The light rain continued to drizzle, and tonight's moonlight was exceptionally bright.
Deep into the night, most of Goldenrod City's residents were fully dressed, hiding quietly in their homes, listening to the commotion outside without making a sound.
Just beyond the walls, the Pokémon League and Team Rocket were locked in an all-out battle—humans fighting humans, humans fighting Pokémon, and Pokémon fighting Pokémon.
League-affiliated trainers, having undergone professional training, were powerful. In one-on-one confrontations, they completely overwhelmed Team Rocket and far outnumbered them.
But this was war.
Poisoning, ambushes, group attacks… The Team Rocket, unbound by any battle regulations, was fighting at more than one hundred percent of their capacity.
The battle was divided into three fronts. Around Silph Co.'s building, a third of the League's trainers were stationed, making it the area with the highest concentration of attacking Team Rocket members.
Elite Four member Bruno did not engage in the chaotic melee below.
His gaze was ice-cold. So far, the Pokémon League had been completely passive—they didn't even know where Team Rocket's secret base was located.
If they didn't capture the commander of this Team Rocket operation, no matter how many low-level grunts they arrested, they would still lose.
…
At the Pokémon Center, Sato had just climbed out of the basement when he saw the League's formation completely disrupted. Many trainers were trapped in the middle, clearly injured.
"Haunter, sneak in and take down every Golbat and Zubat in the sky!"
"Kehehehe~"
Haunter clung to the walls, swiftly making its way up to the ceiling. At that moment, a Zubat hovered into position, preparing to dive. Suddenly, ghostly claws materialized behind its back.
Shadow Punch—direct hit to the back!
The Zubat didn't even have time to cry out before it was instantly knocked out. The battlefield was so chaotic that its trainer didn't even notice.
One down meant another would follow. As Haunter moved stealthily along the walls, ceiling, and floor, it silently struck down a fifth target—a relatively strong Golbat—severely injuring it.
Only then did its presence get exposed.
"There it is! Arbok, use Crunch and tear it apart!"
"Weezing, Sludge Bomb! Bring that Haunter down!"
"Shadow Ball—detonate!"
"Keheh!"
Facing the incoming attacks, Haunter remained completely calm. A series of small Shadow Balls formed around it, then launched all at once.
Each Shadow Ball was highly unstable, detonating upon impact. Crunch and Sludge Bomb—everything was blocked at the perimeter!
"Now's the time!"
Sato shouted. The surrounding Team Rocket grunts turned their attention toward him, but they only saw him standing still.
When they turned back, they realized that the League trainers they had surrounded had broken through a gap!
"Haunter, Shadow Barrage!"
"Keheh~"
Haunter, already exhausted from expending so much energy, took a deep breath. It raised both ghostly hands, forming a black orb.
Then, a single Shadow Ball quietly launched—quickly targeting Team Rocket.
One, two, three, four… A rapid succession of Shadow Balls shot out at varying speeds and intensities, following no discernible pattern!
Team Rocket grunts had no choice but to go all out in countering each attack to avoid taking damage.
Silently, Sato retreated. A mere Elite-level Haunter had single-handedly tipped the scales of battle. There was nothing more for him to do—it was time to make his exit.
The rejuvenated League members were filled with gratitude toward Sato for his assistance.
With Team Rocket fully exposed, the League forces regained their footing, reorganizing their battle formations and gradually taking control of the battlefield.
Meanwhile, the Goldenrod Gym Leader stood alone against an overwhelming force, relying solely on his immense personal strength to single-handedly hold back and exhaust more than thirty Team Rocket members who had come to raid the gym.
The battle at Silph Co. Tower was also nearing its conclusion.
Team Rocket didn't seem to be putting up a particularly strong resistance here—only sending a portion of their forces, as if merely putting on a show before withdrawing.
Three battlefronts, and while the League appeared to have secured an overwhelming victory, the true problem remained—they had yet to locate Team Rocket's secret base.
This move by Team Rocket was blatant. They were telling the League: We are abandoning Goldenrod City of our own accord. If we want to leave, you won't be able to stop us.
Bruno, watching the increasingly clear outcome of the battle, furrowed his brows even more.
Without paying any more attention to the lackluster command of Officer Jenny beside him, he prepared to set off personally, heading toward the nearest location under suspicion—the Goldenrod Department Store.
"E-li-te B-Bruno, sir… We've confirmed the location! It's inside the Game Corner!"
Bruno turned his head sharply, seeing Officer Jenny press a hand against her earpiece as she carefully listened to the report. However, her expression was tinged with confusion.
"The prize Pokémon at the Game Corner… someone released all of them! Whether they were Team Rocket members, League officers, or just regular gamblers hiding in the building—they all went mad. Because among the prizes… was a Larvitar!"
"Forget the Larvitar. It doesn't matter. We need to capture the Team Rocket!"
"Yes, sir!"
Bruno immediately leaped onto his Pidgeot and shot toward the Game Corner at top speed. Officer Jenny and several other high-ranking League officers quickly followed.
At the Goldenrod Game Corner, Zoroark, still maintaining its Illusion disguise, subtly blended into the frantic crowd. All around, people were scrambling and ransacking the place in search of Larvitar—so much so that no one paid attention to Zoroark at all.
Yes, Zoroark's entire objective in infiltrating the Game Corner had been to release the prize Pokémon.
The Pokémon up for grabs were already rare species, and at first, the crowd hadn't considered looting them. But once Zoroark set an example—pandemonium broke loose.
The urge to steal became uncontrollable.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the Game Corner, Team Rocket's four Executive, Kaiser, watched as even his own subordinates began itching to rush upstairs and claim a share of the loot.
His expression twisted into pure rage.
At the same time, Kaiser gave the order to retreat. The moment Elite Four Bruno moved, he was immediately notified.
He had never expected the Game Corner to descend into chaos all on its own, nor that so many low-level Rocket members would foolishly expose themselves over a prize Pokémon.
At that very moment, Goldenrod Gym Leader Howard was also rushing toward the Game Corner atop his Dodrio.
-------------
Having handed Nurse Joy over to the League's medical team and briefly using the healing machines to restore Haunter's stamina, Sato, too, was heading toward the Game Corner at full speed.
The battle for Goldenrod City had reached its climax—all eyes now focused on the Game Corner!
When Bruno and Officer Jenny finally arrived at the scene, they were met with absolute bedlam.
The Game Corner was packed to the brim, with gamblers, Team Rocket members, and League officers all jumbled together.
The entire establishment had been ransacked from top to bottom—clearly, everyone was frantically searching for a fleeting glimpse of the pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Larvitar.
At this point, even Officer Jenny had no control over the situation.
Bruno remained expressionless. In chaos like this, there was simply no way to conduct mass arrests.
"Primeape. Machamp. Hitmonchan. Hitmonlee. Earthquake."
Without hesitation, Bruno released his four strongest Pokémon simultaneously—each one unleashing a massive Earthquake.
In an instant, the entire Game Corner trembled violently—as if the world itself were ending.