Pokémon Bloodstone | An Orre Fanfiction

Chapter 26: Con

Amber didn't like the idea of Justy's son being in Cipher. That could have given them the power they needed to return so fast...

'You'd know if either of them were in Cipher back in your day, right?'

'Nah. I didn't know any names. That was Verzant. I'm worried about him, but...'

'Unless we can predict when Ardos won't be home.'

'Or when he has diarrhea or a permanent boner. But yeah... that's what I'll be trying to find out when I'm done with Ein.'

'I've got a diarrhea idea. Cail says Znider never cancelled his Impidimp Ready Dinner subscription... so he's still paying for truckloads to be delivered to his "spy shack."'

Znider was a jailed Cipher Admin and wannabe private inspector. His "spy shack" was a playhouse that Ardos stole and hid out in after Michael took Cipher down which, for many years, served as an unsuspecting checkpoint for anyone approaching Cipher's base in The Under.

'Just redirect it to Ardos and pretend it's a gift from Znider because he can't cancel it from prison. Except it'll come with free diarrhea.'

'Cail would love that as much as I would. But Rich Boy Ardos probably wouldn't touch Impidimp with a shitty stick. More importantly – what else can I do for your Sandile, Amber?'

'I was thinking... could we pretend to buy him? Then we could get him back and expose the seller. What do you think, Cobalion?'

The proud legendary Pokémon nodded. It was captured by Cipher – specifically, Lyndon himself – and turned into an XD-series Shadow Pokémon five years ago. Amber snagged it in a battle she wouldn't have won if Wyatt hadn't collapsed and lost control of Cobalion. She released it because she believed it needed to be free, but it still returned to see her, as Virizion and Terrakion returned to Seth and Cassia. Only Zane kept one of the Swords of Justice permanently. He originally snagged Keldeo from Lyndon in a Master Ball, but released it only for it to come straight back and invite him to catch it in a fair battle.

There was, unfortunately, little Cobalion could do for Sandile. After meeting Amber and Krookodile outside Hexagon Coffee, it took off to question wild Pokémon who might have seen it, but she called it back. Sandile appeared so suddenly in Unova that it must have travelled by private jet. No-one could know where exactly it was without snooping on the seller.

'Cobalion thinks it's a good idea.'

'First... let's check if this Ramiro dude is really involved. The connected bank account is his... but it's not his main account.'

Amber had to smile at how quickly and casually Lyndon accessed a random stranger's bank accounts.

'What a surprise. All the payments are to a dead man. Who's transferred them to another dead man. Ardos might as well write his name in the trail of shit he leaves behind.'

'My favourite part of this is that whenever the Orrean cops find one of his dead guy accounts, they just go "oh no, it's closed, we're fucked," but you're just like "yeah, I'm in."'

'I guess they have more on their minds than I do... like parking tickets or being one mile over the limit... oh, wow! Ardos updated his security! Too bad I was sitting in The Under hacking for fun while you were in jail, asshole. Guess what his password is?'

'Hmm... "worlddominationwillbemine?"'

'Basically a variation of "gay Meganium." I forgot he's impersonating Verzant. This account's in his name... but I know it's not his. Even if Ardos didn't leave such a blatant trail of shit behind, Verzant doesn't have time to learn how to commit financial fraud.'