Chapter 143: Geomancy
Staring at the man he’d personally swindled out of over thirty million and sent to prison—now standing right in front of him again—Rio blinked. When he confirmed his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, he smiled.
"Giovanni bailed you out? How long have you been out?"
Archer didn’t answer. He felt the world spinning, his mind reeling. He’d been released from prison just a week ago. At the time, all he could think about was getting stronger—strong enough to make that bastard kneel and beg for mercy, to wash away the shame.
And now—barely any time had passed, he hadn’t even fully breathed the air of freedom, hadn’t re-established himself in Team Rocket, hadn’t regained Boss Giovanni’s favor—and here he was, face to face with that bastard again. In the most absurd way possible. Coming from a direction he never would have expected.
Is the universe playing a joke on me? If the bastard had come in through the first floor, Archer would have been ready to run. But this?
"What’s wrong, General Archer? Scared speechless? Since you’re stunned, just surrender—Daddy won’t hurt you today," Rio said, amused by Archer’s trembling, frozen reaction.
"Surrender? Don’t underestimate me, Archer. I bow to no one in this world except Boss Giovanni!" Archer took a deep breath and pulled a button from his pocket. "And have you forgotten where you are right now?"
He pressed the button. Alarms blared throughout the room, and over a dozen Team Rocket members rushed in, surrounding Rio.
"Take him out!" Archer waved his hand grandly, suddenly full of bravado.
Rio raised an eyebrow as over a dozen Pokémon—all in the 30s and 40s level range—were released.
"Annih~" Annihilape’s veins pulsed, eager to join the fight.
"Annihilape—thank you, but you can rest in your ball today." Rio recalled Annihilape. The monkey had had enough spotlight—it was Greninja’s turn to shine.
"Greninja—this is your stage. You can take all of them on your own, right?"
"Gren~"
A pillar of water erupted from Greninja’s body. When it receded, Greninja was enveloped in a flowing watery aura.
"Beedrill—Pin Missile!"
"Raticate—Take Down!"
"Arbok—Sludge Bomb!"
"Venomoth—"
The Rocket Pokémon all attacked Greninja simultaneously.
"Greninja—Substitute. Charge Geomancy," Rio commanded telepathically, stroking Eevee in his arms.
Over a dozen moves struck Greninja, kicking up a cloud of smoke. The Rocket grunts cheered excitedly. Even Archer was surprised—he hadn’t expected Rio to let his Pokémon take hits without giving a command.
"No—this isn’t right." Archer frowned. He didn’t believe Rio was that foolish.
Two seconds later, a Pidgeot’s Gust blew the smoke away. The Rockets saw that Greninja was no longer where it had been—only a puddle of water remained. They scanned the room and spotted it by a desk about eight meters away, hands forming seals, eyes closed, motionless. Golden energy flowed from the ground into its body, which began to glow with a black-gold radiance.
After the smoke cleared, Rio also spotted Archer—quietly slipping away from his subordinates, heading deeper into the floor. Clearly, he was trying to flee.
Tsk—I thought you’d actually grown a spine, Rio chuckled. Turns out you’re just using these guys as cannon fodder. But do you really think they can hold me for long?
"Beedrill—Sludge Bomb!"
"Arbok—Sludge Bomb!"
"Venomoth—"
The Rockets attacked again. Over a dozen moves shot toward Greninja.
Just before they hit, Greninja opened its eyes. The next instant, it vanished like a phantom. It appeared in front of the airborne Pidgeot in the blink of an eye—and under the Pidgeot’s horrified gaze, struck it down with a Water Shuriken. At the same time, it charged a Water Pulse and hit the nearest Houndoom.
In under two seconds, two Pokémon were down. The room fell silent.
With Geomancy’s boost, Greninja’s Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed had all skyrocketed. The Rocket grunts stared in disbelief. Archer, still trying to escape while glancing back, saw the whole thing—his eyes bulging in shock.
One moment, Greninja was surrounded; the next, it had taken down Pidgeot and Houndoom almost simultaneously. He couldn’t fathom where Rio had found such a powerful Greninja.
The battle continued. The frightened Rocket grunts ordered their Pokémon to attack, but Greninja was lightning-fast, weaving through their assaults as if they were in slow motion. It moved like a true ninja—dodging every attack, then appearing behind its target in an instant, striking them down with a Water Shuriken or Water Pulse.
In less than a minute, over a dozen Pokémon were all on the ground.
[Eevee’s friendship increased.]
[Friendship: 5 (from -20 to 5)]
Rio felt the notification in his mind as he looked at Eevee trembling with excitement. He smiled and patted its head.
The Rocket grunts stood frozen, cold sweat pouring down their faces. They stared in disbelief at Greninja standing victorious in the center of the room.
"General Archer—what do we do?!"
"That Greninja is too strong—we can’t beat it!"
"We need you to turn the tide!"
Some of them muttered, hoping Archer would save them.
"Still calling for Archer? Your general already ran away," Rio said with a laugh.
"That’s bull—General Archer’s strength is second only to Boss Giov—" one grunt started to argue, but stopped mid-sentence. He turned and saw only an empty room. Archer was long gone. He looked up at the monitors—their supposedly powerful general was fleeing upward with other Rockets.
"Told you." Rio shrugged.
The grunts said nothing, a storm of curses running through their heads. Moments later, they all surrendered, crouching on the ground.
"Stay put—I’ll send your General Archer down to join you soon," Rio said, heading for the stairs with Greninja.
"Hm?"
As he passed a desk, he paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a document: Project: Capture of the Three Legendary Birds.