Elite A-Bo finished toyed with the Primal Poison Gem before tossing it to his Roserade. Roserade, a Bouquet Pokémon of the Grass/Poison type, exuded a dangerous fragrance from its rose-like head. While it held red and blue flowers in its hands, it hid venomous, thorned whips within them, ready to lash out in a lethal dance at a moment's notice.
"Since so many people want to take that brat down, we might as well oblige," A-Bo said, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "Old Hali, you've always been steady. I want you to head this operation. Monitor everything in Gringey City. If there's even a ripple in the water, report to me immediately."
"I understand, Mr. A-Bo," Feng Che replied with practiced deference.
"I'm promoting you to Grand Captain. Your clearance in the base is now elevated; you are the temporary overseer of Gringey Base. I'll be diving into Poison-type breeding research for the next few days. Do not disturb me unless it's a matter of life and death—otherwise, I'll make sure you regret interrupting me."
With that, A-Bo turned and swaggered toward his private laboratory, followed by his Roserade.
What a fool, Feng Che chuckled internally. He just handed me the keys to the kingdom. I was wondering how I'd dismantle this place from the inside, and now the big fish has hooked itself.
Sakaki Tsuna is the real wildcard here, though, Feng Che mused. To survive that deserted island and turn himself into a merchant... If I catch him, should I send him back to Rocket? Giovanni might spare him out of respect for his late brother. No. It's better to just cut the roots. I'll eliminate him myself.
Feng Che headed straight for the Control Hub, the nerve center of Gringey Base. At its core sat a massive Super-Brain computer that monitored every sensor and camera in Gringey City.
"Grand Captain Hali!" the technicians stood and saluted as he entered.
"Elite A-Bo has entered seclusion," Feng Che announced. "I am the temporary commander. We are entering Maximum Alert Mode. Monitor every feed for intruders and bar all external visitors from entering the base. Move!"
As the staff busied themselves, whispers broke out behind his back. "Old Hali sounds... different. More refined?" "Shh, he's a Grand Captain now, of course he talks differently. I just hope nothing goes wrong while A-Bo is away. Last time I messed up, his Drapion injected me with enough venom to paralyze my lower half for six months."
Don't worry, Feng Che thought, sitting down at the main terminal. Your suffering is almost over. This whole base is about to be cleared out.
Feng Che appeared to be scanning the city's security feeds, but he was actually launching a brute-force attack on the Super-Brain's firewall. It was a sophisticated onion-layered defense; every time he peeled back one layer, another emerged.
Finally, a challenge, he smirked.
The Harvest Begins
A few days later, the firewall finally crumbled. Feng Che didn't just take control; he copied every scrap of evidence regarding A-Bo's illegal trade and human rights violations onto a USB drive and sent an anonymous tip-off directly to the Global Pokémon Federation.
"Now," Feng Che stood up and stretched. "Time to harvest the spoils."
He walked directly toward the Poison Treasure Garden, where A-Bo kept his most prized specimens. Two Gym-level guards blocked the entrance. "Grand Captain, A-Bo has forbidden entry to everyone. Please step back."
Feng Che didn't stop. He didn't even slow down.
"Step back or we open fire!" the guards shouted, raising their laser rifles.
"Go, Ninetales! Ember!"
The elegant Pokémon emerged, and two small flickers of flame danced from its tails. In a flash, the laser rifles in the guards' hands melted into useless slag.
"Curse you! Go, Weezing! Muk!"
The guards released their Pokémon. Two Weezing—joined twin-spheres leaking toxic gas—filled the air with a foul, blinding smog. Two Muk, looking like heaps of sludge with predatory eyes, used Minimize, shrinking their bodies a hundred-fold to become elusive, "miniature" assassins.
"Muk, Sludge Bomb!"
Pellets of corrosive sludge rained toward Feng Che.
"Hali, the Super-Brain will alert A-Bo to this fight any second!" the guards laughed. "When he gets here, he'll feed you to his pets piece by piece!"
Ninetales unleashed a Flamethrower. The jet of fire tore into the thick gas released by the Weezing, triggering a massive Gas Explosion.
BOOM!
The shockwave blasted the Sludge Bombs back into the ground, where they hissed and dissolved deep pits into the alloy flooring. Throughout the base, the floor shuddered.
"What happened?! Why is the base shaking?" "The Super-Brain isn't signaling! Why isn't the alarm going off?"
The staff were in a panic. Seeing the smoke and fire, their first instinct was to flee the underground complex. Meanwhile, in the guest quarters, Sakaki Tsuna bolted upright as the tremors rocked his bed.
"Something is very wrong," he hissed, his eyes glowing with a faint, vengeful blue light.
Feng Che has disabled the alarms and is at the gates of the Treasure Garden. Should he quickly loot the rare Poison-types and leave, or wait for A-Bo to arrive so he can test his new Ancient Beedrill on a real Elite-tier opponent?