Jacob's figure vanished into the darkness.
Erick's words had only reinforced what Jacob had already been thinking.
There was no question about it — Erick was a capable leader. In little more than a month, he had seized control of the Qi Family, stabilized a crumbling situation, forged an alliance with the Yang Family, and secured the position of rotating chairman. He had cleared the first major hurdle with steadier hands than most would have managed.
If the Qi Family were given time to breathe, they would recover. And a recovered Qi Family would become a serious problem for Jacob down the line.
He stood still for a moment, turning it over in his mind. Then he picked up his phone and composed an encrypted message.
Sometimes there was no way around it. You had to be ruthless.
Especially once he had confirmed beyond any doubt that there was no path to reconciliation between himself and the Qi Family — he could not afford to hesitate. No illusions. No loose ends.
Strike fast, strike clean, and leave nothing behind to grow back.
That had always been Jacob's way. As long as there was even a sliver of common ground, he could smile, shake hands, even take a loss without complaint. But the moment he judged that two sides were beyond any possibility of peace, he moved without hesitation — the fastest, most decisive action available to him — and he did not stop until the problem was finished.
He sent the message and walked on into the night.
In Silkridge City, Davis felt his phone buzz. He glanced at the screen, read the message, and his expression shifted. He took a slow breath, set the phone down, and began to pack.
"Mom, Ruby — I'm heading out tomorrow," he said.
Ruby looked up from across the room, worry already forming in her eyes. "Brother... please be careful. Is something wrong?"
"It's work," Davis said simply. "Nothing for you to worry about."
In the Imperial Capital, Lucia was still awake.
Sylvia read the message, exhaled quietly, and let her expression settle into something calm and composed before she turned to the small girl beside her.
"Lucia," she said with a gentle smile, "you'll be sleeping on your own tomorrow night. I have somewhere I need to be."
Lucia tilted her head, her expression already suspicious. She had a good sense for these things — she always did. "Sister Sylvia, you're not being honest with me. Did Brother Jacob send you a message?"
Sylvia gave her a look. "Little ones shouldn't pry."
In Magic City, Raya was draped across the sofa, stretching like a drowsy Skitty in a patch of sunlight. Lately she had felt heavier than usual — sluggish in a way she couldn't quite shake, as though her body had simply decided it preferred stillness. She had been sleeping longer, moving less, content to lie in the warmth and let the days drift past.
"Layne," she said, without opening her eyes, "I'll need you and your brother to go to Black Dragon City right away. I'm not feeling up to it. You'll have to handle this one without me."
Layne glanced over at her. Raya's figure had always been striking — full and perfectly proportioned in a way that drew envy even from other women — but lately it seemed somehow more so, as though something had changed that she hadn't mentioned yet.
"If we both leave," Layne said, "who looks after you?"
Raya smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "I'll be fine. Jacob's people are capable enough, but they're young — full of energy, short on experience. For something like this, I'd rather have the two of you there. I'll only feel easy knowing you're handling it."
"But—"
"I have the Gigantamax Hatterene Jacob gave me," Raya said, her tone settling into something more serious. "Safety isn't the concern. The concern is Black Dragon City — it's complicated right now, and there are powerful people moving through it. This time, your job is to stay close to Jacob and manage the aftermath cleanly. That's why I'm asking you specifically." She opened her eyes and looked at Layne steadily. "Only you two can do it properly."
Layne held her gaze for a moment, then nodded. "Alright."
"Good." Raya sat up just enough to reach into a drawer nearby. "Take these masks. You'll need them."
It was already clear that this night would not be quiet — not in Black Dragon City, and perhaps not anywhere nearby.
Explosions rang out across the district, one after another, each one closer than the last.
No one could resist the Rainbow Wing. Not the promise of it, and certainly not the reality of it — the highest quality Rainbow Wing, genuine and confirmed. From the moment Warner had made his winning bid at the auction, he had become a target. Everyone in the room had seen it. Everyone outside had been told within minutes.
The undercurrents had begun moving immediately. In less than fifteen minutes after he left the hall, Warner had already been hit by several waves of attackers — each one opening with Heavenly King-level strength or above. Whoever had come for the Rainbow Wing tonight had not sent their second-stringers.
"Boom!"
Warner's Toxicroak drove back another Mismagius with a solid hit, but the relief on his face lasted less than a second before it was replaced by a grimmer expression than before.
He scanned the shadows around him. There was no way to know how many were still out there, waiting.
"When do our people arrive?" he asked the old man beside him.
The old man was perhaps sixty, white-haired, dressed in a long traditional coat, with a Mienshao standing close at his side. He shook his head slowly. "Not soon enough. Ordinary King-level Trainers won't be enough against this — we'd need Champion level at minimum, and they're not close."
"We can't wait." Warner's voice was flat and tight. He had run the numbers. If they stayed, they would be worn down eventually — too many opponents, too little time. "We break through separately. Split and move — it's the only way."
The old man considered it, then gave a slow nod, his expression grave. He understood the logic. Breaking through together meant abandoning the Rainbow Wing, and neither of them was willing to do that.
Who would be willing to give up the Rainbow Wing?
If he had known tonight would come to this, he would have brought his father. With his father present, no one here would have dared to make a move.
"Prepare yourselves," Warner said, a hard resolve settling into his eyes. "We fight through — everything we have."
They sent out their full teams together — every Pokémon they had. Even if most of them didn't make it through the night, the Rainbow Wing was worth it. With that single feather, the Chen Family could climb back to where they deserved to be.
"Break through — now!"
The words had barely left Warner's mouth when a sharp sound cut through the air above them. A sky-blue shape came streaking in from a distance, skimming low and fast, trailing faint arcs of water in its wake.
Pfft.
A Water Shuriken, precise and merciless, severed Warner's arm clean at the wrist. The box dropped with his hand still wrapped around it.
"Ahh!"
The pain hit him like a wall. He staggered, his face white, veins standing out on his neck and forehead. The sky-blue figure never slowed — it wove through the air with fluid, impossible speed, slipping past Toxicroak and Mienshao without touching either of them, scooping up the box, and vanishing into the dark.
"Greninja—?!"
"Champion-level Greninja!"
That broke the dam. Every watcher still hidden in the shadows threw off all pretense at once — if they didn't act now, the Rainbow Wing was gone for good.
In an instant the night lit up. Lightning arced between trees. Flames rolled across the ground. A storm of leaves shredded the air. Hydro Pump tore a furrow through the dirt. Attacks from a dozen different Trainers converged on the same point, all of them aimed at the retreating Greninja.
Warner stared at the chaos erupting around him and realized, with a sinking feeling, just how many people had been watching from the dark all along.
"Boom!"
Greninja vaulted through the trees, its body bending and shifting to avoid the barrage — but a massive pillar of ice came crashing in from an angle no one had anticipated, catching it at a point where there was nowhere left to dodge.
A deep, resonant cry tore through the night.
Baxcalibur.
"Protect — Greninja, now!" A woman's voice rang out from somewhere behind.
The light shield snapped into place just in time. Baxcalibur's Ice Pillar Drop met it dead-on and shattered against the barrier, ice fragments spraying outward in every direction.
And with that, the last of the observers in the dark abandoned their positions.
The real contest for the Rainbow Wing had begun.