1. Ash's Story (Part 0: Prologue)

Chapter 20: The Terror Beneath Ice

International Police Headquarters looked too peaceful for the kind of training it gave.

Ash and Alice left the glass-walled headquarters in travel coats, surrounded by a city moving as if danger did not exist.

Alice adjusted her cap with one tired hand. "We finished it."

Ash looked at the headquarters doors behind them. "Looker said we passed."

"He said we passed after scolding us for running into danger too many times," Alice reminded him.

Ash winced slightly. "That still counts."

Alice's smile faded when she looked toward the airport shuttle. "After the League Hall meeting, I understand why Adam wanted this. Team Terror keeps using places, people, and panic against us."

Ash nodded, thinking of the eighteen lights across the Sevestar map. "Dad said training does not make us adults. It only helps us stay alive until the adults reach us."

"That is the most Adam thing possible," Alice said.

Looker emerged in his brown coat, wearing the serious kindness Ash had learned during training.

"Remember what I have taught," Looker said. "Observe first. Do not enter a trap merely because it uses someone you love as bait."

Ash looked down. "That sounds very specific."

"It is specific because you are very predictable," Looker replied.

Alice covered a small laugh with her hand.

Looker handed Alice a small emergency communicator. "If anything feels wrong when you return to Atem Castle, contact me immediately."

Ash frowned. "Why would something be wrong already?"

Looker did not smile. "Because Team Terror waited long enough to learn your routines. I hope I am only being cautious."

Ash accepted that answer, but it followed him onto the flight home.

The flight to Sevestar felt longer than it should have.

Ash watched clouds beneath the plane while Alice reviewed Looker's checklist. Sleep only brought Zane and Minami back.

Alice noticed without looking up. "You are thinking loudly."

Ash turned from the window. "Serena says that too."

"Serena is right," Alice said. "You are worried about the Team Terror battle."

"Everyone is preparing," Ash said. "That should make me feel better."

"It does not?" Alice asked. Ash shook his head. "It means Team Terror is preparing too."

Alice closed the checklist and looked at him fully. "Then we return carefully."

A silent, unfamiliar driver met their flight in Sevestar, the first sign that home was wrong.

Alice touched the communicator in her pocket.

Atem Castle stood bright but empty: no training Pokémon, staff, or voices moved near the open gate.

The transport stopped before the open entrance.

Ash stepped out slowly. "Something is wrong."

Alice's face had gone pale. "The gate should not be open like that."

They walked into Atem Castle together.

The silence inside was worse than any scream.

The dining hall had been abandoned mid-meal.