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Ask to Join Bone'd (Mystery RP - 15+)

(Sign-up thread is right here!)

Welcome to Bone'd, in which someone stole a bone from a museum, and your job is to track down the culprit. Or... is it...?

In this RP, you get to investigate the museum and its occupants, to try and figure out who is in need of a long long stay with Officer Jenny, and who's just kind of a jerk. Do watch your step, though... I heard a certain someone's broken out of jail.
- All of the site rules apply.

- Please keep discussion, questions, ect in the signup thread.

- You must write at least two paragraphs per post!

- If you're RPing as a Pokemon, don't expect to talk. (You can still have human intelligence though, for... obvious reasons.)

- The move Mind Reader is banned. So is using any other move/ability to do more or less the same thing. No social godmodding, basically. Some culprits may well lie, and if you don't have the evidence to counter them right away, it's gonna be tough... until you find that evidence later and confront them, ofc.

- Please note that this RP is set post Black and White. The Gym leader has outright left the Gym, and the building is no longer the same as it was in the games - please don't assume the layout of the building, as it now has a second story and an added extra room on the ground floor. I will give as much detail about the setting as I possibly can, but if you need to know where something is, ask first.

Starter:

The day was disagreeable at Nacrene. It was a clammy sort of day; a storm coming, perhaps, but the skies were clear and the sun blazed down, making it a rather uncomfortable day that was only symbolic if you wanted to get punched in the teeth. As the sun climbed higher in the sky, trainers and Pokemon alike desperately sought air-conditioning goodness, either in the Pokecentre or in the museum itself.

The sprinklers on the lawn of the museum sputtered, grass wilting under the heat. With them wilted a stressed looking young man, with large rectangular glasses and dark circles under his eyes. Tall and lanky, he seemed much like a large sunflower in the stifling warmth; his whole posture was slumped over, head hanging low.

Also hanging around the front, standing on the pavement near the door, was a... skeleton Dragonite fursuiter? Well, that definitely wasn't strange at all. Neither was the giant black X of tape over its lower half. Or the sign it was holding, which might just explain why it hadn't been kicked off the premises yet: HELP FIND NACRENE MUSEUM'S MISSING BONE! 10 POKEDOLLARS AT FRONT DESK.

...Ah yes, the missing bone. Reports had been circulating ever since this morning about it, and the lucrative prize offered to anybody who found it. Trainers were apparently showing up from all over the place, hoping to have a shot at... whatever it was. Fame? Fortune? Other stuff? Who knew. It was likely a decent prize, though. And a serious case, too - one look at the heightened police presence in town really told you all you needed to know on that front. Given the extra checks on Pokemon at the entrances to the town, it sure seemed like the police were trying to stop the bone-thief from escaping the place.
 
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Light filtered through the blinds of the quiet hotel room, the rest being illuminated by the soft glow of the TV. Reporters talked as a scroll of text ran across the bottom of the screen, all detailing the recent event that took place at Nacrene Museum.

A young woman sat on the edge of the bed, still in her pajamas, watching intently on the information displayed on the screen. The entire city had been in a bit of an uproar since the discovery of the theft early this morning, prompting the Nacrene Police Department to be out and about, surveying the area and scouting for whatever information they could. So far, the amount was very scarce, with no leads popping up as to what had happened. Even though she had plans elsewhere, to leave the city now would be suspicious. She swung her legs, her toes feathering the carpet as he legs barely reached. It was interesting to her really- How something like this could've happened. Even if she was up from the north, Unova was still her home. It was painful to watch one of the highlights of beautiful Nacrene city become a crime scene.

She had been thinking about her decision to assist or not since hearing the news earlier, contemplating the whole ordeal over a quick breakfast. It was now Midday, and she had barely moved from her spot, too engrossed within the stories being played back on the television. Enough was enough. The woman got herself into gear, finally getting ready to go out. A shower, some makeup, and proper clothes was all it took for her to feel far more confident about the situation, mentally reassuring herself that she could be of use, and that she had the experience and evidence to prove it. Collecting her bag and Pokeballs from the chair they rested on, she made her way out, double-checking that she had locked her door.

The walk to the museum was relatively short, even in the warm summer weather, saving her a lot of trouble of having to go all the way back just to change into lighter clothing. The trainer puttered a bit outside the museum, noticing the Dragonite mascot right away. She skimmed over the sign, relieved that the operation was accepting freelance help afterall. Paying no mind to the other trainers and whatever police stood around outside, she made her way in through the grand entrance. The museum was much different than what she could remember. It had been forever since the last time she was here, the establishment converted fully into a museum and no longer housing the Gym, or the Gym Leader for that matter. It was saddening for the Unovan trainer to see Lenora go- She could still remember her battle with the woman and how excited she had been when she received her second badge, the first being from the triplets in Striation City. It had been a decade since then, however, and things were different now.

It took her a minute to snap out of her thoughts, realizing she had been staring around at the updated interior. She made her way over to the front desk, trying to look at least a little professional when she spoke up to the receptionist. "Um- Excuse me... Do you know where I can apply to help out with the investigation?"
 
Sue was a short little thing, heavily built. Her greying red hair and very serious looking white lab coat marked her out as much too old for... this. The poor thing must have been in her late fifties, at least. And the box she had to stand on to see over the tall counter - well, that just screamed "I'm not usually in this job", didn't it? But then again, her shirt said something typically reserved for rowdy teenagers with little fashion sense. And as for the very, very dark glasses... All in all, Sue looked a mess.

She smiled, broadly, as though Atty was her first customer and not her fifty-first. Yes, Sue had been keeping track. Someone like her would never not keep track. "It's ten Pokedollars to enter, hun. Once you're inside the museum, you can explore whatever you like! It doesn't have to be to do with that silly investigation." Curiously, the smile didn't fade, regardless of how her tone rose and fell. She even took a breath, and went right back to smiling. "Just remember that every time you leave, you have to pay again to come back in! Okay, hun?"

The most major difference about the museum was the second storey that had been built atop it - basically a balcony level. From the ceiling hung plenty of different Flying–type Pokemon skeletons, which could be viewed best from the balcony, their bones gleaming under the skylight. There were also several large shelves built into the wall nearest the balcony, stuffed full of either books or files. Standing here, perusing a book of some description, was a very wealthy-looking lady; a long, cream, designer jacket, a neat grey skirt. She had a golden name-tag of some sort, but obviously it couldn't be read from this distance.

The ground floor was mostly the same - various exhibits to the left and right, with a very large Dragonite-like skeleton in the centre, and the entrance to the old Nacrene Gym at the back - still open, though it was unclear what it held. Standing near the skeleton was an bored-looking guy, short dark hair and brown eyes, wearing a dark polo shirt with the emblem of the museum upon it. All in all, fairly unremarkable; his most defined feature was really a lack of one. Specifically, the lack of his left arm, the stump well hidden under the shirt-sleeve.
 
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Oh, right, the fee.

"Right, hold on..." Her head ducked to look down in her bag as it rested against her hip, the young woman hurriedly trying to pull out the required amount. She didn't want to waste the receptionist's time any further, finally snagging crisp cash out of her bag. Sliding the required amount of 10 Pokedollars over, she spoke up with another comment. "Sorry, uh- It's been a while since I've been here." The trainer nodded, watching as her money was accepted.

After finally being granted entrance, she didn't bother to look back, already awkward over this. She knew what she was capable of, but there still was a little voice in the back of her head saying that she should just go back to her room and wait until all of this blew over. She needed a deep breath. Plucking a Pokeball from her belt, she sent out her smallest and most cherished companion, Ruby. The Weavile looked around as the light faded, adjusting to her surroundings and seeming to recognize the location.

Atty beamed. "Hey, remember this place? When we battled Lenora?" She leaned over to her Pokemon, crouching down so the little thing could get on her back. The girl stood upright, giving a little huff as she lifted Ruby onto her back for a ride. "I would've sent out Pandora too, but... She's grown a little bit since the last time we were here." Her Weavile seemed to nod in agreement, short ear feathers gently twitching as she sniffed the air, memories flooding back the more Atty walked around. "Just don't touch anything, okay? The cops are on even more high alert than usual."
 
"Well, we've only recently come under new management! I've worked here ever since I could work here, and this is the first time we've ever charged." Sue's smile broadened a little, then faded back; perhaps her equivalent of a grin. "Well, do your best with... whatever it is!"

Many of the exhibits were quite familiar from Atty's last time; some masks, a meteorite display, fossils. A few new additions stood out, however. Next to the large Armaldo Fossil was an empty table. On the far right of the room was an odd blackened-glass case, with some sort of security pad on the side; a safe, maybe. Next to it, a rather large display of bones, all of them awfully similar.

And of course, the tasteful scattering of bone fragments and larger bits all over the floor directly under the skylight, penned off with yellow tape so nobody stepped on it. One of the bird skeletons must have fallen, though the head seemed to be missing in action.

Perhaps most curious of all, however, was the general lack of police presence here. A lone officer stood against the wall, ready to move if anyone in here started to become rowdy, but for the most part the force's work seemed to be directed elsewhere.
 
Unova was far more densely populated a region compared to others, having far more industrial and urban developments, and a much greater populace, although there was still enough natural landscape surviving and rural-looking areas to keep the place from feeling like a concrete jungle. In a weird way, it almost felt homely, and it felt like the kind of place that would need a private investigator, but sadly one such individual was having no luck, getting meager jobs and meager pay ever since setting up shop in a cheap office and flat in the older part of Castelia City. Until now.

Candi was rather abruptly shaken awake by his Swampert from his nap in his office chair, both her and his Gumshoos having been trying to get his attention to point out the news report on the TV, detailing a theft at the museum in Nacrene City. He sat up, now alert and interested, turning up the TV to hear it over the old, running work fan that was his best line of defense against the muggy weather.

A stolen bone was the headline, the reporter on-screen trying her best to lengthen out the segment by padding as many words as she could among the little information the police actually released about the theft. But what Carolina and Columbo had tried to alert him to was the fact they were accepting freelance help, and there was a reward. This was it. This was gonna get Candi on the map.

Or it had to, at least. The little team had been spending more than they'd been earning, and if they ate into their savings any more, Candi would be forced to swallow his pride, call home and ask for money, something he sorely didn't want to trouble anyone with. But that reward would hopefully make sure all of them got to eat just a little longer, and if they were lucky, give them some limelight.

He rose from his chair, and quickly prepared, taking a shower and getting dressed, forgoing a shave and more professional-looking attire in the interest of time. Slipping his jacket on over a shirt that probably needed an ironing, he quickly stuffed the generous pockets with his Pokéballs and anything else he'd thought he'd need, before tearing out the door and locking and bolting it behind him, making a mad blitz for Skyarrow Bridge.

By the time he'd gotten across the bridge, and gotten through Pinwheel Forest, and got his Swampert, Gumshoos and the rest of his team checked by the police for entry, he was exhausted, and it was midday already. The tired ex-trainer started shuffling up, and glanced at the man in the Dragonite costume, holding up the sign advertising for help hunting for the lost bone. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be too much of a mass of people searching yet. He nodded at the guy, and pulled out and looked in his wallet, frowning at the meager amount of bills. Despite this, he pulled 5 Pokédollars out, and gave it to the man, deciding he earned at least a little respect for standing outside in a suit like that in the summer weather.

He headed on inside, looking up to the receptionist, and pulled the 10 Pokedollars he'd need for admission out, along with another, thinner leather wallet from his pocket. He placed the money on the counter, and held the wallet up, which flipped open to reveal an official-looking badge and an ID which read 'MCCOY, BYRD'. "Hi, I'm... here to help with the investigation." Were it not for his picture on the ID, nobody would have believed he was a licensed investigator, and that he was just some scruffy lunatic that stole the badge.
 
"Aw, thanks. If y'need any help..." The guy in the costume was apparently allowed to talk, not that he had much to say at present. Perhaps he was supposed to explain the general gist of the mystery - but that suit didn't look comfortable at all, especially not in this heat. Little wonder he was barely speaking right now.

"What's that you've got, hun-?" Due to the whole dark-glasses-indoors thing, Sue had to squint and lean forwards quite a bit. In fact, she leaned so far forwards, she nearly fell off her box. "Oh. Oh dear. Well, that won't do!" She was still smiling as she said it, which just made the strangeness of her words all the stranger. Twisting a lock of hair around a finger, she elaborated: "Are you sure you're in the right place for this investigation, hun? Isn't it... you know... somewhere else?"

Not that she'd know about anything big or serious happening elsewhere in Nacrene, obviously.
 
Candi quirked an eyebrow, a bit befuddled with Sue's... awkward behavior, leaning back a bit as she leaned forward, holding the badge up. "Nnnnno, ma'am, I'm in the right place..." He paused, then looked at Carolina. "I'm in the right place, right?" The big, blue 'mon stared at him, then nodded, reassuring him. "No, I'm sure I'm in the right place."

He flipped his badge closed and tucked it into his pocket. "I'm here about the bone. Is there another case or something going on? This is all I heard about on the news." He cocked his head curiously, scratching at the back of his head. Where were all the cops? All he saw was one uniformed officer, a professional-looking woman, a one-armed man, and a short little woman with a Weavile.
 
"The bone-?" Sue tilted her head, and made a concerted effort not to look too relieved. It didn't exactly work, given her own rule to always smile, no matter what. "Yes, yes. That is all I have heard about as well, hun. I just noticed an awful lot of police on my way to work, and- well, I thought you might be lost. Since you seem so official and all."

She hummed. "Anyway... Happy investigating. I'm afraid I wasn't here when the bone got- stolen, was it? - so I don't know much. By which I mean, I just showed up to work and this was happening, hun." A shrug drew attention to her unfortunate attire; probably fine in the lab, but hideous for working out here. It did seem she'd been caught off guard.
 
(If you don't want to read this entire thing, skip to the time skip area.)

The light slowly filtered through the beige draperies hiding the window, the light fluttered over a man of quite a large size. As if the sun was his alarm, his eyes quickly opened to reveal blue orbs as deep as the sea, with little flecks of ice blue scattered around his irises like little icebergs floating in the ocean. His hair, a deep shade of ocean blue that draped down past his chin and ended in icy blue tips, like icicles hanging off of his hair, was covering the majority of his face as he woke up; greasy, but not too bad. His skin also had a slightly bluish tint, but only when seen in an overcast day. His Pokemon were outside of their confines, preferring to be in the real world than being in a virtual playground that set up the inside of the Poke Balls for the Pokemon.

He was about to move out of his warm covers when he remembered the positions of his Pokemon last night. His Milotic was coiled on the perimeter of the mattress, serving as a headrest for Miel and snuggling his Alolan Ninetales at the foot of the bed, who was curled up and resting her top half on the head the serpentine water beast. His Delibird and Vaporeon were snuggled up next to Miel on his left, while his Glaceon was to his right. Luckily, his Lapras was on the ground, next to the bed. If she were to be up on the bed, the bed would've surely broken due to all of the combined weight.

He yawned and stretched, causing his bird Pokemon to groggily get up and wipe the sleep from his eyes. His Delibird, known as Boto (also unrightfully nicknamed as that since Lorenza, Miel's youngest sister and second-youngest sibling, had found and hatched him first before giving the Ice- and Flying-Type nestling to Miel), chirped and honked a bit from his yawn before he shook his head vigorously to shake his head feathers in place. He hopped on top of the smooth, glossy scales of the still dozing Milotic and flapped down to the floor, his three-foot body gliding to the floor less-than-gracefully. His tail-sac looked quite small, looking like it couldn't hold much, but looks can be deceiving. He had the most important job on Miel's team, and the sad sight of his small tail-sac wasn't going to perturb him, since he knew how stretchy it could be.

On Miel's pager last week, it told him and his Pokemon that they needed to be in Unova to ask the locals around, find evidence, and find the culprit who stole the prized possession of the Nacrene Museum: the missing Dragonite bone. Miel was up for this task, since the main police force he was supposed to be assisting was away from the museum at the moment.

Boto waddled over to his equipment, and started to neatly stuff everything in his tail-sac. After he tied off his now large tail with a rubber band, he set his monocle on his face, and hooked it to his face feathers, so it wouldn't get lost. Luckily, his eyes were flush with his face, not with his feathers, giving the monocle a soft and clean spot to rest on. He needed this monocle, since he was blind on that particular eye (which happened to be his most used: his right eye).

The Milotic had stirred in his sleep when Boto hopped on him to get out of bed, but he didn't do much but go back to sleep again after waking up for a brief moment. Vaporeon, known as Shama, had woken up with a start after hearing the bird she was snuggling with honk and leave, so she decided to get up, too. She stretched her long blue legs, her muscle-bound tail, and the rest of her bodily muscles. She also flexed her spined and cream-colored dorsal and lateral fins that were situated on her face, as well as the white ruff around her neck. Once she had evolved via the exposure to a radiation stone, she had lost her fur from when she was an Eevee, but gained glinting scales that reduced the drag that she'll receive in the water. This has helped her numerous times to win water races for Miel when they were exploring the Kanto and Johto regions.

Shama hopped off and out of bed, bouncing on top of the poor Milotic while landing gracefully on the ground, despite being one of the largest evolutions of Eevee, being the largest of her species (being 3'05" or 1.0 m) and being the heaviest of the Eeveelutions. This time, the now slightly disgruntled Milotic, known as Milo, slowly twitched and writhed about, as if to protest and say that he was awake and about to leave the comfortable and warm, yet cool bed. He couldn't just yet, as there was another Pokemon still resting her weary head on his own. With a few movements with his head, Miel's magnificently shining Alolan Ninetales finally woke up and crawled off of the Milotic's head. Miel lifted his head a little, so the Milotic can finally leave the bed, and he slithered to the floor. He writhed again on the floor, as the cold touch startled him, even through his glossy, yet dense scales. He was also writhing from the stretching he was doing. When he was done, he coiled up his massively long 20 foot and 5 inch body and waited for Miel to get up.

The Alolan Ninetales, known as Kyukori, made a mewling protest to leave the bed, but was faced with a slightly tired look from her trainer that still held a stern wall in his eyes. With a defeated sigh, she slunk off of the bed, sliding down while laying on her side and her body stretching as it left the warm comfort of the bed, and her furry, light blue, long arms reached for the slightly cold, wooden floor. She looked like a pouting princess, taking her sweet, precious time to leave the bed she most desperately wanted to sleep in. She finally made it and hopped off a little less gracefully than Shama, but she was tired, the floor was uncomfortably cold on her sensitive paw pads, and she didn't bother to make herself look pretty at the moment, something that Shama snickered about. It was easy for Shama and Kyukori to be rivals in Miel's team, since they were both the same height (Kyukori being a little shorter than her species), and their conflicting behaviors caused some unneeded turmoil. Kyukori just shot Shama a glare, not wanting any drama in the morning, especially when the bed wasn't so comfortable until the last moment at 2 in the morning, when everybody else was asleep at 11 pm. It was 4 am at this current time, when the sun would be shining down on the residents of Unova during this summer season.

Next to leave the bed was Glaceon, known as Glazi. His sister, Shama, had already left the bed, and the absence of her presence on the comforter had woken up the once sleeping Glaceon. He and Shama had always had this strange close sibling bond that manages to cut through time and space, forging an unbroken mindset that tells one of them where the other one is. Miel could guess it was sibling intuition, as he had found himself doing the same thing with his siblings. Even though his fur was glossy and glinting, like Kyukori's, it isn't safe to touch, unless one would be Miel or his Pokemon that Glazi considers a part of the team. His fur is tipped with razor sharp ice that could cut a finger if one happened to haphazardly stroke the pretty fur of Glazi. This caused some much unneeded medical attention that Miel had to stop the bleeding hand and tell Glazi to hide behind him or something, something that Glazi was too proud to do. At least he would audibly growl at the individual to stay away from him.

He stretched his stout legs, being the largest of his kind known to Miel (being 3'00" or 1.0 m), and also being the most heavily built and heaviest of his species. After he was done flexing the glands that covered the dermal layer of his skin that generated the freezing cold temperatures often felt by these Ice-Type Pokemon, and the rest of his muscles, he jumped over Miel's body and landed on the ground with a loud thud, while everybody else had either made a soft flopping sound (Delibird), silence (Milotic), or a soft pattering sound (Vaporeon and Ninetales). This vibration on the wooden floor and the sudden sound caused Miel's Lapras to stir in her sleep, her head laying down on a shaggy and soft blue rug that Miel had brought with him as a bed for her.

As Glazi walked over and sat proudly beside his sister, his chest puffed up and ready to take any order given to his one and only trainer (and only human to ever receive and do the order), the Lapras, known as Laplace, finally opened her eyes and yawned. As she yawned, she made a soothing coo, and had stretched her flippers, tail and rose her head and neck upwards, stretching them, as well. As she was done, she flapped her flippers playfully and scooted away from her bedding, not fazed by the cold floor one bit, even though her smooth belly scales were not as dense as Milo's. Her body was three inches taller than her average species' height (being 8'05" or 2.5 m), so all Miel could see when he looked down toward the foot of the bed was his Pokemon's head and neck bobbing along from atop the covers he was still in as she took her spot next to Milo, ignoring the still pouting Kyukori, who was making herself look pitiful for the attention.

Seeing that all of his Pokemon were awake and bright-eyed (questionably for Kyukori), he stretched in his spot again, his hands raising above his head, and then thrown forwards, giving him the momentum to raise his upper half to a sitting position, something his sore muscles from yesterday couldn't do at the moment. He looked at the clock and the time it took for his Pokemon to wake up and get ready from 4 am was 10 minutes. Good. He can spend an hour long shower. He chuckled at his own stupid idea. He wouldn't have the time. Although, it was due time for his Pokemon to take a bath. He was planning on having them take one before the plane ride to Unova, but that wasn't possible. For the first time in years, Miel had woken up past his alarm that day, causing him to run frantically, return all of his still sleeping Pokemon and rush for his plane ride, nearly missing his ride and he would've had to wait a couple more days.

Since he had three hours to do what he pleased though, he decided that it would be best to clean his Pokemon first. He decided to knock Kyukori from her stupid pouting by picking Boto to clean first. Oh Arceus, he hated that nickname. He had to live with it, though. He might as well focus on getting Kyukori out of her stupid bratty princess habit, though. Treating her only when she stops. Hopefully she gets it. He called for Boto and retreated into the bathroom. The Delibird heard his name being called and saw his trainer's retreating figure heading into the bathroom. He waddled after him, his tail dragging along behind him since it was quite heavy. It was half of his size!

As he made it into the bathroom, Miel had already turned on the water and made it semi-warm to help wash his friends without making them too uncomfortable. Boto saw that this was time for cleaning, so he was excited for the fun in the water. Luckily, his downy feathers on his tail were hydrophobic, helping in keeping everything in his tail-sac safe from the water. Since the tail was stretched out to its max, it made it easier to wash the entirety of the tail. Boto hopped in when Miel motioned for him to enter. Miel rolled up his pajama sleeves until they were above his elbows, got out the cleaning materials, and went to work on soaking up the downy, yet frigid red and white feathers of his Delibird. He took the monocle off of his friend, so it wouldn't get broken or too wet. He carefully unclipped it from Delibird's facial feathers and started to add Dawn soap to his friend, scrubbing it in until his entire body was completely covered in the suds. He even grabbed a toothbrush and began to brush his yellow beak, which the Delibird was thankful for. Miel carefully avoided the immovable nostrils on his friend's beak and then began to massage his Delibird's feet after he instructed him to sit down. After some time massaging Boto's webbed feet, he began to comb through his tail feathers, with his Delibird helping by patting and smoothing the feathers and the soap on to them. After about 10 minutes of completely covering Boto in suds, he rinsed his Delibird free from the good-smelling suds, and Boto shook his body after he hopped out of the bath, spraying water everywhere. At least he was clean. Miel chuckled and handed Boto a towel, helping to carefully and gently rub him dry, while avoiding pulling out his feathers. After Boto helped with drying himself, he left the bathroom, his feathers now shining in the light with cleanliness.

Miel peeked out from the bathroom and pointed toward the Eeveelution siblings. Shama and Glazi bounded forward, not wanting to wait to get clean. Kyukori shot an icy glare, fit for her typing, when Miel picked the next patient Pokemon in line. Although, she realized a little later, while Miel was cleaning the Eeveelutions, that she should probably stop her bratty attitude and look a little presentable. Besides, it's the beginning of the day, she shouldn't make it worse for herself, and for everybody else around her. She shut herself up from mewling (which she had been doing the entire time Boto was taking a bath), and sat down with her chest puffed out proudly in the air.

Meanwhile, Shama was already swimming about in the ankle-deep water, which was already covered at the top with suds from the previous bath. Glazi was trying to get used to the warm water, as it was melting the icy tips of his fur. After slowly acclimating himself to the water, he watched Shama as she swam around, dodging Miel's attempts to grab her so he could wash her. He chuckled and sighed, moving onto Glazi, who was calmly letting the water run through his fur. Miel grabbed some shampoo and began to wash and massage the soap into the light blue and dark blue hairs of his Pokemon, not omitting the hardened icy crest on his forehead and the icy dangles that were shining in the light. He grabbed some soap from his body, and began to massage the feet and the tail. He also snapped his fingers, with his hand being over Glazi's head, revealing his soft underbelly as he stood on his hind legs. Miel went to work massaging his belly, earning a little delighted mewl from his partner. He smiled and kissed Glazi on the head, who headbutted Miel playfully with his surprisingly still cold head. After getting the same toothbrush, cleaning it, and then brushing the fur on Glazi's face, he was done with Glaceon. He let Glaceon rinse himself from the water coming from the shower head, and now focused on Shama, who was now ready for her session.

Since her fish-like scales were sensitive to chemicals, it was amazing how well the chemicals didn't already tint her scales to a much duller color. He drained the water from the bath, earning a soft plea from Shama to bring it back. After rinsing out the rest of the soap from the bath, he plugged the drain and filled the tub back with warm water and stopped it at the same height, letting the shower head on by flipping a switch. Oh, how this was going to hurt the water bill for this amazing hotel. Shama, happy to have the water back, hopped about happily and after a dominant grunt from Miel, stood up straight and let Miel clean her. He took some shampoo that didn't have most of its harsh chemicals to clean, only using very light chemicals that could still get the job done. He poured it on her and began to stroke the soap on her body until her scales began to gleam in the light. He rubbed it on her legs, belly, sides, back, chest, and tail, while using a toothbrush to do the same to her face. He then massaged and cleaned her fins and frill, and then harshly using the brush to clean the keratin ridges that line her spine. After this was done, Shama immediately started to swim in the shallow water, getting rid of the cleaning chemicals. After this was all done, they both left the tub, Shama waving goodbye to the water with her tail. Miel took two towels and quickly, yet gently, rubbed Glazi dry, trying to hurry before the cold temperatures emitted by Glazi's glands caused the water to freeze on his body, making him look like an ice statue. Once he was dry, his icy fur came back and he waited for Shama to dry, which Miel was trying to catch the playful little Bubble Jet Pokemon. He finally managed to dry her a little bit, not wanting to dry her too much, or else she would lose her hydration.

He peeked out of the bathroom to see Kyukori waiting their patiently. The smiles from Laplace and Milo indicated to him that Kyukori had been waiting like that for some time. He motioned for Kyukori to come in, and she mewled happily, finally able to clean herself. Shama and Glazi waited and started to talk to Boto about something, like the dreams they had last night.

Kyukori hopped into the lukewarm water, getting ready to get clean by soaking her soft and long furs in the water. Once Miel was finally able to kneel down, Kyukori was already soaked. Miel chuckled and used a more harsh chemical to clean her fur, since her fur wasn't so delicate. He began to massage and rub the soap around her body, getting into the light blue, blue, and white furs on her body, which would sometimes shine brightly or look like the surface of clean water depending on the presence of light and where it hits her. Miel finally got through all of her hair (which took about 15 minutes just to get through), and used the same toothbrush to clean the furs on her face. Once he was done, Kyukori rinsed herself while Miel just watched with an amused look on his face. After she was done soaking, she hopped out and Miel grabbed a towel, not worrying if she was going to freeze the water on her body. It took some time (mainly because he was being gentle with her nine tails), but he finally finished the arduous task. Kyukori walked out with gleaming fur, and Miel peeked out to summon Milo, who slithered his way into the bathroom.

Since the tub wasn't big enough to hold a serpent at his full length, much less a large Lapras, Milo had to coil up and use his muscles to raise each level of coil so Miel can massage the soap onto his scales. Luckily, his scales weren't as sensitive as Shama's, so Miel was able to leave the water as it was. He then began to adventure elbow deep and got all the soap on the Milotic's already wet scales, finally reaching his spectacular, rainbow-scaled tail and massaging the fins at the end. He then massaged the pink feelers and antennae that extended from his brow region, and then used the toothbrush to clean his face, while not needing to use it for the small horn protruding from his skull. Now that Milo was done, rinsed, and half-dried to avoid losing the hydration for his scales needed to look glossy, Milo left the bathroom and Laplace was already at the door, scooting her way inside.

As soon as she made it inside, Miel was already starting to take the bath to her. This was going to get messy. He cordoned off the area with large amounts of highly absorbent towels, and began to soak her body with a cup full of water. As soon that was done, he began to massage her more reptilian-like blue with a splotchy dark blue patterned scales than the fish scales Shama and Milo had. After massaging her curly ears, horn, flippers, and tail, he got to work with her cream underside, which was just as scaly. He had to have her lift herself off the ground, pray that she didn't lose balance or strength, and slide underneath her to clean her underside. After this dangerous task was done, he hastily made his way out before Laplace laid herself back down. He thanked Arceus that he didn't lose his life from cleaning his 485 pound (220 kg) water beast. He then grabbed a large body brush with rough bristles and began to clean her smooth shell, getting in all areas and around the protruding osseous tissue. With that grueling task over, he rinsed her again, half-dried her, and sent her on her way back to the bedroom. Once she was out, he closed the door, cleaned up the watery mess by using the towels underneath the sink, and saved one for himself to use for his own shower.

After about 5 minutes cleaning his mess, he stripped himself of his blue pajama button-up and sweats, and his dark blue briefs, and jumped in the shower. He used his Suave shampoo and conditioner to make his hair look glossy and fluffy when dried, then used some men's body wash for his six-foot-four-inch, toned, and scarred bod. After some quick minutes cleaning himself, and using the scrubber to reach his back, he finally got done, rinsing out the conditioner from his hair, stepping out and completely drying himself with a towel. He had his clothes neatly folded and in preparation to be worn. This consisted of dark blue slacks, a black belt with an ivory buckle, a light blue dress shirt with a darker blue tie and mahogany buttons, black socks, a fresh pair of briefs, a little packet for his contacts, and a navy blue dress jacket with ivory buttons. He got changed into them, and dried his hair with the blow-dryer he had his siblings give to him right before he left. When he was done blow-drying his hair and making it look fluffy, he exited the bathroom and found his black dress shoes. After he put those on and tied them tight, he searched for his official police badge, and put on accessory clips on his belt, each containing cuffs, a flashlight, police baton, pepper spray, a taser, and six clips for his Poke Balls. He was offered a gun, but had no use for it. He clipped his police badge on his upper left dress jacket, the badge of where he was stationed at (which was Cerulean City, Kanto) on his left sleeve, and then stuffing his wallet with his police badge around his belt. He also slung his dark blue satchel over his shoulder; its contents were simple medical supplies, books for when he was bored, a notepad, pen, and his Pokegear.

After attaining his preferred look, he looked over his now clean and happy Pokemon. He smiled and returned all of his Pokemon, except for Boto. Boto had retrieved his monocle from the bathroom and placed it happily on his face, situating it so. Boto waddled out alongside Miel, exiting their hotel room, and leaving the hotel completely.

The harsh sun and warm air licking the skin of others nearby caused the already heated rays of the sun at 6 o'clock to worsen the feel of the heat. Miel was too cool for the heat, even under two layers of thick, nice clothes. His Delibird tried his best to match his trainer's icy composure, but was left panting a little in the sun. The harsh ground caused Boto to honk in pain, as he flapped his wings to get away from the hot lava-like ground. Boto flew up and landed on Miel's shoulder, his tail drooping so it was half-way down Miel's back. After he got something to eat for his Pokemon and himself, and chilling at the local cafe, it would be best to enter into the museum.

~~Time Skip to When Everybody Else is at the Museum~~

Miel, after reading from his psychology and crime book to refresh himself and feeding himself and his Pokemon, he set off with Boto on his shoulder toward the museum. It was quite a hot and dreary day. He preferred it if it were overcast, but he couldn't exactly complain now.

After he finally made it to the entrance, he raised an eyebrow at the man in the fursuit. He swore it could've been his silly younger brother, but he knew Stror was back home, tending to his Pokemon. That sibling intuition was happening again, and he was glad for it. It would've been hilarious, but still embarrassing to have Stror start making inappropriate jokes about his half police attire. He walked on into the museum, the air conditioning gracing his body and saving Boto the torment of being underneath that dreadful sun.

After taking a moment to thank the man who invented air conditioning, he walked over to the lady, who was already talking with a poorly-dressed man trying to be a private eye. There was a cop nearby, as well as a wealthy-looking lady, a young lady with a Weavile on her back, and a man with a stump for an arm, something he could tell from looking at this angle that there seemed to be a lack of defining shape in the sleeve. The lady looked like a tour guide of the area. He walked over to the man and the lady by the register, and saw the fee for entering on a nearby sign. He fished for his wallet from his back pocket, and gave her a 10 PokeDollar bill. He then showed his official police badge, the license saying Mielshtrix Pabith Darastrix on it with his picture. Underneath it was also his blood type, which was O+, height (which was 6'04" or 1.9 m), weight (which was 200 lbs or 90.7 kg), and his level or rank in the police force, that being a Crime Psychologist and Interrogator. He gave the lady his wallet containing his badge so she could see it easier. He knew what it was like to have to wear glasses to read things. His eyesight was less than stellar. His Delibird landed on the table with a few flaps, fixing his monocle. He seemed to be quite proud of his glossy appearance from his bath. The startling amount of investigative material in his tail-sac wouldn't be that hard to spot, even for someone who was blind as a Zubat.
 
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Atty paused, chewing her bottom lip. She soon enough realized she had no idea where to start. She wasn't a police officer, or a criminal investigator, or whatever. She was just a little trainer that liked bugs. Giving a deep breath out, she adjusted Ruby on her back and began to walk around the first floor interior of the museum. She gave a quick look back to the entrance, noticing two more men about to come in, likely doing the same as she was. Granted, if both or at least one of them had a better idea of what to do than she did, she could always offer help as muscle. Even though she lacked the actual physical attribute, her skills as a trainer were definitely above average, not to brag. Not to mention, if Bug Pokemon came into play at all during the investigation, that would be her department.

She carefully stepped around, making quick mental notes of all the new exhibits and artifacts. She was instantly drawn to the taped off area, however, the skylight above illuminating the scene like a spotlight. With a gaze upward, she took in the sight of multiple Flying-type skeletons hung about, their structures preserved and frozen in time as if they were stuck in mid flight. This one, however, had likely fallen, pieces of shattered bone strewn about on the floor. She kept her distance, getting just close enough to try and make out some of the larger fragments. Of course, she could always ask around about what species the skeleton was, but figuring it out on her own made her feel slightly more important and smart. "What do you think, Rubes?" Her eyes focused on the scene in front of her, speaking back to the Weavile still atop her back. However, she was simply met with just a yawn in response. Someone wasn't a fan of archeology.
 
"...Alright. Thanks." He nodded at Sue, giving a two-finger salute, and stepping away from her, his hands going into his pockets as he walked away. Something was up with her. He didn't know what but it was making his Gut wrench. He brought a hand up, rubbing his face, glancing back one last time as he walked towards the scene.

A small grinding noise was heard as some bone fragments that were outside the marked area were ground underfoot his sneakers, and he quickly jumped back. This artifact was already thoroughly decimated, no amount of glue was going to fix that, but he still felt bad stepping on the splinters. He gazed up, and walked around them, coming up behind the girl with the bored-looking Weavile. He stared at the skeleton, crossing his arms and looking over the remains of the grounded Flight Pokémon's skeleton.

"Think we should start looking for the black box?" He quipped to his team. Columbo made a tiny snarl in response to his joke.
 
A passing hint of a frown crossed Sue's face on seeing even more police ID. Her brow certainly lowered, and the smile crumpled away at the edges. Something... something was wrong. Very wrong. Why would these sorts of people be worried about a mere bone? No, no, Sue did not like this at all.

She didn't say anything to Miel, just took his money and beckoned the bored, one-armed guy to the counter. They spoke quietly for a minute or so, then he went behind the counter to take her place, and she headed for some door at the far right-and-back of the museum. (Not the old gym, though; the entrance to that was not only lacking a door, but it was more to the centre/directly opposite the front doors)

"Well, go on." One-Arm flapped his hand at Miel, though it was more bored than aggressive. "Move it."

---
The jumble of bones on the floor seemed to form some sort of... well, winged thing. A headless winged thing. Maybe an Archeops or Aerodactyl. If Atty were to ask around, she'd probably get told all sorts of things about it - museum staff were supposed to know their stuff. Though then again, maybe knowing how long ago it lived and what it ate wasn't going to be very useful.
 
Raising his eyebrow at the woman leaving and the man taking his place, he decided it was best to give the man some time before he questioned him. He looked around the area, noticing the skylights and noting where the lady left to. Maybe he should go up there and have a look down below, get a bird's eye view. He walked over to the two people, likely hear for helping with the bone.

His Delibird flew off of the counter and saw a map of the area. He flew over to it, grabbing a camera out of his tail-sac and taking a picture of it. He stuffed the camera back in his tail-sac, tightened the opening, and flew back to the man with the Swampert and Gumshoos trailing him, and the lady with the Weavile. He decided to question the newcomers, but his eyes were caught by the very familiar Pokemon skeleton. He's seen that Pokemon before. His siblings owned a few! He asked the others, "Do you reckon what that skeleton is? And why they'd take a piece?"
 
Atty squinted, trying to decipher exactly which Fossil Pokemon she was looking at. Having the skull here definitely would've helped... She was pulled from her thoughts back into reality when she heard footsteps, from not one, but two people. The men from before. Ruby was already on guard, peering back at the newcomers before Atty had noticed them. She looked skeptical, giving the men and their Pokemon a certain expression of unease.

It wasn't until after they both spoke up that she chimed in, voice soft. The rest of the museum was fairly quiet and sound, she didn't want to suddenly make every person and their mother aware of her presence. "Um- I'm actually trying to figure that out right now. I'm leaning towards an Aerodactyl, but it might be something else." She looked back at the two taller men, gentle, cinnamon colored eyes flicking between their cool blue ones.
 
Miel looked closely at the creature. He didn't exactly need to have the skull to identify the creature. The arm wings had three bones connected to each other to form the spine of the wing. There were three carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges to form the three stubby digits on the wing. The ribcage was rotund and the osseous tissue on the back was striking predominantly upward. The legs looked short and stout, with two tarsals and phalanges pointing forward, and a tarsal and phalanges pointing backward. The spine and the vertebrae were huge and there were points that poke upward. It continued down the spine and ended in an arrowhead like tip. The only thing it could be was an Aerodactyl.

He smiled at the lady, happy to see that she was correct. The most predominant things an Aerodactyl had would be the large points on his spine and the arrowhead tail. He waited for the man to respond, seeing if he knew the answer or not. Boto looked quizzically at the bones, confused as to what it could be, but he knew it was familiar. His trainer knew more about these Pokemon.
 
One-arm sure had something to deal with, all right. The fursuiter was currently attempting to escort that weird skinny geek kid into the museum, but neither was about to get far under his watch.

"If he can't pay, we don't fucking let him in."
"But it's important!"
"Last time you said that, it was your girlfriend, and you-"
"You just leave her out of this, cyclops."
"That's for eyes, fuckwit. I mean, cyclops." Pause. "Fuckwit cyclops."
"Yeah, well, I say it works for other things!"

So on and so forth. Nobody was yelling or coming to blows - there were just a lot of low cranky noises. Hell, the geek rubbed at his wrists and seemed to be considering leaving instead of suffering any further embarrassment. On the second floor, that awfully stylish and all-round impressive lady didn't seem to care in the least about the little scene, possibly because she had her nose in some file or other.
----
Well, the skull of the Aerodactyl missing was certainly odd. It falling from wherever it'd been tethered was definitely suspicious. But it should be said that the news broadcasts never mentioned what bone exactly had been stolen. If anything, they'd danced wildly around the topic.

...Why would they do that?
 
The taller, trimmer man, however, didn't seem to know. It was obvious the way he was teetering around looking for a plaque or information card somewhere along the chips of the broken body, to no avail. "I don't know." He frowns, shaking his head. "I don't think I ever came across any of them." He felt sort of dumb, in the eyes of both the girl looking at him, and the- Jesus Christ, was that a walking blue icee-pop?

He sniffed, rubbing his chin, crouching down, trying to figure out what exactly happened to pull it down. He wasn't able to identify what these bones were, but surely, he should be able to figure out what brings down a display this size. Columbo did the same, leaning down the same way his trainer did, his head tweaking curiously.
 
Miel could hear the fighting from behind them echo throughout this entire area. As he took note of that, he finally spoke up, his bass-like voice drowning the voices from behind. "You are correct, miss. This is an Aerodactyl. My sisters have a few of them at home. Anyway, do you find it curious that only the skull was taken? Also, the splintering and shattering of the bone. This thing must've fell a long ways away from the ceiling, and it would've made quite a loud clattering." Something reminded the man, and then he slapped his palm on his forehead, forgetting to introduce himself. "Oh, I'm deeply sorry. My name is Miel and my crime investigative partner is Boto, my Delibird. Who might you two be?" he asked the both of them.

Boto had quizzically looked at the Gumshoos miming this very unkempt guy. He decided to follow their lead, crouching as far as his stubby little legs could go, and rubbing the bottom of his beak with his flipper-like wing. Boto was also keeping an eye on the Weavile. He didn't like it for some reason. Maybe it was because of his bad experience with them? Maybe. Besides, this one didn't seem all that bad compared to the ones he had to deal with, so that was good. He looked up and tried to spot anything with the help of the skylights, but his eyes were quite bad and couldn't find any detail. He honked at Miel, signaling that he was going for a flight. His pectoral muscles bulged as he flew and managed to carry his enlarged tail-sac with him. Even though there were stairs, Boto preferred to fly. With a few flurry of flaps, he managed to get up to the balcony. He took a moment to rest before he started to fly above the area he suspected Aerodactyl to be, finding any string or any of that sort.
 
Atty adjusted Ruby on her back, the weasel starting to get a bit too heavy for the little trainer. She moved her around, now holding the clingy Pokemon in her arms like a small child. "My name is Atlas," She took the initiative to introduce herself first, seeing as the other man and his Gumshoos were busy with the bones. "I usually just go by Atty, though. This here is Ruby, by the way." Although still a little bit annoyed over the whole deal of being delayed from their promised visit back to Mistralton, her expression softened when looking up to Miel. If her trainer was bothering to speak up and introduce herself, she might as well try to act interested as well.

"Uh, I'm not really a professional or anything, if that's what you were wondering..." She continued, feeling a little embarrassed as she was physically overshadowed by the differing heights. "I'm just kind of waiting until all this gets resolved, and helping out where I can to try and speed things up, I guess."
 
The spine of the fossil Pokemon had been fractured in several spots, the cords that had been holding it up broken at the ceiling end of things. Weight had been applied to the topside of the skeleton, and a fairly significant weight at that; maybe sixty kilos or so. Whatever it was couldn't have weighed more than about a hundred kilos, though - the bones were quite hollow, and would have splintered into a gazillion pieces.

But why the hell weight had been applied to the top... That just raised more questions, really. Great.
----
The skeleton would have hung with, uh, all the other skeletons. Now there was just a pair of empty pegs where the cords had attached.

At the abrupt arrival of the Delibird, the lady finally looked up, eyes narrowing the instant she saw the little scene at the reception desk. Putting the file down on the flat railing, she stormed towards them, and - staff being staff - everyone got the hell out of her way, leaving just the geek at her complete and utter mercy.

"Uh... Please?"

She just smiled, and led him outside. The fursuiter didn't dare follow, as much as he'd been defending his... friend or whatever.
 
"Huh?" It took Candi a moment to notice he'd been addressed, standing up, nearly messing up the tape as he did, and turning around, digging in his tent of a coat for his badge again, before faltering as the blue guy introduced himself. Oh, great, a cop. An actual cop. That'll make his life easier.

He sighed, digging out the badge from his pocket again and holding it up. "I'm Byrd McCoy. I'm a private detective." He slaps the badge shut, and tucks it back in his pocket, looking down. "All my friends just call me Candi." He points down at his Gumshoos. "That's Columbo, aaaand that's Carolina." He raised his hand to gesture at the Swampert. She brings one of her huge hands up and happily waves at the group, despite being a few feet away. "I, uhm... I came to help out." And make some desperately needed cash. But semantics, right?
 
Miel nodded, listening intently. So, this woman was called Atlas. Nice name, he thought. He saw her embarrassment in her face, and his happy look seemed a little concerned at the moment, but it was replaced with determination and a soft kind of look to him. Gentle giants live on in this beast of a man.

"Don't worry. Your help would be greatly appreciated," as he said that with kind eyes, he looked up to see his Pokemon studying the break site of the rope and saw him take out a camera once he landed precariously on the railing. Boto took a few pictures of the pegs on the ceiling with other pegs holding on to their respective lines. Boto then quickly flew downwards, reaching fast speeds. He then began to flap furiously to keep himself from falling, but couldn't stop himself fast enough. Seeing that Boto was right above Miel, all Miel had to do was hold his hands in the air to catch his falling friend. Once Boto was safe in Miel's arms, Boto gave the camera to Miel to see. He looked over the pictures and had also taken a few more of the skeleton on the floor. He then found the lines littered about with the rest of the skeleton. Was someone on the skylight, or were they trying to grab the line to pull it down? Maybe someone fell through the skylight...? He looked at the spine even closer, walking up to it and being careful not to step on the scattered bone everywhere. He took out his pen and began to trace the cracks. They seemed to indicate that the topside of this skeleton took the brunt of some kind of weight due to the large amount of breaks the closer it got to the skull region. Like a small person who couldn't reach. Who?

He then noticed that the man had just introduced himself. He looked at this oh-so called "Byrd McCoy", also known as "Candi", and took a quick glance at his badge. He scrutinized it the second he saw it, and it seemed official, yes, but something wasn't right about it. Whatever the case may be, he gave the man a long stare before returning to the evidence at hand. He decided to explain what he had deduced.

"Well, from what I could deduce is that someone tried to detach the skeleton from its dangling perch right below the skylights. Somebody small and with as much weight as an average sized adult or smaller, must've either fallen or accidentally broke the spinal regions of the bones, and caused the lines to detach from the pegs holding it in place, and fall down. Of course, a curious thing to note is that not all of the bones were shattered. Maybe something broke the skeleton's fall. A Pokemon must've helped out, or another person meant to grab just the skull. Either way, somebody forced the lines to break at the ceiling end with their weight applied to the top of the skeleton, sending it crashing down to the floor. I also noticed that as soon as I showed the lady at the reception my badge, she frowned and left the area, letting that guy I'm assuming only has a stump for an arm to guard the door. That lady knows something. We'll need to interrogate her. Also, the staff lady, or the tour guide here, the one at the entrance now, she must've seen or heard something. Or at least saw one of the employees act suspicious. We'll have to ask them a few questions."
 
Once the well-dressed lady was well outside, the Dragonite fursuiter checked to make sure no children were present - then pulled off his head with a sigh of relief. He was a young man, somewhere in his mid-twenties, and... well, that was about it. His features were pretty unremarkable - short hair, freckles. One eye was stitched closed, but in such a neat fashion that it simply seemed he was winking 24/7. 'Cyclops', indeed.

Right now, his pale complexion was quite flushed from the whole roasting-alive-in-a-fursuit thing. He put an elbow on the reception desk as he spoke, but soon found himself leaning onto it; he really was tired. "Ah, stuff this. Everyone's actin' up, and... yeah, I'm taking a break. Don't tell her, okay? Not that I'm uh, runnin' away from her or anything. Ha."

"No promises", One-Arm smirked, but let the fursuiter go without further (furrther?) argument; he sort of looked ready to drop dead, after all. The fursuiter then walked calmly into the old gym, head tucked under his arm. Perhaps the new management had turned the place into a breakroom.
 
Candi stood up, looking at the position where the well-dressed lady had departed from, and started at the file resting on the flat railing, slowly walking towards it. He whistled to Columbo, and nodded at it, the Gumshoos looking at him, the file, at him... then read his trainer loud and clear, and started scurrying towards it, mimicking the dash of his previous evolution. Candi crept away from the scene, while the cop in blue was blabber-mouthing what he thought happened to the skeleton to Atty, the dick trying to get out of immediate sight, and out of immediate mind.

Columbo had to hop a couple times to get the arm of the railing, then to grab the file, scooting back to Candi on two legs with it and handing it to him. Candi held it up, opening it, hunching over and trying to appear inconspicuous, facing himself towards a nearby wall.
 
The file was labelled Marowak. Therefore, it was a long and very boring volume on the subject of... Charizard, plus Charizard's two Mega Evolutions? Why yes, that it was. Someone clearly hadn't done a good job with the labelling. Page after page detailed the habits, sightings, and abilities of this Pokemon. Not a Marowak to be found in the file, unless that one mention in Charizard's hoarding recommendations counted.

("Charizard seem to enjoy hoarding bones when bored, and may even take them from your Cubone or Marowak if left unattended. In one famous folktale, a Kanto Charizard stole over 2000 bones from Cubone and Marowak populations, and nearly started a small civil war as a result.")


...Man, if it'd just been a burglary manual or something, this whole thing would have been easier.
 
Atty listened to Miel's explanation on his theory on what could have happened with the bones. Peering up, she could see the broken cords he was talking about, and had a small image in her head of the scene taking place. She could see it now- Someone or something getting onto the back of the Aerodactyl, underestimating their own weight and causing the cords to snap. Somehow, though, they had managed to successfully retrieve the skull, presumably without damaging it. Otherwise, it would've likely been crushed with the rest of the fragments on the floor. The trainer nodded along with Miel, speaking up and adding her piece in. "I feel like it might've been a Pokemon that caused it to fall, it'd be pretty hard for a human to get on the back of a suspended skeleton... As for the skull, that same Pokemon might've managed to grab it before the rest fell. Or, someone was waiting underneath, ready to grab it when it fell."

Still, her mind was on all the changes that had went down in the museum since the last time she was here. She had no idea who was even in charge here, though she suspected the woman that had come down was at least of a high position. She looked the part, dressed in expensive garb and delicately tailored clothing. Atty was already making notes not to get on her bad side. The way she easily tossed out that other guy... She could only assume she had a bit of bitchiness in her. Her eyes followed the Dragonite mascot, walking into the open entrance of what used to be the gym, probably for a break of some sorts. "...Excuse me, I'm gonna look around a little bit more." She nodded to both the men, returning Ruby. The Weavile was getting a bit sleepy, and the trainer herself was tired of holding and babying her in public. She stepped away from the taped-off area, over to the old gym entrance, cautiously making her way in. She hoped it wasn't an employee-only area, considering the entire door (or lack thereof) was wide open, seeming to beckon her in.
 
The gym area seemed to have been left as is, besides a small door on the left side marked JANITOR. Two people - the fursuiter, now mostly out of suit, and some old guy in a tophat, singlet, and thongs - were sitting at a table discussing something, a small slip of paper on the table between them. The fursuiter seemed exasperated, and going off the number of beer cans on the old guy's side of the table, it was easy enough to guess why.

"I'm telling you, this is bad. How come y'didn't bring it up earlier?!?"

"Bah... who cares..."

The fursuiter seemed about to retort, but noticed Atty and smiled instead. "Hey, can I help ya?" It didn't sound like he was just saying that because he wanted her gone; she was a paying customer, after all, who was allowed to be here. On the other hand, the old guy seemed to find this hilarious, so.
 
Candi stares at the file, eyebrows furled, before snapping it shut and turning back around, looking over the room. He looked to the reception desk, over to where the well-dressed woman had gone before walking off outside with another employee. He looked at the abandoned Gym entrance next, where the cute little burnette had crept over too out of curiosity, leaving Officer Icepop by the scene of the crashed Aerodactyl.

He tucked the file under his arm, and stared towards the entrance, going to find the professional looking woman and ask some questions. He had a few hunches. He wasn't intimidated, he'd met way worse people.
 
As expected, the boy in the Dragonite costume was there. However, Atty wasn't exactly prepared to be another body in there, and a fairly odd-dressed one at that. The amount of beer cans wasn't comforting either, the older-man probably the one that had been going through them as if they were nothing. She brought a manicured hand up, running fingers through her dark brown bob, trying to come off as innocent. "Oh- Sorry, I'm fine. I was just looking around to see if this area was open. It's... Been a while since the last time I was here, I was wondering how the old gym was doing." It looked fairly similar to what she could remember, nostalgia hitting as her warm eyes looked upon the rows of books. That, and she felt a bit awkward making eye contact to the two men she had just interrupted.
 
The lady swept in shortly thereafter, saving Candi from having to pay the entrance fee a second time. "Nobody comes in without the entrance fee", she snapped at One-Arm, then turned and started to strut across the museum floor, back towards the stairs and the balcony area.
----
The fursuiter shook his head, seeming to buy it. "Well, we don't really use this place for much more than... I think it's all the public-domain research stuff, isn't it? The files on different species got moved to the second floor, I think. Not that I'd know, really - the gym wasn't really a gym when I got here." He looked over at his friend (?). "Hey, Ben. How long's it been closed for?"

The old guy just rolled his eyes. "Oi... There's a lot of serious shit going down. Shouldn't you be doing something about it?"

"Oh, like you're doing much."

"I already know everything." He chugged another beer. "And really, what's the point anyway..."

The fursuiter made a very interesting face - somewhere between despair and disgust - then looked apologetically at Atty. "Uh... Ignore him? He's pretty drunk."

"No shit, Sherlock".
 
Atty understood, nodding at the boy who had occupied the Dragonite fursuit. She glanced once more over at the alcohol, able to smell the contents from where she stood. She never really was a fan of beer, if she could be honest. Fruity stuff and cocktails were much more up her alley. "Right... Well, if it's all public stuff, it would be okay if I looked around a little right?" She stepped out of the doorway, starting to ease into the room as the two bickered back and forth. Hopefully she's be able to find some records about the decision to close the gym among all the research packed in there, maybe some kind of newspaper clippings. Now that she thought about it, checking past articles to see if there were any former theft-related incidents at the museum would probably help, too...
 
"Aw, sure! Sue would be proud, haha. A lot of this stuff's hers, I think-?"

Ben barely looked at the Trainer. "Bah. Just tell me if you find anything on a sword - a bone sword. And don't touch the levers behind the books. Or, well-"

The fursuiter rolled his eyes. "Aw, don't scare her. You were just drunk."

True to his earlier words, most of the books were on the massive amount of experiments Sue had either performed over her considerable career, or topics she'd just written papers on. Mostly stuff to do with Marowak, Cubone, and bones in general. The only thing that gave Atty any kind of date for the gym's closing was a diary. And it was a curious date - a year after Lenora so publicly left the place, apparently bored with it. As far as Sue was concerned, the reason for the closing was that the new gym leader happened to be 'savage and therefore not suitable', and that she was too low on funds to keep trying.

Huh.


"Tch, I know what I saw. You're lucky you never cop night watch." Ben leaned across the table, possibly because it was getting harder for him to sit upright. The fursuiter visibly recoiled from his breath, and the old guy grinned, clearly considering how to phrase some scary story or other.

"No." The fursuiter gave Atty an apologetic look, and pushed a can towards Ben. "Shut up and drink, dammit."
 
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Candi stopped walking, seeing the suited woman re-enter the museum, and stood up straight. She clearly had the entire staff here under a tight watch. Although... why she was the only one who actually looked like she worked at a museum was a question occurring to him. Did she even work at this place either?

He sighed. Guess he'd figure that out. He held the file up in the air, trying to draw her attention to it, and to him. "Ma'am."
 
"Mmn?" She spared him a glance, her interest caught only by the file he was waving around. Now, there was something familiar. She came towards him quite briskly, sparing him a very polite smile. Her golden badge read TESSA - CURATOR; she worked here, all right. Managed the whole place, Tessa did.

"What is it? Bear in mind, I am quite busy..." Her gaze flicked idly towards the file, and she double-checked the title. Normally she'd have simply told this detective wannabe to make an appointment, but to meet someone with such a common interest was quite intriguing in itself. That, and Tessa would rather like to know whether or not she was getting stalked about her own museum. "That being said, I do have a few moments."
 
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Miel nodded as Atty and him conversed a little, taking into account of what she had said. He decided to stay around a little bit longer. He had noticed that Candi was gone and he was trying to get the attention of the "tour guide" and Atty was heading into the gym, or what was left of the gym. To be honest with himself, he had missed this gym. He had fought Lenora when he was very young, at the age of 16. He wondered how she was doing now. He had gotten along pretty well with her, mainly because he had loved to read books and at that time had a fascination with fossils. Although, his sister is more into fossils now, and Miel would rather have her come over for this kind of case, but she was family. He couldn't let her here, especially if someone was dangerous.

He looked over to see the one-armed man at the desk. He decided to have a talk with him. He passed by the Curator and Candi on his way there, wanting to get some information. He told Boto before he left to venture off as he pleased and find any information that could help with the case. With that in mind, Boto flew off and enjoyed the scenery a bit before needing to go anywhere. Although, he would like a ride with Milo, but it would be pretty off to see a large serpentine water beast with a flying penguin that is reminiscent of Santa with his tail-sac already as large as it is looking around the area. He decided to drop his request and fly and waddle to the exhibits. The one thing he needed first was a body of water to let Shama join in on this.

After looking at the exhibits on the ground floor and taking sweet pictures of them, he flew up to the second floor and began to search around, taking pictures of the exhibits for safekeeping. He also admired the many Flying-Type Pokemon skeletons hanging from the ceiling before making his way around the area. Maybe he could find the Curator's office. She must have one. It should be somewhere on this floor, right? He waddled about for a minute, fixing his monocle, so he can see any words. Luckily, he knew English well enough to know labels and names.

Meanwhile, Miel had reached One-Arm and pulled out a pen and paper to better document this interrogation just in case he forgot something. He asked One-Arm politely, wanting to offer a hand in greeting, unless this guy was too "salty" at the moment to have a proper and polite handshake. Luckily, he used the arm that wasn't needing his stump to shake with. "Hello, I'm Dr. Darastrix, but you may call me Miel. What's your name, sir?"
 
Steve shook Miel's left hand, though his expression barely changed. He still seemed bored as heck, like he was very used to being treated in such a polite and almost buisnesslike way. Perhaps he was Tessa's pet, or perhaps he'd just had another job at some point. At twenty years of age, the latter wasn't exactly a far-fetched notion.

"Hey. I'm Steve." He tilted his head a little, like some curious bird. "You look like a real fancy detective or something. You must be pretty desperate to be taking on a missing dick bone case..."

Seriously, of all the bones to have been taken... a dick bone. Clearly, the culprit was off their rocker.
---
The manager's office was indeed up near the balcony, or at least a door labelled Curator's Office. However, it was locked.
 
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Atty could only watch and nod, producing a small "Thanks," as she delve further into the old gym. She carefully went over the diary, sighing at what vague information it produced. A "savage" gym leader? A slight chill tickled her spine, trying to imagine how awful it would've been for some of those kids. Think about it, you've just won your first badge, planning on your second, only to get roughly swept by whoever it was that was in charge... Atty had her suspicions, perhaps it was that woman she saw earlier? The bitchy one, of course. While she gave off a very cold impression, the trainer still wasn't sure if she was ruthless enough to be called "savage"... She'd have to look into it further, maybe at another point in time.

As for the rest of her time, it was spent skimming the various books that this "Sue" had documented. That name sounded familiar. She was pretty sure that was the woman at the front desk she was just talking earlier with. Keeping all that information in mind, she occasionally glanced back at the two men, trying to do a bit of eavesdropping as to what they were bickering about while she buried her face in a book to seem inconspicuous.
 
Sue sure loved Cubone! Or... not. her diary was full of doting on the little creatures, but not all of those experiments were entirely humane, especially the older ones. It was frightening to think there might have been a local population here she'd managed to wipe out.

Ben took a very long drink, and shifted topics. If he knew about the eavesdropping, he clearly didn't care. Or he was just too drunk to care. "So - Tyler, you're all grown up these days. What the fuck do we do with this?"

He shoved the bit of paper at Tyler, who pushed it right back. "You tell me, man. You're the expert, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, and last time my nephew ended up dead." Ben waved his can in some sort of 'Trust me' gesture, which given what he'd just said, wasn't very convincing. "You ever had someone die, eh? Eh?!? You want that again?!?"

"You're pretty drunk, so let's not." Tyler scratched the back of his neck. "Uh. Lob it at someone else and forget about it? It's not like it's got anything to do with us, you just found it."

"Heh, so we just give up and hope someone else does something... Yeah, sure, that worked last time. Sort of. Not at all, actually. But it's not like I've got anything to lose." Ben snorted. "Tessa?"

Tyler nodded. "Tessa. Her place, her problem."

"Dealing with her should be just peachy. Reckon she's even going to care?" And with that and a long-suffering sigh, Ben got up and wobbled out into the main museum area with the bit of paper, leaving Tyler to steal one of his beers. This day was just... way too long already, honestly.
 
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Atty grew more and more disturbed the more she read into Sue's experiments, feeling especially uneasy about the older, more gruesome projects she had done on the poor little Cubones. She gave a quick look around, snapping shut one of the books that detailed one of the more inhumane experiments, slipping it into her bag to hopefully show those two detectives later. She didn't think much of Sue when they had first spoke, ignoring the offput feeling she had given the trainer. Things were starting to make a little bit more sense now, though...

She turned back for the time being, stopping to talk to the mascot boy. Atty figured she should at least strike up a conversation, he seemed the most approachable out of all the museum staff she had seen thus far. "Um, hey!" She had caught him, thankfully, after the older man had left, giving her best smile in hopes to get a little bit of info out of him. "Sorry if I interrupted you earlier. I- um- had a question, though. I was wondering if you had any other job here besides the whole mascot thing? It must be pretty rough standing out there in the sun."
 
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