1.

Too Late

The news report caught the crew by surprise; a fight had broken out in the Indigo Academy's clock tower, causing damage to the nearby buildings and the tower itself; witnesses report that one of the academy students was involved in the incident.

Friede tried not to panic.

Dot was already typing away, trying to find any footage of the fight that some unlucky student had the chance to film. Murdock would deliver Dot's message to Friede a few hours later, shaking his head.

Nothing.

There's a crowd and police all over the academy, Orla and Mollie didn't get much from the gossip. Some girl, some guy, an argument, maybe two, kick, jump, whatever, whatever, before a bright light and now there's a hole on the clock tower. Windows were broken, a couple of roofs needed to be fixed. The culprits had not been found.

Orla mentioned that the damage on the school looked as if an Electrode had exploded, pointing to the giant hole at the top of the clock tower for everyone to see.

They hadn't found…bodies, yet.

Thank Arceus.

But still, Friede knew he was going to hate that call when it came.

The Brave Asagi had a malfunction halfway through Vermillion City.

Lt. Surge, the local gym leader, had been kind enough to let them land on the battlefield behind the Vermillion City Gym. He had asked, good-naturally, if they had been sabotaged and Friede had shrugged with a smile. That smile had disappeared almost instantly at dinner time when Murdock told him what Dot had told him about the Brave Asagi's system being compromised, that it was minor, but they couldn't fly if they didn't fix it.

"How bad is it?"

"Dot says it's a bit on the rocks," Murdock answered.

"Great. How long…?"

"A day. If we're lucky, maybe less because she caught that mess on time."

They were about to fly towards Viridian City when the news of the attack on the Indigo Academy broke out.

They were late.

The girl's mother called hours later, her breathing fast as if she had run all the way to a public phone instead of using her Rotom phone inside her pocket.

"Friede! Is Liko with you!?"

He tries being calm but being calm doesn't help the woman on the other end.

"We…we got delayed. We haven't seen her."

"Oh, Arceus…" Friede can hear the woman sob on the other side. It's quiet and miserable. "Are…did you…"

"No, Lucca…I…we are looking for her in the city. If she got away, she couldn't have gone too far…"

"No, no…she…she wouldn't have, would she?" the woman asks, almost to herself, breathing slowly, trying to recover from whatever tears she let fall. "I…I…got to go."

"Lucca?"

"...call Alex if you find her…okay?"

"Lucca! Hey! Hey! What…!?"

But the call was over.

They didn't find her in Viridian City.

No one had seen the girl with black hair, wearing a crystal pendant.

Friede got a call from the girl's father, Alex, a day later. He sounded depressed on the phone.

Lucca had left.

Called in sick at Naranja Academy and left. He didn't know where she had gone.

Probably heading to Galar, to see her mother because as the man told Friede, Lucca had been so angry when the old woman wouldn't pick up her phone. His wife had had enough of the silent treatment, told him to stay put in case Liko came back home, and left. Alex didn't have the strength to stop her. Poor guy. Friede told him if there was a chance Lucca was in Kanto trying to find her daughter on her own, he'll let the man know. Alex sounded relieved, thanking Friede and crew.

"... we never should have let her go to that school…"

Friede didn't know what to say to that.