The Gravely Injured Looker

Xia You knew little about perfume, but as long as he listened to a professional's advice, he couldn't go wrong.

Erika took out a tester of the perfume she had chosen for Sabrina, rolled up her sleeve, and sprayed a little on her wrist.

"Come and have a smell. Isn't it lovely?"

After a glance at her fair, smooth arm, Xia You leaned down and sniffed gently. Sure enough, the fragrance was pleasant, light without being overpowering.

Along with the perfume, there was also a girl's natural scent, enough to make his heart beat faster.

It was different from Sabrina's scent, another reflection of the two girls' very different personalities.

Erika smiled. "You can't buy this perfume anywhere except our shop. It's our own unique blend."

Clearing his throat, Xia You said, "All right, I'll take these four perfumes. Please wrap them up for me."

After paying, Xia You said goodbye to Erika and left the perfume shop. He tried to contact Looker, but his calls wouldn't go through.

Strange. Hadn't he said we should meet once I reached Celadon City?

But remembering Looker's line of work and how secretive he was, Xia You didn't dwell on it.

Maybe he's on a mission.

And since Erika, the Gym Leader, was currently at the perfume shop, going to the Celadon Gym would be pointless. He wouldn't be able to challenge her there.

After a moment's thought, Xia You turned and headed for the Celadon Game Corner.

Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well kill some time there.

The Celadon Game Corner was in the southeastern part of the city. When Xia You finally saw it for himself, he discovered that it was far larger than its counterpart in the games. It had not only hotels and restaurants, but even a movie theater and several dance halls!

People streamed in and out of the Game Corner, from groups of young people to plenty of middle-aged visitors. Inside, claw machines, arcade machines, slot machines, dance machines, balloon-shooting games, and pachinko machines offered all kinds of entertainment. The place looked bustling.

At the counter, he bought a dozen or so game tokens. Just as he was about to approach a claw machine, a nearby stall caught his eye.

The stall's owner was an ordinary middle-aged man, but his wares were rows of Pokémon masks in all sorts of designs.

"How much is that mask?"

Xia You pointed to a half-face Gengar mask.

The upper part looked just like Gengar's broad, deep-purple face and could conceal most of the wearer's features. A section was missing from the bottom, leaving the wearer's mouth exposed.

"You've got a good eye," the stall owner said. "That mask is the pride of my stall. Not only is it very sturdy, but the eye sections are made of glass, so it won't obstruct your vision at all. It normally sells for 300, but it's on special today. I'll let you have it for just 250."

"That number..." Xia You frowned and bargained. "Will you take 100?"

"You must be joking. Two hundred and fifty is already a very low price." The stall owner looked utterly sincere, as though he would never budge.

Xia You shook his head slightly and resorted to his old trick, walking away without looking back. Seeing this, the stall owner rushed over and pulled him back.

"All right, all right! I feel we were meant to meet. Why don't you raise your offer a little? How about 150?"

Xia You chuckled inwardly. This trick really did work every time.

His expression remained unmoved, however, and he merely took out a hundred-dollar bill. The stall owner sighed, but his hands moved quickly as he took the money and shoved the mask into Xia You's hands.

He moved so fast that Xia You couldn't help wondering whether even a hundred had been too much...

After leaving the stall, Xia You put the Gengar mask safely away in his backpack.

Ever since revealing Zapdos at Silph Co., Xia You had clearly sensed how easily showing his real face could invite unnecessary trouble. Though simple, this mask could effectively conceal his identity and greatly reduce the chances of his being exposed.

He took out a token and dropped it into a claw machine. As he focused intently on the game, several pairs of eyes watched him from outside the Game Corner.

"Hey, are we really going to attack him?" James asked quietly, hiding in a phone booth. Naturally, his inseparable companions, Jessie and Meowth, were beside him.

"Of course. Those are the boss's orders." Jessie nodded. "Besides, isn't he the whole reason we left the twerp and his Pikachu behind and rushed all the way back to Celadon City?"

"But..." James hesitated. "He's really nice. Didn't he help us escape from the bottom of the sea last time? Wouldn't doing this make us ungrateful?"

"You idiot! We're villains! How can you say something like that?" Meowth jumped up and raked James's face with his claws.

"Ow! My face!" James fell over in pain, but soon scrambled back up. "But he's right at the entrance to our Secret Base. Are we really going to make our move here?"

"Of course we can't do it here!" As the trio's true leader, Jessie made the decision. "We'll wait until he leaves the arcade, then find a chance to strike!"

After enjoying himself at the Game Corner, Xia You was about to leave with two plush toys as his spoils when he suddenly received a message.

It was from Looker, but apart from a location pin, there wasn't a single word.

What does this mean? Does he want to meet there?

Wary, Xia You followed the location toward the outskirts of the city, stopping only when he reached a cluster of warehouses beside the freight railway station.

The place was silent, without a soul in sight. Apart from the occasional passing freight train, there was no other sound.

"Haunter, check the area. Kirlia, stay alert."

After giving those quiet instructions, Xia You put on the mask he had just bought.

Who would've thought a mask I only just bought would come in handy so soon!

Before long, Haunter returned and shook his head at Xia You.

"There's no ambush here, but there's a gravely injured person in that warehouse up ahead!"

A gravely injured person?

Xia You paused. Knowing that Haunter had never met Looker and didn't know what he looked like, he nodded and followed Haunter's directions, soon arriving at the entrance to a damaged warehouse.

The warehouse entrance had been damaged, and its iron door stood ajar. To his surprise, a trail of blood stretched from farther away right up to the door and continued inside.

The blood was glaringly conspicuous, and its heavy metallic odor seemed to be telling a story of its own.