"Machamp, Finger Pistol: Evening Elephant!"
A crimson elephant's foot materialized in midair, descending mercilessly toward Scyther.
"Scyther, Dual Blade Slash!"
Channeling the power of Brick Break, Aerial Ace, and Air Slash into its twin blades, Scyther leaped skyward. Crossing its scythes into an 'X' formation, it swung them down, colliding directly with Machamp's Finger Pistol: Evening Elephant.
Despite the nine-tier power difference, Scyther's overwhelming force cleaved through Machamp's mightiest technique from the front.
Yet, this was no effortless feat—Scyther had exhausted the full power of its Dual Blade Slash in the process.
"Scyther, use Air Slash to clear the path, then close in with Razor Wind!"
With a flick of its blades, a slicing windstorm surged toward Machamp. At the same time, Scyther became a streak of green light, dashing forward at high speed.
Fortunately, since breaking into the Elite Four tier, Machamp had learned to better control its strength. Even after executing Finger Pistol: Evening Elephant, it wasn't left completely vulnerable to Scyther's assault.
"Machamp, Finger Pistol: Daytime Tiger—Secret Art: Six King Pistol!"
A ferocious white tiger burst forth, obliterating the Air Slash before lunging at Scyther with a deafening roar.
In a flash of steel, the white tiger was split in two, dissolving into nothingness.
But the Six King Pistol had already been unleashed—its impact rippled outward, reducing the already battle-torn battlefield to an even more devastated ruin.
"Scyther, Cross Impact!"
With a fusion of X-Scissor and devastating momentum, Scyther shattered the shockwave of Machamp's Six King Pistol.
Though its arms trembled from the immense exertion, Machamp held firm, blocking Scyther's incoming Air Slash with a flurry of Flaming Finger Pistols under Ron's command.
Since advancing to the Elite Four tier, Machamp had undergone an all-around enhancement. Its most impressive improvement, aside from raw strength, was its endurance, which had skyrocketed to an astonishing level.
Even so, against an opponent as overwhelmingly powerful as Scyther, fatigue gradually began to set in.
Watching Franz stand motionless, making no moves except commanding Scyther to press the attack, Ron immediately saw through his opponent's strategy.
Franz's plan was simple: brutalize Machamp, let it suffer under Scyther's relentless assault, then finish it off.
Ironically, Ron also needed time to prepare.
Their intentions were perfectly aligned.
"Machamp, Finger Pistol: Four Tiger Slaughter!"
Taking a deep breath, Machamp pushed its body beyond its limits. All four arms surged with power, unleashing four ferocious white tigers that charged at Scyther from all directions.
Like a master swordsman, Scyther wielded its Dual Blade Slash with deadly precision, dismantling each tiger one by one.
Though Ron had never studied swordsmanship, having worked with Bellossom, he could still recognize the truth—this Scyther lacked a sword heart.
Without it, it could never reach the true pinnacle of swordsmanship.
...
Meanwhile.
Perched on higher ground at a distance, a lone assassin lay prone, watching the battle through a pair of binoculars.
He was Klaus' insurance policy—the hidden blade waiting to strike.
Just as Franz had assumed, even after witnessing Machamp's Elite Four-tier breakthrough, the assassin still didn't believe Ron could win.
And to him, this was ideal.
Why waste effort? Simply watching the match and walking away with a hefty reward was far more appealing.
Beside him, his Marowak toyed absentmindedly with a small talisman—a charm designed to block psychic powers—out of sheer boredom.
But its twitching ears betrayed its underlying vigilance.
Then, suddenly, the talisman in Marowak's grasp began trembling violently. A blinding white glow surfaced on its surface.
The assassin didn't even need Marowak's warning. He had already noticed it himself.
He knew exactly what this meant.
When exposed to an immensely powerful Psychic-type user or Pokémon, lesser psychic-blocking artifacts like his talisman would be outright overpowered and shattered by their sheer presence.
And there was only one true threshold for such overwhelming psychic power—
Champion-level!
"Finally found you, little rat."
Before the assassin could react, a cool, mocking female voice drifted through the air.
She wasn't just acknowledging him—she was toying with him.
Resistance? Impossible.
A crushing invisible force pressed down on both the assassin and his Marowak.
Forget fighting back—they couldn't even move.
Frozen in place, they could do nothing but remain sprawled against the ground.
...
"Machamp, Finger Pistol: Evening Elephant!"
A crimson elephant's foot manifested in the air, once again crashing down toward Scyther with overwhelming force.
"End this, Scyther! Use Air Slash—then follow up with X-Scissor!"
Scyther swung its razor-sharp scythes, unleashing the Air Slash technique first. The blades of compressed wind tore through the air, surging toward their target.
Immediately after, Scyther propelled itself forward, matching its flight speed to closely follow the trajectory of its own Air Slash.
A few flashes of light streaked across the battlefield—Machamp's Finger Pistol: Evening Elephant shattered into pieces under the force of the attack.
Accelerating forward, Scyther's gleaming twin scythes slashed down on Machamp, but the latter raised its guard just in time, activating Protect, significantly reducing the impact.
Then came Iron Body—Machamp's form appeared unchanged, but its body had become as solid as steel. It withstood the remainder of Scyther's Aerial Ace, standing its ground despite the relentless assault.
Panting heavily, Machamp was only still standing due to sheer force of will.
One more attack from Scyther, and this battle would be over.
"Boss, if you don't step in now, I'm dead!"
The moment Machamp hit the ground, Ron suddenly shouted.
"Stay on high alert!"
"Scyther—Shadow Dance Slash! Finish this!"
Seeing that Ron still looked utterly unfazed—worse, that he had suddenly started calling for help—Franz immediately sensed that something was off. He urgently commanded Scyther to launch an attack.
Franz had always believed that since Ron refused to rely on the League's strength, there was no way he could stand against him. However, he had overlooked one crucial fact—the Kanto region wasn't only home to League-backed Elite Trainers.
At the sound of Franz's voice, his subordinates immediately had their Pokémon prepare for combat.
But against absolute power, all preparation was meaningless.
A pressure as if the skies themselves were crashing down engulfed the battlefield.
In an instant—Franz, his men, and their Pokémon were completely immobilized.
They couldn't move. They couldn't even roll their eyes.
The same fate befell Franz and his Scyther. Despite already unleashing its attack, Scyther suddenly seemed frozen in place, as if it had been petrified mid-strike.
And along with them, two corpses dropped lifelessly to the ground—the assassin and his Marowak.
Ron had borrowed two Fighting Attribute Plates from Shadow.
At the same time, he had requested reinforcements.
Ron understood perfectly—even if Machamp had broken into Elite Four-tier strength, there was no way it could compete with veteran Elite Four-level trainers without sufficient time to adapt to its newfound power.
Shadow didn't refuse Ron's request.
But such aid from Shadow wasn't free.
Team Rocket was never a charity—let alone Giovanni's personal division.
The resources they had provided Ron up until now were an investment, made in anticipation of future returns.
Since Ron had now made an unexpected demand that exceeded their original agreement, it was only natural that he would have to repay Team Rocket in kind.
Ron had no hesitation in accepting the deal.
After all, as he had already decided—he was going to overthrow the League anyway.
If he could earn valuable resources in the process, why not?
-----
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