Steven arrived at the entrance of the Weather Institute, about to ring the doorbell.
"Hey! Kid, this isn't where you belong!"
Steven turned to see a fierce-faced man pulling up his pants.
Seeing his full blue attire, he was undoubtedly a Team Aqua grunt.
"Oh—I remember now," Steven's lips curled into a slight smile.
It seemed that after encountering Team Magma, he was now running into Team Aqua.
"Scizor, Quick Attack."
Steven's hand moved subtly, and the Poké Ball on his belt quietly opened.
A red streak of light flashed past. The Team Aqua grunt—one hand still pulling up his pants and the other clutching a Poké Ball—was knocked down by Scizor's claw before he could release his Pokémon.
"Hah."
Scizor returned to Steven's side, glancing down at the Piplup by Steven's feet, which was enthusiastically waving its small flippers and punching the air.
"Piplup Piplup! (｀∇´)"""
Take that—
"At least he's not as tough as Tabitha," Steven remarked, glancing at the fallen Team Aqua grunt before turning to face the sealed entrance door.
Steven stretched his arms, then did some warm-up exercises.
"Let's go all out."
He took Metagross's Poké Ball from his belt, and with a flash, Metagross materialized before the large metal door.
"Meteor Mash!"
"Metagross!"
Bang!
The metal door was easily broken open by Metagross's powerful strike!
This action startled several Team Aqua members on the first floor, freezing them in place.
"Who are you?!"
Facing their questioning, Steven walked slowly between Scizor and Metagross, his hands casually in his pockets.
Piplup below also mimicked Steven's posture, waddling in with an arrogant expression.
"If I were you, I wouldn't waste time asking questions—I'd attack directly," Steven chuckled, answering unhurriedly.
As Steven's words fell, Scizor beside him transformed into a red streak of light and rushed forward!
Piplup also waved its small flipper, pretending to be giving commands.
In just the blink of an eye, Scizor had knocked down five or six Team Aqua members!
The Team Aqua members who escaped the initial attack finally reacted, releasing their Pokémon one after another.
"Admin! Someone has breached—"
One member was about to report, but was restrained by Metagross using Psychic.
Scizor's sharp gaze swept over the Pokémon scattered across the first floor.
They weren't even at professional level.
"Bullet Punch!"
Upon hearing the command, Scizor instantly dashed forward, its two red claws covered in a grayish-white metallic sheen, then vanished!
Only continuous "bang bang" sounds and the sight of Pokémon flying backward and falling to the ground remained.
In less than ten seconds, everyone on the first floor—except for the Team Aqua member controlled by Metagross's Psychic—had fallen!
Steven walked slowly across the floor, which was littered with various fallen Pokémon. When he accidentally stepped on a member's finger, he would lower his head politely and say,
"Ah—excuse me~"
Piplup put its flippers together, full of mock "apology": "Piplup Piplup~"
My bad, my bad~
Steven walked over to the Team Aqua member still controlled by Metagross's Psychic, looked up at him floating helplessly in the air, and said considerately:
"With such a big commotion, you shouldn't say 'breach'—you should say 'requesting backup.'"
"Remember that for next time!"
Snap!
Steven walked toward the stairs leading to the second floor, then snapped his fingers.
In the terrified eyes of the immobilized Team Aqua member, a red claw was reflected, constantly enlarging in his vision...
Several Team Aqua members who came down from the second floor to check the situation ran straight into Steven.
Steven paused, a smile on his face.
"Actually, you could have come down two seconds later, since I just finished my grand entrance."
Facing these low-level grunts, showing off and enjoying himself was quite entertaining.
"Piplup Piplup."
Piplup nodded in strong agreement.
"Alright, stop imitating me," Steven raised his foot and lightly tapped Piplup's rear.
"Piplup! ╰(‵□′)╯"
Scizor flashed forward, bypassing Steven, and appeared before the Team Aqua members in an instant!
It raised its red claw and swung it fiercely!
An overwhelming pressure rushed toward them!
Bang bang bang—
Scizor held back its strength, not aiming for their heads but striking their abdomens, causing them to lose consciousness and faint immediately.
"Metagross."
Steven turned around and saw Metagross scratching its head with one of its legs.
The stairwell was too narrow for Metagross to fit through.
"It's fine. If something gets broken, it gets broken," Steven said, looking up at the already messy first floor and feeling that a little more damage wouldn't make much difference.
After receiving permission, Metagross directly smashed through the ceiling with its steel body.
"Uh... that is indeed faster," Steven smiled helplessly.
Metagross's sudden appearance on the second floor startled the remaining Team Aqua members.
"Useless trash," a woman muttered with a grim expression.
She had tanned skin, a slender waist, and outward-curling black hair with blue highlights. Despite her outstanding appearance, her face was twisted in frustration.
With the help of Metagross's Psychic, Steven floated up from the first floor and landed steadily on the second floor.
"Piplup?!"
Piplup on the first floor froze in place.
There's still me! Don't forget about me!
Scizor instantly traversed the stairs and appeared behind Steven, its sharp gaze sweeping over the remaining Team Aqua members.
"Blue-haired kid..." Shelly, one of Team Aqua's Admins, now recognized Steven's identity.
"Boss mentioned you to me, but I didn't expect you to interfere with our Team Aqua operations as well."
"I didn't expect you to specifically investigate our whereabouts either."
This Weather Institute, built in the wilderness, naturally had few visitors.
"Just a coincidence," Steven said with a faint smile.
"Though this time, I'll be taking this seriously."
"Interfering with our Team Aqua operations—one day, you will regret this decision," Shelly said with a grim expression.
She didn't believe she could handle this Trainer alone.
"No need for warnings," Steven immediately raised his hand, about to snap his fingers.
"Piplup..."
Piplup, who had finally climbed the stairs, saw this and waved its small flipper excitedly:
"Piplup!!"
Attack!
Scizor cast a cold glance at Piplup.
Piplup instantly shivered and quickly retracted its flipper.
Just kidding—this guy's claws are made of steel! Getting hit by them would probably hurt even more than that terrifying shark!
Snap—
One second Scizor was staring at Piplup, the next it had vanished from its spot.
Bang bang bang—
The few remaining Team Aqua members fell in response!
Youth really is great—they just fall asleep so easily.
However, this did buy Shelly a brief moment to send out her Pokémon.
"Crawdaunt!"
Shelly threw her Poké Ball, and a Pokémon rushed toward Scizor surrounded by white light!
Bang!
Two claws collided in mid-air!
The white light dispersed, revealing the opponent's true form.
A large crustacean Pokémon with a blue pattern on its chest and a five-pointed star on its head was locked in a struggle with Scizor!
"Interesting," Steven watched the opposing Crawdaunt with genuine interest.
He wondered whether Crawdaunt would be sent flying or have its claws shattered first.
Scizor suddenly exerted more force, overpowering Crawdaunt!
It raised its other massive claw and slammed it down onto Crawdaunt's face!
Crawdaunt had just begun to raise its claw to block, but before it could defend, it was struck by Scizor's powerful blow!
Bang!
Crawdaunt was knocked to the ground with a single strike, struggling desperately to get up and continue fighting!
"Walrein! Use Blizzard!"
Seeing this, Shelly quickly threw out her second Poké Ball!
Walrein's body was predominantly blue, with two white rings around its neck and two white stripes on its fan-shaped tail fin. It had two long tusks, a round nose, and yellow eyes, with a large tuft of white whiskers on its face and neck.
From Walrein's wide-open mouth, a howling Blizzard erupted!
Scizor didn't even raise its eyes, continuing to hammer the Crawdaunt on the ground.
Every time Crawdaunt attempted to move, it would be struck again by Scizor's claw.
As the Blizzard approached Scizor, an invisible Psychic barrier deflected the attack entirely!
Metagross, floating behind Steven, was monitoring everything with blue psychic energy emanating from its eyes!
Shelly couldn't help but show a bitter smile.
"The battle is completely... one-sided."