"Kumiko-chan, Reina-chan, sorry to keep you waiting!"
Turning back to look at Hazuki and Midori, Kumiko and Reina breathed a sigh of relief in unison. Despite greatly oversleeping after binge-watching a series on Netflix late into the night, their friends had thankfully arrived later than them.
"How was your Gym Battle, you two?" Kumiko asked, wanting to know their results.
"I did alright, went down to the wire with Staccato against the Gym Leader's Shiinotic." Hazuki answered. "Thanks to his Grass typing, he was immune to Leech Seed and other tricks that were thrown at him! But you should have seen Midori! Her Flabébé evolved into Floette in the middle of her match, and swept the Gym Leader! That was so awesome!"
"Well, Midori thinks that was just a lucky fluke," Midori commented. "Midori didn't expect that would happen. Anyways, let's get going! We're already late! Both of us overslept this morning!"
Laughing at their shared plight, the four girls headed towards the road leading to the outskirts of Edian City. As the group approached the city limits after a while of walking, Kumiko could hear two sets of footsteps running up from behind her, accompanied by someone calling out her name. "Kumiko-senpai, we need your help!"
Knowing that only one person in her entire social circle referred to her like that, Kumiko turned around and saw Kanade catching up to her, followed by a nearly out-of-breath Ririka.
"Kanade, Ririka?" Kumiko seemed confused. "What are you two doing here? I thought you lived in Perto City."
"I'll try and explain, but it's mostly Ririka-chan's fault in the first place." Kanade confessed, eliciting a friendly glare from Ririka. "Ririka-chan wanted to see her idol Mizore fight at the Double Battle invitational yesterday and give her a Togepi Egg, but we got sidetracked on the way to Edian City and barely missed the end of the tournament. Congratulations to you and Reina on winning, by the way."
"But thankfully, I managed to give Mizo-senpai my present!" Ririka happily added, clasping her hands together in delight. "After we left the stadium, I saw an advert for a huge Buneary plush. It was being offered as the grand prize for a claw game at this city's arcade, so Kanade-chan and I went there!"
"Once we got there, we saw Ms. Yoroizuka sitting at a Smash Bros. machine, and it seemed like she was in a money match with her opponent." Kanade continued. "Since she only had a 10,000 Pokédollar bill, Ririka-chan left her Togepi Egg there as collateral and went to get some spare change. Ririka-chan got back in time to watch Ms. Yoroizuka win and officially gave her the Egg."
"Though I didn't manage to get the Buneary plush…" Ririka lamented. "1,000 Pokédollars wasted! Anyways, we stayed the night here and planned to return back to Perto City earlier today, but for some reason we both overslept and missed our train!"
"That's why we need your help!" Kanade concluded. "You've got a Kirlia, right? Could you please Teleport us back to Perto City?"
Seeing how desperately Kanade was pleading, Kumiko had no choice but to oblige, though it wouldn't delay her own departure by much. "Fine, but this is Orpheus' first time Teleporting without locking on to another Psychic-type Pokémon, so we may be off by a certain distance. Is that OK with you two?"
"We'll be fine," Ririka answered. "We can make it home by ourselves from a certain distance, and even if we run into any trouble, we've got our own Pokémon with us."
"Seems fair." Kumiko replied, then sent out Orpheus. "OK, remember where Perto City was?" she asked him, to which he answered with a nod. "Can you Teleport there?" Another nod.
Holding on to one of Orpheus' red horns, Kumiko held onto Kanade's shoulder, while the younger girl free hand was entwined with Ririka's. With a flash of light, all three girls disappeared, leaving Reina, Hazuki, and Midori standing there.
"Wait, who were they, and what just happened?" Hazuki asked, causing Reina to realize that no formal introductions had been made.
"Well, it all began after Kumiko and I met an Elite Four member…" Reina started to explain as Hazuki and Midori listened intently, wanting to know just what Kumiko had gotten herself tangled into after they separated.
With the familiar yet indescribable sensation that she felt when Teleporting, Kumiko found herself in a forest clearing with Ririka and Kanade in an instant. Seeing that they were not in Perto City, Kumiko only knew one place in its immediate vicinity they could have warped to.
"We're in Reed Forest, aren't we?" Kanade asked. "That's the only place in Octiva where the tree cover is this thick."
"Yeah, most likely." Kumiko answered. "Last time I was here, I had someone to guide me, so I didn't get lost along the way. Unless if one of you two know a way to get out quickly, then I'm afraid we're going to be stuck here for quite a while."
"Well, we've been here enough times to know-" Kanade was suddenly cut off by an ominous humming surrounding the trio that grew louder. Kumiko saw flashes of yellow and black before a massive swarm of Beedrill came fully into view, gleaming stingers pointed in their direction.
Sending out all her Pokémon, Kumiko gestured for Kanade and Ririka to stay behind her. "Get back! I'll handle this!"
"No you won't, Kumiko-senpai." Kanade retorted, bringing out a Pokéball as Ririka did the same. "We've got our own Pokémon, and we're perfectly capable of defending ourselves. Scherzo, play on!"
A Shinx leapt out of Kanade's Pokéball and glared at the Beedrill as a Happiny appeared next to it, looking at Ririka for orders on what to do next. Seeing that their Pokémon were only in their basic form and thus most likely quite weak, Kumiko decided to take the initiative here. "I'll do the heavy lifting! Marcato, Poison Jab! Orpheus, Confusion! Sparkle, Thunderbolt!"
As Kumiko's Pokémon used their most effective moves, Ririka and Kanade knew that they needed to contribute as well, not wanting to drag Kumiko down, despite their drastic difference in strength.
"Scherzo, Fire Fang!" Kanade commanded her Shinx, who leaped at the nearest Beedrill with a mouth red-hot with flames and dragged it down, repeatedly crunching with its super-effective move.
"Piacevole, Psychic!" Ririka ordered, her Happiny firing out a burst at a nearby swarm, knocking them backwards.
Seeing the younger girls managing to hold their own, Kumiko could now relax and fully focus on defeating the Beedrill, but she still didn't let her guard down, doing the bulk of the work. After a while of blasting through the swarm, all the Beedrill were finally defeated, laying down on the ground in defeat.
"Phew, I'm glad that's over." Kanade commented, taking out her phone. "Now we can fully concentrate on getting back to Perto City. Kumiko, can you Teleport us closer? I can use the GPS on my phone to give out directions if needed."
"Oh yeah!" Kumiko remarked. "Why didn't I think of doing that sooner? We could have avoided this mess in the first place!"
"Well, you live and learn." Kanade replied. "Believe me, this isn't the worst disaster I've faced. Not by a long shot."
Slowly zeroing in closer to Perto City, the three girls finally reached their destination after 5 minutes of repeated trial and error. Warping into the town center, Kanade and Ririka said their thanks and were about to bid Kumiko farewell, but then Kumiko remembered something.
"Wait, didn't you two say that you both overslept today?" Kumiko asked. "It's quite a bit of a strange coincidence, since all my friends I was travelling with also slept in. Did either of you two notice anything unusual with that?"
"Now that you mention it, I did," Kanade answered. "Shortly after I woke up, I saw a pitch-black Pokémon hanging by the window and looking inside the room before disappearing back into the shadows. If I remember my Pokémon mythology classes correctly, then that should've be Darkrai."
"Yeah, that sounds like it." Kumiko commented. "It must have been passing by Edian City early this morning, though why it caused everyone to suddenly go to sleep is beyond me. Anyways, I've got to get back to my friends now! They're waiting for me!"
After one more round of farewells, Kumiko sent out Orpheus and instructed him to lock onto Eurydice's Psychic signature, Teleporting away once more. Watching the older girl disappear, Kanade turned to Ririka.
"Shouldn't we have mentioned that Darkrai seemed to have been skulking around with someone, Ririka-chan?" she mentioned, causing them both to collectively facepalm at missing such an important detail.
Finally departing Edian City with her friends after her unexpected detour, Kumiko stared at the Z-Power Ring on her left wrist reflecting the rays of sunlight shining down on it and realized something. "Reina, we forgot to test using Z-Moves with our Pokémon yesterday! You said they were the key to making us stronger!"
"Well, I didn't feel well back then, so I forgot all about what I even entered the competition for in my bad mood." Reina admitted. "Let's test them out in a clearing, shall we? I've heard they're some of the strongest moves a Pokémon can use."
"Who should have the honor of trying them out first?" Kumiko asked, wondering which of their Pokémon would be most suited to harnessing the power of these special moves. "I'll use Marcato since he's the Pokémon I've had the longest, unless if they put too much strain on him during the process."
"Any Pokémon can use a Z-Move and not suffer any aftereffects provided their Trainer has the right Z-Crystal for the move they want to power up," Reina explained. "I'll have Idina try it out as well for the same reason as you."
"Ooh! This is going to be exciting!" Hazuki energetically commented. "I can't wait to see what these ultimate moves will look like! I betcha they'll be flashy and awesome! What do you think, Midori?"
"Midori thinks they'll help Kumiko-chan and Reina-chan a lot in battles!" the short girl added, trying to think up adjectives to use. "They're going to be wonderful to see in person!"
Seeing a clearing in front of them, Reina decided to drop her bag down without a word to her friends and sent out Idina, her Froslass doing a midair twirl after being summoned. Slipping the Icium Z in her Z-Power Ring, Reina thought of Idina using the coldest move possible, and her Z-Power Ring glowed with the energy of her willpower.
As Kumiko, Hazuki, and Midori looked on, Reina's body seemed to move on its own, doing a strange and funky set of dance moves that ended with her thrusting her hands out towards Idina. Her Pokémon glowed with an orange aura, and Idina rose up on a pillar of ice before firing out a massive beam of frigid energy which grew into gigantic spikes of ice upon impact with the ground, exploding in a blast of icy wind.
Reaffirming herself after using the attack, Reina looked slightly exhausted, but she had a small smile on her face. "Well, that was more tiring than I expected. Still, that was really powerful, wouldn't you say? If I had used that on another Pokémon, that would have been knocked out quite easily."
"Yeah, that was cool." Kumiko responded, noting the accidental pun she had made. "Seeing you use a move like that without much effort really makes me want to try it out myself."
Sending out Marcato, Kumiko's starter Pokémon did a somersault in midair before landing on the ground. Taking a deep breath before placing the Grassium Z into her own Z-Power Ring, Kumiko just thought about Marcato using Wood Hammer to turn the tide of many battles, knowing that it was his strongest move.
Feeling the bizarre sensation of her body moving on its own, Kumiko felt like a ragdoll being thrown along for the ride, complying with the strange actions before finally stretching her arms outwards. Marcato was surrounded by the same orange aura that had previously enveloped Idina, and a gigantic field of flowers rapidly sprung up around him.
An instant later, all the flowers except the ones closest to Marcato and the four girls simultaneously exploded in rose-shaped clouds of light, creating strong impacts that rang across the sky. Once the illumination had died down, the ground was restored to its original grassy state, seemingly regenerated by the aftereffects of Marcato's attack.
"What the…" Kumiko looked at the carnage (or surprising lack of it) that Marcato had caused. Though Marcato was capable of holding his own in battle, Kumiko never could have imagined that he could deal such devastating damage. "That was amazing, Marcato!"
Unfortunately, her strength chose this moment to give out, and Kumiko was about to fall to her knees before she regained feeling in her legs. As her friends looked on, Kumiko shook off that sudden faux pas. "Whew, that was tiring. You OK now, Reina?"
"Yes, I have fully recovered." Reina calmly responded. "Using one Z-Move per battle is the League-mandated limit, and I think we just found out why it was set. One more time and we certainly would have passed out."
"Woah…" Hazuki looked on, bedazzled by what she saw. The sheer spectacle of the Z-Moves that Kumiko and Reina just used made her want to get a Z-Ring of her own, so she could also use those powerful attacks as well. "That was awesome! Can you do it one more time! Well, obviously after you've recovered enough, of course."
Unfortunately, Hazuki's stomach picked this exact moment to begin growling, and she tried but failed to hide a blush of embarrassment, prompting Kumiko and Midori to laugh while Reina looked on with a bemused face.
"Don't worry, Hazuki-chan!" Midori reassured her. "I'll cook up some lunch for you! Wanna help, Kumiko-chan, Reina-chan?"
"Sure!" Kumiko offered. "I'll help you, since Reina's quite inexperienced at cooking." Turning to her travelling companion, Kumiko addressed her. "Don't worry, Reina. Just sit back, relax, and you'll get a delicious meal delivered straight to your mouth soon!"
"OK, then I'll do some training with Hazuki in the meantime." Reina replied. Though Pokémon battles were her forte, Reina couldn't help but feel left out of the cooking, simply because she wasn't good enough at it.
One more thing to work towards for her.
Finishing lunch, the four girls were back on the road again, continuing their trek to Subdomi City, battling any wild Pokémon they encountered on their way there, though no new captures were made. Along the way, they could see the soil on the ground get progressively darker, until the last blades of grass disappeared, with only pitch-black dirt remaining.
"We must be close to Subdomi City now." Reina remarked. "Since it's built on the side of a volcano, the surrounding ground is full of minerals from eruptions, which darkens the soil, but kills plants without proper agricultural techniques."
"Wow, you know so much, Reina." Hazuki was seriously impressed by the amount of knowledge that Reina possessed. Not only was she an excellent Trainer, providing invaluable advice to Hazuki during their pre-lunch training session, but she seemed to know a little bit about everything.
"Of course I do. Having a wide range of knowledge is needed to train Pokémon and win battles effectively, so I often read up on different topics relating to battles." Reina explained, though she internally admitted that her last statement seemed quite boastful.
Looking at the setting sun, Kumiko could see the volcano that Reina had previously described up ahead, but judging by their current distance, they wouldn't make it by nightfall.
Signalling to Reina, Kumiko asked her about their plans for the night, wanting to know what they were going to do in this situation. "Are we camping out for the night near here and head to the city tomorrow? Or do you know of somewhere we can stay in this area?"
"Well, there are quite a lot of hot spring resorts in Subdomi City proper, but those are quite expensive since the spring water up there is more pure." Reina answered. "On the other hand, I know that one or two hot spring resorts operate around these outskirts, and they're much cheaper, though the service and amenities are almost the same."
"Yay! Hot springs are the best!" Hazuki piped up. "There's no better way to relax at the end of the day than to soak in warm water and let your muscles loosen? C'mon, let's go to the nearest one! I can't wait!"
"Hold up." Reina interrupted. "Before we go anywhere, we need to find out where exactly we're heading first. We don't want to rush impulsively with nowhere in mind and end up lost, right?"
"Right." Though there was a bit of sullenness in Hazuki's voice, she knew that Reina was right. During their training, Reina had noted that Hazuki seemed to act first without thinking, causing her to make predictable and easy-to-avoid mistakes. Seeing that Hazuki's battling style resembled her own, Reina decided to give her some tips based on her own experience, which Hazuki readily accepted.
Taking out her phone, Reina scrolled through a list of hot spring resort locations, until finally settling on one she considered optimal and showing her choice to the other girls. "This one's about half a kilometer away, has decent ratings, and is quite cheap. What do you think?"
"Sounds good to Midori!" Midori responded, while Kumiko and Hazuki nodded their heads in approval. Following the directions on her phone and leading the way, Reina's mind wandered towards the only unknown variable in their group, who was currently chatting with her friends.
After their previous conversation, Reina had noticed that though Midori seemed like a generic bubbly cute girl on the surface, she was actually far more crafty and intelligent than one would assume, having revealed herself as the brains behind her team's strategy in the Double Battle tournament.
In terms of battling power, Reina suspected that Midori had been holding back in their battle yesterday, mainly because of what Hazuki had mentioned about her exploits in her previous Gym battles. She thought that in her case, Midori was trying to give Hazuki a chance to shine, rather than unfairly dominate over her friend, though this had cost them their match.
However, the most glaring issue in Reina's mind was that despite her prowess in battle, Midori seemed to have no apparent goal other than travelling with Hazuki. Though she was challenging the Gyms, this was most likely to accompany Hazuki doing so, rather than to prove her own self-worth.
Could she have any ulterior motives in mind, making her persona all a ruse?
Sighing, Reina decided not to press this issue further, seeing that Midori had only treated her with kindness so far. Approaching the hot spring resort building, Reina decided to take this opportunity to get to know Hazuki and Midori better, hopefully figuring out what their aspirations were in the process.
Entering the main building, the four girls were greeted by an attendant behind the reception. "Good evening, young ladies. Would you like to book a stay here for the night?"
"Yes, one shared room between the four of us, please." Reina answered for her friends. Despite this arrangement meant not being able to share a room with Kumiko only, it was much cheaper this way.
"OK, then may I have your Trainer IDs please?" the attendant asked them, which the four girls handed over. Scanning them under a laser, the attendant's eyes perked up. "That's interesting. A previous guest already paid for all of you, and specifically you four girls, not the next four guests."
Hearing this new piece of information, Kumiko couldn't help but feel a little bit creeped out. Just who had been expecting them here? A stalker?
"Who paid for that? Do you know?" Reina's next words perfectly echoed the thoughts that were going through Kumiko's mind. At the rate events were unfolding, she wouldn't be surprised to see that it was Tuba-kun who was expecting them.
"Before checking in themselves, the person left an unsigned note," the attendant explained. "It said they were someone two of you would know, and they had important news to pass on."
"Well, Midori thinks that seeing we've got a cake here, we might as well eat it," Midori concluded. "Besides, even if this turns out to be some sort of prank, we could use Kumiko-chan and Reina-chan's Kirlia to escape anytime."
"Sounds good to me then!" Hazuki finally commented, with Kumiko and Reina nodding in approval of Midori's plan. Judging by Midori's words, Reina thought that she may have let slip a part of her true nature again.
Thanking the attendant for their hospitality, the group headed to their assigned room and dropped off their bags, but kept their Pokéballs with them. Before they had arrived, Reina had informed the other girls that there was also a Pokémon-exclusive hot spring, so they could let their partners relax as well.
Going to the changing room area, the four girls sent out all their Pokémon in the foyer. While they had a sizeable number of Pokémon in total, Reina had checked that the Pokémon-exclusive hot spring could easily accommodate thrice the amount of Pokémon they currently had.
"All right, you guys and girls!" Hazuki addressed the quartets' assembled Pokémon. "We're now at a hot spring resort, which means that you can let loose and chill in the soothing warm water."
"Um, Hazuki-chan?" Midori interrupted. "I'm not sure thermodynamics works that way."
"Well, whatever." Hazuki brushed off Midori's pedanticism. "Anyways, have fun! You've got an entire hot spring to yourselves, so go nuts!"
As their Pokémon hurried off to their side of the hot spring, the four girls went into the ladies changing room. Once inside, they began to undress, placing their clothes into the baskets provided. Despite wanting to peek at Reina badly, Kumiko constantly averted her gaze, not wanting to tempt herself with Reina's luscious body until they were safely in the hot springs, where the steam would obscure everything.
Waiting until Reina had left the changing room, Kumiko exited herself, wrapping a towel over her unclothed body to stay warm and dry herself off once she was done soaking in the sulphuric hot water. Sliding open the door that separated the changing room and the hot springs, Kumiko stepped outside and was immediately blitzed by the chilly air.
Walking towards the hot springs, Kumiko noticed that the stone floor beneath her feet was starting to get more wet as she got farther from the changing room. Accidentally treading on a patch of water the wrong way, Kumiko slipped and found herself landing in the ground's direction
Almost. Before she could fall even half the distance, Kumiko found her face impacting on something soft, springy, and very large, dropping her own towel in the process. Recovering after the initial crash, Kumiko looked up and came face-to-face with Reina, who was currently staring at her with an inquisitive look in her eyes.
It was at this moment that Kumiko quickly realized that her head was currently nestled between her desired's ample bust.
Picking up her own towel in an instant, Kumiko quickly scurried away from Reina, not even bothering to make further eye contact with her. Submerging herself in the nearest hot spring, Kumiko wished that the warm water would wash her away after that embarrassing scenario, all the while burying her head deep into her hands.
Meanwhile, Reina quietly slipped into the hot spring herself, her mind frantically working to repress what just happened, though it was failing catastrophically. That instant of Kumiko sharing physical contact with her where she was sensitive proved too irresistible to forget, and Reina lamented that she didn't use her hands to keep Kumiko in that position for a longer period of time.
Though a distance away, Kumiko also felt the same way, wanting to remain trapped in Reina's above-average assets and continue to share that moment of physical contact with her, especially when being stuck in such a gratuitous area.
Longing for more of that gentle warmth in such cool air, Kumiko stuck her head beneath the heated body of water, hoping to at least gain a trace of that feeling again. Instead, what awaited her down there was a sparkling pair of blue eyes.
"GWAHHHHHHHH!" With a sudden muffled cry underwater, Kumiko's head immediately bobbed up away from the water, splashing droplets everywhere in the vicinity. As she was trying to process the situation at hand, she was greeted by a figure gracefully rising up who possessed a pair of breasts more plentiful than even Reina's.
"Can't greet your senpai normally, Oumae-chan?" a familiar voice rang through her ears as the water drained out of them. "What bad manners you have!"
Staring up, Kumiko was initially puzzled at just who was standing there, with the glistening black hair and azure eyes seeming so familiar yet foreign. Seeing Kumiko's confounded reaction, the woman made a circle with each of her hands and placed them in front of her face. "Oh~, I get it now! Oumae-chan hasn't seen me without glasses before! That's why you don't recognize me!"
"A-Asuka?" Piecing together what she currently knew, Kumiko knew that there was only one person it could be. "Wh- How? Why are you here?"
"Uh-uh, Oumae-chan, not yet!" Asuka swatted her question away with ease, seemingly waiting for something to happen. As for what Asuka was expecting, Kumiko had a feeling about what was going to happen as she could hear large amounts of water being parted away.
"Kumiko, what happened?" Hazuki's voice called out as she came into view along with Midori, stopping just as she was close enough to take a good look at Asuka. "Wow… who are you?"
"Ah, Ms. Katou and Ms. Kawashima, perfect timing." Asuka remarked. "Now, where's Ms. Kousaka? She should be here along with you three."
Hearing more water being sloshed, Kumiko turned to see Reina, who was currently wading over, a look of concern painted on her face. "Kumiko, are you alright? I just heard you scream earlier."
However, Reina's warm expression iced up in an instant upon seeing Asuka, who had moved closer to Kumiko and her arms were stretching out towards Reina's special one with a leery glint in her eyes. "Please stop."
With those two words from Reina, Asuka immediately froze on the spot, her hands not moving anymore. "OK. Now that you four are all here, we can finally move on to why I'm here. Let's sit down and talk, shall we?"
Adjusting herself, Asuka rested herself on an outcrop of rock meant for sitting in the water, her massive bosom floating in the water before she finally got settled. As the other four girls sat themselves down, Reina shuffled closer to Kumiko, not wanting her to get distracted by Asuka.
"In case you didn't know me, like Oumae-chan here previously," Asuka gestured towards Kumiko, who blushed in embarrassment. "I'll quickly introduce myself. I'm Asuka Tanaka, Grass-type specialist of the Elite Four."
"You're all probably wondering why I'm here, and how I knew you four would be coming." Asuka began. "Normally, I wouldn't meet with you girls in a place like this, but since I don't know if anyone's monitoring us, I booked all the rooms in the nearby hot spring resorts to prevent anyone from electronically recording us. I assumed that you all were heading to Subdomi City after yesterday's tournament, and Teleported here once I-"
Asuka's rant was cut off by Reina, who seemed mildly ticked off. "Get to the point. What is your purpose here?"
"Fine, fine." Asuka relented. "The reason I wanted to meet up with you four is because of a discovery we at the Pokémon League made yesterday. Oumae-chan and Ms. Kousaka should know about this, but we're currently doing a massive investigation, and we just learned that it had a connection with the tournament that all of you participated in yesterday."
"Then why are we all here? Shouldn't this be kept a secret?" Kumiko asked. confused about why Asuka would reveal this sensitive information to them.
"We believe that you and Ms. Kousaka are being targeted for some reason, and that Ms. Katou and Ms. Kawashima may be as well, so we wanted to inform you as soon as possible." Asuka explained. "Thanks to you four taking part in the tournament yesterday, we've finally found what we're looking for." She paused for a moment. "Have you heard of the rock band Hokago Tea Time?"
"Well, a little bit." Hazuki replied. "I know they're an-all girl band that's famous, but nothing much other than that."
"We suspect they're the ones tracking Oumae-chan and Ms. Kousaka for some reason, but we're still not sure why." Asuka continued. "The reason we believe this is because not only were tickets to their upcoming concert offered as one of the tournament's prizes, the lottery that you two won to enter the tournament was run by the younger sister of the band's lead guitarist."
"So that's who she was." Reina realized. "You're now suspecting that they rigged the entire tournament just to give us tickets for their concert and lure us into a trap, right?"
"See, that's the most fishy part." Asuka remarked. "During the tournament, Aoi-chan had one of her Ghost-type Pokémon out to sense for any status moves used by Pokémon not battling and couldn't sense anything, so you two won fair and square. However, the fact that someone so closely related to the band just so happened to run a lottery stall where you two got your tournament passes already raises multiple alarm bells."
"What do you suggest we should do then?" Reina asked. "Not go to the concert?"
"On the contrary." Asuka replied. "The concert is being held at Ongaku Stadium, which is also where League battles take place, so if anything happens to you two, we're always prepared to deal with it. Besides, you two going would possibly allow them to reveal what their true motives are, since you're the ones they're tracking."
"Fair enough." Kumiko admitted, then dots began to connect in her mind. "Is the logo for Hokago Tea Time a purple star with the words HTT inside them?"
"Yes, why?" Asuka questioned.
"We've actually run into people wearing shirts with that logo twice before." Kumiko recounted. "The first time was when Reina and myself were protecting the Ralts we would later catch from their harassment, and the second time was when they were apparently scanning something in the maze between Perto City and Edian City, where they mentioned something called the Messa di Voce. I wonder if you would know anything about that."
Upon hearing what Kumiko had to say, Asuka swiftly rose up from the water, her stunning figure on full display, and began to walk towards the changing room as she turned back to look at the remaining four girls. "...Then that may explain what they're after. Sorry for the sudden departure, but I've got to report this important information back to the League. Once we're done, I'll contact you again. Adios!"
As Asuka disappeared back into the mist, Kumiko turned to Reina. "What do you think she's figured out?"
"I have no idea." Reina replied. "But whatever it is, if it made Ms. Tanaka depart that quickly, then it is certainly nothing good."
Above the hot spring the four girls were relaxing in, an Abra mentally recorded the conversation they just had with Asuka Tanaka, levitating with its psychic powers. Once the Elite Four member had left, it immediately Teleported back to where it came from.
"Mugi-chan, look!" a girl's voice spoke out. "One of the Abra you sent to track the Elite Four returned! I wonder what it managed to find out?"
"Let's see, shall we?" the blond-haired girl replied, sending out one of the Pokémon she had on hand. "Gardevoir, use your Telepathy to link our minds with Abra's."
As their mentor entered the room to see what all the commotion was about, images of the conversation that happened in the hot springs quickly flashed through her mind, getting her up to speed on what the most powerful Elite Four member was up to.
Once the transmission ended, the two girls turned to their long-time instructor for guidance. "What should we do next, Sawa-chan-sensei?"
"Let them come." Sawako Yamanaka replied. "No matter what they've got up their sleeves, they're no match for the power of Rock!"