While Moon was still getting his treatment, Morgan had some free time to himself. The problem was what to do with it. He didn't know anyone here. There were a few trainers in the lounge, who apparently also decided to head to Sable City for one reason or another. He didn't ask. It would have been a great opportunity for him to offer a challenge, but he couldn't exactly invite them to a Pokemon battle without using one himself, now could he?

Usually, Pokemon Centers all come with a library. Mostly about Pokemon stuff. Biology, habitats, their quirk, and for those concerned about it, what moves were available to learn for their Pokemon. It's intended as a repository of knowledge for aspiring trainers and the like.

He went there already but didn't quite find what he was looking for. Power discussion was good and all, but these thoughts that were swirling around inside his head bothered him too much to sit down and read. So instead he picked up a brochure advertising the city's tourist spot.

The choice was between looking at a space rock or visiting an Oddish farm. Granted it was the space rock that made the city famous, it was kept in a public space in the middle of the city and had a plaque to commemorate its history and everything. But Morgan just didn't see anything interesting about it. It happened a long time ago, and so what? It wasn't even a big deal, it was so tiny.

So the farm it was, then. It's located to the south, on the outskirts of the city, in what appeared to be the wealthy people's district. It wasn't houses that lined the road there, but mansions. Each had enough space separating them to fit an entire apartment building downtown. Though, some of them didn't seem to be lived in. Wild plants growing amok with nobody to cut them. Damn, how rich were these people to abandon a mansion just like it's nothing. He read the brochure again to make sure he was in the right place. He was.

Farms didn't commonly build anywhere near wealthy residences, but, because it was owned by the mayor's family, it was fine. What's more surprising, though, was the crowd that gathered in front of that place. Just outside the wall.

Morgan didn't realize that it was that popular. When he looked closer, he saw the sign that some of them held. It said something like 'Murderer on the loose!' and 'Who's going to stop them?'

He wondered what's that all about? He ignored the sign and went ahead anyway. There was a gate attached to a ticket booth, which he had to buy before they let him inside. Then he had to spend several minutes following the trail before he saw the actual farm.

Dozens of fenced-off fields were arranged in a certain order. The box-shaped area was littered with docile-looking Oddish, whose bodies were halfway buried in the ground. Their long green leaves sway in the wind.

Outside the fence were a bunch of other visitors. Some even brought picnic blankets and food with them. Doing a family event at a place like this. At least, they didn't pick a place that smells, he'll give them that.

One of the farm workers approached after he noticed Morgan. Tipping his hat in a greeting, he said, "Welcome to our farm, lad. Is this your first time coming here?"

"Yes," said Morgan. "How do you know?"

"I'm good with faces, but I don't recognize you. So you must have been new to the city."

"Are you saying that you knew everyone in the city?"

"Sure, I have that knowledge somewhere in my head."

"Oh, cool. How did you manage to do that?"

Now that was an ability that would certainly be useful to have. Morgan was a little bit curious. But the worker didn't seem to appreciate that line of questions. He quickly changed the subject, "Well, now that you are here. Tell me, what are you looking for? What makes you interested in paying a visit to our farm?

Morgan let it go. He said instead, "I don't know yet. It's a spur of the moment thing."

"Ah, I understand. Then I'll just show you everything. You could just call me Blake, by the way."

"Morgan," he replied. "Nice to meet you."

Blake brought him toward one of the smallest pens. "This is where we hold the newly hatched Oddish. One of several. It comes from our adult stock. We don't like to import a new batch if we don't have to, so we only ever use our own."

All of them submerged halfway below the ground, so Morgan asked, "Why do they do that?"

"Buried themselves?"

"Yes."

"Oddish is a nocturnal Pokémon and borrows during the day to avoid the sun's heat. Additionally, it is also a disguise to fool potential predators. And also, fun fact for you, we use specially treated ground to provide the best nutrition that they need to grow."

Morgan didn't say anything further, so they moved on to the next.

"This is for the adolescent stage. A bit older, and a bit bigger. But still not ready for harvest. And they like to roam, too, so they require more watchful eyes."

"I know someone who has an Oddish," Morgan said, after formulating his observation. "He was different. Why does yours seem so docile?"

"We breed specifically for that quality. If an Oddish starts to show aggressive tendencies, we ship them off immediately to the Rangers. They're the people that we trust will take care of relocating it. Another fun fact, this pen used to hold our experimental stock of Hoppip."

They're obviously not here anymore, so Morgan asked, "What happened?"

Blake sighed disappointedly, "They were swept off by the wind some time ago, and they never came back. It's really sad, but I guess that just goes to show what a bad idea that was."

And now Blake was leading him toward the last kind of pen, which was the biggest.

"This is where we put those that are ready to harvest. Their leaves have grown long enough for us to cut. They didn't get hurt by the process by the way. It's like cutting people's hair, if our hair was edible. It will grow back shortly, and then we'll do it all over again."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, we always say this. But we never kill our farm Pokemons. We treated them as ethically as possible here."

Oh man, Morgan didn't have a need to hear their justification to operate this place. So he only said, "You seemed to have a very good setup here."

"We have been doing this a long time, so I'd like to think so, yes."

"Though, I noticed that you guys only have Oddish here, and none of its evolution. Why is that?"

"First of all, it'll be very hard for them to evolve in our low-conflict environment. Even if they somehow managed to do that, straight to the Ranger's office with them. And second of all, Gloom just doesn't give the same benefits. Their leaves are very bitter, and are not worth selling."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Anything else that you're curious about?"

"Well," he said, with hesitation. "There's one more thing. If you don't mind?"

Blake flicked his hand, "Sure, ask away."

"What's up with the crowd outside? Are they protesting against this place?"

"Oh, that," he said, pursing his lips. "It's actually about something else. The farm was just a convenient place for them to gather. It belongs to the mayor's wife, you see. I am and everyone else here worked for her."

"What is it?"

"The farm?"

"No, I mean, what are they protesting?"

"There have been some unfortunate events happening recently. People went missing, and several bodies were found. Stuff like that. It was greatly alarming to the community. So they want the mayor to take action."

It certainly sounded concerning, Morgan wasn't sure what to feel about that. Did he need to leave the city, posthaste?

"Has there been any suspect?"

"Not yet. But I'm certain that it'll be all over soon. After all, the mayor himself has a stake in this. His wife was the first person to disappear. And the League itself has sent a Senior Ace Trainer to take over and solve this… issue."

"That's good, then. Right?"

"It is. But we can only hope that there will be no more victims."

There wasn't much to add to the tour after that, so Blake left Morgan to his own devices. He wandered around a little bit until he found himself leaning against the wooden fence. A baby Oddish shyly shambled closer to take a look at him. He offered his hand through the gap.

"Hey," he said. "How are you doing?"

The little Pokemon dashed back to its brethren in surprise.

Morgan sighed, that was it then for his visit. There was nothing else here for him, so he exited the premise the same way he came in. The protesters were still there, the sign seemed more ominous this time. He wasn't interested enough to stay, so he went past without sparing them another glance.

Sable was a moderately sized city, the houses and buildings crowded together to loom over the narrow street. As a consequence, it birthed many twisting alleys like blood veins running in random directions. Or maybe toward no direction at all. It was hard to memorize, even for a person native to the city. Morgan, in his hubris– or maybe just a shot of pure laziness– took what he thought was a shortcut after leaving the farm.

That was to say, Morgan was as lost as a blind Snorlax right now. He was somewhere he hadn't been before, somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

He couldn't ask anyone for help because for some reason, even though it was in the middle of the day, the particular alley that he was currently standing in was completely deserted.

Instead of walking calmly, he was starting to hurry. Morgan was used to being alone with his habit of hiking, but this concrete wall on all sides type of enclosure was getting on his nerves. That was why he almost didn't notice the body.

It was slumped over beside a trash can, the head nowhere to be seen. Though, curiously enough, there wasn't enough blood splatter anywhere for it to be done on-site. Just looking at it gave him nausea. The fact that it was still wearing clothes made it even worse somehow.

He fled. There was no other word for it. Let someone else deal with that. It was just his luck to randomly find a human corpse on his second day in a new city.

It must have been connected with that string of disappearances that Blake was talking about. And now he knows, curiosity fulfilled. It was a bit unfortunate, though, for that person. Based on what Morgan saw of the clothing, the victim seemed to be someone well off. It was a pity that he ended up dumped somewhere so out of the way, headless. By looking at the state of this place, it might not have been discovered by anyone if Morgan hadn't reported it himself.

He stopped at his track.

Nobody was around.

It might seem distasteful to do it, but he only had fifty dollars to his name. It was not going to last long for a trainer. He needed supplies for the road, supplies for Moon. He had only fed him human food and berries so far, and that wasn't enough. His starter needs proper nutrition to truly develop his full potential. And that was before counting stuff like Potion, Pokeballs, and other things that any trainer would be required to have.

But man, he didn't need the justification. Any resources, right? When the rare opportunity just fell into his lap, he should take it.

He went back. Looking at it nervously, he swallows any lingering taste of unwillingness. He dropped to his knees and started to rifle through the pockets. He found a wallet containing random things that he didn't care about and a few hundred dollars. The watch he could sell somewhere else, maybe. He didn't find any PokeBall, unsurprisingly.

And that was, of course, the moment that the pair of police officers saw him. Their blue uniform looked pristine despite their present location. The orange and black colored Pokemon that accompany them glower at Morgan angrily.

"Hey, you there. Hands in the air," one of them shouted.

"Stop whatever you're doing," the other ordered harshly. "And stand against the wall, now!"

"Wait," Morgan said hastily, trying to comply as best he could. "It's not what it looks like, I was set up! I swear!"

"Hands in the air, now!"

In the end, they got him in a handcuff. He couldn't run now. Not that it was an option in the first place.

The tall one immediately gave a call with his radio, "Dispatch, this is southwest district patrol. We have found another body, and apprehend a suspect."

There was a crackle from the radio, then, "Understood. I'll send reinforcement to set a perimeter. I want you back to HQ with the suspect in custody after that is established."

"Roger that."

It didn't take long for them to arrive. Soon, Morgan was having a new experience in life, being held in the cold wall of jail.