To Catch A Thief (Solo, Mission)

Lillie walked across the street, cutting between cars without care. They had barely moved within the past ten minutes, even as the sun began to set. Soon the Commercial District would be thriving, but she wasn't here for that. She was here for the money and the pokemon. She wondered what the Beldum looked like. She had heard it was oddly colored, perhaps she could take it instead of the money. It would be a nice addition to her team, and she was going through all of this trouble. Taking a Pokemon thief off the streets was awfully kind of her. Kind is different than good.

Lillie shook the thoughts from her head. She had so many luxuries, she could live without another one. But, so could that woman. The Slums lay ahead of her, eyes tracing the buildings. Nothing looked too bad, but nothing looked too good either. She began walking, and occasionally a man would start cat-calling her, but she brushed it off. She was here for a reason. To catch a thief. A small group of teenagers, anywhere from sixteen to eighteen. She started questioning about the guy, careful not to mention the Beldum, but it was pointless anyway, they gave her quite the runaround first, it was Carl, no, Carl was short, then it was Bruce, but it wasn't he was too bulky. Eventually, Lillie was tired of playing these games and left them alone, walking away without a goodbye. Some people can be so rude.

Night dawned upon her, all alone in The Slums. She reached for her pokeballs, and let out Charm. The bunny bounced beside her, prepared to guard Lillie with her life. As people went inside their homes, many came out, and many matched the brief description. Her hazel eyes scanned the men about, a man approached her from behind. The man put a hand in her shoulder. Lillie had never turned so fast in her life. He was too tall, maybe six foot. He gave her a smirk, before saying something in a slurred voice. Lillie shrugged him off, backstepping to add to the distance between them. Charm waited for confirmation to attack. Lillie turned her back to the man and beckoned Charm to follow her, before sprinting away.

After turning a corner, she found herself in a dark alley, an even worse place to be. The pale moonlight provided only little light as she stared along the narrow path. Surely no good people would be out here. Or anywhere in The Slums, they couldn't be. She followed the alley, low and to the side. Eventually, she heard a hushed voice. Two. They spoke of a trade between a rare pokemon and a big sum of money, it seemed. Lillie slipped and caught herself on the floor with a grunt, the two men scurried away at the noise. "Damn." She moved quickly, trying to follow the men and remember where the trade was. All she had to go by, was that it was private. So she needed something secluded. The Slums was filled with many empty buildings, but maybe something small...no large, with many exits. Right. That sounded right.

She spent thirty minutes finding building after building, peeking into them before leaving. She finally found one that appeared to be lit from the inside. She found a door and slowly turned the handle, pulling the door back just a bit to peek inside. Both were rugged looking men, one about 5' 4" and one about 5' 9". It had to be him! The shorter of the two had a bag, no bigger than a child's backpack. That must have been the money! The tall man retrieved a Pokeball from his pocket. Beldum! Lillie crept in the door, but with her high heels on it was hard to sneak. A single clop of her shoe and she would blow it. She dared not to move another inch, already a foot into the room. It was large enough for her to be visible clearly in their peripheral vision if it wasn't for the poor lighting. 

Slowly reaching for her Pokeball, Lillie motioned for Charm to wait. Releasing Circe, she yelled for Charm to relinquish an Ice Beam. Both men moved back as the floor under them turned to ice. The smaller of the two slipped on it, dropping his bag. Lillie and her pokemon chased the taller man out the back door. He was halfway down the street, but Lillie still gave pursuit. Thankfully, she had mastered the art of running in heels. She followed him into an alley,  a dead end. This guy would have no idea what hit him, or rather Lillie wouldn't. He was nowhere in sight, but she had seen him turn the corner. He had to be here.

"Looking for someone?" Lillie whirled around, how did he get behind her? "Don't be so surprised, I was told you were looking for me. Or rather, this." He pulls out the Pokeball from before, "That's right. Now I kindly suggest you hand it over to me and we will both forget this ever happened. If not, we can do things the hard way." The man laughed at her. "That's the only way I do it." He pulled out another Pokeball, pocketing Beldum. He pressed the button on the capsule, releasing his Dustox. "Okay. Um," She switched her voice to a whisper, "Dustox is a bug type and a poison type, so that means Circe would be best." She motioned for Circe to stand forwards. Circe doesn't need instruction like Charm does, and prepares a Psychic attack. Dustox moves quick, using Gust. She knocks back Circe, who retaliates with Psychic, the Dustox loses its balance for a moment but returns to normal height. The man smirks, "Use Moonlight." The Dustox makes a high pitched noise, as the glow of moonlight dances upon its skin. The opposing Dustox looks rejuvenated. Circe uses Psychic again. "It's over little girl. Use Silver Wind." The Dustox started batting her wings until silver gusts cut across Circe, "Gothi!" Gothita crumpled to the floor, lightly breathing. Lillie put her back into her Pokeball, "Okay Charm, you're up."  

The rabbit hopped into battle, though Lillie appeared composed, she was terrified. What would happen if she lost? She could be killed! "Ice Punch!" Charm moved swiftly, narrowly avoiding a Silver Wind, before smacking a frozen ear into the moth. Charm's opponent used another Silver Wind, Charm used Ice Beam at Lillie's command. The newly frost-covered Dustox flitted slowly to the ground, hanging by a thread. 

She was too confident. The man chuckled the moment he saw her guard go down. Dustox used another Silver Wind, delivering a powerful gust to Charm. The Buneary sucked in a breath and exhaled a frozen beam, coating the Dustox in a light frost, as well as the surrounding area. The thief's shoes got a light helping as well. Another hit and Dustox would be down. The frost coated moth and the rabbit danced back and forth, each avoiding each other's attacks. Occasionally Dustox would try and use moonlight but would be stopped by Charm before she could heal herself. Charm slid on the icy ground beneath the Dustox, "It's the end of the line. Charm, Ice Punch!" The small rabbit headed her trainer, bouncing up and slamming a frozen ear into the moth's abdomen. Dustox flitted to the ground again, but she could have just been playing faint again. "Keep your guard up, we have to stay vigilant." Lillie was giddy, this was it. If it was true, all she would have to do was take down her opponent.

Lillie jumped for joy as the defeated Dustox lay limp. The man's eyes widened, his face painted with surprise. He returned Dustox to her capsule and split while Lillie praised her pokemon, Lillie turned speaking, "Now, how about we- damn it!" The man had rushed away. Lillie gave chase again, heels clacking loudly on the floor. She was so close to completing her mission, she couldn't give up now. The man still had Bedlum in his pocket, the left one. 

Once they turned down a long straight alley, Lillie knew she had to act now. "Charm, I need you to go ahead. When you catch up to him, use Thunder Punch as lightly as you can. Don't cripple him, just make sure he can't get away." The rabbit pokemon nodded in confirmation and picked up the pace. Her brown and cream body next to the thief, she folded in an ear, charging it with electricity. She slammed it into the ma, who crumpled to his knees, and Lillie surged forward, sliding down next to him. She quickly searched the man's body, he began to struggle, and Charm delivered a swift Pound to his stomach. Lillie apologized again, and then grasped a red and white orb from his left pocket. She snagged it and yelled, "Run!" The duo darted out of the alley, out of The Slums, and out of danger. All the way to her apartment, so when they finally made it, they collapsed behind the door. Each taking heaving breaths.

When she awakes in the morning, her hair is a mess, she's still wearing her outfit from the night before, and there was dirt beneath her fingernails. She looked unlike herself, for a moment she thought her reflection might have been broken. It took her an entire hour to do body management, which was mostly fixing her hair and nails. Dressed in a nice sundress, Lillie stared down at the ball in her hands, contemplating. A Bedlum with such a unique coloration wouldn't look out of place with her, and she deserved it, she had done so many things out of character tonight, it almost felt criminal. Which, it probably was. After all, she did assault a man. But this woman probably would miss her pokemon, after all, she put out a hefty sum for its retrieval. Which to choose? Some to lose. Money or Pokemon. She could be richer, or she could be flashier. She took a deep breath and made up her mind.

It was a shorter walk to the woman's home, now that she knew the way. Lillie gave the door three raps, and the woman shortly opened the door. She looked annoyed. Once she was seated in the parlor with the woman, Viola spoke softly, "I regret to inform you that I was unable to retrieve your pokemon. I almost had him, but he slipped out the back and into an alley, I was in heels like an idiot, he outran me." So what she didn't return the pokemon, she was a slave to greed. Growing up rich meant getting what she wanted and it made her an excellent liar. The woman was disappointed and gave her an unenthusiastic thank you. Lillie returned home to relish in her steal.