Unbeknownst to the two females, several individuals in Castelia City's crowded streets had turned their gazes on the pair, each narrowing his or her eyes. This wasn't supposed to happen—the detective and the girl were supposed to go their separate ways, alone and helpless.

One in particular looked on with just the slightest hint of remorse, shaking his head in dismay before vanishing into an alleyway.

It wasn't long before Amy and Annette arrived at the hotel and, despite a confused glance from the man at the counter, they reached the detective's room with little incident.

"So. Are you ready to tell me about Teams Rocket and Plasma?" Amy asked, pulling up a chair next to the foot of the bed where Anette sat. Her Delcatty, no longer threatened by the presence of other Pokemon, had moved on from looking menacing to claiming the pillow as his throne.

Annette frowned and looked at the floor, but suddenly looked up. "Huh? Why only those two?"

"What do you mean, why only those t...oh, Arceus no. Don't tell me there's more."

"O-okay, I won't. I mean, if you'd rather I stay quiet...that's okay..."

"Wha...? No, I mean...are there more?"

With some hesitation, the girl in front of her nodded.

"Seriously, how on Earth...which ones?"

"Well, you already know about Rocket and Plasma...I also saw people from Cipher, Magma, Aqua, Galactic..." She stopped and started to tremble, apparently recalling something particularly unpleasant about that last team.

"But...that's every crime syndicate I can name! How did they manage to get together without being noticed?!"

"They were noticed," Annette answered. "By lots of people, too, but now they're all..."

"...Dead?" Amy asked, trying to finish the statement.

No answer.

"What happened to them?"

The blonde's gaze darkened. "I'd rather not say..."

"But we'll never find them if you don't say anything!"

She flinched, making the detective feel guilty.

"Sorry...you're still not ready to talk about it, huh?"

Annette shook her head. "But...I know where you can find some of their bases."

"Oh, that should help a ton! Where's the nearest one?"

"Just north of here, in Relic Castle, but I think they might have some buildings in the city, too."

"You don't sound too sure about it."

The teen shuffled her feet nervously. "I haven't been everywhere, and I wasn't really trying to memorize the maps on the walls when I was there..."

So she's not just a witness. She's been to at least one of their bases, too. "Huh. Well, that's still a big help! Do you think you'll be ready to scout the place tomorrow?"

"B-but you don't know what's waiting there for you!"

"Sure I do. Tons of grunts and an army of Poison-types, right?"

"Well, you're not wrong..."

"Then I can handle it! Zangoose was practically born to take down thugs like that, and he's not my only Pokemon. Plus, we might even catch a grunt or two for interrogation!"

Annette seemed to consider it for a moment before giving a reluctant nod. "Just be really careful and try to come back safely, please."

"Huh? You know you're coming along too, right?"

"W-what?"

"Yeah. I can't just leave you to be snatched up or attacked while I'm gone. Besides, you'll probably have a better idea of what the base's general layout is." Amy pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "But for now, there's somebody I have to talk with. Want to meet him?"

The blonde started to feel sick to her stomach at the thought of going straight into such a horrible place, but the woman did have a point. Now more than ever since she was out of the safety of the Pokemon Center, she was like a sitting duck without the detective. I just need to trust her for now, she told herself. "Alright. But who are you calling?"

"Smith: the person who usually brings me cases since I'm just a newbie. He's also an informant, and he's been a great help!" Amy answered, then paused as she waited for the person in question to pick up the phone. "...Oh, hi. Guess what? Everything went well!...Yeah...uh-huh...well, sort of...huh? Yeah...yeah, maybe..." The detective looked briefly up at Annette. "I kinda have to meet up with him to pay him for his help. Are you okay with coming along?"

"Well, I guess so..."

"Great!" She went back to talking with Smith on the phone. "Yep, she's fine with it...great, I'll see you there. Thanks!" Amy hung up and turned to Annette. "Looks like he'll be over here in a few minutes."

"Oh, so we're not going to go to him?"

"Nope."

"I see. So...what kind of person is he?" The teen shuffled nervously once more, already wary of meeting and trusting another stranger.

"Hmm...he's a little hard to read sometimes, but he's a good kid." A vague answer, but it wasn't exactly easy to gauge Smith's personality with his formal demeanor.

"P-pardon? He's not really a kid, is he?"

"Well, I think he is..."

Sure enough, a light knock could be heard on the door after a few minutes. If that hadn't been enough to catch the girls' attention, Delcatty's sudden outburst of hissing and growling at the door certainly did the trick. "Loki, please stop that! I'm sorry miss Amy, he doesn't usually act like this..."

"It's alright, just...try not to let him attack anyone." While the flustered blonde tried to calm her Pokemon, Amy sighed and answered the door. "Sorry about that. Nice to see you again!"

"Likewise." His face no longer obscured by the hood, Smith stepped inside and smiled politely at Annette. "I see you've finally decided to place your trust in a detective. Don't worry; you're safe with Amy."

"Ahem..."

"Pardon me, I mean Detective Amethyst. It's a pleasure to meet you, Annette." He held out a hand.

The teen was puzzled by Smith's appearance. Amy had warned her he looked like and could very well be a child, twelve years old at most, but a part of her was still expecting the detective's friend to be a bit...older-looking. "Um, you too...Smith, right?" She hesitantly returned the handshake while her Delcatty crouched behind his trainer and glared daggers at the boy.

"That's correct. So, what are you two up to?"

Amy spoke up. "Well, actually...we were planning on sneaking into a base in Relic Castle."

"Is that so?" The informant's eyes gleamed for just a brief moment, which went mostly unnoticed by all except the Delcatty who started up another hissing fit.

Having grown used to the bad-tempered feline, the detective talked over its hissing while Annette busied herself with calming it down. "Yeah! I figure we can even arrest a grunt and take them to the poli—"

"—That may not be the best idea," Smith was quick to cut in. "I've heard they have spies within the police force and most detective agencies. If you happen to run into one of them instead of an actual officer..."

"Oh, I never even thought of that! We'll have to do this in secret or they'll catch on and stop us before we even get close to finding their leader."

"That's right." Was he holding back a grin? "No going to others for help, I'm afraid. So, you'll be going to Relic Castle?"

"Yep." After counting the bills, Amy handed Smith his payment. "Thanks again for all your help! I don't think I would have gotten this far if it weren't for you."

"Oh, it's no problem. I think you have a bright future ahead of you. Both of you..." He waved goodbye and headed for the door. "Well, I'll be on my way. Take care, you two!"

"Yeah, you too!" As soon as her friend was gone, Amy turned to Annette. "See? He's a nice kid."

"Yeah...but Loki didn't seem to like him very much..."

I don't think he likes anyone very much, from what I've seen... "Well, I guess it's good that he won't be traveling with us, then."

"Mhm."

"And now that that's settled," Amy let Zangoose out of his Pokeball and pumped a fist in the air. "Let's get going!"

"But you said we were going to wait until tomorrow!" Annette protested while holding her Delcatty to stop him from leaping at Zangoose.

"But now I'm all eager to go. Besides, the longer we wait, the more time those people will have to perform evil deeds!"

Piecing together the situation, Zangoose sighed and stomped on his trainer's foot.

"Ow! Zangoose, not you, too! Don't you want to stop the—OUCH!"

After silencing the detective with another foot-stomp, the Pokemon pointed at the window and hissed. It was already late afternoon, and there was no way this little adventure his trainer wanted to go on would be over before everyone got tired.

"Zangoose...okay, you win. Tommorow it is." Defeated, Amy sat on the floor.

Annette watched the spectacle with a mixture of amusement and relief, and even the Delcatty seemed to calm down out of silent gratitude towards Zangoose. "So, Amy...what are you doing on the floor?"

"Well, I have to sleep somewhere, right? And the sooner we sleep, the sooner we can go stop those villains!"

"Wha...? Oh, no, I can sleep on the floor! I mean, it's your room, so—"

"Hey, it's alright. You take the bed; it'll be a long day tomorrow."

"If you say so..." But...it's still too early to fall asleep... Annette thought silently, but decided not to protest.

"I...fail to see why we need to go to all of this trouble, sir," a man said into a transmitter with a hushed voice. The warehouse he was in was undoubtedly empty—he had made certain of that—but he still glanced around for eavesdroppers every so often. "I could easily have led her to you then and there."

"Unlike you, I want to be ready for failure. As long as those two trust you, you can influence their actions no matter what happens. If you were to try something yourself, we'd lose that advantage," the man on the other end stated.

He paused briefly before answering. "I understand. Then does that mean you're expecting the ambush to fail?"

"Yes. Too much faith in incompetent grunts is what led each and every one of my new allies to their downfall. I also want you to make preparations for our next move right away. Even if, by some chance, those grunts do their jobs properly, it's better to be prepared."

"...Right away, sir."

Author's Note: Here it is! Took a little longer than I would've liked thanks to schoolwork, but I guess it can't be helped.

Well, hope you all enjoy it!