"Watch out!"

Right after Logan shouted, he swiftly hurled out a Poké Ball. With a loud bang, a graceful Dragonair materialized mid-air. In front of Dragonair, an invisible barrier suddenly rose—Light Screen—just in time to block the spiraling flames that had been launched their way.

Though Light Screen held off the Fire Spin, the temperature in the area skyrocketed rapidly. Amid the defensive effort, Logan glanced toward Sabrina. As expected from the Saffron City Gym Leader and one of Team Rocket's top three executives—her battle experience even surpassed Logan's. A shuriken flew through her form, only for it to vanish—an illusion.

Her and Alakazam's silhouettes distorted slightly before the pair reappeared just ahead of Logan's left flank. Sabrina then turned her head and sharply warned:

"Be careful with that shuriken—it might be hiding a Pokémon inside!"

"—!!"

The warning immediately raised Logan's guard. He dove forward toward Dragonair. At the same moment, Dragonair unleashed a Safeguard, intercepting a sudden spray of toxic fluid aimed straight at Logan's back.

The shuriken had embedded itself violently into the staircase railing behind him—and just as Sabrina predicted, it was no ordinary weapon. The shuriken was cleverly crafted from a Poké Ball.

Attacking with shurikens while concealing Pokémon inside—this tactic could only belong to the infamous Fuchsia City Gym Leader, known across the region for his mastery of ninja techniques. Clearly, his intense self-discipline wasn't limited to training Pokémon—his aim was so precise that Logan couldn't help but wonder if this man was part of the Uchiha clan.

The corrosive Acid splattered against the shimmering barrier of Safeguard and slowly dripped to the floor. A sickening ssssssssss noise followed as the acid burned a massive hole into the deck, melting through four floors. It continued down into the third level—and still kept going.

Logan shivered. This acid was like Xenomorph blood—its lethality was downright absurd. If not for Sabrina's warning, he would have been seriously injured. Even with Pokémon aura shielding, a direct hit from that would've left his bones exposed.

In the pale, ghost-fog creeping from Gastly, a monstrous shape emerged—Arbok.

"That's Koga's main Pokémon—Arbok. Don't try close-quarters combat or physical moves. That Arbok has an insane vitality. Even if it's hacked into pieces, it won't die—it can regenerate. Worse, its blood is more corrosive than the acid from earlier. Get too close, and it could easily cost your life."

Sabrina's tone was rapid and sharp, giving Logan a rare flood of information. She was treating him like a true ally. She spilled everything she knew about Koga's Pokémon and tactics. If Koga had been conscious, he'd be fuming at how casually his secrets were being revealed.

"Thanks for the intel. Gabite—Sand Tomb!"

Logan had originally planned for Gabite to use Stomp, but quickly scrapped it. Facing a Poison-type like Arbok, a Ground move was more appropriate. Earthquake and Dig were too dependent on the terrain, and using Stomp—as Sabrina warned—could result in massive self-injury.

With a rumble, the deck beneath Gabite softened into a swirling quicksand trap, pulling at Arbok's coiled body. But Arbok suddenly lunged high into the air, elegantly avoiding the trap. Slithering through the fog like a phantom, it reached a faint silhouette barely visible in the mist.

"It's being commanded!"

Sabrina sounded startled. Unlike the trainers and Pokémon below, who all seemed reduced to base instinct, this Arbok dodged skills and launched calculated ambushes. That meant it was being actively guided.

But how?

The mist began to thin. A man in a ninja outfit appeared—and beside him stood a boy in a fur-lined shirt. Arbok and a Charmeleon stood protectively in front of them, both baring fangs at Logan and Sabrina.

"So it's true... Blue and Koga have both been possessed by Gastly's fog, but why is Arbok still lucid? Charmeleon's eyes are dull—definitely under control—but Arbok's gaze is sharp. It shouldn't be under control!"

Logan's eyes darted between the two. He was clearly shocked.

Sabrina noticed it too. She floated ten centimeters off the floor next to Logan, arms crossed, lips tight.

"Pokémon only obey commands from their own trainer—that's common sense. Which means someone is controlling Koga, who in turn is issuing commands to Arbok. That someone is manipulating Koga to control his Pokémon."

Sabrina didn't say the name. She didn't need to. Logan knew exactly who she meant: Agatha, one of the Elite Four.

Compared to Blue's Pokémon, Koga's were far more dangerous. It would be difficult for even a skilled Gastly to control them directly. But Agatha had found a workaround—control the trainer, not the Pokémon.

"Unbelievable... she's exploiting the mental limitations of Pokémon!"

Logan muttered under his breath. Then his face changed—he suddenly remembered.

At Professor Oak's lab, he had once seen a research paper discussing the limitations of Pokémon cognition. At the time, it was just theoretical.

But now someone had put that theory into practice.

And the author of that paper? None other than Agatha.

It was said Agatha and Professor Oak once worked in the same lab but had a falling out over their research paths. Oak pursued ecology and coexistence. Agatha… clearly went the other way.

In the Pokémon's mind, they obey commands from their own trainer—blindly, without judgment. They don't consider whether the trainer is being manipulated or if the commands are malicious.

It's this blind loyalty that Agatha had weaponized.

Of course, this wasn't easy. A strong bond between trainer and Pokémon—especially for Gym Leaders—meant emotions alone could command obedience. Dragon Heart, for instance, was a manifestation of this bond. Controlling a trainer to manipulate their Pokémon usually had a very low success rate.

But Agatha had overcome it. She was literally puppeteering a Gym Leader.

Unless a Pokémon had a mind like Mewtwo, capable of breaking out of such mental chains, it had no hope of escaping this trap.

"If we want to fight back without hurting Blue... we'll never beat both of them while holding back."

Sabrina's tone was cool and flat. Her meaning was clear: unless Logan was willing to sacrifice Blue, there was no way they could beat both Koga and Blue's combined assault while pulling punches.

Their options were limited: retreat—or take out the true mastermind.

"But there's one condition," she added. "Agatha's giving these commands in real time. Which means…"

Logan met Sabrina's gaze. She nodded quietly.

"We need to find and destroy Agatha's line of sight—cut off her observation point."

Because once she could no longer see them?

Koga's Pokémon would be nothing more than wild beasts again.

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T/N:

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