"Hiss~ Such a temper. You won't even let me touch you."
Nathan said, frowning as he held his finger, still tingling from the electric shock.
It was strange—this Xurkitree had just let Lily hold it a moment ago, but wouldn't even allow Nathan to lay a finger on it.
"Haha! What a mischievous little Pokémon!"
Lily laughed heartily, watching Nathan recoil.
In her heart, however, she was already thinking about how she could capture this Pokémon. After all, that brief moment of holding it had left a deep impression on her—it was the first time she had seen Nathan actually suffer a setback from a Pokémon.
And not just any Pokémon—it was just a juvenile one.
The two were chatting happily when, inevitably, trouble came knocking.
The four people who had also come to try capturing the Pokémon were clearly not pleased.
Seeing that their companion hadn't made any progress for quite a while, the remaining three of the group came over as well.
"Hey, kid. I suggest you leave now. Otherwise, we'll make sure you understand what the word regret really means."
One of the four spoke, his tone filled with menace.
All four looked to be in their early twenties, and upon closer inspection, they shared similar features—likely from the same family or clan.
"Regret, huh? What, are you planning to attack me here?"
Nathan looked at them with a smile, unfazed.
He was joking—just because you couldn't use Pokémon inside the mystic realm didn't mean Nathan couldn't deal with a few humans.
"You've offended someone from the Nicholas Family—do you think you'll get away with that?"
Another one of the four snapped in anger after seeing that Nathan wasn't the least bit intimidated.
Upon hearing the family name, Nathan nearly burst out laughing.
"Nicholas? Don't tell me… your name is Fourth Nicholas, is it?"
Nathan said with a wide grin. Just hearing the name "Nicholas" reminded him of a bizarre meme video he'd seen before.
As soon as Nathan said that, the man who had just spoken puffed up proudly.
"That's right! Since you know I'm Fourth Nicholas, then you'd better get lost right now!"
Fourth snorted, his nose turned high in the air as though he were some kind of big shot.
It was as if he was begging people to notice the mole on his chin.
Nathan, who had just been joking with the Pokémon, suddenly burst into laughter.
He honestly hadn't expected to actually meet a real-life meme!
-------------------
Not only were the four members of the Nicholas Family infuriated by Nathan's reaction, but Lily and Mickey were also left completely bewildered.
Why was Nathan laughing so hard?
The name "Fourth" didn't seem particularly funny to them.
What was Nathan laughing about?
"Cough… it's nothing, really. Carry on—don't mind me."
Eventually, Nathan coughed hard, almost choking on his own laughter as he tried to suppress it.
He had gotten a good laugh out of it—but the one being laughed at certainly didn't find it funny.
At first, when they saw Nathan laugh, they thought they had successfully intimidated him.
But clearly, it wasn't fear—they were just being mocked.
"You think my name's funny, huh?"
Fourth's face darkened. He was furious. His hand slowly slipped into his pocket.
Nathan realized that he may have gone too far. He forced himself to stop laughing, though just thinking about the name again made his lips twitch.
"If you laugh one more time—try it! Just try it!!!"
Fourth finally lost it, yanking his hand from his pocket and pointing at Nathan with fury.
His shout startled many nearby wild Pokémon, and several of them scattered in panic.
But when Nathan saw what was in Fourth's hand, the smile vanished from his face instantly.
Fourth had pulled out… a gun.
Before entering the mystic realm, everyone had been strictly inspected to protect the Pokémon inside.
No weapons—be they blades or otherwise—were allowed.
Nathan hadn't expected someone to actually smuggle a firearm in here.
The gun in Fourth's hand was small—no larger than a palm—and stark white. Judging by its texture, it seemed to be made of ivory.
But no matter what it was made of—a gun is still a gun.
"Go on—laugh again! I dare you to laugh now!"
Fourth yelled manically, encouraged by Nathan's now serious expression.
Indeed, Nathan wasn't laughing anymore. But not because he was scared—he was furious.
The last person who had pointed a gun at Nathan…
Was already dead—killed by a Pokémon.
He had come to this mystic realm just to capture Pokémon. He hadn't expected to deal with a situation like this.
"Hey, do you know what happened to the last person who pointed a gun at me?"
Nathan's tone was icy cold.
Lily stood to the side, shocked by what was unfolding. But she wasn't too worried.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
During the National Tournament, a member of Chiyou had also pulled a gun on Nathan—and even fired at him.
But not only had Nathan survived, he hadn't been injured at all.
This time, Lily was confident that Nathan wouldn't be harmed by just a gun.
"Heh… what, gonna sic a Pokémon on me? You can't summon any here, remember?"
Fourth sneered with disdain.
He recognized Nathan as the reigning World Champion, sure—but in the mystic realm, where Pokémon couldn't be summoned, he didn't see him as a threat.
So, what if your Pokémon are powerful?
Without them, how will you defend yourself from a gun?
"You're absolutely right. I can't summon any Pokémon here…"
Nathan replied. Then, in the next moment, his body flickered.
Fourth panicked as Nathan moved. He pulled the trigger.
But Nathan—having trained his many abilities—wasn't someone a bullet could so easily hit.
He darted to the side, the bullet thudding harmlessly into the grass behind him.
Fourth pulled the trigger again and again in rapid succession.
Gunshots echoed through the peaceful mystic realm, disturbing the tranquility.
Nearby Pokémon scattered in terror. One particularly unlucky Pokémon was hit by a stray bullet—its blood staining the green grass.
Fourth's gun only had five bullets. By the time he had fired the last shot, Nathan was already standing right in front of him—completely unscathed.
He hadn't even been grazed—he had dodged every single bullet.
In one swift motion, Nathan snatched the gun from Fourth's hand and punched him hard across the face.
"This is for pointing a gun at me!"
"This is for threatening me!"
His fists rained down on Fourth like a storm.
The other three members of the Nicholas Family were stunned.
Was this guy even human?! He dodged bullets.
Wasn't that something only a Pokémon could do?
But they quickly recovered and tried to intervene.
Unfortunately, they were all pampered young masters—no match for Nathan at all.
In just a few quick moves, Nathan had taken all four of them down.
"I… we were wrong…"
Fourth, who had taken the worst of the beating, finally broke down.
His face was black and blue, swollen like a pig's head. He couldn't take it anymore.
"Wrong, huh? What exactly did you do wrong?"
Nathan finally stopped, looking down at the beaten young man.
"We shouldn't have pulled a gun on you… sob..."
Fourth sobbed as he spoke, his voice cracking.
I wanna go home… there's a monster here!
He had thought that smuggling a gun into the mystic realm would make him untouchable.
Who could've predicted someone like Nathan would be here?
Maybe others would've been scared by a gun—but unfortunately for him, this was Nathan.
"Get lost! If I see you in this mystic realm again, I'll beat you all over again!"
Nathan roared.
He didn't worry about beating them up—after all, they had drawn the gun first.
But killing them? That was another matter.
There were only ten people in this realm. If anyone died, it wouldn't take long for investigators to figure out who did it.
Besides, these guys were from the Nicholas Family—it wasn't worth making them enemies for life.
After driving them off, Nathan casually pocketed the gun.
Then, he turned to treat the wounded Pokémon nearby.
"This is just… too much. Those bastards even hurt a Pokémon!"
Nathan said bitterly, carefully tending to the injured creature.
Mickey, who had remained silent this whole time, was still in a state of shock.
At first, he had been terrified when the gun was pulled.
But after seeing Nathan's unbelievable response—he was utterly speechless.
Was this guy even human?
Dodging bullets?
He was basically a humanoid Pokémon!
(End of Chapter)