Chapter 76: Psychic Warriors' Wild Battles (Patreon)

Dragon Tamer Lance looked at the boy on the other side of the screen, a flicker of curiosity and mockery crossing his face.

"It's this late, and you're not with your little girlfriend? How do you have time to call a lonely old man like me?"

Renan's expression was grave, because this was serious business.

He didn't bother to deny it. He simply pressed on, speaking quickly. "The guesthouse room next to mine has two Team Rocket members staying in it. While I was practicing Meditate, I happened to overhear their conversation. It sounds like Team Rocket plans to capture the Mew living near Cameran Palace."

Dragon Tamer Lance: "!!!"

The composure on his face vanished the instant he heard his nephew's words, replaced by utter seriousness.

"Are you sure?"

Renan nodded. "My psychic power reached Gym-class not long ago."

His meaning was plain. A high-level psychic couldn't mishear or misremember what someone said.

Dragon Tamer Lance knew that, of course. On any other day, he would have been delighted by his nephew's psychic talent, offered a few words of encouragement, and maybe even sent a gift or two.

But at this moment, neither he nor Renan, nor Nurse Joy beside them, her mind gone blank from taking in too much information, every last one of them, had any attention to spare for such trivia.

Dragon Tamer Lance fell silent for two seconds. "Give me a moment."

With that, he cut the call for the time being.

Only then did Renan turn back to Nurse Joy beside him. "Nurse Joy, thank you for your help."

The members of the Joy family stationed at Pokémon Centers were always kind to Trainers. Now that she knew the boy in front of her was acquainted with Dragon Tamer Lance, Nurse Joy's attitude grew even warmer.

"You're welcome. If you hadn't warned us, the Battle Festival at Cameran Palace might have been forced to shut down once Team Rocket showed up."

Oma Town sat close to Rota City and was counting on the festival crowds to bring in some extra income.

As a League member stationed here, Nurse Joy would also earn a sizable amount of League points from it.

When their own interests were on the line, everyone naturally stood united against the common enemy.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries. Then a ringtone sounded from the communicator's receiver.

Nurse Joy stepped forward and pressed the button to answer.

Two figures appeared on the screen at once.

On the left stood Dragon Tamer Lance. On the right stood an old man who looked well past seventy.

Since she was a member of the League, Nurse Joy hurriedly bowed the moment she saw the old man. "Chairman Damalanqi!"

Surprise flickered in Renan's eyes, but he didn't just stand there like a fool. He followed right after. "Hello, Chairman."

The old man, Damalanqi, had held high office for a long time. The intelligence about Team Rocket hadn't sent him into a panic, and from start to finish his expression stayed calm.

He spoke evenly. "Trainer Renan, Lance tells me you have Gym-class psychic power?"

Renan glanced at Lance on the other side of the screen. Lance gave a barely perceptible nod, so Renan answered. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Damalanqi had actually noticed their little exchange, but he paid it no mind. "After receiving your report, the League dispatched Elite Four member Agatha and the nearby investigators to Cameran Palace. But to minimize losses, I need you to use your psychic power to subdue the two Team Rocket members staying next door to you, then hand them over to Officer Jenny and the investigators when they arrive."

"Can you do that?"

"Yes."

Renan answered without the slightest hesitation.

When he decided to report to the League, he had already made up his mind to wade into this mess.

Only, there was one thing.

"Is it all right if I cripple them?" the black-haired boy asked in a flat voice.

He might have been mentioning some trivial matter.

Beside him, kind-hearted Nurse Joy shivered at the sudden question.

Dragon Tamer Lance and Damalanqi, on the other hand, had clearly seen enough in their time and showed no reaction.

The white-haired old man, the League Chairman himself, went so far as to give Renan's plan the green light. "As long as they're still alive and clear-headed when the League takes them in, nothing else is a problem."

…

Renan had always been quick to act.

After ending the call with Damalanqi and Dragon Tamer Lance, he started Meditate right where he stood.

A little over a minute later, he had temporarily boosted his spiritual fluctuation to near Elite Four-class.

"Nurse Joy, I'll leave the handover with the police and the investigators to you."

Nurse Joy: "Uh… okay."

Her voice had barely faded when the black-haired boy's figure vanished from where he stood.

Some twenty seconds later, having returned to his guesthouse bedroom through several Teleportations, Renan first took a swig of the PP supplement from his bag.

Then his mana converted into spiritual force and spilled out of his body, reconstructing the situation in the next room in his mind down to the last detail.

'Two people, seven Pokémon, plus a communicator for contacting the outside world… I can take them!'

Back when he learned Meditate, Renan had already thought about how to make the most of his advantages as a psychic in a street battle.

The conclusion was surprisingly simple.

The next second.

Having locked onto the coordinates of the two Team Rocket members next door, the boy hesitated no longer and opened with Teleportation.

The moment he appeared in the room, a single immobilizing spell left the two women, who happened to have their backs to him, rooted where they stood.

Then Confusion wrapped around the seven Poké Balls holding their Pokémon and locked the switches shut.

Finally, he walked up and, with a crack, crack, crack, eight times in all, crushed the joints of their arms and legs.

Both women were at least Team Rocket lieutenants. As their bones snapped, they opened their mouths to scream aloud.

But Confusion held them fast.

Not the faintest sound escaped them. All they could do was tremble from head to toe, drenched in sweat.

A few seconds later, a faint, acrid stench drifted through the air.

Clearly, the agony had made them lose control of their bladders.

Renan stood where he was, his expression cold from start to finish.

Why were psychics feared? One look at the fight just now was enough to explain it.

In other people's street battles, Trainers and Pokémon laid out traps and decoys on both sides, trading moves and countering each other's tricks.

What mattered was tactical setup and the raw strength of the Pokémon.

A psychic's street battle was nowhere near that troublesome. Open with Teleportation plus Confusion, and then, if not everyone in the world, at least ninety percent of Trainers would lose the ability to fight on the spot.

What's more, unlike Sabrina, Caitlin and other psychics whose spiritual power had grown so strong it backfired on their bodies and caused all sorts of negative effects, Renan's physique and spiritual power rose in step with each other.

As a result, Meditate, which other psychics couldn't stack even a single layer of, could already lift him to a higher tier of combat power.

In the future, he might even be able to stand against Elite Four-class psychics with Gym-class psychic power!