THIEF! Chapter 3

She had to steal. But stealing was wrong. But it was the only way to find the rush. A profound emotional dilemma wracked Liana, as she sat in the cafeteria that day.

"The rush comes from stealing," she thought to herself. "But does it come from taking something? I don't think so. That feeling comes from pulling it off undetected." And with that, Liana had her solution. She would steal, but would not keep what she stole. Rather, she would leave it elsewhere as a trophy to her skill. That way she could find her rush, without worrying her conscience. This would be a game, and the best one she had ever played in her life.

"But who to steal from?" That was the next question that popped into Liana's mind. "To start things off with a bang…" She snapped her fingers suddenly. "Bobby. I could start with Bobby."

Bobby was the richest kid in school. He wasn't arrogant like many rich kids though, or, at least he didn't show himself to be arrogant. He kept pretty much to himself, and no one knew him very well. Liana did know that he had a pokemon though, a Combusken. "In that case, I'll have to be extra careful" she told herself.

And so Liana began to plan her first big heist. "I can't just depend on Kirlia like before; I need to think ahead. And, just to be prepared, I should bring both of my pokemon. And, one more, I think. Sara!" she called her friend. "Can I borrow your Tangela for a day?"

That night, dressed in black pajamas and wearing gloves, Liana directed her usual midnight stroll on the rooftops towards Bobby's house. "Derek knows I've been going out and around like this, so he won't suspect me of doing anything different." She couldn't get directly to Bobby's house though, since it was surrounded by a fenced-in yard on all directions. So she had Tangela use Vine Whip and connect to the house. Then she walked across on the vines.

Once she was on the roof, Liana swung down to the nearest window. It had something that looked like a security device on it, so instead of opening the window, she called Kirlia out to teleport her inside. And she dropped in a heap on the floor. "I really need to work with Kirlia on coordinating that," Liana told herself as she rubbed her back. "I hope I didn't wake anybody this time." But that didn't appear to be a problem, as she was not in a bedroom, but rather a completely empty one.

"Now I need to find a suitable prize. But first, come out, Noctowl! I need your eyes." A light shone briefly as the bird came out from its pokeball. "Since there's nothing in here, I need to explore the rest of the house. I want you, Noctowl, to look out and help me see if someone else is there." So with Noctowl on her shoulder, she began to explore.

The first room she entered was also completely empty. Liana wondered why they would have all that space if they weren't going to use it. Maybe they were renovating or something.

But the next room was not empty. It was apparently occupied, for it had a HUGE bed, along with other furnishings. In this room, Liana spotted her prize. It was a large, expensive-looking crystal sculpture of a Dragonair, very beautiful. "That will be a great trophy, especially sitting out on the front doorstep of the place."

But first, precautions must be made. Liana saw that the form on the bed was shifting around a lot. "Tangela, use sleep powder on the bed so whoever's there doesn't wake up." Tangela spread its powder across the sleeping form. It lay still. Liana started forward. But suddenly Noctowl flew in front of her face, warning her off. Had she forgotten someone?

Yes! She had forgotten that Combusken might be around. Liana was soon reminded of this as the fiery jumped at her and attacked. "This must be Bobby's room, then," she thought to herself. Then, coming back to the situation: "Noctowl, use Aerial Ace!" A strong flying move should make Combusken weak.

Combusken tried to dodge by jumping into the air, but Noctowl was unshakeable. The hit made the pokemon slam into the wall. It was a good thing Liana had already used Sleep Powder on Bobby, or he would have woken up from the commotion! "But I can't let this drag on, or I might wake anyone else in the house. Noctowl, use Hypnosis!"

Noctowl focused its intense stare on Combusken before it could get back up from the blow it had taken. The fighting pokemon had no chance to break free of the hypnotic gaze. Soon it fell asleep.

Liana placed the sleeping pokemon on a nearby chair. Then she straightened up the room, as the fight had disheveled it somewhat. "I was caught off guard," she chastised herself. "Combusken got a look at my face. Luckily, it's not as though it can tell any people who I was, is it? But next time I might be seen by a person. I'll have to be more careful."

Now, as Liana approached her prize, she felt the rush overtake her, and she smiled as she took the statue. In its place, she left a small card that said 'Thank you for the practice.' "Noctowl and Tangela, return. Kirlia, our job is done. Teleport me outside." This time she anticipated the fall, and landed on her feet. "We really need to work on landing the Teleport," she reminded herself, shaking her head.

Liana placed the statue on the lawn, a few feet away from the front door of the house. Then she climbed over the fence, and went home, still feeling thrilled.