Snippet #2547202

Night was soon upon the sleepy town of Pallet. Angelique had yet to come out of the Corral, having opted to spend her day playing with the Pokémon there. All day could the sound of hers and Aria's singing be heard along with the laughter of the Pokémon. She felt at home here in the Corral – Quite literally. Not including all the work she did back home, it was exactly how her days were in Rainbow Valley. But, all days come to an end and this one was no different. As the day did wind down to night, the noise from the Corral wound down with it. The telltale smoke and glow of a camp fire could be seen among the treetops, the scent of cooked meat and vegetables wafting around the forest. But, the food was long gone and all that remained were those whom had eaten it, lying around the campfire.

Angel was among the Pokémon, curled up on Atreyu's side with Chomper and Ashdir kicking each other in their sleep on her chest, catching her in the middle. She eventually rolled over, sending them tumbling into one of Atreyu's feet. Not a single one of them woke up. But, there was a single Oddish that was awake and alert, suffering from insomnia. He sat by the fire and relaxed, talking to himself about Arceus knows what – The others said he was just crazy from lack of sleep. Could be.

His head turned at the sound of beeping that seemed to be coming from Angelique's bag. He walked (or waddled, one might say) over to the bag and blinked slowly before moving to Angelique, bumping her with his head. “Lady! Hey, lady! Wake up! Wake up! Hey, lady!” Angelique would slowly stir, feeling the leaves tickling her flesh. “Wh-?” She gave a soft “Unnh” at being woken from such a pleasant dream, looking sleepily at the Oddish that was bouncing around her belt. The beeping was coming from her MPC – She got it from her friend Morganna after getting her Snivy to evolve. She flipped open the small thing that was about one third the size of a netbook and saw an e-mail from one of the other Elite Four back in Unova.

{Heard you were in Pallet. Also heard there was some trouble around Kanto. Help check it out?}

She sighed and closed it.

She could find out what Alexander meant...tomorrow. For now, she sleepily curled up with the Oddish and passed out once more.

It wasn't until later that night, nearly dawn, when she was woken up again. This time it was by the Pokémon around her shouting out in confusion and fear. As soon as her eyes snapped open, she reached for her belt. It was reflex for her to grab her pokéballs and return her Pokémon whenever she found herself in a rather frightening and confusing situation. But, her belt was empty. There was only her PC. She blinked rapidly and looked once more. Nothing! She shot up and looked around before holding out her hands for silence. “What happened?!” She was bombarded with a number of answers that she couldn't decipher, leading her to simply shake her head furiously.

She snatched up her belt and backpack, putting them on simply as she ran through the Corral, headed for Pallet Town. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, fighting back the exhaustion as she went straight for Professor Oak's home. She found herself banging on his door, screaming out his name. “Sam! Sam! Sam! Wake up! Please!” It took a few minutes, but a light finally came on and she could hear him shuffling behind the door before opening. He took one look at her, seeing her eyes red, puffy, and damp from tears and exhaustion.

“Angelique, what's wrong? Did-”, he started, but Angelique cut him off. “My Pokémon are gone! All of them – The egg, too!” She was trembling. She didn't know what to do, really. She had always had them ever since she was a child! They were her A-Team. Yes, she had other Pokémon back in Rainbow Valley that she could have put into her PC so that she could use them now, but the point was that her Pokémon were missing. Was this what Alexander had meant by trouble in Kanto? Or had he heard about Viridian Forest's peculiar activity? Were they linked? Who would steal her Pokémon? Who actually had the resources? Well, to be truthful, simply returning them to their respective pokéball and making off with them would be relatively easy with them sleeping. But. Who? Team Rocket came to mind...But they were disbanded. Some in prison...some dead.

She was about to rip out her hair as Oak put on some slippers and a coat, leaving his house and guiding her back up to the lab so that he could check on it. He pulled out his own pokégear and was in the process of contacting Victoria even though she was right upstairs. Sleep had him acting fuddy duddy. Assuming the woman picked up her phone, Angelique listened over the sound of her own labored breathing as Samuel spoke. “Meet me at the lab. Its quite important.” The walk wasn't too far – Not even two minutes. When they got there, the door was wide open, but it didn't look like forced entry. Most likely, the lock was picked.

Oak ran ahead of Angelique, flipping on the light inside. A cry of distress came from him, causing Angel to walk just a little bit faster. Coming up behind him, she saw that many papers and devices were missing as well as all of the eggs she had delivered. There was a giant red 'R' painted on his far back wall, denoting who was responsible. Jeez – What happened to being inconspicuous?