Hunter J was filled with regret—regret for not leaving sooner.
She just had to tempt fate and stay behind to take a gamble.
And now, she had fallen into her own trap.
Standing opposite her, Lorelei smiled elegantly, the curve of her lips calm and composed.
The battle was over.
Just as everyone thought the fight had reached its conclusion, a sudden cry tore through the fading smoke. From the haze, Articuno burst out with blinding brilliance and fury.
Its eyes blazed with wrath, cold enough to burn the soul.
"Watch out!"
Lorelei's warning cut through the chaos as she called out to Nozomi.
Hunter J, meanwhile, was elated. Her heart leapt as she silently praised Articuno. Then, without a second glance, she turned and sprinted toward the cave's exit.
With Articuno buying her some time, escape seemed certain.
Lorelei noticed J's movement, but there was nothing she could do. Lapras was wounded, and Jynx alone could no longer pose a threat.
Just as Articuno was about to charge forward and J was about to escape through the Seafoam Islands' cave, Nozomi—astride his Dragonite—smiled faintly.
He snapped his fingers, as he so often did.
Snap!
A crisp sound echoed, followed by his calm voice:"Mewtwo—finish it."
A wave of invisible psychic force swept through the cave like a storm.
The Psychic tempest expanded outward from Mewtwo's position, tangible and all-encompassing.
Articuno, rushing in headfirst, was struck immediately. The blast of psychic power hit like a sledgehammer—its consciousness was snuffed out in an instant. Without a cry, the great bird plummeted from the air and crashed heavily to the ground.
Nozomi, Lorelei, and the League investigator beside them were completely unaffected—the psychic storm had filtered allies from foes with surgical precision.
But the rest of the Pokémon hunters weren't so lucky.
They clutched their heads, howling in agony as the psychic onslaught shredded through their minds.
To them, it felt like someone had pried open their skulls with iron tongs and stirred their brains with a wooden stick.
Within seconds, the hunters—and all of their Pokémon—collapsed unconscious.
Such was the overwhelming might of Mewtwo's psychic power.
Hunter J had just reached the cave's mouth when she turned and saw the devastation behind her. She froze in terror.
Even with her iron will, she trembled. Articuno—a Legendary Pokémon—had fallen in a single strike, and the rest had been wiped out effortlessly.
Just how terrifying was Nozomi's strength?
"Good thing I ran when I did!"
That was her first thought.
Had she stayed, she would have joined her fallen subordinates on the floor.
But soon, confusion took root in her mind.
What in the world was that Pokémon beside Nozomi?
A newly discovered species, perhaps?
J had no idea where Mewtwo came from, nor the horror behind its creation.
Her thoughts raced, but her legs didn't stop—she dashed into the tunnel.
As long as she made it through, she could dive into the ocean beyond. Out at sea, with its boundless depths, even Nozomi's power couldn't track her down.
At least, that was what she thought.
But would Nozomi really let her go?
"Mewtwo, stop her."
At Nozomi's command, Mewtwo lifted a hand. Its eyes flared blue.
A transparent psychic barrier materialized at the tunnel exit.
BAM!
Hunter J and her Salamence slammed straight into it.
The wall didn't even ripple. Both J and Salamence were thrown backward, sprawling across the stone floor.
"Damn it! Salamence, use Dragon Pulse!"
She shouted desperately—but before Salamence could even gather power, the space beside them shimmered.
A blurred figure flickered into being.
Mewtwo had used Teleport.
It appeared right beside them, one hand gripping a pulsating Shadow Ball, which it pressed directly to Salamence's head.
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the tunnel. The blast hurled J through the air like a rag doll.
Salamence, the main target, was knocked out instantly—completely incapacitated.
Though a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, J's Salamence was nowhere near strong enough to withstand Mewtwo's attack head-on.
But Mewtwo wasn't done.
With a flick of its wrist, a psychic blade materialized—razor-sharp and shimmering with mental energy.
It slashed forward, shattering the light wall Xatu had erected and pinning the bird Pokémon to the ground in one motion.
Xatu fainted on the spot.
"Drapion, get me out of here!"
J, now utterly panicked, mounted her Drapion and fled as fast as she could.
She left her Ariados behind to cover her escape.
Ariados fired a massive web toward Mewtwo.
Without even looking, Mewtwo raised its hand. The web froze midair, then reversed—Ariados and all—smashed straight into Drapion and Hunter J.
Crash!
The three tumbled together, tangled in the sticky web, rolling across the ground in a heap.
"How ironic—the infamous Hunter J, caught in her own trap."
Lorelei approached, her expression calm yet slightly amused. She cast a glance at the impassive Mewtwo before smiling at the restrained J.
"Damn it!"
J spat in frustration. Normally, she would have already sent out another Pokémon to fight back.
But bound and exhausted, she could only grit her teeth in fury.
"Well done."
Nozomi approached, having finished tending to Articuno.
"Nozomi~"
Lorelei's eyes softened with relief. She couldn't help smiling. Nozomi had a reassuring presence; with him there, everything felt under control. Without his intervention, Articuno would've been taken for sure.
Speaking of which—where was Articuno?
Lorelei looked at Nozomi in question.
He raised a Poké Ball in his hand and gave it a small shake.
"To prevent it from attacking again, I sealed it inside this Poké Ball," Nozomi explained, tossing it lightly to her. "You're the Ice-type expert—you should handle it from here."
Whether she intended to release or capture it properly was her decision. Nozomi left that choice to her.
Hunter J's eyes burned with envy and hatred.
The Articuno she had fought tooth and nail to obtain—Nozomi had simply handed it to Lorelei, as if it were nothing.