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[RNZO] Ch 285: The Discovery of Ariana, Vicious, and Hunter J.
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 15:34:46 +0000 UTC— — — — — —
"Hey, what have Cynthia and Sabrina been up to lately? Still hanging around Sinnoh?"
"Yep, they're both still there."
"Then maybe I'll drop by for a visit. Would you mind?"
"Uh…this..."
"I-I'd be happy to have you! Lorelei, you're welcome anytime!"
Faced with Lorelei's expectant, puppy-dog eyes, how could Eevee say no?
He definitely wasn't going to admit it was her face and figure that swayed him. Definitely not.
"Great! It's a promise then!"
Before he could react, Lorelei suddenly leaned in and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
Eevee blinked in surprise.
Dang… this lady's really bold.
Strangely enough, he didn't dislike it. In fact, he felt a little giddy.
"Oh right—it's been a while since I last saw your Articuno. Mind showing it to me?"
Yep. Among Eevee's squad, there was a very special Articuno.
Lorelei batted her lashes, clearly hoping to get a peek.
This Articuno wasn't just any ordinary one. It was the baby of the Articuno Eevee had once saved—one that treated him like a father and relied on him deeply.
By now, that little bird had already grown into a solid mid-tier Tier-3 Legendary Pokemon. Not bad progress at all.
Of course, a lot of that had to do with Eevee's constant guidance and training.
"Sure, I don't mind—just not here. Let's wait till we're out of this place."
Eevee didn't say no. He knew how much Lorelei adored Ice-types, especially the legendary ones.
"Perfect! I'm not in a rush," she said, grinning brightly.
A few minutes later, Lance received a message from one of the League's investigators.
"Champion Lance! We found Giovanni and Team Rocket's top executive, Archer!"
Lance immediately rushed over.
Staring at the unconscious figures of Giovanni and Archer on the ground, Lance's eye twitched.
"Well, damn. It really is Giovanni and Archer."
"Guess there's no denying now—Giovanni was the Rocket boss all along. There's no way he's washing his hands of this."
He sneered, "Let's see how they will try to spin this one. Take them in—both of them!"
Lance gave a wave and even personally checked their Pokéballs. Confirming they were locked tight, he finally relaxed a little.
"This time, we really owe you. Once I submit the mission report to HQ, I'm sure they'll officially recognize your contributions."
Lance turned to Eevee, his voice sincere.
He'd been chasing Rocket for years, scoring a few minor wins along the way—but nothing compared to this.
With Giovanni, the mastermind, now in custody, Rocket's reign was all but finished.
Sure, they wouldn't disappear overnight, but from now on? They'd be forced to lay low. And hunting down the remnants would get way easier.
"No need for thanks," Eevee waved him off casually. "Just make sure they don't escape. I've got my hands full already. I don't need a 'mysterious villain group' popping up later."
Of course, that was unlikely.
Eevee wasn't reckless. He'd already implanted mental triggers into both Giovanni and Archer.
He wasn't planning to kill them—but they'd never dare go against him again.
It was a psychological leash—made by none other than Aizen himself.
That guy really was the godfather of soul and mind manipulation.
"You have my word," Lance said firmly. "They won't be going anywhere."
"I hope so," Eevee replied with a shrug.
To be honest, he didn't really trust that promise.
The League had been around for ages, and rot had long since set in. Too many influential families had shady ties with Rocket.
Could the League really keep Giovanni locked up?
Eevee doubted it.
Still, maybe that wasn't a bad thing either.
Giovanni might no longer be a threat—but if he got out, Eevee could probably make use of him. A tool's still a tool, even if it used to be dangerous.
"Ugh…" Lance frowned, sensing Eevee's clear lack of faith. "Come on, man. Can't you trust me a little? I'm really trying here, you know. You're making me look bad!"
Eevee shrugged again. "Not your fault. The League's been rotten inside for ages. A bunch of those families are tied to Rocket one way or another."
"I'm just saying—don't throw yourself in too deep. You're one of the good ones. I'd hate to see you go down with the ship."
They were friends, after all. Eevee didn't want to see Lance end up as collateral damage.
"I—" Lance opened his mouth, but just then an investigator ran up.
"Champion Lance! You need to see this immediately!"
"What's going on?" x2
Both Lance and Lorelei's expressions turned serious.
The look on the agent's face? Definitely not good.
"Just follow me. It'll make more sense when you see it."
Without another word, the agent turned and started leading the way. Lance and Lorelei exchanged a quick look, then turned to glance at Eevee.
"Let's go check it out. I'm curious what they found too."
Eevee nodded casually and followed behind.
Of course, he already knew exactly what they were about to see.
When he raided the entire base earlier, he had stumbled upon something pretty interesting.
It didn't take long before the three of them arrived at a massive underground lab. The place was filled with large glass pods—training chambers, basically.
But what made their jaws drop was what they found inside three of them.
Ariana, Vicious (the Iron-Masked Marauder), and Hunter J.
All three were floating inside, unconscious—just like how Eevee had left them after crushing their minds with a psychic blast.
"…What the—! No way!"
Lance's eyes widened as he stared at the familiar faces in disbelief. "I always wondered what happened to them… So Giovanni moved them here in secret?!"
"Are they… dead? Or…?"
He hesitated. His senses were telling him these people were still alive—physically, at least—but something was clearly off.
"This must be the Ariana and the others you mentioned a few years back, right?"
Lorelei furrowed her brow as she studied the trio. She remembered Lance talking about them before, and the tragic circumstances that led to their disappearance.
"Yeah," Lance nodded grimly. "I rescued them once, but their minds had already been shattered by some unknown Pokémon…"
"Then they just vanished from the hospital. I didn't think I'd ever see them again…"
He turned to Eevee. "Renzo, you're a psychic-type specialist. Can you check what condition they're in?"
"Oh?"
Eevee raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise just right. "Actually, you'll be glad to hear this—they're still alive!"
"In fact, I remember reading about them back then. The reports said their minds were completely destroyed, that they were basically vegetables."
"But now… it looks like their consciousness has been partially reconstructed. Or maybe… recreated, is the better word. It's not fully complete, but the process is definitely underway."
And that was the truth.
Mewtwo had told him everything.
Giovanni had ordered the reconstruction of their minds, and Mewtwo had handled it. Not only that—he'd even built in a hidden backdoor, so he could control the newly-reformed trio later if needed.
"What?!"
Lance was floored. "Rebuild someone's consciousness? That's not something even legendary Pokémon can usually do!"
"It's rare, but not impossible," Eevee replied coolly. "You're not restoring the old one—you're just creating a new mind. As long as you've got a Pokémon of champion level or higher with the right abilities, it's doable."
"Besides… the people in those pods aren't the same as before. Their minds are completely different now."
Which was true. A new mind meant a new person.
"I see…"
Lance nodded slowly, then turned to the search team leader beside him.
"Figure out how to safely extract them and take them back with us. We can't just leave them here."
Even if they weren't the same people anymore, it didn't change the fact that they had once been criminals. What happened next would be up to Charles Goodshow, the President of the Pokémon League, to decide.
"Understood!"
After that, Eevee and Lorelei left the underground facility and found a quiet place nearby.
There, he summoned Articuno to show her as promised, and they enjoyed a quiet lunch together before Eevee teleported away—vanishing right in front of Lorelei and Lance.
She wouldn't be heading to Sinnoh for a few more days to visit him.
...
"…That guy's turning into something completely out of this world," Lance muttered, staring at the empty spot where Eevee had disappeared.
"Being able to teleport across continents like it's nothing—that's just ridiculous. If someone told me he was a Legendary Pokemon in a human form, I'd believe it."
He really wished he had powers like that.
Unfortunately, becoming a powerful psychic wasn't exactly easy.
And it wasn't something you could train for either—it all came down to raw talent.
.
.
.
