Sky's the limit

Chapter 20

Gina and Soren charged after Bidoof, Dusknoir following quickly behind, into the guild, slowing down when they saw a huge crowd in front of the Outlaw Notice Board. "We're here!" Bidoof announced. "What's all the trouble?"

Gina looked at the crowd of the other guild members, who were too busy talking to each other and looking back at the bulletin board to pay any attention to them. Even Chatot and Wigglytuff were too deep in a discussion to notice them. "Um, hey? Guys?" Gina said, louder this time. When the group turned to look at them, she continued. "What happened? Is something wrong?"

Chatot wasted no time in telling them. "Another Time Gear was stolen!"

Gina and Soren gasped. "Another one?" Soren said. "Where from this time?"

Chatot fell silent, looking away, as though he didn't have the strength to tell them. "What's wrong?" Bidoof asked. "Did it happen somewhere you don't want to talk about?"

Gina's eyes went wide. "It... It couldn't be the one from..."

Sunflora nodded. "Yes, it was! The Time Gear from Fogbound Lake was stolen!"

"But that's impossible!" Soren gasped. "Only we knew about the Time Gear at Fogbound Lake, right? So how could this have happened?"

More silence. Soren started to get a little annoyed by it, since he just wanted to find out more about what had happened. Gina suddenly gulped. "You don't think...that a member of the guild talked about it, do you?"

The gathered guild members started to protest loudly. "Well, THAT was uncalled for!" Loudred yelled.

"Hey hey, what's the big deal?!" Corphish demanded. "Don't trust your fellow members?"

Gina flinched at their criticisms. "I-I'm sorry," she muttered. "You're right, it was uncalled for. I just can't believe something like this would happen! I should've thought before saying something like that..."

"Well, it's no wonder you'd leap to that conclusion!" Sunflora said. "This horrible thing did happen right after our expedition."

Dusknoir raised his hands. "Hold on a moment," he interrupted. "I'm afraid I don't understand. I did not know there was a Time Gear located at Fogbound Lake, and I recall being told your expedition to find Fogbound Lake ended in failure."

"I apologize, Dusknoir, sir," Wigglytuff said. "We made a promise not to tell anyone what we witnessed, including you."

Chatot cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, getting the attention of the guild members. "A lone intruder slipped into Fogbound Lake, knocked out Uxie, and stole the Time Gear."

"Is Uxie okay?" Soren asked.

Wigglytuff nodded. "Uxie's fine. He's under Officer Magnezone's protection. No need to worry!"

Soren and Gina both breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness for that."

"There's more to the story," Chatot said. "According to Uxie's victim statement, the intruder's identity has finally been revealed."

Gina scuffed the ground with her paw impatiently. "Well, who is it?"

"Yeah, what kinda critter are we dealing with here?" Bidoof put in.

Chatot gestured with a wing to the Outlaw Notice Board. "They already have a wanted poster up for the thief," he replied. "See for yourself."

Gina and Soren stepped forward, peering closer at the bulletin board. Directly in the centre was a washed-out image of a Grovyle, with a devious facial expression that Gina guessed was deliberate, with a bounty of 10,000 Poké. Gina gulped. So this is the Pokemon who's been stealing all the Time Gears.