THIEF! Chapter 9

Discovery

"Wow, Liana. That digital video camera Angel gave you is so cool." Dragon had had little experience with technology in her past, so she was naturally fascinated by it.

"Yeah. But I didn't know that Angel was that interested in technology stuff. Here, smile" Liana held up the camera and started taping Dragon. The girl obligingly smiled, and waved. "I can't see enough of you. Step back a bit." Dragon tried to do so, but fell over Liana's new Flaafy, which promptly shocked her.

"I don't know that I like your new pokemon that much…." Dragon said, struggling to get off the sheep while it continued to shock her.

"Flaafy, stop it. I'm sorry," Liana apologized after helping Dragon up. "Do you need a Cheri Berry?"

"Nah. I just need to stretch out a bit." Dragon proceeded to do so. "But I think that Flaafy has too much electricity."

"It is unusually strong." The girls saw Jenna waving them over. She was with Bobby and Angel. They walked to them, and Liana asked "What's up?"

Jenna wore her signature smile. "I just wanted to confirm about tonight. We decided on Allyssa, right?" She was unusually circumspect, guarding against other people at the party who might be listening.

Allyssa was another girl in their school. She lived with her uncle, who was a high-up in a business corporation, because her parents had died when she was very young. It was rumored that her uncle collected expensive paintings, any of which would make a fine prize for Liana. "Yeah. Sounds good to me. We'll be there, won't we Dragon?" The girl nodded.

Bobby noticed that a crowd was forming off to the right. "Someone must be starting another pokemon battle. Let's watch." They walked over, and people made way for Liana since it was her birthday, and since she was so popular now. The two competitors were none other than Dream and Derek! Dream was using a Swampert, while Derek had his Absol battling. They were just in time to see Swampert unleash a devastating Hydro Pump. Absol was pushed down, hard. But it stood back up, ready to continue.

Liana was mildly impressed. "Wow, Dream must be pretty good. Usually when Derek sends out Absol, they dominate completely. This looks almost even." When Dream turned and saw Liana, he became flustered and hesitated.

Derek, meanwhile, had already ordered Absol to use Shadow Ball. The pokemon planted its feet and growled softly. A dark orb grew in front of it, surging with black energy. Once the sphere was so large that it completely obscured the pokemon, Absol released it. The globe flew towards Swampert with incredible speed, landing a direct hit. The pokemon was shoved back, breaking the ground as it fell. The battle was over. Derek and Absol had won.

"Wow, Derek," Dream said as he returned his pokemon to its home, "You really are a great pokemon trainer. That was a cool win."

"No it wasn't. You were distracted. It's not worth so much if I don't beat you at your best." That was Derek for you: such a purist. He didn't want to accept winning by luck, only by skill.

It was getting late, and the party tapered off. Once everyone outside her group had left, Liana got her stuff, and got ready to go out with Dragon. On the way out, she saw Derek look at her with his eyebrow raised. "Phase-out, you said, right? It doesn't mean stop right away. And this was already planned tonight." She said, pointing at Jenna. "Can't disappoint or I'll be dragged off and made to do it anyway." She walked off to her friends, and they strolled away.

At Bobby's house, they split up. Dragon and Liana went off towards Allyssa's house, and Angel, Jenna and Bobby went inside to await their return. They usually had a short celebration after each success.

Liana and Dragon soon reached the house. They used Espeon and Kirlia to lift them up to a window, then Kirlia to Teleport them inside. This time, practice had paid off, and they arrived less than an inch from the floor. Then the girls sent out Mightyena and Noctowl, to search for sight or scent of anyone's presence.

They were in Allyssa's room, and the girl was sleeping. Liana looked carefully around the room, searching for a valuable painting. Though there were none, there were excessive amounts of video game, sports, and pokemon posters and paraphernalia. "She's even more of a tomboy than I am" Liana thought, awed.

They moved on into the hallway. None of the rooms on the second floor had any paintings that looked worthwhile. So they moved down to the first floor. And there they struck gold. In a large room they found many suitable canvases. The room looked like a regular living room, because there were large bookshelves, and a TV. But the room also had a giant table in the middle of it, with chairs all around, like a conference room. Liana and Dragon split up, walking around to ascertain which prize would be the best to take.

Suddenly, Mightyena pulled on Dragon's sleeve. "What is it Mightyena?" The girl asked in hushed tones. "Are there people coming?" The wolf nodded. "Hide!" Dragon returned her pokemon and slid under the table. Liana was too far away from the table, and so, she impulsively jumped on top of a bookshelf. No one should look for a person there, right?

They heard voices, and the door opened to admit men in business suits. They filed in, and sat in chairs surrounding the table. Luckily, it was large enough, and Dragon was small enough, that none of them discovered her. "The meeting will now begin," said one of them.

This was a tight spot! Liana could just use Kirlia to Teleport herself away, but she couldn't leave Dragon behind. And there wasn't enough room under the table to quick-teleport to Dragon then go. They would have to wait until these men left.

"Are you sure we are safe here? What about your niece? I don't want to be caught in this." The question was addressed to a slick looking man with dark hair and eyes. He must be Allyssa's uncle.

"Definitely. The girl is asleep right now. And besides that, she adores me too much to eavesdrop. The stupid girl thought just because I took her in when her parents died, that I'm an upstanding person."

What was this? Something was wrong here. What was going on? Liana started to wish that she had brought her new camera, when she saw Dragon waving to her from underneath the table. She was holding the camera! "Stole it from your pocket," she mouthed. Then she pointed to it and up to the people. Liana guessed that she was asking whether or not to use it. She gave Dragon a thumbs-up, and the girl turned the camera on. It couldn't record the men's faces, but it would catch their conversation. Now they could find out what was going on.