124: Chapter 124 The End of the Pink Devil

Goldenrod City fell into chaos faster than Lynn had anticipated.

This city was too wealthy.

Finance, media, transportation, advertising, and consumption had built it up to great heights.

Once the roads outside were cut off, the people inside immediately began fighting for goods, vehicles, and information.

Seven hours after the Radio Tower was taken over, three looting clashes occurred in the central business district, two chamber of commerce warehouses were smashed, and the security force and private security guards stood off with guns drawn at the street corner.

Yet, the commercial street near the Goldenrod Gym was empty.

The pink signs along the street were still lit, the milk tea shop's billboard was still spinning, and the souvenir stalls rattled in the wind.

The crowd had retreated behind distant buildings, to windows, and under overpasses, daring only to peek with half their faces toward the gym square.

They were waiting for an answer.

Could the Goldenrod Gym hold?

This question was naive.

But for ordinary people, it was a matter of life and death.

A hundred sentences from a press officer saying "reinforcements are on the way" couldn't compare to someone whose name they had heard since childhood stepping forward.

Whitney stepped forward.

She wasn't wearing a city defense uniform, only her trainer outfit, her hair tied back tightly, standing in the very center of the square.

Beside her, Miltank scraped the ground with its hind hooves, snorting hot air from its nostrils, its muscles tensing and relaxing, like a pink cannonball wound up and ready.

The tourist signs in the square had been torn down and replaced with steel cables, roadblocks, and bollards.

But those pink walls and circular decorations remained, glaringly bright, and glaringly naive.

Whitney gritted her teeth, looking at the shadows of the heavy armored vehicles pressing in from the distance.

"Do they really take me for a pushover?"

She gripped her Poké Ball tightly.

"The gates of Goldenrod City aren't that easy to kick in."

At the distant street corner, the Abyss Army vanguard entered the square.

Several Machamp, Golem, and obstacle-clearing beasts clad in external armor pushed aside the roadblocks, and the shadow troops advanced, hugging the base of the walls.

Several black command vehicles stopped in the rear, the doors opened, and Lynn stepped out, leaning on a silver cane.

He glanced at the pink gym, then at the decorations remaining from peaceful times around the square.

"Quite interesting."

Lynn's tone was flat.

"The whole city is rotting, yet this place still looks like an amusement park."

Whitney exploded on the spot.

"Stop putting on an act here!"

She stepped forward, her voice sharp and hard.

"This is Goldenrod City! This is Johto!"

Lynn's gaze fell upon her and Miltank.

"So?"

"So don't think you can just trample through here!"

The people around the square held their breath.

What Whitney was holding up now was no longer just a gym sign.

She was like the last stubborn temper of Goldenrod City refusing to bow its head, standing under the pink light sign, shining with hardness.

Lynn smiled slightly.

"Spirited."

He raised his hand.

A Poké Ball popped out from behind, and white light exploded.

What appeared in the center of the square was neither a pseudo-legendary nor a Legendary Bird.

It was a Machamp.

It was taller and thicker than a normal Machamp, its four arms looking like they were piled from black granite.

Matte black armor was fastened to its shoulders, back, and elbows, and each of its four wrists hung a short-handled alloy battle axe; the entire Pokémon stood there like a breathing execution rack.

Whitney's eyes turned even redder.

"Do you look down on me?"

"I want to save effort."

This sentence was crueler than mockery.

"Miltank!"

Miltank moved.

[Defense Curl]

Before charging out, it compressed its body into a tighter circle, and the next second, the entire pink behemoth rumbled across the square.

The brick surface exploded along the way, the bollards were smashed, and the steel cables were snapped off by force.

It rolled faster and faster, heavier and heavier, like a giant boulder rolling down from a mountain.

A chorus of hushed gasps erupted from the crowd of onlookers.

Many Goldenrod City citizens had seen this move before.

This Miltank had once used it to crush the confidence of countless challengers.

Lynn stood motionless.

The Machamp stepped forward.

All four hands reached out simultaneously.

Bang!

The rolling pink cannonball crashed into its chest.

The brick surface under the Machamp exploded, and four deep grooves were plowed back half a meter.

The armor emitted a dull sound, and its muscles tensed layer by layer.

But it held its ground.

The four hands gripped Miltank's shoulders, waist, and hind limb joints, like four iron pincers, forcing the wildest Rollout to a dead stop.

Whitney's expression changed.

"How is that possible!"

Miltank was still struggling.

It kicked its hooves wildly, twisting its body desperately, trying to roll again, trying to use momentum to drag its opponent down.

Lynn spat out only one word.

"Smash."

The Machamp exerted force with all four arms, lifted Miltank over its head, and slammed it heavily into the ground.

Boom!

A shallow pit collapsed in the center of the square.

Miltank was dazed from the impact, and before it could bounce up, it was dragged up and slammed down again with a backhand.

Boom!!

Pink fur, broken bricks, and dust exploded together.

Among the onlookers, some covered their mouths and retreated.

Some wanted to shout to stop, but couldn't make a sound.

This no longer looked like a gym battle.

It was more like a public execution.

Miltank had extreme resilience.

After taking two hits, it still hadn't completely fallen.

It opened its mouth, trying to catch its breath, trying to use a recovery move to hold on for one last rhythm.

Lynn's eyes turned cold.

"Dismantle."

The Machamp's four arms shifted, pressing force into the joints.

Crack, crack.

Miltank's Rollout stance was dismantled, its hind legs went limp, and its body slumped to one side.

The four short-handled battle axes descended immediately.

The axe blades and edges avoided its skull.

They smashed into the brick surface, pivot points, and defensive angles around Miltank.

Every time an axe fell, the ground exploded with gravel, smashing piece by piece the places where it could last exert force.

Whitney finally rushed forward one step, her voice completely breaking.

"Stop!"

The Machamp stopped.

Because Lynn raised his hand.

The dust settled.

In the center of the square, Miltank lay on its side in the cracked pit, its chest heaving rapidly, eyes unfocused, limbs still twitching slightly.

It hadn't been killed, but it couldn't stand up either.

Whitney stood where she was, the blood drained completely from her face.

She wanted to rush over and hug Miltank, but her feet felt nailed to the ground.

Tears welled up, but she held them back desperately, biting her lips until they went white.

Many Goldenrod City citizens saw this scene, and the spirit they had been holding onto collapsed with it.

For them, Miltank had long been more than just a Pokémon.

It represented cheap tactics, healing, Rollout, dragging opponents to death; it represented the Goldenrod Gym's most headache-inducing yet most reassuring trademark.

Now, this trademark was pinned down by four hands and smashed into the ground.

Lynn slowly walked up to Whitney.

She looked up, her eyes red, her face full of humiliation and anger.

Lynn said only one sentence:

"Crying cannot save Goldenrod City."

After he finished speaking, he walked straight past her.

Without even turning his head.

This step was crueler than a coup de grâce.

Because it meant that in his eyes, this battle was already over.

Whitney, Miltank, the Goldenrod Gym—they had all become just another paving stone beneath his feet.

When Whitney heard the words "medical team," her shoulders trembled slightly.

She looked up at Lynn's retreating figure; the hatred in her eyes was still there, but it was mixed with an indescribable sense of bewilderment.

She had originally thought the Abyss would kill Miltank and trample Goldenrod City's last bit of stubbornness into pulp.

But Lynn had left it alive and had the medical team carry it away.

That way of handling it was more painful than an execution.

Because it was like telling everyone: the Goldenrod Gym didn't even qualify to be destroyed seriously by him.

The medics brought up a stretcher, and Whitney finally rushed over, pressing down on Miltank's head, her voice hoarse.

"Miltank, hold on..."

Miltank's eyelids twitched, and it let out a weak moo.

Around the square, those people hiding behind windows and under overpasses watched this scene, their chests feeling stifled.

Whitney wasn't dead, and Miltank wasn't dead.

But the gym in their hearts had already fallen.

Lynn had even spared the slaughter, placing the failure in front of everyone, letting them see clearly over and over: resistance would be shattered, while surrender meant lining up for medicine.

The Radio Tower connected the feed at this moment.

The camera focused directly on Whitney's tears and the smashed brick pit.

A single line of text scrolled at the bottom of the screen:

[The Goldenrod Gym has been disarmed, and the wounded are receiving treatment.]

This was colder than the words "Gym Slaughter."

And more effective.

When Whitney was helped to the roadside, she was still clutching the fur on Miltank's neck.

She heard the warehouse doors opening in the distance, heard the radio announcing the next disarmament corridor, and heard the Goldenrod City citizens whispering her name.

The expectation in those voices had shattered completely, leaving only a belated farewell.

In the rear, the Abyss Army officer immediately gave orders.

"Take over the gym!"

"Medical team, check Miltank, keep it alive!"

"Radio Tower, continue broadcasting!"

"Vanguard, advance to the warehouse district!"

The defenders outside the square began to scatter.

Some dropped their guns, some turned and fled into the alleys, and others stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at the shattered pink sign.

Lynn walked to the end of the square and looked up at Goldenrod City, which was still brightly lit but already beginning to tremble.

"Tell Goldenrod City."

"The pink dream is over."

A few minutes later, the footage of Whitney falling spread throughout the entire city.

The crowd of refugees at the Central Station went quiet.

The manager at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters took the ledger out of the safe.

Outside the Radio Tower, the last batch of guards raised their hands and left their posts.

The citizens of Goldenrod City finally understood one thing.

When the Abyss lays siege to a city, it doesn't necessarily smash the walls first.

It will first smash the thing you believe in most.