The Poké Ball fell apart in midair, leaving them truly out of options. Although Heath really wanted to help this Spheal, now that its Poké Ball had fallen apart, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't exactly ask Dialga to help, could he? So the best option was to take Spheal along for now and work out how to resolve the problem after they returned to Petalburg Woods. They could leave it to Officer Jenny then. Heath was quite familiar with the procedures for cases like this. After all, back when he lived in Viridian City, he had seen Sister Feng and the others handle plenty of such incidents.
Viridian City was a little more unusual than Petalburg City. The Pokémon League was based to its west, and there were plenty of Trainers there as well. Coupled with the Viridian Fruit, which supposedly granted the Viridian Force to anyone who ate it, this meant people often entered Viridian Forest to hunt for treasure. As a result, people sometimes came to report that their Pokémon had accidentally gone missing. The Officer Jennys' approach was to record the information, give them a lecture, and then wait for news.
Yes, all they could do was wait. After all, the Pokémon world was enormous, and apart from special Pokémon such as Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon, most Pokémon had populations of their own kind. Finding the exact target among so many Pokémon was no easy task. The Officer Jennys could only wait and see whether anyone who found one would turn it in. If no one turned it in and the Pokémon didn't seek help on its own, there was nothing else they could do. They could only keep it on record and see whether they happened across it in the future.
It