Impossible. No way!
How could this be happening?
In Wicke's impression, their president, Lusamine, though a bit flighty and sometimes downright childish—not at all like someone who had ever been a mother—was still the highest authority in Aether Paradise.
If she wanted to, she could even call herself an Island Queen, and no one would question it. From any angle, she was undeniably a person of power.
Which made this all the more baffling: how could someone of such high status dress up as Lillie and engage in a "Pokémon battle" with a man who had literally been on the Foundation's wanted list just a few days ago?
If Lusamine had simply battled Haru as herself, it would've been one thing. But she had specifically cosplayed as Lillie…
What was she thinking? Was she willingly playing stand-in for Lillie?
Lusamine, you really do have a little of her shadow in you, don't you?
And does Lillie even know Lusamine's into this sort of thing?
Sure, technically Lusamine was still the one in control here—but now her "dominance" had shifted from abstract authority to something much more… specific.
Wicke couldn't begin to comprehend it. But the truth was right in front of her, and all she could do was accept it: her president had effectively been promoted to Knight of the Lance in this little drama.
But then... what about Lillie? Last Wicke heard, Lillie seemed to have a bit of a thing for this man too.
Was Lillie somehow part of this "play" as well?
And what if... what if Lillie already knew everything, but simply hadn't said anything? What would that mean?
Realizing this horrifying possibility, Wicke suddenly felt the entire situation shift from merely weird to downright terrifying.
As for Lana—she wasn't familiar with Lusamine, so she didn't particularly care what sort of bizarre games Lusamine and Haru were playing.
But as a girl with zero experience in this sort of thing, what she was witnessing hit her harder than watching an opponent suddenly throw out a Shiny Legendary in the finals of a Pokémon tournament.
It was just... so shameless! How could anyone do something like this?
Face flushed with embarrassment, Lana instinctively covered her eyes with both hands—but after two seconds, she reconsidered...
Well, she'd already seen so much—might as well peek a little more, right? Curiosity won out, and she cracked her fingers open just a bit.
Besides, how could she properly criticize them if she didn't clearly see what they were doing?
Lana felt her reasoning was perfectly sound.
Meanwhile, the two stars of this absurd stage show were so engrossed in their battle that they didn't even notice Lana opening the door—they kept hurling powerful moves at each other.
One side charged in with Flare Blitz; the other countered with Hydro Pump.
Lusamine was clearly an ultimate rain team player—not only did she have the Hydration ability, but she also wielded Water-type moves with incredible skill.
If she could actually land those Water moves on Haru, even if they didn't seriously damage him, they could at least douse his inner "flames" and force the match toward an early end.
Unfortunately, before that Hydro Pump could hit, the sudden entrance of Lana and Wicke caused both sides to miss their shots.
Normally, a missed move would just mean a little cleanup later—not a big deal.
But then… something completely unexpected happened.
Startled by the sudden interruption, both Haru and Lusamine panicked and tried to stop the battle immediately.
Haru wanted to quip something like, "Perfect timing! You've arrived just in time for our grand finale chicken dinner match!" — but reason told him now was not the time for jokes. He quickly tried to disengage.
Unfortunately, Lusamine had the same idea...
So, in their awkward "cooperation," Haru's Flare Blitz energy morphed into a weird, uncontrolled blast—more like Scale Shot—that wasn't targeting anyone in particular.
No one could tell where it would land.
And it didn't hit Lusamine.
Instead… it shot straight toward Lana!
Poor Lana, who was just watching, didn't expect to suddenly be part of the scene. The blast hit her square in the face, smearing something right near the corner of her mouth.
The next moment, her scream echoed throughout Lusamine's mansion.
"Waaaaaaah—!!"
Lana was about ready to lose her mind.
When she realized what exactly had landed on her face, she panicked, running wildly around Lusamine's house like she was being chased by 100,000 Machamps all spamming Power-Up Punch.
About three seconds later, she remembered she had tissues in her pocket. Frantically fumbling around, she tried to wipe her face clean.
But in her panic—and thanks to the sudden stop after all that running—she tripped and fell flat on her face.
"..."
Everyone—Haru, Lusamine, and even Wicke—froze.
None of them had expected this turn of events. Nor had they imagined that poor Lana could have such rotten luck—and that this absurdity would keep escalating like some twisted sitcom.
After hitting the ground, the previously frantic Lana suddenly stopped moving.
Then came the sound of pitiful sobbing that could tug at anyone's heartstrings.
"Uuuuugh… just kill me already, let me die…"
"I'm completely tainted now… uuugh…"
Her cries were raw and tearful, like she was trying to pour out every ounce of her humiliation.
"A-anyway, we should get changed back. We can't let this continue any longer."
"Wicke, please take care of Miss Lana for us."
With that, Haru and Lusamine vanished from the hall, leaving Wicke staring helplessly at the still-prone Lana.
Take care of her? Seriously?!
Come on, it's not like she had ever been through something like this either! How was she supposed to comfort Lana?
What was she supposed to say—that this stuff was actually good for your skin?
And besides, wasn't the Dratini supposed to be the priority here?
Letting out a bitter laugh, Wicke finally grabbed some tissues and knelt by the utterly defeated girl.
First things first—get her face cleaned up, then take her to the bath.
As for the Dratini—well, once the president had changed out of her cosplay, she could handle that…
What timing, honestly—what perfect timing.
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