In the sky northeast of Wyndon.
Facing the fierce wind, Shiro straightened his back and looked over his shoulder.
"Where's Peony?" he muttered to himself. "Is this really all Macro Cosmos sent? Just these Corviknight and cameramen?"
He could not understand the intentions of the company or Rose.
Under normal circumstances, Rose should have already sent people to capture him. Even if the presence of cameramen made a direct move inconvenient, they should have been following from a distance at least.
In Shiro's expectations, Shae, Edgar, and Peony should all have been nearby.
Yet there was no one.
"Don't tell me the problem at the Rose Tower got so bad they don't even have time to come after me…" he guessed, then turned back and lay low against Corviknight's back.
Just then, something strange entered the corner of his vision.
A peculiar red glow spread across the southern horizon.
"What is that?" Shiro asked instinctively.
Mesprit floated into view beside him, its bright yellow eyes shimmering with psychic power. Unown A and G appeared as well, reinforcing Mesprit's power together.
'It is… very powerful,' Mesprit said calmly. 'A Psychic-type Pokémon.'
A powerful Psychic-type Pokémon?
Could it be Peony?
But Peony's Bronzong was only at Champion-level. Mesprit was an entire tier above it, not to mention being a Legendary Pokémon.
What could possibly go wrong?
Shiro showed no concern and casually asked, "Can you be specific? It's a Bronzong, right?"
Unown A spoke first, its tone heavy. 'No. It's a large bird Pokémon.'
A large bird Pokémon?
Shiro was confused.
And Psychic-type?
Mesprit added softly, 'The clouds in the southern sky are actually created by that Pokémon's psychic power.'
Hearing this, Shiro looked south again.
What had once been just a faint pink-purple glow at the horizon had now turned into something like a massive tide, spreading toward them at an incredible speed.
This was absolutely not something Bronzong could do.
A Psychic-type large bird Pokémon…
'It looks to be Galarian Articuno?' Unown A said uncertainly.
Macro Cosmos could control Articuno?
Shiro shouted immediately, "Then what are we waiting for? Run!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a surge of psychic power spread out from Mesprit, wrapping both Corviknight and Shiro tightly.
The surrounding space twisted violently under the overwhelming psychic force, and in an instant, the human and Pokémon were teleported away.
The Corviknight flock following behind stopped all at once. Cameramen leaned out of their passenger pods, lenses pointed in confusion as they looked around midair.
Where did he go?
* * *
Far to the south, within the red-haze-like scene formed by widespread psychic coverage, a massive bird with pink feathers and a purple tail advanced at extreme speed, its wings fully spread.
It did not flap its wings as it flew. Instead, its immense psychic power carried it forward.
"Articuno, fly faster!" Sordward said coldly, his expression dark. "I think I can already feel the presence of the Unown."
"Aaart!"
Articuno let out a low cry. The Bronzong flying slightly behind trembled, and Peony quickly reached out to pat it, soothing it gently.
"Peony!"
Suddenly, Sordward turned his head and shouted angrily, "That brat vanished again! Where's your company's tracking device?"
Peony froze for a moment, then hurriedly pulled the tracker from his pocket. The small cube-like device had barely appeared before Sordward snatched it away with psychic power.
He fiddled with the device and snorted. "What did Rose promise me? Ten days at the start. Now the Champion Cup is already over, and the Unown still got away!"
When the signal on the device lit up and pointed toward a cruise ship approaching over the sea, his anger finally eased a little, and his expression calmed.
Peony quickly said, "Mr. Shielbert said it would be after the Champion Cup ended—"
"Shielbert!" Sordward exploded with rage again. "That useless trash! Even if he promised it, did you actually catch anything? You even let some nobody steal Mesprit right out from under you! Useless!"
Peony scratched his messy hair and stayed silent, embarrassed.
How was he supposed to know what his brother was thinking?
As for Mesprit… so what if it was stolen? It was not his Pokémon anyway.
"Accelerate the pursuit!" Sordward bellowed.
* * *
Shiro appeared directly at the edge of the coast.
The S.S. Anne was already very close. It would reach shore in a few minutes at most.
"Professor Rowan, I'm at the coast," he said into the communicator. "Have the ship approach the nearest point, then return immediately."
On the other end, Rowan responded fast, "Understood. Please be careful…"
Shiro ended the call.
He took out the company-issued communicator and the Poké Ball containing Wailord, then looked toward the sea.
Macro Cosmos's communicator would definitely be tracked. He could not keep it on him.
The Galar League Card was the same. It was very likely traceable too.
It was a shame to lose his League Trainer identity. He had not even received Galar's starter Pokémon yet.
Still, he had already taken almost everything he could from Rose and Macro Cosmos. The black market resources, the Pokéblocks, all of it was more than enough.
Thinking this, Shiro said softly, "Mesprit, teleport."
Psychic power erupted from Mesprit, and both of them vanished instantly from the shore amid the crashing waves.
In the next moment, Shiro appeared on the deck of the S.S. Anne.
The deck was empty. In fact, there were barely any passengers on the ship at all.
He threw his League Card, communicator, and laptop onto the deck, then called out again.
"Teleport!"
Pink light flashed, and he disappeared once more.
South of the S.S. Anne, about ten nautical miles away, Shiro reappeared floating in midair above the sea surface.
"It's a pity Teleport can only be used continuously over short distances. It can't be chained at extreme range…"
His current position was right between the Port of Hulbury and the S.S. Anne.
He took out Wailord's Poké Ball and tossed it casually.
The massive Wailord crashed into the sea, sending towering waves outward. Mud and shrubs along the nearby shore were soaked, and small Water-type Pokémon in the area flicked their tails and fled in panic.
Wailord stared with tiny eyes like black dots, opened its mouth wide, and instinctively began drawing in seawater.
Seeing this, Shiro immediately activated the Dynamax Band on his wrist.
"Dynamax! Wailord!"
As his voice fell, the band burst with a deep, dazzling blue light. Dynamax energy surged up from the seabed, flowing through the water and pouring straight into Wailord's body.
**
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