Chaos…
Absolute chaos!
Once Sato entered the battle with Hydreigon, Zoroark, and Tyranitar, the entire field descended into madness.
One moment, Lance's Charizard had just driven back Miyamoto's Alolan Ninetales with a blast of Heat Wave, and the next, a powerful Thunderbolt slammed into Charizard.
"Rai~Rai!"
A silly yet fierce-looking Raichu cried out proudly, but the ground suddenly split open, trapping it right in the middle.
Tyranitar's Earthquake!
"Heal Pulse!"
Ariana used psychic power to silently command Slowbro, and a pink wave of energy quickly poured onto the heavily injured Ninetales.
---◓---
The battle hadn't been going on long, but Sato and Lance were already drenched in sweat.
Not only did they have to stay close to their Pokémon to minimize the chaos around them, they also had to monitor the battlefield constantly. Even if they couldn't counterattack effectively, they had to at least buy enough time.
On the other side, the three Team Rocket members kept firing off command after command, relentlessly bombarding the six Pokémon under Sato and Lance with attacks!
But with so many Pokémon on the field, and the lack of coordination between the three, they often ended up interfering with each other.
Suddenly… Kaiser's expression changed. He silently recalled his newly deployed Nidoqueen and Raichu.
Ariana also called Slowbro and Mr. Mime back to her side.
Very quickly, Team Rocket shifted to a new formation with Miyamoto at the core, leading Alolan Ninetales, Pidgeot, and Jolteon as the main assault force.
Kaiser commanded Fearow and Nidoking, while Ariana used Alakazam for flanking maneuvers. Slowbro and Mr. Mime were left to focus purely on healing and support buffs for the team.
With two fewer Pokémon, the field became an 8v6, but now that Team Rocket had synergy, the pressure on Sato and Lance only intensified.
"TAAAAAAR!"
Tyranitar, being relatively slow, became the first focus target. One attack after another pounded into it without mercy, making it roar furiously.
A flash of seriousness crossed both Sato and Lance's eyes, but neither acted yet. They were waiting…
"Gen!"
It was here!
At the critical moment, Gengar finally arrived and immediately established synchronized resonance with Sato.
Without needing to ask whether the hostages were safe, Sato issued commands directly through the resonance.
{Fearow, Pidgeot, Tyranitar.
Alakazam, Zoroark.
Alolan Ninetales, Charizard.
Jolteon, Dragonair, Dragonite.
Nidoking, Hydreigon.}
After this brief period of battle, Sato had already figured out the strengths and weaknesses of the six core enemy Pokémon. The above pairings were all in their favor.
As the thought formed, Gengar instantly received the group assignments.
Its golden eyes flashed, and invisible Spatial Barriers stretched outward in all directions, assembling into a series of irregular "cages."
Duang~
Thud…
A muffled thud rang out as Nidoking suddenly stopped in place, as if crashing into an invisible wall, its massive body flattened halfway against it.
Thud… Thud…
Two more figures fell from the sky, but quickly stabilized in midair; Miyamoto's Pidgeot and Kaiser's Fearow.
Meanwhile, Sato and Lance also began to coordinate the matchups more precisely.
Tyranitar ignored the Alolan Ninetales that approached and instead unleashed a relentless barrage of Stone Edge at the two birds above.
Charizard instantly abandoned the almost-caught Alakazam, veering sideways across half the battlefield and blasting Alolan Ninetales with a searing Flamethrower.
Miyamoto and the others began frantically counterattacking, only to find that their Pokémon either slammed into invisible walls or had their attacks intercepted mid-air, unable to make any progress!
"W-What… what is this?!"
Kaiser gripped the two Dark Balls in his hands tightly. If not for the fact that "Madame Boss" had just warned him not to act recklessly, he would have already sent out Nidoqueen and Raichu again.
Even Miyamoto couldn't stay calm anymore. Her face was full of tension as she observed the battlefield, trying to figure out what was going on.
"A-ALAKAZAAAAAAM!"
A sudden cry shattered her thoughts. She turned and saw Ariana with red, tear-filled eyes, clutching her chest and screaming in agony.
Miyamoto instinctively caught Ariana in her arms, then looked back toward Alakazam on the battlefield.
Alakazam was undoubtedly in a terrible state… and to everyone's horror, its right hand had been completely severed at the arm.
The cut was smooth as a mirror, and disturbingly, not a single drop of blood came out!
"…SPATIAL MANIPULATION! THEY'VE SPLIT THE BATTLEFIELD! T-TURNED THIS CHAOTIC MESS INTO ISOLATED DUELS WHERE THEY HOLD THE ADVANTAGE!"
Ariana shouted through gritted teeth, but her voice also trembled with fear.
'Spatial energy manipulation… wasn't that a mysterious power only Legendary Pokémon could faintly comprehend?
Why could that Gengar use it!?
And with such mastery…
Split the battlefield!?'
Miyamoto stared in shock, but when she saw that all her Pokémon were now matched up against opponents that countered them…
She understood!
And then… was completely dumbfounded.
How were they supposed to win now?
Miyamoto instinctively wanted to send out more Pokémon for backup, but she froze just a second before tossing the Poké Ball.
Across from her, Sato and Lance had already leapt down from Hydreigon and Dragonite, each openly holding two extremely "dazzling" Poké Balls in hand.
"First strike gets punished. Go ahead and add more if you dare!"
Miyamoto hesitated…
And hesitation leads to defeat!
The first to fall was undeniably Miyamoto's Jolteon. Surrounded and attacked in perfect sync by Dragonite and Dragonair, even Jolteon's exceptional speed and Special Attack couldn't keep it from being utterly outmatched.
"Merge this zone with Tyranitar's battle!"
"Gen~"
Sato gave the command without hesitation, and Gengar instantly removed the Spatial Barrier between the two battle zones.
Pidgeot, Fearow -⚔️- Tyranitar, Dragonite, and Dragonair!
The key point was that Pidgeot and Fearow were mortal enemies. The only reason they hadn't started fighting each other was because their Trainers were still present.
Now, both birds were plunged into despair!
Just as Sato and Lance began focusing on "harvesting" this glorious feast, a gold-and-green Mismagius suddenly leapt out from behind Gengar.
Shrouded in intense black ghostly energy, it crashed violently into Gengar!
A Ghost-type sneak attack move: Phantom Force!
Relying on the move's stealth properties, Mismagius managed to fool even Sato and Gengar momentarily.
Gengar instinctively tried to dodge, but it lacked the strength.
It wasn't just managing a few Spatial Barriers on the battlefield. It was also maintaining temporary protection over every hostage found in Violet City with those same Spatial Barriers.
The energy drain every second was immense!
Phantom Force landed cleanly. Gengar was instantly severely wounded, and all its Spatial Barriers vanished in an instant.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM…
Explosions rang out across the field, and thick smoke rapidly engulfed everything at an unnatural speed.
Sato and Lance both realized the enemy was trying to flee. They wanted to give chase, but their strength was already pushed to the limit.
Taking on three enemies with just the two of them was already a gamble, especially when one "female boss" had yet to show her face.
If not for Gengar's surprise tactics stunning the enemy, who knew how this battle would have turned out?
And now… Gengar was seriously injured too!