Greninja

Inside the Cinnabar Island laboratory, the woman in the Pikachu mask gently closed the long umbrella in her hand. She showed no fear before the four Pokémon the Sandstorm King Gongping had stationed there in advance. Dark flames blazed over Greninja's entire body, revealing its bizarre power.

Dark flames swept toward Lucario, whose figure shifted in an instant as it swiftly evaded the energy attacks. Yet Greninja leaped around to Lucario's right and thrust out its left palm as fast as the wind, bringing a chill without a sound of air being torn. Its sheer physical strength and discipline demonstrated its might.

Lucario reacted swiftly, withdrawing its fist the instant they made contact. Greninja released only half of the power held in reserve throughout its body before stopping, borrowing a little force to pull itself directly in front of Lucario.

The instant their eyes met, Lucario snorted coldly and unleashed Confusion, ready to seize Greninja. At the same time, it lashed out with a fierce roundhouse kick, only to strike empty air again.

Greninja swiftly evaded Lucario's attack, then delivered another fast palm strike with its strength held in reserve, aiming at Lucario's neck. It always kept some power back to guard against an unknown opponent's unknown moves. These attacks were primarily probes!

The glow of Calm Mind radiated from Lucario's entire body, and an invisible wave of illusory psychic power swept out. Greninja condensed a mass of pitch-black energy in one hand, blocking Lucario's offensive with a crash as the aura around its body changed once more.

Throughout the battle, Lucario had not needed to build up power, simply relying on psychic control to press its assault. Its force remained astonishing, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter stone. Yet Greninja's abilities were too strange, and even after their prolonged exchange, Lucario still could not get to the bottom of them.

Watching everything through remote VR equipment, Gongping clenched his fists. "The Protean Ability."

It was a terrifying Ability that changed its own type according to the moves it used. In a sense, this Greninja had no true type; which type it assumed depended entirely on the moves it knew.

"Combat reactions, speed, control over the strength of its punches and kicks-this Greninja and its Trainer have King-level fighting strength."

Hearing Gongping's assessment, Lance raised his eyebrows. "A King-level Trainer?"

"Their use of Abilities and the Pokémon's combat discipline are beyond what ordinary Trainers can match. Besides, an ordinary wanted criminal simply wouldn't have enough time to raise these new fighting forces."

Every region had very few King-level Trainers. Any Trainer who reached that level would at least hold considerable status within the Pokémon League. They had already suspected this person was a senior figure within the Pokémon League, and now this further confirmed it.

After several exchanges, Lucario found its opponent increasingly difficult to shake off, like sticky candy. Several times, Lucario tried to invade its opponent with psychic illusions, but it felt as though it were striking empty air from a distance, with no effect whatsoever.

Neither Aura Sphere nor psychic powers had any effect at all.

Seeing Lucario beginning to struggle, Tyranitar swiftly sent sand sweeping over. Yet Greninja shot countless small stone spikes from one hand, and its appearance changed once again. Even covered in sand, it remained completely unaffected.

That was what made the Protean Ability so bizarre and difficult to deal with.

Seeing that Lucario could not suppress Greninja, Scizor darted forward in a flash. Under cover of Tyranitar's powerful sandstorm, it quickly appeared before Greninja and unleashed countless surging streaks of red light.

Greninja unleashed a flurry of punches, continually blocking Scizor's Bullet Punch. At the same time, it set its footwork in motion, alternating palm strikes and low kicks. Its attacks gradually began weaving a supple, dense net, each wave faster and higher than the last, leaving its enemy unable to catch a breath.

Seeing this, Lucario fired a Shadow Ball. Greninja retreated several steps and raised one hand, chanting a bizarre incantation. Without a sound, the Shadow Ball passed through Greninja without effect. Lucario's expression changed as the psychic fluctuations around its body began showing signs of fading.

The stone spikes placed earlier released powerful needles that pierced straight through beneath Lucario's feet. Seeing this, Tyranitar grasped with one hand, forming an invisible sand shield in front of Lucario to block the water shuriken Greninja had fired at some unknown moment.

Impatience showed in the eyes of the woman in the Pikachu mask at the lightning-fast exchanges. Tyranitar stood in the center, controlling the sand to support Scizor and Lucario, while Swampert guarded Dr. Fuji.

Suddenly, Cacturne's wicked grin appeared in the darkness. The instant it appeared, it viciously thrust its thorn-covered arm at Tyranitar.

A thick suit of sand armor swiftly appeared, blocking Cacturne's attack. At the same time, Tyranitar's Ice Punch transformed into an ice blade that slashed swiftly toward Cacturne. Countless poisonous barbs shot out, stopping the ice blade from coming any closer, and Cacturne seized the opportunity to use a unique move.

It began stepping in a strange pattern, its figure swaying as the surrounding air took on an eerie atmosphere.

With the crisp sound of footsteps and Cacturne's ever-changing movements, Tyranitar suddenly felt the world spin.

Combining its unique Teeter Dance with its Sand Veil Ability, Cacturne temporarily left Tyranitar in Confusion. Scizor unleashed countless Bullet Punches at the sight, but Greninja turned back and crossed its fists to block the attacks.

With a crash, Cacturne used the Fighting-type move Dynamic Punch. Its tremendous explosive force instantly shattered the sand shield's defenses, driving Tyranitar back several steps. Just as Cacturne pressed closer, Lucario condensed an Aura Sphere in its hand and aimed it at Cacturne. A beam burst forth instantly, forcing Cacturne to retreat several steps.

At the same time, Swampert finally made its move. Cold light flashed from both fists, and water swirled around its body as a surging white torrent swept down with the force to engulf everything, heading straight for the woman in the Pikachu mask.

Reinforcements had yet to arrive, and the woman in the Pikachu mask seemed to have other Pokémon with her. Knowing it could not afford to delay, Swampert chose to strike at the crucial moment.

Swampert seized the opening and struck without hesitation. Its ferocious bearing brought a trace of alarm to the masked woman's eyes.

Even with Gongping absent, the four Pokémon he had left behind still displayed formidable teamwork. Facing Swampert's powerful assault, the woman in the Pikachu mask stepped with crisp clacks of her geta. "You look rough, Swampert, but you have quite an impressive mind. Still, you miscalculated one thing. Besides Cacturne, I have other Pokémon lying in ambush."

A figure abruptly emerged from the darkness. What appeared before Swampert was an enormous Drapion of exaggerated proportions.

An ordinary Drapion stood around 1.3 meters tall, but the masked woman's Drapion reached a terrifying two meters. Its enormous body moved, its eyes casting a frightening gaze.

Swampert and Drapion traded a punch in midair, making the entire space seem to shatter.

The woman in the Pikachu mask seized the opportunity and leaped in front of Dr. Fuji. She drew a long sword from her umbrella and thrust it at him. Yet the instant she cut off the doctor's head, his body turned into a puddle of icy water that melted onto the floor.

Using Ice Punch and Substitute-that Swampert managed to create a frozen substitute like this in such a short time. What terrifying intelligence.

But even without the key, I'm still taking that thing!

She swiftly threw a bomb at the door to the laboratory's innermost area. After a tremendous blast, the masked woman had forcibly blown the door open.

At the sudden turn of events, Swampert, Tyranitar, Scizor, and Lucario counterattacked together. However, Greninja, Cacturne, and Drapion formed a defensive line and blocked all four Pokémon.

The woman in the Pikachu mask entered and picked up the cracked Golden Gem stored inside the laboratory. A faint smile appeared beneath her mask. "Got it!"

With her target secured, the woman in the Pikachu mask no longer lingered in battle. She swiftly recalled her three Pokémon, and an eerie black mist rose around her, gradually distorting and refracting her figure until she vanished.

Ten minutes later, Gongping and Lance finally arrived on Dragonite. Looking at the wrecked laboratory and the bloody scene before him, Gongping found the fury in his eyes even harder to quell.