Boom!!!
Rage Fist crashed head-on into the Fire Blast Nidoqueen spat from its mouth. The ghostly energy, the moment it touched the kanji-shaped blaze, forcibly twisted that "大"-shaped flame into a warped ball of fire!
The raging heatwave burst out radially, tongues of fire at its edges licking the air and making it twist and shimmer violently.
A few stray tongues of flame licked the wall, melting glowing red pits into it!
"Nido…"
The ice coating Nidoqueen's body shattered in the shock, but Rage Fist still smashed into it solidly and sent it flying far across the room!
"Th-this… this is impossible!"
Proton clicked his tongue at the sight. He'd never imagined that his Nidoqueen's Fire Blast wouldn't even last a few seconds against Annihilape's fists.
Whooo—
Weezing split its hideous twin maws open and spewed out a towering wave of fire.
The hot wind wrapped around the dissipating Fire Blast and swelled into a storm of flames, and in an instant it had melted the office desk separating the three of them into blackened charcoal.
"Cha-oh!" (The power of fire suits me just fine!)
The sea of flame rushing toward it was reflected in Blaziken's pupils. It threw back its head with a long cry, and the pillar of fire brewing in its throat shot out like a laser cannon!
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The instant the two torrents of flame collided in midair, they exploded together. The clash whipped up a fiery tornado that speared straight into the ceiling, licking at the overhead panels again and again!
"Goddammit, how was this Blaziken even trained?! Why are its move's power and its actual strength completely out of proportion?! Even with every stat maxed out, it shouldn't be this strong!"
Petrel was sweating so much from the heat that it ran down in streams. He stared rigidly at the pillar of fire slowly forcing its way toward him, grinding his teeth so hard his gums were about to bleed, cursing furiously in his heart.
"Just give it up and come quietly."
Grey's voice cut through the curtain of flame; the dancing firelight edged his silhouette in gold, making him stand out even more. "If you surrender now, you might still suffer a little less."
"Damn you, Grey! Our Boss is right here today—are you really planning to offend Team Rocket to the point of no return?"
"If you let us go now, we can even throw in a pseudo-legendary hatchling as compensation. And from now on, whenever Team Rocket sees you, we'll make sure to steer well clear of you!"
As Petrel's hand crept toward his back, he kept talking, trying to talk Grey out of arresting them.
"Mr. Petrel, how much does a pseudo-legendary hatchling go for on the Team Rocket black market these days?"
Grey folded his arms across his chest, meeting Petrel's gaze from across the room.
"Five million."
Petrel spread his hand, all five fingers clearly visible.
"But the bounty on you and Proton isn't just that much~ Together, it's already breaking past ten million."
Grey walked forward step by step, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"I know, you just want money, right? Then we can—"
"Proton! This guy doesn't budge for anything. Don't believe a single word out of his mouth!"
Seeing Proton about to respond, Petrel cut him off immediately, his bloodshot eyes glaring daggers at Grey.
"This bastard had the exact same look on his face the last two times! He was just trying to get us to drop our guard so he could divert our attention!"
Having been scammed twice already, Petrel was no longer the same fool. Faced with Grey's "hints" this time, he was sure he wouldn't fall for them again.
Third time's the charm, and if he let Grey trick him again, he might as well stop calling himself Petrel!
"Bu—"
Proton tried to say something, but a sudden gust of force cut him off!
Whoosh!
A green blur suddenly tore out of the flames!
Proton felt a sudden chill along his cheek. He instinctively turned his head, barely brushing past Breloom's surprise attack!
But Breloom moved so fast that it still carved a bloody line across the left side of his face…
A few strands of teal hair drifted slowly to the floor, and the wall behind Proton split open in a gaping crack!
If that strike had hit him squarely, he'd probably be the one lying on the ground right now…
"See? I told you, don't believe a single word that kid says!"
"Gr-Grey, show a little mercy, will you? Leave us some room so we can still look each other in the eye later."
Proton frowned, his voice low. "You just walked off with our Team Rocket Heracross, and practically every Pokémon on you was originally taken from Team Rocket, wasn't it? Any decent person ought to feel at least a little gratitude, right?"
"Kyaa!" (Team Rocket, my #@%&!)
"Rio!" (Proton, you can #@%! off too!)
"Shroom!" (@#*% Team Rocket!)
"…"
At Grey's side, every Pokémon except Poliwhirl had a grudge against Team Rocket. Hearing Proton's words, they all instantly united on the same front and started cursing them out.
Standing off to the side, Grey wiped the sweat from his brow. He hadn't expected his Pokémon to be quite that blunt with their swearing.
"What do you mean, 'I just walked off with your Team Rocket Heracross'?"
Grey frowned, his tone dropping. "You were the ones who locked up my Pokémon. I went through hell and back to rescue it, and now you're acting like I'm the one turning the whole world upside down?"
Proton & Petrel: "???"
Who's really turning things upside down here, huh?!
Catch it in a Poké Ball and then pretend you don't even know us anymore, is that it?!
"You! Aren't you a League trainer? How can you pull such sneaky, underhanded tricks! Are you even a decent human being?!"
Proton clutched at his chest, suddenly feeling that even if you added his and Petrel's scheming together, it still couldn't compare to Grey's.
"When did I ever say I was a decent guy?"
Grey looked genuinely taken aback.
Anyone who'd ever watched his streams would know he was never serious about anything, right?
It's not like a single one of his tags on any stream had ever been proper.
They got taken down by review and the mods all the time, too.
Which was why, after he'd gotten a bit of popularity lately, the reviewers practically took a daily stroll through his channel.
"???"
Proton and Petrel glanced at each other.
No wonder they kept feeling there was something off about Grey.
So he was just an utterly unreliable Gym Leader!
"Alright, enough small talk. If you can show me strength that actually satisfies me, then by all means—come at me!"
Grey came to a halt, the curve of his smile sharpening. "Otherwise, it won't end with just a simple beating."
"Liiing!" (Why waste so much breath on them? Today is Grandpa Articuno's stage!)
Articuno's eyes burned colder than ever at the sight of its enemies. Its wings, scattering ice crystals, beat down in a fierce stroke!
Whoooosh!
Blizzard erupted with a roar, countless ice shards shooting toward the sea of fire like arrows.
The instant flame and frost collided, the entire space filled with billowing white steam!
The raging flames were as if seized by an invisible hand at the throat; under absolute zero they writhed unwillingly, finally crumbling into charred shards of ice all over the floor!
"Mee-oh~" (Go, go! Heracross, Poliwhirl and I will be cheering for you from the back!)
Little Riolu clapped wildly.
Grey glanced sideways, the curve of his lips growing even more pronounced.
Ever since the battle began, little Riolu had been leading the other Pokémon in quietly using Helping Hand from the back line.
And because they'd stayed well hidden, Proton and Petrel had never once suspected that that was the move at play.
"Leave us a way out, and we can still meet again down the road."
Amid the howling Blizzard, a middle-aged man stepped into the conference room.
At his side walked a Persian, the red gem on its forehead gleaming brightly through the storm.
"Let them go, and we can still be friends."
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