[crow]

Who went and decided that Nico and Joli could have all the fun? Lupin had told them about that weird black mist stuff so they could go investigate together, not so those two could go off on their own and not invite him! Lupin was willing to just bet that there was heaps of treasure to be found too, and they just wanted to keep it for themselves.

Well, he was onto them. He was going to go investigate by himself too! With his mind made up, he set off on the road out of town, armed with a small backpack, a scarf, and his wits. Who was he? The Master Thief, Lupin! Who was scared of a little fog, anyway?

[Silver]

It had been a relatively quiet day. Some of the guild members were out on missions, and everyone was just puttering around as usual. Oko was getting restless. It had been a while before he had been selected to go on a mission. They always gave him stupid little stuff to do anyway. Maybe instead of waiting around, he would make up a mission of his own to go on!

Oko stepped outside and hopped up to the top of the nearest building. He looked near and far, but all he could see was a mysterious dark fog. At first, he didn't think much of it, but he eventually decided he was going to check it out. He jumped back inside, grabbed his satchel and made his way out of town. Charlie didn't need to know about this one. He left without telling anyone where he was going.

[crow]

Well, Lupin thought he wasn't worried about it, anyway. But when he got to the edge of town and saw all the other Pokemon jockeying for space to plan out their last minute preparations, it did feel... a little intimidating. So many of them were so big.

No, he wasn't going to get disheartened! Being small had its advantages too. Like how he was able to squeeze through the lot of them virtually unnoticed!

... Hey, come to think about it... Wasn't that another small Pokemon over there? Lupin's interest was piqued, despite his determination to be a lone wolf. But he'd test the waters first, see if this was a schmuck or not. Instead of approaching them properly, Lupin began to sneak...

[Silver]

Oko felt a little guilty about not letting Charlie know where he was going, but he also knew that there was no way he would get permission to investigate this by himself. If they knew about the spooky fog, they would do everything they could to keep him inside. That just wasn't fair. He was a brave warrior! He was every bit as capable of figuring out what was going on as anyone else.

Though it probably was a good idea to do this with a partner of some kind. He wasn't on a team, so he didn't have anyone to drag into his adventures. He doubted he could get a group of seniors to join him without tattling on him. Oh well, better go it alone. Oko hopped along steadily heading in the direction he thought the fog might be.

[crow]

Lupin did it just like his parents had taught him. First, hunker down low... It was important to keep his rump low; he'd always messed that one up when he was younger and smaller. Then, creep forward... Not too slow, and not too fast. These were the fundamentals, so he had them down pat, but they were still important! Stealth was a thief's best friend.

And this poor guy didn't suspect anything! If this weren't a test, Lupin might have been sort of disappointed. As soon as he got within range, he gathered his strength into his legs... and pounced!

[Silver]

He felt less concerned and more confident with each step he took out of the city. He was determined to catch the source of the fog and return to the city a hero. Everyone would see how strong and brave he was, and they would just have to let him become the leader of his own team!

Oko may have heard something, but he paid it no mind. There were definitely not any feral Pokémon this close to the city. As the pouncing paws got really close, his ninja training kicked in. He just barely managed to drop a substitute and duck away from the attack. It was so close, in fact, that he took a little scratch from the Zorua's claws before he got away.

[crow]

Lupin had intended this to be a test, but to be honest, he hadn't actually expected the other Pokemon to manage to... do anything. He figured that if they'd been able to detect him, they would have made that clear by now.

Just as he was congratulating himself for a well executed pounce, he felt that something was amiss as he connected. His paws... closed in on nothing. Well, almost nothing. He did feel a claw graze something, but it wasn't enough. He went tumbling forward, rolling into a landing with a yelp.

[Silver]

Oko had to do something while he was stuck at home all day not going on cool awesome adventures, and that thing was practice his ninja skills. He very rarely ever had the chance to use them, though, and he found himself very startled and a rather concerned at the prospect of a real fight.

His substitute block tumbled to the side and eventually poofed mysteriously out of existence. He stood in a tense stance, glaring at his attacker. He jumped back when it yelped, not sure what to think of the whole thing. Luckily for the Zorua, he was too startled by the attack to make one of his own.

[crow]

Well, that was a bust. Lupin sprang back to his feet and wheeled to face the Froakie, his body tensed for a fight, waiting to see what the other Pokemon would do. He wasn't really here to fight a battle, but since he no longer had the upper hand, he had to be on guard!

He was relieved when they didn't attack him though. That could have been bad. Relaxing slightly, he affected a smug little grin, trying to recover some of his lost dignity. "Hey, you're pretty good," he said.

[Silver]

Why would someone attack him? Oko was still a bit confused by that part. He didn't have any enemies, as far as he knew, and this guy looked... civilized. He was wearing a scarf, at least. He had to respect someone with a good scarf game.

"Wha? Oh, you too! I am not easy to sneak up on," he said. He puffed himself up a bit to look more intimidating. Well, in his mind at least. He was still surprised that the Zorua hadn't attacked again, but he was also relieved. He really didn't want to get in a fight right now. He had to save the good stuff for the big bad!

[crow]

"Right," said Lupin. He considered letting this guy know that he was, in fact, a master thief, but his folks did say that a secret identity went a long way too. Besides, those Kecleon were still pretty mad about that time he stole all that stuff from them, even if he did have to return all of it after he got caught...

That wasn't why he'd approached this Pokemon though. "I see you're by yourself too," Lupin said. "You hear about this weird black fog everyone's been talking about?"

[Silver]

Oko was all ready to explain why he was 'by himself' and how that was a good thing and absolutely not at all because he didn't have any friends, but he was stopped by the second part of what he said. The black fog. He thought that he had noticed it before anyone else, but apparently everyone but him knew about it. Typical.

"I saw it on a scouting mission," he nodded. As if his climb to the roof of a house was a 'mission'. "I'm going to find out what's causing it and stop it so everyone can be safe!"

[crow]

Lupin was taken slightly aback by the Froakie's response. It wasn't the slightly defensive note of it that got to him, but the fact that he had seen it himself. "Wait, you actually ran into it before?" said Lupin, forgetting to hide his surprise. The rest of his pretense dropped away too, and for a moment, he just looked like a stunned kid hearing something amazing.

He recovered a moment later, clearing his throat and fluffing him up again. "I mean, uh... Good work! I'm on a mission to investigate it too."

[Silver]

Oko was a boastful sort, so he often ran into this situation where people actually believed he was as awesome as he said he was. Most of the time he was able to play it cool, but there was no way he could keep pretending he knew what the fog actually was. If he was wrong... well, he didn't want to find out about that.

He nodded intensely, looking very serious. "It nearly got me! It was just a scouting mission, though, so I came back really quick to gather supplies and inform my da... the leader of my guild. Now I'm going back to face it head on."

"... Hey do you want to come with me? I already know you're tough enough to hack it!" He rubbed the little cut on his arm for emphasis.

[crow]

Lupin's fur deflated a bit as the Froakie went on with his description. He hadn't heard about the fog being anything scary. As far as he knew, other Pokemon had just seen it around, and hadn't known what it was. But here this guy was saying it was attacking people?

He had been meaning to offer to let the Froakie join his team--- with him as the peerless leader, of course--- but now he wasn't so sure. Still, flattery worked wonders on someone like him. "Well, if you're sure..." he said. "Eh, why not? You look like you need someone like me!"