"Could you at least make a little effort to protect me?"
"If you hadn't arrived in time, I would have taken measures. Whether you're here or not doesn't change that."
"Hide."
Despite his muttering, Kaim's expression never changed. He focused on the operative's and Scizor's movements, determined to protect Leo until he achieved his goal.
To Leo, seeing Kaim act this way was both strange and impossible to resist. In Leo's eyes, relationships were always an equal exchange or one-sided exploitation. At the very bottom of the Orre Region, public safety was poor. That had been normal in the environment where he grew up, yet ever since meeting Mirei-s, he had encountered many people who defied that norm. Starting with Mirai, Ginza, Thread, Azusa, and others had helped Leo without asking for anything in return. Though some of their actions felt rather forced, to Leo, it remained something strange and inescapable.
"Fine, just do your best. I'll be all right even without you."
"You'd better not make a mistake here."
"Ha!"
Leo snorted and turned his attention back to Scizor. Not only had Scizor treated fellow Pokémon as bombs, but Scizor had also tried to use them to attack their trainer, Leo, directly. No ordinary Pokémon would do that, but a Shadow Pokémon whose heart had been sealed and memories erased followed no such logic.
As sickening as ever.
Even if the one before him hadn't been his former partner, Leo would still have hated the existence of Shadow Pokémon. That was why he had snatched Shadow Pokémon while searching for Strike, who had since become Scizor. No matter how many times he saw them, he could never stomach it.
"Bullet Punch!"
"What about Mizuno?"
Suicune's water blocked Scizor's repeated attacks. Scizor scattered the water with another blow, but then