Rookidee had spent most of its life being hunted by Mandibuzz.
Months of surviving ambushes had sharpened two things above everything else: its speed and its instinct for danger.
That instinct was screaming now.
Jun followed Rookidee’s stare toward the far end of the Pokémon Center yard.
At first there was nothing but falling snow and bare trees, then a dark figure stepped slowly from behind one of the trunks.
A black cloak covered him from head to toe, with enough snow gathered across the shoulders to suggest he’d been standing there for some time.
Jun’s expression hardened.
This was a Pokémon Center.
Nobody dressed like that appeared in the back garden by accident.
“You’re here for the Wishing Star?” The stranger stopped.
Rookidee’s feathers remained bristled beside Jun, while Ralts watched the man without blinking.
The newborn stayed close to Jun’s leg, gripping her bone club with both hands.
After a moment, the stranger brought one fist to his chest and gave Jun an elegant, old-fashioned bow.
His face remained hidden beneath the hood.
“Very perceptive, Mr.
Jun.
I’m sure you’ll go far.” His voice sounded young, perhaps mid-twenties, and far too polite for someone who’d approached them this way.
Jun looked down at the Wishing Star in his hand.
“And I’m supposed to believe it’s yours because you said so?” The stranger ignored the question.
“If you’re willing to part with it, I’ll pay one million Pokédollars.” Jun raised an eyebrow.
“A Wishing Star is worth more than that.” Even if the offer had been generous, Jun wouldn’t have accepted it.
The man had hidden his face, approached through the back of a Pokémon Center, and had Rookidee reacting as though a predator had just entered the yard.
There was no reason to pretend this was an ordinary negotiation.
The warmth disappeared from the stranger’s voice.
“You’re an intelligent person, so let’s not waste each other’s time.
This world ultimately belongs to those with strength.
Do you really think you’re in a position to choose?” Jun glanced toward the Pokémon Center building behind him.
“Then why are we still talking?
If you’re so confident, take it.” For the first time, the black-robed man went still.
Jun gave him a faint smile.
“Or is attacking someone inside a Pokémon Center a little more trouble than you want?” “If that concerned me, I wouldn’t have come.” “Fair enough.” Jun rolled the Wishing Star once in his palm.
“Then let’s make a different deal.
Forget the million.
I’ll give you the Wishing Star for free.” The man’s attention sharpened.
Jun’s smile disappeared.
“Show me your face.” Silence settled over the yard.
Snow continued gathering on the stranger’s cloak while he stared at Jun from beneath the hood.
If he’d been willing to reveal his identity, there would have been no reason to dress like this in the first place.
Jun knew that.
So did he.
The offer had never been serious.
Jun was simply making it clear that he had no intention of handing anything over.
The stranger’s gaze shifted briefly toward Ralts, then toward the newborn.
A Shiny Ralts, an unknown Ground/Dragon Pokémon, and now a Wishing Star had all ended up around the same rookie Trainer.
His patience was wearing thin.
A few Hoothoot passed overhead, wingbeats briefly disturbing the stillness before fading into the snowy distance.
The newborn pressed closer behind Jun, sensing enough from everyone else’s tension to know something was wrong.
Then movement flashed at the edge of the yard.
A red figure vaulted over the wall and hit the trunk of a nearby tree hard enough to crack the bark before launching directly toward Jun.
Scizor.
At almost the same moment, orange electricity tore past Jun’s shoulder from behind and streaked toward the cloaked man.
Scizor changed direction instantly.
A translucent barrier shimmered into existence around it as Light Screen took the edge off the incoming blast, and one armored pincer swept through what remained.
Electricity crawled briefly over its red shell before fading.
Jun barely had time to register how fast it was before Scizor surged toward him again.
Its wings vibrated behind it like engines, driving it across the snowy ground considerably faster than Rookidee had managed during their battle.
“Brick Break!” Marnie’s voice cut across the yard.
Morpeko shot past Jun and intercepted Scizor at exactly the right angle.
Light gathered around one tiny paw before it slammed into Scizor’s pincer, and the impact blasted snow outward in a ring.
Morpeko was tiny compared with Scizor, yet it held its ground.
That single collision was enough.
Ralts attacked from one side while Rookidee swept in from the other.
Flames wrapped around Ralts’s fist as Rookidee aimed a Peck at the opening Morpeko had created, and both attacks struck Scizor almost together.
The red Pokémon staggered half a step.
It recovered immediately.
Both pincers blurred.
Jun caught only two red flashes before Morpeko and Rookidee were launched in opposite directions.
Bullet Punch had come out so quickly that neither had managed to defend in time.
Scizor didn’t pause to admire the result.
One pincer opened and snapped toward Ralts, clearly intending to grab her before she could retreat.
Ralts’s eyes flashed blue.
Confusion wrapped around her own body and yanked her upward just before the pincer closed.
She skimmed over Scizor’s head, twisted in the air, and drove Fire Punch down between its shoulders.
Flames burst across the red armor.
Against a Bug/Steel Pokémon like Scizor, Fire Punch was devastating.
Even so, Scizor barely reacted beyond a slight dip in its stance.
Its golden eyes weren’t looking at Ralts anymore.
They were locked on Jun.
That told him everything.
This wasn’t a battle.
The cloaked man had already decided he wanted the Wishing Star, Ralts, and the newborn.
Now that force was on the table, there was no longer any reason to leave the Trainer standing either.
Scizor pivoted away from Ralts and lunged.
Jun saw the pincer open.
He also understood immediately where it was going.
His throat.
There was no move name this time, no warning command, and no chance of a human body matching Scizor’s speed.
The massive pincer cut through the falling snow toward Jun’s neck with enough force to end the fight in a single strike.
[End of chapter]