Chapter 47: Blackout
"Hahaha! I didn't know you were that resistant dragonite! I've rarely had the occasion to test it, so let's make it full of it!" Lance laughed maniacally as his pokemon continued to bombard it with its ultralaser without giving it a single second of repy, which forced the hologram to stay on the defensive without any hope of counterattacking.
…or that's how it looked, as despite reaching such a predicament, our teacher didn't seem surprised at all, in fact he was even shaking his head remorsefully, as if he was already expecting things to get worse.
I was probably the only one who noticed that, as the rest were too dazed to even react anymore. And it wasn't from the showcase of power that Lance gave them, instead, it stemmed from their fear of, if I had to guess, the Broken War. Some of them were grabbing their ear to stop the sound from reaching them, others closed their eye to stop seeing the flash in colour… others did both…some were able to do neither and could only watch the collision of the lasers with fright.
Even Iono had difficulty concentrating on her performance, as each time she tried to entertain the audience, she was forced to stop by her flinch coming from the sound of the explosion behind her. Even those who watched her from poke-live didn't add any commentary; they were only focused on watching the show...not that they gave any comment even before that.
…I hate this…they aren't having fun…and it's because of him…maybe…Maybe I should make him stop…or maybe I could erase the feeling of discomfort from everyone here? Maybe then they would have no choice but to have fun.
…I just need someone to give me the order to.
However, my concern seemed to be unnecessary, as after staying on the defensive for so long, it finally retaliated.
The illusionary scale on the floor that came from the injury of the hologram suddenly floated in the air before going straight for the eye of Lance's pokemon.
But Lance already suffered from a similar trick from Geeta, so he wasn't about to let himself suffer a loss from it again and ordered his pokemon retreat. "Dragonite, dodge these scales!"
The dragonite finally noticed the incoming attack with the help of its master order, and frowned as he realized he too was also taken by the same trap as before. The simple reminder of that defeat only fueled it with rage, so instead of dodging the attack, it changed the aim of its attack toward the scale instead.
The scale got pulverized from the attack, but it also allowed the hologram to finally take a step back to avoid the line of sight from the dragonite.
Lance grew angry as he realized that now his target had managed to escape. "You idiot! Why didn't you…"
But he immediately shut down his mouth when he saw an extremely fast scale moving right before its face. "What?"
Lance was too stunned to react in time, so the moment it reached one inch away from its face, he barely started to raise his arm to block the attack. But it ended up being useless, as the scale also stopped once it reached that point.
Its objective was never to harm Lance, but simply to distract him long enough to stop using its power on his dragonite, which the hologram immediately used to its advantage to take the air and grab the neck of its opponent.
But instead of tightening his grip to try to strangle the pokemon, it flew even higher as he launched a powerful attack in the air.
With all of its energy, purple smoke started to condense together to form a massive rock filled with energy that was prepared to rain down on the ground.
But before it could disperse, the hologram slammed its victim directly into the attack.
*Boom*
The impact caused an explosion, but the pain the dragonite received was so much that he couldn't even scream in pain and he slowly fell to the ground.
Lance finally recovered from his shock and immediately tried to heal his pokemon, but just as he was about to do that, he was distracted by an immense flash of light which forced him to cover his eye.
The same was for the rest of the audience, which stopped them from seeing the hologram covering itself in pokenergy and diving on the falling dragon.
Such an attack would have probably caused it death if it landed…but it never did.
As right before he could enter into contact with him, the whole hologram disappeared as if it were but an illusion.
*Thumb*
In the end, all that reasoned around the arena was the falling body of the unconscious dragonite.
"Lance Redron, you lost." Palmer said coldly as he removed his finger from the button which caused the hologram to disappear in the first place.
Lance was so shocked by his defeat that he only moved his head in this direction because he instinctively moved his head toward the noise.
"I hope you realize that risk you put your pokemon through just to prove your pride…well congratulations, here's your prize." He pointed at the fainting dragonite who started to bleed from its back.
As if all the information had finally loaded inside his brain, Lance became furious. "What do you mean!? What was even that? The purple beam, the meteorite in the sky, and that last attack? What were even those?! My dragonite certainly didn't know these moves…nor does anyone here, so how could…"
"These moves were dragon pulse, draco-meteor…and the last was his signature move, sky fall." Lance turned his head toward the person who had just interrupted him, and saw Cynthia with a meek look on her face.
"…and how would you know that?" Lance asked cautiously.
"Because those are the move that Volo use…the level ten is based on his fighting technique, aren't they?" Cynthia made sure with Palmer, even if she was already sure of her answer.
"The student around her also reacted to that name, whether they knew who he was or not, as they were all warned to never trust that man by people with more power than they ever dreamed of having. But they never thought that he would be so quickly relevant.
Those from my class had a bigger reaction, as they now realized that the man who so openly bullied him was considered as strong as Geeta according to the ranking of the AI. So even she couldn't save them from him.
"Yes…this is exact, for some reason Volo allowed his battle technique to be transmitted to the AI…and this is why it is probably one of the most dangerous ones."
"No… that's not his fullest style…I know, I saw him fight before…and this battle module lacks one of the most important parts of his style."
Palmer raised his eyebrow as even he grew curious. "Oh really, then what does it lack? Well of course they don't have access to his archon prowess…but I'm sure that he at least doesn't rely entirely on it contrary to a certain someone."
Lance didn't even recognize the jab that was thrown at him and instead smiled calmly. "Well no matter if my defeat was caused by him, then it's normal. This guy has a millennium of experience, the moment I'm able to digest all the information from my ancestors, then I would have no problem winning against him later."
As for her, Cynthia didn't acknowledge Lance's coping and explained the situation. "Volo's style does incorporate his power in some way, but how is not something I know. However, what really lacked in the style this AI fought was probably because it would have been hard to incorporate the emotion of glee into them."
"Glee?" Even Lance was confused
"…what defines the most Volo style is its sadism…and the joy his pokemon feel from torturing their opponent and breaking their pride. They would make the fight endure slowly, give hope that their opponent might win, then break their hope and pride in an instant."
The room stayed silent for an instant from the shocking revelation, before Iono decided to take upon herself the responsibility of taking back the attention. "Well in the end, this fight concluded with a defeat from Lance, but considering the strength of its opponent, maybe it was to be expected. Instead, we should see how surprising it is that he was actually able to push back his opponent for that long!"
Palmer closed his eyes as he considered Iono's own words before turning back at Lance. "I suppose she has a point, you do have a semblance of strategy, but be aware that your decision to not even start this fight despite my warning will be noted. But I cannot deny your prowess in that very same fight." Palmer turned back toward the audience. "As for you, I hope you understand not to make the same mistake as he did."
The audience nodded in worry, as even those who didn't know about Volo's reputation earlier than this still understood that whoever he was, it was not something they wanted to face.
"Yeah sure…I won't fight this level again." Lance snorted before preparing himself to leave, but he was stopped by Palmer. "Actually, I'm done. This is still a lesson, so I have the duty to teach you your mistake. First, stop relying too much on your power during your fight."
Lance frowned at this simple recommendation. "Why, do you think my opponent deserves my mercy when they already committed the sin of facing me?"
"Not, that's not what I mean. What I mean is that your whole tactic is to brute force your fight with superior power, and your own ability helps you stand undefeated…but I hope your two defeats allow you to realize that there's a way of becoming even stronger. Of course you can tell yourself that you are already far stronger than most of the population, but take into account that this will not change the result of your defeat, so what about instead, you decide to become stronger than ever before?"
Lance considered his words before slowly nodding. "Very well, I shall not discard your words, but allow me to think more deeply about them."
"That's all I ask."
"That all you shall ask, for I will take my leave." Lance brushed him off as he rejoined the rest of the students who some even started to look in admiration.
Palmer had a pensive look on his face as he saw this scene, but he quickly focused on the next sequence of action. "Very well, now that Lance showed an impressive performance, it's time for someone else, so who wants to start? Oh, and don't worry about trying to reach the level of your classmate's performance, I know he is an outlier…"
What the teacher didn't expect was for the grand majority of the class to raise their hand with an excited look on their face.
Palmer clearly didn't expect this much enthusiasm from his shocked expression, but it immediately changed into a wide smile. "Ah! I love this! The excitement of the youth! You all want to show me how wrong I am don't you!? That you can surpass Lance's performance!? Well show me your might!"
One thing I thought was worthy of mention, was that no one from my class was among those who raised their hand, in fact, all of them were pretty much happy to let the rest of the class participate while they did nothing.
In fact, the only one excited right now was Iono, but it wasn't because she was about to fight, but just because she would have a lot of things she could record.
As for me…well I didn't really like to fight…and it seemed really intense…so I wasn't really motivated…I was fine just looking.
…at least there were more viewers listening to the Iono stream, so I'm sure this would make her even happier.
***
In a tall building in the middle of Saffron City, the economic hub of Kanto, a strange scene happened.
As people fully wearing black were watching extremely carefully an idol was commenting on pokemon battle. Yet, despite her making the event jovial, none of those watching it were smiling, as they all made sure to record and take note of what was happening instead. Some were even tasked with cross-referencing everyone who showed in the video.
Behind all of them, was a man sitting in the most luxurious chair that showed him the performance live. "How is it progressing?" The man suddenly said in a cold tone without moving his eye away from the screen. There, he saw some kids fight holograms of their own pokemon, some did well, some did badly, but the man didn't care about that, as he had a subordinate who would soon give him a full report and skip the useless pampering of the commentator who seriously started to annoy him. But he still persisted in watching the recording because he wanted to make sure not to miss extremely important information.
"We…we were able to trace back the origin of the signal…but it just shows the coordinate of some random server's room…I did send some henchman in case their do was some hidden passage there…so I'm still waiting for their report." One of his subordinates responded to him immediately. But he was still nervous despite answering as fast as he could, because he knew the result wasn't satisfactory to his boss.
"What do you mean you weren't able to trace it back? Do you think that all the equipment I've 'borrowed' from Sylph Scop is there for show? Or maybe the problem is you?"
The persian who was lazily resting on top of his lap suddenly darted his head up toward the subordinate and even licked his snout as he saw the subordinate tremble in his boot.
Seeing that the piercing gaze of his boss still lay on him, he quickly bowed. "Please boss! I swear I'm doing all I can in my ability to trace back the location of where this recording is taking place! But I did pick up on a weird signal, I'm sure that the moment I'm able to connect it with the machine that you gently provided us, I will be able to give you all the answers you want!"
*Tok*
The entire body of the subordinate stiffened as he heard the sound of his boss's finger tapping his desk. He knew very well that his boss only does this when he's thinking, and that the conclusion of his thought would decide his fate.
This was why his eye shone with hope as his boss stopped looking at him to focus back on the screen.. "You're lucky my pokemon already ate earlier…but I have nothing prepared for his supper…so I will consider your fate again at this point."
His persian head lowered in disappointment as it lay its head on its master's lap again.
The subordinate deeply bowed as he stopped his sigh of relief from leaving his body, he survived for now. "Thank you for sparing me!"
Without wasting a single instant, he sat down at his desk and put even more effort into finding the location of this building.
However, what he didn't know was that his fate was already sealed. "Prepare another subordinate to localize the place they are." The man murmured into his watch, and lowered it without expecting any answer, his orders were enough. The reason why he didn't execute him immediately was because he knew that the scream he would make when he died would probably distract his other subordinate, and if they were to fail too then…well, there was a limit on how much his pet could eat.
But this was also another reason why the man hated Iono so much it was because she kept dropping important information in the middle of nowhere, which forced him to be constantly vigilant.
Then, he took another look at another corner of the room. "So, are you finished with finding the identity of each student?"
This time, it was Petrel who rose from his chair, but contrary to the other, he was perfectly confident in his answer. "Of course master Giovannie, I was able to find the identity of everyone this little pest talked about!"
"Hmm, good, anything worth mentioning among them?"
"Everything is worth mentioning in my opinion, but for your wisdom, only a few things remain!" Ignoring the obvious attempts to please him, the man simply waved his hand for him to continue his explanation. "Well, among the students, a large part are dirty esper, and some of them are even the legendary archon! In fact, I have reason to believe that this Luciel she keep referencing is one of them too!"
The man raised an eyebrow at this revelation. "Is she there too?"
He didn't specify who he was talking about, but the subordinate had no difficulty recognizing who he was talking about. "There's no mention of her at all, so either she's simply not there…or…"
"She's dodging the camera." The boss completed his sentence.
"Exactly. You truly deserve to be our boss, you were able to reach the same conclusion that took me a long time coming to!"
"It's taken you this long to guess something this simple?"
His word made Petrel freeze as he immediately realized his mistake. "No I…my apology…I shall make sure to not repeat such a mistake!"
Giovanie didn't pursue the matter and simply gestured for him to continue.
"Hrm, however, with very few exceptions, most students don't have any interesting background, in fact, only the prince of Unova, two heirs of the Milledrop clan, some members of the dragon esper clan…and the heir of Silph Co. As for the rest of the students…well they were either in a middle ground family…or they are now orphans."
"I see…still make sure to gather information on their background, I might use it later to threaten them if I need to."
"Of course boss!" Petrel sat down back onto his desk as he immediately went back to work to execute his superior's will.
As for him, he couldn't help but consider more of his future plans from the little information they were able to obtain.
'So it's not a gathering spot for the rich kid to make connections to bully those below them…well if it was, I would have been able to learn it much sooner…still, what could their objective even be?' He doubted that any people who could hoard enough wealth to contribute to this incredible technology would use it to guarantee a future for the better of humanity and pokemon…but then again, what if he was wrong?
'Or is it the manner that I approach this information that is wrong?' Giovanie made a sudden realization. 'Right…what does it matter what they plan on doing with this? It wouldn't bring me any advantage…Instead, I should focus on how I can make profit from this situation!'
The man looked back at the screen, and slowly looked toward Palmer and easily recognized him as the supposed strongest member of the current government in Sinnoh.
Of course this obviously didn't include the likes of Volo and other members of the Goldwin clan, but for the rest of the population, he was the one with the most influence.
Of course, this didn't change much from his current considerations, as it was also revealed that somewhat this organization was able to bring that same heretic into their rank…so it allowed him to deduce one thing…
"Sinnoh is without their bodyguard...hahaha." The man tried to cover his mouth to camouflage his laugh, but it was futile as each of his subordinates turned around in fright as they heard their usual stoic boss laugh.
None of them assumed that it was only because he remembered a funny joke or anything of that sort from one single reason…the glint of his eye was full of greed.
"No, even Geeta is there, and she's the only competent member left from Paldea, so this one is also free for the taking! But it can't only be them! There must be other powerhouses all staying inside this little building!" Giovannie couldn't hide his expression now, as his grin even stretched beyond his hand.
"That's it! Everyone! Listen up!" Giovannie stood up from his chair, forcing his pokemon to jump down on the floor. "The region is currently devoid of its leading member! Which means this is the perfect moment to strike! Prepare to send most of the troupe to infiltrate the other country! Tell the current spy to awaken from their current position! Soon! The name of Team Rocket shall be known to anyone living in the shadow! And even sooner, we will be the ones behind every government!"
His subordinate's eyes widened as they realized the scale of his instruction, but none dared to oppose his decision and immediately saluted him. "Your wish is our order, master Giovanie!"
Giovanie looked satisfied with their answer, but right as he was about to send them off to start this order, his eye darted toward the screen.
"What…happened?" His confusion was normal, as all of the screens that were showcasing the performance of everyone suddenly closed without any notice.
***
Hmm…they look happier now.
I looked around to see that most of the student were satisfied with their performance. All of them easily proved that they deserved to be here with their skill.
However, no one was able to reach the level of Lance yet, but mostly for one reason that our teacher forgot to give us. That we didn't have a break after our fight, and also that our pokemon wouldn't heal between them. So we had to fight an increasing level of difficulty against our own pokemon. So more people failed more because they couldn't keep up than because they didn't have the required skill.
Of course it would have made others doubt Lance's placement if it wasn't for the fact that he showed he could make his pokemon recuperate to their earlier state in an instant.
Other than that, most of the class has already passed the test by now, with only 5 people left, including me.
All of my other friends did pass, and all of them did a good performance to my surprise.
Allister probably had the worst result, stopping at level 3, but it wasn't because he was a weak trainer or anything like that. He was just…well…scared of everyone staring at him that he gave up by the third round, but I'm sure he would have been able to make it higher…if he also spoke louder…because I'm sure his Galarian Yamask barely heard him with how he murmured each of his order.
The next stage was Mina, who made it to level 5, she was strangely a better fighter than I thought…she just was mostly distracted most of the fight, and she did seem a little troubled by the nature of her opponent, but she still made it to that level.
The same applies to Iono and Clair, who also reached that level, but were only defeated because their own pokemon couldn't keep up…
Well I'm not sure I would attribute it to Clair, because I had the impression she volunteered stopped herself from reaching the same level as Lance did…which is sad, she did seem happy to fight with her little horsea.
Also, Iono fought like she acted, with way too much energy.
Then, Sabrina reached level 7 pretty easily, as contrary to Lance, her power worked extremely well on her opponent. Of course it was just a tiny abra, so she would probably not need that much power in the first place, but it she seemed satisfied with her result and gave up right after, even if I was sure she would have been able to reach level ten if she cared.
She was also probably the only archon that gave me this impression besides Lance, as the other were clearly too dependent on their power, and most of them had no effect on the AI…but they still all reached level 7. Which was actually probably the reason why she stopped there in the first place.
…well not every Archon, there still was one who didn't pass...which wasn't me of course.
Then…there was Cynthia…she made it to level 8…she tried her best to reach level 9 but…her gible fainted before it could ditch that last attack. If he fought in his peak condition, he would have probably have won…but it didn't so she lost.
…
…she…didn't seem happy about her defeat…but contrary, she didn't blame anyone else and just sat down…without talking to anyone.
…I should make her something to bring up her smile…she's prettier that way.
"Now, it's time for the next battle, who wants to go next?" Palmer looked around the room, but now the excitement had clearly disappeared, as all of those who stayed really didn't want to fight. "Come on, I know that you can do it! Don't be intimidated by the other performance! Everyone here has the potential to reach the highest mountain and…" Palmer trailed off as he saw that his speech really had no impact on those who were left.
"I…I can go…" A little girl wearing all yellow proposed herself timidly.
"That's the spirit!" Palmer screamed excitedly as she approached with her hand near he stomach.
The moment she reached the center of the ring, her Caterpie left her shoulder to stand proud in the middle of the arena.
"Ooooh, a Caterpie! That is a rare sight! To think that Yellow was able to succeed the entrance test with such a pokemon spoke volumes about how strong she is! And today we will have the occasion to see her in action." Iono hyped her up despite having screamed for the entirety of the session, I wonder how she does it? Also, I also wonder how she even knows the name of every student without asking them.
… Well now I also remember the name of each student because of her, so I suppose it's a good thing.
"Hahaha…no…I'm really not that great." Yellow responded awkwardly as she was already getting embarrassed by the praise.
"Well, are you ready? Go!" Palmer pressed the button for the first level, a level that was easily passed by everyone without exception. As most of the time, the pokemon barely stood in its place a barely threw any attack, and when it did it usually landed on itself.
And with a caterpie, I didn't expect it to be different…but maybe she could surprise me.
"Kitty…eh…a…attack it…but…gently…to make sure it doesn't get too hurt." Yellow gave confusing orders, yet her pokemon still followed them to the letter as it approached the hologram the fastest it could…which was still extremely slow…then prepare it to headbutt it when it reached it…only to receive silk in the face the moment it was in front of the hologram.
"Cater!" The caterpie was so shocked by losing its sight that it lost balance and landed on the ground…and it fainted.
"…" Palmer said nothing.
"…" Iono said nothing.
"…" The class said nothing…even Cynthia was woken up from her depression just to make sure she saw that right.
"…" Yellow had an expression that told everything.
"…well…is that considered as surprising?" I was the one who broke the silence as I pointed toward Yellow who ran toward her pokemon with a glowing hand.
"Aaah! Kitty! I should have known! I'm so sorry for being such a weak master!" She immediately held it in her arm and healed it pretty easily…not that there was any big injury on it.
"Yellow…failed the first round." Palmer said quietly as he really didn't want anyone to take more notice of it, but it was too late, as some students were already sneaking behind his back.
"Eh…well maybe my result wasn't that bad."
"Yeah, at least the guy who got even lower simply gave up…she just lost."
"…To say she's an esper…eh!"
…I'm pretty sure Yellow heard these comments too, as her body stiffened, but she tried her best to ignore them to just go back to her friend.
"Now now, please don't insult her, not everyone is as good as a trainer from the start, all that matters is that with our help, she will grow even stronger very soon! Maybe she would even grow stronger than some of you!" Palmer tried to stop the comment from the crown, but the harm was already done, as she wasn't even able to look up in the eye of her friend the moment she joined them back.
…Natural looked at her without any expression on his face, before gesturing to his maid behind him to follow him to the area, leaving Yellow all alone…and she only rambled even more to this.
Palmer's eye perked up as he saw him approaching. "Ah, it's nice to see others presenting themselves, well I would be honoured to see your performance your majesty."
"I give up, so you can say I lost before even the first round." Natural casually dropped this information, before walking back toward Yellow who now looked at him with widened eyes.
His maid didn't even wait for our teacher's reaction, before saying the same thing.
"I…well…euh…" Palmer wasn't able to say anything, nor the student who clearly expected a cool performance from him from the fact that he is an archon and a king, apparently.
But as if he didn't care what he did, Natural just joined back Yellow and only dropped a few words. "You're more charming with a smile."
"Oooh, what a love story, the lowly peasant with the prince charming." Iono murmured, as she was probably the least disappointed of the class, as she found this information more interesting than any fight he could offer.
…love? What that? Is that what makes Yellow become as red as a Tamato? Well…then does Lance also feel love for the situation? Because he's currently red as he watches Natural with a gaze that basically tells that he would strangle him to death if he could.
…well I think it's my turn now.
"Sorry Iono…I will have to cut the stream."
Iono moved her head toward me in surprise, before nodding. "Alright, let me just say goodbye to my fan." She took a deep breath for the last time today. "The projector is down, the light will soon fade, but don't worry, for my eye will always be watching you! So to the next time!" She waved at the camera before I shut down the connection.
The moment I brought down the camera, Iono fell down on the floor with a sigh of exhaustion. "So…must…urgh…"
I looked at her quietly, and despite what she as just said, I knew that the smile on her face betrayed the fun she had.
So I simply walked across her before reaching the area with silent step. So silent that Palmer jumped in fright when he saw me right beside him.
"Ah…oh…wait…right…hrmm." Palmer coughed into his fist to recuperate his spirit. "So, today you're our last contestant…so good luck, and don't be scared of the gaze alright?"
I didn't respond to him and simply squatted to let Pandora jump out of my shoulder before looking toward me.
I wasn't able to resist his cute little face and petted him on the side. "Don't worry, you don't have to fight too hard…and if you feel any kind of pain, just send it back to me alright…I could also just give up if you want…"
But Pandora shook his head at my proposition as he formed an arm just to flex it, probably an attempt to say to me that he was strong enough to handle it.
"Hmm, I know that Pandora." I stood up again before going to my side of the square as Pandora advanced toward the middle of the ring with two dark claws to his side.
"Hmm, well if you're ready, let's start round 1." Palmer said in a jovial tone as he pressed the button and…
*Pssh*
…the whole room was covered in darkness.
"Hey!? What is happening?" A student screamed in fright as he saw all the lights around to room closing instantly, as if all the energy in them was diverted into a single program.
The whole room was about to start panicking, until Palmer calmed them. "It's fine… it's just a blackout…probably caused by…"
'A hologram asking all the energy inside the academy.'
His eye widened as he suddenly realized why the light suddenly gone off as he slowly posed his gaze toward me…but that was all his instinct allowed him to do. As something deep inside him told him that if he dared to look at the hologram right now…he would die.
"EVERYONE! CLOSE YOUR EYE!!!" He suddenly screamed as he made sure to close his eye immediately after. Some students were surprised by his demand and almost looked at me that way, but Sabrina closed their eyes by force making everyone blind for an instant.
But despite all of this panic, all of these worries, only a single thought passed my mind as I saw the true form of Pandora in front of me. "How cute." It was foolish to think that the AI would also recreate its costume, making its form that some idiot blessed by the sun finds so ugly that they could die.
But I couldn't care less, as all I saw was the adorable beauty of the being who gave my life meaning.
I wanted to reach my hand toward it, as Pandora didn't allow me to look at his true form usually, so this was a rare instance.
But the moment I did so, the hologram formed a tendril and elevated in high in the air…but brought it down to its main face.
…
"Ah…the light is back." Palmer said in relief as he reopened his eye with the feeling of dread gone. But his eyes were still shaken as he saw the ground lose all of its colour where the hologram formed itself, with a giant chasm right in the middle of it.
The student were also allowed to open back their eye, and they were just as shaken as him.
"…yeah, I won!" I raised my hand in the air…because that's what everyone did when they won.
…so when is the next round?