The vote will finish tomorrow.

What a comeback from Sylveon.

Results: Espeon (8 votes), Sylveon (8 votes) Umbreon (2 votes)

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The next morning, Kay arrived at the league facility as the sun was still rising. The towering building stood imposingly in front of him, reflecting the golden light of dawn.

Near the entrance, two men in dark suits stood waiting. The moment they noticed Kay, one of them stepped forward.

“Mr. Kay, follow us,” he said in a neutral tone, gesturing toward the building’s grand staircase.

Kay silently followed the two men up to the second floor, his footsteps echoing in the empty hallway.

They stopped in front of an office door, and one of the men knocked firmly. From inside came a deep voice, “Who’s there?”

“It’s us, sir. Mr. Kay has arrived,” one of the men answered.

“Let him in,” the voice replied.

The door opened, and Kay stepped inside. The office was large but sparsely decorated. Behind a polished wooden desk sat a man who appeared to be in his late forties.

His sharp features and piercing eyes gave off an air of authority. His broad shoulders and confident posture suggested someone who had been on the front lines of many battles.

“Welcome, Mr. Kay, I’m Eliot Graves, the president of the investigation team assigned to the Arcanine Dungeon incident. I also serve as the vice president of the Pokemon League in this city.”

Kay blinked in surprise. The vice president? The way the two men had spoken to him earlier hinted at authority, but Kay hadn’t expected to meet someone this high-ranking.

Eliot picked up an envelope from his desk and casually tossed it toward Kay. It slid across the polished wood surface and stopped in front of him.

“This,” Eliot said, leaning back in his chair, “is the official report of the Arcanine Dungeon incident. I want you to read it carefully and tell me if it aligns with what you experienced inside the dungeon.”

Kay hesitated for a moment before picking up the envelope. His hands trembled slightly as he pulled out the stack of papers inside.

He sat down in the chair across from Eliot and began reading. The air in the room was thick with silence, broken only by the faint rustle of paper as Kay turned each page. Eliot watched him closely, his sharp eyes studying Kay’s every reaction.

After Kay finished reading the report, he slowly raised his eyes to meet Eliot’s piercing gaze.

“The events noted in the report match almost exactly what happened inside the dungeon, but… I don’t see the reason behind the accident. Why did this happen in the first place?”

Eliot leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest. “Yes, that report was only a description of the events,” he said calmly. Then, without breaking eye contact, Eliot reached behind him, opened a drawer, and pulled out a single sheet of paper. He placed it on the desk and slid it toward Kay. “This is the conclusion of our investigation. Read it.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Kay hesitated for a moment before picking up the paper. His eyes scanned the neatly typed text, his brows furrowing as he absorbed the information.

According to the investigation, the league had followed the standard protocols when analyzing the dungeon.

They had measured the energy levels at the gate, just like they always did. Based on the readings, the dungeon was classified as F-rank.

These energy readings usually allowed experts to predict both the rank and the type of Pokemons inside.

However, in this particular dungeon, Pokemons were unusually far from the gate. The sensors, unable to detect the deeper energy levels, provided inaccurate results.

The gate only showed traces of weak energy, which led the league to misclassify it. In reality, the dungeon was not an F-rank but a D-rank dungeon.

Kay set the paper down slowly and clenched his fists. “So… it was a technical error by the league?”

Eliot nodded, his expression cold and unmoving. “Yes, Kay. A technical oversight. An unfortunate mistake.”

For a moment, there was silence between them. Then Eliot’s lips curled into a faint, almost sinister smile. Kay felt a shiver run down his spine.

“But, my dear boy, let’s hope no one else hears those words. Especially not Maris Tideswell, the president of the Hydronix Guild.”

“How are you planning to explain this to Mr. Tideswell? I met him after the incident. He was furious. You can’t just—”

“Oh, but we can,” Eliot interrupted, his voice dripping with icy confidence, while ripping the investigation paper.

“We’ll not tell him that it was the league's fault. We’ll tell him it was, indeed, an F-rank dungeon. And that his foolish son recklessly challenged the dungeon leader with a weak team. That his son’s arrogance caused this… tragic accident.”

Kay’s mouth opened slightly as if he wanted to argue, but the words wouldn’t come. The cold logic in Eliot’s voice left no room for debate.

The truth would be buried beneath layers of carefully crafted lies, and Kay could do nothing about it.

He simply nodded, his shoulders heavy with the weight of the knowledge he now carried.

Eliot leaned back and smiled again, this time a little more naturally. “Thank you for your cooperation, Kay. You’ve been very helpful today. Now, my Pokemon will escort you to the exit.”

Kay stood up and turned toward the door, his mind swirling with frustration, anger, and helplessness.

As he stepped outside the office, he noticed a figure waiting for him; a large Absol. Its deep red eyes locked onto Kay, and its sharp horn gleamed faintly under the hallway lights.

The Absol walked beside Kay silently, its calm yet intimidating presence making the hallway feel colder than before.

When they reached the staircase, the Absol stopped and watched Kay descend. Below, the noise of people moving through the lobby echoed faintly.

The Absol stood at the top of the stairs, like a silent guardian, before returning to Eliot’s office.

As Kay descended the stairs, his thoughts were still tangled with everything he had just heard.

He noticed Absol silently walking back towards Eliot's office. Its presence was still heavy in the air, and Kay couldn't help but feel a mix of awe and fear toward the Pokemon. Out of curiosity, Kay quickly pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the Absol.

The screen flickered for a moment before displaying only question marks:

Absol:

Potential: ???

Stage: ???

Kay sighed and put the device back into his pocket. He remembered that the Pokedex couldn't display information about Pokemons that were more than six substages higher than his strongest Pokemon. This Absol must be at least at the Intermediate Silver Stage.

As Kay stepped outside the league building, the cool air hit his face, his mind raced with questions and fears.

Eliot’s words echoed in his head. "We’ll tell him it was, indeed, an F-rank dungeon. And that his foolish son recklessly challenged the dungeon leader with a weak team."

Kay clenched his fists. If Maris Tideswell believed that lie, there was no telling how he might react.

Kay would definitely be the first victim of Maris's anger. Maris was a powerful man, and grief often turned into anger, so Kay was sure that the results would be devastating.

But there was something else bothering him. Why had Eliot told him all this? He could have easily dismissed Kay after showing him the report.

There was no reason to reveal the full truth unless Eliot wanted something. But what? Was it a warning? Or Eliot simply didn’t see Kay as a threat, or maybe he planned something.

Kay shook his head. He couldn’t let these thoughts paralyze him. One thing was clear: He would tell Maris about what the league was planning.

Kay made this decision even though he knew that he would do the opposite of what Eliot had told him just moments later.

Kay decided to bet on Maris to believe him because Kay knew that after Eliot revealed these secrets to him, he had to choose to face the league or to face Maris.

After Kay’s previous meeting with Maris, he decided that choosing Maris would be the best option for going out of this safely.

See you in the next chapter...

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