[Warning: Post game spoilers]

It all looked hopeless. The wiring of the tower, that is.

Normally, Clemont wasn't ever too phased when the tower decided to black out for five or ten minutes, because normally, the cause was easily fixed. However this was different.

This black out was planned, as the lights went off not only while he was having a gym battle with a trainer, but they were off for long enough that whoever had caused them to go out had stolen some of the pokémon belonging to the gym trainers. And to top it all off, the wiring couldn't easily be fixed; whoever had been tasked with messing with it had done a grand job, with many wires snipped into not only two, but three pieces, and some that couldn't be cut up simply switched around with other such wires.

"It looks messy," Bonnie muttered behind him, peering into the compartment from over his shoulder. Dedenne, resting on her head as always, murmured a low, "Ne ne," as if echoing what she'd said. Her brother sighed.

"I don't know how I'm going to fix this, at least not without help. But really, our first priority should be to find the missing pokémon," he said, getting to his feet and closing the compartment door, silently hoping he won't have to look inside it again for a while. Eyeing up the crowd of worried looking gym trainers, he sighed, before walking over to them, raising his voice to say, "Okay everyone, it would probably be best for you all to wait until the police have talked to everyone before we all go home. Hopefully, everything will be sorted soon." Helene, one of the gym trainers from the third floor of the tower and also one who'd had her Manectric stolen, stepped forward and asked, a panicked look on her face, "What about the pokémon that were taken?"

"Finding the missing pokémon is the top priority, I promise," he told her, trying to be reassuring. The girl merely bit her lip in response. Several police cars pulled up outside the tower, and the officers got to work interviewing the trainers, the gym leader and his sister included.

"What exactly happened?" Officer Jenny asked, notebook in hand. Clemont opened his mouth to reply, however Bonnie interrupted him, saying, "It was during the battle, the power just suddenly started acting weird before it completely went out." Though slightly annoyed to be interrupted again by his sister - because this was not the first time it'd happened, plus this was a serious situation - Clemont found his attention being taken elsewhere. Turning around, he found the young trainer that'd been battling him for the gym badge.

"Hey, uh," he started, aware of what the incident meant for the boy; he'd have to put off his journey toward the league for a little while, "I'm sorry about what's happened. I'm afraid we won't be able to continue our battle till everything's sorted out." The trainer shook his head, saying, "That's alright. I figured that would be the case. I was actually wondering if you had anyone in mind to find the missing pokémon?" The blond raised a single eyebrow in confusion.

"Uh, I was sort of going to let the police handle that." The trainer shrugged.

"Okay then. It's just that I'd heard of this person that was really good at this sort of thing, and they're right here in Lumiose." Growing curious, the gym leader said, "Go on." The trainer looked around, his focus on the small plazas placed between some of the Lumiose avenues leading to Centrico Plaza, which was where the tower was located. He then asked, "Where abouts is Rouge Plaza?" Clemont himself looked around before answering, "I think it's on the other side of the tower. Why?"

"The person's heaquarters is near the plaza, down the alley that leads onto North Boulevard. A place called 'Looker Bureau', and the person working there...I think her name is Essentia." The gym leader blinked, then asked, "How do you know this?" The trainer shrugged again.

"I just heard about it from somewhere. I might've picked up a card that was lying on the street actually..." The boy dug into his pockets before pulling out a small, thin card. Preferring not to question why he had picked up a random card off the street, Clemont took the card off him and looked at it, quickly checking the other side should it have anything on it. It was a fairly plain card; light grey in colour with a name and address on it.

"'Essentia, Looker Bureau, Rouge Plaza'," he read, adjusting his glasses before looking to the fine print, "'Price of services vary depending on task.'" Despite already establishing the blank underside of the card, he turned it round again then asked, "And you think this...Essentia can help find the missing pokémon?" However, the trainer had now been taken to the side by a police officer. A hand fell on his shoulder, making the boy jump, only to realise it was Officer Jenny.

"Well sir, your sister was very cooperative. We'll keep an eye out and report back once we find any leads. In the meantime, I don't think you'll be having any gym battles for a while," she said. Clemont quickly pocketed the card he'd received from the trainer and responded, "That's fine. Besides, I'll need to sort the wiring for the tower before anything else. Can't really battle in the dark, even with Electric-types." Jenny chuckled, then motioned to her squad to leave, having done all they could for now. Getting in her car, she tipped her hat to the siblings and drove off, leaving the group standing outside the now temporarily out of service tower. Some of the older gym trainers began rounding up the younger ones and dividing them up into small groups so they could be taken home.

"We should head home too, shouldn't we?" Bonnie said, looking up at her brother. She started to walk away, however Clemont stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. Calling over one of the fifth floor trainers, he asked her, "Tara, could you please take Bonnie home? I need to check something out." The older woman nodded, ushering a confused Bonnie into her group consisting of two schoolboys and one of the third floor trainers. Once the group containing his sister had disappeared down Vernal Avenue, the gym leader, now alone in Centrico Plaza, turned back to the tower and collected his backpack, still sitting next to the compartment door where he'd carelessly left it. Taking the card out again, he skimmed it once, twice, thrice more, making sure he knew where he was going.

"To Rouge Plaza then," he muttered, beginning the trek to his destination and purposefully ignoring the darkening sky overhead, as well as the lack of light coming from his gym.

Finding the place wasn't that hard, as it was where the young trainer had said it would be, down the alley leading off Rouge Plaza toward the northern boulevard of the city. He double checked the sign however, making sure he did have the place, then checked over his shoulder. He couldn't help but worry, considering the time and the location. His grip on his backpack tightened, though one hand did let go and dived into his pocket, clutching the Poké Ball containing his prized partner tightly. When he felt brave enough, he entered the building.

"Um, hello?" He called out, peaking round the door nervously before stepping in the room fully. At first, he assumed the place was empty, however he was very much mistaken, as from behind a bookshelf emerged a tall punkish looking guy.

"Oi, we're closed," the man grumbled, lumbering toward the arguably much smaller gym leader threateningly. Clemont, suddenly frightened out his mind - because did they really hire such a person and oh Arceus help him two punk girls had crawled out from wherever and were now standing behind the man wearing similar looks of hostility and annoyance directed right at him - paled and said quickly, his voice coming out in a squeak, "I-I'm sorry, there was no sign saying you were closed and I-I'm really just-"

"Do'n't matt'r brat! Scram or we'll force ya out!" the man shouted right into his face. Then one of the girls behind him said, "'ang on a minute. Ain't this boy the gym leader of that big tower?" The other girl puckered her lips.

"I think 'e is. But wot's a gym leader doin' 'ere?" she said.

"I don't know myself anymore! I figured this could've been a bad idea but I wasn't expecting this!" Clemont thought, now expecting the worst to happen, though he was praying for something or someone to come help him right there and then. As though Arceus itself had heard his prayers, a voice, obviously angry and obviously directed at the trio of punks, to Clemont's relief, rang out in the room.

"Hey! What's going on 'ere? Back off, you three, back off!" The punk guy's previously menacing growl of a face turned to a frightened one similar to what the young boy had been wearing before he was suddenly pulled away from the blond by his leather jacket. The gym leader's saviour, a tanned girl with messy black hair now stood in his place. With her hands on her hips and an incredably annoyed expression on her face, she said to the three punks, who now looked sheepish while their eyes looked everywhere but the girl, "And what do you three think yer doin'? Actin' all tough an' stuff when someone's obviously come here lookin' for help. I swear, sometimes you three make me sick." This last sentence caused all three to flinch and mutter, "We're sorry boss." Clemont was both impressed and stupefied at this display.

"What am I gonna do with you lot?" she sighed, then she straightened up and barked, "Alright, if you want back in my good books, you best be gettin' some work done. Sedna, you get some filin' done; Eris, make some tea for the guest an' me; Nix, night patrol and pron'o!" The three punks both jumped to work with a panicked sounding, "Yes boss!" separating to do their individual tasks with Nix, the large man that'd previously been terrorising the gym leader, running past Clemont and out the door, a look of sheer terror on his face.

"They're tough work sometimes, but catch 'em in a good mood and they're actually alright people." Realising he was being talked to, Clemont turned back to the girl - who, upon closer inspection now she was facing him, was about his height with blue eyes, which seemed a lot kinder looking now than they'd been a few seconds before - and muttered, "If you say so." Eris shuffled away from the kitchen area, head toward the floor and asked the gym leader in a stammering voice, "H-h-how d'you t-take yer t-t-t-tea?" A quick glance at the girl and spying her stern face made the punk add, "S-s-sir?"

"Just plain, if that's okay," he said. As Eris shuffled away again, the girl by his side sighed and muttered, as if to reassure herself more than him, "They can be good people..." Motioning to a table to their right, she said, "Shall we?" The boy merely nodded in response before following her and sitting opposite her. A quick glance to his left and he saw the other punk girl - Sedna - working hard, whizzing through the folders and the files. The girl coughed, catching his attention again, and smiled.

"I'd just like to apologise for what happened. Though they were sort of right; we are closed up for the night. But, then again, can't really do much if something's up and someone needs help. In that case, mister gym leader, what's the problem?" The blond gulped and said, throat feeling quite dry all of a sudden, "C-Clemont is fine really. And may I know who you are first?" The girl nodded.

"Fair enough. I'm Emma. I live and work here. I'm Essentia's...secretary, I guess," she said, after a slight pause. Then she added, "You are looking for Essentia, aren't you?" Clemont nodded. He began to talk only for his words to change into a brief "Thank you" as Eris delivered his tea and placed it in front of him. He took a small sip only to instantly regret it as the tea was still very warm. Emma meanwhile took a large sip from her own cup, unphased by the heat and motioned for him to talk.

"Well, y'see, earlier today, the tower's electrical system started acting weird. That's something I can fix myself, but during the power failure - and this is what I need Essentia's help with - some pokémon went missing. The trainer I was battling suggest Essentia to me, saying she could help, giving me this card he'd found," he told Emma, taking the card from his pocket and putting it on the table. Emma picked up the card and flicked it once, muttering to herself, "I see..." A small purring from the floor caught Clemont's attention, making him look down. An Espurr stood by Emma's leg, peering out from behind it nervously up at him. While the boy couldn't help but feel unnerved by its stare - he'd never really been all that fond of Espurr, as harmless as he knew they were - Emma instead smiled at the creature, bending down and picking it up. She gave it a scratch behind one ear, far enough away that she wasn't touching it, and cooed to it, "Hello there Mimi." When the pokémon mewed happily - though it was hard to tell since its facial expression didn't change - Emma's smile widened.

"I don't see a problem with Essentia helping you with your problem. Though it is still late. Tell you what; I'll let Essentia know what's up, and she'll meet you in front of your gym tomorrow morning. Sound fair?" Clemont nodded.

"Yeah. Besides, I do sort of need to get home. My sister is waiting for me and she'll be wondering what happened to me, especially since I had one of the gym trainers take her home while I came here." As Emma took another sip of her tea, he remembered his own, which he reached for only to be stopped by the girl.

"You should probably head home then. She'll be worried." The blond nodded, saying rather dumbly, "She would, yeah." He stood from the table and picked up his backpack, which he'd removed when they sat down. As he reached the door however, he turned and asked, "Actually, can I ask you something quickly? Just out of curiosity?"

"Shoot."

"How old are you?" Emma's mentioning of her living and working at the Bureau had made him curious, especially considering her appearance. Emma chuckled.

"I'm 16. Now goodnight, Clemont, and have a safe trip home." This was missed by the boy however, as he left the building thinking with shock, "She's a year older than me?"

Ah, another new drabble and so soon~! And I wrote it in one night! Bonus points.

And if I'm honest, this isn't the whole thing. It started getting way long, so I decided to write this particular drabble story with two chapters, unless the next one ends up super long as well, then maybe three. Hopefully not three, cause that's way too long, sorry.

Btw, remember my fangirl moment from chapter/drabble 2? Well I'm actually dead excited because I've finally written one of my fave characters now, eep! I've written about the dork omg this will be fun, plus I've got Emma in here too and I like Emma.

So, usual shtick; review, fave and follow, cause its all indicating you like this story.

Actually, I'm going to be a bit petty here for the sake of my pride. Could I pleeeease get a review? I know it's you're own choice and all, but with only two reviews 5 drabbles in, it makes me feel a bit down. Reviewing is still optional, always has and always will be, of course. The low number just makes me feel sort of sad. :'''D

Okay, sappy sob story moment over.

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading and do look forward to more~!

Angel-chan x

Ps. Reminder that suggestions are very much welcome. :3