The day of the battle had arrived.
Team Rocket's main training ground was packed to the brim that day.
Almost every member at the base had come to watch this hopelessly lopsided battle.
Everyone thought the outcome was a foregone conclusion. They were just there to laugh at Ye Li, the "Strategist."
On one side of the training ground, Apollo stood with his arms folded, looking utterly relaxed.
On the other side, Ye Li was so nervous that his palms were slick with sweat. Beside him, Eevee was trembling at the sight of the enormous crowd, its little body pressed tightly against his leg.
"Hahaha, look at that Eevee! It's wet itself before the fight's even started!"
"Lord Ye Li, there's still time to surrender! Save yourself an embarrassing defeat!"
Waves of undisguised mockery came from the stands.
The contempt on Apollo's face deepened as he watched Ye Li's nervous expression.
He did not even deign to send out his ace, Houndoom.
"Go, Arbok!"
He tossed out a Poké Ball, and a massive Arbok appeared on the field, flicking its tongue and fixing Eevee with its cold eyes.
Using Arbok against a young Eevee was already overkill.
Seeing that his opponent was not Houndoom, Ye Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief, only to grow nervous again.
All his tactics had been designed for an all-out attacker like Houndoom.
A Pokémon like Arbok, which excelled at constriction and poison, was actually harder to handle.
"Begin!"
At the referee's command, Apollo immediately launched an attack. He wanted to end this quickly.
"Arbok, use Leer!"
Arbok's gaze turned vicious, and an invisible pressure enveloped Eevee.
Eevee stiffened in fear, its body instinctively shrinking back.
"Now!"
Yet it was at that moment that Ye Li shouted.
"Eevee, use the medicine you drank earlier!"
Eevee instinctively opened its mouth and bit down on a small capsule hidden inside.
It was the Courage Capsule Ye Li had redeemed, which could temporarily grant immunity to fear and the effects of Intimidate.
The medicine took effect instantly. The fear faded from Eevee's eyes, and they became clear again.
"Charge forward! Use Quick Attack to get out of its line of attack!"
Ye Li shouted his command.
Eevee turned into a streak of white light. Instead of attacking Arbok, it began moving at high speed around the edge of the field.
Apollo froze for a moment, then sneered.
"Is running away all you can do?"
"Arbok, use Poison Sting!"
A dense barrage of purple poison needles shot toward Eevee like a torrential downpour.
"Dodge! Follow the route we practiced!"
Ye Li's voice became Eevee's only guide.
Eevee ran, jumped, and rolled across the field in a scramble.
Relying on the muscle memory developed over three days of hellish training, along with the speed enhancer Ye Li had used on it, it dodged Arbok's attacks at the very last instant, time after time.
Although the aftereffects grazed it several times, leaving it filthy, it never took a direct hit.
The battle on the field turned into a ridiculous chase.
Arbok attacked relentlessly, while Ye Li and Eevee could only defend passively, fleeing across the field in disarray.
The laughter in the stands grew even louder.
Everyone thought Ye Li was making his last desperate struggle.
Only Giovanni sat in the highest VIP seat, watching everything on the field without expression.
He could see that although Ye Li was in a sorry state, his eyes were exceptionally calm.
He was waiting.
He was waiting for an opportunity.
Apollo's patience soon ran out.
He felt that this game of cat and mouse was simply wasting his time.
"Useless thing! Arbok, use Bind and catch it!"
Arbok stopped its ranged attacks. Its enormous body shot toward Eevee like an arrow loosed from a bow, trying to coil around it.
This was the very moment Ye Li had been waiting for!
[Arbok's close-range attacks are fast and powerful, but there'll be a brief moment of stiffness afterward!]
[That window won't last more than 0.5 seconds!]
[Now!]
The instant Arbok's enormous head was about to slam into Eevee, Ye Li seized that fleeting opportunity and roared.
"Eevee! Use the scroll!"
Eevee shook the little scroll out of the fur around its neck.
The instant the scroll touched the air, it released a white light that enveloped Eevee's little body.
Eevee vanished from where it stood.
Arbok's attack missed.
Having used too much force, its body briefly stiffened.
The next second.
White light flashed.
Eevee appeared behind Arbok, in its one and only blind spot!
A perfect landing!
Ye Li's heart pounded wildly. With every ounce of strength he had, he roared his final commands.
"Right there! Eevee!"
"Use all your strength!"
"Take Down!"
Before you continue