A short while later, the landlord knocked on my door.

I was expecting him, as he often came to inform me about any repairs that needed to be done. This time, however, he had a different reason.

"Hey Carl, you have a telephonic conference from Doran!" He stated abruptly.

Doran? Was that a place? "What does it mean?" I asked him curiously.

"I don't know!" He answered impatiently. "It rarely happens more than once a month, and it is the only telephone in the street, so, you must come down, it must be important." Saying that, he left the room.

Okay, if it was urgent, I guess I need to hurry! I stood up, grabbed my coat and a bag full of books, and ran downstairs.

As I descended, I kept thinking about what could happen during this call. Was it a mistake? I doubted it, considering how expensive it was to use a telephone. As soon as I got there, I answered.

"Hello?"

A voice spoke to me: "Carl R. Welby?"

"Yes." I responded nervously.

"Good! Listen, I'm calling because I heard that you were a student at the university, who also knows about different legendary pokemon, am I correct?" The man asked.

"Uh yeah..."

"Well, I want to talk about a recent sighting of Articuno. It appears that the mythical ice bird might be hiding somewhere near the town! Do you know anything about this?"

I listened with surprise. "Wait a second, how did you find out about this?" I managed to say, stunned.

"Don't worry! I have my sources. We need your knowledge to increase the sighting chance. It may be a once in a lifetime opportunity!" The man announced.

"First, you should go to the riverbank today, around eight o'clock in the evening. An automobile will be waiting for you."

"Okay..." I didn't know why he was telling me this, but I was curious about what was happening, so I accepted.

"Third, make sure that no one notices you. Don't tell anyone. These instructions are very serious. If you fail to follow them, we will be in serious trouble."

With that, the line was cut off. Puzzled, I returned upstairs. Even if I liked mystery stories, I didn't expect to be involved in such events.

But, somehow, curiosity overcame me. So, I decided to wait for tonight. Hopefully, I'll learn something new.

After finishing my homework, and seeing that it was late, I put the book away and proceeded with dinner. Luckily, it took less than half an hour to finish eating. Then, I washed myself and changed clothes. Finally, I was ready!

As expected, I arrived at the designated location precisely at eight o' clock. The night was dark, but not too cold. The moon shone brightly above, giving me enough light to locate the riverbank where the vehicle was parked.

Once there, I approached the car, and noticed a man standing beside it. His suit was plain, simple and elegant.

"Are you Carl?" He asked, opening the door.

"Yeah." I said nervously. "Come in," He invited me inside.

Once inside, he shut the door behind me. "You can sit anywhere you want." My heart was racing, but when I realized that he was alone with me, I calmed down.

The man introduced himself as Jeffery, and offered to drink some tea. I gladly accepted, and sipped slowly as he explained the plan in detail.

"Since I'm asking you to help us, I have to explain the situation clearly. First, the purpose of this operation is to search for Articuno."

"And what exactly am I supposed to do?" I interrupted him.

Jeffery smiled gently. "You are going to go on an expedition with other experts. If you notice something odd, just write it out immediately!"

"Is there an estimate on how long will this take?" I asked.

"I won't give a precise answer, but try to keep calm and focus on the mission at hand." He paused for a moment, then added. "Also, it has been recorded that you study science, right?"

"Well yes, but..."

"Oh! Well, as far as we know, you are probably the best scientist here. Let's hope that your experience will help us!"

Still confused, I let him continue.

"Our main goal is to completely identify the mysterious creature known as Articuno. To achieve our aim, we need to take pictures of whatever we see.

Here's the camera. But, please remember that this task is very dangerous, and it might cost you your life!"

"Wow!" I gasped. After that explanation, it became clear that this was something serious!

"We will get to the docks in an hour. Then, we will sail to Doran. It is far from here, over two-hundred miles away"

"Um... okay..." I tried to say.

"We should leave now."

"Alright!" I replied, starting to realize what was happening.

We drove along the road until we reached the port. There, we boarded a boat that waited for us. Soon, we were sailing towards Doran.

"So, where was it supposedly last sighted?" I asked Jeffery.

"It was located near the town of Karkinos, on the northwest coast of the island. Now, please remain quiet. We don't want to attract attention."

"Okay..." My head was spinning, and it was difficult to concentrate on anything else.

At last, we arrived at our destination, and disembarked. Jeffery led me through the streets of Doran, making sure that nobody saw us.

Finally, we reached the mountains, which were, of course, free of any visitors, as it was at night after all.

"Here we are." He said.

"Thank you." I answered.

"Have fun!" He said before walking away.

"Hey!" I called after him. "Where are you going?"

"Didn't I tell you?" He stopped and turned around. "We start in half an hour!"

"What?!"

"Please wait here." He said, and walked away quickly.

Suddenly, I felt nervous again. What was he talking about? Did he want me to stay here all night, or something like that? I thought about it, but nothing came out.

After a while, Jeffery returned. "Come with me." He said, leading me to a small building. Inside, I found two other men. They looked like mountaineers, dressed in tattered clothes.

"This is Jim and Bob, my assistants." Jeffery said. "They will help you."

"Hi!" Jim greeted me cheerfully.

"Hi." I replied awkwardly.

"Let's begin." Jeffery said. "Bob, please prepare the equipment."

"Sure thing!" Bob said.

Soon, we were ready. Jeffery gave us instructions, and we started searching. Although we searched carefully, we didn't find anything suspicious.

"It doesn't seem that we are going to find anything," I told Jeffery.

"I agree." He answered. "However, I think that we should move elsewhere. We'll risk discovery if we stay here."

"Okay." I nodded.

The three of us moved to another area, but still without success. I watched the others, but they seemed to be doing fine. The sun rose after hours of searching. Finally, it was time to go back home.

"Well, guys, it seems that this is the end of the day."

"Yeah..." Jim agreed.

"You're right." Bob added.

We returned to the city, and Jeffery went his way.

I was tired, but I really wanted to talk more with him. However, I knew that it would be risky.

So, I decided to return to the base. As soon as I arrived, I jumped into the shower and washed myself. Afterwards, I cleaned the place, and finally went to bed.

One important fact to take into account is that Articuno seems to be primarily nocturnal, so we had to adapt to the circumstances.

I woke up already at night, and decided to walk in the garden. I was thinking about my conversation with Jeffrey.

Why did he ask me to come with him? Wasn't it dangerous? Maybe he was just trying to scare me. That would be funny!

But, I couldn't laugh too much. This was serious business!

I sat down on a bench near the garden gate, and started reading one of my books.

While sitting there, I heard noise coming from the house. I got up and walked towards the entrance.

When I entered the living room, I found Jeffery and two women looking at some papers.

"Hello." Jeffery greeted me. "Sorry for disturbing you."

"Oh, no problem." I replied. "What are you doing?"

"We are studying the data that we collected today. We are analyzing the information, and we are drawing conclusions. You see, we need to know the details of Articuno's appearance, behavior, habits, etcetera."

"That sounds interesting." I said. "Can I help?"

"Yes, please!" Jeffery smiled. "But first, you should rest. You must be tired."

"No, not really." I lied. "I'm used to working late at night. Besides, this is my hobby."

"Really?" Jeffery asked. "Well, I guess that you can be helpful then."

"Thanks!" I said happily.

"Well, let's get to work." He said, taking the papers from the table.

As we worked together, I could feel that he was being very nice with me. Why? I wondered. Was it because he wanted me to join his team in other tasks? Or was it just a coincidence?

Finally, we finished, and Jeffery gathered the documents. "All set!" He said proudly.

"Great job!" I praised him.

"Thank you." He said.

"You're welcome." I answered.

He then took a piece of paper from his pocket.

"This is the map of the region. You can use this to guide yourself. Don't worry about that. It is easy to understand."

I looked at the map. It showed the places where we searched today.

"I see." I said. "That's great."

"Goodbye." He said, leaving the room.

"Bye." I waved.

Afterwards, I went to my room. I finished the book, and relaxed for a while. Then, after another hour, we were ready to continue the search.