Pokemon Noir: The Lost Snubbull.

“The office in Azalea Town has been rather quiet, as of late. Ever since that Kid took down Team Rocket three years ago, work in the PI Biz has come to a grinding halt. Of course, had anyone known that same Kid would become the Champion, I’d have remembered to keep tabs on that Gold hat of his. Had I recruited the Kid when I had the chance, who knows the type of money I’d be raking in?



Nowadays, the only call a PI like me gets is about the occasional Meowth stuck in a tree, or a Houndour that ran away. No crimes anywhere near the scale of Team Rocket come around Johto anymore. That leaves me and Poe over here often left to our own devices in the office, which leads to him often flying around the room, wishing he was out in the real world, scouting for bad guys like the good old days, while I’m left talking in giant monologues that-”



*knock knock knock*



“Huh? What was that?”



*knock knock knock* “Hello? Detective? Are you in there?”



Detective Syrch took a moment to snap out of his monologue as he registered what was happening. Business had been so slow lately, he hadn’t even bothered to unlock the door most days. He looked up to see Poe squawking in his face to get up, flapping his black wings and making sure his trainer acknowledged him. Syrch stood up, shooing away his companion as he did so, before heading for the door



“Man you’re annoying, even for a Murkrow…” he muttered to himself as he unlocked the door. The Murkrow behind him just squawked in reply, and even though Syrch didn’t understand Pokemon, he could have sworn Poe was scolding him.



After Syrch spent some time fumbling for his keys (he was never a very graceful man), he finally unlocked the door, and swung it open. It took the Detective a moment to register the woman on the other side of the door. Her stunning blue eyes matched perfectly with the short blue hair, and they both contrasted with her pale skin in a striking way. She wore a nice light pink summer dress that stood out thanks to her blue hair and eyes, as well as a light blue belt that wrapped around her waist. She was beautiful, and for some reason she had come to his out of the way, raggedy old office in Azalea Town. He would find out why she was here in time, but right now there was only one thing Syrch was certain of…



...He was in love.



“Uhh… Detective Syrch?”



“Huh? Oh, um, yes… Please, come in…” he said awkwardly as he snapped out of his daze. Behind him he heard the soft chirping he had come to know as Poe laughing at him. He hated that bird. The beautiful blue-haired woman walked straight past him and into the office, and then stopped, apparently looking for a place to sit. It was at this moment that Syrch came to the horrifying realization that his office was a total mess. He frantically cleaned up his empty food containers and dirty laundry before a chair was finally revealed, as he motioned for the blue haired woman to sit down, before he took a seat at his desk. She simply smiled at him from the other side of the desk, before speaking.



“I appreciate you speaking with me, Detective, I’m sure you’re a very busy man,” the woman said to him.



“Uh yes, very busy. Lots of cases, you know,” Syrch lied. Above him Poe squawked from his perch, as if to give away the lie to the woman. Syrch shot the Murkrow a glare before returning his gaze to the woman in front of him.



“So, what can I do for you?” Syrch asked the woman in front of him.



“Well you see, Detective, my poor Snubbull, he’s gone missing, and I think...” the woman in front of him started, before Syrch tried not to roll his eyes. It didn’t take long for him to zone out again, the woman in front of him continuing to tell her story as he did so.



“Great, another one of these cases. I can already tell what this girl is going to say. She went to bed one night and her precious Snubbull was curled up next to her all cute and fluffy like. You know, standard Fairy type stuff. I bet he even had a cute little Poke Toy to play with, too. Yeah, he definitely did. Anyways, the Snubbull wakes up, sees something outside the window, and then off and runs after it, without even realizing how to return to his cute trainer. Man, that Snubbull must be scared. She needs my help to return the poor little Snubbull to her at once, and make sure he comes back to his loving home. Yup. Classic.”



“...Then I saw a guy running from the house, holding a pink Pokemon in his hands, and I just know it was my poor little Snubbie.” The girl finished, tearing up as she did so.



“Wait. What?”



Syrch looked up to see the woman crying, and he was left unsure of how to handle this situation. He had never had a woman cry in his office before. Hell, he had barely spoken to anybody in the last three years. He basically lived in this office. Only he and Poe and the rest of his Pokemon. Luckily for him, Poe was much better at this than he was, as the Murkrow had flown down from his perch and grabbed a donut off his desk, offering it to the woman. He watched as the woman seemed to be cheered up by this gesture, even if it was only a little bit.



“Aww, thanks little guy,” the woman said to the Murkrow, who squawked in response, waving a wing as he did so.



“Mmm, this is good. Is that Razz Berry in the centre?” she asked him.



“Yeah. I love the Razz Berry ones. The local guy who bakes them in town knows how to get it just right. There’s plenty more, if you’d like,” Syrch said to the woman, moving the box right in front of her. She took another with a smile, before diving into that one as well.

“So, back to your case,” Syrch said once he was reasonably sure she had been cheered up, “You said something about seeing a man running from your house carrying some kind of pink Pokemon. Did you see his face at all?”



“No, I didn’t. Like I said, I just heard noises throughout the night and didn’t think much of them until the last one, where I saw the man running off and I realized Snubbie wasn’t in the house. It’s been two days, and I haven’t seen Snubbie at all in that time,” the woman said to him.



“Well, did you tell the local police? Officer Jenny is very good at what she does,” Syrch replied.



“Yeah, I reported it, but she thinks Snubbie just ran away from me, and since I don’t have any evidence that he was stolen, they won’t help me. That’s why I came here, Detective. I need your help,” she told him. Syrch pondered her words carefully, before responding.



“Okay, I’ll help you, miss…?” Syrch replied, before realizing he had not yet learned her name.



“Oh, silly me, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I?” the woman responded, before continuing. “My name’s Elise. Elise Granger. Nice to meet you, Detective Syrch,” the woman said, extending her hand.



“Please, call me Dave,” Syrch replied as he took it, looking into her beautiful blue eyes as he did.



“Okay then. Dave it is,” she said with a smile before turning for the door.



“Oh, and thanks to you too, Murkrow,” she said to the Pokemon, who squawked angrily in response.



“His name’s Poe, actually. He doesn’t like being called Murkrow, even though that’s his species. I don’t really know why. He’s a weird bird,” Syrch said, before feeling the familiar feeling of Poe’s beak jabbing his face as the Murkrow pecked him in his annoyance. Elise just laughed at the exchange, before responding.



“Well then. My apologies, Poe. And thank you, as well,” she said, before patting the bird Pokemon on the head, before opening the door.



“Oh, right. Before I forget,” she said, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to the detective, “this is my address in Ecruteak. I figured you’d want to start there in tracking down Snubbull. Meet me there in a few days, and we can get started, okay?” Elise said to him.



“Deal,” Syrch replied, with Poe giving a squawk in confirmation. With that, Elise gave them both a smile, before closing the door behind her, and the Detective and Pokemon were alone in the office.



“You hear that Poe? We have work again! AND it’s a real case this time! AND it’s for a pretty girl! Things are really looking up for us today!” Syrch excitedly said to the Murkrow, who gave an enthusiastic squawk in return. It had been quite the dry spell for Dave Syrch and his Private Investigator business, but now he was back and ready to take Johto by storm.



If only the detective knew what he was getting himself into...