Part CXV: A Cunning Thief
"How's the schedule looking?" Misty asked as they finished lunch and relaxed for a moment as they digested their food. "We are still on track to get there in time, right?"
"We should be." May said looking at the schedule that she'd pulled out of her bag at Misty's question. "We hurried through the mountains and should be at most 5 days out of Coumarine with the festival beginning in a week's time. That means that we will make it in time for the Showcase and Contest I think."
"Good and then I can face the gym as well and get my 5th badge." Ash said as he lay back on the ground and began to doze off. "Though that can be worked around the set events we are trying to make."
"True, that is the only one that isn't going anywhere so we can save that for last if need be." Misty said. "But that is good, we should hurry though just to be safe and have a bit of wiggle room once we get to the city."
"Agreed, we've had too many distractions along the way recently." Serena said. "Some more forced than others but we should try to avoid them until after the Pledging Festival."
"Sorry." Ash said before he dozed off in a food coma, Pikachu lounging beside him doing the same thing.
The girls just shared an incredulous look at Ash's actions and then him to his own devices. They had pushed hard to get through the mountain pass and down to the river that separated the mountains from a forest that was the last obstacle before they reached Coumarine City, so his fatigue was understandable.
They had been pressing hard ever since they had left Lagoon Town Contest a few days ago where Serena finally won her first ribbon and boosted her confidence in Contests now that she had won one. They had the time to get to their next destination, but it was starting to get shorter and shorter, so they'd decided to hurry to make sure that they reached Coumarine City in time.
That was why they were now on the riverbank in the mid-afternoon having decided to push until they reached it for lunch despite Ash and May's stomachs protesting the entire time they were crossing the mountains. It was just easier to eat here where there was space for them and their Pokémon to relax and take a break before pushing on and into the woods.
It had worked, even if their lunch was later than usual, and May expected that they would get through the woods in no less than 3 days and reach Coumarine with a few to spare. That was if they didn't come across any distractions along the way of course.
Right now, though, they were enjoying that much-needed break. Even though the girls had all healed a while ago, it was still a little sore if they pushed themselves like now so needed the break, especially for Misty as she'd received a leg wound that fateful day back in Geosenge Town. They would spend an hour or so here and then move on to find a place to camp for the night in the woods.
As such they all decided to do their own things while Ash dozed to the side. May took out the schedules and information on the various Contests, Showcases and the 4 remaining gyms to plan their route. Right now, the main thing was the big festival week in Coumarine where Serena would get a shot at a second ribbon and Misty would enter her first Showcase. Those were on fixed days so Ash could challenge Ramos in the Coumarine Gym around them when the gym was open.
After that they were going to head northeast and towards Laverre City where Ash would face the only known fairy type gym in the world. If they timed it right they could get there around the time of the Laverre Contest, a special Contest held at the end of the Laverre Fashion Week where Valeria was debuting her new fairy inspired line. That could potentially give Serena a shot at her 3rd ribbon if she won in Coumarine City, so it was a good idea to try and make it.
However, that was at least 6 weeks away so May doubted that they would be there for it. That was because it was only two weeks on foot between Coumarine and Laverre, and that was factoring Ash amounts of distractions along the way.
Regardless, Laverre would be their next stop after Coumarine as it was the nearest gym and if Serena had two ribbons by then it would be a little easier as she would be almost at the wildcard qualification spot. If May were being honest, though, unless they did have one or two major distractions she couldn't really plan out the route after Laverre and before Snowbelle. The latter was their final destination for a few reasons and had a set date they had to be there on regardless of everything else but that wasn't for a couple of months at least.
That was because the Wallace Cup was being held in Snowbelle City this year and was going to be towards the end of the season this time around for some reason. As such they were planning on it being one of Serena's Contests as it was the Wallace Cup and there was a gym in Snowbelle, considered the toughest in all of Kalos apparently, Ash would face it last. That gave them a set date to work with and May used this time to plan the route between Laverre and Snowbelle as best she could.
As with all the planning, gyms were the center point of where they would go. Despite the region's size, there were only 8 in Kalos, so Ash had to hit them all, therefore it made sense to plan around them. Contests were a dime a dozen this year and could pop up suddenly as was the case with both the Ambrette and Lagoon Town Contests so that wasn't too much of an issue. Showcases were less common but also on a set schedule and May was already thinking that if the time worked the best one after Coumarine was Dendemille Town's Showcase.
Based on the route it made the most sense as they would have to pass through Dendemille Town after Laverre City and was on the way to Anistar City for Ash's 7th gym battle. After that they could try to hit a Showcase or two between Anistar and Snowbelle if they needed them and go from there. With the timing they'd have about month to spare after the Wallace Cup before the Master Class, if Misty made it to that, so they had some cushion for any more needed Contests before the first major tournament.
Closing her route plan and putting it back in her bag, May got up and went to care for her Pokémon. She had their planned route, pending distractions along the way, and that meant that it was time to look after her Pokémon while she had a moment. Aegislash needed a little polishing, and she was still bonding with Phantump so now was a good time to do just that.
Meanwhile Misty was off to the side with Piplup and Vulpix as they planned how a freestyle would work should they get to that stage. Serena had taught her the basics, but Misty needed to put her own spin on it as personal style was important to freestyle performances.
She'd already decided that if she advanced to the freestyle round in Coumarine that she'd use her starter and Vulpix as the latter couldn't be in a Contest last year, so he deserved to be in her first Showcase this year. The others just watched and learned for when they would be needed in a Showcase down the road.
Serena for her part wanted to help Misty but understood that Misty needed to find her own style so all she could do was instruct her in the basics. She'd helped her friend with how a freestyle worked just as Misty had helped her with how appeals worked but to take it to the next level you had to find your own rhythm.
This applied not just to Showcases but to Contests as well. May had learned that the hard way thanks to her loss to Solidad in the Kanto semifinals and had taught it to Serena who in turn was letting Misty do it for Showcases.
In the meantime, Serena was simply grooming her Pokémon and making them look as good as possible. Well, she was grooming Pancham at the moment as Sylveon was already done and Braixen was waiting patiently for her turn under the brush. Rhyhorn, who was dozing as far away from the water as possible, needed a different maintenance routine as he didn't have fur while Vivillon slept on his back also requiring a different grooming method for his scales. Serena would get to them when she was done and was content to let them sleep for the moment.
It was because Serena was so focused on her work that she didn't realize what was going on at first. It wasn't until alerted that she saw the strange sight that was occurring within their area of the camp.
"Braixen!" Braixen exclaimed suddenly causing Serena to look at her. "Braixen."
"Braixen, what's up?" Serena asked confused.
"Braixen." Braixen said pointing to the river. "Braixen, Braixen!"
Serena looked and almost dropped her brush as Pancham leapt off her lap to take a fighting stance at the sight. Two Poke Puffs and several poffins, all made by Serena and of the general all around variety rather than the type specific ones for Vivillon, were floating in midair and already over the river as they were being dragged towards the forest on the other side.
They were encased in a blue light as they moved but even if they weren't there were only two things that Serena could think that would cause such a phenomenon: Psychic or a ghost type being invisible. This was clearly the former given what was going on with the items.
"Er guys, we have a thief." Serena said alerting the other girls to what was going on.
"Wait what?" May asked before Serena pointed as the food disappeared into the trees. "Oh, I guess we do."
"That is an impressive Psychic." Misty said coming over to join them with Piplup and Vulpix on her heels. "Whoever is using it has to be just within the trees and even then that is pretty far for the move I think. That's a Pokémon with a bit of power behind it."
"Likely a psychic type then and probably one that is evolved or even fully evolved." May mused. "Could be worth finding out who it is."
"Yeah I am one shy of a full team." Serena said seriously. "And if it liked my treats enough to steal them then maybe we can work something out. It could be like when I caught Pancham in a sense."
"Pan Pancham." Pancham tried to protest his innocence.
"Braixen." Braixen said sternly and he cowed his head in defeat and a bit of shame, he had done something similar back when he was wild. "Braixen."
"Well then I say let's go and check it out." Serena said standing up. "I want to at least see who liked my stuff enough to steal it, that will be a start to see if I can catch it."
The other girls nodded as they made their way to the edge of the river. That was their first obstacle but thankfully Misty already had an idea for how to deal with it.
"Piplup, use Ice Beam to let us cross." Misty said. "We can cross and then either Braixen or Vulpix can melt it to prevent any problems with the river being blocked by ice."
"Good idea." May said as Piplup did as commanded, he was the hero right now so of course he'd do his job well to remind Misty how amazing he was. "Blaziken, stay here and monitor everything while we are gone. There's no point in waking Ash. Phantump, Aegislash come with me. If this is a psychic type then having a ghost type will help."
"Blaziken." Blaziken said seriously as Phantump and Aegislash flew over to May to help her out.
"Malamar, you too." Misty said as the bridge was formed. "You're our best bet against a psychic type that might be hostile."
"Malamar." Malamar said with a nod, she was the smartest choice, so Misty was clearly learning under her tutelage.
"Machamp, you stay with Blaziken and keep guard." Misty said. "You are at a disadvantage against a psychic type. Stay here and protect Ash, he won't be up for a while."
"Machamp." Machamp said understanding his role perfectly and walking over to protect his trainer's mate who was apparently still sleeping contentedly despite what was going on around him. "Machamp."
"Alright let's go." Serena said before looking to Rhyhorn and Vivillon. "Vivillon, with me. We are likely dealing with a psychic type so if I have to battle it you're my best Pokémon against it."
Carefully, the girls, Malamar, Braixen, and Piplup crossed the ice bridge as Vivillon got up and flew over to help his trainer. Once they were across, Vulpix use Fire Spin on his end, apparently deciding to stay with his teammates, while Braixen used Flamethrower on her end to melt it so as to not dam the river. After that they hurried to the trees following the line the food had disappeared in to find the Pokémon responsible.
Serena wasn't sure that they would, it could have easily taken the food and run off, but she was hoping to at least learn which Pokémon took it so she could keep an eye out for it as they traversed the forest. It turned out that they didn't have to search long as Piplup found a broken piece of poffin just withing the tree line and past it, in a small clearing and napping on the grass in a patch of sun near the base of a tree was the content thief. It was exactly as May had predicted, a fully evolved psychic type.
Lying on its back in the warm sun, crushed Poke Puff and poffin remains around its mouth and with its for paws on its stomach as it slept was a snow white, bipedal, feline-like Pokémon. It had a dark blue quaff of hair on the top of its head as well as blue fur on its collar, paws, legs and the base of its two tails. Instantly both Serena and May recognized it as a female Meowstic.
"What is it?" Misty asked, she couldn't identify it at a glance. "It looks really familiar and yet different at the same time."
"That's because you've seen the male version before." Serena said simply. "Kalos has two Pokémon that have extremely clear gender differences but are only shown when they evolve. One is Pyroar, your Litleo's evolved form, the other is Meowstic which evolves from Espurr. This is obviously the latter one."
"Olympia, the Anistar Gym Leader, is known to always have a male and female Meowstic with her at all times." May said recalling her brief meeting with the woman after the incident, though she seemed to already know of May before it. "They fought with her during the incident and from what I've heard her gym battles are always double battles against her Meowstics. I am unsure the reason for it, but I have heard that there is something more about the gender differences between Meowstics, beyond their physical appearance that is."
"Huh so Miette's one, which had an inverse color scheme if a recall, is male." Misty said as she suddenly recalled her post match chat with her latest love rival and how Furfrou's Attract had worked on it despite it being a gamble for Misty at the time as she didn't know of Meowstic's gendered appearance. "Now that I am seeing the female one I do remember Miette mentioning both that it is inverse, and that Olympia used two so I think it is safe to presume that that will be the case for Ash when we reach Anistar City. This one looks content and happy though."
"It does and I don't want to attack a sleeping Pokémon, that just seems wrong." Serena said pulling out a Poke Ball. "So, I will just try and catch it as is and if it escapes and wakes up then Braixen, you're up with Vivillon backing you up should you need it. I am going to try and catch her."
"Yeah she does have some good power to her." May agreed. "That was an impressive Psychic she used."
"That and Miette has a male one." Serena said as she threw the Poke Ball. "It seems fitting that I should end up with the female one given how intense my rivalry with her is."
As the ball struck the sleeping Meowstic and bounced up to engulf it in red energy and catch it, none of the girls saw the little smirk that Meowstic had on her lips or her cracked eyelid as she watched the girl she wanted throw the Poke Ball at her. She had fallen right into her trap and as the ball fell down and began to shake all she had to do was wait and accept her capture. It had all worked out perfectly.
Little did Serena or the others know but Meowstic had spotted them a while back when they were first making camp and began preparing their food. She'd smelt the delicious meal and as she was quite hungry she decided to hide in the bushes and look out on the humans as they ate. She wasn't going to do anything just yet, but she did want to observe them and see if any were worthy to serve her like she wanted them to.
Meowstic had been in this area since she was an Espurr, surviving comfortable on a mix of her charms, psychic type moves, and wits but she always knew she was missing something. As good as a Pokémon was, there were things that only humans could do for them and Meowstic grew to wanting one of her own.
However, she didn't want just any human. No, she needed a human who would pamper her and treat her like the queen that she knew that she was. That meant she needed a kind hearted human who could spoil her with tasty treats, groom her immaculate fur while also making it shine even more, and serve her every whim with an open and kind heart.
It had been the smell of the cooking that had first brought Meowstic to the attention of these humans, but it was the actions of one, the girl with short blond hair, that had really intrigued her. The girl was skilled in grooming and Meowstic watched her expertly groom a Sylveon and then move onto a Pancham while a Braixen with a fantastic tail that Meowstic could only envy sat patiently waiting a turn from the human. They all look amazing and that was just what Meowstic was looking for.
Then she noticed the human's bag and saw that she had Pokémon treats in it. Meowstic didn't know what the pink things were, but she'd seen the human girls given them to various Pokémon after the meal and knew that they were meant for her kind. As such she decided on one final test, steal the food and bring it to herself to try while making sure at least one of the Pokémon saw her doing so. If it were good enough then she'd let herself be found and hopefully caught, if not she'd just flee but keep an eye on the girl if she entered the forest.
All in all, it was a good plan and Meowstic put it to work right away. She was strong enough to use her Psychic to reach the food and bring it back to her, though she had to be slow given the distance and to let the Braixen see it as that Pokémon was the most likely to notice. Once it did, Meowstic knew she had them and the food but also that she had a moment so her first thing to do was eat it to see if her plan was worth continuing.
She did and instantly was in love with the treats, both the fluffy one and the oval hard ones. They tasted differently and had different consistencies, but both were amazing to her. She wanted more and with the human's grooming skills she knew that she'd found her servant at last. All Meowstic had to do was manipulate the situation a little more and if necessary prod the girl along to the desired outcome of catching her.
That was why she had taken the remaining food, leaving a little clue on the way, to a nearby clearing with a nice patch of sun in it and laid down. She finished the food of course as it was too good not to after the effort she'd gone through to get it and then just waited for the girls to come. All she had to do was pretend to be asleep and a moment later they arrived.
The humans chatted for a moment but in the end the right one pulled out a Poke Ball, if one of the other had then Meowstic would have had to act. However, the right one did so Meowstic didn't have to prompt the girl to do it. That was why she was smirking when she was caught.
Of course, Serena knew none of this as the ball twitched and beeped in the grass for a few moments before dinging to everyone's surprise at its success. Serena quickly recovered from her shock and went over to pick up the Poke Ball that had her 6th Pokémon in it.
"Alright I caught a …" Serena began before the ball suddenly burst open.
"Meowstic." Meowstic said as she burst out, turned and leapt into her new human's arms purring contently as she was held there.
"That was unexpected." Misty said and May nodded at the sight. "But it does happen to all of us so understandable. Even if for me it's usually to slap me."
"Malamar." Malamar said proudly with a nod, she would keep doing it. "Malamar."
"That wasn't a compliment young lady." Misty said turning to her psychic and dark type. "I don't like it when you slap me."
"Malamar." Malamar said haughtily as she glared at her human, Misty had to learn to not be so stupid or irresponsible or indecent and then maybe she wouldn't be slapped so much. "Malamar."
"Yeah but I think there is more to this." May said as sparks flew between Misty and Malamar for a moment. "That was fast even by our strange standards, except maybe Dawn's Psyduck though only Ash would know what happened after it caught itself."
"True." Misty said giving up with her stubborn Pokémon as Meowstic nuzzled into Serena. "Though I think it might want some of those poffins and puffs."
"Do you?" Serena asked and Meowstic nodded. "Alright let's go back and sort that out then, as well as a nice grooming if you'd like. We can do that as we tell Ash what happened. He's not going to believe this."
"Given what Ash has seen this won't even factor as unbelievable." May said as they all made their way back. "I doubt anything can shock that man these days."
"True." Misty said with a nod. "We've seen a fraction of the shit he's seen."
As they walked both Braixen and Malamar narrowed their eyes at Meowstic who was still being held by Serena. Meowstic felt their eyes one her and opened them to see the other Pokémon looking at her. Instantly she knew that both were female and alphas in their own rights, so Meowstic just smiled and purred more as her human scratched her just right, looking at the pair the entire time as she asserted her own dominance.
That got both Pokémon to glare at her and instantly Meowstic was glaring back at them and sparks flew though the humans didn't notice. These two wouldn't fall for Meowstic's ploys and tricks so she'd have to be careful with them. One, the Braixen, was also her human's so that one would be the main one she'd have to deal with.
The Malamar wasn't so she wasn't too worried about that Pokémon. In fact, she wasn't that worried at all, she relished the challenge as they reached the river and began to cross it again thanks to a water or ice type one of the girls had that Meowstic didn't recognize as they made their way to introduce her to the others.
Of course, the silent war that would start soon was unknown to Serena and the others as they crossed the river. She was just thrilled to have a new Pokémon and to show it off and tell Ash the story of how she caught her.
That also meant that she was going to have to start grooming and training Meowstic for Contests. She couldn't wait and began at once much to Meowstic's joy and Braixen's irritation at losing her place in line to the new Pokémon.
All in all, it had been a good day. Now, they all couldn't wait for what was to come as they continued their journey to Coumarine City and all that it had to offer them.
