As the smoke and dust cleared, Aegislash, Dusknoir, and Naganadel—whose protective barrier had been shattered by the energy cannon—reappeared. One by one, they collapsed to the ground and, after resting for a while, they rose back into the air. Judging by their appearance, they didn't seem to be too seriously injured.
Although Aegislash's King's Shield had been destroyed, the energy cannon's power had also been greatly diminished. Combined with the natural resilience and high defenses of Aegislash and Dusknoir, they managed to hold out and survive the blast.
If anyone had taken a more serious hit, it was probably Naganadel, which had relatively weaker defenses.
"Florges~"
Seeing this, Florges quickly deployed Grassy Terrain. The verdant grass spread out like a green carpet, and the wounded Aegislash, Dusknoir, and Naganadel received timely treatment.
Yuga also released a wave of healing energy that landed on the more severely injured Naganadel, restoring its combat capabilities.
However, just as Yuga sighed in relief, he caught sight of the even more gravely wounded Solgaleo. It had been struck directly by the energy cannon with almost no defense, having taken the hit completely unprotected.
Solgaleo lay motionless on the ground. It tried several times to get back up and fly again, but all attempts failed.
Florges' Grassy Terrain extended beneath it just in time, pouring healing power into its body, but the injuries were too severe. A gradual recovery move like Grassy Terrain was far too slow to be effective in this situation.
Yuga quickly released Chimecho and handed it a Max Revive.
"Chimecho, go help Solgaleo."
Chimecho took the Max Revive and teleported away in an instant, reappearing at Solgaleo's side the next moment.
Just as it was about to feed the Max Revive to Solgaleo, Necrozma descended from the sky, landing on top of Solgaleo. It spread open its uniquely structured body and wrapped itself around Solgaleo.
The two Pokémon fused together just like that.
"Roooar~~"
Necrozma let out a cry, and a stream of energy began to be slowly drawn out from Solgaleo's body.
"Chimecho~"
Seeing this, Chimecho used Deoxys's exclusive move Psycho Boost and charged toward Necrozma. However, with a casual swipe of its claws, Necrozma swatted Chimecho away.
"Chimecho!!!"
Yuga cried out in concern and simultaneously released Gengar, Mismagius, Absol, Dragonite, Charizard, Lapras, and Vivillon.
"Everyone, quickly go help Solgaleo and Chimecho!"
In an instant, Absol and Gengar Mega Evolved. One darted toward Necrozma, while the other shot up into the sky.
"Gengar~"
Gengar hurled a Shadow Ball that struck Necrozma, but it was as if nothing had happened—Necrozma completely ignored the attack.
Absol also reached Necrozma's side, raised its massive claw, and used Sucker Punch to strike at its vital point.
At the same time, Necrozma also raised its claw.
The two claws—one black and one white—clashed. Necrozma effortlessly sent the Mega Evolved Absol flying with a single blow.
After dealing with that, it resumed absorbing the Ultra Aura from Solgaleo, who let out a painful cry.
At this moment, Mismagius, Dragonite, Charizard, Vivillon, and Lapras all joined the fray, simultaneously firing Mystical Fire, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Signal Beam, and Origin Pulse at Necrozma.
But a violet barrier rose around Necrozma. The shield suddenly expanded, not only blocking all of the Pokémon's attacks but also repelling them, sending them flying in all directions.
After recovering its bearings, Chimecho, upon seeing its companions injured, quickly used Heal Pulse to treat them.
Watching helplessly as his Pokémon could do nothing against Necrozma, Yuga grew anxious and couldn't help but stomp his foot in frustration.
Suddenly, something came to mind. He quickly opened the box that contained the cylindrical object.
The moment the box was opened, Necrozma's attention was immediately drawn to it. It turned its head toward Yuga, and the way its specially-structured eyes stared at him made Yuga feel a chill in his heart.
"Woo~"
Necrozma stopped its plundering of Solgaleo's Ultra Aura and slowly turned its body toward Yuga.
Yuga's Pokémon were just about to launch an attack on Necrozma, but Yuga stopped them with a hand gesture.
Slowly, attracted by the cylindrical object, Necrozma released Solgaleo from its grasp and began floating toward Yuga.
The freed Solgaleo fell to the ground with a loud "thud."
Solgaleo, having lost part of its Ultra Aura, had grown even weaker. Chimecho quickly flew over and fed it Max Revive, simultaneously using Heal Pulse on it.
But after suffering back-to-back blows from both the energy cannon and Necrozma, Solgaleo was severely injured. Neither Max Revive nor Heal Pulse was enough to restore it to full health instantly.
Within such a short period, Solgaleo had to rely on two Max Revive consecutively—it could only be described as terribly unlucky.
Necrozma moved extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, it was near Yuga. After absorbing part of Solgaleo's power, it had become even stronger.
Seeing it getting closer and closer to Yuga, Florges and Ninetales assumed battle stances to protect him at close range, but Yuga subtly signaled them to hold back.
What he needed to do now was delay as much time as possible to let Max Revive take effect on Solgaleo. Otherwise, he alone would struggle to deal with the current Necrozma.
In front of the cylindrical object, the violent Necrozma strangely calmed down. It appeared entirely different from its previous highly aggressive state, clearly showing that the cylinder held great significance to it.
It confronted Yuga silently, looking very cautious and deliberate.
But just then, a sudden change occurred—two semicircular devices dropped from the sky, one to the left and one to the right, enclosing Necrozma and forming a giant egg that sealed it inside.
"Roar~"
Necrozma's previous calm vanished. It turned furious again, attacking wildly inside the giant egg in an attempt to escape. However, the egg was extraordinarily sturdy, and Necrozma's attacks had almost no effect on it.
Seeing this egg, Yuga immediately thought of the giant egg machine he had found in the center of the tower's top floor—the resemblance was uncanny.
The giant egg, now containing Necrozma, slowly rose into the air and floated to a person standing nearby. When Yuga looked up, he exclaimed in shock, "Giovanni!"
It turned out that the giant egg machine Yuga had discovered in the center of the tower was originally created by the leadership of Ultra Megalopolis to imprison Necrozma. Giovanni's version had been replicated by Carol based on that original design.
As for the original version Yuga had found, it had already been damaged when Necrozma broke free back then.
Carol's replica certainly couldn't match the effectiveness of the original—after all, he didn't have the complete original manufacturing technology—but the imitation was sufficient. After all, Team Rocket didn't intend to imprison Necrozma permanently like Ultra Megalopolis had; as long as the replica egg could trap it temporarily, it was enough.
"Gym Leader Shimizu, we meet again. And I must thank you. If it weren't for you calming the Radiant One, I wouldn't have been able to capture it so easily," Giovanni said with a broad smile.
On the other side, Phoebe and her team had already engaged in battle with Matori, Carol, and the others. They had no prior knowledge of Giovanni's presence and were completely unable to stop him. Now they could only barely hold off Matori and Carol's group.
Moreover, due to Giovanni's reinforcement, Team Rocket now had far more people than Phoebe's group, and she and her allies were gradually being pushed into a disadvantage.
Yuga noticed the situation over there and instructed Chimecho, Mismagius, and Gengar to stay behind to guard the still-unrecovered Solgaleo, while Dragonite, Charizard, Lapras, and Vivillon were to go assist Phoebe and the others.
"How you can get here?" Yuga stared intently at Giovanni and asked.
"No comment," Giovanni replied.
He would never tell the truth, let alone give away Nanu. First, since Nanu had helped him, he was certainly grateful; second, he still wanted to develop things further with Nanu. After all, poaching others was what Team Rocket specialized in.
Giovanni had no intention of entangling himself further with Yuga. He knew he couldn't do anything to Shimizu Yuga, and continuing to tangle would only lead to complications, so after saying his piece to Yuga, he turned to leave.
At the moment he turned around, he glanced deeply at the cylindrical object in Yuga's hand. Of course, he had noticed the item that had immense appeal to the Radiant One. Unfortunately, the item was in Yuga's possession, and he didn't want to waste time with Yuga.
Giovanni was seated on a flying chair, a high-tech custom-made product that he could control freely.
He pressed a button on the armrest of the chair, and the chair carried him and the giant egg toward Team Rocket's aircraft.
"Florges, Vine Whip!"
As Yuga's voice rang out, Florges lashed out with two vines, grabbing hold of the giant egg that was about to fly away.
"Mr. Giovanni, I'm afraid you can't take the Radiant One," Yuga said.
"Gym Leader Shimizu, do you really intend to oppose me like this?" Giovanni said, controlling his chair to turn back around.
Yuga said righteously, "It's not that I'm opposing Mr. Giovanni, but that Mr. Giovanni has always been opposing the League!"
Giovanni looked at Yuga, wanting to say something, but swallowed his words in the end. He felt that someone like Shimizu Yuga probably wouldn't understand him.
Thinking this, Giovanni pulled out a Poké Ball. With a flash of red light, Beedrill appeared beside him.
"Beedrill, Fell Stinger!"
"Beedrill~"
Beedrill's figure flashed and arrived in front of the giant egg. Its twin stingers slashed rapidly, making rustling sounds as Florges's vines snapped in response.
But just as the vines snapped, numerous dense vines suddenly sprouted from the ground beneath the giant egg, wrapping it tightly like a giant green cocoon. Beedrill slashed at them several times but couldn't break through the green vines.
Seeing that he couldn't leave, Giovanni looked sharply at Yuga and said, "Looks like I have no choice but to fight you, Gym Leader Shimizu."
As soon as he finished speaking, Beedrill descended from the air and landed in front of Yuga. Beside Yuga, Florges and Ninetales stepped forward to confront Beedrill.
Giovanni then took out another Poké Ball and threw it. A Guzzlord appeared beside Beedrill, and notably, this Guzzlord exuded an extraordinarily powerful aura—stronger even than Ninetales and Florges.
"Guzzlord~"
The Guzzlord's massive mouth on its abdomen opened wide, unleashing a Hyper Voice. Waves of sound and pressure surged forth, stirring up gales across the ground.
In response, Florges swept her arms forward, summoning a pink Fairy Wind that collided with the Guzzlord's Hyper Voice.
"Beedrill, Mega Evolve!"
As Giovanni's voice rang out, Beedrill's form underwent a tremendous transformation, completing Mega Evolution in an instant. Facing Yuga, Giovanni showed no sign of underestimating him—he was going all out from the start.
Buzz~
Beedrill used Agility, its figure flashing and leaving behind multiple afterimages. In the next moment, it appeared beside Ninetales, raising its twin stingers to strike with Poison Jab.
Ninetales didn't move from its spot. At the moment Beedrill stabbed toward it, eerie blue flames floated up around its body. The flames suddenly exploded like blossoming flowers, blasting Beedrill away.
Ninetales couldn't match Beedrill in speed, but its mental prowess was exceptionally strong. By extending its psychic sense around itself, it could greatly track Beedrill's movements and respond accordingly.
"Beedrill~"
Beedrill let out a cry as it flew back, the blue flames still burning on its body. However, since Will-O-Wisp isn't a direct-damage move, Beedrill wasn't severely injured.
But Will-O-Wisp's side effect was halving physical attack power, which was a fatal blow to Beedrill, who relied heavily on physical offense.
After forcing Beedrill back, Ninetales, to prevent it from closing in again, decided to strike first. Its nine tails stood tall, each tip bearing a floating fireball.
Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~
The nine fireballs shot out as thick columns of flame, blasting toward Beedrill. Beedrill used its nimble speed to dodge, causing all of Ninetales' Fire Blasts to miss.
While dodging, Beedrill again closed the distance with Ninetales.
This Beedrill's willpower was astonishing. The burning pain from Will-O-Wisp was intense, yet it didn't even furrow its brow. Its gaze remained sharp, its movements agile, and its attacks smooth and forceful, as if it weren't the one being burned at all.
Just as Beedrill neared Ninetales again, a ring of fire appeared centered on Ninetales. As Beedrill approached, the flames on the ring surged upward, forming a fiery wall that blocked Beedrill's next move.
Fortunately, Beedrill was fast and quick to react. Had it been engulfed by the fire wall, with its low HP and fragile defense, it wouldn't have survived.
The move Ninetales used was Inferno. This move had excellent power and effects, but its accuracy was notoriously poor.
While Ninetales and Beedrill were clashing back and forth, Florges was also engaged in a fierce battle with the Guzzlord.
This Guzzlord's strength far exceeded Yuga's expectations.
Florges held a severe type advantage. The Guzzlord's Dragon-type moves had no effect on her, and its Dark-type moves were significantly weakened. Plus, with the Fairy Terrain aiding her, she should've had the upper hand.
Yet the reality was the opposite. Even giving her all, Florges could only manage a draw at best—perhaps even showing signs of falling into a disadvantage.