The Tokyo Team  

He rushed over and touched the boy's shoulder.

"What are you trying to do?"

The man, upon looking at Shirona, immediately regarded her with suspicious eyes. He tried to pull the boy named Takeshi away from her.

What was perplexing was that Shirona herself felt the same way. Neither of them were new members who had joined the team. Their faces were unfamiliar. Some abnormality was occurring. Something different from before was unfolding.

Lucario stepped in front of Shirona, letting out a growl towards the glaring man. At the same time, the man also took a defensive stance.

"An alien?"

That possibility hadn't even crossed Shirona's mind until now. Considering what Nura Rihyon had done, it might be possible for him to infiltrate the Gantz team in disguise and sabotage them from within.

The surrounding Pokemon also gathered around. Everyone except the boy had a tense air about them, suspicious of each other's existence and worried danger could befall them. But the balance didn't crumble.

"Oi, there he is." 

"So was it just him alone then?" 

"Missed out on scoring points." 

"Shirona!"

Anzu was running at the front, with Muroya and the others following behind her. It seemed they hadn't engaged in any proper combat yet, shoving aside the fallen corpses with their weapons as they advanced.

The man dropped his defensive stance and stood dumbfounded. The boy, on the other hand, seemed merely curious - the innocence of a child.

Muroya's eyes widened. "What's with you guys?"

Shirona also felt she needed to make sense of the situation.

A large group in black suits would soon be assembled here.

From the direction the man had run, various people walked over. There was a gentle-looking middle-aged man well past his prime years, as well as some who still seemed like students. The man at the very front also looked younger than Shirona - quite tall with impressively slicked-back black hair.

The two groups faced each other with Shirona in between.

"Ah..."

The slicked-back haired man let out a dumbfounded voice.

George and Kuwabara also voiced their doubts.

"What's up with them?" 

"Why they wearing suits?"

Shirona double checked as well. From what she could see, they didn't seem to be impostors. Their outfits matched her team's equipment perfectly. The weapons they were gripping were undoubtedly X-Guns too.

The slicked-back haired man opened his mouth partway. "What's...going on?"

The man in sunglasses on the other side was scratching his head too.

"Oi oi, what's this all about?" 

"What is it?"

The one who asked that final question was a high school aged girl. She had quite a beautiful appearance. Shirona felt like she had seen her somewhere before, but didn't have the leeway to recall it right now.

George took the cigarette out of his mouth. "That Tokyo dialect, huh..." It vividly brought back memories for him.

Tokyo. For Shirona, it wasn't completely unrelated. Rather, it was very much tied to her situation.

"Could they be aliens..." 

"Huh?"

At the man in sunglasses' words, Muroya raised his eyes.

"That's right!" 

"Aliens?" 

"Aliens, for real?" 

"Then these weird creatures too..."

On their side, the conversation was proceeding without input. But Shirona's team wasn't so reserved either.

Kuwabara glared sharply and shouted, "Don't kid around! You guys are the aliens!" 

"They're the aliens, get ready."

George silently shifted his X-Gun's position. If they left things be, the confusion would only escalate further - that much was certain. 

Shirona had already grasped most of the situation. Pointing weapons at each other was meaningless. Moreover, the atmosphere was growing tense enough that it seemed they might start killing each other.

"Groooaaaar!!"

Before Shirona could say anything, Garchomp beside her let out a roar. It seemed to have accurately understood its master's intent.

Overwhelmed by that sound, everyone fell silent. Most eyes turned towards Shirona and her Pokemon. Meeting those gazes head-on, she stated clearly:

"Calm down." 

"Oi--"

As Muroya tried to protest further, a large volume of water splashed over him. Coughing, he glared down at Gastrodon below him.

Shirona turned to face the slicked-back haired man's group while he was distracted. "Did you all come from Tokyo?" 

"Eh?" After gawking dumbfounded at Garchomp beside her for a moment, he answered. "Yeah, that's right. And you guys are..." 

"We've been fighting in Osaka. This is Dotonbori. Why did you come here?" 

"Well, that's what we don't know. We were told to defeat Nura Rihyon or whatever, and got transferred here..." 

"Our side is the same. So does that mean your team is joining forces with ours? Didn't Gantz say anything else?" 

"Nothing in particular." 

"Hold on." The man with swept-back hair interjected. It seemed his suspicions hadn't been allayed yet. He pointed at the silent Pokemon. "What about those things around you? They're aliens, aren't they? Why aren't they attacking? Suspicious. You must be an alien too!" 

"Inaba might be right." 

"No, she's not." The boy who had been leaning against the large man spoke up for the first time. Grasping the man's big hand, he approached Shirona and happily grabbed onto her arm. "She's the Pink Ranger. She saved me."

At those words, everyone fell silent. The boy's statement made the atmosphere grow somewhat more relaxed. 

Silently, Shirona met the large man's gaze. He looked down at the boy, then studied Shirona's eyes intently. But eventually he averted his gaze with a dejected air.

"Oi, wait wait!" Suddenly, Kuwabara let out a frantic shout. It seemed he had just realized an astonishing fact. His heated gaze fell on the high school girl on the other side. "That girl! Ain't that Reika?" 

"For real?" 

"The one who's on TV and all?" 

"Whoa, I'm a huge fan!"

Quickly lowering his weapon, Kuwabara walked over. He passed right by Shirona and stood before Reika, an unusually bashful look on his face as he extended his hand. She just stared at it perplexed.

"Can I get an autograph...and your contact info too?"

The scene changed rapidly. Before he could finish speaking, Kuwabara was sent flipping backwards in a flashy move. Even wearing the Gantz suit, it was a feat not just anyone could pull off.

Woooah!

After dodging Milotic's ice, he crossed his arms and exaggeratedly tilted his head.

"Well well? What's that all about? You jealous or something?" 

"Froooaaar!" 

"Ain't you a cutie patootie. No need to worry darling, you're number one for me."

He continued rolling to avoid the water blasts. Milotic likely didn't want to increase casualties any further, but in the end Kuwabara just took it all in stride. 

Silently, Shirona found herself rooting for him. She turned back towards the overwhelmed-looking Tokyo team.

"In any case, with this many people it's a blessing. Let's cooperate. This time's opponent is probably..." 

"Oi Shirona, what nonsense are you spouting?" George stepped forward, grabbing Shirona's shoulder and forcibly pulling her back. He shot a sharp glare at the slicked-back haired man. "You guys just sit back. Go sightsee or something. Don't go sticking your noses where they don't belong." 

"Hey now," 

"You've racked up plenty of points from what I hear, so stay outta our way. Got it? This is our city. I won't let you bastards barge in and take our share. We'll take down all the aliens ourselves." As he tried to continue, George made an odd face. Then, trembling at the corners of his mouth, he snapped at the being perched atop his head.

Roserade was swaying her flowers with a nonchalant expression.

"Cut that shit out already! How many times I gotta tell ya not to climb on me? Mark my words, you'll be a faded memory by next week. Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing that smug confidence of yours in tatters." As he spoke, he reached up to grab her, but Roserade deftly evaded him. Watching their antics, Yamada and Nakayama laughed.

Shirona couldn't bring herself to feel that lighthearted though. She appealed to Muroya and the others who seemed to agree with George's stance.

"Listen! This time is different from before. The time limit is likely gone." 

"Huh?" 

"Before my final transfer, the timer disappeared. We probably won't be done until all the aliens are defeated."

"So it's business as usual then. It's better without that annoying restriction." 

"That's not all." She paused briefly to steady her breathing. "Gantz has been hijacked. The being inside was replaced by that alien from the image at some point. So we don't know what could happen. We might not even be revived. We should stick together and combine our strength..."

As she spoke those words, she finally realized - Muroya's group was considerably fewer in number than she had calculated. Shirona looked around and asked quietly:

"Where's Kyo?"

Anzu answered her. "He went off solo as usual. Wouldn't listen to reason."

It wasn't just him either. The trio of Kimura, Harahara, and Tairawa, as well as all the newcomers who had been in the room - none of them were present. 

Shirona met Muroya's gaze. He just gazed back at her indifferently.

She started to say something but stopped herself. Expecting any semblance of conscience from them would be mistaken. Unlike common fiction tropes, they wouldn't have a change of heart just from fighting together. There was no leeway to pointlessly argue in this situation.

Anzu averted her eyes with an apologetic look. Silently, Shirona shook her head. Among this group, she couldn't expect Anzu to voice any clear objections. It would be cruel to demand that of her.

"Then let's do this."

Shirona stepped back, moving closer to the Tokyo team's side. 

"You take down the aliens. I'll leave the rest to you." 

"Watch your tongue." 

"We'll rescue any civilians with this group. We won't interfere on your side, okay?"

Muroya contorted his face in an absurd look. "You really are batshit crazy, foreigner. Suit yourself." 

"Thank you."

After firmly replying, she turned towards the slicked-back haired man's group. They seemed to only barely be following the rapidly developing situation. They likely knew nothing about Pokemon. But the gap could be bridged from here on. Shirona herself had been unable to fully grasp the situation when she first arrived in this world. However, their response was just as poor.

Reika spoke up hesitantly, "Sorry. I think your offer is wonderful. But our side doesn't have that leeway either. Protecting our own lives is all we can manage right now. So we can't cooperate."

Most of the others didn't try to counter her either. The Tokyo side seemed to agree with her stance. Admittedly, they did give off a cornered vibe unlike Shirona's group. There were even children among them, so it was only natural they would be cautious. And as she looked at each of them, she noticed something.

"Hey,"

A bad premonition struck her, but she prayed her hunch wouldn't be correct. Shirona spoke as she recalled, "Was there someone named Kurono on your team?"

"You know Kei-chan?" The slicked-back haired man stepped closer, as if hearing something unexpected.

"But I don't see him around..." Seeing their reactions, she closed her eyes briefly. At the very least, Shirona couldn't hide her own sense of emptiness.

He had succeeded. He had rebuilt the team that was supposed to be annihilated, increasing their numbers to this extent. He must have worked tremendously hard. The sorrowful looks on the Tokyo team's faces showed just how much Kurono had contributed.

"Kei-chan died. He revived me, but outside of the mission..."

Is this what you guys gave me? She cast that unanswerable question towards Dialga and Palkia, the ones presumed to have orchestrated this.

Next, she gave instructions to her Pokemon. "There may still be some civilians who haven't escaped yet. If you find any, try to rescue them. But prioritize your own safety above all else. If it becomes dangerous, don't hesitate to flee."

After they nodded, Shirona looked at them for a moment. Then she watched as Muroya and the others casually advanced, as if embarking on just another routine hunt.

She snorted derisively. If they weren't going to listen to her, there was no point admonishing them. Shirona had made up her mind. She would simply cooperate of her own accord.

"Please, protect them."

Togekiss took flight first. Three Monster Balls were attached to its waist. While they were of little use to Shirona now, they would weigh it down as baggage. For the time being, she instructed it to leave them somewhere safe. She couldn't bring herself to dispose of them after all.

After nodding to the Garchomp remaining beside her, she began moving out.

"What is that thing, anyway?"

The slicked-back haired man who had introduced himself as Kato asked her. He was the only one who had clearly agreed with Shirona's view - quite a fresh experience. Most of the men she had encountered since arriving here hadn't tried to help anyone without expecting something in return.

"Pokemon. It's hard to explain."

"Lil' sis here came from another world, y'see." Anzu stepped out in front, walking faster. She had also chosen to accompany Shirona. But Shirona could sense Anzu seemed to have another motive of her own.

Kato unconsciously stopped in his tracks. "Say what now?" 

"It's amazing, ain't it? And she's even offering to help folks like us. Talk about different from you lot." 

As Anzu confidently puffed out her chest, Kato looked perplexed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Obviously, it's unheard of. Helping complete strangers like that. There's no way kindhearted folks like sis exist that often, right? You must be one of them. A Gizensha!" 

"Wha..."

For now they were proceeding based on Anzu's guidance. Apparently she had witnessed some civilians hiding somewhere along the way. Their sweep would start from that location.

"What's that even mean?" 

"Don't play dumb, it suits you terribly. Gizensha alien, that's what." 

"N-No, I'm not..." 

"That disguise will slip off real soon I bet. I'll stick around and watch, ought'a be fun." 

"Do what you want." Kato picked up his pace, moving to take the lead position. In contrast, Anzu fell back while watching him, rejoining Shirona.

When met with Shirona and Garchomp's gazes, she covered her face. "Wh-What?" 

"Anzu..."

"Why're you lookin' at me like that?" 

"Anzu is such a cute name." 

"..."

It was clear she harbored exceptional interest in that man. After her face reddened briefly at Shirona's words, she mumbled in response.

"Ain't he just so cool? Totally my type." 

"I can see that." 

"This is a whole new experience for me. Love at first sight and all that...Huh?"

Shirona also covered her mouth. 

In the blink of an eye, Anzu had regained her composure, giggling as she cupped a hand to her ear. "You're a cutie too, sis." 

"Well, with how you talk, those mannerisms rub off after being together so long." 

"Ahaha." After laughing, she suddenly looked back at Shirona with a start.

"Ah, but y'promised sis, no snatches from under the nose..." 

"Yes yes."

As she headed off at a jog to catch up to Kato, Shirona found herself feeling rather amused by Anzu's demeanor. She too was trying to forge a new path. Shirona was more than happy to lend a helping hand in that endeavor.

However, that amusement quickly faded. After resting her hand briefly on Garchomp's belly, she tried to calm the steadily increasing pulse she felt. This time, something was different. It had been abnormal from the very start.

Oka had said it before. Gantz had an intention. It would assign opponents it deemed beatable, to teams it deemed capable of defeating them.

Then what about this time? Not just their team, but people had been gathered from Tokyo as well. In other words, Gantz itself had judged that failing to combine their forces would render this mission impossible to overcome.

She recalled the alien opponents they had faced until now. Those were formidable foes too. There was no room for carelessness. Casualties were inevitable every time. And yet the Osaka team alone had somehow managed to prevail.

Just how powerful a threat would this be?

A chill ran down Shirona's spine as she quickened her pace.