Just after Lorze and Ridley arrived at the Abyssal Ruins first, Team Rocket's Giovanni also commenced his operation.
Equally taking advantage of the moonlight, but unlike Lorze and Ridley, Team Rocket's conditions were much better. The submarine piloted by Jessie, Meowth, and James was carrying Giovanni and Meloetta towards the Abyssal Ruins at a considerable speed.
Advanced vehicles were indeed much faster than Suicune's protection. They also smoothly found the entrance and entered the interior of the Abyssal Ruins. It's just a pity... they were actually the second wave of visitors to the Abyssal Ruins. As for the first wave of visitors... perhaps they were hiding in the unknown shadows.
"Few people can know the secrets of the deep sea, but unfortunately for them, our Team Rocket is one of them."
Giovanni inside the submarine was currently tasting fine wine with a goblet. It seemed he believed success was assured and was already popping the champagne in advance.
As for the Meowth trio, of course they were doing their utmost to flatter the boss. Normally they would only be reprimanded by Giovanni, but now, their words were making the usually stern Team Rocket boss grin from ear to ear. Today, Giovanni was indeed in a great mood.
Before long, they arrived at the main hall of the Abyssal Ruins as they wished. After surfacing the submarine and turning on the searchlights above, the trio escorted Giovanni out of the cabin. Another Rhyperior followed by Giovanni's side as a guard. And in the cage in Giovanni's hand, locked inside was exactly Meloetta!
Lorze and Ridley naturally had already caught the signal of Giovanni's arrival. Lorze encouraged himself in his heart: I'm going to rescue Meloetta right now. I hope she can hold on just a little bit longer.
At the same time, his heart was also pounding frantically. He didn't know if his ambush could strike at the vital point. That was one of the men standing at the pinnacle of strength in the Pokémon world, Giovanni of the Earth.
If the sneak attack failed, the ensuing battle would evolve into close-quarters combat. The intensity of the scene was not hard to imagine. But his Celebi and Suicune were both in matchups that held typing advantages. He would probably have to rely heavily on the two of them.
Right now, Giovanni is in the open and they are in the dark. They just need to wait quietly for the right moment to strike, striving to be fast, accurate, and ruthless, settling the matter with one hammer blow!
"Alright, next you guys watch closely how I obtain the power to rule the world."
"Long live Boss Giovanni!" "Long live Boss Giovanni, meow!"
You haven't even succeeded yet, and you're already engaging in fanatical worship? Pride comes before a fall. Lorze thought secretly in his heart.
Just as Giovanni, carrying the cage holding Meloetta, was about to step onto that spiral, long street of ascension towards the "door" to use Meloetta to obtain the Reveal Glass, Lorze knew, if not now, then when!? Go!
Instantly, the main hall of the ruins suddenly lit up as bright as day. Such dazzling brightness made the Team Rocket members present subconsciously close their eyes. But exactly in this instant, the Psychic-type Pokémon led by Jirachi and Celebi exerted their full power to release telekinesis and form a force field, shockingly freezing Giovanni and the Rhyperior beside him in place!
Although the opportunity was only for an instant, the degree of tacit understanding among the sisters in the family needed no further mention. Without any need for verbal communication, they acted respectively according to Lorze's prior arrangement—
In Lorze's arrangement, the existence used to instant-kill Giovanni's guard... is Suicune!
Accompanied by a crisp yet powerful howl, the Emissary of the North Wind trailing flowing long hair flew out from the cover at a speed hard for the naked eye to catch. Condensing vast Water-type power from her mouth, the seawater surrounding the ruins seemed to become her leverage. She spat out a highly lethal, high-pressure Hydro Pump from her mouth, pointing straight at Rhyperior!
The Ground and Rock-type Rhyperior was already four times weak to Water and weak to Grass. Moreover, it was extremely unbalanced on the durability end. Even if its physical bulk was high, what's the use? Its outrageously poor special bulk completely made things worse.
Not only that, the current Suicune was a Suicune that had used Calm Mind to enter its strongest state, playing a bottom-line securing role like a God of War.
Lorze reasonably suspected Suicune could defeat Rhyperior even just using Water Gun. But Suicune was still too steady. With this high-pressure Hydro Pump hitting, Rhyperior couldn't take it even with a hundred thousand lives—Even though this Rhyperior of Giovanni's was wearing an Assault Vest, presumably having undergone special training for special durability, this bit of improvement still seemed like a drop in the bucket in front of absolute firepower.
Even though the powerful Rhyperior immediately broke free from the telekinetic control, it was a pity that exchanges between experts often mean a miss is as good as a mile. It was exactly that instant that made its physical body eat the full damage of Suicune's high-pressure Hydro Pump. Giovanni's powerful guard crashed to the ground just like that, unable to rise again...
In fact, besides Beedrill, almost all of Giovanni's main forces are countered by Water-type. So no matter who it was, they probably couldn't withstand Suicune's output. For instant-killing the guard, there was no other choice besides Suicune. This was Lorze's deliberate arrangement; as for the effect, there's no need to say more.
And from Giovanni's perspective, it was like a horror movie. If he knew in advance someone was ambushing here, he definitely would have made more preparations. But this sudden attack darting out... what is the meaning of this!?
Alas, their auras were hidden too well, or perhaps... because he was too proud, he became dull? Regardless, it was too late for regrets at this time.
Giovanni also wanted to pull out his ace Pokémon to fight, but he shockingly discovered his body was unable to move under an invisible power, even speaking was impossible... Oh no! His heart immediately sank halfway, even pinning his hopes on James and the other two to rescue him.
Such a situation was tantamount to a slow death for Giovanni. He truly didn't expect to be ambushed in advance in a place as remote as the Abyssal Ruins. If he had a chance to do it again, Giovanni definitely wouldn't pop champagne at halftime. Even bringing a few more Executives would be better than the absolutely passive situation he was in now.
Regardless of the final outcome, he knew he was planted by Lorze. The young man in front of him, whose age didn't seem to differ much from Red's, also appeared right when he was about to succeed. Both these guys dealt a head-on heavy blow to his complacent self. Truly too ironic.
Giovanni, who had always existed with the posture of a superior, what kind of state of mind would he have at this moment? Would he still maintain that unhurried attitude from when he was defeated by Red?
Exactly at this critical moment, a manic "buzzing" sound rang out. The Beedrill, eager to protect its master, sensing its master's peril, brazenly exited its ball without any command. Its eyes crimson, seeking revenge against the guys intending to harm its master Giovanni, it fluttered its wings and pounced towards Lorze wearing the cloak!
Lorze recognized its degree of loyalty, but Lorze wasn't afraid of Beedrill's surprise attack either. After all, he wasn't alone—
Just as its stinger was about to hit Lorze, sharp fox claws engaged in close-quarters combat with the stinger. The enchantingly postured Zoroark blocked Beedrill's surprise attack for Lorze. But actually, Lorze himself could also dodge; his Teleport technique had also been practiced to the point of pure perfection.
Lorze's wives were mostly Psychic-type girls. Especially Celebi, Grass and Psychic-type, was four times weak to Bug. But conversely, Psychic-type also countered Beedrill's Poison-type. So the battle between them had quite a feeling of passionately instant-killing each other, requiring some psychological warfare.
He also very cleverly maximized strengths and avoided weaknesses. On one hand, he commanded Zoroark to utilize her speed advantage to deal with Beedrill. On the other hand, he sent the Rapidash mother and daughter and Celebi to make Giovanni completely lose his combat ability—Rapidash knew Hypnosis, and Celebi was responsible for creating vines to tie him up securely.
The Beedrill over here was exhausted just dealing with Zoroark, completely unable to find an opening to return and defend. Thus, it allowed Rapidash and Celebi to succeed smoothly. This way, Giovanni's threat was completely eliminated. He could concentrate on dealing with the Beedrill in front of him. As long as he takes it down too, this battle will be declared a victory. But Lorze still didn't pop the champagne in advance. Instead, he commanded seriously, transforming the advantage step by step into a winning position.
Zoroark was a Dark-type after all, and was also countered by the Bug-type. Letting her handle Giovanni's Beedrill alone truly couldn't be said to be a sure win. Lorze called over Jirachi again. The Steel and Psychic typing could render Beedrill's Poison-type moves completely ineffective, and Bug-type attacks would no longer be super effective due to the presence of the Steel-type. Cooperating with Suicune who joined the battlefield, they surrounded Beedrill from three sides!
Lacking Giovanni's personal command, Beedrill fought very messily. What's more, a Beedrill without Mega Evolution, no matter how strong, wouldn't have any oppressive feeling. It was originally easily handled by Zoroark. After the other two Pokémon joined, under the pincer attack commanded by the scheming Lorze, it was rapidly defeated. Somewhat humiliatingly stepped on by Zoroark, it helplessly vibrated its thin wings, emitting sporadic sounds...
Jirachi used Thunder Wave to give Beedrill full-body paralysis. Suicune's Yawn made its eyelids increasingly heavy until it finally fell asleep. Perhaps for Beedrill, this was indeed a nightmare.
The incapacitated Beedrill foreshadowed that the battle on Lorze's side had already reached a perfect conclusion. But being able to fight so smoothly was also because Ridley was brave enough, so he could defeat Giovanni's Pokémon one by one without any worries behind him.
Just tens of minutes ago, when Giovanni was first controlled, the Team Rocket trio, seeing their most respected Boss Giovanni suffer a setback, as expected by Lorze, turned out in full force and released their Pokémon wanting to relieve the siege for the boss. But...
"Boom!"
The towering Golurk stood firmly in front of them. Merely a light stomp on the ground caused the platform where the trio was located to tremble violently. The AOE of the Earthquake move was still too overpowered!
Perhaps his strength was insufficient to defeat a Team Rocket Executive, but facing the trio, he was no different from a city wall. Although Ridley's strength wasn't top-tier, he knew how to fight in the shallow water zone (against weak opponents).
Even though the trio in the Unova region had been strengthened, and their art style was different from the previous few regions, unable to beat means unable to beat. They couldn't even get past Ridley's Golurk. How could they talk about rescuing their boss?
The Team Rocket trio's Pokémon were completely wiped out. Giovanni's ace was also defeated by Lorze. He himself was directly controlled by Lorze.
Lorze's on-the-spot commanding ability was outstanding. But compared to making risky moves in battle, he preferred to make foolproof preparations and directly crush his opponent to death, leaving them completely without the power to fight back!
There were no dazzling clashes of moves, no clever on-the-spot commanding. There was only comprehensive early-stage deployment and the powerful execution ability of the Pokémon under his command. In this battle of capturing Giovanni alive, Lorze perfectly interpreted what is meant by "a good fighter has no illustrious exploits" (winning easily through preparation, not flashy struggles).
After tying Giovanni up securely, Celebi and Rapidash worked together to drag him in front of Lorze. The cage holding Meloetta was carried on Rapidash's back.
Meloetta inside the cage witnessed the entire process of Lorze rescuing her. She saw Lorze's black and gold cloak. Such a husband was simply unbelievably handsome!
As Leavanny's sharp blade-like arm split open the small iron cage with a "clang", Meloetta was finally rescued. With crystal-clear tears brimming in her eyes, she choked with sobs and threw herself headlong into Lorze's embrace.
Being heroically rescued by her beloved man and regaining her freedom. The joy of reunion made Meloetta sob and shed tears silently. Lorze, who doted on her, was also very touched seeing the little beauty shed tears. So, while hugging Meloetta, he stroked her head and back, letting her tears wet his clothes. At this moment, only an embrace could soothe the trauma in Meloetta's heart.
The surviving Meloetta and Lorze hugged each other tightly. The time separated, less than a day, felt like years. They had never felt that having each other's companionship was such a blissful thing.
"Woo, Meloetta knew it, Big Brother Lorze would definitely come save Meloetta!"
"I'm sorry, I'm late. Meloetta must have felt very wronged..."
"Woo... Meloetta was truly so scared. Big Brother Lorze, don't leave Meloetta behind again next time, okay?"
The sobbing little beauty in his arms made Lorze's heart ache and feel tender affection endlessly. He also continuously comforted Meloetta, as always using his strong arms to give the girls the most ample sense of security: "Mhm, I promise Meloetta, from now on we will never be separated again. Just like the vow made back then, I will use my whole life to protect Meloetta well. We will... be together forever!"
Having his neck hugged by Meloetta's slender arms, Lorze and Meloetta kissed with "smooch smooch" sounds as if there was no one else around. Their lips overlapped and rubbed gently, their tongues also intertwined and tightly entangled. Lorze's actions were even gentler than usual. This familiar tenderness made Meloetta feel increasingly at ease, finally revealing a flower-like smile. Although there were still undried tear stains at the corners of her eyes, she was still one of the most beautiful Pokémon girls.
Ridley stood far away to the side. He didn't hear the conversation between Lorze and Meloetta over here. He knew this reunion held extraordinary meaning for Lorze and Meloetta. And he himself was the biggest war criminal for Meloetta being captured. He truly had no face to confront or criticize anything—even though Lorze was doing exceptionally frivolous things with Meloetta... So he merely watched them being intimate together silently, his heart filled with mixed feelings.
Of course, in this battle, Ridley could also be considered to have redeemed himself by making amends through meritorious deeds. He atoned for his previous failure to protect Meloetta. At least he was worthy of the ancestors who protected Meloetta for generations...