Chapter 3 – Agitation
Hayden and Lily sat contently at the kitchen table, having a casual conversation amongst themselves. Tidus lay on the carpet having his own conversation with Lily's Houndoom, Theo. The sun was setting and the sky glowed in a warm orange hue. The front door opened gently as Keenan and Xavier entered the house. Keith and Alexa followed behind, walking relatively slowly due to their earlier injuries. Robbie was the final one to enter the house, with Keith's Buizel, newly nicknamed Reese, riding on his back; anybody could tell that the two became good friends, which was relatively surprising, given they had met not a couple hours ago. Hayden and Lily immediately noticed Alexa and Keith's conditions, or lack thereof, and approached the teens.
"What happened, are you hurt?" Hayden asked worriedly.
"I-it's fine, we just had a close call," Alexa said casually. "This is Robbie, Keith's second partner Pokémon," she said, indicating the now cheery Deerling.
"Aw, he's a sweetheart," Lily smiled. "But are you sure you two are all right? You walked in strangely."
"My back hurts, that's all," Keith explained sheepishly. Hayden had assumed Alexa's limp was because of a problem with her ankle, but soon noticed the bandage around her knee.
"Are you sure that doesn't hurt?" Hayden asked, slightly more worried than before. Alexa smiled nervously.
"It hurts when I walk on it, but I'm sure that'll pass," she assumed. Tidus had spotted Keenan's lack of injury; he knew the boy followed his sister, so he automatically assumed that, if Keenan was around when Alexa got hurt, he would've gotten hurt too. Unless he was well protected.
"What happened anyway?" Hayden asked. Alexa momentarily looked away from her father, wondering if she should give him a straight answer or a brief one. Keith remained silent, allowing Alexa to make up her mind.
"We got hit by Rock Tomb," she finally replied. "We couldn't defend ourselves properly."
"But if Keenan was with you...why didn't he-?"
"I made sure he didn't get hurt, Mum; I protected him," Alexa replied instantly.
"And I protected them both," Keith added. "By the time we got out of it, the attackers had gone."
"They said they were the ones causing this epidemic," Keenan explained.
"Then I'd be careful if I were you. Both of you," Hayden cautioned the teens. They nodded in agreement as Hayden looked down at his son. "What about you? Are you helping them?"
"Y-yeah," Keenan said shyly. "I-I won't hold them back, Dad, I-"
"Nobody said you would, buddy," Hayden smiled. "But you should be careful as well."
"You got it, Dad," Keenan smiled.
"For now, though, I say you should all get some rest. Sounds like you had it rough today," Hayden advised. Alexa, Keith and Keenan agreed as they walked up the stairs. As Robbie and Xavier followed on, Hayden and Lily sat back down at the table.
"Are you sure letting Keenan help Alexa is a good idea?" Lily asked.
"I don't know," Hayden replied simply. "But I know that once his mind's made up, there's no changing it."
"That's true," Lily smiled. "Oh, shoot! I forgot about the-"
"Don't worry about that tonight," Hayden smiled, holding onto his wife's hand from across the table. "Let them rest first, then give them to him."
Gabby sat on a small stool as she bandaged the swollen hand of a very disgruntled Andy. The room around them looked plain and old; the wallpaper around them was blue and white, and looked as though it'd been there for years. The furniture looked almost like what one would see in a retirement home; plush sofas with a pink and cream floral design were around the room, the lampshade on the small table next to the recliner looked bland, yet frilly. The carpet had seen better days as well; its once bright blue colour had worn down to an almost grey colour, and appeared to not have been cleaned even once, and was fuzzy beyond belief. The fireplace looked plain, albeit sooty at the back, but it appeared to have been recently used. Several small logs were placed next to the fireplace, and a box of matches was conveniently placed atop the fireplace. Andy sat on the sofa near the mahogany coffee table, upon which was a first aid kit that Gabby was using to sort out his hand.
"Can you believe Jordan's reaction?" Gabby asked. "You told him those kids were still alive and he took it like it was no big deal!"
"To be honest, I wasn't all that surprised," Andy admitted reluctantly. "I mean, part of me knew they were alive; I didn't hear any agonised screaming."
"...there is that, yeah," Gabby agreed.
"I'm not concerned about the girl or the little guy. But there's something about Spike Head I don't like," Andy said quietly, almost in a growl at the very thought of Keith.
"I swear, if that little tart comes within two feet of me, I'll scratch her silly you won't recognise her when I'm done..!" Gabby hissed. Andy looked at her.
"What's your problem with her anyway?" he asked.
"You know how I feel about other girls!" Gabby huffed. Andy smirked, as he could guess what that feeling was; envy. "Besides...she looks...well..."
"She's DEFINITELY not a size Double G, that's for sure!" Andy laughed. Offended and furious, Gabby slapped her patient. Her sharp fingernails scratched Andy's cheek and almost made him bleed. "Ow...!"
"You two arguing again?" Jordan asked in a sigh as he entered the room. He held a glass of brown alcoholic liquid in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. He tossed his cigarette into the fire place, took a tiny sip from his glass and spat it at the cigarette. In a small explosion, the fireplace was lit and began to burn brilliantly. He sat down on the recliner and sat his glass down on the smaller table nearby.
"Hey, boss, why aren't you concerned about the kids being alive?" Andy asked, holding onto his cheek with his free hand.
"Skarmory's performance was all for nowt," Gabby added, focused on bandaging her colleague's hand.
"I doubt Skarmory cares," Jordan began. "As for why I'm not worried?" he rhetorically asked, taking out his hunting knife from its belt case. "Well... If the wild Pokémon don't take care of them..." He turned the blade at an angle, causing Andy and Gabby to see their own reflections on the murderous apparatus. "...I will."
Keenan fell backwards onto his bed and looked up at his boring old ceiling after he had changed into a pair of black pyjamas. His expression made it hard to identify what he was feeling, but his frown hinted that it wasn't a good feeling. Ruby, his Misdreavus, materialised in front of him and looked at him with concern. The little ghost Pokémon took a little breath.
"I'm fine," Keenan sighed, answering the Pokémon before she could even ask if he was all right. His tone of voice corroborated with his expression; he was anything but fine. Iara hopped onto the bed and nuzzled the boy, knowing his claim to be a lie. Ruby stared at her trainer, her expression unchanged.
"Okay, okay, I'm not fine," Keenan finally admitted. "I just feel so bad; Keith and Alex got hurt and I didn't. How fair is that?"
"Misd?"
"Poreon, por-poreon?"
"Probably not...but, still, I'd rather have gotten hurt as well than to have not been hurt while my sister did," Keenan said. Iara rolled her eyes before she licked Keenan's cheek. Keenan smiled; he always appreciated her concern, being his oldest ally and friend. Ruby smiled after seeing Keenan cheering up.
Alexa and Keith sat on her bed, Alexa in a quaint white nightgown and Keith...just in his boxers. Robbie, Reese, Ryder and Xavier lay in the middle of the room, sleeping as a group. Alexa carefully removed the last of the bandage around his torso and looked at the damage on his back; he had two tremendously large purple, and red, to some extent, bruises on his back along with a couple of healed superficial cuts. The sight of the bruises alone made Alexa feel horrible deep inside.
"The cuts look a little better, but the bruises stick out like a Metapod in a Kakuna tree," she explained.
"At least I won't stain the bed," Keith teased. Alexa sighed as she moved over to sit next to him. The nightgown covered most of her legs, exposing only her ankles and hiding her leg wound.
"You didn't have to protect us like that," she said quietly. Keith looked at her, concerned.
"I wanted to. I couldn't stand there and let you get hurt," he explained.
"But remember what the professor said?" Alexa asked, looking at him. "We shouldn't let our personal lives get in the way of our work."
"That won't stop me looking out for you," Keith stated firmly. "Or Keenan. Look...I love you, Alexa; I care about you, no matter how I view you."
"I care about you too. That's why I'd rather you didn't put yourself at risk for my sake. We're both Rangers, there's no need to protect me." Keith's silence turned into a sheepish snigger as he smiled nervously.
"Sorry, Kitten. I guess I've forgotten you're a tough cookie," he confessed. Alexa pulled her knees up and held onto them.
"I'm not that tough," she said. Keith was astonished that Alexa was selling herself short, or so he believed.
"Yes you are; you fought a guy three times your size and half as smart," Keith explained, trying to put on a cheerful smile.
"That went well," Alexa said sarcastically.
"You did pretty well until that piledriver," Keith said. He then smacked himself on the head, immediately regretting what he had said.
"Which could've broken my neck," Alexa pouted.
"Hey, come on, this sourpuss doesn't suit you. You tried your best," Keith said, gently running his fingers through her hair. "That's all that matters." Alexa looked at him. Her frown became a gentle smile in seconds upon noticing his.
"Thanks, Keith." Keith pulled her gently towards him and gently rested his head on hers.
"Of course." He looked at her sweetly as he slowly tilted her head up to face him eye to eye. Their eyes closed softly as his lips touched hers.
It was the middle of the night, and the nocturnal Pokémon, if there were indeed any willing to do so, were dominating the night. A large Conkeldurr dragged an unconscious Donphan, by the trunk, along the floor. Conkelduur tossed the defeated elephant Pokémon into the back of the 4x4, along with several others of its kind, some with smaller tusks than others. Andy looked satisfied with their catch, but Gabby looked bored. Suddenly, a thought popped up in her head.
"Say, Jordan?"
"What is it, Gabby," Jordan asked plainly as he recalled the muscular Pokémon back into its Poké Ball. "Urgh, there's got to be an easier way to do this thing," he complained to himself.
"If the wild Pokémon are gonna take out the kids," she began. "Maybe they could be...encouraged?" she asked, putting on a seductive smile. Jordan, completely ignoring the temptation entirely, took her idea into consideration.
"Hmm...and I know just the place. Andy, a detour is a must."
"Gotcha."
The next morning...
Lily handed Keith a couple of big, gold coloured carrier bags. Keith accepted them, despite being confused about the gesture. He was dressed only in his uniform shorts, while Alexa was fully dressed in her own uniform.
"Thanks. Um...what's in them?" Keith asked carefully, not wanting to offend Lily.
"Clothes," Lily explained. "I did some shopping at the Goldenrod Mall the other day. I based the sizes on your uniform, but I must admit the trouser lengths are a total guess..."
"Thanks, Lily," Keith smiled. "No offence, but I didn't think you were serious about all this."
"None taken, sweetie. I just thought you and Alexa could carry out most of your duty out of uniform," she said.
"Uh, we could get in trouble for it, Mum," Alexa said with uncertainty.
"What the professor doesn't know won't hurt him," Lily winked. "Besides, I sincerely doubt that not wearing your uniform while on duty is grounds for discharge."
"I don't think there're any rules about that," Alexa mused.
"There you go then," Lily laughed. "I'll see you downstairs."
"Thanks, Mum," Alexa smiled as her mother left the room. Keith flung the bags onto Alexa's relatively messy bed as he rummaged through the contents.
"Yeah, well, I'm still wearing my styler. Can't do my duty without it," he stated.
"Wearing your styler with casual clothes? Sounds strange, but I'll roll with it," Alexa said casually.
"So what's the deal with the mall anyway?" Keith asked.
"There're four in each region; the Celadon Mall, Goldenrod Mall, Lilycove Mall and Veilstone Mall," Alexa explained. "Dad doesn't own the chain in Unova. Then again, there's not a proper mall chain in Unova; according to Troy, the Poké Marts are in the Pokémon Centres there."
"Troy?"
"My cousin; he sent me a batch of eggs from Unova, one of which was Xavier's egg," Alexa said briefly. "Anyway, the only real mall is the Route 9 Mall, simply called Shopping Mall Nine...Dad's grateful that he doesn't own that mall."
"Why's that?" Keith asked, pulling out a green long-sleeved shirt from one of the bags.
"They let trainers battle in the mall, apparently," Alexa replied. "Troy told me about it; apparently, someone was battling and it almost set the whole building alight. Dad thinks the Shopping Mall Nine is a disgrace. 'A real mall has more than just stuff for Pokémon Trainers', he says, so he changed that with the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh malls."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I should take you to the Goldenrod Mall sometime," Alexa said keenly. "It's a lot better than it used to be. There's so much you could do there you could spend the whole day there!" Keith looked at her rather slyly.
"Miss Thorndyke, are you asking me out on a date?" he asked playfully. Alexa's eyes widened and blushed rather heavily.
"I-I, uh..." Keith broke out laughing.
"Your face!" He laughed again as Alexa shook her head rapidly, attempting to shake off the embarrassment.
"I-"
"Sure."
"...what?"
"I'd love to see the mall with you," Keith replied truthfully, bearing a gentle smile on his face. Alexa was still blushing, but it was most definitely not from embarrassment.
"...n-not right now, o-obviously, there's still an epidemic to sort out." Keith smirked.
"All the more reason for us to kick their asses post haste then."
Keith finally chose his outfit from the selection of clothes Lily had purchased for him; he walked down the stairs, along with Alexa and Robbie, dressed in the green shirt he picked out earlier, dark blue jeans – the trouser length was relatively long, almost touching the floor – and black lace trainers. He wore the dog tags Alexa gave to him on top of his shirt. He loved those tags; they were a souvenir from someone close to him, and they made him feel better after having confessed his side of events when it came to the Yellow Gem incident that both he and Alexa regretted very much.
"And you're certain it wasn't an employee?" Hayden asked, rather angrily. Before she could greet him a good morning, Alexa found her father on his mobile phone; whoever he was talking to, it was evident that he hadn't received good news. "And why didn't the night staff do anything about the theft?!" he demanded.
"Theft..?" Alexa asked herself, keeping her voice low in volume to not disturb her father's conversation.
"Oh, those guys are SO going to hear about my feelings on that..!" he growled furiously. Alexa scoffed slightly. She knew that only one thing could make him that furious when it came to work; gross misconduct. "It's just lucky it was just one crate. No, no, I'll deal with them myself. Thanks, Clare." He took the phone from his ear and ended the call.
"What's wrong, Dad?" Alexa asked. Hayden looked towards Alexa and Keith. Hayden noticed Keith's new attire, but didn't comment on it.
"A crate of evolution stones was stolen from the Celadon Mall," he replied.
"Evolution stones?" Keith asked in bewilderment.
"Celadon Mall sells four types of them; Fire, Water, Leaf and Thunder. As their name suggests, they evolve Pokémon," Hayden explained. "Celadon Mall is the only mall to sell those products, but I'm working on having them available in the other three malls at the moment."
"But who would steal just ONE crate of them, though?" Alexa asked in complete bafflement.
"Whoever needs 160 total stones," Hayden guessed. "40 of each type; that's what each crate contains." Keenan and Iara ran down the stairs, both looking panicky.
"Listen to this!" he exclaimed, holding up his PokéGear; it was tuned into the radio. A broadcast started playing.
"Fuchsia City's Safari Zone has been deemed dangerous after an unusual raid in which no Pokémon were stolen. However, the resident Pokémon have grown even more hostile than ever before, according to Mr Bains, Safari Warden. Civilians are advised to keep clear of the Safari Zone until further notice."
"We should investigate," Keith said to Alexa. "It might be those three again." Alexa nodded in agreement.
"But why would they go there without stealing anything?" she asked.
"That's what we'd be investigating," Keith replied. Alexa approached a shelf near the front door and took out a grey and pink PokéGear. She searched for a contact and held the device to her ear.
"Skywing, it's me. Can you ask Chaser to meet me at the house please? You're an angel, thank you. Bye." Alexa ceased the call and placed her PokéGear back where she found it.
"What kind of name is Skywing?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He's my Chatot, remember?" she asked as she walked back to him. Keith was bewildered.
"Cha...and he can use a phone?!"
"Yeah, he has his own PokéGear," Alexa replied. Keith was even more baffled than he was when he found out she was on the phone to her own Pokémon.
"...the hell?!"
"It's best not to think too deeply into it," Keenan laughed nervously. "Skywing is actually a very intelligent Pokémon."
"...no kidding."
The sound of someone knocking on glass diverts everyone's attention; they turn and find a Flygon wearing a navy blue neckerchief at the window. He waved happily at his trainer, who, in turn, smiled and waved back.
"That's our ride," Alexa said to Keith. "Who're you taking? Robbie or Reese?"
"Actually," Lily began. "Ryder and Reese left earlier this morning."
"Where?" Keith asked, somewhat worriedly.
"Oh, just outside the Sprout Tower is all," Lily replied. "Reese wanted a little training, and the Sprout Tower is a training ground for those wanting to challenge Falkner for the Zephyr Badge."
"Oh. I guess it's Robbie then," Keith smiled. "Besides, Reese's been with me for ages now; he could use a break."
"Deerling~!" Robbie rubbed his head against Keith's leg happily, excited to work with him. Keith, Alexa, Keenan and Robbie ran outside. Lily followed them outside.
"Hold on a second! You're not going to eat breakfast first?" she asked as Keenan released Colin from his Poké Ball. Alexa looked back at her mother.
"No time to, I'm afraid," she said with regret. Lily smiled.
"If you're back by lunchtime, we can compensate for that," she winked.
"Thanks. We'll be as quick as we can, but it's hard to tell how long these things take," Alexa said, climbing onto Chaser's back. Keith followed her and Keenan and Iara climbed onto Colin's back. Both Pokémon took off from the ground, but Chaser held Robbie in his arms before he took flight.
Chaser and Colin landed in the middle of lush wilderness. The environment looked almost like something from a nature hike brochure, only...it was utterly deserted. Not a single Pokémon was out in the open. Keith, Alexa and Keenan looked around in confusion; the lack of activity in the Safari Zone, even when it was closed to the public, was abnormal. Keenan recalled his Fearow to his Poké Ball.
"Now what?" Keith asked openly.
"Maybe we should split up; cover more ground," Alexa suggested.
"Yeah, this place is big," Keenan agreed.
"Okay, we'll do that. We can meet at the gates when we're done," Keith suggested while Keenan released Darcy from her Poké Ball. He climbed onto her back.
"Be careful, everyone," Alexa advised. "There could be Pokémon out there waiting to ambush us."
"Got it," Keenan nodded. "Come on, Darcy." Darcy, Keith and Alexa walked away in three different directions. From the nearby pond, a long yellow beak poked through the many reeds growing in the water.
Keith and Robbie found themselves in the area closest to the main gates of the entire zone; they could see the gates in the distance. As they walked cautiously, Keith made note of the many tyre tracks that ruined the grass beneath them. The tracks were everywhere, as if someone drove around the area like they were heavily intoxicated. Looking at the tracks in more detail, Keith found the pattern to be...familiar.
Loud, angry snarling interrupted Keith's concentration as a pack of Nidorino and Nidorina began to close in on him and Robbie. They were all lightly wounded to a certain degree, all glaring at the boys with a certain look...it was almost as if they lost all sense of mercy. Robbie was immediately intimidated. Keith braced himself.
ROAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!
Keith took Robbie under one arm and jumped away from the pouncing Pokémon. The Nidorino and Nidorina crashed into each other while Keith landed in one of the tyre tracks, doing further damage to his already damaged back. He sucked up the pain as he stood up and fired his capture disc at the momentarily stunned Pokémon. As the group scattered, Keith had to use his capture disc carefully; as he was capturing one Pokémon, another might attack the capture disc, which, if he didn't take care, could break the disc and use up all of his styler's energy. Keith took notice of Robbie's attempt to fight back; he was tackling into them, firing barrages of sharp leaves from his shining tuft, bucking them with his back feet, anything he could do to fight off the potentially rabid Pokémon. Keith was intrigued at the Deerling's true strength.
Keenan and Darcy wandered into an area with a small artificially made hill in the middle. He and Iara, who sat comfortably on his lap, looked around as Darcy walked. The area had suffered a fair amount of damage, some areas looking more recently damaged than others. Keenan spotted something shiny on the ground. Iara hopped off of Darcy's back, picked the object up with her mouth, hopped back onto the Rapidash's back and gave the item to Keenan. He inspected the item in his palm; it appeared to be a dart of sorts, with the main body looking like a container that once had some kind of liquid inside. The needle was missing, and the tube didn't appear to have been in the area for long; there wasn't enough condensation inside for it to have been lying there for more than 12 hours.
The sound of running feet of many a heavy beast broke the boy's train of thought as a herd of Rhyhorn charged at the Rapidash. Darcy snorted flames from her nostrils and breathed out a twister of fire from her mouth, which surrounded her and her riders, thus temporarily protecting her, Keenan and Iara from the Rhyhorn. The Rhyhorn dared not to attack the flames, but it turned out to be their own mistake; Iara leapt from Darcy's back and into the nearby lake. Some of the Rhyhorn focused on Iara while the others struggled against Darcy's powerful hooves. She absorbed sunlight in the horn on her head and produced a growing sphere of solar energy in her gaping mouth. While she was charging her attack, Darcy aligned herself with the lake Iara dived in. Soon enough, all of the Rhyhorn were in one place, as was planned. Keenan and Darcy awaited Iara's cue.
Alexa and Chaser, completely ignoring an explosion in a different area, looked around an area with a large lake and an old warehouse type building. Their search was fruitless until they approached the lake; the stolen crate of evolution stones was resting on the bottom of the lake, with the lid nowhere to be seen. Alexa took note of the contents of the crate; there were no Leaf Stones to be seen and little under half of the Water Stones had been used. What Chaser took note of was the behaviour of the lake-dwelling Pokémon; they were frightened out of their wits. He saw two Goldeen, a Magikarp and even a Dratini huddled up to one another, seemingly praying to Arceus for something. Chaser pitied the water Pokémon.
"VIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
BONK!
A Victreebel jumped out of the tree and crashed on top of Chaser. Victreebel bounced off of the fatigued Flygon and was ready to confront Alexa. Alexa helped Chaser up from the ground before noticing the Victreebel's battle stance.
"Hey, there shouldn't be any Victreebel here! Unless..." Alexa looked back at the waterlogged crate of evolution stones. She looked at the Victreebel, wide-eyed. "Uh oh..."
"VIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
Chaser immediately zoomed into action, slashing at the attacking Victreebel with large green-glowing claws. Victreebel constantly tried to attack the speedy dragon with its vine, but Chaser, being far superior in speed, dodged all attacks. Chaser looked back at Alexa.
"GON!"
"Capture on!" Alexa exclaimed as her capture disc spun towards Victreebel. Lucky for Alexa, Victreebel was too focused on Chaser to notice the capture disc circling it. Soon enough, Chaser stopped attacking as the capture disc served its purpose; Victreebel's violent temper died as soon as the white line around it enveloped it and faded.
"Capture complete," Alexa sighed with relief. But just as that one Victreebel hopped away, more hopped onto the scene and surrounded Alexa and Chaser. Both of them moaned in exasperation.
"Oh man...! Now I wish I had more than just you, Chaser..."
"Flygon..."
Keith and Robbie ran towards Keenan, having heard the earlier explosion. The herd of Rhyhorn lay defeated before the young boy. Darcy and Iara were highly satisfied at their handiwork.
"Was that you?" Keith asked. Keenan looked at him.
"Solarbeam and Hydro Pump combo," he explained.
"Nice," Keith smiled. "Did you find anything?"
"Yeah, this," Keenan answered, holding out the broken dart in his hand. Keith walked closer to him and took the dart in his hand for a closer look.
"Isn't this the same one the big guy used in the preserve?" he questioned rhetorically.
"Would that mean those three have been here if it is?" Keenan asked.
"Recently too; this dart doesn't look like it's been here for long. Sure beats those tyre tracks I found at any rate."
"That doesn't explain the theft, though," Keenan sighed.
A startled scream pierces through the silent atmosphere. Keenan and Keith looked towards the direction the scream came from, surprised; it sounded all too familiar to them.
"Alexa!" Keith cried.
"Quick, get on!" Keenan exclaimed as Darcy lowered herself. Keith jumped onto her back, behind Keenan. Knowing Keith was safely on her back, Darcy galloped towards the source of Alexa's cry. Iara raced after her, but struggled to keep up.
With fury in his eyes, Chaser tried constantly to battle his way towards the bloated Victreebel, but was continuously blocked by the rest of the colony. A tornado of sand blew most of the Victreebel away, but another lunged towards Chaser.
Darcy burst onto the scene, tackling into the attacking Victreebel, defending Chaser in the process. Iara tackled into another Victreebel. Keenan and Keith looked around worriedly; there was no sign of Alexa.
"Chaser! Where's Alex?" Keenan asked worriedly.
"HELP!" Keenan and Keith heard Alexa's muffled plea from...inside the bloated Victreebel. They were horrified; she was, effectively, eaten alive!
"Alex?!"
"Let her go!" Keith demanded to the Victreebel. Victreebel ignored Keith's demand and fled, swinging from tree to tree with its vine. "Stupid Victreebel...I'll make him pay for kidnapping Alexa!" Keith chased after Victreebel. Chaser followed after grabbing Alexa's discarded capture disc. Darcy ran after them.
"Keith, wait! I don't think that's Victreebel's motive!" he exclaimed.
The chase proved annoying for the bulky Victreebel; he was slow anyway, but carrying Alexa inside him made him slower. Upon entering the clearing, he stopped fleeing and confronted his pursuers once they caught up to him.
"Robbie, make him spit her out..!"
"Ling!" Robbie nodded, keen to attack Victreebel.
"Keith, no! if you attack Victreebel, Alexa might get hurt!" Keenan exclaimed.
"Like Victreebel won't anyway?!"
"Uh, technically," Keenan began nervously. "H-he's, uh...heh-heh...digesting her..."
"...WHAT?!" Keith was both horrified and furious, but not intentionally with Keenan. "And you expect us NOT to attack Victreebel?! Then how-"
"Use your styler!" Alexa cried from inside the bowels, if it actually has any, of the Flycatcher Pokémon. Keith almost slapped himself for forgetting the Ranger's trademark tool.
"Capture on!" he yelled as he fired his capture disc at the sluggish Victreebel. Chaser threw Alexa's own capture disc over his shoulder and flew towards Victreebel. Keenan caught the disc, but Victreebel managed to catch the irate Flygon in his vine.
Keenan, Keith, Robbie, Darcy and Iara watched in bewilderment as Victreebel slammed Chaser continuously into the ground, completely ignoring the capture disc, around him like a mallet. Keith managed to keep his focus and successfully capture the Victreebel, dropping the giddy Flygon on the ground.
Victreebel looked around in confusion at first, but then grew panicky. Spotting Keith approaching him, he cowered away. Keith stood over the frightened Pokémon.
"Spit her out. Now!" he demanded. Victreebel screeched in fright as he caved into Keith's instruction. He quickly spat Alexa out of his mouth and bounced away in terror. Darcy, Robbie and Iara approached the saliva-soaked Alexa. She was breathing heavily, attempting to endure the disgusting feeling of being drenched in Victreebel saliva and stomach acid, which had burned a large majority of her uniform. The only part of her uniform that was still intact was her styler, which was only missing the capture disc. Iara immediately started soaking Alexa with a light Water Gun attack to clean off the saliva and acid. Her hair was completely messy and became tangled as a result of being trapped in such a confined space. She also appeared to be covered in soot in some places, which puzzled Keenan. Nobody noticed that she was holding onto something in one hand.
"Alex, are you hurt?!" Keenan asked worriedly as he hopped off of Darcy's back. Alexa faced her brother with a weak smile, still breathing somewhat heavily.
"Just my pride...what's left of it anyway," she replied nervously. "Thanks."
"Why did that Victreebel swallow you?!" Keith asked, still comprehending the fact she was almost digested alive.
"I dunno. But I found this," Alexa replied, revealing the item she clenched in her hand; it was a metal tube of sorts, but one end looked as though something broke out of it. The open end looked burned, as if it exploded.
"That was INSIDE Victreebel?!" Keenan asked in horror.
"Apparently. It was in some sort of artificial poffin, Maybe it was responsible for the lack of acidity of Victreebel's stomach acid...it was strong enough to burn through my uniform but not my skin."
"But that doesn't give it the right to eat you," Keith complained. "But, still...I am glad you're okay, Alexa."
"At least we know what became of the Leaf Stones that were stolen," Alexa said. Keenan and Keith looked puzzled.
"Huh?"
"There shouldn't be Victreebel in the Safari Zone; whoever broke in must've stolen the evolution stones beforehand. The rest are in a lake." Keith took out the dart Keenan had found and showed it to Alexa.
"Keenan found this as well. We think it could be the same one those three used in the preserve," he explained.
"Considering there aren't any other poachers around here, I'd have to agree," Alexa said, carefully observing the dart.
"Does the Safari Zone have a 4x4?" Keenan asked.
"Yeah, but they use it to observe Pokémon to my knowledge. Why?" Alexa questioned.
"I found some tyre tracks earlier, and I mentioned them briefly to Keenan. Whoever drove them must've been drunk or just stupid," Keith replied. "Come to think of it, they reminded me of that 4x4 those three drove."
"Okay, we need to get their names; we can't keep calling them "those three" whenever we talk about them," Alexa sighed.
"Agreed," Keenan nodded. "Well, now what do we do?"
"I guess Alexa and I can use our stylers to calm the rest of the Safari Pokémon down," Keith began.
"Then I think we should fish out the stolen crate. Not all of the stones are there, but I think Dad would appreciate having it back," Alexa concluded.
Keith, Alexa and Keenan, along with their Pokémon, travelled around the Safari Zone, Keith and Alexa capturing and calming the wild Pokémon along the way. They were oblivious to the mysterious bird-like shadow watching their every move. It was late afternoon by the time every single Pokémon in the Safari Zone were calm and docile, in spite of the forced evolutions. Keith and Alexa collapsed, back to back, as the last few Poliwraths jumped into the pond nearby, panting.
"I still think we have our hands full with all this," Keith said breathlessly.
"Yeah," Alexa agreed, in a whisper. The two forced themselves up off the ground as they proceeded to another area.
Keith and Alexa, together, pulled out the stolen crate from the lake. Alexa was in the water, pushing the crate up, while Keith remained on the shore, pulling the crate out of the lake. As Keith helped Alexa out of the lake, Keenan spotted a Swanna flying out of the trees and away from the Safari Zone.
"Alex? Do Swanna live here?" he asked.
"Not during winter," Alexa replied, beginning to shiver.
"Well..one just flew off."
Swanna flew over a harbour and into an artificially made cave on the beach. There, she flew over to Gabby, who sat on one of the many rocks in the cave. Jordan sat on another, with a laptop on his lap; he was busy, typing on it occasionally. Andy sat on another rock, with his black and orange guitar in front of him, playing a few cords with his good hand. Swanna shook her head.
"Oh, poo, they're still alive!" she complained.
"Hmm...seems like they're tougher than I gave them credit for," Jordan said, showing no emotion whatsoever.
"Can't we just confront them directly?" Andy asked.
"Hold on...two of them are Rangers, right?" Gabby questioned. "Their Pokémon don't battle, do they? That's why the kid's hangin' round with 'em."
"Doesn't matter," Jordan murmured.
"Swaa-swaaaah." Gabby looked at her Swanna.
"A Flygon?"
"What about a Flygon?" Andy asked.
"She saw the tart with a Flygon," Gabby explained.
"Hang on a mo, didn't she have a Zoroark with her when we met 'em?" Andy questioned in bemusement.
"Two possibilities; either she has more than one Pokémon," Jordan began, typing at his laptop. "Or she's not the average Ranger she appears to be."
"Swanna said Flygon was a good fighter," Gabby added. Swanna nodded in confirmation.
"Fighter, huh? Hmm...interesting."
"Partner Pokémon don't fight, do they?" Andy asked.
"They're not trained to do so, no," Jordan replied.
"So, if Flygon has been trained...?" Gabby questioned.
"Then perhaps we should take the more direct approach; her Zoroark might also be trained and she could have others," Jordan explained.
"So you think she's a Trainer? Sounds weird for a Ranger group to recruit a Trainer," Andy laughed.
"I wonder if she and the kid are any good," Gabby pondered. Jordan smirked a little.
"Only one way to find out; challenge them."
Keith and Alexa, carrying the crate between them, returned to the house after Keenan, Iara and Robbie had entered the house. Hayden and Lily completely ignored the crate, immediately noticing Alexa's state.
"Hi, Dad. Got it back, but the Leaf Stones are missing and have been used up," Alexa said.
"Gosh, what happened to you, Alexa?! You're a mess!" Lily exclaimed.
"Almost being eaten was messy, yeah," Alexa said quietly.
"What?!" Both of the parents were horrified.
"The Leaf Stones must've been used on the Weepinbell," Alexa continued.
"We think the same guys who agitated the Pokémon stole the stones, Dad," Keenan explained.
"If the Leaf Stones were used on the Safari's Weepinbell, then that's a reasonable deduction," Hayden agreed.
"Any luck with the investigation?" Keith asked.
"Yes. Despite the indoors CCTV system having been cut, the thieves didn't notice the outdoors camera around the back," Hayden replied.
"You got them on film?!" Keith asked excitedly. Hayden laughed as he opened up his laptop.
"And they said I was stupid for wanting an Oddish painted around it; one of its eyes is the camera!"
"Nice one, Dad!" Keenan praised. Hayden turned the laptop around, allowing Keith, Alexa and Keenan to see the video waiting to be played.
"Here, see if these are the guys you bumped into in the preserve.
Alexa pressed the play button on the footage and it began to play. The first part of the footage showed a black 4x4 with three familiar occupants pulling up to the back entrance of the mall. Two of them went indoors and came out with the same crate Keith and Alexa had fished out of the lake. The crate was tossed into the back of the 4x4 and the two thieves hopped into the vehicle before it drove off.
"That's them, no doubt!" Keith exclaimed.
"That makes our conclusion right after all," Alexa added.
"Seems that way, love," Hayden agreed as he closed down his laptop.
"Were you three okay in there? Uh, a-apart from-"
"Don't worry about it, Mum. We were fine apart from that, but Keith and I are exhausted," Alexa replied, Keith nodding in agreement.
"Can't say I blame you; lots of Pokémon live there. Even with this epidemic going on," Hayden said.
"And we calmed every single one we saw," Keith sighed.
"Which could mean that there might be some left agitated, but I think the general vibe from the others will calm them down." Hayden smiled at his daughter.
"Well done, both of you," he praised.
"Were you all right, Keenan?" Lily asked.
"I was on Darcy the whole time, I was fine," Keenan nodded.
"That's my boy," Hayden smiled.
"Why don't you relax in your rooms? I'll call the Union about the damaged uniform and bring you some drinks," Lily suggested.
"Thanks, Lily," Keith said gratefully.
"Thanks, Mum," Alexa and Keenan thanked together. The three then proceeded upstairs. Lily sat down as soon as they left the room, holding her head in one hand.
"Are you worried, Lily?" Hayden asked. Lily looked at him.
"About..?"
"What the kids are up against," Hayden answered.
"I'm more worried about their morale," Lily admitted. "I couldn't help but pick up a sense of doubt from all three of them."
"Maybe you should bring that up while you're calling about Alexa's uniform. Or lack thereof," Hayden suggested.
"I plan to, sweetheart," Lily sighed.
To be continued...