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"Wait!"
The warm voice that came from behind her felt, to Scarlet, like the cold muzzle of a gun pressing against the back of her head.
A suffocating sense of death closed in.
Though she tried to keep her face calm, she was still just a young, frightened, trembling teenage girl beneath the mask of composure. The sound of that voice shattered her poise like thin ice.
Her knees gave out. She stumbled and would have fallen if a nearby security officer hadn't caught her in time.
"Heh… careful where you're walking," the man behind her said. His tone was polite, but the smirk beneath his golden hair made it feel like mockery.
"Mind your own business!"
Scarlet snapped, forcing her fear down beneath anger as she turned to face him.
The man lazily pointed to the red-and-white Poké Ball emblem on the convoy truck.
"You people are with the League, huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Scarlet's pale-gold eyes narrowed, locking on his unsettling blue gaze.
"That's… a little troublesome," he sighed, rubbing the brim of his gold-trimmed hat as if debating whether to bother killing them. "If you weren't with the League, I'd let you go after handing over the driver."
He nodded toward the man who'd cursed him earlier. "But if you are League personnel, well… the Commander won't be happy if I let you leave alive."
The guards bristled. His calm arrogance made it sound like he was reciting weather reports.
"You punk! You think you can mouth off to us?"
The driver, a League security trooper built like a Machamp, cracked his knuckles and charged, fist cocked to wipe that smile off the stranger's face.
League combat units weren't top-tier Trainers, but they were far from helpless.
They had authority, weapons, and confidence enough to intimidate most civilians.
To them, this man was just another nobody with a death wish.
Scarlet stood frozen in the center of the convoy, horror locking her in place.
The golden-haired man's presence pressed on her like a deep-sea weight every breath a struggle.
She couldn't move, couldn't even scream.
The other guards smirked, certain they were about to watch the intruder get flattened.
They were right that it would be one-sided.
They just had no idea who the victim would be.
The man didn't move an inch.
He simply smiled, his bright blue eyes reflecting the soldier's charging face.
"Die, you—!"
"Shing!"
A silver flash cut through the air.
No scream. No crunch. Just a clean, silent slice so smooth it seemed unreal.
Then came the blood.
The trooper froze mid-punch, grin still twisted on his face as his body slid apart at the waist.
Both halves collapsed with a dull thud.
"AAAHHHHHH!"
Scarlet's scream tore through the air as panic erupted.
Gunfire followed instantly.
"Ratatatatatat!"
Bullets seared through the damp night, glowing faintly from friction, their spiral trails slicing the mist.
A hailstorm of steel screamed toward the man in gold.
He didn't flinch.
Instead, he spread his arms slightly, eyes closing as though listening to music.
"Shhh…"
"Shing! Shing!"
Silver arcs laced the air elegant, precise, unstoppable.
Each glint severed a bullet cleanly in half, the molten fragments raining down like sparks from a forge.
Within seconds, the gunfire died. The smell of metal and smoke filled the silence.
"Bisharp," the man said softly.
"Kill them."
The order fell like a verdict, Death answered it without hesitation.
Fate, like time, always corrects itself.
Those meant to die might delay it… but never escape it.
---
Ignis City — Outer Gate
The towering steel walls of Ignis City loomed ahead, alive with traffic and chatter.
Kael sniffled, rubbing his nose.
"Ugh… someone must be talking about me," he muttered with a laugh.
Beside him, Earl strode calmly, the two of them an odd pair a boy and a luminous Pokémon walking side by side.
Yet no one stared.
No one mocked.
In this post-calamity world, a sentient Pokémon walking freely wasn't strange it was revered.
Everyone in Ignis City knew their survival depended on Pokémon now.
They weren't pets anymore. They were protectors sometimes even leaders.
Many of the strongest Pokémon held higher status than their human Trainers.
Kael could feel the mixture of awe and respect in the crowd's eyes as they entered the gates.
And for the first time in a long while…
He smiled.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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