Pokémon Chronicles 零 (ZERO)

Episode 37: Operation Zero

"Strange... there aren't any knights here at all. I know you said she was weird about it, but surely the headmaster would want to be protected, right?" Azu asked. Our trip to the headmaster's office was met with no obstructions at all. We still took precautions and surrounded the building with a plan for the possibility of being ambushed, but so far, it seemed pointless. There was nothing stopping us from marching right up to the front and preparing for combat.

"Then again, she's very confident in her strength... I wouldn't put it past her to want to fight," I growled, holding my sword at the ready. I took a moment to hang my head and sigh, psyching myself up for the inevitable conflict that would ensue. Once I was ready, I glanced left and right briefly to check that everyone else was okay to go, and barged my way into the room.

"Panzer!" I shouted, silencing upon not seeing her right away. I carefully stumbled about the room, minding the long dinner table that still stretched down the centre. It didn't take long to confirm that the room was empty, minus a single chair at the head of the table. There was a sealed letter there, catching my attention.

"She's not here... maybe she has her own quarters or something," Megan wondered, doing exactly the same as me. "After all, it's no surprise she doesn't sleep here."

"Hmm... this could get annoying. Mimia, can you pick up any scents?" Lucca asked, going into a thought pose as the others scouted the room.

"Dear Crystal and shining warriors... if you're reading this letter, than that means the operation has begun. The project that I have worked on since childhood, the Heroica Revival Project: Operation Zero, is finally in motion," I began, reading the letter aloud. It was written in handwriting that appeared to be fancy, but was unclear enough to make me struggle to read it. "You and your allies are precious assets to this operation. I currently hold your final amulet, the one required to summon the sword. Come and find me at the Response Stage, hidden in a secret location somewhere in RBY Academy. Once you reach there, we can begin. Heroica will be saved at last. Yours truly, Hidenosuke 'Panzer' Yamashita?"

"Hideno-what now? It can't actually- that creepy little bug! She actually put that name?" Megan complained.

"Hunch was correct again. This got annoying," Lucca commented, looking away. "The Response Stage, huh? That could be anywhere here. I've never heard of it."

"Hidenosuke... Yamashita... I feel like I've heard that name before," Azu muttered, folding her arms and tapping her foot.

"Is Hidenosuke her actual name?" Shelly wondered.

"Probably. We're going to have to search the whole place, aren't we?" Azu asked with a groan. I shut my eyes to think, letting them ramble and complain. "Well if you guys don't know anything about it, then it's obviously somewhere well-hidden and protected... most likely somewhere that's off-limits to all but staff or something."

"A place that's off-limits... no, I don't think it'd be there," Shelly shook his head. "If she wants to lure us towards it, then it's got to be big enough to have a trap. None of the staff rooms or anything have something that could conveniently trap us."

"That's good. Quite frankly, I don't fancy being ambushed," Kusha commented.

"The library," I announced, having a revelation. "There were an alarming number of knights in the library the last time we were there. If it's a hidden location that's well protected, it's there."

"That's... oh yeah, there was, wasn't there? You have good memory," Megan remarked, looking like she had the same light bulb moment.

"I thought nothing of it at the time... but if there's actually something there..." Lucca mumbled, looking up. "Well, either way, we have our first stop to check out. Let's not waste any time."