Chapter 82: Lord Marmalade, Save Me!

Another location.

"Ice Beam."

A cold female voice entered her ears; Athena immediately sensed something was wrong, a chill sweeping through her entire body.

She saw a winding, twisting Ice Beam shoot over at high speed, and its target was none other than Athena herself.

"Venusaur! Protect!" Athena ordered immediately.

Venusaur hurriedly blocked in front of Athena, a green Protect barrier unfolding, the absolute defense of Protect!

The Ice Beam struck the Protect barrier hard, the 'crack-crack' sound of freezing never ceasing in her ears, layer upon layer of frost and ice crystals accumulating on the surface of the Protect barrier.

Venusaur gritted her teeth tightly, forcibly holding Protect without it shattering.

The Ice Beam finally ended; the Protect barrier shattered with a hiss into motes of light and dispersed.

The sound of high heels stepping on the ground approached; Lorelei walked over, gazing indifferently at Athena.

"Poor little rat, not bad work."

Lorelei adjusted her glasses; that calm, cold gaze made Athena's skin crawl with goosebumps. It was not the look one gives a human, but rather as if looking at a corpse.

"Lorelei!!" Athena ground out those two words through gritted teeth.

"Today you have nowhere to escape; I have come to personally send you on your way."

Lorelei's tone held not a shred of warmth.

And before Lorelei, Lapras opened its mouth, once again gathering ice light within.

"Ice Beam."

"Psychic!"

A colorful psychic wave met Lapras's Ice Beam; the two attacks clashed violently, then exploded heavily.

Powerful wind waves spread out, causing Lorelei's expression to finally show some change.

"Hmm?"

Lorelei tilted her head slightly, looking toward the girl with magnificent, thick golden hair, and the Tapu Lele before her.

"Seems there is an unexpected surprise; if I recall correctly, your name is Caitlin, right?"

Lorelei narrowed her eyes slightly; she quickly recognized this girl, after all, a file had been transmitted from Alola.

Afterwards, Lorelei's gaze fixed for a moment on Tapu Lele.

"The island guardian of Akala Island, Tapu Lele? That place Alola is truly disappointing; even their own generation-spanning legendary Pokémon could fall into Team Rocket's hands."

Lorelei sneered; she did not question Caitlin about why she had joined Team Rocket.

What was the point? None.

In Lorelei's view, since she had joined Team Rocket and donned Team Rocket's 'clothes', she was already willingly fallen, beyond saving.

The reason was not important; what mattered was the result, and the result was that she had joined the evil Team Rocket, so she was no longer innocent.

"Keeping you is still a calamity; in view of your youth, you shall use your remaining life to repent."

Lorelei opened another Poké Ball; a plump Dewgong appeared beside Lapras, speaking faintly.

Caitlin, such a talented and young Elite Four member, cannot be allowed to live!

Otherwise, she would surely become a great threat in the future.

"Ms. Athena, Mr. Gladion, you two leave first."

Caitlin was very serious; a blue light of psychic power faintly lit in her eyes, a Poké Ball flew out and opened, and Metagross Weight landed heavily.

"Caitlin..."

Athena's expression changed slightly; was Caitlin trying to cover their retreat?

"You are no match for Champion Lorelei; staying here is also dangerous, please break through and leave first."

"But..."

"Please rest assured, I will not be harmed."

Caitlin offered the two a smile, causing Athena to fall silent.

"Be careful." Gladion pressed his lips tightly; in the end, reason prevailed, and he said gravely to Caitlin.

Power!! Indeed, one must have even greater power!

Gladion looked unwillingly at the still expressionless Lorelei; he must work even harder to become stronger.

Otherwise, this sense of powerlessness would happen again next time! While his comrades were fighting, he could only retreat in a disheveled manner, unable to help and actually becoming a burden.

Gladion did not want this anymore!

Gladion and Athena retreated from behind Caitlin, but what made Caitlin strange was that Lorelei, so extreme in her attitude toward Team Rocket, actually had no intention of stopping them?

This made Caitlin feel something was wrong; Lorelei could not possibly watch two Elite Four members leave without doing anything.

"Sacrificing oneself to cover the retreat? Yet utterly meaningless."

A cold curve rose on Lorelei's lips; she crossed her arms and said in a detached voice.

"More than one Kanto Champion has come here!"

But Caitlin's intelligence was high; she instantly understood the reason, her exquisite face's expression changing slightly.

"You are not stupid, but unfortunately, you took the wrong path." Lorelei looked at Caitlin with some surprise.

"Everyone has their own path; Champion Lorelei, you are too arrogant." Caitlin adjusted her emotions and said faintly.

"Of course, everyone indeed has a future belonging to themselves."

Lorelei did not deny this point, but she likewise expressed One's Own Thoughts.

"However, Team Rocket is a group of dirty, dark maggots who only dare to crawl darkly in the sewers; they are the parasites of this world!"

Lorelei spoke coldly, her disgust for Team Rocket in her words completely unhidden.

She truly hated Team Rocket, very, very much.

Caitlin's beautiful brows furrowed slightly; she couldn't understand why Lorelei would take such an extreme attitude toward Team Rocket.

Although Team Rocket admittedly couldn't be considered a proper organization, in Caitlin's view, their style of operation shouldn't warrant this level of hatred, should it?

She had the nagging feeling that Champion Lorelei's situation was as if Team Rocket had killed her entire family...

"And parasites have no right to keep on living!"

The chill radiating from Lorelei was shockingly heavy.

"I see. It seems there's nothing worth discussing between you and me, Champion Lorelei."

Blue light flashed in Caitlin's eyes, and a tremendous wave of psychic power poured out wildly, flooding into Metagross and Tapu Lele's bodies.

A psychic just like Sabrina? Lorelei's brow creased slightly.

"Diedie~!"

Tapu Lele's cry rang out loud and clear, and psychic energy overflowed from its body, sweeping across the surrounding area.

Ability: Psychic Surge!

"Come on, Champion Lorelei. I too am very curious just how strong you are, hailed as one of the four strongest Champions."

Restraining her psychic power, Caitlin curved her lips into an elegant, beautiful smile.

"Hmph!"

Lorelei let out a cold snort, her eyes icy.

Meanwhile, under the lead of Silver Eye and Vileplume, Gladion and Athena successfully broke through Young Lady Officer Jenny's and the officers' blockade.

But before the two could relax, a howling gust of wind came rushing in.

Before she could even react, Athena's Vileplume was sent flying bodily and slammed heavily into a building with a thunderous crash.

"Vileplume?!" Athena was stunned.

What the hell was that?

"That was... Hitmonlee's leg?"

Gladion stared into the distance with uncertainty; he had just caught a blurry glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a lightning-like leg kicking over from that direction.

"Two high-ranking Team Rocket executives. Looks like Lorelei was right—you do run."

A low male voice rang out, and a powerfully built man, bare from the waist up, walked over slowly.

His features were resolute; he had a mane of wild black-blue long hair, loose white trousers on his lower half, and black bands around both wrists and ankles.

And at this man's side was a brown Pokémon.

"Champion Bruno!"

Gladion's eyes darkened. This man's appearance was far too distinctive—it was none other than Kanto's Champion Bruno.

"It's actually Bruno..."

Athena's heart instantly turned cold as ice.

How could the two of them possibly be Bruno's match?

Lord Mammon, save us!

(End of chapter)