The air in the warehouse was still crackling with the displaced energy of the Teleport. Nero stood in the center of the room, covered in dirt and dried blood, holding the unconscious Viper. The stump of Viper's left arm was encased in a block of ice that was already beginning to drip red onto the concrete floor.
Enzo rushed forward, his mind racing, but as he reached out to help support Viper's weight, a blue holographic window flashed aggressively in his vision, stopping him dead for a fraction of a second.
[ SYSTEM ALERT ]
> Abnormal Energy Detected.
> Source: Darkrai
> Caution: Target was in prolonged contact with Pokémon Darkrai. User caution is advised.
Enzo felt a cold shiver run down his spine that had nothing to do with Viper's state. Darkrai again? The name echoed in his mind like a curse.
"Let's get him downstairs!" Enzo snapped back to reality.
Nero nodded, his face a mask of grim determination, and together they hauled Viper toward the basement door. Ronnie scrambled to open it, looking pale and useless. "Don't just stand there!" Enzo yelled at him. "Get hot water and towels! Go!"
They descended the metal stairs into the lab, laying Viper onto the cold metal table usually reserved for Leni's experiments. The movement jarred the wounded man. The ice on his shoulder cracked, melting rapidly under the warmer temperature of the lab. Fresh blood began to ooze from the cauterized wound.
Viper gasped. His eyes flew open, wide with panic and agony. He arched his back, a guttural scream tearing from his throat. "AAAAHHH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"
"He's going into shock!" Nero shouted, struggling to hold his friend down.
"Hypno!" Enzo commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Put him under! Deep sleep. Lower his heart rate immediately!"
The Hypno came from the shadows of the lab. It didn't hesitate. It swung its pendulum right in front of Viper's frantic eyes. "Hyp..." the Pokémon droned. A wave of psychic energy washed over the table. Viper's scream cut off instantly. His eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went limp, collapsing back onto the metal. His breathing slowed to a rhythmic, shallow.
Nero didn't stop. He turned to the scientist, who was standing by his computer, looking terrified. "Leni!" Nero pointed to the Ultra Ball clipped to Viper's bloodstained belt. "Check that ball. His Arbok is inside. It was almost cut in half. Do whatever you can to save it."
Leni blinked, adjusting his glasses. The fear vanished, replaced by clinical focus. "Understood," Leni said. He grabbed the Ultra Ball and rushed to the bio-bed in the corner.
Enzo, looking at Viper, said. "Proton! Get over here!" Proton holstered his gun and ran to the table. "Apply pressure here," Enzo ordered, grabbing a sterilized clamp and a bottle of disinfectant. "We need to clean the wound before we bandage it. If infection sets in, he's dead."
For the next twenty minutes, it was a gruesome, silent work. Enzo and Proton worked in tandem—cleaning the horrific stump, applying high-grade potions meant for Pokémon (which were far more potent than human medicine), and wrapping the shoulder in tight, sterile bandages.
Finally, the bleeding stopped. Viper lay pale and still, looking more like a corpse than a man, but the monitor showed a steady heartbeat.
Enzo stripped off his bloody gloves and threw them into the bio-waste bin. He took a deep breath, wiping sweat from his forehead. He looked at Proton. "Stay here," Enzo ordered. "You and Hypno watch him. If his heart rate spikes or if he starts thrashing, you sedate him again. Do not let him wake up."
"On it, Boss," Proton said, his usual smirk gone, replaced by a serious nod.
Enzo turned to Nero, who was leaning against the wall, staring at his friend with hollow eyes. "Upstairs," Nero said quietly. "We need to talk."
The silence upstairs was heavy, broken only by the sound of Nero's voice. Nero stood over the leather couch and said, "He said one name before he passed out… George…" He was scrubbing his hands raw. He wasn't shaking from fear. His hands trembled with a vibrating, cold rage that made the muscles in his jaw jump.
Enzo walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid and two glasses. He poured a stiff measure into one and slid it across the counter. "Executive," Enzo said, his voice low and steady. "Drink. And please... tell me exactly what happened."
Nero stopped and grabbed the glass. He downed it in one burn. "The mission was a success," Nero began, his voice rasping. "We secured 3 Titans. We extracted the DNA from the altar. The package is safe."
"But the North... it was a slaughter."
Nero turned to face Enzo, leaning back on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. "The intel on the Northern Regirock was wrong. Or at least, that's what George claimed. He said the Titan wiped out Omega and Delta Squads, before dying." Nero narrowed his eyes. "But I went back. I checked the bodies."
"And?" Enzo pressed.
"The Titan Regirock didn't kill them," Nero said darkly. "The Regirock was destroyed. Pulverized. And the energy residue on the stones... it was massive. It was Dark-type energy."
Nero ran a hand through his hair, looking disturbed. "And the bodies of the Pokémon... Delta and Omega Squad's partners... they didn't just have cuts. They had these... twisted expressions. Their eyes were wide open. Their jaws were locked in silent screams. Like they died terrified. Like they saw something that stopped their hearts before the blow even landed."
Enzo listened intently, his mind racing back to the System alert he had received.
Nero sighed, shaking his head, trying to rationalize the horror with logic. "George must have used his Tyranitar as trapp," Nero muttered. "It's a pseudo-legendary. Rock and Dark type. It fits the energy signature. He probably lost control, and it went berserk. That explains the Dark energy and the sheer destruction."
Enzo leaned back on the couch, swirling the liquid in his own glass. He shook his head slowly. "No," Enzo said softly. "That doesn't fit."
"What do you mean?" Nero asked, irritated. "Tyranitar is a monster. It's capable of that."
"A Tyranitar is a physical brute," Enzo countered cold logic cutting through Nero's theory. "It uses Crunch. It uses Stone Edge. It breaks bones and crushes armor. It leaves a mess of gore." Enzo looked up, locking eyes with the Executive. "But it doesn't leave victims looking like they saw a ghost before they died. It doesn't leave a residue of pure fear."
"Then what was it?" Nero demanded. "A Gengar? A Spiritomb?"
Enzo set his glass down. The room felt suddenly colder. "That wasn't a Tyranitar, " Enzo said, his voice dropping to a whisper that carried the weight of a death sentence. "And it wasn't a ghost."
He paused. "That was Darkrai."
Nero scoffed, the sound sharp and dismissive. "A myth?" Nero shook his head, looking at Enzo like he was crazy. "You're reading too much into legends, Enzo. Darkrai is a fairy tale."
Enzo cut him off, his voice slicing through Nero's denial. "Think about it!" Enzo stepped forward, his eyes intense. "Look at the pattern. His first plan—the Beedrill attack—was reckless. If that had gone through, the League would have launched a full-scale purge. It would have been a disaster for Team Rocket."
Enzo started pacing, connecting the dots. "His plan was to weaken Team Rocket from the start. I stopped him then, so he changed tactics. Today, instead of a public disaster, he chose to eliminate two elite squads of the Shadow Unit and your right-hand man and top recruiter."
Enzo stopped, pointing a finger at Nero's chest. "If George has Darkrai, he has a monster. He defeated a Titan Regirock by himself and killed everyone else without a scratch. And worst of all... he doesn't need to fight Giovanni in a duel. He doesn't need a coup." Enzo lowered his voice to a terrifying whisper. "He can wait until he is asleep and kill him in a nightmare. It's the perfect assassination. Untraceable."
The color drained from Nero's face. His skepticism vanished, replaced by a dawn of horror. He realized the implication instantly: The Boss is vulnerable every time he closes his eyes.
Nero lunged for the heavy metallic case containing the Mew DNA. He threw the strap over his shoulder, his movements frantic.
"I have to get to Viridian," Nero said, checking his watch. "I need to deliver this and tell Giovanni before he... before he sleeps tonight."
"Go," Enzo urged him. "Don't stop for anything."
Nero paused, turning back to Enzo. The panic was gone, replaced by the steely demeanor of an Executive. "Enzo, listen to me," Nero ordered. "Focus on the tournament. Cure Viper. And get that Fairy Type thesis finished." He looked serious. "The Boss poured a lot of resources into your Fairy plan. He expects results, and we're going to need that money for what's coming."
Nero lowered his voice for the final command. "And Viper... his survival is a state secret. To the world, and especially to George, he is dead. Do not speak of this to anyone. Not even on encrypted channels."
Enzo nodded. "Understood."
Nero grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt. "Alakazam!" The Psychic-type materialized. "Teleport to Viridian HQ. Now!"
There was a flash of psychic light, and in an instant, the Executive was gone, leaving Enzo alone with the silence of the warehouse.
Enzo walked back down the metal stairs, the heavy door clanging shut behind him. The atmosphere in the lab had shifted from frantic panic to a low, steady hum of medical machinery.
He walked over to the main table. Viper was pale, his chest rising and falling in a shallow, artificial rhythm dictated by the Hypno. The Psychic-type stood over him like a sentinel, swinging its pendulum in a hypnotic arc to keep the human mind trapped in a painless void.
On the adjacent bio-bed, Leni had finished the emergency surgery on the Arbok. The giant snake was wrapped in regenerative bandages, sedated, but the monitor showed steady vitals. Stable.
Enzo let out a breath. They survived. But survival wasn't enough.
He switched instantly into "Boss Mode." The empathy vanished from his eyes, replaced by the cold calculation of a CEO. He turned to Ronnie and Proton, who were wiping down the bloody instruments and organizing the medical supplies.
"Ronnie. Proton," Enzo said, his voice cutting through the hum of the machines. They snapped to attention, looking at him expectantly.
"You two know the drill," Enzo said, walking over to the map of Kanto pinned to the wall. He tapped two locations: Mt. Moon and Route 3. "The Fairy Type thesis is dropping soon. Probably within the week."
He looked back at them. "I want you in Mt. Moon and Route 3 immediately. Capture every Clefairy, Jigglypuff, and Mr. Mime you see. I don't care if they are low-level. I don't care if they are weak."
Ronnie and Proton exchanged a look. Months ago, they would have laughed at the idea of catching "pink blobs." Now? They didn't ask "why." They knew Enzo's plan.
"Got it, Boss," Ronnie said, grabbing his belt and checking his capture supply. A greedy grin spread across his face. "We'll fill the boxes with them!"
"Exactly," Enzo nodded. "Go. Move out."
The two grunts grabbed their gear bags and marched up the stairs, their boots clanking on the metal, leaving to execute the mission with ruthless efficiency.
Enzo turned to the scientist, who was washing his hands in the corner sink. "Leni," Enzo said. "Keep an eye on Viper. If he twitches, you tell Hypno to increase the dosage. I don't want him waking up."
He pointed to the main computer terminal, where a document was blinking on the screen. "And while you watch him... finish the Fairy Type Thesis. I want it polished and ready for publication by the time I get back from the Finals."
Leni pushed his glasses up his nose, nodding vigorously. "Consider it done, Boss."
The warehouse was finally quiet. The screams from the basement had faded, replaced by the low, rhythmic hum of the ventilation system. Enzo sat alone in his tent, the only light coming from the holographic screen of his phone.
He scrolled down the tournament bracket. The names of the defeated faded into gray, leaving only two names glowing in bright gold at the top of the pyramid.
FINAL MATCH Enzo (Kanto) vs. Steven Stone (Hoenn)
Enzo stared at the name. He knew exactly who Steven Stone was. But money wasn't what worried Enzo. It was the title that Steven would one day hold: Champion of the Hoenn League.
Enzo picked up a cloth and began to meticulously clean his Poké Balls, polishing the red and white metal until it shone. I can't use dirty tricks here, Enzo thought, his reflection distorted in the sphere.
This match was being broadcast globally. The League, the media, and Giovanni were all watching. He needed a victory to cement his cover as a legitimate prodigy.
He looked at the Poké Ball containing his Houndoom. On paper, it was a checkmate. Houndoom was Fire/Dark. Steven's ace, Metagross, was Steel/Psychic. Fire melted Steel. Dark crushed Psychic. It should be easy.
But Steven isn't dumb, Enzo knew it, narrowing his eyes, far from it. He's a genius. He knew Steven wouldn't walk into a type disadvantage without a plan. His Metagross would be trained to counter its weaknesses. if Enzo wasn't careful. And Steven's team wasn't just Metagross; his Skarmory, Aggron, and Armaldo were defensive walls that could stall out an aggressive attacker.
He stood up, looking at the calendar. He had a few days before the finals. "I need to get ready," he said, a cold determination settling in his chest. "If he wants a battle of steel, I'll give him a war of fire."
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