Last time on Unova Grand Tour...
Tony met a mysterious woman named Shauntal on the train to Nimbasa City. Though Tony tried to make small-talk, Shauntal had bad social skills that rivaled his own, paying him no mind. Shortly afterwards, as Tony grew bored with lounging around the passenger car, he learned from Emmet, one of train's engineers, informed him of a battle car, a train car that was specifically designed for Pokemon Battles. Tony was quick to head to the car with intent to challenge the current champ, a young woman named Thorn, but was beaten to it by Shauntal, who was easily able to hold her own against Thorn's Cofagrigus with her own Cofagrigus. The battle came to an abrupt end when Shauntal called Thorn something, causing the woman to beat a hasty retreat. As she ran, she bumped into Tony, and it was at that moment when Tony finally recognized her voice without the roar of the audience. Thorn was truly none other than Lady Numera - a Team Plasma Knight and wanted criminal who has tried to off Tony multiple times!
Okay, okay. No need to panic. There was just a wanted criminal on the train with a grudge against him who he had never been able to defeat.
Okay... No, you know what? To heck with it! This was the perfect time to panic!
Tony stood up, shellshocked. "That was Numera," he whispered. "That was Numera!"
Lucky growled. "Freeh!"
"W-we gotta tell someone..." Tony whispered to the Butterfree. "I mean, what if she tries something?"
"She won't."
A gloved hand clamped down onto Tony's shoulder. "Come with me," Shauntal whispered. "Now."
Tony was by no means stupid, especially with someone like Numera on the train. "Lucky..." he began, raising his voice so that if things went south he could cause a scene and maybe get some help.
Shauntal's Cofagrigus floated in front of Tony, her eyes glowing as she stared into Tony's. Tony struggled to escape Shauntal's grip, knowing full well what she was trying to do. Cofagrigus' Hypnosis attack took hold of his mind before he could utter a single word.
Lucky snarled, charging at the Ghost-type whilst preparing a Confusion attack only to be grabbed by the Coffin Pokemon. Cofagrigus' special ability, Mummy, activated and quickly wrapped the Butterfly Pokemon up in grey-colored gauze.
It was over before anyone noticed what was happening. The crowd had already forgotten Shauntal and Thorn and were now complete engrossed in the next match. No one noticed Shauntal lead the brainwashed Tony off, her Cofagrigus and the captive Lucky following her.
"U-ugh..."
When Tony finally regained consciousness, he found himself with his face buried in his arms and a splitting headache, slumped over on a table. The whir of wheels and rush of the wind confirmed he was still on the train.
Tony slowly pushed his face off the table, wiping his mouth. The world was spinning at first but it quickly slowed down and finally came to a halt, allowing Tony to see the familiar face of Shauntal. The burgundy-haired woman was sitting directly across from him and the bound Lucky, calmly typing away once more.
Tony normally considered himself to be a polite, well-behaved young man... but this chick was toast! "W-what the heck was that!?" he shouted.
"Shh!" Shauntal hissed in a librarian-like tone. "Be quiet!"
"You kidnapped me!" Tony accused.
"Shh!"
"You-!"
"Shh!" Shauntal hissed. "If I had kidnapped you I would have tied you up and taken your Pokemon. In case you haven't noticed you have all of your Pokeballs and are completely unbound. I just wanted to get you in here without making a scene."
Tony lowered his voice and tone but his glare remained. Wonderful! One day out of Nuvema Town and this happens! "What do you want?" he demanded, getting straight to the point.
Shauntal smiled. He's a straight-forward sort of boy, she thought, typing down on her typewriter. "To be honest," she told Tony "what I want is for you to stay out of trouble. Crossing paths with a criminal like that wouldn't be wise."
Tony blinked. "You know?" he asked. "How? Are you with the..." he paused and lowered his voice, "International Police?"
"Oh, no," Shauntal replied. "I'm just a concerned citizen with a knack for putting her nose into dangerous situations," Shauntal replied innocently.
"Well, that's something we have in common..." Tony admitted begrudgingly. He wasn't unhappy that he had any similarities to Shauntal; he was unhappy that he was still a danger-magnet despite the fact that Team Plasma was (supposedly) put away.
"To be completely honest," Shauntal admitted, "I'm writing a novel. I'm an author - not a successful author, mind you but, well, I'm working on it. It's sort of difficult to get the creative juices flowing sometimes... I'm also something of a detective."
"Do you have a badge or anything like that?" Tony asked.
"...Non-profit detective," Shauntal admitted.
Tony groaned. "Okay, so you're an author who is also a detective who is also a kidnapper. That doesn't explain anything, really."
"I'm not a kidnapper." Shauntal stopped typing, adjusting her glasses. "I'm just trying to write a book," she explained, "a detective story. Problem is, creative ideas are hard to come by in this day and age. Everything's been done before!" She rolled her eyes. "For a while, I was feeling discouraged. Writing is... my one, true dream."
"I'm sorry," Tony said.
"Oh, it's fine!" Shauntal said, brightening up. "You see, a little under a month ago a weird man approached me with an offer to by Angelina."
"Who?" Tony asked.
Shauntal proudly gestured to her typewriter. "This little beauty. She's over three-hundred years old, passed down for generations of my family! It's a valuable antique easily worth a thousand yen! Not only is it old and still perfectly operable..." She flipped the typewriter around and showed it to Tony. "Look at this! It's a bilingual typewriter to boot!"
It was bilingual. Each bronze-colored key had two marks on: one in usual common font and the other a strange, foreign symbol that Tony didn't recognize. "What language is that?" he asked. "It looks like something my Uncle Brad would be into. He's an archaeologist."
"I know! Impressive and atmospheric. You can understand my reluctance to sell it. Anyways, the mysterious stranger..." Shauntal paused and wrote that down. "Oh, that's a good line... Anyways, this weird man offered to buy it off of me for three-thousand yen! That would get my book published easily and even begin the funding for the live-action motion picture adaptation. However..." She looked down at "Angelina" and sighed. "Angelina's part of my family history. I couldn't just sell her."
She paused and took a brief sip of her tea, Lucky and Tony listening patiently. "Well, I refused... but then things started to get... mysterious. I started to get threatening letters to give up the typewriter... or else!"
Tony shivered. "R-really?" he asked.
"Yes," Shauntal said with a nod. "Death threats even..." A bizarre grin crossed her face. "Isn't that so intriguing?"
"No!" Tony exclaimed. "That's scary!"
"Which will serve to draw in the interest of the reader!" Shauntal exclaimed. "Anyways, the last time that I received a threatening note it told me that if I valued my life I'd get on board this train and await further instruction. So, I came... and that's when I saw Numera."
Tony blinked. "W-wait a minute," he interrupted. "You know who she is?"
"Yes, I do!" Shauntal sounded very pleased with herself. "You see, I took the liberty of looking up every criminal who is currently unaccounted for before I left for the station, so I could recognize one if one showed up. One did! Agatha Hickory, alias Lady Numera. A Plasma Knight who is currently MIA and considered dead by the police."
"I know that!" Tony exclaimed. "I was there! I saw her get shot down... by N..." He shivered, remembering that horrible day. Memories of Numera's sins against him and his friends flashed back and came out. "You see, Numera... Agatha... used to be a student of Professor Aurea Juniper. The two were really good friends until one day when Numera tried to get support for her invention, some kind of super Pokedex called the Hickory-Dex. Juniper didn't support the machine because it was a piece of junk and..."
"Yes, yes," Shauntal agreed, typing down everything Tony had said. "I know. Juniper agreed to help test out the Hickory-Dex and the device failed instantly. Agatha never forgave Juniper..." she took another sip of her tea, "and she left the academy and disowned Juniper. She joined up with Team Plasma..."
"So that she could get her invention funded and completed, yeah," Tony finished. "She was one of N's Plasma Knights for a while, but during the Nimbasa Invasion... she tried to run from a losing battle and N shot her down. I thought she had... died."
"Maybe someone saved her?" Shauntal offered. "Another Plasma Knight went missing around the same time... Magico or something..."
"Mystico," Tony corrected. "Ghost-type user. Dressed as a clownish magician." He sighed. "Also presumed dead by the authorities. The two... didn't seem to get along and... I-I don't think he would have survived. He got... stabbed. N used him as a shield to protect his Pokemon."
"I see..." Shauntal rapidly typed away.
Tony shook his head. "Okay, okay, I get it. Numera's alive. But why would she want to steal your typewriter? Scratch it, the guy offered to buy it from you for three times its worth! Besides, Mystico and Numera are... or were Plasmas. They're into Pokemon Liberation, not stealing antiques from wannabe detectives!"
"Hey!" Shauntal shouted. "I resent that!"
"Sorry," Tony apologized meekly.
Shauntal huffed. "Never mind that," she scolded. "I am not accusing our Plasma friend of any sort of wrongdoing at the moment. She knows now that I know who she is, so I doubt she'll want to approach me. She probably thinks I'm either an undercover police offer or a Plasma sent to assassinate her after her miraculous survival. Nevertheless, it's probably best for Emmet to arrange a meeting between Numera and Officer Jenny when we arrive in Nimbasa City. She's done some things that she needs to answer for."
"Okay, that's fine and dandy," Tony congratulated, feeling exasperated. "What about your typewriter?"
Shauntal grinned. "I've informed Emmet and Ingo," she whispered, "the Subway Bosses and the ones in charge of this train. We're prepared for my unwanted customer. When he or she makes her move, we've got them and I've got the perfect premise for my novel!"
"A woman riding a train and acting as bait for a trap for a thief who's trying to steal a bilingual typewriter when she could just call the police and seek government protection?" Tony asked.
Shauntal froze. "W-well, when you say it like that it sounds silly," she admitted. "Eh, I'll work it out in the outline. The point is, we're going to catch the villain, so stay out of the way and don't get into any trouble."
At that very moment the train went into a tunnel. Naturally, the automatic lights were supposed to turn on and illuminate the passenger cars. Indeed, the lights did go on in every car except for the one Tony and Shauntal were in.
"W-what the-?!" Tony exclaimed.
The train quickly shot out from the tunnel, filling the car with sunlight again.
"A-auuugh!" Shauntal screamed, leaping to her dainty feet. "M-my typewriter!"
The table was bare; Shauntal's typewriter was gone!
"My typewriter..." Shauntal moaned pitifully.
Smooth move, Nancy Drew, Tony thought, rolling his eyes and face-palming.
Author's Note:
As one unpaid writer to another, I feel ya, Shauntal. You crazy freak.
Okay, guys, I have an announcement to make. Do to some circumstances beyond my control I may not be able to update for a little while. I have to take a little personal trip and I may not be able to access the internet until Tuesday. Sorry! Rest assured that I will be working on new chapters on my laptop while I'm gone, so there will be plenty for you guys to read when I do get back! :D
Anyways, Reader Question Time! Who do YOU think stole the typewriter? Spoilers, it was Clover!
Clover: "Wadd... Wadd... Waaahahahahaha!"
Tony's Party:
1: Lucky, female Butterfree
Ability: Compound Eyes
2: Sunny, female Larvesta
Ability: Flame Body
3: Lancelot, male Karrablast
Ability: Swarm
4: Strike, male Whirlipede
Ability: Poison Point
5: Clover, female Swadloon
Ability: Swarm
6: Rock Candy, female Dwebble
Ability: Sturdy