Pokémon Police Force Chapter 49: Grovyle, the Thief

Ever feel like you're just thrust into the story right in the middle of it? Welp, I… actually had none of those feelings, just the sensation of being overly stuffed as Chimecho kept shoving food into my mouth! I mean, it tasted good, but seriously!

"Can't… breathe…"

"You can breathe later! Eat!"

I was honestly surprised that Chimecho didn't shove a funnel in my mouth and force feed me a whole watermelon. What is with these women!? Half of them want to kill me, the other half…

(I have to do something or I'll suffocate!)

I quickly ran through my options in my head. Each one sounded more painful than the last.

(Either this works or I'm dead! Ice Beam!)

I gradually froze the food in my mouth and then launched it out like a cannonball. Chimecho barely dodged in time.

"What was that for!?"

I just hacked and gagged in response. Violently.

"Argyle?"

I continued to cough until I was able to use my words.

"I appreciate… the thought…"

I coughed again.

"But could you NOT try to kill me!?"

"What are-?"

"I almost passed out from lack of oxygen!"

"Sorry about that! I get passionate when it comes to nutrition."

"I'VE NOTICED!"

I burped loudly, and then… darkness. Once I was finally able to see again, I found myself laying on a bed of straw.

"Where am I? If I happen to be in that Chimecho's house, I swear to Arceus-!"

"Oh, you're up!"

A Riolu walked into my room, followed by an Eevee.

"Chimecho really put you through the ringer, huh?" Said Dusk.

"Thanks for helping by the way!"

I took a deep breath.

"Where are we and how did I get here?"

"You're in our bedroom in the guild," explained Wolf, "you kind of went into a food coma."

"Emphasis on the coma. I sacrificed my bed so that you'd have a place to recover," said Dusk.

"Oh, sorry."

"Nah, don't apologize," said Dusk, "wouldn't be the first time we shared a bed, and it won't be the last."

"DUSK!" Yelled Wolf in surprise, "not in front of the outlaw!"

"I'm just kidding," said Dusk, "though, I can't guarantee I will be able to say that after my heat."

"DUSK!"

"Just be ready when it does roll around, buster!"

"DUSK! Stop embarrassing me!" Said Wolf, "do you want to scare our guest away!?"

"I'm all for a third party."

"DUSK!"

"Don't worry about it," I said, "I had sex with my sister. Nothing she can say will unnerve me."

"You- Your sister!? What? What is wrong with everyone in this world?"

Dusk and I shared a laugh at Wolf's expense.

"If anyone ever says Combusken nuggets to me again…," I said standing up, "I think I've done enough sleeping."

I placed my claw on Wolf's shoulder.

"Come on, let's join the others. We need a plan."

I walked away and out of the room. For some reason, the other two didn't follow me out. Whatever the reason was, I continued into the main room alone.

"Looks like you're finally awake," said Diglett.

The other members of the guild, as well as Emerald, Snow and Keldeo were all huddled close together, talking amongst themselves.

"Sorry 'bout that," I said, "what did I miss?"

"Formulating a plan," said Emerald, "teams AWD and Razor Wind are checking on Time Gears we know about, trying to see if they are safe while Magnezone's unit is doing their own investigation at Treeshroud Forest."

"Right now, we're conducting our own investigations," said Chatot, "we need to figure out clues to the Time Gears' whereabouts."

"What if we get Dusknoir to help out?"

Wolf and Dusk finally joined us.

"What took you two so long?" Asked Chimecho.

"I got dizzy," said Wolf.

"Who's Dusknoir?" I asked.

"You've never heard of him?" Asked Keldeo, "he's a famous explorer around these parts. Supposedly, he catches outlaws no one else can track down and discovers things that don't even exist."

"You kind of messed up that last part, yup, yup," said Bidoof.

I stepped forward.

"I don't trust this Dusknoir," I said.

"You've never even met him," said Snow.

"Dugtrio, I don't know what that poster said about my past wrongdoing, but I've stolen an Oran Berry, stole an Apple, resisted-"

"Stop right there," said Emerald, "we are not going through the whole list again."

"That wasn't the whole list."

"I don't care! Last time you listed off your crimes, it took three days!"

"I wasn't even halfway done!"

"Oh my gosh…"

"The point is, I'm a thief, and I'm good at what I do. Maybe even the best. I have contacts in just about every criminal enterprise and I've never heard of him."

I looked at Chatot.

"You think that someone like this would've sent ripples throughout the underworld."

"What are you saying?" Asked Wigglytuff.

"Wolf? Is Dusknoir in town?"

"Um, yes. He said he'd be sticking around for a while."

"Take me to him. I'd like to size him up for myself."

"Don't bother. I'm already here."

Someone floated down from the floor above. A legless ghost with a face pattern on his belly. He had two powerful arms and it looked like a golden thumbtack was shoved into his oblong head from above. The most prominent feature though, was a single piercing red eye.

"Great Dusknoir!" Said Chatot.

(So, this is Dusknoir?)

I looked at Argyle. He appeared to be glaring at the newcomer. What must be going through his mind?

"D-D-Dusknoir! We were just-!" Stammered Dusk.

"Don't worry, I heard everything. Someone's been stealing Time Gears," said Dusknoir calmly, "do we know who's been doing it?"

"We believe it is a Grovyle," said Snow.

(Did Dusknoir just smile? Can he even smile?)

"Anyone helping him?"

"Not that we're aware," said Chatot.

"I don't remember seeing the four of you in town," said Dusknoir, "who are you?"

"Keldeo of the Swords of Justice, Snow, Argyle and myself lieutenant Emerald of the Neo City Police Department."

"What I have to tell all of you will be shocking, but it is the truth," said Dusknoir, "everything that is said here does not leave this room, understand?"

Everyone agreed to his terms… except for Argyle, who kept glaring a hole through him.

"Grovyle is the thief you're looking for. He's from my time. The future."

Again, except for Argyle, everyone yelled out "WHAT!?".

"You're from-!" Began Corphish.

"The FUTURE!?" Finished Loudred.

"Oh my gosh!"

"In my time, the planet's time has been stopped completely. No dew falls. The sun never shines. The planet is in a state of paralysis. The culprit is Grovyle."

"How could Grovyle cause all of that!?" Squawked Chatot.

"The Time Gears," said Keldeo.

"Exactly. Grovyle stole all of the Time Gears in this time and caused exactly this predicament. I'm here to arrest him."

"So, what do we do?" Asked Wigglytuff.

"We catch him in the act. Beat him to the Time Gears. I happen to have a few ideas as to where these Time Gears are."

"Well, our next goal is clear," said Chatot, "we shall each formulate groups and check each of the leads. Wolf's team will be independent here of course, and our newcomers will form their own group."

"In that case, I would like to speak to Argyle privately," said Dusknoir, "I sense a bit of… tension between us."

Every eye turned to the relentlessly-glaring Argyle.

"Don't take too long," said Chatot.

"Don't worry," Keldeo whispered to me, "I'll watch them."

Dusknoir led me to Sharpedo Bluff. Once there, he looked around suspiciously. Most likely looking for eavesdroppers. Finally satisfied, he spake.

"I've been following your career for some time. You stole the Crown of Plenty from a heavily guarded vault."

"How long have you been watching me?"

"Not watching. Someone told me of your exploits, Admiral Sneezy."

"I'm going to kill Slowbro the next time I see him."

"I'm not going to arrest you or anything like that. I require your services."

"My… services?"

"You are an exceptional thief. I need those skills."

Dusknoir turned away and looked over the sea.

"The Eevee in the guild has a particular item. You have seen it. A small piece of stone with an intricate pattern on it."

(Dusk told me about that! She called it the… Relic Fragment, was it?)

"That fragment is part of a dangerous relic. Once it is fit into the correct spot, it will claim the life of anyone nearby. Especially her."

Dusknoir turned back to me.

"I want you to steal it."

"Let's get some things straight. I have a few rules that I always follow. Targets I never steal from. Guild members are one of those."

"You would allow her to die? Just to follow your moral code?"

Dusknoir hovered beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Just take some time to determine exactly what is most important to you."

Dusknoir left after that. This encounter just confirmed my suspicions.

Dusknoir is a snake.

Over the next few days, we checked Dusknoir's leads, but most of them turned out to be false. Wolf's team actually came face-to-face with Grovyle, but was unable to stop him from stealing another Time Gear.

Today, Dusk suggested that they look at the place that Bidoof's team checked yesterday, the Crystal Cave. I volunteered to go along with them. Wigglytuff was all for it. Said my burglary skills might help them catch Grovyle.

The story continues in the rest area in Crystal Cave.

"So, I've been wondering," said Dusk, suddenly, "what got you into a life of crime?"

"It's not something I usually tell everyone."

"I'm more curious about the mask," said Wolf.

"That's a secret."

"How about you tell us one of your secrets and we tell you one of ours?" Asked Dusk.

"Dusk…," said Wolf.

"It's okay," replied Dusk, "whatever you wish to know."

"Are you sure? It's kind of a sad story."

"I'm sure we can handle it," said Wolf.

I told them about how I grew up poor and I just started stealing as a means of survival. Then, I told them about how my mother died and I only continued stealing because that's the only way I knew how to take care of myself. Actually, I hadn't planned to go into that much detail, but something told me I could trust them. Almost like I was talking to two old friends.

"Sorry about what happened to your mom," said Wolf.

"Don't be. It still hurts, but I think I'm mostly over it," I said.

"Wait. Isn't this what your Dimensional Scream saw?" Asked Dusk.

"Dimensional scream?"

"It's a special ability I have," said Wolf, "when I touch something, I get really dizzy and then have a vision concerning either the object's past or future."

"When you touched Wolf's shoulder, he had a vision of someone screaming 'Mom! Please wake up!'," said Dusk.

"Yeah. I was the one who discovered her body."

"Sorry," said Dusk.

"Don't apologize."

"Now that I heard that, I don't want to know anything else," said Wolf.

"Then… can I ask something?" I asked.

"What?" Asked Wolf.

"Emerald and I, we have a daughter on the way."

Dusk squealed in delight.

"Congratulations!" She cheered, "what's her name?"

"Eclipse."

"It's beautiful," said Dusk.

"So, you're gonna be a daddy?"

"Yeah. I want to ask you to use your ability one more time. I want to know what she'll be like."

"That's a problem. Unless you give me the egg, I can't see her."

"Well, touch me. Maybe we'll get lucky."

Wolf walked up to me and place a paw on the gem on my forehead.

"Anything?" Asked Dusk.

"Not yet."

Then, Wolf held his other paw up to his forehead and closed his eyes, looking down. It only took a few seconds, but Wolf eventually released my head and looked at me. I'd seen a tear in his eye.

"I saw your daughter and Emerald playing together and there was a Sneasel there."

"You mean Argyle?" Asked Dusk.

"I don't know. The eyes were the same, but a totally different color of fur."

I turned away from them and looked at the Kangaskhan statue.

"Was it a white and purple Sneasel?" I asked.

"Yeah. Does that ring a bell?" Asked Wolf.

(That was just a figment of a dream. But what was the dream and what was real?)

"Sorry, but you've given me more questions than answers," I said, "was Eclipse happy?"

"Very much so."

"That's good. Come on, we have a thief to catch."

I began walking away until another question popped into my head.

"By the way, I've been wondering. If you two are in an Exploration Team, what's your name?"

Wolf groaned.

"The Losers."

"Laugh and I'll kill you," said Dusk.

We eventually got into the hidden passageway and thus, the Crystal Crossing. Wolf and Dusk ran forward into the deepest chamber, but I hung back.

(This guy is a thief, but not a professional one. He's made plenty of mistakes along the way, which means… he'll try escaping over… here.)

I found Grovyle's most likely avenue of escape and hid in the shadows. Due to my black fur, I was easily able to camouflage myself. Then began the waiting game.

I listened to the sounds of combat and a crystal coffin being formed. Then, a bright flash as a Luminous Orb was shattered. Finally, the sound of claws frantically scraping crystal.

"Gotta rethink my strategy."

(That's right… just a little closer… Shadow Claw!)

I sprang from the shadows and pounced the unsuspecting Grovyle. My claws dug into his side.

"Gaagh! What!?"

"Ice Beam!"

A beam of excessive cold escaped my mouth. I froze Grovyle's limbs together, completely immobilizing him.

"A Sneasel? Where'd you come from!?"

I spotted a pouch tightly bound around his waist. With a quick tug, I snapped it off and dumped the contents into my claw.

A few blue gears tumbled out.

"Time Gears. Caught you red-handed," I said, "everyone! Grovyle's over here!"

"Give those back!" Said Grovyle, "you have no idea what you're-!"

"Shut up."

I froze Grovyle's mouth shut with another Ice Beam.

I was joined just then by Wolf, Dusk, and surprisingly, Dusknoir.

"Good work, Argyle," said Dusknoir, "never thought you'd see me again, did you, thief?"

"He's all yours," I said.

I walked away and gave them space. As I passed by Dusk, I purposely bumped her.

"Sorry," I said, "wasn't watching where I was going."

"Don't worry about it," said Dusk.

Once I was away from prying eyes, I opened my hand and looked at my prize: a small stone fragment with an intricate pattern, bound by a cord.

"I hope this is really for the best."

A day later, we were all standing in the plaza, before something Dusknoir called the Passage of Time. It was a hole in time and space, shining in colors of blue and black. Dusk still never realized that I swiped her Relic Fragment. I kept it hidden in my mask where none could see.

Eventually, Dusknoir came with Grovyle, tightly bound head to toe and his mouth tightly shut. They were shadowed by two Sableye. After saying their goodbyes, the Sableye shoved Grovyle through the Passage of Time and then jumped in after him.

"Before I leave, I'd like a word with Wolf and Dusk," said Dusknoir.

The two kids joined him in front of the Passage of Time.

(I don't like this.)

I stepped forward.

"Dusknoir, this is goodbye," said Dawn, with tear-stained eyes.

"Yes, but perhaps not," said Dusknoir.

(No!)

"I've grown rather attached to the two of you," said Dusknoir.

(NO!)

I was running at full sprint toward them.

Dusknoir grabbed them by their throats.

"You're coming with me!"

"NO!" I screamed.

I tackled Dusknoir, making us all fall into the Passage of Time. Dusknoir released the kids and punched me. Then, I used Shadow Claw and made a vicious cut across his face. We continued to wrestle like this until Dusknoir landed a Focus Punch right in my side. I could hear my bones crack as I was launched away from the scene and out of the Passage of Time. When I eventually woke, I found myself on solid ground.

The mountains, ground, everything, was twisted and distorted and looked like it was being pulled in every which way. The ground was more like a floating catwalk of dirt, hovering over what looked to be a planet-sized black hole.

"Oh no."