“Hmmm...” Zaria furrowed her brow as the Bennet baby bawled about his Sobble. Sure she could sympathize, but at some point you had to stop crying because it didn't solve anything really. At least he answered her question about the berry. She reached into the pocket where she stored berries and clutched an Aspear fruit, ready to fling it when the time came.
It might have taken some time but they were able to find where the Sobble was. Netty's fast little bug pokemon had made short work of the task, being able to flit in and out through the rooms of the East Wing so quickly. As she and Magnet followed Mellona's cries into the room, Zaria was hit with a strong stench that immediately made her eyes well up.
"Buh, whew, that stings!" It was like a hundred onions were being chopped up right in front of her. Magnet's single eye welled up too. Zaria couldn't criticize Bennet's tears anymore because now she had her own snotty tears to rival his. It took a few minutes to adjust but she and Magnet were able to glance at their surroundings through the blur. It was an old classroom, but Zaria zeroed in on the glistening footprints left behind a certain pokemon. "The footprints!" She made a dash towards a large bookcase where they led to and placed the berry down where they ceased. "Socho! You can come out now. We've got your favorite food!" There was no indication of the pokemon coming out though. Hmmm, but why? Meanwhile Bennet continued to cry, lamenting over a fight or something they'd had earlier.
Was that it? Socho was mad? Zaria was about to ask Bennet more questions but the lights flickered off. She felt something dusty and soft hit her a few times. "Hey! What the hell? Who's doing that?" It stopped as suddenly as it started and the room lit up once more. What...? What was that all about? The berry was gone as well. Zaria massaged her chin with her thumb and forefinger. Magnet beeped beside her, his eye darting about.
Then the lights went out once more after Bennet pleaded with Socho once more. "I don't think your begging is really helping the situation, Ben, just try to be quiet for a second and let's all think." Zaria tried to say it nicely. It probably wouldn't come off that way, and that was to be expected, because she wasn't the best at being diplomatic or polite. And she was annoyed at this whole situation and her incompetence. Was she a ranger or not? She should have been able to find Socho and gotten him out by now, damnit.
"These stupid lights keep going on and off. Hold on," Zaria muttered as she tapped the flashlight app on her phone and a bright light appeared. She shined it towards the light switch. Any footprints? If that Sobble's really just pranking us all, then there should be footprints on the wall...
If footprints were there, then she would know that it was Socho doing all the mischief, which seemed to be the case anyway. It was probably pointless to confirm it. Once they knew for sure though, how were they supposed to lure the Sobble out? Maybe just a teeny Thundershock, or maybe something less effective like a Magnet Bomb. Then again, that might cause some property damage... But maybe it wouldn't? Maybe they could all pull the bookshelf so the Sobble couldn't hide. Or maybe they needed to get a tastier snack to lure it out? What am I supposed to do? I'm supposed to be good at rescuing and finding pokemon...
"Are there any other snacks your Sobble likes? Or maybe a favorite toy?" Zaria asked out loud in the darkness. Maybe there was another way to lure the pokemon out.