"Miss Erika, I'm heading out first. The dojo apprentices noticed something strange, I'm going over to help keep things under control."
Grey suddenly stood up, fingers tapping lightly on the tabletop.
"Erika, could you open the skylight for me?"
"Hm? Okay."
Erika was puzzled, but still fished a remote out from her kimono sleeve.
With a soft beep, the reinforced glass dome of the conference room ceiling slowly slid aside to either side, revealing the glow of the evening sky.
"Please stand back."
Grey flicked his wrist, and a Great Ball arced upward.
The moment it reached its highest point, the capsule burst open.
"Liiing!" (Grandpa Articuno is here!)
Articuno spread its crystalline wings and glided down lightly, the icy dust shaken from its feathers refracting into a rainbow halo under the conference room lights.
"Achoo!"
The temperature in the room plunged, and just about everyone sneezed.
"???"
Erika and the three junior assistants stared blankly.
Seeing that Grey had sent out Articuno, they all looked at each other, completely stunned.
"G–Grey… you're a Fighting-type Gym Leader, right?"
Erika swallowed hard. Faced with the Pokémon Grey had brought out, even her words tangled together; she barely knew what she was asking anymore.
Articuno…
That was Articuno.
With a legendary like that, Grey, why are you even still a Gym Leader?!
Just go blow Bruno away and join the Elite Four already!
He's got an Onix anyway, you could just park Articuno in front of it and you'd be fine!
"Who said a Fighting-type Trainer can't catch other kinds of Pokémon? Besides, this kind of thing is something our Kanto Elite Four started doing first."
Once Grey finished, he flipped up onto Articuno's back in one smooth motion and planted his feet firmly.
"Liiing!" (Your grandpa Articuno is takin' off!)
Articuno's clear, ringing cry split the sky as it sprang upward, wings fully extended, scattering a cascade of glittering ice crystals.
Erika couldn't help shivering, watching those tiny shards of ice blossom into little frost flowers on her kimono sleeves.
It was… really beautiful.
She tilted her head back, watching Grey's silhouette shrink as Articuno became a speck of blue light on the horizon.
For a moment, she was completely lost in the sight.
Until—
"Gym Leader!"
One of the dojo girls grabbed her sleeve, eyes shining. "You invited that Trainer, right? Oh my gosh, that was Articuno! Can you… can you introduce me to him?"
The girl's cheeks were flushed bright red, both hands clutching a little autograph board she'd pulled from who-knows-where, looking exactly like a fangirl who'd just seen her idol in the flesh.
For Trainers, stumbling across a legendary was like bumping into a top celebrity.
"Heiya, I really don't even know where to start with you."
Hearing that, Erika picked up the paper fan on the table and lightly tapped the girl's forehead. "We just happened to cross paths, silly. I don't even know what he likes yet."
Erika glanced toward the empty sky where he'd disappeared, thumb absently rubbing across her phone screen.
"When this is all over… forget it, I can't go jinxing it now."
She cut herself off, ears turning slightly red as she spun around. "Alright, Linglan, go water Vileplume!"
"O-okay～"
Linglan ducked her head and trotted out of the room.
Erika also left the conference room, heading for the changing area to switch outfits.
——
High above Celadon City, a streak of deep blue flashed across the sky.
Before anyone could process what they were seeing, a figure that looked exactly like Articuno was already flying straight toward the Celadon Game Corner.
That was a huge scoop.
Gawking at drama is basically hard-coded into Kanto citizens.
The moment people saw Articuno sweep by, the crowd surged like a tide.
Residents were already pulling out their phones, walking faster and faster, eager to snap pictures.
"Everyone, stop right there!"
Officer Jenny's motorcycle screeched to a halt across the middle of the street. A group of officers in caps with Growlithe motifs rushed up and started putting up a cordon.
A little boy clutching an Articuno plushie tilted his head back, the tip of his nose still smudged with ice cream. "Officer Jenny, is there a case happening?"
He remembered that just at the last neighborhood event, this same Officer Jenny had been laughing with everyone while teaching them to play frisbee with Arcanine. Today she was completely different—face serious, all business.
"Special League operation."
Jenny crouched down to wipe the cream off his nose, her tone gentle but leaving no room for argument. "Once this is all over, I'll bring Arcanine out later and let you watch it, okay?"
Outside the tape, Articuno's ice crystals pattered softly onto the brim of her police cap.
Hearing her promise, the kid cheered on the spot.
Jenny straightened up and pressed her hand to the radio on her shoulder. "Sector A is secure. Repeat, Sector A is secure."
——
Celadon Game Corner, inside the main hall.
Clang!
Cold light flashed as two speed-type Pokémon clashed in a blur.
"Sneee!"
Sneasel blurred into a black-and-white streak, its lithe body weaving between rows of slot machines. A metallic sheen flowed along its claws as it slashed straight toward the yellow-and-black figure ahead!
The man with the cigarette blew out a lazy smoke ring, then barked, "Beedrill, don't let it get close! Pin Missile, put holes in it!"
"Bzzzz～"
A deep droning filled the air.
The three venomous stingers on Beedrill's limbs and tail glowed a sickly green, Bug-type energy spinning at each tip into visible swirls of power.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!"
A dozen energy needles fired out of the whirling vortex, lancing forward like a sudden downpour and blanketing the entire aisle.
Each needle trailed a faint green afterimage, the Game Corner's neon lights reflecting off them as they wove together into a web of death that sealed off every possible escape route Sneasel could take.
Tat tat tat…
Nearby slot machine screens shattered under the barrage, cracks spiderwebbing out across the glass as coins clattered everywhere.
"Sneee…" (Damn, there's way too many of them…)
Sneasel's pupils shrank. In its field of view, the Pin Missiles were already right on top of it!
At this point, trying to bolt was almost impossible.
Instinctively, it crossed both arms, metal-bright claws forming an X in front of its chest.
Clang, clang, clang!
The storm of Pin Missiles crashed down onto the blades, bursting into explosions of sparks.
With every shot it blocked, Sneasel was driven back half a step, its feet tearing several nasty rips through the carpeted floor.
The slot machine screens all around them reflected the fight over and over, chopping Sneasel's grimly-enduring silhouette into countless fractured fragments.
"Haaah～"
The smoker took a long drag, then slowly blew out another smoke ring, a twisted, feral grin taking shape inside it.
"Brat, in your next life, learn not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong."
From the shadows, cold light flashed.
A second Beedrill shot out, its venom-coated stinger thrusting straight for Silver's back!
The poisonous purple glow on that tip looked especially deadly under the hall's dancing lights.
Whoosh!
The sound of it cutting through the air was perfectly drowned out by the clamoring game machines—a vicious, calculated strike.
By the time Silver sensed something was wrong, it was already too late to throw out another Poké Ball.
Right now, the only thing reflected in his eyes was the Beedrill lunging for his heart.
Just as the stinger was about to pierce Silver's chest, a surge of icy air roared in, so fierce it slowed the Beedrill's charge even through the solid wall.
Beedrill's wingbeats frenzied, but its speed still dropped sharply!
Shu-KRAAASH!!!
The wall erupted inward with a deafening crash, and what followed was—
"HYAAH!"
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