At this moment, the Pokémon League's influence over various regions was far weaker than it would be twenty years later.
City attacks, illegal trades, and inhumane experiments repeatedly shattered the fragile peace between humans and Pokémon.
This was the second time that an underground organization had directly attacked a Pokémon Center.
There was no guarantee that one of their assassination targets wasn't Nurse Joy herself.
In a tournament battle, Sato ranked among the Top 4, maybe even only the Top 8.
But in a fight to the death, he could completely dominate the tournament champion.
Following Nurse Joy allowed him to stay informed about the situation and, at the same time, protect her, something he had to do.
"Tap... tap... tap... tap..."
Nurse Joy moved swiftly, arriving at the second-floor dormitory area. A trail of blood stretched along the corridor, starting from the shattered glass and leading straight to a room.
The door was flung open.
It was a double dormitory, occupied by one of the four semifinalists from the tournament. But now the room was a wreck.
Blood covered the floor, and the beds and chairs were destroyed.
A young man and woman lay motionless in pools of blood. The female trainer's eyes remained open, staring lifelessly toward the door.
Even for someone like Nurse Joy, who had seen her fair share of injuries and bloodshed, the sight was enough to shake her.
The male trainer, half of his body pressed over his partner, lay facing away from the door, equally unmoving.
Acting on her duty as a healer, Nurse Joy quickly regained her composure. She stepped into the blood, preparing to check if either of them could still be saved.
"Sis Lily, let me help you."
Sato spoke lightly, grabbing her wrist effortlessly, yet she couldn't shake free. He then stepped forward, positioning himself between her and the bodies.
Ignoring the female trainer, who was clearly beyond saving, Sato reached out toward the man's neck.
The male trainer's head snapped up, his entire body twisted unnaturally, shifting from facing away to facing forward in an instant!
His right hand lashed out, a black dagger gleaming in the dim light, lunging straight for Sato's throat!
Sato didn't move. His extended hand remained completely unchanged, to the assassin, it seemed like he hadn't reacted in time.
But in the next moment, the dagger stopped.
Frozen mid-air, hovering 20 centimeters away from Sato's neck, no matter how hard the assassin tried, it wouldn't move forward even a fraction.
From within Sato's shadow, Gengar emerged halfway, its golden eyes shimmering blue, Psychic power had locked the assassin in place.
"Sato! Are you... are you okay?!"
Lily gasped, her face pale as she instinctively pulled Sato back a few steps. Only then did she finally turn her gaze toward the frozen assassin, dagger in hand.
"What in the world...?"
Two more windows shattered, the sound interrupted her words as both Sato and Nurse Joy immediately turned their heads.
A fourth window broke. Sato whipped back around, a Kecleon had appeared beside the assassin without them noticing, freeing him from Gengar's control!
Together, they shattered the glass and leaped out of the window!
A shadow streaked past, Zoroark pursued immediately, unleashing Night Daze mid-air! A massive black sphere engulfed the space within ten meters, locking everything inside its deadly radius!
The assassin and Kecleon were engulfed within the dark explosion.
A few seconds later, Night Daze dissipated. Zoroark landed stylishly, flipping midair before touching the ground.
As for the assassin and Kecleon, their fate was unknown.
"Dee-doo! Dee-doo! Dee-doo!"
The Pokémon Center's alarm finally blared, jolting everyone awake. One by one, ceiling lights flickered on, illuminating the entire facility.
Lily's face was pale, her hand just releasing the emergency alarm button.
Within moments, the sounds of battle erupted across the Pokémon Center. The clashes grew louder and more frequent, echoing from various locations inside the facility.
But by far, the most chaotic area was exactly where they stood, the dormitory section!
"This is the Mahogany Town Pokémon Center! I'm Nurse Joy. The center is currently under attack by an unknown force. There are casualties. Requesting immediate assistance! I repeat, this is-"
Regaining her composure, Lily quickly picked up the room's telephone, calling the local police station. Despite the fear and confusion, she knew exactly what needed to be done.
"Tauros, I'm counting on you!"
She released a powerful-looking Tauros, then turned to Sato. After a moment of hesitation, she finally gestured for him to follow!
Half of it was because she didn't feel comfortable leaving Sato alone, the other half was because of his decisiveness earlier, which had given her a strong sense of security.
Zoroark silently climbed up, following behind them.
Lily didn't stop inside the dormitory section It was already in total chaos, a mess far beyond what they could fix alone.
As soon as they stepped outside, they ran straight into a group of League Trainers.
They were dressed in plain clothes, clearly having been lying in wait.
Sato exhaled in relief. If Sen had stationed League forces in advance, then at least this time, they were taking the situation seriously.
The butterfly's wings had already flapped; whatever the outcome, it couldn't possibly be worse than what had happened in the previous timeline... right?
The League Trainers tore off their disguises, revealing combat uniforms, ensuring that no one mistook them for enemies before rushing into the dormitory, checking each room one by one.
"I'm going to help!" Sato told Lily, before immediately turning back and running toward the battle.
Lily called out anxiously, but Sato had already disappeared into the dormitory.
Realizing that she had her own responsibilities to handle, Lily stomped her foot in frustration before running off.
Sato rushed back to the dormitory section.
Instead of staying with the main group, he quickly climbed to the fifth floor, where another one of the semifinalist teams was staying!
Having already investigated where all the Top 4 teams were staying, Sato went straight to their room.
It was completely silent. Sato frowned and gently pushed the door open.
The lights were off. Despite the blaring alarms echoing throughout the building, the room remained eerily undisturbed.
The two trainers inside were already dead. There were no visible wounds on their bodies, but their breathing had stopped.
Moving up one more floor, Sato finally heard the sounds of battle coming from a room in the middle of the hallway.
That room belonged to the tournament champions!
"Nidoking, hold on! Use Thunderbolt!"
"Nidoqueen, Ice Beam for cover!"
The champions were a couple who owned multiple Pokémon pairs, and Nidoking and Nidoqueen were their signature powerhouses, both at Peak Elite level, with formidable strength!
"You're not getting away! Nidoqueen, Blizzard!"
A massive surge of ice energy exploded from the room, shattering the entire doorway.
A masked assassin and a Crobat were flung out like trash, their bodies slamming into the floor and shattering into pieces.
Such overwhelming ice energy... such brutal execution.
But the moment Sato saw the Crobat, he turned around without hesitation. His mentor never owned a Crobat. That meant only two possibilities remained.
Either his mentor had already completed the mission, assassinating the runner-up team before escaping, or...
"Mentor, where are you?"