Investigations of the Shady Variety

Synd’r wandered through Grassveil Town, comfortable that she would not be thought of as different tho any other such pokemon passing by. She now wore a total of four feathers behind her left ear, the three black and white striped ones that were a reminder of her Black Quill days now accompanied by a red one that was tucked between them.

As the Vulpix continued through the town, she passed through a residential area, given away by the smaller number of individuals that were milling around as well as the increased number of home-like buildings. Synd’r had no business with this residential section though, so she continued onwards, paying little mind to the inhabitants. She did however flash a small smile at a young Pichu that went bouncing past, chasing after a ball that they had been playing with.

It was clear when Synd’r was getting closer to the more business oriented areas of Grassveil Town, as the number of pokemon walking about during such a pleasant morning seemed to increase drastically. Stepping into the area that the Vulpix understood to be Grassveil’s marketplace, she found herself surrounded by all manner of interesting sights and sounds. Keeping her ears peaked for anything of interest, Synd’r tested the air with her nose and began to follow a rather interesting one.

Sure, she was here for the purposes of investigating a certain gemstone scammer, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t look around of her own accord.

The Vulpix made her way towards a stall that was selling freshly baked bread, but was quickly distracted by the smell of the pancake stall right next to. It was beginning to make her mouth water. Deciding that she could afford to treat herself a little bit whilst she was here, Synd’r headed over to the pancake stall and ordered herself one… maybe with a little strawberry sauce on top.

Wandering away from the stall with a rather pleased smile on her face and her pancake balanced on her head inside a little paper tray, Synd’r made her way towards one of the nearby benches. Dipping her head to place the paper tray on the bench, Synd’r sat down before daintily picking up the pancake with her paws. One wouldn’t assume her to be particularly dexterous with her paws at first glance, but years of learning how to pick locks had taught her how to use them with nearly as much finesse as a pokemon with opposable thumbs.

Capone noticed a certain fire type Pokemon walk by his home as he looked out the window. He didn't know if it was Synd'r, but it certainly seemed like her. He decided to go out to at least check if it's her. Grabbing a quick seed and popping it in his mouth, he walked out the door gagging on the taste. He felt that this would be a good time to use it, in case the Vulpix was up to something.

Now able to walk at a normal pace, for other Pokemon, that is, he moved quietly around town, following her into a market area. Blending in with the crowd, he brought a couple of snack foods, not wanting to look suspicious to anyone observing him. He could definitely tell it was his old friend from the forests.

The Slakoth couldn't tell if she was up to something, but he was able to notice a new feather on her head. A red one, as opposed to the three black and white ones. He wondered why she had another one, and where she'd gotten it from. He decided that it would be best to ask her about that after.

Moving up to speak with her, Capone realized she was buying pancakes. He couldn't blame her, the pancakes there were well crafted, but he still didn't peg her as a pancake lover. He watched as she moved towards a bench with the stack. Following her once again, he decided to speak up.

"Ah, it's you! I've been wondering when we'd meet again!" He said in a cheerful voice. He made it seem so natural and real. He stood next to her and lowered his voice as to attract as little attention as possible. "What are you doing here? And what's with the red feather? And any new thoughts on an alliance?"

Tucking into the pancake, Synd'r smiled pleasantly. The sweet and cool taste of strawberry syrup contrasted well and enhanced the buttery warm taste of the delicate dessert. She nearly choked on her pancake though as Capone spoke up, surprising her. She hadn't expected to run into the Slakoth here but considering the fact that he'd gone back here after she'd given him a Hoothoot to carry him wherever he wanted, perhaps she should have realised that this was a common haunt for the other pokemon.

Quickly getting her surprise under control, Synd'r delicately finished her pancake before replying.
"I didn't expect to see you here," she blinked, licking her paws to clean them of any stray syrup, before hopping down from the bench and re-balancing the paper tray on her head.

"I'm actually here on a sort of business," she replied, wandering over to a nearby rubbish bin and slipping the paper tray into it so that it wasn't just left behind to blow around in the wind. She may be an outlaw, but that was no reason not to respect public spaces after all. Walking back over to Capone so that she could speak in a quieter voice, she continued. "I've begun something new since we last met. The feather is proof of my place in such a group. As for such an alliance, well, as long as you're loyal to us, I would have no problem with you joining the group I call my own."

"Hmm, business, eh?" The Slakoth smiled lightly, his interest piqued. He liked it when business was happening, especially the kind of business he could guess Synd'r was here for. His volume decreased even further, to the point where only someone right next to him could ever hope to hear it. "I'm in. And I can remain loyal. Very loyal."

Capone liked where this was going. He didn't know if he would end up betraying the Vulpix later on or not, but he knew that he could make some cash doing this for the time being. He'd need it for his future plans.

"I know of many places we can discuss this without worry of anyone hearing us.
Many alleyways and corners in this unassuming town to hide in." The outlaw said slyly. He could hardly wait.

Synd'r stood and looked upon the Slakoth, her head held high. She was confident in both herself and the organisation that had begun to take shape. She was still wary of Capone, and likely would be for a while, but perhaps if he became a member of the Phantom Thieves, she could learn to trust him like she would learn to trust her other fellow thieves.

"A quiet place would definitely be ideal," she replied, "Perhaps corner rather than alleyway though. But, nevertheless, you'd know this area better than I. Lead the way." With that, Synd'r nodded towards Capone, signalling him to show her one of these such places so that she need not be so quiet with her tone in order to protect her allies.


After Capone had lead her to such a place she began to explain to him the base concept and the rules of the Phantom Thieves. Once she had clarified all of these to the Slakoth, she continued on to the rumour she had heard.
"... and so i'm in town to look for the pokemon who is supposedly posing as this gemstone expert. However the rumours never specified a place, so i'm searching the market area. If you would like to join me as a taste of what you can expect from being a part of our group, then feel free to accompany me. Just don't get in my way."

After leading the Vulpix to a private location and making sure no one followed them, Capone stopped, waiting to hear what she had to say. They were in a remote corner of town, one he knew most Pokemon didn't go to. It was known to be dangerous, even though it really wasn't. Some Pokemon had gotten mugged here years ago, and everyone started believing the place was a criminal hub, and stopped going there unless it was necessary.

While listening to the rules and concept of the organization, he nodded along, chiming in every now and then with words of agreement. He could follow those rules, at least for a while. He did like the idea of getting a cut of whatever heist they did.

"I'm not entirely sure I know who you're talking about, but I've heard the rumors before. I'll be glad to join you, though. If I'm going to join this group, I should do my part, after all." The Slakoth said, looking at Synd'r. He was ready to do this, as any chance for reward was good enough for him.

Synd'r nodded and then turned around to leave their little alleyway, "Alright then. I already have a starting point, so we should head back to the marketplace and keep an eye out for any stall that appraises jewelry or gems. They'll likely have a few expensive looking pieces for sale to make them look more official," she explained, having thought through the possibilities on the way here. The appraisal part was the only thing she knew would be true, the other was an assumption to narrow down the potential locations to begin with. If they then didn't find what they were looking for, they could broaden their scope again.

The Vulpix lead the way back towards the marketplace, reluctantly ignoring the scents of food this time and moving towards the shops that sold trinkets. She wandered part one stall that was selling what looked to be ornaments inside glass balls. Synd'r watched as a young Smoochum picked up one of the balls and shook it, allowing for some sort of white dust to float everywhere inside it, almost looking like snow. Synd'r smiled briefly at the sight, before turning her attention away from the stall. She had always liked snow. She didn't believe such trinkets would not be related to a gemstone scammer though.

"I'll be on the lookout." Capone said a bit dryly. He reminded himself that this boring work would be worth it in the long run.

Taking a few steps around the marketplace, he searched for something, his gaze eventually landing on a small stall with what appeared to be rubies, emeralds and other gemstones. Walking over to it, he took note of the few people shopping there. He assumed it was because it was such a small stall, they didn't have much to offer. That, or now wasn't the best time for business for gemstone based shops.

"What do you have in stock?" The Slakoth said, looking at the glass cases filled with different stones. "Besides these, of course."

The shop owner, a Sableye, looked at him with his sparkling gaze. His voice was sharp, almost ghostly. "Not much else. It's hard to find gem stones now with all these Pokemon running around dungeons, getting tot hem before us artisans. And no one comes to me to appraise their gems, either. They all go somewhere else."

'Oh, where do they go, then?" Capone asked, his eyes meeting with the Sableye's. This seemed promising.

"I don't know much about it, but I've heard plenty of rumors of a Butterfree that appraises gems. I don't know if it's legit or not. They don't do their business here, that's for sure." Sableye said, wondering what the Slakoth was up to. He hoped that whatever happened, he'd start getting some business done. "Now, that's all I know of it. But if you ever need some knowledge on something else, I'd be happy to help. For a fee, of course. This time's on the house."

"Got it. Thanks for the info." Capone said, walking away with a small smile. He made his way back towards Synd'r to relay the information he just got. It wasn't anything concrete, but it certainly was worth looking into.

The duo opted to split up for the time being. That way, they would be able to cover more ground in shorter span of time. Synd'r wandered back through the markets, noting a few stalls as interesting. One of them was a stall that sold all sorts of metal trinkets and shells she assumed must have been carried here from Rainfront Town. The trinkets weren't quite jewelry, but she made a mental note of it just in case.

Her first break however came when the sun caught something from a stall that was tucked away a little bit, located between two much larger stalls that would under normal circumstances almost hide the place from view. The sunlight had peaked in through a small hole in the canvas above the stall that kept the shopkeeper cool even at midday. The gleam from the sunlight caught Synd'r's attention, and she wandered around a fair distance from the stall as she noted the goings on.

The bigger stalls seemed to have garnered a lot of attention, one of them selling fruits and the other selling various fabrics. The small stall that caught her eye seemed to be run by a Butterfree. Said Butterfree was currently speaking to a group of pokemon, holding up some sort of jewelry as if trying to sell it to them.

Synd'r had been about to head towards the stall herself when Capone caught up to her. She turned and listened to the Slakoth relay the information he had found. With a small grin, she replied, "Ah, that works out then. I was just about to investigate this stall," she paused briefly to motion subtly with her head in the direction of the jewelry stall, "And it so happens to be run by a Butterfree. We might just have our mark."

Capone didn't move his head to look at where Synd'r subtly motioned towards. Instead, he opted to shift his eyes over in the direction, catching a glance at what he assumed she was talking about. Though his vision was limited, he could make out the glint of gems and jewelry, and the wings of a Butterfree.

The Sableye did say that the Butterfree didn't do its business here, but having a stall hidden in such a way, his impromptu informant could have been mistaken. Or me meant in the general vicinity of his own stall.

"How are we doing this? Sneaking around and listening in, acting as customers?" The Slakoth asked quietly, taking his eyes off of the stall to look at the Vulpix. He wondered what her final plan was. He knew she was just getting information on who this scammer was, but he didn't know how much she was after. But he didn't care too much, as long as he got something out of it.

Synd'r looked to Capone, watching as he subtly observed the stall. To any passersby it wouldn't seem like either of the had much of an interest in any of the stalls in the area, more that they were just having a casual discussion. The stall was only small though, and with the group there Synd'r didn't know if she'd be able to be able to ask any questions of her own. She didn't have anything she could pass off as needing examined after all...

"Hmmm... perhaps it would be wise to come back a little later when there aren't as many pokemon there. Maybe we can find something worth bringing here to try and get him to evaluate it in the meantime," she mused, stating her thoughts out loud instead of talking to herself. None of her words were incriminating after all.
"What do you think?" she then asked, tilting her head slightly. She was eager to hear the Slakoth's opinions after all. If they were going to be working together, she needed to get used to hearing his suggestions.

"That sounds like a good idea." The Slakoth turned his gaze back to Synd'r, thinking of a multitude of ideas. He thought back to his safe, wondering if he had any gems left in there, or if he had sold them recently."I may have something in my home that we could use. It wouldn't be too hard to tell the Butterfree that I found it in a nearby cave. If you need to search for anything while we're there, it would also make a good distraction."

Capone waited for a response. He didn't know exactly what she wanted to do to get information, but whatever the case could be, he figured that this would be a helpful plan. It covered most of the bases he could think of, and he didn't think the Vulpix would go too out of her way just for information unless she had to.

Synd'r shrugged keeping her voice low as she replied, "If you have something you think we could use then we might as well take a look for it. I want to learn more about how he supposedly swindles his customers and the best way to do that is by acting as a customer myself. So, as long as you don't mind losing something valuable for a while I think it's a solid plan. We'd need some sort of gemstone that is genuinely worth money though."

The Vulpix paused thoughtfully. If all went to plan, Capone would likely be able to get whatever his item was back anyways. Well, that was if Synd'r felt benevolent enough to give it back to him. After all, he wasn't a full member of the Phantom Thieves just yet. However, she had no idea what item the Slakoth was thinking of. For all she knew it might not be valuable enough. They may have to tour around some of the other shops and find something worth scamming for.

Capone nodded at the Vulpix, starting to walk in the direction of his home. Gesturing for Synd'r to follow him, he made his way out of the market place, heading towards a modest building not too far away from where they just were. He opened to door to an entrance hall, decorated in many different oranges, yellows and reds. He walked into a room that looked like it should be a place to sit around and hang out with others, but it was filled with plans for multiple heists and the like.

The Slakoth looked under a table in the middle of the room, and soon, the noise of gears turning to open a safe filled the otherwise silent room. After opening the locked door, Capone pulled out a rather large green gemstone. It wasn't of an incredible size, but it certainly wasn't tiny.

The criminal thought back to the night he obtained this rarity. A wealthy Slowpoke had heard him playing his banjo and decided to give him a few Poke for his efforts. While he watched the Pokemon reach into his bag, he noticed the green glint of a gem, the moonlight shining on it. After he was paid, he waited a moment, and followed his target, sneaking his way closer and closer, until finally reaching in and grabbing his prize. He was so thankful that it was night time, otherwise, he suspected, he would have been seen. But he got away with it, and now it was coming in handier than just a bit of cash.

"You think this will be worth enough for that Butterfree to take the bait?" The Slakoth turned to look at Synd'r, wondering what she thought of the green stone he held.