Kind words are like honey [Sweet Deception]

[Tarlar]

Astrid brushed off her uniform and looked critically at her reflection in the mirror. She pulled down her shirt and fidgeted with the badge fastened to her chest.
"Stop being so nervous," she mumbled to herself, "you have been on many patrols, you are acting like a kid starting in first grade." It was the first time though, that she officially had been given a task in the role she was originally hired as: Training Officer.
She picked up the papers, she was old school and she had printed them from the computer when she had gotten the mail. She worked best with paper.
"Kai Griffin, 21 years old," she read, "my goodness he is practical still a child!"
She mumbled some more as the continued to read, "finished police school with great marks.. blah blah blah, bonded well with partner pokemon.. needs experience," she put the paper down and squared herself up in the mirror again, "of course he does, he is barely dry behind the ears," she grumbled and then looked sternly at her reflection, raising a finger at it, "Do not screw this up Astrid!"

Astrid was walking towards the Pokemon Center where she should meet up with Kai. An introduction and then she would let him take the lead around Cherrygrove, talking with him about what to keep an eye out for and where it would be a good idea to show their presence.
With a good solid plan she stepped through the slide doors to the pokemon center and instantly dropped her plan.
Joy was kneeling on the ground with a crying child in front of her, whom she tried to calm down, a young and very nervous looking officer stood beside them and looked relieved when Astrid appeared.

"Good afternoon," she greeted them all and shot the young man a quizzical look, "Officer Griffin?" He shot her a little smile as he confirmed. "You can call me Astrid. So what is happening?"
"I think Nurse Joy better can explain that," Kai said and gestured her, Astrid smiled expectantly but politely to Nurse Joy, waiting for her to fill her in.

Wordcount: 356
(ooc: Team is Casper, Benny and Alfred. Also noting that I have moved plushie cacnea and plushie swablu from Astrid's box1 to Lei's box2)

[Pixel]

Nurse Joy looked a little tired but grateful for the officers being there. She clasped her hands together and smiled at the pair, before stepping over to where a little girl sat sobbing at a table. Joy had done what she could to console the girl, giving her some water and a snack, but the girl kept sniffling pitifully, rubbing her face red with the backs of her little hands. Clutched under the girl's arm was a torn up pikachu doll, like someone or something had ripped the poor thing in half and strewn the stuffing all around, leaving only the raggedy top half intact. Joy laid a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Can you tell the nice police officers what happened or should I, sweetie?"

The girl looked up with wet eyes and squeaked, hiccuping around another sad noise, "I-I can explain..." She wiped her face again and the nurse gave her a tissue, which she used to blow her nose. "Um. I was at the park playing with my friends from school. These really cute pokemon showed up and got really close and acted really, really nice at first. We thought maybe they belonged to somebody at the park but..." She looked down and pulled the doll from under her arm, "Then they got really aggressive. They started grabbing our stuff and pulling our hair and everyone ran away. They tried to take my dolly but I wouldn't go so it got ripped...one of my friends' mom saw what happened and ran over and scared away the pokemon." She hugged the doll again. "There were, um...three of them. I dunno what they were... I think I've seen a couple of their type around before but one of them I never saw around here at all!"

Nurse Joy turned to the officers, "The incident happened very recently. We called somebody in as soon as the girl told us about it. We were hoping you might be able to do something...since as of late, this sort of thing has been happening all too frequently. She isn't the first to report an incident like this in the area."

[Tarlar]

Astrid listened closely to what the girl had to say, while Kei looked like he had no clue of what to do of himself.
"That does sound very scary, do not worry, we will make sure it does not happen again," she said gently to the girl and looked at Nurse Joy when she added some information. "I see, time to get to the bottom of this, I will let you know if our findings." She gestured for Kai to come along and then set the course towards the park.

"Time for you to use what you have learned," Astrid said cheerfully as they walked, attempting to get a conversation started with the young man. He sent her a strange look, "how? It's just a broken toy and some kids who has gotten too closer, that's all." He shrugged.
"Are you sure about that?" The old woman asked more seriously and he frowned. "Yes, this was just a toy but since it has happened multiply times it is more serious. This time it was just a you but if it continues, especially with children, it will be a child which are hurt next time. Had it just been one time, yes the kids could have done something which had agitated the pokemon. We either have some aggressive pokemon on hand we need to deal with, or some other kind of trouble."
"I.. I didn't think of that," Kai said quietly after a long period.
"At least this will be more interesting than just patrolling the street," Astrid said and didn't get an answer.

They reached the park and they stood at the entrance and looked around, at the moment nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.
"We of course forgot to ask the girl where it happened in the park," the old woman said while Kai stayed silent. She turned towards him, "so what do we do now?"
He looked surprised at her and looked away nervously, "look for clues?" He mumbled uncertain and she pretended to think about it, "that would be a great idea, but the park is big. We need to narrow it down somehow," she looked expectantly at him and he began to sweat nervously.
"I think it would be an idea to ask around, I am sure the ones around have heard a thing or two," She suggested encouragingly and gave some thoughts on how that could be worded.

"Excuse me Ma'am," Kei greeted a woman they encountered, "we're here investigating some incidents between children and pokemon where toys has been destroyed. Do you have any information about that, and especially where some of these incidents has happened?" Kai rambled sounded like he was reading a sentence out loud.

Wordcount: 445

[Pixel]

The sniffly young girl waved sadly as the officers left, still clutching her broken dolly. She pet the turn fabric, eyes red and puffy, breath hitching as she rubbed her cheek against its face. Why were those pokemon so mean and terrible?

Soon Astrid and her companion were at the park that the girl fled, and they would find that there were still quite a few people roaming about, continuing on their day like normal. Some jogged. Some sat on benches as they ate snacks. One harassed older woman herded a flock of five children towards her minivan. The grass was green and the trees full of bright, lush leaves. And the sun poured down upon them warm and soothing. A beautiful day for such a heartbreaking tale.

The women they pulled aside to speak to looked a little startled to be waved down by an officer, but when the topic of children and toys was brought up, she nodded in understanding. Maybe even a little relief that the police were there!

"Yes! Oh there have been a number of incidents around this park as of late. Why, just less than ten minutes ago, I saw some children running and screaming about being attacked by some wild pokemon right over there by that bench." It wasn't too far away. She lead them to the general location. 

A little closer inspection revealed evidence of the crime that had just taken place—a trail of ripped cloth and buttons leading in one direction. However, in the opposite direction, but starting near that same spot, was a trail of crumbs, like perhaps a pokemon had celebrated its victory with a snack.

[Tarlar]

They reached the park and it looked nothing out of the ordinary. "Oh, the trees have already gotten their leaves! That was fast," Astrid exclaimed happily surprised as they looked around, Kai sent her a strange look. Otherwise the park was as Astrid had expected, people were about and enjoying a day outside in the nice weather, kids were playing. Just as it should be, and it was up to them to make sure it stayed that way.

Astrid smiled reassuringly to the woman, people were often nervous when contacted by an officer unexpectedly, everyone was nervous about being in trouble, even the most purest of saint. Kai nodded along as he listened, Astrid noticed a little bit of sweat running down his neck, and she realized he was clenching his jaw tight.
"So we are in hot pursuit, we will get to the bottom of this," she promised as they were lead to the bench.

"Thank you," Astrid said kindly to the woman and sent her on her way, and then turned to look at the evidence, "so what do we have here?" She looked questioningly at Kei who was hmm'ing and walking around but mostly looked to be trying to be busy. Astrid felt the tension grib her stomach and she exhaled, pushing aside the little voice questioningly her if she was doing this right, now he was so nervous.
"The buttons and cloth would fit with the toys which has been destroyed," Astrid said and then commented to herself, "They must really have been ripped apart with that much strewn around." She walked along it a bit and then led her eyes follow it smiling wryly, "and they have laid out a nice trail to follow even."

"So.. so what is there with the crumps?" Kai asked. "Crumps?" The old woman repeated and he brushed her off, "it's probably not important," he said and began to walk over to her.
"No no no no! Everything might be important, show me!" Astrid said and Kai ducked his head but gestured to what he had found.
"And that is a nice trail as well," Astrid said thoughtfully after having studied for a bit, "Well discovered Kai, now we know there are more than one suspect! It would not have done well if we left one behind to keep terrorising the park." She patted him a bit on the arm, and he flashed her a quick smile.
"I think we best split up to cover more grounds, you have a pokemon with you, correct?" She asked and he confirmed by holding up a pokeball. "Since you found the crumps, you can follow those and I will take the other trail. We will meet up afterwards to share what we found, agreed?" She decided and he saluted her, "yes ma'am!"

"I do wonder why he is so nervous, I do hope it is not because of me," she mumbled and sighed again, "you are silly old girl, you have trained and helped many people, but the first time you are assigned one you act like this?" she scolded herself kindly with a little smile. She shook her head and decided to get some company, Benny stood by her side a moment later.
"Hello my dear, we are following this trail of scraps to find the one who has destroyed the toy from where it belongs," she explained and Benny raised a hand cheerfully and gestured for Astrid to follow as he lead the way. Astrid followed content in the knowledge that he had better eyes than her and was closer to the ground, there was no way he was missing it even though it was longer and longer in between them.


Wordcount: 620
(ooc: following the trail of cloth scraps)

[Caramell 🍬]

Kai’s trail would take him off to a row of bushes carefully maintained on a nearby street. Cars roared pasted in infrequent volumes, making it easy to time his moment across so long he was careful to check both ways. The middle bush rustled, its branches bobbing and swaying even when no breeze presented itself as evidence for the movement. Should Kai listen closely, he could hear something…but as soon as he went snooping around, the screeching of a wild Pokemon would be all too deafening as a brown blur darted out from underneath the bush and tore off across the land. Was it gone for good though, or only scouting for reinforcements?

Astrid’s path carried with it more clues. The trail of fabric and bits of stuffing fluttered around the entire park in odd patches, as though the culprit was purposefully trying to mislead them. She would find no rhyme nor reason for their spots, at least not at first. And should she try to follow it as though she were following any normal set of tracks, Astrid would find herself going around in circles inside of the park. Any moment where she might have found a set of tracks leading out of the park, she’d find they would completely vanish as soon as she took one step outside of the park.

However, eventually her intuition or her sharp sight would benefit her. Upon nearing a grove of large live oaks, Astrid would notice something white and fluffy falling out of a knothole in one of the trees. Close inspection would enlighten her to the flying beetle whose small white fist-like arms were busy as work, pressing cloth and stuffing into the tree with a soft smile. Whenever the breeze shifted, though, Ledyba would pause and glance around nervously, trying to ensure none were around to catch it in the act. Astrid would need to be careful as she approached if she didn’t want to risk scaring off the wild Pokemon.

A Wild Ledyba is behind the crime!

Level 12. Careful not to spook it before you manage to get close!

[Tarlar]

"How peculiar, it is spread all over," Astrid wondered as Benny made several zigzag runs to retrieve some scraps which lay further out. "Have they been thrown out as distractions? If so it is not done very well, as it still leads us on in a direction," she muttered and smilingly took a button which Benny handed her. She leaned on her cane, even though her doctor repeatedly told her to straighten her back as leaning would make walking harder in the long run. She rubbed the button between her fingers, "definitely from a child's toy, but how much has it collected?" She mumbled to herself, it was impressive how much could be ripped off it so perhaps there were more than one. Both toys and culprits.

They reached the edge of the park and Astrid stopped with a frown, this had to be wrong. Benny ran out and searched the area but didn't find anything so he returned and quickly after he found another scrap of cloth in the grass within the park and the chase continued.
"They have been all over the place, but no clue to who it is. I wonder if they are toying with me now?"

What it was that draw Astrid's attention to the oaks would be a mystery since she would swear by anything that her eyes were too bad to notice anything falling out of the trees on this distance. Something about the oaks made her pause and look at the with narrowed eyes, something felt off about them, or perhaps it was just her year long experience that told her that would be a pretty good place for a toy thief to hide.
"For?" Benny asked and Astrid shushed him quietly.
"Can you check out those trees please? But be quiet and do not get caught," she whispered and he nodded with an eager seriousness. He folded his arms behind his back and very casually strolled through the grass, and the only reason he didn't whistled along to seem innocently was because he had been asked to be quiet. Astrid facepalmed at the sight.

Benny reached the nearest oak and scurried behind it to peek out from behind, only to ducking his head when something fell out from a little hole in the trunk. His eyes widened and he slowly stretched out for it, while he kept glancing up towards the knothole as if he worried he'd wake a sleeping beast. He snatched the thing and then strolled innocently back to Astrid very, very quickly, looking even more ridiculus that before.
"Fo! Fomantis! Manfo!" He whispered excitedly and showed her the white and fluffy thing he had snatched.
"Good job Benny! So our suspect lives in trees, now how to get it," she said thoughtfully.

Two pair of wings spread in front of Astrid. She had explained the situation to her two winged pokemon and now they were setting of to try cut off the escape routes for the whatever was inside the tree. Astrid hoped it was something without wings, since that would make it easier and Benny would be able to help from below. If it had wings it would almost be impossible.
With the two flyers in place, Alfred above the tree and Casper on the opposite than Astrid herself, with Benny in front of her, she called out to the suspect.
"I know you are in there, please come out. I just want to talk with you and if you come out peacefully nothing will happen to you," Astrid called out and waited to see the response.

Wordcount: 600
(ooc: 2 escape routes attempted blocked )

[Caramell 🍬]

Small white arms worked fastidiously. They stuffed bits and pieces of fabric and stuffing into the knothole in rapid succession, quietly mumbling about his misfortune underneath his breath. Something stirred through the grass, causing the hard shelled red bug with black spots adorning the casings to his wings to pull back. He paused, eyes narrowing suspiciously as a gentle breeze strolled through the grass, causing them to dance and sway in erratic patterns.

Something stirred and for a second, Ledyba was almost positive it was someone meant to catch him in the act. The hard shell opened, and two translucent wings protruded from underneath. Ledyba unfolded them and stretched them in the air, giving them a soft buzz for a second as he considered fleeing in a hasty need to escape. But…as the winds shifts, the grass seemed to die down. Ledyba shrugged and popped back inside of the knothole, stuffing away as he moved different bits of toys and discarded things into new areas to make room.

Benny would wander back to Astrid’s side with the wild Ledyba none the wiser. They surrounded Ledyba, cutting off most of his advances in the blink of an eye, and shouted to him from outside of the knothole. The red beetle popped his head out and hissed, wings unfurling from underneath the hard shell once more. “I’m not here to talk to you, copper!” The bug cried loudly, rattling its body as if to try and threaten Astrid. “You better back up before I poison you all!” Ledyba would toss a bunch of the fabric he had gathered up into the air dramatically, then immediately take to the skies to try and fly away before Astrid could catch him. Which wouldn't be hard, though, as they had the little bug surrounded.

Wild Ledyba refuses to cooperate!

He can't really escape all that well...but he's trying! Level 12, what will Astrid do?