CHAPTER 5

"Misty?"

"Mmmrhhh," mumbled the motionless figure, entirely buried underneath the covers.

"Misty!" called Ash again. He poked her blanket with his finger. Tracey stood next to the bed on the other side.

The night's rest had done nothing to improve Misty's condition. If anything, she was worse off than the day before. Her head was literally pounding, and the morning sunlight pierced her eyes painfully.

"Pi - ka?" whispered Pikachu sympathetically, as he climbed onto the bed to try to comfort her.

"Ash," she croaked through a dry throat, "I still feel really awful. I think I've come down with something. Why don't you and Tracey go on to the festival without me today?"

"Misty, the festival is closed," Ash replied. "Someone stole Mr. Simpleton's Blastoise last night."

"What?!" the redhead cried as she sat up in her bunk in surprise. She instantly felt dizzy, however, so she immediately flopped back down on the mattress. "And it's pronounced Cym-PEL-ton. What happened?"

"We were there with Officer Jenny when it happened," Tracey recounted. "It was a lone thief in black with a really powerful Psyduck. Whoever it was, he got away with the Blastoise and caused several thousand dollars worth of damage to the city."

"That's terrible!" Misty declared, her eyes tightly shut to keep out the light. "I hope they find who did it."

"Anyway," Tracey continued, "we just came to let you know that we're going down to the police station again to make a statement for the police report."

"Okay, see you later," the girl replied weakly.

As the others left, Misty turned over and pulled the covers over her head again. The throbbing in her skull was a little more tolerable without the sun in her eyes. The commotion woke up Togepi only briefly, and it chittered dreamily for a few seconds before falling asleep again peacefully.

*

Jessie was on top of the world. She pedaled the mechanical propulsion system of the Magikarp sub with untiring strides, powering the vessel almost single-handedly. James and Meowth pedaled much less vigorously behind her. "What did I tell you?" she gloated. "With some real will and determination on our side, we avoided getting blasted away!"

James rubbed his sore arm, which had been nearly wrenched out of its socket when Jessie grabbed it to throw him off the pier the night before. "Yes, Jess, but couldn't your determination be a little less ... excruciating?"

"Stop whining!" Jessie rebuked. "It's time to put our heads together and come up with a plan to steal the twerp's Pikachu!"

"Da Pikachu?!" Meowth said in bewilderment. "But I thought we was stealin' da Blastoise."

"Don't be ridiculous, Meowth," Jessie replied. "The Blastoise has already been stolen. The important thing is that now we have the key to success. Resolve and determination will be our path to victory. It's already prevented us from being blown away last night!"

James cringed to himself. This didn't sound like much of a path to him. "But, Jess..." he started to protest.

"No more arguments!" the redheaded Team Rocket agent shouted. "Get back to pedaling!"

There was no point in trying to talk Jessie out of this. James sighed and went back to propelling the sub.

*

Ash's throat was getting hoarse. For what seemed like hours, he and Tracey had recounted the events of the previous night over and over again, each time to different sets of police investigators. Each group of investigators had asked detailed questions about both the dark intruder and the theft, apparently in the hopes of garnering some piece of information that the others had missed. They also asked the two of them about their time on Mandarin Island, which Ash found very puzzling.

Finally, they were done, and Ash, Pikachu, and Tracey went out to find Officer Jenny. They found her at her desk, sitting calmly but with a stony expression as a red-faced and very infuriated Alistair Cympelton stood in front of her.

"I'm warning you, Officer," threatened the water Pokémon trainer, "I brought my prize Pokémon to this island and went to Valencia last night with the explicit assurance from the Mayor that they would be made safe and comfortable. If my Blastoise is not found immediately, I'll see to it that you're out of a job and that the Mayor is removed from office!" Several veins began bulging from his forehead.

"Please calm down," Officer Jenny replied, managing to keep her professional demeanor. "I assure you, Mr. Cympelton, the police force is doing everything it can to find and recover your Blastoise..."

"If it hasn't been found already, they're not doing enough!" Cympelton bellowed. "Listen to me. I arranged last night for Professor Ivy to come from Valencia to see both the Blastoise and Magikarp tomorrow morning. If the Blastoise is not recovered by the time she comes, it will be a major embarrassment for me, and that will be a big problem for YOU!" He suddenly noticed Ash and Tracey behind him. "And what are THOSE two doing here?" he demanded.

"They're witnesses to the theft," Jenny answered.

"That's right," Ash piped in. "And don't you worry. I'm sure the police will be able to find your Blastoise, Mr. ..." Ash's sentence was cut off abruptly as Tracey quickly clapped a hand over Ash's mouth, successfully preventing the younger boy from mispronouncing the name again.

Cympelton didn't even bother to acknowledge Ash's comment as he stormed out of the police station. He paused at the door, turning back to Officer Jenny, and said, "You had better find my Pokémon, Officer. It'll be your hide if you don't." The water Pokémon trainer continued out, slamming the door behind him.

Jenny took a deep breath to relax herself, and then she turned to Ash and Tracey. "Are the investigators all done?" she asked them.

They both nodded.

"Congratulations," she said grinningly, "you survived. I'm sorry that you had to go through such a long process, but I was really hoping that you had seen some detail that I missed.

"Since you're here," Officer Jenny continued, "I'd like to show you something that you might find interesting." She reached into her desk and took out a small silver disc, about the size of a quarter. "This is the object that the thief was holding when your Bulbasaur forced it out of his grip." She announced, holding the object so that they could see.

"What is it?" Ash inquired.

"According to the police lab, it's a hypnotic transceiver," the officer replied.

"A what?"

"Hypnotic transceiver," Officer Jenny repeated. "Apparently, when you attach this device to a Pokémon, it acts as a conduit for focused hypnotic energy, such as the kind that a psychic Pokémon would generate. A Pokémon wearing this transceiver would be particularly susceptible to a Hypnosis attack, from a Drowzee for instance, and could be placed completely under the control of the Drowzee's owner."

Ash was a little lost in all the technical description, but fortunately Tracey caught on.

"I see," the older boy said. "So the Blastoise last night was under mind control because it was wearing one of these things, and that's why it was following the thief."

"That's right," exclaimed Jenny.

"But I don't get it," Ash protested. "The thief we saw last night didn't have a Drowzee."

"That's true," replied the officer. "We think that the real criminals behind all this were probably hiding elsewhere, maybe far away, and using some kind of amplifier to enhance the power of the Hypnosis attack that they were producing. They might have been controlling the Blastoise like a puppet from miles away. It's good thing we arrived at the convention hall before the thief attached this device to the Magikarp as well, otherwise we'd have two Pokémon missing instead of just one. We've now relocated the Magikarp to a police safe house for protection."

"Who would do such a thing?" Tracey wondered.

"Well," said Jenny, "there's only two people we know of that ever used any kind of machinery to amplify hypnotic energy."

Tracey knew whom Jenny was talking about right away. "Butch and Cassidy," he declared.

"Right again," said Officer Jenny. "You two saw them yourselves, on Mandarin Island. We've started an exhaustive search for them here on Satsuma."

Ash thought for a moment. "But the thief we saw was too small even to be Cassidy, and he definitely wasn't Butch."

"That occurred to us, too," the officer replied. "Unfortunately, it seems like Butch and Cassidy have a new, third partner, someone to carry out all the dirty work. While we might catch the thief, it'll be difficult to track those two down since they never actually show up at the crime scene.

"In light of what's happened," Jenny continued, "I insist that you accept the police protection we talked about last night. If Butch and Cassidy are really on this island, there's no telling what they might try to do to you two and Misty."

The expression on Ash's face was enough to tell that he was dead set against the idea, but it didn't look like Officer Jenny was going to let him go this time. Reluctantly, he nodded his assent.

"Good," Jenny said with satisfaction. "I'm relieved. I'll feel better knowing you three are safe at least." Just then, the phone on her desk rang. "Hello, Officer Jenny here," she said as she held the receiver to her ear. "Oh, yes, Mr. Mayor. I'll be there right away." Hanging up, she told them, "I have to see the mayor and discuss the Blastoise crisis. I want you two to stay here at the station." She started out the door and, as she was leaving, added, "I'll arrange for a car to pick up Misty at the Pokémon Center, and then we can take all three of you to the safe house." With that, she hurried off.

Ash sat down in a chair in the lobby of the station. It was clearly going to be a long wait. Pikachu sat on the chair next him and settled down for a nap.

Tracey paused for a moment, as if he were trying to decide something. Then he started towards the front door of the station. Seeing Ash's quizzical look, he said simply, "I'm going to take a look around the outside of the building. I won't go very far."

Tracey walked outside. It was already early evening, and the fabulous pinks and reds of the tropical sunset were already beginning to fill the sky. He made his way around the building to the back. Behind the police station was an alleyway with a large dumpster. It cast a long shadow over the ground in the light of the setting sun.

This was perfect, he thought. He'd been looking for a spare moment to dispose of his art portfolio ever since he had decided to do so last night. He now had an opportunity, and no one was around. Everything was just right.

And yet, he found himself unable simply to toss his drawings in the large bin. He knew it was what he wanted to do, what he had to do in order to get on with his life. There was no point in lugging the heavy portfolio around anymore, a reminder of how silly this phase of his life had been. But the task was strangely difficult, and he was filled with reluctance.

Steeling himself, he decided that he would take a last look at each of his drawings before throwing them away. Maybe all he needed was one last look, for some closure.

He took out his most recent drawing, the unfinished sketch of Cympelton's shiny Magikarp. Seeing it only brought to mind the painful memory of his conversation with the great water Pokémon trainer. Throwing this one away would not be so difficult. He crumpled it up and tossed it into the large dumpster.

He reached in for the next drawing. It turned out to be the one of Misty's Psyduck. Tracey smiled to himself as he saw the sketch, which perfectly captured the creature's vacant expression and extremely rounded beak. He started to crumple this drawing too, when suddenly he stopped.

Scarcely remembering to breathe, Tracey examined the drawing closely, his eyes opening wider and wider as a sudden realization dawned. Quickly, he picked up his portfolio, shoved the Psyduck sketch back inside, and raced back into the police station at full speed.

"Ash! Ash!" he exclaimed as he burst in the door. "Take a look at this!"

Ash had been dozing off in his chair, and he and Pikachu gave a sudden start as they awoke. "What's up, Tracey?" Ash demanded.

Dashing up to Ash, Tracey held out his picture for the younger boy to see. "This," he declared, "this is the Psyduck we saw last night!"

Ash looked at his companion with a puzzled expression, as if he couldn't decide whether or not Tracey had been out in the sun too long. "Uh, Tracey," he said, as gently as possible, "that's a picture of Misty's Psyduck."

"That's my point!" Tracey exclaimed. "The Psyduck we saw last night was Misty's Psyduck! They're the same Pokémon!

"Look," he said, while tracing out the shape of the beak in his drawing. "The roundedness of the beak is unmistakable, and so is the spacing of the eyes. I'm telling you, this is the Psyduck that attacked us in the convention hall." Thinking a moment more, he added, "And the thief...the thief had the same height and build as Misty, too!" His eyes opened wide. "Ash," he asked timidly, "do you think that Misty is the thief?"

Suddenly, he clapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh, what was I thinking?" he declared in disgust. "Misty doesn't own a Starmie. Here I am accusing our friend of theft and I overlooked that obvious fact." I'm such an idiot, Tracey thought to himself. Just goes to show that Cympelton was right about me.

But Ash didn't seem to think it was idiotic after all. He pondered the situation for a moment before replying, "Maybe it's not so obvious. Let's find a phone, Tracey."

There was a videophone down the hall, and Ash ran up to it. He pressed a button to connect the line.

"This is the operator," a voice said. "How may I direct your call?"

"Cerulean City Pokémon Center, please," Ash requested.

He waited a moment as the line rang. When it connected, Ash found himself facing a lovely blonde girl with a flower in her hair and a clipboard in her hand. It was Daisy.

"Like, hello, this is the box office for the Sensational Sisters of Cerulean City in their production of The Magical Mermaid. We are taking ticket orders for, like, starting in November," Daisy recited in her most professional voice.

Ash wasn't particularly interested in the show, but Daisy's last sentence took him by surprise. "November!" he exclaimed. "That's four months away!"

"Well, for sure," the blonde replied in her perfect valley girl accent. "We are like, totally booked up until then." Her eyes opened in surprise as she saw who was on the line with her. "Oh, it's you!" she declared. "The boyfriend."

Ash took a deep breath. Apparently, Misty's sisters still held the notion in their vacant skulls that he was Misty's boyfriend. He really couldn't imagine how Misty and those other girls could have been born from the same parents. "I'm actually not calling about tickets," he said very slowly, to make sure that Daisy didn't miss anything. "I was just wondering if Misty asked to borrow her Starmie back from you guys in the last few days."

Daisy gave a look of exasperation. "Well, yah," she replied as if the answer should be obvious. "Helloooo, didn't she, like, tell you? And tell the little runt to give it back soon. Like, she promised to have Starmie back to us before our big show tomorrow. Don't let her forget, 'kay?" All at once, some squeals and laughter could be heard off to the side. Daisy turned her head to see what was happening and exclaimed, "Oh, Lily, that is like the most TOTALLY awesome shade of hot pink nail polish! Oh let me see it!" Turning back to the phone for the briefest second, she muttered, "Uh, bye Ash," before disconnecting the call.

Ash wasted no time. He headed straight for the door, grabbing Pikachu on the way out.

"Hey, wait!" yelled Tracey. "Where are we going? And shouldn't we let Officer Jenny know we're leaving?"

"There's no time," Ash shouted back over his shoulder as he made his way down the street towards the Pokémon Center. "Misty would never steal Pokémon unless she was being forced to somehow. We have to find out what's going on so we can help her!"

Breathlessly, Ash, Tracey, and Pikachu raced down the city streets, now grayed in the gloom of the approaching night. They burst into the Pokémon Center, ran to their quarters, and dashed up to the bunk where Misty had been sleeping.

It was empty.