ToT Chapter 2 - Part 2: Work at Mooswood

 The next morning Alex and Zack packed up everything they’ll need and put their gear on. Then they went to the wagons on the outside of Tabira. Xavier and Jack went earlier than them, because Jack has the task of find more bandits on the zone, while Xavier went to Rivercross Acres to “piss of” some bandits and farmers alike. On the way, all of the teams started to appear and in silence, they’ve reach their destination. Peach was talking to a zorua before joining them. They looked to each other and Alex said:

“Everyone ready?”

They all nodded.

“Then let’s get this day started”

And the wagon started to move to Mosswood. After some time they reached the town. Everyone went down. Alex approached to Peach and talked to her.

“You’re going to find your mother, too?” He asked

“Y-yeah” She answered.

“Alright, see you later and good luck”

“S-same t-to you” And they went to their respective missions.

The entire group, except for Peach, went into Mosswood, but something was happening with team Electrophilic, they fighting with each other. Since the idea was all of them working together, Alex went to intervene in the discussion.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” He asked.

“Stella was trying to do the mission with a reckless method” Stephan explained.

“No, it’s not; that way it will be faster” She said.

“Have you ever heard what you say?” Stephan said.

“Stop it, nerdy brother!”

“You’re still irresponsible –“

“Enough, both of you” Alex ordered. “Stephan, you have a lot of intellect, but you don’t even accept another possibility that is not in your mind; and you Stella, you have strength, but you need the council of others and think before act”

Both of them went silent and lowered their heads.

Alex continued. “Maybe you don’t see it, but you complement each other; what you really need to do is help the other in what is weak, not rubbing it in front of the face; that is a way to beat you without a real fight, okay?

“Okay” They answered.

“We need both of you, not one; only together you will succeed”

Once the discussion was over, they went with the rest of the group. Then Zack extracted the list of the missions and started to talk.

“Alright, from here we have three missions to accomplish; the medical aid, the lost items and Leite’s innocence. We’ll distribute according of what we talked and get these missions done”

“Our team and team Emblem’s flame will search for the lost items on the road between Rivercross Acres and Fableton” Diego said.

“While our team and team Electrophilic provide proof that Leite didn’t stole the books” Horace said.

“And us and team Shadow foxes help the doctors” Sonya finished.

“Exactly; remember, if you have trouble with any of the missions, wait the others so we can all help” Alex said.

With the distributions cleared, they dispersed to do the missions.

Sonya, Yang, Alex and Zack went directly to the hospital to meet up with Cris. Alex was carrying a box with him, who caught Sonya’s attention.

“What’s in the box?” She asked.

“Seeds” Alex answered.

“Seeds? Why?”

“These are not normal seeds. We brought with them when we came to Tabira. I think they could be useful in this case”

“For what exactly?”

“Just wait and see”

They reached where Cris was waiting.

“Doctor, we’re here to aid you” Zack explained.

“Oh thanks, I was wondering when you’re come. Let’s get inside, please” She said and they all got in.

There were a lot of beds with sick Pokémon.

“I never expected to be this bad” Alex said.

“That’s why you need to administrate the medicine we’ve prepared. If you have any healing abilities, that would do it too” Cris explained.

“I think I can do that” Sonya offered and went immediately with Yang to do that.

“I really appreciate it” Cris said.

“And we’re going to try another method” Alex said and put his box on a table and opened it.

“These are seeds?” Cris asked when she looked at them.

“Heal seeds. There are different variants. This one can cure any illness, but they cost a lot, because produce them will take a lot of time and only harvest a few of them” Alex explained. “As the sick Pokémon cannot eat it, we have to grind it and mix it with some juice”

“That could work, can you do that?” She asked.

“Leave that to us” Zack said.

They took it some time to get all the things needed, like oran berries, glasses, knifes, a manual grinder and a big jar. Then Alex started grinding half of the heal seeds while Zack was cutting the oran berries and squeezing them to obtain the juice. When they had one third parts done, the other teams appeared. Alex looked at them and asked:

How are you doing?

“We found some medical books from the scholars in the trees” Daniel said.

“Bring them to Cris, because I think she’ll need them right now. Then, help us with this”

“On it” And he went with Marth to return them.

“The questioning of Leite is in one more hour, so we have that time to find some proofs” Stephan explained.

“Well, the medical books are part of the proof, but we need more evidence. Help us finish this, so we have more time” Zack said.

“Understood” Horace said.

In eleven minutes, they finished with the healing juice.

“Now it’s time for the real test” Alex sentenced.

They chose a Piplup, since he was in the worst condition. They made him drink the juice and waited. After a few minutes, it started to have effect and the illness, subside.

“Our juice worked. Now to give them to the others” Zack said.

At the same time, Sonya’s heal bell was helping a lot. Since Zack don’t want her to be tired, she called her to drink some water and give the juice instead. Moments later, all of the patients were recovering. Cris was impressed.

“This is amaizing. Thank all of you for your efforts. Do you think we can have some of the heal seeds too?” She asked.

“I can arrange that and try to lower the price so you can buy them, but they’ll take some time to reach Tabira” Zack explained.

“That’ll do it, thank you again and that reminds me. We have some additional first aid kits. You can have them if you want”

“We’re really appreciated it” Alex said.

Before they could leave, Yang asked if she could stay behind and took care of the patients, just in case something happens. Alex said that it’s a decision of her and Sonya, but that he has no problems with that. Finally, Sonya agreed of left her behind.

Outside the hospital, Zack extracted the paper again and with a pencil, he crossed out the mission.

“One down, two to go”

“We have half an hour to find those books and help Leite” Stella said.

“Not much time left” Gary said.

“Guys, if you don’t mind, can I go with Leite?” Sonya asked.

Zack interpreted what she was going to do and asked: “How long you can hold them off?”

“Enough time to have the evidence in our hands” She said.

“Then we have to do this faster” Diego suggested.

“Alright, let’s get moving then, good luck” Alex said.

“Same to you” She said and she went off to find Leite.

Finding the books was really difficult, since no one knows where they could be. They searched on the trees, in the streets, on the roofs, any place they could think. While Diego and Hybris were looking in some barrels, they found another book with a note attached. They went directly to Alex and shower to him. He recalled the entire group and informed of what the paper say.

 “It’s a note from Jack. He says that an elgyem and a staravia were holding the missing books in a hill to the north and they planned to take them away”

“We need to defeat them in order to recover the books” Marth said.

“Correct, but we’re not going straight to them. We’re going to surround them. Then attack with ranged and fast attacks, so they don’t have time to respond” Alex explained.

“Guerrilla tactics?” Zack asked with a smile on his face.

“Yep” He answered.

“I’m starting to like this plan” Horace said.

“Then let’s set it in motion”

They took some minutes to reach the hill. Horace and Zack went ahead to spot the bandits position. Once they were sure that was them and the disposition of the terrain and the trees, they headed back and planned the ambush. Marth and Alex went to the other side, circling the pair and waited. From the position of Zack, Horace and Gary were on the left; Stella, Diego and Hybris, on the right; and Stephan was accompanying him. When the time came, he told to Stephan:

“Use Helping Hand and give the signal to start the attack”

He did it and he launched a small lightning to the sky. The bandits were slightly blinded, enough to not see them coming. Zack launched a Dark Pulse against the elgyem. At the same time, Horace was throwing an Energy Ball to the elgyem, too. Gary launched a Thunderbolt and Stella, an Electro Ball against the staravia. When they were disorientated; Marth, Alex, Diego and Hybris with the Sol technique, Thunder Punch powering the katanas, and a combination of Night Slash and Flame Blast, respectively, defeated the duo and knocked them down.

“It was fantastic and exciting! A good way to knock down your enemies in one singe move” Hybris said.

“A clean strategy with a perfect result” Marth recognized.

“It was so long since we did this. It’s good to see it didn’t lose the sharpness” Zack commented.

“Now we have the bandits and the books. Enough evidence of Leite’s innocence” Stephan assured.

“Then let’s get back with all of this. Sonya will definitely need it” Stella said.

The questioning started twelve minutes ago, so they had to move faster. Zack went ahead and asked where Leite was and a pidgey said that it was two squares ahead from his position, then to the right and the third house of the left side. They regrouped outside and Alex went to the door and knocked. Addy opened and asked.

“Are you here to help me?”

“Correct. Is Sonya inside?” Alex asked

“Yes. She’s trying to convince them that Leite is innocent right now. She said that you went to find proofs”

“We have them” He said and they showed up the books and the bandits.

“That’s good. Come inside” Addy said and they all went in.

Sonya was a little red, since she started to defend Leite. Trying to prove her innocence without anything wasn’t a good start. The questioning was halted when Alex knocked the door. When she saw them, she felt a little relieved. She approached to Alex and Zack and asked.

“You found what we need?”

“Yeah. Turns out, the elgyem and the staravia we brought with us were responsible for the stolen books. That should be enough evidence” Zack explained

“Damn. You know how to do it fast. I thought you were taking longer than expected, since it was a lot of area to cover” She said.

“We have experience and Jack as our own scout. You’ll do the rest?” Alex asked.

“Of course; now with this, I can defend her properly”

“Then we’ll stay back and let you to it, since you’re representing her” He decided.

“Thanks guys, you really are good allies”

“Go for it” Zack encourage her.

She nodded. When the questioning restarted, she said that she has new evidence of the case and showed the missing books and the bandits. She explained that they were responsible of the stealing and Leite wasn’t involved in anything. She asked for teams Shadow foxes and Harvester to awake them and make them confess. Since Zack was good at making people talk, he used the exact words and they spited it out. With that, Leite was declared innocent.

“I really thank all of you. No one believes me that I didn’t do it” Leite said later.

“To who you’re really thanking is Sonya. She was the one who defended you after all. We only found the evidence she needed” Alex said.

Sonya was speechless. She looked at Alex with a surprised face, not expecting that kind of humble.

“I know, but all of you worked together to help me. You’ll deserve some of the credit, too”

“Guys, you really did it. Thanks a lot” Adda said.

“You’re welcome” Zack responded.

“As a reward, would you be interested in a camera?” He asked.

“A camera?” Gary asked.

“Yup, it’s a device it can help you to take photographs. The photographs are images of yourselves, like your reflex in the water and records your moments”

“That is good. I don’t know the others, but we want it” Alex said.

“If you can, take a photograph of all of us together” Horace suggested.

“When we get back from the mission rush, we’ll take one” Zack accepted.

“I’m looking forward to it” Stella said excited.

After that, they went to pick up Yang at the hospital. Zack took off the paper again and crossed out the second mission.

“Only one left here” He said.

“Now we have to disperse on the road between Fableton and Rivercross Acres and find all the missing items” Horace declared.

“Just in case, I informed Alice that your teams are helping, too, but you’ll finish your missions before that” Diego said.

“Thanks Diego. Did she give you the list of the items and the respective owners?”  Alex asked.

“I have it” Marth said and gave the paper.

Alex read it.

“There are twenty-four objects that we need to find, discounting the books from the scholars. We can distribute between us which of them we’re going to recover” He explained.

All of them chose their objects. Then Alex gave every team a bag they brought with them.

“Any objects we can find, we put them in these bags and when we’re finished, we’re going together to give them to their owners” He said.

“Do you think we can encounter more bandits?” Gary asked.

“Jack told me that is unlikely, but just in case, stay on guard” Zack responded.

Then, all the teams went out to find the missing objects. Without counting some misunderstanding and weak bandits, the work went slow. Like the missing books, they have no clue. Then Gary saw something that caught up his attention and mentioned to Horace while they’re exploring in a small forest.

“You saw that?” He asked.

“What?”

“I think I saw one of the objects moving through the trees”

“Are you sure?”

“I think so”

“Then let’s check it out”

They went where Gary saw the object. After some minutes they heard the voice of children.

“You hear that?” Horace asked

“Yeah” Gary answered.

“I going up to the trees and see what’s going on. You stay here”

“Okay”

Horace climbed the trees as fast and quietly as he could. Then he reached where the voices came from. He saw a male nidoran, an oshawatt, a Pikachu, a Zigzagoon and an inkay. From the tone of their voice, he deduced that they are all boys. They were laughing and giving compliments to each other. Horace thought that they’re just having a good time, before he heard about the objects.

“Man, did you see how I took it away? They didn’t saw that!” The Zigzagoon said.

“This is too easy. We have twenty-four things distributed all over the place. Even if the find one, they never get them all” The inkay added.

“They think they’re bandits. They’re so gullible”   The male nidoran commented.

“No one will suspect we’re us behind this. We’re kids” The Pikachu said.

“Aren’t we amazing?” The oshawott asked.

“YEAHH!” They all answered.

‘I think I’ve heard enough of this trouble makers’ Horace though for himself and in silence, he went back to Gary. When he landed at his side he said:

“I know who were behind of the missing objects. The children up ahead are responsible”

“Are you sure?” Gary asked.

“Yeah, I heard them talking about the objects. They know where they are” Horace answewd.

“What we’re going to do?”

“Find the others and tell them that we found who knows about the location of the objects. Then bring them here. I’ll stay here and watch them, so they won’t disappear”

“I’m going” and Gary went out.

After some minutes, the group reunited with Horace. He went back from his watching and when he was on the ground he crossed his arms.

“Gary told us about that the children stole all the objects” Diego said.

“I-is it true?” Yang asked.

“Yeah; I didn’t want to believe it, too, but for what they told to each other, they know pretty well what they’re doing” Horace answered.

“This is going to be complicated. We cannot harm the children, but we need them to tell us about where they hiding the objects and bring them to Alice” Alex said.

“Any suggestions?” Stella asked.

No one seemed to have an idea to how they proceed, until Gary spoke.

“Why we don’t say we congratulate them and if the tell us we’re the objects are, they’ll earn a surprise?”

“Mmm, that’s not actually a bad idea” Zack said.

“So, we’re all going there and say “Congratulations for stole all the things”?” Sonya asked with a bit of sarcasm.

“Not all of us, they need to see friendly faces, so they won’t suspect anything” Alex pointed.

“If we have to choose, I think the ones with bigger possibilities are you, Gary, Stella and Yang” Stephan recommended.

“I have not problems with that” Alex said. “But what about the others?”

“Well, I can encourage them, so I’m in” Stella said.

“I suggested the idea, so I’m going, too” Gary said.

Yang was still thinking about of what to do.

“Remember, if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to” Alex said.

“I-I think t-that’s okay, s-since the four of us are g-going together” Yang said.

“Okay, time to get those items back” Alex said and went ahead with the other three.

When they reached where the kids are, he saluted them and said that they can approach. Then Gary, Stella, Yang and Alex congratulated them for hiding the objects for so long. Hearing that, the ego of the children increased. Then Gary proposed them that if they tell them where the objects are, they’ll have a surprise waiting for them. Stella encouraged them to do it and finally, they accepted. Stella went back to the others to tell them where to find the objects; while Alex, Gary and Yang escorted them to Alice.

Twenty-one minutes later, they found all the items and went back to report to Alice, who was near to Fableton, including the kids who were responsible. Alice was surprised that five kids could pull that off. She took care of the children and told them that the owners were here so they could return the objects. They went to the local store and bought some juice and berries to eat. While they’re resting, Zack took off the paper once again and crossed the third mission.

“All missions in Mooswood and its surroundings are completed” He announced.

“This means that the Darkhowl woods are our next destination” Horace pointed.

“It’s not going to be easy. It will be harder to find people than an item, since they’re moving” Gary commented.

“Actually, there is a team there doing those missions right now” Alex mentioned.

“Who?” Diego asked.

“Peach from team MAGIX” He answered.

“You mean the fennekin from yesterday?” Sonya asked.

“The same. I promised here that we’ll go there, after we finished in Mooswood”

“I thought she’ll come with us, not leave us and do the mission on her own” She complained.

“For your information, we talked to her after you went out. She explained her situation to us, and we let her do that, because we’re not forcing her” Zack corrected her.

“Her attitude is similar to Yang. If she tells me that she won’t come with us and do other missions, I can let her do that, as well as anybody else” Alex added.

She kept quiet, knowing she made a mistake.

“Sorry” She said in a low tone.

“That’s okay, but ask before you judge” Zack suggested.

“Don’t fell too bad, you didn’t know that and we didn’t say a thing, so it’s our mistake too” Alex supported her.

She smiled a little. ‘Some people only see the glass half empty; others, half full; but these guys are seeing both of them’ she thought for herself.