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The moment the Team Rocket's ship came under attack, seven fierce and monstrous Gyarados suddenly erupted from the surrounding ocean waters.
The devastating Hyper Beam that had struck the ship moments earlier had been unleashed by them.
Standing atop each Gyarados was a mysterious figure clad in a black wetsuit. As these seven emerged from the sea on their Pokémon, more figures dressed in identical wetsuits began surfacing around the burning ship—dozens upon dozens, all bearing Water-type Pokémon of considerable strength, surrounding the Team Rocket members like a pack of wolves.
"This is a hell of a formation... To reclaim the Key Stone and Mega Stones from Team Rocket, it looks like the Sea Serpent Gang has sent out all their elite forces."
At this moment, Sato was back in the air, flying atop his Crobat. Seeing the entire ship being besieged by over a hundred Sea Serpent Gang members, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Using the system's scanning ability, he had already checked the strength of the seven Sea Serpent Gang elites who had initiated the assault on Gyarados—each one of them had at least pseudo-Elite Four level strength, and every Gyarados was at least level 50.
While the strength of the surrounding Sea Serpent Gang members varied, over thirty of them were elite-level trainers. With only rookie Rocket members and a few disguised sailors left on the ship, there was no way they could fend off such an overwhelming force.
So, faced with this situation, Sato's first instinct was to follow the classic strategy: Retreat as the best course of action. Without hesitation, he had Crobat carry him into the night sky once more.
Of course, Sato wasn't really planning to just run away. With Crobat ensuring his personal safety, he chose to release another Pokémon known for mobility—his Shiny Beautifly—to join the fight. (aka doing the bare minimum)
After all, once Rocket reinforcements arrived, he couldn't just stand around and say he bailed. The last thing Sato wanted was for "deserter" to be added to Giovanni's impression of him.
"Damn it, I am never trusting Joe again. It's already way past the promised support time—he said they'd be here before eleven! It's truly rare to find trust within Team Rocket, huh?"
Glancing around the night sky, Sato found no sign of the promised allied reinforcements and couldn't help but curse Joe's shamelessness.
If he still didn't understand what Joe was up to, he'd have to be an idiot. The guy was clearly using him as a pawn to test the waters ahead.
Meanwhile, the Sea Serpent Gang was launching a frenzied assault with their Water-types, clearly intending to sink the ship bound for Cinnabar Island.
If it weren't for Crobat's long-duration flight capabilities, Sato would've had no choice but to abandon ship and escape into the sea.
Staying on board was far too dangerous—if the ship exploded, there'd be no escape.
Luckily, the Sea Serpent Gang hadn't forgotten their objective. They mainly targeted the hull's underside, trying to force Rocket members into the water to fight them directly.
Faced with this hopeless situation, most Rocket members—unaware of the larger picture—fought back with the desperation of those ready to die, leaping into the sea to battle the Sea Serpent Gang head-on.
It seemed some of the gang members recognized Janine and Maya as well, because even though they were in the air, both were being swarmed by Flying-types under heavy attack.
As for Marlos, who had previously wreaked havoc on the battlefield, his overwhelming strength actually made the Sea Serpent Gang wary—few dared approach the Electric-type specialist.
But Marlos, fully aware of what was going on, didn't give a damn whether the enemy approached or not. He immediately released a level 42 Lanturn into the ocean, commanding it and his Magnezone to launch a coordinated air-sea assault on the gang.
Since most of the Sea Serpent Gang's Pokémon were Water-types, Marlos began dominating the battlefield with his Electric-type prowess.
Even the seven pseudo-Elite Sea Serpent members dared not send their Gyarados to confront him directly.
However, both the Sea Serpent Gang and Marlos were wearing wetsuits made of insulating material, so no matter how intense the electricity from Magnezone and Lanturn, it rarely incapacitated their trainers.
Moreover, the gang wasn't unprepared for a specialist like Marlos. Several of them began deploying Pokémon with Lightning Rod or Volt Absorb abilities—Seaking, Goldeen, Chinchou, and Lanturn—intended specifically to counter Electric-types and tie up Marlos' forces.
Meanwhile, Sato was facing problems of his own. Despite trying to slack off, the Stun Spore released by his Shiny Beautifly was causing major disruptions to the Sea Serpent Gang's Water-types.
Thanks to Beautifly's Stun Spore, nearly a third of the enemy's Pokémon in the surrounding sea were paralyzed and struggling.
Though the Stun Spore wasn't particularly targeted, it significantly eased the burden on Rocket members still in the fight. With a bit of luck, they could even knock out several of the enemy's Pokémon in the process.
At first, because of Marlos' overwhelming presence, no one noticed Sato's subtle tactic of having Beautifly scatter Stun Spore into the water.
But once the number of paralyzed Water-types began increasing—and with Marlos finally being held back—Sato's little stunt was quickly discovered.
Now, he was being hunted by more than a dozen Flying-types dispatched by the Sea Serpent Gang.
"Damn it—Crobat, leave me and help Beautifly!"
Seeing his Shiny Beautifly barely surviving the relentless barrage of Flying-type attacks, Sato's expression turned grim. He shouted the command to Crobat.
Right after giving the order, he retrieved the PokéBalls containing his Swampert and Arbok and released them into the ocean.
Crobat swiftly carried Sato to the safety of Swampert's side before darting back into the sky to aid the outnumbered Beautifly.
With Crobat joining the fray, the pressure on Beautifly dropped significantly. To her surprise, she found that with Crobat backing her up, the group of Flying-types that had overwhelmed her just moments ago was now being dominated by the speed and power of her new ally.
Most of the Flying-types sent by the Sea Serpent Gang were dual Water/Flying-types like Pelipper. Compared to Crobat and Beautifly—who had a rare Mutated Supreme Sky Splitting Stone—these Pokémon were far slower.
They had only gained the upper hand earlier by relying on numbers and type advantage. Now faced with Crobat, who had superior speed and no type disadvantage, they were instantly outclassed and picked off one by one.
Crobat, now a swift assassin cloaked in the night, darted through the air with lethal precision. With each high-speed strike, he cut down a Flying-type using Cross Poison.
(Note: Cross Poison is a Poison-type physical move with 70 power. It has a chance to poison the target and a higher critical-hit ratio.)
(Note:This is a move Crobat learns automatically upon evolution.)
On the other side, Sato—now in the ocean—ran into new trouble. His impressive performance had caught the eye of a pseudo-Elite Four level Sea Serpent Gang trainer, who was now commanding a blue sea dragon rapidly closing in on Sato's position.