Chapter 142: Meeting Archer Again
Celadon City, aboard a bus parked outside the Celadon Game Corner.
"Everyone—have you all remembered what I just told you?" Erika stood at the front of the bus.
The trainers didn’t respond verbally, but they all nodded.
"You—repeat it back," Erika said, pointing at someone in the middle of the bus.
"One: do not harm civilians inside the Game Corner. Most of them are tourists—any incident would damage Celadon’s reputation.
Two: don’t all go in at once—enter in groups to avoid suspicion. Wait until everyone is in position before acting, and first evacuate the civilians.
Three: Team Rocket’s base is beneath the Game Corner. There are two known entrances: a guarded elevator and a hidden passage. The elevator requires a special key to operate, so one team needs to guard the elevator entrance while the other searches for the secret passage."
The man finished reciting perfectly. The other trainers on the bus all looked at him. Even Rio glanced over with mild surprise—this guy was clearly one of Erika’s Gym staff. That level of fluency couldn’t come from hearing it once; he’d practically memorized it.
"Excellent—now we should all have a clear picture," Erika said with a smile. "We move in ten minutes. Follow me and Mr. Rio in small groups."
Ten minutes later, Rio led four others into the Game Corner, laughing and chatting as they entered. He spent 2,000 League coins on a hundred game tokens and handed them out. They played while scanning the room.
The Game Corner was huge, easily capable of holding over a thousand people. Rio played for about an hour before Erika walked past him, signaling that it was time to move.
Rio stood up and followed her. By now, the number of patrons had significantly decreased—Erika had sent people to persuade them to leave.
Soon, the group advanced toward the back of the Game Corner.
"Hey—this is the employee area. You’re not allowed in here!" a server blocked their path.
Erika said nothing, just glanced at her Tangrowth. The next second, the server was sent flying, revealing the Team Rocket uniform underneath. The other servers’ expressions shifted in alarm—they released their Pokémon.
Rio and the others did the same. Moments later, alarms blared, and more Rocket members poured out from deeper inside the Game Corner.
"Protect the civilians—don’t let them get hurt!" Erika ordered a group of trainers, then charged at the Rockets with Tangrowth.
Before long, the Game Corner was secured. Erika instructed Rio to guard the elevator entrance with his team while she took another group through the secret passage they’d extracted from a captured Rocket. She told Rio to wait for her to fight her way in and retrieve the elevator key.
"Don’t worry—not a single person will escape through this elevator while I’m here," Rio said, standing guard with his team.
Eusine had followed Erika, but as he passed Rio, he smirked to himself: Don’t worry—with me around, you won’t get a chance to shine tonight. Even if we find the key, I won’t hand it over to you.
Half an hour later.
"Taking a while..." Rio muttered, glancing at the secret passage entrance, holding Eevee in his arms. Sitting around doing nothing was making him drowsy.
"Damn it—who knows how long this is going to take. I can’t just sit here forever. A living person doesn’t die from holding in a piss."
Rio pulled out a Poké Ball. With a flash of light, Annihilape appeared.
"Annih~" Annihilape emerged, scanning its surroundings with a fierce glare. Its blood-red eyes sent chills down the spines of the nearby trainers.
"They’re not enemies," Rio quickly assured, then pointed at the elevator. "Annihilape—without losing your temper, can you punch this elevator door open for me?"
"Annih~" Annihilape thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Great—smash it." Rio nodded with satisfaction.
"Uh... Rio, if you smash the elevator, how are we supposed to get down?" someone asked nervously.
"You guys don’t need to go down—I’ll go alone," Rio said with a grin.
BOOM! A deafening crash rang out—Annihilape had punched through the elevator door like paper, sending it crashing into the shaft below. The trainers around him stared in horror at Annihilape.
Rio pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and peered down—the elevator car was stopped at the fourth basement level. He told Annihilape to jump down, then instructed Greninja to princess-carry him down as well.
"You all hold the line up here," he called back to the stunned trainers before descending.
Meanwhile, in the fourth basement level of the Game Corner, Archer—one of Team Rocket’s Four Generals—was overseeing the Celadon Rocket base. He watched the security monitors with a cold smirk as Erika’s group was trapped on the first basement level by various obstacles.
"My dear Gym Leader Erika—from the day we set up our base in Celadon, we knew this day would come. That’s why we filled every floor with traps. A small force like yours will never dismantle Team Rocket."
"Just wait until you’re exhausted—that’s when I’ll make my move. Tonight’s victory will be my first major achievement since getting out of prison."
Thinking of his release, Archer’s mind drifted to a certain man—the one who had sent him to prison and swindled him out of millions.
That bastard—just you wait. One day I’ll get my revenge. I’ll make you kneel and beg for mercy.
Just then, a loud crash came from behind him. Archer spun around—
The elevator door had been smashed open. An Annihilape stepped out, followed by a figure and a Greninja. The figure was holding an Eevee in his arms.
The two locked eyes—both equally stunned.