Seeing the strange reaction from his own Delibird, the masked man was clearly stunned.
'What the hell is all this?'
'This is supposed to be a peak-tier showdown, and you're pulling this crap on me?'
'However… kid, you've miscalculated!'
'With Delibird's mastery over Ice-type moves, even if it only has one move, that's enough to suppress any enemy.'
But right after that, the masked man froze again.
In front of Mewtwo's spoon, Delibird's Ice Shard completely lost its effect.
It was like they were playing baseball, matching seamlessly.
Each Ice Shard was precisely blocked by the spoon, unable to deal any damage to Mewtwo or Axel.
If memory serves right, he had just fought a Pokémon like this yesterday…
'It's you, Giovanni!'
'Don't think I won't recognize it just because you gave the Pokémon to someone else and removed its armor.'
Pryce's mind spun wildly, instantly grasping the key to everything.
First, one thing was certain, Axel was definitely a member of Team Rocket.
Otherwise, how could he borrow this legendary Pokémon from Giovanni?
Since that's the case… Axel even spread the power of Gigantamax to Galar's Champion and Raihan.
Which means, Team Rocket must have some unknown plan in the works.
As for what that plan was, Pryce couldn't think of it yet.
But one thing was for sure, Axel absolutely must not be killed.
He could provoke Champion Leon without fear, but he must never provoke Giovanni.
That guy could really find his hometown, and he doesn't need evidence to beat people up.
Against Champion Leon, he could just say he's a Gym Leader.
As long as his masked identity wasn't revealed on the spot, Champion Leon could only sigh.
But against Giovanni… even if he claimed to be a Gym Leader, Giovanni might just say, ["I hit Gym Leaders for a living!"]
Thinking this, Pryce once again had thoughts of retreat.
"Delibird, Swinub, withdr—", The word "-aw" hadn't even left his mouth when Pryce suddenly felt a chill from behind.
He turned around to see a massive metallic foot descending from the sky, stomping toward his face.
Pryce's mouth twitched wildly.
'What the hell, are you all villains?'
One pulled out Giovanni's Pokémon, and one launched a sneak attack from behind.
'Can't I even run?'
"Gastly, save me!"
"Gaha!", Ghost-type energy on Gastly's body condensed into solid form, floating in the air to desperately block the giant foot of the Gigantamax Duraludon.
"Hang on!", Pryce pulled out Dewgong's Poké Ball from his waist, this was his trump card Pokémon.
Its combat power wasn't as good as Swinub or Delibird, and since it was often used in Gym battles, he normally wouldn't use it under the masked identity.
Bringing it out now was more because he was forced to a dead end.
The moment Dewgong appeared, a beam of icy light formed in its mouth and instantly created a descending snowy path.
At the same time, Pryce's Pokémon all understood and unleashed powerful moves, retreating while fending off the enemy and regrouping around Pryce.
"Trying to run?", Axel could let Pryce run back and clash with Giovanni, but he had to leave behind one tag.
Axel targeted the direction of Delibird's retreat and tossed out a semi-transparent Poké Ball.
A flash of white light, Nihilego instantly appeared beside Delibird, its tentacles drifting as it gently embraced the petite Delibird.
Subdued by Nihilego, Delibird's eyes instantly turned blank.
No matter how loudly the masked man shouted—
Pryce: "..."
'This Axel from Team Rocket is way too dirty!'
That strong legendary Pokémon is used just to inflict status, and even Ultra Beasts are used like it's no big deal.
'What's next, are you Giovanni's dad or something?'
'If I make it out of here today, I swear I'll deliver a devastating blow to Team Rocket within half a month.'
"Pheromosa, High Jump Kick!"
"Yoo~"
Pheromosa let out a crisp, ear-pleasing cry, her figure turning into a black afterimage, viciously kicking the frozen-in-air Delibird.
Only when Pheromosa closed in did Nihilego slowly sway and gently put Delibird down.
BOOM!
With a loud bang, Delibird's head twisted violently to the side, and its body shot into the air like a bullet.
Just as it was about to recover, Nihilego reappeared and caught Delibird midair.
"Uiii~"
'Sister, kick this way!'
Pheromosa lightly nodded, "Yoo!"
After several consecutive High Jump Kicks, Delibird completely lost consciousness, its head wobbling as it collapsed to the ground.
At the same time, a shimmering multicolored tag fell into Axel's backpack.
Pryce finally found a chance, used a stream of cold air to drag Delibird, and ran down the mountain along the snowy path.
Champion Leon and Raihan exchanged a glance, each summoning a Flying-type Pokémon to chase after Pryce along his escape path.
Axel quickly waved his hand and stopped the Galar region's CP duo in place, "Don't chase him, the other side still has two Ice-type Pokémon. If they run into the city and start killing people, it won't be good."
"Also… right now he probably hates Team Rocket to death. Letting him go might actually make him a half-ally."
"?", Raihan and Leon looked at each other, full of confusion.
Axel grinned and revealed Pryce and Giovanni's identities, as well as a string of recent events.
When they heard about how Giovanni and Axel smashed Pryce's Gym, Raihan's eyes practically lit up.
"As expected of you, Axel! That's just too satisfying!"
"Yesterday I was still wondering why a Gym was attacked, it turns out the one attacked was that masked guy."
"To stop his plan, Giovanni even released three of the justice-aligned legendary Pokémon..."
"Too high-level!"
Leon also couldn't help but nod, thinking Axel's actions were currently the best approach, "Both of them are officially recognized Gym Leaders, and they've never been caught on camera clearly."
"Even if the authorities confront them, it's not enough to convict them."
"Your method is clever, let the two dogs bite each other."
"In the future, Officer Jenny in Kanto and Johto will probably have a much easier time."
After pondering for a moment, Leon continued, "But we should still inform Officer Jenny so they can keep an eye on those two."
"Official Gym Leader, that title is just too important."
"Since I wanted to see Entei anyway, I'll personally contact Officer Jenny over in Johto..."
After sending off Leon, Raihan followed Axel back to school.
With Raihan's coordination, Blueberry Academy and Ninox University quickly set a date for the exchange program.
Three days later, the two of them would set off for the Unova region to retrieve the item needed for Duraludon's evolution into Archaludon.
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