In the lobby, Shiro and Leon stood up at the same time and walked into the hallway.
Almost all the other participants rose to their feet behind them. Raihan, Marvin, Bea, Allister…
They watched as the two figures disappeared from view.
At the fork in the corridor, Leon stopped and turned slightly. His voice was low and steady.
"Shiro, I won't hold back. I hope you give it everything you have."
After a brief silence, Shiro replied, "Of course."
Of course he would.
This would likely be his final battle in Galar. Even though he knew the result did not truly matter, he still wanted to win.
Since arriving in this world, he had barely allowed himself any rest. He had been training, battling, and pushing his strength every moment he could.
Now he had reached the finals of the Champion Cup. Of course he wanted to prove himself.
To defeat Leon.
They turned away from each other and headed toward their own waiting rooms.
* * *
"How is the equipment setup coming along?"
Rose's voice sounded through the communicator.
On the fifth floor of the Rose Tower, Oleana stared at the monitors with a cold expression as she answered, "Everything is normal. The target has entered the corridor and is approaching the waiting room."
"Very good," Rose said, without ending the call.
Oleana immediately picked up another communicator.
"The target is close. Prepare to activate the device at once."
* * *
Inside the waiting room, several company members stood silently in each corner. At the center was a massive cone-shaped machine emitting an eerie pink glow.
Within the device, more than ten Psychic-type Pokémon were submerged in a strange liquid.
The leading member, dressed in a black uniform, felt tense.
He was not sure whether this new device would work. After all, it was said that the core of the machine was not made by the company, but seized from another region.
The device enveloped the entire room in carefully controlled psychic energy.
According to the data, even if another psychic scan occurred, as long as it didn't exceed Champion-level, it would never detect them.
Click.
The door handle turned.
* * *
A short while earlier.
The waiting room was at the end of the corridor and connected directly to the battlefield.
After staying here for about ten minutes, it would be time to enter the arena.
Shiro soon reached the door.
The handle looked as if it had been silver-plated, without a trace of dust. The gray-white door was spotless, with no visible marks.
The floor in front of it was also clean. With his eyesight, he could not even find a single footprint.
Was this really the same waiting room from this morning?
He grasped the handle and hesitated slightly.
An indescribable sense of unease rose in his chest.
He felt that something was wrong.
In an instant, he stopped and called out in his mind, 'A, check what's inside.'
Unown A scanned quietly for a second before replying, 'I checked with psychic power. There's nothing unusual.'
'Nothing unusual at all?' he asked again.
Sensing once more, Unown A said, 'Should I be ready to teleport at any time?'
After thinking for a moment, Shiro took out a Poké Ball from his waist.
* * *
Bang!
It sounded like a balloon bursting. A flood of psychic energy surged through the crack in the door, wrapping tightly around the target by the handle and dragging it inward.
Inside, the company members shouted urgently, "Target captured. Activate the second layer of the device."
"Yes!"
Several people acted at once. Within a single motion, they completed the operation.
The psychic energy softened instantly, like invisible hands invading the target's body.
"Mind adjustment complete. The process was smooth," someone reported.
The leader immediately pulled the door open.
There was no one outside.
He froze, then saw a flash of psychic light at the far end of the corridor.
"Krab…"
A strange voice came from below.
He looked down and saw a Krabby gripping the door handle with its claws, mumbling unclear sounds.
Its legs waved as it fluttered its eyes.
A mind-controlled Krabby.
It took the man a while to recover. He then raised his communicator.
"Mission failed! The target has disappeared!"
* * *
"Damn Macro Cosmos."
On a street in Wyndon, Shiro leaned against the roadside and cursed under his breath.
Whatever was inside that room had evaded even Unown A's detection.
If he had not noticed that the doorway was cleaned too carefully, he would have been captured on the spot.
Luckily, he had Unown A scan the corridor again and discovered a hidden camera in the corner.
That had pushed his caution to the limit.
When he first had Krabby turn the handle, nothing seemed wrong. Only at the moment the door opened did he have Unown A use teleport.
Thinking back now, Krabby must have been controlled the instant it turned the handle.
"Unbelievable…" he muttered, quickly pulling a black cloak from his bag and throwing it over himself.
The finals were about to begin, and the street was strangely empty.
'Do we run now?' Unown A asked.
Shiro walked forward with heavy steps, his thoughts racing.
He checked his communicator. According to Professor Rowan's message, the S.S. Anne would need another half hour to reach the edge of Galar.
By then, the company would swarm that location like mad dogs.
Right now, there was a brief gap.
He had to do something to keep the company busy.
As he thought this, his gaze lifted toward the tallest and most eye-catching building in Wyndon, the Rose Tower.
He asked quietly, "A, didn't you say before that you wanted to be a champion of justice?"
'Huh?' Unown A sounded confused. 'What champion of justice?'
Lowering his head as people appeared ahead, a cold smile formed on Shiro's face.
"I mean saving suffering Psychic-type Pokémon. How confident are you?"
'Ninety-nine percent. As long as my psychic power can reach Mesprit, I can cancel its control right away. Then G can wake it up instantly.'
Unown A grew excited and almost revealed itself on his shoulder.
"Good…" he said, but then stopped suddenly.
Ahead were two uniformed company workers running toward him, shouting, "Hey! If you want to watch the match, don't wander around the street!"
They quickly reached him and ushered him toward the nearest commercial plaza.
Walking fast, one of them said, "Did you sneak out of the plaza just now? Don't think you can slip into the stadium. That's not a place for you. Stay put. The match between Leon and Shiro is about to start. Don't cause trouble at a critical moment."
"…"
Shiro remained silent as they pushed him into the crowded plaza, where people sat on the ground like a swarm, all staring at the giant screen ahead.
But not far away, he spotted a familiar figure.
**
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