Chapter 82: Lord Mammon, Save Us!!
Elsewhere.
"Ice Beam."
The flat voice reached Ariana's ears and she felt it immediately — a wave of cold sweeping up her spine before the attack even arrived.
A jagged beam of ice came in fast and direct. Her.
"Vileplume — Protect!"
Vileplume threw itself in front of her. A green barrier snapped into existence — Protect, absolute defense. The Ice Beam slammed into it. The surface crackled, frost crystals building layer by layer, the freezing sound continuous and sharp.
Vileplume held. Barely. Teeth grinding, barrier intact.
The Ice Beam ended. The Protect shattered into light.
High heels on broken ground. Lorelei walked forward and looked at Ariana with eyes that held no temperature whatsoever.
"Not bad, you poor little mouse."
She pushed her glasses up. That calm, flat stare made Ariana's skin crawl — it wasn't the look someone gave a person. It was the look someone gave a body.
"Lorelei—!!"
Ariana forced the name out through her teeth.
"You have nowhere to run today. I'll see you out personally."
No warmth in a single syllable.
Lorelei's Lapras opened its mouth. Ice light began to gather.
"Ice Beam."
"Psychic!"
A surge of prismatic psychic force met the Ice Beam head-on. The two attacks collided and detonated. The shockwave rolled outward in every direction.
Lorelei's expression finally shifted — just slightly.
"Hm?"
She turned.
A girl with heavy, lustrous golden hair stood nearby. In front of her: Tapu Lele.
"If I remember correctly — you're Caitlin."
Lorelei's eyes narrowed. She'd placed her quickly enough — a profile had come through from Alola.
Then her gaze settled on Tapu Lele.
"Akala Island's guardian. Tapu Lele." A cold laugh. "Alola really is a disappointment — they can't even keep their own generational legendary Pokémon out of Team Rocket's hands."
She didn't ask why Caitlin had joined Team Rocket. It was irrelevant.
In Lorelei's assessment, the moment someone put on that uniform they had chosen degradation willingly. The reasons didn't matter. The result was the only thing that counted — and the result was that Caitlin had joined an evil organization, which meant she was no longer innocent.
"Leaving you free would be a danger to everyone. You're young, so I'll give you that much — spend the rest of your life in repentance."
A second Poké Ball opened. A large, heavyset Dewgong materialized beside Lapras. Lorelei's voice stayed flat.
A talented, young executive like this couldn't be allowed to walk away. Left free, she'd become a serious threat.
"Lady Ariana, Gladion — please go. Both of you."
Caitlin was focused. The blue light of her psychic power was already rising behind her eyes. Her Poké Ball flew open — Metagross landed heavily in front of her.
"Caitlin…"
Ariana's expression shifted. She's covering our retreat.
"Neither of you can match Lorelei. Staying only puts you in danger. Please break through and go."
"But—"
"I won't be hurt. I promise."
Caitlin gave them both a calm smile.
Ariana went quiet.
"Be careful." Gladion pressed his lips together. In the end, reason won. He said it low and moved.
Strength. It always came back to strength.
He threw one last look at Lorelei's unchanged expression as he went. He was going to work harder. He refused to feel like this again — watching a teammate fight alone while he ran, unable to help, nothing but dead weight.
Never again.
Gladion and Ariana pulled back behind Caitlin. Strange, though — Lorelei, who viewed Team Rocket with such absolute hostility, made no move to stop them leaving.
That felt wrong.
She wouldn't just watch two senior executives walk away.
"A rearguard sacrifice. Meaningless, unfortunately."
Lorelei's smile was cold as she crossed her arms.
"I didn't come alone."
Caitlin's mind worked fast. Her expression shifted slightly.
Two Elite Four members.
"You're not stupid. Pity you took the wrong path."
Lorelei looked at her with something that was almost surprise.
"Everyone has their own path," Caitlin said, composing herself. Her voice was steady. "You're the one being arrogant, Elite Four Lorelei."
"True enough. Everyone does have their own future."
Lorelei didn't argue the point. But she said what she thought.
"Team Rocket are filth. Dark, cowardly creatures who can only survive by crawling through drains. Parasites on this world."
The hatred in her voice was naked and complete.
Caitlin's brow furrowed slightly. She genuinely didn't understand how someone could hold a position this extreme. Team Rocket wasn't a legitimate organization by anyone's measure, but this level of contempt—
It's like Team Rocket killed her entire family.
"Parasites don't have the right to exist."
The cold coming off Lorelei was staggering.
"Then it seems we have nothing left to say to each other."
The blue light in Caitlin's eyes blazed. A torrent of psychic power poured out of her — not projected outward but inward, channeling directly into Metagross and Tapu Lele.
A psychic-type ability-user — same as Sabrina. Lorelei's eyes narrowed.
"Diedie~!!"
Tapu Lele's cry rang sharp and bright. Psychic energy radiated outward from it in every direction, saturating the surrounding terrain.
Psychic Surge activated. Psychic Terrain.
"Come on then, Elite Four Lorelei. I've been curious how strong the 'world's strongest Elite Four' actually are."
The psychic light receded. Caitlin settled into a composed, beautiful smile.
"Hmph."
Lorelei's answering sound was flat and cold.
On the other side of the perimeter.
With Silvally clearing the path and Vileplume providing cover, Gladion and Ariana had punched through the officer cordon — Jenny after Jenny, police Pokémon after police Pokémon, none of it stopping them.
They'd almost let themselves breathe.
Then the wind screamed.
Before either of them registered what was happening, Ariana's Vileplume was airborne — launched sideways, slammed through the wall of a building with a sound like a thunderclap.
"Vileplume—?!"
Ariana stood frozen.
What was—
"That was… a kick?" Gladion stared at the direction it had come from, barely catching the afterimage. A leg. Moving like lightning. That was all he'd seen.
"Two Team Rocket senior executives." A low voice, unhurried. "Lorelei was right — you would run."
A heavily built man came walking toward them.
Bare torso. Wild black-blue hair. White wide-leg trousers. Black bands at both wrists and ankles.
A Machamp moved beside him.
"Elite Four Bruno—"
Gladion's face went flat and hard. The man was too distinctive to mistake. This was Kanto's Elite Four Bruno.
"Bruno, of all people…"
The cold that hit Ariana went all the way through.
How were the two of them supposed to handle Bruno?
Lord Mammon — save us!!
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you