“How is this possible? Just one Aura Sphere was enough to defeat my Electrode!” Archer exclaimed in shock, looking in disbelief at the Electrode that had crashed down from the sky.

Aside from the Electrode lying unconscious on the ground with swirling eyes, Archer now had only one Houndoom left beside him, whose stamina was gradually failing.

Just as Blastoise was about to step forward and extend the cannons from its arms to give Houndoom a proper beating, it was gently stopped by a vine from Venusaur beside it.

‘This guy has been toying with me with flames for quite a while. It’s time for me to strike back. Leave this one to me,’ Venusaur said.

With that, Venusaur fired a giant seed from the pistil on its back, using Seed Bomb toward Houndoom.

“Houndoom, use Flamethrower!” Archer naturally wouldn’t let Venusaur succeed easily and immediately gave Houndoom a command.

Scorching flames shot from Houndoom’s mouth, instantly burning the incoming Seed Bomb to ashes.

But Venusaur felt no surprise at this. Seeds shot from its mouth like cannonballs toward Houndoom. It was using Bullet Seed.

Houndoom had never seen such a sight. Was this really Bullet Seed? This was clearly seed artillery!

How could any Venusaur have seeds as thick as shot puts? It was absolutely ridiculous.

After receiving Archer’s command, Houndoom again released flames to neutralize the Bullet Seed.

Just as Houndoom was preparing to approach Venusaur and use Flame Charge, it suddenly noticed the ground beneath its feet violently trembling.

It turned out Venusaur had heavily stomped the ground, and the beach ahead suddenly burst with natural power. Thorny brambles as thick as tree trunks sprouted from underground, growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, quickly becoming robust enough to cover the sky.

Under the shocked gazes of Archer and Houndoom, the Frenzy Plant used by Venusaur instantly caught Houndoom’s body. Houndoom tried to use Flame Charge to burn the thorns on its body with flames, only to discover these thick brambles couldn’t be destroyed by ordinary fire.

In moments, under Archer’s shocked gaze, the thorns cut into Houndoom’s body like chainsaws. Then Houndoom’s body trembled, collapsed powerlessly to the ground, stared deeply at Venusaur with heavy eyes, then slowly closed them.

Seeing Houndoom collapse, Archer helplessly sighed, gripping tightly the only Poké Ball left in his hand, yet hesitating to release it.

Because Archer was still waiting for his only and most reliable trump card.

“So you’re giving up?” Red teased.

At Red’s eye signal, Venusaur and Blastoise beside him showed signs of wanting to attack.

Blastoise extended cannons from the shells on both arms, aiming at Archer and gathering its aura power, preparing to use Aura Sphere on Archer.

Two small Aura Spheres had already formed on Blastoise’s arm cannons, but Archer still showed no panic, because he was certain Red would never be cruel enough to kill him directly.

Just as Blastoise’s Aura Spheres were about to fire, Red spoke up to stop Blastoise’s action.

Due to its absolute trust in Red, Blastoise decisively fired the two Aura Spheres into the sky, abandoning the idea of attacking Archer.

Red’s expression showed no relaxation, instead frowning slightly in anger.

Because at this moment, a Persian had suddenly appeared beside Archer. If it were just the appearance of a helper, Red wouldn’t need to be so cautious, but Persian also held leverage that could threaten Red.

Facing Venusaur and Blastoise, Persian’s mocking expression suddenly became cautious, but it still calmly licked its disheveled fur to steady its nervous heart.

“Do you only know these underhanded tactics?” Red said angrily, looking with concern at Pikachu being held tightly in Persian’s bite, and Ash bound by Persian’s thick tail.

Though Ash was mentally confused at the moment, he also realized he had implicated Red because of himself.

Ash couldn’t help but lower his head in guilt, remaining silent.

Because Archer had captured Ash and Pikachu, the previously overwhelming situation was reversed again. With leverage to threaten Red, Archer’s expression now seemed leisurely, looking completely confident.

“State your conditions,” Red said, suppressing his inner rage while maintaining a calm expression.

In this situation, showing panic would definitely let the enemy seize weaknesses and further defeat him.

“You’re very mature, so mature that I can’t even view you as a mere 10-year-old boy. But it’s precisely because of this that you can be regarded by Boss Giovanni as his only opponent, not enemy.”

Archer said calmly, deliberately emphasizing the word ‘opponent,’ clearly not understanding Giovanni’s approach.

But Archer didn’t take the opportunity to threaten Red excessively, because doing so would only anger this seemingly calm beast before him.

“My condition is simple. Let me leave safely,” Archer said flatly.

“Release my brother and Pikachu, and you can naturally leave safely,” Red said calmly, his peaceful eyes staring at Archer ahead.

“I know about your psychic powers. Until I have complete assurance, I absolutely won’t let go of this only trump card.”

Archer gave a somewhat mocking light laugh, ignoring Red’s conditions and backing away on his own.

Just then, the hurried Misty and Brock also ran over, looking with panic at Ash and Pikachu being held hostage by Persian.

Both secretly regretted their own ignorance and weakness, having watched helplessly as Ash and Pikachu were captured by Persian, yet being powerless to help.

The Pokémon sent out by Misty and Brock couldn’t threaten Persian at all, instead being used by Persian and becoming ‘obstacles’ preventing the rescue of Ash and Pikachu.

The scene became tense for a moment. Red’s step-by-step pressure also made the retreating Archer feel somewhat panicked, but seeing Ash and Pikachu on Persian, Archer still showed a victor’s smile.

“Let’s end it here, Lord Red. No need for you to trouble yourself with ‘seeing me off,'” Archer said flatly, throwing the Poké Ball in his hand. A well-developed Crobat appeared beside Archer.

At Archer’s eye signal, Persian threw off Ash and Pikachu from its body, then gathered a Shadow Ball in its mouth while the red gem on its head shone with dazzling light.

The dual offensive of Shadow Ball and Power Gem was fully released. To withstand this sudden attack, Blastoise immediately reacted, crossing its arms in front and making the shells on its arms glow with silver light. It had used Iron Defense.

Taking this opportunity, Archer quickly grabbed Crobat’s small wings, urging Crobat to leave immediately, then took out three Poké Balls to recall all the Pokémon on the ground.

For absolute speed, Crobat had sacrificed its hind legs after evolution, evolving them into small wings, which also demonstrated Crobat’s impressive movement speed.

Red had wanted to use psychic powers to limit Crobat’s speed but discovered that Crobat had already carried Archer far from his sight, leaving only the battle-scarred traces that hinted at the fierce combat that had taken place here.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep