time of day. Making my way to the counter, I was greeted with a bubbly blonde girl either eager to sell me ice cream or drain my wallet. After enduring the recital of her sales pitch I was finally able to get a word in that I wasn't there to buy an ice cream. She didn't seem too pleased, but I did get my questions through.

"So were you working here yesterday afternoon?" I asked.

"Indeed," she answered, "I cover this shift for all the weekdays."

"Okay," I said, my hope rising. "You wouldn't have happened to see anything odd out there lately?" I gestured to the window.

"You'll have to be more specific than that hun," she answered, "we've a lot of weird stuff happening in Viridian. There was the Team Rocket big cheese running the gym with some Pokémon made in the lab, before some kid wearing a cap disbanded them."

"Is that the anime or the games? These continuities are so confusing." I wondered.

"You were saying about what I should have seen out there?" the ice cream girl said, not registering my remark.

"Ah right. Well yesterday at around 5 in the afternoon, did you see any..." my hands started circling in the air as I thought of an adjective. "...dodgy looking vans out there? Specifically one that an Eevee ran into?"

She turned her head to the side thinking. "We do have that delivery van stopping out there at the same time each day. I never gave it much thought, but once or twice there are men loading cages onto the van."

"Did you see an Eevee get onto the truck?" I repeated.

"I can't be certain, but I did see a furry Pokémon hop into the back. I thought it belonged to the delivery guys but it could very well be yours."

"Thank you, you have been a huge help. I am truly grateful." I said. At last glad I had something to go on.

"Grateful enough to buy an ice cream?" she persisted.

I snorted in amusement. "I'm a little low on time right now, but once I'm back I'll get an extra large helping." I turned to leave, nearly bumping into the person behind me.

"Well you're certainly here early." A familiar voice said.

"Ivy! What are you doing here?" Did anyone else predict this chance encounter? I sure as hell didn't.

"Well we agreed to meet up here, remember?" she replied.

"That was here?" I asked, looking around at the place. I tried not to imagine what stupid look I had on my face.

"Indeed," Ivy giggled, "though it isn't for another 2 hours. I got to leave Pokémon School early since it's the last day of term." Pokémon School was one of the reasons why Ivy was held back from being a trainer.

"But what happened to you Zach?" she asked, her voice turning serious. "You look as though you got sat on by Snorlax."

"Excuse me?" Okay that was hurtful. I know I've been up all night and barely had any sleep, but I couldn't look that bad.

Ivy took out a hand mirror (since all girls seem to conveniently carry them), and held it out for me to look. Holy Mother of Arceus! It was that bad. My black mid-length hair was greasy and sticking up all over the place, my eyes had bags underneath them. Dried up sweat tracks riddled my forehead. Not to mention my clothes were a mess, my blue sweater was creased and covered with flecks of dirt and leaves.

"I'm just tired." I offered lamely.

I looked back to Ivy and met her piercing gaze. Knowing her, she wasn't going to stop pressing until she got the truth out of me.

I sighed. "Can we sit down for this?"

"Sure, I'll just get my order." Ivy said, nodding. "Do you want anything?"

"Thanks, but I'm not really up for ice cream right now." I replied.

"Okay, no problem."

I took a seat and waited for her. I gazed out the window, thinking about yesterday's incident. There were so many unanswered questions. Was the whole thing an accident and Scoot had gotten on a vehicle by mistake? Was there something more sinister going on with Pokémon being stolen? And most importantly of all, where had Scoot ended up?

My thoughts were interrupted when a bowl of ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce was pushed in front of me. I looked back at her with a raised eyebrow "But I told you I wasn't up for ice cream right now."

"Nonsense, there's always time for ice cream." Ivy smiled sweetly. "You look as though you are especially in need of it right now."

This girl is impossible sometimes. In any case she did mean well. I was just feeling too guilty to eat it right now. But to get her to stop gazing at me in anticipation, I scooped out a spoonful and shoved it in my mouth.

"Better?" she chirped.

I shrugged.

"I'll take that as a sort-of, maybe." she said. Her sunny disposition dissipated as she got more serious. "Now then, how about you tell me what's going on?"

I sighed for the second time that day. "Ivy, something terrible happened. It's Scoot, she's gone."

"Oh no!" I don't think I've ever seen Ivy look this concerned. "I was wondering why your Eevee wasn't with you. What happened?"

I quickly went through the events of yesterday, how Scoot had vanished, how I had spent all night searching for her, and the lead I was now running down.

"Zach, I'm so sorry to hear this." she said. "But what you're doing, it's incredible how much you are doing to find Scoot. If there's anything I can do to help."

"Thank you Ivy. Right now I need to track down this lead first." I said. "But I'll be sure to call in you if I need it."

"Whenever, wherever." she affirmed.

"Also, I'm sorry if this wasn't quite what you had in mind for today." I added sheepishly.

"Hey don't mind me. You have enough to worry about." Ivy said, a small smile slipping back before fading again. "But just be sure not to endanger yourself to get her back. Promise me that."

"Don't worry. We'll see each other very soon, where I'll make up for today." I assured her, standing up to leave.

"Good luck Zach. Let me know once you've found her." Ivy called.

"Will do. See you soon, Ivy" I said, as I walked to the door and left.


This chapter took longer to write than I would have liked. I had some writer's block around the middle and some bits I was unhappy with so went through rewrites.

As you may have noticed it's gotten grimmer than the last chapter. Well this is just the start. I've tried to balance it out with some snarky humor from our protagonist. Hope you like that.

As always, if you like what you see, leave a review. Thanks in advance.