"This Dugtrio's strength is no simple matter!" Lance said cautiously.
Lance wouldn't be fooled by Dugtrio's outwardly honest and simple appearance. He understood why Giovanni was known as 'Giovanni of the Earth.'
Clearly, this suddenly appearing Dugtrio was definitely a Pokémon Giovanni had sent to stop their group.
No one had noticed when Dugtrio appeared, obviously having been lurking for quite some time, waiting here for the League personnel to break in.
And Red, who possessed Aura power, had temporarily lost his subconscious detection ability due to the excessive stamina consumption from his previous battle with Mewtwo.
Due to Dugtrio's terrifying Sand Trap ability, most League personnel were now trapped in the sand pit, as pitiful as ants about to be devoured by Dugtrio.
Because their bodies were constantly sinking into the sandpit, many League personnel cried out in fear, afraid their lives would be lost here. For a moment, Lance's side's morale was completely crushed by Dugtrio alone.
The League personnel who originally had paired Poké Balls also lost their Poké Balls from their waists due to Dugtrio's sand pit manipulation ability, losing their battle capability.
Fortunately, Dugtrio's nature was gentle. Although it was more aggressive than its pre-evolution, Diglett, it was still fundamentally an honest guardian of nature, so its lethality wasn't strong. It only used the Sand Trap ability to restrict the League personnel's movement.
However, if they continued to let Dugtrio restrict their movement like this, this Team Rocket arrest operation would end in complete failure, which Lance absolutely couldn't allow.
"Dragonite, use Air Slash!" Lance commanded, planning to launch a direct assault on Dugtrio.
Dragonite flapped its small wings with wing membranes, immediately releasing countless sharp air blades that instantly approached Dugtrio's direction.
Just as Dragonite thought its move would hit, it discovered that Dugtrio below showed a disdainful expression and used Dig to burrow underground, easily avoiding the Air Slash damage.
The hiding Dugtrio even controlled the quicksand, moving the League personnel trapped in the sandpitto different positions, nearly causing them to be hit by Air Slash. Fortunately, Dragonite reacted and used Air Slash again to cancel out the damage, preventing an accident.
Sharp stone blades appeared from beneath the sand pit, hitting Dragonite's body head-on. Because Dragonite was worried about the League personnel below, Dugtrio found an opportunity to sneak attack, releasing Stone Edge that hit a critical point, causing massive stamina damage.
Due to concern for the League personnel trapped in the sand pit, Lance and Dragonite didn't dare rashly counterattack Dugtrio. Instead, Dugtrio occupied an absolute terrain advantage, continuously using Stone Edge to drain Dragonite's stamina.
Fortunately, Dragonite's strength wasn't simple. It directly used Dragon Claw, destroying the incoming sharp stone blades and foiling Dugtrio's plan.
But this situation ultimately couldn't continue for long, because Lance didn't want to easily let Giovanni, who was about to be captured, escape.
"Damn it, that Giovanni guy was already prepared. It seems there are still spies in the League passing information to Team Rocket," Lance said angrily, clenching his fists, wanting nothing more than to root out all the spies lurking within the Pokémon League.
"Sigh..."
The calmed Lance helplessly sighed, planning to have Dragonite rescue these innocent League personnel first.
"Don't worry, Lance, leave this small matter to me!" Red assured, his eyes releasing blue light as he used his psychic powers to rescue the League personnel trapped in the sand pit, then teleported them outside Viridian Gym.
Red didn't want these incompetent people to delay the action plan.
"Red, I didn't expect to trouble you again."
Lance turned to look at Red, whose face showed some fatigue, apologetically.
Lance knew Red had just experienced a major battle, so he hadn't asked Red for help, but unexpectedly, Red had actively solved the problem for him.
Red was about to throw out a Poké Ball to provide support when he found his right hand simultaneously stopped by Ash and Gary.
"Red!" "Big brother, just rest assured; leave these small matters to me!"
As soon as the words fell, Ash and Gary both looked at each other in shock.
"Ash!" "Gary, stop copying what I say!"
After speaking, Ash and Gary simultaneously sent out their most reliable Pokémon to battle.
The white light faded, revealing a well-developed Blastoise that appeared. At Gary's command, it used Hydro Pump aimed at Dugtrio in the sand pit.
"Swoosh!"
Suddenly two sharp wind blades were released from the shadows, cutting Gary's Blastoise's Hydro Pump in half, then turning into useless water that was swallowed by the sand pit below.
"How is that possible?!" Gary exclaimed in shock.
"Don't get in our way, twerps! Team Rocket's schemes are too sophisticated for a little kids like you!"
A mocking voice came from the second floor, where Duanmu appeared, toying with the Poké Ball in his hand.
The Pokémon that had released Air Cutter from the shadows earlier was naturally Duanmu's starter Pokémon, Crobat.
"Since you're a Pokémon entrusted to me by Boss Giovanni, show your strength!"
With that, Duanmu forcefully threw the Poké Ball in his hand.
The white light faded, revealing a robust Sandslash that appeared in the sand pit. After making eye contact with Dugtrio for a moment, it immediately began to act.
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!" Ash immediately commanded.
Seeing Sandslash focus its attention on him, Pikachu also defiantly used Iron Tail, its silver-glowing steel tail swinging forcefully toward Sandslash.
Since Sandslash wasn't his own Pokémon, Duanmu had no authority to command it, so he could only have Crobat delay Dragonite, which was preparing to attack.
Seeing Pikachu use Iron Tail, Sandslash immediately made its body spin at high speed and crashed into Pikachu's Iron Tail. It had used Rollout.
"Blastoise, use Ice Beam!" Gary commanded, having Blastoise attack Dugtrio ahead.
The cold Ice Beam was released from Blastoise's mouth, immediately striking toward Dugtrio's direction.
Seeing this, Dugtrio immediately used Stone Edge, continuously destroying the Ice Beam's power with sharp stone blades, then used Dig, appearing beneath Blastoise in moments and ramming heavily into its body.
"Blastoise, use Water Pulse!"
"Kame!"
Blastoise manipulated the cannons on its back, releasing two massive Water Pulses.
Just as the Water Pulses were about to hit Dugtrio, Dugtrio's shadow suddenly twisted, transforming into a claw that destroyed the incoming Water Pulses.
"This Dugtrio actually knows Shadow Claw?!" Gary exclaimed in shock.
Dugtrio didn't care about Gary's shocked gaze, stirring up a sandstorm on the spot, plunging the surrounding environment into sandstorm weather conditions.
Due to its Sand Rush ability, Sandslash's speed was significantly boosted under the sandstorm conditions.