The night was cool as water, with layers of flower shadows stretching across the ground. After dinner, Liu Qing stood beside the window, admiring the night outside through the clear glass while chatting at length with Cynthia on the phone. As the minutes ticked by, a sweet smile spread across his face. Only after saying good night did he hang up.
"Sleep well!" Liu Qing checked the time. It was nearly midnight. He spoke softly to the phone even though the call had ended, then drew the curtains and lay down on the bed. Before long, his breathing grew slow and even.
"Dr. Koron, target locked!" Inside the steel building on the island, streams of analytical data flickered across the central monitor. With a beep, all the data gave way to an aerial map of Sinnoh. The map narrowed and zoomed in, then narrowed and zoomed in again. Within a few breaths, the image finally stopped. Had Liu Qing been there, he would have recognized it at once as the shrine to Shaymin where he had paid his respects.
"Shaymin, hidden away in another dimension... I will have you! Cyrus, I'll show you that Kron is better suited to you and your ambitions than that stunted, loathsome old toad, Pluto! Not those pointless Dialga and Palkia you want to use to create a new world!" His eyes burning with desire and ambition, Dr. Kron issued a series of orders, and everyone inside the steel building sprang into action.
"Dr. Koron, all preparations are complete. We can depart at any time!" Mere minutes later, a man wearing a green wig and an elaborate uniform with a "G" emblazoned on the chest entered through the automatically opening steel door. He snapped his legs together and delivered his report in one breath, his