"This…"
The middle-aged gentleman hesitated, clearly reluctant.
"If you don't at least try, how can you be sure?" Nozomi said calmly. "If I'm wrong, I'll apologize."
The man considered it for a moment. Since this was connected to the case of the missing children, he finally decided to test it himself—to prove both his and his Drowzee's innocence.
"Come on, Drowzee!"
He stood before his Pokémon, looking directly into its eyes.
Drowzee gave a soft cry. Its fingers began to twitch rhythmically, faster and faster—until a wave of psychic energy swept toward the man's mind.
At once, the gentleman's pupils lost focus. His entire body went slack as consciousness faded, and then—suddenly—he dropped to the ground.
Like a Caterpie, he began crawling forward.
"This—"
Everyone in the club stared in stunned silence.
"That's exactly it," Erika said gravely. "Exactly like the symptoms seen in those missing children."
"Let's follow him!" Officer Jenny ordered.
Though the man crawled like a worm, his movements were shockingly fast. In seconds, he was out the door.
Nozomi, Officer Jenny, Erika, and a crowd of curious onlookers rushed after him, a noisy stream of people spilling into the street.
Following the man, they soon arrived at Rainbow Central Park, located in the heart of Celadon City.
After weaving through rows of trees, they reached an open clearing.
"So it was here all along!"
Officer Jenny's eyes widened as realization struck.
"What's wrong? You didn't check this place before?" Nozomi asked, surprised.
"When we investigated earlier, this area wasn't here," Jenny admitted. "It must have been overlooked—our mistake."
They followed the crawling man a little further—and what they saw next made everyone freeze.
A group of children were in the clearing, all moving like Pokémon.
Some flopped on the ground like Magikarp, some crouched like Bulbasaur, and others waved their arms and shrieked like Mankey.
It was a bizarre, chaotic sight.
The middle-aged man joined them, wriggling across the grass like a green Caterpie.
"This…" one of the club members muttered in disbelief.
They'd doubted Officer Jenny's earlier explanation, but seeing it firsthand left them speechless. So the missing-children cases in Celadon City really were connected!
"Seventeen… eighteen! All missing children accounted for!" Officer Jenny quickly counted heads and let out a long sigh of relief.
She'd been worrying about this case for days—now she could finally breathe again.
"Nozomi, can you return them to normal?" Erika asked.
"Of course. That's simple."
Nozomi snapped his fingers. His telekinesis instantly severed the psychic field radiating from Drowzee.
With a sharp pop, the trance was broken. The children all collapsed at once, fast asleep from sheer exhaustion after being under hypnosis for so long.
The middle-aged man blinked awake, dazed.
He looked around at the sleeping children on the grass, eyes wide with shock.
"So it really was Drowzee…"
He didn't know what to say.
"What should we do with that Drowzee, Mr. Nozomi?" Officer Jenny asked. With something like this, there would have to be follow-up action.
Nozomi, as a Psychic-type expert, was the natural authority here.
Hearing her question, the man's face tightened.
Drowzee was his only Pokémon—if the League seized it, he'd have to part with his partner.
"There's no need to punish Drowzee," Nozomi said gently, meeting the man's desperate gaze.
"This kind of psychic disturbance happens often to Psychic-types on the verge of evolution. Their mental energy becomes unstable for a while—before and after evolving. Once the transition period passes, and they learn to control their psychic power, incidents like this won't happen again."
The man's eyes filled with tears of relief.
"Of course," Nozomi continued, "as the Trainer, you'll need to compensate the victims—the children's families—for emotional distress, as well as the costs of the police investigation caused by the incident."
He paused. "Also, it's best to keep your Drowzee at the Pokémon Center for a while, and don't let it use Psychic powers until it stabilizes."
"Of course! I'll take full responsibility," the man said quickly.
"Good." Nozomi nodded, satisfied.
With the case closed, the missing children safe, and countless parents thanking him, Nozomi finally took his leave from Officer Jenny and Erika.
"Whew…" He exhaled deeply.
He'd spent the whole day running around with Officer Jenny, but he still felt good.
Helping others, he realized, could be a source of joy—especially that warm, satisfying feeling that came from gratitude.
It was like soaking in a hot spring.
"Now then, time to deal with Team Rocket's little den."
Ever since he'd activated his "Physical Enhancement" reward, Nozomi had felt more energetic than ever. Normally, after such a long day, he'd be dead tired—but now, he didn't feel fatigued at all.
"Guess that reward wasn't as useless as I thought," he mused.
He made his way toward the Game Corner.
As Celadon City's only game hall, the Rainbow Game Corner was brightly lit and bustling even as evening fell.
Excited gamblers streamed in and out—some elated with winnings, others hollow-eyed after losing every last coin.
"I wonder how much money Team Rocket's made off this place…"
No matter the world, gambling was always a goldmine. Though the Game Corner wasn't officially labeled a casino, its slot machines were practically identical in function. The only difference was that the transactions didn't openly involve money—just enough to stay within the League's legal gray zone.
Nozomi pushed open the door.
The interior buzzed with chatter, the air thick with excitement. He walked straight to the counter.
"Good evening, sir. How may I help you?" the clerk greeted him politely.
But when her eyes fell on Nozomi's face, her pupils constricted.
She forced a smile, but the corners of her mouth twitched with tension.
Nozomi pretended not to notice. He pulled out a bank card and said casually, "Exchange this for ten thousand in coins."