Chapter 30: Cross-Country Tarism

Hazy heat was the first thing to greet the now-official Team Breaker when they followed Gene through a rift. They emerged on a large metal platform with giant mechanical pumps stationed on the corners. Huge metal tubes connected the pumps to the square, gray and black building stretching back behind them.

“This… is Outpost R3X?” Valkyrie stepped forward, sniffing the air. “Smells like a cross between a sewer and a construction site.”

“That’d be the tar pits,” Cyril explained, having disguised himself as a normal, black-furred zoroark for the trip. He pointed forward. Ramps led to lower metal platforms and walkways, all suspended over bubbling black ooze. Steam rising from the tar blurred the landscape in the distance. Seifer could see outlines of rocky crags, tunnels, and caves, but it was hard to make out any details beyond their blocky and circular shapes.

This place was linked to Venish? The city prided itself on the quality of its water, to the point where it called in the Radiant Guard whenever its water quality tests were the slightest bit off.

Perhaps this is the reason why, Seifer thought. He shook out his already-frazzled mane. His hair brushed against his newly finished prosthetic horn. Cyril had even matched the color up perfectly. The keldeo was glad to have that familiar weight back in the center of his forehead, though he still longed to be able to forge a Secret Sword with it. Alas, Cyril told him that wasn’t possible. It’ll do for now, though.

“What exactly are we waiting for?” Valkyrie tapped a foot on the ground.

“Chiaki gave me a very specific time.” Cyril crouched down. “We’ve still got a few minutes.”

“Then what’s up with the cat?” Valkyrie jerked her head at Gene, who floated back and forth across the platform with a frown on his face.

“Man, where are the skorps? I usually can’t go a meter or two without bumping into one.” Gene jutted out his lower lip. “I was really hoping to catch up with Skorp and Skorp. Feels like ages since we’ve talked.”

Seifer blinked. He shook his head. No, his ears weren’t ringing. He’d just heard that. “Uh, I beg your pardon?”

In a trail of distortion, the mewtwo Phantom Warped to Seifer’s side. “Oh, it’s no biggie.” He leaned over, using Seifer’s head as a makeshift armrest. “The skorps run this facility. And they’re all named Skorp.” Gene paused, then added, “And before you ask, no, they’re not clones of each other. Cuz that’d be totally lame!”

Scowling, Valkyrie huffed dragonfire embers. “I hate this planet already.”

“Aww, sounds like someone got up on the wrong side of Eternatus!” Laughing, Gene smacked Seifer’s head. The keldeo freed himself from under Gene’s arm with an annoyed grunt.

“This isn’t something to laugh about,” Seifer huffed. He calmed himself with a deep breath. It wouldn’t be too much longer. Soon, he’d be back in Venish and this nightmare would be behind him.

“Ah, there’s Skorp!” Gene hopped into the air and waved both his hands. “Yo, Skorp! Over here!”

Seifer looked up and his tail shot up in alarm. That damned mewtwo was waving down an aerodactyl?! “What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.

“The hell?” Valkyrie crouched down. “What are you pulling here? Those things went extinct on Etherium ages ago!”

“Ah, don’t worry about Kelly. She’s a total sweetheart,” Gene assured as Aerodactyl slowly came in for a landing. That let the others see the skorupi sitting on Aerodactyl’s back. He had a hard hat securely fastened to his head, but rather than the expected claws and stingers, this skorupi had big incineroar hands attached to his stubby arms and the end of his tail.

“Gene!” Skorp skittered forward excitedly. “Oh, thank goodness you popped up, eh. We could really use some help right aboot now.”

The mewtwo looked up from rubbing a humming Kelly’s belly. “Hmm? Something the matter, Skorp?”

“You bet your bippy something’s the matter!” Skorp skittered in place. “Heck, I’m surprised you can even stand being out here what with the tar fumes turning toxic.”

Seifer’s eyes widened. The tar pits were toxic? He and Valkyrie glared at Gene.

“Toxic?” Gene held up his hands. “Since when? That’s news to me.”

“Fer a couple of weeks now,” Skorp explained. “We’ve been trying to put out a distress call to ya, but something’s gone and jammed up our comm systems.” He gripped his hard hat and squeezed it against his head. “And if that weren’t enough of a pickle, some of the skorps have gone missing.”

Gene’s tail lashed at the air. “Missing?” He kneeled down by Skorp. “Who? Where? How? Why?”

Skorp looked down guiltily. “You remember Skorp from ol’ Skorp’s birthday bash last month?”

Gene rubbed his chin, then snapped his fingers. “The guy who liked his soda pop a bit too much?”

“The very same.” Skorp nodded. Seifer shook his head in disbelief. How the devil could this mewtwo tell who was who when they all had the same name? This had to be an elaborate ruse… or a fever dream.

Skorp poked two index fingers together. “Skorp went missing a couple of weeks ago. Then about a dozen other skorps followed suit!”

“Then we have to investigate.” Gene got to his feet, right hand balling into a fist.

“We?” Valkyrie stomped her right foot down. “What’s this ‘we’ business? I already bailed your ass out once. I don’t owe you any favors; you owe me.” The garchomp held up her blades. “Open the rift and let us go.”

“But the skorps are my friends.” Gene’s tail twitched in several places. “They’ve helped me out… not to mention the rebellion. We have to help them.”

“If you’re really as strong as you claim, I’m sure you can fix this yourself.” Valkyrie waved him off. She turned to Cyril. “So, open the rift, and then you can investigate to your heart’s content.”

Seifer brushed his forelegs together. If the tar pits were poisoned, he couldn’t afford to stay here, right? He wanted to go home. And Venish was so close, he could practically taste the salt in the air.

“I’m sorry… but I already helped you with that uPhone business.” The keldeo exhaled deeply.

Silence followed, save for the bubbling of tar and the whirring of machinery inside the plant.

“Well?” Valkyrie turned back to Gene. “I’m not going to ask again.”

Gene looked off into the distance. “If the tar is turning toxic… who’s to say the same isn’t happening to Venish?”

Seifer stiffened. Valkyrie narrowed her eyes. “Don’t play games with me.”

“If there’s any distortion near Venish, there’s nothing stopping some of the poisonous tar from leaking out,” the mewtwo continued, his expression unreadable. Though Seifer swore there was a devilish glint in his eyes. “You really want to go back and risk finding poisoned water waiting for you? Seems like a hell of a gamble, since it could put you back here for good.”

“Cut the crap.” Valkyrie scraped her feet against the metal platform. “Isn’t dealing with this kind of stuff your job?”

“Sure, but the more the merrier if you ask me.” Gene shrugged. The smile on his face was sickeningly sweet. It practically knotted up Seifer’s stomach.

“Hey.”

The keldeo almost jumped at Cyril’s paw on his left shoulder. Before he could say anything, the zoroark whispered, “Isn’t this what you were talking about the other night?”

Seifer quirked a brow. He preferred to forget that conversation with Cyril.

“If Boss Kitty’s right — and he usually is — then people’s lives could be at stake,” Cyril continued. “Sounds to me like the Venishians need someone to protect them, even if they don’t know it.”

Seifer glanced at his new horn, then at Gene.

It’s about making a difference, isn’t it?

He swallowed hard. “Okay. I’ll help.” Seifer stepped toward Gene.

With a clearing of his throat, Quetzal jogged to Seifer’s side. “If the commander’s in, so am I.”

Seifer smiled at Quetzal, though that was followed by a pang of guilt. He’d forgotten the orange, flightless zapdos had even come with them.

Valkyrie’s eyes briefly widened, then she turned away. “Well, they don’t have jobs to go back to, but I do. You got two of us. Take the win and send me home.”

The garchomp and mewtwo stared at each other down for a solid half minute. The crystal in Gene’s shoulder sparked, as did his eyes. Valkyrie frowned, then scowled, then lowered her arms.

“… fine. I’ll help,” she croaked, stance slouching.

What just happened? Seifer looked between the two, but Gene hastily warped to Valkyrie’s side.

“I knew you’d see the light, Chompy!” He pet Valkyrie’s dorsal fin. She immediately held a blade to his throat.

“Don’t push it.”

“Love you too, new bestie.” Gene winked and Phantom Warped back to Skorp’s side. “Okay, lemme get Cyril to Venish and then we can get to work.”

Cyril tossed several small buttons to Gene, who caught them with telekinesis. “Here are some X-transceivers, so we can all keep in touch.”

Purple energy crackled behind Cyril. A rift split the air open. He touched a claw to his temple. “Good luck, you guys. And behave yourself, Boss Kitty.”

Gene laughed. “No promises.”

The zoroark hopped into the rift. Seifer rolled his eyes and cautiously approached Skorp and the lounging aerodactyl at his side.

“So, where do we begin?”

Chiaki hated surprises. He hated stuffiness. So, stuffy surprises were nothing short of nauseating.

In some respects, Chiaki had himself to blame. He didn’t read the concert ticket in detail, just assumed it would be at some venue people closer to his age preferred.

Instead, the grovyle stood on one of the sand dunes of Venish’s northern beach, with a white dress shirt, black bowtie, and black formal jacket. Holowear he had to pay extra for due to the short notice.

The amphitheater’s white, polished dome towered off in the distance. Guess I made an ass of myself this time.

Chiaki took his good hand out of his jacket pocket, producing the uPhone box, along with a glass vial filled with glowing purple slime.

Where’s Cyril? Chiaki looked around for any signs of a rift. This was the place and time they’d agreed on. What was the hold up?

Purple cracks formed in the air a meter behind him. The rift opened up and Cyril hopped out, his apparently fake black fur bristling from the sea breeze. “Sorry ’bout that.” Cyril adjusted his mane— also fake and presumably housing a freaky Eternatus crystal. “Looks like Val and Keldeo are staying behind on Planet Bogdan to help Gene.”

Chiaki frowned, but quickly shrugged the revelation off. “Whatever. Not like Val could come with me for this. You bring me the stuff I ask for?”

Cyril smirked and wagged a claw. “Uh uh. You first.” He stuck his right paw out.

“… tch. Fine.” Chiaki put the uPhone box in Cyril’s paw, then placed the cylinder on top of it.

“And what’s the bonus?” Cyril stashed the uPhone into his mane.

“The sample we discussed,” Chiaki replied. “Poison from the daemon guarding the Needle in Aquardah.”

“Ah, yes.” Cyril sniffed the cylinder and licked his lips. “I’m gonna make something beautiful with this sucker.” He grinned. “But you know the deal. Payment up front.”

“It’s already in your account,” the grovyle scoffed. “Now… what I asked for?”

“Right, right.” Cyril reached inside his mane. His red and black hair obscured bits of purple light. “First off, the supplies you wanted.” The zoroark produced a bag and dropped it onto the sand at his feet.

“An X-transceiver.” He tossed Chiaki a small metal cross, which the grovyle fastened to his bowtie. “And the mapping and recording tools you asked for.” Cyril produced a white rose. He held it out for Chiaki, who looked at it with disgust.

“Really?”

“You have to get this stuff past security, right?” Cyril smirked. “Besides, it goes great with your, uh, ensemble.” He snickered as Chiaki took the rose and tucked it into his jacket’s breast pocket.

“It’s not funny,” Chiaki growled.

“It’s a little funny,” Cyril retorted. He reached back into his mane. “Lastly, something extra.” The zoroark produced a wristwatch and tossed it to Chiaki, who caught it skeptically.

“This thing doesn’t explode if I set it to a certain time, does it?”

“Pfbt. You’ve been watching too many movies.” Cyril flicked his wrist dismissively. “Set it to twelve and press the button. It’ll short out other nearby electric devices.” With a confident grin, he added, “My equipment’s designed to withstand it, for the record.”

Chiaki frowned. “You do realize I’m going to the Amphitheater, right?”

Cyril shrugged. “Try not to get hasty?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

Cyril glanced at his black-furred wrist. “Oh, gee, would you look at the time? Don’t wanna be late to meet your big sister, right?”

“Stepsister,” Chiaki hissed. Theatrics aside, however, Cyril was right. He shouldn’t keep Kyoko waiting. Chiaki was already expecting her to be in a bad mood. She always was when he was involved.

Good thing the feeling’s mutual, he thought. Straightening out his bowtie, the grovyle started across the beach. He looked back at Cyril. “I’ll be in touch.”

Cyril sighed. “Of course you will. Better hope Boss Kitty doesn’t need me.”

Chiaki snorted. “You should just consider yourself lucky I didn’t ream you for keeping all these secrets from me.”

He proceeded forward without waiting to see how the disguised zoroark would respond. All Chiaki needed to do was make nice with the other concertgoers long enough to slip away unseen. Then he’d find the dirt he was looking for. Chiaki was sure of it.

There was a barraskewda waiting for everyone outside the train station; Minister Vincenzo, according to Artemis. Aside from a sailor’s hat, he had some sort of harness around his torso. When Yuna looked to Nikki for an answer, she shrugged. Shimmer then butted in. With a scoff and a roll of his eyes, he expressed disbelief that Aeon didn’t have Hydropacks, special devices to let more aquatic pokémon function outside of the water.

Yuna ignored Shimmer’s condescension, focusing on Vincenzo guiding them through the city’s largest streets. In addition to sidewalks, the city had tubes for aquatic pokémon to swim through. And then there were the canals. The water reflected the sky’s orange sunset glow. It rippled as various water-types swam by, with some tugging boat-like structures called gondolas.

Eventually they reached a fourteen-story building painted with the colors of a clamperl. A marble huntail and gorebyss weaved around the top floors, coming together at the roof, which was a marble clamperl holding a sign displaying the hotel name.

“Buona serata! Welcome to La Perla dell’Oceano!” three machoke in magikarp-shaped bowties and deep blue sweater vests greeted in unison as the group entered the hotel.

The lobby seemed just as fancy. The light fixtures hanging from the ceiling resembled pearls and sapphires, casting a soft blue glow over the room that contrasted the warm oranges and yellows of the walls and carpet. Round oak tables sat neatly spaced apart. Each held multiple round metal trays with piping-hot mixtures of cheese, red sauce, and a variety of toppings.

Yuna’s gills throbbed. “Is that… dinner?” The aroma alone was enough for her stomach to gurgle.

“Please tell me you know what pizza is,” Nikki groaned, pinching her brow.

“O-Of course I do!”

… she didn’t.

“We’ve prepared some of our finest artisan pizzas for you all to enjoy,” Vincenzo declared, gesturing to the tables. “And our wait staff will be by to offer some reds and whites from the famous Nettare dell’Oceano Vineyard.”

Excited chatter rose up among Yuna’s classmates. The sylveon that hung out with Shimmer even trotted in place, clapping his ribbons together.

“Of course, for those who are not interested in the wine, we have both regular and sparkling water.” Vincenzo gestured behind him to a square table topped by a white silk cloth. Two large water dispensers sat on it. Both had slices of cucumber floated between the ice cubes.

Yuna blinked in confusion.

Rayquaza hummed. “Cucumber water? How… quaint.”

“Well, cucumbers are pretty moist fruit,” Reshiram quipped. “So, I suppose it fits.”

“Art thou mad? Cucumbers art most certainly vegetables!”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but they have seeds,” Reshiram retorted. “Botanically, that makes them fruit.”

Yuna couldn’t believe two respected Sages were arguing about this.

… no, wait, that wasn’t right. She could believe it given what she knew about them. Yuna simply wished she couldn’t believe it.

“Yo, Princess!” Nikki waved at her from a corner table. She lifted a slice of pizza with basil clumps and tugged at the resulting strings of melted mozzarella. “You better get your tail over here if you don’t want me to eat the whole thing.”

Yuna hovered toward the table. There was a glass wall behind Nikki’s chair, with seaweed and bubbles carved into it. The glass twinkled from the chandeliers’ light. Yuna’s mouth watered as she pulled up to the table.

“So, um, what do you call this one?” she asked.

“Mahgahwehta.” Nikki’s full mouth muffled her response. She finished chewing and swallowed. “It’s, like, the basic bitch of fancy pizzas. But I don’t need none of that shit with truffles or dubwool cheese. It’s way too extra.”

“Extra what?” Yuna tilted her head.

Nikki paused, about to chomp down on her half-eaten slice. “Eh, it’s a figure of speech.”

“Not one I’ve ever heard of,” Reshiram said. Yuna swore he was shaking his head.

“Right. Well, uh, guess I’ll dig in.” The dreepy grabbed a slice and squeaked when the melted cheese dribbled on her arms. Yuna plopped the slice on her place and wrung out her arms. “Uh, can I get a fork and knife, per chance?”

The toxtricity snorted. “Yeah, sure, if you wanna get laughed outta the hotel.” She took another bite. “Only weirdos eat pisha wiv fowks.”

“Duly noted.” Sighing, Yuna blew onto her slice. After a few seconds, she picked it up again and took a bite. Her eyes sparkled. She set it down.

“That’s the look of someone who’s found a new food love.” Laughing, Nikki licked sauce off her fingertips, then reached for another slice.

“It’s great!” the dreepy chirped. “The way the melted cheese mixes with the richness of the sauce. It’s… it’s…” She furrowed her brow in thought. “Well, it’s great.” Yuna took another bite. It was just as good as the first.

“Right. I don’t think you’ll be a food critic if the whole princess gig fails.” Nikki chuckled. She was almost through her second slice when one of the machoke from earlier showed up carrying a tray with two bottles and multiple wine glasses.

“Can I offer either of you a glass of wine?” he said, leaning over to present the tray.

“Pass.” Nikki flicked her left wrist.

Her response surprised Yuna, who hastily shook her head. When Machoke left, she said, “I figured you’d be all over that.”

“Wine? Feh. It tastes like nasty, bitter grape juice.” Nikki scrunched her face up and stuck out her tongue. “Gimme a nice, cold beer over that shit any day.”

“Right.” Yuna took another bite. “I suppose that’s kinda like mead?”

Nikki stopped midbite. She hastily scarfed it down and wiped her mouth with her jacket sleeve. “Wait, you drink?”

Yuna’s gills stiffened. “Uh, well… mostly just at, y’know, parties?”

“You party?”

“I get the feeling you two have a very different definition of that word.” Reshiram chuckled.

Yuna decided to steal that thought. “I’m not so sure we interpret ‘party’ the same way.” She finished off the last of her slice and dabbed her lips with a nearby white napkin. “Aeon royals do have… get togethers. Usually, it’s a big meal around a shared table. There might be some, uh, strength-based games. Lifting slabs of meat or doing tug-of-war over a mud pit.” The dreepy batted one of her gills. “But that happens when people get a bit tipsier.”

Nikki appeared bemused. “And you take part in that?”

“Me? N-Not really.” Yuna hastily took another slice of pizza to avoid eye contact with Nikki. “Look at me. I’m scrawny. Not exactly what comes to mind when you think of a fierce dragon.”

The toxtricity sat back in her seat with the crust of her second slide in hand. “Y’know, that has been bugging me. You’re a young adult, right?” She chomped down on the crust. “You should at leasht have evolved onesh by now.”

Yuna’s gills nearly retreated into her head. There it was. A subject she wanted to avoid. She stared down at her pizza slice. There was a big mozzarella bubble in the middle. Yuna poked it with her arm and it deflated.

“Might I interject?” Reshiram whispered.

… sure.

“Nikki divulged that stuff about her friend going missing,” Reshiram reminded her. “It, y’know, might be a good gesture to reciprocate some of that vulnerability.”

He had a point, but Yuna wished he didn’t. She continued to stare at the melted cheese surrounded by a sea of red sauce.

Then a purple hand waved in front of her face.

“You spacing out on me, Princess?”

“Sorry.” Yuna flinched. “I, uh— the evolution thing is… a sore spot.”

“Ah.” Nikki’s gaze also fell to the remaining half of their pizza.

“The, um, truth is… I was really sick when I was younger.” Yuna took a bite of pizza and swallowed hard without even chewing. Somehow, it was more bitter than the last slice. “My family’s healer said he thought my illness stunted my growth. No one’s sure when I’ll evolve.”

… or if I’ll evolve.

Silence followed. They both nibbled away at pizza slices.

Nikki broke the silence by clearing her throat. “If it’s any consolation… plenty of Radiance ‘mons never make it to their final evolutions.”

Yuna thought back to the trial. One of the witnesses was a rhyhorn. An adult rhyhorn, by the look of things. She did find that peculiar, but it paled in comparison to everything else that happened, so she hadn’t questioned it.

“What do you mean by that?” she wondered.

“Most folks ain’t strong enough to evolve naturally, if you ask me.” The toxtricity was down to the crust again. She waved it around like a baton. “So they, like, sell medicine and stuff to, y’know, induce evolution.”

The dreepy chewed on her mouthful of pizza, trying to come up with an example of something similar. One came to mind as soon as she swallowed. “Kind of like how a feebas needs a particular sort of scale to evolve into milotic?”

“Yeah. But, like, more sciency. With pills and serum and shit.” Nikki tilted her crust back and forth like it was a flask or beaker. “Problem is, not everyone can afford that stuff. None of it is necessary medicine, so health insurers typically won’t pay for it.”

She’d heard the term “health insurance” thrown around a few times and still failed to understand exactly what it meant. However, Yuna didn’t want to dive down that particular buneary hole. “That all sounds… concerning.”

“You bet your tail it does.” Nikki ate half the crust in one bite. “But thash what ashes like Vortecsh want. Keep people weak sho they can shtay in control.”

A shiver ran down Yuna’s back. She didn’t have the highest opinion of Vortex, but that sounded… unnecessarily cruel.

“And it certainly goes against the cooperation Sir Bahamut taught,” Rayquaza harrumphed.

“But, eh, enough depressing shit.” Nikki finished off the crust. “We’re in Venish now. May as well enjoy it or whatever. Even if Twiggy’s off doing whatever.” The toxtricity leaned her chair back against the glass wall.

Though Yuna was a bit concerned Chiaki was still not here and a bit disheartened by some of the conversation, she had to admit this was… a welcome change of pace. Sitting down to try new food with someone who seemed to enjoy her company. Where had this been the past couple of weeks? If this was what Vortex’s “experiential learning” plan was about, Yuna could get used to it.

… which naturally meant something was going to happen to ruin all of it.

At least, that was what immediately went through Yuna’s head when a bell chimed to her right. She leaned over and watched gold doors slide open. Artemis slithered out with Noctum following behind, completely mystified.

“Wow! So, that’s what an elevator is like.” The charizard’s black tail slowly wagged. “Amazing! To think an entire room can be levitated up and down with such ease.”

“Dude.” The milotic pressed his tailfins to his face. “It’s a system of pulleys. You can’t say stuff like that out loud. It reinforces the stereotype that you Aeons are a bunch of hut-dwelling savages.”

Noctum’s purple tail flame shrank. “Sorry.” He trudged over to Yuna’s table. She offered him a sympathetic smile, but he didn’t notice it.

“Um, everything okay?” Yuna asked.

“Well, we got your room situated.” Noctum fiddled with the strap of his satchel.

Nikki frowned. “Then why do you look like someone took your favorite toy?”

At that, Noctum rubbed his shoulder. “I, uh— how do I put this?”

“Something’s up,” Artemis whispered. He noticed the water jugs on the table behind him. “Anyone drink that stuff?”

Yuna looked over her shoulder. Shimmer clinked wine glasses with his sylveon and sirfetch’d friends. Another table had the weavile that Nikki got in a spat with during the preliminary round throw back the last of her wine glass. “Another!” she shouted, to which the luxray beside her lifted his empty wine glass as well.

“I… think they’re sticking to the wine,” the dreepy replied. “Why?”

“Good.” Artemis leaned over. “Something’s up with the water here. We saw a granbull couple drink from one of these containers. Both of ’em started puking their guts out. Paramedics showed up through the back stairs and carted them off.”

Nikki tilted her head. “Food poisoning?”

“From water?” Artemis’ brow furrowed. “Venish prides itself on the cleanest water in the kingdom. If a fancy-schmancy hotel like this one has contaminated water, who’s to say the rest of the city’s water supply is okay?”

“I dunno.” Nikki reached for another pizza slice. “That’s a bit of a leap in logic. Could be a problem with the plumbing here, for example.”

Artemis nearly swatted Nikki’s hand away from the pizza, but stayed his ribbon. “This is serious. If your Crowne Cup leg is tomorrow and the water is problematic, who knows what could happen?”

“Then tell the cops or something.” Scoffing, Nikki took the pizza slice she was originally going for. “We’re not plumbers. Or investigators.”

“… a rare wise platitude, Nicolette.”

That familiar, chilling voice sent a shiver straight down to Yuna’s tail. She squeezed her napkin.

Why here? Why now? Why can’t I catch a break?

Gasping, Noctum hopped back from the table. A familiar, cloaked dusknoir rose out of the shadows, studying Nikki intently.

“P-Professor Vegna,” Yuna squeaked. “Is there, um, a problem?”

Vegna slowly turned his head to Yuna. “I’m simply making sure my remaining charges don’t gallivant on another pointless escapade.”

Yuna blinked, trying to process his obnoxiously fruity statement.

“I think he’s saying he’s looking after you,” Reshiram offered.

But that made no sense. “I think there’s been a mistake.” The dreepy found the courage to look him in the eye. “Professor Cid is our advisor.”

Vegna leaned forward. A blue glow spilled over Yuna from inside his hood.

“That foolish orbeetle was dismissed from his position. Turns out engaging in truancy with students is unwise for one’s career prospects.”

Nikki stiffened in her chair. The toxtricity dropped her pizza slice on her lap in disbelief. “So, you’re saying—”

“I am your new advisor. And I will not tolerate any more disappearing acts from your so-called team.”