Chapter 79: I'm the Final Boss Here
"Please proceed this way in an orderly fashion."
Southern district. Lorelei's team, working alongside regular officers, had begun organizing the evacuation of residents and tourists alike.
Most people were puzzled, but the official statement cited a terrorist threat in the area — enough to get them moving.
"Terrorists? They're evacuating the entire southern district for that?"
Ash and his group were somewhere in the flow of people. Ash was walking with his whole posture caved inward, the picture of misery.
"Come on, Ash — pull yourself together. What's that face?"
Misty pressed her fingers to her forehead.
"My money… my beautiful money, gone forever…"
Ash's eyes were glistening. His meal budget for the foreseeable future. Gone. All of it.
"I told you to pace yourself. Who dumps their entire wallet in one session?" Misty showed him zero sympathy, drilling directly into his bad decisions.
"But I really, really wanted the Eevee…"
Ash looked down at the Poké Ball in his hand, a complicated mixture of devastation and joy.
They had, as Mammon suggested, gone to the Game Corner. It was a Celadon City landmark — had to be done. And then Ash had gotten a little carried away.
The prize exchange had things he'd never seen. Dratini as the big prize. Rare Porygon. Pokémon from other regions. Ash had set his heart on a Dratini — couldn't afford it with purchased tokens, but he could win more through the machines, right?
And then there was no "and then."
His luck at the slots had turned out to be essentially nonexistent. If Misty and Brock hadn't physically restrained him at certain points, he'd have gambled away items of actual necessity. The Dratini was hopeless, so he'd redirected at the Eevee.
"It's not a bad outcome. Eevee is genuinely rare." Brock smiled. "Your luck held where it counted."
"But I have zero money for the next two months." Ash felt a wound opening in his chest.
Pikachu rolled its eyes with spectacular precision.
"Don't worry about it. I'm not going to let you starve." Brock, resigned, said what he always said.
"BROCK!! You are the greatest friend I will ever have in this life—"
Ash looked nearly moved to actual tears.
"Stop babying him, Brock." Misty had both hands on her hips. "He did this to himself. Consequences."
"We're traveling together. That's what it means." Brock just smiled.
Misty made a noise of mild exasperation. Brock was genuinely insufferable when it came to women, but day-to-day, he was about as dependable as a person could be — steady, mature, always keeping an eye on both of them without making it obvious.
"This evacuation is strange, though." Brock's smile faded as he looked out at the volume of people being moved. "I've never heard of a full-district clearance before. Not in the middle of a city like this."
Something significant was about to happen. Whatever it was.
He also noticed: Lorelei's team was checking ID at the checkpoints.
Inside the underground base.
"Mammon, please. Turn yourself in. They've surrounded this place already."
Erika was bound to a chair, looking at Mammon across the room, her voice steady despite everything.
"Miss Erika." Mammon took a long sip of juice. "If it's all the same to you, I'd much rather we talked about something pleasant. You're really ruining the atmosphere."
His gaze moved over her in a way that made her pull her legs together and tighten every muscle.
"Seeing what you've become — I think Giovanni would be heartbroken."
Erika took a breath and played the one card she had left: his father.
"Ha. If anything, I'd want him to see it." Mammon's scoff was light.
Erika's brow furrowed. Mammon and Giovanni don't get along? But the rumors had always been that Mammon was Giovanni's pride and joy—
Unless joining Team Rocket had something to do with Giovanni himself. Some private tension between father and son that no one on the outside knew about.
Which would make this even sadder.
"Let's change the subject." Mammon stood, crossed the room, and leaned down slightly in front of her. His face came quite close to hers.
At this distance, he could see her eyes clearly — genuinely pretty, clear as still water. The skin below them was flawless, soft pink under white, almost luminous. She smelled faintly of flowers, subtle and lovely. Someone who took care of herself.
Erika looked away. Her face had gone pink again. He was much too close.
"You smell wonderful, Miss Erika." His thumb moved lightly along her cheek. His voice dropped. "Whoever ends up with you is going to be a very lucky person."
Erika's ears went red.
She was not someone who spent much time in close proximity to young men, and her composure, usually substantial, was not holding up well.
"Please — please stop—"
She couldn't pull back. The chair held her in place. All she could do was push back with her voice, which came out softer and more flustered than she intended.
Because she could feel his hand starting to move downward again, and there were places that hand absolutely could not go—
"Haha~ You're very cute, Miss Erika. Relax. I like beautiful women, but I don't force anyone."
Mammon pulled back, smiling pleasantly.
Erika looked up at him with an expression of genuine indignation.
"Don't force anyone"? If she hadn't said something just now, his hand would have—
Actually, it had already gotten slightly further than it should have.
And calling all of this "not forcing anyone" — the face touching, the waist earlier, all of it — was a rather creative interpretation of appropriate behavior.
"There's a bathroom through that door." Mammon untied the ropes. "Fresh clothes are ready for you. Go clean up."
Erika blinked. "...What?"
He wants me to shower? Now?
"Not for the reason you're thinking."
"???"
She stared at him.
"I mean it. I'm genuinely not interested in that kind of thing by force." He spread his hands, picture of innocence.
The silence that followed was very loud.
"I'm about to fight the Kanto League," Mammon said, and the easy smile that spread across his face was entirely self-satisfied. "And I think a proper Boss ought to have a certain standard about him."
He tilted his head at her.
"So I'll ask you to bear with the inconvenience a little longer, Miss Erika. This Celadon base is the dungeon — and I'm the final boss."
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