"Go, Misty! Go Totodile! Show them what you got, buddy!"

This shout had come from the least expected source.

Petyr Baelish.

He was standing among the crowd on a high arching over-bridge of the canal.

Kai was on his left, watching the race enthusiastically. The Water-Chariot Race needed the participants to make two laps on a predetermined long map of canals, using chariots (-kind of like large bowls-) tied to a water-type Pokemon.

When Kai had come to the spot, the first lap was just about to be over.

The thing was that Meg and Totodile were in the lead.

For a tiny, weak Pokemon, Kai reflected, Totodile is doing a fine job in the water.

Meg had told him that there was a steep learning curve in training the young Pokemon.

It took me 3 years to train Squirtle to the level of E+ graded magical beasts, she had told Kai, giving an antidote to Cyndaquil after their nightly visit to Jimmy's house. I think he would have evolved this time, if…

Suddenly, the crowd burst into loud cheers.

Kai saw Meg, standing on a yellow striped water-chariot, and getting pulled by Totodile like a speedboat. They had just passed down from under the bridge. From the whistles, it seemed all the boys and men were cheering her on, despite the obvious difference between her and other participants' age.

Well, it's expected of someone whose Charisma stands at 65, Kai thought, sneering. Even becoming Unworthy couldn't seem to have snatched that away from her.

"Did you see her looking at you, my lord?" Petyr whispered in Kai's ears. "I have seen only blood redder than the color on her face when she found you standing here. Don't tell me… Should I call her mistress from now on or my lady?"

Kai didn't deign to answer.

More pressing thoughts occupied his mind as he saw her urging Totodile to go faster and faster, like a queen riding a war-chariot over the waves, heading for an oceanic battle. Her red hair blazed almost golden under the sun before disappearing behind a turn.

"What's her name?" Kai heard a young man asking a boy.

"The commentators are calling her Misty, aren't they?" the boy replied.

"Isn't that the name of the winner from last year?" Petyr added, joining the conversation effortlessly.

"Who said there can't be two beauties with the same name?" the young man chuckled.

"Speaking of last year's winner," Petyr mumbled, "didn't her group have a friendly relationship with Curator, Lorenzo, and his granddaughter… What was her name again?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Friendly?" the boy guffawed. "They saved the city from Team Rocket. Even the Eon Pokemon favored them. I have never seen Latias myself. A real bummer, right?"

The young man patted the boy. "They remain invisible," he told the boy. "It's hard to spot them. Don't worry. Ah, yes. Her name is Bianca. Quite a beauty, Haha!"

Petyr laughed sheepishly with them. "Any chance I can find her today," he said, leaning in as if he was a long-lost friend of the two. "I quite fancy her. Heard a lot about her, you know."

The boy grinned. "There she is," he told Petyr. "The one with brown hair and hairstyle like Latias' wings."

Kai followed Petyr's gaze and saw her, then. Despite knowing about her from the movie, he had no way to pinpoint who Bianca was. It was one thing to see an animated movie, and another thing entirely to identify the live human-version of the anime characters.

"Who are the two boys on either side of her?" Petyr asked, frowning. "They seem close."

"You don't have to think too much about them," the young man said. "They are part of the Volunteer Task Force permitted by Officer Jenny to prowl the alleys at night. You know, in case the evil Pokemon returns."

Both the young man and the boy shuddered.

Petyr shuddered the most.

"You don't say!" he exclaimed. "But what can only two boys do against… against you-know-who?"

"They are trained professionals," the boy chimed in. "And they are a team of five. Three girls and two boys. The boys only prance around Bianca, though, like two Houndour. Tch!"

The young man and the boy shared their annoyance with the two boys guarding Bianca, as Kai and Petyr exchanged a hidden look between them.

The Commentators' voices raised in volume, rising above the already deafening crows.

-"And here comes Misty with her Totodile followed by Nick and his brother, Ross' Pokemon, Wailmer. Nick is looking as courageous as his older brother, who had remained champion for three years in a row until a girl named Misty stole the crown last year. Now we have another Misty among us. Can she defeat the veteran Pokemon and its new trainer?"-

The second commentator followed it.

-"I think she can, and she will. Look at her go. That Totodile is quite something, huh? Here they come! Oh! Nick has snatched the lead. Wailmer is finally showing the true power of its experience. Totodile is struggling, caught in the wake of the bigger Pokemon. Wait! What is she doing? She is gone! Misty has gone underwater along with her Pokemon. The young boy seems confused by his chaser's disappearance."-

It happened then.

Kai's eyes almost widened as Totodile came bursting out of the water, followed by a drenched Meg on her water-chariot like a fire goddess leaving Atlantis. The bridge he was standing on was high, but the pair went even above that in a long, but powerful arc, like a cannonball.

The scene was so mystifying and confounding that the crowd had lapsed into a stunned silence.

Totodile and the water-chariot landed back on the water with a loud bang, splashing water all around.

And their landing decided the winner.

Meg had just won the Water-Chariot Race of the Alto Mare town.

The crowd erupted with such a cacophony that even the max-raised volume of the Commentators vanished among them.

Kai smiled, and his eyes narrowed.

Now! A voice screamed in his mind. The engines of his Slither Steps Ability roared at their full capacity. He slid through the crowd as if he was a snake, touching all, and yet not standing out.

The two 3rd-floor Contestants, guarding Bianca, sensed the danger.

It was too late.

Kai's breath rattled as he sucked out the Happiness of the three individuals. Their knees buckled as despair took over their minds and hearts, fear bubbling within them like boiling water. He could see the horrifying look in the Contestants' eyes as they gazed back at him in stupefying horror.

The gaze couldn't last even for a moment.

Kai's breath rattled a second time as he took a deep breath, emptying them of all hope, too. Selene lunged out of him, entering their bodies one by one, freezing their souls. Meanwhile, Kai's hand wrapped over Bianca's mouth.

The girl couldn't even resist and Kai merged back into the crowd.

Phase 1 of the Plan - Success!