Chapter 52: What a Despicable Outsider!
Watching Mammon's retreating figure, Lillie's eyes went hazy.
Mr. Mammon…
Her right hand drifted to her chest without thinking, feeling the increasingly rapid thump-thump-thump of her own heart.
She could feel it. She really, truly could — the pounding of her heartbeat.
It was a sensation unlike anything she'd experienced before. Lillie didn't know how to describe it — different from the warmth of family love or friendship.
But she knew this much: when Mr. Mammon was nearby, she felt an inexplicable mix of comfort and bashfulness.
But Mr. Mammon couldn't stay by her side forever.
Wait — did I forget to ask for his contact information?!
The realization hit like a thunderbolt. Lillie's eyes went wide. She clutched her bag and bolted in the direction Mammon had gone.
Idiot idiot IDIOT!
She wanted to smack herself. How could she forget something this important?!
Last time she'd forgotten to ask his name. This time she'd forgotten to get his number. Unbelievable! Lillie, you absolute fool!
She ran for a stretch before stopping, panting lightly — but as far as she could see down the road, there was no sign of the boy.
Lillie drooped with disappointment. She'd missed him again…
"Lillie~!"
A bright, cheerful voice called out behind her.
Lillie turned. There was Mitsuki — straw hat, floral crop top, beaming like sunshine.
"Mitsuki." Lillie managed a gentle smile.
If she had to name the best thing about this "adventure," it would be making a dear friend in Mitsuki… and meeting Mr. Mammon.
The straw-hat girl bounced over, her grin radiant as a flower in bloom.
"Mitsuki, did you pass the Trial?"
"Heh heh~ A measly Totem Lurantis? Piece of cake! My Incineroar had it handled. Totally invincible!"
Mitsuki tilted her chin up with practiced bravado — she had the art of showing off down to a science.
"That's amazing, Mitsuki! So next is Island Queen Olivia's Grand Trial. Are you ready?"
"Absolutely! Oh, hold on — let me message that dork real quick."
Mitsuki giggled, pulling out her phone to excitedly send someone a message about clearing another Captain's Trial.
It had become a habit. Being apart from her boyfriend wasn't fun, but sharing each little victory with him was its own kind of joy.
Lillie peeked over curiously and noticed that Mitsuki's contact name for her boyfriend was a heart emoji. Hmm…
Come to think of it, Lillie recalled Mitsuki mentioning that her boyfriend was an incredibly strong trainer — one who could communicate with Pokémon and had a natural ability that drew them to him.
Mitsuki was originally from Kanto, so her boyfriend was probably from Kanto too, right?
And suddenly Lillie noticed — every single one of those details matched Mr. Mammon perfectly.
A spike of panic. That has to be a coincidence, right? Kanto was a big region. When you got down to it, there were only two points of similarity.
Lillie reassured herself. She instinctively didn't want it to be true.
"Okay, done! Let's go, Lillie — I'm taking you for ice cream!"
Mitsuki fired off the message at lightning speed, then grabbed Lillie's arm, ready to find a snack.
"Sure." Lillie looked at Mitsuki's pretty profile and hesitated for a moment.
"Mitsuki."
"What's up?"
"Your boyfriend — what color is his hair?"
"Why the random question?" Mitsuki tilted her head, confused, but she didn't think much of it.
"Heh heh~ It's black! Same as mine." Mitsuki twirled one of her braids, grinning.
"..."
Lillie's heart lurched. Mr. Mammon has black hair too…
"Huh? Lillie, are you okay? You look kind of pale. Are you feeling sick?"
"N-no… I'm fine. I probably just didn't sleep well last night."
Lillie dropped her gaze and mumbled a reply. It can't be. How could it be that much of a coincidence?
All those similarities — they had to be just coincidences.
The girl couldn't bring herself to meet the concerned eyes of the friend standing right in front of her. Her grip on her bag tightened involuntarily, knuckles whitening.
She didn't even have the courage to ask Mitsuki her boyfriend's name. One question — that was all it would take.
But she couldn't do it.
She'd been planning to tell Mitsuki about the boy she'd run into for the third time today. But now her emotions were in far too much turmoil.
I'm sorry, Mitsuki…
Meanwhile, Mammon had arrived at the Ruins of Life.
"Congratulations, Caitlin. You actually pulled it off."
He took in the sight of Tapu Lele floating beside Caitlin, wearing an expression of existential crisis, and let out an impressed whistle.
Honestly, when Caitlin had reported locating Tapu Lele and declared her intention to challenge it, Mammon had been skeptical.
Her progress over this period had been extraordinary, yes — but actually defeating and capturing Tapu Lele? He hadn't thought she was there yet.
And yet here they were. Caitlin had beaten Tapu Lele, and Mammon had no idea how she'd managed it.
By any reasonable assessment, her odds couldn't have been higher than ten percent.
After all, Tapu Lele was a genuine Champion-tier Pokémon — wild or not.
"Thank you. I actually borrowed a tactic from you, and Tapu Lele wasn't fighting seriously at first."
Caitlin wore a luminous, gentle smile as she regarded Tapu Lele with warm eyes.
"..."
Tapu Lele's eyelid twitched violently. Internally, it was drowning in regret. It wanted to cry but had no tears left.
Yes — even with Caitlin's psychic amplification, Metagross still wouldn't have beaten Tapu Lele in a straight fight at that point.
What had truly shocked Tapu Lele was discovering that Caitlin could channel her psychic power directly into her Pokémon.
Driven by curiosity and a desire not to crush this human girl's spirit too badly, Tapu Lele had applied zero pressure at the start — just casually toying around.
And that was where everything went wrong.
Caitlin had Metagross set up Light Screen, then proceeded to stack Calm Mind and Hone Claws like her life depended on it. She'd learned this approach from Mammon: Can't win on raw power? That's fine — just buff up!
Calm Mind boosted Special Attack and Special Defense. Hone Claws boosted Attack.
What a despicable outsider!!
By the time Tapu Lele realized something was very wrong — cursing this underhanded human — its Shadow Ball was bouncing off a Light-Screen-fortified, double-Calm-Mind Metagross for chip damage.
And after that, there was no "after that."
A fully stacked Metagross chased Tapu Lele around the ruins, beating it senseless while Tapu Lele's attacks barely tickled.
Tapu Lele was absolutely numb.