"Aamira!" Quill yelled. "You have to come out of there some time!"
"I will when Latias comes back!" Aamira shouted from inside her room.
"I've got this." Machop used Brick Break and knocked the door down. "Aamira, you're acting ridiculous! Earlier you were happy that Latias went home and you were confident that you would meet again, and now you're locking yourself in your room? What will that solve?"
Aamira got up off of her couch. "You're… You're right. I'm sorry."
"Ooh!" Quill said. "Machop's got a sensitive side!"
Nuzleaf glared at Quill then turned back to Aamira. "There's got to be something to get your mind off of this."
"Wait." Aamira said. "Hey Quill, didn't you say the first time we met that the fog of Shroud Lake could even heal a broken heart?"
"Yea, I think so. It really calms people when they're troubled. I should know. You should have seen how upset I was over not graduating." Quill's face turned red with embarrassment. "So we could all go to Shroud Lake. We haven't been down there in a while anyway."
"I never had a chance to show the lake to Latias." Aamira said. She shook her head. "I've got to get over this!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Quill led the way out of the Treehouse. It was like a ghost town outside their HQ. Everyone looked around timidly. The silence was enough to make their ears ring.
"Where is everyone?" Nuzleaf asked.
Even in the spark division, where few people lived, there were always a few people running around or a few kids playing in the streets, but now there wasn't anyone.
"Maybe there will be someone in town square." Quill said. "Yea, there are always people out there."
All of them headed out of the spark division, but still they didn't meet anyone. No one was at the academy, although it should have been filled with kids by then and the Link Shop and Appraisal were abandoned. Finally they noticed someone. A whole lot of someones. Overhead were about a hundred Delibird flying towards Town Square.
"Something's going on." Aamira ran towards Town Square with everyone else close behind.
In the middle of Town Square, every pokemon in the city was gathered around Arcanine and Noctowl.
"Whatever's going on, it's big." Quill said. He looked up and recognized a pokemon flying above him. "Shedinja! You came too?"
Shedinja turned to him. "Yea, yea. Surprising isn't it? But everyone's out here, so no one's going to break anything. Besides, everyone comes to listen when Arcanine has some news. Word going around is that the Collectors have come back to Silva."
"Who are the Collectors?" Aamira asked.
Shedinja seemed to go pale and became surprisingly frightened. "How can you have not have heard of the Collectors! They're the worst of the worst, I tell you! Everyone, even me, worries about them! They're the same bandits that put Noctowl's Investigation Team out of commission!"
Aamira and Quill gulped. "I've never heard of them either." Quill said. "They sound pretty bad though."
"I've heard of them, of course." Machop said.
"You're full of it!" Nuzleaf snapped at him.
"I'm serious for once!" Machop said. "The Collectors are some of the most cruel and horrid thieves in the history of Investigation Teams. They lure unsuspecting high ranked Investigation Teams into traps and attack. They attack them until they're on the verge of dieing then they steal their Aura Glasses and run off. They don't take anything else, which only proves how evil they are.
"They do it solely to crush the pride of any Investigation Teams they come across, not for much personal gain. Any Investigation Teams that have to go through what the Collectors put them through are so badly hurt emotionally that they can't bear to continue on as an Investigation Team. It must feel horrible to know you've had the symbol of the Investigation Teams stolen. Even worse to know they could have easily killed any of the Investigation Team members if they wanted to, but let them go just to torture them further."
"That's horrible!" Aamira said.
"I'm guessing if you've never heard of them, you wouldn't know about the rumor." Shedinja said. "According to the rumor, they have a secret room somewhere where they hide every Aura Glass they've ever stolen. They even label them with the name of the person they stole it from and the team name."
"Now come on!" Dragonite said. "Don't go making up stuff just to scare them! Everything Machop said was true, but there's no such rumor about a secret hideout!"
Shedinja glared at him. "I was only trying to have some fun…"
"Can I have everyone's attention, please!" Arcanine said. "I have some good news and some bad news to share with everyone. The bad news is that the Collectors have returned to Sylva. But there is some good news for once. Their identities have been discovered!"
Everyone cheered.
"Wait!" Someone said. "That has to mean a teams Aura Glasses have been stolen!"
"Forget that!" A Delibird perched on a nearby tree said. "That must mean someone got really badly hurt!"
"Yes." Arcanine said. "The team that was attacked was Team Sky."
"What?" Aamira and Quill both jumped.
Chansey led Aipom and Mankey from the direction of town hall. They were both limping really badly and looked like they shouldn't even be able to walk. Aamira and Quill pushed their way through the crowd and ran to Team Sky.
"Hey, are you both okay?" Quill asked.
"Huh?" Aipom looked up at him. "Oh… Yea, sure…" Her tail was dragging behind her. Aipom never walked with her tail down like that before.
"What about you?" Aamira asked Mankey.
Mankey just sat on the ground and looked away.
Quill sighed sadly. "It was really that bad, huh? Those Collectors are as bad as everyone says they are."
Aipom nodded. "I can't go on… Team Sky is finished… What kind of Investigation Team can keep going after having something as important as their Aura Glasses stolen?" Aipom's eyes filled with tears. "And we came so far! It's not fair!"
"Don't worry!" Quill said. "We'll get your Aura Glasses back!"
"No!" Everyone shouted.
"You absolutely will not!" Noctowl never sounded so angry. "You kids are no match for them! Under no circumstances, I repeat NO CIRCUMSTANCES, are you to go looking for them!" Noctowl turned to everyone else. "That goes for everyone!"
"Our police forces are working tirelessly to track down the Collectors. In the mean time, be sure to watch out for these pokemon." Arcanine held up a poster for everyone to see. There were three pokemon on it; A Weavile, Houndoom, and Gliscor.
"They look bad…" Wurmple said.
"It's worse though…" Aipom said. "They got Caterpie! We took him with us on a mission so he could train a little, and they ambushed us."
"They've never taken hostages before." Arcanine said. "Our only guess is that they're planning to hold some pokemon ransom to lure in a strong Investigation Team. We'll try to apprehend the trio before then. Until then, no one should take any ransom missions. Stay away from dungeons that seem too hard or too easy. Dismissed."
Everyone went back to where they usually were and the Investigation Teams got to work. Unsurprisingly, all of them including Team Sleuth decided to do patrol. Because of the number of Investigation Teams in the town, no one needed any help at all by noon and the jobs posted on the help center were piling up.
All four members of Team Sleuth were bored and worried at the same time. To pass the time, they had resorted to kicking a rock back and fourth. Quill looked over at some Investigation Teams who had given up on playing it safe and were taking about ten jobs from the help center each. Soon there were no jobs left.
Everyone sighed.
"This stinks!" Machop kicked the rock to Nuzleaf. "I don't want to live in fear anymore! I hardly go on any missions and now none of us can!"
"I know, but what can we do?" Nuzleaf kicked the rock to Quill. "The missions that were all on the bored were taken by those other teams. Besides, I bet one of the teams that come back tonight will have had their Aura Glasses stolen.
"Yea, you're probably right." Quill kicked the rock to Aamira. "Aamira, what do you think?"
"I'm worried about Caterpie. They're not the strongest pokemon, are they?" She kicked the rock back to Machop.
"No, they're not." Quill said. "It is worrying, but the whole reason Noctowl, Alakazam, and Gallade aren't an Investigation Team is because of them."
Machop kicked the rock to Nuzleaf. "Maybe we could train or something. Anything to pass the time."
"I was able to use Aura Sphere again last night." Aamira said. "Quill hasn't used Flame Wheel in a while. Have either of you learned a new attack lately?"
"Razor Leaf." Nuzleaf said.
"Karate Chop." Machop picked up the rock and threw it into the air. Aamira shot at it with an Aura Sphere and the rock disintegrated in a plume of dust. "Not bad."
Nuzleaf picked up another rock and threw it at Machop.
"Ah!" Machop didn't seem very prepared for it, but was still able to smash the rock with his Karate Chop.
Quill picked up another rock and threw it Nuzleaf.
Nuzleaf sliced it in half easily with a Razor Leaf. "Ha! Too easy!"
Aamira, Machop, and Nuzleaf all looked back and fourth between each other. They all looked back at Quill and smirked evilly and picked up some rocks.
"Wait… What are you…?" Quill looked at them in shock. "Can we talk about this!"
"And here's the pitch!" Aamira through the rock she had picked up like someone would pitch a baseball and Nuzleaf and Machop threw theirs right after.
"Ah!" Quill used Flame Wheel, somehow without moving from the spot he was standing in, and the rocks disintegrated as soon as they came in contact with the flames. Quill smirked. "Okay, let's do this!"
For the next half hour they threw rocks back and fourth. They never missed one of them. When they were too tired to attack anymore, they practiced dodging.
"Hey, why not practice some move combos?" Aamira asked.
"What do you mean?" Quill asked.
"I mean combine our moves. What would you think about fiery Karate Chops or a grass Aura Sphere? There could be more too if we just keep experimenting. Maybe combinations of three or four moves."
"What if we get on opposite teams and experiment with combinations?" Nuzleaf suggested.
"Hey! That's a good idea." Quill said. "Alright, Machop and I will be one team and Aamira and Nuzleaf will be another."
Both teams faced each other. They used a variety of combinations. Some were really complicated, like Nuzleaf and Aamira's Nature power and Force Palm combo that required precise timing, or Quill and Machop's Low Kick and Ember combo which required a precise balance of power.
Once Nuzleaf and Aamira did a Quick Attack and Razor Leaf combo. Nuzleaf used Razor Leaf and Aamira used Quick Attack, following the leaves. The leaves hit Quill and Machop and Aamira knocked into both of them with Quick Attack. Quill fired an Ember into the air above Aamira and Machop jumped into the fire, spinning so he wouldn't get burned, and used Low Kick on Aamira. Aamira used Quick Attack again to dodge and stood back where she was next to Nuzleaf.
They were all out of original ideas, so both sides went with what Aamira had told them to convince them to practice combos. Aamira used Aura Sphere and Nuzleaf used Leaf Blade. The leaves got caught in the Aura Sphere and started revolving around it. Quill used Ember and Machop ran forward and combined it with Karate Chop. Machop stepped back, but the power from the Karate chop was still in the fire. The fire swirled around the energy from the Karate Chop. The leaves around the Aura sphere caught fire. Instead of leaves revolving around the Aura Sphere, it was now rings of fire. When the Karate Chop got too strong for the Aura Sphere, the Aura Sphere exploded in to a bunch of colors. It disconnected the rings of fire and the small embers left from the burning leaves flew into the air and started falling to the ground.
Within a few seconds, the whole area was covered in soot and ashes. Some of the embers had fallen on them, but it didn't hurt. It wasn't even hot, but instead felt cold for some reason.
"Did the Aura Sphere do that?" Aamira asked. "The fire was cold… Was that because of Aura Sphere?"
Before anyone could answer, a crowd that had formed around them without any of them noticing started cheering. Aamira spun on one leg in a complete circle and took a bow. Quill jumped and raised his Aura Glass in the air. Machop punched his fists into the air and then punched them together. Nuzleaf crossed his arms and flipped the leaf on his head. These were their Investigation Team poses. When they had done them the crowd started cheering louder.
"Where did you all come from?" Quill asked.
"Well what do you expect?" A Swampart in the crowd replied. "We're all bored out of our minds. That last thing was something to see though."
"It was… just an accident really." Aamira said.
A white pokemon flew over the crowd and landed on the ground panting. "My name is Togetic. I've been looking for s strong Investigation Team for a while, but no one's willing to take my mission. Please! This is urgent!"
"So what's up?" Quill asked.
"Me and my little sister, Togepi, were walking through a forest when a dungeon suddenly sprang up. We got separated somehow. I was still outside the dungeon, but Togepi ended up inside. Our mom's got too much to worry about as it is. She'll have a heart attack when she finds out I lost Togepi. I was in charge of watching her and now… What if she's hurt? She could be all alone and scared in those dark woods… She's practically just a baby…"
"We'll take the mission." Aamira said.
"Yea, we…" Quill stammered. "We will? Aamira, what about—?"
"You heard what she said. It's urgent. Togepi might be hurt. And she's practically just a baby and wandering around the forest on her own!"
"You're still upset over Latias, aren't you?" Quill asked.
"Yes, but at least she's just not here anymore and with her older brother. It hurts enough that Latias left, and you know that. So how much do you think it would hurt them if Togepi was gone forever?"
Quill looked around guiltily. "You're… You're right. Reckless, which I somewhat like, but you're still right." He turned to Togetic. "So where is your sister exactly?"
"I call the dungeon Vine Forest. I couldn't see much from outside, but it looked like there were holes in the floor that could only be crossed by swinging on vines. I'm worried Togepi might fall into one of the holes. They looked deep." She shook her head. "Sorry I got off track, I'm just worried. It's not too far. It's just southwest of here. With all the vines hanging from the trees, you can't miss it."
Nuzleaf and Machop stayed on standby (in spite of much protest from Machop) and Quill and Aamira headed to the dungeon. Togetic was right about one thing: You can't miss it. The whole forest looked literally like a mountain of vines. Hardly any trees were visible.
"Woa." Quill said. "I'll never think Vine City has a lot of vines in it ever again…"
"Come on. Let's get going." Aamira led the way into the dungeon.
It was filled with flying type pokemon, much to Aamira's distress. It seemed to her that the flying types kept trying to hit her, although Quill got attacked just as much. They had to swing from vines and do a bunch of other weird stuff just to get through. The vines were strong, at least. They seemed like what the Treehouses from Treetop Town were made of. Quill even tried to burn through one, but it didn't work.
"Have we come this way already?" Aamira asked.
"Nope." Quill pointed to a rock formation that was shaped somewhat like a Pidgey. "See? We haven't passed this yet."
"No, I think I'd remember something like that." Aamira agreed. "But we haven't found a single staircase the whole time we've been in here."
"I don't think there are any stairs. Just look down here." Quill looked over the edge of a hole. "See how high up we are? We weren't that high when we started. I think every time we swing over these holes on a vine we advance a floor, though it's hard to tell that the floor on the other side is higher or not."
Aamira looked up. "Why don't we just climb up the vines?"
Quill jumped. "You're more reckless than I thought! You know how long it would take us to climb up all these floors on vines? We would be like sitting Psyducks! There's no way we could make it to the top without falling or being knocked down by some flying pokemon."
"Yea, guess you're right. But I don't get it. Shouldn't we have seen Togepi by now? How would something that small and wobbly in the knees be able to cross all these vines?"
"Togepi are playful. And lucky. It would surprise me if we tried to save Togepi from something later and we would end up the ones in trouble because Togepi got out by luck."
"Either way, we should probably keep moving." Aamira jumped, swung onto the vine to the other side, and threw the vine back to Quill, who followed her.
After a while the floors started getting smaller. It was then that they realized that they had been going in circles the whole time. Not on the same floor, though. They had been spiraling up the inside of a mountain made of vines the whole time. Since the floors were getting smaller, they figured that they must be close to the top by now. Finally they found a staircase. It led them up to a narrow hallway that wrapped around the side of the mountain. It was so narrow that they had to walk in single file to get through it.
"Looks like this is it." Aamira took a few steps further and tugged on a vine. There was no hole in front of them, but the vine was attached to the ceiling on the floor above them. "Looks like we just climb up here."
"TOGEEEEEE!"
"Was that Togepi's voice?" Quill asked.
"I think so." Aamira climbed up the vine and stood off to the side to make it possible for Quill to get up. "Be careful up here."
After a little bit of struggling, Quill climbed up and looked around. They were inside the mountains peak. It was just a hollow room with no other doors or anything else. It was so small that they could do little more than just stand there.
"Wait, Togepi's not here." Quill said.
TOGEEEEEE!"
"So where's the yelling coming from?" Aamira wondered.
Quill shivered and the fire on his back flickered for a second.
"What's wrong?" Aamira asked.
"I don't know… I just got a chill for some reason. That was weird. If feels like…"
"We're being watched?" Aamira looked around but no one was there. Then she looked up and saw a pokemon concealed in the shadows on the roof. Nothing was visible except its gleaming yellow eyes. It smirked at them.
Suddenly the floor was gone and Quill and Aamira started falling. After a while, they gave up panicking because it was taking them so long to reach the bottom.
"It feels like we're going down through every floor." Quill said.
"Every floor nothing." Aamira said. "By now, we're somewhere underground."
"Uhh… Speaking of the ground…" Quill pointed under them.
The ground was coming towards them fast. Aamira reached out her hand and grabbed Quill, then as soon as they came out of the hole in the ceiling, Aamira grabbed onto a convenient hanging vine.
"Still think Togepi are the lucky ones?" Immediately after Aamira said this, the vine snapped and they fell two or three feet to the floor. "Ow…" Aamira rubbed her arms. "It felt like my arms were being pulled out of their sockets. This is definitely going to hurt in the morning."
Quill looked around. "I think this is a different dungeon all together." A flying pokemon swooped out of the hole they had just fallen from and flew into the dungeon. "What was that?"
"It was too fast to see." Aamira said. "I think it might have been the same pokemon that was above us at the top of the dungeon."
"This is a pretty serious looking dungeon." Quill said. "Look, it's even got one of those Kangaskhan Rock thingies."
"Kangaskhan Rock?"
"There's one outside every serious dungeon. They let you take out items and even save your adventure."
"What does that mean?" Aamira asked. "What do you mean by 'save your adventure'?"
"If you don't save and go into a dungeon like this, who knows what could happen. If we're defeated in here, I doubt anyone would be able to find us. But if we save at a Kangaskhan Rock and we're defeated, our Aura Glasses teleport us back to this room where the rock is." Quill shivered. "This might be too tough for us. Maybe we should just go back."
"Back how?" Aamira pointed up at the only visible exit.
Quill looked up. "Yea, you're right. If there is another exit, we'll have to find it."
Both of them saved and took a few items from the Kangaskhan Rock and headed into the second dungeon, which they had decided to call Vine Cavern. Inside were a variety of ghost and dark type pokemon. Whenever a ghost was nearby, they felt a chill go up their spine. Whenever a dark pokemon was watching them, they could feel the eyes staring at them. It was a creepy place for sure. It was pitch black down there. Quill had to keep his fire going and Aamira held an Aura Sphere out on front of her the whole time.
Both of them stopped suddenly. A chill ran up their spines. Both turned around but nothing was there. They turned back around and something jumped out at them! "HAUNTERRRRRR!" It shouted.
Aamira and Quill both screamed. The haunter laughed. "So gullible!" It circled around them once and disappeared.
"That was scary!" Quill's eyes were watering. "I can't take much more of this. I want to go home."
"I know. Me too."
"TOGEEEEEEEE!"
"That was Togepi!" Aamira ran ahead.
Quill jumped and ran after her. "Don't you dare leave me here!"
Both of them walked down a flight of stairs and entered a giant room. There was a doorway in front of them. They could hear Togepi's sobbing from inside. Both of them walked in. Aamira's foot caught on a wire of some sort and a cage door slammed down over the doorway.
"What the…" Quill looked at the tripwire. "It's a trap!"
"I want my mommy!" Togepi tried ran towards Aamira and Quill.
"Don't take another step!" A Houndoom walked out of the shadows on their left and scared Togepi so much that she stopped running and just stood there paralyzed in fear.
"Aww! Don't scare the little kid half to death!" A Gliscor swooped down from the ceiling and landed on his tail to the right of Aamira and Quill. "We did promise her she could go home after all of this."
"Of course why do we have to go by our word?" A Weavile stepped out of the shadows in front of Aamira and Quill and walked up behind Togepi. "Aww. What a cute innocent little child." Togepi started crying and was still too scared to move.
"Don't you lay a claw on her, Weavile!" Aamira and Quill turned to see Togetic flying outside the cage door. "We had a deal!"
"You set us up!" Aamira yelled.
"I had no choice…" She said. "No one in Sylva is strong enough to defeat them. You wouldn't have been able to, so instead they held Togepi hostage and told me to lure Team Sleuth here if I ever wanted to see her again."
Weavile closed his eyes, smirked, and laughed. "Yes, exactly. Those were my exact words. Lure Team Sleuth here or you'll never SEE her again. Well, you saw her."
"No! You backstabber!" Togetic shouted.
"Backstabber? Not a bad idea." Weavile raised his claws in the air.
Aamira quickly charged up an Aura Sphere and hit him with it. Weavile was knocked into the wall behind him that was hidden in the shadows. "Togepi, run!"
Togepi yelled and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her to her big sister. She slipped through the bars of the cage door and the two of them ran off.
"I'll stop them!" Gliscor went to chase after them, but Weavile stopped him.
"Just let them go." He said. "We have bigger Magikarps to fry anyway. Aamira and Quill of Team Sleuth. Fifteen adventures so far and two recruits not counting you two. Silver Rank, correct?" Weavile's eyes gleamed. "Silver! My favorite! Strong enough to put up a fight, but wimpy enough to knock around with no problems. Aamira? I know that name from somewhere."
Aamira flinched and Weavile laughed at her.
"He's just messing with your mind." Quill said. "Don't let him get to you."
"He knows all about us. How is it possible that he knows all about us?" She said.
"That's for me to know, and you two to never find out. Especially since this will be Team Sleuth's last adventure." Weavile laughed again. "It was a little too easy! Aamira, still so crushed from Latias leaving you. You're pathetic. If that egg would have wound up in our team base, we wouldn't just let a legendary fly out on us."
Aamira had her hands balled up into fists and was shaking with anger.
"Calm down!" Quill said. "He's just trying to get to you. Don't give him what he wants!"
"And Quill!" He said. "How did a pathetic loser like you end up one of the leaders of a Silver Rank team? Must I remind you of your brother? You've been in shock ever since then because you couldn't save him. You. It was you're fault and that's plagued you for years!"
Quills eyes filled with tears. "I was too weak to do anything… That's why I formed this Investigation Team. To get stronger so I can protect people and help people. That's all in the past now and there's nothing I can do about it."
"Are you sure it's all in the past?" Weavile laughed. "You know how Espeon feels about you, right? But did you know that she was once… No, I probably should say it. It would break your frightened little heart!" Weavile laughed again, more sinister than before.
Quill was shaking in fear. Somehow Weavile knew more than he did. "What you're saying… You're just saying it to make me doubt everything I know! You're a liar!"
"And what if I am?" Weavile asked. "It would seem that it's working anyway. You two are more fun to mess with than some other teams we've come across in a while."
"Don't hog all the fun!" Houndoom shouted. "Too bad Quill's a fire type. Eh, you can have fun with that one Gliscor. If only Aamira were a Lucario it would be all the better!"
Weavile smirked. "Indeed it would. Well, I'm finished here, so whenever you two want to proceed, feel free."
Their speed was incredible. Their attacks were so fast and brutal that neither Aamira nor Quill even had time to react. Houndoom and Gliscor attacked repeatedly until both of Team Sleuth fell to the ground and could barely move.
"PATHETIC!" Weavile said. "Even for as long as you could hold those two off, how is it possible that you're both Silver Rank!" Quill and Aamira got back up somehow, refusing to give up. "Strong willed, spirits not easily swayed, that look of determination. Yes, that explains it. You two would make… No, I must be crazy even thinking about it. Either way," Weavile used Fury Swipes on both of them.
Quill and Aamira used an Ember and Aura Sphere combo. Weavile caught it with one hand and it disappeared. "Aura Sphere." He said. "I've heard you could do that, but I didn't want to believe it. You really would… No! I'm crazy to think something like that. But perhaps with some training… Yes, maybe then. But until then," Weavile attacked both of them and took their Aura Glasses from inside their bags.
"No, you… You can't take those!" Quill said.
"Oh yea?" He said. "Just watch me. I must admit this had been a lot more fun than with that Team Sky, but, unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. When you get the strength to defeat us, meet us in Forbidden Forest." Weavile used blizzard and both Quill and Aamira were frozen in ice. They couldn't move an inch of their bodies and had no choice but to watch Weavile take their Aura Glasses. He then used them to teleport the three of them back to the Kangaskhan statue.
Quill was somehow able to start the fire on his back and melted the ice that both of them were frozen in. Both of them fell to the floor.
Quill was crying, but Aamira had to ask him something. "Quill? If those Aura Glasses are what teleport us back to the Kangaskhan statue after we're defeated, then how do we get out of here?"
"I don't know…" He started crying worse than ever. After a while, both of them fell asleep due to exhaustion and the extent of their injuries.
"Aamira… Please wake up! Aamira!"
Aamira twitched and opened her eyes. Standing above her was Quill. Aamira sat up on the couch and looked at the ground. They were back in her room in their Treehouse.
Quill sighed. "Oh, finally!"
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Aipom had come to visit them. "I can't believe what happened though!"
Aamira was still staring at the ground. "They took our Aura Glasses… And they used my emotions to get to me! What kind of Riolu am I!"
"Aamira…" Quill said. "You're not a Riolu, remember?"
Aipom looked at him like he was crazy. "What do you mean she's not a Riolu?"
"Oh, sorry Aamira. It slipped out." Quill turned to Aipom. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Aamira stood up. "That was the one thing Weavile didn't know! That means he couldn't have been spying on us the whole time. Besides, his gang attacked Team Sky just yesterday. But to be able to know all that stuff about us, that means someone from around here would have to have been spying on us for a long time."
"You're still trying to figure this out!" Quill snapped at her. "We're not an Investigation Team anymore! We can't operate without our symbols and our most important tools!"
"Why not? We don't need to track them down or anything. Forbidden forest. That's where they said they'd be waiting."
"Aamira, that's a dangerous dungeon." Aipom said. "You would never make it."
"No one ever said Quill would make it as an Investigation Team member." Aamira pointed out.
"And they were all right." Quill said. "I wasn't cut out for this."
Aipom finally snapped out of it. "No one has the right to say you can't do anything! You can do anything that you put your mind to!"
"That's the spirit!" Aamira said.
The room went dark. A giant shadow rose out of the floor and roared. Everyone screamed. Everything got brighter again and a haunter appeared where the shadow had been. "Ha! Even better the second time!"
"Wait, are you that same Haunter?" Aamira asked.
"The one that scared you half to death earlier?" He said. "You bet I am. Wanted to scare the living daylights out of you two again when I found you barely alive in that prison cell. What else could I do? I rushed you both back here."
"You saved us?" Aamira asked. "You're a ghost pokemon and you saved us?"
"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Haunter rolled in the air. "But then again, you've got a Sableye at a bank. Now that's really unbelievable. Can't trust those things as far as you can throw them."
"How do you throw a ghost?" Quill asked.
"It's really, really hard to do." Haunter laughed. "I think I can have fun around here. Now if you excuse me, I think I'll scare the living daylights out of the duo in the hallway trying to listen in at the keyhole."
There was the sound of a couple of people falling on the floor and then an argument that started growing louder and louder until haunter flew out there, shouted, and scared them both stiff. He then flew back in and started rolling in the air laughing, which sounded something like "Keh-keh-keh-keh."
He floated down between Aamira and Quill. "So, you two are going to Forbidden Forest?"
Aipom pushed Haunter back. "No they most certainly are not! I said they shouldn't give up being Investigation Team members."
"But Aipom, they told us exactly where to go." Quill said. "Why can't we just go after them?"
"I told you! That dungeon's dangerous! And don't you get it? This is the perfect opportunity to catch them. If we tell the police what Weavile told you, they might be able to finally catch them." Aipom frowned. "And of course we've already told them, remember?"
"Oh yea…" Quill said. "I forgot. So I guess there's nothing we can do now."
They were all worried about the Collectors capturing another team, but like Quill had said, there was nothing they could do at this point. Later when Aamira went to go to bed, she instinctively reached for the scarf around her neck to take it off for the night. It was then she realized that she hadn't even put it on that morning. They were going to go out to the lake, so she hadn't bothered. This was the first time she went on a mission without it, and the first time they had lost. She remembered the time she was troubled at night. She had put the scarf under her head like a pillow and fell asleep easily.
Aamira walked over to her hammock and picked up the pillow that Vileplume had given them the first time they went on patrol. Some nights it worked great, but others she would hear voices. She realized now that every time she was able to sleep was when her scarf was on her pillow.
Aamira ran her fingers over the material. "What's this even made of? It never gets burned or damaged or anything. And this symbol on it; what does it mean?"
Aamira shrugged. Those things could wait. She folded her scarf up and put it on her pillow. As soon as she laid down, she fell asleep without any problems. All her worries about Latias and the Collectors were gone.