Once our visit in Honey Island came to an end, we boarded the next cruise ship and watched the island drift off into the sea.

"I wonder what Pokémon we'll see on the next island." Ash said.

"Hopefully not Beedrill or Ursaring." I said, and my friends chuckled nervously.

"I just love this ocean breeze! It's so nice!" Iris said.

"It's going to be a long ride until the next port, so we've got lots of time to enjoy it!" Cilan said.

"Well, there is the Marine Cup Tournament you could enter." Porter said as he approached us.

"Hey, Porter, when did you get here? I thought the ship we saw you on yesterday had left already." Iris said.

"That's right. I'm this ship's porter. You saw my cousin, Porter, on yesterday's ship."

"Oh, so it's just like Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny."

"Great. More people to be confused about why they all look exactly the same." I said.

"Tell us more about that Marine Cup Tournament!" Ash said.

"It's where passengers engage in Pokémon battles, all vying to be the top prize winner." Porter said, taking us to the ship's battlefield.

"I want to enter!" Ash cried.

"Me too!" Iris said.

"There's no better way to evaluate a battle than while sampling the delicious breeze the ocean will serve up!" Cilan said.

"To put it in English terms, I'll sit back and watch as well." I said.

"I'll make all the arrangements." Porter said. "And don't forget the Ripple collection. Mrs. Ripple's exhibit will be displayed in the ballroom for everyone to see as soon as the tournament ends."

"Mrs. Ripple?" Ash said.

"Yes. That's her over there." Porter pointed to an older woman with short, curly, blonde hair wearing a pink dress suit. She stopped and turned around, as if waiting for someone to catch up.

"Her face looks awfully familiar to me..." Cilan said.

"I'm sure you've seen her on TV before. Mrs. Ripple is one of the most famous gem collectors in the Unova region." Porter said.

"Something wrong?" Mrs. Ripple said. "Come here, Purrloin."

Uh, oh.

"Purrloin?!" Cilan said, and I felt his body stiffen. A Purrloin strolled out from around the corner. "That's right! She's the gem collector who has a Purrloin! I knew there was a reason I remembered her!"

Purrloin glanced over, setting its green eyes on Cilan. Cilan whimpered and scurried behind me.

"You know, one of these days, you'll grow out of your irrational fear of Purrloin." I said. "It'd be easier if you actually told us why you're so afraid of them."

"Never!" Cilan said.

Pikachu and Axew went over to greet Purrloin.

"That's so sweet! You want to be friends? Purrloin thanks you!" Mrs. Ripple said in complete contradiction to Purrloin's expressionless face.

"It's great to meet you, Mrs. Ripple." I said as we approached the woman, having to literally drag Cilan over closer to her and Purrloin. "My name is Rylee."

"Nice to meet you all!"

"My name is Ash, and this is my partner Pikachu!" Ash said, to which Pikachu chattered after he was mentioned.

"My name is Iris!" Iris said.

"And my name is Cilan. Nice to meet you..." Cilan said, his voice cracking every other syllable from how nervous he was. He glanced at Purrloin suspiciously. Purrloin looked up at Cilan and glared at him, growling slightly. Cilan whimpered and hid behind me and Iris.

"We get it, Cilan. You don't like Purrloin very much." Iris said.

"Am I that obvious?" Cilan said behind Iris's huge hair.

"You'll have to excuse Purrloin. I'm afraid it's in a bad mood, and the Eye of Liepard's the reason why." Mrs. Ripple said, scooping Purrloin into her arms.

"The Eye of Liepard?" Ash said.

"That's the name of one of my gems."

"Would you show us?" Iris said.

"Sure. Follow me."

We follow Mrs. Ripple into the ship and towards the more luxurious cabins. A Watchog stood guard at the door. We entered Mrs. Ripple's cabin, which had a lot of fancy furniture. My favorite was the security camera hanging over us, pointed right at the suitcase sitting on top of the table in the center of the room- I hope you could detect my sarcasm. Mrs. Ripple opened the suitcase after deciphering its lock, revealing many beautiful gems inside.

"This one is the Eye of Liepard." Mrs. Ripple said, pulling out a round, green gem with a black pupil-shaped dot in the center, making it look like an eye.

"Exquisite! Its deep color matches Liepard's eyes exactly!" Cilan said, and I was relieved that he got over his frightened little girl stage.

"You can only find this gem in Unova. It's the largest one that has ever been discovered to date. However, although it's precious to me, it's not so to Purrloin. It appears to be very unhappy that I have it at all." Mrs. Ripple said, to which Purrloin walked out of the room.

"Perhaps Purrloin thinks you love the gem more than you love it... Although, that's just a guess."

The door opened, and a man dressed in a blue suit with many colorful rings entered the room. Watchog growled at the man for his rude barge-in.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" the man said. "Nice to see you, Mrs. Ripple!"

"Mr. Shaw, what can we help you with?" Porter said.

"I'd like Mrs. Ripple's help, concerning that magnificent gem collection of hers." Mr. Shaw stared hungrily at the Eye of Liepard. "So this is the Eye of Liepard. It's far more beautiful that I thought. It would be an excellent addition to my gem collection!"

Mrs. Ripple placed the gem back in her suitcase and closed it. "I'm afraid not. These gems are much better off when they're available to the public. As I've said before, I have no intention of selling it to you."

"But, Mrs. Ripple, I'm begging you to reconsider for the sake of gem collectors!"

"That's my answer. Please leave."

"All right. But don't forget, I'm known as the Carvanha of the gem collecting world. Once I have my eye on something, it will be mine!" he chuckled sinisterly, and Watchog slammed the door angrily in his face.

"What is wrong with him?" Iris said. "He's so annoying!"

"He said he was going to make the Eye of Liepard his... What does that mean?" Cilan said.

"Beats me." Ash said.


The Marine Cup Tournament started, and Iris was the first match. She battled against a man name Teak, who had short, olive hair and wore shaded glasses. He was dressed in a purple vest, a light purple button down shirt, gray trousers, and a gray fedora, and a gold necklace. Iris sent out Axew and Teak sent out Vanillite, to which Iris and Axew were not very thrilled about.

"All right, Axew, we're going to win this no matter what!" Iris cried after her slight nervous breakdown.

"Iris, Axew, you can do it!" Ash called from the sidelines.

"Since this will be a one-on-one battle, Iris has all her hopes riding on Axew." Cilan said, him and I watching the battle higher above.

"I hope Axew can handle the pressure." I said. I felt Cilan tense again, and I followed his line of sight to Purrloin, who trotted up the stairs on the opposite side of the ship. He shuddered. "Is this ever going to end?"

"Ask me again when Purrloin are extinct." Cilan mumbled.

"Axew, use Scratch!"

"Vanillite, Double Team!"

Vanillite's image spread across the battlefield, and Axew looked at them all in confusion.

"Stay calm and attack them all with Dragon Rage!"

Axew launched a ray of Dragon Rage that took out the fake Vanillites.

"Okay, use Ice Beam!"

Vanillite's attack hit, and Axew was defeated.

"Whoa... that ended before it even started." I said. "I guess all that just leaves Ash."

Iris joined us, and we watched the rest of the battles take place. The final round was between Ash and Teak.

"Oh, boy! This is bound to be a great battle!" Cilan said.

"Yeah, and I know who's gonna win!" Iris said, pumping her fist in the air. "Go, Ash and Pikachu!"

Teak called out Galvantula.

"That's weird. I wonder why he's using Galvantula instead of Vanillite." I said.

Ash had the same question, to which Teak answered that he promised use Galvantula when he made it to the final round.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Galvantula, use Thunderbolt, too!"

The two attacks collided, and the two approached each other as each was ablaze with thousands of volts of electricity. As I glanced around the battlefield, I noticed the slightest nod come from Teak, to which Galvantula nodded back and sent the Thunderbolts up and into the electrical system. The widescreen TV hovering above the battlefield went out.

"Uh, oh..." Iris said.

Teak's eyes traveled around at the concerned passengers, a mischievous smirk appeared on his face.

"What is he up to?" I said quietly.

A few minutes later, the screen came back on.

"All right, Signal Beam!"

"Dodge and use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu lunged at Galvantula and attacked. Galvantula crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Ash had won the tournament.

"Congratulations, Ash!" Iris said as we joined him on the battlefield.

"You really demonstrated Pikachu's sharp-hedged attacks with a sparkling victory!" Cilan said. Suddenly, Purrloin ran past us to the center of the battlefield. Cilan shrieked like a little schoolgirl. "AH! Purrloin! Oh, no!"

Purrloin lifted its nose up and sniffed the air frantically. Its eyes rested on Teak as he called Galvantula back into its PokéBall. Purrloin lunged at Teak and landed on his face.

"What are you doing?!" Teak cried.

"Knock it off, Purrloin!" Ash cried, running over and tugging on Purrloin's hind legs.

"Why is Purrloin so upset?" Iris said.

As Ash tried to yank Purrloin away, its grip on Teak slipped, and Purrloin went flying into the air.

"Look out!" Ash cried.

Purrloin landed in Cilan's hands. I sucked in a breath as he stared down at the Devious Pokémon. Quickly, Cilan whipped the cat Pokémon out of his arms with an ear-splitting scream. Purrloin landed on the ground and scurried away.

"Get it off, get it off!" Cilan cried, batting away the purple cat hairs left on his clothing and attempting to wipe its scent off on me.

"Cilan, knock it off!" I cried, grabbing his wrists and throwing his arms back down to his sides. "Geez, I'd rather listen to you speak Connoisseur than act like a tantrum-prone two-year-old."

"Sorry..." Cilan said, a blush creeping over his cheeks.


We followed Purrloin to the mini hospital in the ship, where Mrs. Ripple stayed in one of the rooms after passing out. We learned from her and Porter that the Eye of Liepard had been stolen during the Marine Cup Tournament.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Ripple. I failed you..." Watchog said, bowing his head.

"Don't be upset, Watchog. Someone else is to blame, not you." Mrs. Ripple said.

"Who would steal the Eye of Liepard?" Iris said.

"Um... everyone?" I said. "It's a pretty rare gem. A lot of people would do anything to get their hands on it."

"A gem disappears from a locked room..." Cilan said. "I smell a rotten and distasteful stench of a crime!"

Iris sweatdropped next to me with a look of horror, knowing where this was heading. Cilan slapped on his detective hat.

"Which means... it's DETECTIVE TIME!" Cilan pulled out his magnifying glass. "You leave everything to Connoisseur Detective Cilan!"

Iris and I side-glanced at each other, and we chuckled in our discomfort. Ash, on the other hand, was enthralled by all of this.

"Now, if somebody did steal it, the main suspect would have to be Mr. Shaw! I say we investigate his actions first!" Cilan said.

"That does make sense, considering he's openly expressed how much he wanted the Eye of Liepard." I said. "Maybe he'd resort to stealing it."

"Precisely! Let's find our suspect!"


The ship captain escorted Mr. Shaw to Mrs. Ripple's cabin, where we interrogated him.

"I've told you a million times! I admit that I entered Mrs. Ripple's room without her permission, but it was only to get a closer look at the Eye of Liepard! I would never think of stealing it!" Mr. Shaw said.

"Oh, really? Then let me show you something." the ship's captain said. His shipmate showed a small tablet that replayed footage from the security camera. "Mrs. Ripple and I had made a previous agreement to have a camera installed in the room with the gems."

Mr. Shaw gasped. The room was empty, and because of electrical problems, the footage had been cut off for a few seconds. When the images came back, it showed Mr. Shaw standing over the opened suitcase, the Eye of Liepard missing.

"I swear, it wasn't me! The gem briefcase was wide open by the time I entered the room! The Eye of Liepard was already gone by them! Believe me!" Mr. Shaw said.

"Mr. Shaw, I don't like this anymore than you do, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay in this room for the time being. I'm sorry." the captain said.

After the interrogation, we headed to the exhibit room to discuss.

"It's got to be Mr. Shaw! I know it!" Iris said. "I know the camera blacked out for a second, but I'm sure he stole it!"

"Hold on. Mr. Shaw said he didn't steal it." Ash said.

"We performed a thorough search of all of his belongings. The Eye of Liepard wasn't anywhere to be found." Porter said.

"He must've hidden it! Let's go and look!" Iris said.

"Hold it right there!" Cilan said. "There's no doubt that Mr. Shaw wanted the Eye of Liepard, so he must've stolen it! Yes, that is a logical assumption. But does that guarantee the assumption is accurate? It's true that Mr. Shaw caused Watchog to fall asleep, and then crept into Mrs. Ripple's gem room, but sometimes the obvious can cause people to jump to conclusions." Cilan began to pace the floor. "And that mistake could very well lead us from the truth!"

"Then, you figured out who really did it?" Ash said.

"Honestly, I haven't the slightest idea!" Cilan said, and we all groaned. "See, I've never really encountered a mystery quite like this before, so... Let's see... Watchog fell asleep, and then Mr. Shaw entered the room... but the gem was already gone..."

As Cilan mumbled to himself, he realized Purrloin stood right next to him and stared at him. He screamed and jumped away.

"Will you please stop staring at me while I'm right in the middle of my THINKING TIME?!" Cilan cried.

"Listen to me, people!" Purrloin cried. "I know something about this crime!"

"You do?" I said, and I translated for my friends. Cilan stopped his panic attack and listened intently. I crossed my arms. "You attacked that Teak man after the Marine Cup Tournament. Do you think he had something to do with it?"

"Yes! And he would've already been caught if our champion over here didn't yank me away!" Purrloin said, glaring at Ash.

I turned to my friends. "We should go ask Teak some questions. Purrloin believes he has something to do with this."

Purrloin sighed and jumped onto the opposite shoulder Zorua was perched on. Cilan shuddered dramatically. "Thank you! Someone who finally understands me! Let's go!"


We headed over to Teak's room. Ash patted his knuckles a few times against the door. We waited a few seconds, but there was no response.

"Oh, let me." I said. I pushed Ash out of the way and pounded my fist against the door. "TEAK! Open up!"

Teak opened the door a crack, revealing a partial section of his face.

"What do you want?!" he growled.

"What do you know about the Eye of Liepard that was stolen from Mrs. Ripple?" Porter said.

"The Eye of Liepard? I was battling in the tournament the whole time. I had nothing to do with it." Teak said.

Purrloin hissed. "Liar."

Teak glared at Purrloin. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm exhausted. I'll see you later."

Teak closed the door in our faces. Purrloin growled again.

"Hey, wait a minute, Teak!" Ash cried, but he didn't respond.

"Purrloin obviously isn't very fond of Teak." Iris said.

"But Teak was battling in the tournament when the Eye of Liepard was stolen." Porter said. "I don't see how he could've had anything to do with it. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Wait just a second. If memory serves me well, the gem disappeared during the blackout. So we need to figure out the blackout's cause." Cilan said.

"Remember during the final battle? Those combined Thunderbolts caused the electrical system to fail!" I said.

Cilan nodded. "Let's head back to Mrs. Ripple's room."

We did so. Once Cilan had collected enough data, he gathered everyone together at the ship's battlefield.

"I hope you're doing okay, Mrs. Ripple." Ash said.

"Yes, I am. Thank you." Mrs. Ripple said. She turned to Cilan. "How are you at finding the Eye of Liepard?"

"Why do you people keep wasting my time?" Teak grumbled as Porter escorted him onto the battlefield. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

"Now that you're all here, I'll tell you. As you all know, Mrs. Ripple's gem, the Eye of Liepard, disappeared from her cabin. I, Detective Connoisseur Cilan, will explain how it happened and unravel the mystery that took place inside that cabin!" Cilan said. "I've concluded that the Eye of Liepard was stolen during the final round of the Marine Cup Tournament, the battle between Ash and Teak. Iris, where were you, and what were you doing?"

"Me?" Iris said, dumbfounded. "I was cheering for Ash with you and Rylee."

"And you, Porter?"

"I was out searching the ship for Purrloin, along with Mrs. Ripple." Porter said.

"And Mr. Shaw?"

Mr. Shaw sweatdropped. "Now, look, I know I am not the one that stole the gem, and that's the honest truth!"

"Mr. Shaw, you've got to calm down!" the ship's captain scolded.

Cilan turned to Purrloin. "Purrloin, we need to know where you were."

"Huh?" Purrloin said. "I was in Mrs. Ripple's room."

"Aha!" Cilan said after I translated. "Therefore, Purrloin had to have witnessed the entire crime take place! It knows who the culprit is! So now, if you'll follow along, I'll tell you what Purrloin most likely witnessed! First, Purrloin entered the room without using the door. Soon, when the blackout caused the room to be shrouded in darkness, somebody else entered the room in the same way." Cilan said.

"That's exactly what happened! I'm innocent, I swear!" Mr. Shaw said.

"All right, but somebody still had to have stolen the Eye of Liepard." Cilan turned to Teak. "Any idea who, Teak?"

"How would I know?!" Teak said.

"Simple. I'd have to deduce that the culprit utilized a Pokémon that can use a Water-type or Ice-type move."

"I do have a Vanillite, but what does that have to do with anything? I was battling in the final round when all this happened!"

"If I recall correctly, you used Vanillite throughout the entire tournament." I said. "That is, up until the final match. You used Galvantula during that battle! You purposefully directed the combined Thunderbolts produced by it and Pikachu to the electrical system, which caused the blackout."

Teak glared at me. I crossed my arms and smirked back.

"But why would he do something like that?" Ash said.

"By entering the Marine Cup Tournament, you gave yourself an alibi. Meanwhile, your Vanillite snuck into Mrs. Ripple's room and stole the Eye of Liepard!" Cilan said.

"It's over, Teak. We know you did it." I said.

"Yeah! That's the truth!" Purrloin hissed.

Teak chuckled, which bubbled into a boisterous laugh. "Your skills at being a detective are impressive, but now that you know, I'm not holding back! Vanillite, use Blizzard!"

As Teak chucked his PokéBall into the air. Vanillite came out of its PokéBall with the Eye of Liepard in its mouth. It handed it to Teak and prepared to cast Blizzard. My hand twitched and I brought it up, ready to summon Protect, but I stopped myself and forced it back to my side, clenching it with frustration.

"Growlithe, use Flamethrower!"

A man with black-green hair wearing a trench coat leaped into the scene with a Growlithe. A column of fire shot out from Growlithe's mouth and cancelled out the Blizzard.

"All right, Fire Fang!"

Growlithe's mouth ignited and it sunk its teeth into Vanillite. It whipped its head and threw Vanillite into Teak. They both crashed into the wall. The Eye of Liepard slipped from Teak's hand and fell to the ground. Purrloin scurried over, grabbed the Eye of Liepard, and jumped to Teak's face. With a few swipes of its claw, Teak's facial hair, hat, and glasses came off.

"This man is a wanted gem thief, as well as a master in the art of disguise." the man said, showing us a wanted poster. "We received intel that he would board this cruise ship. Now he's mine, thanks to you."

"All right, who are you?!" the ship captain demanded.

The man took off his dark sunglasses, revealing a pair of light blue eyes. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to be rude. I'm Special Agent Tadesco." the man said, showing us his badge and ID.

"Wow, what a relief!" Cilan sighed, sinking to his knees. "These mysteries can really take it out of a Connoisseur!"

Purrloin handed the Eye of Liepard back to Mrs. Ripple.


"Wow, these gems are beautiful." I said, hovering over the glass boxes that held Mrs. Ripple's gems from her collection. "I'm glad they're being shared with the public."

"Yeah, they're really pretty!" Iris said.

"You know, you did really well with solving the mystery, Rylee." Cilan said. "You're quite the detective!"

"Really? Would you say..." Zorua jumped onto Cilan's shoulder, startling him. She grabbed his detective hat and magnifying glass and jumped off. As she fell to the ground, I took the items from her mouth. I slid the detective hat onto my head and held the magnifying glass over my eye, making it three times as large. "I've got an eye for these kinds of things?"

Cilan laughed. "Not quite how I would put it, but sure... Now, would you mind giving me my stuff back?"

"I don't know. I think it looks better on me, don't you think?"

With only a small smile as his response, Cilan snatched his magnifying glass from my hand and his hat off my head, placing it on his. I laughed as he turned away, not noticing the blush that filled his cheeks. We approached Mrs. Ripple and Mr. Shaw at the end of the room.

"I'm glad that everything got sorted out." Ash said.

"Ah, it's you kids!" Mr. Shaw cried, throwing his arms around Cilan. "Thank you for proving my innocence to the world!"

"I think you should thank Purrloin instead." Cilan said, prying himself out of Mr. Shaw's embrace.

"Where is Purrloin, anyway?" Ash said.

"It was just here..." Mrs. Ripple said.

We looked around the ship and found Purrloin wandering down the outside hallways.

"Purrloin, there you are. We've been looking all over for you!" Mrs. Ripple said. Purrloin jumped into her arms.

"Purrloin really loves Mrs. Ripple a lot." Ash said.

"That's why Purrloin was so eager to help." Cilan said.

"Hey, maybe all of this helped you get over your fear of Purrloin."

"Mm... I kind of doubt that."

"Why are you so terrified of Purrloin in the first place?" Iris said.

Cilan sighed in defeat. "All right... I'll tell you."


We all stared at Cilan with wide eyes.

"No way!" Iris cried. I covered my mouth with my hand to try and hide my dangling jaw.

"That's rough..." Ash said.

Cilan nodded. A smile curled behind my hand, and soon, I doubled over in a flurry of giggles.

"Don't laugh!" Cilan said, his face reddening from embarrassment.

"I can't help it! It's just too funny! I can't believe a Purrloin actually-" I said.

"Don't repeat it!" Cilan shot his hand out and clamped it over my mouth, but my shoulders continued to shake with laughter. "It's bad enough that I had to retell that awful story!"

"You have to admit, it is kind of funny!" Iris said.

She and Ash started to laugh. Soon, our Pokémon joined, and we all laughed together. Cilan's cheeks were bright pink, and his eyes shifted between all of us. I forced my hand under his that was still clamped over my mouth and pulled it away. A shiver ran down my spine when his hand closed around mine. An image flashed in my mind for a split second, and it made my hair stand on ends. I saw the mysterious Gardevoir, her eyes closed and head bowed, from a strange dream I had at the beginning of my journey. Why did she appear again? I thought before I immediately remembered Cilan was in my dream as well. Did the Gardevoir have something to do with him? With me? I gulped nervously and pulled my hand away.