"Cryogonal, use Rapid Spin to shred that Fire Spin!"
"Vanilluxe, use Ice Beam! Aim directly at the flame vortex!"
The roaring Fire Spin served as an absolute shield, prompting Sages Bronius and Ryoku to prioritize breaking through Feng Che's defense line.
However, the incoming stream of Ice Beam failed to deal even a shred of damage to the vortex, before being completely swallowed and vaporized by the swirling inferno. Concurrently, Cryogonal executed a high-velocity Rapid Spin to plunge into the Fire Spin, only to be forcefully ejected moments later as a smoking chunk of charred charcoal.
"Curse it... Return, Cryogonal!" Ryoku spat, his face contorting with rage. "In that case, I'm counting on you—Swanna!"
Swanna was an elegant, avian Pokémon whose physical vessel was primarily composed of pristine white plumage. Its elongated beak was a brilliant yellow, tipped by a solid black crest along the absolute foreground. Sprouting from its crown were two tufts of feathers bound together at the center, complemented by structural plumage projecting forward from its cheeks. The Swan Pokémon featured two distinct blue, shell-like coverings over its breast, its massive wings folding into a symmetrical "2" shape when grounded, supported by webbed black feet.
This particular Swanna was exceptionally beautiful, every movement radiating a seamless aura of pure elegance. Beating its wings in a deliberate, measured cadence, it successfully executed Rain Dance.
Dense clouds rapidly coalesced across the upper reaches of the cavern, and within moments, a heavy downpour began cascading onto the field. To Ryoku's profound bewilderment, however, the exact second the rain hit the Fire Spin, it produced a frantic, sizzling hiss and vented an immense cloud of white steam. The Fire Spin remained entirely unyielding to the weather change, its flames burning increasingly hot and ferocious.
The localized air moisture spiked at an uncontrollable rate, the multiplying white steam plunging the entire cavern sector into an absolute blackout where one could not even see their own outstretched hand.
It appears Ninetales alone is more than enough to systematically neutralize the lines of Bronius and Ryoku, Feng Che analyzed internally, tracking Ninetales's fluid composure.
[Alolan Ninetales, initiate a covert sweep under the cover of the fog. Target Bronius and Ryoku directly and flash-freeze them both.]
[Focus the frost parameter strictly on their lower extremities. I still need to brand a psychic tracking mark into their consciousness lines later,] Feng Che added via a precise telepathic directive.
Trapped within the absolute blindness of the dense fog, Bronius and Ryoku completely lost their spatial depth perception. Deprived of clear visual tracking, their remaining Pokémon could only blindly guess at target coordinates to discharge their moves.
"Swanna, clear the field with Hurricane!" Ryoku roared.
A violent gale whipped through the cavern to disperse the white steam, but the dense fog refused to scatter; instead, it grew increasingly thick and opaque. Concurrently, the environmental temperature plummeted to a bitter chill.
Ryoku and Bronius turned on their heels to reassess their flanks, only to stagger awkwardly as their balance buckled. Snapping their gazes downward, they discovered to their absolute horror that their feet had already been completely encased within thick, solid blocks of permafrost without them noticing.
"Tell me, does this development catch you entirely by surprise?"
The distinct, rhythmical sound of footsteps echoed through the white mist as two figures slowly materialized from the fog. Bronius and Ryoku squinted through the gloom, finding Feng Che calmly walking toward them, flanked by his Alolan Ninetales. Locked securely inside the Fox Pokémon's jaws was their unconscious Swanna.
"So you were the one who directed Alolan Ninetales to lock us down..."
"Hmph!"
Bronius and Ryoku let out a unified, defiant sneer.
Suddenly, a sharp, white-hot flash of agony shot through their skulls, the cognitive impact feeling as though a colossal iron spike was being forcefully hammered straight into their brain tissue.
"What on earth... What have you done to our minds?!" Bronius shrieked in absolute torment, fixing a venomous, terrified stare upon Feng Che.
"Nothing extreme. I am simply restructuring your core values to ensure we become part of the same close-knit family," Feng Che replied with a genial smile. "Once the process completes, you will serve as my most absolute, loyal subordinates."
This specialized psychic tracking mark had been masterfully engineered by Mewtwo; its passive influence would systematically rewrite the cognitive parameters of Bronius and Ryoku over time, ultimately converting them into highly dependable assets under Feng Che's sovereign hand.
"Superb. Moving forward, I shall penetrate the inner sanctum of Team Plasma to bring a definitive end to N's rule."
Right at that exact millisecond, a faint, high-velocity whistling sound tore through the air. The kinetic frequency was exceptionally minuscule; if Feng Che hadn't possessed high-tier Psychic parameters, his senses would have missed the displacement entirely.
Feng Che sharply tilted his head, a microscopic poison needle as fine as cattle hair streaking past his cheek to pierce the stone wall behind him.
"What a pity... A mere micro-millimeter off the mark."
The Supreme Leader of the Pierce Insect Organization, Vespiquen, stepped gracefully out from the swirling ice mist.
"I originally intended to harvest your vessel while your spatial awareness was completely compromised by the fog," she remarked with a cold, clear laugh. "I never expected your sensory tracking to be this remarkably developed."
The assassin queen was arrayed in a flowing, pitch-black gown, the delicate silken trim draping elegantly to accentuate her exceptionally slender, statuesque silhouette. Her dark hair was wove into an intricate, flawless updo, crowned by a palm-sized golden hairpiece meticulously crafted to mirror a Beedrill. Her eyes resembled twin pools of polished obsidian, her pupils flashing with a piercing, absolute-zero chill that wove an image of the perennial permafrost lining the highest mountain peaks. The high-lethal needle from a moment ago had been fired directly from that specialized Beedrill hairpiece.
Hovering closely behind her position was her primary partner, a colossal Vespiquen. The Beehive Pokémon closely mirrored the anatomy of a hornet, its large compound eyes burning a volatile crimson around white pupils, topped by a prominent jewel-like structure resembling a raw ruby.
A pair of small wings extended from the orange sections of its facial armor, its primary torso and forelimbs a sleek black. The lower half of its frame expanded into a massive, multi-tiered skirt structure that dominated its overall physical proportions. Viewed from an under-angle, the interior of the skirt resembled a highly complex honeycomb matrix, the lower rim concealing a pale yellow, stinger-like point. It possessed two black, comb-like antennae.
Relying on its capacity to exude highly specialized pheromone vectors, a Vespiquen could effortlessly direct and coordinate the larvae nesting inside its vessel to wage war against its targets. At this exact millisecond, thousands of wild Combee began pouring out from its hive chambers.
Each Combee construct resembled a cluster of three hexagonal honeycomb cells, housing three separate larval faces. The upper two countenances each featured a single antenna, flanked by a pair of delicate wings along the external margins of the cluster. The Combee armada stood ready, poised to execute Vespiquen's absolute decrees.
"Feng Che, a high-profile client has surrendered an immense reservoir of funding to purchase your life," Vespiquen declared coldly. Her face was fully concealed beneath a delicate veil of black mesh, casting her image in the somber aesthetic of a grieving widow. "Save us both the logistical exertion and surrender your vessel quietly."
Deep within the honeycomb skirt of her Vespiquen, dozens of palm-sized, highly modified Beedrill clones remained coiled, waiting to strike.
Meanwhile, hiding within the shadow of a stone column further out.
This is a disaster... Vespiquen has bypassed the defensive line to engage Master directly, Insect Master thought, his face pale with anxiety.
The newer Beedrill strains I cultivated for her harbor an exceptionally potent, high-lethal neurotoxin metric. I have zero data on whether Master's current roster can successfully override that poison.
Even though Master commands the parameters of a verified Champion-rank Trainer, Vespiquen anchors the absolute pinnacle of the assassination arts. Master might not necessarily possess the specialized counter-measures required to survive a direct encounter against the leader of the Pierce Insect Organization.
Back at the center of the vault.
[Feng Che, I have just utilized a full psychic sweep to map her physical matrix, and I have stumbled into an absolutely earth-shaking development,] Mewtwo's telepathic voice resonated, rich with profound shock.
[This woman's structural features share a near-flawless genetic alignment with your own physical vessel. Furthermore, her cognitive core houses two entirely distinct spiritual entities.]
[One of the spirits has sustained severe emotional trauma and has entered a deep, protective comatose state. Going by these parameters, I deduce that the Supreme Leader of the Pierce Insect Organization is highly likely to be your biological mother, Yuan Jia.]
The exact second the data cleared, Feng Che's pupils contracted violently.
I see... Everything tracks now.
Grandmother Mishinko's original diagnostic sweep was slightly flawed; Yuan Jia didn't naturally develop a secondary psychological split-personality. Her vessel was forcefully compromised and possessed by an outside entity during her youth.
However, the ancient mental seals Mishinko wove into her mind were powerful enough to forcefully suppress and lock that foreign spirit into a deep slumber.
Now, because my mother sustained a catastrophic psychological fracture due to the sudden disappearance of my father, Feng Lu, her primary consciousness collapsed into a coma—an event that successfully permitted the foreign soul to break the seals and reassert total dominance over her body.
At this critical juncture, Feng Che finally unmasked the absolute truth of the decades-old conspiracy.