Episode Two: Moestone Lost

My phone was ringing. Even from the tent, I could tell it was early in the morning. Who could possibly be calling? Actually, I knew exactly who would be calling. I called out the moemon. I should be teaching them everything about camping.

"Alex, Horsea," I said, "Help me start packing. Take down the tent."

I went outside to answer the up the phone. I saw Professor Mable's name along with the encryption protocol.

"Hello" I said.

"Luke! There was a break-in at the lab. The thieves know about the moe-evolution."

"What did they steal?" I asked.

"Well, crap, there's the horsea moemon, the moestone, and a few of the documents on moe-evolution. I don't understand how they could have even break-in. The lab has state of the art security and I know I locked the door behind me."

"Professor," I yelled into the phone, "Horsea is right here. She left on her own."

"What? That's good news then, but unless she made this large mess and has the moestone, we are in some huge trouble."

"So, I suppose contacting the police is out of the question." I said.

"I considered that, but I don't think they'll keep a secret. I was about to call them for horsea's sake, even though it's like Area 51 calling the fire department to get an alien down from a tree. I still think we may be able to handle it."

"And by we, you mean me."

"Yes. We both have a good idea of who one of the thieves are." She must have been talking about the guy who tried to steal the package. He did seem to quit easily so I doubt he realized its importance. "Whoever stole it seemed to run off to Timber City. I found two sets of footprints. You should go there as soon as possible. It's likely Team Angel was behind this in some way, but they are a pretty big organization."

"That sounds like a long shot," I said.

"Well, you're going to have to figure it out. They may already have evolved their pokémon. Use your best judgment. Good-bye."

The phone call ended.

"I messed up," Horsea said, "I let the bad people in, didn't I."

"Horsea, we do not have time to worry about whose fault it is."

"We have to take off now," I said.

I packed up what was left of the tent and the gear. We rushed off to the city, although I had to recall Horsey because she couldn't keep up with me and Alex.

Alex spoke are we ran. "So what if it's not the Stephen guy from Team Angel. It could be some other person not even from that organization."

"I don't know. We should check out Team Angel's presence in Timber City anyways."

"Who are these Team Angel people?"

"Futurists," I said, "They want a change of society. It's some post-scarcity movement."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not entirely sure what they are about. I do think I could find some of them in a city though."

When we got to the city, I checked a few public places and couldn't find anyone suspicious or from Team Angel.

"You know," Alex said, "This is a big town. Even if it was that one guy, he would have let his partner hold it in case you recognized him. There's also a chance the guy was lying about being part of that group. I think we lost this one."

"Well, if there is any suspicious activity, then we'll investigate. There's still a chance that this whole thing will stay undercover if the guy was only part of a criminal organization."

We came across the town's library. I figured my best chance was to search the internet for Team Angel in Timber City. however, I couldn't find any places related to them. I left the library but as I was walking out, two members from Team Angel were walking in. They were both in the uniform: pink skirt, purple leggings, formal dark shirt with a white undershirt and a lapel."

"Excuse me," I said, "who do I talk to about joining Team Angel?"

"Wow, you actually know that much about us?" said the taller girl.

"I don't know what you mean." I said.

"Mary means that a lot of people think we are a girl-only team which is ridiculous," said the shorter girl.

"Yes, the media completely got us wrong on a recent report," Mary said, "We have just haven't come to a consensus for the design of the male uniform."

"Is it both of you that want to join?" the other girl said, "I'm Diana, one of seventeen captains. I specialize in fire types. You'll better remember my face. I'll make sure that you are working under me. I'm not in charge of recruiting though, but I'll keep an eye on the lists."

"My name is Luke," I said. I probably should have come up with a fake name but it's too late now.

"I really want to learn about what you actually do," Alex said, "I could make a bunch of friends in Team Angel."

"Well, we have a place in town," Diana said, "I'll write down the address."

"That's great," I said. There was this possibly foolish feeling that this will lead to the thieves and the moestone. All I've really done is become a candidate for a large organization that probably has a criminal wing to find a location of a vaguely non-public building under their ownership.

"You two do seem a bit young to join though," Diana said, "But it's never too early to start. Well, except if it's like grade school."

"Well, I guess I'll go talk to someone there," I said, "Thank you."

We ran off to the address.

"What do we do when we get there?" Alex asked.

"I'm not sure. If I only had the right pokémon, we could probably come up with something. The Pokémon Center is on the way."

"What do you mean the right pokémon?" Alex said, "Do you expect pokémon battles to matter in this situation?"

"No. It's just pokémon often have a lot of useful abilities for these types of missions."

When we got back to the Pokémon Center, I called the professor in private.

"Professor Mable, I got a lead. There's a mysterious building which might be involved."

"Careful what you say, okay? It sounds like you did a good job."

"Do you have any pokémon that has the object's scent? All I have is a building. I feel like I'm underequipped."

"Sorry. I have put some thought into this. You exceeded my expectations and I thank you for that. There's only one thing I can send you. She's a certain pokémon you already know."

It's the ralts moemon. I have a good idea of how she could help. They can be very good at sensing deception and she may have even more abilities. Psychics can be tough to work with though they often come through in tight situations.

"I understand," I said.

"I have some obligations I have to attend to. I'm not going to be able to respond until nightfall. Good-bye and good luck."

The pokéball was transferred and I looked up the address. Alex and I went together to the place. It was at the edge of the city were roads ended near some body of water. It was an unmarked two story building that was about a half of a block long each way. It was impossible to tell any purpose to the place. As I walked up to it, I went around the corner to release the ralts girl. Her hair was dyed blond and she was dressed really normally. She didn't seem like any sort of pokémon to the unwary eye.

"So, I guess you probably have a name by now." She didn't respond. "Well, what is your name?"

"It's Elizabeth," she said.

"That's a good name. How do you think you can help us get the moestone? You can sense deception, right?"

"Yes." Elizabeth's voice went even quieter.

"Can you find it?" Alex said.

"Only if I can see it."

"It's unlikely to just be stored in the building somewhere," I pointed out.

"Well, what do we do now?" Alex asked.

"Well, I guess we walk in and introduce ourselves. That's assuming that the door is unlocked."

I walked up to blue door and successfully turned the handle so the door unlatched.

"Well, here it goes."