Treats and Kidnappings

It was the next day, and we were currently walking the streets of Lumiose City.

"So, should we make our way towards Cyllage City?" Clemont asked.

"Actually, since we're here, why don't we drop by Professor Sycamore's Lab before we leave?" Serena asked.

"Hmm, that's a good idea; maybe we can ask him more about Mega Evolution!" Ash replied.

"Also, I baked macarons last night! Tada~! Let's share them with the Professor!"

"Oh boy! I can hardly wait!" Bonnie cried out.

As we made our way toward the Lab, I muttered in a narrator-like voice,

"While travelling in the Kalos Region, as Ash and Kai work to enter the Kalos League, our Heroes have decided to visit Professor Sycamore!"

"Huh? What'd you say, Kai? Heroes?" Bonnie asked.

Hearing Bonnie's question, I laughed, saying,

"Haha, nothing, Bonnie. I was just pretending to tell a story about our travels." I said with an awkward smile.

"Haha! You're so silly, Kai! Why tell a story when you can experience it?"

"Well, what if I said that this Journey is like a fairy-tale to me? After all, I'm getting to travel alongside Princess Bonnie herself! Of course, I'm no Prince Charming, but if that isn't a story worth telling, I don't know what is!" I said with a teasing smirk as I bowed in a princely gesture.

Bonnie giggled, saying,

"Ehehe, oh Kai! You say the craziest things sometimes! But you would make a great Prince, or maybe a knight in shining armour?"

Deciding to play along, Bonnie suddenly turned her chin upwards, placing both hands on her hips and announcing,

"Sir Kai, would you be so kind as to escort me to the Professor's Lab?"

Understanding what she expected of me, I put on a solemn expression, placed my right hand over my heart, and bowed my head slightly, saying,

"By your will, your Highness!" Before grabbing Bonnie and putting her on my shoulders.

"Woah! I'm so high! Ehehe~!"

"Your steed is ready to depart, My Lady!" I announced with a grin.

"Onwards~!" Bonnie cried out, pointing forwards as if she held a sword in hand.

"At once!" I shouted as I skipped forward, making an occasional clicking sound with my mouth to mimic a horse's hooves.

Ash, Serena, and Clemont watched our antics with wry smiles.

"Bonnie and Kai seem to be getting along well," Ash said.

"Mhm, Kai seems to be really good with kids. He must've wanted a younger sibling. After all, he is the youngest in his family from what he's told us." Clemont replied.

"Well, I think it's great for Bonnie! After all, when she's with us, it's like she's got three older brothers and an older sister!" Serena exclaimed.

"Haha, I guess you could see it that way," Clemont replied with a smile, watching as I horsed around (pun intended) with his sister.

And so, with Bonnie and I leading the pack, we arrived at Professor Sycamore's Lab.

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"Hi, Professor! We stopped by to say hello and share some of these macarons I'd made!" Serena announced as we caught sight of Professor Sycamore approaching us from the right-most corridor.

"Hello, everyone, it's good to see you here again! Macarons, huh? Mmm, such a sweet treat! Come along; let's head over to the break room. Sophie is there right now, and you can share them over a cup of tea; I've still got a bit of work to do, so I'll have mine later." Sycamore replied, leading us down the corridor he'd just exited.

"Will you let us see what you're working on?!" Clemont exclaimed, looking positively ecstatic at the topic of scientific research.

"Of course, make yourselves at home."

As we arrived, Professor Sycamore waved us in while he walked off to continue his work. It seemed that Sophie anticipated our arrival as she'd already set up some teacups and plates at a low coffee table surrounded by couches.

"Welcome back, everyone! Please, have a seat. I'll just grab a few more things."

"Let me help out, Miss Sophie!" Serena said, leaving the basket full of macarons on the couch as she followed Sophie to help in the kitchen.

I sat down, picked up my cup of hot tea, and took a deep breath of the steam. It had a pleasant aroma that instantly calmed my mind. Briefly blowing on it to cool it down, I took a sip.

It had a rich flavour, a bit bitter, having no sugar in it, but it had a very calming taste.

I closed my eyes as the warmth travelled through my body, and the taste invaded my mouth. After that, I felt totally relaxed, letting out a satisfied sigh in the process.

"You look kinda tired, Kai. Is everything okay?" Ash asked.

"Mm, everything is fine, Ash. I am just relaxing."

"Okay," Ash replied, probably nodding his head; however, as I still had my eyes closed and wasn't paying too much attention, I couldn't tell.

"By the way, Ash," I called out.

"Hmm? What's up?"

"When you have the time, would you mind telling me your story about the time you met Sir Aaron's Lucario? I'm genuinely interested in how that's possible."

"Oh, that? Sure, I'll tell you the whole thing later!"

"Thanks," I replied with a smile.

Serena then returned with Sophie, sitting opposite Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, and I.

"Alright, everybody, let's dig in!" She called out.

However, Ash interrupted, asking,

"Uhh, Serena… Where are the macarons?"

"Huh?!" Everyone exclaimed, looking around frantically for the basket of treats.

As we were looking around, Sophie approached a corner in the room, one which had a potplant, exclaiming,

"Aha! I knew it was you, Chespin! Sneaking around again!"

A short Pokémon was hiding there, seemingly stuffing its mouth with the colourful baked treats.

"So that's Chespin, huh?" Ash said as we approached.

"Mhm, it's another one of the three Pokémon that new trainers can choose from in the Kalos Region," I replied.

"Those three are Froakie, the [Water] Type, Fennekin, the [Fire] Type, and Chespin, the [Grass] Type, right?" Clemont asked.

"Mhm. All starter Pokémon that trainers can get from professors in each Region are of those three Types. However, there can be exceptions, like Ash receiving Pikachu as his first Pokémon," I replied.

"I see…" Serena said.

"So Chespin is a [Grass] Type," Ash said as he pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at the spikey Pokémon.

"{Chespin, the [spiny-nut] Pokémon. Chespin is a bipedal, mammalian Pokémon. It is primarily light brown with darker arms and has three triangular markings around its face. It has oval, brown eyes; a triangular, red nose; and rodent-like incisors. Its arms have three fingers, while its feet have two long claws.

Covering its back is a tough, green shell, which extends from its head to halfway down its tail. The tip of its tapered tail is orange. There is a small, off-centre hole in the shell on the back of Chespin's head, and around the face, the shell has four leaf-like spikes. On the back of its head is another spike split into three parts.

Chespin's shell can protect it from powerful attacks. The quills on its head are usually soft but can be stiffened for attacking. Despite having a curious nature that tends to get it in trouble, Chespin keeps an optimistic outlook and does not worry about minor details}."

Hearing the Pokédex's explanation, Ash nodded his head, muttering,

"I see…"

"Pika, Pikachu~!" Pikachu exclaimed, placing its little paws on its hip and looking at Chespin in a questioning manner.

"Chespin, Ches~!" Chespin replied, scooting further behind the potplant to hide the macaron within its hands.

"It's so cute!" Bonnie cried out, squatting down to get a better look.

"Haha, if you wanted macarons, you should've just said so!" Clemont said, sticking out his hand towards Chespin with his palm facing upwards.

"Why don't you share?" He asked as his hand approached.

However, Chespin suddenly stiffened its quills and headbutted Clemonts hand away!

"Yeowch!" Clemont cried out, pulling his hand away and clutching it to his chest.

Chespin then spun around, grabbing as many macarons it could fit into its mouth and tiny arms, before speeding off out of the room.

We all just stared with deadpanned expressions as the little critter scurried away, dropping one or two macarons along the way.

"Well, isn't he a greedy little guy," I muttered.

"I'm so sorry. That Chespin is a bit of a prankster…." Sophie said as she bent down to retrieve the basket of macarons, now roughly only ¾'s full.

"Don't worry about it," Clemont said with a smile.

"How about we head over to see what the Professor is doing?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" Bonnie cried out.

I watched as they ran off before turning to Sophie, saying,

"Let me help you clear away the teacups."

"Why, thank you, Kai. That's very helpful of you!"

"No worries," I said with a smile.

I walked over to pick up the cups and saucers, brought them over to the kitchen sink, and rinsed them out.

While in the middle of cleaning up, a loud crashing sound came from the direction that my group of friends had run off to.

Looking over, I frowned; however, a relatively faint memory appeared in my mind. It was a lot like Déjà vu; when I focused on it, the memory of which potential episode I was most likely experiencing popped up, and I knew right away what was happening.

"What was that sound?!?" Sophie cried out.

"I'm not sure. Let's go." I said as we ran towards the sound.

As we arrived where the Professor and my friends were supposed to be, we saw a truck speeding off through a hole on the side of the glass Pokémon enclosure.

Looking around, I couldn't see any sign of my friends or their Pokémon. It was then that I realised that the event had changed slightly due to my presence.

They were all most likely in the back of that truck.

"Sophie, I believe my friends and the Professor have been kidnapped. Please secure all the Pokémon within the facility. I'll go after them."

"Wait, Kai! Are you sure you'll be alright?!"

"I'll be fine."

Running out of the hole in the wall, I looked to my right as I saw tire marks on the road leading that way.

"Luca, Luci," I called out as my two best friends burst from their Pokéballs and appeared next to me.

"Caaaar~!" They announced.

Looking back over my shoulder, I noticed that Sophie was no longer looking at me, paying more attention to the Pokémon around her.

I channelled my Aura Enhancement with a nod and sped off like a bullet. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see both Luca and Luci were easily keeping up with me.

Satisfied, we continued to run, going up the street, looking left and right, hoping to catch a glimpse of the truck. However, we soon lost track of it.

Stopping in an alley, I reached into my bag and pulled out what looked like a black elastic sleeve. I pulled it over my left hand and secured it to my forearm. It reached from my elbow down to my wrist, and it was pretty comfortable to wear.

With a flash of light, a holographic screen appeared on my forearm. It showed a 3D map of the entire district I was in, highlighting the many available cameras I could access. These included CCTV, ATM cameras, traffick cams, etc.

Accessing the security footage from the camera's surrounding the Professor's Lab, I got a good look at what the truck looked like. I then ran its image through a program that accessed all the security camera's within the district I was currently in.

With so many cameras working on my side, I was bound to get a few hits.

And as luck would have it, I did.

The program then automatically charted a course for me to travel to get to them as quickly as possible by cross-referencing where the truck had been spotted and my location.

With a nod, I looked down a back alley I was in before taking off at close to my top speed, Luca and Luci still hot on my tail.

It seemed that whoever kidnapped them… Well, I know it was Team Rocket… They had planned their getaway pretty well.

According to the device on my arm, they'd already arrived at their destination as they hadn't moved for a while.

It was in an area where many old and abandoned warehouses still stood.

It'll only take me a couple of minutes to arrive at my current speed. So with the bit of time I had, I began to formulate a plan in my mind on how I should go about this impromptu rescue operation…

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