–+–
Carmine was busy editing a text message, getting ready to set Kieran into motion, when the corner of her eye caught a flash of pinkish-purple light.
The broken statues of the Loyal Three began to pour forth a massive, radiant glow, and the ground started to tremble.
Once the energy reached its threshold, a pillar of light shot straight into the sky.
Carmine was forced to look away, the brilliance too intense to face head-on.
“Wha—what on earth is going on?!”
Startled, Carmine’s slip into the Kitakami dialect was purely subconscious.
Fortunately, the light pillar and the earthquake didn’t last long.
Even so, witnessing such a spectacle, Carmine felt she didn’t need to send that message to Kieran anymore.
Forget the Kitakami Community Center—the whole region must be able to see this!
Yet, as the dust from the tremor settled, several distinct cries rang out.
Carmine peeked again, and her eyes widened.
Three Pokémon had appeared before her: a sturdy, bipedal dog-like Pokémon with black and green patterns; a lean, purple-faced monkey; and a pheasant of exquisite, otherworldly beauty.
Dog, monkey, pheasant…
Carmine’s face drained of color.
She instantly realized the true identities of the three Pokémon standing before her.
“Okidogi!”
The leading dog saw the look of utter disbelief on Carmine’s face and curled its lip into a smirk.
“Munkidori.”
“Fezandipiti.”
The monkey and the pheasant chimed in with their own shrill cries.
Then, ignoring Carmine entirely, they huddled together, whispering to one another in hushed, conspiratorial tones.
Using this brief gap, Carmine tried to steady her racing heart.
Though she was trembling, she forced herself to think.
There was no doubt about it: these three were the very heroes of Kitakami legend—the Loyal Three!
The sturdy Okidogi, the clever Munkidori, and the beautiful Fezandipiti.
…But weren’t the Loyal Three supposed to have been killed by Ogerpon?
Regardless of how distorted the legends had become compared to the truth, every single version of the story ended with the Loyal Three meeting their demise at the hands of the “wicked” oni.
And yet, here they were, alive and standing right in front of her.
Carmine felt a splitting headache coming on; she couldn’t wrap her head around it.
They couldn’t have just come back to life, could they?
The Loyal Three left Carmine to her own devices, chattering for a long while before suddenly turning and sprinting down the mountain, paying the shattered statues no mind.
“Hey?! New chapters come out on g.com first.
Wait up!”
Carmine’s shouts didn’t stop them.
Glancing at the direction they were headed, she realized immediately that they were bound for the Kitakami Center.
The next moment, her phone buzzed in her hand.
“Sis!” Kieran’s voice was trembling.
“I just saw a huge commotion on your end.
What exactly is going on…”
“Don’t worry about that for now!”
There was no time for a long explanation; Carmine glossed over the details and cut straight to the point.
“The Loyal Three just came back to life!
I just saw them heading toward the Kitakami Center.
I’m afraid they’re going for the masks.
Have you seen them?”
“Wha—Sis, I’ve never even heard of the Loyal Three coming back to life before!”
“I don’t get it either, that’s why I told you not to worry about it!
So, are they there?
Do you see them?”
“There’s nothing here but—”
Before he could finish, the voice on the other end cut off abruptly.
“Hello?
Kieran?
Are you still there?!”
“Sis…” Kieran’s voice sounded hollow with disbelief.
“I think…
I think I really do see them.”
–+–
Kitakami, Kitakami Center.
Kieran stood in a corner, clutching his phone, watching as three Pokémon—each with a distinct form that matched the village legends perfectly—flew straight into the center of the plaza.
The adults were struck with terror, but upon recognizing the figures, the village administrator was the first to step forward, bowing in a show of reverence.
Kieran watched, shivering, as the Loyal Three seemed taken aback at first, but upon seeing the humans treating them with such respect—and even watching as someone ran into a building to retrieve the three masks—they all broke into wicked, malicious grins.
On the other end of the line, Carmine kept urging him for answers, but witnessing this unfolding scene, Kieran was too stunned to speak.
It wasn’t until a long while later, after the Loyal Three had taken the masks and headed toward Oni Mountain, that Kieran finally managed to tremble out a report to his sister.
Johto Region, Goldenrod City.
Sera frowned, watching the enemies Ogerpon was facing in her simulator.
[Okidogi has initiated an attack on Ogerpon!]
[Munkidori has initiated an attack on Ogerpon!]
While Sera had been on the train, the system had triggered a random event.
As soon as she opened the simulator, she was greeted by these three Pokémon she had never seen before.
The quest hints she had unlocked earlier now featured three arrows pointing directly at the three new arrivals on the screen.
…Does this mean the masks are with them?
The situation was delicate.
At first, Ogerpon had been fighting three-on-one, the situation dire and her defenses failing.
But the moment Sera logged in, she seemed to draw upon new strength, swinging her Ivy Cudgel to force the three Pokémon back.
After that strike, exclamation marks appeared over the heads of the three Pokémon in Sera’s view.
They backed away cautiously, and for a moment, a stalemate formed.
The flash of anger Sera had felt when she first saw them ganging up on Ogerpon began to fade, and she started to think rationally.
The masks that belonged to Ogerpon were now, for some reason, in the possession of these sudden arrivals.
And these Pokémon didn’t seem like total strangers to Ogerpon—they were wary of her Ivy Cudgel, which proved they knew exactly how dangerous she could be.
With that thought, Sera looked at their names again: Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti.
The names sounded like a matched set, and the dog-monkey-pheasant combination felt strangely familiar.
Coupled with the traits Ogerpon had shown…
If you added a Momotaro to the mix, wasn’t this just the classic folklore from her past life?
Sera’s brow furrowed even deeper.
A wicked oni is defeated by Momotaro…
is that why Ogerpon is being surrounded?
Even though she hadn’t seen a Pokémon representing Momotaro yet, Sera had a rough grasp of the situation.
The system quests had always referred to Ogerpon as a “wicked oni.” Perhaps, in the past, she really had done things that made people fear her.
But Sera didn’t care.
She only knew what Ogerpon meant to her, and she cherished the innocence the Pokémon had shown her, along with the deep trust they shared.
At that moment, the system prompt chimed in.
–+–
[Urgent Event: Revenge]
[The hatred of years past resurfaces.
The villains who once stole the masks have returned.
Now, they are called the heroes who protected the village.
Justice is irrelevant—defeat them alongside Ogerpon.]
[Quest Goal: Defeat the Loyal Three]
[Quest Reward: Effort Values x20, Raising Points x100, Masks x3]
–+–