"What?!"
Archer's pupils tightened and he whipped around.
Behind him—no one.
"Damn it!"
He realized he'd been baited by Grey. The Poké Ball he'd been crushing in his fist finally whipped forward, aimed straight at Grey's position.
In a street fight, even a heartbeat is enough to do a lot.
Whoosh!
A white streak tore the air, moving at near-sonic speed!
Breloom arrived with a Mach Punch locked and loaded!
In just a few seconds, only a few steps remained between Breloom and Archer.
And right then, Archer got his Poké Ball off!
Midair, a black, bipedal feline Pokémon took shape.
Blood-red fur ringed its crown, neck, and tail. Four limbs flashed with knife-edged claws that glinted cold.
Weavile.
Ice/Dark typing—quadruple weak to Fighting!
But in raw power, Breloom couldn't just muscle a Weavile.
Typing was the only edge Breloom had.
In strength, Weavile could run it over.
"Neu—la!"
Weavile's gaze went feral. Both hands gathered razor frost, and in the snowy weather the cold condensed even faster.
Its talons iced over into solid blades. It didn't give an inch even as Breloom's Mach Punch came screaming in!
BANG!!!
They collided. The instant fists touched, Breloom's power started to get smothered.
Too big a gap; even 4× effectiveness only went so far…
Still, Breloom blocked the first hit.
And that one exchange gave it a window to strike back!
"Spore!!"
Grey's shout cracked across the ice.
Breloom's whole body could be a weapon.
And the cap on its head was made for ambush work.
Like right now.
The mushroom cap writhed. At this range, if it got the spores off, even a Legendary Zapdos would be sleeping on the spot!
Much less a mere ordinary Pokémon like Weavile.
Today, like it or not—you're going down under Spore.
"Weavile, Ice Shard—now!"
Archer knew Grey's playbook cold. The moment he saw that twitch at Breloom's crown, he barked the counter. Anything to avoid a lights-out.
"Wea—vile!" (Got it!)
Locked knuckles, Weavile gave a heavy nod—
And shoved both arms forward!
THUD!!!
Knuckles caromed; the recoil threw both Weavile and Breloom back several steps.
Shards of ice budded in front of Weavile, points all angled at Breloom!
"Neula!" (Go—tear it up!)
Weavile growled low and heaved its hands forward.
Zip!
The Ice Shards ripped the air, cold light like buckshot fanning out.
Shrill whines chased each crystal, white trails scrawled straight for Breloom's vitals!
Even rattled by the killing spread, Breloom stuck to orders and fired Spore first!
Puff, puff, puff!
Its cap-mouth flexed and blew a cloud.
At once, the drifting spores blended into the snowfall—leaving Weavile nowhere to slip through.
And the instant before Ice Shard hit, a red beam flashed—recalling Breloom into its ball.
tat-tat-tat…
Like a machine gun, spikes peppered the ground and vanished into the ice.
"Yo, Sabrina! You're here?"
Grey raised a hand and waved past Petrel's shoulder, extra friendly this time.
"Gym Leader Grey, do you take me for a fool? The same trick won't work twice. You think just saying 'Sabrina' will make me believe she's here?"
Archer snorted at Grey's little ploy.
If you can't win straight up, fine—but using cheap feints to make him drop his guard?
"Heh. I'll put it on the record: if Sabrina actually shows up, I'll do a handstand every day to use the restroom!"
He snickered—then caught the odd look in Grey's eyes, and his expression shifted.
"Mr. Archer, you're not using this as an excuse to do something you've always been too shy to try, are you?"
Grey couldn't help stepping half a pace back.
That "handstand bathroom" visual had… way too much flavor.
"Heh. It's precisely because it won't happen that I dare to bet like that."
Archer's lip curled—then a prickle ran over his skin.
Snowflakes stopped falling.
Even the howling wind went still.
"This… is—?!"
A bad feeling spiked. A dozen possibilities flickered through his mind.
One of them made his stomach drop.
No… no way Sabrina actually—
"Mr. Archer, maybe use your peripheral vision and take a peek behind you."
Grey smiled and gave a light gesture. "Otherwise, what happens next… I can't say."
"No need."
A cool woman's voice rang out—
Not by mouth, but directly inside his head.
"Archer of Team Rocket. One of the four executives. Your power ranks near the top inside Rocket, and you're its chief tactician. Am I wrong?"
Sabrina descended behind Archer. With Grey in front and her at his back, they closed like a pincer—trapping him between.
Her appearance flipped the field in an instant.
"What's our capture plan?"
Sabrina's telepathy slipped privately to Grey, asking for the next step.
"That? Use your power to turn him into a doll. Or I can have Articuno freeze Archer and Petrel first, and then you doll-ify them."
Grey tapped his chin and laid out options.
All very merciful, as far as arrests went.
"I see…"
Nothing struck Sabrina as off. If anything, she felt there was still a lot she needed to learn from Grey.
"How about binding them in Leech Seed first—and then turning them into dolls?"
See? She could even extend the logic.
Now Leech Seed was on the table.
"Exactly. Or freeze, then Leech Seed, then the doll."
Grey gave her a big thumbs-up, eyes bright with "promising student" pride. "As expected of Sabrina—your learning speed is scary good!"
"…?"
Archer didn't follow a word.
Except—
He was very sure the two of them were not plotting anything kind.
Absolutely not.
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