Gantz Exposer  

'As my comprehension deepened, I felt the strength draining from me.'

"Gan...tsu..."

The smartphone that had momentarily revived fell lifelessly to the floor. The screen suffered a slight crack. Even if it were to truly break, Shirona seemed utterly unconcerned about that possibility. She took a shallow breath, then slowly moved forward.

"Gantz, stop. What are you trying to do?"

Disregarding the puzzled looks from the others, she placed both hands on the sphere's screen.

Thinking back, from the very beginning, everything that had been imposed on Shirona seemed like nothing but a joke. She assumed this instance was also part of that. Just when she thought it was indulging her, it would disrupt her with a malicious lie. It was truly a vicious prank. Shirona was convinced - whatever was operating this definitely possessed intention. There was no doubt about it.

"Sis? What's wrong?" Even Anzu's voice failed to reach her now.

"Change the display. Stop this lie. Gantz, stop it!"

"Hey, what's going on?"

Muroya spoke up, but Shirona ignored him. The others were also merely observing the situation as if it were someone else's affair. Shirona stared blankly for a moment before recalling - that's right, they don't understand. They don't know about Pokémon. Or the associated mythology.

Dialga. The Temporal Pokémon. The mythical Pokémon said to have been born at the same time that time began to move.

Palkia. The Spatial Pokémon. Said to live in the gaps between the parallel dimensions of space, stabilizing them with every breath.

Both were mythical Pokémon who created the Sinnoh region. As offspring of Arceus, who created the very world itself, their forms and legends had long been passed down with a mix of awe and gratitude. The mere label of "Pokémon" might not sufficiently encompass them anymore.

They were equivalent to gods.

Shirona herself had witnessed a glimpse of their power atop Mt. Coronet, alongside the man who led the villainous Galactic organization trying to exploit them, as well as the exceptional Trainer who had first defeated her.

"You're kidding me? It's impossible! There's no way! Change the target right now. Why would you do such a thing?!" 

"You're being noisy. Did you suddenly go crazy?" In an annoyed tone, George stepped forward to forcibly pry Shirona's hands off the sphere and shove her away.

As those around her took defensive stances, Shirona somehow managed to steady her breathing. However, the pallor of her face, as if all her blood had been drained, remained unchanged. Her legs felt weak, unable to stand up. An intense nausea washed over her, compounded by a twisting pain in her chest.

"Wh...What's wrong?"

Seeing Shirona so utterly terrified, Anzu too seemed greatly distressed. Anyone would be shaken if the person they had been relying on suddenly became like this mere moments ago. Recognizing her tearful eyes brought Shirona back to her senses, if only slightly.

"Listen."

Though she uttered those words, only a few actually turned to face her. Oka and Kuwabara, among others, were observing the image displayed on Gantz's sphere.

"We absolutely can't win. We'll lose. Everyone will die. If it's the real thing, it's impossible."

"Huh? You know this alien?"

Muroya inquired, and Shirona nodded shakily in response.

"It's an existence from mythology. To fight against it..."

"For real?!"

An inappropriately carefree voice rang out. The trio wearing sunglasses cheered loudly.

"How many points we getting? Over a hundred?" 

"Whoa, that's a special item guaranteed!" 

"Wait, wait. There's two of 'em. Two items then!"

No words could come out. Far from being afraid, they seemed overjoyed, as if a magnificent prey had arrived.

And unbelievably, the others didn't seem to take it as gravely as Shirona either. Muroya and the rest wore challenging smirks, as if looking forward to the upcoming battle.

She felt a vast chasm. This was the greatest sense yet of having come to a different world. The people from her original world would never harbor such feelings towards entities of overwhelming power considered gods. How could they muster the will to face them as foes?

"No! Don't you understand? None of us, not even you, can win. This isn't a level where such talk applies."

Certainly, the weapons they possessed were powerful. Shirona could tell they were made by combining technologies she had never seen before. But no matter how advanced, humans were still the ones using them. Even enhanced by the suits, there were limits.

Muroya let out a thin laugh and shrugged his shoulders. "Calm down. We haven't even fought yet." 

"I get it. You guys can't do anything. You couldn't even beat my Pokémon. What grounds do you have for such confidence?" 

"What was that?" 

"Hey, hold on a sec."

Just as the tension seemed to be building, Kuwabara finally spoke up. Tilting his head, he looked at the text displayed on Gantz.

"Besides, are these things even aliens? Things have been getting weird lately, right? Ever since you showed up, Shirona, it's kept changing. Take a good look. There's none of the usual 'defeat them' message anywhere."

Forgetting her staredown with Muroya, she turned her gaze towards it. Indeed, only the names were shown. Come to think of it, she didn't recall any sort of preamble either.

Unable to fully grasp the situation, Shirona realized one of her hands was fading away.

"Anzu." She said quickly to the girl looking up at her with worry.

"Don't leave my side. I don't know what's going to happen. I'll protect you. Stay right beside me no matter what." 

"O...Okay..."

She also clutched the Poké Balls tightly. Noticing her phone on the ground, she left it be. Most of her body had already vanished. After watching Anzu's face disappear, Shirona too was fully transferred.

When her surroundings became recognizable, she immediately took action.

Swiftly sending out her Pokémon, all five of them lined up before her. And then, she sensed an abnormality.

"Eh...?"

It seemed to be a densely built-up area, though not a residential district. The miscellaneous buildings had many signs posted on them. Shirona and the others were standing in what appeared to be a public square. There was quite a heavy flow of pedestrian traffic. A giant TV was installed atop one of the buildings right in front of them. The broadcast showed a news report about a recently popularized young actress named Reika who had gone missing. The police had announced they would soon be dropping the investigation into her disappearance. A smiling publicity photo of the woman presumed to be Reika was displayed behind the announcer. While she looked very beautiful, Shirona had no spare attention to pay it any mind right now.

"Hey, this place..."

To her surprise, the others also seemed disoriented, frequently glancing around to confirm their surroundings. As if they had been dropped off in an unfamiliar locale.

Resting a hand on the transferred motorcycle, Kyo pointed out a sign that appeared to show the name of the area.

"Huh? It's Ikebukuro, ain't it? Though I guess it does look familiar." 

"For real? But yeah, I've definitely seen this before." 

"It's my first time. Whoa, it's got that big city vibe."

While she had never heard of "Ikebukuro" before, Shirona was familiar with Tokyo. It was a city that had just recently become a topic of discussion - the capital of Japan, at the pinnacle of both human and material flow. But Oka, who had mentioned that information, was nowhere to be seen.

She had already learned they were quite far from Osaka. Geography was one of the subjects that interested her. It seemed Gantz's transfer ability was far more powerful than she had imagined, instantly transporting them to the eastern city of Japan in the blink of an eye. And the unexpected circumstances continued further.

"Whoa, what are these guys?" 

"Cosplayers?"

"They just suddenly appeared. Are they human?"

"Hey, hey..." Kuwabara managed to let out with difficulty.

It was clear the surrounding pedestrians had indeed noticed Shirona's group. Many of them were pointing their smartphones to take pictures. For a moment forgetting the impending threat that was sure to arrive, Shirona could only stare in astonishment. Though her experience was still shallow, she had understood one of the rules - that they were supposed to be unseen by anyone during missions.

"We're being seen." 

"Kinda look like superheroes, don't we?" 

"Did Gantz break down?"

"Does this mean we can't go back?" 

"Well, might as well do some sightseeing on the way back then." 

"I want that tsukemen I saw on the blog. The seafood-based one."

But their casual conversation didn't last long.

Boom!

There was a stir among the crowd surrounding Shirona's group. The mass of people rippled outward as some began running away. They seemed to be fleeing from something. Most were screaming as they tried to evacuate the area.

Shirona turned around. At the same time, a loud impact sound rang out. A bus was hurtling through the air - though it landed well before reaching them, so Shirona merely took a step back instead of trying to flee.

The scene had already descended into pandemonium. Sirens could be heard in the distance. Several people had tumbled out of the overturned bus's windows, all of them severely injured. Someone was trying to pull others out of the pool of blood.

A figure leaped out from the driver's side. Seeing his appearance, Shirona was further confused - he was wearing the same black suit as them.