Everyone was terrified by the sudden entrance of Metagross.
"Strange… Metagross didn't look this scary when it fought Hitmontop and Crobat before," murmured a Rocket Grunt.
He glanced up at Metagross, who was relentlessly pounding on Graveler with fists that resembled a pile driver, then quickly ducked his head back down.
Better not provoke it… better not provoke it.
Hadn't he seen Chairman Hikoji's Pokémon being completely overwhelmed? This Metagross clearly wasn't a Pokémon a low-level Rocket Grunt like him could handle. Better to bury his head in the sand and stay out of trouble.
"Graveler, damn it! What are you standing there for? Go!"
Seeing his Pokémon battered and bruised by Metagross, howling in pain, Hikoji lost all composure and barked at the frozen Rocket Grunts. Gone was the earlier air of confident command.
The Rocket Grunts below had already developed a healthy dose of fear for Metagross—they didn't want to fight Nozomi.
Even though they were Rockets, their Pokémon were their lifelines in this world. How could they casually send them to their deaths?
But despite their reluctance, Hikoji was an officer. The Rocket hierarchy was strict, and defying an officer's order would be far worse than getting defeated by Nozomi.
"Arbok, Iron Tail!"
"Raticate, Crunch!"
Gritting their teeth, the Rocket Grunts ordered their Pokémon to charge at Metagross, attempting to overwhelm it with sheer numbers.
"Hey, you pathetic Rocket trash! Do you think you can ignore us?"
Yuuji, seeing the Rockets preparing to gang up on his boss, shouted, "Everyone, attack! Take out these Rocket Grunts! Don't let them interfere with Boss Nozomi!"
They hadn't lost their fighting spirit yet, and these Rockets dared to ignore them? Did they think they didn't exist?
"Charge! Show them our power!"
"Teach these Rockets a lesson!"
"Roar!"
A wave of League trainers, stirred up by Yuuji's rally, lined up shoulder to shoulder, commanding their Pokémon forward.
The reluctant Rockets, who had been circling to attack Nozomi, were not alarmed—rather, they were pleased.
This was perfect! They could avoid questioning from the organization while evading a fight with that monstrous Metagross—killing two birds with one stone. And since Hikoji wasn't their direct superior, they didn't care what he thought.
Thus, the Rockets' Pokémon instantly turned under their trainers' commands and collided with the League trainers.
The battlefield erupted in chaos.
Some Rockets, perhaps hoping to avoid fighting Metagross, deliberately dragged out the fight against their assigned opponents—but let's blissfully ignore that.
From afar, Hikoji, hoping for Graveler's rescue, trembled with anger.
"You… I…"
He pointed at the Rockets in frustration, but the words wouldn't come out.
"Seems like your authority in Team Rocket isn't much," Nozomi said, arms crossed, smiling coldly at Hikoji. "Even these low-level Grunts refuse to follow your orders!"
Hikoji fumed at the taunt. "Don't get cocky, I—"
Before he could finish, a loud crash resounded. Graveler finally went unconscious under Metagross's pile-driver punches.
Cracks ran across its rocky body, its head swollen comically large, giving it a slightly ridiculous appearance.
Onix swept its tail and hit the unsuspecting Cubone squarely, sending the small Pokémon flying.
Its skull helmet cracked further after bouncing on the ground, tumbling several times before finally coming to rest.
"You dare speak to me when you're at a disadvantage?"
Nozomi looked at the half-conscious Cubone and commented.
Wasn't it you who spoke to me first?! Hikoji cursed silently, but he wasn't foolish enough to say it out loud.
His face darkened as years of steady composure were completely shattered today.
At that moment, Scar, previously suppressed by Metagross, finally ran over and gestured to Hikoji:
Retreat?
Hikoji glanced at Nozomi, then at his fallen Pokémon, and finally at the slack Rocket Grunts.
"We're moving out!"
He withdrew the defeated Graveler and Cubone, leading the escape with Scar.
This was a total failure. His identity was now exposed—but it didn't matter. With his experience, even returning to Team Rocket would guarantee him a position of influence.
Hikoji swore silently to himself: once he had enough backup from Team Rocket, he would make Nozomi pay.
Scar glanced at Nozomi and made a throat-slitting gesture.
"Kid, next time we meet, you'll see Team Rocket's true power!"
He gestured to his subordinates.
This time, the Rockets confronting the League trainers didn't dare resist. They released Pokémon like Weezing and Electrode.
Shh—!
Smoke rose.
Amid explosions, the tunnel shook. Amid the League trainers' panic, more than ten Rocket Grunts rushed outside.
"Huh? You think you can offend me and escape?" Nozomi had anticipated this.
"Onix! Metagross!"
With a wave of his hand, Onix and Metagross flanked the escaping Rockets from both sides, ignoring the smoke and the occasional self-destruct flashes.
"Take the sky route!"
Hikoji panicked. Seeing the encircling Metagross and Onix, he shouted to Scar.
Scar nodded, and the two grabbed Crobat by its legs, soaring into the sky.
As expected of Scar's main Pokémon, Crobat weaved left and right with the two Grunts in tow, dodging rocks hurled by Onix.
But evading Onix didn't mean escaping Metagross.
The Psychic-type Metagross had already locked onto them, its rapidly computing brain predicting every escape path—there was no chance of losing it!
Just as despair deepened, a sudden flurry of footsteps echoed from the tunnel ahead.
"Reinforcements! The backup I called has arrived!"
Hikoji's face lit up with relief as he shouted to Scar.