Jubilife City

As the Sinnoh Region's technology hub, Jubilife City was the most developed city Bai Shi had seen so far.

People and cars streamed through its streets, giving the city a bustling, prosperous air.

Everywhere he looked, high-rises towered overhead. The place felt thoroughly modern.

It was even more impressive than Sandgem Town.

For the past few days, he had traveled day and night to get here as quickly as possible.

Apart from daily training and rest, he had spent nearly all his time on the road. He was exhausted.

The rush was because the travel supplies he had bought with all his prize money were almost gone.

And Stantler's arrival had a lot to do with that.

Stantler might slack off during training, but at mealtime, it became a different Pokémon, eager to get started.

Staravia and Dunsparce together didn't eat as much as it did.

Most of the food Bai Shi had brought ended up in its stomach.

If they stayed in the wilderness a few more days, he and his Pokémon might all go hungry.

So Bai Shi's top priority was finding a way to fill his wallet again.

"I hear those two black beads on Stantler's antlers have medicinal value when ground into powder. They're worth a fair bit."

"Maybe I could scrape some powder off and sell it?"

With bankruptcy looming, Bai Shi had a sudden idea.

He had set his sights on Stantler.

"Stan?"

Perhaps sensing Bai Shi's "ill intentions," Stantler suddenly shivered.

It went on alert at once and used Confusion to search the area.

It was trying to find the person or Pokémon plotting against it.

"Its senses are as sharp as ever, and it's gotten much better at using Confusion.

"Looks like it hasn't been slacking off on that part of its training."

"I'll let it off for now!"

Noticing Stantler's strange reaction, Bai Shi shook his head.

He gave up on the idea of profiting off his own Pokémon.

Instead, he decided to do what he had done before: find a well-paying job in Jubilife City.

So Bai Shi began wandering the city with a purpose.

He gathered useful information while looking for work that suited him.

Before he knew it, Bai Shi found himself outside a jewelry store.

A crowd had gathered there.

Curious, Bai Shi went over to see what was happening.

He found the store cordoned off with police tape and temporarily closed to visitors.

The crowd was gathered around a notice posted by the entrance.

After reading it, Bai Shi understood.

Several expensive pieces of jewelry had mysteriously disappeared from the store over the past few days.

To prevent further losses and catch the thief as soon as possible, the owner had posted a reward.

Anyone who provided a lead or caught the thief would receive a cash reward from the owner.

"Whoa. That's quite a reward!"

Bai Shi's heart leaped when he saw the amount on the notice.

If he claimed it, his financial troubles would ease considerably. He wouldn't have to worry about money for a long while.

But finding a thief in a city full of people would be no easy task.

So rather than act blindly, Bai Shi decided to learn more first.

With the jewelry store temporarily closed, he couldn't go inside.

He asked passersby familiar with the store and the owners of neighboring shops what they knew.

From them, Bai Shi learned that the jewelry had gone missing the previous night.

Even with security cameras in place, several pieces had vanished from the display cases.

The thief had avoided the cameras like a ghost.

"The notice doesn't mention anything missing besides the expensive jewelry."

"That means the thief probably came prepared."

"The cameras didn't even catch them. Could it be a Trainer with a Ghost-type Pokémon?"

Piecing together what he had learned, Bai Shi ventured a guess.

He was fairly sure a human was responsible, not a Wild Pokémon.

He couldn't imagine a Wild Pokémon coming to a jewelry store just to steal jewelry.

Why not raid the supermarket next door for food instead?

Still, if the culprit had a Ghost-type Pokémon, Bai Shi would have a hard time catching them.

Besides, some time had passed since the theft.

The thief might well have fled Jubilife City right after pulling it off.

If so, there was nothing Bai Shi could do.

"The odds aren't great, but I'll do what I can!"

Bai Shi couldn't bring himself to give up on that reward.

He took Stantler and Staravia for a look around the area.

Before coming to this world, he had read plenty of detective novels.

Even if he couldn't solve a case himself, he could at least follow their lead.

"The thief avoided the cameras and stole exactly what they wanted."

"They must have planned this for a long time, with plenty of preparation and scouting."

"They couldn't have done all that without leaving a single trace."

"And that trace is my only chance to catch them."

As a technologically advanced city, Jubilife City had cameras installed in many places.

If the thief had slipped up anywhere, Bai Shi was confident he could catch them.

Once he had a plan, Bai Shi got to work.

As luck would have it, the supermarket next to the jewelry store had a camera above its entrance.

It caught part of the jewelry store's entrance, enough to show some customers coming and going.

He could use the footage to check for customers who had visited repeatedly.

After thinking it over, Bai Shi told the supermarket owner he had lost his wallet nearby and asked to see the camera footage.

It took some persuasion, but once the owner agreed, Bai Shi quickly reviewed the footage from the past few days.

He also enlisted Stantler, whose memory was better than his, to help spot customers who appeared more than once.

"Stantler, what we eat from now on depends on what we find today!"

"If you help me find the thief, I'll take you all out for a huge meal."

Bai Shi made the promise to motivate Stantler.

That got Stantler, which had been ready to slack off, to take the task seriously and watch the footage with him.

With Stantler's help, they sifted through it much faster.

"Thank Arceus! I've finally got you!"

In less than an hour, Bai Shi had identified a suspect.

The footage showed the person entering and leaving the jewelry store several times over the past few days and often lingering nearby.

He had long curly hair, a thick beard, and an enormous pair of sunglasses.

It was hard to make out what he actually looked like.

Between that odd disguise and his repeated appearances on camera, Bai Shi couldn't help suspecting him.

Still, what Bai Shi had was enough to track him down.

There was just one condition: the man had to still be in Jubilife City.