"What are you standing there for? Go sit down already. Stop wandering around."
The staff member behind Shiro scolded a few more times. After seeing him walk into the crowd, he returned to the corner of the street.
While chatting with his colleague, he kept an eye out for anyone trying to slip away.
Shiro walked over and sat beside a large man.
The big guy was bald and chatting enthusiastically with a flamboyantly dressed man next to him. He did not notice someone sitting down beside him.
Shiro muttered softly, "Dalton, how is the training of your Dragon-type Pokémon going? Do you need more resources now?"
The voice entered Dalton's ears clearly through psychic power.
The big man jolted as if shocked by electricity. His mouth fell open, and his words vanished.
"Hey, man… are you okay?" the man from Ballonlea was startled.
Dalton quickly adjusted his expression and forced an awkward smile.
"To be honest, my kidneys are weak. My lower back hurt just now. Sorry about that."
The man immediately understood and said, "It's fine. Same here."
"…"
Dalton had already shifted his position and turned away, as if he had not heard him at all.
Swallowing hard, he leaned forward and whispered in shock and urgency, "You… who are you?"
"It hasn't been that long and you already don't recognize me?" Shiro raised his head slightly, letting him see his face.
Dalton's eyes widened like bells. He wanted to speak but first covered his mouth, his hands and feet turning cold.
It really was Shiro.
How could he be watching the match here? Wasn't he supposed to be in the stadium?
No, no. Wasn't he about to face Leon in the final?
Why was he here?
"I got played by the company," Shiro said in a low voice. "They'll probably figure out I'm here very soon. Dalton, I need a small favor."
Dalton nodded hard.
"Okay!"
After a brief discussion, Shiro communicated with Unown A in his mind and immediately began to act.
* * *
Bang!
"Why did the surveillance suddenly go down?!"
Oleana's veins bulged on her forehead as she slammed the table. The files and pens on it bounced everywhere.
She continued to shout sharply, "Hurry up! There should be results by now. Contact the mission site immediately!"
"Report, we have news!"
An operator quickly connected the call.
A stunned voice came through, still unable to process what had happened. "The mission failed! The target has disappeared!"
Mission failed. Target missing.
The entire lab fell silent for a moment. Oleana almost stopped breathing.
That special device alone had taken a full week of overnight research. The company forces had been mobilized to gather Pokémon and energy from the Wild Area.
On top of that, everything had been prepared in the waiting room within a short window at noon.
Not only Oleana, but the entire team had been under extreme pressure.
And this plan had failed on the eve of the Champion Cup final.
This was a mission that could only succeed. Failure was not an option.
Her upper body went weak, slumping against the table.
What now?
Shiro had clearly escaped and vanished.
The Champion Cup final could no longer proceed normally. This Gym Challenge would end in disgrace.
And Leon. Could he still become the rightful Champion?
"Ma'am," a company staff member said urgently. "What if we temporarily gather the right Pokémon and find someone else…"
"How would we gather them?!" she asked back. "Leaving aside that special ability Corviknight at Gym-level, just Drakloak alone. Where would we find one? The company only has a single Dreepy bought from outside!
"And Shiro himself! To fake him, we'd need Psychic Pokémon familiar with him on short notice. The final battle with Leon. Who could even fight Leon properly in a final setting?!"
After yelling, she gasped heavily. The anger in her chest eased a little, and she barely regained her composure.
The scolded staff member stood there, unable to speak. The researchers nearby looked relieved they were not the target.
At that moment, Rose's calm voice came through the still-open communicator.
"Oleana, impose emergency lockdown on Wyndon. Shiro should still be nearby. Pull all surveillance from this period and search for him. Don't worry about the final for now. If necessary, announce a delay. The priority is to find Shiro and recover the Unown."
After hearing this, she took a deep breath.
"Yes, Chairman Rose."
The entire lab and operations room sprang into action.
Some pulled surveillance footage. Others contacted the underground league and company personnel.
No matter what, they had to locate Shiro as quickly as possible and stop him within Galar.
Moments later, a researcher brought good news.
"Report! I found Shiro on a camera feed!"
Oleana hurried over to look.
On the screen, Shiro appeared on a street. He quickly put on a black cloak and was escorted by company staff into a commercial plaza, where he sat down.
He had not moved since.
"Now!" she ordered. "Notify Peony! Notify the on-site staff! Go confirm his identity first!"
* * *
At the commercial plaza.
"Yes."
Two company staff members hung up the call.
They had just received word of a suspected criminal hiding in the plaza.
The crowd was noisy. Following the directions given, they walked toward three people sitting close together.
They carefully compared them with the surveillance image sent from above. A big man in the middle, a flamboyant figure on the left, and a strange person in a black cloak on the right.
That's them.
One of the staff members called out at once, "Hey! Turn around!"
The flamboyantly dressed man froze and turned his head first, speaking in a confused voice, "What do you want? Picking a fight for no reason? Do you know who I am—"
"Don't care who you are."
The two staff members did not waste words and dragged him aside.
Dalton in the middle reacted as well, staring at them in confusion.
The two staff members flanked them and shouted, "Hurry up! Tell the one next to you to turn around."
Dalton looked even more confused and shook his head.
"Why?"
"He's a criminal Macro Cosmos is hunting," one of them replied.
"That's impossible." Dalton's broad face showed pure shock. His voice was filled with disbelief. "That's my best friend."
The two staff members grew impatient and reached out to grab him.
"How could that be impossible? Then why is he wearing a cloak? Take off the hood and let us see."
**
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