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The Team Aqua members wore their trademark blue bandanas, giving them a pirate-like appearance. Three of them were clearly standard grunts, but the man standing at the front, judging from his posture and presence, was obviously a higher-rank officer.
Despite also wearing a bandana, it was easy to see he was bald underneath. His narrow eyes and gaunt cheeks gave him a sharp, unfriendly look.
One grunt whispered nervously to him, "Commander Dee, what do we do?"
The man called Dee glanced at Kai several times, then gritted his teeth.
"Don't panic. He's alone. If we take him down, we can still escape!"
He reached for the Poké Ball on his belt, and the other grunts followed suit.
Blue flashes lit up the corridor, and several Pokémon materialized as large, crimson, lobster-like creatures.
Kai recognized them instantly:
Crawdaunt, Water/Dark-type, the Rogue Pokémon.
Just like Team Magma commonly used Houndoom, Team Aqua relied on Crawdaunt as their standard-issue Pokémon for frontline grunts.
At over a meter tall, Crawdaunt resembled Earth's giant American lobster, with a red body marked by two blue stripes across its chest. Perhaps because its appearance matched Team Aqua's color scheme, it had become their signature Pokémon.
Crawdaunt had a yellow star-shaped crest on its forehead and massive pincers on either side. It was an aggressive creature known for picking fights, throwing other pond Pokémon out of their territory, and leaving no room for anything else to coexist. They were notoriously difficult to train.
Kai examined the pack of Crawdaunt. Psychic-type moves were useless against Dark-types, so he drew another Poké Ball and sent out his Scizor.
Both sides stared each other down, pincers raised, waiting for orders.
And while both Scizor and Crawdaunt had intimidating claws, typing alone tilted the battle: Bug-type attacker versus Dark-type defender, Scizor had the advantage.
Fortunately for the Aqua members, they still had numbers on their side. And just then, Commander Dee released his own Pokémon:
A Pelipper.
As its name implied, Pelipper possessed a massive bill larger than its own body, functioning like a pouch capable of scooping up food or enemies. Pelipper often nested on seaside cliffs, placing their chicks inside their enormous beaks. In calm weather, they drifted above the waves searching for prey, dipping their huge beaks into the sea to swallow water and food in a single gulp.
Pelipper itself wasn't the issue—but using a flying Pokémon inside a cramped office building? Not smart.
Its wingspan was restricted, its flight ceiling too low.
Unless…
Before Kai could finish the thought, the Aqua Pokémon launched themselves forward.
Despite having the advantage in numbers, the Crawdaunt clearly had no coordination. They all charged at Scizor in a clump, crowding each other, blocking their own attack paths.
Scizor moved like a silent red blur. Its twin claws slashed repeatedly X-Scissor cutting clean arcs through the air.
By the time Scizor passed through them, all three Crawdaunt collapsed simultaneously.
The Aqua grunts stood frozen with wide eyes.
Only now did they realize the terrifying difference in strength.
Only one Pokémon still stood between them and Scizor: Commander Dee's Pelipper.
"What are you idiots waiting for!?" Dee barked. "Send out your next Pokémon!"
"Huh? Oh—right!"
The grunts fumbled for their second Poké Balls. Blue light flashed—
—and Pelipper suddenly veered sharply, flapping toward the nearest window.
At the same moment, Dee sprinted after it and grabbed onto its body, using it as a vehicle as they rushed headlong for the glass.
So that was his plan.
The moment he saw the battle turn against him, he intended to flee amid the confusion.
And by doing so, he abandoned his subordinates completely.
The three grunts froze in disbelief at their commander fleeing without them.
But before Dee and Pelipper could break through—
A loud thud echoed.
Pelipper hit an invisible wall and rebounded violently.
Beside Kai, Gardevoir slowly lowered her hand.
A telekinetic barrier.
Kai had already predicted this escape attempt. There was no chance he'd let Dee get away.
Though the situation returned to its previous stalemate, Team Aqua's morale had completely collapsed.
Their commanding officer had just tried to ditch them and flee alone.
"How could you do this to us, Dee!?" one grunt shouted angrily.
"You fools!" Dee snapped back. "Did you not recognize him? That's the man who won the Silver Conference! There's no way we can beat someone like him! If we stay here, we'll all be caught. I have to get the stolen restoration medium back to the Boss—that's more important than anything!"
And in truth, Dee wasn't lying. The moment he recognized Kai, he knew the battle was unwinnable. His first instinct was to secure the stolen fossil-restoration medium and bring it safely to the Aqua leadership.
His loyalty to Team Aqua was unquestionable.
His methods… less commendable.
But from the organization's perspective, the mission outweighs personal honor. If given another chance, he would make the same decision.
The remaining grunts tried to protest—
—but Kai gave them no opportunity.
With a single gesture, Scizor and Gardevoir surged forward, took down Pelipper, and restrained every single Aqua member on the floor.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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