Three Nasty Plots and a STAB Discharge from a chu. Surviving that was nothing short of a miracle.

  Mina, no longer maintaining a human form but reduced to a charred, dark-pink slime, felt her faint pulsating heartbeat slowly beginning to fade. It seemed as though even her own will to live had dimmed.

  Meanwhile, deep within Mina’s inner world, she lay sprawled in a dark void, staring blankly into the abyss with a look of utter defeat.

  ‘So this is death... finally... I can rest...’

  Clack, clack.

  In the silence where even her heartbeat was stopping, the sound of footsteps—impossible to hear in this place—rang in her ears. Mina didn't even turn her head. What did it matter if the Grim Reaper had come?

  ‘Boss.’

  A familiar voice. Only then did Mina let out a hollow laugh and speak.

  ‘...Finally crawled out, huh? Tool... no, Chris... When I needed you, you didn't even show your face...’

  The man standing before her. Messy brown hair, a tacky pink t-shirt. Eyes too innocent and ordinary for a reporter. He looked down at Mina exactly as he had 100 days ago on Rubbish Island.

  ‘It’s all over anyway... It’s doesn’t matter…’

  Thud-!

  ‘Gah...?!’

  Before she could finish, Chris grabbed the slumped Mina by the collar and drove his fist into her stomach with all his might. It was a mental world without physical bodies, but the pain was terribly vivid. Mina rolled on the floor, gasping for air.

  ‘Boss. No, Mercenary MN.’

  Chris knelt on one knee before the writhing Mina, staring at her with cold eyes.

  ‘Hurts? Feel like dying? Yeah... that’s exactly how I feel looking at you right now.’

  Mina couldn't answer due to the gut-wrenching pain, so Chris continued.

  ‘It's not complete, but my memory has returned to some extent.’

  As Mina’s breathing steadied, Chris’s sharp gaze softened slightly, and he flopped down beside her with a thud.

  ‘How’s Hex doing?’

  Mina chuckled, "Ha," but a tear slipped out unknowingly.

  ‘...Still working under me. Still puts way too much milk and sugar in his tea like an idiot.’

  Although things hadn't ended well with Hex, Chris seemed to be reminiscing. The image of a teenage Hex with thick glasses, thanking Chris with tears in his eyes, still seemed to linger before him.

  ‘...He hasn't changed.’

  Mina sprawled out again. Chris gave a small smile at the sight and continued.

  ‘Want to hear a story from the old days? You must be curious how I met Hex.’

  Curious, Mina looked at Chris.

  ‘Well, considering he made a hacked Pokédex usable as a Trainer ID... I knew he wasn't ordinary...’

  Chris nodded.

  ‘Yeah. He was known as 'PKMHEX' in Galar. If you're too skilled... flies start swarming around you.’

  Chris continued, recalling his meeting with Hex as vividly as if it were yesterday.

  ‘He was destined to be kidnapped to Rubbish Island, used as a hacker, and then killed. But thanks to my investigation and help from the Galar Champion League, he escaped to the outside world.’

  Mina finally understood why Chris had been excessively angry at Hex back on Rubbish Island.

  ‘...So that’s why Hex was so obedient to you, and why you got so mad?’

  Chris recalled Hex’s room on Rubbish Island. The smell of trash, rotting coffee, and energy drinks... and the fact that Hex had participated in modifying Poké Ball chips. It seemed he remembered all the rage he felt back then.

  ‘Yes. I don't know the details, but the fact that he went back to Rubbish Island of his own will and is still doing dirty work... honestly, it’d be weird if I wasn't angry, right?’

  ‘What's your point, Chris?’

  At Mina’s question, Chris turned his gaze to stare somewhere into the darkness. His voice was calm, but the emotions within boiled like a volcano.

  ‘When you were dying, I erased my existence to save you. My body, my memories, everything.’

  Chris turned back to glare at Mina.

  ‘But now you’re wallowing in this pathetic defeatism, trying to throw my sacrifice into the trash. That makes me unbearably angry.’

  ‘......!’

  ‘Remember? Before we entered the modification factory, that annoying words you gave me.’

  Mina bit her lip. How could she forget? Back then, she had cursed this man who was trying to give up on life with the cruelest words possible.

  ‘Death is not a rest. It's just another curse. And don't you dare mention that garbage again! I will actually kill you.’

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  The corner of Chris’s mouth twisted up.

  ‘Yeah, I’m returning that curse to you this time. I died to save you, so you live and pay the price.’

  He grabbed Mina by the collar again and pulled her up roughly.

  ‘If you keep looking at me with those loser eyes... I will actually kill you!’

  Mina couldn't say anything. It was poetic justice. Seeing Chris, an adult yet with tears in his eyes, speaking desperately against her giving up, she couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.

  ‘Hahaha... You’re right, but I can't beat Surge right now.’

  As Chris gently released his grip on her collar, a pink glow began to envelop his body.

  ‘Well, you're not wrong to think that. But... you're forgetting one thing.’

  Chris’s pink finger tapped her forehead, urging her to remember.

  ‘Your body... you know it’s special, right?’

  Mina frowned, thinking, and began to recite her condition.

  ‘My body is 80% Ditto... and Kanto Pokédex number 152... Wait...!’

  Kanto Pokédex number 152. MissingNo. Both she, the author, and the readers had forgotten it was within her body. Chris pulled his pink finger from her forehead, and it transformed into slime.

  ‘You know it well. Right. You haven't forgotten that you are stronger and more terrifying than I ever imagined, have you?’

  Meanwhile, a massive darkness enveloped Mina’s slime-like body. Except for Surge and Ash, all the soldiers were blasted away by the dark, evil aura emanating from her.

  “Ugh!”

  It was an indescribable energy, an alien malice that shouldn't exist in the Pokémon world. All soldiers except Surge and Ash fainted, and Surge trembled in fear, his knees shaking.

  But Ash just stared at this strange, unpleasant, yet somehow pitiful darkness he had never seen before.

  “What is that darkness?”

  Back inside Mina. She felt energy swirling throughout her entire being. It wasn't just super-regeneration; it was a reconstruction of existence. She felt her power returning. Her consciousness became clear even within her unconscious state as energy.

  ‘W-What’s happening?’

  Chris walked toward a small light, looking as if he had expected this.

  ‘Actually, while investigating Team Rocket as a reporter, I interviewed Blaine, the Cinnabar Gym Leader and leader of the MissingNo Project.’

  Mina frowned involuntarily.

  ‘...yes?’

  Chris continued without looking back at her.

  ‘According to him, for the darkness to truly awaken, ‘a sacrifice of a loved one is required.’’

  ‘....What are you talking about? I...’

  ‘Right. He said it didn't have to be romantic love—any kind would do. Friendship, familial love, pity, etc...’

  Chris’s legs and feet had turned back into blunt, clumsy slime. Now, only his upper body, excluding his arms and hands, remained human; the rest was a giant pink slime.

  Tears welled up in Mina’s eyes again. Holding her breath, she managed to ask Chris.

  ‘Then let me ask you... what did you think of me?’

  Chris looked back on his memories with Mina on Rubbish Island and answered.

  ‘I couldn't know everything about you in such a short time. But from your expressions and words... I thought you were a very pitiful kid.’

  Mina made an incredulous face.

  ‘So, it was just pity?’

  Chris’s torso began to turn into pink slime as he drifted away, but he didn't care.

  ‘No, more like... a family?’

  Mina scrambled up and started running to catch up to Chris.

  ‘Family?’

  Chris closed his eyes and answered.

  ‘I don't know if you remember, but after my wife divorced me, I don't even know if my child is a daughter or a son.’

  Chris waited for Mina, who kept trying to reach him.

  ‘Seeing you live on stubbornly despite such pain... you looked like the child I never got to protect.’

  As Mina caught up to Chris, gasping for breath, Chris spoke his true feelings.

  ‘It was stupid of me to think I could use you to save what I couldn't.’

  ‘...’

  Chris’s torso had turned to slime, leaving only his face and head hideously remaining, but Mina felt no disgust. Instead, tears and snot streamed down her face uncontrollably.

  ‘Haha, right. It is foolish.’

  Mina wiped her face and shook her head.

  ‘No... I understand your feelings now. Thanks to that, I’m here.’

  Chris recalled the moment he was absorbed by Mina in his fading memory. Just before absorption, he had briefly seen Mina’s past, present, and a glimpse of her future.

  She wasn't a vicious mercenary; she was just a ten-year-old girl who had lost her Pokémon. She had a foolish but pure dream of becoming a Pokémon Master.

  Closing his eyes, Chris smiled faintly at Mina.

  ‘Right. Your broken dream was purer than anyone’s, so I wanted to make it come true for you.’

  Mina couldn't say anything, her mind a mix of sorrow and joy. Now, Chris had turned into a giant Ditto. Yet, in those button-like eyes, the benevolence of a father looking at his daughter remained.

  ‘So, do you feel ‘love’ for me?’

  ‘....’

  ‘Haha, what a stupid question.’

  Chris began to merge with Mina. It seemed like the natural order of the world, like returning to where he belonged.

  ‘Now, listen carefully, Mina. You’ll be ready to battle soon. When we start again, call my name! And use the Ditto itself in battle.’

  A warmth like a heater spread through Mina’s chest.

  ‘....Are you sure you won't regret it?’

  Chris showed a characteristic Ditto smile.

  ‘Yeah! I hate seeing you give up and try to die! And I don't want to die twice!’

  Mina felt the warm energy throughout her body. Her empty heart and brain began to feel warm, like a heater—no, like the warmth of a human body.

  Watching the last of Chris’s Ditto form disappear into her, Mina managed to speak.

  ‘One last question.’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Don't you want to see your real family again?’

  Chris was almost fully absorbed, but his words echoed in her brain like telepathy.

  ‘I do. But no one would believe me. They’d think I’m crazy. Haha, it’s easier to think that way.’

  Chris was completely absorbed into Mina without a trace, but Mina felt deep gratitude for his sacrifice and everything he had done for her.

  ‘Thank you... Chris. I don't know if that's enough, but...’

  Light slowly grew and engulfed Mina. It was a light like a dead person returning to reality. She no longer found it disgusting. Or angry. She felt a comfort like returning home.

  ‘Don't mention it!’

  As the massive darkness lifted, Mina’s form returned.

  Her pigtails ended in the purple color of a Ditto, her skin was pale white like a drowned corpse, her eyes were purple but covered in glitches. She wore a black jacket, black shorts, a strap guard on her right leg, black high socks, combat boots, and a scarf resembling a Ditto wrapped around her.

  Her resurrection surprised Ash, but it was enough to terrify Surge. Surge, as a Gym Leader and Mina’s enemy, was pale but punched himself to stay alert.

  ‘I knew that Rubbish Girl wasn't human... but to be that much of a monster...’

  Surge pointed at Mina and shouted, but in reality, he was trembling so much he looked pathetic.

  “Rubbish Girl, listen! If you want to switch from Pikachu to another Pokémon, Change now!”

  Mina shouted back as if she had been waiting.

  “Right, and I’ll kick your ass!”

  Mina stretched out her right arm.

  “Chris, go!”

  Her right arm squirmed, and a small Ditto popped out. Mina looked at the Ditto—Chris—nodded, and the Ditto bounced into the battle stage.

  Deciding to act as referee in place of the fallen soldiers, Ash entered the stage and declared the start of the battle.

  “The battle resume!”

  Surge, still spooked by the way Mina’s Ditto appeared, couldn't seem to get a grip.

  “Rai! Volt Tackle!”

  ‘Just as I expected, Rai has Volt Tackle... But wait, if it’s Volt Tackle, Chu’s Lightning Rod ability should nullify it, so why...?’

  Overcome by the fear that he had to defeat that monster quickly, Surge laughed unpleasantly, showed the Key Stone on his dog tags, and shouted at Chu.

  “And! Chu! Mega Evolve!”

  Mina shouted involuntarily.

  “What? Raichu can Mega Evolve?”

  Its body was compressed into a streamlined shape like a cheetah to minimize wind resistance, and its ears stretched back like the wings of an airship, charged with golden electricity. Its cheek pouches turned into transparent crystal orbs with blue plasma swirling inside, and every breath it took sent ripples of static electricity across the field.

  The decisive feature was its tail. The lightning shape at the tip had crystallized into a transparent, brilliant white gem, emitting a holy light like a divine staff.

  Meanwhile, realizing Pikachu had woken up, Ash put him on his shoulder and was shocked by the powerful aura and wind of Mega Evolution.

  “Is that... the newly discovered Mega Raichu Y from the Kalos region?!”

  Mina clicked her tongue.

  ‘Damn… But that won't make the Lightning Rod ability disappear...’

  At that moment, a massive Electric Terrain crackling with energy was created around Mega Raichu Y. It looked as if the field itself was born for electricity. With a low hum, everything in the field began to ionize. It looked like a precisely designed execution ground.

  ‘Huh? Electric Terrain was set up... Don't tell me... is Mega Raichu Y’s ability Electric Surge?’

  Meanwhile, since Chu’s ability was no longer Lightning Rod, Rai’s Volt Tackle activated and charged toward Ditto.

  To overcome his fear, Surge laughed creepily, tapped his Key Stone twice, and shouted.

  “Rai! You Mega Evolve too!”

  An unbelievable phenomenon unfolded before Mina’s eyes. Two Pokémon belonging to one Trainer Mega Evolved simultaneously.

  ‘The Hell? Double Mega Evolution?!’

  Where the light faded, Mega Raichu X stood, crushing the ground. Its original agile form was gone; a heavy beast with abnormally swollen upper body muscles looked down at Mina.

  The tail trailing behind it had thickened like a high-voltage cable, and the lightning tip had lost its sharpness, transforming into a heavy copper anchor. Every move left a charred trail on the floor, and the ground cracked like a spiderweb under its weight. Standing before it felt like facing the incarnation of pure physical violence.

  “That Pokémon is Mega Raichu X...?”

  Mega Raichu’s attack didn't stop; it charged toward Ditto.

  ‘Damn, the electric attacks are stronger due to Electric Terrain, and even Mega Raichu X’s attack power has increased... Then what is Mega Raichu X’s ability... Damn it, no data...’

  But surprisingly, Chris lifted his body and fluidly dodged Raichu’s Volt Tackle. Even though Ditto's ability is Limber, it seemed he had tremendous adaptability thanks to his human brain.

  “Rai! Drain Punch!”

  Chris tried to dodge the Drain Punch, but the syringe-like fist seemed to absorb attacks continuously.

  ‘I can see it healing massively with Drain Punch... That means its ability is Iron Fist...’

  Mina thought hard, then, as if realizing something, declared to the tense Ash.

  "Hey, Ash Ketchum. Watch closely. From now on, I win!”

  Ash stared at her blankly. Even under the pressure of Double Mega Evolution with no data and seemingly no chance of victory, a twisted smile hung on Mina’s lips.

  "What? How...? This is completely hopeless!"

  Mina closed her eyes for a moment. The smell of blood in the underground Colosseum five years ago, the memories of countless victories with Bulbasaur. And the warmth of Chris currently embedded in her heart. Mina gave Ash a thumbs-up and answered in the voice he knew best.

  "Do you know why I eventually win even when it looks like I'll lose? ...It's the same as you. Because I will never lose! Because I believe that!"

  Ash’s pupils shook violently. Seeing Mina like this, he couldn't help but tear up. The girl who always cursed the world as cowardly and dirty was now proving the clumsy belief he had tried so hard to protect in the fiercest way possible.

  Thank you for reading this episode.

  I am very curious to hear your thoughts.