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Dark Dragonite roared and unleashed another attack, only to be blocked once again by Sabrina's psychic barrier.
This time, the Iron-Masked Marauder finally began to take her seriously.
"Black hair, cold expression… you must be that Sabrina woman, right?" He looked her up and down, then scoffed. "I've heard you and that Kai brat has caused a lot of trouble for Team Rocket. Blocking Dark Dragonite's Hyper Beam? It looks like you've got some tricks… but no matter how powerful your psychic abilities are, maybe you can block the first attack, maybe even the second but can you stop the tenth? Against Pokémon, humans are always as fragile as children!"
He was just about to command another strike when footsteps echoed behind him. Turning around, he saw Kai and Clair arriving on the scene.
Before coming here, both had recalled their Pokémon into their Poké Balls to prevent them from being stolen by the Dark Balls. Now, Kai had only Gardevoir at his side, and Clair had just Charizard for protection.
The Iron-Masked Marauder crossed his arms and sneered without a hint of panic. "Perfect. Looks like everyone who might get in my way is finally here. Saves me the trouble of hunting you down."
He spoke with unwavering confidence and cold arrogance. Throughout, he hadn't even glanced at his defeated subordinates he clearly didn't care about their fate.
Kai calmly walked up to Sabrina's side, sizing up the man before him.
Unlike the typical Rocket Grunts or Executives, the Iron-Masked Marauder had a completely distinct look.
He wore a yellow mask that covered most of his face, revealing only his nose and mouth. His chin was adorned with a thick tuft of beard, and his hair was tied back in a short ponytail. His age was hard to guess, but judging by his voice, he was likely in his late thirties or forties.
He wore a tight, semi-transparent black bodysuit underneath a spiked black vest, reminiscent of a biker gang. Over that, a flowing red cape bearing the "R" of Team Rocket draped down his back.
In short a bizarre look, especially for someone his age.
Kai smirked like a smug CEO evaluating a competitor.
'Heh. What a ridiculous sense of style.'
'Compared to my disguise and my Gengar mask? He's light-years behind. His costume game is a joke!'
After silently gloating, Kai turned his thoughts back to the serious situation.
Dragonite was clearly not normal. Under the control of the Dark Ball, it was mentally corrupted and obeyed only the Iron-Masked Marauder's orders.
Lance couldn't bring himself to attack his own partner. And releasing more Pokémon would only risk them being captured by the Dark Balls as well.
He was truly trapped unable to move forward, unable to retreat.
The one silver lining was that Lance had trained his Dragonite to such a high level that the Dark Ball couldn't enhance it much further. This was evident in how Sabrina had still managed to block its attacks, which meant the power boost was limited.
Clair glared at the Iron-Masked Marauder and shouted, "What exactly do you want from the Dragon's Sanctuary!?"
"Isn't it obvious?" he sneered. "To capture the Pokémon here, of course! Thanks to Kai, Sabrina, and the International Police, most of our bases in Kanto were destroyed. We're short on manpower and Pokémon. We need fresh blood and this place is the perfect resource."
Clair's anger surged. "So you came here to raid this place? You really are part of a vile organization!"
"This is just one of many targets." He casually pulled out a few Dark Balls and spun them in his hand. "If you know what's good for you, hand over your Pokémon now and save us all some time."
"Tch! In your dreams!"
He shrugged dramatically. "Pity. Then allow me to show you what it means to struggle like insects before a god. Show me what you've got before I crush you all!"
To speak so arrogantly in front of an Elite Four member, a Champion, and two Gym Leaders was insane but with Dark Balls in hand, he had reason to be cocky.
With a grand gesture, he hurled two Dark Balls one aimed at Kai's Gardevoir, the other at Clair's Charizard.
Blacklight erupted from both balls, surging toward their targets.
Clair commanded her Charizard to dodge, while Kai took a different approach.
He mentally signalled to Gardevoir, who raised her arms and fired a wave of psychic energy to intercept the black light.
But it was no use the psychic wave passed right through the black energy without disrupting it in the slightest.
"Tch… that's not going to work…"
Kai sighed. Clearly, conventional tactics were useless.
As the dark light closed in, Gardevoir teleported away in time. Fortunately, the black energy had no tracking ability, allowing her to narrowly escape.
Kai couldn't help but recall a different kind of black Poké Ball the ones used by Mewtwo during the battle on New Island.
While both types of Poké Balls were similar in colour and function, there were some differences.
The Dark Balls used by the Iron-Masked Marauder could forcibly capture Pokémon and turn them evil, greatly enhancing their power. In contrast, Mewtwo's black Poké Balls didn't make Pokémon stronger, but they could track targets and even steal them from other Trainers' Poké Balls.
Each had its own advantages. Come to think of it, since Mewtwo had escaped from Team Rocket, it was likely that the black Poké Balls it used had been derived from Rocket technology and modified.
If that were true, then both devices likely had the same origin, which would explain why the Iron-Masked Marauder had access to Dark Balls as well.
As for what to do now…
Even after understanding all this, Kai still had no viable way to stop the Iron-Masked Marauder.
He knew one thing for sure: no matter what, he couldn't risk using the Legendary Birds or the situation would spiral into absolute disaster.
While the battle raged on, Lance narrowed his eyes, quickly assessing the situation.
He looked at his companions and spoke in a low voice:
"We can't just keep dodging forever. Let's focus all our attacks on his Dark Balls. If we can destroy them, the Pokémon he's captured might regain control of themselves!"
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If you're enjoying this story, make sure to check out my New Work "Marvel: The Ultimate Superman!" (It's on Alt account with same name)
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