“…Whew.”
Greninja forced itself to stand tall, looking at the ruins ahead, its mind still somewhat hazy.
Thanks to Slowpoke’s Heal Pulse, it had managed to catch its breath and use Water Shuriken just in time to rescue everyone.
Though wary of humans, it was not unreasonable.
If these two hadn’t stepped in, it would have died long ago, never holding out until now.
“Thank goodness…”
Lacey gently patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief alongside Whimsicott.
The rubble blocked the passage ahead, cutting off the Pokemon Hunter on the other side.
This was undoubtedly the best chance to escape.
“Let’s get out of here quickly.
She can’t chase us right now.”
“No, you go first.” Mashiro shook his head slightly, his solemn gaze falling on Greninja, who remained standing before the ruins.
Hearing this, Lacey grew anxious.
“You want to fight them?
No!
That’s far too dangerous!”
The ordeal just now had made her realize a great deal.
Not everything could be solved with a Pokemon battle.
Facing ruthless criminals like this, even a single mistake could cost a life.
“I can’t let you go back there!”
Lacey hurried in front of Mashiro, raising her hands to form a strict X across her chest with a serious expression.
“Dealing with Pokemon Hunters is the police’s job!
We’re just students; it’s not worth risking our lives for this.
Besides, Greninja has already been rescued.
The priority right now is getting out of the sewer.”
“Furthermore…
you don’t even have a single Pokemon on you right now.
How are you going to fight a Pokemon Hunter?”
She wasn’t blindly trying to stop Mashiro from being reckless; it was a rational consideration.
If he genuinely possessed the strength to defeat a hunter on his own, she wouldn’t object so fiercely.
“I heard you’re the daughter of the Driftveil Gym Leader?
In that sense, our backgrounds are quite similar.” Mashiro didn’t answer directly, shifting the topic instead.
“But in the end, you’re still just a kid studying at school who hasn’t stepped into the real world yet.”
“A…
a kid?”
Lacey froze slightly, not quite grasping what he meant by that, but instinctively shielded her chest.
Mashiro didn’t explain.
He simply walked past her and looked toward Greninja.
“You still know far too little about Pokemon.
We can turn around and leave, but what about it?
Do you think it’ll come with us?”
“That…”
Lacey was rendered speechless.
Looking at the figure standing before the ruins as if waiting for something, she fell silent.
Indeed, she had overlooked the Pokemon’s own wishes.
Given this Greninja’s personality, it would never leave with them.
Even if it escaped now, it would only continue to be hunted.
And once the hunters lost their target, they would take the opportunity to flee, making it like finding a needle in a haystack to track them down later.
“I…”
Lacey stammered, realizing she had oversimplified things.
Perhaps it was the fear of Pokemon Hunters in her heart that made her instinctively avoid these deeper issues.
Mashiro understood her concerns and naturally held no grudge against her, merely waving his hand.
“I’ve already called the police.
If you meet them outside, you can help guide the way.
Also, don’t worry about me too much.
To tell you the truth, I lied to you earlier.”
“Huh?”
“I have other Pokemon.
Really strong ones.”
“Really?”
“When have I ever lied to you?”
Lacey: “…”
*This guy is truly unbelievable.*
Looking at Mashiro’s confident expression, Lacey bit her lower lip.
In the end, she chose to trust him, turned around, and left alone…
Once Lacey’s figure vanished from sight, Mashiro finally let out a sigh of relief.
He actually had a pretty good impression of the girl, just feeling that she was overly earnest and lacked practical combat experience.
“Zygui~”
Squishy poked its head out from his pocket, letting out a soft cry.
Mashiro nodded, understanding that it was ready to trigger Power Construct.
Turning to Greninja, he asked with concern, “Can you still fight in your current state?”
“Kouga!”
Greninja crossed its arms, answering with a sharp glance.
It hadn’t forgotten that this human had once tried to catch it with a Poke Ball, but he was indeed decent enough.
*Frog-bro sure is cold and aloof…*
Looking at the glaring “1” point in the affection bar on the status panel, Mashiro sighed helplessly.
Affection was way too hard to farm; better resolve the immediate problem first.
*Rumble!*
The ruins were violently shoved open by a massive claw covered in a hard, purplish-black carapace.
A giant Drapion radiating a ferocious aura stood revealed.
“Heh heh heh, still alive?”
Hunter Z reappeared, having put her hood back on, sneering coldly.
Sweeping her eyes over the surroundings without seeing Lacey, she mocked, “Where’s your little girlfriend?
Don’t tell me she abandoned you and ran off on her own?”
“What a pity…
I wanted to take good care of that cute little face of hers.”
“Don’t spread rumors, though she really is quite cute,” Mashiro said, suddenly waving his hand and shouting, “Now!”
“Zygui!”
Squishy’s eyes widened as it instantly leaped out of his pocket.
Trying hard to recall the feeling of releasing power that night, the core inside its body began to glow with a teal light.
At that exact moment, across Lumiose City—whether atop skyscrapers or in quiet street alleys—numerous teal Zygarde Cells raised their heads simultaneously, as if receiving a summons.
However, at the exact same instant…
Atop Prism Tower in the central plaza, a black figure perched on the summit sensed something unusual.
It plunged from the high sky like lightning, its eyes flashing with white hexagonal light.
Raising its emerald-green left forepaw, it mercilessly crushed a teal cell beneath its foot.
A strange pulse of energy radiated outward with it as the center.
The teal cell was gradually dyed emerald green, rapidly spreading to the cells throughout the entire city and surrounding areas.
“Dammit, I finally caught you!”
Zygarde grinned.
It wasn’t in vain that it had rushed all the way from Terminus Cave, assuming its 10% Forme to track the trail.
Sure enough, it had discovered abnormal cell fluctuations.
Although no issues were found other than the color change, caution dictated that it must stop this unknown force.
As for what came next—follow the trail to find the mastermind and give them a thorough beating…
“Heh heh heh~”
Zygarde uttered a strange chuckle, then leaped up, its figure vanishing in an instant among the sea of skyscrapers in Lumiose City…
Meanwhile, in the sewers.
Mashiro watched dumbfounded as only a few teal Zygarde Cells nearest to the sewer flew in, merging into Squishy’s body.
Surrounded by teal light and hexagonal crystals, Squishy actually transformed mid-air into a white longsword covered in hexagonal patterns, resembling a Honedge in shape.
“???”
What on earth was going on?
[Zygarde (Shiny / 3% Forme / Anomalous Adult)]
Looking at Squishy’s information on the status panel, Mashiro was completely stunned.
Equally stunned was Hunter Z.
The commotion just now had indeed startled her, but a greedy smile quickly crept onto her face.
“What a peculiar thing…
It can actually transform into a Honedge?
Is it a new Pokemon unrecorded in the Pokedex, or some regional variant Ditto?
It’ll probably fetch a good price!”
Before her voice had even faded while her attention was drawn to Squishy, Greninja’s figure flickered like a phantom right in front of her, launching a Night Slash straight for her face!