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"He's coming! Riding Charizard at high speed! Cassidy, listen to my instructions and be ready to detonate on my signal!" Butch called out urgently.
His palms were sweating with nervousness at this critical moment. This reaction was understandable—any advanced-level trainer would panic when facing a gym leader-level opponent.
Rather than showing cowardice, Butch demonstrated remarkable courage by daring to confront such a powerful trainer at all.
"We're almost at the optimal position! Listen to my countdown!" Butch announced with forced confidence.
"Three... two... one... detonate!"
"Roger!" Cassidy immediately pressed the detonation button upon receiving the order.
The entire canyon began shaking violently in response.
BOOM!!!
CRASH!!!
"What?! Are these two completely insane? They actually blew up the canyon!" Eddie exclaimed in shock.
He had just arrived at Grampa Canyon aboard Charizard, preparing to confront Butch directly, when he witnessed the Team Rocket operative casually wave his hand and trigger the massive explosion.
Now the canyon was experiencing a devastating landslide, with countless boulders rolling down from the damaged cliff faces.
Eddie couldn't focus on pursuing Butch while this disaster unfolded.
"Hahaha! Morning Sun! How do you like this strategy?!" Butch began taunting Eddie, acting as if nothing could touch him now.
"Are you an idiot? What's the point of detonating Grampa Canyon? Have you forgotten that I have Pokemon capable of flight?" Eddie retorted angrily.
He was genuinely curious about Butch's motivation for destroying the canyon.
"No, no, no! We can't defeat you with just this move. Look down there," Butch replied smugly.
When Eddie looked downward as instructed, his expression immediately became serious.
An archaeological excavation team was frantically fleeing below, but the rapidly rolling boulders from the landslide were moving faster than the researchers could escape.
"Help us, trainer!" someone with sharp eyes spotted Eddie and immediately called for assistance.
Eddie could have chosen not to intervene, but as established previously, he wasn't a villain. Helping save lives without endangering himself was acceptable.
Whatever scheme Butch and Cassidy were executing would likely threaten his safety regardless.
So he instinctively moved to rescue the endangered people.
Of course, if Butch and Cassidy could genuinely use his rescue efforts to attack and threaten Eddie effectively, he would change course and eliminate both Team Rocket operatives first.
"Alright, I want to see exactly what tricks you two have planned for me," Eddie declared with obvious interest.
After addressing Butch, he rode Charizard toward the endangered group.
While committed to saving the researchers, he remained constantly alert for Butch and Cassidy's next move.
However, the duo did something unexpected.
They produced an extremely long rope, then both jumped directly downward—into the cave they had just created with their explosive.
"Could these two have done this because they knew about ancient fossil Pokemon down there?" Eddie wondered aloud.
Eddie knew that ancient fossil Pokemon indeed inhabited the depths of Grampa Canyon, and he had originally come here to capture these prehistoric specimens for his Pokedex.
In his assessment, the duo understood the underground situation, so they had planted explosives, triggered the blast directly, then descended to capture Pokemon.
As for why they had taunted Eddie and timed the explosion to his arrival, Eddie analyzed their reasoning.
"If they detonated too early, I would have disrupted their operation upon arrival later."
"So by exploding when I arrive, they distract me with rescuing people below, giving themselves sufficient time to catch Pokemon, right?"
"Clever! These two are actually interesting. This plan has merit."
"Then let's begin this race against time. We'll see if I can rescue everyone first and then deal with you, or if you can capture Pokemon first and escape."
Eddie now fully understood the duo's strategy, and he found it genuinely intriguing.
After all, simply overwhelming weaker opponents became boring after repeated encounters.
Since his opponents had prepared this carefully crafted "game," Eddie was happy to participate.
"Garchomp! Snorlax! Pupitar! Block the rolling boulders that threaten people!" Eddie commanded as he released his entire primary and secondary teams simultaneously.
"Sceptile! Lucario! Gengar! Gardevoir! Focus on rescuing people!"
He assigned Pokemon with large size or appropriate attributes to stop falling rocks, while others utilized their unique abilities for rescue operations.
Garchomp and Pupitar both used their type advantages, employing Stone Edge to intercept or shatter rolling boulders.
Snorlax continuously swung its massive arms, each Hammer Arm technique pulverizing large rocks into harmless fragments.
Meanwhile, Lucario and Sceptile exploited their speed advantages to carry slower evacuees one by one, transporting them to safety before returning for additional rescues.
Gengar accomplished similar results using its Levitate ability to carry people to secure locations.
Gardevoir provided the most efficient assistance, using Psychic to levitate several people simultaneously and transport them to safety.
Eevee and Pikachu were too small for rescue operations and too fragile to face rolling stones directly, so Eddie initially hadn't assigned them tasks.
However, these two smaller Pokemon refused to remain idle spectators.
They leaped from Eddie directly and reached a secure area.
Eevee immediately evolved into Jolteon, then joined Pikachu in repeatedly using Thunderbolt to destroy approaching boulders.
Although using electrical attacks to shatter stone proved challenging, with sufficient force they could obliterate each boulder with single strikes.
"Everyone's working hard. Charizard, you can't let them surpass you," Eddie observed with satisfaction, teasing his flying partner.
"Roaaaar!" Charizard roared in response, indicating it wouldn't fall behind and was ready to contribute immediately.
Since Fire-type moves couldn't effectively break stones, and Eddie was riding on its back preventing close-combat techniques, Charizard needed alternative approaches.
After reaching a safe position, it fired Hyper Beam directly at the rolling boulders.
The powerful energy beam not only destroyed the stones but also blasted significant craters in nearby hillsides.
Through the combined efforts of Eddie's Pokemon team, after twenty minutes they had successfully rescued every person while pulverizing nearly all dangerous debris.
Eddie ignored the grateful researchers' thanks, recalled his Pokemon directly, and rushed into the newly created cave aboard Charizard.
"I've completed my part. Now let's see if you've accomplished yours," he called into the darkness below.