Every street in Team Rainbow's territory closest to the town outskirts had been designated as a battlefield by Ryuka.
Most of the civilians in the inner districts had already evacuated, stripping the area of anything useful. Many had even uninstalled their window frames to take with them, leaving rows of low-rise buildings looking like hollowed-out ruins.
When the Team Cipher units arrived, they felt a sense of unease. Why did this place look like it had been abandoned for years? Had Team Snagem and the Jackal Gang already leveled this place in a prior war?
They didn't have much time to ponder.
Seeing that the prey had fallen into the trap, the Team Rainbow members hiding within the skeletal buildings launched a sudden offensive!
"Bombers! Fire!" a roar echoed from above.
The Cipher grunts instinctively looked up, only to see countless Poison-type Pokémon, led by Koffing, popping their heads over the rooftops on both sides of the street.
"Koff!"
The Poison-types hissed and shrieked, raining down Sludge Bombs and gas canisters upon the Cipher grunts and their Shadow Pokémon below!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Clouds of dark purple gas exploded, rapidly saturating the air.
"Shadow Wave!"
"Shadow Rush!"
The Cipher grunts immediately released more Shadow Pokémon to counter-attack. Some let out black gusts of wind to disperse the fumes, some scaled the walls toward the rooftops, and others flapped wings to lunge forward.
Throughout the chaos, the grunts remained eerily calm, fitting their gas masks into place. Their specialized protective suits were designed to withstand most toxic gases and acidic liquids, ensuring they remained unharmed even if hit directly.
"Release the second and third waves!" the Cipher Executive shouted. Grunts continuously hurled Poké Balls, flooding the street with a massive swarm of Shadow Pokémon.
They had always relied on numbers to crush their opponents. No matter how strong an enemy was, Cipher believed that deploying ten or twenty times as many Shadow Pokémon would suffice to conquer anything.
But just as they were forcefully clearing the gas, a spark of fire ignited through the haze.
"GET DOWN!!!" a frantic scream tore through the Cipher ranks.
The next instant—
BOOM—!!
A pillar of fire roared from one end of the street to the other like a flame dragon. The newly formed "Shadow storm" was insignificant compared to the sheer force of a gas explosion. Shadow Pokémon and Cipher grunts alike were tossed into the air!
Though the explosion lasted only a moment, the devastation was spectacular. The street looked as if it had been hit by a missile strike—blackened and charred. High walls of multiple buildings collapsed, exposing sturdy load-bearing pillars and twisted rebar. Thick smoke and dust drifted through the air.
"Retreat!"
On the rooftops, the Team Rainbow members recalled their injured Pokémon—those caught in the blast or struck by Shadow Pokémon—into their balls. They didn't push the advantage. Instead, taking advantage of the chaos below, they vanished with their Poison-type Pokémon.
Everyone knew that an explosion of this scale wouldn't take out well-equipped Cipher members for good. Furthermore, because Shadow Pokémon had their emotions of pain suppressed, they would relentlessly pursue even when severely injured.
Sure enough, before the smoke had even cleared, a large number of Shadow Pokémon leaped from the haze, heading straight for the rooftops, only to find them empty.
One or two Team Rainbow members who were slightly slower were pursued with terrifying speed.
"Call them back!"
The Cipher grunts, pushing themselves up from the rubble, tried to recall their Pokémon. However, those Shadow Pokémon seemed to have been swallowed by the buildings, disappearing from sight instantly.
"Count the heads! Anyone injured?"
"Yes!"
"How many Pokémon lost?"
"Still checking!"
"This Team Rainbow..."
The Cipher Executive brushed the dust off his suit, frowning as he tried to contact the Commander, only to find that their internal frequency had been jammed. "Something is very wrong!"
"Should we retreat? Regroup with the other squads?" a grunt suggested. This detachment responsible for suppressing Team Rainbow consisted of about three hundred men: two hundred on the surface and one hundred in the underground.
Fortunately, the column had been spread out, so the explosion hadn't hit everyone. Unfortunately, those at the epicenter were wounded, and many Shadow Pokémon were incapacitated—even without pain, there's a physical limit; if they're knocked out, they're out.
"No. We press on!" The Executive glared at the grunt, rejecting the proposal.
To retreat and regroup after such a minor setback would be a massive embarrassment. Furthermore, they weren't cornered yet; their reserves of Shadow Pokémon were still ample.
"Head straight for their headquarters! I don't believe that place is empty too!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Cipher members continued forward, though with much more caution. They now deployed drones to scan the rooftops for any further ambushes.
-----
In Hiding
Kashiwagi lowered his head, contemplating the footage being transmitted from the micro-cameras.
"It seems the Third Generation Shadow Pokémon still haven't solved the issue of going berserk during prolonged battles," Wes commented from the side.
Shadow Pokémon were hyper-aggressive due to their closed hearts. If they weren't recalled in time, they would eventually lose control and attack their own trainers. This was why even Cipher didn't dare use them recklessly for things like scouting; they had to rely on themselves for that.
"Then let's take this chance to give them a real blast," Kashiwagi said softly.
The Damp ability didn't just work by a Pokémon standing there; it required the air to be kept humid, meaning a Damp Pokémon had to remain on the field for a long time. The volatile nature of Shadow Pokémon meant they couldn't stay out indefinitely, which meant Cipher had no permanent defense against explosions.
As he finished speaking, another pillar of fire erupted in the distance, followed by a tremor that shook the nearby buildings. It seemed the second trap—a stone array of Graveler and Golem using Self-Destruct and Explosion—had been triggered.
"The underground team should be in position. Leave it to us; I guarantee these guys won't be coming back up," Wes said as he headed toward the Team Rainbow Underdome entrance.
Unlike the surface, the underground was semi-enclosed. Once the entrances and exits were blocked, the Cipher units would have no way out. Wes was going to give them a lesson they'd never forget.
On the surface, because there were other means of communication, Kashiwagi had to play hit-and-run to prevent the Cipher units from calling for massive reinforcements. He needed to stall them, ensuring the other factions in Pyrite Town were weakened to the absolute limit by Cipher first.
"What's their current position?"
"Two streets away!" Otsuka's voice crackled in Kashiwagi's ear.
"Good." Kashiwagi stood up and looked at Ayana and the others behind him. "It's our turn to take the stage. Remember: if you're hurt, retreat. Don't overdo it. We don't need to fight them to the death."
"Understood!" the group replied in unison.
-----
Meanwhile, in the territories of the other factions, Ryuka and Frobo were moving through the shadows, gathering all the sleeper agents of the Resistance and coordinating the timing for the general uprising. Everyone was working at a fever pitch.
At that moment, a convoy was approaching Pyrite Town from the northwest, less than five kilometers away. As they reached a high point in the terrain, they could see the plumes of fire erupting within the town.
"Looks like we need to hurry," a man with silver-blue hair stood on top of a vehicle, lowering his binoculars. "Captain Drake, I'll go on ahead!"
"Go!" Inside the car, Drake puffed on his pipe and gave a slight nod.
In a flash of white light, Steven Stone took to the air, standing atop his Shiny Metagross as it accelerated toward the burning skyline of Pyrite Town.