Azure, still completely immobilized by some invisible force, could do little as the man with the cross took another Pokeball out of his pocket, gripping it with shaking fingers.
Yet he looked strangely calm despite being at his opponent’s mercy, his tight-lipped smile betraying an amused hum in his throat. And on the opposite side of the spectrum, Sabrina was almost sweating blood with the amount of effort it took not to pass out due to the Nidoqueen’s suffocating grip, who seemed to want to push her straight through the wall.
A part of her short-circuiting brain wondered why the hell Mr. Mime wasn’t doing anything, but then… it wasn’t needed.
“RHYSHAAH!”
Something fast and purple slammed against the beast’s back like a cannonball, just hard enough for her to relax her grip and allow Sabrina to slip free. The Gym leader fell to her knees, coughing and gasping. And through tear-filled eyes she saw the long, serpentine shape of a familiar Pokemon coiling around the stunned Nidoqueen’s torso, who let out an ear-splitting roar as she tried to shake both of her opponents off.
Sabrina knew the Arbok well, though due to his inherent type weakness she hadn’t seen much of him during their matches.
“As long… as the knife is stuck there, he won’t be able to move,” the man with the cross explained, reaching Sabrina’s side and pulling her by the shoulder to her feet. His shirt was stained with blood, though thankfully the wound didn’t seem deep. “It won’t… agh, last long, though.”
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Sabrina’s -somewhat oxygen-deprived- brain lagged for a moment, heart racing, as she looked between the struggling Nidoqueen and her listless owner as though she could will their situation to be less shit. A couple breaths later, she leaned against the man’s shoulder and found purchase, determined to do something. To-
The door on the other side of the courtyard opened before she could speak. A chorus of voices, flashes of Pokeballs being opened, too many things happening at once. Chaos.
A trio of Houndour jumped the Mr. Mime -who hadn’t moved a single muscle since leaving his ball- and sank their fangs into him as soon as he hit the ground, ruthlessly tearing him apart accompanied by a series of screams that would’ve chilled Sabrina frozen, were it not for the tri-colored beam of light that fell upon them a second later.
They jumped in opposite directions, barely dodging the attack, but that’s all they had time to do. Three of Azure’s men were already upon the man with the cross by the time his feet touched the ground, grabbing him by the arm and torso, a storm of hands and arms. One of them was trying to choke him, while the other swiftly grabbed the belt full of Pokeballs from his waist, tearing it off and throwing it aside where he couldn’t reach it.
“Sabr-ghahh!”
Didn’t Azure say everyone was already in position for tonight’s mission? Sabrina wondered in the flash moment before she reached for her second -and last- Pokeball. Maybe… No, it can’t be. Did Azure… know this would happen?
And like a fitting backdrop to the chaotic painting around, Azure stood immobile and calm, smiling impassively.