Chapter 18 – Preparations

"Whoa, relax, he's not gonna hurt you!" the shorter girl with the neon green hair cried. The elgyem looked between his trainer and her sister, with a confused expression to match theirs.

"Can I help you?" Alex asked again.

The taller, redheaded woman replied, "Forgive us. I should have been clearer. Again, I am Vivian. I am the gym leader of Xioria."

"Oh," Alex let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Right, Vivian. The nurse did mention your name." He stepped back and gestured into the room, inviting the newcomers inside and introducing himself. Kimiko, meanwhile, remained behind her pillow on the bed.

"Wh-what did you mean by–?"

"Observing the memories?" the redhead – Vivian – finished. She gestured towards the elgyem, floating shyly behind her younger sister's leg. "Elgyem is a psychic pokémon. Their specialty is working with brains. This includes slight memory modification abilities. Of course, their evolutionary forms are much more formidable with that, but elgyem are more than capable.

"Now, what we plan to do – with your permission – is to let my sister's elgyem read your memories. With his abilities, we will be able to see the entire scene play out through your eyes as though the memory was our own."

"It's perfectly harmless!" the younger – Alyssa – added cheerfully. Her elgyem let out a mild screech of agreement, then retreated back behind his trainer's foot.

"What good will that do?" Kimiko asked from her corner.

Alex half-turned to glance at her, before turning back to the gym leader. "The thief had an elgyem of his own. That's probably why she's a little hesitant."

Alyssa's face softened as the realization sunk in. Vivian likewise nodded in understanding. "I suppose we could do without but from what I understand, you have very little information. Seeing the event for ourselves may reveal a clue, or something you may have overlooked in the heat of the moment."

"Is there some other pokémon you can use for this?" Alex asked.

"Perhaps, but none more efficient or effective. As I said, this is elgyem's specialty."

"Will this really help?" Kimiko asked, finally putting her pillow aside, relaxing a little. "If this works, will you be able to find Ariel? Or the guy who took her?"

Alyssa nodded, but Vivian said, "It may, but obviously there is no way to know until we try it."

The blonde hesitated for a moment, eyeing the psychic with obvious suspicion. Then, with a sigh, she crawled to the end of the bed and swung her legs over the side, relaxing into a sitting position with her hands clasped together in her lap. "What do I have to do?"

"Let's get this over with. Quickly."

"What's the matter, Biff? You look good in a suit."

Biff tugged at the collar of the black suit. It was tight, and he felt as though it were getting tighter the more he moved, as if the suit itself was threatening to choke him. Or perhaps it was the anxiety of being in public. No matter how many jobs he'd done, he'd never gotten comfortable in public doing a job, and there were plenty of people casually walking through town in the early afternoon sun.

"I don't like public places."

"Well, good luck finding a trade machine anywhere else," the other man replied. He couldn't have been any older than thirty, although his hair already appeared to be graying. Must be a side effect of this job, Biff thought, running a hand through his own short hair, also beginning to turn silver. "So, what, are we just doing a standard 'trade to trigger evolution and refund' type of deal?"

"No, actually, I have a task for you," Biff replied. "But first, the scale. Alf tells me he had it sent to you already."

"That's right." The other man reached into the pocket of his own black suit and pulled out a small box. He opened it, revealing a small, almost disc-shaped pink scale, and then closed the box again. "Just to prove it's in there. You got the money?"

Biff grunted and retrieved a stack of bills from a pocket inside his suit and parted it in half. He passed it to the other man, who swiped it quickly and replaced it in Biff's hand with the box. Biff stowed it away, along with the remainder of the money.

"Alright, so what is this task you need me to do? And I hope you brought enough cash to cover it."

"Yeah, of course," Biff replied. He continued, lowering his voice. "This is a big technical job… come over here." As they approached the pokémon center, he led the other man into a side alley. "I assume you know what this scale does?"

"It's an evolution trigger for a clamperl, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"So, you need me to help you evolve a clamperl."

"Yes and no," Biff replied. "I do need you to trade to evolve it, but there's more to it than that. Then I need you to wipe the record of the trade. Or prevent the machine from making a record to begin with."

"What?"

"Come on, Johnny, you know how this business works. It's stolen. I need to be able to evolve it for a sale tonight without it being tracked. And you're the most reliable man I know for the job."

"Flattery won't get you anything, Biff," Johnny answered. "I do the petty things. Thievery, bribes, under-the-table deals… but do you know how risky this is? We'll be in the middle of a crowded pokémon center. Even a ten-year-old could turn me in if they're smart enough to see that I'm doing more than simply trading. Not to mention the security cameras. If I get caught tinkering with that machine, there are more than just fines and a night at the station waiting for me. You can't pay me enough to do that."

Biff began to panic. "Are you serious? I thought this would be a cakewalk for you! Just dress like a maintenance guy for the league and tell them you have some work to do or something!"

"Not a chance. I don't have a problem with getting my hands dirty, but I am not going to jail just so you can make a quick buck."

"Alright, fucking fine. Then give me an alternative. How do I evolve this thing without a trade machine? There has to be a way. Clamperl have to have been able to evolve before trade machines existed, else where would the scales come from?"

Johnny narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Well… if we could replicate the electrical energy in the trade machine, maybe we could simulate the conditions needed to trigger the evolution."

"And do you know how to do that?"

"Of course not. I'm not a biologist. I don't know what causes an evolution. I honestly have no idea what makes this specific energy so special. I could wipe the record of the trade, sure, but–"

"Fine. Then you'll do that."

"Not a chance, Biff. I'm no technician. I can do it, but it will take a while and it won't be easy. If I'm caught working on that machine–"

"Then don't get caught," Biff growled, growing impatient. "We'll make a distraction. Pull the fire alarm or something to get everyone out of the building. Then while everyone is gone, we'll do the trade, wipe the system, and Alf will teleport us out."

Johnny seemed to consider that, then shook his head. "So, what all this means is that you didn't have a plan already? No, Biff. I'm sorry, this is out of my league."

"There wasn't time!" Biff fumed, aiming a kick at a nearby trash can, but stopped himself in time before he knocked it over – he couldn't afford to draw attention to their alley. Still, his motion disturbed a sentret he had not previously seen scrounging for food. The scout pokémon hissed before darting down the alley and out of sight. Somewhere in the back of his mind, as he watched the fleeing sentret, Biff realized how hungry he was. As he watched it dart around a corner, a recent memory rose to the front of Biff's mind.

"You know what?" he said. Johnny, previously backed against a wall looking ready to defend himself, warily tilted his head in confusion. "I have a better idea."

Alex sat on his bed as he watched the psychics prepare their investigation. Vivian gestured at the blonde, then backed up against the now closed door, arms crossed, out of the way, clearly directing her sister to start. Alyssa walked towards Kimiko, elgyem in tow.

"Alright," the younger girl said. "Now, just sit tight. You hardly have to do anything; he'll take care of everything."

"So, he'll be able to find the right memory without me thinking about it? How will he know when to start? How about when we stopped to make camp? Would that be close enough?"

Alyssa shook her head. "No way to know. If this man had been following you along the route, or even since your last stop in town, then starting the memory after that point will only make it impossible to tell how long he had been tailing you for. Best to just let Elgyem start where he feels is best."

"Okay…"

"Will I be able to see this too?" Alex asked.

"If you wish," Vivian replied from the doorway. "We'd welcome the extra pair of eyes, provided you can remain calm and quiet during the reading."

"I do have to warn you…" Alyssa cautioned, glancing back at her sister, who nodded. Alex wondered if they had been communicating telepathically. He had no idea how human psychics worked, if such a thing was even possible or simply rumor. Alyssa continued, returning her gaze to Kimiko; "This will probably give you a pretty decent headache. Both of you. Unless you've done this sort of thing regularly, it's kinda an unavoidable side effect. Harmless, but annoying."

"I'll live," Kimiko grunted.

"And there's… something else you should know." Alyssa waited for a reply, but none came, so again, she awkwardly continued. "The process is… well… to put it simply, the entire event will play out in our minds as though it were happening for the first time. We'll be seeing the memory through you. It's the easiest way to get a first-hand experience. But… well, you will feel it too."

"You mean…?" Kimiko started, but said no more. Alex noticed how she hunched her shoulders slightly, a physical sign that she was withdrawing.

Alyssa smiled as comfortingly as she could. "Well… as I said, it will feel as though the event is playing out for the first time. For us, it will be new. But for you – and your boyfriend, I guess – well, for lack of better words, you will be reliving the event." Kimiko paled and swallowed hard, but nodded. "I know things like this can be pretty traumatizing for people, especially having to endure it twice. So, you have a right to know."

"If it will save Ariel… I can handle it. It's not as though I'm actually losing her again."

"Well, no, but–"

"Alyssa," Vivian interrupted. "You've given her the warning. There's no need to convince her not to do it. If she's confident she can tough it out, then do it." Apparently, Alyssa was still in training for this sort of thing. Alex wasn't sure how he felt about that, but said nothing.

Alyssa nodded, then smiled down at her Elgyem. "Okay, you're up, then! Now, Kimiko, all you should do is show him who he's looking for. Pull the memory to the front of your mind, if you can." The young girl looked up at Kimiko expectantly. "Then Elgyem will handle it from there."

"Oh, um… well, he was a man, maybe my height, in a black cloak. It was dark, that's about all I saw of him. Oh, and he had a houndoom and an elgyem of his own."

Alyssa looked down at her pokémon, who nodded without looking back. "Okay, he sees the guy. He's ready. Everyone else? Let's do it."

The elgyem raised an arm, his green eyes turning blue. As the room suddenly began to blur, a familiar scene unfolded before him, fading in as though in a movie; the trees of the forest in the distance, the road, the starry night sky, their tent behind him, a boulder beneath him.

Alex couldn't see Kimiko, or the gym leaders, or anyone else. He did realize, however, that there was a marshtomp in his lap and a gastly on his head. It was literal, he realized. He would relive the event through Kimiko's eyes.

It was an odd sensation to say the least, experiencing moods and feelings that didn't belong to him in response to the chain of events. He felt the weight of the houndoom as it pushed her to the ground, her fear and confusion as the cloaked man gave his pokémon orders. It was even stranger to see himself emerging from their tent upon being awoken and feeling Kimiko's relief. The sight of it momentarily distracted him from the rest of the memory and he found it difficult to focus, despite the loud clarity of the scene playing out before him. Kimiko's attention kept shifting, though, between her gastly and marshtomp as each demanded her help, and that helped him at least attempt to pay attention to the memory rather than watching himself.

He was surprised when the cloaked man and his houndoom finally vanished, but the memory continued. He saw himself helping Kimiko onto Thorn's back and trek onwards towards Clairval. The memory began to get hazy shortly after. After a while of that, everything began to blur and fade out once again, until Alex found himself back in the pokémon center bedroom.

He realized he was breathing heavily and keenly alert, yet felt extremely worn out, and – true to the young girl's word – had a massive pain in his head. A quick glance around the room showed Kimiko in a similar state. The gym leader and her sister seemed unaffected. Someone started speaking before he completely got control of himself.

"-all blurry like that?"

"You said she was unconscious when you brought her in?" Vivian asked, stroking her chin like some television detective. Alex realized she must be directing the question at him and nodded. "That's about the point you fell asleep, then. Or at least, weren't conscious enough to process anything further. Anyway, that at least confirms that he hadn't been following you until after you camped."

Alyssa nodded, but Kimiko, head in her hands and eyes still closed, asked, "How can you tell?"

"He was surprised when your boyfriend showed up," Vivian answered. "Whoever it was, he didn't know there was someone with you until he came out of the tent. If he'd been following you, he would have expected both of you. He thought you were alone."

"Oh. Right."

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's him," Alyssa added.

Alex moved to the opposite bed and put an arm around his girlfriend. "Him? You've seen this guy before?"

"Not in person," Vivian said, with a glare at her sister. She clearly thought this information was obvious to the two of them and would have rather kept it between themselves. "We have had a few reports of pokémon theft in the last several months. We've managed to recover the pokémon on most occasions, but not all. And we haven't been able to catch the criminal. But from what I've seen here, he matches the previous memories we've been able to witness as well as the descriptions of those we have not."

"But that doesn't give us any way of finding him," Alyssa added sadly. She looked up at Kimiko. "We suspect the houndoom is playing a part in why he's so hard for us to pin down. You know, dark-type and all. And there's… something else you should know."

"What's that?" the blonde replied, her voice breaking.

Alyssa's elgyem innocently floated up into her vision and she flinched back, as the green-haired girl continued. "Elgyem has detected a… presence of sorts in your mind."

"What?" Alex asked. "What does that mean? Like, there's something living in her brain?"

"No," Alyssa answered, clearly uncomfortable. "Do you know what a psychic lock is?"

"Vaguely. I've heard the term before, but…"

Vivian stepped forward to explain, somewhat impatiently. "Quite simply, it's exactly as it sounds. It's a lock on the mind placed there by a psychic. Once a lock has been put in place, that psychic can find the person again easily at will. …You were unaware of this lock on you?"

"…I had no idea," Kimiko said, shaking her head. "I don't feel any different. I never noticed anything…"

"It's unlikely that you would. But the fact that you weren't aware of it implies you did not ask for, nor want it. It's probably safe to assume this thief's elgyem put it on you."

"Why would they do that?" Alex asked. "And when? I didn't hear any order for it."

"Maybe it's just standard whenever they're going after a target?" Alyssa suggested.

"Not likely," Vivian countered. "If it were, the elgyem would have been out with him when he began his attack. He didn't use the elgyem until Alex showed up."

"Unless it was done before he showed himself and attacked her," Alyssa replied, crossing her arms.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Alex said. "Do I have one or is it just on her? Has he done this for previous victims?" Alyssa's psychic shook his head before either female could reply. "Alright… so how do we remove it? …It can be removed, right?"

"That's a simple enough matter," the green-haired girl stated, waving her hand dismissively. She nodded to her pokémon, who raised his arm.

"Wait," Kimiko shouted so suddenly that Alex flinched away from her. With stunned silence, Alyssa put a hand on her pokémon and he froze. "Can this be reversed? I mean, is there a way to track the pokémon who put this lock on me?"

"Kimiko, no," Alex warned. The gym leader eased his worries.

"No, not unless the psychic in question intends it. In fact, consenting or not, it's highly illegal. Simply, you cannot use this lock to get yourself to him. There is no reason not to have it removed. It's very dangerous."

"He put it on me for a reason, though, right?" Kimiko insisted. "If I can't use it to find him, then I'll wait until he comes back to me. And then we'll catch him, or trap him, or–"

"Absolutely not," Alex said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Again, Vivian brought logic to his rescue before his girlfriend could argue.

"There is no way to know when or why this lock was placed on you. Maybe they plan to track you years from now. For all we know, the elgyem did it without any concrete reason. We don't know if the thief has any plans to find you or even if he knows about this psychic lock on you himself. Do you expect us to simply shut you in a room and wait for him to teleport to you? We don't know how long that would take, if he ever comes at all."

"Well, we have to do something!" Kimiko demanded, hands balling into fists in her lap.

"And we will," Vivian insisted, sounding annoyed now. "But there is no logical reason to allow a thief's pokémon to be able to track you. Even if we knew for certain that he planned to ambush you again, there's no telling when that might be. Not to mention how dangerous that would be. You would be putting not only yourself at further risk, but your boyfriend too, and all of your other pokémon you both carry. It hurt losing one of them, how do you think you'd handle an ambush while unprepared in the middle of the night and have them all stolen?"

Kimiko had nothing to say to that.

"Don't be so insensitive, Viv!" Alyssa put a hand on top of the blonde's, speaking softly. "I'd strongly recommend letting us remove this lock. There's no reason you should keep it."

Averting her eyes, Kimiko let out a grudging "…fine. Do it."

Alyssa nodded with a smile and patted her elgyem on the head. The psychic raised an arm again with a quick red flash of his eyes, he let out a muffled shriek.

"The lock has been broken," Alyssa grinned. "Let us handle things from here, okay? We'll get your pokémon back."

"How?" Kimiko demanded. "You have no idea how to find him any more than I do."

"Actually," Vivian said, stroking her chin again, "we have a starting point, which is more than we've had in previous cases. The fact that he attacked you in the middle of the night at the spot he did would suggest he has some sort of hideout nearby, and was either heading towards it or away from it. Seeing as how most of the road between Neutron and Clairval is open, I would say it's more likely that he was turning in for the night somewhere near the forest and happened upon you by chance on his way home. If he were traveling towards civilization, he likely would have been far closer to one city or another at that point in the night."

Depending on when he left, Alex thought. He wasn't sure if the gym leader's assessment made sense or not, the more he thought about. But then again, where would he have been going in the middle of the night along an open and well-traveled road, if not home? Looking for trainers? Surely he wouldn't be expecting to find travelers at that time of night...

"Then let's go," Kimiko said, attempting to stand up.

Alex held her back. "We're in no condition to go looking for this guy, and not quite strong enough to take him on if we were. Just let them handle it, okay?"

"This isn't our first rodeo," Vivian added, again somewhat impatiently.

"I know how you feel," Alyssa whispered calmly. "If it were my pokémon out there, missing, I'd want to be out looking for them too. But trust me, we've done this before. It's safer if you let us take care of it, okay? We'll bring her back to you."

Kimiko said nothing in reply for a while, until Alyssa took both of her hands. The blonde finally relented with a sigh and a nod.

"Why don't you both come back to Xioria with us while we sort this out," Alyssa suggested, beaming. "We'll make sure you guys can stay at the center as long as it takes for us to catch this guy."

"I'd rather stay here," Kimiko said. "It's closer to where it happened, in case…"

"In case what?" Alex cautioned.

Kimiko changed tactics; a poor and obvious cover-up. "My pokémon are still here. I'm not going to leave them behind."

"The nurse can send them when they're recovered."

"Actually, psychologically speaking, it's probably best to keep everyone together for the time being," Vivian said, hand on her hip. "We will return for you later today, when your pokémon are recovered, and then bring you with us. Is that acceptable?"

Alex peeked quickly at his girlfriend. He knew why she wanted to stay. She was going to go back to that rock as soon as her team was healed and start her own search. Even so, separating her from what was left of her team was probably not a smart idea after all. "That would be great," he replied.

"Very well. Come on, Alyssa. In the meantime, you will go and set up the standard surveillance procedures for a stolen pokémon on the market and trade listings. Don't forget to include evolutions."

Kimiko looked up at that, startled. She had not considered the possibility that Ariel may be evolved before she was recovered. "Evolutions?"

"Yes," the gym leader replied. "It's not often, but occasionally a thief will try to evolve a pokémon to ease suspicion. In your pokémon's case, specific conditions are required for evolution to occur, conditions which we can monitor, which helps a great deal. It's obviously best to keep track of those as well as the species of the stolen pokémon, just in case. Anyway, while my sister is doing that, I'll head down to the police station and see if I can't turn up any further leads before we investigate that rock. I would suggest you two prepare for the day ahead. We will check in with the nurse and contact you before we return."

And with that, the sisters and the elgyem said their goodbyes and teleported out of the room.

"Open up, damn you!"

Johnny didn't flinch at the string of curses Biff hurled at the clamperl as he tried to pry the pokémon's shell open, but he did admire the man's colorful vocabulary. He found it odd how the water pokémon wasn't even fighting back. Surely, she had to know this wasn't her trainer. "Man, you're drawing attention."

"Ugh!" Biff released Ariel and stood up, straightening his tie, and glanced around the trade room. Several trainers had indeed turned their heads to locate the source of the loud, echoing voice. "Alright. Plan B." He withdrew a pokéball from his pocket, and then picked up the clamperl.

"Where are you going?"

"I can't let Alf out with all these people around. Elgyem are not common around here. They'll be looking for him as much as they'll be looking for me. Don't go anywhere."

Biff brought Ariel down the hall to a restroom. After depositing her in a sink and making sure the room was empty, he locked the door before releasing Alf.

"We need to move fast," he said, pulling out the box and taking out the scale within. "Open her shell and hold it while I put the scale inside, then close it again. Now."

Without a word, Alf did as instructed, using his mind to force Ariel's shell open. The clamperl gave a start as she saw the man in front of her. Biff dropped the scale onto her soft pink insides.

"Claaaaam!" she screeched as a jet of water erupted from her mouth, throwing Biff back into one of the stalls.

"Oh, son of a bitch!" Dripping wet, Biff crawled over to the scale Ariel had spat out. Alf had broken his hold on the water-type to check on his master, who angrily waved his psychic off. "Stop her, you idiot!" Ariel hopped down off the sink and began making her way to the door. Biff didn't stop to wonder how she was going to open it as he stood up.

With a whine, Ariel was lifted back into the sink, courtesy of Alf. This time Biff stood to the side and shoved the scale directly at her face before leaping backwards, slipping on a puddle with his arms flailing almost comically, but staying on his feet. Alf slammed Ariel's shell shut just as she released another blast of water. The burst was cut short and trickled through the shell and into the sink. What little did get through merely soaked Alf, who remained floating next to him, dripping. Biff recalled both pokémon and headed for the door, praying that the clamperl didn't know how to release herself.

Either way, he was sure to draw plenty of attention in his new role as a walking puddle. He'd have to act fast and get out.

"Ouch!"

As soon as he opened the bathroom door, Biff walked straight into a younger boy standing outside. Barely up to his waist, Biff fell forwards over the child and crumpled in a heap on the floor. "Fucking hell, watch where you're going, you little shit!"

"Mister, are you okay? You're all wet," complained the young boy now trapped under Biff's legs, his voice trembling. He didn't answer as he struggled to get to his feet, giving little care to the comfort of the trapped child.

Another little boy ran up and helped the first to his feet and started to speak, but Biff paid them no mind as he finally scrambled to his feet and sprinted back to the trade room.

Johnny chuckled at him as he returned. "She finally rebelled, huh?"

"Suck it," Biff spat. "Let's get this over with."

Biff retrieved the clamperl's pokéball from his suit, while Johnny pulled out the one Biff had given him earlier, holding it up for Biff to see. "What is this, anyway?"

"It's a dusk ball; the fuck's it look like? The hell does it matter?"

"I mean, what's inside it? And where did you get it?"

"I don't remember. Think it's a venonat. Got it off this dead kid in the woods the other night. You can have it after this if you want. Consider it a bonus for your time."

Biff grinned at his genius. Unable to come up with a distraction that didn't make them look suspicious while everyone else fled the building, Biff had the idea to simply perform a trade with another trainer, and as he had been reminded by the hungry sentret, he had just recently encountered the perfect pawn. Sure, the trade record would stand and probably be seen instantly by anyone looking. They would see how the stolen clamperl had been traded to a boy for his venonat. But then when they eventually found the dead boy later with no trace of any pokéball on him, the trail would go cold – as it was obvious, Biff thought, that the forest ghosts had been the cause of the boy's demise – and with no links to himself left, Biff would be in the clear.

"Sounds good to me," Johnny agreed. At this point, he only remained to play the part of the other trainer Biff was trading with, but that was still rather necessary. After all, it would be far too suspicious for one person to be trading two of his own pokéballs with himself. Besides, Biff already paid him. Biff didn't really care what Johnny did with the venonat afterwards, as there wouldn't be any witnesses to the boy's body and therefore no one would know where the venonat, or the clamperl for that matter, happened to be.

Biff dropped Ariel's ball into the depression on the trade machine. "Alright, let's get this over with."

A/N: Last update: March 27, 2017. This update: August 2, 2017.

So, I'm not sure I like this chapter or not. Actually, I struggled with planning this entire arc, but I don't know what else could be done about it short of just removing it, which I do not what to do.