Hearing Scar's call, Hikoji gave a slight nod.
In fact, even if Scar hadn't spoken, he would have acted anyway.
He had faced Nozomi before. Compared to Scar, he understood Nozomi's strength far better.
A Pokémon capable of holding off attacks for so long without being subdued—it was clear that Nozomi's Pokémon were far more formidable than just the Onix before him.
"Rhydon, Arbok!"
Hikoji sent out his Pokémon as well.
The four Pokémon surged forward at once, charging directly toward Onix.
"Four against one?" Nozomi raised an eyebrow.
He was clearly displeased.
"Trying to win by numbers? That depends on whether your Pokémon even have the strength!"
As he spoke, Nozomi pulled out another Poké Ball.
"Metagross, hold back Hitmontop and Crobat," Nozomi commanded, while concentrating on directing Onix against Rhydon and Arbok.
With Metagross's power, dealing with Hitmontop and Crobat required no real effort.
Moreover, Nozomi didn't need Metagross to defeat them—just blocking their path was enough.
Metagross nodded heavily, its saucer-shaped body gliding swiftly forward, intercepting the charging Crobat and Hitmontop.
Its ironclad body was like a metallic wall, completely barring their advance.
"Damn it… how does he have a Metagross?!"
As a Team Rocket officer, Scar knew little about Pokémon from other regions—but he was well aware that Metagross was a pseudo-legendary!
He never expected that the boy across from him would not only have an Onix of extraordinary strength, but would also pull out a pseudo-legendary from the Hoenn region!
Scar muttered a silent curse under his breath.
"Your job was to stop trainers from coming in, yet your subordinates let him through. Onix is already far stronger than usual, and you didn't warn me. And now he's pulled out a Hoenn pseudo-legendary! This is critical information, and you didn't tell me?"
If he didn't know that Hikoji was one of Giovanni's most trusted subordinates, he might even have suspected that Hikoji was secretly sent by the League as a spy.
But no matter how tough life got, Scar had to keep moving forward.
Besides, so what if the opponent had a pseudo-legendary? Without a proper fight, who's stronger or weaker was still unknown. Perhaps the boy's Pokémon were just for show.
With that thought in mind, Scar shouted to the two Pokémon hesitating before Metagross's terrifying presence,
"Crobat, Air Cutter! Hitmontop, Double Kick!"
Neither Pokémon could resist the command. Even though Metagross clearly looked formidable, they had no choice but to charge forward.
Crobat flapped its wings, sending a sharp, invisible blade of air slicing toward Metagross.
Below, Hitmontop leapt stealthily, aiming a kick at the floating Metagross.
Buzz—
Metagross trembled slightly, its mechanized mind instantly processing at high speed. Using telekinesis, it analyzed the attack trajectories of both Pokémon in a split second.
Swish—!
A translucent light wall appeared above Metagross, which then bent down to face Hitmontop's incoming kick.
Hitmontop hadn't anticipated that Metagross would ignore Crobat above and focus solely on it.
Before Hitmontop could make sense of the situation, Metagross swung its iron arms and struck down.
"Bullet Punch!"
The punch landed squarely on Hitmontop's kicking leg without evasion.
Bang!
Hitmontop collided with Arbok, who had been battling Leafeon, and was sent crashing into a rock wall.
Even with its special leg structure, the force of Bullet Punch was enough to launch Hitmontop away.
Above, Crobat's Air Cutter had already struck Metagross's temporary light wall, ten or more blades smashing against it with loud pops.
The wall wavered, but if Metagross had still been engaged with Hitmontop, it would have surely collapsed.
Now, however, Hitmontop lay motionless beneath a nearby rock.
"Crobat, dodge!"
Scar barked from a distance.
Crobat could only evolve from Golbat through an extremely close bond with its trainer, making its coordination with Scar seamless.
The moment Scar commanded, Crobat veered sharply to the side.
Whoosh!
Metagross's massive body roared past the spot where Crobat had been, scaring it enough to break into a cold sweat.
Scar's face was grim as well.
Close call… his Crobat had almost been hit.
While directing Crobat to evade Metagross, Scar also glanced at Nozomi in the distance.
But he realized Nozomi wasn't paying attention at all.
A surge of anger, shame, and fear coursed through him.
His ace Pokémon had nearly been taken down by a mere boy—without him even commanding his Pokémon?
As a mid-level Team Rocket officer, Scar struggled to calm his emotions.
But he was an experienced Rocket member, and he forced his feelings aside to focus entirely on the battle.
Trapped here, with the only exit blocked by Nozomi and the League trainers, if they wanted to escape with the Moon Stone, they had no choice but to defeat Nozomi and the trainers before them!
With that resolve, he continued directing Crobat and the recovering Hitmontop to attack Metagross.
…
Nozomi, however, was oblivious to Scar's inner turmoil.
He glanced briefly at Metagross's side, and seeing it gain the upper hand, he turned his attention back fully to the immediate battle.
"Onix, use Steel Tail! Leafeon, Magical Leaf!"
Onix's Rock/Ground type countered Rhydon and Arbok effectively, while Leafeon's Grass type had a clear advantage over both. On paper, the type advantage heavily favored him.
But the reality was different.
He wasn't just facing Hikoji alone—several other Team Rocket members, who had already finished dealing with their opponents, were joining the fray.