[3:57 PM. Goldenrod City Streets. Goldenrod City. The previous day.]
Claudia squirmed inside her new clothes.
Back at the apartment, Finder had requisitioned some of his partners clothes, claiming they were "roughly the same size." She found the clothes tighter than even she would like. The pencil skirt and blouse was very businesslike, as Finder had promised, however. Finder himself, wore a suit and coat he had dug up from somewhere in the mess of his apartment.
"This is ridiculous. I look like something out of a boy's fantasy."
Finder scanned the street. People were milling about, going to an fro, talking at newspaper stands and coffee shops about what had happened, and what would it mean for Johto with her newfound independence. "Nonsense, you look fine. Stop looking so suspicious."
"Suspicious? You're the one looking around like your casing a bank or something."
"We'll that's more or less what we're doing, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Besides, it's not illegal to stand on the street."
He waved a hand at her. "You can never be too careful," he said.
"Can we just get going? You look like nothing short of a criminal."
He turned and gave her a wicked smile. "Claudia, we are criminals."
She didn't argue the point. Normal human communications did not seem to crack the rocky idiocy that Finder radiated. Whatever her feelings towards the kid, Claudia knew that he had given them the only solid lead on any of the identities of the Johto Four, and that had to be worth something.
They began walking again towards the headquarters of Goldenrod Electric. The monolithic building had grown with Johto to the mountain it was today. Goldenrod Electric powered all of Johto; such a company would be integral to either side if a conflict ever broke out. Claudia had vivid memories of the GE building dominating the skyline form her childhood, when her father, Morty would take her into the city. To most Johtoans, GE was a symbol of the integrity of all Johto; others decried it as to Kantoesque, preferring the simpler ways that Johto had pioneered, compared to the heavily industrialized Kanto. GE always made its best effort to appease these naysayers. It was the cleanest power company in the world, so Claudia had been told by the nice tour-lady when she was a child.
They stepped towards the entrance. Finder smoothed his shirt and walked inside. The lobby was immaculate. It was painted a deep maroon. Plants and various paintings adorned the walls. Toward the back, underneath the massive Goldenrod Electric logo, a young woman sat at a desk taking calls. She put her current call on hold and addressed the two with practiced nuance and recitation.
"Welcome to Goldenrod Electric, Johto's premier energy supplier. Do you have an appointment?"
Before Claudia could answer, Finder had released a large Venomoth. The woman at the desk stood up, but before she could say anything, the moth sprinkled a thin powder over her. The woman's eyes fluttered and she fell to the floor, asleep. Finder returned his bug.
"That's your plam?" she whispered fiercely. "Are you crazy?"
He made his way to the computer at the desk and began furiously typing. "I didn't see you suggest anything else. Got it. Come here." Claudia ran as fast as her skirt would allow. Finder had pulled up a map of the building. "I can't anything confidential from this computer, but I did find out where the CEO's office is. Seventh floor, second on the right. Come on, we got to go. We're taking the stairs."
He released a Magnemite for its ball. "Buy us some time."
The Magnemite gave a robotic screech of understanding. It hovered out the door. Finder waited a few seconds before the lights cut off and the hum of a backup generator flashed the small emergency floodlights on. "Let's go. We won't get far in an electric company by just shutting off the power."
They burst through the door into the stairwell. Every other landing seemed weakly lit. They took the steps two at a time, pushing past a pair of confused employees as they climbed. Winded and sweating, the pair came to the seventh floor.
"Second on the right, second on the right," Finder muttered to himself.
The hallway was long; the first door on either side was on the far end of the hall. Nobody was home, it seemed; all the higher-ups must be out of town, or getting a drink, or golfing, or whatever it was that executives did. The nameplate of the second door on the right read: WOLFGANG HERSHEL-MYERS, CEO. The door was locked, but it gave way after a few solid lunges from Finder.
The room was a din of paper and files, as if a move was taking place. Finder read through a memo that lay on the desk. "Guess it was sold." He handed the memo to Claudia. The memo was a mess of legalese and doublespeak. It looked mass-produced—not even customized for the CEO himself. Finder kept digging. He pulled up a letter emblazoned with the Silph Co. letterhead. "Who's Robert Grayson?"
"Who?" Claudia replied.
"Robert Grayson. It's a letter from Silph Co stating that Robert Grayson will now be overseeing affairs as CEO of Goldenrod Electric." He gave the letter to Claudia.
"Silph Co.? What are they doing? Don't they already own this company?"
Finder had jury rigged the lock of the file cabinet underneath the desk. As he fingered through the files, the main lights came on.
"Whatever you're doing, make it quick, Finder."
"I know, I know." He kept digging. Claudia stepped over to the door to keep watch. The door to the stairwell opened. She ducked back in the office."
"Less than a minute, someone's coming."
Finder swore. He got to the last file, then swore again, only this time it was stretched out and almost a whisper.
"Holy shit."
He pulled the file out. The header read simply: GIOVANNI.