Hello there. It's great to have you here too, Dewgongtears. Your reply is one of the best I've seen, so I must show you all my gratitude. *bows*

Yes, here's

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Chapter 11
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The sun had set but the lights of Feridane replaced most of the darkness in the city. The streets were less dense and the loud noises during the day had died off. Night winds at high altitudes blew at near-violent knots, giving the busy city a temperature drop.

Vinzer and his Pokémon had just finished packing and preparing for their departure that night. He had decided that before leaving the city, he should contact Josh and Richard, and inform them about this feat. The advanced features of the Comsat transformed the device into a mini-computer with a small keypad and a hologram projector. He keyed the device hastily, searching for Josh’s frequency, then a small hologram of Josh appeared above the projector.

“Hey there, Josh. How’s it going?” Vinzer asked the hologram.

“Hey, Vinzer. It’s great to see you again,” the hologram replied.

Vinzer wasn’t all surprised when the hologram responded.

“At first, it wasn’t all good. The Stormer’s ambushed our camp and forced us to run. Fortunately, we were saved by a great commander, patrolling the route we were on. Now we’re enjoying ourselves here in Cape Nerius. Oh, I must say the weather here is more than perfect!” he finished.

“Ah, that’s good to hear. Oh yes, I have a little surprise for you,” Vinzer said, showing his newly earned gym badge to the hologram.

“Unbelievable! You won your first badge already?” Josh’s hologram asked.

“Yes, I did. That battle wasn’t easy at all though.” Vinzer gave a grin.

“Ah, okay. I guess we’ll have to be more prepared then.” The hologram gave the same grin.

“Josh, it’s been well talking to you. I would like to continue, but I must depart Feridane now. Don’t forget to greet Richard for me!”

“See ya, Vinzer, and good luck!” The hologram disappeared once he finished the statement.

Vinzer pocketed his Comsat, withdrew his Pokémon, and left Lengersons Hotel behind. His trip to northern Feridane, the continuing path of his journey, lasted him a couple minutes via the Feridane subway.

Light around him was being replaced gradually by darkness. By now, he was in a tranquil neighborhood, a few kilometers from downtown Feridane, with two-storied houses on both sides of the street.

“Well, well, well. What a surprise!” came a familiar, deceitful voice in front of him.

Vinzer, despite the prevailing darkness around him, saw the speaker’s face clearly. He was accompanied by a boy most familiar.

“A surprise, it is. What do you want?” Vinzer’s antipathetic voice tumbled from his mouth.

“We want to teach you a lesson of respect, Shakespeare!” answered the foolhardy boy.

“We’ll have a battle! If we win, we get Torchic back!” his companion declared.

“You two never learn, do you?” Vinzer gave a grin and shook his head slowly.

“What will it be, Shakespeare? Are ya gonna back out?” laughed the bigger fool.

“No, I won’t. Tonight, it is I who will teach you a lesson!” Vinzer stated supremely.

“Hahaha. Tough talk. Let’s get ‘im Deveis!”

“You got it, Peolnal!”

Vinzer stored those two names in his memory a second after they were spoken out.

“Duskull, go!”

“Shuppet, go!”

Deveis and Peolnal threw down their Pokéballs in unison. Duskull emerged before its comrade did, its gray cloak dancing with the soft night winds and its skull seemed to show its grin. Shuppet’s form replaced the bright, white energy which erupted from the second Pokéball. The second ghost Pokémon’s luminous red eyes show its determination, the determination which rivaled Duskull’s.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Vinzer asked as if his two adversaries were joking.

“Well, looks like Shakespeare doesn’t know his battle types! Listen, newbie, this is a two versus two battle. We battle with two Pokémon at a time,” Deveis said, almost laughing.

“Then a two versus two it shall be!” Vinzer declared with all the determination he could muster. “Corphis, Seedot, you’re up!”

Two orbs the size of his fingernails were released from his palm, then expanded in midair, opened, and their Pokémon emerged via white energy. Corphish clamped its claws, and its comrade jumped energetically, eager to gain more battle experience.

“Hah, what are these? Torchic’s bodyguards?” The two fools continued their laughter, not knowing the battle had started.

Corphish opened its claws and from it emerged a beam of luminous bubbles. The brilliant beams hit Duskull, then the bubbles dispersed and faded. Seedot shot seeds from its mouth like bullets, which were to hit Shuppet, but the ghost Pokémon levitated and evaded the attack. Shuppet’s red eyes were gradually growing black. By the time dark energy began flaring from its eyes, a large, black beam shot out from them, aiming for Seedot. The beam was to hit Seedot, but Corphish jumped in front of the acorn Pokémon and formed a blue force field before them. The beam touched the blue screen, but was absorbed by it. Duskull attempted what Shuppet did, but its dark beam failed to touch its target as well. Only now did Deveis and Peolnal recognize the Pokémon battle.

“Duskull, ya idiot! Use Will-O-Wisp!” Peolnal ordered in frustration.

The ghost Pokémon’s eyes returned to their original colors before bright, blue flames surrounded Duskull. Corphish responded by holding its claws out, ready to counter the offensive. The blue flames were released and were charging hastily at Corphish. Simultaneously, Corphish unleashed its bubbles, which engulfed the raging fires

“Ahh. Shuppet, don’t just stand there! Help Duskull out!” Deveis roared, unable to except his opponents combined strength.

Shuppet slowly shut its eyes and vanished without a trace. A couple seconds later, a powerful energy pushed Corphish back, and forced Seedot to lose its balance as well. For a moment, the damaged Corphish and Seedot failed to realize their enemy’s presence just in front of them. Shuppet stood ready to perform another devastating offense, shutting its eyes again. As soon as its top eyelids met the bottom, Shuppet found itself being hit ferociously by seeds. The seeds robbed all the concentration from the ghost Pokémon, disallowing it to perform one single action. Seedot persistently fired the seeds until a dark beam from behind Shuppet forced the acorn Pokémon to fly back a few feet.

“Hehehe. What weak Pokémon ya got, Shakespeare!” Peolnal laughed. “Duskull, finish these weaklings off!”

A dark beam emerged from Duskull’s eyes once more. It was just a meter from Seedot before Corphish stood right in front of it. At first, the lobster’s tough shell enabled it to withstand the beam for a few seconds. Shuppet assisted its comrade, firing another dark beam at the ailing lobster. The combination of the two beams wore down the lobster’s defense. Seedot watched helplessly as its friend collapsed in front of it.

“Corphish!” Vinzer cried in disbelief. “Take a rest, buddy!”

A laser beam turned Corphish back to energy and sucked it back to its Pokéball. Before Vinzer threw down Torchic’s Pokéball, a white light surrounded Seedot. The acorn Pokémon’s body began to expand and change shape. Arms appeared out of its new body, a nosed stretched from its face, and a leaf grew out of its head. Vinzer stared at it blankly. How can Seedot be evolving so quickly? Nonetheless, his grate overwhelmed his curiosity. With his newly evolved Pokémon, he thought to himself that victory was imminent.

Vinzer took out his Pokédex and ordered it to show information on his newest evolved Pokémon. A hologram of it immediately appeared, showing its statistics and abilities. After garnering the essential information on his Pokémon, Vinzer secured his Pokédex and began issuing strategic orders to his evolved Seedot, Nuzleaf.

“Congratulations on your evolution, Nuzleaf!” Vinzer stated. “Try your Faint Attack!”

Like Shuppet before, Nuzleaf gently shut its eyes and disappeared. A drastic rush of overwhelming energy blew Shuppet and Duskull many meters back. The newly evolved Pokémon reappeared before the two fallen ghosts and began chanting. Nuzleaf stretched both arms out, charge up two balls of dark energy, and combined them to one large orb with black sparks around it. Holding onto the dark orb, Nuzleaf jumped back five feet and fired it directly at its foes. The dark energy dispersed, without causing an explosion, and distorted the surrounding. Before expanding more than 30 square meters, the dispersed energy imploded, causing much harm to Shuppet and Duskull. The two ghost Pokémon couldn’t last one nanosecond after the powerful Shadow Ball attack done by Nuzleaf, and were withdrawn immediately by their reckless trainers.

“Well, Shakespeare! Looks like ya’ve won again this time.” Peolnal showed much sarcasm in his statement.

“Let’s go on to plan B!” Deveis exclaimed, gesturing to Peolnal.

Peolnal and Deveis rushed towards Vinzer and grabbed Torchic’s Pokéball from his loose grip. Before making their escape, Deveis threw down a gray, glass ball before Vinzer’s feet, and from it came a cloud of black smoke. The smoke obscured the entirety of Vinzer’s vision for as long as one minute before it subsided, and only an angry Nuzleaf was in view. Vinzer, realizing the absence of Torchic’s Pokéball, was consumed by his panicking and was unable to bring himself together. Nuzleaf approached him and began muttering words which were only considered intelligent by a fellow Pokémon. Seeing that its trainer was confused by its language, Nuzleaf reached for Vinzer’s Comsat in his pocket and showed him its implications. Vinzer was still puzzled by Nuzleaf’s implications, especially with its explaination of the Comsat. Nuzleaf had had it with Vinzer’s confusion now and brought the Comsat to life by entering some codes. When a hologram of the Feridane Police Department logo was showing, Vinzer received the Comsat from his Pokémon and started keying the device. The logo changed to a policeman’s face which spoke flawlessly.

“Welcome to the FPD frequency. How may I help you, sir?”

Vinzer was surprised by the question, but responded in kind. “Hello. I’m calling from northern Feridane where I was robbed a minute ago. The thieves stole a Pokéball with my Torchic in it.”

“All right, you got it. I’ve picked up your location and will be sending an investigating officer there. Just stay where you are and your case will be dealt with decisively.”

“Okay, thanks a lot.”

“You’re welcome. Good bye.” The hologram disappeared immediately.

Bright headlights were showing at the end of the road just five minutes after his report to the FPD. The police vehicle was in front of Vinzer in a little more than a blink of an eye. A tall man, almost one and a half times in size compare to Vinzer, in a blue uniform alighted with a dark, hound-like Pokémon.

The officer neared Vinzer and held his hand out. “Salutations. I’m Inspector David Lo.”

Vinzer shook it and returned the greeting and introduction. Nuzelaf and the hound Pokémon did the same.

Inspector Lo went to work right away as he bent down, took out a finger-sized scanner, and began scanning the tiny glass fragments of the used smoke bomb. Vinzer watched solemnly, directing his gaze periodically at Nuzleaf. Lo stood back up and gave Vinzer a nod, before taking out a mini-computer, slightly larger than Vinzer’s Comsat. The mini-computer hummed to life and the inspector ordered a communication link between Onaria and a satellite in space.

*

Approximately 1,500 kilometers above Onaria, the Sienario held a watchful eye on the continent and the world. This satellite held search operations for the Onarian government, and was semi-loud and busy whenever there were no emergencies. A transmission was always intercepted by this satellite within a few seconds.

“Inspector Lo to Sienario,” came a trasmission.

“Transmission received. This is Ensign Tom Ratcher,” a man working on the supercomputers responded.

“We’ve a case here. Try locate the person with this fingerprint sample.”

A distorted fingerprint image appeared as a hologram before the ensign.

“Roger that” Ratcher fingered the complex keyboard professionally.

A second hologram appeared next to the fingerprint image with a face and detailed printings beside it.

“Computer, locate Deveis Korvindith!” Ratcher ordered coolly, not worrying one single bit about the inspector’s mission, but merely executing his job.

Instantaneously, a third hologram of a complex map with a red blinking dot appeared and Ratcher sent it to the planet.

“Hope you got it, Inspector. Call me again!” Ratcher’s short assignment was accomplished.

“Will do, Ensign. Thank you!” the transmission ended.

*

“All right, Vinzer. Let’s get down to business!” Lo nodded and rushed back to his vehicle with his Pokémon, Vinzer and Nuzleaf behind him.

“According to the map, the person or people who stole your Torchic are hiding in Lengersons Hotel,” Lo explained as he started his vehicle.

The hovering car arrived at Lengersons quicker than Vinzer’s trip to northern Feridane.

“FPD! You have a criminal in your building.” Lo showed his identity to a familiar receptionist, before Vinzer and the Pokémon moved to the teleportation pads.

The hologram on Lo’s mini-computer changed from Feridane’s map to a complex structure of the hotel with a red dot flashing near the top floor.

“Hmm, they appear to be on floor one hundred twenty,” Lo confirmed. “Let’s go!”

It took them a couple minutes to locate the room, but once in front of it, Lo rang the doorbell. The interior ceased to respond for about two minutes before the inspector rang it again. Once again, there was silence.

“Excuse me,” Lo implied, gesturing to Vinzer. “Houndoom, Ember!”

A beam of flame with the thickness of a laser fired from the hounds’s motuh and met the top of the door. A spontaneous spark came from Houndoom’s target, forcing the automatic doors to fling open. Houndoom laid foot in the room first, cautious of any possible action.

“Hmm, nothing?” Lo burst in surprise. “Houndoom, search the area!”

Two black beams suddenly shot from under the bed and met Houndoom’s legs. The hound jerked back and began barking furiously before Nuzleaf dashed towards it in support. With a swing of its leaf, Vinzer’s newly evolved Pokémon shot a wave of razor-sharp winds which sliced the covering under the bed. From it rose Shuppet and Duskull, whose faces were filled with determination and eyes filled with dark energy. The two ghosts fired two dark beams in unison, hitting Nuzleaf’s hard body. In return for Nuzleaf’s support, Houndoom fired two dark orbs from its mouth, which exploded as they hit their targets. Nuzleaf got back up and swung razor-like winds at its opponents, decimating every ounce of their energy. Although the two ghost Pokémon fainted, their trainers were no where to be seen.

“Where could they be?” asked an impatient Vinzer.

“Houndoom, do you sense them in here?” Lo also showed impatience in his voice.

Houndoom sniffed the air several times and shook its head. Just then, rapid sounds of feet meeting the ground were heard from outside. Vinzer and Lo changed their focus outside and saw the two perpetrators running towards the teleportation pads.

“Stop!” Lo ordered, giving Vinzer and the Pokémon a signal to chase.

Vinzer and Lo led the chase, and Nuzleaf and Houndoom not too far behind.

“Give it up, Shakespeare!” Peolnal bellowed from down the hall, just before they teleported.

Vinzer, Lo, and their Pokémon came to a halt before the teleportation pads.

“Don’t worry, Vinzer. I have them on my sensor,” Lo explained, still regarding the hologram. “They’re on the ground floor.”

Vinzer simply nodded and entered the teleportation pad.

On the ground floor, Vinzer spotted the two criminals nearing the main door and cried out, demanding the return of Torchic. The great doors opened, but Deveis and Peolnal ceased to proceed, seeing two police vehicles closing in. The two criminals reversed direction and ascended the long, spiral staircase to the second floor when four policemen were ready to enter.

“After them!” Lo exclaimed, ordering no specific person.

Houndoom took the lead this time, dashing at a speed Vinzer never saw a Pokémon attain. It climbed the stairs in a few seconds and soon took the slow Deveis down, barking at him furiously.

“Deveis!” Peolnal exclaimed.

“Leave me, Peolnal. Just go!” Deveis shot back, trying to fight Houndoom off.

Peolnal acknowledged and continued his futile escape attempt. Before Deveis was out of sight, Peolnal saw a forbidding Pokémon glaring at him, its leaf on its head started to spin. The ferocity of Nuzleaf’s winds forced Peolnal to fall back and possibly think of surrendering. The winds abruptly subsided. Nuzleaf dove head-first into Peolnal’s body, giving him the same fate as Deveis, and forced Torchic’s Pokéball out of his hand. Vinzer, Lo and the four officers came a little later.

“Torchic!” Vinzer exclaimed, picking up its Pokéball and releasing it.

The chick Pokémon turned a couple times and chirped at Vinzer and Nuzleaf. Nuzleaf understood its confusion and explained everything in detail, before it received a chirp which congratulated and thanked it.

“Okay, great job, everyone!” Lo congratulated.

Peolnal and Deveis, escorted by the four policemen, were cuffed and en route to the police station for interrogation. Vinzer and his Pokémon approached Lo and Houndoom, thanking them and were about to bid them a fond farewell.

“Vinzer, please don’t forget your luggage in my car. I’m sure they contain all your valuables,” the inspector reminded with a little laughter.

“Certainly, Inspector. My journey can’t simply continue without them,” Vinzer returned, giving the same laughter.