24

[1:51 PM. Goldenrod City Underground. Goldenrod City. Earlier the same day.]

Claudia rubbed the bruise on her head.

They were in a messy apartment. Light trickled in from the one singular slat where the window was not covered by newspapers or cardboard boxes. Finder shooks his hands and gave Kadabra a loving pat of affection before returning him to his ball. Aiden had landed upside-down onto an old table that sent papers and old dishes flying.

"Told you I'd get us out of there," Finder boasted with his chest puffed out like a songbird. "Yessir, you can count on Finder."

Claudia wiped the stars from her vision and checked the rest of her body for bumps or bruises. Thankfully, her dress was relatively unscathed, though it would take weeks to get the smell of the dank apartment out. The smell was old and acrid; it stung her nostril. She resolved to breathe through her mouth from now on.

"Not the most graceful teleportation I have ever endured," she said, offhandedly. "I had it under control. Your bumbling just attracted more attention."

Finder brushed dust off his coat before hanging it up on a crooked rack. "Please, you're gonna tell me that one girl taking on at least five muscleheads wouldn't have drawn more attention? I gotta say, you don't seem as smart as Aiden here made you out to be."

Aide righted himself from under the table. "Where are we?" he asked, still dazed from the trip.

"There is more than one way to skin a Skitty," Claudia chided. "Good question, Aiden, where are we exactly?"

"Yes! Welcome to my humble abode. This is where the magic happens. Evil-doers tremble at the mere mention of the Finder & Keeper duo!"

Claudia stood and tried to take in the entirety of the disheveled apartment. "So, this is where you live, right? I was afraid of that."

"Sure, it's not as elaborate and immaculate as your castle up on the mountain, but we get things done here. Don't judge a book by its cover!"

The Dark-Type Master picked up a plate crusted with what looked like pasta sauce. She held it like it was a disgusting piece of road kill and placed it down on the table. She stepped over the debris and garbage to help Aiden up. "You know, I don't make a habit of going home with strange men."

Finder chuckled. "You're not my type."

The man disappeared into a side room. Claudia and Aiden gave each other a knowing look and began clearing mountains of old food and papers from a pea-soup green chair. Claudi sat down and stretched her legs before neatly crossing them. She was around company, of course.

"Where did you dig up this guy?" She asked Aiden.

The breeder wiped grime from his glasses. "While his methods may be a bit unorthodox, I truly believe he might be the best there is. Without a doubt the best person for what you're after."

A large crash of what sounded like glass heralded a bout of pitched shouting from the side room. Something dense hit the wall. The shouting continued.

"I mean, I think so."

Finder came out of the room and locked the door behind him. He saw his two guests stare with disapproving glares. "You know how girls are, right?"

Claudia re-crossed her feet. "Who was that?" she asked.

"Oh, her? That's Keeper, my partner. She can be a bit moody sometimes, I'm sure you understand, miss."

She scowled. Finder did not bother to sell the joke. "I'd appreciate it if you actually told me how you can help me. So far I see nothing but a bumbling kid in a too-big jacket living like a Garbador. My time is valuable."

"They don't teach manners up at the Plateau?" He rustled around the mounds of paper, searching for something. "I gotcha, I gotcha. Gimme a second."

Claudia shot a disapproving glance to Aiden. He shrugged and kicked at a stack of magazines with all the women's faces cut out.

"Here we go. I think you'll be interested in this." He produced a coffee stained folder and handed it to Claudia. She flipped through the paper inside; she was impressed. The folder was entirely about the man called Gillian, the one Gaap had encountered in Celadon City, the one in Kanto custody.

"Very thorough," she said. "What am I looking at? This is the man we captured. So what? I more interested in the ones we missed."

Finder took the packet and flipped to a specific page. He pointed triumphantly at the caption of a newspaper clipping. AREA BILLIONAIRE, GILLIAN STONE TO BUY GOLDENROD ELECTRIC. The caption read: "Local Johtoan, Gillian Stone, owner and founder of Olivine Steel made a visit to the Headquarters of Goldenrod Electric here in Goldenrod yesterday afternoon. When asked about his intentions, Stone was quoted as saying 'I've always had my eye on GE, now that Mr. Silph is ready to talk, I would love to bring this company back under the scruples of Johto.' He went on to say that 'the people of Johto demand a bit of self-determination. I believe Mr. Silph and I can reach an amiable agreement.' Goldenrod Electric is a subsidiary corporation to Silph Co. and has been for nearly fifteen years now. This marks the first time Dorian Silph, president of Silph Co., has been open to talks regarding the acquisition of the company."

Claudia read and re-read the clipping, and then handed it to Aiden who did the same. "Gillian Stone…he looks completely unrecognizable. Definite secessionist views, muted for the press, of course. Seems like a big publicity stunt. Maybe he tried to bring up the subject of Johto for Johtoans?"

"That's what I thought, then I went digging some more. As far as anybody knows, Gillian Stone purchased GE from Silph Co." He pointed at the second headline dated two days later: GILLIAN STONE PUTS THE 'GOLDENROD' BACK IN 'GOLDENROD ELECTRIC.' "But I came up with this." He flashed a blurry photo of a record. "According to this, the deal never went through; Silph never sold GE."

She squinted to see the words in the photo. As much as she hated it, he was right. The record clearly stated that on the day the deal was to be done, Dorian Silph never showed. "Ok, what can we do with this? If Gillian was behind it, and he was upset at Silph for blindsiding him, wouldn't he have gone after Saffron?"

"No, no. I don't think Silph was the problem. I think something went down at GE."

Claudia raised an eyebrow and sat up in the chair, smoothing out her dress. "So what you're saying is, you want to break into Goldenrod Electric?"

He smiled. "Not break in, per se. I figured a smooth criminal like me and a dark and mysterious lady like you, plus a nerd like Aiden might be able to walk right in the front door.

"What are we looking for once we get in there?"

"I guess we'll know when we see it." He flashed a set of brilliant teeth that shone out through the squalor of his apartment. "They don't call me Finder for nothing."