"Who… who are you?"
Officer Jenny was startled by the sudden appearance of Nozomi.
"Uh…" Nozomi looked at her, slightly at a loss, seeing her flinch like a rabbit caught off guard.
Was that really necessary? He wasn't some raging beast.
After a brief moment of panic, Jenny realized she had overreacted. After all, Nozomi didn't look like a member of Team Rocket.
Her gaze softened with a hint of apology. "Sorry about that."
"No worries. But this isn't the time for that. What's going on? Why is Team Rocket in the city center?" Nozomi asked, pointing toward the Rocket grunts not far away.
Sharp-eyed as he was, he had already noticed that the people confronting Team Rocket were none other than the Kanto League's prosecutor squad.
Jenny glanced at the Poké Balls hanging from Nozomi's belt and confirmed his status as a Trainer. Thinking that every hand could help, she explained:
"Here's what happened."
She briefly summarized how she had been escorting prisoners when Team Rocket suddenly attacked.
"…."
Nozomi felt speechless.
He had thought that rounding up those Team Rocket members had been foolproof—yet here was chaos erupting anyway.
Seeing Nozomi silent, Jenny felt a twinge of shame.
Throughout this entire incident, both she and the Cerulean City Police Department had performed far too incompetently.
Just as Jenny thought this Trainer might leave the scene to avoid danger, she saw Nozomi brush off the dust clinging to him and stand tall.
"Leave this to me!"
"Wait!" Jenny panicked.
Her Arcanine had just shown her the danger of rushing out from cover. Seeing Nozomi stand up without any precautions, she shouted anxiously:
"Be careful!"
Team Rocket, who had been watching, sneered at the sight of Nozomi striding boldly. One Arbok detached from the group.
Its purple body tensed and coiled like a spring before launching itself at Nozomi.
Just as its two sharp fangs were about to sink into his body…
Buzz!
A flash of blue light glimmered in Nozomi's eyes.
The charging Arbok froze mid-air, suspended as if sculpted in place, completely immobilized.
"This… is Psychic?"
Even the Rocket grunt facing him had enough experience to recognize the move. Seeing their Arbok suspended mid-air, he understood immediately.
Yet he didn't panic; instead, he sneered arrogantly.
"Kid, you better back off if you don't want to die! Don't interfere with Team Rocket!"
This was a classic Team Rocket tactic.
Whenever they were confronted by Trainers during their missions, they would threaten them by boldly announcing their identity.
Fearful of trouble or unable to defeat them, many Trainers would back down to avoid Team Rocket's wrath.
But who was Nozomi? Was he afraid?
A small smile curved Nozomi's lips. "Do you know what happened to the last Team Rocket grunt who said that to me?"
Before the grunt could respond, Nozomi pointed at the prisoner transport guarded by several prosecutors. "They're all in there."
The commander of Team Rocket's current operation, initially assuming Nozomi was just a brash, ordinary Trainer, now studied him carefully—and his expression changed.
"Damn it… Nozomi! Everyone, be on guard!"
Nozomi.
Hearing the name, the Rocket members froze in shock.
Though ordinary Trainers or low-level grunts might not recognize it, for those involved in this jailbreak operation, the name was legendary.
The intelligence reports had made it clear: it was Nozomi, along with a group of seemingly useless Trainers, who had captured their Team Rocket officers and over a dozen elite members.
They had assumed he had left Cerulean City, yet here he was—right in their path!
"Oh? You recognize me? I guess my reputation within Team Rocket is pretty well-known now."
Seeing the Rockets' wary expressions, Nozomi guessed that Giovanni himself had probably taken note of him.
Being on Giovanni's radar meant that the boss might personally target him in the future—though that was unlikely.
Watching the fear in Team Rocket's eyes, Nozomi smirked. He liked the feeling of being feared!
"Just a little further… and we can rescue Scar!"
As the commander of the operation and a mid-level Team Rocket officer, Kaz gritted his teeth, torn between continuing the mission under Giovanni's orders or retreating immediately.
Logic told him to withdraw, but the chance to rescue Scar—and claim all the credit—was right in front of him. Retreating now felt unbearable.
"Captain!"
His subordinates awaited Kaz's command.
But Nozomi wasn't about to give him the time to think.
"Steelix, block their path! Leafeon, use Magical Leaf!"
The massive Steelix, nearly filling half the street, slithered forward. Its joint spikes tore up the asphalt as it moved, demolishing everything in its path.
By the time Steelix blocked Team Rocket's way, the damage to the street surpassed even Team Rocket's previous destruction.
Nozomi: "…."
Jenny: "…."
The League's rule against releasing large Pokémon in urban areas clearly made sense.
But now wasn't the time to debate. The priority was to take down these reckless Team Rocket members!
Leafeon swayed its body, sending a storm of Magical Leaf crashing toward Team Rocket!
When Steelix had appeared earlier, Team Rocket hadn't reacted in time, but now they were ready.
"Magmar, Fire Spin!"
"Golbat, Hurricane!"
The fire-fueled wind intensified the flames.
Whoosh!
The heatwave scorched the air. The Magical Leaf hadn't even reached them before being singed to brown and reduced to ashes in the inferno.