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

Opening theme:


Alice inwardly frowned as they made their way to their destination. To be honest, she still felt bad about using Sleight and the Pokemon for cover, but thanks to the time constraint...they really didn’t have much of a choice. 

“Chillax dudette. He already said it was okay, so let’s do this,” Scep grinned, once more in his PLA uniform. 

“Scep’s right, Alice. Like Sleight said, it’s better if we expose the truth now instead of letting that corrupt mayor cause more damage in the long run,” Shade nodded, before stopping and adding, “And I can’t believe I just said Scep was right.”

Alice chuckled when she heard that. “Alright, you’re right. Let’s get to work,” she chuckled, as she put on her cape and hat in mid-air before applying her illusion. 

When they got to their destination, they beheld a sizeable warehouse. Quickly making their way up to the roof, they were able to peer inside. Thankfully, since becoming a Zoroark, Fox had found herself having a MUCH easier time seeing in the dark compared to when she was human. Looking through the windows, they saw the state of their next target. 

Inside the warehouse, crates of different size and color could be spotted. Most of such crates were laying next to the walls of the building, some more noticeable than others. A few of the larger crates were completely covered by sheets, others were open and revealed some clandestine weapons, probably for the use of the grunts. Yet what stood out the most was the crate placed in the middle of the building. This large open crate revealed a huge figure covered by yet another sheet. The shape easily revealed its identity, it was the statue that Info Scoop was talking about, guarded by several grunts. One of them was a bulky gray earth pony, who seemed to lead the group, telling the subordinates where to go and what to do. Fox looked closer, and spotted an eyepatch and a saddlebag, which held what appeared to be a small knife. The defense of the statue was...rather minimal at this point. That and the guards weren’t acting like guards at all.

“...this place is...as bad as Baltimare...at least for now,” Fox mused. “These guys don’t look like they really care about guarding anything...though considering they’re working for the Mayor, they might not THINK they need to be too diligent, since they’ve technically got the law on their side.”

“So they’re outlaws who have protection from the law?” Scep commented, before blinking. “And I have no idea how that even made sense.”

“Good point. However...that just leaves us with more openings to exploit...at least for now,” Shade chuckled, as Spinner and Charlotte crawled inside. “To avoid drawing attention, their lighting is minimal. Even so, they won’t suspect a thing with two random Spinaraks crawling about. We’d better make use of it before they get serious later.”

Before the two Spinaraks were in, Fox gave them a few more metal balls. “I managed to prepare these net bombs. You know what to do.”

“Roger,” the two saluted, before crawling in. As they crawled across the walls, they were sure to scan the room for any and all notable details. So far, nothing of note, since as Fox had predicted, security was likely lax due to them being backed by the Mayor. Of course, this left them with the perfect chance to find spots to set the net bombs, particularly in areas they could simply...herd some pursuers. With that task done, they were about to leave...until they noticed one of the large square containers that were covered in cloth move a little. Taking a closer look, they managed to find a small opening in the cloth, and what they saw made their eyes widen as they quickly crawled away. Moving back to the window, they reported what they saw, and when they were done, Fox frowned. “Well, that makes thing...problematic,” she mused, before chuckling slightly. “But nothing we can’t handle.”

“Of course not a problem, dudette. One good Dig, and that thing is going to be seeing stars,” Scep chuckled. 

“Okay, not problematic, but interesting all the same,” Fox chuckled. “Alright then, we’ve done what we came here to do. Now we need to leave the notice, and I think we need a better location for that.” And with that, the Fox gang disappeared into the night. 





The next day, the local guard station was host to an interesting guest. “Here we are. Tall Tale. Hope we’re on the right track,” Jonathan sighed as he and his team walked up to the door. When they entered, they crashed into  a young light brown Pegasus who was about to leave the station. The stallion blinked, trying to identify the creatures standing in front of them. He still had a hard time acknowledging that Pokémon were real, yet he knew he had to treat them as equals, even if their presence was extremely intimidating. 

“Uh… can- can I help you?”

“Er...yeah. I’m Jonathan Trace from the Baltimare guard. I was wondering if I could speak to the guard captain here?” Jonathan said politely. 

“Uhm… Mister Green Lead is not around right now, he left for a meeting with the mayor.” 

“Oh. I see...in that case, can I speak to whoever is in charge at the moment?” 

“That would be Chief Golden Star, uhm… I’ll tell him you are looking for him. Please, come in” He said nervously, sweat running through his body.

“Alright. Thank you,” Jonathan nodded. 

“Seems kinda jumpy, doesn’t he?” Heat whispered. 

“He’s probably still getting used to us. Can’t really blame him,” Howl said. 

As they walked in, they were told to wait as the stallion from before went to find Chief Golden Star. In the meantime, they watched as various Ponies milled about the station, though many of them seemed nervous about the Pokemon. “...why do I get the feeling they’re not too happy about us being here?” Echo asked. 

“I think it might have something to do with the damages we saw before. The large foot prints make it very likely a Pokemon did it,” Jonathan sighed. 

“Meh, guess we’ll just have to prove them wrong then if they think we’re dangerous,” Heat shrugged, not noticing the deadpan look his teammates gave him when he said that. 

They waited for a little more, before the stallion from before called them them into one of the offices. Walking in, they saw a brown Earth Pony stallion sitting at the desk. 
“Well...Silver Star was not wrong, a spiky dog, an over-grown chicken, a black wolf, and a purple bat,” He chuckled, “Welcome to Tall Tale, my friends. My name is Golden Star, currently the one in charge of the police force in the city. What can I help you with?”

“Er...yes. Thank you very much,” Jonathan nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go straight to the point. I’m Jonathan Trace, Baltimare Guard. I’m here tracking a notorious thief from back on Earth,” He said. 

“A thief? From your planet? Well we’ve received various reports of some minor confrontations with the Pokémon, but nothing too serious. Besides our own street thieves, I don’t believe the guy you are looking for is here.” Golden Star replied softly, proud of the peace surrounding the city.

“Well...its too soon to say. Fox is good at blending in with the crowd, and really, the only way we’ll know for sure is if…” Howl was saying, before one of the officers burst into the room.

“We’ve got trouble!” He said, looking very alarmed. “We just got this notice that there is going to be a robbery!”

“...something like that happens,” the Pokemon finished with a deadpan look.

“Bring that note here, boy. “ As soon as the note arrived to Golden Star’s desk, the Chief decided to read the note out loud

‘Tonight, I’ll be taking that which Mayor Grumble holds most dear. Phantom Thief Fox’ was what was written on the notice. 

“Seems kinda vague compared to normal…” Heat commented. 

Jonathan on the other hand, turned to Golden Star. “Any idea what the Mayor holds most dear?”

“Well, the deal is… Mayor Grumble owns many things that would be considered precious. He is a wealthy respectable stallion, so I wouldn’t be able to tell what’s the Mayor’s most valuable possession.” The Chief sighed. 

“Well that narrows it down,” Jonathan sighed. “So where did you find this notice?” he asked the stallion who had brought the small note. 

“Er...I found it attached to the front door just now. I don’t know how it got there, but I figured its better to be safe than sorry,” the stallion replied. 

“Alright…” Jonathan nodded, before turning to Golden Star. “We should see where there is another notice.”

“Another notice? What kind of thief is this Fox anyways? Why does she announces her heists like that?” Golden Star questioned, he had dealt with many thieves in his past, yet this was one of the oddest cases yet, and it just started.

“She’s a Phantom Thief, and the latest in the line of people who have used the title. Fox, or rather, the title of Fox, has been around for the last 5 centuries. Its all part of their M.O.” Jonathan explained. 

“Five centuries!? So you are saying that we are dealing with an expert thief, not the street kind, but the kind that would rob multiple banks the same day, and get away with it?”

“Well...Fox rarely, if ever, robs a bank, and even so...she always returns what she stole. But...yeah, that kind of thief,” Jonathan said, scratching the back of his head. 

“Returns what she steals?... I’m getting too old for this kind of jobs, I don’t know how the thieves back on your planet work, but for me at least, this is far from what I am used to. This… Fox is an outlaw back on your planet, right?” 

“Wanted in every region throughout the world, and with a secure position on the Most Wanted List back on Earth,” Jonathan nodded. “That’s the truth for every last Fox that has ever appeared.”

“In that case, I am obliged to help you, I can’t have a Most Wanted from another planet running around the city. I will need your help though, if there’s one thing I’ve learned since you creatures arrived here, is that the only way to stop  a Pokémon is with another Pokémon. I’ll need every bit of information you know about how this thief operates. Silver Star,” He called, “Write a letter and send it to the Mayor’s house, we need to inform both him and Captain Green Lead about this attack, and we also need to know about the possible targets. Tell the Mayor to write a list of his most valuable possessions.”

“Yes fathe- I mean, Chief.” As Silver Star left the room, Golden Star took out some quill, paper, and a pair of glasses. “Now then, please tell me all you know about this...Fox.”

“We’ll help however we can,” Jonathan nodded. “Now then, as I was saying before, Fox often likes to leave her notices in places where her targets are located. Now, unless her target is in this station, she would likely send a second notice to where her target is located,” He started. “Now about Fox...the latest Fox, there are a few things you should know. First, is her Pokemon form. Unsurprisingly, she’s been turned into a Zoroark, AKA the Illusion Fox Pokemon. As the name suggests, they’re a species of Pokemon who make liberal use of Illusions to confuse and deceive their opponents,” Jonathan started. 

“Well, that makes things far more complicated. A Pokémon that can create illusions... I still have a hard time believing this isn’t a dream… any idea of how to counter these illusions?”

“Normally? Plenty of ways. Illusions are still illusions, so they’re not real. However, that brings us to the next problem. This Fox’s style is that of a magician. Even as a human she made liberal use of magic tricks and illusions to run circles around the police. She’s a master of disguise, is ridiculously athletic, and above all, she was able to mimic another person’s voice near damn perfectly till you can barely tell the difference. And being turned into a Pokemon has only made her even better at it. Our only ‘silver lining’ at the moment, is that since she’s lost her resources, she can’t use elaborate tricks like she sometimes did back on Earth,” Jonathan explained. “As for counters...I might be able to do it. My new body, a Lucario, AKA the Aura Pokemon, can sense and read auras. I can use that to pierce the illusions. Problem is....I don’t have very good control over it yet...,” he sighed at the end. 

“Magician…” He said while writing down the details, “So we may have something in common after all. This planet is full of different kinds of magic, and that has lead to many advances in how to counter it. This may not work, but I can provide you with some specialist in deceptions, unicorns that are able to differentiate between magic and reality. We don’t have many, only a couple to be precise, but it’s what we got.” Golden Star offered, decided to end this problem as soon as possible. 

“Any help we can get is great. Unfortunately, next comes our third issue. Fox’s team,” Jonathan sighed, while Howl and Heat growled and Echo snorted in annoyance. 

“From the reaction of your friends, I’ll guess that they are Pokémon as well, and not the nice-kind. How many and what can they do?”

“Okay, Fox’s main team from back on Earth include a Liepard, a Weavile, and a pair of Spinaraks,” Jonathan started. “Also, from what I’ve gathered, she’s recently had a new addition to her team, a Sceptile. The first two are Dark-type Pokemon, meaning that they’re immune to Psychic-types. The Spinaraks are bug-types, and since they’re small and agile, Fox likes to use them for espionage. Last is the Sceptile. He’s apparently a member of a rebellion group back on Earth called the Pokemon Liberation Army, or PLA for short, and a general at that. So yeah, she seemed to have recently gotten a fast powerhouse for her team,” Jonathan explained. 

“I honestly did not understand half of the things you just said. But you seemed to know a lot about her and her ways.” Golden Star sighed, annoyed by the fact that he had no idea of what they were talking about, thus giving them a disadvantage.

“That’s because you’re looking at the guy who’s been assigned her case for the last 5 years. If there’s any officer who can tell you a LOT about her, its me, since everyone else either quit or ran away,” Jonathan sighed in annoyance at how often some big shots came by saying they would do what he couldn’t...only to give up after one or two failed attempts. 

“In that case I have no other choice... what was your name again?”

“Jonathan Trace.”

“Jonathan Trace” Golden Star stood up, and rolled the paper containing his notes, “I now assign you and your friends to be part of the main team in the operation. We’ll need you in the front lines if we want to have a chance against this thief. Two other squads will accompany you as support, you tell them what to do, and they’ll do it.”

“I’ll accept the position. However, there is something I would like to request. I would like to request your assistance in this,” Jonathan stated. 

“Well… I guess I could help… but I may end up being an obstacle instead of an aid, with my age, I am not the strong and brave cop I once was.” Golden Star sighed.

“That doesn’t matter. I’ve been paying attention since I got into this city. The ponies around here are either afraid or wary of the Pokemon, most likely thanks to whatever caused the damages in this city. Granted, it seems that after the show last night, they’ve started to get more comfortable, but still the air of...distrust is there. We need to be able to work efficiently if we want a chance at catching Fox, and I feel you might be the key to giving us that chance,” Jonathan explained. “I’ve noticed how the other officers act. They respect you. Me? I’m just some guy who only JUST became an official officer in this world a few days ago. Not exactly something they’d be able to respect right off the bat.”

“I understand… I have no other choice then, I will accompany you to wherever this Fox is going.” The Chief replied. 

“Yeesh, you make it sound like we’re forcing you to do it,” Heat snorted...and promptly earned a whack on the head from his teammates. 

“What Heat so eloquently meant, is that we’re not forcing you to do anything. We just believe that your involvement might help this operation greatly,” Echo explained. 

“The only thing that is forcing me to do so is my duty with the people of Tall Tale. With such a dangerous opponent, I can’t let my age be an excuse.” He hummed.

“Er...actually...Fox is kinda...one of our most harmless criminals really,” Howl grimaced.

“As harmless as she may be, she is a criminal. We will catch her, no matter what we need to do, my team is your team, mister Trace” 

“Thank you,” Jonathan nodded, but frowned when he remembered one last thing. “However...there’s something we should keep in mind about Fox’s heists,” he mused.

“And that is?...” Golden Star wondered, he needed to know everything about this thief, as he was in an obvious disadvantage.

“Many times in the past, her heists have lead us STRAIGHT into another criminal’s activities. Just before the transfer for example, her recent heist uncovered a massive counterfeit operation owned by one of the businessmen of Anistar City,” Jonathan explained. “Now, keep in mind, many of her heists have also not uncovered anything, but still...its something to consider.”

“So we are dealing with an anti-hero kind of person, how noble. You see, mister Trace, Fox’s next target is the mayor of this city. Mayor Grumble is an honorable stallion, a stallion of the people and chosen by the people.” Golden Star explained proudly, “This is nothing but another robbery, another act of disrespect to the laws not only of Tall Tale, but of the entire country.” Golden Star started showing irritation in his voice, he didn’t take those people that claimed that Grumble was a bad man easily. 

“Like I said, it’s only a possibility. If anything, I think this is her just getting her kicks again,” Jonathan shrugged. “I only told you that so you would know everything you need to know about Fox. Our goal doesn’t change at all with this.”

“Then what are we waiting for? If there’s nothing else to say about the subject, we need to keep moving. Tall Tale Police Force, we have work to do!” Golden Star whooped. 

“Alright! You heard the stallion, let’s go!” Heat grinned enthusiastically. Right at that moment, another stallion burst into the room, accompanied by the young pegasus from earlier.

“What on Equestria is going on in here? What are all these creatures doing in my station, Golden Star?”  The navy-green earth pony exclaimed.

“Captain Green Lead, sir, we got some problems related to the mayor.” Golden Star explained calmly, “There seems to be an attempt of robe-”

“Save your words Golden Star, the kid already gave me your letter. Besides, Sphinx got an unusual note on her mail today” As he said this, the bulky stallion grabbed a small note from his bag, and dropped it in front of Golden Star. The note was exactly the same as the one that was left in the station. “Mayor Grumble’s life is at risk, if what you said on your letter is right, we need to protect the mayor from any harm tonight!” 

“Well… you see, sir,” Jonathan interrupted, but decided to keep his mouth shut when the bulky stallion glared at him with a deadly stare. Aggravating the situation would not help right now.

“Someone bring a muzzle for the dog, I’ve had enough of these Pokémon for an eternity, and I want to see as few of them as possible, in fact, I want to see none. Ya heard me beasts? Get out of this office, now!” Green Lead shouted.

Jonathan’s team glared at him, but Jonathan held out a paw to settle them down. “Sir Green Lead, I presume?” Jonathan said, forcing his tone into a respectful one. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Officer Jonathan Trace from Baltimare. I’m here chasing after the thief in question.”

“I don’t care if you are what you claim to be. This goes under our jurisdiction, ours. You can’t come here and arrest a criminal just like that! This is an equestrian Police Force dammit! Ya Pokémon cause nothing but destruction, look at the chaos you have caused so far! We are still struggling with the reconstruction, and now another damn Pokémon comes here to ruin our lives even further. You are nothing but mindless and disrespectful beasts!” Green Lead shouted, stomping the ground with massive force, and causing a bunch of officers to leave in fright.

“Sir, with all due respect,” Golden Star interrupted, “If we want to assure the Mayor’s safety, and the safety of his possessions, we are going to need help. You remember the incident with the iron Pokémon. We had no chance against it. If it wasn’t for that metal spider creature and his ant-looking friend, this town would be nothing but a pile of rubble. We need their help. I already have the situation under control, we have squads getting ready, and I already named Mister Trace here a temporary member of the force. He is also a recognized officer of Baltimare’s police force. I am sure Miss Sphinx wouldn’t be happy if we got into trouble with another city. We need them.  I will take full responsibility over their actions, and I will accompany them to wherever they need to go. This is for the good of the mayor.” Golden Star explained, calming the situation down.

“That’s correct. Furthermore, I AM a member of the Equestrian Police Force as well. So this is as much my responsibility as it is yours,” Jonathan calmly nodded. 

“Fine….” The green stallion snorted in annoyance, ” But if anything happens to Mayor Grumble, if that Fox touches a single hair in the Mayor’s body, you are going to be demoted to a cadet, Golden Star. Understood?” Green Lead exclaimed, and looked at Jonathan, “And you…. you damn blue dog, if you even dare to do something funny, anything that can risk the harmony in this city… I swear I will hang you and that damn Fox tomorrow morning, I don’t care what that damn Arceus may think about it.”

Once again, Jonathan’s team was about to protest, but a gesture from their trainer told them to keep it to themselves...for now. 

“Understood, sir.” Golden Star replied calmly

“I won’t be able to accompany you tonight, this whole deal with Fox has affected the Mayor’s agenda. I will be the one responsible for the Mayor’s safety, you make sure that this Phantom Thief is placed behind the bars.”

“Yes sir!” The officers present exclaimed in unison. 

Once he was gone, Heat exhaled a small flame. “Charming guy. Makes me want to roast him.”

“I agree. He’s got some nerve treating us like that,” Echo nodded along with Howl. 

“Keep in mind, they have reasons to be that way,” Jonathan sighed. 

“Doesn’t mean we have to like it,” Howl snorted. 

“That’s Captain Green Lead for you. He may be hot-blooded, but he is as worried about the security of this city as any of us. Anyways, this…” Golden Star pointed at the notice, “This was found in City Hall, what does it mean for you?”

“It means that most likely her next target is in City Hall...though about what Green Lead said, I highly doubt Fox would harm a hair on the mayor. Its not her style,” Jonathan said. 

“At least we got a clue as to what she’s really going to do. Why don’t we start by searching for clues and looking for any possible target?” 

“Sounds good to me. Even if we don’t find anything, knowing the layout of the area would definitely help us,” Jonathan nodded. 

“Then you will go to the City Hall, accompanied by Silver Star. I will catch up to you later, I need to do quite the paper-work if we want to get this operation going. Team, let’s get to work.” Golden Star ordered

“Yes, Sir!” They all exclaimed, leaving the office. 





While this was happening, little did they notice the Unicorn mare watching the conversation from a pair of binoculars. “So they’re already starting to move,” Info Scoop commented, before putting the binoculars away. “Now then, I’d better do my part,” she chuckled, as she trotted away. 





“So did you get it?” Alice asked as Info Scoop walked into the location that they had agreed upon, Sleight and Storm with them as well. 

“Of course. Who do you think I am?” Info Scoop snorted, as she brought out a stack of papers, photos and other bits of information she had been gathering for the last couple of months. “All the incriminating evidence I could get about our dear Mayor.”

“Perfect. When this night is over, Grumble won’t be able to lie to this city anymore. While our heist is going on, you know what to do,” Fox chuckled. 

“You got it,” Info Scoop grinned as she put away the evidence. She was going to enjoy this night. 





“So we checked the town hall, and we didn’t find any clues on Fox...at all,” Howl sighed. 

“Were you expecting something else? This is basically a replay pretty much every other investigation we tried,” Echo deadpanned. 

“Doesn’t matter. All we can do now is wait,” Jonathan sighed. Right now, they were with the rest of the Police forming a perimeter around the Town Hall. Night had already fallen, and now they were here waiting for the thief. “Anything yet, Gold?” Jonathan asked. After talking to the old stallion for a while, they had gotten rather friendly on account of both not really caring for the formalities much, as well as their own dedication to the law. 

“Well, besides some of our colts falling asleep, we got nothing interesting. Ya sure this Fox is going to attack tonight?” Golden Star doubted, he too, was getting rather tired of waiting.

“Fox always, and I do mean ALWAYS keeps her word, especially for her annoucements. She’ll be here,” Jonathan said. 

“Then we might as well just wait, Jonathan. Keep your eye sharp, we can’t let her hide right under our noses.” Golden Star replied.

“Too late!” came an oddly, chiper voice, and before Howl could react, he was promptly used as a springboard by a random Mare, who somehow managed to land on the roof. 

(Play Fox's heist theme)
“Cause we’re already here,” came a familiar voice, as the roof suddenly shimmered, revealing a shiny Zoroark in a black cape and cavalier hat, with her paw petting the mare, which soon faded away to reveal a Liepard. 

“Fox!” Jonathan growled. 

“We need a pegasus team, now! Go catch her!” Golden Star ordered, as five armored Pegasus flew towards the roof where the two Dark-types were standing.

However, before they could get there, they were promptly knocked out of the air by a stream of leaves that had suddenly appeared. “Nice try, but you’ll have to do better than that, coppers,” came another voice as a Sceptile faded into view. 

“Now then...it’s Showtime!” Fox chuckled with a snap of her fingers. 

“Alright Fox, so we’re here. Tell me, what the hell are you after?” Jonathan demanded. 

“Hmph. So it’s you again. That Lucario from Baltimare. Honestly, who do you think you are ordering a lady around like that,” Fox teased. 

“Heh, guess me being like this would make me unrecognizable. Well, then its me, Jonathan Trace! And don’t you forget it!” Jonathan stated. 

Fox for her part looked surprised for a moment...before she smirked again. “Well now, I should have known. Not many are as...tenacious as you are, Johnny-boy.”

“We’ll leave the chat for later. Fox, as representative of Tall Tale’s police force, I command you to hand yourself to us, or we will be forced to use the force.” Golden Star ordered

“Did he just?” Heat whispered. 

“I think he did,” Howl sweatdropped, but they both decided to leave it be. 

Fox just wagged her finger. “No no no, that won’t do. I can’t have you all missing the show. After all, it starts right about...now!” she said, as the Liepard and Sceptile dove to the side...just as a Pegasus tried to catch her from behind, only to go right through her. 

“It’s an illusion! The real one isn’t there!” Jonathan barked, his eyes scanning the surroundings while he tried to focus. Looking around, he felt the world start to go blue as his new body started to react. At that point, he noticed a blue spot shaped like a Zoroark on a nearby roof. “There she is!” he said, just as she faded back into view. 

“Follow me, the real show is this way,” she chuckled, before leaping from roof to roof, the Liepard and the Sceptile following behind after they had jumped from the roof of town hall. 

“Should we follow her? What if it’s a trap?” Golden Star asked

“We don’t have a choice. I saw it with my Aura Sense. That Fox is the real one,” Jonathan gritted his teeth, before giving chase. 

“Everypony, follow the Pokémon. Stay on your guard and be ready for everything!” Golden Star ordered, before running after the Aura Pokémon.





“All according to plan?” Shade mused.

“All according to plan,” Fox nodded. 

“Oh boy, I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when we get there. Never thought we’d be robbing someone...by using the cops,” Scep laughed. 

“Stick around, Scep. This is just the tip of the iceberg with how crazy we can do,” Shade chuckled. 

“I think I will, dudette,” he grinned. 

“Now then, looks like we’re almost there,” Fox noted, as true enough, they could see the warehouse, even if it was still a good distance away. 

“Hold it right there, Fox!” came Jonathan’s voice as it turned out the Lucario and his team had also gotten on the rooftops. 

“Not yet, Johnny-boy. Just a little more, and we’ll have the surprise ready,” she teased. 





Down below, the ponies were also giving chase, though the remaining Pegasi had taken to the air by now. 

“Second squad, keep repelling as many attacks as you can, we need to keep those pegasi in the air!” Golden Star ordered

“Got it, Chief!” A unicorn mare responded.

“Third squad, keep tracking those Pokémon, they can’t leave our sights!” 

“Sure thing, Chief” A pegasus responded. 

Golden Star was not happy. They were reaching the city’s limits and they still had no idea of what Fox was planning. Was she playing with them? Was she leading them to a trap? He couldn’t tell, and he knew that Jonathan, who had far more experience than him on the subject, did not know either. “Have any idea of where she may be taking us, Jonathan?” He asked the Lucario.

“No clue. But she’s definitely leading us somewhere. But the question is where,” Jonathan grunted, his team having relocated back to the ground when they had gotten to an open area. 

“Let’s see… if I recall correctly, we should be arriving the storage complex near the coast. Not much can be found, multiple buildings that store some exportation and importation products from around Equus. Why would Fox want to... “ Golden Star thought for a minute, trying to connect the odd clues that seemed to point nowhere. Yet an idea crossed his head, of course it was mere speculation, but it was better than the nothingness they had to deal with. “Second Squad, Third Squad, speed up, we need to catch her before she reaches the storages!” 

Up ahead, Fox just smirked as they were in good range, and upon seeing the second and third squad speeding up, tossed several smoke bombs right into the pursuing guards, blanketing them in smoke, as well as obscuring her from their view. As the ponies were left coughing and trying to clear the smoke, Fox had already covered herself and her team in another illusion, getting away from them while they were preoccupied. 

“Gah, Third Squad, I want this smoke to disappear ASAP” Golden Star ordered, avoiding to breath in the smoke. As the pegasus flapped their wings to dissipate the smoke, both Golden Star and Jonathan saw how the team of thieves was now gone, leaving no trail behind. 

“Our best bet is to reach the complex. There’s nothing else of importance around here to where she could be headed. Squads, break into smaller teams and search for them in the area, if they are hiding under a leaf, I want you to find them!” Golden Star was furious, never before had a thief played with him like that.





“Looks like they’re all here,” Fox chuckled as she, Shade, and Scep ducked into the spot where the others were hiding. 

“They are? Great. Let’s get this show started then,” Rascal chuckled, earning a nod of agreement from the others, before they quickly moved to their positions inside the warehouse, while Fox remained outside. “Now then...it’s showtime.”





As the ponies and Pokemon outside searched, they were suddenly surprised by Fox’s voice suddenly calling out, “Ladies and gentlemen!” However, Fox didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight. 

“Unicorns, scan the area!” The brown pony ordered, “Jonathan, can you feel her presence?”

Jonathan closed his eyes again, trying to concentrate...or he would have if a flashbang wasn’t suddenly tossed amongst them, completely ruining his concentration. 

“Sorry, Johnny-boy. But I can’t have you spoiling the surprise,” Fox’s voice chuckled, as she appeared on the roof of one of the warehouses. “Welcome all, and thank you for coming to witness my latest spectacle. For tonight, I shall be taking that which Grumble values most,” Fox chuckled. “But to do that, I shall be asking for a few willing volunteers.”

“You must be nuts if you think we are going to help you in whatever cheap trick you are planning, thief!” Golden Star exclaimed, “You are giving Pokémon a bad name, you know? Things are tense enough on the city right now, and you are just making things worse. So bring yourself to justice now, or we will be forced to bring you ourselves!” 

“Oh? Not to worry, I won’t be here long. As for helping, don’t you want to uncover the hidden truth of this city?” she goaded. 

“What is she talking about, dad?” Silver Star asked

“I have no idea” Golden Star replied, “Listen, Fox. If you think you are trying to find a hidden truth related to the mayor, you are not going to find it! He is the pony chosen by the people of Tall Tale, a stallion of honor!” 

“Oh, that’s just it. I already did long before this show even started,” Fox said. “Well, if you wanna find out, catch me if you can!” she laughed, before jumping down, and going into the warehouse. 
(end theme)

“I dunno what she’s planning, but I’m not about to let her get away that easily,” Jonathan commented, before going after her, his team following.

“You heard the Pokémon, let’s go!” Golden Star followed, his squads not far behind.

The guards all surrounded the entrances, with Jonathan and Golden Star leading the charge against the side entrance. “Okay...on 3. 1...2...3!” he shouted, before they busted down the door. 





“Dirty Work, I suppose everything is in order.”

“Of course Mayor, just as promised, the statue has been kept safe in our hooves since the metalworker in Canterlot finished. No one else knows about it, just as you requested. Of course, some of our guys took care of the metalworker as soon as we left, not a single word will leave his mouth.” 

“You better be sure of that, ya criminal scum! If anything is revealed to public eye, I will make sure that you and your criminal group wannabes are placed in jail.” 

“Green Lead, calm down. Very well, where is it?” 

The three earth ponies advanced through the warehouse, as a large figure covered by a sheet was placed in the middle of the building, surrounded by many armed grunts.

“Mayor Grumble, I present to you… a thirty hoof tall golden statue of your own image!” As the gray pony kicked one of the stakes away, the white sheet started to fall. A golden figure of a slim, young earth pony was revealed, small modifications ordered by the mayor himself. The mayor was getting ready to celebrate the success of the operation, yet something interrupted him.

“Freeze! Hold it right there, Fox!” came Jonathan’s voice, as suddenly the doors were slammed open, and guards streamed into the room. 

“Nowhere left to run, you….thief?” Golden Star said, only to stop short when he saw it was not Fox, but instead the mayor, with what he recognized as several known criminals. “Uhm… Mayor, sir… what’s going on?”

Both Grumble and Green Lead were stunned, why was half of the police force in there? Did they get a report about what they were doing? No, impossible, there was no way that they could know that they were in that warehouse. Dirty Work grabbed his knife ,and prepared to fight, but suddenly, Green Lead rammed the gray stallion and knocked him out, while the confused grunts pointed at him with lances, and swords, not knowing if they should attack or not.

“You dirty criminal scum! You think such a cheap trick like this can bring Mayor Grumble down? Presenting fake evidence against him in such a time of need, well played. But justice will always prevail! We discovered your secret plans, and we stopped you ourselves, with our own hooves. You are pathetic!” Green Lead quavered

“...is he serious?” Howl deadpanned. 

“Captain Green Lead. With all due respect...that was some terrible acting,” Jonathan deadpanned as well. 

“You damn Pokémon are too dumb to realize what’s going on, this is an act… of terrorism!” Green Lead defended himself

“...do I seriously have to point it out?” Jonathan sighed. 

“Green Lead, don’t even try. You all signed your death sentence. Everypony, I want those idiots down and out!” Grumble ordered, as the grunts rushed towards the officers. 

“Ah ah ah! You already made your bed, Mayor...no, FORMER Mayor Grumble. Its time you laid in it,” came Fox’s voice, as suddenly, from the roof there were several small explosions, followed by nets falling down right on top of several of the grunts and bodyguards, ensnaring them, and promptly pulling them back up to the roof. 

“After all, it's only fair,” Fox said with a mocking chuckle as she reappeared on top of the statue. 

“What the hell are you?” Grumble asked annoyed, “Some kind of demon… Fox… You! You are the one that wrote that damn note that got us all paranoid! This was your plan all along, wasn't it!? Bodyguards, take that damn Pokémon down!” 

“Guilty as charged,” Fox chuckled, not seeming to be bothered by the remaining Pegasus grunts surrounding her. “And I am not a demon. I’m a Phantom. A Phantom Thief,” Fox chuckled as the grunts lunged for her...only to smash face first into each other, landing right on the statue, toppling it over. “Oops,” came Fox’s mocking chuckle as she dropped a few web bombs on the dazed grunts, covering them in webbing. 

“Gah… this won’t be an easy one. You!” Green Lead grabbed one of the remaining grunts, “Where is the cage?” 

“The… cage, sir? Oh the cage, uhm… the covered container, Sir” the pony replied frightened. Green Lead dropped the stallion, and looked at Grumble, who nodded. The two of them used the chaos as a distraction, and walked to one of the containers that was located at the side of the building. They grabbed the large sheet by each side, and revealed a large steel crate, containing a sleeping metal beast, an Aggron.

“The hell is an AGGRON doing here?!” Jonathan all but demanded as he knocked out another grunt. 

“Wake it up.” As the mayor said this, Green Lead kicked the lock that sealed the cage. The sound of the destroyed lock woke up the Aggron, who began looking at his surroundings.

“You know, I just had a thought. How do you intend on controlling him? I don’t think he’d be too happy about this,” Fox chuckled...just as the Aggron looked at her. 

“Mighty beast of the mountains, I as mayor of Tall Tale, request your help. These Pokémon that, together with those armored ponies, were sent by Steven Stone to humiliate not only you, but me who saved you from that soulless human, I ask your help in defeating them!” Grumble bellowed

“You work for the damn human? Very well, I will destroy you to regain my honor!” The Iron Armor Pokémon roared, stomping the ground and causing the whole room to shake violently.

“Hm...not much in the brains department are you?” Fox chuckled. 

“...why are you aggravating it?” Jonathan let out a long suffering sigh. 

“You’ll see. Speaking of which...think fast, big boy!” Fox laughed, before tossing something at the Aggron, which went splat in his face, revealing...a now pink headed Aggron. “Not fast enough.”

“You… how dare you…  you all think of me as a fool, don’t you? You are the real fool! I will crush you, I will kill you all! In a few minutes you will be nothing but bones! Head Smash!” The Aggron called, as he ran towards Fox, trying to take her down with his iron horns.

Fox simply jumped aside, leaving the Aggron to demolish Grumble’s statue, while also knocking away several of the grunts like bowling pins. “Try harder,” Fox taunted. 

“No! You idiot! You are supposed to crush her, not my statue!” Grumble shouted, a tear running through his face as the head of the statue fell off.

“Shut your mouth, you dirty liar, you…. you monster!” A shout of anger was heard throughout the entire room, as every Pokémon and Pony turned their attention to the source. A brown earth pony with tears on his eyes was staying near the entrance, his hoof above one of the grunts’ head. “For many years, many YEARS! I have defended your name. The damn media was right… YET WE DEFENDED YOU, BOTH OF YOU. I… was fooled, I was used by a corrupt system. YOU PEOPLE ALL DESERVE JAIL, no, you all…. YOU ALL DESERVE TO BE BANISHED FROM THIS COUNTRY!”  Golden Star attempted to tackle the mayor, only to be brutally stopped by Green Lead, who kicked the old officer in the muzzle. 

“I never did like you, ya dumb idiot. Too old and blind, yet that’s what made you useful. But I guess your usefulness has come to an end.” Green Lead said softly to Golden Star’s ear, before raising his hoof to try to crush his head.

However, before he could do anything, he was promptly punched in the side, HARD, sending him flying right into a wall. And before he could recover, he felt another blow, and another one, and another smash into him. “You! Worthless! Piece! Of! GARBAGE!” Jonathan roared as he savagely punched the corrupt officer. “Didn’t you swear an oath to protect and serve?! Didn’t your time protecting the people mean ANYTHING to you?! Didn’t it?!” he roared, and was about to land a blow that would have reduced his head to salsa...if someone hadn’t stopped him. 

“Jonathan, that’s enough! You got him!” came Heat’s frantic voice as his team had grabbed his arm, to stop him from swinging, and surprisingly...a rope of webbing had wrapped around his arm too. Looking at the source, he saw that Fox had done it...at the cost of giving away her position, forcing her to jump away as the Aggron tried to crash into her again. 

“They’re right you know,” she grimaced. “Don’t let these pieces of trash take away that which made you a thousand times better than them,” Fox said, her voice surprisingly concerned. 

“Enough chit-chat!” A deep voice interrupted, as the Aggron had recovered from the crash, “You people, you are all monsters! That… Stone, you all work for him, don’t you!?” The Aggron roared, he was not being rational anymore, he just wanted to destroy them all. He stomped the earth once more, yet this time the colossal force revealed his next move, “EARTHQUAKE! DIE!”

“Oh boy…” Fox gulped, before grabbing Jonathan, who in turn grabbed Golden Star, and promptly lifted her arm, as another rope of webbing shot from the ceiling, pulling them up. Likewise, Jonathan’s team jumped out of the way, though only managing to limit the damage, while anyone else was hit with the attack, leaving the room full of groaning officers, and knocked out grunts. 

“You dumb, giant, piece of metal, you!” Grumble exclaimed, trying to keep his balance, and ignoring the pain that was invading his body. “THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE PERFECT DAY, MY BEAUTIFUL STATUE WOULD REPRESENT ALL I HAVE WORKED for! YOU ARE ALL GOING TO-!” 

“I got tired of you! You small, useless ponyta! You told me that you would help me get revenge on the champion, but you used me like a guard dog! Do you really think I am that stupid? Everyone here will die, but you, you will be the first one! Iron Tail!” The Aggron swinged his tail, which launched Grumble through the window and out of the building. “As for you punny Pokémon, I don’t care if you work with Stone or not, you insulted me, and you deserve the same fate as him! Stone Edge!” 

“Geez, I wish Arceus was more thorough with the screening. We just HAD to get the psycho,” Fox snorted, as she quickly swung down, letting go of Jonathan and Golden Star, which sent them rolling, but unharmed. “Guess we’ll have to skip some of the tricks. Weavile, Focus Blast, but easy on the power,” she ordered, as said attack came flying from up in the rafters, impacting the Aggron head on. 

“You little rascal! You will pay for this! Iron Head!” The Aggon advanced towards where the attack had come from, destroying the rafters and missing the Pokémon by an inch. 

“Whoops, looks like we just got invited,” Rascal chuckled, before landing a Brick Break in the Aggron’s face again. 

“Oh well, too late now,” Shade laughed, and fired her infamous Hyper Beam at the Aggron, pushing it back considerably. 

“You cowards… stop fighting from the shadows! You are all cowards!” The Aggron began throwing Iron Tails everywhere, not even aiming at a target. His Stone Edge attack threw sharp rock projectiles in every direction, as his stomps began releasing low-powered Earthquakes. The building began to shake violently, as many containers and support bars began falling down. “YOU...YOU ALL! DIE!” 

“Dammit! If that thing keeps rampaging...we have to stop it too!” Jonathan growled. “Heat, Brick Break! Howl, Incinerate! Echo, Shadow Ball!” he ordered, as his team rained down attacks, while trying to form an Aura Sphere...only for it to blow up in his face. 

“Do be careful, I’d hate for our chase to stop short because of an accident,” Fox chuckled, before adding, “And Sceptile, another Hyper Beam too, please,” she ordered, as the same Sceptile that wore a PLA uniform appeared, and fired another Hyper Beam. 

“Keep up the pressure!” Jonathan ordered, as both his and Fox’s team continued to rain blows down on the Aggron. 

“He’ll tire out eventually,” Fox nodded as she opened her paw, and a sphere of darkness formed over it. “Try MY Shadow Ball on for size,” she chuckled as she hurled it at the Aggron, adding to the pressure. 

“Ahhhgr! You can’t… you can’t stop mee!” The steel-type roared, as his speech slowly transformed into a primitive cry of war. The anger had taken his mind completely, his only objective, to destroy it all. The Aggron stopped using his attacks, and dedicated himself to punch, and kick whatever he saw, using his tail to try to knock down the flying opponents, and his head to knock down the bars. “AAAHHGROOON!!”

“Oh dear…” Fox gulped. “This is bad.”

“Ya think?” Jonathan deadpanned, any thoughts of arresting her leaving his mind at the moment. Instead, he turned to Golden Star. “Get everyone out of here now! That Aggron will bring this building down at this rate. We’ll try to stop it, but get everyone out in case we don’t make it!”

“Everyone, you heard the Lucario. Get your flanks out of here! Now!” He ordered, as him and his squad left the building, trying to avoid the many falling objects.

“Super… Superpower!” The Iron Armor Pokémon’s body began showing a strong red glow, as energy flowed through his entire body. He was ready to stomp the ground, but something stopped him from continuing.

A sound of crash could be heard, causing everyone in the vicinity to stare at the source which revealed a gaping hole through which a Salamence just went through. What  really got their attention was that the Salamence was charging straight at the Aggron, bashing  him sideways across the place and causing the metal Pokemon to slide several meters away, knocking him down, and leaving him unconscious on the floor. 

“Well that was convenient,” Fox blinked, while Jonathan was just left gaping. 

The Salamence landed, blasting wave of air upon her landing, making it look like if the brutal landing was nothing. Then her eyes glanced over her shoulder towards her main target.

The Salamence turned around, snarling in the process as well. “Fox!”

“Friend of yours?” Jonathan asked with a half-lidded stare. 

“Maybe?” Fox shrugged. “Maybe she’s a former human I crossed?”

“Flamethrower!” A voice shouted and the Salamence obeyed, taking a deep breath and let out a punishing heat from her mouth toward no one else, but Fox.

The attack never hit, as Rascal countered with an Ice Beam, both attacks canceling each other out. “Now I remember,” she chuckled as she recognized the voice, before calmly looking towards the source of the voice. “I honestly didn’t expect to see you again after Vanhoover,” she said towards the Hydreigon. 

“You?!” Jonathan blinked, honestly surprised to see the same Hydreigon from before. 

The Hydreigon calmly stood besides the entrance, alongside a Reuniclus, and gave no response. But the Reuniclus did. “Well,  looks like the lady decided to have company this time. Did the big bad boys scare you?” He taunted.

“Oh, nothing of the sort. We just happened to have the same target at the moment,” Fox shrugged, not the least bit bothered by the sarcastic insult, while her team snickered. 

A loud, sarcastic clapping could be heard. “Congrats on finding such an excellent companion, lady. Honestly, and I mean honestly, I’m surprised that you could find a boyfriend in one night, especially with that attitude. Nicely done there.”

“Now hold it right there!” Jonathan growled. “I’ll have you know I have nothing to do with this thief, and I don’t take kindly to being used as the butt of your...insults,” he said indignantly. 

“Yeah! You should watch it!” Heat nodded in agreement, also glaring at the Reuniclus.

“Look, it’s the child investiga-”

“Will….please for once….not now.” Eric cutted off the Multiplying Pokemon.

“Whatever you say.” Will shrugged.

“Can I help you? You’re obviously here for something,” Fox decided to ask. 

“....just knocking you out and arresting you.” Eric simply replied, not wanting to give her more information.

“Yeaaah...I don’t think so. I’ve got nothing to say to a lousy trainer who can’t tell when his Pokemon should stop,” Fox huffed, before adding. “Besides, Johnny-boy has first dibs I think. Speaking of which, I’ve already gotten what I came for. Mayor Grumble is finished. So adieu,” Fox chuckled, as she was about to toss down another smoke bomb. 

“Heatwave.” Then out of nowhere, she felt a presence right behind her. But what mattered was the rising temperature.

Acting on instinct, she and her team ducked, just as the Heat Wave passed over her, but her smoke bomb was tossed away. “That was close.”

However, due to her proximity, Jonathan and his team were forced to duck as well. “Hey! Watch it!” Echo shouted indignantly. 

“All of you, move out of the way!” Eric ordered. “Sally, Will! Watch everything carefully, if the shadow doesn’t match the object, aim for it. Remember, watch the ceilings this time!”

“Got it!” The Salamence replied eagerly.

“Listen to what he says!” Jonathan ordered as he and his team got out of the way. 

“See ya later, Johnny-boy,” Fox chuckled as she and her team jumped away from the source of the Heatwave, when she saw what she was up against. Only nobody was there. “Okay...this might be problematic.”

“Yeah...it definitely will be,” Shade nodded. Invisible or fast opponents were always a pain. 

“Hey, you guys seriously still with this guy? Come on, you can do better than that,” Rascal commented to Sally and Will.

“Don’t tell me who I want to be with, scum! He’s my trainer, and I will always be by his side.” Sally growled.

“What she said.” Will commented nonchalantly.

“Forget it, it’s useless talking to them. What matters now is knocking them out.” Eric said in a calm, yet dark tone.

“It’s fine. We’re done here anyways” Fox chuckled as she raised her hand, preparing for another trick. 

“Stop her! Stone Edge and Focus Blast at her feet!” Eric’s team quickly responded. Will placed his arm forward and readied a blue sphere while Sally summoned some sharp stones that floated around her.The attacks were rapidly shot towards Fox, forcing her to stay back.

“Alright. If you’re THAT persistent, I suppose we can humor you for a bit,” Fox sighed, her tone strangely lacking its usual enthusiasm, something that struck Jonathan as...bizarre as he and his team watched from a safe distance. 

“Yay, looks like the lady about to perform some more cheap tricks. Can you wait while I grab a pillow and popcorn before I’m going to be amused by your imminent magic tricks.”

The Fox gang looked at him blankly. “...is he always like that?” Scep deadpanned. 

“I don’t know if I want to know,” Shade commented. 

“I don’t want to know either. With how chatty the lady’s gang can be, I’m not gonna ask stupid questions”

“I think that’s a yes,” Shade deadpanned. “Then again, with a motor mouth like that, I bet they just ignore him. Heck, any SANE person would ignore that.”

“Wow, look, there’s actually someone who could turn my inconsiderate sarcasm around. Congrats, cat lady, if only your parents were here to witness such achievement. They would be in tears.”

“Wouldn’t know. Haven’t seen them in a while. Yours?” she shrugged

“Oi! Are you two gonna keep trying to talk each other to death or something?!” Rascal butted in, a vein on his forehead, while Fox seemed...amused.

“Why hello to you to, lady guy. Did you enjoy dating with your match-up there?” The Reuniclus pointed at the bewildered Scep. “But let’s go into the main topic, did you ever learn not to butt into someone’s conversation? Conclusions: Looks like there’s no one to supervise with how impolite your are. Such as pity too, if only there were parents around to help their kids.”

“...” Rascal didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he turned to Fox. “Can I rip this guy in half?”

“Sure. Reuniclus reproduce via subdivision anyway,” Fox shrugged. 

“Wow...for once I feel for Weavile…” Heat sweatdropped from their position. Howl and Echo just nodded awkwardly.

“...I dunno if I should be happy or scared about that,” Rascal sweat dropped. 

Meanwhile, the Hydreigon tried to resist the urge to curse in annoyance. “Will, stay quiet for a moment. This isn’t the time.” Eric hissed under his breath.

“Yeah, whatever, make-up session about to start anyway” Will shrugged. “Of course, by rearranging their face.”

“Alright then. Showtime,” Fox smiled. “Sceptile.”

“Gotcha,” Scep nodded, before turning around, and unleashing a Leaf Storm on them. At the same time, Shade dashed through the haze of leaves, aiming for Will with a Sucker Punch.

For some reason, the Hydreigon and the Reuniclus remain rooted on the spot while Sally stood ways behind the group, also in silence. “Again, Heatwave, Alex!” Eric emphasized the command by pointing one arm to the gang. 

“Switch!” Fox shouted when she heard him, and immediately the entire gang tensed, and jumped over the Heatwave that suddenly shot through the building, missing the brunt of it. When they landed, they immediately looked for the source. 

“I see you clearly have another teammate. Care to join us?” Fox chuckled in amusement. After all, this was getting very thrilling.

“.......no.” The Hydreigon replied simply.

“The guy’s a little shy, but don’t worry, he’ll stick around for the ultimate dish. After all, he’s such a good chef.” Will quipped.

The Fox gang simply watched them  keeping eye on their positions, before Fox chuckled a little, and turning into a laughter. “Not bad. You’re better than last time...or maybe last time was the fluke,” Fox mused. “Alright then, I guess we’ll have to get a little serious. However, do watch yourself to not demolish this building. There are still some people in here.”

“You first, Fox. I’m not falling for it this time.” Eric retorted, not once taking his eyes off his opponent.

“...I’m not kidding. That Aggron made this place pretty unstable, and thanks to fight that happened right before you showed up...yeah, we’re in a safety hazard right now,” Fox simply said.

“Then why don’t you try by knocking us out? Surely, it would be simple for the Phantom Thief Lady Fox to knock out a simple idiot like me and made a mad dash for freedom? Or are you really that stupid not to figure it out? Huh, figured as much.”

“Well then, let’s have some fun,” Rascal grinned, before inhaling deeply. When he exhaled, he let out a massive Icy Wind that made the temperature drop. Fast.

“Alex, Heatwave to cancel the Icy Wind!” And the heat came upon the icy wind full force right above, causing it to dissipate upon impact with each other.

“Hm? Well that’s annoying,” Shade commented. “Weavile’s Icy Wind at full power can’t be canceled out by simple flames. Seems to me you’ve got a strong one this time. Mind if you join the party? Its rather rude to keep hiding when everyone knows you’re around,” Shade idly said. 

“Oh, now you guys think we’re rude? It seems we have hypocrites on our hands, look who is currently dodging attack like they have all the time in the world. You should really sit still, be pretty and get yourself fried.”

“That Reuniclus has issues…” Jonathan couldn’t help but comment. The more he was watching these guys...the more he was wondering if they should even be allowed on the streets. Those weren’t attacks aiming to subdue as far as he could tell. 

“No thanks. I prefer this temperature just fine. Speaking of which, are you sure you should keep using Heat Wave here? Those support pillars don’t look very strong anymore,” Fox pointed out. 

“Then why don’t you use those tricks to bring their state back to what it is once, huh? Oh, I get it, it seems the lady is running out of tricks, honestly, I’m shocked. For a lady who claims to have grace and class had actually faltered for a moment in the face of being crushed. Besides, I think you should be more worried of the chef around here somewhere.” 

Eric wasn’t so worried, in fact, if the building came down, he had two Pokemon who could use Psychic anyway. Just enough for all of them to escape.

“...you all have issues, don’t you?” Fox deadpanned. “Even the authorities back on Earth didn’t try to kill us. And we’re on the most wanted list.”

“I’m...inclined to agree…” Howl commented from their spot. As much as Fox was a headache to them, they never wanted to resort to anything too drastic. These guys were starting to worry them more and more. 

“Heatwave! Don’t leave one standing, knock them out!” Eric commanded the unseen opponent. Then the Heatwave came from behind the gang.

“You know, this is starting to feel like a luau. Too bad we got stuck playing Fire Limbo!” Shade commented as they ducked again. 

Likewise, Jonathan’s group ducked under cover, and when he looked out again, his eyes widened. Just like Fox said, he could see that the intense heat was actually eating away at the supports, as they had already been weakened by the fight with the Aggron. Furthermore, the glimpses he had managed to get of the attacker told him that it had an insectoid form, bright red...wings, and a body shape like a Butterfree or a Dustox, leaving only one candidate. “A Volcarona...this guy’s ordering a Volcarona to shoot Heatwaves...in a building that’s ready to collapse.”

“Is this guy crazy? This place could go down with us in it if he keeps this up,” Echo gulped. 

“So...what are we gonna do about it?” Heat asked. 

Jonathan groaned a little. He honestly wasn’t sure WHAT he should do at this point. 

Eric sensed the groaning of the support pillar, he chewed his lips. “That Heatwave is no good anymore. Might as well go with the other….”

“Yeaaahh...I REALLY think we should all do this another time. I’d rather not have it signed on my grave: Died cause a stubborn trainer insisted on fighting in crumbling building,” Fox interjected, her usual humor disappearing. She really wasn’t liking this guy right now. 

“She’s got a point,” Howl sweatdropped. That did NOT sound like a nice way to go.

“Yeah, thanks for revealing that, lady. It was quite eye catching, at least the brooder still got one more card left, just enough not to collapse the building.”

As if on cue, Eric commanded a new move. “Bug Buzz!”

However just as the attacker came into view...he was hit by a Shadow Ball that came from the side. “That’s quite enough!” came Jonathan’s voice as he and his team stepped in, and this time, he was glaring at the Hydreigon. “Are you people INSANE?! We should all be getting out of here, NOT fighting like a pair of Fletchlings over a berry!” the Lucario said, hoping to restore some sanity to the situation. 

“I’m with Jonathan. I think we can put trying to catch me on hold till after we’re AT LEAST out of this building,” Fox agreed, her team also nodding. 

“No…” The voice of the Salamence behind the gang caught their attention. “I’m not letting you get away again, scum. Not. This. Time!” She snarled

Eric chewed his lips, he knew it would eventually come to this, but he didn’t want to. Once Sally is set on something, he knew there’s no stopping her. At least he knew Bug Buzz won’t collapse a building, what he didn’t expect is that the cop decided to intervene with Alex.

“Are you kidding?” Heat deadpanned. “Look around you, woman! Does this LOOK like a good place to try catching Fox? She won’t go down easily, and she is NOT worth risking our lives over, especially when we can do this once we get out!” The Combusken said in exasperation. This Salamence seemed obsessed for some reason. 

The Salamence’s head snapped toward the Combusken. “Shut up, Combusken. This doesn’t concern you.”

“Actually, this DOES concern us,” Jonathan stated. “I’ve been watching this fight, and from what I’ve been seeing and hearing, I’m starting to wonder if most of the damages to the museum back in Vanhoover were YOUR doing. You all have shown little restraint in using what might be lethal force, casually talk of maiming people, and completely disregard the situation, namely the fact that we have more important things to worry about rather than Fox at the moment!” Jonathan growled. 

“I know I should be a little insulted that I’m suddenly second banana, but I’m with Jonathan. I’d prefer you try catching me when we’re not in a potential death trap,” Fox agreed from behind. 

Eric does sees their point and his resolve faltered for a moment, as if by cue, the Salamence looked back at Eric with a pleading look. Eric shakes his head. “Alex, Bug Buzz, no more Heatwaves or anything Fire-type.”

“Wait wait! Isn’t that just a little excessive, dude?” Scep commented. 

“Don’t you dare! You’ll hit all of us, you overgrown barbeque!” Echo shrieked. 

“You deaf, little lady? And I’m gonna take that as a yes. When the brooder told you to get out of the way, he mean it. You seem to lack brain cells to comprehend how to get away quickly. Besides, we’re out of range, not going to hit us. Probably just minor discomfort.”

“...that does it. We started here chasing after Fox, when we should really be chasing after you all right now! With how you lot are acting, you’re a bigger threat than Fox was!” Howl growled. 

“Now, Alex, take them down!” Eric ignored them and the screeching sound came, before he quickly covered his ears.

However, thanks to the distraction that Jonathan afforded, the Fox gang was able to make a move, and right before the attack hit, they jammed something into the closest people they could reach, Jonathan’s group. The attack hit, and when it ended, everyone was still standing. 

“And I thought you could get obsessive,” Fox chuckled as she pulled something out of his ear. “I only just met this guy once, and he’s already crazy obsessed.”

“What? What did you do just now?” Jonathan blinked, still surprised that the attack hadn’t hurt as much. 

“Earplugs. Never leave home without them,” Rascal smirked as they all removed said earplugs. 

When his mind caught up, Jonathan immediately glared at Eric. “That does it. You all are under arrest! Charges include attempted arson, possibly endangering lives, and attacking officers of the law!” he said, flashing his badge. “Come quietly, and I promise things will go easier for you,” he said, before adding, “The same goes with you, Fox. Despite what you’ve done today, I’m afraid I still have to arrest you.”

“Awwww….and here I was hoping I could get a free pass for exposing the Mayor,” Fox pouted. 

“Oh, looks like the kid is playing investigators again. Figured you would done so sooner or later.” Will quipped.

“...and one account of possible mental instability for the Reuniclus,” Jonathan deadpanned. “So how will we do this? The easy way, or the hard way?”

“If they pick the hard way, I’m helping you. Personally, I find them a little disturbing too,” Fox added. 

Eric began thinking his options inside his mind. On one hand, he could just let Fox walk away so no one would die, on the other hand, that would mean surrendering himself to the cop or he could continue this and hope for the best since he knows by taking Fox outside mean she would have a higher chance of getting away. He tried to think which one is best, and ultimately came to one choice.

The Hydreigon was about to raise his arms in submissions. But that was interrupted by a voice shouting. “No, Eric!”

They all looked at the source of the voice, it was the Salamence again. “We can’t give up! Not yet! Not until the scum is brought down!”

“Geez. What the heck did I do to get to this point? I mean, all I did was beat you guys in a fight. Hardly anything to get so worked up about,” Fox groaned.  

“Yeah, tell that to someone who fights fairly which I mean you, lady.” Will mockingly pointed an arm at Fox.

“I never said it was a fair fight,” Fox snorted. 

“...I want to ask, but somehow I know I won’t like the answer,” Jonathan groaned. “Look...Ms. Salamence, I don’t know what your beef with Fox is, but can’t it wait till AFTER we’re not in a place that might collapse at any minute?”

“No way! I won’t let the scum get out of the building and get away! We will knock her out right here!”

“...sir...your Salamence...needs help. So what is your answer?” Jonathan sighed. He just couldn’t understand why this Salamence was so...hell bent on catching Fox right here, right now. Even HE wasn’t that hell bent, and he had been chasing her for the last 5 years. 

“Sally….maybe we should just…” Eric tried to persuade his Salamence.

But she wasn’t having any of it. “Eric, we can’t! I’m not going to let this scum get away! Scum like her is what make everything worse! Scum that should be wiped out!” 

“...wow, since when did I suddenly get the same treatment as the madmen with doomsday weapons? I’m honestly a little insulted,” Fox deadpanned. “Listen here you, I’m a thief, yes, that I will not deny. But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t lump me in with the psychopaths and other nut jobs that were left on Earth.”

“Shut up! You and they are the same! Eric, you can’t give up!” Sally shot her trainer a pleading look.

Eric gritted his teeth. He shakes his head once more. “I’m sorry for this, officer, but….Alex, Bug Buzz again.”

“Hyper Beam!” Fox barked, before the attack was fired at near point-blank by Shade...though she was sure to watch the power level of the attack, so as not to do any serious damage. Unfortunately, it was not necessary, as the Volcarona vanished, the effects of the Quiver Dances still in effect. “I kinda figured we’d go this way. If this building collapses and kills us, I’m HAUNTING you for the rest of your life...provided you didn’t die as well,” Fox groaned, her voice thick with annoyance. 

“I’ll add ‘resisting arrest’ to your charges,” Jonathan growled. “Echo, find him, then use Air Cutter!”

“Roger!” Echo said, as she let out a wave of sonar, quickly locating the Volcarona, and launching her attack. Unfortunately, no sound of impact is heard.

“While we’re at it, Shadow Ball and Ice Beam!” Fox ordered, as Shade and Rascal obeyed, aiming at Will and Sally respectively. 

“You too, Howl. Shadow Ball. And Heat, Flame Charge!” Jonathan added. 

“Sally, fly up and use Stone Edge!” He turned to address Will. “Will, Double Team and counter with Focus Blast. And Alex, use Hurricane!” The Hydreigon quickly moved out of the way.

Both them and the unseen Volcarona obeyed their trainer without a word. Sally quickly flew up and dodged the Ice Beam and summoned another array of sharp stones while the Reuniclus literally….multiplied, although only copies and prepared a Focus Blast. With the array of stones prepared, Sally launched it toward Rascal and Heat, while Will aimed the Focus Blast toward only Howl then a blast of  powerful wind came. Turns out, Alex had used a Hurricane attack. 

“Okay, this is getting a little annoying,” Jonathan grunted, as they all reacted quickly and didn’t bother fighting the force, rolling with the attack. 

“Blizzard!” Fox barked mid-roll, for which Rascal immediately executed the command the moment he rolled out of the attack toward the landing Salamence. 

“Alex, work with Sally. Heatwave to cancel the Blizzard!” The Volcarona appeared in front of the Salamence, preparing to use Heatwave to support his teammate.

“Not happening! Echo! Dragon Breath!” Jonathan shouted, as the Noibat intercepted the Salamence. The Dragon Breath hit, although not as effective as they hoped to be as the Dragon hardly flinched.

“Toxic,  Liepard!” Fox added, Shade firing the attack at both Alex and Sally while they were preoccupied. 

The ball of poison hit and splattered across the Volcarona’s face causing him to blink out of existence again. The second ball was easily avoided when the Salamence merely tilted her head aside and the ball hit the Aggron lying on the floor behind her instead.

“Again,” Fox simply said, as another Blizzard and Toxic was fired, both aimed at Sally. 

“Howl, Dark Pulse! Heat, Sky Uppercut!” Jonathan ordered, aiming them at Will again. Howl fired first, but this time making the pulses in a wider range, while Heat followed closely behind it, his claws glowing. 

“Not good! Will let the attacks hit! Sally fly up and use Dragon Dance!”

Will just grinned as he felt himself launched into the ceiling and the pulse of darkness hit his entire being. Admittedly, Sky Uppercut didn’t hurt much, compared to Dark Pulse at least, but still his grin is still on his face. Sally dodged the attacks aimed for her, but by gracefully spiralling upward, this in turn caused her eyes to glow red for a moment.

“Toxic, then Venoshock,” Fox calmly said. To Sally’s surprise, she was hit in the face by a glob of poison, followed by intense pain as the poisons were suddenly aggravated.  

“Sally!” Eric gritted his teeth. Things are getting worse with the officer suddenly joining the fray, then a dull thud sounded beside him. Will just fell from the ceiling. “Pain Split, Will. Aim at the Liepard!”

“Not happening! Leaf Storm!” Fox shouted, before she threw a Shadow Ball herself. 

“Bite, and Aerial Ace!” Jonathan added. 

Echo darted immediately, hitting Will before the attack could be launched, followed by 2 hits from the Leaf Storm and the Shadow Ball, ending with Bite to the arm. “Just give it up already! Save us the trouble and your Pokemon the pain!”

“Will!” But Eric noticed that the Mightyena is still attached to Will’s arm. He got one idea. “Use Thunder then strike the Combusken!”

If the Mightyena eyes could have opened wide , his eyes would have rolled out of their sockets As he realized his teeth were still firmly clamped on the Reuniclus’ arms. Will grinned. “One fried...’cough’ dog, coming up!” The smell of ozone started to enter the dog’s nose.

“Flame Charge, Heat!” Jonathan barked, however, the target was not Will, but rather, his arm, allowing him to get Howl out, allowing them to evade MOST of the Thunder attack. They still got a decent blow, unfortunately, sending them spasming to the ground. 

“Help them out! Pursuit!” Fox shouted, to which Shade charged forward as well. 

But they forgotten the fact that there’s still one enemy and that enemy appeared in front of the Liepard. “Now, Hurricane!” The poisoned Volcarona send a large blast of wind that sent the feline flying back.

“Venoshock!” Fox followed up, as two more shots came from the ceiling, hitting Alex in the split second where he just finished the attack. 

The Sun Pokemon is helpless as he fell down and hit the floor with a thud. “Alex!” Surprisingly, the moth still floated up, although with difficulty. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay...’cough’ ‘cough’, I mean, I think so…” Alex nodded.

“Seriously, let’s stop this already,” Fox sighed. “Your team is at a disadvantage...and we’re STILL in a crumbling building...which I think is getting worse.”

“She’s right. This is getting us nowhere,” Jonathan agreed. 

As much as Eric hate to admit it, he knows he was in over his head and was thinking of just going away and forgetting all about this. And yet, his stubborn Salamence was still having none of it. “I’m. Not. Letting. You. Get. Away!”

“...is she serious?!” Fox gaped. 

“...she isn’t going to shut up till we knock her out, is she?” Jonathan sighed. 

Eric chewed his lips, he just hoped for the best at this point. He knew that Will had taken a lot of damage at this point, about the same amount of damage as Alex, and therefore he wasn't going to be able to end the fight quickly. “Will, finish the Pain Split, aim for Fox this time. And Alex….ready yourself.”

“Dude, you got a problem,” Scep deadpanned, before firing a Leaf Storm at Will. 

Sally, quickly came forward and landed in the path of the Leaf Storm before firing her signature Flamethrower at it. Alex came to assist as he appeared with Heatwave ready, burning all the leaves away.

The Pain Split was fired, but at this point Fox was expecting it, so using a Smoke Bomb she managed to evade it. “This is getting ridiculous. Johnny-boy, let’s end this.”

“Yeah...I guess you’re right,” Jonathan sighed, before Fox reappeared and both nodded to their teams. 

A barrage of Flamethrower, Venoshock, Leaf Storm, Blizzard, Hyper Beam, Dark Pulse, and even a Shadow Ball were fired at the opposing Pokemon. 

“Dammit, Alex use-” Using the last of his strength, the fire moth attempted to protect his teammate and trainer by casting a transparent barrier before the command is made. The attacks pelted the Protect barrier without any risk of breaking through. The attacks settled soon and the barrier flickered away, but the caster on the other hand had collapsed into his side and slipped into unconsciousness. The poison finally did it’s job.

“Alex!” Eric went toward the fallen Pokemon and clutched the moth to his chest.

“Last chance. Give it up already,” Jonathan growled. 

Will for once, didn’t say a thing as he breathed heavily behind the group while Sally looked at her fallen teammate in sadness. Then the pain from the poison shot through her again, causing her to grit teeth. “No….not gonna happen. I’m going to finish this for Alex!”

The next thing she got was a Shadow Ball to the face. “Are. You. A. Freakin. IDIOT?!” Fox shouted, her patience finally running out. “Look around you. Your friends can’t fight anymore. Our teams have been hurt, though not as badly. And we’re STILL in a building that looks ready to crumble! And for what?!” she shouted, and as if on cue, one of the pillars fell down. “See?”

Out of the smoke from the Shadow Ball that had impacted the Salamence’s face, she seemed largely unamused, seemingly not paying the attack any mind. All of them suddenly felt ‘intimidated’ and took a step back. “Eric, give me my order! I will crush them!”

Jonathan shook his head to get rid of the ‘fear’. “Choose your orders carefully!” Jonathan growled, as he and his team tensed up. “Wrong choice, and I WON’T be held responsible for what might happen!”

“...........” Eric stared with a straight face while still clutching the injured Volcarona to his chest. Then he spoke. “.....stand down!”

Sally was shocked to say at least. She glanced over her shoulder to her trainer. “....what?” 

“Stand down, girl! It’s over, it’s not worth it.”

“But…..” The look her trainer gave her forced her to sigh and nod her head in compliance. “....fine!”

“Good,” Jonathan nodded. “Now let’s get out of here!” just as he said that, another pillar collapsed, and soon a few more followed. 

“I agree! Let’s go!” Fox agreed, as she and her team turned tail and ran for the nearest exit. “See you guys around! You better not die!” and with that, she was about to exit the door. But before she could, a familiar heat came upon her. Fox sighed in annoyance before sidestepping with ease, not noticing what had been set alight. 

“...you really have problems…” Jonathan deadpanned when he saw that, but shook his head, before running towards the exit with his team. Along the way, they noticed that Green Lead was still embedded in the wall. “...I really want to leave you, but that’s not what I should do,” he sighed, before pulling out the corrupt pony from the wall and running out with him. 

“We should get out too. Unless, someone plan to make a cream splatter out of us.” Will floated out the door.

Sally for once, agreed, but the smile on her face couldn’t be missed by Eric who she had passed on her way to the exit. For in fact, she had noticed what had been set alight by her ‘goodbye’ Flamethrower.

Eric was the only one left in the building, he stared upward at the collapsing ceiling. Yet none of the small pieces of debris hit him as he silently stared. In the background he could hear Sally’s voice call out to him. Eric closed his eyes before calmly floating out the hole Sally had made earlier, while the destruction of the warehouse continued to rage on behind him. He cradled Alex like a mother would.





While this was all going on, unseen to the Pokemon, Grumble was trying to recover from the massive pain caused by the impact of the Iron Tail. He began cursing and muttering every single Pokémon he knew (which weren’t many) and was already planning on how he would get them all killed. The pain didn’t allow him to stand up, yet he knew he had to get away from his current location. The earth was violently shaking, and the building behind him looked like if it was about to collapse in thousands of pieces, at any minute, one of those pieces could land on him and finish him off completely. Grumble began crawling towards the woods, as he was thinking on who to call for help. 

“Need any help, sweetheart?” A sensual feminine voice said from the darkness, Grumble recognized this voice, he had heard it many times before, it was the voice of his savior.

“Good Celestia, Sphinx. You have no idea how glad I am that you are here. Grumble searched for the origin of the voice, and found the griffin hiding in the shadows of the trees. “Now come here and help me out.” Yet as Sphinx walked towards him, Grumble’s expression changed to one of hate. The typically fancy and educated Griffin was now dressed in a black leather jacket, no make-up, and a Talonflame standing on her raised wing. On her jacket, a golden insignia which showed a crossed feather and a sword, with text of a language unknown to the pony gave hints of the griffin’s secret. “You… you traitor…”

“If anyone here is a traitor, it’s you, Grumble. When we got news of the mayor of Tall Tale being involved in some shady business, we had to get involved. I was born here, so I was the best candidate to infiltrate into your dumb groups, and act like another timber-wolf in the herd of ponies. You were all too focused on your wealthiness that you didn’t notice that one pony working for me was leaking information to third parties and those third parties shared the information with those that completely obliterated your plans. And now, it has all lead to this, you are out of the game, Grumble. I already gave most of the money of your personal bank accounts to all the citizens of Tall Tale, equally distributed to even the poorest of ponies. Neither you nor the group of idiots that you commanded have any money left anymore.” She said tauntingly. “Its a good thing I kept an eye on things, or else that mare might not have found half of the dirt she did on you and your group.”

“I swear.. I’ll get you and your damn group killed!” Grumble shouted, but he was shocked when Sphinx grabbed his head with her claws, getting him into a precarious position. She looked at him eye-to-eye, and left out a wide grin.

“Come on, Grumble, is that really the way to speak to a lady? Besides, you already lost, honey, it’s over.” Sphinx dropped Grumble’s head, who tried to stand up, only to be stomped by Sphinx,causing some minor injuries on his back,. “Don’t even bother, your friends will find you soon enough. These Pokémon, such amazing creatures, we could definitely use them, don’t you think?” 

“Milady, it is almost time” The Talonflame interrupted

“Is that so? Shame. Flame, darling, I’ll need you to travel to Las Pegasus and meet our friends, tell them that I will arrive rather late to our meeting. The Tall Tale operation was a success, yet I have a new mission of my own, something that may benefit us greatly,” Sphinx replied

“Understood” As the Talonflame left the scene, Grumble began laughing, and coughing.

“Oh, I see you regained your sense of humor, what’s so funny?” Sphinx chuckled, placing a claw on his throat

“You idiot just revealed the location of your friends. I could give that information to anyone, I have my contacts, and you know it.”

“Oh Grumble, you are as naive as always. Las Pegasus is a vast city, and we are just a clandestine group looking to solve the world’s problems. Good luck finding us though, you will definitely need it. Well, I’m afraid I can not chat any longer. I’d say I had fun, but I didn’t. Don’t miss me, darling!” As she said this, she raised her claw, and violently slapped Grumble, knocking him down. 

“Now where did that Champion go?” Sphinx asked herself, before flapping her wings and leaving the area. 







Jonathan and his team were outside as they saw the building crumble. Fortunately, the one good thing of the destruction of the central support pillars was that the building crumbled in on itself. “That was a little too close,” Heat sighed. 

“You can say that again. So...what happened to that Hydreigon?” Howl pointed out.

Upon his words, the group looked around and noted that true enough, the Hydreigon and his team were not present. “...you don’t think they were still in there, do you?” Echo commented.

“...we’re digging!” Jonathan gasped, before he, Heat, and Howl started digging through the wreckage. After half an hour, all they found was the unconscious, and half buried Aggron from before. Seeing the lack of blood or moans of pain, they surmised that they must have escaped through another exit. “They got away, huh...probably through that hole in the roof they made,” Jonathan sighed. “Oh well, for now we’d better get back to the guard station. We’ll deal with this when we get there.” And with that, they left the wreckage (though Heat piled on more wreckage on the Aggron. The last thing they wanted was it waking up and going on another rampage if it got out).





“Daaang. We REALLY trashed the place,” Rascal whistled. 

“Let’s not make this a habit,” Shade commented. 

“Awww...but where’s the fun in that?” Scep chuckled. 

“Either way, good work everyone. Let’s get out of here though. The evidence against Grumble was already...hey, is something cooking?” Fox asked. 

The others looked at her and gulped. “Er...you?” Shade offered. 

Fox blinked, then noticed that part of her mane was on fire. “...I’M ON FIRE!!!!!” She starting to run around like a headless Torchic, attempting to put out the flames that were starting to engulf her mane.

“I got it!” Rascal shouted, before firing an icy wind at the spot, putting out the flame, but also freezing her in the process. “Well played,” she begrudgingly thought. “I think I finally found another rival...provided he keeps that Salamence on a tighter leash,” she couldn’t help but think. 





When Jonathan and his team got back to the station, they were surprised to find that Grumble had been found...unconscious on the doorstep of the Guard Station. “...what did we miss?” Jonathan couldn’t help but ask Golden Star when he saw him.

“I am not sure, Jonathan. When we got here after evacuating the area and retreating, we realized that Grumble was nowhere to be seen. As we were getting ready to look for him, this Pokémon was dragging him down, and left him on the doorstep. Possibly the oddest of Pokémon I have seen yet. He was floating like if gravity didn’t exist, black and purple, and had heads for hooves; heck, he seemed to be wearing a wristwatch like if he was just another pony. He dropped Grumble and left, no one was able to ask questions, maybe the shock, maybe the confusion, who knows.” He explained, scratching his head.

“Well...at least he got out no problem,” Howl shrugged. 

“Yeah...that was probably the same Hydreigon from Vanhoover,” Jonathan sighed. “At least now we got Grumble too. Now all that’s left is building a case. Guess we’d better start looking for evidence.”

“That won’t be necessary, Jonathan… this is by far the weirdest day I ever had.” Golden Star chuckled, “An officer that stayed here found this huge package filled with documents, receipts, photos… enough evidence to put Grumble and his direct subordinates to jail forever.” As he explained this, the Chief walked to a counter nearby, and grabbed the huge bag filled with papers, and dropped it on the floor next to Jonathan.

“Where in the world did these come from?” Jonathan gasped when he saw the pile of evidence. 

“We still don’t know, but we sure are glad we have them. Today, so many heroes have fought against Grumble, both on the front lines, and in the shadows. Tall Tale will be able to grow more than ever thanks to you, and to every pony and Pokémon involved. “ The old pony chuckled

“Yeah...guess you’re right,” Jonathan nodded, as he picked up the folder...then noticed a small stitch on it. Tugging at it, a card fell out. A card depicting a black Zoroark head. “Go figure. I should have known it was her,” Jonathan chuckled. 

“You know, she ain’t as bad as you made her. Given, she is still a thief, but a different kind of thief. Who knows, maybe she can get to the good guys’ side one day, I bet she would be one of the greatest detectives around.” 

“Maybe. But I’ll still have to catch her first,” Jonathan mused, before shrugging. “I really wonder sometimes…”

“Hey, I just thought of something. With the Mayor being arrested, who’s gonna run the city now?” Echo pointed out. 

“That is a really good question, a question I’d love to answer myself.  With the current events, the destruction, the corruption, the political state in which Tall Tale is right now. I doubt many would be good candidates to take Tall Tale out of this mess.” As Golden Star let out a loud sigh, a unicorn mare, also dressed in a guard uniform, trotted up to them. 

“Sir, if its alright, I would like to say something,” she started. 

“Go ahead, soldier,” Golden Star said, not really paying attention to the mare. 

“If I may, right now Tall Tale needs a leader they can trust. A leader who is honest and thinks of the people before himself,” she said. “I think you might be that leader, sir,” she finished, before walking away. 

“...she...has a point,” Howl couldn’t help but say.

“Me?” The old colt laughed, “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly be honorable enough to fulfil that duty”

“Dad,” A voice said from behind him, a young light brown pegasus got closer to him, and hugged him with his wings, “You are honest, caring, loyal, generous, and the best father I could ask for. You are a leader by nature, just look at what you have accomplished today!” 

“He’s right, you know. Since we came to this city, you’ve been the one who was always helpful, didn’t judge us solely for being Pokemon, and in general, you’ve been one of the best officers I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know,” Jonathan nodded. 

“He isn’t kidding. Otherwise he wouldn’t have blown his stack on Green Lead like he did earlier,” Heat agreed. 

“Not proud of how I did it, but I am NOT sorry about pummeling him. Trash like him doesn’t deserve to wear a badge,” Jonathan grunted. 

“I feel… honored. Me, as a Mayor. Mayor Golden Star…”

“It has a certain ring to it, dad. I like it.” Silver Star smiled. As as he said this, all the officers presented started showing their support, many of them giving out their experiences with the Chief and the good times they had. 

“I guess… I guess I can try. I will postulate myself for the next elections, after all, it is up to the town if they want me or not.” He raised his hoof and saluted his partners in arms. “I appreciate the help each and everyone of you have given me over the years. And you Jonathan,” He looked at the Lucario, and grinned “It was an honor working with you, even if it was for a brief time. As the current leader of Tall Tale’s safety department, I am obliged to give you this.” Golden Star walked to a shelf that was located in the middle of the room, and grabbed a black box with the insignia of the police force drawn on it. He opened it, and took out a small round blue badge, with silver lining, simple, yet impressive. “This, my friend, is the Badge Magnanimum, the badge for the brave and the good hearted, a badge given to those whose acts resemble the ones of the adventurers that funded this city. This is exclusive for honorary members of our police force, something so you can always remember us. Plus, as a reward of aiding with a rank A criminal, Tall Tale’s Security Department gives you 150 bits for you to use freely.”

Jonathan for his part didn’t know what to say. “I...I’m honestly honored, sir. But...I can’t accept this. I mean, I’ve only been here for 2 days at most, and even then, I haven’t done all that much,” he said honestly.

“I say that he deserves it!” An officer exclaimed 

“He was the best fighter among all of us!” Another one pointed out 

“Without him we would have lost as soon as they arrived in the area!” Another voice called

“The public demands it, Jonathan. Don’t go all humble now, you deserve it. This is a gift, from the entire city, to you: We owe you the harmony of Tall Tale, this is the least we can do.”

“Wow, if you put it that way…” Heat grinned, causing Jonathan to sigh, though he wasn’t upset.

“Alright then. Thank you very much. Its also been an honor working with all of you,” Jonathan smiled as he accepted the badge, and put it on, right next to his Officer Badge.. 

As the crowd cheered and laughed, Silver Star stood up and exclaimed “Let’s go celebrate with some Apple Cider, the drinks are on me!” The cheer became louder, and everyone started leaving the room. 

“Jonathan, I’ll get ya your reward later, tonight, let’s celebrate with the guys, what do you say?” Golden Star smiled, pointing at the exist

“Well, alright, how could we refuse,”Jonathan chuckled. “Alright then, let’s go.” At this, his team joined in the cheering. 





As this was happening, the mare from earlier slunk out of the office unseen. When she was out of the building, she quickly took the uniform off, and wiped off the make-up she was wearing, revealing herself to be Info Scoop. “Looks like my work here is done for now,” she smiled, patting herself on the back. However, as she walked down an alleyway, another voice called out to her. 

“Scoop? We need to talk.”

Ending theme: