Yas had no idea what Nozomi was thinking. So when he heard Nozomi say "I came here for this," he didn't hesitate for a second—he struck first!
In his mind, Nozomi was nothing less than a rival.
Scyther shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, its emerald blur flashing across Yas's field of vision. In less than a second, Scyther had crossed the distance between them, lunging toward Nozomi.
"Scyther, use Fury Cutter!"
The moment Yas gave the order, a streak of cold light slashed through the air.
Swish, swish, swish—!
Scyther's twin scythe-arms blurred, hacking furiously and shredding the telekinetic barrier before Nozomi as if it were paper.
Nozomi wasn't surprised. His psychic power wasn't meant for defense anyway. When he had shattered Electabuzz's Thunderbolt earlier, that was only due to a trick—by vibrating the psychic field at high frequency, he disrupted the current's internal structure and caused it to disperse.
But Scyther's assault was a whole different matter—he couldn't block that so easily.
"Well done, Scyther! Now—use X-Scissor!"
Riding on momentum, Yas shouted again. Scyther crossed its blades into an X-shaped stance, then slashed down toward Nozomi's neck.
Yas wasn't worried about Scyther accidentally hurting him—he had full confidence in his Pokémon. His Scyther had mastered every usable move to perfection, its precision in combat unmatched.
As the twin blades closed in on his throat, Nozomi merely tilted his head and smiled faintly.
He raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
In the next instant, Scyther's body froze midair, halted by an unseen force. Then, as if struck by an invisible hammer, it was sent flying backward, crashing into the ground like a broken kite.
"Scyther!?" Yas cried out in shock.
When Nozomi had swatted away Kaz's Electabuzz earlier, Yas had secretly felt a bit of satisfaction at his rival's humiliation.
But he hadn't expected that he'd be next.
Forgetting all pride, Yas rushed to his fallen Scyther's side. The Pokémon lay unconscious, completely knocked out.
"Another one-shot! He took down Mr. Kaz's Scyther in just a single blow—this is terrifying!"
Once could be a fluke—but twice?
Everyone turned to stare at Nozomi. This guy was no ordinary trainer.
"Who exactly are you!?" Kaz demanded.
He was certain Nozomi had used a Pokémon just now—but to fell Scyther in one strike, without anyone even seeing what he used? Combined with his Steelix and psychic powers, this man was far from ordinary.
"You'll find out who I am soon enough," Nozomi said calmly. "But first, I'd like to ask you two—are you terrorists or something? Attacking people at the slightest provocation? Or maybe… are you connected to Team Rocket?"
He looked at the two Gym Leaders—each clutching their own Pokémon—his tone cold and sharp.
"We have nothing to do with Team Rocket!" they blurted out almost simultaneously. Despite wanting to fight Nozomi with everything they had, the mention of Team Rocket made them scramble to distance themselves immediately.
In these times, you could associate with anyone—but not them.
Anyone who knew the inside story knew that Team Rocket's power in Kanto had been crippled. It would take at least ten years to recover—if the League even allowed it.
Nozomi knew perfectly well they had no connection to Team Rocket. Rocket grunts wouldn't be so openly reckless right now anyway.
Still, he was exasperated. He had come here intending to stir trouble—to aggravate the tension between the two rival Gyms, gather evidence of their misconduct, and take them both down in one sweep.
But these two fools weren't playing along at all.
He hadn't managed to record any footage of their civil disturbances… but assaulting a League officer? That charge was airtight.
With that thought, Nozomi pulled out the identification Lance had prepared for him.
"I'm a League Investigator. I'm here to investigate the case of Pokémon Trainers in Dark City abusing Pokémon and bullying civilians and passing trainers."
The moment he said it, both Kaz and Yas froze. Their expressions turned stiff, eyes wide with dread.
A Pokémon League Investigator—here to investigate Trainers in Dark City oppressing others?
Did he even need to say who the targets were?
Besides them, there were no other Trainers in Dark City!
The trainers standing behind them looked at one another uneasily. They could all sense something was terribly wrong.
Then someone yelled, "Run for it!"
In an instant, the disciples of both the Kaz Gym and Yas Gym bolted in every direction like startled Rattata.
If not now, when? None of them wanted to stick around and share a prison cell with their Gym Leaders.
They abandoned Kaz and Yas on the spot.
"..."
"..."
"..."
For a long moment, Nozomi, Kaz, and Yas all stood in awkward silence.
Finally, Nozomi sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "That was… impressive."
He had known these people were opportunists, but seriously—could they be any quicker to switch sides? He'd only finished one sentence, and they were already halfway out of town!
"Uh… Investigator sir, I—I apologize for not recognizing your identity sooner," Yas stammered hastily.
He was practically on the verge of tears. If they had known Nozomi was a League Investigator, not even a hundred Scythers would've made them attack him.
On the contrary—they would've done everything to curry favor, maybe even begged to be officially recognized as Dark City's legitimate Gym Trainers.
But now… it was too late.
They hadn't just failed to win him over—they had attacked him.
And now they would face charges for assaulting a League official.
Plus the public nuisance charges—there was no escaping those either.
Once the two of them were arrested, the townsfolk they'd bullied would waste no time throwing stones—literally and figuratively—at their fallen tormentors.
"Then," Nozomi said evenly, "by the authority of the Pokémon League, I hereby place you two under arrest. Will you resist?"
Kaz and Yas exchanged a glance, then shook their heads furiously.
Resist? Against him?
Not a chance.
They couldn't even put up a fight if they tried.
(End of Chapter)