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Despite the rough start to the year and the unpleasant encounter with Munkidori at Kitakami Center, Mingyou's daily life went on.

The Loyal Three were too weak to pose a threat, even with the Kitakami residents under their control. The only one he needed to watch out for was Ogre.

Five days passed in a blink. The Pokémon living at the Manor had all heard that the Loyal Three might launch a surprise attack, and they were on guard.

But not one of the Loyal Three showed up. None of the Kitakami residents came near the Manor either. They did not even dare ask Mingyou for compensation after the Shrine was destroyed.

Starting today, though, the shops would reopen. That included the waystation in Verdant Town and the Haunted House at the foot of the mountain below Kitakami Center. Contact with the controlled residents would be unavoidable.

To prevent any surprises, they had spent several days quietly observing the residents and had sent Carmine to speak with them. They seemed perfectly normal, enjoying the New Year and going about their lives.

That did not mean they were back to normal. Ogre simply had not given these "puppets" any orders to steer them toward some instinctive behavior, so they carried on with their routines beneath that eerie atmosphere.

With the Loyal Three still nowhere to be seen, Akari decided to take the initiative. She planned to work at Pelipper's Tailwind Waystation for a few days.

It stood beside the Community Center, in the busiest part of Verdant Town. That made it a convenient place to gather information, watch newly arrived tourists, and look for clues to how Ogre controlled people.

Mingyou could hardly refuse. He knew Akari was a girl with a mind of her own. Perhaps her only "flaw" was