The Rocket grunts closed in quickly, spreading through the ruined atrium until every path around me was blocked.
Broken glass glittered across the marble floor under the flickering lights.
I slowly turned in place.
One Team Rocket member stood to my left.
Another blocked the right.
The third stayed directly ahead of me.
And behind me…
A wall.
Cold metal pressed against my back as I realized there was nowhere left to move.
I cradled Kirlia a little closer against my chest, her small, light body fitting easily in the crook of one arm.
Above us, a Golbat circled with heavy wingbeats.
"Goooolbaaat!"
Its screech echoed through the shattered hall as it hovered overhead.
To my left, an Arbok slid across the glass-covered floor. Its hood flared wide as it lifted its head toward us.
"Arboooook…"
The long hiss dragged through the air like a warning.
On my right, a Houndoom lowered its head and scraped its claws slowly across the marble.
"Hrrr… Doom…"
Smoke curled faintly from its jaws as a spark of flame flickered between its teeth.
Kirlia's tiny fingers clutched at the front of my jacket.
"Kir… lia…"
I looked down at her and forced a smile, even though my heart was pounding like crazy.
"Hey… don't worry," I said quietly. "Everything will be fine."
Kirlia looked up at me and gave a small trusting nod.
"Kir…"
The grunts didn't attack yet.
They were waiting.
My eyes moved across the room again.
Golbat above.
Arbok to the left.
Houndoom to the right.
The grunts closing the last gaps.
We were completely surrounded.
I slowly crouched and set Kirlia down gently behind my legs.
Then I rose and shifted half a step forward, planting myself firmly between her and the advancing Rocket grunts.
The circle suddenly parted as someone stepped forward.
The moment Kirlia saw who it was, her whole body stiffened. She pressed herself tight against the back of my legs, trembling, barely peeking out from behind my calf.
Viper walked through the parted circle, boots crunching slowly across broken glass, each step deliberate.
Beside her, Gengar floated forward with its wide grin.
"Gen… gar…"
Dark mist drifted lazily from the ghost Pokémon's mouth as its glowing eyes locked onto us.
Viper's cold gaze settled on me, then dropped to the small figure clinging behind my legs.
"Stealing my Pokémon and interfering with Team Rocket's operation… you really are a nuisance, Ryan."
Kirlia shrank even tighter against my legs, tiny fingers clutching the fabric of my pants. Viper noticed immediately, and her expression hardened.
"Hand over the Kirlia."
The grunts tightened their positions around us. Golbat dipped lower overhead while Arbok crept closer and Houndoom's flames flickered faintly between its teeth.
I shook my head.
"No."
For a moment she simply watched me.
Then she exhaled slowly, almost amused.
"You really don't understand your situation, do you? Not to mention…"
Her eyes shifted to the tiny figure pressed against my legs.
"That thing was given to me because of its potential. When I first received it, it could barely control its own power."
Kirlia's trembling worsened.
"It hesitated. Held back. Wasted its abilities."
Viper's voice turned colder.
"So I pushed it. Forced it to fight. Forced it to use that power whether it wanted to or not."
Kirlia's small hands gripped my pant leg tighter.
"That's how you make her stronger."
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing.
"But you…" she continued with a faint scoff. "You kept holding her back."
"Do you even realize what that means?"
Her gaze sharpened.
"You took something that could dominate the battlefield… and turned it into a timid little pet."
I reached down and gently placed my hand on her head.
"You're wrong."
Viper's eyebrow lifted slightly.
"Kirlia isn't a thing."
"And strength isn't about forcing someone to fight until they break."
Kirlia slowly tilted her head up to look at me.
"I never held her back," I continued. "I just gave her the choice you never did."
I let my fingers brush lightly over her head.
"She fights because she wants to. Not because someone orders her to."
"And that's exactly why she's stronger than anything you tried to turn her into."
For a moment Viper simply stared at me.
Then she scoffed like she hadn't even heard anything worth thinking about.
"Pathetic."
Her lips curled into a thin smile.
Her eyes hardened.
"Gengar."
"Shadow Ball."