48 Serial Thief
"For our top story tonight we go over to our eyes on the ground, Trisha takanawa…"
The pans over from a heavily moustached man in a smart suit over to a neatly dressed Asian woman standing in front of what looks like a big court house
"We're currently in the 3rd month of the sutseko human trafficking trails that have shaken the league with allegations against multiple high ranking league members and foreign dignitaries being accused of being involved in horrific and depraved acts against their fellow man , with some evidence pointing toward the accused being involved with upwards of 8 missing rookie trainers that have said to have gone missing while on their "journey" from well known families, Miss Setsuki has pled "not guilty" to all charges and has been fighting the accusations, but with such overwhelming evidence it's hard to see how she could worm her way out of this one with public outrage reaching previously unseen heights.."
I zone out from listening to the news to look around
I'm sitting on Persians new lounge watching the news with the rest of my Pokémon scattered around the room watching as well..
A few weeks back Persian got a little to excited after a training session and jumped onto his tiny lounge with a force greater than usual which resulted in a resounding *CRACK* and the subsequent falling apart of his favourite sleeping spot/bed
The new giant modular corner lounge I picked up from this worlds version of "Harvey Norman" for a couple grand was pricey but it was worth it especially seeing how Persian can take up the end and have room to stretch out without being cramped…not to mention the extra room for myself and a few other mons to enjoy..
"…over to you Tom….."
" thank you Trisha, in other local viridian news there has been string of burglaries across the lower north end of Viridian City with the estimated amount of money and stolen goods reaching the hundreds of thousands, police are currently investigating with hopes to catch the perpetrator but so far have no leads to follow….here's an interview with the lead investigator Officer Samantha Jenny with our very own Kendra Wilson on scene"
The view on the tv shifts from the moustached man sitting at a long glass desk with "Viridian News" in the back ground to what looks like a crime scene, its night time in front of a big house with yellow police tape wrapped around everything physically possible with red and blue lights flashing to illuminate the darkness of the background
"So officer Jenny what can you tell us about this string of burglaries and possible suspects the police have"
The woman being interviewed in a very pretty women with a strange blueish hair, rigid police uniform that's only broken by a very short and frankly uncomfortable looking pencil skirt, she responds into the microphone shoved into her face with a serious voice
"We have reason to believe that the recent string of burglaries have been committed by one man, evidence of the crimes all fit his M.O of no forced entry, only cash and valuables taken with the odd item here and there…the thief is swift and skilled with no one the aware that he was ever there until the home owners wake up in the morning with not a hair out of place and only discovering they have been robbed after checking on their valuables….."
"And what else do you know about the suspect in question so far?"
"We have testimonies of 3 eyewitnesses of the thief being a large man with a houndoom and or a mightyena as an accomplice or accomplices to his deeds, hair and eye colour are currently unknown but if you see any suspicious individuals who fit the description please contact the police"
"The police are certainly trying their best from what I've seen so far officer Jenny and we the public thank you for your service….is there anything else you would like to say to our audience?"
"The suspect prefers to target the wealthy who lack pokemon protection but in his last burglary hit a home with 2 Pokémon the victims kept as house pets….so before going to bed at night make sure to lock up your valuables and double check the locks on your doors and windows just to be safe…."
And all of a sudden Jenny turns to look straight into the camera..
"I know you're watching Mr thief and I'm telling you right now that your days a numbered….I WILL catch you, bet on that….I'll keep a cell warm just for you…"
The shot flicks over to the blonde and petite looking reporter…
"And there you have it, the police are on the case and are confident to catch the serial thief that's been terrorising north Viridian for the past few months….I'm Kendra Wilson bringing you the latest for Viridian News, back to you Tom"
*click*
I switch the tv channel over to what looks like the real housewives but set in Celadon city with aging women cat fighting over basic shit while in fancy dresses and day drinking…
"Nonono all my socks!!!"
Becky came running in from the bits and pieces of random building materials thrown together we call a hallway that leads to her room carrying bits of pink fabric
"Gideon do you know what happened to my socks!?"
I look over to the floor next to me and see Slowpoke laying on his back with his legs spread out to his sides and sleeping…
"I could make an educated guess…."
"…..well?"
"If I HAD to guess I would say Slowpoke destroyed your socks as a form of petty revenge"
"What!? Why!?"
"Probably the fact you fed Nidoran the last of his favourite berries last night…. You probably shouldn't do that again, he has a way of escalating things that's very unpleasant when he's upset.."
She looks at Slowpoke who hasn't responded at all since the conversation started seemingly asleep not listening…but his twitching ears say otherwise…
"I thought it would be ok because we were going shopping today…"
"Obviously he thought different"
"...*sigh* fine…..I'll make sure to get him extra when we head into town…"
She walks off in a bit of a huff and much to Slowpokes hidden amusement to probably borrow some of my socks for todays shopping trip…
It's been almost 4 months since I found those kids in that creepy torture sex dungeon that held my biggest score to date and really eased my financial worries for the immediate future…
And wasn't that a whole cluster fuck…I thought there would a couple of discrete arrests followed by that sickos "suicide" in jail, basically I thought it would just become a Pokémon Epstein case….but those Jenny's were going for gold with maximum effort with this whole thing..
High profile people being dragged out of their family homes in handcuffs in front of cameras and reporters left and right, small scale wars of people who don't want to be arrested breaking out all over kanto, shits gone crazy….
Even Johto hasn't been spared in this inquisition with lower, middle and even higher ranking people being dragged out by the police at the order of the Jenny family…leaving me wondering if the Jenny are actually as good and righteous as they claim to be…I gotta say it looks convincing…
But during this time I've been hitting multiple houses with no further incidents like the last one, just find a target, do a few days research and watching then bust in at night and take everything worth anything while the person or persons are in a heavy sleep courtesy of Slowpoke…
Making good money so far….No big scores but a lot of little ones…10-20 grand here and there with plenty of jewellery and expensive trinkets in between….not that I'm selling any yet…but I reckon by the time I sell them in other towns it will fetch quite the pretty penny..
I've even brought Becky along for the last 3 jobs , the first 2 she bumbled around nervous and would have woken people up with mistakes if they weren't in such deep states of sleep but on the 3rd she really hit her stride and kept her shit together….I even allowed her to take a little money from the jobs..
Not much mind you but considering she doesn't pay rent or for food, but it's more than enough for her to get experience while saving for her journey….there will obviously be cool down periods of burglary as you can't just do it all day every day…it's a good way to get caught, but I reckon by the time for her to leave she should have enough money and experience to have a real shot at surviving alone out there..
It's much warmer now and training has ramped up, all my mons are hitting the gravity training hard with weights to adjust the difficulty for those who have outpaced Ferroseeds gravity power…
All mons are growing slowly but surely…even miltank has started enjoying training and the occasional brawl after being at it for awhile…
Zigzagoon isn't meant to be a battler but he participated regularly in the training regardless along side his "stealth" and "pick up" training
Phanpy and skiddo became buds pretty quick and are rivals at this point with how hard they go at each other in the gravity brawls…but their training is coming along..
Slowpoke is the same as always, nothing new besides his increases in strength, psychic and physical…we haven't really hit a bottle neck if that's even a thing?
Persian is still a unit and growing stronger and more intimidating everyday with his only real direct competitor in fights being miltank and Ferroseed if she gets some time….well that was until last week….
"Choke?"
A gigantic grey humanoid steps into my view with a wide set frame, big reddish veins info his forearms and biceps, a wide and fanged jaw and a head sporting 3 almost shark like dorsal fins…what was strange was the underwear that seemed to be melded with his body with a gold buckled wrestling belt that looked naturally formed somehow? No idea how that works but whatever
He's carrying a plate with 2 egg and bacon toasted sandwiches that he sets down in front of me and a glass of ice cold chocolate milk for brekky…
"Thanks bud…. We're heading in to do a big shop soon so get cleaned up so we can move out when Becky finishes pinching my socks"
"Maaa"
He just nods and head off to finish up the dishes…
I don't force him to do any of it, I mean I hate doing dishes but I would never force it upon machoke…that's what Becky is for….but he seems to enjoy all aspects of cooking, even the dishes and gets visibly upset if someone tries to take his jobs….bit weird but it works out for me?
Machoke evolved last week during a particularly intense training brawl with him being slapped around by Persian and being sick of being a punching bagged screamed into the sky in a desperate frustration that saw him being swallowed by an all encompassing light…
The battlefield stilled and watched as machop ascended to his next phase of life with fascination and it took a few minutes as he grew and grew….by golly did he grow…
Pokémon are on average 20-50% bigger than they were in the "Pokédex" or anime and machoke proved to be no exception with standing at a 6'8 foot mass of muscle…
But one thing I noticed after his evolution that everyone else picked up on was an arrogant smirk on his face as he looked around at his fellow mons with borderline contempt….like they were beneath him…
Which was promptly snuffed out with a combination of not being used to his new height, reach and build paired with being bum rushed and mercilessly pummelled by a bipedal cow and a cream tiger…
Pokémon can have a personality change after evolution and from the moment I saw his expression I knew he was drunk on power, apparently so did Persian and miltank as they saw fit to show machoke the error of his newfound thinking…
After it was all said and done machoke calmed down and went back to his old cheery self with an apology and not meaning to look down on everyone, he was just riding on a weird high after evolution….Persian accepted that and after a game of charades and noises told me he had the same feeling after his evolution but was snapped out of it by my voice…
But after his initial beat down last week he has been training like his usual manic self getting himself used to his new body and has subsequently become the main threat in all in brawls…well until I figure out how t teach play rough to Persian anyway….
With that evolution done I was ready to hit the black market to see what the deal is and make some money….even if I don't have to with how I am at the moment, but as I mentioned I can't just burgle forever, I need to let heat die down and lie low for awhile, and working in the black market could net me some money while doing so….
But with the police in a frenzy catching every politician or league involved with all that human trafficking shit going on it's hard to sneak in with everyone so on guard…but it will settle eventually and that's when I'll head on down into market…
"I'm ready to go Gideon….are you finished?"
I scoff down the last of my sandwiches and chuck on a shirt and some flip flops and give her a thumbs up only for her to roll her eyes before balling her Nidoran that's laying next to the pantry and start heading downstairs…
I give Slowpoke who's still resting on his back a soft but firm slap on the belly
"Cmon bud, we got shopping to do…we'll grab some of your favourites while we're in there aye?"
That perked him up as he flops over instantly before staring at me with interest that would be lost on anyone else as his face doesn't really change if you don't know what to look for…
I ball everyone except skiddo, phanpy and miltank and have Slowpoke port us downstairs to meet up with Becky to head out to resupply for the next few months while thinking about my first trip to the black market
