Mishiro withdrew his gaze from the direction of Prism Tower and shook his head gently.
Although the Ultimate Weapon possessed terrifying power, without the key to activate it, it was nothing more than an energy-collecting device, posing no real threat.
After all, Team Flare in this world had never activated the Ultimate Weapon, so its defense protocols wouldn’t be triggered.
Besides, he couldn’t even be sure if Team Flare existed in this world at all—in the dozen or so years he had lived here, he had never once heard of the organization.
Squishy pulled its gaze back as well.
Though instinct told it there was something noteworthy over there, to its current self, nothing was more important than digging into a good meal…
White Gym was situated on Winter Way in the Jaune District of Lumiose City, nestled within a grassy park.
With no other buildings around, anyone wanting to shop had to cross the park to the street on the other side.
The Gym’s name stemmed from the imagery of “a rural town untouched by any color, surrounded by pure, natural freshness”—a fitting description of Littleroot Town in the Hoenn region, his parents’ hometown.
Even Mishiro’s own name had been taken from it.
Though he had lived in Lumiose City ever since he was born, he was strangely familiar with that hometown he had never seen in person, to the point where he could even hum its background music.
As he stepped out of the park, the streets on either side gradually grew livelier.
Squishy watched curiously as Pokémon strolled past alongside their Trainers, seemingly fascinated by this unique relationship.
Though it had witnessed countless similar scenes throughout its long eras of oversight, come rain or shine, this was the first time it truly contemplated the meaning of such a bond.
With its current level of intelligence, however, it couldn’t fully grasp it yet.
Mishiro didn’t pay much attention to Squishy at the moment, heading instead toward his usual convenience store while occasionally scanning his surroundings.
He realized that despite living in this city for over a decade, his knowledge of Lumiose City was actually inferior to what he had learned from playing games in his previous life.
Thanks to his parents’ overprotectiveness and his own studious nature, he had never been fond of going out.
But he had never forgotten the repeated warnings of his parents and teachers: never go out at night without a Pokémon by your side.
After integrating the memories of his two lives, he finally understood why—public order in Lumiose City was utterly chaotic.
If daytime was a world where corporate drones worked themselves to the bone so their bosses could live in luxury with a Gardevoir on each arm, then nighttime was a stage where gangs unleashed their true natures and ran wild, with Pokémon battles capable of breaking out on the streets at any moment.
While that might sound a bit exaggerated, it was surprisingly close to Lumiose City’s current reality.
He recalled that in the setting of *Pokémon Legends: Z-A*, the activation of the Ultimate Weapon by Team Flare caused over half of Lumiose City’s residents to move away.
Innumerable shops closed down, tourism ground to a halt, and property values plummeted, taking years to recover.
Yet ironically, that crisis had indirectly brought the city’s order back on track.
To revitalize Lumiose City, an urban redevelopment plan was launched, establishing a Battle Zone to attract tourists through Summit Battles—though its true motives were hardly that simple.
Even so, this sparked a bold idea in Mishiro’s mind: could he turn Lumiose City’s unique situation into a signature feature of his Gym?
For instance, opening only at night to cater to a specific crowd, or even using all of Lumiose City as the battleground for Gym challenges, much like the Summit Battles.
“But the difficulty is too high…
It’s practically impossible for me right now.”
“And I haven’t heard of my parents having any connections who could help.
How on earth did they manage to open a Gym in Lumiose City where every square inch of land is worth a fortune?”
Mishiro agonized over these questions while feeling helpless about how he had focused solely on studying and neglected social skills during his amnesia.
In the Pokémon world, social connections were everything.
Though he had a few friends at school, none were close.
“Hey, kid!”
A sudden voice dragged Mishiro’s thoughts back to reality.
He reflexively looked up to see three flamboyantly dressed individuals with their Pokémon blocking his path ahead.
Two of the men sported outrageous punk hairstyles and heavy-metal attire.
The remaining girl, with smoky eye makeup and twin tails, wore a similar punk outfit, looking every bit like a street delinquent.
“Can I help you?”
Mishiro asked, puzzled.
As far as he could remember, he didn’t know these people.
The moment he spoke, the man accompanied by a Pancham walked over like an old friend, slung an arm around his shoulders, patted him, and laughed.
“The name’s Aibel!
See, now we know each other, don’t we?
Hahaha!”
Mishiro: “???”
Squishy peered at them with a look of curiosity as well.
At that moment, the delinquent girl with a Vullaby put her hands on her hips and snorted softly.
“We’ve had our eyes on you for a while now, cutie~ You live all by yourself in that closed Gym inside the park, right?
We originally planned to wait a few days until the Boss got back before coming to find you, but who knew we’d bump into you while grabbing late-night snacks tonight?”
The remaining man with a Sandile folded his arms, smiling just as broadly.
“Meeting like this is fate!
Since we ran into each other tonight, as friends, lending us that Gym as a hideout shouldn’t be a problem, right?
It’s closed down anyway.”
Hearing this, Mishiro’s face darkened slightly before quickly returning to normal.
He hadn’t expected someone to target his Gym.
But right now it was three against one, and they had three Pokémon.
He stood no chance in a fight.
Pausing for a moment, he looked at them and asked, “So who are you guys, anyway?”
“Lumiose Gang, Gemma!”
“Lumiose Gang, Malm!”
“Fuck!”
Hearing the introductions of the two beside Aibel, Mishiro almost lost his composure.
Damn it, what awful luck!
To run right into mobsters looking for trouble the moment he stepped out.
Gangsters he hadn’t seen in over a decade of living here had just popped up out of nowhere.
Though “Lumiose Gang”…
hadn’t he heard that name somewhere before?
Mishiro tried hard to recall.
Inside his pocket, Squishy seemed to sense something and looked down.
The three Pokémon belonging to the Lumiose Gang members also sensed something amiss and lowered their heads in unison.
“What’s wrong, Sandile?”
Malm noticed the anomaly and asked in confusion.
The moment the words left his mouth, a violent tremor suddenly surged through the ground beneath the street.
The cobblestone pavement shattered instantly, sending the caught-off-guard Aibel and Gemma stumbling to the ground.
Interrupted in his thoughts, Mishiro reacted with lightning speed, instantly leaping backward to put distance between them the moment Aibel fell.
The next second, accompanied by the roaring whine of a high-speed rotating drill, the ground where he had been standing exploded!
A massive, dark-brown mole burst through the soil, raising steel claws as sharp as blades as it slammed onto the ground.
The prominent steel blade on its head glinted with a sharp, chilly gleam under the streetlights.
“Holy shit!!!”
The instant Mishiro laid eyes on the oversized rodent, every hair on his body stood on end.
How could he not recognize this guy?
It was the exact Excadrill with a scar on its nose that had “miraculously cured” his amnesia earlier!
Without a second thought, he turned and sprinted.
He had no idea how he had offended this Excadrill.
Was taking ten Earth Powers not enough that the creature actually dug all the way here to hunt him down?
Seeing Mishiro run without looking back, the Excadrill flew into a rage and gave chase relentlessly.
The Lumiose Gang trio, who had been knocked off their feet, were equally furious.
They jumped up and yelled:
“Where’d this giant rat come from?
Absolutely no honor!
Even we wouldn’t stoop to sneak attacks like that!”
With that, the three immediately commanded their Pokémon to attack.
But the Excadrill merely flashed a sharp glare.
The moment the three Pokémon clustered together, it swung its razor-sharp blades, landing a direct Crush Claw!
Overwhelmed by sheer stat disparity, all three Pokémon were wiped out in an instant.
“That’s gotta be a cheat code!”
Seeing Pancham and the others lying on the ground with swirling eyes, Aibel and his group clutched each other in terror, hastily recalled their fainted Pokémon, and sprinted after Mishiro without hesitation.
“Help!
Wait for us!”
“Can’t you guys run in a different direction?!”
Mishiro glanced back and saw the Excadrill barreling toward him right behind the trio, almost bursting into a torrent of curses.
Passersby on the street scrambled to the sides in panic at the sight.
One Trainer tried to have his Pikachu step in to help, but the poor Pikachu instantly turned into a speed bump for the Excadrill.
Seeing its power, other Trainers weren’t willing to let their own Pokémon get hurt, but they chose to call the police and await law enforcement.
The Excadrill chased the four straight into the park, closing the distance bit by bit.
Earth Powers fired off from time to time, triggering thunderous booms throughout the park.
Mishiro, who hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries, finally ran out of stamina.
Gasping heavily for air, he cupped a hand over Squishy at his chest to keep the little creature from falling out.
“I say, why are you so obsessed with chasing me?!
What did I do to piss you off?!
Besides, you’re a Steel-type!
Even if my physical attack stat were high enough to stab you with a shovel, it’d be Steel against Steel—it’s not very effective, it’d do single-digit damage!
If I disturbed your sleep while digging up Ground-dragons, I apologize, okay?!”
He finally couldn’t run anymore and chose to yield.
However, the Excadrill had no intention of letting him off.
On the contrary, hearing him bring up the matter only made it angrier.
It pointed at the wound on its pink nose—the softest and most prized part of its body.
A hard shovel jab to the nose hurt no less than a direct strike to its core—that was a critical hit!
Mishiro was struck speechless, hastily summoning every last bit of energy to speed up again.
He finally understood how the wound on Excadrill’s nose had gotten there in the first place.
Finally getting the full picture, the Lumiose Gang trio couldn’t help screaming, “Why the hell did you go and mess with it for no reason?!”
“Because I dug up the wrong Ground-dragon!”
“Isn’t Excadrill a Ground-dragon?!”
“Stop slandering my favorite Ground-Dragon!”
As soon as Mishiro spoke, screams echoed from the three behind him.
An Earth Power from Excadrill blasted them into the air, sending them rolling across the grass.
“That’s what Ground-Dragon haters get.”
“Zyg…
Zygue~”
Squishy let out an unfamiliar squeak, seemingly agreeing whole-heartedly with his statement.
With the tightly shut doors of the Gym right before him, Mishiro skidded to a halt.
In his frantic sprinting, he had run straight into a dead end.
Unless he let this Excadrill barge into his home and wreck the place—something he could never allow.
Noticing that Mishiro had nowhere left to run, the Excadrill gradually slowed its pace and began gathering energy, preparing to launch an Earth Power to blow this human away.
Mishiro turned around and stared at the Excadrill charging up its Earth Power, unable to resist deadpanning: “Do you even know how to play Pokémon?!
Why is a physical attacker using Earth Power?
It’s not like you’re a Pyroar!”
“Grah?”
The Excadrill froze slightly.
*Ah—thanks for the reminder!*
Seeing the Excadrill abort its charge, raise its steel arm-blades to flank the blade on its head, and spin its entire body like a steel drill, pulling up sand and gravel beneath the grass into a swirling tornado, Mishiro’s eyes widened.
Witnessing this, Mishiro frantically waved his hands.
“Hey, hey, hey!
I was just joking!
Using Drill Run is way too much!
It’s not like I’m a Cloyster!”
But the Excadrill ignored him completely.
Everything seemed set in stone.
Mishiro shuddered to imagine how many months he’d have to spend in a hospital bed if hit by a Drill Run.
He’d definitely be beaten black and blue.
He had barely recovered his memories thanks to an Earth Power “treatment” and awakened a system, yet who could have guessed his “attending physician” would come barging back holding a giant drill?
Glancing down, Mishiro noticed Squishy gazing up at him blankly from his shirt pocket.
Gently stroking the little creature’s head with a finger, he sighed softly.
“Sorry about this.”
“Zyg…
Zygue?”
“I was planning to make dinner for you in a bit, but looks like I won’t be able to keep that promise.”
“Zyg?!”
Hearing that, the previously dazed Squishy panicked instantly.
It leaped out of the pocket, wide eyes glaring furiously at the oncoming giant drill, determined to intimidate the enemy with its stare.
Seeing this, Mishiro quickly tried to stop it.
“You want to fight?
Even though I’m not a Trainer, I’m pretty comfortable commanding Pokémon in battle…
but in your current state, how are you supposed to fight?”
“Zyg…”
Squishy froze, seemingly just realizing that it didn’t even know how to fight.
Meanwhile, the tornado ahead had fully formed.
The massive silver drill whipped up a storm of falling leaves and shot straight through the air the next second!
Overwhelmed by the terrifying momentum rushing at them, Squishy got spooked too, turning around to dive into Mishiro’s arms, eyes squeezed shut and shivering uncontrollably.
At that moment, throughout all of Lumiose City and its surrounding areas, countless green Cells invisible to the naked eye seemed to receive a summons, turning their heads up toward the night sky in unison.
Immediately after, they transformed into innumerable green rays of light, soaring into the air and streaking across the night sky like meteors.
Prism Tower stood like a beacon, guiding their trajectory forward.
At the same time, in the easternmost reaches of the Kalos region, deep inside an abandoned mine rumored to house a terrifying monster, green energy crystals lined the cavern walls.
A giant serpent head with eyes formed of green hexagons seemed to sense something.
It suddenly surfaced from the center of an underground green lake, looking left and right, its massive head practically filled with question marks.
And in front of White Gym, a breathtaking meteor shower descended—one that Mishiro alone was fortunate enough to witness.
Countless green Cells morphed into green hexagonal crystals, forming a sphere that encased Mishiro and Squishy the split-second before Drill Run hit.
With a loud metallic clang, the Excadrill bounced violently off the sphere the moment it collided.
Its body hung frozen in midair before dozens of scale-like projectiles shot out from the sphere, striking its abdomen with pinpoint precision.
Hexagonal ripples flared in succession, and the Excadrill slammed to the ground, heavily damaged by Thousand Arrows!
Right then, under some mysterious influence, the green crystals formed from the innumerable cells actually began turning cyan!
Mishiro felt Squishy growing heavier and heavier in his arms.
Before he could react, the sphere shielding them burst apart, and the weight in his arms suddenly vanished.
Countless cyan lights shot into the night sky like fireworks.
Yet perhaps it was an illusion—in the fleeting instant the sphere shattered, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of a giant white Doberman trembling in his arms, clinging tightly to him.
“What in the world is…”
Holding Squishy, who had somehow fallen unconscious, and staring at the downed Excadrill ahead, Mishiro stood frozen in place, utterly bewildered.
Just then, that familiar system notification tone suddenly chimed inside his mind…