Chapter 22: Mysteries

I held the door open for the two teenagers as they walked into my office. While they sat down in their prepared chairs, I took my time locking the door and pulling down the black office window blinds. Finally, I slowly strutted across my room, pulled out my cushioned chair, and sat down across from the teenagers. I folded my hands atop the desk.

For a moment, I mused over the vast differences between the two teenagers. The blonde girl fidgeted with excitement, watching me eagerly. The boy, on the other hand, looked rather bored as he stared at a covered window. It was a wonder they were able to work so well together.

"You two have done exceedingly well," I said. "You shall be rewarded as promised."

The girl smiled brightly.

"New Blue, the world renowned clothing store, is having a nationally televised catwalk in Cereal City a month from now. I happen to have close ties to the president of New Blue." Team Glop'emm had bought out the company, after all. We used the numerous stores to locate potential customers of our stolen Pokemon. "I have arranged for you, Carly Goldenthrill, to be a model for this catwalk."

Carly squealed in delight.

"However, you will need to report to Cereal City immediately for preparations. I will, once again, have Gallade teleport you." Carly nodded happily, and I turned to the boy, frowning. "Is there anything you would like? Perhaps a spot in the catwalk as well?"

The boy smiled greedily. "Can I keep the Gallade?"

My frown deepened. This particular Gallade was one of the team's most successful Pokemon. He understood the concept of working for the greater good of the whole team and thus took orders from any team member if requested, no questions asked.

Well, sacrifices had to be made, and these two had done an exceptional job. This way, I could wiggle in my own condition as well… "Very well, you may keep Gallade… under one circumstance. Should I require a favor in the future, you and Carly are obliged to assist me as needed." For now, there was no reason to continue using these two teens—I had what I wanted.

"Deal," Reece answered immediately. Carly frowned at him, as if he should have asked for her approval.

I smiled and reached into my pocket. "This is Gallade's Pokeball. You are dismissed." Once again, I held the door for the teenagers as they exited my office, relocking the door as soon as they had departed. I opened my laptop and settled back into my chair.

Carly and Reece had indeed provided beyond the basic information I had been seeking. For one, they had given me a very good idea of the strength of both gifted children's powers. I rewatched the clip of one of the very first scenes from the party, slowing the video as Carly yelled, "Thunderwave!" I carefully observed as the Eevee and Flareon leapt toward the electric bolt. Just before the two Pokemon were struck by the attack, they fell to the ground. I paused the video. If one looked carefully, a slight deflection of the electric bolt could be seen.

Anita Parkwood certainly had a strong gift, if she was indeed a child. It was only to be expected if the Master was correct in his assumption of her being Mew. This was just the first of several occurrences throughout the night in which she had illustrated her ability to create barriers. The fact that she was able to keep Carly and Reece away from her for practically the entire evening further manifested that she could sense their presence, perhaps even view their thoughts…

I froze. What if she could read their minds? How limited was that ability? Had she discovered my existence? I considered her reactions through the rest of the evening and breathed again. No, I decided. She appeared too confused. Unless she was a brilliant actress, it seemed unlikely that she knew of me. Of course, if she was Mew, she would have to be a brilliant actress. I would just have to hope that if she did know, she would say nothing to the Mendol boy. In the future, I would be more careful.

I fast forwarded the video until I came across another scene involving the Master's so-called detective, Liam Mendol.

He certainly could be related to the Master—he had the same unnerving green eyes. Interestingly, he was also using the Master's last name, though why he would do anything so obvious was beyond me. The detective seemed an inch or two taller than I remembered the Master. It was impossible to consider any other similarities as I had never actually seen the Master in the light.

I watched the scene play out. On the right side of the screen, the Mendol boy was mingling on the outskirts of a crowd watching a battle. The left side of the screen was filled by Gallade, pretending to be some trainer's wandering Pokemon.

"Psychic," Reece ordered. I could not see Reece, as the camera was attached to his body.

Gallade's eyes glowed in concentration. I watched the Mendol boy. Nothing happened. Three more times Gallade tried, but the boy remained unaffected.

I smiled. This had confirmed the boy to have the same powers as the Master—

A stab of pain wretched through my gut. Why were these children granted such power? If I had that kind of power…

I shook my head to rid myself of pointless yearnings.

I fast forwarded again—this time to the final scenes of the evening. I watched as Carly implemented her ingenious plan of using Mendol's gift against him in order to carry out my other request…

I opened the desk drawer and pulled out four small covered vials, each containing a single hair.

I smiled. Carly had even thought to obtain the hair of Jake Veneer, who appeared extremely well acquainted with the three persons I had originally requested a hair from.

I closed the laptop and picked up the vials. It was time to put the hair to good use. I silently strode out of my office to the elevator, pressing B5.

As I swiftly left the elevator, I brushed past Rita Teal, her Pokeball earings jiggling wildly from the slight impact. Rita sent a silent scowl my way before the elevator doors closed.

I walked down the tiled hall and turned into the bare room with the DNA tracking device, my finger print scanned at the door.

Carefully, I took the vials from my pocket and uncorked each one. Using tweezers, I plucked the four hairs from their vials and placed them in four of the DNA tracking device's slots.

The Mendol boy's hair was the last I fed into the machine. I examined the dark hair, wishing I could somehow obtain the DNA of the Master or his deceased father so I could run a comparative analysis to demonstrate the detective's relation to the Master. Unfortunately, the Master was sure to clear the system of any information on his family's DNA records in order to avoid being tracked. I sighed and dropped the final hair into the machine's slot.

There was a whirring sound, and then a cluster of multi-colored dots appeared on the screen. Before I could smile in victory, the irritable walkie-talkie was buzzing on my hip.

"Master, I presume," I said into the walkie, answering its buzz.

"Never presume." The Master's cold voice rang through the walkie.

"Of course." I briefly wondered if I would ever actually speak with the mysterious detective. He had yet to call me, or I him.

"How is business?" the Master inquired.

"The usual," I answered easily.

"Excellent. Is there any new information regarding Pokemon X?"

I looked at the dots on the tracking device's screen and smirked to myself. "Nothing, Master."

The annoying boy paused before requesting, "Tell me, Mr. Arkle, what do you know of Carly Goldenthrill and Reece Dracuta?"

"Of the former, I only know that she gave us much valuable information regarding Anita Parkwood. I have never heard of Reece Dracuta," I replied innocently. "Why do you ask?"

"My detective—nevermind. It was nothing," the Master retorted. Then, composing his voice, he calmly continued, "No further information, Master out."

I put down the walkie-talkie next to the slots and stared at the blinking dots. I would not be losing track of Liam Mendol, the oh-so-spectacular detective, nor Anita Parkwood, the supposed legendary, any time soon.

I grinned.

For now, that was satisfying.

o o o o o o o o o o o o

I pocketed the walkie-talkie, deep in disconcerted thought.

How did they know?

How did Carly Goldenthrill and Reece Dracuta learn of the dark gift?

So few humans knew of the gift in the first place…

Mr. Dracuta, certainly, knew of Miss Parkwood's powers since the Peepin Pond incident, but who could have explained to him the occurrence in full? Perhaps they had done research and grown curious… but from the characteristics displayed by Mr. Dracuta and Miss Goldenthrill, this seemed highly improbable.

I was the only person who originally knew of the detective's gift. Miss Parkwood and Miss Kendle, of course, soon discovered it, but they had neither the nature nor the time to inform Miss Goldenthrill and Mr. Dracuta—

Stop.

I forced my brain to discontinue the endless circles of thought. Regarding this matter, I obviously did not have enough information to make an accurate assessment.

No harm had yet come from this disclosed secret. It would be unwise to forget the matter entirely, but foolish to dwell on a matter of such minimal importance.

At this instant, it was vital for me to continue my research. Research that had failed to uncover any new information—yet.

My father had known the necessary information.

He, however, had passed on before giving it to me. He had not kept any written record of the information, nor revealed the information to anyone that I was aware of.

Thus, I had to find this most crucial information.

I had searched many of Acceber's great libraries, only to come up with nothing.

I would continue to search—

For without this information, finding and capturing Mew would be quite futile.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

"Isn't hitchhiking illegal?" Erin whispered.

"Does it actually matter to you?" I retorted in a voice just as quiet.

"Well, no…"

A breeze swept past us, filling our nostrils with a stench of moldy socks and decomposing biscuits. We sat in a small alley behind several trashcans watching two workers unload a large grocery store supply truck of hundreds of boxes.

Yes, we had stooped to this level.

"Hitchhiking was outlawed in 1964 due to a series of unfortunate accidents as well as low ratio of cars to trainers in Acceber—" Liam started to explain.

"If I wanted to know that, I would have paid attention in history class," I snapped.

Liam just gave me his best all-knowing, I'm-better-than-you smirk.

{Do you think they'll unload all of the food?} Apple asked randomly. {Maybe just leave a crate or two behind…?}

"Anita, look!" Erin exclaimed. "That was the last box! You've got to do it now!"

One of the workers was now pulling down the truck's flexible back door to close the vehicle. I summoned my energy and shot forward with my mind, creating a thin barrier beneath the closing door.

I flinched as the door slammed down, but my barrier held. The worker walked back around the truck towards the store, oblivious to the inch gap between the door and the floor of the truck.

"C'mon!" Erin sprinted towards the truck. Liam and I carefully followed her, me double-checking the area for people with my mind and Liam with his eyes. When we reached the truck, Erin was tugging at the door impatiently. "You guys are so slow!" she complained. "Ugh. This is too heavy. Liam, why don't you give it a try?"

"No!" I yelled, but it was too late. Liam touched the door—

—and nothing happened.

Liam easily lifted up the door.

Confused, I asked, "Didn't my barrier stop working on the door?"

"Anita, though you seem to believe yourself more knowledgeable than the rest of the world, you, in fact, are lacking in the most basic knowledge: common sense. Obviously, your barrier failed when I touched the door," Liam snickered. He slowed his speech. "However, because I was holding the door with my hand," He mockingly wiggled his hand in my face. "I was able to lift the door. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir Liam. I understand," I replied sarcastically. I flashed him a smile. "What I don't understand, Sir Liam, is how you came to be full of such crap. You think I'm conceited? Take a look in the mirror!"

Liam shook his head, half-smiling, like he knew something I did not. He stepped gracefully into the truck, and Erin clambered after him, slamming the door shut behind her (which promptly locked).

"Erin, turn on the flashlight," I demanded, still annoyed.

I heard a ruffling as Erin searched for the flashlight in her bag. "Aha!" A light flickered on, and I got a good glimpse of the dull, empty vehicle before the light flickered back out.

There were a few scratching noises followed by a final bang.

I could only assume the worst.

"The flashlight is broken," I stated.

"Yup," Erin answered.

"You were trying to turn it back on."

"Yup."

"But you failed and threw it against the wall in frustration, thus destroying any chance we had of fixing the flashlight."

"Well, I guess…"

The only light came from Liam's eyes. They followed me as I felt my way to the side of the truck and slumped down. "This is great," I said bitterly.

{No, it's not! There's no food in here!} Apple interrupted.

"Our PokeTechs have built in lights," Erin suggested.

"No, no. I'd rather just sit here in the dark and wallow in self-pity," I replied icily.

"Not conceited at all," Liam murmured.

"Do you have anything better to do?" I shot at the pair of green eyes.

"Actually, yes. We can discuss where Carly and Reece disappeared to and why they captured us in the first place," Liam answered.

Erin groaned. "Not this again! We've been over this about twenty gazillion times! Can't we just forget the whole thing?"

"Aw, but then you wouldn't remember your passionate kiss with little Liam," I snickered.

Even though it was dark, I could practically feel the heat radiating from her face. "Liam knows that was done out of… spite. It doesn't change our relationship—right Liam?"

"I try not to involve myself in the ridiculous workings of hormone-driven female teenagers. Can we get back to the topic I wish to discuss?"

"Teleportation," I grumbled.

"That would be the first thing you think of," Liam harshly accused. "We do not know whether they even have a Pokemon that knows teleport."

I shrugged. "It's the fastest way I know of to get out of place without leaving a trail. It'd also explain how they got the Tangela inside with the PPC's one-Pokemon rule."

"They might have just driven off in a truck or car! I mean, look at what we're doing!" Erin exclaimed. As if on cue, the truck's engines rumbled. We started to move.

"I guess it's possible…" I trailed.

"…but highly improbable," Liam finished. "As I said before, there are very few vehicles in Acceber. Pokemon often make that technology superfluous."

"So they could have left on a Pokemon," Erin suggested.

"Which brings us back to the point that they do not have any Pokemon that can perform such tasks," Liam said.

"That we know of," I chipped in.

{Does anyone else feel like this discussion is pointless and that there is no benefit to continuing with it?}

{That is generally what the word pointless implies,} I replied dryly. {Liam's the one started it. File a complaint to him!}

{Obviously I can't exactly do that.}

{Right. I'm the psychic one. Whatever.} I interrupted one of Erin's rants by clearing my throat. "Apple thinks this conversation is pointless and would like us to shut up so she can take a nap because we kept her up all night searching for Carly and Reece."

{I didn't say that!} Apple objected.

{But you agree.}

{Well… yeah.}

Erin yawned. "I'm with Apple." I heard a bit of shuffling. "This isn't too bad. I can probably fall…" A loud snore erupted from Erin's nose.

Yup, that's how quick Erin was conked out.

Liam rolled his eyes.

{Now that you mention it, I could do with a nap…}

"Goodnight," I said to both Liam and Apple.

Liam's eyes flickered to me before closing, obliterating all light in the truck. I too shut my eyes and drifted through dreams of moonlit darkness.

o o o o o o o o o o o o o

I woke up when the dancing lollipops started to chase me, relieved that my dream was not reality. The complete darkness disoriented me as I sat up. I could not tell what time it was, but I had deduced the truck was no longer moving from the lack of a rumbling sound beneath me.

"Anita, Liam, wake up!" I called as I stood up to stretch my sore back.

"I'm already up," Anita answered stiffly.

Liam's glowing eyes opened, making the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up—those eyes were awfully disturbing.

"I think we've arrived," I stated.

Liam walked across the truck. There was a soft clicking noise as he unlocked the door and flung it open. I cringed as the bright light streamed into my face.

Eventually, my sight returned enough to follow Liam out of the truck. Anita followed me carrying Apple, who continued to nap in Anita's arms.

I looked around, expecting to see my comfortable home town of Cape Caution. It would be good to see my family, my old lab, Professor Blubber…

Unfortunately, all I saw was a bunch of thick trees and a tiny dirt road. "This isn't Cape Caution," I stated dumbly. I looked accusingly at Liam. "You said the truck was headed for Cape Caution!"

Liam looked thoughtful. "According to the schedule, it was." He closed the truck door and started walking towards the front of the truck. I looked to Anita to exchange out usual annoyed glance when Liam started acting weird, but her expression was oddly blank. Liam returned. "The driver is not in the truck."

"Maybe he had to pee?" I suggested.

"We should look for him," Anita said.

"When he could be peeing?" I exclaimed. "No thanks!"

"We'll wait a few moments. If he does not return we will go looking," Liam decided.

He did not come. So maybe he was taking a dump…

"Anita, can you sense him anywhere?" I asked.

Anita did not answer. Instead, she walked past me into a more wooded area.

"Yes?" Could she just give me a definitive answer?

Anita nodded slightly, hopefully to answer me, and kept walking. Liam and I followed.

After about three minutes of silent, dreadfully boring walking, a huge run-down mansion appeared among the trees. "We should go inside," Anita said.

What was with her? She must have woken up on the wrong side of the truck… or something along those lines.

"I'm not sure we should," I replied. "He might be a drug dealer, and this is where he stores the drugs."

"We should go inside," Anita repeated.

I looked at Liam; he, too, seemed to think Anita was acting particularly strange and was staring at her in contemplation.

Just then, several things happened at once.

There was a loud roar of an engine from behind us, and some nearby animal or Pokemon squealed in fear. I tripped in surprise on top of Anita, causing Apple to wake up growling. Hurriedly, I picked myself up. As usual, due to Anita's ideas we were in trouble—the truck was leaving! I tried to scramble towards the truck, only to be stopped by Liam grabbing my arm.

"It is too late," Liam said.

"Liam, you piece of poop! We have to catch that truck!" I yelled as I uselessly struggled forward.

After two minutes, I gave up because the truck was long gone, I was tired, and for whatever reason, Apple was still growling.

"Liam's right. It is silly to chase the truck," Anita said eerily. Was she on drugs? She seemed fine before she fell asleep…

"Eevee eeeeee! Eevee, eeveevee! Eevee!" Apple barked at Anita.

"Why's Apple so mad?" I asked.

"She's upset because…" Anita paused. "She is hungry. There was no food in the truck."

"Figures," I muttered, but Apple continued to growl.

"Let's go inside," Anita said, smiling brightly now. "It will be fun." She started off for the sinister mansion again.

I mouthed, "What the hell is she smoking?" to Liam before following.

Liam shrugged. "It is logical. We have no idea where we are and have nowhere else to turn."

The house ahead of us became creepier and creepier as we neared it. A thick fog seemed to linger at our feet, and our crackling shoes seemed to disturb the pressured silence of the woods.

When we reached the wooden, spider-web covered porch, it took every ounce of my courage not to take a hint from my first instinct and bolt. Apple, apparently, had the same instinct. She growled even louder. "Are you sure about this?" I asked.

Anita continued to smile, and she absentmindedly picked up Apple. For a moment, I thought the Eevee would bite her, but the Pokemon settled for a continuous deep growl. Occasionally Apple would throw glances at me and Liam, almost a pleading look in her eyes.

Liam knocked on the door and rang the doorbell. I silently counted sixty seconds and then snapped my fingers. "Oh well! Nobody's home! Let's get going."

Liam did not move and Anita only moved closer to the house. Not very encouraging signs… What was wrong with their instincts?

Anita twisted the bronze door handle of the plain wooden door, and the door, unfortunately, swung open. Now I felt like I was in a horror movie. Seriously, insert foreboding music here.

Anita and Liam both entered the house, which I thought was pretty intrusive. I hesitated. Sadly, there was no way I was going to stay on this freaky porch alone so I had no choice but to follow.

The inside of the house was just as covered in spider-webs as the outside. A thick layer of dust covered the floor of the room we entered into, along with several antique chairs and picture frames. What I found most unnerving were the footprints in the dust scattered about the room. The prints were so far apart… It looked like someone hopping on one foot had easily leapt ten feet.

Liam bent down to examine one of these peculiar footprints, leaving a footprint trail of his own in the dust. Anita, in the meantime, strode directly through the room to the next door. "This way," she said.

Liam looked up at her and then at me. I shrugged and started forward. Abruptly, the hairs on my arms rose. A dark purple mist surrounded me, gently brushing my sides, and making my breath come up short.

Alright, this was way creepy. I tried to lower the pace of my racing heart and raspy breaths, but failed. Air rushed past my face, then a sharp, tickly feeling—something was nibbling my ear!

I screamed like I would if my shrinkable wardrobe ever caught on fire.

I heard a faint, echoing laughter, and then it was gone, leaving me scared out of my wits and panting heavily.

Liam was staring at me, his brow furrowed. Anita also watched me, holding Apple tightly despite the Eevee's thrashing. "What was that?" I gasped. "Did it happen to you, too?"

Liam and Anita both shook their heads. "Eevee! Eevee!" Apple exclaimed, nodding.

Not knowing what to make of the scene, and not wanting any further problems, I reached to my belt to release Griffy. My hand slapped my butt. I tried again—

Nothing there.

Where were my Pokeballs!

"My Pokemon are missing!" I shouted.

Liam's eyes flickered darkly to my belt, then to Anita's, and finally to his own. His hand brushed over his own belt. "My Pokemon are still here," he said slowly.

"Mine are gone," Anita said without even checking.

I waved my hands wildly at Liam. My Pokeballs were missing and we were just standing here! "Do something!" I yelled. "You still have Pokemon!"

Liam frowned. "They are of no use in this situation."

"I think I know what happened to them," Anita said, her face no longer smiling. "Follow me." She stepped into the next room, and flickered on the lights, which I would not have thought to look for in a house like this.

The room I followed Anita into shocked me. It was a spotless kitchen. Beautiful wooden cabinets gleamed in their dark glaze, the white tiled floor sparkled as if untouched, and the steel refrigerator had not one fingerprint.

Liam peered into what might have been a closet and then opened the refrigerator wide. There was food.

"Come on." Anita gestured to the next room, and we followed obligingly. The next rooms were the same as the kitchen, clean and perfect. We walked down as twisted hall, viewing a bathroom, some type of lounge, and a staircase.

Finally, we came to a set of wooden doors engraved with several swirls. I swear, for a second, purple air seeped out around the doors, but I blinked and no trace of purple remained.

Anita led us through the doors into a room that appeared to be a library. Books were stacked as high as the ceiling on long wooden shelves. A single chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting the room along with the grand window across the entire back of the room. In the center of the room, there were several cushioned couches.

Above these couches floated a Gengar and a Misdreavus, the latter watching me with a wide grin.

The Gengar, I observed, was looking at the couch. I turned my attention to the plush piece of furniture, and to my surprise, found myself looking into the silver eyes of a young boy.

A shiver ran down my back.

The pale boy smiled. "I'm so glad you guys came!"

I looked at Liam, who was expressionless as usual, and Anita, who appeared completely baffled. She put her hand on her head as she asked, "Where are we?"

"Four miles southwest of Cape Caution," the boy answered, tilting his head so his blond hair—so light it was almost white—fell away from his face.

Anita looked even more confused and she turned her attention to Apple, who was now quiet and well behaved. They appeared to be having some sort of deep telekinetic conversation. "I must be dreaming," I thought I heard Anita mutter.

I turned to the blonde boy. "Who are you? Where are your parents? What's with the creepy house and ghost Pokemon? Did you take our Pokemon? Where are they?" I demanded.

The Misdreavus playfully flipped through the air and whisked around my head.

"She's taken a liking to you," the boy commented sadly. Then he reached toward the Gengar. "This is Scary—"

"You betcha," I muttered.

"—my friend and family. He's taken care of me and played with me for a while. My name is Melvin, but I like Mel better. This is my home." He gestured around him.

"Where are our Pokemon?" I repeated.

Mel glanced at me embarrassedly, before saying, "They're safe."

I wanted to kick the kid in the face, but that might qualify as child abuse… I think. I'm still considered a child at age fourteen so that might change the charges or something. In any case, I then asked, "Why are we here?" because he seemed to have stolen our Pokemon. I figured he must want something in return.

The boy frowned. "I was lonely. I've been begging Scary forever to let me play with actual people—it gets boring playing with ghosts all the time—but he wouldn't disobey my father. I don't know where my father went… Scary and I were running out of food and then Scary saw the food truck passing by so he pulled it over. There wasn't any food, but there was you three! That was even better! Now you can stay here and play with me!"

"We're here because you needed someone to play with?" I asked in disbelief.

The boy smiled widely. "Yup! Aren't you excited?"

I grimaced. "Look, kid, I'm sorry you're lonely, but I'm not playing with you until you give me my Pokemon back." I glanced at Liam and Anita to judge their reactions. Liam watched the boy intently, his eyes narrowed, but Anita was oblivious to the world, apparently still engrossed in her conversation with Apple.

The boy frowned and stuck his chin out stubbornly. "No. I'm not giving them back until you play with me."

"Play what?" Liam interrupted.

"Everything!" the boy exclaimed.

Liam looked thoughtfully at the boy. "How about we make a deal. We will play any game you wish, but afterward, you will give Anita and Erin their Pokemon back."

"How about they only get their Pokemon back if you guys win. If I win, you get to stay and play more with me!"

How did this child know how to make deals? Seriously, how old was this kid?

"Deal," Liam answered, not even bothering to check with me and Anita. Did he understand his little bet affected all of us, not just his self-absorbed butt? "What game?"

The boy grinned. "Hide-n-go-seek. I hide, and if you can find me in fifteen minutes, you win."

Alright, maybe Liam made a good choice. This would be too easy. "What do we count to?" I asked.

"Counting…" the boy chuckled. "That's a good one. There's no need to be so generous."

Then he disappeared.

Well, that couldn't be any good.