Countless red laser sights painted Ash, spreading from his head to his entire body as if he were drenched in blood.

  Ash stared back at Lt. Surge calmly with a gaze that could kill, but Mina instinctively took a step back, trembling.

  ‘Why... why do I see his face in that idiot...?’

  Stumbling backward, she fell. The sight of Ash bathed in red laser light flipped a trauma switch she couldn't control, rendering her speechless.

  In her shaking mind, memories she never wanted to relive resurfaced. The friend she had grown close to in the underground Colosseum. The crushing void of his absence soon after. And next to that void, the sight of his strangled, bloodied corpse found in a pile of trash... And not far away, the rope hanging from the ceiling...

  “Mina?”

  Mina began to hyperventilate so severely she couldn't speak, only managing a pitiful gasp.

  “Ah... Ah...”

  Ash immediately realized the severity of Mina's condition. Without even blinking, he spoke calmly to Lt. Surge.

  “...Fine. What you want?”

  Surge cackled and gestured with his hand. The laser sights aiming at Ash began to vanish one by one.

  “Good, good! I knew you'd say that.”

  As the red dots disappeared, Mina’s ragged breathing slowly began to subside. Surge felt a sudden urge to mock Mina's pathetic state, but under Ash's glare, he cut to the chase.

  “And I want ve~ry simple.”

  Surge spread his fingers, noticing Mina slowly regaining her senses. With a smirk, he held up two fingers on his right hand and one on his left.

  “First, the Gym Leader uses ‘two’ Pokémon, and the challenger uses only ‘one’.”

  Enjoying the venom in Mina’s eyes, Surge folded the single finger on his left hand.

  “However, the challenger is allowed only one substitution. In other words, it’s a handicap match!”

  Mina and Ash bristled at the unfair terms.

  “....What?”

  Surge folded the remaining fingers, ignoring Mina’s seething anger.

  “Second, if the challenger loses, no rematches are allowed. And you go back quietly to Rubbish Island! Forever!”

  Ash began to protest the absurd terms.

  “That’s ridiculous! Gym Leader Surge...! That doesn’t make any se—”

  Before Ash could finish, Surge whipped out the pistol at his waist and aimed it squarely at Ash’s forehead.

  “Baby Champion, you might be a high-flying World Champion out there, but...”

  Surge cocked the hammer of the pistol pressed against Ash’s forehead.

  “The guns and bullets in here don’t discriminate just because you’re a World Champion, you know?”

  The cold muzzle dug into Ash’s forehead, but his eyes remained as unwavering as the sun. If anything, it was Surge who tensed up, unable to pull the trigger.

  The gun was loaded, the tension at its peak, but both Surge and Ash knew: They were playing a game of chicken. Anyone who flinched first would lose.

  Surge forced a smile, trying to maintain the facade of dominance, attempting to coerce Ash into surrendering.

  “It’d be better to just play along quietly... for both, right?”

  At that moment, Mina grabbed Surge’s arm—the one holding the gun. Just moments ago, she had been a wreck from PTSD, unable to stand. But seeing Ash remain composed in the face of death, she forced her body up, breathing heavily, to stop another tragedy.

  Barely able to stand, Mina’s hand trembled as she gripped his arm. But her grip was firm, her eyes filled with deep resentment. Her voice shook, but she uttered a single, desperate phrase.

  “Fine... I accept!”

  Surge, seemingly pleased by the desperate struggle of a piece of trash, smirked confidently again and holstered his pistol. Clap, clap, clap. He applauded in delight.

  “Good! Rubbish Girl! We have a deal!”

  At Surge's signal, the soldiers filling the gym filed out in unison. Ash and Mina watched the bizarre withdrawal warily. But a moment later, the sound coming from outside was far from what they expected.

  Bang, bang, bang! Hiss—!

  The sounds of rough hammering and welding torches echoed loudly throughout the gym. It was a lockdown. They were turning this space into a giant coffin. The ear-splitting metallic noises sounded like the cacophony of a battlefield, and amidst it all, Surge burst into a hearty laugh.

  “Get ready, brats! I’ll let you know when I’m done! Bwahahahaha!”

  The noise pounded their eardrums like nails being driven into a coffin. In that chilling roar, Ash and Mina stood frozen in tension.

  Sweating profusely, Mina urgently called out to her inner self, to the Ditto fused deep within her—‘Chris.’

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  Chris! Answer me! Chris!

  But only pitch-black silence returned. Anxiety washed over her. Mina swung her arm in the air, attempting to transform. Normally, her arm would stretch like slime or turn into a sharp weapon.

  But nothing happened. Only a powerless human arm cut through the air.

  ‘Damn it... Chris is silent. I can't battle like this...’

  Mina bit her lip until it bled. Perhaps due to the shock of the earlier trauma, Chris was unresponsive. Just then, Ash nodded silently to the Pikachu on his shoulder.

  “Mina.”

  “...?”

  “You look troubled. Can you not use your Pokémon right now?”

  Mina couldn't answer. Blood seeped from her tightly bitten lip. She was submerged in such despair that she couldn't tell if the moisture on her face was sweat, tears, or blood.

  “I can use him, but...”

  Chris wasn't responding. A battle was impossible. At that moment, blocking the despairing Mina’s view was none other than Ash’s Pikachu.

  “Then I’ll lend you my Pikachu for now. Make sure you wipe that smirk off his face!”

  Mina looked back and forth between the brightly smiling Pikachu and Ash in disbelief. Her mind was a tangled mess. Just a short while ago, she had mocked Pikachu and trampled on their dreams.

  Would Pikachu even follow her? Did she have the right to command such a pure life? Mina’s eyes trembled violently.

  “...Ash Ketchum...”

  But Ash, ignoring her guilt, grinned at Pikachu and gave a thumbs-up.

  “I created this problem, so it’s only natural that I handle it, right? Right, Pikachu?”

  “Pika, Pika!”

  Pikachu mimicked Ash, raising a small finger like a thumbs-up. Seeing these two idiots trusting each other even in the face of death, a hollow laugh escaped Mina’s lips.

  “Heh... Haha...”

  The suffocation in her chest finally released. Wiping the cynical smile from her face, Mina looked at Ash with eyes sharper than ever.

  “Let me ask you... just one thing, Ash Ketchum.”

  “...Yeah?”

  She wants to know if that saying is true.

  “Is what that damn jarhead said true?”

  Ash didn't deny it. He was so confident that his gaze was almost beautiful.

  “...Yeah, it is.”

  Mina sighed deeply, dumbfounded, looking back and forth between the two fools.

  “Tch. You’re out of your mind, too. You’re crazy, absolutely crazy!”

  Then, with a serious face, Ash took a Poké Ball from his pocket and placed it in Mina's hand. She couldn't hide her shock, realizing it was Pikachu's. Ash continued calmly.

  “Want to hear something a little strange? Mina, I had this thought.”

  Feeling the cold sensation of the Poké Ball, Mina flinched, feeling as if the vengeful spirit of her dead friend had handed her his Poké Ball.

  “You said you are another side of me...”

  When he repeated his earlier words, Mina frowned.

  “...What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?”

  Ash made a pained face and gave a small, bitter smile.

  “I thought about it after hearing your story from Karen.”

  “I thought... if I had been unlucky and walked down a dark path, maybe I would have met the exact same fate as you.”

  Realizing Ash was beating around the bush, Mina snapped at him.

  “What is it you want to say? Ash Ketchum!”

  At Mina's rebuke, Ash's expression changed. It turned into a smile—not the innocent smile of a child, but the transcendent look of someone who had reached a higher state.

  “What I want to say is...! The dirty choice I made, and lending you my Pikachu right now!”

  Ash clenched his fist and looked at Pikachu.

  “Five years ago, drunk on the dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, I turned away from the world's screams...”

  “Please take this as my atonement—for failing to take responsibility as a World Champion, and to save a ‘victim’ like you!”

  Mina was speechless. This brat was still an idealist. Still stupidly pure. But in every word, she felt the heavy weight of responsibility.

  To mask the gratitude rising within her, Mina yelled.

  “Ash Ketchum.... Are you really an idiot!”

  “....!”

  “It’s obvious that your stupid choice will create another victim!”

  Mina couldn't control her emotions. Instead of thanking him, she roughly grabbed Ash by the collar. Before her eyes, the hellish path she had walked and the despairing faces of future victims flickered.

  “Other victims you don’t even know will shed tears of blood and send away their loved ones! Just like I did!”

  Consumed by anger, Mina tried to throw Ash to the ground. She struggled with all her might.

  “And you call yourself a Pokémon World Champion?! Ash Ketchum!”

  But Ash pulled his cap down low and didn't budge. He stood rooted to the spot like a massive mountain. No matter how hard she tried, he stood immovable.

  The aura radiating from Ash was blinding, like the sun. Confronted by that immense power, Mina slowly loosened her grip.

  “You’re right. Maybe... someone will lose a loved one because of my foolish choice.”

  Ash didn't deny it. But there was no wavering in his voice or eyes. He looked at her with the most sincere gaze.

  “But that’s a different problem!”

  “...What?”

  Mina couldn't understand him at all. Taking such a huge risk for a piece of trash like her defied common sense. Ash answered with total sincerity.

  “If I can’t even protect the person right next to me, how can I say I’ll protect all the people and Pokémon in the world!”

  “...!”

  At his stupidly upright conviction, a breathy laugh escaped Mina’s lips. Ha, ha. It wasn't a sneer; it was an uncontrollable release of emotion. A small tear rolled down from her eyes.

  “Protecting those other precious people... that’s a burden I, the cowardly and dirty Pokémon World Champion, have to carry!”

  Ash clumsily wiped away Mina’s tear and handed Pikachu back to her.

  “So... You! You finish what you have to!”

  At his warm touch, Mina swatted his hand away, regaining her composure. She couldn't keep crying like a child. Mina stood up abruptly, turned her back to Ash, and spat out.

  “Heh... You’ve grown up... just a tiny bit, Ash Ketchum.”

  Ash stood beside her, looking into the darkness where Surge had disappeared.

  “Maybe... a little bit than old days?”

  Mina smiled faintly and accepted Pikachu. Pikachu looked like he might playfully shock her, but seeing her expression, he simply smiled.

  ‘Idiots, both of them.’

  Seeing these two fools offering unconditional trust, Mina shook her head, defeated.

  “....That’s just like you. Fine, I’ll use your Pikachu well. Let’s go, Pikachu!”

  Bang!

  With a loud noise, Lt. Surge reappeared. He stood in the Gym Leader’s box, fully geared up in military equipment, looking like a commander on a battlefield.

  “Are you ready? Brats!”

  As Surge shouted, soldiers marched out behind him, raising their rifles.

  “Fire a salute for the battle!”

  Rat-a-tat-tat! Zzzzt— Kaboom!

  What spewed from the muzzles wasn't ordinary gunpowder. It was compressed high-voltage electric rounds. Every shot roared and flashed like a Thunderbolt, shaking the gym.

  Surge drew his pistol and fired wildly, shouting.

  “Welcome, Rubbish Girl! Welcome to the thrilling electric chair!”

  Surge pulled two Poké Balls from his pocket, his face contorted like a beast.

  “A battle so painful you’ll wish you were dead is about to begin! Bwahahahaha!”