“A shame.” Whitney began.

  Nina cocked an eyebrow in response. She had long since understood from her own colleagues that when dealing with narcissists, there was no point in feigning civility. Because that would just enable them to walk all over her.

  “That Rapidash. She would have been quite the spectacle in the derby. I was even gonna be generous and slot her in. What a shame…”

  Nina scoffed. “Spare some of that generosity for your dying grandmother instead.”

  “Sorry Futaba. I tried. I really did.”

  “I will.”

  “Wait, what?”

  “I said I will… visit her. Not before the derby ends. My schedule this week is pure torture on my beauty sleep. But I will go. See how generous I am?”

  “I err… I see. Thank you for your generosity indeed. Should I ask? What made you change your mind?” Was Whitney a gracious winner but sore loser perhaps? Maybe just barely losing was the best outcome.

  The woman responded to the question with a dismissive wave before getting up to leave. “Just proof of my bleeding heart. Oh, and don’t forget about your performance tonight. If you flake on me then the deal’s off.”

  “Yeah, no worries. And uh… let me know when you plan on going to Pewter City. I’ll make the necessary arrangements.”

  “My people will be in touch,” she said while casually tossing a metallic object over to Nina. But before Nina could comment on it, the Gym Leader had already left. Back out into the sea of paparazzi desperately vying for her attention.

  “This is… a Plain Badge!” A golden square framed in silver, that was the sight that greeted her when she opened her palms.

  “What just happened?” Nina mused, eliciting an equally confused huff from Rice Shower. “Did we just earn ourselves some horse girl clout, Ricey?”

  “Is this what it feels like when the women of your local HOA invite you to join their book club? Or when your dad’s golfing buddies invite you to join them on the range?” Did her unexpected performance on the track earn her the respect of Whitney?

  Nina was perplexed. And while the badge was devoid of a star, she didn’t mind. She was never planning to challenge Whitney to a Star battle anyway. For fear of all the drama that would follow her potential victory. Or the insufferable gloating that would follow a loss for that matter.

  “Huh… That’s four badges in the bag then. At this rate, I might not need those two extra Star badges. Still gonna go for them though. I kind of have no choice with Cinnabar and Misty will kill me if I snub our Gym.” Also, the conference preliminaries were a chore.

  “DaAash.”

  “I know, Ricey. Better safe than sorry.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  ***

  “Are you okay, Nina?”

  “I’m fine… Just, everytime I’m forced to do something like this. I always pray that Team Rocket will crash in or something but they never do. Why is it, Kerry? That those morons only show up when it’s most inconvenient but never when you need them to?”

  Kerry giggled. “Well they wouldn’t be Team Rocket otherwise. But that’s good, I thought you were still worried about Ricey.”

  Nina instantly wilted at the thought of her injured Rapidash.

  “Aww… Cheer up Nins. Look at the bright side, at least we get to check out the historic Goldenrod Radio Tower.” She continued, with special emphasis on the word, “historic”.

  Nina laughed. “Technically we’re going to the new broadcast building attached to the Radio Tower. But I suppose we can probably convince them to give us a tour. Heh. You’ve really got my number now haven’t you?”

  Kerry grabbed hold of her friend’s hand in a reassuring grip. “Well we have been travelling together for… 2-3 months now? You’ve dragged me to enough old buildings to last a lifetime. Time sure flies, huh? And besides, you’re my best friend.”

  “Aww… I love you too bestie.” Nina quivered and pulled her friend in for a tight hug. “Thanks for being the first to show up just now, by the way. You’re always there whenever I need you. I probably would have been dead by now if not for you.”

  “Hehe… Well maybe you should consider staying away from trouble then, you silly Absol. Or stop praying for terrorists to attack the stage every time you have to perform.”

  “Aww… you two are so cute.” Mizuho chimed in from the side. “Beverly will throw a fit if she finds out she got cucked.”

  “Mizuho, language!” Nina exclaimed while covering Kerry’s ears. “My Kerry is too precious to be tainted by our Cerulean filth. And I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one!”

  The older woman shrugged. “It just slips out sometimes. You know how it is. Anyways, you two should get changed soon. The makeup people can’t get started until you do.”

  “There’s makeup people?!” Kerry squealed at the fulfillment of her fantasies.

  Nina laughed. “Of course, you silly. C’mon, you’ll love it. The makeup people literally can’t stop talking. You’re sure to get some smoking hot celebrity goss fresh from the rumour mill.”

  ***

  “Huh? I don’t see Justin around. No wonder it’s been so peaceful.”

  “He said he wanted to spend more time on the tracks. I think he’s still a little bitter that I overtook him.”

  Nina laughed. “Practically everyone overtook him at the end. But wait, he’s not betting on the races is he?”

  “Err…”

  “Ladies! Ten minutes til go time!”

  “Wait!” exclaimed a frantic Nina. “Whitney isn’t here yet!”

  But just as she said that, the door to the dressing room burst open to admit the nonchalant figure of the Gym Leader, who was already casually stripping off her clothes and tossing them on the floor while her personal makeup artist was keeping pace and working on refreshing her face.

  “Gosh, she’s so cool!” Kerry twinkled. Apparently, her Whitney stocks had already recovered after Nina told her about their previous interaction.

  “Alright, clock’s ticking! Get into position, people!”

  Everyone scrambled and the two teens allowed themselves to be guided onto their assigned markers. The marks were faint, easily discernible with the naked eye but utterly invisible to the cameras — some sort of optical illusion.

  The yelling of humans and cries of Pokemon echoed throughout the space, each doing their part for the live broadcast. And once everyone was in place, the tension rose and an eerie silence took hold.

  An intrusive cough echoed while the timer counted down on a monitor screen. On the stage, Nina tried her best to hold her cutesy pose and her smile. But inside, she was desperately pleading for the green “Going Live” sign to turn red already.

  “Dammit, Celebi! Can’t you do a time skip or something.”

  “Hehehe…”

  Her prayers were answered with snark. But thankfully, the director spoke up at that point. “Going live in five, four, three…” The man switched to hand signs and the moment the lights turned red, the clapperboard snapped and everyone became animated again.”

  “Gooood evening from Goldenrod City~ Welcome to today’s speci—”

  “Freeze! In the name of Team Rocket!”

  “Wha—?!”

  “Prepare for trouble!”

  “And make it double!”

  “In the name of— Ack!”

  “Stop messing around, you bozos! Everyone listen up! We’ve taken over the Radio Tower! So if you don’t want any of your colleagues to get hurt then you better hand over your Pokeballs and get down on the ground. Bozo, Hobo! Get moving and start tying everybody up!” The lead grunt gestured violently as he stepped in front of the camera.

  “My name is Petrel, executive of Team Rocket! We only have one demand, the liberation of our Leader Giovanni from the League’s wrongful arrest. Failure to comply will result in a special signal being broadcast from the Radio Tower — a radio signal specially designed by our experts to trigger the beast slumbering within the Lake of Rage…”

  The purple haired delinquent smirked followed by a mad cackle. “Haha! HAHAHA! And once it awakens, it will do everything in its power to seek out and destroy the source of the signal. You have twelve hours to comply. And no, we are not open to negotiation.”

  3 weeks.