None of the four Team Rocket members had expected Miyamoto's side to be the first to falter.
Although their ambush had failed and they had been surrounded instead, with the Twin Empresses present, Team Rocket had never believed they could lose.
But reality dealt them a heavy blow! Their disadvantage was gradually showing, and they had been deliberately separated in battle to prevent the four Team Rocket members from escaping together.
A Vaporeon took Pidgeot's place and confronted Sato's Tyranitar, at the cost of Ice Ninetales taking a brutal hit from Stone Edge.
Yet with Water- and Ice-types supporting each other, Miyamoto barely withstood Sato's relentless bombardment.
However... she was only barely holding on.
A few more minutes passed, and Caesar, the executive who had forcibly raised his Pokemon's strength with Dark Balls, also began to show signs of decline. Even his right arm had been slashed open, blood streaming from the wound.
Sato glanced at Caesar's opponent, Kouke, out of the corner of his eye. He had not expected this little-known Elite Four member to be quite capable as well.
However, Violet City had fallen mainly because of the ambush and Team Rocket's numerical advantage.
Kouke's heart must have been filled with rage, which was why he was fighting so desperately to defeat Caesar.
Meanwhile, in the battle between Elite Four member Zhihong and Executive Athena, Zhihong was clearly locked in a bitter struggle.
The strength of Psychic types lay in the fact that, unless they encountered a counter, they were often nearly unbeatable.
Zhihong specialized in Grass- and Poison-types, so it was no surprise that he was at a disadvantage. Still, he should be able to hold on for a while longer.
As for Giovanni's Mother's combat strength, there was no doubt that she deserved her position as