Conan was not at all impressed. He'd been kidnapped before but never by anyone as incompetent as these three. He struggled weakly against the ropes binding him to a tree and scowled, the three of them standing over him with stupid sneers on their faces. What had he gotten himself into? He gave them a quick look over. Neither one really looked like the criminal type, they looked more like a couple of teenagers that had had no choice but to join a gang. The girl had red hair and obviously thought a lot of herself as she was wearing makeup despite the fact she probably couldn't really afford It. It wouldn't take anything at all to get on her good side-just a few compliments is all he'd need.

"So kid, what did you do to your arm?" She asked, the other two nodded behind her. What made them think he was going to tell them? He could be stubborn and remain quiet or just flat out lie. Or, an idea popped into mind, he could tell the truth and see what their reaction was. That would tell him if they were really criminals or not.

"I got shot." They weren't likely to believe him anyway. The three looked positively shocked at this and then looked at one another before back to him.

"Who would shoot a kid?" The male of the trio asked.

"Even we aren't dat cruel." The...cat said. These three were definitely not hardened criminals, they obviously just thought they were. Something he could use to his advantage.

"It really hurts! Can you loosen the rope please?" He requested in his sugary sweet little kid voice. Once again they all three looked at each other as if seeing what the others thought of the request.

"Why not? He is only a child." The redhead shrugged. The other two nodded and the bluenet moved to the other side of the tree and loosened the ropes just slightly.

"Does that feel better?" He asked.

"Mm!" Conan responded eagerly. This was too easy.

"Well Meowth, we'll leave you to guard the kid while Jessie and I work on digging that hole." The man was saying.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't let him outta my sight." Meowth promised. Jessie and the other teen started off towards the trail and Conan could just barely hear what they were talking about.

"I don't know why that guy said we'd pay to give him back-that kid is an absolute angel." He was saying. This was way too easy. Conan waited until they were well out of earshot and turned to his guard.

"Hey, I really need to use the restroom." He stated.

"Huh? Already?" Meowth asked. Conan just nodded enthusiastically. Meowth looked back in the direction the humans had gone.

"I didn't get to go this morning-Please? I really gotta!" Conan pressed further, crossing his legs for effect. Meowth finally sighed in obvious defeat-that didn't take nearly as long as he thought it would.

"Alright, alright. Just don't try anyting or I'll have ta show yas my furry swipes." He showed Conan his claws and the small boy nodded with large gulp to give the illusion of fear. Meowth untied the ropes binding Conan and the small detective got to his feet. He waited for Meowth to come back around and let him lead him into the small cabin they were apparently squatting in. It was old and the wood beneath his feet creaked-he'd have to watch that.

Meowth pushed open the bathroom door-it was in desperate need of cleaning and waited for Conan to step inside.

"I'll be just out here. So don't try ta escape or nothin'" Conan held his tongue to avoid pointing out the flaw in that statement and just nodded before shutting the door and giving the room a good look around-there was window immediately above the toilet and small cabinet below the sink. Very carefully, he climbed up onto the seat up onto the back of the toilet so he could force the window open. It would've been a lot easier if he hadn't been shot by that guy that Kid wouldn't tell him about but he was still able to do it.

oooooo

Kaito had to wonder how, even in a different world, Conan managed to continue getting into ridiculous situations like this one. He didn't exactly stalk the young detective but he did frequent the police station and seemed like he was always hearing about Conan getting kidnapped, or being taken to the hospital, or just got involved in another case. Thank Goodness for Japan's universal health care system.

It hadn't even been a full two hours since that Team Rocket kidnapped the worst possible hostage and people were trying to console him about the loss as they moved through the forest. He wasn't worried-The detective had dealt with a lot worse than those three before. He'd probably come back on his own with a sour expression on his face.

"Staravia will find them, don't you worry!" Ash was saying with enthusiasm.

"Pika!" His little partner agreed. It was either that they didn't seem notice that he wasn't worried at all or they were reassuring themselves.

"I feel bad for him though."Brock's statement caught Kaito off guard. After Conan had been nothing but a brat to everyone? The ones he felt bad for were that team rocket gang. They had no idea what they'd just gotten themselves into.

"You do?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Well sure." Brock nodded. "He's in an unfamiliar land, and now stuck with team rocket. You're the one that said he's skittish around new people, right?" All of that was certainly true but he doubted if the detective was uncomfortable, probably just annoyed. He can practically see that annoyed look he got when dealing with anyone that he didn't see as intelligent as himself, which happened to be a large majority.

"I wouldn't worry." Kaito waved it off. "He's probably already escaped."

As if on cue, the large bird like animal swooped down and stopped front of them, making a frantic noise and gesturing with its wing. Ash stepped up to listen to what it had to say. Kaito watched with interest-he'd been there over three days now and still he wasn't quite used to the new environment.

"Starravia says they're this way!" Ash called out, starting off at a run, the others following close behind. He'd have kept running right off into a large hole if Kaito hadn't noticed and reached out to grab his arm. He let out a sigh when the danger had passed and chanced looking down it only to see that team rocket gang stuck at the bottom. He checked quickly and saw no sign of Conan.

"It's Team Rocket!" Ash and and his friends said unison.

"What happened to you guys?" Dawn called down to them. The trio groaned.

"It's all that little brat's fault!" Jessie stated, clearly unhappy.

"He tricked us!" James followed up. Kaito couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, he does that." He offered, unhelpfully. "Now, where is he?" He asked.

"We'll help you out once you've told us." Brock offered. That was being generous. The thief could see several points along the wall of the hole that they would easily be able to climb up.

"We don't know." Jessie stated stubbornly. "He escaped out the window." she huffed. Kaito wasn't the least bit surprised to hear this and shook his head.

"No he didn't." He stated bluntly. "He would never be so obvious. Not to mention he probably couldn't climb with his arm in a sling like it is."

"I was dere! He asked if he could use da restroom and then when I went ta check on him, da window was open. He musta climbed out." Meowth stated, sounding irritated that Kaito didn't believe him.

"Oh, I fully believe he opened the window." Kaito said with a slight grin. "I just don't think he left that way."

"How else would he have left?" Meowth demanded. "He didn't go out da door."

"Yes he did." Kaito said simply. "He waited for you to think he escaped out the window and after you left, he crawled out of his hiding spot and left out the front door."

"That little brat made fools of us..." James growled. Again, Kaito wasn't surprised but the others seemed to be.

"Conan sounds really smart!" Dawn remarked. Kaito repressed a small chuckle. Oh, they had no idea.

"But that does beg the question-" Brock started. "If Conan escaped, then where did he go?" That was the question. Considering that Kudou had all sorts of ways to stop himself from getting lost, Kaito was sure that he was probably on his way back to that Pokemon Center. The reason they hadn't run into him on the road was likely because he stayed hidden.

Or, he realised who it was that was missing, he might have gotten himself in even more trouble. Damn, they might need to look for him again after all.