"Why? Why is it like this?! Is this what it means to be the so-called 'protagonist' on stage? Even fate stands at your side."
"And I, who gave everything, end up in such a miserable state… nothing more than a foil to you so-called 'protagonists.'"
The more Kieran spoke, the more agitated he became, until he finally erupted into a shout, his emotions clearly spiraling into extremity.
But watching the boy before him, who seemed to have lost his soul in an instant, Haru felt not the slightest stirring.
Was this guy's act ever going to end? Even now he was still putting on a performance?
He recalled Mew, then made a gesture toward the oddly-looking Lillie and Liko.
The two quickly followed Haru out of the scene, leaving only Kieran and his sister Carmine behind.
Before leaving, Haru also noticed the Cornerstone Mask—which should have belonged to Ogerpon—still in Kieran's possession. So he casually took the mask away.
Since the mask was originally Ogerpon's, Haru thought it only natural to take it back to return it.
Kieran resisted violently, several times trying to stop Haru by "physical means," but it was utterly meaningless.
Unlike Kieran's hysteria, Carmine remained calm—yet she made no effort to hide her deep disappointment.
Her brother's words just now… had left her wounded.
Once out of the scene, Haru immediately received a call from Paldea—the caller was Clavell, director of Naranja Academy.
Clavell did not ask about Mew or Ogerpon.
He merely informed Haru that the children who had returned from Kitakami to Paldea had safely arrived at Naranja Academy.
After examination, the children showed no signs of "psychic manipulation" or similar conditions—all were healthy.
Afterward, he checked on Haru's own situation, as well as that of Liko and Lillie.
Clavell said if there was anything he could do to help, Haru only needed to ask. Though Naranja Academy was short-staffed, they would still cooperate with him as much as possible.
But Haru politely declined and said that once the Kitakami incident was resolved, he would soon return to Paldea with Liko and Lillie.
Next, Haru and the two accompanied Officer Jenny stationed in Kitakami to interrogate the captured Team Rocket members.
Unfortunately, they were still in a state of heavy mind control, endlessly repeating their loyalty to the so-called "Queen of Debauchery."
Questions like "Who is this Queen of Debauchery?" or "Where is Pecharunt?" received no response.
So in the end, all Haru gained was a single mask, and he had no choice but to return to the community center.
The good news was that after such a long silence, he finally received word from Necrozma.
Necrozma contacted him through a kind of telepathy, though the "signal" was poor—likely because of the vast distance between them.
Haru had wanted her to return quickly, but she refused.
According to her, she was "up to something big" and would even bring Haru a surprise later.
Which only made Haru worry whether what awaited him was not a surprise but a shock.
Regardless, Haru still carried out his usual "containment" work with Iono and Sabrina.
With long "practical experience," Haru knew every one of their "weaknesses" and could satisfy their desires with minimal "losses."
Afterward, he also painstakingly subdued Lusamine, who was dressed in a sinister school-swimsuit outfit, even researching the vulnerability of her swimsuit's armpit area and the way the fabric wrapped her body.
The research was grueling, and Haru spent a lot of time before finally leaving a trace of cleaning fluid tucked inside the swimsuit near the right blueberry.
At last, he returned to his room, declaring: "I really don't know any Lacey—who knows why Kieran suddenly brought that name up."
Then, using the excuse "I just want to hold you quietly, without any desire mixed in," he spent the night in peace with Lillie in his arms.
Unlike him, however, Liko—who secretly recorded everything that night—once again had a sleepless evening.
Because of her frequent "sweating" at night, she even felt the impulse to sleep without any clothes, especially without underwear.
After all, doing so was much more convenient—for all kinds of reasons.
The night passed peacefully. The next morning, when Haru opened his eyes—
—he was greeted by a scene that chilled him to the bone.
The ceiling was the same familiar ceiling. The person at his side was the same familiar person.
But the problem was… the familiar person had doubled.
Lusamine and Lillie—one left, one right—were both sitting at his bedside.
"…"
Haru broke out in a cold sweat.
---
Blueberry Academy
Blueberry Academy was a most unusual Pokémon academy.
Located in Unova and only recently established, it was nothing like the time-honored Naranja Academy.
Yet it had one unique distinction: it possessed a phenomenon similar to Paldea's Terastallization.
Of course, while Paldea and Kitakami had "natural Terastallization," Blueberry's Terastallized battles and "wild Terastallized Pokémon" were entirely man-made.
Through research with extracts from Paldea's Area Zero, Blueberry Academy had managed to reproduce the effect.
The cost, however, was that the school had to regularly replenish its supply of Area Zero extract.
Unlike Naranja Academy, the school itself was built in the sea of Unova—a full-fledged artificial island.
Though "just a school," it was no less impressive than Aether Paradise's artificial island.
The main feature was the "Terarium Dome," which divided the island into four biomes, each with climate, terrain, and conditions precisely adjusted for Pokémon.
This allowed many region-exclusive Pokémon to thrive—such as Alolan Exeggutor, normally only seen in Alola.
Not only that, Blueberry Academy even had its own "League," complete with an Elite Four and a Champion.
Though school champions and Elites might sound trivial, their strength was nothing to scoff at.
After all, the protagonist of Scarlet & Violet challenged the Blueberry League already holding the title of Paldea Champion—a bona fide Champion.
If the Blueberry Elite Four and Champion could serve as proper rivals to the "Healthy Little Blue," they couldn't be complete pushovers… right?
(Though one couldn't rule out Blue being a pro at farming weaker opponents.)
In any case, one of Blueberry Academy's Elite Four—the Fairy-type specialist, Miss Lacey—closed a livestream window.
Her chest rose and fell with each breath, eyes still fixed on the screen, clearly shaken by what she had just seen.
As a true elite trainer, Lacey always kept tabs on special Pokémon information.
For example, she had been following the popular livestreams featuring Ogerpon and Iono.
While watching and analyzing, she had often thought about how she would face such a Legendary if it appeared before her.
Today, when she entered Iono's livestream, it was just to get another look at Ogerpon.
And then… she saw Haru's Mew.
The mythical Pokémon left her utterly stunned. Its name was legendary, but few had ever truly seen it.
This was the first time Mew had revealed itself online, and she could barely contain her excitement.
All the more so because she adored cute Pokémon—Ogerpon and Mew both fit the bill, making her even more interested.
Lacey thought nothing could top seeing Mew today.
But then Kieran mentioned her name.
He even said that if he lost, he would "give" her to the trainer with Mew.
Lacey was dumbstruck.
Bro, who gave you the right to treat me like a prize?
Even with her good temper, Kieran's words were way out of line, leaving her humiliated and furious.
She vaguely remembered Kieran as a member of the Blueberry League Club—ordinary, introverted, hardly interacting with anyone.
Basically, the impression he gave was "Kieran's accessory."
But on Iono's stream, Lacey saw that Kieran had grown much stronger, even commanding a pseudo-Legendary.
Still, she had never imagined that a little strength would inflate his ego enough to "gift" her away.
And to top it off, that man Haru openly brushed her aside, saying she was nothing compared to Lillie.
Excuse me? I'm this cute, and you dare to look down on me?!
The Fairy-type Elite Four Lacey was furious!
What made it worse was that this wasn't just between them—because of the appearance of both a Legendary and Mew, trainers all over the world were watching Iono's stream.
People who didn't know her relationship with Haru could easily read too much into it.
After all, if she had nothing to do with him, why would Kieran bring up her name in front of him?
And their names even sounded similar…
Even Lacey herself was baffled. Why had Kieran chosen her of all people? And why did Haru seem to act like he knew her?
Could Haru actually be her secret admirer? But she had never even met him!
Troubled, Kieran rubbed her forehead, unable to figure out how to deal with the situation.
At that moment, her phone rang—a familiar number flashing.
She hesitated, then picked it up.
"…Father."
Whatever Clay said on the other end, Lacey's expression grew stranger and her face redder—not from shyness, but from embarrassment and anger.
"No, I'm not dating anyone."
"That person has nothing to do with me!!! And I'm not a loser in love."
"Even if you say that, there's no way I'd bring a stranger to meet you!"
"That's not going to happen! I'm not in a relationship, and I won't be intimate with that annoying guy, and I definitely won't have kids!!!"
"I already told you, no!!!"
After barely placating her father—promising she'd use "proper protection" if it ever came to that—she finally hung up.
But just then, messages from her fellow Elite Four and Champion flooded in:
"Yo, girl, didn't know you were this popular."
"Uh… so I saw on the forums that you and that Mew trainer are childhood fiancés, but he dumped you for some girl named Lillie. Is that true?"
"They're saying you've already got someone you like? Ahhh, I'm fired up now!"
"..."
Expression blank, Lacey shut her phone off and buried her face in her arms.
She wanted to die.
---
Meanwhile, in Kanto
While undercurrents churned in Kitakami, far away in Kanto's "uninhabited" seas, another event unfolded.
To call it an "accident" wasn't quite right—it was more like a long-planned scheme.
The Mewtwo Project was one of Team Rocket's highest-level secrets, the plan Giovanni cared most about in recent days.
What mattered was not only Mewtwo's raw power, but the possibility of creating a controllable artificial Legendary.
So far, the project had gone relatively smoothly.
Though Mewtwo had broken containment several times, it had always been brought back under control.
As the project neared its final stages, the Rocket researchers grew ever more excited.
They knew—a true Legendary would soon be born from their work, a milestone in human science.
But at that very moment, the accident struck.
The Mewtwo that should have been in slumber broke free completely, lashing out with overwhelming aggression.
She had truly breached containment.
And this, as it turned out, was only the beginning.