Round 3 was still occurring, although it was beginning to come to a close with only a few battles left. Scott was currently battling one of the remaining Chiper Peons Venus managed to sneak into the tournament. The mood on the Kalos side was still sullen and the sky above started to match that with gray clouds overheard. "It looks like it's going to rain soon…" Ash looked up.
"The round's not over yet…and I'd prefer not to battle in the rain, you know…my hair would turn into a mess…" Elizabeth sighed.
"How do you keep your hair like that…?" Serena questioned.
"If you're asking me for fashion tips…I'm not the best one to ask." Elizabeth muttered. "More importantly…what are we going to do about Chiper? It sucks we don't have anything tying Venus to them…otherwise we could get Grace back before something bad happens."
"Worry not…I have an associate on the case." Diantha nodded slowly. In fact, right after she said that, the man appeared himself; Looker.
"Apologies for being late." Looker while glancing round the area. "After Cynthia was attacked, Officer Jenny and I quickly secured the area to ensure that they would not escape…unfortunately, they still managed to slip by us."
"Looker?" Ash blinked.
"Oh, Ash? What brings you here?" Looker questioned.
"You two know each other…?" Diantha had to stare at Ash for a second, because who DIDN'T he know?!
"He's assisted me on some missions in the past." Looker confirmed before looking to the others of the group for a proper introduction. "Ah, allow me to introduce myself. I am Looker, a member of the International Police. I have been tasked with leading the investigation on Chiper in Kalos…their revival is certainly most unexpected but it cannot be ignored."
With Looker's introduction, Lovrina could feel her face growing paler by the second; "Crap…! The International Police is here now!? This is bad…!" Standing up, she lightly dusted herself off. "Well…it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Looker…but I have something I need to check up on really quick so you all have fun without me!" With that, Lovrina was gone!
"…That was odd?" Rui tilted her head. "She seemed a little sick…?"
"Whatever." Wes shrugged.
"Nice to meet you, Looker." Clemont nodded. "So…what have you figured out so far…?"
"I don't believe now is really the time to talk about this…however I can share some information. While it is hard to prove, I do believe that Chiper is plotting something with this tournament. Especially that Lady Venus. Didn't she mention that she would be giving pokemon to those who have lost?"
"Oh…!" Rui snapped her fingers. "I do believe her saying something to that effect…but with how hectic it's been, I never got a chance to see for myself if they were Shadow Pokémon or not."
Looker stared at Rui, now recalling where he had seen her from. "Ah…so you are the girl that can see Shadow Pokémon…you were in the report of Chiper's initial attack. Can I trouble you for your assistance? It would be troublesome if Shadow Pokémon were distributed and we wouldn't be able to keep track of them. We don't have any way of knowing when a pokemon is shadow or not, which has been a wrench in our plans."
To that, Rui nodded. "Yes! I want to help in any way I can. Venus did the same thing down in The Under…only the winners got Shadow Pokémon. I wonder what her deal is this time."
"Wait…before you go." Kasumi poked her fingers together. "How's Cynthia…?"
"She will be fine." Looker confirmed. "She just needs a few days of rest…she is unfortunately unconscious, but she will awaken soon."
"Whew…" Elizabeth could feel her heart start up again. "Okay…so we'll leave that investigation up to you. For now we have to focus on finding a way to take down Venus. I'm getting real sick of her."
"Agreed. She's a meanie!" Bonnie pouted. Dedenne also pouted while letting out a sad whine. "She made Grace really sad and it wasn't necessary. I hope one of you beats her!"
"She's gonna pay, that's for sure." Marcus clenched a hand into a fist.
"…." Wes remained silent on the matter, just shaking his head. They were so focused on Venus that they couldn't even see the bigger picture ahead of them that he had planned…oh well, that was their loss.
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"I see it's about to rain soon…" Ein stared up at the clouds. "Perhaps a fitting mood for the days to come?" Chuckling quietly, he offered Dakim some tea, but the brute nearly slapped the cup away. "My my…what has your loincloth so twisted?"
"I wanted to fight!" Dakim grunted. "But because of your stupid plot, I was out in the first round! Now you, Venus, and the boss have all the fun fighting!"
"I don't see why you're complaining. My plans have been nothing but perfection thus far…we've rooted out that girl's power, put a hole in the Kalos team's morale…captured Mewtwo…everything is going according to my genius plans." Ein was really patting himself on the back here…much to Dakim's annoyance. "Sure, there have been snags in the road, but nothing that can't be fixed with a little elbow grease. Besides, Venus is having more fun than I. She's been toying with that girl ever since that battle ended, I don't think we'll be seeing her until tomorrow."
"Tch…" Dakim crossed his arms, acting like a child that went to a candy store but was unable to buy anything.
"Plus…with the Sinnoh Champion out of our hair now, my…er, our plans concerning this tournament will proceed smoothly." The scientist moved a hand through his hair.
"You mean Venus' plans. Don't even take credit for what she's been doing." Dakim shut that down.
"You guys..!" Lovrina entered the room, panting somewhat heavily since she had to run around the stadium to reach them. "We've got a problem now."
"What is it…?" Ein questioned.
"The International Police are finally here…and that girl is going to assist them in hunting down Shadow Pokémon." Lovrina spoke between breaths.
This news didn't faze Dakim; instead it made the muscle man grin and he pounded his chest. "Great! Someone to punch!"
"They arrived far sooner than I anticipated…" Ein shrugged it off. "Oh well…let them keep busy with that wild goose chase. Our plans are nearly in motion anyway…just don't blow your cover."
"Why don't you blow…" Lovrina cleared her throat. "What I was about to say isn't very ladylike. So if you'll excuse me." With that, Lovrina made her exit.
"She was about to blow you away faster than a Whirlwind." Dakim snickered, but Ein tried to think nothing of it.
Clearing his throat, Ein continued. "That aside…there is one thing I would like to experience first hand in this tournament…that strange Greninja and its trainer. It defies all logic I've encountered thus far…I must know more about it…I must figure out what it is that defies all logic…and I must make that power mine for Chiper to wield."
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"And we've reached the end of round 3!" The host exclaimed. "So many hard fought battles, and all of them fantastic to say the least! Lady Venus with the most stunning performance of all!" The crowd cheered in agreement, however the Kalos team wasn't really feeling it in the slightest. "But now…here are the remaining people in round 4!" Several profiles flashed onto a screen: Ash, Marcus, Elizabeth, Kasumi, Wes, Venus, Ein, Takeba, Scott and Cravix! "Kalos Team's 5 vs the remaining 5! It's anyone's game at this point!"
"I think we have a shot at winning! But that's far from my main concern now…these numbers are all messed up now…how is this going to work?" Marcus sighed. "Venus just doesn't know when to quit…"
Speaking of Venus…she appeared to snatch the microphone from the host. "Ahem…! Sorry for being absent for most of this round, I just had to have a wonderful talk with my new friend!"
"She really doesn't know when to quit…" Kasumi grumbled.
"But…I've also made another executive decision about this tournament! Do you all really want to work in teams anymore? No? Right? Victory as a shared effort is so boring…so instead…we're all going to be fighting one another!"
"Wait…what?" Takeba tilted her head.
"That's right! It will be a free for all from Round 4 onward! Isn't that wonderful!? Round 4 is going to be the final round of the main tournament…after that, the top 8 best results will square off in one final showdown! A top 8 to decide the true victory of the tournament! Of course I will personally hand pick these people to provide everyone an interesting show!" How ironic…the more Venus spoke, the more it started to rain. "I want to show everyone that the glory of everyone's Venus will rise up and shine brightly among the crowd! Not like it doesn't already, ehe~" No doubt Venus already decided in her mind that she would be the winner of this so called 'Final Countdown'.
"This woman is having the time of her life, isn't she..?" Diantha narrowed her eyes at Venus.
"And of course, anything still goes! That's all I have to say for now! So goodbye my lovelies and have a wonderful evening!" With a wink, Venus departed from the scene. The rain started to grow heavy, meaning that was a sign to get back to shelter before anyone got sick.
"Ugh…" Kasumi groaned. She didn't want to leave the stadium or Grace…but she had no choice right now. There was a storm coming soon….
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Next Time: The Magic Of a Smile.