Chapter 11: Your Uniform Is So Ugly

Ula-Ula Island, this is the easternmost island of the Alola region, and also the largest island in the Alola region.

The guardian deity of Ula-Ula Island is Tapu Bulu, and the current Island King is Hapu.

Of course, none of that matters; what matters is that according to the intelligence Domino gathered, the Skull Grunts' base is right here in Poni Town on Ula-Ula Island.

Actually, this isn't even a secret; the Skull Grunts are hated by everyone in the Alola region, so their hideout is easy to find out.

And the so-called Poni Town is simply the town occupied by the Skull Grunts.

Mamen, accompanied by Caitlin and Lance, has now arrived at Poni Town, bringing along two ordinary Rocket Grunts.

Lance was originally quite worried; after all, this was going out to fight another evil organization, or in more thuggish terms, smashing up a rival's turf.

Is bringing only this few people not enough?

But Mamen said that actually, those two ordinary Rocket Grunts didn't need to be brought at all; the three of them were completely sufficient.

Lance maintained a skeptical attitude; he had originally decided that if a real fight broke out, he must protect the Young Lady and get her out first.

But now...

"This is way too dilapidated, isn't it?"

After entering Poni Town, Lance looked at the scene before him and was shocked.

Poni Town is a town surrounded by high walls; it is currently occupied by the Skull Grunts, but that is just a nicer way of putting it.

Poni Town lives up to its name; it is completely a run-down town, the streets are in severe disrepair, covered in grotesque and abstract graffiti everywhere, and not a single person is to be seen.

The residents of this town moved out long ago, which is why the Skull Grunts could run rampant here.

"Truly... utterly dilapidated."

Caitlin's eyebrows furrowed; this noble Young Lady, who had a slight obsession with cleanliness, felt a physiological aversion seeing the trash scattered everywhere by the roadside.

"Is this how the Skull Grunts treat their own territory? Truly disappointing."

Lance felt he seemed to have overestimated the Skull Grunts.

"They are just an organization founded by a loser; how good could they possibly be?"

Mamen showed no surprise at all, walking leisurely towards the north side of Poni Town.

"To call the Skull Grunts an evil organization is actually giving them too much credit; in the end, they are just a bunch of thugs and hooligans."

Mamen made no attempt to hide his contempt for the Skull Grunts; from the very beginning, he had not taken them seriously.

What are the Skull Grunts?

The composition of the Skull Grunts is actually quite ridiculous; the leader, Guzma, once participated in the Island Challenge alongside Kukui, but neither of them eventually became a 'Captain'.

Since then, Guzma harbored resentment, wanting to overthrow the system of the Island Challenge, so he established the Skull Grunts to destroy everything.

And the members of the Skull Grunts are actually a group of trainers who failed to complete the Island Challenge.

In short, the Skull Grunts are an organization composed of self-abandoning 'losers'; the leader is a loser, and the members are even more so.

Mamen looked down on the Skull Grunts from the bottom of his heart; in his view, the Skull Grunts were not only weak in strength, but their ideology was even more ridiculous.

An evil organization? Do they even deserve the title?

Just because they failed their trial, they willingly fell into depravity and took pleasure in destruction; it's truly laughable.

Even evil organizations have standards, and the Skull Grunts, like this, Mamen felt were simply ruining the 'reputation' of evil organizations.

So it would be better to just clean them out.

Mamen and the others advanced towards the suspicious mansion on the north side of Poni Town; it didn't take too long, and they soon arrived before a dilapidated mansion.

"This is it, the Skull Grunts' base." Mamen confirmed the destination.

"..." Lance no longer wanted to speak.

He even suspected there was a problem with his own cognition; is this the notorious Skull Grunts of Alola?

The base is actually like this?

"Halt! Who are you people!"

Suddenly, two young men dressed in black jumped out from the side, blocking the path in front of Mamen and the others.

"Don't you know this is our Skull Grunts' territory?"

These are the Skull Grunt members?

Caitlin's eyes scanned the two up and down; both of these Skull Grunt members were male, one thin and one fat.

Both wore black vests with skull patterns, had headscarves with skull patterns wrapped around their heads, and wore face masks.

"These uniforms are so ugly; what kind of genius designed them?"

Mamen couldn't help but click his tongue while looking at the two.

Caitlin nodded in full agreement; regarding this sense of fashion, she truly could not commend it.

However, as an elegant young lady, such coarse language was not suitable for her; Mamen had spoken her mind.

"What did you say, brat? Say that again if you dare!"

Hearing this, these two Skull Grunt members flew into a rage; how dare someone say their proud uniforms were ugly.

"Daring to cause trouble on our Skull Grunts' territory, I think you are..."

The fat Skull Grunt member spat everywhere, stepping forward as if he was about to have a real fight with Mamen.

But before this fat Skull Grunt member could finish speaking, a large purple cobra suddenly appeared and whipped its tail hard at the fat Skull Grunt member.

The fat Skull Grunt member could only instinctively raise his arms.

Boom!

A dull thud sounded as the fat man was heavily whipped away, crashing to the ground and groaning in pain.

This sudden scene left the other thin man unable to react.

"Big Fat, are you okay?"

After coming to his senses, the thin man rushed to the fat man's side, wanting to help the fat man get up.

"Don't... don't touch my hand..."

But at this moment, the Fatty's face was incredibly pale, cold sweat streaming down, his whole body trembling, his right hand completely unable to be raised.

"Ah?"

"My... my hand... it's broken... it hurts so much..." The Fatty's halting tone carried a sob.

The members of the Thin Skeleton Squad were very anxious, momentarily at a loss.

"..."

Caitlin glanced at the attacking Arbok; this was the Poison-type Arbok, and this Arbok had been sent out by Lance.

Caitlin looked at the Fatty Skeleton Squad member being attacked by the Arbok; should she have her Pokémon attack the person directly?

Caitlin pressed her lips together; she needed to adapt quickly.

"Useless thing, who allowed you to speak to the Young Master like that?"

Lance's face was very gloomy at this moment, staring coldly at the Fatty Skeleton Squad member whose face was pale from pain.

"Arbok!"

Lance still had no intention of letting this guy off.

As one of the Four Generals of Team Rocket, Lance actually appeared to be the most approachable and the most handsome among the Four Generals, and Lance usually spoke using honorifics, giving people a kind impression.

But in reality, Lance was the most ruthless executive among the Four Generals; being cruel in his actions was a common occurrence.

"Lance, don't be so hot-tempered; a small punishment to serve as a warning is enough."

Mamon stopped Lance with a light laugh; it wasn't that his kindness had stirred, these Skeleton Squad members were still useful to him.

Those with better qualities could be recruited into the organization; those with poor qualities could be sent to mine and work. There were plenty of places to use people; it would be a waste not to.

(End of this chapter)