#cielsleuth

Ciel blinked, slightly startled by the energetic eevee, although it was something they’ve dealt with before. On the other hand though,

“Wow, I g-guess word gets around fast doesn’t it? Well, truth be told, I can’t tell you how any other ditto do it. I’ve actually never met another one before. All I know is what I’ve heard told, and myself. But for me, taking on any shape takes a lot of concentration. I have to hold everything about what I’m turning into, in my mind.

This shape, it’s one that’s very familiar to me, so I can hold it pretty well, even when I’m hardly paying any attention. I can hold a lot of other shapes if I pay attention to it, but it will eventually fatigue me, and in a stressful situation, it’s almost impossible to hold any shape except what I’m looking at. I think that’s why you only hear of ditto mimicking their opponent’s shape when in a fight.”

Ciel held up a paw, dark brown fur like any other leafeon’s turning into splotchy tans, brown’s working their way up, mimicking Quar’s fur patterns for a moment, then shifting back to normal.

Ciel tried not to stare as the ninetales entered their establishment. There was someone who held herself with an air of confidence and power. The leafeon took a breath as she approached, and, oh dear, it was time for this question. Ciel knew it would come up eventually, it was bound to at some point.

“Ah… Well I suppose it’s fair to say a little of both. I suppose it’s best not to hide it, my natural talents are part of what make me good at this job. The truth is, I’m not really what I seem.”

It started with color, the tips of Ciel’s extremities turning pink. Then form, their body melting down, losing a distinct shape, finishing in the full pink hue and gelatinous form of a ditto.

“I’m uh, not much to look at like this though…” Their voice hadn’t changed between forms. Not shortly after the words were spoken, the ditto transformed again, the process the exact reverse of what was seen before, the pink, amorphous blob changing and spreading out, gaining tans and greens and browns. It didn’t take long for Ciel to regain their old leafeon shape, though their ears, tilted back, contained a lot more pink than before.

Ciel smiled towards the Braixen, holding onto a warm, professional attitude. It was always easier in the moment.

“Hi! Well, the price depends on the job. If it’s something very easy, we might even just do it for free advertising. It’s not always money we charge either, a lot of times we’ll do work for information or items we’re looking for, rare books and everstones are something we’re always interested in, for example. When it comes down to money though, we use Bank Notes ( ♪ ) like everybody else in Bayside City. We charge a retainer of ♪200 and then ♪40 per hour. ”

Ciel picked up one of their business cards and passed it over.

Ciel had been ready for the lopunny to enter the building. They had, after all, been peeking through the window, watching the street for any passers-by. As the door opened Ciel whispered, “Ok. Professional.” then padding over to greet the lopunny. Now that there was someone actually there, it wasn’t as hard to ignore his nerves and focus on his job. He gave the lopunny, who Ciel guessed was a beauty contestant, a professional’s smile. Hopefully a good first impression with this one would mean very good business. Beauty contests paid well after all, didn’t they?

“Ah, no, there are two others in this partnership, they’re uh, not available at the moment.” Probably one still asleep and the other still on the internet, but Ciel wouldn’t mention that, “We do a little bit more than just detective work here. We also will recover lost or hard to find things, and we escort, if someone wants extra eyes looking out for danger.”

Ciel could tell the lopunny was looking for something, something in their eyes seemed to reveal it. Ciel’s professional attitude softened a little.

The sun rose on Bayside city, its golden beams washing over rooftops and filtering through windows, casting shadows of building and boats into the bay. The day was beginning for the city, a flock of courier bird pokemon rising into the sky, going their separate ways to deliver the parcels, packages, and letters of the day. The pedestrian streets of the town saw scattered use, some pokemon heading about on their business, some simply strolling in the cool morning air, some heading home from a night's work. Boats cast off from their docks, heading out to open water.

The morning's lit struck the front of a two story, red brick building, illuminating its brand new sign reading, "Ms. Fittz Investigations." Pink tipped ears twitched, brown paws padded, carrying the building's early riser downstairs. The leafeon, fairly standard in stature and appearance beside some pink coloration at the tip of each leafy ear, didn't appear to be tired, it's golden brown eyes wide and alert, perhaps even a little nervous. The grass type walked over to the window beside the establishment's door, turning the sign over to "OPEN"

It was opening day.