Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 50: The Wandering Snivy

After a few minutes of Oliver decrypting the message, he managed to find something, "I think we got it!"

Sophie, who had been laying her head on the desk to get a bit more sleep, suddenly shot up, "What'd you find?"

"Listen here..." Oliver cleared his throat, "It appears that the most promising likes to call itself– And it cuts off there."

"What could that mean...?" The Snivy's eyes narrowed.

The Oshawott thought for a moment, "It's almost as if someone was documenting..."

"...A Pokémon..." Sophie finished for him.

"Could this somehow connect to me?"

"That'd be impossible, you've been living in Casteel for your whole life with that gang, right?" Oliver closed the notebook before looking at her.

"Ninety percent of it, yes."

Before they could question any further, the two were alerted by somebody entering the room, "What are you two looking at?"

Both Sophie and Oliver froze as they slowly turned their heads to look behind them. It was a familiar Vespiquen, who only looked between them with an inquisitive gaze. Sophie had no way to hide the notebook, which was already within her sight. The Snivy let out a mental sigh before holding up the notebook.

"Where'd this come from?"

Princess gently grabbed the notebook from Sophie, who nearly jumped at her to get it back. Oliver quickly put a paw in front of her, signaling her to stop before she did something she'd regret.

The Oshawott knew that Princess had no reason to confiscate the book from them, be it out of malice or curiosity. And even if she did, Oliver already confirmed in his mind that he wouldn't stand for anything to be taken away from them, from Sophie.

"Why would we even have something like this?" Princess asked herself, "I do not remember bringing this to the base when we first came here..."

"Even Princess doesn't know?" Oliver looked at the Vespiquen.

"Perhaps Chili could have the answers to this..."

Sophie nearly jumped at the chance to obtain some more information, "Is there any way we could contact him?"

Princess nodded, "We could use the video-messaging screen in the commons. They can access Pokémon Centers around Sinnoh, and considering that Chili's staying in the Snowpoint Pokémon Center, they will page him once they find out we are looking for him."

She handed the notebook back to Sophie before ushering them to follow her.

———

Oliver and Sophie sat at one of the tables within the commons as they watched Princess tussle with a small box. The box seemed to be built with tons of technology, a few wires sticking out of it as well.

Upon finally getting the box to work, it displayed an icon of a phone, something that both Oliver and Sophie didn't recognize.

Soon, an Audino appeared on the screen, a kind smile on her face, "Good afternoon! This is the Snowpoint Capital Pokémon Center, how may I help you?"

Princess looked around, "Yes, may I speak with an Abomasnow named Chili?"

"Alright ma'am, let me just page him really quick for you."

The screen went back to the phone icon, and remained like that for a while. Princess went to sit down next to Oliver, waiting patiently. Oliver was a bit impressed by the technology that such a small box could possess within itself.

Sophie wasn't paying attention to the screen, as her eyes drifted down to the notebook in her hands. She had been wondering about herself for the longest time, and in meeting with that Greninja, she discovered that there were more Pokémon similar to her. Whatever she finds in that notebook could possibly have a connection to a Pokémon like her, and possibly Sophie herself in tandem.

Princess looked at the Snivy. She could tell that she had a lot on her mind. Perhaps she had misjudged her. She had become so on edge after the Greninja and Conkeldurr first appeared in Sapphire Town, she didn't see what was wrong with suspecting a child of mal intent.

A few minutes later, the screen changed once again, showing an Abomasnow. He had a resting face that Oliver could only describe as being bitter. It seemed as though he had a brighter resting face when he was younger, but the bright eyes he once had seemed to grow dull and listless with the long fatigue of a life lived constantly in battle.

"What is it, Princess? And what's with the children sitting next to you?"

"Captain..." Princess got up from her seat, saluting him, "...It is a really long story, there is no time to explain right now."

"Alright, what's the situation?"

"I uncovered this strange notebook in the small library, could you give me any information as to what this is?"

"I don't even know what that is..." Chili replied, "But I did discover something with the numbers. Use the numbers if you want to uncover–"

"Chili! You have been summoned to the Snowpoint council for some urgent business!" The Audino suddenly ran up to him, frantic in her speech.

"Really?" Chili looked at her, earning a nod, "Ugh, this is the third time today. Let's get this over with..."

"Wait!" Princess shouted, trying to stop him. The feed suddenly cut out as she let out a sigh, "I guess we have to figure the rest out by ourselves."

Walking back into the room, Oliver was busy reading the notebook in his paws. He was looking at the numbers with great interest, "82, 45, 6, and 23... Is it some kind of code?"

Sophie looked around the room, "You might be right, look at this."

The Snivy pointed at the beginning of the bookshelf at the furthest place to the left. Below the first book was a small number written in a faded black marker. It was the number one.

"Good eye, Sophie!" Oliver smiled, looking at the number, "Now, if we count every space in the bookshelf from this, and go to the space that is 82, maybe we can start something."

Tracing his paw below every section of the bookshelf, Oliver counted each and every one of the spaces in the bookshelf. He soon stopped at the 82nd place.