The stone gate before them showed signs of damage, but it seemed the intruder had given up halfway through. During this time, Daisy had found a hidden corner and deftly flipped the switch.
The gate opened with surprisingly little noise.
"Heh heh heh~"
Four shadows emerged from behind Agatha—her four Gengar, which she had sent out earlier.
"They ran away? How decisive."
The intruder had been intercepted by Agatha's Gengar just as they were about to breach the gate. Recognizing the Gengar as Agatha's, they immediately realized the situation had turned unfavorable. Without hesitation, they used a Psychic-type Pokémon to teleport away.
With the gate now open, the two stepped inside.
Although it seemed the intruder hadn't succeeded in entering, caution was still necessary.
The first thing that caught their eyes was a massive stone slab—not one of Arceus' Plates, but an ordinary stone. Strange carvings marked its surface, likely etched by human hands, though time had worn most of the patterns away.
Faint traces of the original carvings remained visible, depicting bird-like Pokémon, but the finer details were indiscernible.
In front of the stone slab stood a stone pedestal, atop which rested a wooden box that exuded an air of antiquity.
Daisy quickly stepped forward, opened the box, and let out a sigh of relief.
As the lid lifted, a dazzling silver-white light shone from within, obscuring the contents. Hidden beneath the radiance appeared to be a feather-like object.
There seemed to be other items inside, but the light concealed them.
"Good thing teleportation doesn't work in this space. That would have been troublesome."
Daisy glanced at Agatha.
"No problems here."
"No, there's a big problem." Agatha tapped her cane on the ground.
Daisy paused, saying nothing.
"I let your family keep this item because it's your lineage's private property and because no one was supposed to know its location. But that's no longer the case—someone knows, and they're already making moves."
Agatha's gaze was serious.
"This attempt was small because they weren't confident. Next time, they'll send more people, and you won't be able to protect it."
"...What's your suggestion?" Daisy sighed. She already knew this, but she couldn't let go of the item so easily.
"The League will safeguard it. Its ownership will still belong to your family."
Daisy's expression remained neutral, but she furrowed her brow slightly.
"The League will also offer compensation—one Key Stone and two Mega Stones."
"Two Key Stones and three Mega Stones, with the types of Mega Stones chosen by us."
Daisy immediately countered, knowing full well that the compensation was still meager compared to the item's true value.
"That's too much. The League may not have the stones you're asking for."
Agatha frowned. While three random Mega Stones would be painful but manageable, letting Daisy choose the types made the request much harder.
Popular Pokémon like Blastoise and Gyarados were in high demand, and the League's supply was limited. On the other hand, stones for less popular Pokémon like Audino were more abundant.
"This is my bottom line."
Daisy stood firm, knowing Agatha wouldn't strong-arm her into submission.
After some thought, Agatha made her decision.
"Fine." The League stood to gain the most, and making concessions was reasonable.
"Additionally, the items' ownership remains with us, and we retain the highest usage rights."
"Agreed—but take care of those Mega Stones." Agatha gave Daisy a long look.
Though Daisy's skills in Pokémon battles had visibly declined—likely due to her focus on performances—she clearly wasn't someone easily manipulated.
Agatha considered it a good thing. If the Cerulean Gym's successor were a simpleton, that would be a far greater disaster.
---
"Everything's fine—just a little rest will have them back on their feet."
The speaker was Nurse Joy, a nurse at the Cerulean City Pokémon Center and a familiar face to Maki.
With so many injured Pokémon from the incident at Cerulean Gym, Nurse Joy had rushed over immediately—only to find her first patient was someone she knew.
There was no time for idle chatter. Though she was curious about what had happened, her professional training made healing the injured Pokémon her priority.
"You're really unlucky."
Maki glanced at Mawile, who had just recovered from a high fever and was already back on the bed.
"Cotton~"
Cottonee floated onto Mawile's head, trying to offer comfort like a big sister—only to be swatted away.
Mawile's eyes remained fixed on Maki.
"Mawile~" [I don't want you—I want him.]
"Cottonnee!"
The Cottonee, pushed to the side, bounced angrily on the edge of the hospital bed, scolding Mawile for abandoning friendship in favor of beauty.
"Alright, now's not the time to fight."
Maki sat nearby, resting his chin on one hand as he watched the two Pokémon squabble, speaking with helpless resignation.
Mawile's recovery speed was genuinely impressive—only a few hours had passed, and it was already back to near-normal condition.
Just as Maki stopped the quarrel, Misty, Violet, and Lily entered the room. Daisy had left with Agatha earlier and still hadn't returned.
"Here's your Gym Badge."
Despite everything that had happened, Violet handed the badge to Maki.
Maki carefully took the Cerulean Gym's blue droplet-shaped badge, placing it into his badge case alongside the Rainbow Badge—the only two badges he had so far.
After securing the badge, Maki noticed Misty acting a little off—no longer her usual bold self, she was hiding behind Violet, clutching her hands and looking down.
Violet, looking exasperated, glanced at her sister before delivering a swift kick to Misty's backside, pushing her toward Maki.
"Ah! What are you doing, sis?!"
"Oh, right, Maki—Misty has something to say to you!" Violet grinned and ducked behind Lily, clearly enjoying the scene.
"Hmm? What's the matter?" Maki asked, puzzled.
"Uh... thank you for today..." Misty's voice, usually brash, had become timid. She kept her head down, unable to meet Maki's eyes.
"Wait, didn't you mention you had a girlfriend, Maki?" Lily suddenly recalled.
"Yeah." Maki scratched his head, resigned to the situation. Poor Sabrina would just have to forgive him for this one.
"What?! That means Maki can't become the Cerulean Gym's son-in-law!" Violet gasped dramatically.
"Cut it out! I'm just here to say thanks!" Misty glared at her unreliable sisters before turning back to Maki.
"Really, don't believe a word they say, Mr. Maki!" Misty's face flushed as she tried to explain.
"Ah, it's fine." Maki shook his head. Honestly, Misty wasn't really his type. Among the many female leads in the Pokémon anime, Serena from XY seemed like the ideal wife—though that was just an opinion, not something Maki would ever act on. Besides, like Misty, Serena was probably still just a kid.
Maki wasn't into that.
Sabrina was different—she was the kind of girl you raised from childhood.
Maki stayed at the Cerulean Gym until the afternoon, waiting for Mawile to recover before preparing to leave.
"You're leaving? You could always stay here for a while—we've got plenty of empty rooms," Violet offered.
"No thanks—I'll stay at the Pokémon Center."
Despite the more comfortable accommodations at the Gym, the Pokémon Center was simply more convenient. Plus, if Sabrina called late at night and found out he'd been invited to stay by a group of young women, Maki might find himself in hot water.
"Yeah! If you stay here, you can watch the water performances every day for free—and no waiting in line!" Lily chimed in, trying to sweeten the deal.
Maki hesitated briefly but ultimately chose self-preservation over luxury. Performances could wait—he only had one life to live.
Leaving the Gym, Maki ran into Nurse Joy, who had just finished her work at Cerulean Gym and was heading back to the Pokémon Center.
Nurse Joy had a good impression of Maki—partly due to his looks, but mostly because of his actions. Appearance only mattered so much—if anyone married into the Joy family, the children would all end up looking the same anyway.
"Hmm... I forgot to ask Violet earlier—what exactly happened at the Gym today?" Joy yawned, visibly tired from her shift.
"Someone tried to break into the Gym to steal something. Luckily, Agatha arrived in time—otherwise, they might have succeeded."
Maki wasn't clear on the details and would need to report back to Giovanni to see if he had any information.
Joy didn't seem surprised at the mention of Agatha—she must have known the Elite Four member was in Cerulean City. Even Daisy had been shocked to see her, though.
"Agatha, huh? Then there's no problem. By the way, I haven't seen Daisy since earlier."
"She went with Agatha."
"Agatha, huh..." Joy's face turned playful. "You actually have a connection to her, you know."
"Huh? Me?" Maki looked at Joy, confused.
"Your Mawile—Agatha was the one who said you should have it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the authority to give it to you."
Joy mimicked Agatha's voice with uncanny accuracy. "Just give that Mawile to the boy."
"That's exactly what she said." Joy shrugged.
Maki's eye twitched—having met Agatha a few times, Joy's impression was spot on.
Was there Ditto DNA in the Joy family?
-----------------------
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