Underground Cave.
Athena's right hand was covered in a thick sheet of ice.
"Crack!"
She casually swung it at the nearby rock wall, easily shattering the ice in her hand.
"Wow, I didn't expect it… you can actually command Articuno." Athena clicked her tongue in amazement.
"Then maybe I shouldn't call you the Ice Queen anymore. How about 'Beastmaster' instead?"
She teased the woman in front of her, who had the same hair color as herself. If not for their differences in perspective, they might have even gotten along.
Lorelei stared at her coldly.
"Ah, don't be so serious." Athena laughed, wiping a mix of sweat or something else off her forehead.
The scene before them was strange.
In the underground cave of Seafoam Island, originally a pristine white snowfield, a clear boundary had formed between the two sides.
One side remained snowy white, while the other had returned to normal rocky cave terrain, rising with steam.
"Venusaur, Sunny Day; Magcargo, Heat Wave."
As they exchanged greetings, Athena also commanded her Pokémon to attack.
It was clear—the temperature in her area had risen.
"Articuno, Hail; Lapras, Water Pulse."
Lorelei countered skillfully.
The weather-changing ball of Hail collided with the Sunny Day light sphere. There was no doubt—the Hail completely overpowered Sunny Day, which didn't even last two seconds.
However, as the Hail crossed the boundary between ice and rock, it soon dissipated.
The same happened with Water Pulse and Heat Wave.
Even though both were ace Pokémon, there was still a noticeable difference in strength between Lorelei's Lapras and Athena's Magcargo, especially considering Water's advantage over Fire.
The massive water wall from Water Pulse directly scattered the fiery Heat Wave. Crossing the boundary, the water turned into mist without causing any damage.
Lorelei frowned and glanced at a strange device at the back of Team Rocket's formation.
It was that thing which had transformed the environment, preventing her, despite her overwhelming strength, from gaining the advantage over this group of people.
"Weavile!"
A Weavile burst from the ground, attempting to destroy the device.
But Team Rocket and their Pokémon were exceptionally vigilant. The moment Weavile appeared, seven or eight attacks shot at it without mercy.
Weavile, not a Pokémon known for defense, immediately fainted, taking even more damage.
On its dark gray body, a blood-red sheen shimmered across its fur.
"Screech~"
Articuno cried out in anger.
Having lived on Seafoam Island for so many years, Articuno not only saw these Pokémon as its charges but also considered them its subjects.
Lorelei patted Articuno's wing to calm it down.
"So, this is what you used to injure Articuno earlier?" It was the first time Lorelei had spoken during the battle, her tone sharp.
Though phrased as a question, she was certain.
"Yes, yes, transporting this thing took a lot of effort," Athena replied, still smiling, her grin exaggerated.
"Saint Anne? Saint Fleur? Waterflow? Jecorolla? Sea Blaze? Wavebreaker?"
Lorelei muttered a series of famous ship names under her breath.
"Ah, ah, ah, cut it out. We've faced off several times already; don't use the same move twice."
Athena remained unfazed, maintaining her smile in response to Lorelei's probing.
"Waterflow first, then Sea Blaze…"
Lorelei murmured to herself, speaking without addressing Athena.
Athena narrowed her eyes, displeased. She hated the League's haughty, calculating attitude.
What annoyed her most was that she had thought she had hidden her emotions perfectly—but Lorelei had guessed them.
Lorelei, wearing her glasses, could clearly see the device covered with various materials.
Fire Stones, Magma Rocks, Fire Gems—all items that enhance Fire-type energy and Fire-type Pokémon.
Even considering just their market value, these numerous items would cost nearly ten figures in League Credits.
However, these were clearly only auxiliary effects. At least, Lorelei had never heard of combining these items to suppress a Legendary Pokémon.
Her gaze shifted again to the center of the device, where a red, square rock was firmly fixed.
"Heatran?"
The first name that came to mind was Heatran—the Fire-type Legendary Pokémon from Sinnoh.
But something felt off. Lorelei, while commanding Articuno and her other Pokémon to fend off another round of Team Rocket's attacks, puzzled over it.
Heatran could never be this strong. It was a life form born from fragments resulting from the clash of Dialga, the Temporal God, and Palkia, the Spatial God.
Even stronger than Articuno, its strength was still limited.
It couldn't possibly be this powerful.
Lorelei watched as Articuno's flapping wings turned snow into mist again, her head throbbing.
"How much longer?"
Athena turned to the Team Rocket personnel behind her and asked, without any concern whether Lorelei could hear her.
"Almost ready… about five minutes," replied the person operating the device.
Lorelei clenched her teeth. She knew Athena was applying psychological pressure.
Articuno raised its deep blue tail feathers, as long as its body, and unleashed a fierce blizzard without holding back.
Still, it had no effect, which only made it angrier.
"Screech~"
It complained to Lorelei.
If it hadn't been attacked and injured earlier by these fools using this device, it wouldn't even be struggling to suppress it.
That device on the other side was powerful, yes, but it was still an inanimate object.
And they hadn't even fully activated the red square stone in its center.
"Do you know what that is?"
Lorelei's expression twitched slightly as she looked at Articuno.
Articuno tilted its head. Did it know? No. It only sensed that the power wasn't fully unleashed.
Lorelei sighed silently.
She had known this Articuno for a long time; it had always lived in this icy cavern.
Though it had lived for a long time, most of that time was spent resting and developing, and having little contact with the outside world, its personality was somewhat immature.
She realized the situation was tricky and passive.
She had underestimated Articuno's injuries.
If she had known, she would have requested a portion of Sacred Ash from the League.
The residual embers left behind by Ho-Oh were extremely effective for healing Pokémon. Even the most advanced medicinal potions developed by the Johto-based Joy family could not match the effect of Sacred Ash.
Even after taking three or four potions in succession, some of Articuno's injuries remained untreated.
It could fight, but not at its full strength.
Yes, League stocks of Sacred Ash were scarce, but trading even a little for the loyalty of an Articuno seemed a fair deal.
It represented not just high combat power, but a continuous source of potential.
"Buzz~"
A soil-yellow energy wave suddenly intervened between the two sides.
Both Lorelei and Team Rocket paused slightly.
"Useless trash," Athena muttered, her calm composure suddenly turning into sharp anger.
Lorelei didn't know exactly what happened, but Athena's dissatisfaction was clearly a good sign.
"Combined Blizzard."
Lorelei decisively commanded all her Ice-type Pokémon to unleash this area-of-effect move.
The enormous snowflakes formed and were wrapped by tornado-like winds, rushing toward the rocky area.
The melting speed visibly slowed.
"Retreat."
Without hesitation, Athena released her Honchkrow, grabbed the red square stone from the center of the device, tucked it into her clothing, and flew off.
This was why Team Rocket's senior officers had never been captured by the League.
With a pre-arranged plan, if their objectives were not met, having a secure escape route was always the first priority.
Once plans failed, fleeing immediately was the only choice. Otherwise, the gap in strength would have already doomed them.
As for the lower-ranking members who couldn't escape, Athena believed that with Team Rocket's resources, they could easily be trained again.
"Trash is trash… so many people, and they can't even hold back a Heatran."
Athena grasped the talons of her Honchkrow and quickly flew outward.
As the highest-ranking officer of this mission, she knew exactly what the yellow energy wave meant.
"Send a pickup at Extraction Point Five."
She freed one hand and pulled a strange-looking communicator from her waist.
"Yes."
A raspy voice responded, the signal weak.
Her figure soon disappeared into the maze-like cave.
Frontline of the cave battlefield.
The rocks gradually became covered in ice.
"Control it… don't kill them."
Lorelei instructed Articuno and the underground Pokémon species living in the cave. She led her Pokémon in pursuit.
She would not let Athena escape so easily.
Even if she couldn't catch her, she would at least make her struggle.
The Team Rocket members left behind looked at the red-eyed Articuno and the nearly hundred Pokémon and swallowed nervously.
"Screech!"
With a commanding cry, Articuno's presence rendered the twenty or so Team Rocket members and their Pokémon invisible from outside observation.
It did not attack.
It was a noble Legendary Pokémon; it wouldn't discipline outsiders on its own.
Stepping over the bodies of all Team Rocket members, Articuno walked deliberately to the device.
By now, the device no longer emitted the light from earlier, only the occasional heat from its expensive materials.
Bending slightly forward,
it emitted an energy wave both unpleasant and strangely amicable.
Articuno didn't understand why this was happening.
The soil-yellow energy ripples spread from under its feet.
It disdainfully stomped once, as if saying, "What are you pretending for? You think I can't tell just because it looks similar?"
"Screech—"
It flapped its wings again. The energy and temperature in the cave made the Ice-type Pokémon more comfortable.
Articuno flapped vigorously, but this time, nothing in the cave changed—it seemed futile.
Subtly, the soil-yellow energy waves on the ground were suppressed by the blue-white energy waves.
....
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Douluo Dalu: Reincarnated as Yan(40 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler(30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu