Chapter 156: The Gambling Fiend
"Boss, should we report this to Zeus?" Brother Hu, the minor boss, couldn't help but ask.
The current de facto master of the Celadon Game Corner was not Lambda, but Zeus. He was the final of Team Rocket's four Core Executives!
In terms of rank, Lambda, Archer, and Ariana were all at the Diamond level. Each of them had only one Pokémon that could barely reach the realm of contending with an Elite Four member. If they were to truly face an Elite Four member head-on, they would be taught a harsh lesson.
Of course, when Team Rocket made a move, they naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to battle an Elite Four member directly. Why bother with a Pokémon Battle when you could just knock out the Trainer from behind? It was much faster.
But Zeus was different. His strength was far greater than the other three. The four bars on his cuffs signified that he wouldn't be outmatched even in a head-on confrontation with the four current Kanto Elite Four members!
He had even challenged Elite Four Bruno in his early years. According to Lorelei, who had observed the battle at the time, Zeus's strength was roughly on par with 1.5 Brunos.
He was an absolutely ferocious man, deeply favored by Giovanni, who had even entrusted him with the management of the Celadon Game Corner.
"Ignore him."
But Lambda's tone held little respect for Zeus.
So what if he was strong? In front of a master strategist like himself, Zeus was nothing but a Reckless Fighter.
"Let's go. I'll go down and meet him myself."
Lambda walked slowly toward the main hall, curious to see what kind of trick Ash had up his sleeve.
In the hall, seeing two figures walking toward him, Ash smiled as he had expected.
However, the man in the lead was a surprise. He hadn't expected to run into Lambda again.
The first time, he had been physically overpowered and knocked unconscious; the second time, he was defeated by Blue. But Ash knew this flamboyant old coot's strength was not to be underestimated. Even his current self wasn't guaranteed a clear victory against him.
"Student Ash, it's been a while."
Lambda greeted him with a smile, as if seeing a long-lost friend.
"It has indeed been a long time."
Ash replied with a smile of his own, as gentle as a spring breeze.
At this moment, both were all smiles on the surface, but in reality, each was gripping a dagger behind their back, dying to give the other a stab in the kidneys at the first opportunity.
Without much small talk, Lambda asked with a smile, "I hear you have some big business. What might it be?"
"Heh, this is a casino. Naturally, I'm here to have a game with you."
Seeing the conversation turn to the main topic, Ash's eyes lit up, his youthful face holding a trace of maturity and high spirits. He thumped his chest and declared gallantly, "Let's go straight for the biggest game here. Let's have a wager!"
The bigger the commotion out here, the safer it would be inside. Brother Red must be very safe in there right now, right?
"Oh? The biggest game, you say? The biggest game here is 25 million a round, you know."
Lambda revealed a surprised expression.
25 million. Even for this casino, the largest in the Kanto Region, a game of that scale only happened about once a year. 25 million was an extremely exaggerated figure.
Who would have thought this tackily dressed Trainer was actually a rich kid?
Interesting.
He had long heard that Pallet Town was famous for producing rich, gullible suckers.
A few days ago, a Trainer named Gary had been passing through Celadon City and was duped into buying a whole cartload of Perfume. The news had already spread like wildfire among all the major stores. If Lambda hadn't been away from Celadon City those few days, he would have definitely found a way to swindle Gary out of the deed to half of Oak Laboratory that he inherited from his ancestors.
And now another sucker had arrived?
"OK, let's play for 25 million a round then!"
Ash just waved his hand nonchalantly.
To a poor person, once an amount of money reached a certain height, it was just a string of numbers—nothing remarkable.
As long as a boy protected himself when he was out and about, didn't casually hand over his ID Card, and didn't sign anything recklessly, then any path was open to him!
Hearing this, Lambda held out a hand to him.
Ash subconsciously slapped it, signaling him to hurry up and start the game.
Lambda: "?"
Where's your stake?
Trying to freeload?
Ash: "?"
He whipped out five Badges. With the guarantee of five Badges, how could Lambda fear him freeloading?
"If I really do freeload, you can go to these five Gyms for compensation," Ash said with great confidence, vowing solemnly.
At this, Lambda's interest instantly waned. So he was just a brash youth trying to freeload after all, he thought to himself.
Five Badges?
Even 50 Badges weren't worth much. Your League Tournament trophies are just gold-plated. A bunch of old paupers.
The look of contempt in Lambda's eyes annoyed Ash, who shouted, "Hey, are you looking down on poor people?"
"What do you think?"
Lambda retorted, making a move to return to his office to Slack Off. Seeing this, Ash quickly blocked his way.
Keeping Lambda tied up out here would make things more convenient for Brother Red inside. Ash quickly changed his tactic and said again, "In that case, I'll use my current stake and keep gambling until I have 25 million!"
Lambda raised an eyebrow, looking Ash up and down and mocking him without restraint, "You? Win 25 million? You're making me laugh. You don't even have 100 bucks on you right now, do you?"
"You added two extra zeros."
Ash said with righteous indignation.
Lambda: "..."
A pauper. What a jinx!
He quickly put some distance between himself and Ash, afraid of being infected by Ash's bad luck.
"Wait! You just need to lend me 10 million, and I guarantee I'll win 25 million within half an hour!" Ash shouted, full of confidence.
Hearing this, Lambda actually burst out laughing with a "pfft," thinking to himself how this hothead was talking utter nonsense today.
"Heh heh, don't say I'm bullying a kid. I have 20 bucks here, I'll lend it to you."
Lambda suddenly thought of something, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips. He then took out two crumpled 10-dollar bills from his pocket and was about to hand them to Ash.
But halfway there, his fingers loosened, letting the two bills fall to the ground.
"Oops, I couldn't hold on tight. But my back is bad, I can't bend over. You can pick it up yourself," Lambda said, watching him with a grin.
Ash: "..."
Lambda was standing right in front of the bills. If he bent down to pick up the money, he would inevitably have to Bow to Lambda, putting himself in a lower position.
"You old fox, pulling this trick on me..."
Ash cursed inwardly. For a brash youth, dignity was absolutely the most important thing. He would never bend his back, not in this lifetime.
However, this was not enough to stump him. Ash took a step forward, brought his feet together to clamp the bills between the tips of his shoes. Then, with a burst of power from his lower back and thighs, his legs left the ground, and his body flipped in mid-air.
As his thighs pointed upwards, one hand shot out like Lightning, and his body then followed the momentum to land back on the Ground.
*Tap.*
The movement was swift and clean, a perfect execution that left no ripple.
He was now holding the two bills in his palm.
The strong gust from his rotation even blew right in Lambda's face.
"Thanks."
A corner of Ash's mouth lifted. Ignoring the other's expression, he strode confidently to the counter and tossed the two bills down.
"Four 5-dollar Coins, please."
This feat stunned Lambda and the surrounding crowd, making Ash secretly delighted. He even felt the urge to put his hands on his hips and act awesome for a moment.
The smallest game here was the slot machine, and the minimum bet for a slot machine was a 5-dollar Coin.
Ash weighed the four freshly minted Coins in his hand, a plan forming in his mind. He walked directly toward a row of four connected slot machines.
That's right, the slot machines had a hidden rule: you could link four machines at once. If the patterns on all 12 columns across the four machines were identical, the prize multiplier would reach a terrifying number.
1:1,000,000!!
"Hmph, today, I, Ash of Pallet Town, will use 20 bucks to win 25 million in 10 minutes!"
Ash slammed all four coins into the slot machines at once, his expression full of high spirits, as if victory was already in his grasp.
"By the way, I forgot to tell you my nickname back in my hometown."
Ash suddenly turned his head to look at the bewildered Lambda, a smirk playing on his lips as he uttered a single term.
"The Gambling Fiend."
(end of chapter)