Inside the stadium.
As Raihan walked forward, the crowd automatically parted to make way for him.
Rylan and Shiro quickly joined him.
"You won," Raihan said to the latter. "As agreed, you can go to the Pokémon Center and wait for that injured person."
Shiro gave a brief nod. "Thanks."
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, he walked straight toward the hallway and exited the public battle zone.
The surrounding trainers instinctively moved closer to the hallway too. They wanted to follow this Macro Cosmos member and see what kind of conflict might break out next in Hammerlocke.
That earlier battle was enough to fuel discussion for days. Not to mention, the Gym Challenge was about to begin.
* * *
Once outside, Shiro saw the police squad lined up tightly in front of the stadium, as if facing some kind of monster.
Woods, their leader, looked extremely tense.
There were no other spectators in the area besides a bunch of black-uniformed Macro Cosmos members with the company's logo printed on their chests.
Edgar sat at the head of the group, seemingly deep in thought.
When Woods noticed Shiro come out, he shouted in relief, "Shiro's out!"
He frantically waved for his squad to make way.
Shiro glanced at him in confusion. 'Did the old man scare this guy with his Pokémon or something? Why does he look like he just escaped death?'
"Oh? Shiro, you made it out on your own? Got beat up?" Edgar lightly patted Sableye beneath him, and the creature stepped forward a few paces, stopping before Shiro.
Staring at the oddly obedient Pokémon with growing curiosity, Shiro shook his head and replied, "Just had a battle there. I was lucky and won."
"Hoho..." Edgar chuckled. "So you were the one to give a beating? Not bad..."
Then his expression turned regretful. "Rose told us to wait until you got thrashed and came crawling out, then jump in and capture the Dragon Tamer family members alive. Too bad... missed the chance."
'This is Hammerlocke. Right outside the stadium. Is it really okay to say things like that out loud?'
Shiro's mouth twitched as he turned to look back, just in time to see Raihan and Rylan walking out side by side, surrounded by a crowd of trainers.
'Did they hear all that?'
While that thought crossed his mind, Raihan waved and greeted casually, "Hey, isn't that old man Edgar? Been years. Heard you've taken on a student?"
"Hmph." Edgar simply snorted. He didn't bother replying to the man. Instead, he motioned for Shiro to head to the Pokémon Center.
The tense standoff between Macro Cosmos troops and Hammerlocke's police gradually eased. The many trainers gathered remained quiet, watching as dozens of well-equipped, dangerous-looking company members turned around in unison.
Shiro silently trailed Edgar, then saw his Sableye take two light hops and leap over the frozen street before the Pokémon Center, entering the building.
He followed after the old man, confident in his own physical control and balance. After all, his body had been trained day in and day out. Compared to the average Macro Cosmos grunt, he was on a completely different level.
Stepping onto the ice, it felt like walking on solid ground at first. Then, with a slight push, he slid forward and reached the gates of the Pokémon Center effortlessly.
Behind him, the company members exchanged awkward looks. A few of them tried walking on the ice as well. But the moment they did, their feet slipped out from under them and they landed hard on their backsides. Their teammates had to pull them back, leaving them red-faced and sulking at the edge of the frozen path.
* * *
Inside the Pokémon Center.
As soon as Edgar entered, he spotted Shae sitting on a silver alloy bench, eyes closed. The place was completely empty.
"Where's Shiro?" she asked without opening her eyes. From the sound of footsteps alone, she knew Edgar had arrived.
The old man observed the interior of the center, then signaled for Sableye to walk over to a bench at the corner. After changing seats, he recalled his Pokémon and answered, "He's right behind me. He'll be here in a second."
"Hmm… so we won't have to cause a mess in Hammerlocke?"
"Hard to say. Maybe a few of the Dragon Tamer family's old geezers got anxious and are already on their way."
Just as he finished speaking, Shiro stepped through the doorway.
Shae opened her eyes, gave him a quick once-over to check for any injuries, then calmly closed them again. "We'll leave once Gareth is treated and stable."
With that, she sank back into the bench like she was preparing for a nap.
Edgar nodded slightly, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall.
Seeing this, Shiro finally relaxed. Now that these two old folks were here, he felt secure. Even if something unexpected happened, they'd be the ones bearing the brunt.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly Macro Cosmos was planning during this period. What preparations had they made behind the scenes?
He leaned quietly against the doorframe, lost in thought.
For the company, the main threat in Galar came from the hereditary Gym forces who refused to obey orders. The strongest among them being Hammerlocke's Dragon Tamer family.
That clan had been around for centuries. No doubt they have many Elite-level dragons hidden. But having them and being able to command them were two different things.
Dragons lived long lives. At the beginning, they might care about their trainer's bloodline, but with two or three generations, they'd start to feel distant. Every generation after that had to rebuild that trust from scratch. If even one failed to connect, the relationship could be lost entirely.
However, the Dragon Tamer family should be able to bring out at least six Elite-level dragon Pokémon.
On Macro Cosmos' side, there were only two visible trainers of that caliber: Shae and Edgar. But in truth, Peony, the previous champion who had resigned, was Rose's younger brother.
Rose himself had competed in the Champion Cup and placed second. He was no lightweight either.
And then there were those strange merchants...
To this day, Shiro still didn't understand who those black market dealers really were. There were too many oddities and mysteries about them. If they were all psychics, why did no one ever see them in normal situations?
Why wasn't there even a single officially known psychic within the company? And how had Rose managed to recruit or train them in such large numbers?
The more Shiro thought about it, the more suspicious it all seemed. But in the end, it wasn't really his problem.
What mattered was that the Dragon Tamer family stood no chance against Macro Cosmos.
Rose was probably looking for a chance to go to war with them anyway. No matter who caused the Golem explosion, the blame would fall on them. That also would give him the excuse he needed to eliminate Raihan—the biggest rival on Leon's road to the championship.
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