One had to admit, Grace City was truly a chaotic place.
It was manageable during the day, but once night fell, the city descended into lawlessness.
Fights could be seen everywhere, and while gambling battles might be considered mild during the day, by nightfall, even death matches were taking place.
Bored and wandering, Nathan even stumbled upon a life-or-death battle—something he absolutely loathed.
But changing this place? That was far from easy.
"Hey, handsome, come have some fun~"
Just as Nathan was aimlessly walking, a scantily clad woman waved at him with a flirtatious smile.
Looking at the way she was dressed, Nathan froze.
Wasn't this one of those so-called "god-tier Pokémon"—a Chicken of the Red Lantern District?
"Holy crap...!"
Cursing under his breath, Nathan quickly jogged away from that street.
What a joke—he was still a kid, a pure and innocent boy. How could he ever get involved in something like that?
In just over an hour of strolling, Nathan had seen more than he would in any other city over several months.
Everything he saw only further proved the sheer disorder in Grace City.
Just as he was about to head back, a man walked up to him.
"Hey kid, wanna make some money?"
The man stepped up and asked bluntly.
"Make money? What do you mean?"
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
"You got any gym-level Pokémon?"
As soon as he heard that, Nathan pretty much figured out what was going on.
This guy was trying to rope him into a betting match.
"Gym-level Pokémon? Sure, I've got some."
Nathan nodded without hesitation.
"Great! Come with me for a battle. Don't worry—you can just surrender halfway through. You'll still get paid. Fifty thousand PokéCoins."
The man tried to sweeten the deal.
Fifty thousand PokéCoins—that was several months' income for an average household, maybe even a year's.
Even for a middle-class family like Nathan's, saving up fifty thousand a year wasn't guaranteed.
That kind of money would be very tempting for someone from a poor background.
But Nathan? Please—fifty thousand PokéCoins wasn't even enough to cover his Pokémon's daily food expenses.
"Fifty thousand, huh…"
He pretended to be tempted.
Seeing Nathan seemingly interested, the man lit up with joy.
If he could bring in a new fighter, there'd be plenty of money to make—fifty thousand was just the beginning.
"Alright, take me there. But I'll say this now—if I'm losing, I'll just surrender immediately."
Nathan finally agreed, acting all hesitant and cautious.
In reality, he was very curious. If they were willing to spend this much to rig a match, what kind of underground fighting ring was this?
Halfway there, Nathan suddenly stopped.
"Mind if I cover my face?"
It was late, and the man hadn't recognized him yet.
But if someone did recognize him later, it could really mess things up.
"Sure, cover your face however you want. Heck, show up in a cosplay outfit if that's your thing."
The man didn't care at all.
Nathan put on a mask and sunglasses, then followed the man to a bar.
It was the perfect time—business was booming.
Inside the bar, various Pokémon were putting on shows, performing flashy moves.
Attractive women mingled throughout the crowd.
But this wasn't the real location.
The man led Nathan to an elevator in the back.
Once inside, he pressed a hidden button, and the elevator began moving downward.
"Damn, this place is well hidden," Nathan muttered.
To set up something like this and use a bar as a cover? Whoever ran this place had to be powerful—and influential.
But this was exactly what Nathan was looking for.
He was here to clean up the chaos, and if someone powerful was behind it, taking them down would make things a lot easier.
"Looks like I came to the right place," he murmured.
"Huh? What'd you say?"
The man didn't catch his muttering.
"Oh, nothing."
When they exited the elevator, there was a long hallway.
At the end was a small door guarded by a Pokémon—one at the peak of gym level.
The guide showed a special pass, and the door was opened.
The moment it did, loud cheers and roars burst forth.
Even though it had been completely silent outside the door, inside was a totally different world.
There were two levels surrounding a central cage, and at the center, two Pokémon were in fierce battle—locked inside a cage.
Both were heavily injured, but no one seemed interested in stopping the fight.
Nathan snorted coldly.
As expected—for fifty thousand PokéCoins, this couldn't just be some fake match.
This was a death match.
If your Pokémon wasn't strong enough, it would die here.
The surrounding audience was dressed in luxury, some even holding bundles of PokéCoins in hand.
They were all here for the thrill of death.
Something like this could never be seen in public due to strict national Pokémon laws—such cruel abuse of Pokémon was absolutely forbidden.
"Wait here. I'll go handle some things," the man said before walking off.
Soon after, another person came over.
"You here to fight?"
"That's right."
Nathan nodded.
"Follow me."
They walked over to the cage.
Inside, the previous battle had just ended. One Pokémon lay badly injured on the ground—clearly beyond saving.
Nathan silently mourned for the poor creature.
If he had anything to say about it, this kind of brutality would never happen again.
But to truly change things, he had to set an example—and punish those responsible for organizing these matches.
Before he even stepped in, he noticed a man standing by the cage, holding a suitcase and staring coldly at the dying Pokémon.
The wounded Pokémon weakly crawled toward him—it was clearly its trainer.
But the man didn't even look at it. He just turned and walked away.
Soon after, the staff dragged the Pokémon away to clear the arena.
"Kid, you're up next."
Nathan nodded and casually tossed out a Poké Ball.
Mewtwo emerged.
Tonight, he was going to make a scene.
He couldn't release Volcarona or Pangoro—they were too recognizable.
But Mewtwo? That was different.
Mewtwo was just as strong, but had only appeared once in a previous match.
Very few people knew who it was.
"Huh? That's a gym-level Pokémon?"
The staff member was suspicious.
"Of course. Just a regular gym-level guy," Nathan said casually.
Mewtwo cooperated by suppressing a portion of its aura.
"…Alright. Let it in."
As Mewtwo stepped into the cage, another trainer released their Pokémon from the opposite side.
Nathan gave a faint smile.
"Looking forward to a death match, are you?
Sorry to disappoint—not tonight."
(End of Chapter)
(TN: What? The armored pokemon was not recognizable?)