"Thank you so much!"
Surrounded by the residents of Dark City, Nozomi stood holding Kaz and Yas by their collars.
The citizens, who had long suffered under the feud between the Kaz Gym and Yas Gym, gazed at Nozomi with heartfelt gratitude.
Perhaps to Nozomi, this was merely a trivial matter—but to them, it was something that could change their lives forever.
Now that Kaz and Yas had finally been caught, they no longer had to live each day in fear.
"You fools! We were doing this for the prosperity of Dark City!" Yas, now surrounded and pointed at by angry townsfolk, barked impatiently, "Once the Dark Gym is officially established, it'll attract countless Trainers here. Dark City won't stay a run-down dump forever!"
Perhaps it was Yas's years of intimidation, but his outburst silenced everyone. The street fell into uneasy quiet.
Nozomi, however, wasn't the least bit cowed. He sneered. "Heh. That's the first time I've ever heard someone twist harassment of innocent civilians into a claim of civic service. Aren't these people part of Dark City too?"
Nozomi had always despised people who claimed to act "for others" while trampling over them.
"What? You're saying I'm wrong?"
Yas was still trying to argue. In his mind, everything he'd done had been for Dark City's future.
"Establishing a Gym can indeed benefit Dark City," Nozomi replied coolly, "but you made one fatal mistake. Even without you, the League would still assign a new Gym Leader here. You're not indispensable."
He added firmly, "And a Trainer who bullies civilians will never be tolerated by the Pokémon League."
The League had its flaws—many, in fact—but in this one regard, Nozomi admired them deeply: their zero-tolerance stance toward Trainers who violated the rights of ordinary people.
Yas's expression turned ashen.
He stared at the handcuffs on his wrists, suddenly realizing that perhaps his entire pursuit had been misguided from the very start.
Beside him, Kaz shared that same dawning regret.
Nozomi didn't bother with either of them. The authorities would take over soon enough—League Investigators would handle their transfer to the Pokémon Prosecutor's Association.
With that, Nozomi turned and continued down the road ahead.
"Speaking of which," he muttered later, sitting beneath a tree as he unwrapped his lunch, "when exactly did that thing start following me?"
He glanced toward Mewtwo, who was eating alongside him. They were deep within a forest now, en route to Cinnabar Island.
"No idea."
Mewtwo, cold and expressionless, kept its eyes fixed on the food before it—as if locked in a life-or-death struggle with its meal.
"Come on, cooperate a little, will you? You've got your psychic senses active twenty-four-seven. Don't tell me you really don't know when it started following us."
Nozomi sighed helplessly.
So the cooperative Mewtwo he'd met in Fuchsia City really had been an illusion. This aloof one was the real Mewtwo.
"Maybe it was because of those injured wild Pokémon back in Fuchsia City," Nozomi guessed.
Given that Mewtwo's body contained Mew's genetic material, it wasn't surprising that some of Mew's traits—mercy and curiosity among them—had carried over.
Lost in thought, Nozomi glanced at the Pokémon sitting next to him.
A small, pink, round creature with a tiny curl of hair on its forehead and big, bright green eyes was happily eating a dish of Pokémon food in the grass.
Jigglypuff.
"So that's how you got attached to me, huh?"
Nozomi recognized this particular Jigglypuff. In the original anime, Ash and his friends had once encountered it in the forest—a Jigglypuff whose singing could lull both humans and Pokémon into deep sleep, leading to all sorts of ridiculous antics.
He couldn't recall many of those old "episodes" clearly anymore, but this one Pokémon stood out vividly in his memory.
After all, its habit of doodling on people's faces when they fell asleep during its songs was truly unforgettable. Not to mention, its sheer persistence—following Ash from Kanto all the way to Alola—was legendary in itself.
"But why me?"
Nozomi frowned, watching Jigglypuff munching away like it owned the place. The last thing he wanted was to be hypnotized mid-journey.
As that uneasy thought crossed his mind, Jigglypuff swallowed its last piece of food, stood up, and gave a polite little bow of thanks.
"Well, uh… you're welcome?"
Nozomi blinked, surprised by the politeness. Was this really the same pink menace from the show?
But the mystery lasted only a moment.
"Puff, jiggly—puff!"
Jigglypuff gestured enthusiastically toward Nozomi, its tiny arms flailing in excitement.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
He stared, utterly lost. Jigglypuff's stubby limbs didn't make charades any easier to interpret.
"It says it wants to sing for you—as a way of saying thank you."
Mewtwo translated calmly.
Nozomi raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you so… helpful?"
Mewtwo, who usually couldn't care less about such trivialities, had suddenly taken on the role of interpreter.
But then Nozomi's expression froze. Something felt off.
"Wait—what did you just say it wants to do?"
"Sing."
Mewtwo tilted its head, confused. It saw nothing dangerous about that word.
Nozomi's face turned pale. "Wait, hold on—!"
But it was too late.
"Jigglypuff Jiggly, jigglypuff. Jigglypuff Mmm, mmm~"
The melodious tune drifted through the forest, soft and soothing.
Within moments, Nozomi's Pokémon—Leafeon, Ivysaur, and the others—were blinking drowsily, their eyes growing heavy.
Nozomi's own vision began to blur.
There was something almost magical about Jigglypuff's voice, a resonance that stirred the fatigue in both humans and Pokémon alike.
Sleep pressed down upon him like a warm tide.
But Nozomi reacted swiftly—his psychic power flared, wrapping his mind in telekinetic focus, dulling the drowsiness slightly.
When he glanced back, Leafeon and Ivysaur were already fast asleep on the grass.
Only Mewtwo remained perfectly alert, its gaze cool and unaffected.
"So Jigglypuff's song doesn't affect Mewtwo?" Nozomi thought hazily.
Then again, it made sense—if even he could resist through telekinesis, there was no way Mewtwo would be caught by something so trivial.