Chapter 9 – Gold

“And you’ve been having those dreams all this time?”

“Well… They’ve been weird for some time, but it’s only recently that I can actually understand what that voice was telling me. I don’t know if it’s just a dream, or someone is actually asking for help through my dreams…”

Maia closed her eyes, deep in thought. She had heard the screams too, and quickly went to check on Ari. When she opened the door to the bedroom, she found Nimb hugging and comforting an anxious Riolu.

It was almost dawn, so they decided to stay up and talk about it. Ari wanted to wave it off, as it was something that happened to him often and didn’t want to worry them, but Nimb and Maia insisted, and he couldn’t do anything against that.

“Did that voice tell you what to do? Any hint or something?” The Decidueye asked.

“Hmmm… They just asked me to find them and their brother. Something about unleashing my… no idea. That’s all I got.”

Maia rested her wing on her chin and hummed. “Then there’s not much we can do for now.”

“Maybe that voice will show up again any other night, and it might tell you more,” Nimb said. He just wanted to contribute to the conversation and do whatever he could to support his best friend.

“Probably, but…” Ari cringed, gripping his own arm in distress. “I don’t think I want to go through that again. Still, I probably will…”

Nimb frowned. If only he could help somehow…

“It’s okay, we’ll figure this out,” Maia said. Ari nodded, but he wasn’t quite convinced. “Still, you don’t look so good. I guess the nightmares are giving you a hard time, right?”

“Yeah…”

Nimb stood up. “I’ll go get some water, it might help you feel better.”

“Right, thank you.”

As Nimb left the room, Maia turned to the stressed canine and tried to dig a bit deeper into the topic.

“So, Ari… Did you dream about something else? Because you look like there’s something more bothering you.”

Ari tensed. He was like an open book, right?

“I… Well, it’s nothing important…”

Maia put a wing on his back. “Enough, Ari. If it’s making you feel bad, then it’s important. Don’t act like your problems don’t matter.”

Ari sighed. They don’t.

“I’ve dreamt of Ren. Again.”

“Oh… That was your friend and teammate, right?”

He nodded. “I… I just miss him so much, but I don’t know where he is. It’s been so long and I can’t get over it. A-and I keep dreaming about memories I have with him, but then I also dream about the not-so-nice stuff and I can’t-“

He stopped as he felt the feathery embrace of the Decidueye. “It’s okay. You’ll find him someday, and even if you don’t… You’re not alone, Ari, don’t forget that.”

Ari didn’t know what to say. Even if he wasn’t alone, it felt like it sometimes. Was it just because Ren wasn’t by his side? No, it wasn’t just that, there was also the fact that he couldn’t talk about it.

There was something wrong in his mind, something that told him he couldn’t show that weak side to anyone. That, if he did, they wouldn’t accept him. He didn’t deserve any kindness from anyone.

Yet, he also felt bad about rejecting it, but only to not hurt others’ feelings. So, for now, he pushed those thoughts aside and leaned into the embrace. It felt so… warm.

“Uhhhhh… The water. It’s here.”

Nimb stood there, waiting for any of them to notice he had been standing there holding a cup for a whole minute.

“O-oh, right.”

 

---

 

“And, if you remember our last class, a simple hypothesis was…?” Maia asked.

Velia quickly raised her hand. “The one that states the correlation between an independent variable and a dependent variable!”

“Very good, Velia!”

“Heh. I’m brilliant.”

Theory class was hard, and everyone noticed. It was to be expected from an academy such as Gholdengo’s, where students were supposed to become the best of the best. If they were going to be investigators who literally worked with the police, then they had to study hard and know the most complicated concepts.

Maia drew a diagram on the blackboard to organize the concepts so it could be easier to connect with the new lessons they were going to learn. Still, it was hard.

“Now, I’m going to ask… Sanah!” The Zangoose tensed at hearing her name. “Do you remember what a null hypothesis is?”

All eyes stopped on Sanah. She gulped, while also trying to look like she didn’t care at all.

“So, um… Was it…” Her eyes suddenly brightened as she remembered something. “Oh, is it the one that states there’s no correlation between the variables?”

“Yes, that’s it!” Maia beamed. “I see your study session paid off, I’m so proud of you!”

Sanah blushed, not used to that much praise. She then saw Ari turning to her with a wide grin, giving his version of a thumbs-up. He was so happy for her, and also glad that he was being useful for once.

… Wait, did he just see her smile?

“Anyway, we’re finished with the theory for today.” Maia finished writing stuff on the blackboard and turned to the students. “So. Have you discussed your team name already?”

Oh, right.

“Oh, we have one!” Asher raised his hand in excitement, and Kyle just shook his head, knowing what was coming.

“Is that so? Go ahead, say it!”

“I’ll let Velia do the honors!” Asher said, pointing to his teammate and potential leader.

The Meowstic smirked and quickly stood on top of her desk, posing dramatically.

“Team Riding Star!”

There was a moment of silence.

“… Damn, that name kinda sucks,” Sanah muttered, not even trying to hide her frown.

Maia looked with a sheepish grin as Velia did her show. “That’s… a nice name? Why did you choose that one?”

“It’s a way of saying that we can reach for the stars tonight!” Cora explained, puffing her chest to look grandiose. Velia’s influence on her was showing, and it was concerning.

“What she said. We will become the best investigators and I shall be the guiding star of our team!” Velia added, and a snort could be heard coming from Sanah.

Kyle just sighed at his teammates’ antics. “That’s so weird, and it sounds like a rescue team… But I guess the name’s nice.”

“I think it’s really cool!” Ari applauded, and the rest joined him, Nimb and Sanah being a bit shy about it and Mylo just smirking as he found it amusing.

“Okay, Team Riding Star it is, then.” Maia wrote it down and then glanced to the other team. “And what about you?”

Ari, Nimb, Sanah, and Mylo glanced at each other, expecting someone to come up with an idea. No one did.

“Uhm… We kinda… Don’t know yet,” Ari said, cringing.

Mylo shrugged. “Yeah, we didn’t have much time to talk about it, heh.”

“Still nothing?” Maia tilted her head in confusion. “Well, you better think of something quick, because both teams will be doing official investigations tomorrow.”

Everyone paused.

“Our first official investigation as separate teams? Cool!” Asher beamed.

“Yes, each team will have their own case to solve. But that’s why you need a name soon, at least to fill in the report. So, by the end of the investigation, the team name should be decided. It’s that okay?”

The team with no name exchanged worried looks. They’ll probably have something by tomorrow… right?

“Okay… We’ll think of something,” Sanah responded.

 

---

 

“We’re not going to come up with anything, right?” Nimb asked.

“… I don’t know.” Sanah sighed.

The yet-to-be-named team strolled through the academy’s corridor, trying to discuss more ideas while they dodged a wave of other students, which made it even harder.

“We still have until the end of tomorrow’s investigation,” Mylo pointed out.

Ari shrugged, letting out a puff of air. “Not like we can think about a name while we’re working on a case. I wanted something meaningful, but in the end, we might have to go with a normal name, like… Team Mystery.”

“Ugh, no please, that’s so cliché…” Sanah complained.

Mylo cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “So, this might also be a bit cliché, but… This is Gholdengo’s Academy, and if we want to be associated with being the best, then we can use something like… Team Gold.”

“Hmm… I mean, that makes sense. But I bet there must be some other team that already uses that name,” Ari said.

“Possibly.”

There was a moment of silence that was interrupted by the sound of Sanah’s claws being honed. She eventually spoke in a serious tone. “I like it. Let’s go with that one.”

She didn’t even sound happy about it, more like… Anxious.

“But can we really live up to that name?” All eyes turned to Nimb, who was frowning. “Do we really… Have to?”

“I… Well, it does sound good, but what if we fail a lot? Then the name will sound like a bad joke,” Ari said. Mylo then stroked the Riolu’s head without warning, which for some reason eased some of his concern. “Okay, maybe I’m being melodramatic, but the point still stands.”

“Heh… It’s just a name, don’t sweat it.” The Toxtricity then suddenly stopped as something happened in front of them.

“Huh? What is it?” Sanah asked, and the whole team glanced ahead, right in the middle of the corridor, as a familiar scene happened.

A Charmeleon was being harassed by a blue Toxtricity. Mylo’s brother.

“Oh, no… That looks bad,” Ari said, his voice shaking slightly. Could he do something? He felt like he should, but he knew he would probably freeze if he tried. Just like in the clinic.

The situation got worse, and Mylo’s brother pushed the Charmeleon with brute force against the wall, which made everyone jump.

“Shit.” Sanah debated on the possibility of getting involved, but she knew she would only make it worse, probably escalating things into a bloody fight. Instead… “Hey, Mylo, weren’t you like… A super fan of justice? Defending the weak and all? Why don’t you say something to your brother?”

When she looked at him, he saw something quite rare. Mylo was hesitating. He was clenching his fists hard, his face showing anger and… something more. Ari and Nimb also noticed that and turned to him in concern.

“… Mylo? Are you okay?” Nimb asked.

The yellow Toxtricity only stood there, unable to do anything, until he stepped back. He was shaking, he knew it was useless. There was nothing he could do.

“Maybe… Team Gold isn’t a good name.”

He turned around and left in the other direction, completely ignoring the fight, to everyone’s shock. Ari, Nimb, and Sanah watched him leave without saying anything until a teacher entered the scene and solved the issue, but they weren’t paying attention anymore.

“What… was that?” Sanah asked, tilting her head. There was still so much she didn’t know about Mylo, not that she cared until now.

“I don’t know, but there’s clearly something wrong here,” Ari said.

“Maybe he’s scared of his brother?” Nimb suggested. “But that doesn’t make much sense either, knowing him. He’s a force of nature…”

“Who knows…”

 

---

 

It was the day of the investigation. Ari, Nimb, Sanah, and Mylo were asked to go to the warehouse where Lyla worked, talk about coincidences. Apparently, the orbs that were distributed in Bismuth Town’s shops were stored there, and there had been multiple reports of stolen orbs in the past days.

As Maia informed the team of their mission, they didn’t waste any time and showed up at the designated place. The warehouse wasn’t very busy; most of the time there were a bunch of workers going here and there, carrying boxes and checking that everything was in its right place, and today it wasn’t any different.

In front of one of the shutters from the warehouse, they saw a familiar Seviper talking to a Machoke. She turned around as she saw them coming and brightened.

“Oh, it’s you guys! I wasn’t expecting you so early in the morning!” Lyla said.

They all waved at her. Well, everyone except the Zangoose, who just glared. She knew this encounter was inevitable as she had a job to do, so she chose to stay silent and let the others do the talking.

“Yeah, we were excited to start our investigation, hehe,” Ari said, rubbing the back of his head. He noticed she looked a bit tired, and immediately remembered her mentioning that job being so draining. “I imagine you were already informed that we were coming, right?”

“Yup. To be honest, I’m glad it’s you guys that are taking this case, it’s more fun like this!”

Mylo snorted. “We’re not precisely here to have ‘fun’, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt, heh.”

The Machoke leaned closer and spoke. “Hi there, I’m Billy! If you need anything from me or my brother, just tell us! We still have work to do even if you’re inspecting the place, so we won’t be far.”

“Alright, thanks!” Ari said.

“Anyway,” Lyla turned around and started heading inside, followed by the team. “I guess I’ll have to show you the place. Too bad I’m gonna have to babysit you guys,” she joked, forcing a loud yawn.

Ari and Nimb chuckled, while Sanah rolled her eyes in annoyance. Mylo, with the usual sinister smirk he always had, just crossed his arms and went to the point. “So. Stolen orbs, huh?”

Lyla nodded. “Seems like someone has been sneaking in at night and stealing orbs, of all things. I guess it makes sense that those items are valuable to criminals, given that you can’t buy them without a specific permit like those investigators and guildies have.”

“But given the chance, why wouldn’t they steal something else? What if they plan on doing something bad with them?” Nimb asked. He was getting worried, thinking of the worst possible scenarios, so much so that he didn’t notice he was already perched on Ari’s arm.

“Who knows… I prefer not to think too much about that,” Lyla said.

She opened a shutter and led them inside the main storage wing. It was a huge room with tall shelves full of boxes and ladders everywhere. Nimb looked at the highest part of the shelves and almost fell on his rear.

“Wow, this place is huge!”

“It is! It’s a pain in the ass to do stock control here,” Lyla complained, flexing her body like she was doing exercise. “My back always hurts afterwards…”

“Wait, you have a back? OR an ass?” Ari joked, smirking as the Seviper smiled at him with an arched eyebrow.

“Never question the wonders of a snake pokémon, hehe.” She then cleared her throat. “Okay, let me tell you more about this place!”

Before she could continue, Sanah moved further inside, ignoring her. They turned to her in confusion.

“Sanah?” Ari called.

“I don’t need to hear it,” she answered, and just took her Gholdevice from her bag and started scanning the area.

Once she was far enough, Lyla sighed and spoke in a low voice. “I can’t take her when she’s like that. Jerk…”

“I’m sorry… I guess that hasn’t changed,” Ari said.

“I’m still surprised she’s not trying to murder you right now, but well, good for you at least.”

The Riolu shrugged. He had told Lyla about what happened between them lately, but she still wasn’t sure Sanah was to be trusted. They weren’t there to talk about that, anyway.

“As I was saying, every employee here borrows a copy of every key from this warehouse during their shift and then they have to return it, and no one has lost any of them, so I don’t know how could anyone sneak in without breaking anything.”

“Then… The thief could be one of the employees!” Nimb stated, which made Lyla stop for a moment with a pensive face.

“Hmmm… No, I doubt so. Our houses were inspected after the news and not a single orb was found there. So, unless the thief is keeping them in a different place, I don’t think that’s a possibility.”

Mylo put his hand on his chin and hummed. “Either way, we can’t discard that for now.”

Ari and Nimb nodded. The fact that there was no brute force used and no one lost their keys was suspicious enough, so they had to keep that in mind and talk to every employee that they could find.

They took their GD and started doing the same as Sanah, exploring the storage wing in depth, checking in every single shelf and scanning for any kind of evidence, but there wasn’t anything special around.

“Hmmm… These are also Lyla’s scales,” Mylo said, turning off the UV light. “All I could find were traces left by the employees here.”

Ari turned around and spoke from a distant spot. “Same here.”

Nimb approached the Toxtricity with a similar disappointed look. “Nothing. Whoever it was, they didn’t leave a single clue behind…”

“Damn…”

Right then, Sanah approached the group with an angry look. Everyone turned to her.

“But you know who’s the one that left the most traces behind? Lyla! Isn’t it too convenient that she’s acting as a guide herself to ensure we don’t find anything?”

The Seviper narrowed her eyes. “… Are you for real? I leave scales EVERYWHERE! Of course there will be plenty of those in my workplace!”

Sanah leaned closer menacingly. “What a great alibi that makes, right? How lucky for you!”

“Girls, stop it.” They turned to Mylo, who stared unmoved. “We’re not going anywhere like that.”

Sanah growled and turned around, going straight to one of the hallways leading to the other wings of the warehouse.

“Then we’re checking on the other employees. Come on.”

Ari turned with an apologetic look. “Well… Okay.”

“Gah, I’d better leave you guys to do your job. I’ll be over here doing mine, if you need me,” Lyla said, visibly angry.

“Right… Sorry, Lyla, we’ll talk later.”

Ari, Nimb, and Mylo joined with Sanah and reached a different room, which happened to be the main entrance of the warehouse, the reception. It was a medium-sized room with white walls, a few paintings, a couple of plants, and a desk. Behind the desk, there was a dozing Electabuzz almost falling off his chair.

As they approached the desk, Mylo cleared his throat loudly, making the receptionist jump.

“AAAAHHH!” He looked around and recomposed as he saw the visitors. “Oh, uhm… S-sorry, I was thinking hard and I didn’t notice you there.”

“Yeah… Thinking…” Sanah looked at him with suspicious eyes.

“Anyway, what can I do for you?”

“We were investigating the thefts and wanted to check on every employee here,” Ari explained. “Did you see something weird lately?”

The Electabuzz looked aside and put a hand on his cheeks, pensive. “Uhhhhhhhhhhh well ummmmmmmmmm there wasssss uhhhhmmmmmmm…”

“How much do you sleep during your shift?” Mylo asked.

“… Yes.”

Everyone deadpanned and an awkward silence came, until the employee decided to try and regain some dignity.

“But, uhh, I can assure you nothing strange happened here, nope! At night, the doors are closed to visitors and it’s just a bunch of us here until we close for the day!”

“Then that means the thief could be any of you,” Sanah pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Electabuzz tensed. “Oh. Uhhhh… Please, I swear I didn’t do anything! I don’t wanna lose my job, I’ve been here for years and I need the money and I have a family to maintain or well not exactly because I’m single but who knows when I’m going to have a family? Also-“

“Hey, hey, calm down! We’re not accusing you of anything!” Ari stopped him, fearing he might throw himself to the floor and beg for his life or kiss their feet.

“We aren’t?” Nimb asked.

“No, we aren’t.”

Nimb just tilted his head in confusion, but didn’t press further.

“Oh… Alright, then…” Electabuzz coughed and pulled himself together, trying to look cool, even if it was too late.

“So tell us, what were you doing at the time of the thefts?” Mylo asked.

“Sleeping.”

He received some annoyed looks.

“… At home, I mean. You can ask my boss, he’s always the last to stay here and retrieve the keys from everyone, and I’m the last one to leave before him.”

They reacted at that, a metaphoric lightbulb surging on top of their heads. They might have a clue on what to do next.

“S-so… The boss is the one who closes this place at the end of the day?” Nimb asked, from behind Ari, of course.

“Yup.”

Sanah turned to her team. “Then we better ask that guy. If he’s got all the keys and hasn’t even shown up to meet with us, I’d say he’s our main suspect.”

Everyone nodded, and the receptionist spoke one more time. “Oh, if you’re looking for the boss, he’s on his office all the way through that hallway.” He pointed to the other side of the room and sat back again at his chair.

“Alright, thanks.”

Ari, Nimb, Mylo, and Sanah continued their investigation as planned, reaching the deepest part of the building following their new lead. The place seemed a bit old and dusty, and Nimb sneezed a bunch of times because of it.

Also, the hallway was longer than expected. Being just a warehouse you’d think the only big area was the storage room, but it wasn’t the case. They had to turn a few corners and go through a staircase, but at least they didn’t end up in some creepy liminal space.

“So, as we know…” Mylo recapped. “Everyone has keys for every room until night, then they return them to the boss, who then closes everything and leaves. Then the next day, when doing stock control, they find out that a bunch of orbs are missing.”

“Yeah. If this guy is the thief, then he really must be stupid to think he can fool anyone.” The Zangoose then clenched her fists together menacingly. “We’re gonna make him talk.”

“W-without violence, if possible…” Nimb trembled.

Sanah glared at the Archen, who tensed. Then, she just sighed and lowered her arms. “… Alright. But then someone else has to do the talking or I’m going to say something that we’ll regret later. So, your chance, Mr. Diplomacy,” she looked at the Toxtricity.

“… I think Ari is more suited for that.”

“Hmm, maybe, but if you want Team Gold to be a thing, you should become better at this too,” she said, almost scowling.

“I already said I don’t think Team Gold is a good idea anymore.”

Ari frowned. “Oh, right… That reminds me, what happened yesterday? You know, when your brother…”

Mylo stopped. Everyone stopped.

“… I hoped you wouldn’t bring that up.”

“Oh, s-sorry, I was just worried.” Ari cringed, he was making someone sad again, as he always does.

“It’s okay, I knew I couldn’t just pretend like nothing happened.”

Mylo took a few steps forward and scratched his head, thinking on how to put it into words. Sanah got impatient and asked.

“Are you scared that he might beat the shit out of you or what?”

Without them noticing, Mylo narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He chose to ignore that. “No… It’s more than that.”

“Then what is it?” Nimb asked, leaning a bit closer.

Mylo then spoke without looking at them. “… As much as I want to punch him in the face, I can’t do anything to him. Because, if I did… He’d do something that would ruin my life.”

Ari and Nimb gasped, while Sanah just frowned. There was silence for a moment, then Nimb looked him in the eyes and spoke.

“Are you… in danger?”

“Heh…” Mylo extended his arm and stroked the feathers on Nimb’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, as long as I don’t confront him. But I hate it has to be this way…”

Nimb frowned. What could be important enough to ruin someone’s life like that? And why had his brother to be such an awful person? If only he was brave enough to do something…

Either way, Mylo chose to not talk about it any further, so the team kept walking until they arrived at the boss’ office. As soon as they knocked on the door, they heard a low male voice.

“Oh, uh, wait a moment!”

They looked at each other in confusion and waited a few seconds until the voice called.

“Okay, come in now!”

Upon entering, they found a messy office, with a few boxes scattered on the floor, a closet, a bunch of drawers, and a desk with books on top of it. Behind the desk, a Diggersby was sitting with his arms folded behind his head.

“Hey, so you’re those investigators, right?”

“We… are,” Sanah said, her eyes narrowed. “What’s with the waiting?”

“Uhh… Nothing, just storing some confidential documents in my drawers, the usual.”

Sanah crossed her arms. “Riiight…”

“Anyway, we’re here to ask some questions,” Mylo said. “Do you mind?”

“Of course not, go ahead!”

Ari couldn’t help but notice Diggersby looking at Nimb intensely. It was weird that someone was paying more attention to Nimb rather than him, being the one with the weird appearance, but he ignored the thought for now.

“So, we’ve heard that you’re the last one to stay here at night. What do you do in that time? And did you see anything strange lately?” Ari asked.

The boss leaned on his desk with a pensive face. “Well, you see… All I do is save every key that is returned to me in that drawer over there.” He pointed to one of the drawers in a corner. “And then I close the office and get outside, then close the building… You know, just close everything.”

“And nothing else?” Sanah asked, getting a headshake from the boss. “I dunno, that’s a bit hard to believe if you have no witnesses and we have to rely just on your word.”

Diggersby waved his paws in front of him in distress. “W-what? I swear that’s the truth! There’s nothing more to it!”

“Hmmm… And may I ask who are all the employees working here?” Ari asked.

“Well, there’s Billy and Lyla working most of the time in the storage room, Pierre stays outside with Randy, then there’s Nikol in the reception, and lastly just me in this office.”

“W-who are half of those guys anyway…?” Nimb muttered shyly.

“Even if we can’t forget about the other workers, we still should make sure that you’re not our guy,” Mylo said. “Because there are countless red flags all over you right now.”

“R-really? I d-didn’t steal anything, I swear!” The boss started shaking, he wasn’t even staring at Nimb anymore, which made him finally relax a little. So he did notice as well.

Ari spoke. “Even if there are confidential documents, we should check your drawers just in case, if you’re okay with that.”

“What? N-no! There’s nothing here!”

Mylo approached and slammed the desk with his hands, glaring with his creepy eyes. “Should I make you talk by other means, then?“

Diggersby gulped, his tension slowly leaving his body as he deflated. “… O-okay, go ahead…”

As Mylo turned around and saw his teammates staring at him with eyes widened, and Nimb clinging to Ari in fear, he coughed. “Whoops. Sorry about that, heh.”

Shrugging that off, the team searched the whole office in an attempt to find any clue or even some of the stolen orbs but there was no luck. All they could find was an endless amount of meaningless papers, magazines, tools, and other objects unrelated to the case.

Not even the GD was of any help there, as there wasn’t a single useful clue in the room. But then, why was Diggersby so nervous about them searching the room?

“It’s useless, we’ve checked every single drawer…” Nimb pouted, letting himself fall on his rear in exhaustion.

“Well, every one except…” Ari looked at the one on the boss’ desk. Nimb, Sanah, and Mylo also turned to it as well, and the buff rabbit widened his eyes in horror.

“W-wait, no! T-there’s nothing in there! PLEASE!” The boss begged.

Sanah got tired of it and quickly approached the desk. “Okay, that’s it, lemme see what’s in there!”

“NOOOOOO!”

She shoved him aside and violently opened the drawer. At that moment, out of the drawer, three small items went flying and fell on the floor. They looked like… Plushies? And they were shaped like an eevee, a sobble, and… an archen.

If there was a way to describe everyone’s faces at that moment, it would be like those cartoon characters with their eyes shaped like small dots. There was a long awkward silence while the team tried to process what they just witnessed.

“Noo, my precious!” His voice was suddenly an octave higher. Diggersby took the plushies from the floor and brushed some dust from them, right before pulling them into a hug. His face turned red. “Y-you didn’t have to see this…”

“… What.” Sanah was at a loss for words, still with her poker face.

“Okay, you win! This is my secret hobby… I love these plushies so much!” He rubbed his face against the small toys and turned to Nimb. “And I swear the fact that I have an archen doll is just pure coincidence, I d-don’t know you nor do I have an interest in kids! B-but these little ones… They’re just so cute, I can’t help it!”

“… What.” Nimb was at a loss for words too.

Mylo turned to the Archen too. “I mean, he does have a point. You ARE cute.”

“HUH?” Nimb turned red as well.

“ANYWAY”, Sanah said, trying to stop the nonsense. “It’s pretty clear that you don’t have anything related to the case. Just…. Ugh, let’s go investigate the rest of the building.”

“Yes, please,” Ari said.

Mylo and Nimb nodded and they soon left the office, trying to erase that image from their minds. Ari thought it would be funny to have an archen plushie just to tease Nimb, but chose not to say that; he didn’t want Nimb to faint from embarrassment. He already had enough.

They went through a different hallway this time, passing by some other rooms they hadn’t searched yet, and so they did. With no results.

They checked every single room except one that was locked. It seemed like something important, but they didn’t have the key to it, so they ignored it for now.

They had already spent hours in that warehouse and they had no clue on what to do anymore. Eventually, they just returned to the storage room, where Lyla was doing her work as always.

“Hey, Lyla!” Ari called.

The Seviper turned around and her face darkened for a moment as she locked eyes with Sanah, but quickly shook it off. “Oh, hey guys! Any luck with your investigation?”

Nimb frowned, looking aside. “No… We couldn’t find anything helpful.”

“Oh, that’s a shame… Did you talk to everyone?”

“We did, and still nothing,” Ari said, tilting his head. “It’s like nothing happened here at all… It doesn’t make any sense.”

Lyla frowned. “It sure is weird… Well, don’t worry if you can’t figure it out, seems like a hard case and it’s not like a bunch of orbs is that much of a loss.”

“Seems like an expensive loss to me,” Mylo said, putting his hands on his hips.

Sanah, who was staying behind with a scowl, eventually couldn’t take it anymore and leaned into the conversation. “You’re still one of the main suspects, don’t forget that.”

Lyla frowned. “Ah shit, here we go again.”

“You happen to be the one that’s always right here, in the main storage room. Where the orbs are supposed to be. And where they’re not anymore.”

“Oh, so you’re going to put all the blame on me?”

“You bet I am!” Sanah leaned closer, which made the fang snake flinch.

“Sanah, we don’t have any proof to support that claim!” Ari said, his arms raised in case things escalated.

The Zangoose turned to him and growled. “It literally couldn’t be anyone else! What other explanation could there be?”

Ari cringed, closing his eyes for a moment at the sudden outburst. At that, Sanah stepped back, her scowl decreasing slightly.

“It could also be the Machoke, for example,” Mylo said.

“C-can we just talk this through?” Nimb said, his voice shaking.

“Why are you defending her so badly? She’s probably the most suspicious of all!”

“Sanah, please…” Ari frowned, gripping his arms and looking to the ground.

The Zangoose stopped and glanced at her teammates, all of them looking a bit disappointed. She suddenly lost the heat of the moment and took a deep breath.

“I… I’m going to get some air…”

She turned around and went to the back door of the room, leading outside. Everyone relaxed, except Ari, who just looked guilty. It was Lyla who spoke first.

“Okay… I don’t know how you manage to work with her.”

“She’s not like that all the time…” Nimb said. He then saw Ari looking concerned and addressed him. “Hey, Ari, are you okay?”

The Riolu shook his head, without facing him. “I shouldn’t have… Ugh, I’ll just go talk to her.”

Mylo rested his hand on Ari’s shoulder, making him stop. “You don’t have to take responsibility for everything that happens, Ari.”

“I… I know. But please, just let me handle this…”

“Alright then,” Mylo released him and Ari went straight to the back door, leaving Nimb, Mylo, and Lyla there.

The back door wasn’t that visible from the storage room, as it was behind a tall shelf in a corner, but Ari knew its location from the search they did when they arrived first. After going outside, he found that the sun was already setting, which meant they’d probably have to continue the investigation tomorrow.

Looking around, he found Sanah resting against the wall, looking at the sky. Ari approached her and she looked up as soon as she noticed. She let out a groan but didn’t complain further, instead, she pulled away from the wall and faced the Riolu.

“Hey, Sanah…” He rubbed his arm, not looking directly at her. “… I’m sorry.”

Sanah tilted her head in confusion. “What?”

“I shouldn’t have dismissed your opinion so quickly. I’m sorry if that made you feel bad…”

She was a bit thrown off by that. She crossed her arms and thought for a moment. The silence only made Ari more nervous, but she eventually sighed and looked at him.

“No… It’s okay. I shouldn’t have acted so aggressively without real evidence, I’m sorry.”

Ari blinked. “W-wha? But… I messed up! This is my fault, aren’t you angry at me?”

Sanah frowned, now with concern. “Ari, I already told you, you’re alright! Stop blaming this on yourself, what the hell!”

“But… Uh, you’re not…?” He stopped himself as he remembered the same intrusive thought he always had. He looked aside with a deep frown and spoke. “You know… You don’t have to pretend you don’t hate me. I know you’re just treating me better because you pity me, after what I told you in the mansion… Because I’m that pathetic.”

Sanah grimaced, her own intrusive thought reaching her mind. She couldn’t let it affect her thinking, but at that moment there was just one thing she couldn’t ignore any longer, as much as she didn’t want to talk about it because that would mean she had to admit there was something wrong with her.

Not that it mattered anymore.

“No… You’re wrong.”

The Riolu turned to her with curiosity. He wasn’t expecting more compassion coming from her at this point, he rather thought he’d drained all the patience she had left.

“I’m not doing it because I pity you. It’s because… You remind me of myself.”

“… W-what?”

Sanah’s grimace shifted into a soft gaze, and her eyes met Ari’s. There was more sincerity in them than ever before.

“When you told me about your insecurities and how you felt you’re inferior to everyone, I just thought… We weren’t so different. I also hate myself for being like this, and I’m so tired. Huh, it’s funny how I hate myself but I can’t hate someone that reminds me of myself…”

She did a brief pause, taking a deep breath.

“That conversation we had… Right then, I understood that maybe I’m not the only one feeling like this and that I shouldn’t think that everyone wants to be better than me. Because, yeah, I guess everyone has problems too.”

Ari took all that in, his eyes slowly widening as he connected the dots.

She sagged, a bit embarrassed, but didn’t stop there. “I was so angry about you being better than me, that I just… Acted like a stupid jerk, as I’ve always done. Kyle was right.” She let out a deep sigh, feeling the weight of all those thoughts kept to herself finally leaving her body. “All because I was so obsessed with being the best. Even if I didn’t even come close to that…”

There was a lot to unpack in that speech. The Riolu felt happy about finally getting to understand her, just like Maia wanted. Sanah was just like him, she was smothered with expectations, and she felt like she wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t sympathy that she felt towards him, it was… empathy.

“That’s why I hate it… The concept of ‘being the best’ and all,” Ari eventually said.

She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

The aura canine locked his eyes on Sanah’s, his fists clenched hard. “All those expectations… I’ve dealt with them before. I was expected to become the best explorer, and look where that got me. I don’t want to be the best, I just… wanna be happy.”

Sanah nodded slowly, she could see where this was going.

“So what if we’re not the best? Team Gold doesn’t need to be a thing. Gold is for the first place, but there will always be someone better than you, and of course, there are countless pokémon that are better than me too, but I don’t care about that anymore!” Ari sounded a bit angry at that point, after letting all that out, so he lowered his tone. “We can be great at our work without needing to be the best.”

Sanah reflected on it. He was right… Of course he was, he was always so much smarter than her… But that was okay. Screw it.

“That sounds good… I’m tired of pushing myself so much. I… I guess I don’t wanna be the best anymore, but I wanna try to become the best version of myself at least.”

“Yeah, that’s so much better! And I can help you, if you want. I just like seeing you happier lately,” Ari said, leaning closer and smiling like only he could.

“Ari, that’s…” And there it was again. Her main intrusive thought of the past days. “… Why are you so nice to me?”

“What? Why wouldn’t I?”

Sanah took a step back, a frown overtaking his face again. “I… I’ve been so cruel to you… All those insults, the harassing, everything… I even beat you up, for fuck’s sake! How can you be so happy for me?”

Ari winced. Yeah, this was the side effect of being so nice. Worst part being that… He didn’t have an answer to that.

“I don’t know, I just… I guess that’s the way I am, I can’t help it. But it’s okay, I don’t mind!”

Sanah didn’t agree. She squinted her eyes and scratched her head aggressively. “You don’t mind? Don’t you have any self-respect? You should be the one hating me! After all of that, I don’t deserve your nice words, I don’t deserve more than you as you said that time, and I don’t deserve… Anything!”

Sanah stopped as she felt a paw resting on her shoulder. She opened her trembling eyes and saw the soft look of the Riolu in front of her.

“Sanah, listen… I’m not saying I completely ignored all that happened between us, but… What matters to me is that you’re actually trying to change, and we can only move forward from now on. I’m just glad we can finally get along, that alone makes up for all you did. That’s what makes me happy.”

She couldn’t understand. This Riolu… He truly was something else. He really was willing to forgive all she did just like that. And yet…

Sanah stepped back and clapped her cheeks. She then lifted her head and looked at him with a serious expression. “No… That doesn’t make up for it. But I promise I WILL make up for you, from now on. And well, for now…” She lowered her gaze, ashamed. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for everything.”

Ari stared unblinkingly. “… Oh well. I… I forgive you, you already know that, but about making up for me… I suggest something better.”

“Huh?”

“We could just help each other!” A smile took his face as he offered a paw for a handshake. “As a team.”

Sanah stared at his paw in awe. Was that okay? Did she deserve it? Well… At this point, she could as well try.

She took his paw with her own, smiling softly. “Okay… As a team it is.”

The door to the warehouse opened and Mylo and Nimb peeked in.

“Hey, you were taking so long, is everything alright?” Mylo asked.

“Y-yeah, I was starting to get a bit nervous…” Nimb added.

Ari turned around. “Oh right, sorry, hehe.”

Sanah then tried to cover for both of them for wasting so much time. “We were just… Uh… Checking for clues here! Yeah, it’s one of the only places we… haven’t… checked…..”

Her eyes slowly widened in realization. Her eyes met Ari’s and now both were staring with wide eyes.

“Wait a second…” Sanah pulled her GD and approached the door, both Mylo and Nimb staring at her in confusion. She turned the UV light on and scanned the ground around the area, starting from the door.

After a moment, she eventually stopped in a spot of grass where something lit up with the UV.

“Hey, there’s something here!”

Everyone leaned closer with curiosity. It looked like… Scales. But they weren’t the same as Lyla’s…

“Huh… Scales?” Mylo asked. “I wonder whose are those…”

Nimb brightened. “Hey, we could scan them and send them to Louis! Maybe he could analyze them and guess which pokémon they belong to!”

“Hm, sounds about right,” Sanah said.

With a quick type, they sent the sample to Louis with the GD. They’d have to wait for a while to get any result, so they just went inside and continued their investigation, even if they were running out of time for the day.

Once they found Lyla again, Sanah stole a glance at Ari, who just nodded at her, and sighed. She didn’t want to do it, but…

“So, Lyla… Sorry about earlier. We still can’t know if you’re the thief I guess.”

The Seviper froze. Did she just… apologize? Wow, things were changing so fast…

“Uh… Well… Apology accepted, I guess,” she said, but both she and Sanah wore annoyed expressions.

Ari just smiled uncomfortably at both of them. ‘At least they tried.’

The investigation went on for another while. They had already talked to everyone, checked every available room and considered all variables. What they didn’t do, however, is check THAT room.

“Lyla, you wouldn’t happen to have a key to that closed room over there?” Ari pointed to one of the hallways, leading to a door that was further inside.

“Oh, that one… Well, that’s the archive. I doubt there will be anything useful there, but I do have a key, so…” She started moving towards the hallway. “Follow me.”

They did, and they eventually reached the door to the archive. As they entered, they found a room filled with a ton of drawers and lockers. It was tidy but and a bit dark, so it would take a while to check everything there.

“Just a reminder, do not take anything here with you. These are important documents and if something went missing, my boss wouldn’t let me hear the end of it,” Lyla said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll just do a quick- uh?” Ari stopped as a ringtone could be heard.

Sanah took her GD and pressed a button. “Louis? Did you call me?”

“Sanah! Indeed, I just wanted to inform you that I got the results from the sample you sent me!”

“Oh? And what is it?”

“Those are Inteleon scales. A pretty interesting water-type pokémon, if you ask me. You know, the one with finger-guns and everything.”

“Great!” Ari spoke. “Thank you so much, Louis!”

“You’re welcome! I hope your investigation goes well!”

He hung up, and everyone looked at each other.

“An Inteleon, huh? Don’t know much about them,” Sanah said, putting a claw on her chin.

Mylo tensed. “Hmm… If it’s an Inteleon, we could have a problem.”

“Why so?” Nimb asked.

“Inteleons can turn invisible, and we could have missed them if they were hiding somewhere.”

Ari, Sanah and Nimb gasped. They couldn’t have been so stupid as to let the thief wander around while they were here, right?

Meanwhile, Lyla just observed the conversation with a blank expression.

“What if they’re still here somewhere?” Nimb asked.

“That’s what I’m fearing…” Mylo then turned around and went for the door. “I’m going to check the storage room just in case, I’ll be back soon.”

He ran to the hallway, disappearing from everyone’s sight.

“Okay… We better just keep checking this place real quick then,” Sanah said.

Ari, Nimb, and Sanah turned their UV light on and scanned the area for more clues. In fact, they didn’t have to search for too long, as eventually Nimb spotted something.

“Wait, this is…” He gasped. “Guys! There are more Inteleon scales here!”

“What?” Ari said and approached him.

Lyla was visibly shocked. “H-how? It can’t be! This room is always closed, no one could sneak here just like that!”

Ari froze. “U-unless…”

He closed his eyes, and a blue aura enveloped his body. His aura tassels raised and he felt everything around him. And with everything, it includes… A couple of specific key details.

His eyes snapped open. “Sanah, watch out!” He jumped towards her and pushed her aside, barely dodging a sudden presence that attacked the Zangoose from the ceiling. Sanah groaned from the sudden push, but both of them quickly stood up and prepared for the battle, facing the intruder.

Right in the middle of the room, a figure appeared out of thin air. It was Inteleon.

“Fuh… I wasn’t expecting to have to show myself, but you just had to use your aura, huh?” He said with a smirk.

“So you’re the thief?” Sanah asked with a scowl. Nimb cringed in fear, he wasn’t expecting to encounter a true criminal.

“Yeah, and? Are you going to try and stop me?”

Sanah growled and took a step forward, her claws shining white, but she stopped when Ari spoke.

“No… You’re not the only one…”

Sanah and Nimb turned to him in confusion. Ari’s face expressed conflicted feelings. Anger, pain, sadness.

“So that’s why there weren’t any traces left inside the building or any forced doors… It was you who gave them the orbs directly from the back door, so he didn’t need to get inside… Right, Lyla?”

“What?” Sanah and Nimb yelled in unison.

Lyla winced in shock. “N-no! What do you mean? I d-don’t know this guy!”

“Your emotions told me otherwise,” Ari answered, his voice darker than usual.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Sanah said.

The Inteleon was tapping his foot out of impatience, so he just decided to end the charade. “Whatever, I’m tired of playing games. Seviper, if you want your money, you know what to do.”

“SO I WAS RIGHT!” Sanah yelled, looking angrier than ever.

Inteleon continued. “You can run away with us and live a peaceful life away from here. Choose.”

Lyla was shaking in panic. She had been caught and was forced to make a hard choice. Betray her friends and escape, or go to jail…?

“But… This wasn’t part of the deal! You didn’t tell me you were going to sneak inside!” Lyla said.

“Yeah… We changed our minds. There are some documents we need.”

Ari frowned. He said ‘we’. Were there other criminals with him too? If that was the case, Mylo might have run into trouble out there.

Before anyone could react, Inteleon scooted forward and tried to reach the drawers, but Sanah jumped in just in time, swiping with her claws. Unfortunately, he dodged without any issue and lashed at her with his tail like a whip.

Sanah was launched towards the wall and hit it hard, groaning in pain as she fell to the ground.

“Sanah!” Ari yelled. He tried to reach for her but was stopped when a serpent body wrapped around him and constricted. “Aarrghh!”

“I’m s-sorry, Ari…” Lyla said while holding him in place.

Nimb was terrified. His brother was trapped and Sanah was still groaning in pain on the ground. That just left him against the criminal, which was likely going to end in defeat. But he had to do something.

“Aaaaahhhhh!” He charged towards the blue lizard, his wings shining, but Inteleon just caught him and lifted him in the air like it was nothing.

“Huh, you’re not much of a threat,” he said, holding the Archen by the back of his neck, and their eyes met. Nimb was shaking in fear, he couldn’t even say a word, so Inteleon chuckled a little. “Fuh, you’re just a harmless kid. Why don’t you go play with your teammate?”

He then threw him away towards Sanah, who was trying to stand up, but fell back again as Nimb collided with her.

“Ugh… Y-you bastard!” Sanah growled. Before she could get Nimb off him, in a blink of an eye they were both enveloped by spider webs that were launched from the hallway. They were tied together and immobilized. “Ah, what is this?”

Through the door came another pokémon, a green tarantula that stood on two legs.

The Spidops spoke with a deep female voice. “There, you stay still while we take care of things here.” She smirked while fidgeting with her webs, creating fancy shapes with them.

Inteleon rolled his eyes and turned to her. “You didn’t need to come, I had everything under control.”

“I know, but the others are taking all the fun from me out there and I got bored.”

Ari gasped. ‘Oh no, Mylo!’

“Alright,” Inteleon then turned to Lyla. “Keep him like that while we search.”

Lyla nodded and maintained her grip on Ari, who was thrashing around in a fruitless attempt to free himself from the coil. At least she wasn’t constricting him too hard, just enough to keep him still.

“What do you think you two are doing? I swear, when I get my hands on you I’ll…” Sanah threatened. She felt Nimb trembling beside her and relaxed a little. “Nimb, it’s okay, they’re just petty thieves, not murderers…”

“Who are you calling petty?” Spidops scowled, but she quickly shrugged it off. “Ah, you’re so funny, trapped like that.”

Sanah grumbled, but she didn’t say anything. While all that happened, Inteleon was searching every single drawer, reading some papers, and throwing them away whenever they weren’t the ones he needed.

Eventually, he found what he wanted. “Yes… This is it. Let’s go.”

Inteleon and Spidops started heading for the door, and Lyla took this as his cue to leave as well, releasing Ari and quickly going after them. Ari was still sore and couldn’t move properly, so he couldn’t chase them.

Right when Lyla was about to leave the room with them, Inteleon turned around. “Oh, right, about you…” With a quick move of his tail, he snatched a key from Lyla’s bag and then kicked her forcefully, sending her inside.

“Ugh! W-what the…?”

“Our deal ends here. Have fun you four,” Inteleon said and closed the door.

“No, wait!” Lyla ran towards the door and tried to open it, but the criminal locked it with the key. They were trapped.

Ari managed to stand on his feet and grimaced. “No… It can’t be…”

From the corner of the archive, Sanah called. “Ari, here!”

“Oh, right!” The Riolu rushed to his teammates and scratched the spider web with a metal claw, releasing both of them. Nimb quickly jumped on Ari and hugged him tight, still feeling the anxiety of the confrontation. Ari returned the hug and spoke with a soothing voice. “It’s okay, they’re gone…”

Sanah, on the other hand, wasn’t that relieved. In fact, she was fuming.

“You… You fucking traitor! And to think that I even apologized to you? GRAAH!”

She moved, aiming a fury cutter at the Seviper, who just froze. Before blood was shed, Ari ran ahead and stood in the Zangoose’s way.

“Wait, Sanah!” She stopped. She was looking at him with anger, but his eyes were soft and gentle, and she couldn’t get angry at that anymore. She lowered her claws and crossed her arms, resented.

“Ah… T-thanks…” Lyla whimpered.

“But… She’s right,” Ari said. He turned around, facing the Seviper with a disappointed look, and Sanah glanced with curiosity. “You betrayed us. I thought we were friends, but I guess money was more important to you…”

Lyla flinched hard. She didn’t know how to defend herself anymore. “B-but… I just… You don’t have any idea how suffocating this job is! I j-just wanted the money so I could live a decent life, I couldn’t take this anymore…”

“And that’s the only solution you got!?” Ari scowled. His words were not gentle anymore, they just felt like hot knives now. “Becoming a criminal and stabbing your friends in their back?”

“I… I just…” Lyla stammered. She was at a loss for words.

“I defended you. I trusted you. I even told you about my problems, and you told me yours. But I guess you didn’t care about that…”

Ari’s scowl turned into a deep frown, and he lowered his gaze. He looked devastated, and so did Lyla. She had messed up bad.

“I… I’m sorry…”

“… That’s not going to change things.” He let out a deep sigh and approached the door. “Anyway… We should figure out a way to get out. Mylo needs us…”

Sanah and Nimb looked at each other in concern, and both leaned closer. They tried opening the door again, but it was obviously useless without the key.

“You can’t be serious… This sucks, ugh.” Sanah slammed the door time after time, even using moves against it, but it was a reinforced door, so it was useless.

They stayed like that for a minute, until they heard a clicking noise coming from the door. Just like that, the door opened, and a familiar face peeked inside.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” It was Nikol the Electabuzz, the receptionist.

“Oh, thank Arceus! The criminals trapped us here!” Ari said.

“Criminals? Oh crud… That explains the ruckus I’m hearing coming from the storage room.”

Ari, Nimb and Sanah gasped. Maybe there was still time.

“We have to get them!” Sanah started running through the hallway, and Ari and Nimb followed behind, not even caring about leaving Lyla free.

Upon reaching the storage room, they found themselves in the middle of a battlefield. The first thing they noticed was the shelves that were damaged by the fight, and right then a Machoke was sent flying through the room after being hit by someone.

Mylo was fighting an Obstagoon, and he didn’t seem to be winning. Mylo threw a punch towards his enemy, but he evaded it and immediately headbutted the Toxtricity, forcing him to the ground.

He groaned in pain but didn’t waste any time and grabbed the Obstagoon’s leg. The criminal grinned and kicked him off, sending him a few meters back.

Close to them, there was one of the Machoke brothers fighting against Spidops. He grabbed her from behind and tried to immobilize her, but the tarantula did a flip and slammed him on the ground, followed by a string shot that trapped him.

The other Machoke had already recovered from the previous blow and went back in action, trying to aim a punch at a Weavile, but he was too quick and jumped on top of him, slashing his back with an ice shard that tore his skin off.

Machoke screamed in pain and fell to the ground, defeated. The Inteleon was already reaching the back door, so he called for his comrades.

“Guys, we’re leaving.”

With that, Obstagoon, Spidops, and Weavile followed Inteleon going for the door. Sanah, Nimb, and Ari tried to go after them, but Obstagoon knocked one of the shelves with a strong punch, making it fall and block the way.

However, Ari used a quick attack while enveloped in a red aura, and was the only one who could reach the other side before the shelf collapsed. Obstagoon ignored him and ran away with the rest.

Ari stood up and glanced at the escaping criminals, now that he was closer to them. At that moment, his heart skipped a beat upon spotting one of them, and he gasped.

His eyes were locked on the Weavile.

“…Ren?”

The Weavile froze. He slowly turned around, his expression being a mixture of many complex emotions. They kept staring at each other for a moment that felt like an eternity, but the criminal eventually shifted his gaze to the ground and turned around to leave.

“Wait, please!” Ari begged, his voice breaking.

It was too late. He was so close, yet so far at the same time…

After that, it all happened so fast. In the blink of an eye, another shelf collapsed and a ton of metal boxes started falling upon the Riolu, who couldn’t react. He was about to get crushed.

From the other side of the room, Sanah, Nimb, and Mylo called his name, yelling desperately for him to move, but he couldn’t. There was a loud crash as the boxes hit the ground.

A huge cloud of dust covered the area, making it impossible to see anything for a moment. Everyone froze as they witnessed the fatal destiny of the Riolu. Nimb covered his beak in shock and horror. It couldn’t be…

Not like this.

The dust dispelled eventually, and they could see something in front of them. Or rather, someone.

Ari opened his eyes and saw… a Weavile.

He was being carried in the Weavile’s arms. Ren was looking at him in concern, his eyes widened as he panted, but he eventually relaxed. They stared without saying a single word like they were trying to memorize the patterns on each other’s irises.

Sanah, Mylo, and Nimb were relieved to see their teammate safe, but at the same time, they were shocked. What the hell was happening…?

Ari opened his mouth, he wanted to say so many things, but he couldn’t think of anything. Instead, it was Ren who managed to say a single word.

“Ari…”

Before Ari could respond, another voice interrupted him.

“Ren, come here, we gotta leave!” Inteleon called.

Ren the Weavile stared at the Riolu for another moment until he sighed, gently laying him on the ground.

“… Stay safe.”

That was the last thing Ren said before he ran away, easily climbing the mass of broken boxes and shelves and leaving with the rest of the criminals.

Ari stood up and yelled. “Wait, Ren!”

But they were gone.

The Riolu stayed still, staring at the door where he last saw his friend. He didn’t want to move, he just needed that day to end.

He felt Mylo’s hand resting on his shoulder but didn’t look at him. He was too focused on holding back the tears. Nimb and Sanah also leaned closer, but none of them said anything. There would be time for questions later.

 

---

 

The police had arrived and everyone gathered to talk about the recent event. Melly the Floragato took care of Lyla, who had turned herself in to the police and left with the feline after glancing at the Riolu one last time. He looked at her with a sad expression, which made her feel even worse, but she decided it was fair.

Meanwhile, Diggersby explained everything to the chief of the police, a Kommo-o named Aimer, who was taking some notes.

“The documents they stole had information about every single thing that’s stored in the warehouse. The distribution routes, the providers, the exact location of the items in the storage room… I don’t know what they want to do with that, to be honest…”

Nimb frowned. He didn’t know either, but he had a bad feeling about it…

After finishing the interrogation, Aimer the Kommo-o addressed the investigators. “So, I would say you fulfilled your duty successfully.”

Sanah frowned. “What? But we let them escape! How is this a success?”

“Ah, stop complaining, will ya!” Aimer growled. He was kinda scary, to be honest. “You’re investigators, not explorers. Your duty was to find out who the thief was, and you did just that. I just hope we can get our hands on those bastards…”

“O-oh, well…” Nimb gulped.

“Those four are a well-known criminal group that has been wreaking havoc for quite some time, but we never managed to catch them…”

“I bet you’ll have more chances soon.” All eyes turned to Mylo. “If what I’ve heard of these criminals is true, then I doubt they’re in Bismuth Town just for the orbs. They might strike again elsewhere in the next days.”

Ari widened his eyes at that. Maybe there was still hope…

“Yeah, anyone could have come up with that conclusion.” The Kommo-o then coughed and took a paper from his bag. “Anyway, we have to fill in the report, so tell me your team name.”

“Ah, fuck, we forgot about the name!” Sanah said, looking at her teammates in panic.

Nimb, Mylo and Sanah thought in silence, trying to come up with something quick, but it was Ari who spoke up.

“…Team Silver.”

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

“Huh?” Sanah said, and Ari turned to her with a smile. In that moment, she quickly realized what that meant and returned the smile. “Oh… Yeah, I like it.”

“You do?” Nimb said. He then exchanged a look with Mylo, who also seemed to have understood it by the way he grinned. Nimb recalled a certain event from the previous day and smiled as well. “I think I like it too.”

“Yeah, why not, heh,” Mylo said.

Aimer raised an eyebrow at them. “What a bunch of weirdos you are, but okay… Team Silver it is.” He wrote it down, and it was official now.

Team Silver was born.

 

---

 

Sanah knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and Maia waved at her.

“Oh, it’s you! Good night, Sanah!”

“Yeah, hi… I wanted to see how things were going after… Well, that.”

“You were worried about Ari?”

Sanah looked away, embarrassed. “Well… I guess…”

Maia smiled and gestured for her to come inside, and she did. In the living room, she saw Ari, Nimb, and… Mylo too?

“Huh? What are you doing here?”

“I came to check on Ari, heh.”

Ari scratched the back of his head while smiling sheepishly. “I, well… I’m okay, really… But thank you, guys.”

“Anyway, now that everyone’s here we can talk for a bit,” Maia said. “I already heard the whole story about your investigation today, but I’m also curious about your friend. I still can’t believe he was actually a part of that criminal group…”

Sanah leaned closer and sat on the couch with the others, and Maia rested on a cushion. It was weird to see her folding her legs like that, honestly.

“Well, it’s a long story, actually…” Ari said, looking away.

“We have all the time in the world,” Mylo said, supporting his head with his arm.

“Yeah, and I’m also curious about this ‘Ren’ guy,” Sanah added.

Ari looked uncomfortable, a frown overtaking his face, and Maia looked at him in concern.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I know it must be hard for you…”

Ari thought about it and eventually sighed. “… No, you all deserve to know. Especially after what happened today.”

Everyone looked at each other in concern. Nimb was interested to know more about Ari and his past, but didn’t ask him so far because he didn’t want to bother him.

“Are you sure?” Nimb asked. The Riolu nodded, and glanced at everyone, who stared expectantly.

“Well, it all happened around a year ago…”