Fighter's Arena…one day after the heroes left.
"Hmm….looks like a lot of the crowd has left. Should be easy to see if they are any stragglers." said the assassin/thief Cricket as he walked through the halls of the arena before hearing a chiming and raising a leg before seeing a small red cricket-like creature. "Oh…its just you, Kricketot." he sighed. "Maybe I should have reconsidered bringing you here."
As he went and picked up the small Pokemon, he noticed some silk on the ground before turning to a familiar silk moth insectman.
"Oh….it's just you, Moth. It's been a while." Cricket said.
"Same can be said about you, Cricket. Did you get kicked out?" Moth asked.
"Of course not. I can be a Lost Thief and an Assassin." Cricket said. "What about you? I heard you went straight."
"Things change. My friends are…mostly gone." Moth said sadly.
"I see. Sorry to hear that. So you took the job, too." Cricket said as they checked a nearby room but found another assassin. "Lizardess? You too?!"
"Cricket? Moth? Looks like all the bugs came to play." Lizardess said.
"This coming from a man-hungry lizard," Moth said.
"I'm not man hungry!" Lizardess said. "I'm not like my brother who lusts for women."
"Right. You know, heard the Lizard broke out of jail and was part of the reason this job popped up at all." Cricket said.
"He shouldn't have gotten caught in the first place. Remember that…" Lizardess said.
"Of course. Failure and fighting other assassins is permitted, capture is not." Moth said.
"Still Moth…to find you back here…" Lizardess said as she hugged her.
"Thanks…always a pleasure," Moth said hugging back.
Cricket tried to get close but stepped back as they glared at him. "Right, right. Not appropriate," he said as Kricketot chimed.
"Oh…is that a Pokemon? Is it your Perfect Link?" Lizardess asked. "It's so cute."
"Thanks. I found it during a job in the Sinnoh Region and it wouldn't stop following me after I played my violin." Cricket said. "Still…this job…its going in all kinds of directions. Wait a minute, you were close to one of the targets. Why didn't you…"
"Well we could have but…it would have interfered with the directive of the other one," Lizardess said.
"Still working with those birds?" Cricket chuckled.
"They're cool. Besides, we didn't report Brave Adventurers or Reformed Society so they were safe." Lizardess said as Cricket and Moth exchanged looks. "What?"
"You…didn't hear what happened yesterday after the fights, did you?" Cricket asked.
"What…what do you mean?" Lizardess asked.
"As they were leaving…the Otter showed up," Cricket said as the Lizardess looked stiff.
"The…the Otter? That crazy one? One of the Top 10?!" Lizardess asked.
"Yeah…she attacked as soon as they got close to their ship. Cheetah…she went and attacked but…we both know fights with the Otter don't end on happy notes." Cricket said. "Otter won and Cheetah was left in a critical condition and…without a left arm."
The Lizardess looked distressed at this news. "I also know that they end with…" Lizardess said.
"Normally they do end with death but…not this time. Someone stepped in and saved Cheetah." Cricket said. "It was another of the Top Ten…the Fox."
"The…The Fox?!" Lizardess said. "But she's that killer of the Crimson Fox Clan? Why would she…"
"No idea. She rescued that cat and Reformed Society as a whole." Cricket said. "Honestly, that woman has always been a mystery to me. So don't worry…they aren't gonna die today. Last I heard, they went to the Central City Hospital."
Elsewhere, at said hospital…
Reformed Society stood out in the halls as they looked at the comatose Cheetah lying in her hospital bed.
"Damn it…if only I had…" Agursu growled.
"You would not have been able to beat her," Inari said standing with them. "The Otter is not someone you can beat. She may seem like a weak child but that is what makes her dangerous. She didn't earn number 3 in the organization just for being ordinary."
"Why did you save her? Aren't you with the same organization?" Poison Ivy asked.
"I owe a great debt to your allies for the saving of Lord Mizuki. When I saw the job, I had no choice but to protect those not with the main group." Inari said.
"Very noble of you. We cannot thank you enough." Jessica said.
"I deserve no thanks," Inari said.
"Still…with Cheetah like this…there's no way we can compete without our leader." Rosalie said.
"The games?" Inari asked.
"Yeah…David…that kid is gonna be devastated when he hears we're dropping out." Valfor said.
"I'll give a call to the officials and tell them we're dropping out," Yangus said before an icicle pierced the phone. "Cor Blimey!"
"You will not be making that call." a voice said as two figures stood there. "Retreat after one little failure? Please. And you call yourselves fighters."
They watched as two feline beastmen walked past them and sat atop a desk. The lighting soon revealed them to be Esmeralda and Glacius.
"You all…will be lead to glory. Cause now…we are here." Glacius said.
"And you…your name!" Esmeralda said looking at Inari.
"It is…Inari." Inari said.
"Okay…you're competing with us," Esmeralda said.
"Eh?!" Inari said in shock.
Back at the arena…
"Anyway, that is what I've heard happened." Cricket said.
"Even the hospital scene?!" Lizardess asked in shock.
"Yeah…our network is pretty tight." Cricket said. "Huh?" he said.
"Did you find proof that they're still…" Moth began.
"No…what the hell is this?" Cricket asked as he held a strange light green tablet.
"I think that's an Insect Plate." Lizardess said as she and Moth got hold of it along with Cricket as it glowed brightly.
Hawk walked down the hall as he saw the flash and ran to the room.
"So…did you find…" Hawk said before finding the room empty. "Weird…thought for sure she said she was going to check this room."
As the side story cut to black, a large wheel was shown with a strange ring around it. Lighting up was a symbol with a bug on it.
The Bug Master…has been acquired…