The whole combo left even Beedrill struggling to keep up.
Fortunately for it, once Ditto was recalled, the pressure dropped sharply.
Bang, bang, bang!
Off in the distance, the impacts between the two Psychic-type Pokémon rang out again and again.
Psychic types or not, what they were actually using right now was pure, primitive hand-to-hand combat.
"I'm the strongest!"
Mewtwo roared, swinging a straight punch at little Riolu!
But a shimmering barrier bloomed in front of little Riolu.
The pale blue Protect shattered on impact, yet little Riolu had already wound up its own attack!
Lightning burst from its fist, golden bolts racing wildly up Mewtwo's arm.
Thunder Punch!
Crackle!
The spherical hand of Mewtwo's arm was scorched black by the electricity, and in a fury it grabbed little Riolu by the wrist—
Only for Mewtwo to be thrown right back a moment later.
"This guy's mental age really is like a three-year-old. I just tossed a few lines at it and it immediately insisted on fighting with nothing but its body."
Little Riolu landed back at Grey's side, rubbing its chin, black ears twitching.
For them, that was an ideal outcome.
If this had been an extremely rational Mewtwo, Mew could only have held it back for about five minutes while keeping collateral damage to a minimum.
But with this "little brat" version of Mewtwo? A few taunts had already turned the whole fight into a straight-up brawl.
Which actually minimized the fallout.
"What did you say to it to make Mewtwo this mad?"
Grey was baffled. He'd just been racking his brain over how to fall back and drag Giovanni toward Lance, and then Mewtwo had just up and thrown away its own advantage.
"I just told it, 'You're only my copy. Even if you're my equal in psychic power, that doesn't mean you're on my level in everything else—especially since I've picked up a few tricks in hand-to-hand combat lately.'"
Little Riolu scratched its head, genuinely puzzled at how a throwaway remark had sent Mewtwo into such a rage.
"Mewtwo, don't let them mess with your mindset."
Giovanni saw Mewtwo land beside him and realized it was only fighting in close-quarters now. He barked a warning.
"I don't need your orders. I'm the strongest!"
Mewtwo's mentality had already been dragged off course by Mew; all that philosophical introspection had been tossed aside.
Right now there was only one thing on its mind: battle.
It was going to defeat Mew.
To prove Mewtwo was the strongest of them all!
"Mew, you really are something."
Watching Mewtwo's posture, Grey couldn't help giving little Riolu a thumbs-up.
Just with words alone, it had kept Mewtwo from fighting at full power. All he needed to do now was keep an eye out for a surprise strike from Beedrill.
"Hoo… I didn't expect today's fight to twist around like this. You really have surprised me…"
Giovanni calmed his breathing, his gaze flicking between Beedrill and Mewtwo.
Then his eyes slid over to Proton and Petrel.
Suddenly he understood a bit better how Petrel had managed to get rolled by Grey so many times.
With a Pokémon like that covering him…
It'd be hard not to get captured.
If even a Champion-tier trainer like himself couldn't easily take Grey down, then someone like Petrel—barely up to an Elite Four gatekeeper's standard—never stood a chance.
"Boss, we should really pick a good moment to slip out…"
Catching Giovanni's glance, Petrel sidled a bit closer and murmured the suggestion.
Grey was too terrifying. If they didn't bail soon, he was genuinely scared even the Boss would get caught.
They could still make it now. But if League reinforcements arrived…
If even two Elite Four members showed up, getting away would be very difficult.
"Boss, this time I'm with Petrel on this one. If we don't run now, there really won't be time."
This round, Proton was on the same page as Petrel.
"Grey's scheming is no worse than Petrel's. The longer this drags on, the more I worry he'll pull some insane stunt out of nowhere."
"?"
Petrel shot Proton a venomous glare.
What was he being dragged into this for?
Was he really that kind of shady, scheming bastard?!
"Don't sweat the details. You're the only example I could come up with on short notice that really captures how devious Grey is."
Proton patted Petrel's shoulder solemnly as he spoke, telling him not to take it personally.
"Forget it, I'll argue with you about it when we get back."
Petrel pouted, then tried once more to nudge Giovanni toward retreat. "Boss, let's get out of here, all of us."
"Yeah. We'll leave as soon as we get an opening."
Giovanni nodded.
If they didn't go now, they really would be too late.
He could feel the sense of crisis, and not just from Grey.
There was something up above, too.
No doubt the League had sent someone.
Someone just barely weaker than Red and Blue…
Clearly, the League didn't know he was the one here this time.
Otherwise, there was no way they wouldn't insist on sending Red and Blue over.
"Oh? Looking for a chance to leave, are we?"
Seeing the trio muttering together in the distance, Grey smiled and spoke in a lazy drawl. "You chose not to leave at the start. Now you're going to find getting out is a lot more difficult."
"You're not afraid my Beedrill will kill you?"
Giovanni narrowed his eyes. The words were there, but the movement wasn't.
With Mew on the field, he didn't dare make any reckless plays.
All he could do was threaten Grey verbally, hoping to scare him off.
On his side he had two Champion-tier Pokémon. As long as Mewtwo could calm down a bit and properly pin Mew down, there was still a sliver of hope that Beedrill could land a killing blow.
Slim, yes—
But better than nothing.
"I've already rescued this many Pokémon from Team Rocket's hands. You think 'afraid' means anything to me anymore?"
Grey's smile widened. Articuno and little Riolu stood in front of him, facing down Team Rocket's side.
No one moved to break the tense quiet.
Even Mewtwo stood frozen where it was.
"Mew, you call him yet?"
Grey used Aura to speak across the team.
"Yeah, yeah, I did. At first that Dragonite thought it was a scam call. I had to talk and talk before it finally believed me and flew over with its Trainer."
Little Riolu answered without any visible change in expression.
Judging by that guy's strength, it'd only take a few minutes to get down here.
"Feels like he's almost here. Stall them for one more minute."
With that update, Grey extended his Aura outward.
Sure enough, he sensed a terrifying pressure at the edge of his Aura's reach—and it was friendly.
Reinforcements were here!
"Use Double Blizzard!"
He did feel a little bad for the incoming Dragonite, but they already had snow weather going. Not using Blizzard would just be a waste.
Little Riolu pressed its palms together, brilliant blue light flaring between them. A storm of wind and snow exploded outward, dragging the temperature down to freezing in an instant!
Articuno lent its own power, spreading its wings and whipping up a second raging Blizzard from the inner edges of its feathers.
The two Blizzards collided and merged, saturating the air with killing intent as a ready-made white maelstrom surged forward!
Giovanni raised his hand, the green light at his fingertip pouring into Beedrill's body.
"Bzzz—!"
Beedrill's wings shrieked as they vibrated, its brownish fighting aura flaring to full brightness!
Seeing this, Mewtwo clenched its left hand in the air. A bright blue Aura Sphere snapped into existence at its palm and fired straight into the heart of the Blizzard to suppress it!
The instant those forces collided, a deafening crash boomed from the ceiling above!
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810