Chapter 105: Steven! Steven, Get Over Here and Save Me!!
You are the challenger.
Wallace's declaration rang across the pass with total conviction.
In this moment, he had the full presence of a Champion — the undisputed pinnacle of his region, the strongest trainer on Hoenn's soil, the figure all eyes looked up to.
Well. Steven was technically also around somewhere, but Steven had gone off to dig holes in an undisclosed cave, so that was hardly relevant.
Behind Wallace, his Officer Jenny escort broke into quiet, approving smiles.
Their Champion was dramatic, yes. But he was still their Champion.
Gladion's expression remained entirely blank. Courtney and the assembled ex-Magma members exchanged uncertain looks.
"I didn't know Champion Wallace had such a commanding side." Mammon raised an eyebrow and gave him a genuine round of applause. "Very impressive."
"Then please — Champion, show me what you've got. Allow a junior trainer to witness your style firsthand."
He gestured, open-handed.
"You're seriously letting me go first? Knowing I'm the Champion?"
Wallace's lips curved with elegant amusement.
The audacity of this child.
"Since you insist — witness my pride, my most exquisite art form. The Aquatic Dance!"
The white cape swept behind him as he issued his commands with a flourish.
"Politoed — First Impression!"
"Milotic — the most beautiful Hydro Pump you have!"
Politoed launched itself with deceptive speed — its round, ungainly body belying reflexes that could only belong to a well-trained Pokémon. It closed the distance to Suicune in an instant.
Normal-type. First Impression.
Low power, strict conditions — usable only on the first turn out of the Ball. But First Impression was a priority move, and its priority was high.
Smack.
Politoed's palm connected directly with Suicune's face.
Suicune's cool composure cracked for a fraction of a second. Something that was unmistakably offense entered its eyes as it stared at the round green toad that had just slapped it.
You absolute— I am Suicune. You just slapped me in the face.
Suicune glared with pure, personal indignation. First Impression's flinch effect had left its body briefly stiff — but the moment that cleared, this toad was going to understand what it had done.
Meanwhile, Milotic's Hydro Pump was already bearing down on Pheromosa.
"Focus Blast."
Mammon said it without raising his voice.
Shiny Pheromosa swung one long elegant leg. A blue sphere of condensed fighting energy formed and launched itself straight at the incoming water column.
Fighting-type. Focus Blast.
The two attacks met in midair with a crack of pressure — and then, to Wallace's evident surprise, Focus Blast pushed forward. The Hydro Pump buckled and compressed as the sphere drove through it, continuing toward Milotic.
"Milotic!"
Wallace's composed expression shifted. His eyes sharpened on the Shiny Pheromosa.
An Ultra Beast — Bug/Fighting type, among the newest additions to the Pokédex. He'd read the available data. High speed, high attack. But raw stats weren't the same as battle capability.
Milotic was his ace. Milotic did not lose head-to-head exchanges.
Something is wrong here. Specifically, about nine-tenths of things were wrong.
Milotic caught his call and broke off the Hydro Pump, pivoting to evade. The Focus Blast missed by centimeters.
Mammon glanced at it.
"Bug Bite."
Shiny Pheromosa tossed its long hair with a single fluid motion, and then it was moving — a dark streak arrowing toward Milotic at a speed that made the air shiver.
Bug-type. Bug Bite.
"Milotic — Surf!"
Milotic threw its head back, the azure glow of gathered water building around it, the surge of a wave already forming—
Pheromosa was already there.
It slammed into Milotic before the Surf could complete, the impact clean and brutal. Milotic cried out — and sailed backward through the air.
"Fast!" Wallace's voice had lost some of its composure.
"Triple Kick."
Pheromosa landed and launched again in the same motion. Milotic had barely hit the ground.
"Water Pulse — stop it!"
Wallace understood instinctively: let this set the pace and he was finished.
Milotic raised its head through the pain, a sphere of water condensing before it. Water Pulse shot out, spreading into a small wave aimed directly at Pheromosa—
Pheromosa flickered.
And vanished.
When it reappeared, it was at Milotic's side.
"How is it that fast—" Wallace's pupils contracted.
"Meloo~"
Pheromosa's low sound carried something like contemptuous satisfaction. And then Milotic registered the impact from its flank.
Fighting-type. Triple Kick — first hit.
The kick launched Milotic upward. Pheromosa's legs bent and it sprang after it.
"Milotic — Protect!"
Milotic forced its eyes open, reaching for the move—
Pheromosa's shadow appeared at its side again.
Triple Kick, second hit.
Crack.
The heel connected with the side of Milotic's head with all the force of a perfectly timed whip motion. Milotic screamed in pain.
And Pheromosa wasn't done. The body rotated mid-air, borrowing the momentum, and the third kick drove into Milotic's abdomen with a concussive impact that sent it driving into the ground like a thrown stone.
Third hit.
Pheromosa dropped from above, knee raised, and landed.
Fighting-type. Jump Kick.
BOOM.
The ground shook. Dust billowed outward.
Shiny Pheromosa stepped back out of the cloud, touched down with perfect elegance, set one hand on its hip, and ran the other hand through its long hair — the gesture of something that had won before the fight started and knew it.
The entire pass went quiet.
Even Suicune, in the middle of methodically processing Politoed with Extreme Speed, paused to observe.
The dust settled.
In the crater, Milotic lay soft and unmoving at the bottom, spiral eyes turning.
Milotic had fainted.
"..."
Wallace's expression was something that no longer resembled composure.
Behind him, his Officer Jenny escort stared with open shock.
Milotic was the Champion's ace. The Champion's ace. It had been defeated in a matter of seconds, without landing a single hit.
This was not a battle. This was a lesson.
Courtney, for her part, had a very specific expression — her default blank was still present, but there was an underlying flush to her complexion, and her eyes tracking Mammon had taken on an intensity that was not entirely professional.
Lord Mammon is—
He beat the Champion's best Pokémon like it was a warm-up.
"My, my." Mammon tilted his head and regarded Wallace with mild, unhurried interest. "It seems the Champion's strength is... roughly as expected. Unless — was that perhaps not your real ace, Champion?"
Cold sweat slid down Wallace's neck.
How.
How are you this strong.
Wallace was genuinely staggered in a way he hadn't been in years. Honestly — Steven's own ace, Metagross, couldn't have done to his Milotic what that Pheromosa just did. Their battle styles were completely different, obviously — Metagross was a physical juggernaut, Pheromosa was speed-and-attack glass cannon — but the completeness of the shutdown was something else.
Someone with strength like this should be challenging the Kanto League, becoming an Elite Four member, becoming a Champion somewhere. Why were they with Team Rocket??
Gulp.
Wallace swallowed once.
"Don't look so pleased with yourself. The battle isn't over yet." His expression resolved back into composure through sheer force of will. "The outcome is still uncertain."
Outcome is still uncertain, Wallace repeated internally.
...My probability of winning is approximately zero.
Under the cover of his cape, Wallace's free hand found his phone. His eyes stayed fixed on Mammon, but his fingers moved with the practiced certainty of someone who had done something a thousand times in exactly this situation.
Special contact. One entry.
Steven.
EMERGENCY. GET HERE. NOW.
He sent it three times for emphasis, then held the phone with the casual conviction of a man who trusted that his best friend would understand what those capitals meant.
Steven was the only person who could help him now.
"The battle is already over, Champion Wallace."
Mammon laughed lightly.
Defeating Milotic had been sufficient. Wallace's strength was within the expected range — nothing that required further escalation.
"Wh—" Wallace blinked.
"Mewtwo."
Armored Mewtwo's eyes blazed violet. Psychic energy unfurled outward, quiet and absolute.
Wallace felt it before he understood it — an invisible, featureless weight that settled over him and removed the option of movement entirely.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
One after another, in steady succession. Wallace turned instinctively.
His Officer Jenny escort — every one of them — had collapsed simultaneously.
"What did you do to them?!" The composure was gone. Wallace's voice came out cold and sharp in a way it rarely did. "What did you do—"
This was his limit. Wallace was patient. Wallace was graceful. Wallace had a great deal of tolerance for a great many things.
But not this.
"Relax, Champion — I don't hurt people as a rule." Mammon sounded almost soothing. "Mewtwo just put them to sleep. They'll wake up with nothing worse than a stiff back."
Wallace exhaled slowly.
His expression returned to something human. But in the same breath, the situation became clear.
He had been, apparently, without much drama, captured.
He glanced at Politoed, who was staring at him with wide, innocent eyes, equally immobilized by Mewtwo's psychic field.
Suicune stood in front of Politoed.
And was slapping it.
Not using any moves. Not targeting any weak points. Just — open-pawed, methodical slaps, one after another, with the focused investment of someone settling a personal score.
Politoed, who had landed First Impression directly on Suicune's face at the start of this whole situation, was receiving each one in stoic silence.
"Mammon." Wallace assessed his options, found them limited, and adopted the tone of someone making a pragmatic adjustment. "I believe we could have a conversation."
"I think so too."
Mammon agreed warmly, and the villain's smile spread across his face in its fullest expression.
"You wouldn't want anything to happen to Officer Jenny and her colleagues, would you, Champion Wallace?"
"...???"
Wallace stared at him.
☆☆☆
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