Extreme Speed was still faster in the end, and Arcanine managed to rescue Growlithe from Ninetales' Psybeam at the very last moment!

Unfortunately, Growlithe's Trainer had already been killed… its neck mercilessly snapped by Ninetales.

For the fiercely loyal Growlithe, that was almost no different from death itself!

"Imprison, then Iron Tail."

Miyamoto gave the command casually, and Ninetales only needed a flicker in its eyes to break Arcanine's Extreme Speed.

In the blink of an eye, Ninetales kicked off with all four legs and appeared right beside Arcanine. Its nine tails, shimmering with radiant silver light, fanned out like a giant fan, sending Arcanine flying over a hundred meters away!

"ARCANINE!"

Officer Jenny watched in horror as her Arcanine was sent flying without any resistance, coughing up blood. This was clearly more than just "losing the ability to battle".

"Fufufu~ Officer Jenny of Viridian City… don't tell me you were behind all this down here?"

Miyamoto laughed as she walked toward Jenny. Even though this was Viridian City under League jurisdiction, it felt like Miyamoto was the real ruler here…

"…You're Miyamoto, Team Rocket's highest-ranking Admin!" Jenny forced herself not to step back despite the fear surging in her heart. Though she was frantic about Arcanine's condition, she could only grit her teeth and send out two more Pokémon.

Pidgeot!

Blastoise!

The moment the two Pokémon appeared, Ninetales was already on the move. Its speed and explosive power far exceeded theirs.

In a flash, Ninetales was above Pidgeot's head. A gust of scorching wind instantly ignited most of Pidgeot's feathers!

"B-BLASTOISE, HYDRO PUMP!"

Officer Jenny screamed the command, terrified. But just as Blastoise aimed its cannons at Ninetales, the fox had already used Pidgeot as a springboard and vanished again.

BOOM!

Pidgeot crashed heavily to the ground, in even worse shape than Arcanine… clearly beyond saving!

"Slooow…bro~"

At that moment, the Slowbro floating in the sky couldn't stand by any longer. It had seen Officer Jenny's blue uniform before, it knew she was an ally of its Trainer.

A timely Heal Pulse shot down onto the critically injured Pidgeot, pulling it back from the brink of death.

Officer Jenny was overwhelmed with joy. She immediately took the chance to recall Pidgeot into its Poké Ball to stabilize its injuries.

Meanwhile, the tanky Blastoise managed to avoid being one-shot thanks to its type advantage; but in just a few seconds, it was already near the end of its strength.

By this point, the wild Pokémon had mostly been evacuated. Slowbro turned to Ninetales with a solemn expression.

It was no match!

One look was enough for Slowbro to understand the gap between them. So it activated Trick Room without hesitation, then raised its head and cried out… calling for its Trainer's aid!

With Trick Room now active, Ninetales immediately sensed something was wrong and cautiously refrained from launching an attack.

Seeing that Will's Slowbro had made its move, Rosa no longer hesitated and bolted toward Arcanine. She had to save her partner at the very least…

As for Miyamoto in front of her? Let the one who caused this mess deal with her! Jenny's heart buuurned with bitter frustration.

Slowbro -Peak Ace, one of Will's main Pokémon- had been stuck at the edge of breakthrough for some time now.

Ninetales -High Elite Four level- the only Pokémon Miyamoto had revealed so far. Its strength was utterly overwhelming.

Fortunately, Slowbro was very clever. Instead of fighting head-on, it immediately used Trick Room on its own, forcing Ninetales to hold back.

Taking advantage of that brief stalemate, Will -who had received the distress signal- was already urging Lance toward the surface.

Along with them came two not-so-small "fish". Two Team Rocket Star Hunters.

"Miyamoto!"

As one of Team Rocket's two highest-ranking Admins, Miyamoto's name was infamous among all Investigators, police officers, and League executives alike.

A sharp-tongued, cold-hearted, merciless, cunning, and unpredictable witch!

And now, here she was, brazenly appearing on the streets of Viridian City… and she had almost killed Officer Jenny.

"So that's who it is… The League's shining Flying Master Elite Four, Lance-chan~ So, what do you say? Interested in joining Team Rocket?"

Hitting a person where it hurt most… Miyamoto smiled slyly as she mocked him to his face. Even with all his composure, Lance couldn't help but grit his teeth in anger!

"Fufu~ Thank you, Lance-chan, for bringing my two useless subordinates all the way up here. Saved me the trouble of going down to fetch them myself."

As she finished speaking, Ninetales suddenly blurred and vanished, reappearing right beside the two captured Star Hunters.

No hesitation. She was stealing them back!

"Slooow…bro~"

Slowbro frowned, realizing Ninetales didn't care about it at all. That only made it more determined.

Under the effects of Trick Room, Slowbro calmly launched a Hydro Pump, managing to hit Ninetales squarely before it could spirit the captives away, knocking it back forcefully.

"Dragonite, Dragon Rush!"

"Slowbro, Hydro Pump!"

Lance and Will didn't hold back, both issued their commands at once.

"Nin~"

A hint of mockery flashed in Ninetales' eyes. Did they really think Trick Room could trap it?

Ninetales suddenly brought all nine tails in front of its body. In an instant, its small form disappeared within them.

Dragon Rush roared toward it, but the nine tails drifted like willow branches in the wind, letting Ninetales slip through effortlessly.

Slowbro's Hydro Pump followed immediately, yet it too was dodged; Ninetales used the movement of its tails to confuse their aim.

Trick Room only made slower Pokémon move first, nothing more.

Ninetales wasn't even using moves, merely dodging with its tails, completely unaffected by the distortion.

"Dragonite, Hurricane!"

"Slowbro, Psychic!"

If single-target attacks wouldn't work, then go for large-scale ones! There was no way those tails could block everything!

Clearly, Lance and Will had the same thought in that moment.

"Fufufu… Two against one? Isn't that a little beneath the League's dignity? Clefable, Gravity! Mismagius, Astonish!"

Meanwhile, the Team Rocket elites Miyamoto had left behind finally arrived, immediately engaging in a chaotic battle with the surrounding police.

---◓---

Inside Team Rocket's Base A3, Kaiser's Nidoking and Electrode had already fallen.

Now guarding him were the newly sent-out Forretress and Arbok, though they weren't faring much better.

Bruno was being extremely cautious… even now, he hadn't rushed to capture Kaiser directly.

Then suddenly, Kaiser began to laugh. Under everyone's confused stares, he turned his face to the side, his expression full of relief.

"HAHAHAHA! Shaka, if you hadn't come just now, I really would've been finished!"

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150 PS - CH