In the banquet hall,
while everyone else was dancing, Li Wei and Lucario were putting on an aloof act.
If Lucario hadn't still been beside him, Li Wei would have felt like a lonely old man.
At Aipom's invitation, Sirfetch'd, Shaymin, and Diancie had gone off to play.
Diancie still asked Li Wei for permission first.
Li Wei nodded. "Go ahead. Stay safe."
Diancie lifted the hem of her dress and curtsied.
(I'm off to play.)
Shaymin had already followed Aipom. With such short legs, it needed a head start.
(Wait for me!)
Diancie skipped after the three Pokémon ahead.
(Quack! Wait for meeee!
Sirfetch'd waddled after them too.
Lucario looked at Li Wei.
(Do you need me to follow them?)
Li Wei considered it for a moment, then shook his head. "No need. They're inside the castle, so they should be fine."
With Lucario's aura, finding Diancie and the others would be easy anyway-or so Li Wei thought.
Aipom led Pikachu, Diancie, and Shaymin into another room.
"Kiki!"
"Let's play!"
"Na-na?"
(Play what?)
"Shaymin!"
(Hide-and-seek!)
As luck would have it, the extremely playful Mew loved hide-and-seek most of all. It and Shaymin were a match made in heaven.
Meanwhile, the adventurer Kidd had finished her preparations and begun her operation, coordinating with CEO Banks on the outside.
After Kidd opened a window and leaped out with a grappling hook, Meowth climbed out of a chimney and spotted her sneaking around.
As for Jessie and James, the two had already lost themselves in the dancing.
Jessie, especially, had completely forgotten what they had come here to do today. Her dance partner was already spinning.
Both physically and mentally...
There was someone else in the ballroom who was just as bored as Li Wei: Ash.
But unlike Li Wei, who