Chapter 664: Musical Play (2)
~Third POV~
[Unova Region, Nimbasa City – Musical Dome]
"Miss White! Miss White, we have a catastrophic problem!"
A junior staff member barreled down the corridor, his clipboard flying from his hand and clattering against the wall with a sharp slap. His face was ghostly pale, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
White's heart skipped a beat. She asked in a worried tone, "What? What happened? Is the audio rig failing? Did a Zebstrika step on a cable?"
The staffer grabbed his hair, trembling, shaking his head.
The staffer said, frightened, "N-no! It's the delivery! The freight trucks carrying the prop cases from the port! They're not coming!"
Silence fell over the small group backstage, broken only by the muffled, upbeat thumping of Forest Stroll through the heavy fire doors. White's voice dropped an octave, the terrifying CEO authority returning in full force, "What do you mean, they're not coming? We signed the contract a week ago! The logistics were confirmed at midnight!"
The staffer wailed under White's frustration, explaining helplessly, "The Driftveil Drawbridge! The mechanical gears jammed halfway up! They haven't raised it down since the morning!! Traffic from the west is backed up for ten miles! Not a single vehicle can get across the river into Nimbasa!"
Azure asked calmly, folding his arms and tilting his head, confused, "Can't they take the southern coastal road?"
The other staffer said in a frustrated tone, answering him, "Closed for roadwork! There's an ongoing delay!"
White clutched her head, her mind racing through a dozen desperate calculations, 'Damn it! And we have only 30 minutes left to spare…'
The second show ends in 30 minutes. If the audience walks out of those doors without their promised prop cases, the psychological hook is broken. Word of mouth will curdle from 'magical' to 'disorganized scam.' The media will tear the BW Agency apart before its first week is even over.
White demanded, her voice tight with panic, "What about air or sea freight? Helicopters? Speedboats?"
The staffer shook her head as she explained helplessly, "Too heavy! A standard cargo chopper can't lift the crate weight without violating aviation safety codes over the city center, and the river current is too fierce for a standard barge to dock safely against the pier in time!"
The staffer looked ready to weep. She said in a frustrated tone with a worried expression on her face, "Even if someone used Surf or Fly, a single Pokémon couldn't carry the sheer volume of crates!"
The Mayor wrung his hands, sweating profusely. He exclaimed worriedly, "N-now, see here! The audience doesn't know about the prop cases yet! We can just... cancel the giveaway! Say there was a manufacturing delay!"
White shouted, her voice echoing off the stone walls, "No! If we do that, the momentum dies today! The theater will be a ghost town tomorrow! I didn't pour my entire soul—and every cent of agency capital—into this just to fail at the finish line!"
Azure murmured, checking the digital clock on his Arc Phone, "30 minutes…"
Black reached into his pocket instinctively, pulling out a small, spherical pink Pokémon. He said in a determined tone, seeing White's distress, "Musha! Use your dream-smoke, maybe we can figure out a—"
*Yank*
Before Black could finish, Elesa reached out and grabbed the back of his jacket collar, yanking him backward with surprising strength. She said sternly, "Hold on, hothead. An outsider like you stumbling around with psychic tapir smoke is not going to solve a complex supply-chain logistics crisis."
Black protested angrily, thrashing like a hooked Basculin in Elesa's grasp, "Hey! Let go! White is in trouble!"
Elesa said bluntly, though her eyes softened as she looked at White, who was already furiously typing commands into a mobile terminal connected to the agency's mainframe, "If White can't solve this, then this is as far as her business goes. She has to rise to it. That's what being a president means."
*Click-clack-clack-tap*
Black stopped struggling, his gaze shifting to White. Her fingers flew across the keyboard with a blur of motion—her eyes reflecting the harsh blue light of the screen.
The Mayor whimpered, backing away as if the terminal might explode. He exclaimed worriedly, "This is going to blow right through our emergency contingency budget! White, be reasonable! You'll go bankrupt before lunch!"
White yelled over her shoulder, not breaking her rhythm for a single second, "If I go bankrupt, Mr. Mayor, it'll be because I built the greatest theater in Unova! BW Agency will cover the deficit out of pocket! Just authorize the release!"
The Mayor squeaked, covering his ears, "Approved!"
A calm, resonant voice cut through the panic. Azure said calmly, "Good. Then I should lend a hand to my investment, no?"
Azure stepped forward, a confident, slightly dangerous smirk playing across his lips. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, metallic device. Elesa raised an eyebrow as she asked neutrally, "You're a veteran Battler, Azure, but what does a Battler know about freight logistics?"
He pressed a button on his Arc Phone. Azure said smoothly, "Battlers know how to deploy overwhelming force. And fortunately, I didn't just pack a team for the Unova League. I brought my roster."
White stopped typing, looking up with wide, hopeful eyes. She couldn't help but ask, "Your... roster?"
Azure said firmly, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of a completely absurd, impossible strategy, "All of them. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh. Every single team I used to conquer the four leagues and the frontiers. If the roads are blocked, we don't use roads. We use an air bridge. You leave the heavy lifting to us."
The staffer gasped. She exclaimed, "You can't be serious! The weight—!"
*FLASH*
With a flick of his thumb, he began issuing commands at light speed. Azure interrupted, his Arc Phone projecting a massive holographic spreadsheet into the air, "My Porygon-Z just synced with the inventory manifest. Rotom, interface with the Nimbasa air-traffic control beacon and secure a private low-altitude corridor!"
*Bzzzt*
A small, orange, lightning-bolt-shaped Pokémon popped out of Azure's Arc Phone screen, its screen-face grinning mischievously. Rotom declared in a confident tone with a cheeky grin, "Leave it to me, Zzzt! No boring FAA bureaucrat is gonna stop the great Rotom from hacking a flight path!"
Azure continued, snapping his fingers, "And my team is ready."
*Pop-Pop-Pop*
The backstage area suddenly felt very, very small.
Appearing in flashes of white light, Azure's massive collection of elite-tier Pokémon materialized, filling the high-ceilinged corridor from wall to wall. From Kanto came a towering Dragonite and a hulking, metallic Scizor; from Johto, a colossal Tyranitar and a glowing Ampharos; from Hoenn, an intimidating Alpha Slaking and a shimmering Milotic; and from Sinnoh, a razor-sharp Kleavor, a battle-hardened Infernape, and a ghostly Mismagius whose crimson eyes glowed with ancient power.
Floating invisibly above them, a soft, ethereal melody hummed through the air.
Meloetta's telepathic voice sighed directly into White's mind, dripping with theatrical annoyance: 'Honestly, you humans and your obsession with boxes. If you wanted things carried, you should have just asked me to sing the boxes into floating. But fine. I suppose I'll supervise so you don't drop them.'
Azure thought back with a mental grin, 'Thanks, Meloetta.'
Then, aloud, he addressed the bewildered staff. He stated firmly, "Porygon-Z, calculate the load distribution across forty flying and telekinetic-capable carriers. Kleavor, Slaking, Tyranitar—you're ground-pounding the heavy crates from the depot perimeter via teleport relays with Gardevoir and Gallade. Pikachu, use Fly!"
On Azure's shoulder, the tiny electric mouse suddenly puffed out its cheeks, its tail glowing with the fierce, white aura of a master-level aerial maneuver. White stared at the sea of legendary and champion-tier Pokémon filling her backstage, her jaw practically resting on the floor.
Then, slowly, a brilliant, tearful smile broke across her face. She grabbed her phone, hit speed-dial, and barked into the mic: "Skyla! Get your private plane on the tarmac right now! We're doing an air-drop!"
/////
[Unova Region, 30 Mins. Later, Nimbasa City – Musical Dome]
*Thump-thump-thump*
The second performance was reaching its breathtaking climax. On stage, Meloetta stepped forward for her solo—a haunting, beautiful vocalization that seemed to pull the breath right out of the audience's lungs. The notes hung in the air like spun glass, vibrating through the velvet seats and bringing several elderly spectators to tears.
When the final note faded into absolute silence, the entire dome erupted into a standing ovation that shook the rafters. The announcer's voice rang out, trembling with excitement: "And remember, ladies and gentlemen! You can take the magic home with you! Head straight to the exits, where your complimentary starter prop cases are waiting!"
*Click*
Instantly, the main auditorium lights flickered and died. A deep, collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Before panic could set in, a single, brilliant spotlight pierced the darkness, cutting straight to the center of the stage.
Standing there, bathed in white light with her head held high, was White. White's voice was clear, steady, and amplified by the dome's acoustics: "Thank you all for coming today! To celebrate our grand opening, every single one of you will receive a special gift as you exit—a starter prop case and your very first set of performance props!"
In the wings, the junior staff member turned white as a sheet, whispering hoarsely, "Miss White! The delivery trucks are still stuck on the bridge! There are no cases at the exits! What are you doing!"
White didn't flinch. She didn't break eye contact with the crowd. She simply smiled brighter as she said in a determined tone, "They will be waiting. Please make your way orderly to the main doors."
As the crowd began to shuffle slowly toward the grand exits—grumbling slightly with impatience—White hurried through the backstage double doors and stepped out into the blinding afternoon sunlight of the Nimbasa plaza.
A child shouted from the front doors, pointing wildly up at the sky, "Look!"
White threw her head back.
The sky above Nimbasa City wasn't blue anymore—it was alive.
*Vrooooom*
A sleek cargo airplane, piloted by Nimbasa's high-flying Gym Leader Skyla, roared overhead, its belly doors sliding open with a heavy mechanical clack. Suspended below it by massive, reinforced steel cables was a crate the size of a shipping container.
And flanking the plane was an army of titans.
Azure's Salamence and Dragonite beat their massive wings, generating miniature gales that cushioned the descent of secondary crates. Pikachu—still somehow maintaining a glowing Fly aura in the form of balloons while sitting cross-legged in mid-air—guided a cluster of smaller boxes with bursts of static electricity.
Skarmory's metal wings sliced through the wind, while Amphoras floated gracefully on a cushion of electromagnetic energy provided by Magnet Rise to enable their flight. Gengar and Mismagius used pure ghostly levitation to carry stacks of velvet-lined chests, their eyes glowing purple.
*Flash*
With a concussive pop of displaced air, Gardevoir and Gallade materialized directly in front of the theater steps, gently setting down massive piles of heavy wooden boxes without spilling a single ribbon.
Right behind them, Alpha Slaking, Tyranitar, Kleavor, Infernape, Quagsire, Houndoom, and Milotic marched out of an alleyway in perfect formation, each carrying crates balanced delicately on their massive frames.
And rolling down the central avenue at breakneck speed came Azure's Arcanine, moving with blinding Extreme Speed, with an Eevee riding triumphantly on its head, Scizor mimicking the motion in a blur of red metal, and Lucario bringing up the rear with a stack of boxes balanced on one paw.
*Thud-Thud-Thud*
The crates landed in a neat, orderly semicircle right at the front entrance of the Musical Dome, precisely coordinated down to the millimeter. From the belly of Skyla's plane, a banner unfurled in the slipstream, fluttering in the wind for all Nimbasa to see: LET'S ENJOY MUSICAL!
Skyla dipped the wing of her plane in a cheerful salute, banking hard toward the airstrip as her engine roared off into the distance.
For 3 seconds, absolute silence gripped the plaza.
Then, the crowd—realizing they had just witnessed the most insane, high-octane logistical stunt in the history of Unova—erupted into deafening cheers. Children squealed with delight as staff members popped open the nearest crates, revealing rows upon rows of pristine, velvet-lined prop cases gleaming in the sunlight.
The junior staffer whispered, sliding down the brick wall in sheer, exhausted relief, "It... it worked… We actually pulled it off."
White let out a long, shaky breath, her knees suddenly feeling like jelly. She gripped the railing of the steps, a triumphant grin spreading across her face as she replied, "Of course it worked. This is the BW Agency."
10 minutes later, the plaza was a sea of happy, chattering families walking away with their new prop cases, the excitement for tomorrow's shows practically palpable in the air. White stood near the box office, swaying slightly on her feet.
The adrenaline was finally wearing off, leaving behind thirty-six hours of continuous, unbroken exhaustion. Azure walked up beside her, gently steadying her elbow to keep her from tipping over as he said calmly, "Alright, Madame President. The show's over. Time to crash."
White mumbled, her eyelids drooping heavily, "I... I need to check the inventory logs. And draft the press release for the Driftveil bridge failure... and..."
Azure interrupted firmly, though his tone was warm, "You need sleep, Boss."
He turned his head slightly, saying, "Gardevoir."
*Flash*
With a soft, shimmering flash of cyan light, Azure's Gardevoir appeared beside them, its gentle red eyes glowing with calming psychic energy. Gardevoir's telepathic voice echoed softly in White's mind, wrapping around her consciousness like a warm blanket: 'Rest easy, little producer. Your work here is done.'
Before White could protest, a wave of profound, irresistible sleepiness washed over her. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she slumped sideways—directly into Azure's arms. Azure caught her effortlessly, swinging her up bridal-style with practiced ease.
He looked down at her peaceful, sleeping face and let out a quiet sigh. He glanced into the shadows of the alleyway across the plaza, where a dark, inky mist was curling around the pavement.
Azure murmured mentally, his eyes locking onto the void-like silhouette standing near a glowing neon sign, "Darkrai. Keep an eye on her suite at the hotel tonight. Make sure no stray nightmares or wild trouble finds her."
From the darkness, a pair of brilliant, piercing blue eyes blinked in acknowledgment, and a low, rumbling assent echoed in the back of Azure's mind before the shadow dissolved back into the pavement.
Azure gently handed the sleeping White over to Gardevoir. He said calmly, "Take her to her room. Make sure she's safe."
Gardevoir whispered mentally, 'Understood, Master.'
*Flash*
With a second soft flash of light, the Pokémon and the sleeping agency president vanished from the plaza, leaving behind only a faint scent of fresh lavender. Azure turned around, his hands sliding back into his pockets.
Leaning against a lamppost just twenty feet away, half-hidden by the glow of a Nimbasa City billboard, stood N. His green hair drifted slightly in the evening breeze. At his feet sat a curious Snivy that eyed Azure with cautious, intelligent eyes. N said softly, his voice carrying that familiar, melancholic cadence, "An impressive display of coordination, Azure. Though I wonder... did those Pokémon truly want to carry those heavy boxes through the sky, or were they simply obeying the will of a master who commanded them to?"
Azure walked slowly toward him, his boots clicking rhythmically against the pavement. He stopped a few feet away, his expression neutral but his eyes sharp. Azure said evenly, "They didn't have to be commanded, N. They chose to. Just like White chose to build this stage, and just like Black chose his path toward the League."
N tilted his head, his gaze piercing into Azure's. N asked faintly with narrowed eyes, "Choice... is that what you call it? Or is it just another chain, forged in the name of entertainment and ambition?"
Azure let out a short, quiet laugh, shaking his head. He said dismissively, narrowing his eyes, "You really only see the cage, don't you? You see the battles, you see the shows, and you think it's all about control."
He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a serious, deliberate tone, saying, "You talk about liberating Pokémon, N. But have you ever actually asked a Pokémon what it wants out of life, instead of assuming you know better than they do?"
N's eyes flashed with a sudden, sharp intensity.
The Snivy hissed softly, baring its leaf-blade. N whispered, stepping out from the shadows so the neon light illuminated his face, "I hear their voices, Azure. And every single one of them tells me that this world... needs to be rewritten."
Azure held N's gaze, a faint, confident smirk touching the corner of his mouth. "Then write a better script. But until you figure out how to do that without tearing down everyone else's dreams..."
Azure patted the Arc Phone in his pocket, feeling the faint, warm hum of Rotom and Porygon-Z inside. He said firmly, "...you're going to have to get past my team first. But I suppose it's time you and I talk, right? That's the reason you came here before me, correct?"
N nodded, confirming Azure's words. N gestured toward the shining Ferris wheel that towered over the harbor, its illuminated cabins swaying like floating lanterns. The Rondez‑View Ferris wheel—its name whispered among locals as a place of dreams—glowed against the star‑speckled sky.
They began to walk as they entered the amusement park. The sounds of people were replaced by the gentle creak of the Ferris wheel's gears…
/////
A/n: Hope you like the chapter!