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Carmine discovered that Ogerpon would venture out of Oni’s Maw, heading toward the Infernal Pass to seek out wild Pokémon to challenge and train against.
Once she defeated an opponent, the Ogre would leave behind a Berry to bribe them into becoming her minions.
It was no wonder that no one had managed to find the Ogre in recent years; if Ogerpon had been doing this all along, the entire Oni Mountain might have already become her private backyard.
—Even that Bonsly by her side might have been one of her informants!
Subconsciously stepping away from the puzzled-looking Bonsly, Carmine reached a conclusion that was the exact opposite of the truth.
Getting stronger was a natural instinct for Pokémon.
Wild Pokémon would naturally engage in battles to train when their energy levels were high, but the way Ogerpon bribed her subordinates outside of battle truly shocked Carmine and made Kieran feel increasingly afraid.
Nothing happened without a reason.
Fear aside, as Kieran watched his older sister lost in deep, troubled thought, a guess slipped out of him.
“…Maybe, the Ogre is trying to get her masks back?”
A word of truth often wakes the dreamer.
Carmine slapped her palm, couldn’t help but pat her younger brother on the head, and broke into a smile despite his complaints.
“That’s it!”
Exactly!
For a long time, the legend of the Ogre and the masks had circulated throughout Kitakami.
Due to years of tradition, it had even evolved into a grand festival known as the Mask Festival.
The time for this year’s festival was approaching, but that didn’t matter.
What mattered was the root of the festival: those three masks that belonged to the Ogre, still kept at the Kitakami Hall.
The Wellspring Mask, the Hearthflame Mask, and the Cornerstone Mask.
These three masks, filled with incredible power, were rightfully hers, yet they were currently left at the Kitakami Hall as mere display pieces.
Ogerpon must have realized her masks had been stolen by humans, which is why she had been enduring humiliation, training in secret on Oni Mountain, and waiting for the right moment to lead an army of Pokémon down to reclaim what was hers.
The vivid imagination of the youth caused Carmine’s expression to shift repeatedly until her brother asked with unease, at which point she made up her mind.
“We have to find a way to return the masks to Ogerpon!”
Kieran didn’t know how many thoughts were racing through his sister’s mind, but he agreed that returning something that belonged to the Ogre was the right thing to do.
But then came the question.
How could they retrieve the three masks from the Kitakami Hall?
To the people of Kitakami, whose economy relied on tourism, the Ogre masks—which served as proof of their history—were vital village assets. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
As two young children with little influence, it was impossible to take the masks out without going through the rest of the village using standard methods.
—Which meant only non-standard methods would work.
The siblings looked at each other, and a single solution popped into both their heads at the same time.
Steal them!
For Carmine and Kieran, this was currently the only viable plan.
That said, execution was another problem.
With the Mask Festival approaching, the Kitakami Hall, which usually only saw occasional tourists, was now bustling with people.
It wasn’t just tourists; the villagers were also eager to set up their own stalls.
Most importantly, the Kitakami Administrator would be lurking around the Hall as well.
–+–
After discussing it for a long time, the confidence of both Carmine and Kieran began to wane.
They realized that trying to steal the masks under the gaze of so many people was impossible—unless they possessed superpowers from urban legends and could use Teleport, there was simply no way to pull it off.
“We can’t give up!”
Ultimately, Carmine gritted her teeth.
“If conventional methods don’t work, then we have no choice but to use unconventional ones.”
Of course, she didn’t have superpowers, nor the ability to steal the masks in a crowd.
Therefore, she had to think of unconventional ways to remove the obstacles.
“But sister, how are we supposed to do that…”
Kieran clutched his head, unable to come up with a solution.
“I’m going to the Loyalty Plaza and smashing the statues of the Loyal Three!”
Hearing Carmine’s words, Kieran’s eyes widened.
Back in the day, the Ogre had fought the three Pokémon who stole her masks to the death.
The villagers had built the Loyalty Plaza at the site of their remains and erected statues to worship them during the festival, calling them the “Loyal Three.”
Compared to the Ogre, whose existence remained a legend, the Loyal Three who protected the village were seen by the villagers as sacred guardians.
Carmine’s words alone were enough to cause an uproar if spoken aloud, let alone actually carrying them out—it was an act of pure heresy.
But remembering the shock she felt after learning the true history, Carmine gritted her teeth firmly.
“This is the best way.
Carmine forced herself to stay calm, though her slight trembling betrayed her fear.
After all, she wasn’t much older than Kieran, and the rest of the village still treated her like a child.
Yet here she was, planning to do something massive, to turn Kitakami upside down.
“Calm down!
Do you really think stealing the masks is a small matter compared to smashing the statues?”
Following her usual habits, Carmine glared and lectured Kieran.
“Whether it’s stealing the masks or smashing the statues, the adults will be furious either way.
If we’re going to do it, we might as well do it all!”
Having said her piece, Carmine finally stopped trembling.
That’s right.
Both were things that, even if done separately, would be considered grave offenses in the eyes of the adults.
Carmine couldn’t give up on the idea of returning the masks to Ogerpon, so why not do both?
She had already harbored deep resentment toward those three ugly Pokémon.
Now, being able to vent her anger on their statues actually felt quite satisfying.
Carmine’s mind raced, and the plan gradually became clear.
She would pick a time when the Loyalty Plaza was empty to smash the statues, then use her phone to send photos of the damage to Kieran.
Kieran would then pretend to have “discovered” the destruction to raise the alarm.
By the time the adults from the Kitakami Hall rushed over in a panic, she would have already cleared the scene, and Kieran could seize the chance to swipe the masks.
Kitakami didn’t have the surveillance systems of a big city; it was just a rural village.
Aside from their own internal fears, there was no way anyone could identify the culprit.
Even without Kieran, Carmine could do it alone.
Originally, she didn’t want to drag her brother into this, but since Kieran had learned everything along with her, leaving him out might lead him to take secret, impulsive actions that would ruin the plan.
Smashing the statues and stealing the masks were two separate acts, and while it might be better to do them together, that was as far as it went.
“Then let’s do it, sister!”
Just as Carmine was wondering how to talk her brother out of it, Kieran spoke up.
The boy summoned courage he had never shown before.
“We’ll smash the statues together, and then steal the masks to return them to the Ogre!”
–+–