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"Hey! Come back! If you're leaving, at least take me with you!"
Koga watched Articuno fly directly toward the top floor of the Silph Co. building and couldn't help but shout desperately.
However, Articuno was thoroughly frightened and ignored Koga's desperate calls, flying straight to the top of the Silph Co. building.
Seeing this, Koga's face turned pale, as if his entire body had been drained of color.
"If only the Badge was in my hand right now..."
Yes, at this moment, neither Koga nor Lt. Surge actually possessed the Badges.
Their original Badges were in someone else's hands. The only reason they could currently command the legendary birds was because the person holding the Badges had ordered the legendary birds to obey Lt. Surge and Koga's commands.
However, an additional order had been issued to return to the top floor of the Silph Co. building depending on the situation.
Zapdos had witnessed both it and Lt. Surge being defeated, so it flew back. Now, Articuno was frightened and believed that Koga would also be defeated, so it returned as well.
"It seems this is the end for you. Without Articuno, your chances are gone."
Gary saw this development and knew he had won. It was time to deliver the final blow to Koga.
"Charizard! Flare Blitz!"
Gary's Charizard roared, cloaked itself in intense flames, and charged directly at Koga himself.
Although Koga wanted to continue struggling, his resolve wavered when he saw his wounded Pokémon surrounding him.
In this world, regardless of who you are, basically everyone has Pokémon companions whom they regard as family. In many cases, not only will Pokémon take hits for their trainers, but trainers will also make significant sacrifices for their Pokémon.
"Forget it. Rather than letting them suffer unnecessary pain, I should face reality now—the reality that I've already been defeated."
Koga recalled all his Pokémon except for the Muk that covered his body.
It wasn't that he didn't care about Muk. He simply couldn't use his physical body alone to withstand Charizard's Flare Blitz. At least Muk had thick defenses, so together they could survive the attack.
"BOOM!"
Koga abandoned resistance and was struck hard by Charizard.
As the collision sound echoed, Koga barely survived under Muk's protection but was still sent flying.
Similar to Articuno, after being knocked away, he crashed through the window and began falling downward.
During his fall, several Golbat emerged from their Poké Balls. Together, they grabbed the unconscious Koga and flew upward, then carried Koga away from the area.
"Whether trainers are good or bad, they all love their Pokémon. It's just that the degree of love varies from person to person."
Gary could naturally observe Koga's situation and couldn't help but reflect on this.
"Also, you two arriving here after the battle ended really makes you like those heroes who show up late in movies."
Gary turned around and addressed Eddie and Ash, who had just arrived.
"Don't say that. My Pokémon were badly injured just moments ago, so I had to run with Ash, which naturally slowed us down."
"But I already sent my companions to support you in advance. Isn't that sufficient?"
Eddie didn't care about Gary's complaints at all. Besides, he had genuinely supported Gary, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
"By the way, you actually defeated Articuno. You did an excellent job. Thank you for your hard work—especially you, Lucario. As the commander, you must have been under considerable pressure, right?"
Eddie looked at his four Pokémon and couldn't help but praise them sincerely.
He had estimated that the tactics he'd given Lucario would at most be able to contain Articuno.
After all, he was only predicting how Articuno would react. If he'd guessed wrong even once, or if Lucario had issued the wrong command once, the battle would have become a stalemate.
Perhaps when he and Ash arrived at this floor, they would still be fighting.
"The pressure was indeed quite high. I kept worrying about the unimaginable consequences that might occur if I didn't command properly or misjudged the timing. I felt like I was walking on thin ice while commanding. I only now realize the tremendous pressure you're under when commanding us, Eddie."
"However, fortunately, Eddie, all your predictions were correct. We followed your tactics and successfully repelled Articuno."
Lucario still felt somewhat shaken while saying this.
When commanding the battle, it truly felt for the first time the significant pressure trainers experience when commanding battles.
Especially in life-or-death battles like this—one slight mistake could easily result in being killed by the enemy.
"Pressure? As a trainer, this is something you must bear."
Eddie smiled upon hearing this. The pressure of commanding existed for everyone, especially for someone like him who constantly fought life-and-death battles against Team Rocket.
"Alright, go back and rest now. We'll need to continue fighting shortly."
After that, all the Pokémon nodded in understanding, and Eddie returned three of them to their Poké Balls, keeping only Charizard out.
"Eddie, your Charizard looks fine, so let's ride our Flying-type Pokémon and fly up right now."
Seeing that Eddie's Charizard was virtually unharmed, Ash secretly admired Eddie's powerful strength and suggested flying up to continue the fight immediately.
"Of course. That's precisely why I didn't put Charizard away."
After saying that, Eddie jumped up and mounted Charizard.
"Are you flying up now? Eddie, were you able to rescue the townspeople of Pallet Town and my sister?"
Seeing this, Gary also mounted his Charizard. He suddenly remembered their original objective and asked.
"They've already escaped, which is how I was able to reunite with Ash, fight off Lt. Surge and Zapdos, and then quickly rush up to support you."
"Now, let's go support Green and defeat the last of Team Rocket's three leaders. Then this war will be over."
Now that their top combat forces and the three legendary birds that served as their trump cards had been defeated, they could charge unimpeded into Team Rocket's ranks. Naturally, there would be a victor in this war.
"Ah, as long as there are no accidents, it should proceed like that."
Eddie couldn't help but think privately that he wasn't certain whether the current situation matched the manga, so he'd made numerous preparations for battle.
"CRASH!"
At that moment, the wall of a certain floor in the Silph Co. building suddenly shattered, and Moltres's massive body was sent flying in a rather embarrassing manner.
"Hmm... Looks like Green is nearly finished. Ash, Gary, let's go deliver the final blow to Team Rocket!"
After saying that, Eddie took the lead, flying upward on Charizard.
Ash and Gary exchanged glances, nodded to each other, and then rode their Flying-type Pokémon to fly up alongside Eddie.