"Come out, Nidoking! Use Thunder repeatedly!"
As the leader, Dar was the first to launch an attack. Along with the appearance of the massive Nidoking, orange-yellow currents surged out rapidly, instantly causing the sunny sky to become overcast with dark clouds.
Immediately afterward, Thunder began to crash down, continuously branching out to knock down Team Aqua's Pokémon in large groups. Before Nidoking could further exploit these gains, Matt's Mightyena locked onto it. At the same time, Sharpedo began leading the other members' Pokémon to launch an offensive.
Just like Nidoking, both Mightyena and Sharpedo possessed Elite Rank strength. Feeling that this was not enough, Matt directly released his strongest Pokémon. A white light flashed, and Crawdaunt appeared on the ice. Its Champion Rank aura spread out, causing the entire battlefield to pause for a moment.
"Surrender and you shall live!"
A roar echoed across the ice. Matt believed that under the threat of Crawdaunt, some people would surely want to surrender. This would throw the enemy's formation into chaos and make his operation smoother.
"It's just a Champion Rank Pokémon; is that supposed to be rare?"
Dar's disdainful voice rang out. Immediately afterward, a Blastoise appeared in front of Crawdaunt. Two Champion Rank auras collided, but in the end, Dar's Blastoise held the upper hand.
Dar had some understanding of Hoenn's Team Aqua and Team Magma. To be honest, he felt nothing but contempt for these two terrorist organizations, both in terms of their goals and their strength. Compared to a true titan like Team Rocket in the Kanto region, Team Aqua and Team Magma had no advantages other than their secretive movements.
"Go, Blastoise! Double Hydro Pump!"
"By the way, let me remind you: while you were launching an attack on us, the Hoenn League hasn't been idle."
"Although I hate to admit it, we are indeed the bait. So, do you want to guess if anyone is surrounding you right now?"
While commanding Blastoise to attack, Dar did not forget to harass Matt mentally. Clearly, the information Dar provided sent a massive shock through Matt, causing him to daze for a moment. Dar's Blastoise seized the opportunity to gain the advantage.
"I didn't expect our leader to be such an interesting person."
"Well then, let's start moving as well. Pay attention to your safety. It's best to stay in a visible position to make it easier for me to rescue you."
After saying this, Alakazam signaled with a Teleport, and Gu Yuan disappeared from his original spot. Hearing this, Aiko and Basque immediately sprang into action. After Gu Yuan's previous performance, the two of them admired him greatly.
As for Taishi Utsunomiya and the others, even if they didn't want to follow Gu Yuan's command, they couldn't stand idly by in this situation. They joined the battle one after another.
With the support provided by the Hoenn region and Dar tying up Team Aqua's strongest forces, the pressure on Gu Yuan's group was greatly reduced. Even so, the advantage remained with Team Aqua, as they still outnumbered Gu Yuan's team in terms of Elite Rank Pokémon. They could only rely on the well-coordinated League members to hold the line. Over time, it was inevitable that flaws would appear.
Fortunately, the Hoenn League's reinforcements were swift. In just over ten minutes, Gu Yuan saw a small black dot expanding in the distance. Then, Bavi appeared before everyone's eyes, riding on the back of a Pidgeot.
"Retreat!"
Upon seeing Bavi, Matt immediately abandoned the operation. As long-time rivals, Matt knew Bavi's strength very well. With Dar's Blastoise also present, his mission was doomed to fail. Rather than wasting time and sacrificing more people and Pokémon, it was better to retreat decisively.
Most importantly, Dar's earlier words made Matt very worried about Archie's safety. Unlike the other two executives, Matt had willingly become Archie's subordinate to repay him for saving his life. In Matt's eyes, any mission or person could be sacrificed, but Archie's safety had to be guaranteed.
But now, it wasn't as simple as Matt wanting to leave. Bavi had been laying the groundwork for this operation from the very beginning. The previous large-scale operations targeting Team Aqua were specifically designed to provoke them into wanting revenge. Having long been prepared, Bavi captured useful intelligence the moment Team Aqua began their move.
Through continuous tracking and analysis, coupled with Team Magma's behind-the-scenes instigation, the Hoenn League easily mastered a large amount of useful information. During this time, Bavi had several opportunities to attack Team Aqua but held back. At those times, Team Aqua's energy hadn't been spread thin yet. A premature attack would have allowed them to react quickly and sacrifice pawns to save their leaders, just like before.
So, Bavi waited patiently for the moment Team Aqua diverted their manpower to attack Dar—the moment their internal strength was at its weakest—to deliver a fatal blow!
Furthermore, this was only one part of the plan. Regardless of whether Team Aqua could be completely wiped out, this operation would leave them heavily damaged. Thus, Bavi had set his sights on Team Magma long ago. Team Magma, who was busy fanning the flames and preparing to swallow the interests vacated by Team Aqua, had no idea they were Bavi's next target.
Before executing the next step, Bavi still needed to appease Dar and the others. After all, his actions this time were somewhat unethical. However, if Bavi had to choose again, he would still do the same. No one could guarantee whether Dar and others would risk acting as bait if he had proposed it openly, even if the danger wasn't that extreme.
"Go, Manectric! Eliminate as many Team Aqua members and Pokémon as possible."
"Salamence, go cooperate with Blastoise to stop Crawdaunt!"
Two Poké Balls opened. The Elite Rank Manectric immediately targeted opponents of Ace Rank or quasi-Ace strength. The Champion Rank Salamence coordinated with Blastoise to block Crawdaunt's retreat.
A Dragon Breath swept across the field. Just as Salamence and Blastoise surrounded Crawdaunt, Matt threw out several Poké Balls at once.
"Block Blastoise and Salamence! Crawdaunt, break the ice and escape!"
Following Matt's voice, the newly appeared Pokémon attacked Salamence and Blastoise with suicidal bravery. Crawdaunt did not hesitate, smashing through the ice and diving into the depths of the ocean. This way, even if they pursued, Salamence wouldn't be able to do much, greatly increasing Crawdaunt's chances of survival.
"Attack the submarines!"
Receiving the order, Salamence took to the skies again, targeting the submarines floating on the surface. Meanwhile, Matt used a small submarine to make his getaway. At the same time, Dar commanded his people to withdraw the support Pokémon provided by the Hoenn League.