Trudging through a hallway as Vincent passed by the ship's nearby Pokémon Center and exercise room, he remained vigilant as he kept an eye open for Ash and the others, wherever they might have run off too.
"It's a big ship…" Vincent murmured to himself as he sighed. "But there is a limit. Hopefully we'll find our needle in the haystack."
"Vincent?" A familiar voice called to him from behind.
"Jenny…?" Vincent frantically replied, rigidly turning around to see Officer Jenny with her Growlithe. "Hey…it's good to see you!"
"Good to see you too!" She replied with a smile. "I'm sorry that we never got to follow up with you, but I've heard the great news! Congratulations for getting the job!"
"Thanks! That…means a lot." Vincent croaked as he squatted down to pet and rub her Pokémon's head. "Hey buddy…"
Closing its eyes, a wide, happy smirk widened across Growlithe's face as a pleasurable and relaxing sensation jolted within its facial region.
"Yeah that's a good boy."
"He really likes you!" Jenny smiled.
"I…had or I mean, have, a dog back home. Say Jenny," Vincent stood up, giving the Growlithe a few more light pats before doing so. "What are you doing aboard the ship? You acting as security detail or something?"
"Not exactly…" Jenny huffed. "I'm currently conducting an investigation."
"Investigation…?" Vincent's curiosity peeked as he crossed his arms, hiding his alarm through his look of intrigue. "Has there been an incident aboard the ship?"
"No. Not yet…but I'm trying to prevent that. Right now, I'm trying to catch a thief named Brodie. Brodie the Phantom Thief."
"Brodie…" Vincent murmured. "Is he on the ship? What's he look like…?"
"I'm afraid that's something that's complicated…" Jenny exhaled. "He's known for having a thousand faces, so I don't know where or if he's going to turn up."
"Master of disguise huh…?"
"I might need your help with this one." Jenny stated. "But I do need to continue my investigation on my own for now. I'm sorry we can't keep talking, but if you see anything…give me a call." Jenny waved as she rushed off in another direction.
"You got it!" Vincent hollered, then reacted and huffed at the instant that he felt something collide with his legs. "Oof, what the…?"
Frantically turning his head and staring down at the ground's vicinity, Vincent caught a small glimpse of a short and yet rather large Pokémon. Though it had some white outlines near its mouth and stomach, the prominent color on this Pokémon's fur was mainly dark.
"Muuuuuuunch! Munchlax!"
"The hell is it-" Preventing himself from getting worked up with frustration, Vincent remembered something about that Pokémon. "Right…it's a hungry little bastard. Must be out looking for food."
Starting himself up in a light jog down the ship's hallways after the frantic Pokémon, curiosity and remembrance rendered Vincent more eager with each step to follow that Munchlax to the end, wherever it was going.
"May…" Vincent sighed, thinking to himself aloud.
Becoming too fixated on the Pokémon continuing to run and wander about as it pleased, Vincent payed little attention and ended up accidentally colliding with a man dressed in a blue security guard uniform that was roaming the halls.
"OOF."
"Shoot…" Vincent groaned, rubbing his forehead to alleviate himself of the pain.
"Sir, are you okay?"
"I'm okay…I was just chasing that Munchlax there and I-"
"There's a Pokémon on the loose without its trainer?" The guard exclaimed, preparing to give chase to the Pokémon. "I'll handle this. Come back!"
"Oh boy…if that's May's Munchlax then…" Vincent crossed his arms. "No, I can't be mad. It's a good thing I've still got a bit of knowledge of this old show's universe and characters on my side."
Feeling proud, yet cautious and weary, of that fact, he continued as he now gave chase to both the guard and Munchlax. Coming up towards what seemed to be some kind of museum/display area for guests to simply look at and browse, he planted his feet firmly on the ground as the familiar tone of a girl's voice, followed up by others, echoed from within one of the display rooms.
"Munchlax! That's not yours!"
"It is." Vincent gulped, groaning shortly afterwards as he pressed his palm against his face and shook his head.
"AH!" A shriek from May came from the other room. "The Ribbon Cup's broken!"
Pushing through to walk into the room, Vincent noted the room's interior, wall's covered with framed pictures of Pokemon Contest ribbons scattered about, taking in both his surroundings, and the looks of anguish and worry on the kid's faces. Upon himself and the group locking eye contact, Vincent froze.
"Pika-pi!" Ash's Pikachu leapt off of its trainer's shoulder and onto the ground, its cheeks sparkling with electricity as it growled in Vincent's direction. "Pikachu…"
"Brodie!" Ash snarled.
"Pika…?" Pikachu turned back to Ash, confused as it sighed, meaning to give its trainer some clarity.
"How dare you try to steal May's Ribbon Cup!" The younger Vincent chimed in angrily. "Go, Swampert! I choose you!"
A large, sizeable blue Pokémon with orange cone sharp gills on its cheeks emerged from within the tossed Poké Ball.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! I'm NOT Brodie!" Vincent insisted, raising his hands into the air. "KID…! YOU'RE MAKING A MISTAK-"
"You're gonna pay, Brodie! Swampert use Ice-"
"Stop it, Vincent!" May shouted. "You're going to get someone hurt…"
"But…"
Vincent quietly observed the scene currently transpiring within the group. Exhaling as he was apparently witnessing…himself choke up to prevent himself from tearing up, he slowly began to drop his arms back down to his side as the others around him were there to calm him down.
When Vincent saw himself finally able to shake off those tense feelings, he'd possessed a few seconds earlier, after a forgiving hug from May.
His younger self then turned back to Vincent as he called back his Swampert into his Poké Ball.
"Hey…" Vincent firmly and quietly blurted out. "Don't…stress out about it, kid." Caressing his moustache with his right forefinger, Vincent thought to himself as he stared at the damaged Ribbon Cup inside the display case. "I think we're gonna have to call someone for this."
"I'm here!" A man wearing a red suit frantically shouted behind him. "What happened?" He hunched down; arms crossed as he examined the cup.
"Well…you see," Max started up. "My sister's Munchlax bumped into the case and…"
"I'm really sorry…" May sighed. "It was just an accident."
"Of course! I know that." The man replied nonchalantly. "No coordinator who'd worked hard and worked their way to the Grand Festival would ever do such a thing. But," His voice began to change to a more inquisitive and cautious tone. "Something's not quite right here. There's no way this cup should've broken like this!"
"Something wrong…?" Vincent leaned in to analyze the cup.
"It's a fake!" The man exclaimed, much to the group's surprise.
"No way!" Ash gasped.
"One hundred percent!" He turned over the cup and pointed inside the rimmed bowl-shaped interior of the cup. "The real one has a seal from the Content Committee. But it's not here!"
"So, where's the real one?" Vincent asked, catching a glimpse of a card falling from beneath the cup, with the rest of the group also seeing it. "The hell's this…?" He wondered, picking it off the ground as he reached for his phone and selected a number from his contacts.
"Who are you calling?" The man asked.
Raising a finger up as Vincent eagerly waited for someone to respond through from the other side, he continued to analyze the card as he took note of the half-shaped ring with small squared spikes and purple surface.
"JENNY! Thank God, I thought you weren't going to answer…" Vincent exclaimed, finally getting through. "I think I got something! Meet me near the Ribbon Cup display room! And you better get here fast!"
"Looks like your hunch was right, kid!" Vincent pointed to his younger self as he hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket.
Having converged into a back-lounge area of the ship for staff members, the discussion regarding the situation at hand continued. Mr. Contesta, the man Ash and the others met just moments ago, was concernedly responsible for making sure that Slateport City's Grand Festival goes smoothly.
Minus Officer Jenny, the others shared space on a diagonally split couch and payed close attention to the confirmations that Jenny spilled out as she held up the card that Vincent retrieved earlier.
"This is without a doubt, a crime committed by Brodie the Phantom Thief!" She declared.
"The man you've been looking for?" Mr. Contesta gasped.
"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this guy has a thing for Calling Cards?" Vincent inquired.
"That's exactly right!" Jenny exclaimed. "But how in the world could he have stolen it with security guards everywhere?"
"Hold up…" Vincent stood up and groaned. "If he got past security, though I somehow doubt the first possibility, either he's collaborating with someone on the inside, or he potentially disguised himself as one of the guards standing watch while...I dunno, something happened. It's hard to say what though."
"I wouldn't rule it out…though Brodie's mostly known for operating solo, as far as my past investigations are concerned anyway." Jenny pondered.
"Still, that's a very good point!" Brock nodded. "Oh and…uh, we actually haven't introduced ourselves. My name's Brock!"
"Hey Brock. Nice to meet you." Vincent replied.
"Hi, I'm May!"
"I'm Max!"
"My name's Ash!"
"Vincent! I'm Vincent!"
After Vincent saw his younger self conclude the group's quick introductions, Vincent, though aware of the situation, hid his confirmations and his nervousness beneath the surface of a wide smirk and small clutters of laughter.
"What's so funny?" Ash asked.
"…My name's Vincent too."
"WHAT?!" The younger Vincent shrieked.
"No way!" Ash gasped.
"I know…small world, eh?" Vincent shrugged.
"Come on guys." Max cackled mockingly. "There's obviously more than one Vincent in the world…you should know that by now."
"You've got a point, Max…" Brock commented.
"Well, it's been nice meeting you all but…" Vincent rushed over to the door. "I'd say it's time to get the show on the road! He's bound to still be aboard since we're still far out at sea. Don't worry Mr. Contesta…I'll get that cup back and this Grand Festival can go on without being cancelled!"
"WAIT!" Ash interjected, causing Vincent to stop his advance. "You don't have to work alone! Let's help each other!"
"Hmm…" Vincent murmured. "Jenny? What do you think? Want me to go with these kids?"
"We'll all go together." Jenny insisted.
"Also," Vincent took a deep breath and sighed. "How do you want to handle this 'two Vincents' predicament?"