ToT Ch 2 - Part 2: The search of the lost items

After the registration of the new team, they headed to ‘Corn’. He assigned them to a lettuce field. Katrina and Brandon collected them with the help of another farmer while Sabine was watching him and Cornelius, their surroundings. When they finished, they did one last patrol, encountering two more bandits; these ones only coming for a bit of food. Later, they reported that their work was done. Sinclair thanked them for their help and wished them luck. They stopped near a tree to rest.

“I guess we’re done here” Katrina said.

“You said that we only have to help the farmers, right?” Brandon asked.

“Yipi; that was the only task we had here”

“So we’re heading to Tabira now” Sabine said.

“That’s the idea”

“Excuse me?” Someone said.

They turned around and saw Alice near them.

“Hi Alice; how are you doing?” Katrina greeted.

“I’m fine, thanks; hey, I need your help” She said.

“What do you need?”

“Look, we have a lot of stuff that is missing”

“How so?” Brandon asked.

“We don’t exactly know how; it's just random stuff being stolen from random people, from Tabira all the way up to Fableton”

“You mean all the area between the city and the town?” Cornelius asked.

“Correct, and they could be anywhere”

“That’s a lot of ground to cover” Katrina admitted.

“Yeah, but you can focus on the area of this town; other teams will search in the other parts”

“And when we find them, we should bring it to you?” Brandon asked.

“It will be better if you return the objects to their owners; I have a list of them” She gave it to Katrina. “You can look for me when you have found some of them to tell you where the people live”

“Okiie; we’ll do our best” Katrina said.

“Good luck to all of you”

When she was gone, they discussed how they should proceed.

“You’re taking a tall mission; you know that?” Sabine said.

“We don’t have to find a lot of items, only five of them”

“But where we should start to look?” Brandon asked.

“Hmm; I think we should start in the town, and then we’ll head to the forest to check”

“We have to split up if we want to find them faster” Cornelius suggested, causing Brandon to get nervous.

“Okiie; that should work”

When they were about to disperse, Katrina approached to Brandon and whispered near his ear.

“I saw that you didn’t like the idea, but I ask you to do it” She said.

“W-why? If I do something with…” Brandon started.

“Listen, we only have to find the objects, nothing special; and if we want Sabine to at least get used to you, you have to work with her”

“O-okay”

“Don’t worry; you’ll be fine, I know you can do it”

Katrina took one street; Cornelius, another; and Brandon and Sabine, another one. The pair walked for quite some time, looking into the barrels, below the wagons, behind the houses, everywhere they could think; mostly the Absol, because the Vulpix was more focused on keeping an eye out of him.

When they were searching on the trees, Sabine decided it was time to learn something from him.

“Okay witch; time to answer some questions” She said in a rude tone.

“U-um, o-kay”

“Who was your mentor?”

“Um… he was an Alakazam”

‘I think it’s the same my mentor took down’ She thought. “His name?”

“I don’t know; he never told me”

“What did he taught you?”

“Only basic spells”

“And how do you explain your control over the water?”

“W-well, I think is just because I like it”

“Just like that? Your mentor didn’t teach you anything about that?”

“N-no; that was something I was doing more for distraction in the few moments I had to rest”

“And did you make any errands for him?”

“He never let me out; I was secluded in his house in one of the rooms”

‘Okay, this is starting to get weird; my mentor said that the only witch he found was the Alakazam in his hideout, but he said that he was always inside his house; how is it possible to not being able to sense him?’ She thought.

“Um, are you’re going to ask me something else?”

“For now I’m done”

“Okay” He said a little relieved.

After one hour, they reunited near the forest.

“Did you find anything?” Katrina asked.

“Yep; we have the emblem and the Flareon plushie” Brandon said, showing them.

“Nice, I didn’t have luck; what about you, Cornelius?”

“I found the picture and the chair”

“Why someone would steal a chair? It’s kinda stupid” Sabine commented.

“I dunno; but we have to find the ruby amulet”

“I guess it’s not in the town” Brandon said.

“Nice observation, captain obvious” Sabine said rolling eyes.

“Don’t treat him like that; he doesn’t have to know it”

“Hmpf”

“We better start searching now; the afternoon has already advanced” Cornelius suggested.

They headed into the forest. The recent memories were appearing in both Brandon and Sabine’s heads. After walking for quite some time, they reached a pool.

“Huh; it’s the same place I almost got you and you escaped from me with that crappy move” Sabine said.

“Sorry” Brandon apologized.

“Just stop saying that; it feels weird”

“Maybe we should take a break?” Katrina suggested.

“A few minutes should be enough; if we stay for too long, we’ll have to sleep in the town again” Cornelius said.

When everyone sat down, Brandon headed to the pool to drink water. ‘The last time I really needed it, now it’s only to quench my thirst; kind of ironic if I think of it’ He thought. When he finished, he looked to his reflection again. Compared to his image, two days before, he was way better. His eyes were showing calm. Then something caught his attention. A red bright was coming from the bottom.

“Uh, guys? What is that thing in the bottom of the pool?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” Katrina asked.

“Look”

When they were on his side, they saw the same red bright.

“I dunno what it is; I can hardly see it” Katrina admitted.

“Should we pick it?” Brandon asked.

“I’m not good at swimming”

“Water is not my element” Cornelius said.

“Considering before, mine neither” Sabine said.

“So we leave it there?” Brandon asked.

“Hmm; why don’t you use your magic? You said that you can manipulate water”

Sabine raised an eyebrow and looked to Brandon, who was getting nervous for the request.

“Um, I don’t really know; I-I mean I can, but…”

“*Sigh* Look, there are only three Pokémon with you now; at least Cornelius and I will not judge you for that”

“Thanks for the mention” Sabine said sarcastically.

“Try to concentrate in only grabbing it, like a piece of paper”

“Okay; I’ll try” Brandon said.

He looked to the pool and chanted another spell in his mind. In it, a paw like his one, made of compressed water, appeared. It moved to the bright and grabbed the object. When he pulled out of the water and placed on the ground, they saw an amulet with a silver circular border and the ruby stone in the center.

“I guess we found the amulet” Brandon said, scratching his head.

“And with it, we ended with the search” Katrina said.

“But I’m a bit curious about the amulet”

“What do you mean?” Cornelius asked.

“This is something witches would carry; to perform some of their spells”

“The amulet wasn’t modified for that purpose” Brandon explained.

“How can you be so certain?”

“Well, my first lesson was to sense traces of magic in enchanted objects; normally they glow if they’re touched by a witch or anyone who manipulates it”

“Prove it”

He grabbed the amulet and showed to them.

“Nothing” Katrina said.

“That means you can alert us if we’re dealing with dangerous objects” Cornelius said.

“I think so”

‘Okay, that’s new; what else do you know, witch?’ Sabine thought.

“We better head back and find Alice” Katrina said.

“Let’s get moving, then” Cornelius said.

Later, they found Alice, showing her all the objects of the list. Following her, they returned them to the respective owners. For Brandon, it was strange to receive gratitude; it was something he never experienced before; feeling that for once, he did a good thing. Once they were done, they headed back to Tabira, with Cornelius carrying the trio on his shoulders.

It was almost night time when they arrived at the warehouse. Everyone, excepting Cornelius, was tired. He knocked the door a little and Emma opened the door.

“Welcome back Kat, Cornelius; how was the work at the farms?” She asked.

“A little longer than expected, actually; we also did another mission of Alice to find missing stuff” Katrina explained.

“I see; and who are the Absol and the Vulpix?”

“He’s Brandon and she’s Sabine; we encountered them there”

“Um, hi” Brandon greeted.

“Hi” Sabine said in a plain tone.

“Hey, Emma…”

“You want them to stay with us?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“You don’t bring somebody in the night from a far place just to say hi, am I correct?”

“Eheh; yipi”

“You’ll have to help me with Cornelius to accommodate the other beds”

“Okiie”

They took little time in place the beds and prepare them. After that, they ate delicious berries Emma bought in the afternoon. The tiredness was enough for them to call the day in that moment. Brandon couldn’t sleep and waked up in the middle of the night. He approached to the window and stood there. Sabine heard his movement and watched him from the bed. But he wasn’t the only one, because Katrina sat next to him.

“Are you okiie?” Katrina asked.

“Oh, sorry if I awake you” Brandon apologized.

“No need, I couldn’t sleep either; so, what’s going on in your mind?”

“A lot of things; I… I never saw a city in my life”

“You haven’t been in one?”

“No”

“And where are you from?”

“I don’t remember” He said with a bit of depression.

“And your parents?”

“Never met them”

“Oh… sorry”

“Um, I think that’s okay”

“It’s not, just from hearing your voice it tells me that is a touchy subject for you”

“Okay”

‘… I thought the Alakazam was his father; guess I was wrong on that one’ Sabine thought.

“Katrina, where are we going tomorrow?”

“First we’re going to Mosswood; from a note I’ve read, we have to provide help to a Glaceon named Cris to treat the people from a strange illness that is affecting the town”

“Is it contagious?”

“I don’t know; but she mentioned she would explain everything once we get there; other teams said that it isn’t contagious, so we should be fine”

“*Yawn* I hope”

“We better go to sleep; I really need a rest”

“Me too”

They returned to the beds and fell asleep. Only Sabine was still awake, but with her eyes closing. ‘Medical assistance is not what I had in mind; but if he goes there, I have to follow him; I hope tomorrow won’t be a boring day’ She thought.