As the sun once again began to dip below Lumiose City’s horizon, clocks and alarms all across the city began to signal the end of the workday. Rory and Ferro didn’t usually get to leave at 5, after all the news never sleeps, but today was an exception. The Phantom hadn’t been spotted since Monday, and there wasn’t any news to report. The two should’ve been happy that there hadn’t been any more disappearances, but Ferro was annoyed.
Their fact checker hadn’t been able to verify Glameow’s account of a wild Beedrill going missing, meaning that tidbit of information had gone unpublished in their most recent story. “Don’t worry Ferro,” Rory had told him. “We’ll stop by Café Barclay and figure out a way to verify it ourselves.” Little did they know, they would never get a chance to do this.
Before they had even rounded the corner before the café, they heard someone crying out. “Oh my poor Delphox! My poor poor Delphox!!!” Deep in their hearts Rory and Ferro already knew this was about the Phantom.
“Mrs. Barclay! What happened?” Rory said as he raced around the corner. He stopped and gasped. Sitting at one of the café’s outside tables was Madame Brûler, president of the Ligue du Fue. The Ligue du Fue was an exclusive club for trainers who specialized exclusively in fire type Pokémon. The Phantom stealing the President’s Delphox was guaranteed front page news.
Madame Brûler was being consoled by Mrs. Barclay. Across the table from them was a very confused and surprised trainer and her Charmeleon. Mrs. Barclay looked up as Rory called out. “Oh thank goodness you’re here Rory. I was just about to phone you.” She turned to Brûler. “This is who I was talking about. Rory has more knowledge about the Phantom than anyone.” Brûler turned to Rory, tearstained mascara dripping down her face. “Why did this happen to me? Why my Delphox?”
“Well,” Rory began to explain. “The Phantom just takes Pokémon randomly. There aren’t any connections between any of the victims. My guess is he was just walking down the street when he saw your Delphox and decided to take it.”
At this Madame Brûler began to sob once more. There was no chance of getting any information out of her. Rory turned to Mrs. Barclay. “Did you call the police?”
“It was the first thing I did. Delphox disappeared about seven minutes ago and I phoned them right after that.”
“Seven minutes? Emma should be here by now. It’s not like her to be so late to a call.”
“Perhaps she got caught up in the rush hour.” Mrs. Barclay turned and began to console Madame Brûler again. With her occupied, Rory turned his attention to the other trainer at the table. She was still sitting there wide-eyed and unsure of what to do, but seemed calm enough for a conversation. “Excuse me,” Rory said to her. “You didn’t happen to see anyone suspicious walking down the street before Delphox disappeared?”
The woman shook her head. “No, sorry. We were just talking when she suddenly disappeared out of the blue.”
Rory wrote this down. “What were you talking about?”
“That’s enough questions newsboy,” came a voice from behind. Everyone turned to see this new arrival. Walking up to the café was a man dressed in a grey double breasted suit and matching fedora, twirling a rather thin handlebar mustache as he approached. Accompanying him was a very stoic Bisharp, with its arms set behind his back like a butler. The man held up a golden police badge. “Inspector Chaispas, lead investigator of the Phantom case.”
“What??” Rory exclaimed. “What happened to Emma???”
“Detective Emma decided she needed help and so enlisted my services. I still report my findings directly to her. And if you would like a report for the paper please email me later and I’ll send you a press package. If I remember. Now, shoo shoo. There’s work to be done.” The Inspector shoved Rory out of the way, then turned to the two patrons. “Now, who can tell me exactly what happened?”
As Madame Brûler told her story once more, Mrs. Barclay stepped to the side where Rory was, just out of earshot. “Are you alright Rory?” she asked. “That was quite a mighty shove.”
“I’m fine, just annoyed. Who does that guy think he is waltzing in here like that? I’ve met cops with egos, but this guy is on another level.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Barclay agreed. “He doesn’t seem to have the same tact Emma does.” Madame Brûler was sobbing again, prompted by the Inspector’s indifferent questioning. He didn’t seem to care and was continuing as if she was fine, not even trying to console her.
“But I suppose if Emma trusts him with the case,” Mrs. Barclay went on. “He must get results.”
Rory didn’t say anything. If this guy was the new lead investigator for the Phantom case, getting information would be next to impossible. He was the kind of guy to completely shut down a crime scene, keeping journalists out so he could steer the narrative. Only egotists and idiots did that.
The Inspector had finished his questioning of Madame Brûler and had turned to her dining companion. “Now then ma’am, what brings you to dine with the esteemed President of the Ligue du Fue? Perhaps to steal her Delphox?”
“What?!” the trainer stepped out of her chair in anger. “Hell no! She was offering me membership to the League. Why would I even try and steal her Pokémon?”
Ferro could tell she was being honest by reading her aura. If he and Rory were doing the questioning they wouldn’t need to waste time pressing further, but this moron of an Inspector did.
“Oh really?” He turned to Madame Brûler. “Is this true madame?”
“Yes, it’s true,” she said through sobs. “Now please stop badgering her, she’s done no wrong.”
The Inspector turned back to the trainer with suspicion in his eye. There was no doubt in Ferro or Rory’s minds that he’d waste time investigating this clearly innocent person and make her life Hell for no good reason. For now though, the Inspector relented and made his most audacious claim yet.
“Well whatever the case, it is a good thing Delphox has been stolen.”
Rory’s eyes practically bulged out of his skull in disbelief. A collective “what???” rang out from the assembly.
“Yes,” the Inspector continued. “For it confirms a pattern. If you will remember the first two Pokémon stolen were a Gallade and a Blaziken. Then a Slowbro and a Greninja, an Ampharos and a Swampert, and now a Camerupt and a Delphox. Every other Pokémon stolen by the Phantom has been a starter Pokémon.”
“Wait, that’s not true!” Ferro barked. The Inspector’s Bisharp turned towards the Lucario. “Are you accusing the Inspector of being wrong?”
“No. Well, yes. But only because he doesn’t have all the information. There was a Beedrill that disappeared after Ampharos and before Swampert.”
“There was nothing about it in the paper,” the Bisharp retorted.
“Only because our factchecker couldn’t verify it.”
“Then it must not have happened. Your source is obviously wrong.”
“My source is I’m the guy who writes the paper!”
“Will you shut your Lucario up?!” The Inspector snapped at Rory. They had been having a similar conversation. Still simmering, Ferro relented leaving him and Bisharp glaring daggers at the other.
“Whatever the case,” the Inspector continued. “I am going to operate off the basis that a Beedrill did not go missing as no one has reported one to be so. The Phantom has only stolen from trainers so it would make no sense for him to steal a wild one. But I digress.
The Phantom has taken the water and fire starter of the Hoenn and Kalos starter trio. So obviously after stealing one more seemingly random Pokemon, he will go after either a Sceptile or a Chesnaught. It is then that I will catch him in the act, find the stolen Pokémon, and return them to their trainers, including your precious Delphox, Madame Brûler.”
Rory rolled his eyes at the clearly doomed plan, but Madame Brûler was hooked. “Are you sure the plan will work?” she asked, hope in her eyes.
The Inspector kneeled down in front of her and took off his hat. “I promise you,” he said in his most sincere voice. “In fact,” he said as he began to rise. “I am so sure of this plan that I will invite the paperboy and his feral dog to document it for their wet rag of a paper. I will be contacting you shortly. Au revoir.” The Inspector then turned and marched away.
“What a dick,” said the trainer with the Charmeleon after a short silence.
“Yes, a bit,” said Madame Brûler. “But he seems confident. Perhaps this nightmare will finally come to an end.” She sat there for a moment, stars still dazzling in her eyes, before standing with a smile. “I shall weep for my Delphox no longer, for soon she shall return to me.”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Rory said. “His logic is faulty and his plan is inane.”
“At least he has a plan,” the Madame snapped. “All Emma and the police have done is run around with their heads cut off while the Phantom terrorizes our beloved city. Tell me, what were you planning to do if the Inspector hadn’t come along?”
“Well…” Rory thought for a moment. He had made it his goal to find the Phantom and stop him, but he hadn’t thought of a way to do that yet. “I guess just put it in the paper.”
“Exactly. No real plan to catch that fiend. The Inspector may act arrogant and you may hate him for it, but he’s the only one doing anything about this. And I’d rather have that then a considerate man who does nothing.”
At this, the Madame turned to pay her check, taking Mrs. Barclay inside. Her words rattled around Rory’s skull. What could he do about the Phantom? He had been following the beat since the start and hadn’t been able to come up with a plan to catch him. Then in walks this Inspector who comes up with a plan within his first few minutes on the case. It wasn’t a good plan, but it was more than Rory had done. Maybe he should just give up? Let the Inspector deal with it. He was just a journalist after all, he couldn’t possibly-
“She’s wrong you know,” came a voice, snapping Rory out of his spiral. The other trainer was still there, sipping on her coffee. “I used to be a line cook before a Pokémon trainer. Worked in a lot of different restaurants in my time. Sure, the arrogant head chefs got results and reviews, but it was always the kind ones who got to know their customers and have their orders ready before they even sat down. I’d say that’s more important.” She took another sip. “I’m Kyra by the way, and this is my partner, Keb.”
“Sup,” said the Charmeleon, though only Ferro understood him. Kyra stood and walked over to Rory. “His plan is going to fail because he didn’t listen to you, and you’re going to be there to document it for the whole city to see. Can’t wait to read about it,” she chuckled. Rory couldn’t help but chuckle too.
“You’ll catch the Phantom, I’m sure of it. And if you ever need help, I’m always down to give that guy a piece of my mind. And the Phantom too, of course.”
Rory began to laugh. He knew he was on the right track; Inspector be damned. The Phantom’s days were numbered.

9/87