The battle for Viridian City ended in a way no one had anticipated.
When the Hoenn League's main force finally defeated the fearless Team Rocket "main force" on the eastern side at a devastating cost and stormed the command post behind them, they found it had long since been abandoned.
And just as they thought they had secured their final victory and were preparing to take control of the city-
"RUMBLE-!!!"
A tremendous roar, deeper and more terrifying than any previous explosion, came from far beneath Viridian City.
The moment Giovanni activated the self-destruct sequence, he had already prepared one final "surprise" for everyone.
The entire underground base beneath Team Rocket Headquarters, that steel fortress built with countless resources, along with all the rebels inside who had failed to evacuate and the secrets that had yet to be discovered, was completely blown apart from within in an instant.
The violent explosion triggered a terrifying chain reaction.
The earth split apart, and countless buildings collapsed amid the violent tremors.
The black tower that symbolized Team Rocket's power let out an unwilling groan, like a stack of blocks with its base pulled out, and slowly sank into the enormous crater blasted into the ground.
Athena, the ambitious woman who had just launched a rebellion and thought she was about to become the new queen, was buried forever beneath the ruins she herself had created, along with her trusted troops, their fates unknown.
Although the Hoenn League's forces ultimately occupied Viridian City aboveground,
the price they paid was so devastating that their commander nearly coughed up blood on the spot.
More importantly, they had come up empty-handed.
Apart from rubble and corpses strewn across the ground, they had captured none of Team Rocket's core leadership, nor had they seized any valuable intelligence or