Dark clouds rolled overhead, dimming the water below as heavy, black waves surged in one after another.
On the mountaintop, the moment Lie Ke saw that familiar face, his expression twisted ugly.
After a long beat, his voice finally rose—thick with hate.
"Guo Yi. You're finally here!"
"Last time, you beat me by borrowing your teacher's power."
"Today, I've also obtained power from the leader."
"Now I'm taking back everything you stole from me."
"""ROAR!!"""
Sensing their Trainer's fury, Lie Ke's Pokémon forced down their fear and roared at Beedrill.
Thundurus even "played along," stirring the storm clouds and dropping a few lightning strikes for show.
Crackle—!
Bright bolts speared down from the sky.
One struck an old tree not far from Guo Yi—one that had stood for a hundred years.
In a single hit, the ancient trunk turned to charcoal.
"Bzz!"
Facing the pressure of seven Pokémon, Beedrill showed no fear at all.
With a flash of its wings, it slipped in front of Guo Yi, taking point.
At the same time, Guo Yi activated Data Eye and swept his gaze across the opposition.
He'd fought Lie Ke's other Pokémon before. He knew them well.
Their strength had shifted a bit, but nothing that mattered.
So his eyes passed over them.
His focus was on the Legendary Pokémon: Thundurus.
[Thundurus (Electric/Flying)]
[Gender]: Male
[Level]: lv94 (Master Tier)
[Ability]: Volt Absorb (When hit by an Electric-type move, it takes no damage and instead restores its HP.)
[Moves]: Dark Pulse, Bleakwind Storm, Thunder, Charge (commonly used moves)
[Taught Moves]: Thunderbolt, Charge Beam, Sky Drop, Volt Switch, Wild Charge, Iron Tail
[Egg Move]: None
[Held Item]: None
[Potential]: Master Tier
Lv94.
Two levels higher than Tapu Koko had been.
So far, this was the strongest opponent Guo Yi had ever faced.
As Guo Yi studied Thundurus, Lie Ke caught the look in his eyes.
He laughed arrogantly. "Guo Yi, I bet you don't even know what that Pokémon is."
"I'll tell you—it's called Thundurus, and it's even more terrifying than your teacher's Zapdos!"
Lie Ke was still basking in his smug introduction when Guo Yi's indifferent voice cut him off.
"Thundurus… no. More accurately, Thundurus in Therian Forme."
"Lie Ke, being able to get your hands on a Pokémon of this level does mean you've got some capability. But I'm curious—besides Thundurus, have you also controlled the other two?"
"Landorus. Tornadus."
Guo Yi smiled at Lie Ke.
Lie Ke's swagger vanished on the spot.
Confusion crept into his eyes.
As a former Elite Four, Lie Ke knew perfectly well that the Forces of Nature hadn't been discovered by Dragon Country's Pokémon League yet.
So where had Guo Yi gotten this information?
Lie Ke didn't answer.
But Guo Yi had already gotten what he needed from the tiny shift in his expression.
"Then the Forces of Nature have all been captured," Guo Yi said lightly.
"Only… the Seven Sages don't have the ability to pull that off. Team Galactic must have stepped in."
With only a brief analysis, Guo Yi had a rough picture.
It wasn't that he looked down on the Seven Sages.
If it were only one, he believed they might have a shot at capturing it.
But all three—especially in Therian Forme, and controlled?
In the original story, even Giovanni, boss of Team Rocket, couldn't do that.
The Seven Sages alone? No way.
What Guo Yi couldn't figure out was how Team Galactic had managed to control the three.
And judging from Thundurus's state, their method seemed even more stable than the one Guo Yi knew.
Unable to pin down the reason, Guo Yi decided to squeeze more information out of Lie Ke.
He said directly, "Lie Ke, if I'm not mistaken, the wildfires in the north and the quake in Chengdu… that's all the Forces of Nature's work, isn't it?"
"Landorus is Ground-type, so the one causing trouble in Chengdu should be Landorus. And Tornadus can freely manipulate gales—so the one behind the northern wildfire must be Tornadus."
"Am I right?"
With every sentence Guo Yi spoke, Lie Ke's face darkened another shade.
Because Guo Yi's analysis was dead-on—like he knew their secrets from the inside.
Is there a League spy within the organization?
The thought flashed through Lie Ke's mind.
But he dismissed it almost immediately.
Information about the Forces of Nature was held only by the upper leadership in both organizations.
If even that had been penetrated, their operation would never have progressed so smoothly.
Because whether it was the southern floods or the northern wildfires—once triggered, even if the plan didn't fully succeed, the economic damage would still be severe.
The Pokémon League would never have let it unfold unchecked.
And besides—if there were a spy, Lie Ke probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to take these hostages.
Then… is it Guo Yi's mysterious teacher?
If it wasn't internal, Lie Ke could only link it to the man behind Guo Yi.
Still—the exposure of the Forces of Nature was within what Lie Ke could tolerate.
But what Guo Yi said next shattered his composure completely.
"I more or less know why you chose to cooperate with Team Galactic—an international organization."
"Why you were willing to take the risk and confront Dragon Country's Pokémon League head-on."
"They must have offered you a way to control Kyurem, didn't they?"
The moment the name Kyurem fell,
Lie Ke's expression changed violently. He blurted without thinking, "How do you know Kyurem exists?"
The instant he said it, regret punched through him.
Wasn't that basically admitting Guo Yi's guess?
Guo Yi's eyes showed a trace of confirmation as he continued smoothly, "Is that hard?"
"Your Seven Sages propped up the Flying Eagle Gang. You—a retired Elite Four—even came personally."
"All for that stone that can make Kyurem stronger, right?"
Since the cards were already on the table, Guo Yi didn't bother hiding anything.
"Y-you… who the hell are you?" Lie Ke demanded.
Inside him, it was like a stormy sea—waves he couldn't calm.
Why did Guo Yi know so much about Kyurem?
He even knew how to strengthen it.
"Who am I?" Guo Yi laughed softly. "Just an ordinary assistant instructor at Shanghai Pokémon University."
For some reason, seeing Guo Yi so breezy and unhurried made Lie Ke's earlier confidence start to wobble.
But—he forced himself to shake it off and steady his emotions.
"Guo Yi, I don't care how much you know."
"Today, you're not leaving this Secret Realm alive."
So what if Guo Yi knew?
Wasn't there an old saying—"the more you know, the faster you die?"
After today, Guo Yi would be a corpse. What did it matter if he'd learned their biggest secret?
Guo Yi glanced at Thundurus.
"Just this Thundurus? You're not even qualified."
As he spoke, Guo Yi raised his wrist.
The familiar Z-Ring was already there.
Only this time, the crystal set into it wasn't the blue-green Bug-type Z-Crystal—it was a Poison-type Z-Crystal, glowing with eerie violet light.
"Beedrill!"
"[Z-MOVE—ACID DOWNPOUR]!"
As Guo Yi's voice rang out, the Z-Crystal exploded with blinding purple brilliance.
A vast surge of natural energy poured into Beedrill's body.
This was the first time Trainer and Pokémon had ever unleashed a Poison-type Z-Move—but with their experience using the Bug-type Z-Move before,
it was just swapping the energy source. For them, it wasn't difficult.
"Bzz!"
A low insect cry echoed through the mountain—quiet, yet tyrannical.
Whoosh!
Air tore as Beedrill became a blur and shot straight into the cloud layer.
"Not good!"
"Thundurus, quick—!"
Lie Ke hadn't expected Guo Yi to be this shameless with an old rival.
No warning. No preamble. Just straight to violence.
But by the time he tried to have Thundurus stop it, it was already too late.
In the dense rain, Lie Ke finally noticed what was wrong.
Each raindrop… carried concentrated, lethal poison.
Even under the dark canopy of the storm, that thick violet rain was impossible to miss.
"Counterattack!" Lie Ke shouted on instinct, cornered.
"""ROAR!!!"""
Lie Ke's Pokémon and Thundurus struck at once, trying to blast the rain out of the sky.
Flames, lightning, and stone surged upward.
But—right as the attacks were about to collide, something bizarre happened.
The poisonous rain seemed to have no physical form at all.
It slipped through every attack—and kept falling.
Lie Ke frowned.
"Is it just for show?"
No wonder he'd taken it so seriously.
Guo Yi's movement just now was too familiar.
It was the signature action his teacher had used when defeating Beedrill.
And as the disciple, Guo Yi must have inherited an equally terrifying secret technique.
How could Lie Ke not be on full alert?
But right now—it looked like he'd overreacted.
Guo Yi isn't the teacher himself. How could he possibly unleash the same kind of terrifying art?
Yeah… I tensed up too much.
After Guo Yi kept exposing secret after secret, Lie Ke's nerves had been stretched tight.
But—just as he was about to let out a breath of relief, his Pokémon suddenly began screaming in pain all at once.
He whipped his head around—and saw it.
Every one of his Pokémon was bogged down in a toxic mire, unable to move.
---
T/N: LMAOOO also heh yesss MC just learning all the plans is just chefs kiss
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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