Casey turns around and looks at her friends. It doesn't take long for her to put two and two together, "You guys caught Buizel? Which one of you caught it?"
Casey ends up spending the next thirty minutes or so just talking to her friends, hearing about how Dawn managed to catch the overpowered Sea Weasel Pokemon and telling them about how she helped out Shellos, all the while content with knowing that she achieved what she set out to do so long ago.
She finally caught a Shellos.
Casey comes to a stop when she reaches her intended destination, smiling when she finally sets her eyes upon it again. It sure has been a long time since she last came here. She turns around and smiles at her friends, "Isn't it awesome, guys!?"
"Sure." Ash replies, "But what is it exactly?"
"It's the Eterna Historical Museum, Ash! It's full of statues and models that illustrate Sinnoh's extensive history of myths and legends! It's totally awesome!" Casey explains as she turns to face the exterior of the large facility, "It sure has been a while since I was last here."
"Oh, so you've been here before, then?"
"That's right. My Grandpa came here with me a couple of times when I was little. I don't remember too much about the artefacts or anything, but I do remember that I used to love coming here." Casey explains, a smile coming to her face when she thinks of the memories, "So, I think that you guys will love it too. That's why I suggested coming here."
"I say we check it out."
"I agree." Dawn chimes in, "It sounds interesting."
Casey smiles over at her friends for their enthusiasm, "Alright! Let's go!"
Casey walks through the door into the next exhibit hall of the extensive museum, her friends following closely behind her. She's actually looking for one thing in particular: the Adamant Orb. Whilst all of the things in the museum have interested her so far, and her friends for that matter, she's still keen to see the special orb that she's heard so many people talking about. Apparently its one of the main drivers of tourism to the Eterna Historical Museum. People supposedly travel from all over Sinnoh just to see it.
"What exactly are you looking for, Casey?"
"The Adamant Orb." Casey replies as she begins to browse around the various glass cabinets in the room, "I really want to see it."
"What exactly is the Adamant Orb?" Ash asks.
"I don't know."
Ash and the others deadpan over at Casey, "You don't know."
"Yep. I don't really know what it is." Casey replies bluntly as she turns to face her friends. She figures that she might as well be honest about it, "I really want to see it. People travel far and wide just to glance at it through a glass case. That means that its gotta be cool!"
Beep! Beep!
Casey hastily brings her hands up to her ears when an alarm of some kind blares throughout the museum. It's similar to the kind of alarm that sounds when an emergency exit door is opened unexpectedly, except its volume seems to have been amplified drastically from that. Casey glances over at her friends, who are wearing confused expressions similar to the one that she likely has.
"Somebody's stealing the orb! They're taking the orb!"
A man dressed in formal attire, presumably an employee at the museum, rushes into the room through a door leading into yet another whilst yelling hysterically, rushing right past Casey and her friends and into the next room, still yelling hysterically as he goes.
He must be talking about the Adamant Orb!
Casey glances over at her friends, slowly moving her hands away from her ears as she begins to adjust to the blaring noise, "Guys, let's go check out what's going on! Come on!"
Casey makes a dash for the door leading into the next room whilst the others follow her without question. They rush down the corridor connecting the previous room to the next as the alarm continues to blare consistently, the noise seemingly becoming duller the longer it goes on for. Casey's just getting used to it over time, to be honest.
They finally arrive in the next room, and the first thing that Casey notices is the smashed glass cabinet right in the centre of the room. If she were to guess, she reckons that the smashed cabinet is likely supposed to be where the Adamant Orb resides. Somebody must've stolen it!
"Look, guys! Up there!"
Casey looks up to where Dawn's pointing and takes notice of what looks like two masked vigilantes, one of whom is holding the Adamant Orb with a wide smirk on their face. A Pokemon is by their feet, a Sunflora to be more precise, although something seems to be off about it. Casey can't exactly figure out what that is though.
"Why, you crooks! You did that?"
"The Adamant Orb is legendary, don't forget!" One of the crooks cackles, smirking down at the orb in their hands, "Just like us!"
"Well, you won't have it for long!" Officer Jenny comes rushing into the room, much to everybody's surprise (and Brock's delight). A Pokemon also comes running in with her; Casey recognises it to be a Stunky, "Stunky, ten-hut!"
Stunky strikes a defensive formation, leaning its weight on its front legs and lifting its hind up into the air. It looks rather odd in this stance, but Casey's just grateful that help's arrived, so she's not about to question it.
"Wow! Eterna City's Officer Jenny's got a Stunky, huh?" Ash gasps. He reaches into his pocket and withdraws his Pokedex, scanning Stunky's data into the device.
"Stunky, the Skunk Pokémon. It protects itself by spraying a foul smelling liquid from its hindquarters which lasts for twenty-four hours."
Casey figures that must be what the stance is for. It's likely how Stunky prepares to release its stench. She has to admit that it's a rather ingenious defensive tactic: it gets the job done without physically harming your opponent.
"Please! It can't smell any worse than you twerps! Go, Seviper!"
One of the crooks throws a Pokeball out in front of her and a Seviper emerges in a flash of bright light, instantly using its Haze attack to cloak the room in thick, black smoke. Casey coughs furiously as she accidentally inhales some of the smoke, bringing a hand up to her mouth and nose to prevent any more smoke from entering her airways.
As soon as the smoke clears Casey looks up to wear the crooks were stood before, not too surprised to find that they've disappeared. That explains Sevipers Haze attack. It was all just a diversion to allow them to escape. Whilst it was a rather clever tactic, Casey wishes that the crooks never came up with it. They've taken the Adamant Orb, after all.
We've got to get the orb back!
"Sir, we came in after the thieves were finished breaking into the Adamant Orbs case!" Dawn explains to a police officer, who is taking notes as she explains what they saw, which admittedly wasn't much.
Soon after the smoke cleared from Seviper's Haze attack Officer Jenny called in numerous other officers in her platoon to secure the crime scene and calm down the general public who have been locked inside of the museum. The last thing they want is for mass hysteria to break out and cause even more chaos. The Police Force have got enough on their plate as it is.
"I can't believe it! The crooks were using Grass-Type Pokemon, huh?! They've got some nerve! Those jerks!"
Casey hears a familiar feminine voice yelling hysterically. She sounds really fired up, and even without looking she can tell that they're shouting at somebody else, as she can hear another person trying to calm them down. She turns her head towards the voice and is surprised to find that Gardenia, a strong trainer that she and her friends met briefly back in Eterna Forest, is standing at the front of the growing crowd at the rooms entrance, arguing furiously with the police officer posted there.
"Gardenia?"
Gardenia notices Casey and the others and smiles, her angry countenance fading away as soon as she sees them. She crosses over the barrier set up at the door and walks over to them, waving at them as she approaches, "Hey! Nice to see you all!"
Casey moves to address Gardenia, keen to here about what she's been getting up to since they last saw her, but Brock manages to beat her to it. He shoves past Casey, almost knocking her over in the process, and kneels down on one knee in front of Gardenia; he pulls his usual charade and looks up at Gardenia like she's the only girl in the world. Of course, as always, Croagunk is quick to snuff out any signs of admiration that Brock has towards Gardenia with a swift Poison Jab; Croagunk drags Brock away when his entire body goes limp, making him unable to protest his Pokemon's actions.
Casey can't help but wonder where exactly Croagunk takes Brock when he drags him away.
Casey decides to draw her thoughts away from Croagunk and instead over to Gardenia. She smiles over at the Grass-Type Pokemon trainer warmly, "So, Gardenia, how have you been?"
"I've been great, actually. Well, that is until I heard that those crooks who stole the Adamant Orb were using Grass-Type Pokemon!" Gardenia explains, her anger from before shining through again, "Grass-Type Pokemon are all pure and true! It's unfair that crooks are corrupting them!"
Casey nods and tries her best to look like she understands what Gardenia's going on about. She really does have an extreme passion for Grass-Type Pokemon to the point where it kinda terrifies her. Don't get her wrong, Casey loves and respects Pokemon as well, but Gardenia seems to take it to a new extreme with Grass-Type Pokemon. It's almost unnerving to witness, but at the same time it does show that Gardenia is a good person who truly cares about Pokemon.
"Excuse me!" Officer Jenny's cool voice cuts through Gardenia's incessant ramblings about Grass-Type Pokemon. The officer walks over to the group along with a rather tall man in her custody. Casey doesn't recognise him, but she has to admit that he does look rather odd. He's wearing green robes similar to those worn by a bard in ancient mythology, he's holding a golden harp in his hands, and he has a calm expression on his face despite being in the custody of a police officer, "I've just captured suspect number one! Get this: he calls himself a Pokemon troubadour, but I don't buy it at all!"
"Nando!"
Casey's looks over at her friends in bemusement. They seem to recognise this oddly dressed man. Even Brock's snapped out of his crippled state to gasp in surprise at the sight of the man.
"Who's Nando?"
Dawn's quick to answer Casey's question. She explains that Nando is a friend of theirs that they met before they even reached Oreburgh City for Ash's first Gym Battle. Apparently he trains Grass and Bug Type Pokemon and wishes to compete in both the Pokemon League and Pokemon Contests. From that information alone, Casey makes the assumption that he's quite the dedicated trainer. It must be difficult to compete in both as you need to raise Pokemon that can easily interchange between the two different battling styles of the two events, and that takes skill.
"It's nice to meet you, Nando." Casey says, smiling politely over at the versatile trainer, "What brings you here?"
"I was studying Sinnoh's magnificent history here in the museum when suddenly the alarm bell sounded, and I found myself surrounded by the police." Nando begins to strum on the strings of his harp, choosing to finish his explanation in song form, "Poor Sunflora became frightened and ran away. Then light took its course as it is want to do, and in the blink of an eye I find myself standing before you!"
"Stop!" Officer Jenny orders forcefully, "Sunflora wasn't frightened! You let it escape!"
"But we are guilty of nothing."
"Your song is full of guilt!"
Casey has to hold back a scoff at that. In her eyes, Nando is the last person who would commit a crime. She may have only known him for an incredibly short time, but she can tell that he has a calm and compassionate demeanour. He looks like he couldn't even steal candy from a baby, let alone steal a priceless artefact. There's no way that he's behind all of this.
"Hey, I know you!" Gardenia gasps, looking over at Nando with recognition, "You challenged my Gym the other day!"
Nando nods respectfully at Gardenia, thanking her for giving him a fine battle. Ash, Brock and Dawn seem completely baffled at the exchange. It doesn't take Casey long to put two and two together.
"Now it makes sense why you're so strong!" Casey gasps, "You're the Eterna City Gym Leader, right?"
Gardenia nods, "That's right."
"That's awesome, Gardenia!" Ash chimes in, "I mean, I always knew that you were really strong, but it's still awesome!"
Casey begins to listen with deep interest as Gardenia and Nando explain their intense battle. Gardenia compliments Nando's Pokemon skill in battle, particularly that of his Roselia. Nando makes note on how powerful Gardenia's Turtwig was and how its Leaf Storm sure was difficult to combat. Casey makes a mental note to keep an eye out on Gardenia's Turtwig during her own Gym Battle.
Casey's attention is soon drawn away from Gardenia and Nando when Officer Jenny blows her whistle, clearly frustrated that they aren't fully focused on the dire matter at hand. Casey doesn't really blame her, to be honest, but she doesn't have to be so harsh about it.
"You stop this right now! This is serious!" Officer Jenny yells harshly, turning her attention towards Gardenia next, "Now as for you, why aren't you doing your job as Gym Leader?!"
"You see, when I get a small break sometimes, I like to get out of the Gym for a while." Gardenia replies sheepishly.
"Uh, Casey and I just went over to the Eterna Gym to challenge you before."
"Yeah, and nobody was there." Casey chimes in, "That's when I suggested that we come here to pass the time."
"Oopsie! Sorry, guys!" Gardenia replies. She looks embarrassed, a red tint quickly falling on her cheeks.
"All of you, stop changing the subject!"
They all turn back to Officer Jenny once again when she blows her whistle once again. It's evident that they're all getting on the police woman's last nerve.
"Okay, sorry! But I'm telling you Officer Jenny, Nando's no thief!"
"He's right, and besides, there were two thieves!"
Officer Jenny doesn't let their comments of disapproval deter her. She reaches into her pocket and withdraws a picture, which just so happens to depict Sunflora walking around with the Adamant Orb in its possession, much to everybody's surprise.
"What?! Sunflora?!"
Officer Jenny swiftly pockets the image, clearly satisfied with the evidence that she has in her possession, "I'm afraid this is all the evidence that I need."
"Objection!"
Everybody turns towards the entrance of the room when they hear another voice that some eerily familiar. At first the similar voice makes absolutely no sense to Casey, but it all makes sense when the person steps out from the crowd of people at the entranceway, revealing them self to be another Officer Jenny.
Casey almost does a double take as the second Officer Jenny approaches, dressed in informal clothes that signify that she's off duty. It sure is strange to see two Officer Jenny's in one place, as with two Nurse Joy's. You know that there's more of them out there, but you never really see two of them together. It just seems strange.
"There's more here than meets the eye. You see, all Sunflora trainers here need to be investigated, not just one of them."
"Just where are you from, anyway?" The first Officer Jenny asks, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at the other.
"I'm the Officer Jenny from Viridian City. I thought I'd come visit since today's my day off."
Viridian City? Wow, it's been a while since I was last there!
"You have no authority here, so please just keep your opinions to yourself!"
The Eterna City Officer Jenny clearly doesn't like anybody else being on her territory. The Viridian City simply laughs lightheartedly at her defensive nature, "Now, relax. There must be something that I can do to help you out."
"No, we're just fine. The museum has been secured, which means all possible suspects are locked inside. It's only a matter of time before we capture the thieves who stole the Adamant Orb." The Eterna City Officer Jenny replies bluntly, "Now, I need you all to leave the room immediately so we can conduct a formal investigation."
Casey and the others are reluctant to leave Nando with Officer Jenny, especially since they know that he's innocent, but they choose to comply as they don't want to cause a fuss. That's the last thing that they need right now. People are already panicked and confused, and adding fuel to the fire is just going to make everything far more difficult for everybody.
The six of them, the Officer Jenny from Viridian City included, head out of the main exhibition hall and through the gathering crowds at the doorway. Casey feels that some people are only at the entranceway just because they want to see what's going on, not because they actually care about the Adamant Orb. She reckons that at least half of them don't know that the orb is missing.
They eventually manage to reach the front exhibition hall of the museum, which is deserted thanks to all of the museum visitors being at the main exhibitor hall. They move to stand by the glass cabinet in the centre of the room, which contains some kind of model of a legendary Pokemon; the topic of conversation quickly drifts back to the issue at hand, being the Adamant Orb.
"Its been said that the Adamant Orb can magnify the power of the legendary Pokemon Dialga."
"Dialga?" Ash asks, bemusement apparent in his voice.
"Right." Dawn nods, "There was a huge statue of it in front of the museum, wasn't there?"
"Of course! I think my Grandpa told me a bit about Dialga and Palkia when I was a little kid. Dialga is the Ruler of Time, whilst Palkia is the Ruler of Space." Casey explains, the memories of the stories she heard as a child flooding back to her. A lot of the details are still fuzzy in her mind (she was probably not really paying attention half the time, honestly), but she does remember certain intricate details of her Grandfather's stories.
"According to legend, Dialga and Palkia formed the Sinnoh region long ago, and there are countless ancient shrines devoted to the two of them scattered all across Sinnoh." Gardenia says, "We know that the Adamant Orb was dug up from one of those shrines."
Casey's slightly taken aback by Gardenia's explanation. She figured that the Adamant Orb was important, but she hadn't really considered just how important it truly is. It's vital that they get it back from these thieves; the orb is an integral part of the history of Sinnoh's mythology.
"If the sphere's that important, then we have to get it back right now!"
They all agree with Dawn's statement, Ash mentioning how they need to clear Nando's name as well. They can't allow their friend to go down for a crime that he didn't commit. Casey decides not to waste any more time. She reaches for the four Pokeballs on her belt and throws them out in front of her, "Come on out, guys!"
Ash and Dawn mimic her actions and soon all of their Pokemon are out in front of them, all of them eager to help out with the search. Casey looks down at her own Pokemon in particular and gives them a confident smile, "You guys ready to do this?"
The Pokemon all cry out in approval and, with vigorous determination, set off in their separate directions to search the museum for the crooks who stole the Adamant Orb.
Still nothing!
Casey closes the door to storage room with a frustrated sigh. She's been searching the museum for a good twenty minutes, and so far she's come up with nothing. Its just been storage room after storage room. It kinda reminds of her of searching through J's airship back when she and Ash were trying to save their Pokemon. The stakes sure feel as high as they did back then.
She really hopes that the others are having better luck than she is because, at this rate, the crooks might just get away with their heinous crime. Eterna City's Officer Jenny seems to have quite a short-temper as well, which means that it's only a matter of time before she snaps and officially convicts Nando for the crime. That's the worst case scenario, but at the minute it doesn't seem to be too far off from reality.
"Shellos! Shell!"
Casey stumbles slightly when she feels a sudden weight added to the top of her head; she knows instantly exactly what that weight is. She chuckles and lifts her hands up to her head, pulling Shellos down and holding the Sea Slug Pokemon at arms length, "What's up, Shellos?"
"Shell!"
"Mon! Monferno!"
Casey turns around when she hears Monferno call out to her from behind, surprised to find that Electabuzz and Dratini and following close behind the Playful Pokemon. They must've all regrouped at some point.
Casey places Shellos on her shoulder, much to the Sea Slug Pokemon's delight, and looks down at her other Pokemon with curiosity, "What's going on, guys?"
None of her Pokemon get the opportunity to respond, as moments later Ash, Dawn, Brock, Gardenia, Officer Jenny and all of their Pokemon come rushing past them, temporarily disorienting Casey and her Pokemon.
"Casey, come on!" Ash calls back to her, "I think Pikachu's found something!"
At first Casey stands there dazed, not entirely sure how to react. Electabuzz, Dratini and Monferno react much faster than she does and rush after the others, calling back to her as they go.
I guess we're following the others, then.
"Hey, guys! Wait for me!"
Casey runs at top speed as she tries to catch up with everybody else, Shellos trying her best to stay on Casey's shoulder the entire time. It can't be easy, especially considering how fast Casey's running, but the Sea Slug Pokemon manages to do it regardless. She's running at top speed, but her Pokemon and everybody else are still far ahead of her. They're so far ahead in fact that by the time Casey manages to catch up to them, they've all already managed to catch up to and unmask the crooks who stole the Adamant Orb. It's Team Rocket.
Why am I not surprised?
"It's the other twerpette!"
Casey looks at Meowth incredulously. She still doesn't really understand why they refer to and the others as twerps. She's not that twerp-ish, is she? Regardless, she's quick to switch her attention back to what's important, being the Adamant Orb, "You three better give the Adamant Orb back right now!"
"No can do, twerpette!" James smirks, "We were generously commissioned by a fashionably dressed fan of Team Rocket's to steal it for his collection of rocks."
Commissioned? Who on Earth would commission them to steal the orb?
"That's it! Don't let them get away!"
Casey's Pokemon, along with her friends Pokemon, circle around Team Rocket, trapping the three crooks in a circle. The only two Pokemon who don't surround Team Rocket are Croagunk and Shellos, the latter of the two opting to remain on Casey's shoulder. Its not as if they need anymore Pokemon to surround Team Rocket since they've got more than enough Pokemon blocking the crooks from escaping.
"Let them have their fun! This is mine!" Jessie reaches down and snatches the orb out of Meowth's hands, holding it high above her head and out of the reach of any of the Pokemon surrounding them, "Diamonds are a girls best friend!"
Casey glares over at Team Rocket. They've actually managed to outsmart them. They can't attack them otherwise the orb will be destroyed, but they can't let them get away with the orb either. There has to be a way that they can get the orb back safely.
"I wish we could call the Eterna City Jenny."
"You just did."
Casey's surprised, to say the least, when the Eterna City Officer Jenny comes rushing into the room alongside her Stunky. Talk about good timing. The Eterna City Jenny turns to the Viridian City Jenny and looks at her apologetically.
"I was completely wrong about you. I hope you'll forgive me."
The Viridian City Jenny nods back, which Casey takes as her accepting the other Jenny's apology. That's good. They're going to need to cooperate with each other if they want to get the orb back.
"One blast from you and there'll be nothing but powdered Adamant Orb all over this room!" James shouts, clearly taken aback and slightly intimidated by the arrival of the second police officer. It seems that their plans aren't going as well as they hoped.
"I don't think you've factored in my Stunky! Let's go!"
On Jenny's order, Stunky leans forward and kicks its hind legs up into the air, striking a similar posture as it did earlier that day. Its tail glows a vivid magenta and it flips around, flinging this glowing light right at Team Rocket. The light collides with their Wobuffet, who is stood at the front of the group, before fizzling out, cloaking the room in a thick, purple haze. A pungent aroma begins to waft around the room and soon enters Casey's airways, the pure repulsive odour of it making her cough involuntarily. She swiftly moves her hands up to her nose to prevent smelling anymore of the awful stench, everybody else in the room mimicking her actions.
"I'm throwing my hands up in disgust!"
Jessie suddenly throws her hands up into the air and launches the Adamant Orb high up into the air, everybody watching with wide eyes as it quickly descends.
It's going to smash into pieces!
"Turtwig, use Leaf Storm!"
Casey watches in awe as Gardenia's Turtwig surges forward and launches its powerful Leaf Storm attack directly at the orb. It doesn't do any damage to the orb, it instead allows the orb to drift further up into the air upon a cyclone of leaves. This extra falling time gives Gardenia the chance to race towards the orb and safely catch in her hands, everybody letting out a collective sigh of relief as she does.
That sure was a close one!
Casey looks down at Gardenia's Turtwig as it smiles up at its trainer with deep thought. That Leaf Storm attack really is powerful. She really will have to keep an eye out for it during her Gym Battle. She's going to need to come up with a strategy to counter it before then, for sure.
"Alright, give up! It's over!"
Casey looks back over at Team Rocket, almost smirking at the anxious expressions on their faces. They've got them now.
"Lets get out of here!"
The crooks turn around and make a dash for the exit door, Casey and the others quick to go chasing right after them. They can't let them get away with this. Trying to steal a Pokemon is one thing, but going for a priceless artefact is another matter entirely. It's almost their obligation to make Team Rocket pay for this crime. They've gone too far this time.
"They're gone!"
Casey's disgruntled to find upon exiting the museum that Team Rocket have managed to escape; the plethora of police officers outside the museum have somehow parted to the sides, granting the perfect pathway for Team Rocket to escape. Casey figures that it must've been the smell. That odour really was terrible. Whilst it's frustrating that the crooks have managed to get away from their crime scot-free, they did manage to get the Adamant Orb back in one piece, which is what truly matters at the end of the day.
Still, Casey can't help but wonder who exactly it was that requested for Team Rocket to steal the orb in the first place. Whoever they are, Casey has a feeling that they aren't exactly a good person. She supposes that she'll never find out the answer to that question.
But, then again, they are much worse things to worry about.
