Thanks Ketachu for the review, I'm going to try as hard as I can to finish this story as well as keeping a steady update schedule. On that note here it is, a brand spanking new chapter! Preceding this, Ash just won his third badge and now they're on their way for the next town. Before they can leave though, a couple of old faces from earlier in the story meet up with them. Enjoy!
Chapter 18-The Venox Vanishings
Back at the Venox Pokemon Center, Ash was dropping off his pokemon with Nurse Joy. She bowed her head and ran off to attend to them immediately. She suspected the treatment wouldn’t take long, but it usually took a while for the poison to leave the system so they were to come back in at least an hour or so. They exited through the doors, warm rays of the sun shining down on them. Once outside, they stopped by the shore of the purple colored swamp. The water was tranquil and bubbled in the occasional place as they lazed about. Ash stretched his tired arms as well as Pikachu who stayed with them, feeling much better despite having been thrown into the poisonous swamp. He insisted for an Antidote instead of staying with Nurse Joy which Ash felt was kind of strange, but he figured Pikachu was tired of being left behind. Misty walked up next to him and spoke,
“Well Ash since we have the time off, why don’t we go and have some fun for once?” He frowned,
“What, you don’t think watching me battle and train is fun?” She rolled her eyes,
“Only in your head Ash, where it seems that the one thing that happens in there is a battle.” She giggled while he pouted though he knew she was only teasing him.
“If you’re so smart Misty why don’t you find us something better to do then?” he said with a hint of sarcasm but with a smile. She brightened up as soon as he said so though.
“Well…there was this
one thing I saw yesterday…” He changed expressions because he knew where this was heading.
“Aw come on Misty, this isn’t going to be another one of those lovey-dovey places you drag me to all the time is it?” This time it was her turn to pout and she grabbed him by the ear.
“Well whether you like it or not Ash we’re going!” She grumbled in a restrained tone as she literally dragged Ash across the ground by his ear as he yelled and fidgeted in protest. Pikachu merely shrugged his arms, sighed and ran off after the two of them.
<- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ->
They finally arrived at the bus port where Misty had been just last night. Beside the bus stop was a harbor, though the area was empty and without a soul in sight, neither walking nearby nor waiting in line.
“It doesn’t seem like we can do much around here,” Ash quipped while looking around. Misty sighed.
“Yeah maybe we can still find something else to do in town.” Ash agreed and just as they were about to head back, a man’s voice called out to them.
“Hey! You guys looking for a ride around the swamp?” There was some familiarity in the voice to Misty and she immediately turned around. Holding a wooden pole by his side, the yellow-eyed blonde man waved at them, arriving on top of a small brown boat.
“Hey it’s Nicolas!” Misty waved back with a smile and ran towards him, beckoning for Ash to follow. The rugged man tied a rope to the pier and stepped off his boat. This time around he had a full black apparel inatead of the tattered brown cloak she met him in.
“Well this doesn’t look like fishing now does it?” Misty replied with a smile. The man returned it and shook his head.
“That’s just for those bad days, I’m really terrible at it to be honest,” Nicolas' laugh was brusque, apparently in a much better mood since she last saw him. It was like the difference between the two was night and day. Ash was a bit lost as he looked at the pair and Misty stepped aside to introduce him.
“Ash this is Nicolas, we met yesterday on the bus. Nicolas this is Ash, he’s traveling around Muntein to collect all the badges.”
“Oh a Pokemon Trainer?” Nicolas smiled at him but only through burning contempt; he crushed Ash’s hand in his grip and he felt the bones go pop underneath his bruising hold. Ash winced in pain but spoke through gritted teeth,
“And a pretty good one too!” Ash eyed Nicolas as he glared back at him. But then he broke out into a wide smile and slammed his hand onto Ash’s shoulder.
“You’ve got guts kid!” and Ash grinned back even as Nicolas continued to hold Ash’s shoulder in a vice grip. Pikachu shouted from the ground drawing their attention.
“Ah yes this is Pikachu, I almost forgot,” Misty said with a smile. Nicolas hunched down with a smile and gave Pikachu’s tiny hand a shake too.
“So what are you doing with that boat Nicolas if you’re not out fishing?” asked Misty.
“Well I’m a ferryman! I give people rides around the swamp, for a small living. It’s kind of my way to show the ungrateful people here,” he looked directly at Ash as he said this.
“That there is a lot of natural beauty in this village that shouldn’t go overlooked.” His eyes were fixed on Misty when he said that last part and Ash was about to open his mouth when Misty quickly stopped him.
“Eh- That sounds great! Do you think we could take a trip?” she said with a hint of a blush on her cheeks.
“Sure! Hop on you two, I’ll be more than to happy to!” Misty pulled out her purse since Ash was still missing his wallet, but Nicolas waved her down.
“No charge, especially since you’ve done plenty for me Misty.” Now Ash had enough, but Misty once more cut him off.
“Wait does that mean-”
“Yes Narcissa and I are engaged once more!” Misty laughed and gave Nicolas a quick hug…but now Ash was way in the dark and his expression must have given himself away because Misty spoke up when she saw him.
“You see Ash, Nicolas was Narcissa’s fiancé before she became a Gym leader…” Nicolas nodded and continued from where Misty left off,
“But after some…
trouble, we called it off and she went on to become the Gym leader as I...well, I was left to sink into the shadows…” There was something intangible in his voice as he trailed off but he shook it away.
“Anyway that’s all in the past, why don’t you guys hop on and we start this tour?” They happily obliged and the three of them boarded the boat carefully, its tiny frame sinking as each person stepped on.
“Don’t worry, this baby is sturdy,” he said to Pikachu as he looked unsure. He smiled and hopped on and Nicolas pushed off into the deeper waters.
Long blades of grass jutted from the liquid accompanied by floating lily pads which each held bright colored flowers. The swamp was tranquil on the surface but there was plenty of activity underneath as bubbles popped with a gurgling sound. A group of Kreukevile poked their flat heads out of the water and looked at them lazily as they floated by. Ash and Misty smiled as the bright sun continued to beam down on them without a cloud in the sky.
They lied back against each side of the boat as Nicolas continued to push against the bed of the swamp, approaching the bustling center of town now. The high arching bridges of the town gave enough room for these kinds of tours so they passed right underneath one as friendly passers-by waved at them atop the bridge. As they entered the shadows of the bridge they looked up and gasped in wonder at what they saw. Collected underneath the planks of the bridge were bright colored patches of moss, ranging from purple to blue to maroon.
“The unique properties of this swamp have the greatest effect on the moss here as you can tell. This is something that people pass by everyday and they would never even suspect such a thing was
literally beneath their feet. At night, it’s even more beautiful; we hang papered candles just beneath the bridge and they give off a pleasant soothing scent. The warm light of the flame bounces off this moss and produces a glittering effect, like jewels do. It’s become a very popular attraction with the local couples here,” he added with a slight wink to Ash. He smiled and looked at Misty who was caught up in the sensations of Nicolas’ description.
“That sounds so romantic…” she fawned as she played out the scene in her head: Ash pushed the small boat as she sat across from him, his figure lit up by the moonlight as he grinned back at her. The dark water softly receded against the boat as they passed underneath a bridge, the red flame clearing out the darkness of the night and shedding light on the glistening moss…
She had drifted far off into thought as they continued the rest of their idle boat ride through the swamp. They finally came to a full stop moments later, arriving at a pier on the other side of town.
“Earth to Misty,” Ash said rapping on her forehead. She snapped back after spending a few minutes alone in her imagination and looked up at Ash as he stood in front of her, hand outstretched. She pouted at him for disrupting her idyllic daydream, but took his hand as he helped her up. Nicolas remained on his boat as they climbed onto the pier.
“This is where we split up folks, I’ve still got time on hand to make a couple more rounds so I wish you guys the best!” He waved his black gloved hand in the air as Misty shouted back to him,
“I wish you the best of luck with Narcissa Nicolas!” The trio waved back as Nicolas smiled, the kind that had two different appearances.
<- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ->
“We should start heading back to the Center Misty, it’s almost time to leave.” Ash looked at his watch seeing enough time should have elapsed by now for his Pokemon to be ready. She agreed with reluctance, only since they had just finished walking through town. She could see why it was so popular: all the hottest clothes were on sale for dirt cheap and although Ash had more bags than he could handle already, she still wanted more.
“This place sure is addicting though,” she laughed as Ash hoisted up all of her shopping bags, handling them by the dozens.
“I couldn’t agree more!” A voice from behind drew their attention; a girl with long wild green hair, styled up in a loose ponytail, held tight by yellow bands. Her deep blue eyes were as brilliant as sapphires. She had a very country face and yet her wardrobe was anything but campy; skinny washed black jeans torn at the ankles, long sleeve blue striped gray skinny shirt underneath a tiny brown leather vest. The off white sneakers and the black bandana on top of her head served as the final touches to the look. Misty knew they had met her before and her gut was giving her bad readings.
“Mia!” Yep, now Misty remembered why. Ash spoke up behind the bags and dropped them to the ground.
“Hey! Be careful with that!” Misty fumed, ready to attack. But Mia had already caught up to them at this point and so Misty couldn’t chew him out, at least not
yet.
“Hey guys, did you miss me?” Mia said.
“Yeah right, it’s only been a week…” Misty uttered under her breath.
“It’s great to see you too Mia.” Ash nudged Misty in the side because he heard her. She replied with a backhand to the nose.
“Umm…so what are you guys doing out here anyway?” said Mia, taking a step back from Misty. Ash picked himself off the ground and squeezed the bridge of his nose so the blood wouldn’t come out.
“Ah juz gah my derd badge,” mumbled Ash as best as he could underneath his hand.
“Yes and we were just getting ready to leave too,” interjected Misty.
“Waid Mizdy, maybe ah zhould thee a docdah firs,” Ash taunted before she pinched his ear between her fingers again.
“Now’s not the time for jokes Ash, remember we’re in a hurry,” Misty lied and started to pull away with an objecting Ash and the multitude of bags.
“Now hold on just a second Misty, because if Ash there has three badges…” Mia gripped her pokeball with a fiery smile, “then I want to see his stuff,” and let out Insubit in front of them, trapping Misty and Ash in between. Misty took her pokeball out too with an aggravated expression, but Ash stopped her, taking his hand off his face.
“Okay Mia, if a battle is what you want then I’ll be more than happy to…” he trailed off as red blood oozed from his nose.
“…Gross,” Mia said, abandoning her battle ready pose as she looked away with a contorted look. Misty took out two tissues and plugged them into his nose.
“I think the blood loss made you forget Ash, you left all of your pokemon at the Pokemon Center.”
“Nuh uh, I’ve still got Pikachu!” pointing out the yellow rodent who casually looked at them both from Ash’s leg.
“Ash he just had a battle this morning! He needs his rest,” picking him up as she rested him against her arms.
“He’s
my Pokemon so
I decide what to do with him!” He yanked Pikachu from her arms, but then she yanked him back, so then he took him back and so on and so on. Pikachu was fed up with the back and forth so he grabbed each of their cheeks and he pulled hard.
“Ow!”
“Hey that hurts!” Now the two of them joined in, grabbing each other’s available cheek as well as Pikachu’s. The three were entangled with one another pulling and growling until Mia stepped in.
“Hey, don’t know if I’m interrupting something,” she shifted her eyes over each of them as they froze in place,
“…important…but if you’ve got more Pokemon on your team then I guess I’ll just have to tag along until we get them back. I hope you don’t mind Misty,” she added with a smile and cocky twirl of her hair. Mia began heading to the Center, leaving them behind.
“
We?!” Misty responded as she crossed her arms. “Who invited her? And she better wait because I need to mail these bags back home!”
“Oh come on Misty would you stop being jealous for a minute and just follow her?” replied Ash as he stuck his tongue out at her. He then spent the rest of the walk being dragged face down against the road by a still burning and blushing Misty.
<- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ->
Nurse Joy wiped the sweat from her forehead as she sighed.
“What another long day…” She paused to drink her tea when a pair of familiar faces walked up to the counter.
“Hello again Nurse Joy! I’m here to pick up the Pokemon I left earlier,” Ash said, itching for another battle against Mia who waited outside. Nurse Joy was confused, but she went along with it hoping not to alarm him.
“Ok, let me just go look for them. Do you remember what tray you left them on?” Ash gave her a weird look. “Ah, never mind,” replied Nurse Joy with a bow of her head then she disappeared into one of the open rooms behind her. She returned moments later with a tray holding two pokeballs and handed them to Ash.
“I’m sorry for being a bit disorganized at the moment I just finished with a difficult operation not too long ago. Kept me occupied the entire morning I’m afraid,” she smiled back at them. Misty was curious by what she meant, but kept quiet.
“Busy as usual eh?” Ash replied as he clipped the pokeballs back to his belt.
“Thanks for taking care of my rude friend’s pokemon, Nurse Joy,” interjected Misty with a quick bow of her head. Ash scowled and Nurse Joy giggled at the sight of them both.
“It’s no problem, best of luck to you two!” She waved at them as they thanked her then bickered all the way back to the front door.
Outside again, Mia was playing with her Insubit’s long ears with her foot against the Pokemon Center’s wall. Once she saw Ash and Misty walk through the door she perked up immediately.
“So Ash, are you going to keep me waiting or are we going to battle?!” She sent Insubit out in front of her and looked determined. He grinned back and placed his hand over Virgel’s pokeball.
“We’re doing this here? Five feet from the Pokemon Center?!” Ash picked the ball off his belt and held it up as Misty sighed knowing once Ash was ready to battle nothing would drive his attention away.
“No need to worry Misty, I’ll finish this quickly. Go Virg-!” The pokeball suddenly sprang open in Ash’s hand and a towering white light appeared in front of him, knocking him off his feet.
A tall white bird with a wild floppy Mohawk and long skinny legs looked down at the bewildered trainer in front of him then at the shiny case next to his feet. He squawked happily as he picked it up with his long beak then balanced it on top of his head. He swung his arms up and down as he hopped from left to right, doing a strange type of jig. Ash snapped back to his senses as the bird began to distance himself farther.
“Hey get back here with my badges!” He charged at the bird who was still dancing but with his back to Ash. He leapt forward to grab the pokemon’s legs, but the bird pokemon lifted his thin black leg up as he spun in place on one foot, sending Ash tumbling forward. Misty couldn’t help but laugh which only annoyed Ash further but a faint voice caught his attention,
“Zambarane, the Airwalker Pokemon. 7’ 4” Flying/Fight. These festive long legged pokemon enjoy dancing, spontaneously breaking out in step even in battles. Zambarane are able of copying the hardest dances known to humans, surpassing most professional dancers in terms of skill. This is partly due to the fact that these Pokemon are unable to fly; their feathers are too short and provide little wind resistance. Instead they rely on their broad feathered hands and large webbed feet to ascend, using great strides and quick leg movement to trap the air beneath them. Well trained Zambarane are more than capable of staying airborne for hours at a time.”
Mia’s Pokedex came to a close and she glanced up at the group. They all heard the description except of course for the Zambarane who was now whooping loudly as he kicked his legs and flailed his wide feathery arms, the case remaining in place. Slowly they began to wonder out loud and Ash was the first to speak,
“Flying/Fight type too…you don’t think maybe Virgel could’ve evolved into this guy Misty?” She paused and imagined in her head how an evolution like that could be feasible. An image slowly materialized in her mind, of her Gyarados standing side by side next to a Magikarp in a blank room.
That’s right, there have
been pretty weird evolutions before…
Then it shifted into a room with Virgel and Zambarane together and she tried to process that evolution in her head. The tiny human-like pokemon suddenly sprouted a beak, feathers and bird claws.
“That’s a little strange even to me Ash,” she said with a laugh.
“Well whatever it may be, he’s not going to use my badges as a toy!” He unclipped the other pokeball from his belt and threw it towards the furiously boogying Pokemon.
“Teach him some manners Dogra!” But the pokeball kept going and smacked Zambarane on the head. The pokeball fell flat on the ground, opened and empty. The bird was irritated for a measly second, then changed his mind and dropped the case as he picked up the ball and balanced it on the tip of his beak.
Ash was gaping at the ball though, its empty husk opening and closing as Zambarane bounced it on his legs and head then passed it to Pikachu who played along and joined in. Now Insubit also tagged along and they had a three way soccer match going on, until Ash finally burst,
“Everybody, to the Pokemon Center, NOW!” Everyone in earshot stared back at him, Misty, Mia, as well as strangers walking past them; even the fidgety Zambarane froze in place, the ball lightly hitting him on the head again. He was returned to his pokeball by a dire looking Ash and Pikachu picked up his trainer’s case and jumped onto Ash’s shoulder. He turned in place and walked through the Center doors speaking not a word. Mia quickly snuck past Misty,
“Way to rub off on him Misty,” and copied her famous scowl looking eerily similar to Ash’s expression not a moment ago. Then she snickered and shuffled past the sliding doors as Misty scowled, showing her how it was
really done.
<- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ->
There was a noticeable difference between now and just a few minutes ago; the Center was packed as poor Nurse Joy seemed as busy as ever. Yet once they got closer, they heard the crowd complaining, ready to damn Nurse Joy to the cross. Ash cut through the mob regardless and reached the front desk to get within sight of Nurse Joy.
“Oh it’s you again!” said Nurse Joy somewhat relieved.
“Don’t look too happy, you gave me the wrong pokemon and I’m missing one!” Her face sank,
“Ohh…you’re not the only one…Everyone here is missing theirs too, saying they received empty pokeballs instead. And unfortunately I can’t get into the other room where we store all of the pokemon we treat, my assistant Chansey has the key and I can’t find her anywhere…” But then she recalled his words,
“You said you got the wrong pokemon right? Nobody else received any pokemon, would you mind showing me?” Ash was a bit surprised but complied and let him out. The Zambarane shot his hands in the air and began to glide on his heels back and forth on the countertop, quieting everyone as they stared back. The glass doors opened and the police stormed in.
“Alright everyone settle down!” But the crowd gazed back already quiet and the officer felt stupid for yelling so loud. The bird was now doing the wave between his arms and a heavy hand fell on the young officer’s shoulder.
“Better leave this one for the vets, kid.” Donning black on black shades, the grizzled man stepped forward and spoke to the crowd,
“Everyone please remain calm, the police are here to resolve this problem
with your cooperation. Now we will have all our officers detail reports so we need single file lines. Let’s stay as organized as best as we can, we want this to run smoothly.” The gang of trainers muttered as Mike lowered his hands and looked at his subordinate.
“See? Wasn’t so hard now was it?” He paused; from the corner of his eye, he saw them. Next to the dancing Zambarane and Nurse Joy he saw the red hatted boy and the red haired girl.
“Check it out, it’s Mike!” exclaimed Misty her eyes brightening when they fell upon him.
“My, my, you two just can’t seem to keep your nose out of trouble,” smirked Mike as he approached them. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small folded object.
“My wallet! Thanks for holding onto it for me Captain.” Mike shook his head as he handed it over to Ash,
“No problem, just make sure you hold onto that a little more closely next time.” Misty icily glared at Ash reminding him of the restaurant incident.
“I will, I will,” laughed Ash as the hairs on his neck stood up with Misty looming beside him.
“So what’s the situation with all these people Mike?” Ash said quickly changing the subject.
“Well it looks like we may have something serious on our hands, this could potentially be a Pokenapping…”
“WHAT?!?!” He spoke louder than he anticipated and now the crowd was turned on Mike.
“Er, what I meant to say was I was going to speak with Nurse Joy to get her story…” But he trailed away when he looked behind the empty counter. She slipped away when she heard him utter Pokenapping, the very thing she had mentioned so often in warning. A loud shriek parted the air and the buzzing crowd once more halted. A soft crying could be heard underneath the dying din, and it came from the backrooms where Nurse Joy had wandered off to.
Mike leapt over the counter and into the darkened area where the cries were coming from. There collapsed on her knees with her hands covering her face was Nurse Joy. In the doorway Mike lifted her to her feet and consoled her as he sat her down on an errant chair. The lights flicked on and Ash, Misty, Mia, Pikachu, and Zambarane all stood in the doorway, observing. Mike ushered them in and they all stood around Nurse Joy as she began to quiet down.
“Th-th-they took her, they Pokenapped Chansey!” She started to bawl again as Mia laid her hand on her shoulder. She settled down once more as Mike took his shades off and rested on one knee.
“I know this is difficult for you ma’am, but I need you to recollect for me what you did this morning.” She nodded and began to speak,
“Well…this morning a trainer came in with an injured pokemon, they were in a really bad shape so I was going to be in the intensive recovery room for a few hours. And so I decided that I would leave Chansey in charge while I was away from the counter-”
“But when I dropped my pokemon off earlier, I gave them to you!” interrupted Ash. They all fell silent in thought, the details clearly weren’t adding up.
“Nurse, we’re going to have to see the recorded footage of the past five hours, just to give us an idea how this could have possibly been pulled off.” Mike was stern but he was still sympathetic. She nodded once more, but then remembered,
“Chansey still has the keys, I can’t go into rooms that aren’t already unlocked.”
“It’s okay miss, just point me in the direction of the surveillance room.” She led the group outside and pointed at the door adjacent to them: it was closed and behind the door the lights were off. Mike readied himself and charged at full force, but bounced off the door and landed heavily on the floor. As Ash and Misty helped Mike back on his feet, Mia walked up to the door and spun the knob.
“It’s unlocked,” she panned as the door swung upon. Mike put his shades back on and cleared his throat as he walked past her. Mia grinned and the rest of the group followed behind him.
They each sat down as Nurse Joy loaded up the tape in the console. The image displayed on the big screen TV and she rewound it back a few hours. She paused as on the screen, Nurse Joy was handing Chansey a ring of keys and parlaying instructions to her though there was no sound.
“With your permission ma’am,” Mike gestured towards the console and Nurse Joy obliged. He fast forwarded past the scene until he stopped and played the video at normal speed:
Chansey was attending to some pokeballs from behind the counter. She abruptly stopped and looked back; a figure in white stockings stood obscured in the hallway and called Chansey back to her. Chansey in her usual cheery mood walked up to the shadow then stopped. She began to yell angrily and wave her arms as the shape stood forward from the hallway to quiet her. Chansey turned in spot and wobbled to the counter when Nurse Joy jumped on top of her, tackling her to the ground.
They gasped as the Nurse Joy on the screen tied Chansey up and dragged her back into the dark hallway. Mike stopped watching the video and looked at Nurse Joy; she was visibly shaken and sobbed in her clasped hands.
“Don’t worry Nurse Joy I’m sure you had nothing to do with it. Let’s continue though.” She was relieved but tears still escaped from her eyes as the image on the screen continued.
Chansey had disappeared from the image. The fake Nurse Joy appeared once more from the hall and stood in front of the counter and began attending to Pokemon trainers in routine fashion.
Mike paused the video and addressed the group,
“Well this at least confirms that we have a suspect, the one dressed up as Nurse Joy in the video. We can see that Chansey was trying to call for help,” a sob escaped from the real Nurse Joy,
“But this still doesn’t give us a clue to the identity of the suspect…” Suddenly, the young officer Mike had spoken to earlier came into the room.
“Shade, we just got a call about some strange eggs on the edge of town.” Mike nodded his head and motioned to the group,
“Come on, we should go check this out. Nurse Joy you don’t mind staying in the Center while we clear this up do you?” She understood and nodded as the others stood from their chairs and exited the room.
<- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ->
On the outskirts of Venox Village, the day was still bright and vivid as a group of men in blue uniforms sealed off the area from any spectators. Mike approached one of the men in charge of the scene and presented his badge.
“The others are with me too.” Mike nodded to the three behind him and the officer let them pass.
“Here he is…Hey Shade, better late than never, huh?” One of the officers ran up to them, carrying a white egg in his arms.
“And yet you guys still leave me with all the work.” He shook his head as the other smirked.
“Any connections between this and the Pokenapping?” The man shrugged as he held out the egg.
“All we found was a couple of these eggs lying around; they’re not Pokemon Eggs though, they’re soft to the touch.” Mike held the egg in his hand and pressed against the egg which depressed flexibly under his fingertips.
“Soft eggs? Those have to belong to Chansey!” Misty exclaimed as she looked at the two men. Mike nodded slowly,
“Yes of course, that makes perfect sense...Take us to the other eggs, maybe she left us a trail that will lead us to her,” Mike addressed to the officer. He nodded and pointed them in the direction. The group continued on and the young officer lagged behind a bit until he was walking beside Misty.
“That’s quite a deducing technique you got there miss, why don’t you consider joining the force? We sure could use some pretty faces around here.” He motioned to Mike and she giggled. She was quickly hauled away by Ash though, who cut between the two of them and grabbed her by the arm. Misty rebuked him for his rudeness, though she didn’t exactly mind his reaction. They reached the end of a steep cliff where another egg stood alone against the edge.
“Here we are folks; I’ll leave the rest to you, Shade.” And with that the young policeman saluted and walked back to the other police officers behind them.
“So this is where our trail ends…” Mike mused as he peered past the cliff.
“Well we don’t know that for sure,” Mia said as she hung over the cliff. Her Insubit held onto Mia’s hair for dear life as it dangled over the edge. The drop was a long one and at the base of the cliff was a giant forest, covered by the lush green leaves of the trees below. They looked at each other with hopeless faces.
Part 2 below