"Magnezone, Zap Cannon! Electivire, Volt Tackle!"
At the entrance of the Pokémon Center, Lt. Surge struck like a lightning-forged blade, tearing a hole through the chaotic battlefield by force.
As an outstanding undercover agent capable of being placed by Team Rocket as a Gym Leader, Lt. Surge's strength had already reached High Ace level.
At this moment, he held nothing back, sending out his strongest Magnezone and Electivire to strike the Underground with full force!
"Vermilion Gym Leader is here! We're saved!"
"Kyaaaa~ So strong! So manly! So brutal!"
"Finally! We've been waiting for you… It's time to fight back!"
"…"
There was no denying that all "Surge's," specially, Lt. Surge, had long since made a name for themselves, and had always been considered the symbolic guardians of Vermilion City.
So his arrival instantly lifted the spirits of many local Trainers, who charged forward without hesitation!
At that moment, Sato clearly saw Fish-Eyeds quietly approaching Lt. Surge step by step, in stark contrast to the fleeing members of the Underground around him!
Should he stop him…?
Sato narrowed his eyes, momentarily caught in hesitation.
If Lt. Surge had "truly" reformed and considered himself part of the Pokémon League, Sato would never believe it.
But if not, why would the Underground Organizations send Fish-Eyeds to assassinate him during such a crucial "war"?
Could it be that the A-12 base incident had made Team Rocket's higher-ups think Lt. Surge had betrayed them, and they wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of him?
Even when Fish-Eyeds had stealthily approached Lt. Surge without anyone noticing, Sato still stood silently in place.
He wouldn't save him.
No matter which side Lt. Surge belonged to now, he was Sato's enemy!
Swoosh~
A purple figure silently streaked past Lt. Surge, and it wasn't until the shadow vanished that his expression suddenly changed.
Splat!
Crimson blood spurted from Lt. Surge's chest, splashing onto the ground two meters away. The surrounding crowd instantly turned pale at the sight.
Lt. Surge immediately recalled Magnezone to protect himself. Then, three bursts of red light flashed as three Magneton emerged one after another, circling him continuously and ready to use Protect at a moment's notice.
"WHOOO!?"
Only then did Lt. Surge roar in anger, a bit short of breath.
However, no one answered.
That purple figure seemed to have never appeared at all. The crowd looked stunned, but that was all.
As Sato's former assassin mentor, Fish-Eyeds was extremely skilled in stealth. His only flaw was that pair of lifeless, fish-like eyes he was born with!
But as long as no one looked closely… who would care who he was?
Sato could also tell that Fish-Eyeds' orders clearly weren't to kill Lt. Surge.
Otherwise, that first strike would've gone straight for the kill.
Lt. Surge cautiously scanned his surroundings, hurling sarcastic taunts, but still couldn't provoke Fish-Eyeds into revealing himself.
"MAGNEZONE, DISCHARGE, CONTINUE THE ATTACK!"
Finally, Lt. Surge couldn't hold back anymore. He commanded Magnezone to resume clearing out enemies.
Swoosh💨
The purple figure reappeared. But this time, the three Magneton beside Lt. Surge reacted with incredible speed; instantly unleashing Thunder Wave, successfully snaring the purple figure mid-air!
Crobat!
A small, nimble Crobat was forced to reveal its true form as its speed halved under the effects of Thunder Wave.
But in the next moment, Crobat immediately flew higher, then darted off into the distance without even glancing back. Clearly not wanting Lt. Surge to identify its Trainer.
"Humph! Magnezone, Electivire, keep attacking!"
Lt. Surge snorted coldly and continued to issue commands.
The next moment, something unexpected occurred again!
Suddenly, a mass of vines burst from beneath Lt. Surge's feet, wrapping around him in an instant, startling the Magneton into spinning even faster.
"AAARGH!"
A scream rang out from inside the vines; Lt. Surge's previous wound had been squeezed, causing him such pain that he couldn't help but cry out!
When it came to assassination attempts targeting the Trainer directly, the killer's stage or level often didn't matter much.
As long as the opportunity presented itself, even a regular Pokémon could end an Ace Trainer in one blow.
But Lt. Surge's scream forced Sato to "passively" shift his attention toward the scene.
The two of them weren't far apart, and as the pair who had "fought side by side" to discover Base A-12, many ordinary people viewed their relationship as close.
"Honchkrow, Air Slash."
Sato sighed, he had no choice but to step in and help!
In the air above, Honchkrow flapped its enormous wings, and two sharp pale blue blades whistled down.
Air Slash descended directly, but just before hitting the ground, it shifted and sliced horizontally instead.
☽ Swoosh~ ☾ Swoosh~
Two crisp cutting sounds echoed. The vines were severed cleanly at the base by the Air Slash, instantly losing their restraining power.
Lt. Surge struggled to climb out of the vines, his pale face turning to look at the airborne Honchkrow and then at Sato not far away.
His expression was complicated…
At the same time, Sato no longer held back and locked eyes directly with Fish-Eyeds, who was hiding among the crowd.
'Long time no see… Fish-Eyeds.'
In the next instant, Zoroark beside Sato had already dashed forward, its target unmistakably being Fish-Eyeds.
The opponent, however, remained expressionless as he sent out a Fearow and immediately turned to… FLEE!
His mission had only been to delay that mad dog Lt. Surge. Now that he had encountered the unbeatable Sato, he naturally wasn't going to stick around.
He was an assassin, not some martyr trading his life.
"Honchkrow!"
"Kroow!"
Honchkrow obediently landed beside Sato, tilting its body so Sato could climb onto its back.
"Honchkrow, go after him."
"Kroow! Krow!"
With a powerful beat of its wings, Honchkrow shot back into the sky and quickly soared high above.
Over the years, Fish-Eyeds had grown quite a bit after becoming a Silver-Rank Assassin.
At the very least, the Fearow beneath him had now reached Mid Ace level, but in terms of Speed, it was still slightly outmatched by Honchkrow.
Facing Sato's pursuit, even the ever-expressionless Fish-Eyeds couldn't help but furrow his brow.
He certainly knew of Sato's growing fame. Not to mention, the two had already clashed years ago, and even back then, Sato had beaten him head-on.
Now that Sato was chasing him relentlessly, even ignoring the other people trying to kill him, Fish-Eyeds couldn't help but feel both anxious and puzzled.
'I wasn't even trying to assassinate you… why the hell are you this eager to chase me!?'
Smoke and fire engulfed the city as Trainers clashed everywhere, leaving no decent place to hide.
Seeing that Sato was rapidly closing the gap behind him, Fish-Eyeds had no choice but to adjust course and fly toward the forest.
At the same time, Crobat finally regrouped with Fish-Eyeds and was sent out again, trying to interfere and block Sato's pursuit.
Then… Sato stopped chasing.
When Fish-Eyeds finally found a hiding spot in the forest near Vermilion City, he noticed that Crobat had a piece of paper tied to its leg, swaying and fluttering as it flew back toward him.