Ask to Join Bone'd (Mystery RP - 15+)

[vaultie]

To be fair, the window was already broken by the time Atty had gotten there. She had just... Well, she made it worse. If worst really came to worst, though, she could easily pay for it. All those years of training and traveling did provide a good amount of wealth. Most of which was spent on clothes... But, still.

Either way, getting kicked out right now over a broken window would be a dreadful way to go. She leaned back out, knowing that if Tessa heard this guy she'd be throwing even more of a fit. "Just- Just be quiet for a little bit, okay? I'll get back to you in a minute!" As much as she wanted to help, sending out her only flying type for assistance- Barbie- would only be adding to the problem. It was better to take things one step at a time, starting with Tessa.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Seeing that the pattern seemed to be of some slashing motion, from neck high or head high if it were a small human, he decided to ask a very bizarre question about Clara. For that, he didn't exactly know who to talk to besides the curator, and she wasn't the most approachable woman. He'd need to go to her and make her feel better about the situation at least.

When he exited the bathroom, he saw she was already busy. He decided to wait for her to get done whilst he looked about the place. The museum was quite huge and spacious, meaning that anybody could spy on anyone without anyone noticing. Were there any cameras set up anywhere? One would think there would be if this was a museum.

After a moment, he walked over toward the commotion between Atty and the boy outside, and eavesdropped, while also trying to stay out of sight.

 

[FrouFrou]

The Ben Problem entirely forgotten for now (and slinking back to his presumed lair in the library), Tessa swept up to the hapless Trainer. Though she had to stare at the ground when she got close, due to the glass everywhere, when she was able to stop and glare at Atty, dear god did she glare. Who did this stupid girl think she was, smashing public property?!?

"And just what stunt were you trying to pull?" As much as she'd love to throw the Trainer out right away, given that she didn't look like she was going to be able to pay for the window, Tessa again held herself back. Regulations first, savagery later. "I don't know if you heard, but the situation is already very dire. I am going to be spending thousands on salvaging it... so, you are absolutely paying for that window, miss." She held out a hand, palm up. "I'll take your number, thanks."

Thankfully, the guy up the tree was out of sight, and he kept his mouth shut too. God lone knows what might have happened had he, say, fallen out while Tessa was grilling Atty.

 

[vaultie]

Atty cleared her throat, attempting to present herself in a more proper manner. As much as she wanted to chew Tessa out for letting all this happen in the first place among other things, she would have to suck up in order to save her skin.

"You'll really have to forgive me, ma'am. My Golisopod here, you see, she's a bit claustrophobic. She went to open the window here for some fresh air, and underestimated her own strength..." At least it was a half-truth.

As if on-cue, Flower huddled closer to her trainer, trying to shrink and appear innocent. If isopods could givd puppy-dog eyes, she was surely doing it right now. It felt more genuine, however, the Pokemon actually sad for getting her trainer in trouble.

"And, of course, I'll definitely be willing to pay for the damages." Atty nodded, handing over her mobile number to Tessa. "I feel like I should stay here to clean up, as well. I'm sure you have much more important things to deal with right now." If thats what it would take to get her off her back and get back to the guy hanging around outside, she'd take it. Charisma don't fail me now...

 

[FrouFrou]

There was one thing Tessa cared about more than anything else. More than her position, or the museum, or whatever family she was rumoured to have.

Money.

As soon as she had that phone number - a means of pressing Atty for all she was worth - Tessa was all smiles. Of course she was; that window probably needed a good clean, anyway. Having it replaced for free was all the motivation she needed to back off. "Oh, not a problem! I'll be in touch..."

Speaking of clean windows, didn't Ben need a good cuffing around the ear? Yes, yes he absolutely did. He'd really made things so much worse, and Tessa couldn't even tell if anything on that note was remotely true. Plus, since he'd announced the note to everyone, perhaps that meant...

She sprang on him once again before he could get to the library, dragging him back over to that convenient bench. Not that she'd ever yell at him in public, but she could certainly hiss at him, and interrogate him too. Terrorcat had earned the name for a reason, and Poke-man being out of prison was downright disastrous. She'd stop at nothing to get those two stuffed in jail.

...It should probably be noted that as soon as Tessa left, the nerd in the tree went right back to straining at the Pokeball. He wasn't having a whole lot of luck there, though.

 

[vaultie]

Atty held her own smile until Tessa was out of ear and out of sight. As soon as she was gone, her expression dropped into a grimace. Ugh. She could practically feel the greed radiating from her.

Seeing that she was free now, however, she turned back to the window. She leaned out, propping her elbows on the sill and letting her head rest in her hands, chubby cheeks lightly squishing. "You sure you don't need help?" She called again to the bespectacled boy, once again watching as he struggled to reach the ball. "And if that's yours, how did it end up there in the first place?"

 

[FrouFrou]

"That is... complicated! By which I mean, embarrassing." Here, the poor guy nearly lost his glasses, then his balance as he attempted to push them back on his face. Clinging to the branch for dear life, now upside-down with all four limbs wrapped about the branch, the only option he really had for the glasses was stuffing them in his pocket - meaning that all his swipes at the ball from that point were completely off-target. He seemed to be very near-sighted.

"Uh. Okay, I might need some help. Just a little." He wriggled forwards along the branch, hastily shuffling back when he heard a rather telling creak.

 

[vaultie]

Atty couldn't help but grin as she watched his attempts, a bit too entertained. Still, she couldn't leave him hanging. Especially considering she could relate to the issue of constantly needing glasses, practically being blind without them...

She brought up a Premier ball to the window, giving a deep sigh as her Vespiquen was released into the air. She delicately floated, wings beating and producing a low buzz. Atty spoke up before Barbie could give any overreaction, calling her command very bluntly. "Be. Nice."

Barbie was by far the most difficult to order around, espcially when not in contests or battles. The Queen Bee gave a single look at the boy in the tree, glaring and ultimately wishing he would fall already so she had an excuse not to help. He looked so... Uncouth and clumsy. How awful. She could almost pity him. But she didn't.

Her next move was purely only because of the order given to her by her trainer. Barbie hovered over to where he was, aligning herself within reach of the Pokeball. She was much larger than a regular Vespiquen, standing at a whopping 6 foot, her height much more akin to that of an actual human. That probably played a roll in her dominant personality, being able to tower over others and ignite fear into them, this boy most likely not being an exception. Easily enough, she plucked the Pokeball out of the brush, handing it over to him. The way she watched him, however, could send chills up someone's spine. Her deep red eyes glared, boring into his own and staring him down, glimmering like rubies. She was aware of his every move, feeling it her duty to intimidate whoever she felt was beneath her. He had better take the ball back before she changed her mind.

 

[FrouFrou]

Despite hanging upside down off a tree branch, the guy managed to reach up and grab the Pokeball. And... maybe it was because of his precarious position, or maybe he was just incredibly brave, but he actually grinned in the face of total intimidation. "Gee, thanks!"

Pressing the button on the ball, he let out a Simisage - also wearing a suit. So perhaps one of Clara's Pokemon, then - however, the two did seem to share some sort of bond. Or at least, no commands were given, but seeing his predicament, the ape soon had the guy's wrists secured to the tree with vines. There was admittedly a bit of a mischievous glint in the creature's eye, which was best not thought too hard about. The guy seemed to trust it, though; as the vines grew longer, he let go of the branch, gently descending to the ground. At least until the monkey decided it would be funny to have him fall the last couple of metres, anyway, and released the tree end of the vines.

"Owwww!"

Nice and comfy up on its branch, the Simisage roared with what was undoubtedly laughter, and even offered Barbie a high five... before realizing what it was dealing with and deciding to find another tree to sit in, fast. That thing was nothing short of terrifying.

Sitting up with a low grumble, the guy blinked at first Atty, then the Golisopod, then... "Potato?"

"Ra! RAAA!" Just about bouncing out the window, the Rampardos bounded over to him, butting at the guy repeatedly. Her tail was wagging, which did look pretty hilarious on a prehistoric beast. The nerd treated her much like a puppy, petting her head with a real vengeance.

"Awww! You haven't seen me in forever, I know, I know. It's so good to see you again! Have you grown? Oh, I bet a few centimetres, come on... Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?!?"

 

[vaultie]

Barbie scoffed, turning her head at the sight of such ruffian play. She could only stand so much of the- ahem- monkey business... Wings beating with a low, threatening buzz, she hovered back over to the window so Atty could quickly return her before she could be subjected to anymore immaturity.

Atty, on the other hand, was enjoying the scene. It was really adorable the way the Cranidos was so excited to see this guy, and the way he treated the Pokemon in return. Her pink lips turned into a smile, only skewing when she remembered the current situation. She cleared her throat, calling out again to the nerdy trainer. "Oh yeah, hey, I was gonna ask, do you know who Clara is? Is that her Cranidos or yours?"

 

[FrouFrou]

The nerd grinned again, still petting the dino. That was one very infectious smile he had. "Oh! Uh, I trained these Pokemon just for Clara. They're a bit hers, but a bit mine as well."

He lowered his voice slightly. "Clara's like a... let's say best friend to me. I can tell you whatever you need to know about her... but i-if you could tell me whatever you've found in there, that'd be wonderful. She's been missing since last night, and I really need her back."

 

[Test Candidate]

Candi sighed, and took a moment in the bathroom to splash some water on his face and fix his hair, trying to make himself look more presentable. He fixed his jacket and walked out, looking around, Carolina and Columbo standing by him, ready to help him search.

He glanced over to the broken window, and figured that had something to do with Atty, and started shambling over to it, his team in pursuit. It was that or bother Officer Icepop again, or Tessa, who he felt had pissed off enough for her to go at his throat.

He walked up to the window, his shoes crunching against the glass from the broken pane. He held his hand out and waved backwards, trying to keep his team from treading on it and cutting themselves. He looked at Atty, already leaning through the open frame talking to some stranger he hadn't met yet, trying to peer over her.

 

[vaultie]

"Uh..." This was gonna be hard to say. While he knew she was missing, this guy didn't have half an idea where she was, did he? "Yeah, about that." Might as well break the news to him. "I'm pretty sure you already know about the bone here that's missing, right? And Clara, well... She's kinda gone, too. She's being held hostage." Atty frowned, pursing her lips at how blunt she sounded. "She got kidnapped by someone named "Terrorcat", I think it was? Long story short, if the ransom isn't paid, or if the other murderer isn't put back, Clara's in deep shit. I found that Cranidos just now in the bathroom. There's a blood stain in there, and I'm sure everyone here has a pretty good hunch she was attacked in there."

She was momentarily interrupted by Candi, coming up from behind and almost scaring the poor girl. Flower watched him intently as well, her trainer giving a sigh as she turned her head away from the window and to the shabby P.I. "This guy knows Clara. I'm telling him what happened to her."

 

[FrouFrou]

The guy wasn't exactly making much effort to not be seen, besides not standing directly in front of the window. It wouldn't do for him to get spotted by Tessa or Steve, after all - he'd be chucked right out of the building. He acknowledged Candi with a brisk nod, his smile fading with Atty's rather grim news. "Uh, it's Kent. Sorry for not being upfront, I'm just really worried. And - Terrorcat's a bit of a notorious thief around here? A lot of a notorious thief, actually... Well, I guess that's why he took the bone."

Thinking about what Atty had said, a lot did make sense to Kent. He could certainly take a guess at why Clara had been taken hostage, not that he was sure he wanted to share it with the others just yet. He decided to check one thing Atty had mentioned that was pretty vague; Kent admittedly wanted to jump to a conclusion, but knew he probably shouldn't. "So... this other murderer. Who do you mean? Like, did he mention anyone in particular?"

...He hoped there wasn't gallons of blood in that bathroom, too. If Clara wasn't okay, then Kent would probably do a few unpleasant things to this 'Terrorcat' character.

 

[vaultie]

"Yeah, yeah, there was a name... Shit, I forget..." Atty turned to Candi, remembering him being there right on the scene when Ben had made the announcement. She only caught half of it, hurrying to the bathroom with her Salazzle in the midst of it all.

"Hey, you got the name, right?" She spoke up, shifting a little bit so she could share the window space with him. "The other murderer, who was it again?"

She'd have to remember that name, though. Kent. Along with his words about Terrorcat being a known name around Nacrene. She surely hadn't heard of him before, but then again, she hadn't been here in years.

 

[Test Candidate]

"The Poke-Man?" Candi responded, bringing a hand up to lean against the wall, and his head down to lean through the pane, glancing up at Kent. People were weird around these parts. "The ransom letter from Terrorcat was telling us to return him to prison, in the few seconds I got a look at it."

He had to wonder why getting whoever or whatever Poke-man was back in prison was such a motivator for them, to the point of wagering it alongside a half-million ransom. Everyone else would probably assume the same thing... Maybe it'd make sense once they actually figured out who these people were.

 

[FrouFrou]

Kent blinked, then frowned, pulling his glasses from his pocket and putting them back on. "Well... that makes sense? Sort of... wait, no, not really. Because... the theft happened last night, right? And this Poke-Man, he got out last night... but Terrorcat even knew to kidnap her and not, like, someone else?" He scratched the back of his neck - nearly added why he reckoned Clara's life would be valuable bait for Poke-Man, but refrained for now. Practically everyone in Nacrene knew about the angry little activist; Kent figured it was pretty obvious.

So... how could Terrorcat have left such a note, let alone made the correct choice of hostage? He'd have had to either know about the breakout as it was happening, or before it happened - and surely that was impossible. Unless... well, let's just say Kent now had even less reason to trust anyone associated with the museum.

His body language closed quite a bit at that little thought. Taking a step back, Kent quietly called the Cranidos (Potato? Really?) to his side. "I... guess everything's related, huh."

 

[vaultie]

Atty sighed, running a hand through her dark brown bob. "Listen, I barely know what's going on here myself. I'm no professional, I... I was just in town when all this went down, and decided to help. I have no idea who these guys are, let alone the first thing about detective work. I'd honestly be gone now if it wasn't for the fact me leaving during all this would be too "suspicious"." She rose her hands, fingers making air quotations. Truthfully, she wished she could just drop this and go home. But now she was here and she was too invested in the case to change anything.

Flower strode behind her, her little arms gently resting on the trainer's shoulders. She gave a low chitter from her throat, trying to comfort the stressed out girl.

 

[FrouFrou]

Ken shook his head slightly, the smile returning. Or at least, a more sympathetic variant. "Ah, I get how you feel-? I'd love to be outta here myself, actually. But I made a bit of a scene earlier, that and Clara is, well, my sister. I-I can't give up on her!" Not something he was originally planning on sharing, but ohhhhh well. He'd already told Tyler, what would another couple of people matter?

He hesitated nonetheless, checking their reactions to this before moving on with the pep talk. "So I've just got to do my best! And you, too. I mean, we just have to track down some catburglar who didn't even pick a very good name, right? It's not impossible at all."

 

[vaultie]

His sister, huh? Whether or not that was a lead, it was still some pretty crucial information. Atty decided not to pry into his family life at the moment, figuring something like that would be better left off to professionals. Her reaction was only a look of curiosity, not actually that surprised by his admittance. It makes sense, considering how close he was with the Cranidos.

She gave Kent a smile, admiring his optimism over the situation. For a guy who's sister got kidnapped and was being held at ransom, he had a pretty positive outlook. "Yeah... I gotta agree with you about the name, though." A nod. "Sounds way too much like Torracat. You think that's a coincidence or not? Like I said, I haven't been here in years, so I'm not really up to date on local crime."

 

[FrouFrou]

Kent grinned back at her. Hey, it was nice when someone agreed with you! And didn't throw you out of the place, that was also good. "Oh hey, I know that one! I think it's on card thirty-six: Terrorcat's name comes from the fact he stole one of the first Torracats ever to come to this region. Shows off about it every other time he opens his mouth, I heard."

He shook his head with a wry smile. "Still, all you really need to know about those two is that Poke-man kicks his ass regularly. That guy was a really awesome... hero dude, you know. Of course Terrorcat wants him back in jail - though I won't believe he did anything wrong in the first place!"

Or at least, definitely not enough to get locked up. Kent collected the trading cards they put in the cereal boxes, he'd know all about his favourite hero.

 

[vaultie]

Atty cocked her head to the side, finding herself more and more invested as Kent continued. The way he obsessed over the figures made it almost sound like they were comic book or cartoon characters, not an actual, real threat.

"What'd this "Poke-Man" guy do anyways? Everything I've heard so far makes it sound like he's a serial killer and needs to stay jailed, or whatever. Guess I've been making assumptions?" She blinked, ready to listen to Kent nerd out again. It was... a unique thing to be interested in, but she had no right to judge.

 

[FrouFrou]

Kent folded his arms at that. "He didn't do anything. There were just all these articles about him killing the bad guys all of a sudden, and he- I think he handed himself in 'cos he didn't want the force exhausting themselves looking. He's that good! I heard there's been people protesting it ever since, just ask around."

He grinned, a bit awkwardly. "I mean, I'd have been protesting too, but I needed to go get some Pokemon trained up for a new client. So, I... did that? And then I heard about the bone, and thought Clara might be in trouble, since she works here and all! Rushed here so fast, I didn't book a hotel or anything in advance... and forgot my wallet, too. Heh. I should probably go challenge a couple of Trainers or something."

 

[Merciless Medic]

Interesting, thought Miel. He was getting a lot of juicy tips from them. He decided to find Tessa, since she is being left alone right now. He decided to give her a breather for just a few more minutes before he went and find her. Although, when he looked over, he saw her across the museum floor, hissing at Ben for drunkenly yelling out the note's passage. Whoops. He decided to walk over there and hopefully dull the situation between the two. It was going to be a rough day.

Miel walked over, his posture screamed business-like and authority. When he approached the two, he hung back, so as to not disturb Tessa. The hard floor did hardly anything from keeping his footfalls silent, as he sneaked up toward them, yet discreetly so. He waited until they were done, by which point he took out his notepad and pencil and began to write in all the notes he has seen so far, as well as paper clipping Boto's pictures on to the pages. He looked up from his glasses, to make sure they weren't staring at him.

 

[vaultie]

Atty could just barely make out Miel in the corner of her eyes as she continued her discussion with Kent, his icy, blue hair and all around chilled aura being giveaways. Not that she really minded, however. So far, she had no real reason not to trust him. He seemed professional enough, and as long as he didn't go tattling on her, she had no issue with him. It would be pointless for the ones actually investigating to be at odds with one another, it'd only slow things down.

Her attention was brought back to Kent as he explained his financial situation. "Y'know, I'd actually like to help," Atty began, head resting upon her hand as she leaned against the windowsill. "But I should probably keep any spending to a minimum now that Tessa's got me." She didn't say it outloud, but Atty had a strong feeling she was going to end up overcharged for the damages.

Flower, bless her, was busy trying to clean up said mess. She had scooped up most of the shards into her large mitts, waddling around and trying to find the nearest trashcan to deposit them in. It was primarily her fault that her trainer was in a good but of trouble, it was only right that the Golisopod herself be the one to clean up.

 

[FrouFrou]

Kent shrugged. "Ah, don't worry. Worst comes to worst, I'll just hire out a few of my Pokemon. Like... You!" He grinned up at the Simisage, which thumbed its nose and climbed higher up the tree. Not unless he had food to bribe it with, thanks very much. "Or... yeah, I guess not. I mean, it's whatever you wanna do, really." He looked down at "Potato", scratching right under the Cranidos's chin. "What do you think? You think we could take on a Trainer or six?"

Try as she might, Tessa hadn't been able to get much out of Ben; not where he'd found the damn note, not whether he'd actually written it himself, certainly not an apology. Not even slashing his paycheck for ridiculously bad behaviour that could have caused a stampede helped. Seemed like Ben was too drunk to feel much... Thinking about that alone made the curator very angry indeed. Whoever was supplying him with beer- beyond his regular paycheck - was totally going to get it.

Eventually, she even ran out of threats - and nothing was working, anyway. For a time, she just sort of tried to stare him down in silence and failed miserably.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Miel walked over finally and cleared his throat. He then chuckled a little as he smirked and said with a toothy grin: "Pretty sure he's too numb to feel your eyes boring through his skull. If there's anything you need help with, I can help you. If it's catching this Terrorcat man.... Well, that'll take awhile. For now, I need your help. If you don't want me to help, then maybe I can give you some cash to help with the business it could've gotten today, as well as cover any expenses you may have lost last night and today."

Miel fiddled around with the wallet in his back pocket, making it clear he wasn't afraid to drop a few hundred, let alone a few thousand. He then set his pen and notepad in his satchel and he introduced himself. "My name is Doctor Darastrix, but you may call me Miel. You have anything for me to help in the investigation?"

 

[FrouFrou]

It was... probably the mention of money that made Tessa soften. Or maybe she was just tired after the whole Ben Experience. And getting her business broken into hadn't exactly helped with that, either.

"Tch... Well, besides the rosters, there is one thing. Why I invited the public to investigate, actually. Besides the income boost... I know that none of them are responsible." With a flourish, she produced a sleek red... credit card. Huh. "The culprit couldn't have gotten back through the ceiling with such a huge bone. So they used this card to open the front door. I found it lying just inside the building." She offered it to him for inspection. "We give this to all our employees. I didn't think it was going to be a problem if they all had the same level of access, and it would have cost more to produce different cards... Anyway, what it means is that it was one of my employees who stole the bone. And with Clara gone, the list is even shorter."

 

[Merciless Medic]

Miel took the card, taking it and holding it by the corners and inspecting it thoroughly, in the meanwhile listening to Tessa. He nodded to show he understood. He then wondered if it really was Clara. But then again, whose blood was it in the bathroom? Miel decided to ask Tessa a strange question.

"About Clara.... How tall is she? I know, strange question, but I found something in the lady's bathroom. I would like to know how tall she is," with that, he had Boto exit his Poke Ball and open up his tail-sac for an envelope to set the card in. He carefully slipped the card into the envelope and set it back in his tail sac. Luckily for him, the tail-sac was quite neat and tidy for there being a large pile of useful equipment. Boto readjusted his monocle before saluting to Tessa, and then retreated into his Poke Ball to rest up even more. Miel then took out his pen and paper to better remember this. He wrote down the appearance of the card and the circumstantial reason behind the card.

 

[FrouFrou]

Tessa's lip curled at the question. "Taller than me. A good head or two, too. I think she may be even taller than B... According to her, it means she's born to skateboard. Some towns have such quaint beliefs." She winced slightly as she said it, recalling the number of times Clara had tried to justify a boardslide with her height. Not a particularly sound excuse.

"Putting aside the fact that you even went into the ladies... What is this thing you found?" Was there some ceiling cavity Miel thought the hostage might have hidden herself in? Clara was just about stupid enough to have done such a thing.

 

[vaultie]

Atty turned her head slightly to the side as she watched Flower return, her mits now clean of the broken glass. The Golisopod got close to her again, poking her head out of the window as well, looking at Kent with a soft chitter escaping from low in her throat.

The trainer's hand found itself under the chin of the deep sea Pokemon, gently scratching the gentle giant. "Right, another thing I was gonna ask," Her brown eyes flicked back onto Kent. "How much experience do you have? As a trainer, I mean. Like, have you ever tried any of the gyms here?"

 

[FrouFrou]

"Oh! Well, I'm actually from Shalour City. I travelled a long way to get here, aheh..." Kent shrugged. "I'd like to think I'm pretty all right. I'm more into the training and breeding stuff, but my Pokemon always do super-well."

He looked down at the little dino, and frowned. "Though then again, Potato was trained up to be a perfect mini-security guard. And Clover over there has an arsenal of rare moves from a really neat bloodline. I-I'm not saying they could beat a full team of six, though maybe they could if they tried hard enough... but Clara should have gone down with more of a fight than I'm thinking? Or maybe I'm worse than breeding than I'm thinking." He laughed, though it came out very awkward. "Ack, now I'm thinking this is all my fault. Is that motivating?"

 

[vaultie]

Atty gave a side smile, listening to Kent's story, only for him to end up putting the blame on himself. "Ah, that's... Not exactly motivating, no..." She couldn't help but feel sympathy for him, wondering how exactly she could help. "Believe me, I'm sure it wasn't your fault. This Terrorcat guy, he was probably prepared for almost anything. He just got lucky and caught Clara off guard."

She wasn't sure how effective or not her comfort was, but it was likely better than nothing. "Did she have any other Pokemon on her other than that Cranidos? Since you said you bred them, you should know. I'm just trying to see what other kind of Pokemon I should keep a look out for."

 

[FrouFrou]

"Y-yeah! He's meant to be pretty strong. Though Poke-man is better, of course. The cards say he only has a stamina rating of... Anyway." Kent adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, even pushing back his shoulders in an attempt to look a bit less weak. Unfortunately, the obvious effort in the gesture gave it the opposite sort of affect; someone definitely out of his depth, someone who had maybe just embarrassed himself by bringing up the cards again, someone trying to appear strong for whatever reason.

"No, no. The Simisage and Potato here would be enough. Clara believes in strong bonds with Pokemon over having lots of them - it's a very Shalour sort of thing, heh. I only have a few I use to battle with myself, though they're..." He hesitated, then looked her in the eye. "Back at the ranch-? Yep. Just don't tell anyone that I have a ranch, I don't want Terrorcat- uh, stealing my stuff or something. That would be the last thing I'd need."

 

[Merciless Medic]

Miel's face became quite pale as he replied with what he had seen in the bathroom. "There's blood in the bathroom. The blood splatter pattern is reminiscent of a slashing motion, like if a small person's jugular was sliced open, also evident by the amount of blood seen in the bathroom.... It's... Not a pretty sight. I only went in there because I thought there would be some evidence. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest."

Miel's posture shifted from confident and authoritative to a little disturbed. Although, he regained his composure, his face was still ashen white like he saw a ghost. Seeing the blood in the bathroom, while not as disturbing as the other kinds of interesting... Stuff he had seen, still sent a shiver down his spine. Luckily, he could just do some self-therapy to calm himself down, but that wasn't a pleasant experience, walking into a bathroom and then seeing that.

 

[FrouFrou]

Tessa ran a hand over her temples. "So someone... little, you say? Was attacked in the ladies. And there was a lot of blood, as if an artery had been cut. Perhaps a jugular, but there is no body. And I take it that Clara's the wrong height anyway."

That was something of a relief, but at the same time it carried very grave implications. At best, there were two assailants, and one of them - perhaps just a Pokemon had gotten injured. At worst... If Tessa's worst fear came about, and anyone found out what had actually gone down, the museum would get closed for sure.

Suddenly, that brilliant idea to let the general public pay to investigate for her didn't seem so brilliant. Gritting her teeth, Tessa stood; she wasn't quite as tall as Miel, but her back was ramrod straight and her gaze steely. "Ben will clean that mess up when he's... a little more sober. I'd be surprised he hadn't found it earlier, but... Ugh, Ben. I'll tape the area off, for now." And then talk to a certain someone and demand he fix this entire mess.

To his credit... or maybe shame, Ben hadn't so much as moved throughout the exchange. He just stared into the middle distance, not saying a word. Maybe drunk, maybe traumatized, maybe just terrified? Who knew. Steve could be heard snickering at him from the receptionist desk, though he shut up the moment Tessa looked his way.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Miel started when she said she was going to have someone clean it up. Something told him she knew someone else though. Maybe... He won't press the matter on it right now, but he would like to keep the area as is.

"I'm afraid since it is a part of investigation, cleaning it up will destroy evidence. I did take a blood sample and photographic evidence, but if the police do arrive, they'll need proof that it exists. I'm afraid you can't clean it up. I suggest getting a few outhouses if that's the only woman's bathroom."

Even though it isn't exactly practical to have the blood stay, if the cops come by and see it as clean, they wouldn't be sure if photograph Boto took was real or not, since photoshopping was a thing. Miel then walked over to the women's bathroom again and checked to see if the blood had coagulated much, or if it were fresh. He kind of forgot to check while he was still getting over the effects of the Salazzle pheromones.

 

[FrouFrou]

(Sorry, didn't get the notification for some reason. Not sure what's up with that?)

"Outhouses!" Tessa groaned. "Do you realize how much those will cost?" She seemed to hold off on calling the cleaning service or taping off the bathroom or... whatever it was she was planning, instead following the detective into the bathroom to see the damage for herself.

"Oh, my..." The spatter was at least six or so hours old; the blood fairly dry to the touch. Tessa's nose wrinkled at the sight of it. "W-what an awful mess. And no..." She frowned. "The only person this height to work here is Sue. Then again, I don't see her with a sliced jugular. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her much at all."

Slacking on the job? In this situation? Oh, someone was so getting a pay cut. Someone had to, after all, to pay for the accursed outhouses that now needed to exist. "Sue!" Tessa snapped, thoughts of closing off the place all but forgotten as she stormed from the bathroom in search of the scientist.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Miel was about to grab Tessa's arm to keep her from storming off, but decided it was best not to. Although, he thought that maybe he could follow her and keep an eye on things. He had Boto reveal himself and put "Do Not Cross" tape across the woman's bathroom door. He then had Boto land on his shoulder after a good few flaps and he used his long stride to catch up with Tessa and watch. He kept his footsteps from making as much noise as possible, so as to not alert Tessa that she was being followed by some blue popsicle. He then took to the shadows, so none of them can see him, as he followed Tessa and stopped short of some entrance if they had found where Sue was.

Meanwhile, he had let his other Pokemon, his Alolan Ninetales, also known as Kyukori, out to stretch. He told her in a hushed tone to see what Atty and the other man was doing over there. Kyukori looked over and saw a human, and a Golisopod. She thought about maybe becoming a cuddly buddy for the large isopod, but maybe decided against it if that thing was going to be too rough on her. Despite her slight wariness towards the large bug, she ran over and perked her ears up at the conversation happening outside. It was interesting to say the least.