Because Gengar possessed the ability to hide within shadows, it often stored rare treasures inside them.
The Gengar leader turned its head and rummaged through its own shadow for a moment before pulling out a deep violet orb, which it handed over to Nozomi.
The bead was entirely purple, emanating a sinister aura, and faint wisps of violet mist seeped from its surface.
"This thing is… a Toxic Orb?"
The instant Nozomi saw the Gengar leader's hand, he recognized it immediately.
A Toxic Orb—an item from the Pokémon world that released deadly poison upon contact, inflicting the user with a severe toxic state. However, for Poison-type Pokémon, it was considered a precious treasure.
According to the Pokémon Breeder's Handbook in Nozomi's mind, a Poison-type Pokémon that carried or maintained long-term contact with a Toxic Orb would see its poison-type moves increase in power by twenty to thirty percent, and their toxins would become even more virulent.
He had originally only intended to check whether these Ghost-type Pokémon had anything of value—if not, he would have simply apologized and let them go. But he hadn't expected to actually find something this good.
Using his telekinesis, Nozomi carefully levitated the Toxic Orb from a distance and examined it closely.
It was encased in a transparent shell of unknown material, within which light pulsed and shifted like living energy. It was truly mysterious.
The Gengar leader looked heartbroken as Nozomi took the orb. As an ancient spirit with immense intelligence, Gengar understood perfectly what it was losing.
Its enormous size and leadership over the Gastly and Haunter in Lavender Town had all been thanks to this Toxic Orb. But there was no helping it—if it didn't hand it over, this human, this "demon," would never spare them.
Nozomi, of course, had no idea that he was being viewed as a demon in Gengar's eyes. He was quite satisfied."All right, take your companions and go. Also—those guys are the ones who controlled you. From now on, if you ever see anyone in these uniforms, you don't need to say anything—just open with a Shadow Ball."
As he spoke, Nozomi nudged one of the bound Rocket grunts with his foot.
The grunt didn't even dare get angry, terrified that if Nozomi grew displeased, he'd toss him straight into the crowd of vengeful Ghost-types.
The Gengar leader looked carefully at the Team Rocket uniforms, as if engraving their image in its mind.
Meanwhile, the Rockets' faces went pale.
This was outright setting them up for trouble. It wasn't hard to imagine that from now on, any Rocket member entering Lavender Town would be treated as a mortal enemy by Ghost-type Pokémon—after today's beating, the grudge would never end.
They wanted to report this to Boss Giovanni, but clearly Nozomi wouldn't give them the chance. All they could do was pray that when their comrades visited Lavender Town, they wouldn't run into too many Ghost-types…
Once the Ghost-type Pokémon left, it was obvious that this year's Lavender Town Ghost-catching Festival would have to be canceled.
After that battle, nearly every Ghost Pokémon in town had been subdued by Nozomi. None of them would dare show themselves again anytime soon—those trainers who had been eagerly waiting for the festival were bound to be disappointed.
After contacting Lorelei and asking her to have the local Officer Jenny come collect the prisoners, Nozomi set off toward Saffron City.
Saffron City lay south of Lavender Town, not very far away.
According to the records, though Saffron was the largest and most modernized city in Kanto—its economic hub—it had existed far longer than Lavender Town. In fact, some legends claimed that the Pokémon Tower had been built because many Saffron citizens buried their Pokémon in that area long ago.
In his previous life, Nozomi's predecessor had visited Saffron a few times on official duties, but never stayed long.This was the first time he had truly come to the city for himself.
"It's… more prosperous than I expected."
Walking down the bustling main street and glancing at the towering buildings on both sides, Nozomi couldn't help but marvel.
He had been misled by his memories from the game in his previous life.
The real Saffron City was nothing like the dozen or so buildings and scattered NPCs of the game.As the heart of Kanto's economy, it stretched across tens of thousands of square kilometers, housing nearly ten million people and countless Pokémon. It was a true metropolis in every sense.
But the world was small—because even in a place this vast, Nozomi still managed to spot a few very familiar faces.
"Huh? What are these three doing here instead of chasing after Ash's Pikachu?"
A casual glance across the crowd, and Nozomi spotted none other than Jessie, James, and Meowth—handing out flyers on the street.
The trio, whose lifelong dream was capturing Pikachu, suddenly abandoning their chase to work in Saffron City—now that was curious.
"Could it be that Ash and the others are here too?" Nozomi wondered.
But he quickly dismissed the thought. It wasn't that he looked down on Ash, but knowing the kid's pace, Nozomi figured he was probably still sunbathing somewhere along the Cerulean coastline.
Putting on a disguise mask to mimic the face of a random passerby, Nozomi let Misdreavus perch on his head to shade him from the sun and help conceal his hairstyle. Then he casually approached the trio.
"Give me one of those flyers."
"Of course! Our new Galaxy Game Corner just opened—please come visit!" James, who had been handing out flyers all morning with little success, suddenly perked up at the sight of a willing customer and eagerly passed one over.
"Oh? Galaxy Game Corner, huh? Does it have anything to do with Team Galactic from the Sinnoh region?" Nozomi asked as he examined the flyer.
At that, sweat instantly broke out on Jessie, James, and Meowth's foreheads.
Their Galaxy Game Corner wasn't connected to Team Galactic—but it was secretly owned by Team Rocket. Which only made them more nervous at the thought of anyone associating them with other evil organizations.
"Of course not, nya! We're just a humble little business, meow~!" Meowth blurted.
Nozomi chuckled. "A talking Meowth, huh? That's rare."
Thinking the man was impressed, Meowth's face lit up with pride. After all, learning human speech had taken him years of relentless effort—it was something he always took great pride in.