The zoo's manager had been fast asleep in bed, until the
telephone rang suddenly. With a groan, he awoke, and started to ease himself
into a sitting position so he could answer it.
The ringing of the phone had also woken his wife.
"Just ignore it, dear," she said groggily, "come back to
bed."
"I can't," the manager muttered, "it might
be work." After groping around on the darkened bedside table for a moment,
he took the phone off the receiver and put it to his ear. "This had better
be important," he grumbled.
"I'm sorry to have to wake you, sir," said the
voice on the other end. It was zoo's the night watchman. "It's the
Arcanine… it's escaped."
The manager sighed. "You gotta be kidding me,"
he muttered. "What, just now?"
"Uhh… well, between fifteen and thirty minutes
ago," said the night watchman. "It was there half-an-hour ago, still
in its cage, and then when I checked again fifteen minutes later, it was gone.
We've looked all over the place, but it's definitely gone."
"Why would it still be in the damn zoo?" asked
the manager irritably. "And… if it's gone, what am I supposed to do about
it?"
"Well, we figured you'd want to know as soon as possible,
sir," said the night watchman. "Plus, you're the best tracker out of
all of us. Maybe you can follow its trail, or something, find out where it
went. I mean, it's only been fifteen minutes, it can't have gone far-"
"You know what an Arcanine's top speed is?"
snapped the manager.
"Uhh… something like two-hundred miles a…" It
was at this point that the night watchman realized just how much trouble they
were in. "…yeah, okay, maybe it has gone far."
"Two-hundred-and-sixty miles per hour," said
the manager. "That's how fast it can run. So it's gonna be a long way away
by now."
"So we… don't go after it?" asked the night
watchman, sounding confused.
The manager snorted. "What kinda question is
that?" he said. "Of course we're going after it. We paid a million
Poké Dollars for that Arcanine, plus the deposit on its special enclosure. Which
would have been here in a few days, and then this wouldn't have been a problem…"
The manager sighed. "I knew we shouldn't have bought it when we didn't
have the right enclosure for it, I knew
it… damn that salesman. Coulda sold Moomoo Milk to a dairy farm, that
guy."
"So you're gonna come over and help us track it
down, then?" asked the night watchman.
"Yeah," said the manager, "once I have a
coffee and a shower, wake myself up a bit. Nobody move until I get there,
alright? You might disturb the trail by accident."
"Got it," said the night watchman. "We'll
stay put for now."
"Thanks."
"Uhh… I really hate to ask this, sir, but do you
really think we'll be able to get it back?" asked the night watchman.
"I mean, like you said, it's probably halfway across the region by now-"
"We'll find it," said the manager. "With
all the mountains and forests around, it can only be somewhere in Kanto or
Johto. And I mean, it's a wild Arcanine, it'll stand out whether it's an escaped
zoo animal or not. So we'll find it."
"I admire your confidence, sir," said the night
watchman. "And, uh… I'm sorry I let it escape on my watch."
The manager let out a dismissive noise. "What could
you have done?" he asked. "I'm guessing it melted right through the
bars?"
"Yeah," said the night watchman, "clean
through, and then it must have leapt up the wall."
"And how would you have stopped it from burning
through those bars?" asked the manager. "Woulda burned straight
through you as well, probably." He sighed once more, rubbing his temple
with his free hand. "We really shouldn't have bought that damn Arcanine…
well, it's too late now for regrets. Let's just find the thing and get this
whole mess straightened out, alright?"
"Okay," said the night watchman. "I'll be waiting
by its enclosure when you get here. I'll see you then."
"Alright, bye," said the manager, before
hanging up. As he put the phone back in its cradle, his wife sat up in bed,
rubbing her eyes.
"It's two in the morning," she complained.
"Why do you have to go in at two in the morning?"
"The Arcanine's escaped," said the manager,
slipping out of bed and stretching.
"You're kidding!" his wife gasped.
The man shook his head. "Nope. Burned straight through
the bars of its enclosure and leapt over the wall."
"So it's loose in the city?" she asked, shocked.
"Yeah," said the manager, "but there's
nothing to worry about. It's probably just gonna run, and keep on
running." He made for the en-suite bedroom. "I'm gonna take a
shower."
"I dunno how much hot water there'll be," said
his wife.
"Well, if it goes cold suddenly, that'll sure as
hell wake me up," he remarked sardonically, before entering the bathroom.
"Go back to sleep, dear," he said, looking back at his tired and
worried-looking wife. "I'll take care of this, I promise."
"Alright," she said, lying back down. "I
hope you find it."
"Me too," said the manager. "Goodnight,
dear."
"Goodnight," said his wife, and the manager
closed the bathroom door behind him and headed towards the shower.
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