Weak limbs, a foggy mind. Sato's consciousness stirred, and the first thing he did was instinctively assess his surroundings. The air was filled with noise, chaos, and an intense heat pressing against him.
As a newly promoted gold-ranked assassin, he forced his eyes open immediately, his senses on high alert. What came into view was a villa engulfed in flames, both familiar and strange at the same time.
"You're awake! Sato is awake! My poor child..."
An elderly woman with graying hair gasped in both shock and relief. She rushed to embrace Sato, her voice trembling with sorrow.
"Bang!"
For over twenty years, no one had ever been able to get close to him. Instinctively, Sato shoved the woman away with his left hand while his right hand moved toward his lower back, reaching for the weapon that had become an extension of himself.
"...?"
His brows furrowed. His lower back was empty. Not even the battle belt essential for a Pokémon Trainer was there.
A flicker of panic and sharp hostility flashed through his eyes as he prepared to escape. Until, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the elderly woman stand up again.
Wait... why did she seem so tall?
"Sato, I know you're suffering too, but the dead cannot be brought back to life. If you don't mind, let this old woman..." she whispered, her voice gentle as she pulled him into another tight embrace.
Sato turned his dazed gaze toward the burning villa. A buried memory in the depths of his mind suddenly surfaced, slowly aligning with reality.
"This... is my home?"
"Sato... wuuu..." Hearing his words, the old woman held him even tighter, sobbing uncontrollably without further explanation.
Sato struggled to free his arms.
A pair of small hands entered his sight, pale and unblemished. No scars from past missions, no calluses from relentless training. They looked nothing like his own.
'Are these... my hands?'
A sudden realization struck him. He had been reborn.
'But why?'
Given another chance at life, yet still utterly alone...
His rational mind told him that in such a fire, survival was impossible. His parents' faces had already faded in his memory, and even now, they remained unclear.
Breaking free from the old woman's arms, he rummaged through fragmented memories.
This woman... she seemed to be his neighbor.
Her son, like his parents, was a well-known merchant in Saffron City. Because the adults were always busy, this grandmother, whose name he had long forgotten, had taken care of him as a child.
Reborn, a raging fire, and the companions he had spent years with... Zoroark and the others...
Even with his mental fortitude, Sato found himself overwhelmed, lost in a tangle of thoughts.
'Wait! The Power of Darkness!'
Closing his eyes, he focused on his body's internal state. A surge of pure, dark energy stirred within him, and for a brief moment, his eyes turned pitch black before returning to normal.
"Haah..." Sato let out a small sigh of relief. The Power of Darkness was still there, unchanged, even its intensity was exactly as it had been before his reborn.
'Wait... exactly the same?'
If he had truly been reborn, why hadn't the Power of Darkness changed at all?
Unable to find an answer, Sato buried the question deep within his heart for now.
Beside him, the old woman continued her incessant rambling. As Sato activated the Power of Darkness, he vaguely sensed a lingering energy within the burning villa, something unusual.
"Hey, Sato, come back! It's dangerous over there!"
The old woman panicked as Sato moved toward the villa, but she was too old to stop him.
However, the fire had drawn a crowd, and the onlookers quickly rushed forward to restrain him.
"I won't go inside!"
Judging from the timeline, Sato was still under ten years old. He knew very well how powerless he was compared to adults, so he stopped after moving just a little closer.
The concerned adults who had rushed in to stop him hesitated. If he wasn't going to enter, should they still hold him back?
Ignoring them, Sato subtly channeled the Power of Darkness again. His eyes turned pitch black as he honed his senses. He clearly perceived a familiar emotion: contempt. But it gradually faded into silence.
Taking another step forward, he tried to get a better feel of the energy, but the crowd immediately tensed, fearing the child might recklessly throw himself into the flames.
Unfortunately, the energy was too faint. Within moments, it had completely dissipated.
Sato withdrew the Power of Darkness. He hadn't yet processed his thoughts when he noticed the ring of unfamiliar people surrounding him.
A wave of warmth rose in his chest, but as someone who had lived in the shadows for twenty years, he didn't know how to express gratitude. So, he simply took a step back and stopped approaching the fire.
"Sato..."
The old woman's nagging continued, but Sato remained silent.
To others, he must have seemed too devastated by the loss of his parents to speak. But in truth, his mind was already adapting. Twenty years in darkness had conditioned him to adjust quickly.
Right now, he was thinking about something else.
'Was this fire deliberately set?'
The unusual energy he had sensed earlier couldn't have been an illusion!
The first extension of the Power of Darkness: Energy Detection.
Dark-type energy was particularly sensitive to six types: Dark, Psychic, Ghost, Bug, Fighting, and Fairy. The corresponding emotions were excitement, contempt, and loathing. Simple and direct.
The lingering energy had triggered the contempt emotion in the Power of Darkness. That meant it had definitely been left behind by a Ghost-type or Psychic-type Pokémon.
Either way, both were highly skilled at silent assassinations and arson.
Finally, the police arrived. Just as the house was about to burn down completely.
A squad of Water-type Pokémon quickly got to work, using Water Gun and Hydro Pump in turn to extinguish the flames.
From the smoke-filled ruins, four Golduck carried out two stretchers.
The old woman immediately covered Sato's eyes, not wanting him to see the scene.
He didn't resist her kindness, but at that moment, an utterly loathsome presence was approaching. Pushing past the hands covering his eyes, Sato silently observed the incoming Officer Jenny.
Years of underground life had made him extremely sensitive to this kind of "righteous aura."
But at this moment, to everyone else, he was just a child. He had no choice but to play the role. Suppressing his inner revulsion, he met Officer Jenny's gaze with silent questioning.
"...Apologies. There was a sudden road collapse on the way here, delaying our response. Please accept my condolences."
Officer Jenny wasn't sure why, but when she saw Sato's clear yet stubborn eyes, she felt an urge to explain herself before she could even assert her usual authoritative presence.
Sato lowered his head, concealing the cold gleam in his eyes.
He was certain, whether in this life or the last. His parents' deaths had not been an accident.
But Jenny wasn't here just to apologize.
Not giving Sato any time to process his thoughts, she got straight to the point.
"Sato, given your situation, I can file an application for you to stay at the Pokémon League's designated orphanage. You'll be able to complete your education there, and when you reach adulthood, your parents' estate will be transferred to you."
"Alright."
"You don't have to worry, we- oh, that's good."