The silent corridor echoed with a grotesque, clown-like laugh.
"Where did my precious daughter run off to? Playing hide-and-seek with Daddy? Naughty little girl… If Daddy catches you, there will be punishment~"
Nidoking's thunderous roar followed, shaking the walls.
Armin ran.
He didn't know how long he had been sprinting through the endless halls of the estate, Amber clutched tightly in his arms.
Behind them—
Dr. Fuji followed at an unhurried pace.
This was his domain.
He knew every corridor, every dead end.
"Big brother…"
Amber's fingers slowly loosened around his shirt.
She glanced at the looming shadow drawing closer.
"Put me down. You go."
Armin frowned.
"Don't talk nonsense. I promised I'd get you out of here—"
He turned sharply—
"Damn it. Dead end."
Amber gently slipped from his arms and shook her head.
"It's okay… cough…"
Her face turned deathly pale.
Blood began trickling from her nose.
Then her ears.
Then the corners of her eyes.
Fuji froze.
The madness in his gaze shattered in an instant.
"No… no, that's impossible… This one should've lasted five months… It's only been three…"
Amber tried to speak, tried to reach for Armin's hand—
But her arm dropped weakly.
Armin caught her.
The light in her eyes dimmed.
She looked at him one last time.
Then her head tilted—
And she went limp.
At that same moment, the system interface appeared.
…
[Unique Hidden Quest "Amber" — Progress Updated!]
Objective: ???
Progress: 50%
…
Fuji let out a long, hollow breath.
He stepped forward as if to take Amber—
But Armin dodged him.
Their eyes met.
"What did you mean just now?"
Fuji's voice trembled, painfully lucid.
"As you've seen… Amber was cloned. With current technology, perfect human cloning is impossible. Each clone's lifespan… can only last about five months."
Armin's jaw tightened.
"So you used unstable technology for your own selfish desire… and watched them die one by one in agony?"
Fuji's eyes reddened.
"What else was I supposed to do?!"
Armin braced himself for another breakdown—
But instead—
Fuji collapsed to his knees.
He covered his face with both hands.
Like a father who had truly lost his daughter.
"When Amber first died… I heard her in my dreams every night."
"'Daddy… it's dark here… I'm scared… I want to go home.'"
His voice broke.
"I almost killed myself to join her. But… I'm weak. A failure of a father."
Silence.
Armin walked past him.
Now that Fuji's insanity had temporarily cooled down—
There was no time to waste.
The quest had not failed.
That meant—
Amber was still alive.
He left the estate with her in his arms.
He was going to the hospital.
-----
One hour later—
Unable to contact Fuji, Ariana arrived at the estate.
The moment she entered—
She saw the devastation in the hallway.
She frowned.
Ascending the stairs, she eventually found Fuji collapsed in a corner of the top floor.
She helped him up.
His eyes were empty.
"My Amber is dead… My daughter is dead…"
"What happened here?" Ariana asked coolly.
But Fuji only repeated the same sentence over and over, trapped in a nightmare.
With no answers, Ariana turned to the surveillance system.
In the monitoring room, she replayed footage from an hour earlier.
And there he was.
The handsome young man.
"Armin."
Her teeth clenched.
Because of him—
The Celadon Base had been exposed.
Countless research projects had been abandoned.
Hundreds of Rocket members arrested.
She shut off the footage and returned to the hallway—
But Fuji was gone.
Her brows furrowed.
She released a Growlithe, famous for its sharp sense of smell.
Following the trail—
They descended into the basement.
And there—
She saw Fuji kneeling, clutching the body of a girl.
Amber.
Ariana's eyes darkened.
She remembered Armin's words.
She stepped forward.
"Wake up. Amber died two years ago."
Fuji's eyes bulged.
"No! She's not dead! You're all lying to me!"
Ariana's patience snapped.
Her voice turned icy.
"Dr. Fuji. I'll say this one last time. Amber died two years ago. Whether you accept it or not—that's reality."
Fuji buried his face in Amber's blue hair.
Ariana pierced the final illusion.
"You know it too, don't you? You just refuse to admit it. Escaping reality is pathetic—but effective, I suppose."
She stared at him coldly.
"Fuji, after all these years… you're still as cowardly as ever. It's disgusting."
Fuji shook his head weakly.
"I'm not… I'm not weak…"
He gently laid Amber down.
Then—
Before Ariana could react—
He grabbed a surgical scalpel from the table.
And plunged it into his own heart.
The mad father—
In his final moment—
Smiled softly.
He lay down beside his daughter.
"Amber… Daddy's coming."
His eyes closed.
At last—
He found peace.
Ariana stood silently.
After a long while—
She pulled out her phone.
"Boss. The situation has changed."
-----
Meanwhile—
At the Celadon Police Station—
Lance returned triumphant.
But when Officer Jenny told him Armin had disappeared—
His expression turned serious immediately.
"Team Rocket took him?"
Jenny hesitated.
"…No. He left on his own. I was evacuating civilians and… he vanished."
Lance had never been so speechless in his life.
He thought for a long moment.
Still couldn't understand.
"So what is he trying to do? Does he have another mission?"
He muttered to himself.
"That shouldn't be possible. His mission was perfectly completed."
"Unless… he doesn't even want the reward?"
Helping the Kanto League destroy a Rocket base—
Crippling Team Rocket's power—
With merit like that, he could request almost anything from the League.
And they would grant it.
So why—
Had he run?
Far from the battlefield—
Armin held a fragile life in his arms.
And ran toward a promise made beneath the sun.