Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)
A Legendary Search
10. Purloined
The town wasn't that large; Tim and Pikachu went around all the houses interviewing everyone they found outside. They found no one who had seen anything until they reached the house right behind Thelma's, where a young woman was gardening.
"Oh, is that what all that noise was?" She said after Tim explained the situation. She pushed her hat a little higher up her head and ran the back of her hand across her forehead. "I was kind of wondering what all that was, but then, that lady has been hollering since she arrived. It's made the atmosphere of our town a little less pleasant than it used to be. And accusing Milo? Well, there won't be any charge against him for too long. Anyone who knows him at all around here will tell you he didn't do anything."
"That's what I think, too, so I'm trying to find out what really did happen. Did you see anything at all, around the time they started yelling or just before or after that?"
"Um…" The woman thought hard. "Uh, yeah, actually, now that I think of it. Something ran down this way." The woman indicated the area right next to her house. Glancing over, Tim realized she was pointing at the secret path. Her house was right next to it.
He yanked out his notebook and jotted the note down. "Did you get a good look at it?"
"Not really, no. I'm afraid I only caught it out of the corner of my eye. It was just after I had left my house to come garden, and I wasn't really looking around at that time, since that was actually a few minutes before all the shouting started. I think it was purple, though. Or… actually, it might have been black, now that I'm thinking about it. Or maybe even dark blue? I only saw it for a moment and it was pretty small."
Tim noted the possible colours and time it ran by. "Ok, thanks. Is there anything else you can think of?"
"No, I'm afraid not. That's all I remember from around then, sorry."
"Oh, no problem! You've been a great help, thank you very much."
"You're welcome, then." She smiled. "I hope you do manage to find out what's going on. Milo's a good kid. He doesn't deserve this from that crabby old… well, maybe I shouldn't finish that sentence." The woman sighed.
Pikachu laughed. "Sounds like that Thelma woman is rather unpopular."
"I'll keep looking into it until I do. Thanks again." Tim told the woman, and the two left.
"So, something dark coloured and small ran by this way a few minutes before the shouting started. That's what we look into next then. Oh, but we still haven't found Poliwag, have we?"
"Yeah, but if it didn't wake up until between the time Thelma got back and when she started shouting, I don't think it would have seen anything."
"Maybe not the theft, but remember, Tim, it was attacked by something. Maybe it's related. Or, maybe it's not. We won't know until we ask it."
"Oh, that's true. It's possible it was attacked because it was going to see something…"
"Exactly."
First, Tim checked with Milo to see if he knew where the Poliwag had run. When he didn't, Tim checked with the other people and Pokemon he and Pikachu had spoken to before that they knew had been in the area. They came up with nothing, however, until Pikachu spotted a Wingull flying overhead.
"Hey! You up there, wait a sec. We'd like to ask you something." Pikachu called.
The Wingull banked left, circled back toward them, and glided down to the ground next to them.
"Ah, thank you very much. We're looking for a Poliwag that was injured in the town. It's had its injuries treated, but it got startled by someone shouting and ran off. Have you seen anything from up there?"
"Wingull, wing." The Wingul took off, flew a circle around Pikachu, and repeated, "Wingull, wing!" before flying away.
"Hey, thanks!" Pikachu turned to Tim. "We're in luck, Tim. Wingull saw a Poliwag with newly-healed injuries head towards the lake. If we can't find it there, I bet we know a Milotic who can and would be eager to help us, help Milo."
"I imagine it would. Let's go." Tim took off toward the lake, Pikachu following.
It didn't take long to reach the lake. There were some Masquerain around, and several places in the lake that were bubbling or rippling. There were no Poliwag visible, however. Tim kept his eyes open for them as he and Pikachu made their way to the end of the peninsula, but had no luck.
Once they got to the point of the land jutting out into the water, Tim looked out.
"I don't see Milotic, do you?" Pikachu asked, also peering out.
Tim shook his head. "Milotic? Are you there? We need your help with something!"
Tim's voice echoed across the water for a moment. Several of the ripples and bubbles disappeared; perhaps he had scared some smaller Pokemon into hiding. Tim knew he wouldn't have scared Milotic, though.
"I don't think-" Pikachu's voice was cut off as water splashed directly in front of them, spraying them both. Tim and Pikachu both sputtered for a moment as Milotic's head became visible above the water. It waited patiently for them to collect themselves.
"Oh, Milotic! There you are. Listen, we'd like your help with something." Pikachu told it after giving his head one last shake to rid itself of most of the water. "Milo is in some trouble. He's been accused of stealing something."
Milotic thrashed and began screeching, and for a moment Tim was afraid it was about to race off.
"No, no no! Wait, wait just a minute! You won't be able to get to Milo and help him, he's too far inland. But we are trying to help him, and we'd like it if you could help us. Give us a hand, and I promise we'll get Milo out of the tight spot he's in."
Milotic settled down and fixed Pikachu with a very intense stare. "Lotic."
"Thank you. You see, we're looking for a Poliwag that Milo healed up just before he got in trouble today. We think that the Poliwag might have seen something to let us know who really took the necklace that was stolen. We were told it ran off towards the lake. Think you could help us find it?"
"Milooo." Milotic's head vanished back beneath the water.
"Thanks!" Pikachu called after it, then turned to Tim. "He said he'll find them for us. We'll just need to wait here until he's back."
Time seemed to stretch as they waited for Milotic. Not only did it feel like thirty seconds on Tim's watch took several minutes to count down, but it took not five, not ten, but twenty minutes for Milotic to return at last. Even Pikachu had taken to pacing in anxiety when Milotic's head finally reappeared above the water. On Milotic's head was a nervous Poliwag, with marks on it that clearly indicated nearly-healed injuries.
"Ah, so there you are! Thank you, Milotic. Poliwag, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions. You're the one healed by a human boy just a little over an hour ago, right? How did you get those injuries?"
"Pol. Poliwag, Poli."
"You were attacked by another Pokemon? Which one?"
"Poli, Poliwag."
"A purple Pokemon? Do you know what it was?"
"Poli. Wag."
"What?" Pikachu whirled around. "Tim, it says it was attacked by the Pokemon that lives with the lady in the house it was in front of. Poliwag was attacked by Thelma's partner, Purrloin!"
"What?" Tim's eyes widened. "Why?"
"Pol. Poliwag."
"What?" Pikachu glanced back at Poliwag, then again at Tim. "Tim, Poliwag says that Thelma told Purrloin to attack."
"She told it to? Whaaat?"
"Yeah. Poliwag was crossing in front of the house. Thelma and Purrloin were waiting there. Thelma told Purrloin to attack the Poliwag, so Purrloin came after it until Poliwag fainted."
"Why on earth would she do that? What purpose could she have?"
"I have no idea." Pikachu shook his head. "I don't think it would be a good idea to accuse Thelma, so let's go have another talk with Purrloin."
"Right." Something occurred to Tim. "Hey, Pikachu, that lady in the house next to the secret path said that a maybe purple Pokemon ran down the secret path a few minutes before the shouting started."
"Oh, right. That might have been Purrloin." Pikachu, who had started back toward the town, stopped to think. Putting a paw to his chin, he paused for a long moment, then said, "You know, before we talk to Purrloin, why don't we go talk to the chief of Timbur Transport? Thelma said she was going to talk to him when she left the house, but didn't see him."
"Right… we'll ask him if he saw her, or if he left his post around that time."
The chief of Timbur Transport was standing right where they had left him at the port. When Tim reached him, the man looked over and smiled.
"Ah, hello, Tim. You on your way already? The ferry off the island won't be for a while yet."
"No, actually. I was coming to ask you something."
"Oh? Ask away."
"Between an hour and an hour and a half ago, Thelma said she was coming to find you so she could tell you about a package she was expecting. She said when she got here, she didn't see you, so she went back home."
Pikachu cut in. "Since we had just started talking to Dr. Waals when the shouting started, we must have just passed Thelma going the other way when we headed to his house. It shouldn't have been long after we left."
"Did you see her, or do anywhere? It probably wouldn't have been too long after we passed by, or maybe even just before." Tim added.
"Thelma? No, I didn't see her, or I would've given her her letter in person. We receive and deliver mail from here, too, so we got a letter for her. But it's strange that she didn't see us, if it was around the time you went by. I've been supervising the Timbur from right here since about a half an hour before you came by, until, I guess, about a half hour ago when I left to relieve myself. Came right back here. If she came around then, I would have missed her, but if it was more around the time you came by, there's no way we would have missed each other."
"That's suspicious… there's no doubt that he would have been here, then, if he was here from that long before we came by until just before we ran off to the lake to look for Poliwag. So that means she didn't even come by. Why?" Pikachu mused.
"That's odd… I wonder how she missed you, then."
"I wouldn't know. She must not have been looking very hard."
Tim glanced at Pikachu, who jerked his head back towards the town.
"I guess not. Well, thanks. I need to get back." Tim started to step away, then stopped. "Oh, if you'd like, I'm going back by Thelma's house. I can take the letter to her, if you'd like."
"Oh? Well, sure then, if you wouldn't mind. After last time you were here, I can trust you to get it to the right place." The man winked at Tim, and went into a box, rifling through the files, until he pulled out an envelope and gave it to Tim. "Much appreciated. When you see her, make sure to let her know that I have been here."
Tim nodded. "Will do."
He turned and started walking again. Once they were far enough down the walk that the Timbur Transport chief wouldn't hear them, Pikachu remarked,
"You know it's illegal to open someone else's mail."
"Of course I know that! I wasn't going to open her letter. We're going back to that house, so we might as well take it to her."
"Oh, and here I thought you were finally going to start getting into everything like a real detective."
"I am. I did tell you you were right about it, after all. But I'm not going to go searching through people's personal mail like that. But that doesn't mean we can't find anything out from it. Take a look at this, Pikachu." Tim bent down and showed Pikachu the letter. "The return address. She's not getting a letter from a friend or anything- that's a debt collection agency."
"Debt collection? Hmm…" Pikachu stopped, looking at it. "She's supposed to be pretty rich… yet she has debt collectors after her? Don't give that to her right when we get there, Tim, I have a feeling that's important."
"I was thinking the same."
"Good work, Tim. Well, let's go see if we can't unravel more of this mystery. Purrloin should be able to shed some light on this."
"Mm-hmm."
The Purrloin was still where they had left her. Instead of grooming herself, though, she had curled up for a nap. When Tim and Pikachu got close, she lifted its head and blinked.
"So sorry to disturb you." Pikachu said. "But we've got a couple more questions we'd like to ask you about what you did earlier today."
"Rrrll…."
"Look, I know you were just getting ready to sleep, but your owner is really upset and we're trying to help. We're hoping you can help us, help her."
The Purrloin stood and stretched, taking a long moment. Then she sat back down and looked at Pikachu.
"Purr, purr."
"Ok, perfect. Thank you. I want you to go through everything that happened earlier. You and your partner left this house. I believe there was a Poliwag coming down the path. Do you remember that?"
Purrloin meowed.
"Good. Ok, so what, exactly, happened after that? Talk me through it."
Purrloin launched into a chatter that Tim couldn't follow, since Pikachu didn't have time to stop and translate. Occasionally he would stop Purrloin and ask it to explain something, but all Tim could do was wait for them to finish.
Finally, Pikachu turned to Tim and said, "Ok, get your notebook ready.
Tim had already gotten his notebook out; he flipped it to a new page and nodded.
"Ok, so when they got to the path that morning, Purrloin said they waited for a while. They've been doing that every day at the same time for the last couple days now, and they go back inside once they see Milo coming. This morning, though, Poliwag came by before Milo did, and this time Thelma decided that they were going to play the fight game.
"When I asked what the fight game was, Purrloin said that her owner has been teaching her a new game. Purrloin was very hesitant at first, because the game is attacking other Pokemon. They go down the path next to the house behind them and they play it there, normally."
"That's why Milo has been finding all those injured Pokemon on the secret path!" Tim interrupted.
"Yeah, no doubt about it. Purroin said she felt really bad, but afterwards Thelma gets really, really happy, and she likes making her partner happy, so Purrloin will play the game. Then, she will later take the treats Thelma gives her down the path to the Pokemon they hurt during the game as an apology. They're usually healed by the time Purrloin gets there."
"Healed by Milo…"
"Yeah, must be. Anyway, that's where they normally play that game. This time, though, Thelma looked around, then told Purrloin to play that game with the Poliwag. So she did, and the Poliwag fainted. Thelma then called Purrloin back, and they waited until Milo came by like usual. This time, though, when Milo stopped to look after the Poliwag, Thelma went down the path instead of going back inside. After a few moments, Purrloin heard the signal to play the game that a girl in the town taught her. When I asked about that game, Purrloin told me that her partner, in the first week that they came here, kept taking her over to the house of another girl that was teaching her a game. The girl would mark an object while Purrloin watched, then left and would make a noise. That noise would tell Purrloin to bring the object that had been marked to where the girl was. After the girl taught Purrloin this game, she showed Thelma how to play it, too. Purrloin had watched Thelma mark something this morning, and a couple minutes after Thelma left down the path leaving Milo to tend to Poliwag, Purrloin heard the noise that meant she was supposed to bring Thelma the marked object. Purrloin grabbed it, and off she went, finding her partner in the area they used to play the other game- in the secret path. Then they both came back here, and Thelma got angry at Milo."
"Blaming him for the necklace going missing…" Tim muttered.
"Yeah… so… you're thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah, I get what happened. But we don't have any evidence…"
"Hmm… oh! One moment!" Pikachu turned to Purrloin.
"Hey, one more question. Can you tell us where the girl who taught you that mark-and-fetch game lives? I'd like to ask her a question or two."
"Purr, purr. Purrloin."
"Alright, thank you very much." Pikachu turned back to Tim.
"Tim, let's go talk to her for just a moment. I've got an idea… and it will get us all the evidence we need.
A/N Sorry it's a little later time- wise today, had some running around and some visiting with grandparents to do today. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
Next week, the resolution of the problem, "we know what happened, but how do we prove it?"