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Now, on with the story.
Chapter 4: Discussing
(The Next Day, At the International Police Global Headquarters)
"Due to my administrative duties within the International Police, I am handing over leadership of this case to Detective Mateus Cobalt. Detective Cobalt has solved numerous missing person and Pokémon cases over the years in varying cases of magnitude." Said Blake, who then turns to Mateus. "Detective, I have the utmost trust and confidence in you and your skills." "Thank you. I won't let you down, Commissioner." Said Mateus.
(Blake then leaves the room.)
"I examined the data last night, and it was a lot of it. However, I did find three things that should be of note." Said Mateus. "What is it?" Asked Hilbert. "First thing of note, there's a pattern in where each of these disappearances have occurred." "As in, there's an order of all this?" Asked Rosa. "In a way, yes. The first disappearances happened in Kanto, the second one in Johto, then Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos Alola, and Galar. To date, this cycle has repeated eighteen times. Also, there are, as of currently, 144 people missing in this case, all of them ranging from 6 to 24 years old. The Second thing to note is that, usually, one boy and one girl go missing simultaneously, with a few exceptions." "Like with Hilda and Bianca? Eon?" Asked Serena. "Yes. That is one of the exceptions. If my math is correct, at least 72 male and females each, are currently missing." "Do you think this is a coordinated effort?" Asked Prof. Alva. "Most definitely! The last thing to note is that these disappearances have taken place at least one week of each other." "The last incident took place in Unova three days ago, that means the next one will take place in Kalos in four days?" Asked Ash. "Yes. That is correct. I'll have Blake order the Kalos branch do a full patrol of the region to check for any suspicious activity. I'll also look through the data again to see if anything else comes up." Prof. Alva then turns to Mateus. "Mateus, we all should look at the data together." Mateus was about to ask, but looked as the group silently agreed with Prof. Alva. "Let's get started then."
(Hours Later)
"So much data and reports. It feels like it's never ending." Said Rosa. "I know, but this provides some much needed insight. Hopefully, the more insight we have, the sooner we'll find your sister." Said Prof. Alva. "From all that we've gathered, Mateus' findings of the majority of cases involving one boy and one girl disappearing is correct. Eon. However, the ratio looks to be around 75-25." Said Prof. Alva turns his attention to Serena. "Let me have a look." "I've placed the case data chronologically in groups of four, and see that for every three disappearances with one of each, one disappearance with either two boys or two girls happens. What I'm having a hard time with is finding a matching group of cases." "Given their potential scale, that could be on purpose." Said Mateus from outside.
(Mateus then enters the room.)
"I've just gotten back from discussing patrol plans with Blake. I just overheard your sorting method, excellent choice by the way, Serena. They likely have it not matching so as it to not appear as a pattern." Said Mateus. "To make it seem as if they're random?" Asked Ash. Mateus then smirks at Ash in a congratulatory manner. "Yes, and to leave no margin of error." "Mateus, without a margin of error, that make them impossible to catch, right?" Asked Rosa with her hand on her chin. "Not impossible, Rosa, just really damn difficult." "So it's hit or miss?" "That is, oddly, one way you can put it." "So we're practically sitting Duckletts at the moment." Said Hilbert. "I'm afraid so, Hilbert, but we will find them." Said Prof. Alva. Mateus then looks at the group. "You've all worked very hard today. Why don't you all take a break? If anything comes up, I'll let you all know about it." "Kind of ironic, isn't it? Eon?" Thought Serena to herself while Mateus was speaking. "I'll just need you all here before 8:30 AM tomorrow. Good Night everyone." The rest of the group said Good Night to Mateus, before heading back to their hotel rooms for the night.
(Hours Later, At Ash and Serena's Hotel Room)
"What are you looking at, Sweetheart?" Asked Ash. "I'm just looking at my old case file Ash-kun. Eon." Said Serena. "From 15 years ago? Why?" "I was curious about the circumstances of the disappearances and Detective Mateus' possibility that it was a coordinated effort." "And?" "I noticed many similarities between the details of the disappearances and how I was kidnapped by Team Rocket. Eon." "It's all but obvious that this is these aren't random, then?" "Exactly. But who would even have the resources to pull this off? And most importantly, why?" "That is a good question, but let's get some sleep Sweetheart. We can ask Mateus tomorrow." "You're right Ash-kun. Eon." Ash and Serena then say good night to each other before falling asleep on the hotel bed.
(The Next Day)
"So you're saying that the circumstances of your disappearance are similar to the one that have happened recently?" Asked Hilbert. "Yes. Eon." Said Serena. "While there are clear similarities between the recent cases to your own kidnapping, Serena, and one could make a correlation using them, there is not enough evidence to believe that they are linked. However, the possibility should not be ignored." Said Mateus. "If w-what Serena said is true, I can't even im-imagine what could be happening to H-Hi-Hilda and Bianca." Said Rosa, who was beginning to burst into tears. Prof. Alva then hugs his youngest daughter. "Rosa, I'm just as worried as you are. In fact, we all are. But remember, we will find Hilda, we will find Bianca, and we will find all of the others who have disappeared in this case." Said Prof. Alva comforting his daughter. As Ash, Serena, and Hilbert went to comfort Rosa, who was in tears, Mateus decided to let them be, notifying the group to let him know that they were ready.
(One Hour Later)
Mateus and Prof. Alva were walking back from Blake's office. "How's Kaihaku doing?" Asked Mateus. "The hospital has notified me that while she is still unconscious, her condition is improving." Said Prof. Alva. "That's good to hear, Alva." "You plan on asking her about this, Mateus?" Mateus then sighs. "It's part of the job. However, I'm only going to do so when she's ready. I'm not going to jeopardize someone's health or life over some answers." "I see." "It'll be a lot for her when she wakes up. If you feel the need to be by your wife's side when it happens, I'm more than willing to let you take a leave of absence to do so." Prof. Alva then looks at Mateus. "You are a good detective, thank you, Mateus." "It's fine."
(Mateus and Prof. Alva then turn to the room where Ash, Serena, Hilbert and Rosa were discussing while breaking down the case data further.)
"Well, I've got some news. And as a precaution, you should all start packing." Said Mateus. "What?! Why?!" exclaimed the group. "Commissioner Blake has ordered us to fly to Kalos early tomorrow morning should nothing happen during the patrols tonight. Fret not, all flight expenses will be covered by the International Police." "Hmm? This is our chance to find out the cause of the disappearances." Said Ash. "Or to possibly catch someone red handed. Eon." Said Serena. "You're both right, this is our chance to get some much needed clearance in this case. Let's take advantage of it and get a head start on packing." Said Prof. Alva. Mateus' eyes then pop up. "Oh! I almost forgot, we're taking off from Castelia City Airport at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning, try to be there at least two to three hours early. Traffic can be heavy in Castelia City at all times."
(The Next Day, Castelia City Airport)
"I know I said early, but I didn't think we'd be here at 3:30 in the morning." Said Mateus. "We all agreed to make it easier at the time that traffic was the lowest. It just so happened that the hours between two and three o'clock in the morning was the best time." Said Rosa. "I know. I'm just going to sleep." Mateus then turns to his Decidueye and Buddy, his Shiny Umbreon. "Please wake me up at in a few hours." "Eye." Cried Decidueye. "Um." Cried Buddy.
(A Few Hours Later)
Mateus was sound asleep when he began to feel something nudging him. When he opened his eyes, he found Decidueye using one of his wings to wake him up. I'm up. I'm up. What time is it?" Asked a tired Mateus. Mateus checked his watch and found it was 7:45 AM. "Flight boards in fifteen minutes. Hopefully I can get a coffee." Thought Mateus to himself. "Good Morning Detective. Eon." Said Serena. "Good Morning Serena. How long have you been up?" "Almost an hour. You look like you just got up." "Hehe. I did." "I just got off the phone with my parents, do you want any coffee? Eon?" "I actually would, but the plane will board soon." "A seven hour flight without any coffee, you think you can handle it? If you'd like I can get it for you?" "Alright. I'll be sure to pay you back when this is all over."
(Six Minutes Later)
"That's the stuff. Mornings just seem impossible without it." Said Mateus. "I feel the same. I had little to no coffee while I was carrying the twins. Some mornings felt like they took forever. Eon." Said Serena. "I see." "Mom said the twins were asleep. I thought it was early, but I accidentally forgot the time difference." "It can be easy to forget sometimes. Right now, it's about 7:51 AM here in Unova, meaning its 1:51AM back in Alola, but 12:51PM in Kalos." What time will it be when we arrive? Eon?" "Assuming all goes well, we'll be in Lumiose when it's 3:30 PM here, 9:30 AM in Alola, and 8:30 PM in Kalos." *Ding* "Air Kalos Flight Number 721 to Lumiose City will begin boarding in nine minutes at Gate 6K, please have your boarding pass, Trainer's Passport or License, as well as your luggage ready. Thank you for flying Air Kalos, where romantic love and exceptional service is always in the air. We hope you enjoy your flight." Said the flight attendant over the loudspeaker. "Alright then, here goes nothing." Thought Mateus to himself.
*End of Chapter 4*
I hope all of you have an excellent weekend. See you all next Friday.
