Chapter 15: Investigative Interlude

"Hey... uh... Shane? You there?"

"Of course I am, Nicky. What's the matter? You sound awful."

"Yeah. I've... urgh... been puking up a storm today. Think I got the damn stomach bug going around."

"Seriously? But tonight's the new Thor movie premier. We've been planning to go for months, dude!"

"I know that, Shane! Why do you think I'm so upseeeeeeeecht?"

"Was that a belch, dude? That sounded pretty nasty."

"I told you. I got the stomach bug and I got it bad. I'm miserable here, man. I don't think I can go out tonight."

"Come on! You've gotta be kidding me, here. Can't you just soldier through it? You know Thor's my favorite Avenger. And we already bought the tickets. I don't want them going to waste."

"Look, why don't you just go by yourself? We could always go together next weekend or something, dude."

"But it won't be the same! I'll know everything that happened! And I don't want to go to a premier by myself. People are gonna laugh at me."

"Would you rather catch the bug I've got and be spewing chunks like I am? It's not pleasant, man. My insides hurt."

"I... I guess not. It's just–"

"I'm sorry, Shane. I've got to bail. There's no way I can sit through that movie. Just, I dunno, go with your dad or something."

"But Dad hates superhero movies."

"Then I don't know what to tell you man. Sorry."

"... it's whatever, Nicky."

Click!

~Aeon Town~

"... Vulpix? Hey, Vulpix!"

Shane jolted to attention. He swiveled his head around, looking at the path leading from the Observatory toward the town square. "Did you say something?" Shane muttered.

"Yes, I did," Tessa growled. "Were you paying attention?"

"I must've spaced out... sorry," Shane muttered, wincing.

Tessa sighed. "It's fine. We just need to get our stories straight for Primarina and Vaporeon. As much as I don't like it, we have to take the 'whole truth' approach and tell them everything that happened yesterday. We went on a mission to Twilight Forest, only to get ambushed by an… uh…" She froze mid-step.

"What's the matter?" Shane asked.

"Well, I can't think of a way to describe that Parasect. 'Berserk' just doesn't seem like that good of a word for what we saw," Tessa explained.

"Hmm." Shane scrunched up his snout. "How about… bizarre?"

"That's pretty open-ended."

Shane rolled his eyes. "Okay then. What about creepy? Sinister? Totally whacko?" Tessa continued to shake her head at each option, making Shane more and more annoyed. "Shoot. I don't know. It looked like something out of one of those creepy sci-fi movies I watched back home, so how about 'alien?'"

Tessa flinched. "Can't you think of anything else?"

Shane shrugged. "Look, it's the best I can come up with. Take it or leave it."

"Fine, alien it is," Tessa said. She resumed walking. "So, as I was saying, an alien Parasect jumped us. It would have done us in if Team Captivate hadn't shown up to save our butts."

"Don't remind me," Shane grumbled. Despite the pep talk Tessa had given him several minutes ago, the defeat still left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Sorry," Tessa mumbled. "Anyway, we returned from that mission, only to find that Team Specter had been knocked out."

"… by your brother," Shane interjected. "Who's also probably possessed by the same alien force that controlled Parasect."

Tessa winced and looked down at the ground.

"Hey, you're the one who wants to tell the whole truth," Shane pointed out. "Don't go backing out on me now. Cause I sure don't want to say we got our butts kicked twice in one day."

"Okay, okay, fine," Tessa said. "It's not like those two knew Gallian all that well anyway. I guess I'll just have to deal with Braviary and Guildmaster Metagross when they get back from the expedition."

Shane and Tessa froze at the outskirts of the town square. Several Pokémon gathered next to Crabrawler's Café. Shane's ears drooped. "Oh brother. Don't tell me Primarina's managed to attract a crowd. I am not about to fess up to anything in front of a bunch of strangers."

"Well, he is kind of famous," Tessa muttered, poking her index digits together. "Maybe we didn't think this through properly?"

"Us? He's the one who sauntered off," Shane scoffed.

"Oh, it's positively dreadful, I tell you! Vappy, keep these folks back, babe. I need-a-leedly-deed some ox-y-heeeeeee-gen!"

Shane started turning around, but Tessa grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. "Oh no you don't. You're not weaseling out of this. It sounds like something's wrong."

"Which is exactly why I want to weasel out of it!" Shane protested, limbs flailing as he fought against Tessa's grip. "That guy's name literally sounds like prima dona. Whatever he's complaining about, I don't want to hear it."

KZZZRT! Everyone stand back. I need space to conduct a proper interview.

Tessa's aura feelers twitched. "That sounds like Officer Magnezone," she said.

Shane stopped struggling. "So, something serious happened?"

"We're not gonna know if we stand here. C'mon!" She dragged Shane forward, but he soon escaped her grasp and jogged toward the group.

"Alright, alright, step aside!" he barked, swishing his scarf around to show off his badge. "Nothing to see here, folks. We're with the Horizon Guild. If you could just… urgh…" He struggled to duck underneath a Butterfree.

Tessa shook her head. "I guess that's one way to make an entrance," she mused. Like her partner, she unclipped her explorer's badge and walked forward. "Err… I'm with him!" she squeaked, using her smaller stature to squeeze between the onlooking Pokémon. Tessa found her way out of the crowd and stumbled to Shane's side. The two of them found Primarina collapsed on the ground and an unamused Vaporeon fanning Primarina out with his tail.

They expected to find Magnezone talking to one of the guild veterans, but instead saw him speaking to Crabrawler. Now, if you could just give me the sequence of events. Slowly, this time, he requested.

Crabrawler nodded, his face ripe with worry. "I went to open up shop this morning. Things were rather slow, so I decided to do some cleaning in my storage room. Perfectly run of the mill, I say. But as I'm sweeping out the room, I pass by my safe and… and…"

Crabrawler started to get choked up. "Oh, dash it all! It's terrible! The safe… wide open! My precious family recipe… gone!" He rubbed an arm across his face. "This is the worst thing to happen to me in all my years running the café. Tourist season is due to start in a matter of days and someone filched my Mythical Malasada recipe."

Shane face planted. "Wait… all this commotion is over a lost recipe?" he said. "How is that a problem? Don't you, like, have it committed to memory or something?"

Crabrawler promptly raised his fists, which startled glowing. Shane's tails jutted up into the air and his fur stood on end. "Rubbish!" Crabrawler bellowed. "The Mythical Malasada's recipe is too complex to simply 'commit to memory!' What kind of simpleton do you take me for, child?"

Tessa hastily threw a paw up over Shane's muzzle. "Aha ha ha. Forgive him, Crabrawler, sir. He's… not from around here." She promptly shot Shane an icy look and released his muzzle.

"Cripes… I didn't realize it was such a sore subject," Shane muttered. "What the heck's a malasada anyway?"

Primarina bolted upright, making Vaporeon yip in surprise. "You mean you don't know?" he gasped.

"It's the treat of the gods!
With a texture so heavenly!
The flavor… the aroma…
It's quite extraordinary!
And the Mythical Malasada…
The greatest of all.
Simply tastiiiiiiing one
Will make you feel thirty feet taaaaaaallll!"

The crowd erupted into applause, while Shane simply cocked his head in confusion. "That… didn't even remotely answer my question," he griped.

"So, the other continents sell sweets like cookies and chocolate. Donuts are a particular favorite spreading from the Mist Continent," Vaporeon explained. "Malasadas are kinda similar. They're fried dough."

"So, they're just fancy donuts?" Shane asked.

"How daaaaare you!" Crabrawler bellowed, lunging for a startled Shane. Magnezone floated in front of him.

KZZZACK! Please restrain yourself. Do not commit assault in front of an officer of the law, Magnezone instructed.

"Can you believe that child? Comparing our continent's lovely malasadas to mere donuts? I say, malasadas are superior in every way!" Crabrawler declared.

"Quite so, Crabrawler," Primarina agreed. "And you call yourself an explorer? Hmph!" He shook his head disapprovingly. "Vappy, remind me to have a stern conversation with the Guildmaster about his recruitment standards. They've gone way down, babe."

"Uh, hello?" Shane waved a forepaw at Primarina. "Human-turned-Pokémon? Only been living in Horizon for about a few weeks? Ring any bells?"

The crowd started muttering.

"A human in Horizon? No way!"

"This guy's gotta be joking. He looks like a normal Vulpix."

"Maybe the heat's getting to him? I've never seen a Vulpix walking around outside the Invern Mountains."

"But all the stories say they lose their memories when they become Pokémon."

Shane frowned. Primarina looked at him in surprise. "Wait, that's you, babe?" He scratched his snout. "And here I thought Serperior was just yank-a-tiddly-anking my tailfins. She can be such a gossip sometimes, y'know."

Between Primarina and the crowd's murmurs, Shane had had enough. "Yes, I am a human! And I'll prove it to you all… by using my awesome human brain to find the recipe thief in record time." He puffed his chest out confidently.

It took Tessa a moment to process his statement. "Huhwha–?" She blinked several times. "You're going to do what now?"

"Find the malasada recipe thief, of course," Shane declared. "In fact, I already have a suspect."

The crowd gasped.

"No way! I can't believe this!"

"He's going to accuse someone without any evidence?"

"He hasn't even investigated at all."

"Besides, it's Officer Magnezone's job to investigate robberies. Not the guild's."

"Ugh, it's not any of you," Shane groaned. "Although a clever criminal could try hiding in plain sight if they weren't confident they could escape, I don't think we're dealing with someone like that."

Interesting. I was unaware humans possessed the ability to see the past. Could you impart such wisdom onto me?

"No, because I can't do that. But I have a very strong hunch who's responsible," Shane declared. "If my assistant and I could just take a look at the, uh, 'crime scene.' We might find some evidence that confirms my suspicions!"

Tessa's jaw dropped. "Excuse me? Your assistant? What happened to teamwork and equal partnership?"

Shane winced. "Err... right... sorry... my bad," he muttered. "Um, what I meant to say was, could my teammateand I take a look?"

"Vulpix, I don't have any experience with this kind of stuff. What do you expect me to do?" Tessa asked.

"Not too much," Shane said. "You can follow me around and jot down all my brilliant thoughts as I deduce the identity of our criminal." He walked toward the entrance, only to stop and look at Crabrawler and Magnezone. "Actually, would either of you happen to have a deerstalker hat and an ornate wooden pipe?"

Crabrawler and Magnezone exchanged confused looks.

"Oh, come on. No need to be shy about it," Shane chuckled. "With your accent, Crabrawler, I'll bet you've got those stored away somewhere, right?"

"Did you inhale a lot of Stun Spores as a pup?" Crabrawler scoffed.

"Shane, quit making a scene," Tessa said. "What's a deerstalker anyway? Is it like a Deerling?"

Shane frowned. "Never mind, it's not important. I guess I can still pull this off even without the right accessories." He turned back toward the café entrance.

"Will you please just explain to me what's going on?" Tessa begged.

"Sorry, no time," Shane declared, trotting toward the door. "Come along, Tessa… the game is afoot!"

She watched him disappear into the entrance with a befuddled expression. "Wait, what game? And whose side are we on? Why won't you tell me what you're doing?" she whined. Tessa shook her head. "If this is his way of bouncing back from being in a mood, I'd rather him go back to moping."

~Crabrawler's Café~

Crabrawler led Magnezone and Team Radiance back into the storage room. It was surprisingly clean, with all of Crabrawler's supplies tucked neatly into ornate wooden shelves on the left side of the room or situated in drawers made of the same wood over in the room's back right corner.

"Wow, Mr. Crabrawler. You even have a ladder in here and everything!" Tessa gasped.

"Um... Tessa... that's a stepladder," Shane said, looking directly at the object in question.

"First off, it's Riolu," Tessa said. "And second off, what's the difference?"

"There's a huge difference!" Shane said. "A ladder is just this flat, measly piece of wood you have to lean against whatever you're climbing up. Hardly supportive or safe! But a stepladder is like two ladders stitched together to form one sturdy fortress of climbing superiority!"

Tessa scratched her head. "But they just do the same thing, don't they? So, we should just call it a 'ladder' because it's shorter and saves us time and energy."

Shane's right eye twitched. "That's... not... how... it works..."

"I don't see a problem with it," Tessa said, shrugging.

"Just forget it, then," Shane sighed, hanging his head. 'Odd... I feel like I've heard all this somewhere before.'

"Come now. If I'm going to let you two children in here, then I expect results!" Crabrawler said. "The safe is over there." He pointed to his right. In the front right corner of the room, a safe sat perched atop a barrel. The door was open wide, showcasing the safe's empty contents. "See, there's absolutely nothing there to go off of. Are we done here?" Crabrawler asked.

"Of course not. We're just beginning, after all," Shane declared. "And I won't stop until I've inspected every suspicious-looking nook and cranny."

"Why not just look at the safe? It's right there," Tessa scoffed.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Oh, silly partner. The obvious location is always the first place to check. Which is precisely why I won't check it first! There could be other clues to be found."

Tessa opened her mouth to retort, but couldn't think of anything to say. Shane instead walked over toward the far wall, where Crabrawler's desk sat. "What do you think you're doing, child?" Crabrawler said. "The thief went right for my safe, obviously."

"Shhhhh!" Shane held up a forepaw. "I'm trying to concentrate here." He walked up to the desk and leaned in toward the drawers, closely inspecting the handles. "Hmm… uh-huuuuuh. I see." He rubbed his chin. "Fascinating!"

Tessa's shoulders slumped. "Would you care to share your findings, detective?"

"There are claw marks on a couple of these handles," Shane announced.

"Of course there are! I have claws, you rube," Crabrawler bellowed, brandishing his large pincers at Shane.

That does not strike me as a very wise deduction, Magnezone added. I will update my information on humans to include their propensity for stating the obvious.

Shane faceplanted into the ground. He quickly stood up, dusting himself off. "Ugh, some people just take the fun out of everything," he grumbled. "Look, you guys didn't let me finish, okay? The claw marks aren't large like you'd expect if Crabrawler opened the drawers."

"Wait, they're not?" Tessa approached the desk and looked in the direction Shane faced.

"Yeah, they're very thin," Shane said. "And furthermore, there are multiple of them. See those thin lines all placed next to each other? They look like claw marks to me."

"I guess so. But, what's that supposed to mean?"

"That depends." Shane turned to Crabrawler. "Do you have any staff or helpers that you let back here?"

"Perish the thought," Crabrawler scoffed. "This café's been family run for generations. When I decide to up and have a kid, I'll pass it on to them."

"Okay." Shane tapped his forehead with a forepaw. "So, the logical conclusion to draw is that a Pokémon bearing claws entered the room and opened up these drawers."

Alternative theory: the thief utilized a fake set of claws to throw everyone off.

"That is unnecessarily overcomplicated," Shane exclaimed. "There's an old human idiom that says, 'when you hear hoofbeats, don't think zebras.'"

Shane got three blank looks.

He rolled his eyes. "Ugh, it just means that the simplest explanation is usually the right one. Now then, if the culprit tried the desk, they may have searched other sealed things as well. Anything in here besides these desk drawers?"

"Only the safe," Crabrawler said.

"Okay then. Safe it is." Shane walked over to the safe and barrel, sweeping his head back and forth.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Tessa asked.

"Trace evidence," Shane replied. "A lot of Pokémon have fur, wings, scales, or some sort of slime clinging to them. I guarantee that if our culprit falls into one of those groups, they shed a bit and left something for us to find."

"Shed? I'll have you know this is the same fur I was born with!" Tessa protested.

Shane rolled his eyes. "You're honestly about to stand there and tell me you've never had anyone run a brush through your fur? What about your mom?"

Tessa stiffened and looked away. Memories flashed by of her pup days; sitting on her mother's lap while she tried to brush her knotted fur. "That's…" Tessa took in a sharp breath. "None of your business."

A query, human. How would a trace amount of fur enable you to determine who is responsible? You are not psychic, Magnezone pointed out.

"No, duh. Of course it won't. The point isn't to find out exactly who did it," Shane elaborated, running his snout across the floor. "It's to try and find something that confirms the suspect I have in mind."

That doesn't sound accurate, Mangezone said.

"Well, it worked for all the detectives on TV," Shane quipped.

"And if you don't find what you're looking for?" Crabrawler asked.

"Then I just need to shuffle my thinking," Shane declared. A smile crept onto his muzzle. "But I don't think I need to worry about that. Check it!" He pointed a forepaw toward the base of the barrel.

I do not see anything other than wood, Magnezone said.

"That's because you need to come closer," Shane said. Under his breath he added, "Boy, the police in this place sure leave something to be desired." He guided Magnezone forward and maneuvered the officer's right magnet-hand to hover by the bottom of the barrel. "If you could just gimme a little static electricity here."

I am not supposed to utilize my electrical attacks unless force is required to restrain a criminal,Magnezone reported.

"Just do it," Shane ordered. Magnezone pointed his magnet-arm forward and applied a slight current. Shane leaned in, causing the fur on his chest and face to comically poof up. More importantly however, a small cluster of long, thin, and white fibers stuck to Magnezone's hand.

"Okay, stop. Stop!" Shane ordered. He stepped backward, trying to shake the puffiness out of his fur.

Behind him, Tessa restrained her laughter. "What's the matter, Vulpix? Your brain need a jump start or something?" she heckled.

"Har, har. Hey, maybe if this exploration team gig doesn't work out you can join Primarina's performance ensemble as a stand-up comedian," Shane fired back. He beckoned her forward with a paw. "I'll have you know we got exactly what I was looking for."

Tessa and Crabrawler joined Shane and Magnezone. The officer turned around. I do not understand. Why do you consider these hair strands so important?

Shane smirked. "They're the trace evidence I was referring to! White fur left behind by our culprit while they broke into the safe."

"But you have white fur," Crabrawler pointed out. "Who's to say you didn't shed that fur strutting around my storage room, eh?"

"A fair point. But… heh…" Shane tapped his noggin. "Even without a crime lab to analyze the hair fibers and test their DNA, I'm pretty confident it's not mine. See, my fur is a much brighter shade of white." He walked right up next to Magnezone, allowing Tessa and Crabrawler to compare.

"Huh, I guess you're right," Tessa acknowledged. "But, wait, you're not trying to suggest Sylveon did this, are you? She's the only one who comes to mind with white fur."

Shane gave her an unamused look. "Are you serious right now? This is totally obvious!"

I fail to see the obviousness of this, Magnezone countered.

"Yeah, me too," Tessa agreed. "Why does any of this matter? Who's your suspect?"

"Why, that's elementary, my dear Tessa," Shane declared, a goofy grin sprawled across his face. "Oh man, it felt even better saying that line than I thought it would."

"Oy! Vulpix!" Tessa snapped her digits at him. "Get to the point!"

"Fine, fine." Shane turned around and closed the safe door, revealing a set of jagged claw marks running across the locking mechanism. They had caused the lock to break open, and it now bobbed back and forth from the door by a series of springs.

"Between the claw marks on the desk, the ones on this safe, and the white fur scattered around the barrel, it's clear to me that the culprit is none other than…" Shane took in a deep breath and placed a forepaw against his chest.

Tessa clenched her fists. "C'mon. Just tell us already!"

"I was pausing for dramatic effect," Shane declared, earning a stink eye from Tessa. "Okay, sheesh. Look, the culprit's Absol... or, rather, Gallian. I don't think it could be anyone else."

Tessa's muzzle stiffened. "You… you can't be serious."

That does not compute. Gallian is a registered guild apprentice. For what reason would he want to commit such a crime? Magnezone asked.

"Yes, a capital question, officer. No one's seen hide or hair of the gent in nigh on half a year!" Crabrawler added. "Are you really suggesting he suddenly reappeared just to steal my malasada recipe?"

"Ah, yes, motive. That's easy enough to explain," Shane said. "See, Riolu and I found him in the Observatory yesterday. He ransacked Guildmaster Metagross' office. Or, at least, messed it up as much as you could for a place that has nothing in it."

Shane stared pacing back and forth. "Judging by his ragged condition, he must've been trying to find something valuable to steal and pawn off. So, it's not unreasonable to deduce that, when he came up empty-pawed, he high-tailed it over to the café and stole the most valuable thing he could think of: the recipe!"

Shane paused and looked at one of the cabinets. "The only question is… what would the alien force infecting him want with a donut recipe?"

"Malasada recipe!" Crabrawler protested. "And what are you on about with aliens?" He turned to Magnezone. "I want this charlatan arrested. He's making a mockery of me and my plight."

I cannot simply arrest someone for teasing. That is not a crime. It is just rude.

"I'm not teasing anyone here! What I'm saying is the truth," Shane insisted. "Back me up here, Riolu. Didn't we confront your brother yesterday?"

Tessa tensed up. She looked down at the floor and poked her index digits together.

"Riolu. You said we'd tell the truth, remember?"

Tessa hung her head. "It's true, Officer Magnezone. We caught my brother trying to steal from the guild yesterday. He managed to knock us out and get away. So, it's possible he could've broken in here too."

"Egads!" Crabrawler's jaw dropped. "You mean this crazy human is actually right?"

Shane beamed. "I told you I knew what I was doing."

"But there's a problem, Vulpix," Tessa said. "If that's the truth, and Gallian broke in here last night, he's probably long gone by now. Which means there's no way we're finding that malasada recipe."

The confident look on Shane's face instantly vanished. He slouched over like he was a living balloon that just got deflated. "Oh… yeah. I guess that's true."

"Oh no! The horror! The shame of it all!" Crabrawler sobbed. "He's going to pass along my family's biggest secret. I'm ruined I tell you! Ruiiiiiiiiined!"

I will put out a memo to all shops in Horizon to be on the lookout for an Absol trying to sell a recipe,Magnezone announced.

"Fat lot of good that'll do," Crabrawler hiccupped. "The fiend probably has underground connections. He's part of the guild, after all."

As Shane racked his brain to try and come up with some sort of solution, he noticed a shadow in the sunbeam stretching across the room. He immediately looked up at the small window near the ceiling and spotted the tip of what appeared to be a gray tail.

"Guys! I just saw something!" he gasped. "Someone just moved past that window. We were being watched."

Do not try to distract from this subject, human. We must strategize to attempt to intercept the criminal Absol, Magnezone exclaimed. It appears I must also update my databanks on humans to include their inability to pay attention to something very long.

"I'm serious here," Shane huffed. "Someone was watching us. If we hurry, we can track them down. They might know something about Gallian's whereabouts!" He turned to Tessa. "C'mon, you believe me, don't you?"

Tessa scrunched up her face in thought. 'Well, he did seem pretty on the ball with those deductions of his.' She turned and jogged toward the door. "Sorry to run out on you guys. But if my partner says he thinks he saw something worth pursuing, then I'm gonna agree with him."

A big smile spread its way across Shane's mouth. "Alright! Let's hurry," he said, and scampered along after Tessa.

~Aeon Town~

Shane and Tessa hurried around to the back of Crabrawler's Café. But whatever Shane had seen was already long gone. He looked around and his brow furrowed. "Crud, we weren't quick enough!"

"Now what?" Tessa asked. "I don't suppose you got a good look at this phantom of yours, did you?"

"Not really. I just saw the tip of a gray tail," Shane recalled. "But that doesn't really do much to narrow it down, does it?"

Tessa scratched her head. "At the very least, it's definitely not Gallian. So, doesn't that debunk your 'this snooping Pokémon could know something,' theory?"

"Not if Gallian had an accomplice," Shane said.

Tessa frowned. "You're just making this up as you go along, aren't you?"

"Well, a little bit," Shane admitted, earning a glare from Tessa. "But I told you, I've seen plenty of crime stories. They can take all sorts of surprising twists and turns."

"This isn't a story, though," Tessa groaned.

"Okay, point taken. Still, I'm not giving up here and neither should you. Because we do have a way of telling if someone was here," Shane said. He turned around and looked Tessa right in the eyes.

"What are you staring at me for? This was your idea," Tessa pointed out.

"Uh, because I need you to do your special aura sense stuff, duh," Shane said. "If there was a Pokémon here, they must've left a lingering trace of energy behind, right? That's usually how it works."

Tessa crossed her arms. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were an aura expert. Say, want to teach me Aura Sphere while you're at it? I've heard some Riolus can learn it on their own with enough practice."

Shane frowned. "C'mon, knock it off. Every second you spend being snarky is costing us precious time here."

"Didn't I make it clear to you before? I can't just turn on my aura sense at will. It's not fully developed... and I don't think it ever will be. If I was evolved, then maybe. But there's no way that'll every happen."

"Well, you're a happiness evolution so if you keep that attitude up…" Shane trailed off the moment he noticed Tessa's stink eye. "Look, couldn't you just try? Maybe if you just concentrate really hard or something?"

"… ugh, fine. But you need to stand back. Like, way back. Or I'm only going to sense you," Tessa said, shooing Shane off with a flick of her paws. Shane backed up toward the town square, earning some confused looks from townsfolk enjoying the sunny weather. Satisfied, Tessa turned and approached the base of the café's rear window.

'Okay.' Tessa took a deep breath. 'C'mon, Riolu… you can do this. Relax… deep breaths. Just like Mom taught you. Clear your mind… clear your mind… clear your…'

Suddenly she wasn't standing in back of a building anymore. Instead, she sat atop a rock, overlooking Aeon Town. She heard grass shuffling behind her, and spun around. Her mother weaved her way through the grass field. Prisma's feet glided across the ground, tracing concentric circles. She twisted about, slowly rotating her arms and tracing circles in the air with her paws. The blue energy flickering in her paws danced around with her, creating ribbon-like trails.

'Mom…'

"Hey! Did you sense anything?"

Shane's shouts jolted Tessa out of her daydream. "N-No!" she stammered. "And I won't sense squat if you don't back off and let me concentrate." She slammed her eyes shut and clenched her fists.

'Rrrrr… you can do this! Focus! Pay attention. Deep breath in…' She sucked in a large gulp of air and tensed up. For a brief moment, a mosaic of colors spread across her vision, replacing the interior of her eyelids. Though it quickly faded, Tessa's brain was able to process the sensation. Most of what she saw were various shades of browns, greens, and grays. But one thing immediately stuck out to her.

"Vulpix was right," she whispered. "Hey!" She turned around and waved Shane over. "I got something."

Shane smiled. "See, I knew you could do it! What did you find?"

Tessa blushed and looked away, fidgeting with her scarf. "I saw a flicker of wispy energy. If I'm remembering mom's lessons right, ghost-types tend to give those off if they linger somewhere long enough."

Shane nodded. "That makes sense to me. So, based on that information, we're looking for a ghost-type Pokémon with a flat, dark gray tail of sorts." His brow furrowed. "But the only thing that comes to mind is Giratina and we'd definitely know if there was a giant, spoopy ghost-dragon stalking us."

"Spoopy? Is that another human thing?"

"Yup!" Shane chirped. "Now then, if it's not Giratina… then who could it be?"

Tessa's eyes widened in realization. "I think I might know who you're talking about. See, there's this Pokémon called Mimikyu that–"

"Hit the deck!"

Shane dived toward Tessa and fell on top of her. Tessa yipped from hitting the ground. Seconds later, Shane hissed in pain. He peppered Tessa's face with small snowflakes.

"Unngh… get off me," she grunted, shoving Shane aside. "What was that all about?" She looked over and noticed a set of claw marks running across Shane's back. Purple vapor trailed off of him. Tessa turned to her right where a dark, shadowy-purple claw retreated around the street corner.

"Hey!" she barked, running after the ghostly claw. Her shout had given away her position, however, and the arm shot toward her. It slashed in front of her, but she was able to fall back on her heels, narrowly avoiding razor-sharp bits of ectoplasm. She opened her mouth wide, fangs turning black.

Tessa bit down on the ghost-arm. It dissolved into a purple fog, revealing a dull gray cloth that tasted like a dirty rag. Tessa's gag reflex nearly made her heave, but she steeled her will and yanked her head back. A frightened shout echoed from the alleyway. Tessa fell backwards and succeeded in dragging out the offender: Mimikyu. She could just make out a purple void struggling to keep Mimikyu's disguise rooted to the ground.

"Ahh! No! Stop! Please stop! Let go, let go, let go! I'm sorry!" Mimikyu squealed. He wriggled his arm about in Tessa's mouth. She released her grip and swallowed hard, trying not to puke. Tessa raised her fists and glared defiantly at the Mimikyu.

"You were watching us in the café, weren't you?" she accused. "Why did you attack us? Are you the real thief?"

Though she had never met a Mimikyu before, she'd heard about them from her parents. So, she made sure to focus her gaze on the tiny holes in the disguise's chest. There, she could see Mimikyu's eyes tearing up. "Please… please don't hurt me, miss!" he blubbered. "I… I didn't mean to! You… you just startled me, that's all. I don't… I don't want any trouble."

"Well, you sure have a funny way of showing it," Tessa growled.

"Easy there, partner."

Tessa whirled around to see Shane back on his feet. He winced with each step forward; the Shadow Claw had clearly done a number on him. "I can take it from here," he said. "Hi there."

Mimikyu noticed the gaps in Shane's fur and shrank back. "Ack! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you like that. I just panicked and…"

"It's fine, it's okay," Shane coaxed, stepping cautiously toward Mimikyu. "We're not going to hurt you. We just want to get Crabrawler's recipe back. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Mimikyu nodded his head slowly. "Ah, see, see. That's good. But, y'know, I think it would be better if we were able to talk face to face. So, why don't we take off that Pikachu costume and see who you really are, huh?" Shane said, reaching a paw toward Mimikyu. "Boy, I can't believe I get to do my own Scooby Doo villain unmasking."

Both Mimikyu's and Tessa's eyes widened. "Vulpix, don't–!"

Shane started lifting up Mimikyu's disguise. Purple smog rushed out and surrounded Shane. His entire body stiffened, his eyes rolled back in his skull, and he collapsed onto his side.

"Gaaah! I'm sorry… I'm sorry!" Mimikyu bawled, hopping back. "Th… this is bad. This is very bad!" Tessa noticed Mimikyu's arm appearing again, draped by purple ectoplasm. "No… no… I can't let you report me to Officer Magnezone. I didn't mean to do this… I was just supposed to be the distraction!"

Tessa raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean? You did steal the recipe?"

"No, no, no, no! I'm innocent… I swear!" Mimikyu pleaded. The shadows faded from his arm and it withdrew into his costume. Seconds later, it reappeared with a piece of parchment. "I have the recipe right here, but I didn't take it! I was just supposed to hold onto it for a little while. Please, you have to believe me… this is all a big mistake!"

Shane started coming to while Tessa accepted the recipe. "Well if you didn't take this, then who gave it to you?" she asked.

"An Absol... with a serrated scythe," Mimikyu replied. "I… I didn't want to do it. But he said he would give me delicious berries! He's… he's…" Mimikyu looked away shamefully. "He's the only Pokémon in town who's bothered to talk with me lately. Even if he was yelling at me. I just… appreciated the attention." His eyes teared up again. "But I'm not a criminal. I swear it! Or may Reshiram strike me down in a ball of Blue Flare."

"Did Absol tell you what he wanted you to hold onto this recipe for?" Tessa asked. Mimikyu rapidly shook his head.

"Wait, so I was right?"

"Not the time, Vulpix," Tessa growled.

"Somebody! Anybody! Heeeeeeeeeelp! I've been robbed!"

Mimikyu's eyes widened. Both Tessa and Shane gave him angry looks. "I… I had nothing to do with that. I've been over here with you two," Mimikyu bawled.

"We'd better take him with us, just to be safe," Tessa exclaimed. Shane nodded his approval. Team Radiance ran in the direction of the shouts, bringing Mimikyu along with them. They didn't need to go far, however. For the second time that day, they found a small crowd gathered in front of a building, with Magnezone right in front. Except this time around, it was the Kecleon Shop.

KZZZZRRRT. Please explain what happened, Magnezone said. Shane and Tessa managed to make their ways forward, shoving Mimikyu through to the front of the crowd. There, they found Kecleon lying on his stomach, clutching it in pain.

"It… it all happened so fast," Kecleon wheezed. "Absol... the one from the guild… he ran into the shop. He… snatched up some TM's and… made for the door. I… lunged after him… but…" Kecleon shuddered and rolled onto his back. The crowd gasped and Team Radiance recoiled. Kecleon's belly had scorch marks crackling with purple electricity.

"I… I've never felt an attack… like this…" Kecleon groaned. "He… hit me. I… tried to call for… support… like I do when… I'm confronted by thieves. But… his attack… it hurt so much! I… I must've passed out. And now… he's gone. And so are the TM's!"

Tessa stomach knotted up. 'No… this can't be right! Gallian, how could you? Why would you do something like this?'

"Um, Officer Magnezone, sir?" Shane spoke up. "I think my teammate and I may know what's going on here."

Oh… it is you. Yes, as I recall, you were offering an explanation before you sprinted out of the room,Magnezone said, to Shane's chagrin. Would you care to continue spouting off your theory?

"Actually, I've got something even better than that," Shane declared. He swiped the malasada recipe from Tessa's paw. "Behold… our missing Mystical Malasada recipe!"

A few Pokémon grunted in surprise as Crabrawler shoved his way through the crowd. "What's this? You say you found my recipe?" He scuttled over to Shane and took the parchment from him. His eyes widened. "I say, this is it! Oh, capital job, Vulpix!"

The crowd muttered in surprise at this.

"Furthermore, we apprehended the recipe from Mimikyu here," Shane continued. Mimikyu's disguise slouched over. "According to his testimony, he was given the recipe to serve 'as a distraction.' And the Pokémon who gave him the recipe to hold? Why… the very same Absol that robbed Kecleon: Gallian!"

A flurry of comments rose up from the crowd.

"Wait… Lucario's son did this?"

"Unbelievable… he was one of the most virtuous members of the guild."

"Where's Lucario? Shouldn't she have a better grasp on her kid?"

"Ha! No one's seen her in half a year."

"Say, isn't Riolu also her kid?"

Tessa looked down at the ground, frowning. "Hey, all of you be quiet!" Shane barked. "I hadn't finished yet." He shook his head. "Where was I? Oh, right. If we put the pieces together, we can make a reasonable sequence of events."

Which is what, exactly? Magnezone asked.

"First, Gallian poked around the Observatory. He didn't find what he was looking for, so he decided to go with a backup plan of stealing TM's from Kecleon," Shane explained. "In order to do that, he created a diversion by stealing the malasada recipe. While we were all occupied with that, he probably went into Kecleon's shop and swiped the TM's." He turned to Kecleon. "Do you have any idea how long you were out for?"

"Uh… I think I had just started to see a crowd forming by the café when Gallian showed up," Kecleon reported.

Shane's brow furrowed. "Drat! He's probably long gone for real, then. I can't believe he managed to outfox us like that!" Shane bit his lower lip. 'This guy got away with stealing from a Kecleon? Okay… this is bad. Really bad! As if it wasn't humiliating enough getting knocked out by him yesterday… now I know that he's totally out of my league. What if I run into him again? How am I supposed to win?'

He turned to Mimikyu. "Did he give you any indication where he was heading?"

"N-No!" Mimikyu squeaked. "I swear I have no idea. This wasn't supposed to happen! I made an honest mistake."

You assisted with criminal activity and held onto a stolen item, Magnezone stated. That is, in and of itself, a crime.

Mimikyu's eyes watered. "Please don't arrest me. I'll do anything to make it up to you guys!"

Magnezone's bolts whirred. Very well. In restitution for your actions, you must assist the Horizon Guild until Guildmaster Metagross says you have made up for your transgressions.

Mimikyu's disguise bobbed back and forth rapidly. "Of course! Of course! Of course! I'll be the bestest, most-amazing helper you've ever seen. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Magnezone turned away from Team Radiance. I must contact your Guildmaster and file the necessary paperwork. Please excuse me.

Shane raised a curious eyebrow. "Did… did we just inadvertently recruit this Mimikyu guy?"

Tessa shrugged.

~Aeon Observatory~

After collecting a handsome reward from Crabrawler – and having Primarina attempt to serenade them despite Shane's vociferous protests – Team Radiance escorted Mimikyu back to the Observatory. They deposited Mimikyu under Null's watch and reported the day's events to Braviary and Magearna.

"So, Gallian's done gone rogue on us? Mighty troubling to hear," Braviary's voice crackled through the Gear-Com.

"It's not his fault, sir," Tessa insisted. "He's under the control of some sort of weird energy. It effected that Meowth, the Munchlax duo we fought with Steenee, and the Parasect we encountered in Twilight Forest. Something is definitely wrong here."

"I concurbulate," Magearna said. "Our investigation into the tidal issues at Sunset Shoals yielded no answers. But we encountered a trio of Mareanie much like you described. Upon defeaticating them, their bodies de-colorized before our eyes. I had wanted to analyze their energy significators, but there was no energy left for me to even detect."

Shane and Tessa exchanged nervous looks.

"It ain't just that either," Braviary jumped in, "The folks in Circadian Coast are starting to build up fortifications cause the waters of the Midnight Sea are spilling into their town."

"What does the Guildmaster think about this?" Shane asked.

"He ain't exactly the sharing type, Vulpix," Braviary replied. "Luckily, we managed to find a feller who claims to know a thing or two about what's happening. We're bringing him back to stay over at the guild temporarily while we look into this stuff in more detail."

"When are you guys coming back, exactly?" Tessa wondered.

"It should be another day or two. We do need to disassemble base camp, after all," Magearna reported. "Is there anything else to reportify?"

"No," Shane said. The two parties bid each other farewell and disconnected the call. Shane sighed and slumped over on his pillow. "Riolu, I think we need to take some time to toughen up a bit," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Y'know, get some training in. Learn some new moves. Take on a handful of missions. Maybe look into TM's and emeras for our looplets," Shane said. "We've collected plenty of stardust, so we can have Magearna make us emeras, right?"

Tessa blinked in surprise. "Wow, Vulpix. That's, uh, a surprisingly good idea coming from you."

"Hey, I have plenty of good ideas," Shane harrumphed. "And they were on full display today. Admit it."

"What, and inflate that head of yours only so it can get popped again? No thanks," Tessa dismissed.

Shane frowned. "Enough joking around, I'm serious here. These past few days have been very rough for us. We need to step up our game! My gut is telling me we're bound to run into Gallian again at some point. We've got to prepare for that so we can actually put up a fight."

Tessa winced. "There's… no way to know that for certain."

"Yeah, okay. It's a gut reaction. But if I had money, I'd bet all of it on that happening," Shane said.

His partner grasped her shoulders and shivered. "Please don't bring it up anymore, Vulpix. I… I don't want to think about that."

"We need to think about it, though. Or our keisters are going to get cooked!" Shane said.

"I said drop it!" Tessa suddenly shouted. Shane's ears folded against his head.

"Geez, what's got your fur bristled?" Shane muttered. "What, do you want me to invite Null to join us, or something?"

Tessa didn't respond. Nevertheless, she didn't put up any resistance when Shane had them spend the next couple of days taking several missions. Most of their assignments hit some snags. But they managed to avoid any serious issues and even kept the arguing to a minimum. Though, that was undoubtedly because Tessa was keeping surprisingly quiet.

Eventually, they returned from a mission in Twilight Forest to find Braviary standing in the guild's entrance. Across from him stood a red-and-white werewolf with a wicked mane and long, noodle-like arms.

"… I can get you situated in yer own room, but it'll be at the very end of the living quarters," Braviary said.

"Doesn't matter to me, mate. The extra walking ought to do me good."

Braviary noticed Team Radiance in the doorway. "Ah, good. Y'all are back. Come over here, there's someone I'd like y'all to meet." The duo approached Braviary. Shane's gaze was fixed firmly on the werewolf. "This here is Lycanroc. He's gonna help us look into this whole berserk Pokémon business."

Lycanroc smirked, showing off gleaming-white fangs. He fixed his glowing red eyes on Shane. "Heard a bit about ya, kid. It's nice ta meet ya, Snowy."

Shane's entire body stiffened upon hearing that nickname.

'Oh no... this guy's not going to help us. He's a criminal!'

End of Episode 5

Next time: the start of Special Episode 2!