As the sun began to set over Vermilion City, Mina turned her back on Private Chris. Standing alone in the fading light, a small, warm tear rolled down her cold cheek. Not knowing who these tears were for, Mina wiped them away and slowly closed her eyes.

  The moment she first received Bulbasaur from Professor Oak with pure joy… The moment she and Bulbasaur left Pallet Town, matching each other’s footsteps… Steeling herself with Bulbasaur for their very first Gym Badge…

  Overwhelmed by the memories, Mina furrowed her brow.

  The old bus she boarded with a letter, deceived by Brock, the Gym Leader of Pewter City… Her past self laughing loudly, oblivious to the grim future awaiting her… The Masked Madame she met upon arriving in Celadon City… The life she was forced to endure in the Underground Colosseum after her defeat…

  Mina’s brow relaxed, but tears began to well up in her eyes again.

  The friend she met while training desperately in the underground world for her dream of becoming a Pokémon Master… But then, the day she found him hanging, having taken his own life… Being able to do nothing but wail helplessly at his death… Unable to handle the debt caused by a mistake, eventually being forced to join Team Rocket… By then, her dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, her laughter, and her hope had all vanished…

  Training as an assassin under a ninja while in Team Rocket, only to end up a fugitive after selling the ninja's wife to the organization… Returning to Team Rocket, only to find nothing but the cold death of her first Pokémon, Bulbasaur…

  Unstoppable tears began to flow from Mina’s eyes once again.

  Unable to even mourn Bulbasaur’s death, she became a plaything for a bald scientist as a Team Rocket test subject… And when the experiments failed repeatedly, seeing her own corpse being thrown into a pit of Dittos…

  She tried to wipe her tears, but the sobs escaping her lips only tormented her further.

  The Dittos gnawing on her flesh, eventually becoming her body itself… Becoming a literal amalgamation of monsters, except for her brain and a few organs… And then meeting Karen, who treated her like family and gave her work as a mercenary…

  She couldn't hold it back anymore and burst into loud sobs.

  Life on Rubbish Island wasn't exactly great… but it felt like even death rejected her. Then there was Chris—who sacrificed himself for her even though she resented him… and his soul, still living inside her as one of the Dittos… And finally, the hero named Ash, whom she had met to assassinate.

  Slowly stopping her crying, she wiped away the tears and mucus, then opened her eyes.

  ‘This is the last chance. No one like me should ever be created again… For that sake, I will achieve my broken dream, no matter what.’

  Having firmly decided not to retreat any further, Mina took a step forward. Just like her first step in Pallet Town with Bulbasaur five years ago, she moved slowly, but this time with a conviction to never look back and never back down.

  As she advanced toward the Gym, Dittos began to ooze from her body, fueled by her rage and desire for revenge.

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  As she got closer to the Gym, people came into view. Reporters, civilians, and among them, soldiers and police officers. Upon seeing Mina, the ordinary citizens screamed and fled in panic. The police and soldiers aimed their guns at her, but seeing the pink liquid flowing from her clothes like cold sweat, their fingers froze on the triggers. They could only retreat like the receding tide with every step she took.

  “Wait!”

  Hearing the voice of a boy—young, but filled with absolute certainty—the police and soldiers broke out in a cold sweat and turned their heads.

  The owner of that voice was the Pokémon World Champion, Ash Ketchum. Karen looked at Ash with a satisfied expression, as if she had said everything she needed to say, and then vanished with her mercenaries.

  Recognizing Ash’s voice, Mina activated the choker on his neck and shouted.

  “Ash… Ketchum…!”

  The choker activated, tightening around Ash’s neck to the point where breathing should have been impossible. Yet, Ash walked toward Mina step by step, refusing to lose to the device. Gasping for air, he reached out and grabbed Mina’s hand, which was dripping with murderous pink liquid.

  “I told you, didn't I? I won't let you drown. I have no intention of letting go of your hand now that it's reached the surface.”

  To Mina, the look in Ash’s eyes wasn't that of an ordinary human. It was the awakened look of a hero—a savior. It seemed to offer hope even to someone like her, from whom all hope had vanished. The grievances she had struggled to suppress turned into tears and began to flow.

  As the pressure of the choker slowly decreased, Ash gasped, coughing and catching his breath. Mina couldn't understand his actions at all, but feeling the warmth radiating from him, she wiped her tears and spoke.

  “I came… to kill you…”

  “That’s right, you came to kill me! So what?”

  Ash grabbed her other hand and continued.

  “I heard about you from Karen. Unlike me, you ended up becoming this…”

  As Ash realized the life Mina had lived, his nose stung, and his eyes began to redden.

  “Honestly, I didn't understand you. You mocked me, treated me like a brat or a child… Honestly, I was really angry.”

  Ash embraced Mina, whose entire body was covered in Dittos. Her Dittos were poised to absorb Ash at any moment, but he didn't care.

  “You’ve been through a lot, haven't you?”

  The warmth that radiated from Ash—disgustingly warm, pure, and human—shook Mina’s resolve and her broken heart to its core.

  This emotion Ash showed her was something she had never felt in her life. Her life had been a jungle among jungles, where expectation led to betrayal, and she had to kill to avoid being betrayed.

  But Ash was different. He was looking at Mina not as a Pokémon, not as a monster, but as a scar-ridden "human." Ash wanted to save her, dusting her off and offering a faint but distinct hope. Responding to this, her body slowly reverted to its human form, and the Dittos retreated back inside her.

  Before Ash stood not the mercenary MN, nor a monster made of slime, but Mina—crying her eyes out like a child whose first pet had just died.

  “I know what you want, Mina.”

  Ash showed her a pair of sunglasses with a sheepish look. Her original sunglasses had been destroyed during the attack by Lt. Surge's soldiers earlier.

  “Sorry about this… I should have protected them…”

  Ash grinned, then handed her a new pair of sunglasses he had received from Karen, gently placing them on her face.

  “You’ll be able to have your Gym Battle with Lt. Surge soon. Don't ask me how I did it, haha.”

  As Ash placed the sunglasses on her, smiling his foolish but pure smile, the emotion Mina felt was neither shame nor injustice. It was the heavy, unbearable weight of salvation.

  However, Mina knew well. No matter how warmly Ash treated her, it couldn't erase the countless wrongs and sins she had committed.

  Mina couldn't stop her tears of gratitude toward Ash, but at the same time, she made a vow once again.

  ‘I won't be weak anymore.’