After privately establishing an intimate relationship with Meloetta, Lorze naturally lingered in the tribe where Meloetta was located for a few days. These few days were mainly the honeymoon period with the little songstress. The two were lovey-dovey and affectionate every day, continuously having sex. Meloetta's small hole also gradually stretched out under the molding of the thick, sturdy meat rod, increasingly able to enjoy the pleasure of making love. She was almost fucked by Lorze to the point of flying to heaven with pleasure.
However, since she possessed the power to serve as the "key", Meloetta's life was destined to be unable to be stable and peaceful—unless she truly hid in some utopia, for example... the Tree of Beginning. That is a forbidden land where humans are absolutely not allowed to set foot, except for Lorze who is recognized by the Tree of Beginning.
Originally, hiding in the village in Pinwheel Forest was actually fine. Ridley's tribe had protected Meloetta for generations, and there was always some mysterious power keeping them isolated from the world. But Lorze's accidental entry broke this delicate balance, giving the originally hard-to-find village a chance to be exposed to the outside. It was inevitable that people with ulterior motives would exploit the loophole... This exactly fulfilled Lorze's crisis premonition from a few days ago.
On the outskirts of the village where no one noticed, a Crobat that didn't belong to the Ridley tribe, or even to the Pokémon of the Unova region, pretended nothing was wrong and flew past swiftly. But a miniature camera was actually tied to its claws. The situation of the Ridley village had been completely recorded by this camera: the location, layout, population, and Pokémon of the village, and the most important... was naturally the information related to Meloetta.
"Did something just fly past?" "Oh, who cares about that, maybe it's a Pidove or a Woobat. Are you trying to slack off? Hurry up and keep working!" "Tsk, got it..."
Although there were villagers who occasionally noticed the Crobat, they wouldn't think in the direction of enemies. This village seemed completely oblivious to the fact that it was being monitored.
These important pieces of information were transmitted to a skyscraper in the Unova region. The employees in this company at first glance didn't seem different from employees of ordinary companies, but their temperament and eyes were completely unlike office workers, instead filled with wildness and tyranny.
After organizing the harvested data properly, the person in charge calmly announced: "Everyone probably already knows, we have finally found Meloetta's location. Looking at it now, we truly have to thank that unknown Trainer. Then... the Operation Tempest proposed by That Lord can also smoothly enter the next stage. This is also the original intention of establishing our Unova branch. Then... in order for That Lord's great cause to be realized, please make preparations these next few days. The target is—Meloetta!"
This didn't sound like a task a commercial company would have at all. The employees also smiled ferociously with fierce glints in their eyes. Compared to pretending to be clerks working, they actually craved battle much more...
They utilized these few days to make intense preparations. After everything was ready, they took advantage of the darkness to organize personnel and launch an operation. At that time, most of the villagers in the Ridley village were sleeping soundly due to a day's labor. Lorze and Meloetta, who had just sprinkled sweat from sexual intercourse, were no exception. But their arrival clearly broke this tranquility.
Since the goal was to abduct Meloetta, the original intention of these people was to act stealthily. It's just a pity that the Golurks patrolling at night still discovered them. They immediately called their companions and organized forces to start fighting back. The quiet night instantly became incomparably noisy, quickly startling Ridley awake as well. He jumped out of his bed disheveled.
"What's going on!? What happened outside!?"
"Reporting to Lord Ridley, there are intruders. The Golurks have already engaged them in battle!"
"What, intruders!?"
Intruders appeared in the village. Ridley's first reaction was that the outsider betrayed them. Wait a minute, wasn't he very close to Meloetta? Oh no!
"I knew that guy was no good. Let's go check on Meloetta's safety quickly!"
Lorze was originally hugging Meloetta sleeping beautifully, only to be roughly woken up by Ridley leading people to raid—Fortunately, he and Meloetta were wearing pajamas this time. Otherwise, if people saw him and Meloetta sleeping naked hugging each other, he would probably be slaughtered first.
"Mhm? It's Brother Ridley. It's so late, what are you..."
Before the sleepy-eyed Lorze could finish speaking, he was roughly grabbed by his pajama collar by Ridley and questioned. The blue veins on his forehead bulged wantonly, and spit flew onto Lorze's face and hair due to his out-of-control emotions—
"Fuck... you bastard! What is your purpose in coming to our village and approaching Meloetta!? Those villains attacking the village outside... must be your accomplices, right? I knew you were no good! Ptui!"
As Ridley vented his anger and forcefully threw Lorze back onto the bed, Lorze also immediately sobered up: Listening to what Ridley said... this tribe is being attacked? Then the people attacking must be coming for Meloetta. I truly cannot let my guard down!
But thinking about it, besides Team Rocket's Operation Tempest, who else covets Meloetta's power? Lorze also didn't know why Team Rocket's arrival was advanced by a few years. Could it be because his visit to the village exposed its location!?
Actually, Team Rocket had been working hard on Operation Tempest in the Unova region all along. It's just that their progress had been stuck at the two points of the Abyssal Ruins and Meloetta for a long time. So they had also been painstakingly searching for Meloetta's whereabouts.
They only knew Meloetta was hidden in Pinwheel Forest. So there were Team Rocket members here all year round acting as informants, even infiltrating the Pokémon Ranger teams. After Lorze found the village where Meloetta lived, the barrier formed by that layer of mysterious power seemed to have failed. With Team Rocket's intelligence network, they naturally obtained this information at the first instance. This was truly getting it effortlessly.
Lorze knew very well, even if his original intentions weren't bad, this matter definitely couldn't be disconnected from himself. If this is truly the case, he would become a sinner. Fortunately, there is still an opportunity to make up for his mistakes with good deeds right now. Let him repel Team Rocket's motley crew and protect Meloetta well!
However, how easy is it to gain the trust of Ridley's clansmen? The trust between them was inherently a delicate and fragile bridge, a slight flood could wash it away—With this incident happening, Lorze naturally became the target of public criticism. The fact that they didn't directly imprison him was still on account of Meloetta pleading for him.
The sounds of shouting and killing outside grew louder and louder. The situation seemed to be developing into an out-of-control scenario. He couldn't continue to huddle in this room and wait for death. Lorze already had the resolve to meet the battle alone.
"Sorry, with things developing to this point now, I also know I can't gain your trust. But I will still use actual actions to prove my innocence. I have roughly understood the situation. I will join the battle. Even if I have to give it my all, I will contribute my strength to protect Meloetta. So Brother Ridley, I will temporarily entrust Meloetta to you... I will go outside to meet the enemy!"
Lorze was originally worried that Ridley's strength was too weak. He wanted to leave one wife to assist Ridley in defense. But the other party was in a fit of anger and completely couldn't accept his forces deployed beside them. Seeing this, Lorze could only drop the idea: In this way, he had to shoulder the pressure alone. Whether it's Team Rocket or whatever guys, as long as he repels them all, it will be fine!
It's just that, right when Lorze was about to leave the room, Meloetta's incomparably worried, crisp cry came from behind him. The trailing notes of that cry also trembled a bit, making Lorze's heart ache listening to it.
To ordinary people's ears, it's a cry whose meaning cannot be understood. To Lorze, who possesses telepathy, it became a wife exhorting her husband going to the battlefield to be safe and careful, she would wait for him.
Meloetta genuinely hoped Lorze could be safe. And Lorze also deliberately left a relaxed expression for the little songstress: "I'll be right back!"
Although a crisis of trust occurred here with the clansmen, Lorze's mood was actually quite good. Because he and Meloetta... how much like a wife seeing off her husband right before he goes to the battlefield? Such a feeling gave him a great sense of accomplishment.
After Lorze left, Meloetta, sitting on pins and needles, clasped her hands together and prayed for her lover. Silently chanting in her heart over and over again, Lorze must be safe and sound. But wasn't Lorze also constantly worrying about Meloetta? Under this kind of sudden situation, they both thought of each other more than themselves.
Hopefully nothing goes wrong on Meloetta's side—Bearing such a mood, changing his clothes into a black and gold cloak he hadn't worn for a long time, the gold trimmings shining brightly under the moonlight, Lorze resolutely joined the battle to defend against the enemy. This time, he was undoubtedly getting serious.
Before joining the melee, he also carefully observed. Although the light wasn't considered bright, the pink R on the enemies' uniforms could still be faintly distinguished. This group of guys... really are people from Team Rocket!
The good news is that the Golurks in the village all took action one after another, working together to block the attacks of Team Rocket's Pokémon. Although they might not be that powerful, every single one of them was a brave and fearless good warrior, no cowards!
"Everyone, I've come to help you!"
Seeing Lorze join, the Golurks emitted excited sounds one after another. As Pokémon, they were relatively simple-minded, without as many mutually suspicious hidden motives as humans: As long as they fight side by side with us, they are partners!
Under the joint efforts of Lorze and the Golurks, the light and shadows of various moves illuminated a corner of Pinwheel Forest in the dark night as bright as day. Team Rocket's third-rate Pokémon unsurprisingly collapsed like a landslide. It's just that their numbers were truly too many. Achieving a quick victory was also somewhat difficult, but this was only a matter of time.
But Lorze didn't expect that while the frontline had no problems, the rear actually caught fire first. Because Ridley's village didn't rely on any natural barriers, Team Rocket could launch attacks from all directions. Even if Lorze ran around putting out fires everywhere, it would ultimately still give opportunities to exploit in other defense lines.
Originally, Meloetta was under the protection of Ridley and several guards, seemingly foolproof. But Pierce—the Team Rocket Executive in charge of Unova region-related missions, and also a cunning secret agent, stealthily infiltrated from the side of the frontline Lorze had no spare capacity to attend to just like this. With a single-handed surprise attack, he groped his way to Meloetta's location!
Because the villagers all went to fill the frontlines, the defense layout in the village was conversely very weak. This provided unparalleled conditions for Pierce's deep penetration.
What made people's jaws drop the most was: Ridley and the others, the combat power this tribe prided itself on, were actually completely no match for Pierce!? Lorze's worries actually came true. Even if Ridley himself had taken the field, his field combat strength in front of a Team Rocket Executive... was truly somewhat insufficient to look at.
Ridley, commanding a Golurk to resist Pierce, had already premonitioned he was no match. Actually, Meloetta wasn't completely without combat ability, but Ridley insisted she not participate in the battle and leave first: "Lord Meloetta, you leave here first, hide in a safe place. Here... we will definitely resolve it. Go quickly!"
Ridley was, after all, Meloetta's previous protector. When Lorze wasn't around, she had no choice but to listen to Ridley's words. Amidst a burst of hesitation, urged by Ridley, she floated in the air and ran away. But in Pierce's eyes, this behavior of giving up resistance was conversely cutting off one's own arms, playing right into his hands.
"Go, capture Meloetta!"
He pulled out an exquisite small gadget from his sleeve. That thing very swiftly caught up to Meloetta. First, it whipped out specialized wire loops to firmly control Meloetta. Then, it automatically expanded into a cage, capturing Meloetta!
When Meloetta wanted to resist again, she shockingly discovered her power was restricted by the wire loops binding her, completely unable to be exerted. Even if she wanted to transform into Pirouette Forme and use Fighting-type power to force a breakthrough, she couldn't do it anymore.
Seeing Meloetta captured, Ridley immediately wanted to rescue her. But this distraction conversely allowed Pierce to seize a flaw. In just an instant, he defeated his ace Golurk. Of course, Ridley himself couldn't escape unscathed either. Knocked to the ground by Pierce's Krookodile, he completely lost the ability to resist.
Beaten down to the point of only being able to watch helplessly as Meloetta was locked in Team Rocket's cage and taken away. At this moment, Ridley regretted it. How he wished Lorze could be here. If he truly wronged him, if they fought side by side together to protect Meloetta... would the result have been different?
But regretting these things now was useless. Meloetta had already fallen into the hands of villains. What was left for Ridley was only endless remorse, as well as anger and unwillingness towards his own excessive weakness.
Upon learning that Pierce had already captured Meloetta, the Team Rocket members feigning an attack immediately sounded the gong to withdraw troops (signaled a retreat), fleeing cleanly and efficiently. Lorze was originally still agonizing over how to crack the human wave tactic of Team Rocket's Pokémon, and they actually just retreated like this. What is going on!?
Seeing the invaders repelled, the Golurks beside him raised their arms and cheered, mocking those guys who fled dejectedly with their tails between their legs. Only Lorze didn't relax in the slightest. For some unknown reason, Team Rocket's retreat conversely made his worries even more intense. He always felt their retreat was unhurried and very orderly. This didn't look like a rout, but more like a strategic retreat after achieving their goal? Lorze hurriedly rushed back to the tent where Ridley and Meloetta were: He was praying, praying that Meloetta could still be safe and sound...