I stared in horror, then I quickly swept my sharp-eyed gaze over the rest of the fridge.
But the ketchup was nowhere to be found.
I blinked in astonishment. The culprit would be found.
Immediately, I began looking for clues. First, I went to the shelf where the ketchup used to be, sniffing frantically. All I caught was the vague scent of humans. The humans only rarely used the bottom shelf anymore, knowing that it was reserved for my ketchup bottles. It had to have been another Pokémon that took it. Besides, the humans knew better, and they had bought the ketchup bottle for me.
No, it was one of my teammates, or perhaps one of the Pokémon in Pikachu-pi's or the squinty-eyed human's party, or maybe even Mimey. The Psychic-type had been suspicious, trying to keep me away from the refrigerator and all....
I flicked my eyes from side to side. I needed some sort of system. Looking around, an idea sprang to my mind.
I leapt onto the counter, grabbing a box of crayons and a notebook I spied there. Pika-pi had been drawing pictures of Pokémon he hoped one day to catch, like Dragonite and Moltres. With a mental apology towards him, I ripped out his pages and put them on the counter so that there was nothing but clean paper. I couldn't have anything confusing my data.
I pushed the notebook onto the floor and jumped down with the crayon box in my mouth. I put the box down, and began ripping out pieces of paper. On each piece of paper I hastily scribbled a picture of a Pokémon. My pictures were of: Mimey, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Kingler, Muk, Psyduck, Staryu, Togepi, Vulpix, Zubat, Onix, and Geodude.
I had doubts as to whether some of them would or could have done it or even liked my holy bottle of ketchup, but I put them down as suspects anyway. I had a few blanks pieces of paper ready in case I heard the report of some mysterious creatures being nearby. I contemplated putting the humans down, but thought back to when I had last seen the ketchup bottle.
That morning I had nursed the bottle for a while before lovingly putting it back.
Pika-pi's mother had patted me on the head. "I'm going to the store and to Professor Oak's, and I shouldn't be back until later tonight. Take care of Ash for me, will you?"
"Pika," I nodded.
Then I had gone outside to nap. It hadn't been too much longer before she'd left.
It couldn't be Pika-pi's mother. It couldn't be.
I'd been outside with Pika-pi and Pikachu-pi all day, so it couldn't have been them either. I also would have known if the other human had returned.
Okay. Definitely not them.
It had to have been a Pokémon.
I tried sniffing at the floor near the refrigerator, but it was useless. Just because they'd been near the refrigerator didn't mean they got into it.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me, and I sheepishly went to my drawings.
I put big black X's over Charizard and Onix. There was no way they could have come in the house and stole the ketchup bottle. They were just too big.
I observed my other pictures to see if there were any other such ridiculous suggestions.
Bulbasaur? A possibility. He could open the fridge with his vines.
Mimey? I narrowed my eyes. He was definitely under suspicion. After all, he could take the bottle with his Psychic powers.
Squirtle? Yep, he had arms.
Kingler? I winced. Somehow, I didn't think he could open the refridgerator with those big claws of his. It just wouldn't work. I marked his picture out.
Muk? I thought for a moment....Hm. I didn't see what need he would have for ketchup, but I guess he was still a possibility.
Psyduck? I almost laughed at the thought of him trying to get the ketchup bottle, but I couldn't deny the fact that he did have Psychic powers, and he might have been able to get it....
Staryu? I shook my head slowly. Staryu was just a Water-type. Now, if Pikachu-pi hadn't left Starmie with her sisters, I might have suspected it, for it was also a Psychic-type. But, considering Staryu wasn't a Psychic-type and didn't have a mouth, I didn't think it did it. I crossed out its picture.
Togepi....I furrowed my yellow brow. Now, that one was a wild card. It might have been just a baby, but it was always managing to get into mischief. Yes, Togepi would stay.
Vulpix? Definitely! I didn't like the way she was looking at my ketchup bottle the other day.
Zubat? I frowned, trying to imagine the Flying- and Poison-type coming in and taking the ketchup. It didn't have eyes, for crying out loud! Nor did it have arms....I nodded to myself, and Zubat was soon off the list of suspects.
Geodude....Now, that was a tougher one. I didn't think he would come inside. It was too easy for him to break things, and, besides, I didn't think ketchup was on his diet. So....No Geodude.
I looked at my dwindled pile. Bulbasaur, Mimey, Squirtle, Muk, Psyduck, Togepi, and Vulpix. Plus, any mysterious Pokémon that might have managed to sneak into the house.
All right. Now it was time for the questioning.
I saw Mimey, humming to himself and dusting things. He still looked suspicious to me.
I casually strolled up to him. [Whatcha been doin' all day, Mimey?]
"Mime?" He tilted his head and looked at me. Then he answered, [Cleaning.]
[Oh, yeah? Hm....You haven't seen anyone with a ketchup bottle around here, have you?] I inquired, watching him closely for any sort of guilty reaction.
"Mime," the Mr. Mime shook his head. [Only you.]
Drats. No reaction. [All right,] I said. [Seeya around, Mimey.]
I walked outside. Nothing gained from that visit. He was probably just good at hiding his guilt.
When I went outside, Kingler greeted me with his squooshy-sounding voice. [Hello, Pikachu.]
[Hi, Kingler.] I smiled at him. [I don't suppose you've happened to see a bottle of some kind around here....] I tried to look as casual as I could, to keep him off his guard.
He thought for a moment, then pointed with his overgrown pincer. [I think I saw something in the bushes over there.]
I smiled. [Thanks.] I resisted the urge to bound over to the bushes, instead strolling over slowly, keeping an eye on all the Pokémon around me. [Oh!] I said quickly, catching Kingler's attention. [Have you seen any strange Pokémon around lately?]
The crab shook his head.
[Okay, thanks.]
Well, that didn't necessarily mean anything. I started looking around the bushes when my heart stopped in my throat.
The precious bottle!
I rushed to it, only to find that it was gutted.
"Piii," my eyes welled up, but I forced the tears back. I had to be strong.
I carefully looked over the bottle. There were suspicious bits of sludge and mud on it.
Forcing back still more tears, I continued searching the bottle for clues. I blinked in surprise at what I managed to find.
At the bottom of the bottle, sticking to a little bit of the sludge, so fine I almost couldn't see them, were a few fine red hairs. How they had managed to stay on the bottle was beyond me. I continued looking, not expecting to find anymore, but then I found a minute, light-colored feather. My brow furrowed. Pidgeotto---no, he'd evolved into Pidgeot---was gone. Psyduck didn't have feathers this color. What bird could it have come from?
~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Next chapter coming soon. :D
