"Oh? Judging by that reaction, you're not even surprised. Mr. Petrel, is that really the kind of person I am in your eyes?"
Grey shook his head with a sigh, his eyes full of exaggerated sorrow.
"Cut the crap! You're not walking out of here today!"
Petrel's long-suppressed rage finally burst loose, and his old buddy Weezing appeared once again!
Three times now—this was already the third time!
Every single time Petrel opened with the same Weezing. Grey was starting to feel a weird sort of emotional attachment to it.
"So, what is it this time, open with Explosion again? Too bad I've got Poliwhirl with me. Even if you want to use it, you can't."
Grey smiled as his gaze met the two executives'. He raised his hand and called out, "Rage Fist!"
"Ki-haaa!"
Annihilape excelled at wild, all-out brawls. Before Rage Fist had even fully formed, it was already striding forward in huge steps, thick ghostly light wrapping around its arms.
Ghost-type energy poured into its fists until they looked a few sizes larger, enough to make anyone's heart pound.
Then, a massive, pitch-black fist shadow solidified around its punch and slammed straight toward Weezing!
"Weezing, Sludge Bomb!"
With his own Pokémon at Elite Four level too, Petrel figured his Weezing could at least hold out for a while.
"Wee-zing～"
Weezing's twin mouths gaped open, deep purple light flaring as several clumps of sludge shot forth, crashing into the airborne Rage Fist!
Splat!
The instant the moves collided, the Sludge Bomb shattered into chunks, scattering everywhere.
The stench flooded the conference room. Wherever the slime splashed on the floor, greenish smoke rose up, leaving the room pitted and cratered in seconds.
"Nido!" (Good. Just like that!)
The exploding fragments from Sludge Bomb shaved away part of Flamethrower's power, and in that instant, the balance finally snapped.
Still driving forward with High Horsepower, Nidoqueen's whole body surged with power as all that Ground-type energy erupted at once. Her speed spiked, and she forced Blaziken's Flamethrower back by sheer force!
"Cha-o!"
Still maintaining Flamethrower, Blaziken's eyes narrowed. At some point, its twin fists had again become wrapped in roaring flames.
The air hissed and burned around its knuckles, stray embers skipping across the tabletop.
As the charging Nidoqueen bore down on it, Blaziken cut off Flamethrower and slipped hard to the right. In the same motion, it drove a blazing punch straight into Nidoqueen's exposed belly!
Boom!!!
Nidoqueen took the hit full on. Flames burst out across her chest, eating away a large chunk of the Ground-type energy coating her whole body.
"Nido…" (That… hurts…)
Clutching her chest, Nidoqueen staggered back, baring her teeth in pain.
The punch had landed square on a vital spot. Without a few seconds to catch her breath, her rhythm would fall apart. She now had to reset her offense quickly, or risk letting Blaziken dictate the pace.
"Ice Punch."
"Ki-haaa!"
Seizing the moment while Nidoqueen was still rooted in place panting, Annihilape stepped in hard!
Frost crystallized over its fist in an instant.
Even before the punch landed, the freezing air pouring off it plunged the temperature around them to the limit.
Nidoqueen's movements grew sluggish, her attempt to lift her arms slowed down by several beats.
Thud!
Annihilape's fist drove into Nidoqueen's heaving abdomen, right where she was breathing hardest.
Ice spread out from the point of impact in a wild, branching pattern, and in the blink of an eye half her body was sealed inside a thick shell of frost.
Frozen solid!
"I've gotta say, the two of you have absolutely terrible synergy. In a double battle, where's the coordination supposed to be? For members of Team Rocket's proud 'Four Executives,' you don't work together at all. I've seen better teamwork from that reporter duo over in Hoenn."
As he directed the battle, Grey's mouth didn't stop either.
It made Petrel want nothing more than to slam Grey to the floor and beat him senseless—but one look at the crowd of Pokémon flanking Grey was enough to kill that idea.
As for why Petrel and Proton didn't just send all their Pokémon out at once…
Petrel had considered it initially. But the instant he noticed Articuno over on Grey's side eyeing the field like a hawk, that thought died a swift death.
Right now it was two-on-two. Even if Grey used Articuno to snipe them, at most he'd take down two of their Pokémon.
If this turned into a full-blown melee and Articuno found the perfect moment to unleash Blizzard… the casualties on their side would be catastrophic.
"Petrel, find a gap and call the Boss…"
Proton muttered through clenched teeth, using ventriloquism to keep his lips still while he spoke, then threw himself back into commanding his side.
"Yeah, but this brat's Pokémon are freakish. They're clearly around our level, but their moves hit way harder than they should…"
Petrel was losing his cool. He edged back half a step and hurriedly sent a distress signal from his phone.
[Petrel: Boss, help! Proton and I are tied up with Grey. He's got Articuno and Zapdos—his moves completely overpower us!]
[Boss: Got it. I'll be there soon.]
"Getting distracted in the middle of a fight is really not a good idea."
Grey lifted his eyes and called out to his partners, "Annihilape, Rage Fist on Nidoqueen! Blaziken, use Flamethrower to cover Annihilape!"
"Ki-haaa!"
Annihilape's fur rose without a breeze. The aura of resentment boiling off its body poured over Nidoqueen and Weezing, stirring up a primal fear deep inside them.
It didn't quite make them flinch, but it definitely slowed them down.
Especially the half-frozen Nidoqueen—she didn't even have it in her anymore to open her mouth and fire off a move to defend herself…
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
Just what sort of Pokémon could unleash a move like this?!
Right now, in Nidoqueen's eyes, Annihilape was nothing less than a descending war god she didn't dare look at directly.
"Nidoqueen, what are you spacing out for?! Use Fire Blast, now!"
Proton's heart was in his throat as he shouted order after order.
He'd already given up on actually defeating Annihilape. If they could just stall until Giovanni arrived, that would be a win.
"Weezing, you don't get to sit this out either! Use Heat Wave to thaw Nidoqueen out!"
Seeing that towering wave of ghost energy, Petrel didn't dare slack off.
The power of this Rage Fist was far beyond what they'd seen before. Compared to the Primeape on the S.S. Anne, this Annihilape—only two weeks later—had grown to an absolutely ridiculous degree!
Even with Rage Fist maxed out, the move wasn't supposed to be strong enough to almost blow the roof off!
"Nido!"
"Wee-zing～"
Nidoqueen and Weezing gathered Fire-type energy, and the temperature in the conference room jumped in an instant.
Ssssss…
The ice pinning Nidoqueen began to melt, and in her mouth, a huge fireball twisted itself into the shape of a blazing kanji "大", smashing straight into the descending Rage Fist!
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