Just then, a member of the team with a somewhat timid personality approached the Team Leader with trembling lips, his voice as thin as a mosquito's buzz.
"Um... Team Leader, are we really going to attack?"
"Actually... we've already repelled a wave of Trainers, haven't we?"
"Team Leader... I remember Lord Fire Ghost told us that after occupying the Weather Institute, we should try not to cause unnecessary trouble... That person doesn't even look like he's coming for us based on his direction. How about... we just let it go?"
The fire in the Team Leader's heart flared up instantly.
The Team Leader suddenly spun around!
Slap!
A crisp sound rang out, particularly piercing in the rain.
He delivered a backhanded slap hard across the member's face, the force so great that it sent the man staggering, his cheek quickly swelling up.
"Useless trash!"
The Team Leader cursed loudly.
"You're in fucking Team Magma now, and yet you're still so meek and subservient! Remember this: we are villains! We are an evil organization here to overthrow this corrupt Alliance! Show some spirit!"
"From now on, whether you're speaking or acting, be tougher! Be more unreasonable!"
"So what if his target isn't the Weather Institute?"
"I'm asking you, is he going to pass through here?"
"And if he passes through here, won't he discover Team Magma's tracks?!"
"Then since he's discovered Team Magma's tracks, is there anything wrong with teaching him a lesson?"
The team member was dazed by the slap, clutching his face, his eyes a mix of fear and humiliation.
Under the Team Leader's fierce gaze, he nodded.
That's right! He was a member of Team Magma now! Who would dare mess with him?!
He was just a mere Alliance Trainer; if he beat him, he beat him!
Who could do anything to him?
And so, the member silently released his Pokémon—a Poochyena that also appeared somewhat scrawny—and followed the main group as they closed in on the lonely figure... At this moment, Ariel was walking while complaining in his heart about this god-awful weather.
"It was clear skies just a few hours ago. How did it start raining like this out of nowhere, and a torrential downpour at that?"
"I'll need to keep a raincoat ready in my space ring from now on."
"Luckily, the combat suit I'm wearing under my clothes is waterproof, so my body isn't soaked through."
"Forget it, these thunderstorms usually come and go quickly. I'll just bear with it until it passes."
Cold rainwater dripped from the tips of his hair and ran down his cheeks.
His mind was currently focused entirely on taking stock of the gains he had made along the way.
Krokorok and Malamar had each gained a level during the previous battles, their strength growing steadily.
Weavile's progress was gratifying, having leveled up twice to reach level 32; the pressure from its speed and attacks was becoming increasingly intense.
And the Newcomer in the team, Frogadier, had shown even more amazing potential, jumping three levels to reach level 24 in one go!
Ariel silently calculated the new skills his Pokémon had just mastered.
Krokorok had learned Rock Slide.
This was an apology gift from that old man, Moore.
Including the Life Orb.
For Ariel, this was already valuable enough. According to Ariel's memory, there was also a small Team Rockets stronghold in Fortree City, where he could test the effects of the Life Orb when he arrived.
"Hmm? I suppose I'm also a direct-line Trainer of The Alliance, aren't I?"
"Actually, I could also go to an Alliance testing facility for a free test."
Ariel murmured to himself.
But soon, Ariel shook his head and rejected that decision.
After all, he still preferred the high efficiency of Team Rockets' operations.
If he went to an Alliance-run institution, Ariel estimated that as soon as he brought out the Life Orb, he would be subjected to all sorts of questioning by the staff.
Including but not limited to the Life Orb's origin, whether the acquisition method was legal, and his relationship with Lord Moore, and so on.
Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
Moreover, Ariel had some not-so-clean money that he needed to spend, so a trip to a Team Rockets stronghold was quite necessary.
Normally, the rewards Ariel received were basically credited directly to his Pokémon pokédex information as a string of numbers.
But this time—
"Tsk, sometimes cash is really a hassle."
Ariel touched his space ring, feeling the two million league coins in banknotes inside.
Because The Alliance's cash denominations were large...
Some single notes were already worth ten thousand league coins.
So the volume occupied by these two million league coins wasn't as large as one might imagine.
Krokorok's Rock Slide.
It was a good offensive skill that could perfectly compensate for the team's lack of means to deal with Flying-types.
As for the Rock-type attribute, although Krokorok wasn't a Rock-type, being a Ground-type and Dark-type meant it could still use the move with ease.
"Ground and Rock really are inseparable,"
Ariel said.
Weavile, on the other hand, had learned Double Team.
Combined with its already ghost-like speed, this skill was a divine technique tailor-made for assassinating and toying with opponents.
The only regret was that he hadn't found an opportunity for a practical test of these two skills yet.
Including Ariel's Life Orb; he hadn't had a chance to use it along the way. After all, he hadn't encountered many powerful Pokémon, so there simply wasn't an opportunity to use it.
If he could experience it before testing the Life Orb officially, Ariel would be more than happy.
Just then, Ariel's footsteps came to a halt.
In front of him, a squad of personnel wearing Team Magma uniforms had spread out, blocking his path.
They were accompanied by their respective Pokémon, mostly fierce Mightyena, each with an unfriendly expression and eyes that looked ready to devour someone.
They struck a pose that was villainous through and through.
Ariel looked up. From beneath his rain-soaked bangs, his eyes stared at them calmly, wanting to see what these people were up to.
The leading Team Leader took a step forward, his chin held high, and spoke in an interrogative tone:
"Hey, kid! You've trespassed into Team Magma territory, do you know that?"
Hearing this, a hint of doubt rose in Ariel's heart.
Team Magma territory?
He looked up at the silhouette of the building in the distance. Wasn't that the Weather Institute?
How did an important institution under The Alliance become Team Magma's?
Scanning the surrounding battlefield, which was full of scars and battle traces that the rain hadn't completely washed away, he understood instantly.
So these guys had actually seized The Alliance's Weather Institute?
They certainly had guts.
Ariel's gaze fell back onto the Team Leader's arrogant face, and he calmly spat out three words.
"I don't know."
This nonchalant answer was like a silent slap in the face, causing the Team Leader's expression to darken instantly.
In his eyes, this wasn't an answer at all, but a provocation.
"Very well!"
The Team Leader laughed out of sheer anger, squeezing a few words through his teeth.
"You ignorant brat!"
"Then use your life to remember this lesson!"
Before he had even finished speaking, the Mightyena beside him let out a roar and lunged forward!
Ariel sneered in his heart.
A pillow just when I was getting sleepy.
Just as I was thinking I had nowhere to test my new skills, an entire squad of sparring partners delivers themselves to my door.
Truly... how thoughtful.