The Celadon City police were fully mobilized. Reinforcements from neighboring cities had arrived, and the Southern District was completely sealed off. Growlithe and Arcanine stood on alert at the lines. At this point, it wasn't an exaggeration to say nothing was getting out.
"Have you still not found Erika?" Lorelei asked.
Lorelei was still in a black business suit and pencil skirt. The fit made her figure stand out, but nobody was looking at that for long. Her tone and expression shut down any stray thoughts before they could form.
Officer Jenny, who was running the operation on-site, reported quickly. "My apologies. According to the gym staff, Erika left the gym around noon and hasn't returned. We still can't reach her."
Lorelei snorted. "Irresponsible."
Jenny felt a bitter sting at that. She had always thought well of Erika. Young or not, Erika took her job seriously. Aside from oversleeping now and then, she didn't have many flaws. Today was different. This didn't match her habits at all. Had something happened to her?
Lorelei didn't wait for speculation to settle.
"Then we don't wait," she said. "The evacuation is complete, right?"
"Yes. It's basically finished."
"Then we begin." Lorelei pushed her glasses up with one finger. Her eyes behind the lenses were flat and cold.
"Yes, ma'am." Jenny stepped away and started issuing orders through her communicator.
Lorelei's voice didn't soften. "Trash like this should be erased."
A Lapras appeared in front of her.
She had seen it with her own eyes once—data pulled from a Team Rocket facility. Page after page. Genetic experiments on Pokémon. Clean white paper, filthy content.
Over the past year, the bases she cleared no longer carried that kind of material. Team Rocket had seemed to drop the genetic research angle.
Lorelei didn't care.
Did that undo what they'd already done?
No.
To her, it didn't matter what they stopped doing. The past didn't vanish because they changed tactics. She believed the debt still stood.
A Team Rocket member for a day was Team Rocket for life.
And she intended to be the one who collected.
"Earthquake."
Lorelei said it like she was reading a label.
Lapras lifted the front half of its body and slammed down.
Rumble!
The ground shook violently. The tremor rolled outward, wave after wave, and the surrounding buildings started to fail under the vibration. Walls cracked. Support beams gave. Concrete and glass collapsed in heavy chunks.
The noise was brutal.
Lorelei's face didn't change. She simply watched as the area turned into rubble.
"This is…"
"Even if it's to wipe out Team Rocket, this is a bit…"
"Shh. Lower your voice. Do you want to die?"
"Can those Team Rocket people even survive an Earthquake like that?"
Even the Officer Jennys standing at a distance froze when the aftershocks hit them. They'd heard the stories. They knew Lorelei hated Team Rocket and made it her mission to hunt them.
But opening with Earthquake was something else.
Most Team Rocket members were underground. And Earthquake hit underground targets especially hard.
The Jennys fell silent, stunned.
Inside the underground base, the tremors tore through more than half the facility. Dust and debris rained from the ceiling.
"Earthquake?!" Ariana braced herself against a wall to keep from dropping. Her voice shook with anger. "That's Lorelei. That sick woman!"
"Lorelei?" Gladion stared, tense. "Is she trying to bury us alive?"
His shock was real. The Kanto Elite Four were League members. They were supposed to be protectors. How could one of them move like this?
"That woman has never cared if we live or die," Ariana said. "We can't keep hiding down here."
Rumble!
A stronger tremor hit. Sections of the base groaned, then buckled. Parts of the structure started to cave.
It was obvious Lapras had used Earthquake again.
"Caitlin—can you still use Teleport?" Gladion asked.
"No," Caitlin said. She released her Alakazam and tested the space around them.
Alakazam shook its head.
Teleport was blocked.
Across the Southern District, the League had set up signal jammers and psychic interference devices. The point was clear: stop Team Rocket from contacting anyone outside, and stop them from warping away.
Gladion's voice dropped. "Then we move. We go up and break through. That's our only option."
Ariana turned her head. "What about Damian?"
"We don't need to worry about him," Caitlin said, brushing dust off her shoulders. She wore fitted black pants and a matching jacket—clothes made for movement. "He planned for this."
The base was close to failing. The strain from repeated Earthquakes was too much. If Lorelei used it two more times, they really would get buried.
Ariana made the call. She lifted her communicator. "Everyone. Break out."
She didn't hesitate.
Above ground.
"So you finally decided to come up."
Lorelei stood still as several spots across the ruins erupted. Team Rocket members spilled out in single file through broken entrances and emergency exits.
Lorelei didn't care about the grunts. They were disposable.
This was a large base. That meant executives. Those were the targets.
To Lorelei, normal grunts were bad. Executives were unforgivable.
Her gaze cut through the crowd and locked onto three figures.
Most members wore standard black uniforms. Executives didn't follow strict dress rules. Ariana stood out in white. Caitlin wore fitted clothes for combat. Gladion wore the black, punk-styled outfit he always favored.
They stood out immediately.
"Ariana," Lorelei said.
Her mouth curved into a smile that carried no warmth.
Even from this distance, Ariana felt cold crawl up from her feet. She turned and saw Lorelei watching her like she'd been waiting for this exact moment.
Ariana's heartbeat stumbled.
No. She's coming straight for me.
On the other side of the battlefield—
Damian had chosen a flatter stretch of ground among the ruins. A chair had been set there, like this was a show and he'd paid for a front-row seat. He sat back and watched the chaos: Team Rocket members clashing with League personnel, commands flying, Pokémon moving in tight bursts.
He looked entertained.
"Pretty dramatic, don't you think?" Damian said, glancing toward Erika.
Erika wore a floral kimono and light makeup. She looked elegant, composed—completely out of place in a war zone.
She bit her lip. Her face had gone a little blank. What she was seeing looked like something out of a history book, except it was happening a few meters away.
Damian's voice stayed even. "In any world, people make it complicated. That complexity turns into conflict. You don't get to avoid it."
He stood up slowly and turned his head to the side. A grin spread across his face.
"Right, my friend?"
Erika followed his gaze.
A young man in a baseball cap—with crimson eyes—was walking toward them.