Meanwhile, in Celadon City—one of Kanto's greatest metropolises, second only to Saffron itself, home also to the largest department store in the entire region—
The vast mall sprawled across multiple levels, its endless shelves filled with goods dazzling enough to leave any visitor overwhelmed.
Lucas had scarcely set foot there with his companions when, at once, Green and Marnie all but dove headfirst into the shopping paradise before them.
No matter how you put it, girls will always be girls. After an hour of shopping spree inside the department store, Lucas finally had to drag along the still unsatisfied two girls toward a restaurant.
As for the countless shopping bags, those had already been delivered directly back to their hotel.
"Seriously, such a rare chance to fleece a rich guy, and you only give me one measly hour?"
Green was clearly still thinking about the shopping spree just now—because Lucas had been the one swiping the card to pay!
She herself was actually dirt poor. If it weren't for that, she never would have sunk low enough to steal other people's wallets before…
Poverty really does force people.
But Lucas, now he was a walking moneybag! That shopping session just now was honestly the most perfect and most satisfying one she'd had in a very, very long time.
Marnie nodded in agreement at the side—though her expression and mannerisms were far more composed than Green's. After all, ever since she had been following Lucas, she had never once needed to worry about money.
"There'll be plenty more opportunities later. For now, let's focus on proper business first."
Lucas glanced meaningfully at Green, hoping the girl wouldn't end up getting too shocked by what was coming next.
Green, at the moment, was wearing a disguise. This was something Lucas had specifically asked her to do before they came to Celadon City.
She had a Ditto, one that could perfectly replicate human skin—making her disguise extremely convincing and realistic.
"Mysterious, are we?" Green pouted, then puffed out her chest proudly, following behind Lucas with her "36D" frame on full display.
She was genuinely curious—who on earth was Lucas planning to meet that required him to be this serious?
But then…
"Well, well, long time no see, Lucas. My, my… in such a short while, you've managed to lure in yet another extremely talented young girl."
The moment they stepped into the private dining room, a female voice, half mockery and half admiration, rang out.
And the instant Green heard that voice, her eyes went wide and her body stiffened.
Karen!
That was definitely Karen's voice!
She snuck a glance from the corner of her eyes and indeed saw Karen sitting inside—with Will seated right beside her.
Green's eyelids twitched furiously as she immediately lowered her head, silently cursing Lucas. Damn this Lucas! He actually brought me to meet Karen and Will of all people!
If I keep my head down, maybe they won't see me, maybe they won't see me…
"Not bad, I guess. Looks aren't anything special, but the body is indeed great. Very good in the hands too. What's wrong, Karen—jealous already?"
Lucas smirked faintly, shooting Karen a sidelong glance. This woman, even after not seeing her for some time, still couldn't keep her sharp tongue to herself.
Green clenched her fists beneath the table. What the hell does he mean 'not much to look at'? What the hell does he mean 'good in the hands'?
Do I look ugly to you?! And excuse me, I never let you touch me! How dare you sully my reputation like that!
Damn you Lucas!
"Me? Jealous of her?"
Karen crossed her arms and gave Green a cold sneer.
Even though the girl kept her head bowed, Karen could still see clearly—apart from that oversized bust, there was nothing remarkable at all. Her face was just average at best.
And she, Karen—a Champion-level Dark-type trainer, tall and beautiful with refined features and a roguish charm—was supposed to be jealous of a girl like this?
What a joke!
Karen's gaze lingered on Green, narrowing slightly. Pretty? Ha. How in the world did this girl grow that bust size? Did she grow up drinking milk for every meal?
Green, feeling Karen's eyes fixed upon her, almost wanted to cry. She instantly regretted asking Ditto to "enhance" that particular area of her disguise before they came.
After the awkward greetings, everyone sat down at the dining table.
"How's Team Rocket lately?"
Lucas lit up a cigarette. He wasn't here to waste time trading barbs with Karen.
"They've already begun searching for the whereabouts of both Lugia and Ho-Oh. It seems Giovanni wasn't lying to us."
Will replied in a low voice. Their original deal had been simple—if Karen and Will joined Team Rocket, Giovanni would use Rocket's resources to investigate information about the two legendary birds.
"But right now, there's almost no real progress. With Lugia… there are rumors that some shipwreck survivors out at sea claimed to have been saved by a mysterious Pokémon resembling it."
"As for Ho-Oh, though? Nothing. Not even a scrap of information."
Karen sighed and took a sip of water. Team Rocket's reach was undeniable, but even they had found absolutely nothing useful during this entire period.
"That's to be expected. They're legends, after all. There's still time—this kind of thing can't be rushed."
Lucas wasn't surprised.
After all, if it were that easy to track down a legendary Pokémon, Team Rocket wouldn't have needed several years just to confirm the locations of the three legendary birds in the wild.
Karen nodded. Then, suddenly remembering something, her lips curled into a mocking smile.
"And Green's whereabouts remain completely unknown too. That little traitor of yours—what, did she get so scared she ran off to hide in another region?"
Compared to the nonexistent leads on Lugia and Ho-Oh, at least Green was a tangible target—they had photos of her. Searching discreetly across major cities in Kanto should have turned up something, right?
And yet, all this time later, there was still absolutely nothing.
Karen had plenty of reason to suspect the traitor had already fled across borders.
Green: "…"
Marnie blinked but managed to keep her deadpan poker face intact, not letting herself laugh.
"Too early to say. We'll wait for more intelligence to turn up. Anyway, how have you two been faring in Team Rocket lately?"
Lucas smiled. Since the important matters had been covered, it was only natural to move on to small talk about their recent Rocket lives.
At that, Karen smirked wickedly and threw a sidelong glance at Will.
Even though half his face was hidden behind a mask, it was obvious Will's expression was sour.
"I've been fine. Got assigned to the Cerulean City base first, just to get familiar. Will here, though—he got sent to the base in Gringey City."
"And I heard… he even got provoked by one of Team Rocket Generals, Petrel."
Will's face darkened further, refusing to say a word, but Karen leaned forward gleefully, eager to share.
"Petrel? That guy's strength is nothing special, if I recall."
Lucas thought for a moment. Even though Petrel was one of the four generals, his reputation and power were nowhere near that of Archer.
"Exactly. And yet he still had the nerve to mock Will's height—called him a shorty! Hahaha~"
"Karen!"
She burst out laughing without restraint, while Will's face went green.
Lucas froze for a second, then couldn't help but grin as well. Even Green, still keeping her head down, was trembling with suppressed laughter.
To be fair, Will wasn't that short, but at his age, he hadn't fully grown yet. He wasn't even as tall as Karen.
As he always said himself—he was still "in the middle of a growth spurt."
"And what happened after that?" Lucas asked with interest.
Will wasn't the type to just swallow humiliation. If Petrel mocked him like that, there was no way he let it slide.
"What happened? Will broke three of Petrel's ribs and left him bedridden in a private hospital. That's what happened."
Karen shrugged nonchalantly.
"But his bad luck didn't end there. Recently the Elite Four have been cracking down harder than ever on Team Rocket bases. Both of our bases got raided."
"And the one who raided Will's base was none other than Bruno. Will got arrested and thrown straight into jail."
Karen chuckled gleefully again, enjoying every second.
Will turned his head away, refusing to listen. She was never going to shut up anyway.
"You… got arrested and jailed?" Lucas was genuinely stunned this time.
Good lord, you only joined Team Rocket a few days ago, and you've already experienced prison life?
Will: "…"
"The Kanto Elite Four's strength is unfair!" he spat through gritted teeth.
Yes, when Bruno stormed the base, Will had still been calm—directing the others to retreat while he stayed behind to cover.
He had only just joined Team Rocket, and to avoid trouble with idiots like Petrel, he wanted to establish a strong reputation.
But…
Ahem. The reality was, he nearly got beaten silly by Bruno.
Even though Psychic-types countered Fighting-types, the raw power gap was simply too massive. Before Will even realized what was happening, his main Pokémon had already been crushed, and Bruno's Hitmonchan was already standing right in front of him.
He didn't even get the chance to teleport away.
After finishing his training under the Masked Man, Will had been living freely outside for a while. But the moment he officially joined Team Rocket, within just a few days, he experienced his very first prison sentence.
All thanks to Bruno.
The life of a Team Rocket member wasn't quite what he imagined.
And the prison food? It wasn't food—it was nothing but tears!
"Pffft—"
Green, unable to hold back any longer, nearly burst into laughter at his final words of stubborn pride.
Will, oh Will, so you finally got a taste of karma!
"I already told you, the Kanto Elite Four are far stronger than the Elite Fours of other regions." Lucas chuckled, shaking his head. Thankfully, Giovanni had enough influence to pull strings and bail Will out.
Otherwise, who knew how long the poor kid would have rotted in there.
"Hard-headed, that's all." Karen spread her hands. She knew well how strong the Kanto Elite Four were, but Will's prideful personality meant he believed that—even if he couldn't win—he'd at least be able to escape.
Well. His skull proved to be harder than his sense.
"And what about you, Karen? You didn't get caught?"
Lucas asked with curiosity.
"Got lucky. The one who came to my base was Lorelei. That woman really is ice-cold." Karen narrowed her eyes, recalling the scene a few days ago.
Lorelei was technically the weakest of the Kanto Elite Four, being ranked first in order.
And yet her strength had still left quite the impression.
If it had been Lance instead… Karen honestly doubted whether she would have escaped alive. Especially since at the time she had been lazily napping in the base, indulging in her beauty sleep.
Had it been Lance, she probably wouldn't have made it out at all.
"The Kanto Elite Four really are troublesome. Their focus on Team Rocket is too heavy. I can't shake the feeling something big is about to happen."
Will muttered with a frown. After their bases were destroyed, Giovanni had temporarily reassigned both him and Karen here to Celadon City.
Because this city housed one of Lorelei Rocket's largest underground bases—one of their most critical strongholds.
"Probably fallout from the S.S. Anne incident."
Karen cast Lucas a sidelong glance. The infamous attack on the S.S. Anne had now spread across the globe.
Lorelei Rocket had openly assaulted a luxury liner on the seas of Kanto—an act that spat in the very face of the League's authority.
Especially Kanto's.
It was the equivalent of grinding the Kanto League's face into the dirt in front of the entire world.
So of course, they would be furious.
"Let's head to the base later. This one's under Archer, right?"
Lucas's eyes glinted faintly. Maybe it was time to stir up some trouble again.
Yes, he had only just caused a massive uproar in Unova, but the truth was—Lucas loved living a noisy, chaotic life.
"Archer's not bad," Karen agreed, giving him a decent evaluation.
"Alright then. We'll go after the meal."
Celadon City was one of the most prosperous cities in Kanto, often praised as a city where multiple generations could live happily together.
Its industrial atmosphere wasn't overly heavy, living pressures weren't too suffocating, and with excellent urban greenery, the city's overall vibe was relaxed and vibrant.
(End of Chapter)