"People of the World League, I am the newly appointed Grass General, Zorn."
"Allow me to send you on your way."
Zorn dropped the red rose in his hand, and countless pink petals descended from the sky. This was the move Petal Dance, executed by a legion of Grass-type Pokémon. The swirling storm of petals quickly engulfed Bruno and his team.
The King's Desperation
In the central citadel of Poacher's Island, King Kai watched the chaotic battles between his Generals and the World League through a massive array of screens. His mood was foul.
"Has Zekrom still not awakened?" His roar echoed through the halls of the castle.
"That black orb is like a bottomless pit, my Lord," a subordinate stammered, trembling. "No matter how many resources we pour in, it just devours them. We have no way of knowing when Zekrom will stir."
"Useless! Zekrom is our only hope to break this siege!" King Kai glared at the man. With a cold snort, a pulse of pressure struck the subordinate; he collapsed instantly, bleeding from his eyes and ears.
"Three days," King Kai hissed to the remaining staff. "If Zekrom does not wake in three days, you will all be buried with this island. If the Poachers fall, none of you deserve to exist."
He pressed a hidden switch on his throne, opening a secret passage. Kai descended a long spiral staircase into a high-tech laboratory. In the center, inside a massive containment vat, sat a palm-sized black sphere: the Dark Stone. It was continuously absorbing massive currents of electricity from the island's generators.
"I have possessed this Dark Dragon Stone for ten years," Kai muttered to the orb. "Zekrom, is my Dragon bloodline not enough for you? I have brought you the rarest Electric and Dragon treasures in existence. The island is being invaded. We need your power."
The stone remained silent. However, as Kai turned away, the surface of the black orb pulsed once, almost imperceptibly.
"Fine. I cannot pin my hopes on a myth," Kai whispered to himself. "I am a Champion-level trainer. Even if this island falls, as long as I escape, I can build a new organization from the ashes."
It was precisely this lack of conviction—his willingness to abandon his followers—that prevented Zekrom, the dragon of Ideals, from acknowledging him.
The Fortress of Venom
By daybreak, Feng Che and Norman reached the outskirts of the Fortress of Venom.
"Mr. Norman, take these antidotes," Feng Che said, handing over a satchel. "I've placed a psychic mark on you. If you're overwhelmed, snap this bent spoon, and it will trigger an emergency teleport. My medicines can stall most toxins until I reach you."
The two split up to infiltrate the fortress from different angles. Feng Che had a specific objective: the memory he extracted from the Spider Ninja revealed that Hanzo Shura held a legendary treasure in his private vault.
The fortress was built atop a massive, bubbling mire. The surrounding trees were skeletal and corroded by toxic miasma. Every step on the thick carpet of rotting leaves released a foul stench and the skittering sounds of poisonous Bug Pokémon.
Hanzo Shura sat in his inner sanctum, having already received word of the Seven Ninjas' defeat.
"Koga defeated my best... and that brat Feng Che is here," Hanzo muttered. Suddenly, he clutched his chest, coughing up a spray of black blood. He fumbled for a bottle in his ring, swallowing a dark pill.
"The toxin from the Poison Dragon's Scale is terrifying," he gasped. "Even through a hazmat suit, just touching it infected me. If only I had found a Lugia's feather from Captain Kasia... I could have purged this."
Hanzo recalled the "Poison Dragon" he had once glimpsed: a massive, crystalline beast that occupied the sky, surrounded by purple shards. Just a glance from the creature had nearly crushed his spirit. He had spent a fortune to retrieve a single scale from its nest.
"Though it poisons me, its power allowed me to reach the peak of the Elite rank and touch the Champion's threshold," Hanzo grinned manically. "Guards! Release every toxic Pokémon we have! I want the League's trainers to become food for my 'little darlings'!"
Using Mewtwo's power to bypass the sensors, Feng Che bypassed the surface guards and teleported directly into the fortress's underground basement.