"..."
Bria collapsed weakly into the chair beside Dale. She glanced at the subtle looks from the surrounding passengers and crew, then gave up struggling altogether.
They had been saved by Corviknight. Like it or not, they were already tied to him now. Whatever happened next, it had to be better than doing dirty work for Team Rocket.
With that thought, she rested her head on the table and stopped talking.
"Right!" Dale suddenly slapped his forehead. "After we reach Sinnoh, are we going to visit Professor Rowan first?"
"Mm… we might stay there for a while," Shiro replied.
Dale's eyes lit up at once. "That's great! I've wanted to ask Professor Rowan so many questions. What I'm most curious about is what exactly he's been researching for the past twenty years. A project that takes that long must be incredible…"
"Probably," Shiro answered.
He truly could not bring himself to say that Rowan had essentially been burning through League funding for twenty years with very little to show for it. On the other hand, if Rowan could spend two decades doing that, perhaps he could as well.
Academic research did not guarantee results just because money was poured into it. That was perfectly normal.
With that in mind, Shiro continued chatting with Dale about psychic abilities.
* * *
Second floor cabin.
Inside one of the rooms, Agatha sat in a cushioned chair with a dark expression, her cane resting in her hand.
Gengar poked its head out of the shadows in front of her, grinning and pulling a silly face in an attempt to cheer her up, but Agatha's expression did not change. She pressed her cane down casually and pushed Gengar back into the shadow.
"Grandma, it was only a few pirates. There's no need to worry so much…"
At the desk, Lorelei spoke while flipping through a book and jotting down notes.
Agatha responded coldly, "He's from Galar and has nothing to do with Sinnoh. As long as he stays inside Rowan's research institute and doesn't wander around, he'll be fine."
She lifted her gaze and paused before continuing.
"A Pokémon scholar obsessed with research who killed a few pirates. Even if those Sinnoh rats want to cause trouble, they won't have much to grab onto. In the end, he only needs to hide and he can avoid this completely."
"Mm…" Lorelei closed her book, looking puzzled. "Isn't that a good thing?"
Agatha's brows tightened before she let out a sudden sigh. The wrinkles on her face relaxed slightly, and for a moment she sounded like an ordinary old woman offering advice.
"Lorelei, rescuing hostages is our responsibility. In the eyes of Sinnoh's higher-ups, only we can kill pirates."
"What do you mean?" Lorelei tapped the end of her pen against her chin. "They'll suspect that we did the killing and then pinned the blame onto Dr. Shiro?"
Agatha nodded. "Who would believe that a researcher like him has that kind of strength? When we dock, Sinnoh's higher-ups will pressure us first. They might even claim those pirates were just ordinary island residents and accuse us of slaughtering innocents."
"But the Tentacool Pirates weren't good people to begin with…" Lorelei's voice grew softer.
Agatha did not respond. She stared at the two red eyes glowing faintly in the shadow where Gengar lingered, lost in thought.
Those pirates deserved to die. Dead was dead. What displeased her was that she and Lorelei would likely have to carry the blame for that boy for a while.
Sooner or later, Sinnoh's leadership would uncover the truth and shift their focus onto Shiro.
The one she truly worried about was Shiro himself.
There were too many mysteries surrounding him.
He came from the most closed-off region, Galar, yet he knew Professor Rowan. According to Lorelei, he was a rising star in Pokémon evolution research and one of the most promising candidates to receive the professor title in recent years.
On top of that, he possessed an unknown and extremely powerful psychic Pokémon.
If Shiro's background was truly clean, then Sinnoh's higher-ups would not be able to do much to him.
Agatha's hoarse voice echoed slowly through the room.
"I heard Rowan chartered this entire ship just to bring him from Galar. The only real question is this. In what identity did Shiro leave Galar?"
Sinnoh. Galar. Kanto.
For some time to come, this young man would surely stand at the center of conflicts between regional Leagues.
Her tone suddenly sharpened. "Lorelei, contact the principal of the Silver Academy. Tell him to check the recent announcements from the Galar League. See if there's any notice or warrant involving Shiro."
A short while later, Lorelei lowered the communicator and shook her head.
"There's nothing. No recent notices from Galar."
"…"
Agatha fell silent.
Was Shiro's background truly clean?
For once, she doubted her own judgment.
Had she miscalculated?
Could it be that Shiro had genuinely left Galar for academic exchange? If so, then once the boy settled into a laboratory, she and Lorelei might truly have to shoulder the blame for him.
Irritation surged through her, and she pushed Gengar's emerging head back into the shadows once more with her cane.
"Gengengen…" Gengar muttered in grievance.
"Um, Grandma?" Lorelei asked carefully. "Since Dr. Corviknight doesn't seem to have any issues, can I go downstairs and ask him some Pokémon-related questions?"
"…"
Agatha's expression grew complicated, as though her own child kept taking someone else's side.
After a long sigh, she said, "Fine. Go. When you're done, tell that boy to come see me."
"Great!"
Lorelei rushed out enthusiastically, then suddenly realized she had forgotten her notebook. She lightly slapped her forehead, turned back to grab it along with her pen, and hurried out again, her red hair swaying behind her.
* * *
Dining hall.
Shiro patiently answered Dale's questions.
"Pokémon evolution is not just a physical change. After evolving, a Pokémon's physical abilities, the moves it can learn, and even its type may change. Generally speaking, a Pokémon can also learn new moves at the moment of evolution. Once a Pokémon evolves, it usually cannot revert back."
"Learn new moves?" Dale immediately seized on that detail. "That part wasn't mentioned in Professor Rowan's evolution theory."
"…"
Shiro paused briefly before replying, "Now it is."
Dale nodded repeatedly as his black pen moved quickly across the paper.
"So you're helping Professor Rowan complete the basic evolution theory?"
"Joint research. Just joint research," Shiro answered modestly, unwilling to take all the credit.
"Oh…" Dale continued nodding.
While they were talking, hurried footsteps sounded from the staircase not far away.
A red-haired girl with glasses rushed into the hall, clutching her notebook, and her eyes quickly found Shiro at the corner table.
It was Lorelei.
The moment he saw her, Shiro stopped speaking and his expression turned serious. If she had arrived, that meant the real figure behind her was here as well.
The veteran Kanto Elite Four member, Agatha.
Given Agatha's suspicious nature, she would probably see a Pangoro and still wonder whether it was just a Growlithe dyed black.
**
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