Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
-----------------
No matter how furious Marlos felt at this moment, under the supreme will of Team Rocket's leadership, even his most respected and feared cousin, Lt. Surge, had to bow his head.
As for him—still just a fledgling—there was even less room to resist. All he could do was obediently comply.
The free-for-all among the Team Rocket rookies on the ship was nearly at its end. According to the rules, if no one launched a new challenge within two minutes, the unofficial trial would be declared over.
But the fishermen hadn't taken their cut yet. Naturally, this chaotic battle between the Team Rocket newcomers wasn't going to end so cleanly.
Just as the battle was winding down, the eight fishermen—including Sato—who had been staying on the sidelines finally decided to make their move.
What surprised Sato was that the first to strike wasn't any of the usual schemers, but the cloaked man riding a Magnezone. The man seemed to be in an extremely furious state and launched a vicious attack on the Team Rocket members below.
The cloaked man's Magnezone was indeed powerful. Its control over Electric-type energy was on full display as eight thick white electric currents—each the size of an arm—burst out simultaneously from its body.
In that instant, those eight white currents extended from Magnezone like writhing tentacles, launching a full-on assault on the surrounding Team Rocket members.
In a single move, the cloaked man tried to eliminate all eight of the remaining members on the ship at once.
And he almost succeeded. After enduring the brutal skirmish, the Team Rocket members on the ship were already in terrible shape. As soon as Magnezone attacked, four of them instantly lost the ability to battle.
The remaining three weren't defeated outright, but their guarding Pokémon had already been knocked out in one blow, and the few Pokémon they had left weren't enough to put up a joint defense against a Magnezone that now seemed like the embodiment of thunder.
"Team Rocket doesn't need weaklings. Just get lost already. Magnezone, keep using Thunderbolt—clear the field."
Marlos was utterly unbalanced at the moment. He needed a place to vent his fury, so he chose the already battered Team Rocket rookies around him as his targets.
However, once he activated his group-taunt aura and revealed his terrifying strength, the rest of the Team Rocket members who remained on board—though battered—immediately and tacitly joined forces to take down Marlos.
Soon, over a dozen Ground-type and Grass-type Pokémon were launching a coordinated assault on Marlos and his Magnezone.
"Hmph. Magnezone, Charge, enter overdrive flight mode, then use Boomburst to clear them out."
Seeing himself surrounded, Marlos didn't care one bit. He immediately issued the command to his Magnezone.
With its Levitate ability, Magnezone instantly entered a charged-up state, its three eyes glowing ominously red.
In the next second, it moved like it had been injected with pure adrenaline—its agility more than doubled.
Magnezone tore through the air like a Boeing fighter jet, dodging every attack from the Ground- and Grass-types below, whose mobility was generally far inferior.
Simultaneously, waves of invisible Boomburst radiated from Magnezone's body, inflicting massive damage on the Pokémon below.
"This guy's completely lost it. Sure, get mad—but do you have to go out of your way to make enemies like this?"
Sato, descending slowly from the night sky on his Crobat, frowned as he watched Marlos rampage unchecked across the deck.
The few Rocket rookies still standing were already the cream of the crop. Assuming they didn't die, they'd likely become important pillars of the organization in the future. Marlos' behavior, offending so many all at once, was baffling to Sato.
Of course, Sato didn't know that Marlos had recently had his Key Stone and Mega Stone forcibly confiscated by the organization. If he had known, he wouldn't have found Marlos' behavior all that strange.
After all, losing billions—possibly even tens of billions—of PokeDollars in one stroke, and having absolutely no power to resist? If it weren't for his strong heart, Marlos might've already gone insane. As it stood, he was just venting on people.
Still, Marlos wasn't completely unhinged. He didn't start biting everyone like a mad dog. He made a very calculated decision to avoid provoking Sato and the other fishermen who were still at full strength—and instead chose soft targets.
Seeing this, even Janine and Maya didn't step in to stop him. Most of the fishermen were happy to sit back and enjoy the show.
After all, for every participant here, reducing the number of competitors was a win.
Since Marlos wasn't coming after him, Sato naturally had no reason to interfere with his rampage. But he wasn't about to accept Marlos' "charity" either. So instead, he went after one of the remaining Team Rocket members to take his slot legitimately.
He targeted a middle-aged Team Rocket member who was the closest to him. The man was no pushover—under Sato's quiet observation, he had already taken out six other Team Rocket members who had come for him.
The cost? He had lost five of his Pokémon in the process. Now, only a battered Hitmonchan remained by his side.
"Crobat, use Gust to blow them away."
Sato didn't want to draw attention like Marlos or attract too much enmity from his peers. So when he defeated the middle-aged man, he made sure not to go overboard.
Crobat nodded in understanding. With a sweep of its wings, it became a flash of purple light and darted toward the man and his Hitmonchan.
The Team Rocket man was no coward. He wasn't about to give up without a fight. He immediately ordered Hitmonchan to counter with Thunder Punch.
Unfortunately, Crobat, with a base Speed stat of 130, was far too fast. Even when carrying Sato, with its quick reflexes, Hitmonchan couldn't land a single blow—not even close.
In the end, the man and his Pokémon could only watch helplessly as a white whirlwind lifted them up and flung them off the deck and into the cold, dark ocean.
After securing a spot, Sato and Crobat found a secluded corner of the deck and sat down quietly, waiting for the internal Team Rocket battle to conclude—and for the real fight to begin.
Roughly two minutes later, the battle finally ended. Only about thirty Team Rocket members remained on deck. Most were panting heavily, expressions filled with the look of those who'd just survived a disaster.
But before they could even begin to feel relieved, the ship was suddenly struck by several orange beams fired from the surrounding seawater. Explosions tore through the hull, and the entire ship began to shake violently.
The sudden attack caught the exhausted Team Rocket members completely off guard. Some who had been near the edge of the deck were flung overboard by the violent tremors, landing in the freezing black ocean below.
Then, the previously calm and dark waters began to stir with waves and light. At some point, a group of black-clad divers had completely surrounded the ship.