"HRRAH!" (Don't you dare lay a finger on the kid!)
Annihilape's roar thundered through the hall like a crack of lightning. Its heavy punch smashed through the upper part of the wall, blasting it apart before the raging Pokémon hurled itself straight through the opening!
Chunks of rubble flew everywhere, pelting the Beedrill whose wings were still beating frantically mid-air.
"Bzzzz…"
Caught off guard, Beedrill didn't even have time to dodge—one clean hit was all it took to knock it out of the sky. It was down before Annihilape even got into real close combat.
Pretty pathetic, honestly.
"What?!"
The smoker's eyes bulged when he saw the demon-like Annihilape crash in. Clearly thinking of a certain name, he spun on his heel and bolted for the exit.
Grey.
He was screwed.
But he didn't get far.
"Hey, hey, hey. You beat up one of my Fighting Dojo apprentices and now you think you can just turn around and walk away? You really do live in a fantasy world."
Grey descended slowly on Articuno's back, looking down from on high at the would-be runaway and letting out a cold laugh.
He raised his hand and gave the order. "Articuno, Ice Beam!"
"Liiing!" (How dare you hurt my kid!)
Glittering ice crystals condensed at the corner of Articuno's beak, and a beam of pure, deep blue light shot forth!
Where the beam passed, the moisture in the air froze into crystals in an instant, scattering prismatic halos in what was left of the Game Corner's neon glow.
At the shout, the smoker looked up, pupils shrinking as the icy blue radiance rushed toward him—
BOOM!!!
The Ice Beam hit dead center, freezing him solid in a heartbeat, locking him into an absolutely ridiculous pose.
The cigarette between his fingers still "smoked," the rising trail of smoke now caught mid-curl as a delicate string of icy fluff.
The Beedrill that had been firing Pin Missile earlier also got caught in the blast. The shockwave slammed into it and knocked it clean out, unable to battle.
Just one move, and the two Pokémon that had posed a real threat to Silver's life were both down.
Silver watched it all, unable to stop the swell of admiration he felt for Grey.
Way too strong. No wonder he was a Gym Leader—he'd crushed that smoker like squeezing a chick in his hand, without even needing to show more than one move.
Clearly, the gap between him and Grey was still pretty big.
"Liiing." (Kiddo, you okay?)
Articuno swooped closer, eyes full of worry as it checked Silver over.
It really was worried something might have happened to him—otherwise how was it supposed to talk trash to Zapdos later?
"I'm fine. Thanks."
Silver could read the concern in Articuno's gaze. Realizing it was genuinely worried about him, he managed a small smile in return.
"Liiing." (Good. As long as you're fine—just don't forget to help me roast Zapdos later.)
With that, Articuno swept its gaze across the hall.
Its wings spread slightly, and a shower of ice crystals drifted down.
"Whoa, so that's Articuno? It's gorgeous!"
"Too cool! If I could catch Articuno, I'd happily trade in my sports car and mansion, no complaints!"
"Trying to have your cake and eat it too, huh?"
"Elegance, truly timeless～"
The trapped Game Corner customers all raised their phones, flashes popping as they took photo after photo. The lights broke across Articuno's dazzling plumage in a scatter of tiny highlights.
Since they were stuck here anyway, grabbing a few shots of a legendary Pokémon definitely wasn't a loss.
If they got out later, they might even be able to use those photos to blow up online.
"Alright, folks, fun's over."
Grey deliberately waited three seconds, giving them enough time for a handful of shots.
Then he snapped his fingers, the crisp sound cutting through the noise of the game machines. "League operation. Please cooperate with the evacuation. You've got your pictures; now it's time to go."
"Liiing." (Or my icicles might stop being so polite.)
Articuno exhaled a breath of cold air; frost coalesced into a spiraling ice spike that shot into the nearest slot machine, cracking its screen into a spiderweb of fractures.
"Kyaaa～ Articuno is just too elegant!!"
The warning made a girl with a selfie stick shriek and stagger backward on her high heels.
Back up she did—but nobody actually left.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a legendary Pokémon.
Most people would go their entire lives without ever seeing one, and now there it was, right in front of them.
Of course they were tempted. The only thing on their minds was snapping as many pictures as possible.
Seeing no one move, Grey covered his face with one hand and sighed softly.
Guess he'd been too gentle.
"Anyone still in here after three seconds is getting treated as a Team Rocket accomplice."
He held up three fingers. Behind him, Articuno obligingly gathered another barrage of ice spikes. "Three, two…"
The countdown hadn't even finished before the crowd scattered like frightened Pidgey.
One particularly chunky guy in a Pikachu onesie even left one of his slippers behind as he ran.
Only a few stubborn types tried to hide behind pillars and sneak photos, but one glare from Articuno had them tumbling off in a panic.
"Man, I really didn't want to have to get rough."
Grey flicked nonexistent dust off his sleeve and turned to the ice statue of the smoker. "Gotta say, Articuno, your freezing power's come a long way."
He gave Articuno a thumbs-up—a timely bit of praise.
Back when he first caught it, Articuno's freezing ability had honestly been pretty weak.
At the time, Annihilape could literally shatter its ice with one finger.
Now? Articuno's gotten so much stronger that Annihilape had to use a full punch to break the ice.
"Liiing!" (Naturally. Just who do you think I am, huh? I'm Kanto's—)
"Cha-oh." (The strongest Articuno in the Kanto region, we know. You say that line so much our ears have calluses.)
Articuno had just started into its usual high-speed bragging when Blaziken popped out of its Poké Ball and cut it off.
Ever since Articuno had been caught and brought to the Fighting Dojo, they'd heard nothing but "I'm the strongest Articuno in Kanto" day in and day out.
They'd basically been forced to memorize that line, suffering Articuno's ego every single day.
"Gym Leader!"
Silver had genuinely thought he was about to die, but Grey had shown up just in time and yanked him right out from under Team Rocket's blade.
That clutch rescue had him on the verge of tears.
He was moved. Deeply.
"Hey, good thing you sent that message when you did. Otherwise I'd be visiting you in a hospital bed right now."
Grey scratched the back of his head and said to him, "Next time something like this happens, don't play hero going one-on-one. Anything you've got on you, throw it all out and mob them. The more the better."
"Yeah… got it."
Silver nodded, committing Grey's words to memory.
Next time he ran into trouble on the road, he'd send out three at once in front, and keep three in the shadows for surprise attacks.
"Alright. Time to head into Team Rocket's secret base."
Grey glanced at the nearby poster and grabbed it with one hand, yanking it down in a single motion.
Riiip—
The poster tore cleanly in two, revealing a recessed little button hidden underneath.
"Looks like this is the entrance to the base."
Worried about possible explosives, Grey released Poliwhirl first.
Then he pressed the button down hard.
"Grey, I didn't expect you'd actually come."
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