Bang!!
Eevee's Iron Tail smashed straight through the frozen doorway.
Gary and the others rushed outside, but the three Shadow Triad members were nowhere to be found. There was no sign of which way they'd gone.
"That was quick." Gary had hoped to keep them from leaving, but they'd slipped away all the same.
"Gary, who were those guys? Do you know them?" Lenora asked.
It was the first time she'd seen the Shadow Triad. She still couldn't work out why they'd broken into the museum, let alone why they'd attacked Gary.
Because everything the three of them had just done had been directed at him.
"I don't know them, but this should have something to do with Bronius," Gary said.
Lenora and Hawes exchanged a look, both full of questions. For the other side to attempt a robbery over a single stone, there was obviously something unusual about it.
"So what do we do now? Should we call the police?" Hawes asked.
"You can, but the two of you should first check whether anything's missing in the museum. They came for me, but they might have gone after something else as well," Gary said.
Lenora and Hawes nodded and went back inside to check right away.
Gary didn't follow them in. He took the business card Bronius had given him out of his pocket, pulled out his phone, entered the number on the card, and called.
Sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service.
Gary had only been testing his luck. Since Bronius had sent people to take the stone by force, the card he'd left behind was bound to be fake.
Back inside the museum, Gary waited in the main hall while Lenora and the others called the police and checked the exhibits for anything missing.
A few minutes later, Hawes came hurrying into the hall with a worried look on his face. The moment he saw Gary, he said quickly, "This is bad—the fossil's been stolen."
"Fossil… which fossil?" Gary asked.
"The Pokémon fossil—the one you asked about earlier," Hawes said.
The fossil Gary had been interested in bore the shape of Genesect. Could the Genesect fossils that Team Plasma later resurrected be the ones stolen from Nacrene Museum?
"Is there any surveillance in the museum?" Gary asked.
"There is, but the power still hasn't come back on, so you'll have to wait a moment," Hawes said.
"Then we wait."
Gary didn't have any better ideas. Everything had already been stolen, and there was nothing left to chase down.
After another few minutes, Officer Jenny arrived with her people.
Hearing that the museum had been robbed, she naturally treated the case seriously. Once the power was restored, she went through the museum's footage and finally pieced the whole thing together.
While Gary and Lenora were battling, Team Plasma had made their move. They'd driven an armored truck up to the museum entrance. Along with the Shadow Triad, there had been ordinary Team Plasma grunts.
The Shadow Triad had knocked out the staff at the door first, then entered the museum and began searching. When they spotted Genesect's fossil, they broke the glass case and carried it off.
The grunts loaded the fossil into the transport truck and left, while the Shadow Triad stayed behind. Their target was obviously Gary, but they hadn't moved right away—they'd deliberately waited for his battle with Lenora to finish before acting.
Unfortunately for them, they'd miscalculated. Lenora's Pokémon had been defeated, but Gary still had Pokémon left to fight, and Eevee's alertness had cost the Shadow Triad their chance.
"So it was Team Plasma!"
After watching the footage, Lenora recognized them. She didn't know the Shadow Triad, but she knew the ordinary grunts—their uniforms all bore Team Plasma's logo.
The three Shadow Triad members carried no such mark. They were more like bodyguards, a distinct presence within Team Plasma.
Team Plasma's reputation in the Unova Region was notorious. They specialized in seizing other people's Pokémon on the grounds that being in human hands was a misfortune, and had long been wanted by both the Unova League and the police.
"It seems Team Plasma was after the unusual stones in the museum."
Officer Jenny also worked out what Team Plasma had been targeting, then looked at Gary and said, "Gary, I know the unusual stone belongs to you, but if you carry it on you, it'll make you Team Plasma's target. I'd suggest leaving it in our custody for safekeeping."
"Sorry, I refuse."
Gary turned her down flatly. The God Stone was connected to Kyurem. Even if it weren't, he couldn't hand it over—he'd paid good money for it, and it was his now.
"Gary, you have to understand how dangerous it is to keep the stone on you. What would your family do if something happened to you?" Officer Jenny urged.
"If Team Plasma comes looking for trouble, I'll teach them a lesson," Gary said.
Gary wasn't the least bit afraid of Team Plasma. Right now Ghetsis couldn't even control a single dragon, and the strongest fighters in the group were probably the Shadow Triad.
"Since you insist, then be careful from now on. If you run into Team Plasma, notify the police as soon as you can," Officer Jenny reminded him.
Although Team Plasma's goal was the God Stone, Officer Jenny had no idea what the stone actually was. Besides, it was already Gary's personal property, so she had no right to take it.
"Don't worry, Officer Jenny. I'll be careful."
Officer Jenny made a brief record, took a copy of the museum's surveillance footage, and then left.
"My fossil!" Watching the officers go, Hawes buried his head on Lenora's shoulder, grief-stricken.
"Don't feel so bad. The fossil's gone, but we can study fossils from other museums. It's not the end of the world," Lenora comforted him.
"Um… sorry to interrupt, but could you give me my Badge?" Gary cut in.
"Right, I almost forgot. Wait a moment."
Lenora pulled a box out from under the counter, full of Gym Badges.
Lenora really was carefree. Gym Badges might not be worth much, but they still needed to be kept properly—leaving them under the counter for a while like that made them all too easy to steal.
"This is the Basic Badge. Here you go."
"Thank you."
Gary took the Badge.
[Ding! Mission complete. The reward has been sent to your System Storage.]
With the Badge in hand, Gary didn't stay long. After saying goodbye to Lenora and Hawes, he headed to the Pokémon Center to have Bisharp and Chandelure treated.