//------------------------------//
// First Heist 
// Story: A New World, A New Stage 
// by tdnpony 
//------------------------------//

Gillian Mansion, Anistar City
The atmosphere was tense as police officers were all over the mansion grounds, as well as inside the mansion itself. Inside the mansion, at the vault, a chubby man was pacing nervously as a young police officer did his best to calm the man down. 


“Mr. Gillian, I assure you, our department has sent its best to keep your statue safe,” the young man assured, referring to the foot tall statue/idol made of pinkish crystal that was carved to look like the Legendary Pokemon, Diancie.

“You’d better mean that, officer…” Gillian started, before looking at the name on the young man’s badge, which read ‘Jonathan Trace’. “Officer Trace,” he continued. “After all, keep in mind who exactly you are dealing with,” he huffed, before pulling out a hand sized card. On the card, a message was written, ‘I shall be taking the Eternal Idol at 22:00 tonight’ with a symbol that looked like a Zoroark head stamped on the bottom right side of the card.

Jonathan frowned as his fist clenched. “Not to worry, sir. I assure you, this will be the last heist Fox ever pulls.” Without another word, he walked away. Once he was out of the room, and out of earshot of anyone, he banged his fist against the wall and let out a tired sigh. “How many times have I made that same promise now?” he wondered to himself out loud, just as a small whimper was heard from his side. Turning to the source he saw his Mightyena, Howl, looking up at him with a concerned look in his eyes. “I’m okay boy. Let’s just catch her this time.”

As he walked to his post, his mind drifted to exactly who the thief they were dealing with was. Their perpetrator to be was the infamous Phantom Thief Fox, or rather, the latest in the long line. Phantom Thief Fox was a title held by the mysterious thief who had never been captured before. Not a single one of the many thieves that had appeared over the years had been captured even once. He knew, as his family had a...history with the infamous thief, as all of them had tried, and failed to bring the thief to justice. Now it was his turn, and he was determined to finally do what no one had ever done before, and catch Phantom Thief Fox....unfortunately so far he’d been about as successful as the rest of his family in that endeavor: close, but no cigar. However, he quickly shook his head, as a determined look came to him again. “I always did like a good challenge, and I’m not about to let this one beat me.”





An hour later, Jonathan was at his post, his loyal team of Pokemon consisting of Howl the Mightyena, Echo the Noibat, and his first Pokemon, Heat the Combusken. “Got anything, Echo?” he asked, as Echo let out another wave of sonar. “Noi…” she shook her head. “Alright, so she’s not here...yet.”

“Combusken, bus?” Heat asked. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got something to deal with that. Its not usually my style, but I had them instal emergency grates, AND had them electrified...and yes, I made sure to keep it at non-lethal levels. We want to catch her, not kill her,” Jonathan explained, answering Heat’s question. 

As they were talking, Howl had been sniffing around, growling in frustration at how the thief had somehow managed to conceal her own scent to the point even Growlithes couldn’t track her. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll get her this time. She’ll be her in…” Jonathan checked his watch, and saw that the appointed time of the heist was about to start in 3...2...1!

(Play Fox's heist theme)
“Over there!” one of the officers shouted, pointing at a nearby window. At these words, the spotlights they had ready were aimed at the window, revealing a figure dressed in a black cape and a black cavalier’s hat that concealed their face. The only real noticeable feature was the long red hair that flowed from under the hat. With the spotlight on her, she immediately jumped from the window, landing on a nearby railing, and began running along it, heading straight for the vault. 

“Stop her!” Jonathan barked, before chasing after the thief. It wasn’t long before they caught up to her, finding her standing in front of the vault with the two guards they had posted there in her way. “End of the line, Fox. You’re under arrest!” Jonathan grinned. However, Fox had other ideas, and promptly threw a smoke bomb to the ground, covering the hall in smoke. 

“Clear the smoke! Hurry!” Jonathan ordered between coughs, as some officers released several Flying-type Pokemon who quickly blew the smoke away. When the smoke cleared, they were treated to the sight of the vault door...which was hanging open, while the inside was empty. 

Their stunned moment of silence was quickly broken as Jonathan noticed a familiar cape from the corner of his eyes. “She’s getting away! After her!”

The mad chase continued as officers started to pour in from nearby rooms. However, Fox managed to easily dodge and jump over them all. Before long, they were soon in the main hall again, just as Fox was about to make a break for the windows. 

“Gotcha!” Jonathan said with a smirk, before pulling out a remote, and pressing it. At the press of the button, metal grates fell down and covered the windows, and just as Fox was about reach them, electricity sparked off them, forcing her to jump off the wall, landing right in the middle of the room, and smack in the middle of the police officers. “End of the line, Fox. It took long enough, but you are under...did you get shorter?” Jonathan asked, his face gobsmacked as now that the chase had ended, he noticed that Fox seemed to have shrunk. In his moment of surprise, he didn’t catch the eye that glinted under the hat. 

“Weeeavile!” came a voice from under the cloak, before a shock wave shot out from under it. 

“Combusken!” Heat shouted, before pushing Jonathan out of the way. However, that was what the attacker was counting on, as the movement caused Jonathan to drop his remote, which was cut in half by the shockwave. What happened next was too fast to catch, as from behind them, one of the officers smirked, before she promptly jumped on the shoulders of a nearby officer, and using him as a springboard, jumped high into the air, while the Weavile under the cloak ditched his disguise and jumped up after her, both of them landing on the railing of the second floor. 

“What are you-?” Jonathan started, before his eyes widened. “Wait...you-”

The officer chuckled slightly, before pulling off her uniform, and her face, revealing a familiar black outfit underneath it. 

“Phantom Thief Fox!” he shouted in surprise. 

“Bingo,” she said in her usual flirty tone as she eyed the windows. “Electrified grates? I’m shocked. Is that anyway to treat a lady?” she teased. 

Jonathan grit his teeth in response. 

“Oh don’t give me that look. If you’re wondering, it was during my little smoke screen. You should really keep better track of who you have deployed. Impersonating one of them was just too easy,” she chided, as from her cape, she pulled out the Eternal Idol. 

“That doesn’t change a thing, Fox! You’re still trapped AND surrounded. Give yourself up quietly!” 

“Surrounded? Yes. Trapped? I think you need to take a closer look at your grates,” she chuckled. At her words, Jonathan raised an eyebrow, before turning towards the windows, and realized, much to his horror, that the grates had retracted the moment the remote was destroyed. 

“Now then, as promised, the Eternal Idol is mine. Adieu,” she giggled, blowing him a kiss, before she and the Weavile jumped right through the closest window. 

“After her!!!” Jonathan roared as he gave chase. Reaching the window, he saw Fox land on the ground, just as the other officers were about to surround her...only for her to drop another smoke bomb, covering the area in another thick cloud, and once it dissipated, all that was left was a card with her mark on it. Seeing this, Jonathan clenched the railings so hard, if he had applied anymore pressure, it would have broken. “FFOOOOOOOOXXXXXX!!!” was the shout that was heard for at least a mile away. 
(theme end)





Not far from the mansion, several officers ran through the alleyways and streets, searching for their perp, but she was nowhere to be found. “She’s not here,” one of them reported. “Keep looking. She HAS to be here somewhere,” another ordered as they quickly ran into another alleyway. Once they were gone, a familiar chuckle was heard. 

“Persistent as always I see. I suppose that’s a good thing, since it makes them more competent than the average officer,” Fox chuckled as she slowly descended down to the ground, a pair of strings attached to the devices that were on her wrists, with the strings connected to a large spider web above, as a pair of Spinarak climbed down. “Nice job on the web. I knew I could count on you, Spinner, Charlotte.”

“Spinarak!” the two of them said happily, before Fox pointed the device on her wrists at them, and a pair of recall beams shot out, and sucked the two in. 

“Now then,” she mused, before jumping towards the wall, kicked off it, and then kicked off the opposite wall till she was on the roof. She then began running along the rooftops till she made her way to the nearby woods. Walking into the woods, she came upon a large tree, and making sure no one was looking, tapped the bark 3 times, waited for a moment, then tapped it again, causing part of the tree to open, revealing it to be a secret passage. Jumping down the passage, she landed in the secret base that had been set up near Anistar. Walking to the nearby table, she took off her cavalier hat and her cape, hanging both on the table. Picking up a vial off the table, she sprinkled a few drops on her hair, before walking to another room. After a quick shower and dress, she walked out of the bathroom, her appearance almost completely different. Where once was a red-headed master thief, was now a young woman in baggy clothing and reading glasses with long brown hair. Smiling slightly, she walked to the table, and pressed a button on her wrist device, letting out her Pokemon: A Weavile named Rascal, A Liepard named Shade, and A pair of Spinaraks named Spinner and Charlotte respectively. “Good work everyone,” she smiled gently, pouring each of them a bowl of Pokemon food, to which they happily ate. There was nothing like a good meal after a successful heist. 

With her Pokemon taken care of, Fox turned to the Eternal Idol that was on the table and picked it up. “Now then, let’s see what secrets you hide, shall we.”





The next day found a rather...noisy beginning for the police station in Anistar City. “Gah! Not again!” was the frustrated shout that came from a certain officer’s temporary office. There, sitting on the table of one Jonathan Trace, was the Eternal Idol, with a note taped to it. ‘Last night was fun. I certainly look forward to our next run’ was what was written on the card, right next to lipstick mark on the side, showing that Fox had literally sealed it with a kiss. 

Jonathan was about to tear the note apart when he noticed more writing on it, which said, ‘P.S. I would check the base of the Idol. It looks pretty loose’. Blinking in surprise, he did what the note suggested, and found that he could actually turn the base, removing it. From inside the statue, a flash drive fell out. “What the-?” he blinked, before taking the flash drive to the chief. 





A few hours later, Jonathan laid down on a park bench and sighed tiredly. The contents of the flash drive revealed that Mr. Gillian, who had made his fortune in the trade of rare stones, had actually been doing a counterfeit job. A majority of the stones he traded, especially the Mega Stones, were counterfeit stones. After a quick arrest and search, the data was proven to be very much true, so now Mr. Gillian was looking forward to a few years in jail for his crimes. Too bad that didn’t stop his boss from grilling him for Fox’s escape last night, even if it had led to a bigger arrest. So here he was, trying to calm his nerves, both from annoyance at his boss, as well as frustration at the darn thief. Thinking of the thief, he remembered the note, as well as the way she would always flirt and toy around with him during her heists like it was some game to her, and added with the fact that he had to admit, she DID look rather lovely…. “Gah! What am I thinking?!” he thought as he vigorously shook his head to rid himself of any strange thoughts. Fox was a thief, and despite her heists often leading to more significant arrests, the fact remains that she was still a criminal that needed to be brought to justice. 

Laying his head back down, he would have fallen asleep, if not for something, or rather someone, bothering him. “Jonathan? Is something wrong?” came a familiar voice. 

Opening his eyes, he saw a young woman with long brown hair, a pair of reading glasses and a cute smile on her face. His childhood friend, Alice Maximilion. “Ah, Alice!” he said, quickly sitting up, causing her to giggle cutely, before sitting down next to him. 

“I heard Fox was at it again last night,” she started. “Soooo, how did it go? Did you catch her this time?”

Jonathan just sighed in response. “No. She got away again,” he sighed, to which Alice just patted him on the back. 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get her eventually. After all, didn’t you always say that a Trace never gives up?” she smiled warmly. 

“Yeah...I guess you’re right…” Jonathan chuckled weakly, just as Alice placed her closed hands in front of him. Opening her hand slightly, revealing a Fletchling, which chirped up at him cutely. “You’re really getting good at that, you know,” he smiled gratefully. While he sometimes still found it hard picture how someone working to be a Pokemon Researcher would have street magic as a hobby, he had to admit, Alice sure knew how to use it to cheer people up. “Thanks, Alice,” he smiled as he got up.

“Hey, what are friends for?” she smiled as she stood up as well. Looking at the time, she noticed that it was nearing the end of his break, so pointing that out, the two of them walked out of the park. However, just as they were about to leave the park, Alice tripped and fell over. 

“Ya know, normally I’d be worried, but seeing as this is like the hundredth time you’ve tripped for no particular reason, I’d say you’ve got a shot at being a comedian,” Jonathan laughed slightly, expecting her to get up and join in the laugh as well like she always did...only this time he noticed she wasn’t moving. “Alice? Come on now, you’re scaring me,” he said, as he gave her a nudge, before turning her over, only to realize that she wasn’t breathing. “Oh Arceus! Alice!” he exclaimed in worry, but before he could do anything, a sudden tiredness overtook him, and he soon found himself collapsed on top of his friend. The last thing he heard before blackness covered his vision was:

“Rest now my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home.”