Pokémon Police Force Chapter 3: A Game of Torracat and Rattata

It was dark. Several minutes after midnight, the only sounds that could be heard were those of Volbeat or other nocturnal bug Pokémon. The sky was clear, the crescent moon shining brightly upon Mystery Town. The perfect time for a heist.

I leapt from a nearby tree and landed on the wooden balcony of Macovoy Manor, the home of the richest man in town. I had been casing this place for months, even before my unfortunate arrest. Memorized the guard patrols, the owner's daily routine and went over my escape route time and again.

The manor itself was a huge building made of wood. Unlike the other buildings in town, it was not a hollowed-out tree, but rather an actual building made of wood taken from exotic locations, surrounded on all sides by a tall wall. None of that mattered to me though. I'm hitting this house tonight.

I approached the nearby window and slipped through. The room stood empty, the lord's study. Just as I had planned. Now came the tricky part, getting to the lord's safe.

I made my way through the manor as quietly as possible, hiding when I knew a guard would be walking by. Eventually, I slipped on through and into the lord's bedroom.

He was snoring, loudly. The lord was a Skarmory. If he wakes up, this could hurt. As quietly as possible, I crept up to the safe in the corner of his room and examined it.

(A carbonite triple latch with a zicorn finish. Not a problem.)

Putting my uncovered right ear to the latch, I slowly turned the dial.

(45... 28... and 87. There we go! Got it!)

I slowly opened the safe and found my prize, a large ruby worth a fortune. Grabbing my ill-gotten gain, I softly closed the safe and crept out of the room.

(I can't believe Skarmory didn't catch me. Time to make my escape.)

My escape route pretty much mirrored the way I entered. I avoided the guards, made my way to the window from before and escaped onto the balcony.

"Easier than I expected. I have plans for you my little friend."

"And what would those plans be?"

The voice made me jump, I turned around slowly and found, much to my surprise, Officer Emerald sitting on a chair on the balcony.

"Nowhere to run."

On the other side of the balcony was a Mienshao.

"Two lady cops? Must be my lucky day."

"Sheriashuu," she said simply, "Argyle, you are under arrest. You're going to jail."

"Nah, I hear the service there is lousy."

"Come quietly, or else," said Emerald, finally standing up. She began walking toward me with a pair of handcuffs in her paw.

"Sorry toots, but I don't do bondage on the first date."

From my mask, I retrieved a small black ball and slammed it onto the ground. An instant smokescreen erupted from the ball obscuring me from view and causing the two officers to hack and cough. I took the opportunity to run. Finally, I leapt from the balcony and landed in the manor's yard and ran out the front gate, pursued by guards who just realized what was going on. I scaled a nearby building and hid there until I lost the guards.

"Found you!"

Sheriashuu landed on the building, followed by Emerald, who levitated onto a different, but nearby building.

"Get him!" Yelled Officer Emerald.

I booked it, chased by a very fast Mienshao. I had to dodge for my life, avoiding Sheriashuu's physical attacks and Emerald's fireballs.

(How do I get out of this?)

I continued leaping from roof to roof, balcony to balcony, window to window, fleeing for my life. The town passed quickly beneath. I ran to the rooftops overlooking the plaza. That is when it came to me.

(A well? A well! That just might work!)

I quickly ducked onto a nearby balcony, out of sight, but slowly enough that Mienshao was sure to see me. As soon as she jumped onto the balcony, I took her by surprise. I grabbed her by the collar and pulled her down into a surprise kiss. The kiss clearly stunned her, so I took the opportunity and leapt from the balcony with a wink and into the well. I fell dozens of feet into the well, until at last I fell into the water with a splash. Quickly, I swam away from view and bided my time.

Back on the rooftops, I had lost track of Sheriashuu and the Sneasel known as Argyle. I heard the sounds of pursuit for a while until those died off too.

"Officer Sheriashuu, where are you?"

No answer.

"Please don't be dead."

I used my telepathy to try to find Sheriashuu. I quickly found her on the other side of town, but she wasn't responding to my psychic pleas.

"Sheriashuu, I'm on my way."

I followed my psychic powers through town until I found Sheriashuu standing still on a high balcony by the town square. After scaling the building, I found Sheriashuu in a state of shock.

"Sheriashuu! Sheriashuu! Wake up!"

I punched her as hard as I could. The force of my punch knocked her down. She began rubbing her cheek with her hand before breaking out of the spell.

"Emerald? What?"

"Finally with us? Where's Argyle?"

"I... uh... lost him."

"You were right on his tail feathers! How could you lose him?"

"He kissed me."

"He kissed you!? That's what's got you flustered!?"

"It was very sudden!"

"And you claim I have the Sneasel fetish?"

I sighed loudly.

"Search the town. He couldn't have gotten too far."

Back in the well, I waited until I could no longer hear Emerald and Sheriashuu and then surveyed my surroundings. I was in an underground lake in a big cavern.

"A cave in the middle of town? No wonder this well never ran dry."

Looking up, the ceiling of the cavern must be a hundred feet up there at least.

"Climbing out is not an option."

Luckily, I still had the ruby. I swam toward the side of the cavern until I found a patch of rock rising up from the water. I climbed out the water and examined the ruby in my hand. It was about the size of a Pokémon egg.

"You'd best be worth all this trouble."

I leaned against the wall. Something shifted in the wall, almost causing me to fall back in the water.

"Aahh! What?"

I turned around and pressed my claw against the wall.

(This wall is brittle. There's my exit.)