“Are you an anti-fan sent by Game Freak or something?!”
“Our Greninja has already suffered so much, and you’re still persecuting him!
Do you even have a conscience?!”
[This one really isn’t.]
“…One of these days, I’m going to drag you out and beat you up!”
Mishiro made a firm vow in his heart.
He glanced at the archive quest without giving it much thought.
There was no time limit and no side objectives—it was clearly just a standard quest.
After a moment’s reflection, he decided he couldn’t wait any longer.
Just as he was about to vault over the guardrail and jump down, a sudden flurry of hasty footsteps echoed from ahead, splashing messily through the water.
Mishiro flinched.
He quickly shut off his Rotom Phone’s light, took a step back, and melted completely into the shadows.
In the distance, four hooded figures whose faces were obscured approached, leading a ferocious Mightyena by a leash and shining flashlights through the gloom.
Though he didn’t recognize them, Mishiro instantly guessed who they were.
Who else would form a group down in the sewers at a time like this besides Pokémon Hunters?
*Damn it!*
Mishiro gritted his teeth, his expression turning grim.
He began to regret hesitating earlier instead of taking Greninja with him immediately.
The enemy outnumbered his expectations, making a safe evacuation with Greninja drastically harder.
The only silver lining was that he had already called the police while in the taxi, claiming Pokémon Hunters were spotted in the outskirts.
True or false, the police would dispatch officers to investigate.
But right now, he needed time.
Thanks to the complex stench of the sewer, even the Mightyena failed to catch Mishiro’s scent.
When Hunter Z and her group swept their flashlights over Greninja lying in the filthy water, excitement broke across their faces.
“Finally found it!
I told you it had to have run into the sewer!”
“The Boss really is brilliant!”
“But Greninja looks like it’s on its last legs…”
“Doesn’t matter,” Hunter Z waved a hand dismissively, her tone nonchalant.
“This job is to turn this Greninja into a specimen.
Dead is actually better.”
Hearing this, a subordinate behind her showed a flash of reluctance and lowered his voice.
“Isn’t that a bit cruel?
I still think…”
“What’s it got to do with us?
Those rich big shots love displaying rare stuff like this at home as collectibles!” Hunter Z was clearly used to her minion’s grumbling and continued, “A Pokémon Hunter’s real moneymaker has never been selling rare Pokémon anyway.
Selling this stuff isn’t half as lucrative as Rare Candies.
A fifty-gram batch of ninety-nine-point-one percent pure blue ice Rare Candy goes for enough to buy ten Dratini.”
“Don’t be surprised.
Stay in this racket long enough and you’ll learn that the weirdest private commissions from wealthy patrons are always the most profitable.
I once knew a boss who wanted a Shiny female Machamp—specifically one that was thoroughly broken in…
Yeah, the kind of stuff even grown-ups couldn’t stomach.”
Hunter Z’s speech was a real eye-opener for her subordinates.
Hiding in the shadows, Mishiro was equally stunned.
This was his first time hearing the dirty secrets of Pokémon Hunters.
A Shiny female Machamp…
What kind of warped taste did someone have to have for that?!
*No, I can’t keep listening to this.*
Mishiro shook his head hard.
He felt like if he listened any longer, he wouldn’t be able to stomach dinner tonight.
Besides, these guys were clearly waiting on purpose for Greninja to bleed out.
He had to act now!
“Drill Run!!!”
Seizing the moment when they were distracted talking, Mishiro threw his arm forward.
Excadrill, which had been poised in the shadows, burst forth instantly.
Its massive drill crashed down, sending the Mightyena flying and heavily injuring it in a single blow!
“Who’s there?!”
Seeing Mightyena hit the ground, Hunter Z finally snapped to attention.
By then, Mishiro’s figure had already materialized nearby, hurling a Poké Ball straight at Greninja with precise aim.
The Pokémon Hunters gasped in shock.
Were they seriously getting poached?!
Taking advantage of their stupor, Mishiro snatched up the still-wobbling Poké Ball, turned on his heel without hesitation, and bolted.
Earlier, he had worried Greninja was too heavily injured to risk capturing before getting medical aid, but in this desperate situation, he couldn’t afford to care.
Yet before he could take more than a few steps with the hot potato, the Poké Ball suddenly popped open, and Greninja’s heavily wounded body reappeared in midair.
To everyone’s utter surprise, the capture had failed.
“Hey!
You’ve got to be kidding me!” Mishiro almost cried.
*It failed at one HP?!*
Seeing this, Hunter Z scoffed, her anger turning into a sneer.
“Brat!!!”
“Old hag!!!” Mishiro fired right back without hesitation.
That struck a nerve.
Hunter Z blew her top—she knew what kind of criminal she was, but as a woman, age was an absolute taboo!
Without another word, she whipped out a Poké Ball.
A formidable Hydreigon appeared inside the sewer, its massive body clogging nearly half the width of the pipe.
If the battle caused too much structural damage, they would be buried themselves.
“I’ll chase the brat!
You guys handle the Excadrill.
Catch it alive if you can—even tiny scraps are still meat!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Orders issued, Hunter Z immediately fell in behind Hydreigon and gave chase.
The remaining three subordinates released their own Pokémon to intercept Excadrill.
“Gacha…”
Staring down the three small fry before it, Excadrill wasn’t overly nervous, nor was it worried about Mishiro.
After all, its trainer’s knack for running away was unmatched—a fact Excadrill had verified firsthand, seeing him remain lively even after eating ten Earth Powers to the face.
Such was its absolute confidence in its trainer!
Meanwhile, Mishiro was sprinting for all he was worth with the seemingly unconscious Greninja slung over his back.
Although Hydreigon possessed terrifying pressure, it was heavily constrained by the intricate sewer tunnels.
Even so, the gap between them was rapidly closing.
“Frog Bro, please don’t sabotage me here!”
Mishiro knew full well that Greninja was definitely still conscious; otherwise, it wouldn’t have resisted being caught in the Poké Ball.
But communicating right now was clearly impossible.
The wild Pokémon was far too guarded against humans, and unless he could erase that distrust, it wouldn’t listen.
“Brat!
Let’s see where you run now!”
Behind them, Hunter Z noticed the tunnel ahead turned into a straight pipe with zero cover or side turns to evade attacks.
She raised her hand without hesitation.
“Dark Pulse!”
“Roar—!”
Hydreigon bellowed, causing the entire sewer to violently tremor.
It raised its head-like arms, condensing dark energy before itself, and unleashed a terrifying spiraling beam of dark force.
Glancing back at the incoming attack, Mishiro shuddered.
He whipped around instantly, throwing his body over Greninja to shield it.
But right at that critical instant, a vaguely familiar female voice rang out from behind him.
“Do you always love coming out to play the hero all by yourself?
I don’t think that’s a good habit—though I have to admit, it is pretty cool.”
“Huh?”
Mishiro instinctively turned his head, only to see a Prankster Whimsicott zip past him.
It hurled a condensed sphere of pink moonlight forward, colliding head-on with Hydreigon’s Dark Pulse!
At the same time, Mishiro finally got a clear look at Whimsicott’s trainer—a girl wearing a cute pink jacket and athletic pants designed for easy movement, boasting violet short hair and a serious, focused expression on her adorable face.
It was Lacey, the girl he had gotten into a slight clash with yesterday!
“!!!”
Just as Mishiro was stunned as to why it was her, the energy from Dark Pulse and Moonblast colliding exploded with a deafening boom inside the enclosed pipe.
The resulting shockwave blew Mishiro and Greninja backward in an instant, slamming straight into Lacey just as she was about to speak further.