CHAPTER 155

Like usual, my battle was early in the morning, and it was taking place on the Rocky Field. Will Bowman somehow found a way to wear very little clothes in the middle of winter, and he had a legion of fangirls that kept screaming out his name in the bleachers. My friends tried to join in to counter them, but the supervisor hissed and everyone quieted down.

“This is battle between Grace Pastel and Will Bowman. Trainers, send out your Pokemon.”

The air was cool and crisp as I sent out Jellicent and Tangrowth. My lips twitch when I saw Beartic and Vaporeon appear as I had predicted. The massive, looming bear exuded frosty air all around him, and there were clearly outlined muscles in its arms and legs. Its paws alone were bigger than my head by a wide margin. Vaporeon stretched and its ears twitched. It observed us in a calculating manner and tensed.

Rain Dance was coming, and then Aqua Jet and Ice Punch would follow on Tangrowth. I would have him raise an Ancient Power immediately and counter with Jellicent’s Hex while Vaporeon watched helplessly as I completely restrained his teammate and shut him down before the battle could even start. Then, I’d use that downturn in Bowman’s move to rush Vaporeon and shut down that Rain Dance.

Easy enough in my head. Now it was time to see if it worked.

“Begin!”

“Rain Dance!”

Vaporeon cried out, arching its back and raising its head toward the sky. Thunder boomed, and thick rain clouds appeared above the arena, leading to small droplets, and then an absolute deluge. It was pouring gallons of water, and it would soon fill up the entire arena.

“Aqua Jet and Ice Pun—”

“Ancient Power!” I snapped and raised a hand.

Beartic exploded forward as water enveloped his entire body. It was so quick that its speed was comparable to Talonflame’s. The Aqua Jet soon turned to ice, but Tangrowth had already raised a boulder in front of himself to block the attack. With attacks this quick, maneuverability always came second. The ice type crashed into the rock, but to my surprise, it destroyed it completely and rammed into Angel, although the loss of speed has softened the blow.

“Bind and Mega Drain!” I yelled.

“Wish, then Surf!” Will ordered to his Vaporeon.

I ignored the light that flew out of Vaporeon’s mouth and bit the inside of my lip. Tangrowth’s vines wrapped around Beartic and froze around the ice type’s body. He hurriedly replaced them as fast he could, but Beartic was a lot stronger than I gave it credit for. If I just waited around, he’d escape—

And Vaporeon’s Surf was coming.

“Hex it!”

A painful Hex from Buddy stopped Beartic from struggling, and I switched the attack to Shadow Ball immediately after that. Only two reached their mark before the massive wave crashed into all three Pokemon, and then onto my side of the barrier. There was so much water already that I couldn’t see the floor. The arena had practically been converted into a Water Field. Jellicent easily flew up, emerging from the water completely unharmed. Beartic was next, although it appeared a lot less large and threatening with its wet fur clinging to its body. Vaporeon was only a small head out of the water on the opposite side of the arena that I could see if I squinted hard enough.

“Angel, push yourself up with your vines!”

I grabbed my shirt, hoping that he could hear me, but thankfully he raised himself up after a few seconds. If the Rain Dance kept going though, even his vines wouldn’t be long enough to keep him afloat.

“Vaporeon, get under there and cut his vines!” Will yelled. “Beartic, freeze yourself a platform!”

“Don’t let them! Buddy, send a Night Shade under there! Angel, Power Whip!”

A neon green light shone under the water and quickly slammed into Beartic’s gut. The bear grunted as ice formed under his body. A Night Shade from Jellicent sank into the depths as soon as Vaporeon did.

“Poison Sting and Hex,” I ordered.

Sharp, purple darts flew off of Jellicent’s tentacles and penetrated deep inside of Beartic, who cried out in pain as it stood on the floating ice platform it had created for itself.

Suddenly, an idea came to me.

“Icicle Crash!”

“Angel, get on that platform.”

An explosion rang out underwater and shook the entire field.

“And send another Night Shade,” I added.

Vines extended forward, and Beartic clawed them apart as best he could. A set of eight icicles formed above Angel’s head and crashed into him, going through his vines. The grass type shivered in pain, but Jellicent’s Hex allowed him to drag that damn Beartic off of his platform.

Even though he had vines fully extended downward, the water reached up to his eyes now.

Beartic flailed as it attempted to get back onto his platform, but a Shadow Ball from Buddy shut him down. Angel used the ice type’s body as support to step onto the platform, hitting him with two Power Whips to better balance himself. Two huge gashes opened up on the ice type’s back and blood seeped into the water.

Angel was safe now.

“Vaporeon, what’s going on?!” Will screamed out.

I smirked as another explosion was heard in the water. Buddy’s Night Shade had put in a lot of work to buy us time.

“Finish off Beartic.”

Buddy gathered ghostly energy in front of his mouth and made his Shadow Ball twice as large while Angel wrestled with Beartic, who was attempting to climb back on and making sure not to slip off. The ball hit the ice type in the back, worsening his wounds, and one last Mega Drain from Angel did the trick. Beartic was out of the fight.

Will recalled his Pokemon and—

Vaporeon jumped out of the water, using its tail to propel itself far into the air and bit into Buddy’s tentacle and tore away a huge chunk of his body.

“Recover,” I said.

Bowman’s face sank when he realized that it had been all for nothing. He released his Basculin— just as I had predicted— and swept his arm.

“Agility and Aqua Jet!”

Whatever he was planning, I had to take down Vaporeon and stop the rain.

“Buddy, it’s in your hands,” I firmly said. His red eyes dimmed and he bowed his head before sinking into the water.

Basculin was actually the main physical threat on this team. It was too quick for me to split my attention—

Case in point, it was already there.

“Wave Crash! Knock it off!”

“Brace yourself.”

Vines grew out of Angel’s back and buried themselves into the ice platform with quick Vine Whips. A giant wave surrounded Basculin’s body. It rammed into the grass type and quickly jumped back into the water.

Angel did not budge a single inch. On the opposite side of the arena, Wish bore down from the skies and sank into the water. It was no doubt on its way to heal Vaporeon.

Will’s goal wasn’t to deal damage, but to get Angel to fall into the water and force me to recall him now that it was too deep. I hoped to Arceus that he wouldn’t realize that the smartest thing right now would be to leave Angel stranded here and go after Buddy— more precisely, pretend to do so. I could see multiple purple explosions that must have been from Night Shade and Shadow Ball, and I knew that the only way Vaporeon had of fighting back was Bite. Water Type moves wouldn’t work against Buddy.

Basculin tried three more times to get Angel off of his platform, but it was too quick for us to retaliate effectively. Power Whip was a slow attack, and Vine Whip wasn’t effective enough to take the water type down.

“Forget it! Head Smash!”

There it was. I was ready and the words were already out of my mouth.

“Stun Spore!”

I grinned, and Will winced. Basculin rammed into Tangrowth with all of its strength, pushing past his vines and hitting his true body. Angel’s vines writhed in agony, but he shot out yellow spores and Basculin began to twitch.

A single whiff had been enough. See, with Wave Crash, the water surrounding Basculin was enough to protect him from any spore attacks, but that wasn’t possible with Head Smash. The water type wasn’t completely unable to fight like Angel had been during our last battle, but its speed was at least halved. That was enough for him to Bind it and lift it out of the water.

I stared into Will Bowman’s eyes. If your Beartic hadn’t created that platform, I might have lost.

“Mega Drain,” I said. “No use wasting the energy.”

Basculin flailed as he withered and dried until the vibrant green on its body had turned into a sickly khaki. Bowman hung his head as he recalled his Pokemon and sent out his Azumarill.

I restrained a smile. I’d been four out of four for predictions, it seemed.

“Aqua Jet under the water! Help Vaporeon deal with Jellicent with Play Rough!”

Bowman was getting smarter. I would have thought that Buddy would have dealt with Vaporeon by now, but it seemed that it was more resistant than I thought, and Protect was probably working wonders against him. Azumarill disappeared underwater, and I was only left with Angel. I bent over and tried to see through the murky waters, but I could only spot different lights and the rumble from explosions.

Well, it seemed that Honey could finally see some action at last. Will Bowman had made a fatal mistake.

“I’m withdrawing Angel out of the fight,” I told the referee. He nodded. “You did great! Buddy, get back up!”

I recalled the grass type as he happily waved at me, and sent out Electabuzz on the ice platform. He stared around confusedly for a few seconds and lowered himself in order not to slip. One look into my eyes, and he nodded.

Arceus, I loved my kids.

“Azumarill, Vaporeon, get back up here!” Will bellowed.

Jellicent was out first.

“Let’s finish this off with a bang. Discharge!”

Electricity cracked around Honey’s fur and exploded outward. It was so bright that it forced me to cover my eyes. The flooded arena became a death trap. The water smoked, and the smell of ozone filled my nostrils.

Vaporeon and Azumarill’s unconscious bodies emerged from the water.

“Victory to Grace Pastel.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief and clenched a fist.

Now how the hell were they going to fix this Field?

——

“I’m not going to lie, that was definitely the hardest battle yet,” I sighed to my friends. “Without that platform for Angel to stand on, I might have lost.”

“That was his biggest mistake for sure,” Mira said. “What would you have done without it?”

“Recall Angel, send out Princess and try to get a platform raised for Honey to stand on whenever either her or Buddy fainted. Other than that? Well, I could always have had Honey try to use Discharge or Thunderbolt in the water, but… to be honest, I don’t know if he knows how to swim. I should have asked.”

“I don’t know what you feed that Tangrowth,” Maeve said. “How would you even take it down?”

“Me? I’d have Princess restrain him with Ancient Power or Psychic while I took care of the other Pokemon,” I shrugged. “Angel’s difficult to beat, but it’s not impossible. You just can’t tunnel vision on dealing damage or you’ll lose. Or… you could have a powerful fire or poison type. Either or.”

“Well he’s been doing the rounds on the forum. People are terrified of him,” Denzel said. “And of you…”

“What? Why me?” I frowned.

Aside from Cecilia, my friends all looked awkwardly at each other.

“I don’t get it either,” my girlfriend said. “Maybe they’re scared of your cuteness. I certainly know that I wouldn’t be able to fight back against that.”

With a sly smile, she hugged and kissed me. We had never shied away from public displays of affection, but we were definitely pushing it these days. Not that I particularly cared.

“If you don’t know now, you’ll never figure it out,” Pauline said.

“It’s the way you play mind games,” Justin explained. “People dislike that.”

“Well I didn’t play any mind games during my first and third battles, so they’re just biased,” I said. “Granted, I could have, but it would have been too dangerous. I couldn’t fuck around when the field turned into an ocean.”

“See, this is what they’re talking about! It feels like you’re fucking around with them for fun,” Maeve said.

“Well, battles are supposed to be fun, no?” I shrugged. “I can’t deny that I like playing with people’s hopes and using that to my advantage, but only for battling.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Let them talk,” Cece rolled her eyes. “None of them matter.”

“Well, it kind of matters with the Poketch Company…” I sighed. “Hopefully they’ll like this battle though. It was a lot more straightforward.”

“Soon enough they’ll have to remarket you as a ruthless battler instead of some normal girl next door,” Mira teased.

We all chuckled, and we made our way to the Pokemon Center so I could heal Angel. Denzel and Mira’s battle would be next. If I looked deep within myself, I didn’t exactly know why screwing with people emotionally felt so good during battles. It just did. It was fun. That moment where all hope drained from their faces was the moment where I knew I’d win. It wasn’t like I did it every time, although when my presence in the Poketch Company was a little more steady, I’d probably start doing it a lot more. I had already heard about how hotheaded Maylene was, and she’d be a prime target to use it on.

Those were thoughts for the future.

We had texted Luca everything Pauline, Justin and Denzel remembered about the supervisor that had refunded her half of her ticket, so all we could do was wait for him to bring back any news. I opted to dip out early. I needed to prepare for my battle against Harry Rodriguez in advance, and there were two things that I thought were necessary if I ever wanted to win. I went back to the Pokemon Center and gave Angel to Nurse Joy, then I went off to my usual training spot.

I released Princess and Honey. The latter’s fur was still damp from that little time he’d spent under the rain.

“Hi guys. It’s just you two this morning,” I said. “This is important practice for our big battle against Harry, okay?”

I had brought my Pokemon up to speed before my battle regarding the tournament’s shadyness, and some were a lot more anxious than others. Princess and Buddy wanted me to stop investigating and keep my head down to stay safe. Sweetheart and Honey wanted to uncover whatever the hell was going on, although the electric type wanted to do so in a safe manner, which meant no more infiltration attempts. Angel didn’t exactly understand the grand conspiracy at play, but he did know something bad was afoot.

As for Sunshine? Well, I hadn’t told him yet.

I did feel bad about it, but I was planning on rectifying that right now. First though, I had to give Princess and Honey instructions.

“You were great, by the way,” I smiled at Electabuzz. “I should have brought a towel for you.”

He grinned, flashing his sharp teeth and gave me a thumbs up. Togetic chirped, asking about what happened during the battle.

“Oh it was this whole thing. The entire field was flooded. I could tell you got scared when I released you,” I said, smirking at Honey. He hurriedly shook his head. “Come on big guy, I know you. You didn’t let it show though, and you immediately got ready to attack. I’m proud of you kiddo—”

Eugh, kiddo? I was starting to sound like my dad. Still, one of the most important parts of Pokemon battling was that your Pokemon needed to be ready no matter what situation they were in.

“Okay, you won’t actually be learning a new move, Hon,” I said. His shoulders sagged. “I know, I know. You need to work on Protect some more.”

“Ele…”

“It’s boring, huh? Well think about it like this. If you manage to nail Protect down, you’ll last a lot longer in fights, so more fun for you.”

He brightened up at that.

“And I also need it in case you… you know, need to protect me or any of the others if something bad happens. I told you that we went in the Hunters’ mansion, but I didn’t tell you about the Pokemon they had. It was a Shiftry.”

With how confused Honey looked, I knew he’d never seen one before. Princess was a given, of course.

“It doesn’t really matter what it looks like, just know that it was really strong and that it’s a grass and dark type. The more you can use the move, the more you can protect me if things go south, okay?”

Now he was on board. Without any complaints, he walked a few feet away and started to use the move over and over. There was no better way to learn Protect. It was a move with a low skill floor, but an extremely high skill ceiling. He’d improve with the move throughout his life, and there was no better way to practice it than brute forcing. The move would prove extremely useful to bypass Torterra’s Earthquakes. In every one of Harry’s fights that I’d seen, it always came out slow and telegraphed.

If I ever had to fight that Shiftry in an act self defense without Sunshine, I didn’t think it could be done.

“Princess, it’s about time we start working on your fairy type moves again, isn’t it?”

“Prrri!”

“Yours is tricky,” I said. “It’s called Dazzling Gleam.”

I turned on my phone and showed her a video of Mira’s Kadabra using the move. It combined a bright flash of light with dozens of tiny explosions that would hurt her opponent. I wasn’t exactly interested in the damage it would deal— at least not for the fight against Harry. This would be her main counter against Crobat if it ever got close to her. Blinding it would leave her enough to to run away or impale it with Ancient Power, which to be honest, was part of the plan to deal with the poison type.

“Let me tell you how I think you can get started, and you tell me if it helps, okay?” I started. “When you use Fairy Wind, it’s… controlled, right? You diffuse fairy type energy, weave it into the wind so that you’re able to control it.”

Princess nodded.

“For this move… forget that control. Just let the energy explode out of you and see what happens.”

I mimicked an explosion with my hands, sound effects and all, and she giggled at me. I pet her head and let her get to work. I observed the two for a few minutes, and Honey was already panting roughly. Protect would certainly help with his endurance overall. Princess, meanwhile, was… well, she was exploding, and the sparks were there, but the light wasn’t. I’d check back in later to see if there was any progress on that front.

I held Sunshine’s Pokeball in my hands. It was warm.

The fire type peered down at me with a curious look.

“Hey. I have something to tell you.”

He let an annoyed groan escape from his mouth.

“It’s not a story this time, I swear! Hear me out…”

I told him everything. Everything regarding BattleZone, Harry Rodriguez, the Hunters and how something was unmistakingly linking them together. His gaze was unchanged during the entire tale, and I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking.

“I’m going to ask you a favor. We can trade,” I exhaled. “If things go south and our lives are in danger because they realize we’re snooping around, I need you to help me. I also want to keep you as a backup for my battle against Harry. I’ll try to beat him without you, but you’ll be my fourth.”

He let out an amused snort.

“In exchange… if I ever come across Team Galactic. I will do my best to take them down. But only once! We’ll call the authorities and then barge in before they get there or something so you can have your revenge. That way, I use you once, and you use me once. That’s a fair deal.”

I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth, but what was done was done. Turtonator’s eyes widened in surprise, and he touched my shoulder with a warm hand. I almost jumped. It was my first time actually touching him. He hadn’t expected this from me at all, and it showed.

I wasn’t actually expecting things to go that wrong, of course. We hadn’t really done anything of note except look up information about Harry. Hell, I was sure that multiple people were doing it too other than us— including the media. Luca was in more trouble than we were since he got caught snooping.

But just in case.

“Keep the deal on the down-low though. Princess has been slowly learning to tolerate you, and we’d throw all that progress away if you didn’t.”

His nose flared in anger.

I clicked my tongue. “What about Buddy then? And Sweetheart? You like them— ah, there’s that face. I know you do. Hell, I know even I’m growing on you— wait, don’t leave!”

I followed Turtonator, who lied down in the soft grass and obsered Princess and Honey train.

“Can I add one thing to the deal?”

He growled and slightly raised the temperature.

“Let me call you Sunshine.”

I grinned when no objections came. Finally.

——

I awoke to the sound of my Poketch, as I usually did these days.

I don’t know when I had fallen asleep, but I did. I groaned and realized that I was leaning against Sunshine, who was still asleep. His scales weren’t that comfortable, but that was offset by how warm it was. Fire types were awesome. Maybe I could make this a regular thing soon. It was the afternoon now, and Honey and Princess were still working hard. Light was starting to emanate from her attacks, although it was still a tiny amount, and Honey’s Protect were coming out faster than before.

I had apparently missed a lot. Luca had been added to the group chat— ah, nevermind, they created an entirely new group chat with him in it instead. I scrolled back to the beginning of the conversation and—

Someone was dead.

A BattleZone employee had died early this morning, and people had come across the body a few hours earlier. I quickly sent a message to assuage their panic, since I hadn’t shown myself in hours. Cece berated me and I could hear her screaming through the text .I felt terrible.

“Wake up Sunshine, we’ve got to go.”

He refused to get up and told me to just recall him instead so that he could continue sleeping in his Pokeball. His laziness would be the end of me. I recalled him and the others, opting to have Buddy accompany me on the way back to the Pokemon Center. I wasn’t about to be defensless when someone had just died.

——

“Grace!” Cecilia exclaimed as I stepped inside of Denzel room. She practically tackled me and sniffled in my arms. “Don’t just disappear on us, you idiot!”

“You should have warned us,” Justin nodded. “We were besides ourselves trying to find or contact you. Cece wanted to call the Poketch Company.”

“I’m sorry,” I grimaced. “I fell asleep.”

I rubbed Cecilia’s back, and she wouldn’t leave my side. She really believed I was dead.

“The cops say it was a suicide,” Denzel said. “They said he hung himself in his office.”

“And the cops are obviously full of shit,” Pauline added. “I bet it was a murder. Someone killed that man.”

“We already know the Hunters run things here, so that isn’t surprising,” Mira shrugged. “Now what are we gonna do about it?”

“Nothing!” I snapped “Do we know who died?” I turned to Pauline. “Is it the guy that paid you off?”

“No. And I would have remembered his face if I saw it. It’s on the tip of my tongue, but you know, for the eyes.”

“So a supervisor from BattleZone was assassinated. Any leads on why? Luca?” I asked.

“Nope. I’m stumped. I do know that he was pretty high up in the food chain though. Connor Tyson wasn’t just a supervisor. He actually had authority on how the tournament was run. To use trainer terms… this is like if a gym leader had just gotten assassinated.”

A few surprised gasps ran through the room.

“That high?” Louis frowned. “Wouldn’t someone that high up know about the rigging— and be orchestrating it?”

“No, no,” Denzel shook his head. “This is proof that there are factions, just like I theorized. If I had to guess, he was going to talk, and he quickly got shut out.”

“Killing him for just exposing tournament rigging?” Maeve said. “Rough him up maybe, but murder seems like too much. The consequences don’t match the actions here.”

“For BattleZone? I don’t know, maybe they’re just that concerned about their rep,” Mira said.

“This entire thing obviously goes deeper than just rigging now. There’s something else to this, and figuring out Harry Rodriguez is the key, I’m sure of it,” I said. “So there are multiple factions within BattleZone, but the question is, are there multiple factions within the Hunters? Even the most ardent of cults should have people that aren’t too into the idea of murder.”

“I don’t think we can figure it out. They’ve shown that they aren’t beyond using murder for their needs. Luca, I’d stop traveling alone at night if I were you,” Denzel said. “And for anyone who thinks this is too dangerous… I’d resign from the tournament and get to Veilstone as quickly as you can. This isn’t a joke anymore.”

“We’re not doing anything about it. I’m going to stay here to fulfill my contract and then we can—”

Pauline interrupted me.

“I’m going to keep investigating.”

“So am I,” Mira said. “This is fun.”

“This isn’t supposed to be fun,” I exclaimed. “Someone died!”

“We’re our own person,” Mira shrugged. “Don’t tell us what to do. I have my own reasons, and Pauline is the pettiest girl I’ve ever seen. Even Louis is on board, even if he’s too scared to say it.”

“I can’t let you face this on your own,” Denzel sighed at Pauline. “I think this is a terrible idea, but I’m in. Things will work out. What about everyone else?”

A heavy silence settled in the room, and I watched to see if anyone would leave. I was scared… terrified, even, but I couldn’t let Pauline, Louis, Denzel and Mira do this alone. This was murder. This was real. I felt my hand tremble, and I clenched my fist. I could do this.

Maybe that was proof that I’d be able to face down Team Galactic when the time came.

Twenty seconds passed. Then forty. Then a full minute. No one wanted to leave. Not even Maeve. It wasn’t just about rigging anymore. There was more to this. This entire town was rotting from the inside. I just hoped no one would get hurt because of Pauline and Mira’s decision. I had risked Pauline’s life when asking to capture Turtonator, so I’d be a hypocrite to say no. There was no way that she’d be convinced.

Sunshine would have to help us if it ever came to blows, and it seemed that it would sooner rather than later.

“Maeve…” Louis muttered.

“I’m staying. What kind of friend would I be if I just let you all face this?”

“A smart one,” Luca smirked.

“You too, Luca,” Denzel said. “The Elder knows that you tried to snoop. You could be a target. I’m not sure… but it’s possible that even the Pokemon Centers aren’t safe if what Isaac said about the Hunters running everything is true.”

“Nurse Joys are employed by the League and most of them wouldn’t be from here,” I said. “We’ll be alright.”

“I’ll be fine. This murder’s a blessing in disguise— okay, I might have said that wrong, no need to stare like I’m insane. This was like a cold splash of water, right? Sobered us right up. We need to tread with caution here. One slip up, and we’re dead.”

“The goal should be to gather enough evidence to call the League over,” Maeve said. “Beyond that, we can’t do much. Especially if that Shiftry sounds as tough as you made it seem.”

“It was,” Luca said, his face growing grim. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“We have no frame of reference. I tried looking up dark type specialists online, but none of them can do what Shiftry did. That means that it was a custom move of some kind,” Denzel explained. “Beyond that, we can’t really place its exact strength.”

“I reached a deal with my Turtonator. He’ll take care of it if the time comes.”

It took a few seconds for my words to sink in.

“Wow— wow, okay, that’s fucking amazing,” my best friend smiled. “I feel a lot better about this than before. Now, we just need to be careful when we go out. If they send some goons after us—”

“They won’t send anyone,” I said. “Well, they might send some, but not for all of us. Mira, Denzel, Cecilia and I are in the limelight. If anything happens to us, that would bring too much attention. Louis, Pauline and Justin aren’t as famous, but they are the children of billionaires. Luca and Maeve, you’re probably in the most danger here, which is why you can’t travel alone. Especially you, Luca. Understood?”

“I’ll send my Cuties out instead,” he nodded. “They’ll come back when they have any info.”

“Okay. You should probably go get a Center room in here instead of whatever Center you’re staying at so we’re in the same building. Cecilia and I can go with you.”

“Um… one thing of note I might have forgotten to ask. I’m not a trainer. Not officially anyway. So… I can’t stay in a Center room. You’ll have to house me.”

“Like a fugitive?” Mira joked. How could she be so unserious in this situation?

“Not a fugitive. Trainers are allowed to house non-trainers in their rooms.”

“Just go get one, Arceus,” I said. “This isn’t the time to be petty, you can deal with that after.”

“No, because then I have to do this Circuit shit or it’s considered fraud!” He exclaimed. “I want no part in it. Someone will have to house me.”

Louis sighed. “You can sleep in my room if you wish. You’ll have to take the floor though.”

“That wouldn’t be anything new for me,” he shrugged.

“So what now then?” Maeve asked. “What do we do next?”

“Keep your heads down for the rest of the day. If you want to train, do it in groups. Even if we think that they wouldn’t send anyone to attack us, we’ll be better safe than sorry,” Denzel said, crossing his arms.

“The next best move would be to either find an inside man in the Hunter family, or find the guy that paid Pauline off and report him to see the Hunter’s reaction when the public learns of it. One of these two, and we’re golden,” Louis declared. “But how?”

“I know of a way,” Luca said. “You know the supervisors run on a schedule, right?”

We all nodded.

“That schedule’s written down in the tournament building. The one where you all signed up. I saw it once on a piece of paper nailed down to the wall.”

“You’re saying that we should…” Denzel trailed off.

“Yes,” he grinned. “What do you say we do a little bit of breaking and entering tonight?”

“What?” I scoffed in disbelief.

“So much for keeping our heads down,” Maeve sighed.

This was it. This was the point of no return. My contract with the Poketch Company, my reputation, everything rode on this. Risks were risks, but this was something else entirely. This was stupid. But if I didn’t come, the others would go anyway. I wasn’t going to let them face this alone.

Cecilia shook her head. “Grace I don’t think this—”

“For the record, I think that this is the worst idea you’ve ever had. Do you at least have a plan?” I said.

“Well believe it or not, I’ve done it once before around a week ago…”

Luca’s plan had been full of holes, but it had worked the first time somehow. We helped him smooth over some edges until we figured something that would work out. Maeve was okay with sticking around, but she did not want to break in somewhere, so we had worked out something regarding that. Luca, Pauline and Mira had said that if no one came, they’d be going by themselves. Denzel wasn’t about to let Pauline and Mira go off on their own, and neither was I. Justin disliked this but he was with us. Louis was fully onboard due to this reminding him of how scummy his father had been. He wanted to free the innocent Hunters from their cult. Cecilia… was not on board. When she saw how I was starting to go along with the idea, she pulled me aside and began to scold me.

“Grace, you’re too obsessed with this. This isn’t a joke anymore.”

“I know,” I said. “But they’ll be going whether I go or not. And it’s not like it’s not the right thing to do. I want to fix things. I want to avenge Pauline. I want to avenge the man that was murdered—”

“You didn’t even know him! And at this point, I think you care more about the rigging than Pauline ever did. It’s okay to give up on things, Grace. You’re in over your head. Let’s just… give up. Let’s just get you to the top fifty, fulfill your contract with the Poketch Company and let’s leave this town and never come back. Forget everything that happened here.”

“I won’t forgive this slight, Cece. I can’t.”

“You’re not making any sense! Losing a tournament isn’t the end of the world, rigging or not!”

I flinched at her raised tone.

“Listen…” she sighed. “I promised your dad I would keep you safe. This is the opposite of that. I can’t let you go along with this.”

“I—”

I had promised my dad. I had promised him that I wouldn’t take unnecesary risks.

And yet, Team Galactic was coming for me, and it’d probably be sooner than I thought. If I couldn’t do this, then what was the point? So many promises I’d made were more dangerous than this. Hunting down the Rhyperior that had killed Sweetheart’s mom, finding the three Gengar that had raised Honey, my new promise to Turtonator… maybe that was why I didn’t feel a particular need to run. Maybe my sense of self-preservation had been so fucked up in these last few months that the current situation seemed a lot less worse than it actually was to me. Cecilia did raise important questions, though. Why was a slight to a friend so hard for me to just look past? Why couldn’t I just let go and run?

For some reason,

I just found something being done to my friend— small or not— the most detestable thing in the damn world, and I wasn’t about to let them do this alone.

“If we don’t go, the others will do it by themselves. If they had all agreed to not go, then I would have changed my mind, but they need our support. Without Sunshine here, they will have no chance. I am going through with this. I’m sorry, but the plan is sound.”