Just before they launched the surprise attack, Oleander turned to Luther.
"The Mira you mentioned earlier ran off in that direction, and a squad of Hodgepodge members is chasing her. Just like you said, she's incredibly tough, both talented and powerful. Even Steven was impressed. We don't think they'll actually be able to catch her."
Luther froze. He stared into Oleander's eyes for a long moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"I get it. I'll handle Mira."
Everyone seemed satisfied with that answer. It was an obvious ploy on Oleander's part; they all felt guilty toward Luther and didn't want him getting dragged into the upcoming bloodbath.
But they also knew him well. Having once experienced the utter helplessness of being powerless, there was no way he would stay away forever. Sooner or later, he would have come back to settle his score with Evergreen.
Mira's escape had given Oleander the perfect excuse to send him elsewhere. From what she had observed over the past few months, Luther thought highly of Mira.
Her past wasn't completely clean, but neither was it beyond redemption, and the chances of Luther actually killing her were slim. Letting him deal with Mira was the best possible outcome for everyone.
Clinging to Darkrai, Luther disappeared into the forest, heading in the direction Oleander had pointed out to track her down.
---
Oleander, Cyrus, Steven, Cynthia, Diantha, Lance, and Dakota. Seven people.
Their opponents were Dr. Zishan's group, fresh from a major battle, nearly a hundred people and Pokémon combined.
Oleander smiled faintly. "If nothing unexpected happens, I can probably handle one full squad of Pokémon."
Cyrus had already stripped off his jacket. "I can take two or three squads. As for the Trainers themselves... maybe one or two."
Dakota chimed in casually, "I'll take down whoever I see."
Cyrus and Oleander looked at the unfamiliar Dakota in surprise. His confidence sounded almost absurd.
Then Dakota added calmly, "Actually, I'm taking all of them."
Before anyone else could react, Cynthia and Lance were already riding Garchomp and Dragonite straight toward the battlefield.
---
Dr. Zishan was busy directing his subordinates to clean up the battlefield. Evergreen's entire faction had been all but wiped out.
Looking at the thick smoke pouring from the underground base, he was highly satisfied with the outcome. Evergreen's little scheme had indeed posed a real threat; if someone hadn't secretly tipped him off in advance, even Dr. Zishan might have fallen into the trap.
But not everyone had the courage to stage a coup. Among those Evergreen had bribed were people hoping to use him as a stepping stone. Just as Evergreen had once stepped on Oleander to earn recognition, this informant had reported Evergreen's suspicious behavior to Dr. Zishan.
A man who had spent his entire life operating from the shadows didn't need much information to figure out Evergreen's intentions. The Hodgepodge Organization had reached the point where it was time to harvest the crop. He had allowed them to grow unchecked all this time because he was waiting for one final result.
And not long ago... that result had finally arrived.
A group of researchers completely consumed by their work, growing more deranged by the day. A fool with boundless ambition who wanted to challenge the Pokémon League head-on. A swarm of useless maggots who dreamed of standing in the sunlight. Now, they were all bathing in flames instead.
Purified.
The three explosives had all been planted at the weakest structural supports of the Underground Mine Base.
Even if the blasts hadn't killed Evergreen and the other Leaders outright, the sealed underground complex had lost all air filtration and ventilation. Sooner or later, choking to death in the smoke would be their only fate.
Evergreen had thought himself clever. In truth, he had always been nothing more than a disposable pawn, a man full of ambition yet crippled by insecurity, desperate for recognition and terrified of failure. Someone like that should have been the easiest kind of person to control.
So when had Evergreen become so difficult to manipulate? When had he become such an unpredictable variable?
"Luther..." Dr. Zishan quietly muttered the name.
The first time he'd heard it had been in Shiran's report. Then at the Nine-Province Assembly. After that, it kept appearing in report after report concerning the Hodgepodge Organization.
Everything had started changing after Evergreen joined Moonbow Commerce and came into contact with Luther. From that point on, the Hodgepodge Organization had slowly become harder to conceal. It became vulnerable. Little by little, the Pokémon League had begun grabbing hold of its tail.
"The child of that couple ended up having such an enormous impact..." Dr. Zishan murmured. "What a persistent ghost. Ridiculous."
Walking beside the Mining Base, listening to the occasional explosions still echoing underground, Dr. Zishan gradually relaxed. As one of the Leaders, he had already accomplished everything he needed to do. From this point onward, the Hodgepodge Organization would, in the eyes of the world, truly be "dead."
Suddenly, several Golbat equipped with Type-2 Amplifiers shrieked in alarm.
Before anyone could react, two figures shot forward. Garchomp's claws sliced through the curtain of rain.
With just a couple of casual swipes through the air, every Pokémon protecting Dr. Zishan collapsed. Dragonite swung its massive tail with overwhelming force, sending everyone who rushed to protect Dr. Zishan, both Trainers and Pokémon, flying.
As the two Champions jumped down from Garchomp and Dragonite's backs, Dr. Zishan's entire body trembled.
"So it was you all along," Cynthia sneered. "Dr. Zishan, Director of the Department of Safety. We've dealt with each other for so long, and only now do we learn you're Leader Zero of the Hodgepodge Organization."
"I'm impressed."
Meanwhile, Oleander and Cyrus had already engaged Dr. Zishan's forces, preventing them from getting anywhere near him. Steven's Metagross and Aggron, along with Diantha's Gourgeist and Gardevoir, were like gods descending onto the battlefield. Even Pokémon enhanced by the Amplification Devices couldn't withstand a single attack from them.
Dakota strolled through the chaos as though taking a leisurely walk. Salamence, Slaking, Metagross, and Darkrai all fought at once. He truly lived up to his words, everyone he encountered ended up flat on the ground.
Many Pokémon equipped with Type-1 Enhancement Devices unleashed overwhelming power under the Hodgepodge Organization's commands and charged at them. Yet they couldn't even lay a finger on Diantha and the others.
"So after all these years of research, 'this' is all you've accomplished?" Cynthia mocked, crushing a Type-2 Amplifier beneath her foot as she glared at Dr. Zishan. "You gave up your position as Director of the Department of Safety just to become a criminal?"
"What's so special about being Leader Zero?" Lance asked.
"Actually... I'm not Leader Zero." Despite his forces being completely overwhelmed by Diantha's group, Dr. Zishan remained perfectly calm.
"And you expect us to believe that?" Cynthia laughed. "Don't tell me you're about to claim you're actually an undercover agent planted inside the Hodgepodge Organization, and everything you've done was part of some long-term operation."
Dr. Zishan laughed, loudly and without restraint. He looked at Lance and Cynthia with eyes full of amusement, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking smile.
"Fair enough. We're all smart people here, so I'll be direct," Dr. Zishan smiled. "Everyone has their own ambitions."
"So your ambition was to become a villain?" Cynthia asked.
"I only wanted to understand Pokémon a little better," Dr. Zishan replied calmly. "Oleander should know. I was once part of Rainbow University. I even paid to publish my own academic work, but my advisor rejected it, and it was quickly banned from circulation."
If Luther had been there, he would have immediately remembered the long out-of-print book he had once read: 'The Theory of Life's Evolution.'
In it, Dr. Zishan divided evolution into two categories: natural evolution through selection and evolution accelerated through outside intervention.
Using examples like Mega Stones, he tried to determine whether Pokémon drove natural evolution or whether natural evolution was what drove Pokémon to evolve. From there, he proposed another idea: could humans themselves cause Pokémon to undergo entirely new forms of evolution?
Time had buried everything. Dr. Zishan, who had become trapped in that intellectual dead end, had long since disappeared, leaving behind only Dr. Zishan, Director of the Department of Safety.
Anyone reading that book today would have a hard time believing Dr. Zishan had written it; most would assume it had been published under some academic pen name.
Yet now, everyone was seeing that old Dr. Zishan again. Unlike the nearly insane researchers working in the laboratories, Dr. Zishan had remained calm from beginning to end. He had always known exactly what he wanted.
"So for your research, you sacrificed that many Pokémon just to carry out your so-called 'selection'?" Diantha asked. After her Gardevoir knocked an Onix to the ground, Diantha finished off the remaining Hodgepodge Organization members around her and walked over to Cynthia.
"You can't understand pioneers," Dr. Zishan said with another cough, his unsettling smile never fading. "So you call them mad. That's all. I've already said it, we could never understand each other. We're different kinds of people."
Steven had also defeated every Pokémon in front of him and joined the others. "You're right about one thing," he said coldly. "But you got one thing wrong. We're human. You're not."
Steven roared, "If you were still human, how could you hear those Pokémon screaming in agony and feel nothing? Since the very beginning of human history, Pokémon have trusted us instinctively. If people like you hadn't kept appearing generation after generation, the bond between humans and Pokémon would never have grown so distant!"
"And how can you prove," Dr. Zishan replied calmly, "that Pokémon weren't naturally growing apart from humans as part of their own evolution?" He shook his head. "Enough talking. You'll all stay here today."
Cynthia was certain now: Dr. Zishan really had gone insane.
There were four Champions present. Dakota was at least close to Elite Four level. Add Cyrus and Oleander, who were no pushovers themselves, and even without everyone releasing their full teams, there was no way Dr. Zishan could possibly win. And yet, he still believed he could wipe them all out.
"Oh, by the way. Do you know what Pokémon you'll find most often in mines and caves?"
A deafening chorus of flapping wings suddenly filled the air. Behind Dr. Zishan appeared well over a hundred Zubat and Golbat, every single one of them equipped with Amplification Devices.
"Allow me to introduce our latest achievement: the Type-3 Amplifier. Our research shows that its enhancement is dozens of times greater than the Type-1. The cost is... admittedly much higher. But if it lets them defeat Champions like you, I'm sure they'll be satisfied."
The Zubat and Golbat swarmed forward. Already teetering on the edge of complete mental collapse, they became utterly frenzied the moment they received the order to attack. Moves rained down all at once, and Cynthia and the others were instantly engulfed by the barrage.
Watching them disappear beneath the overwhelming assault, Dr. Zishan threw back his head and laughed. This was the power of the Type-3 Amplifier. With power like this, even Champions could be defeated with ease.
"When tonight is over, the secret will remain a secret," Dr. Zishan sneered.
Then... the attacks stopped.
A brilliant light spread across the sky. Every single Zubat froze in midair, their bodies completely locked in place. Mega Gardevoir stood quietly beside Diantha, looking at Dr. Zishan with pity.
"So this is the little toy you've spent twenty years making? It's... creative. Just not very useful," Diantha added with a faint smile. "You know, it didn't even take me ten years to raise Gardevoir."
Garchomp and Dragonite violently shook their heads, knocking aside the motionless Zubat blocking their path before charging straight at Dr. Zishan. Dragon Rage and Hyper Beam locked onto him simultaneously.
Looking at the sudden terror on Dr. Zishan's face, Cynthia realized one more thing: he wasn't insane. He had simply never fought a Champion himself.
Like most people, his understanding of a Champion's strength stopped at one vague idea: 'they're very strong.' But 'how' strong? He had no way of imagining it. No matter how many times Dr. Zishan tried to raise his estimate of a Champion's power, he never came close to the real thing. It was like asking a Caterpie to comprehend the height at which Rayquaza flew.
The gap between a Champion and the vast majority of Pokémon Trainers couldn't be described with words like "unreachable." If Dr. Zishan had bothered sparring with someone around the level of an Elite Four member, he never would have believed this little invention of his could stand against a Champion.
'(End of Chapter)'
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