The Habitual Thief Kecleon

Misdreavus yawned and floated up onto Dian's head for a nap, while Skiploom found a sunny spot to practice Synthesis.

As for Quagsire, once he had fallen asleep, Dian recalled him and carefully tucked his Poké Ball into an inner pocket.

His clothes had plenty of inner pockets, each holding a different Pokémon's Poké Ball. Every ball had a fixed place, so he could grab the Pokémon he wanted at a moment's notice.

Dian had marked the Poké Balls to tell them apart, too.

Little Sentret bounced back and forth a few times, but did not give up.

Suddenly, he hugged his big tail and blinked at Dian and the others. "Tachoo, tachoo-choo~"

An unusually powerful charm radiated from him.

"Charm?"

Dian's hand stopped just as he was about to pick up his backpack. He quickly shook his head, but in that brief moment, a long tongue shot toward him, wrapped around a backpack strap, and yanked.

A green Kecleon snapped back his tongue, caught the backpack, and bolted.

Misdreavus blinked, then glanced behind her. The little Sentret who had used Charm was running away too. She looked toward Kecleon in the distance and immediately let out a piercing Screech.

At the same time, the red beads around her neck gave off an eerie glow.

Her already terrifying cry became even more chilling.

A red gleam flashed in Misdreavus's eyes, and a vast Black Shadow surged forth. It swept toward Kecleon ahead without sparing the fleeing Sentret behind her.

Clearly, this was a particularly nasty team effort. If Lady Misdreavus could not see that, how could she ever make her way in the Spirit World?

Misdreavus slowly rose into the air, watching Kecleon's erratic path with a mysterious look in her eyes. A dim, ghostly glimmer flashed and spread swiftly