Before long, Shieldon's injuries were mostly healed. It struggled to its feet, glanced back at Caleb, then turned and ran, disappearing into the snowy landscape...
Terrence was dumbfounded, "It just… ran off like that?"
Caleb shrugged and mused, "Never mind that for now. We need to head to the police station."
Terrence: "You've got a plan?"
Caleb nodded, "For a large-scale Pokémon theft case like this, the police must have already filed reports."
The quest hadn't given them any leads, just a broad area where the incidents occurred.
Rather than stumbling around blindly, it made more sense to gather intel directly from the police...
Terrence wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn't stupid either. He quickly grasped Caleb's reasoning.
Hesitantly, he asked, "But how do we explain this to Officer Jenny? There's no way a three-year-old would be out investigating a case in the middle of the night, right?"
Officer Jenny knew them... that was the crux of the problem.
Caleb thought for a moment, recalled Dragonite into its Poké Ball, then turned to Terrence and said, "That's where you come in."
Terrence blinked, a giant question mark practically floating above his head, "Officer Jenny knows me too!" he pointed out.
Just a few days ago, she had even chatted with him because he could speak human language.
"No," Caleb shook his head, "We can pretend you were stolen, and I snuck out in the middle of the night, heartbroken, to report it."
Terrence's mouth fell open. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
He stared at Caleb's dead-serious expression before finally saying, "I've been meaning to ask you something..."
Caleb: ??
Terrence: "How do you lie so effortlessly without even blinking?"
Caleb self-reflected for a second, then asked worriedly, "Was it that obvious?"
Terrence retorted, "…Is that really the issue here?! The issue is how you can spout absolute nonsense with a straight face and make it sound completely believable!"
Hearing this, Caleb relaxed slightly. After a moment of genuine consideration, he said, "Unless you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."
"…"
Terrence fell silent for a beat then replied, "No..."
As they spoke, the two arrived at the side of Snowpoint City's police station.
Caleb took out a Poké Ball, and Terrence obediently vanished inside in a beam of red light. Coincidentally, a young Trainer with a travel backpack rushed into the station just then.
Caleb adjusted his expression and followed. The moment he stepped inside, he heard the Trainer frantically telling Officer Jenny, "My Shieldon is gone! Officer Jenny, please help!"
Officer Jenny hadn't noticed Caleb yet. She frowned and reassured, "Calm down. When did you realize it was missing?"
"This morning, I had a battle with a stranger in the park. Afterward, I took Shieldon to the Pokémon Center to recover. But when I got the Poké Ball back, it was empty!"
Officer Jenny's frown deepened. She exchanged a glance with her colleague before saying gravely, "Another Dragon-type..."
"Huh?" The Trainer was confused.
Officer Jenny explained, "This is the twelfth Pokémon disappearance this month. And every single one has been a Dragon-type."
As she spoke, her gaze swept past the entrance and landed on Caleb. She froze in surprise, "Terrykins? What are you doing here?"
Caleb put on his best 'heartbroken' face and replied, "Onee-san… a bad person stole my Smeargle…"
Seeing the child on the verge of tears, Officer Jenny immediately scooped him up, soothing, "Don't cry. Tell me what happened. Did the bad person hurt you?"
Caleb was struggling to keep up the act, but forced himself to continue, "I'm not hurt. They only took Smeargle."
Officer Jenny: "Did they say anything?"
Caleb 'recalled', "They said… they'd never seen a Smeargle that could talk before. That it would sell for a lot of money."
"A Pokémon that speaks human language is, in some ways, even rarer than a Dragon-type," the other Officer Jenny remarked.
The first Officer Jenny pursed her lips, deciding not to press further. She set Caleb down on a chair, fetched a can of sweet tea from the fridge, microwaved it for three minutes, and handed it to him.
"How did you get here so late?" she asked, "Does Granny Isa know?"
Caleb sipped his tea and mumbled, "Mm. She knows. She asked Sylvain to bring me here on his bike. He's waiting outside."
"Alright. It's late, so finish your tea and head back to rest. Don't worry about the rest. We'll find your Smeargle." Officer Jenny said firmly.
"Thank you, Onee-san" Caleb downed the tea, stood up, and waved, "Bye-bye!"
"Get back safe, and tell Sylvain to ride carefully!" Officer Jenny waved back.
Caleb acknowledged her before leaving the station...
After wandering the streets for a bit, he ducked into a quiet alley and released Smeargle.
"Any leads?" Terrence asked.
"Not much." Caleb glanced at him, "Can you track that Shieldon now?"
Terrence bristled, "Are you kidding me?! I'm not an actual dog!"
Caleb met his eyes and said, "That Shieldon is being hunted by the poacher. If we find it, we find the mastermind behind all this."
"Fine..." Terrence relented, though his expression was grudging, "But only this once!"
"Deal." Caleb nodded.
Terrence sniffed the air, focusing on the faint trace of blood Shieldon had left behind. After pinpointing the direction, he said, "Follow me."
Caleb looked up. That direction led straight to the Snowpoint Gym...