Chapter 168: Mammon Said, You Can Always Trust Me (Second Update)

However, Primal Groudon still did not 'unleash its ultimate move at point-blank range'; it was not out of fear, but because Primal Groudon considered itself an 'elder' and felt that bullying a young Rayquaza would be beneath its dignity.

"Yo~ Sheena, it's only been a short while, and how have you turned out like this?"

Primal Groudon lowered its form slightly, and a figure leaped from its back, a voice tinged with mockery entering Sheena's ears.

Sheena raised her head slightly, and her reddened, moist eyes saw the youth before her.

"Mammon..."

Sheena's vision was blurred, but she still noticed the figure before her.

"It seems you are in quite a predicament; do you need help?"

Mammon looked at the successor girl's dull, lifeless eyes, which were completely different from her once bright and spirited appearance.

As expected, it was a failure...

Mammon was certain in his heart; without a doubt, Rayquaza had probably still not accepted Sheena.

However, this was also to be expected.

"Mammon... I can't do it... I cannot make Rayquaza Mega Evolve... I..."

Sheena bit her lip, lowered her head again, and her tone of utter despair and pain was heartbreaking.

This was the first time the originally proud, cheerful, and strong-willed Sheena seemed to vanish in an instant.

But it made sense, didn't it? She who had always struggled desperately for Rayquaza could not gain Rayquaza's acceptance; for Sheena, the blow was simply too great.

She bore a weight far too heavy upon her shoulders: her people, the prophecy, her sister, faith...

And for all of this, she had to succeed, yet she had failed.

"I..."

Thinking of these things, Sheena's tone inevitably carried a sob; how could she now face the disappointed gazes of those people?

Mammon's smile on his face slightly faded; he glanced at Rayquaza, causing the young Rayquaza, who had been observing cautiously, to feel a sudden chill in its heart.

It clearly remembered the 'terribleness' of this human!

It was this very human who had commanded Primal Groudon and the others to defeat its invincible black Rayquaza father!

For Rayquaza, this matter had also brought it deep trauma.

Especially since it seemed Father was also very interested in this human; perhaps he could become Father's trainer??

Then what should it call this human?

Rayquaza could not help but fall into deep thought; if this human truly became Father's partner, then according to human customs, should it call him...

"Rayquaza..." Mammon could not help but sigh; Rayquaza was truly 'ruining lives', turning such a bright young girl like Sheena into this state.

But...

"Uncle! I'm here!"

Hearing the voice, Rayquaza, which was lost in a mental storm, instinctively replied.

"???"

Mammon looked at Rayquaza in shock, and Primal Groudon also stared at Rayquaza in astonishment.

Wait, buddy?? Who are you calling uncle???

Rayquaza, having also come to its senses, was utterly confused, then immediately raised its head, putting on an air of aloofness as if nothing had happened.

However, the suspicious blush on its face clearly represented its current mental state.

"Sheena, do not worry; I said before, right? We are now a community of shared destiny within the same organization."

Mammon looked at Rayquaza strangely, squatted down, patted Sheena's shoulder, and spoke to her with a smile.

"No matter what happens, do not fear, do not be lost, do not worry; you just need to entrust yourself to me with confidence, and I can bear your life for you."

Mammon's gentle yet firm tone was deeply moving.

Sheena's choking sound gradually ceased; she slowly raised her head to look at Mammon, her spirit trembling.

"Mammon..."

The successor girl's eyes reflected the image of the youth before her.

"Sheena, you can always trust me."

Mammon smiled and slowly turned to look at Rayquaza.

"Even if you fail, I can bear all the consequences for you, so do not lower your head; I will retrieve for you what you have lost."

Primal Groudon's golden beast eyes slowly turned cold and indifferent, and the solidified pressure made it nearly impossible to breathe.

And the target was, of course, Rayquaza.

"Wait..."

But Rayquaza felt something was wrong; why did it feel like it had become the 'villain'?

"Unc... no, human, I have not bullied this successor at all!!"

Rayquaza hurriedly explained via telepathy; it even felt aggrieved; it was quite conscientious, you know.

After all, this successor was Sheena's sister, and Rayquaza had originally intended to give her another chance.

It was just that before it could finish speaking, Primal Groudon and Mammon had arrived.

"Although she does not quite meet my requirements right now, I have prepared to continue observing her for the time being; she still has a chance!"

Rayquaza did not really want to suffer an undeserved disaster; although it could call for its dad and mom, that would be far too embarrassing.

Upon hearing this, Sheena's expression changed instantly.

"Really?"

Mammon raised an eyebrow.

"Absolutely true!" Rayquaza nodded frantically.

Regarding Mammon, its feelings were indeed quite complex, after all, this human had defeated the invincible Dragon Father in its heart.

"How about it?" Mamon asked Siekana.

"I will work hard to make Rayquaza acknowledge me!"

Siekana wiped the tears from her face, revealing a determined gaze.

Yes, she could not be weak!

"That's fine. Actually, it doesn't matter. I can help you solve the meteor your clan prophesied; don't feel any psychological burden." Mamon patted her shoulder.

"Mm~!" Siekana gazed at Mamon's face and broke into a smile.

She didn't know how to describe her feelings at this moment; she just felt... very reassured, very reassured.

Actually, she remembered that Mamon had said similar words to her before, but compared to that time, having truly experienced the 'despair' just now, Siekana's mindset had undergone a subtle change.

"Then... since you need to observe, you also need to observe Siekana up close, right?"

Mamon pondered for a moment, sizing up Rayquaza.

"?" Rayquaza tilted its head.

"Then you will stay by my side for now; you can observe Siekana and also train yourself well."

Mamon took out a Great Ball and grinned at Rayquaza.

"Ah?" Rayquaza was stunned.

"Look, your father is so fierce, so how did you become so useless? I will train you well."

Mamon tried to express his thoughts, but anyone could understand that Mamon probably just wanted to pick up some temporarily usable free 'labor'.

"This... isn't appropriate, is it?"

Rayquaza tried to refuse tactfully, but to be honest, it was somewhat tempted.

Mamon spoke very bluntly, but Rayquaza also understood that the gap between it and its parents was ridiculously large.

But Rayquaza didn't want to be like this; its psychological pressure was also huge, but it just couldn't learn to add the finishing touch; what could it do?

"Not appropriate? This is very appropriate. Rayquaza, don't you have any self-awareness? Do you really think your 'weakness' is only because you can't Mega Evolve? The main reason is that your combat level is too poor."

Mamon spoke directly and without any courtesy to critique.

"If I didn't care about your father, I wouldn't even bother with you. Look how useless you are; you might not even be able to beat a Deoxys, and you still dare say you aren't weak?"

Rayquaza felt its dragon skin go numb.

"I understand. Please, Uncle, teach me!" Rayquaza felt Mamon's words made sense.

It no longer wanted to drag down the name 'Rayquaza'; its pressure was also huge!

"Come in first. When I have time, I will teach you well how to fight."

Watching Mamon stuff this Rayquaza into a Poké Ball with just a few words, Siekana's brain short-circuited for a moment.

And what the heck is this Rayquaza calling Mamon 'Uncle'???

Is this some special language of the Rayquaza clan?

But no matter what, at least it wasn't the worst outcome; at least Rayquaza had already said it could still give her a chance.

As for the meteor crisis, Mamon was also willing to help her resolve it.

Siekana's heart felt incredibly reassured at this moment; she just didn't know why, but the longer she looked at Mamon now, her heartbeat seemed to speed up...

The Successor was very confused; why was this?

Sootopolis City Hospital.

"..."

Steven slowly woke up, and the first thing that met his eyes was a pale ceiling.

An unfamiliar ceiling; where am I?

Steven tried to get up, but his whole body was extremely weak, and his head hurt badly, while his throat was burning dry.

"Steven! Steven, you finally woke up!"

A voice of surprise suddenly came; Wallace's small face abruptly entered Steven's field of vision, startling Steven.

"Steven, are you okay? You suddenly fainted; I was scared to death." Wallace looked at Steven with concern.

"Cough... cough... water... give me water..." Steven's throat was extremely dry and hoarse.

"Oh, oh."

Wallace hurriedly poured a cup of warm water for Steven and held it to Steven's mouth.

After drinking a little water, Steven finally felt he had recovered; Wallace helped Steven sit up and propped his pillow higher.

"What happened to me?"

Steven looked at the IV drip hanging on his arm, glanced at this hospital room, and found that Champion Leon and others were also there.

"The doctor said you suffered strong mental stimulation, plus your spirit was too exhausted, and then you caught a heavy rain and developed a high fever."

Cynthia spoke softly.

"Steven's current condition is very poor; he needs to rest in the hospital for a few more days." Leon added.

Steven fell silent for a moment; he also recalled it.

"... Sorry for causing trouble to everyone." Steven sighed.

"It's nothing. Champion Steven, you still need to pay more attention to your body, and we can also understand." Giovanni spoke in a low voice.

They all saw the pressure Steven had been under recently.

Moreover, with such an incident happening, it was normal for Steven to collapse from not being able to hold on.

Of course, this also couldn't be separated from Wallace's god-tier assist; one could only say Wallace was indeed very awesome.

Mamon did so much but didn't break down Steven-sensei, but Wallace-sensei indeed precisely 'one-shot' and crushed Steven-sensei.

"Where is Team Rocket?"

"Team Rocket has withdrawn; we don't need to worry for now," Dianthia replied.

"Right now, Steven, the most important thing for you is to recover your health first."

"Yes, Senior Steven, your health is the most important!" Nemona nodded repeatedly as well.

Steven's sudden fainting truly startled them, and it also showed that Steven's body had probably truly reached its limit.

To deal with Team Rocket, Steven had expended far too much of his spirit, but the final result was unsatisfactory; one could even say it was very terrible.

Wallace's words of 'Steven, save me' could only be described as the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"Alright, thank you all for your concern." Steven forced a smile.

"Steven, you rest first; we'll go out for now."

Giovanni signaled Dianthia and the other two with his eyes, and then the four of them exited the hospital room, leaving only Wallace alone.

"Wallace, I have let down the Hoenn League." Steven sighed, his voice full of exhaustion and self-blame.

"Steven, what are you saying?" Wallace frowned, his good-looking brows knitting together.

"I will not allow you to speak of yourself like that, Steven. In my heart, you are Hoenn's most excellent trainer! You are also the guardian deity of the Hoenn region!"

Wallace said earnestly, his tone extremely firm.

Hearing this, Steven was still very moved; Wallace was indeed his good brother!

"Wallace, I have one thing I need your help with; I hope you can agree to it."

"Steven, just speak your mind; between brothers, why talk about such foreign matters?" Wallace nodded.

"After this incident, I feel that as the Hoenn Champion, I was indeed too forced." Steven tiredly rubbed the center of his forehead; he felt that he had probably grown white hair during this period.

"Moreover, I cannot conscientiously brush aside the consequences of this incident; it is all because of me that the situation has become like this now."

Steven sighed.

"So Wallace, I hope you can take back the position of the Hoenn Champion..."

"Steven." Wallace suddenly cut off Steven's words.

"?" Steven looked at Wallace in confusion.

"What was your previous sentence?" Wallace asked.

"Wallace, I have one thing I need your help..."

"I won't help."

Wallace replied expressionlessly and decisively.

What a joke; brothers are brothers, but wanting him to serve as the Hoenn Champion again? Dream on!

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Steven looked at Wallace in disbelief, feeling a mouthful of old blood he had to spit out in his throat.

"Cough, cough, cough... cough..."

"Steven! Steven, what's wrong, Steven! Doctor! Doctor, come quickly, Steven seems like he can't hold on!!"

(End of this chapter)