"How dare you attack!"
Normally easygoing, Lincoln Granitehall finally snapped. He pointed at Tyranitar.
"Dark Pulse—teach her a lesson!"
"Wait—"
Director Galen Zephyrus flashed out a ball; a two-meter Turtonator crashed down to head off the clash.
But Blaze Ashwick was faster—her signature Incineroar hit the floor in a gout of fire, planting itself between the combatants.
Road. Blocked.
Galen shot Blaze a puzzled look. Blaze's reply was ice-cold:"She's out of line. I value this candidate. Striking him is a slap to my face."
Galen's frown deepened. "We're colleagues. We can't let outsiders humiliate us."
Matron Juno Grimshaw added, voice like a tomb door:"This one's at fault. If the school's humiliated, so be it—we already were. I've found too many corpses on campus lately. If this Cayce didn't choose her student, she has no right to interfere. That's the rule. No exceptions."
With Juno speaking, Galen had little room to argue.
"I'll handle the follow-up. None of you interfere," Blaze said, steel in her tone.
"Fine—do what you must. Keep it quiet if you can," Galen sighed, recalling Turtonator. He looked wrung out, like he hadn't slept. Leading a team wasn't easy.
—
While tempers flared upstairs, Tyranitar and Delphox were already trading blows below.
Tyranitar roared; malice rolled off him in black ripples. Caught flat-footed, Delphox was swatted from her feet, twitched once, and failed to rise.
Lydia Vale's lips peeled back; she snatched for another ball——and a hovering Dusknoir pinned her shadow to the floor. She couldn't move.
"Are you quite finished?" Juno's chill cut through Lydia's spine. She remembered the fangs behind that kindly facade.
Lincoln vaulted down with a Omastar in tow, sprinting for Houndour and Ethan.
Ethan was already kneeling by his partner, burn spray in hand. Lincoln slowed; odd—Ethan didn't look panicked.
What kind of trainer isn't frantic when his Pokémon takes a hit like that?
"Move—I'll douse it!"
Lincoln's voice snapped; Omastar readied a jet.
"Hold up—look closely," Ethan said, grabbing Lincoln's wrist and stepping in front of Omastar's nozzle.
Houndour lay belly-up, tongue lolling, panting like he was overheating… but not injured. The witch-flame still licked his coat, yet no damage bloomed—only heat and bloat.
Lincoln's eyes widened. A level-10 Houndour, eating a Delphox's fire on Ignition alone? No—something else was at work.
He squinted—and found it: a faint golden film skimming Houndour's fur. That membrane was sieving the hex-flame, letting Houndour safely drink the power inside.
Lincoln's gaze slid to the only oddity on the pup: the collar.
"Omastar—Haze."
Black fog billowed, curtaining them off from prying eyes.
Lincoln clapped Ethan's shoulder, voice low. "Be straight with me, kid. Did you hand me a fake Solgaleo-Z?"
Ethan blanched. "I didn't—I'm not—don't pin that on me!"
Lincoln snorted. "Relax. I'm teasing. No one can fake a Z-Crystal that pure. This came from the egg, didn't it? Tsk. Tempting."
Ethan opened his mouth to explain; Lincoln waved him down and whispered fast:
"Listen. When we step out, the academy will come offering compensation—they're in the wrong, and they know it.
"You're not letting Cayce go—no chance. In fact, press this. Use it to leverage your Starter choice. Ask for something rare: Noble Tiger, Ninja Frog, Hidden-Ability Fire Hare—or make them escort you to Dragon Valley for a Charmander. Push for what suits you best.
"Pile on a few more conditions if you've got 'em. Don't go insane—but don't be shy."
Ethan blinked. Lincoln Granitehall, consummate schemer.A palm whapped his head. "Got it? You're crafty—don't tell me you're done now."
"Got it—got it!"
"Good. When we leave, sell it." Lincoln tugged Ethan out of the haze; he and Omastar stayed "to treat" Houndour.
A pair of academy medics hustled up as Ethan emerged. "With me—situation's not optimistic!"
Lincoln barked, serious as a siren, and vanished back into the fog with them.
He paused only to plant Tyranitar at the veil like a stone door. No one in, no one out.
Ethan couldn't help the tune that floated through his head: I'll play along and turn a blind eye…