(A few weeks have past since the last update)

Ash had been watching over an alley for the past three hours. He was sleepy, but he had to keep his senses awake, or else, he might miss the thing that has been troubling them for the past few days.

-Professor Sycamore's Laboratory, 23:56-

The couple had arrived at Lumiose City from their break in Anistar City. They did their usual daily routines with the others, Ash's friends doing errands at their respective areas, among others. The couple were lying down at the same bed as Ash's Pokédex gave out an alarm.

"Looks like it's time to go out again." Ash sighed as he saw the notification "It's been three nights already, and there's still no clue whatsoever."

He scrolled through the news section, there had been nothing but news regarding the recent incidents of Pokémon being stolen. He had been going out to look for evidences to look for the perpetrator, as being asked by Looker.

"So I'll have you work on night shift, if that's okay with you." Looker said to him

"As if I had another choice." Ash replied "Anyways, I guess I could use the training I had with my Pokémon."

"Sounds good." Looker said

"I'm not really regretting my decision to take night shift, but..." Ash thought as he climbed to the roof of a building near this assignment

"The news articles say that the nabbing occurs at daytime." He then jumped to another roof

"I'd never thought that I'll be using my experience training Greninja here."

-Lumiose City, 02:43-

Hours had past, it had been quiet, very quiet. Sometimes, you would think that with the silence present, you could hear a needle falling to the ground.

"Seriously, I need some action here." Ash was now becoming impatient

A rustling sound was then heard from the dumpsters

"Who's there?" Ash said, Pokéball in hand

Another rustling sound was heard, and it was getting louder by the second

Ash was now preparing to release whatever was inside the spherical capsule in his hands, until the figure that he was waiting for revealed himself. Ash smiled

"Oh, just a Trubbish." He said, and with a blink of an eye, the Pokémon disappeared

"Where did you go?" Ash was now getting a sense of suspicion, especially after seeing a larger figure suddenly appearing about a few meters in front of him

Ash started following the figure, which was moving quite fast. He was sure that he was following a humanoid figure, only thing was... It was very fast.

He continued the chase only to see the same Trubbish from earlier resting at another dumpster, this time, located at an alley near Lysandre Cafe.

"Isn't this?" Ash thought "Maybe just a coincidence."

Ash then started walking back to his post, nearing the end of another night of duty.

-Professor Sycamore's Laboratory, 10:03-

"Good morning guys." Ash greeted the group gathered inside the dining hall

"Good morning Ash." Bonnie greeted back

"Why so late again, Ash?" Dawn asked "Any problems lately?"

"Must have overslept." Ash replied with the most natural way as possible

Among the group, only Ash, Serena, and their Pokémon know the situation Ash was in. It already came into the mind of Ash that they might have been aware of the recent incidents, hence he had to inform them any time soon.

Another incident of Pokémon theft has been recorded earlier this morning. The reports say that a trainer who happened to walk into an alley had an encounter with a mysterious figure... a black suit with a helmet with those orange visuals. The trainer, who does not want his name to be revealed, said that everything happened quite fast, and he was just left there, without a single pokéball with him...

"Ash... I guess." Serena whispered

"Guys, I have to say something." Ash said "You heard the report, right?"

"Yeah." Misty replied "We all did."

"Well, the true reason why I usually wake up late is not oversleeping. It had to do something with this incident..."

Everyone gasped at Ash's words, and started to bombard him with questions

"Don't say, you're the mysterious thief the news said?" This was the question that summarized the whole... noise... if you put it that way.

"Wait, wait! Let me finish." Ash pleaded

"I was investigating the whole situation." He continued "Someone asked me if it was possible for me to look out at night to see if there is some suspicious activity going on in relation to that." He then pointed out to the television... to the surprise of everyone.

"LOOKER?"

"So you mean that you have been contacted by Looker for all this time?" Iris questioned the raven haired trainer "and you didn't tell us."

"It's not that I didn't want to tell all of you, Looker told m to keep this a secret." Ash replied "He said that I should only tell you when the time is right."

"Understood." Cilan said "But if you wanted to conduct an investigation, you should have asked for our service."

"Well, now that you know..." Ash said "I guess we should do this together then."

"Sounds good." Serena then took Ash's hand "But who will tell Looker?"

"No need to do so."

"I was supposed to tell you guys about my plans on catching the thief, but it seems like you guys figured it out immediately." Looker said as he sat down with the rest of Ash's group "So, let'"s get these things started."

"About a few days ago, I received a blow on the stomach from this machine I encountered, it hurts so much that I had to be carried back to my office and get treated. I had a good hunch that there was something behind that structure, and it only took me a few seconds to actually comprehend the situation." Looker explained "A few days came afterwards, I saw a piece of paper dangling on the desk of one of my assistants, well actually, the girl I took custody of a few weeks ago. I read the paper and saw a job offer that gives quite an amount. Then it came into my mind that it may be possible that she may have taken the job in gratitude to what I've done for her. You may think that there's nothing wrong about it, but here's the fishy part: I explored all of the newspapers that were published for the past 2 weeks, or ever since she was with me, to see if the job offer was found at any ad, but to my surprise, there was none. What worries me the most is that it may be possible that if she took the offer, it may be a trap or something."

"This does not sound good." May said, to the agreement of the others

"But what does this have to do with my investigation?" Ash asked

"Actually, I took you as an investigator since you pretty much have the skill to do so, plus you know who I'm talking about."

"Don't say." Serena uttered in shock

"So you mean that... Emma has to do something to this?" Ash asked "Just like you asked back then?"

"Wait, wait." Clemont interrupted "Who is this Emma you're talking about?"

"Well, back then, when we were going to Anistar, we met this girl with an Espurr inside a dark alley near the train station." Ash replied "I won't go much into detail as Looker told me not to tell about that incident."

"So, do you have a way to prove your point?" Cilan asked

"Actually, I'm hoping that I'm wrong." Looker replied "She is very innocent and kind for her to even consider doing this. My plan is to use her Espurr whenever we find the chance to encounter that machine up close. Espurr is pretty much scared of adults as I observed there in the office, and the only thing that calms her down is the presence of Emma herself."

"What do you think is behind all of this?" Brock asked the detective

"Classified stuff." Looker said "All I can tell you is that its an offshoot of a larger group, and they made this machine to be very powerful, with weapons and super strength and speed, and the scariest part, a human controls it from the inside."

"But then, how do we even catch that machine, with those stuff you described?" Dawn asked

"Even if he's not aware, Ash helped me finish the whole outline of the city through his investigations." Looker said "Finding her will be much easier, having surveyed all alleys within."

"So yeah, that's that?" Ash asked

"Pretty much." Looker said "Just let me remind you that you have to inform us a few days before making a move to look for that machine."

"We will." Ash replied

"Now that things got settled, it's time to get ready for some action." Looker then held at a poké ball "I dunno why the Nurse Joy from Unova gave me you, but it seems like we can help them this time."

"Your duty is done for today." A man in a red suit said to a girl "You did a great job today."

"Thank you, sir!" She replied

"Well, here's your salary." The man handed out to the girl "I should get this thing running soon, my budget is running out."

It's been a long time... Well, not much to say this time, other than the future plans. The current arc will be running for about another 5~7 chapters, then a few fillers before proceeding to the Elite Four Arc. I hope to finish the current arc before the end of January 2016, unless stuff would happen. Though, the numbers are still temporary due to the fact that there might be holes coming out of nowhere and there's a need to patch it up.

So after this one, what will happen? Well... I don't know actually. I might not dish out anything else anymore after this due to college stuff taking over my activities, plus osu! (if you're familiar with it) is taking up the rest of my time. Though, after the final "main" chapter, I will not mark this as complete as I may add some stuff... which I won't disclose.

As of this chapter, I am 5 (or 6) episodes behind the anime, but spoilers are a welcome development for me. (Just PM me)

So that's it, see you in the next chapter.