"Leave this to me. I once took first place in a League Archery competition," Alice said confidently.
Feng Che looked into her fiery red eyes and nodded. To win an archery tournament, one's powers of observation and tracking must be far beyond the average person.
"Arbok, prepare to strike where Alice indicates! Use Ice Fang!" Feng Che shouted to Ditto.
Ditto nodded, its fangs crackling with frost as it scanned the air, waiting for the signal. Alice's eyes narrowed, scanning the empty space for the telltale psychic distortion.
"Arbok! There! 45-degree angle, look up!" Alice pointed decisively.
Ditto coiled like a spring and launched itself into the air. Just as the Claydol materialized from its teleportation, it was met by a gaping, frozen maw. The Ice Fang sank deep, encasing the Claydol in a massive block of ice. It crashed to the ground with a thunderous thud, shattering into pieces. Without its consciousness to hold the fragments together, the guardian remained scattered.
"Tianchen, are you interested in this Claydol?" Feng Che asked, noting its Yellow potential.
"No," Tianchen shook his head. "I prefer to raise my Pokémon from their basic forms to build a deeper bond. Use it for your points, Kongjian."
Feng Che didn't hesitate, capturing the shattered guardian.
Team Rocket Headquarters: Deep Laboratory.
Giovanni stood before a massive glass vat, watching a purple-and-white embryo pulse with the rhythm of a beating heart. Beside him stood a tall, gaunt man with gray hair—Dr. Fuji.
"Fuji, how is the Mewtwo project progressing?" Giovanni asked.
"This is the second successful embryo," Fuji replied cautiously. "We are being twice as careful. We never found a trace of the first one after it escaped, but that one had fatal genetic defects. This one is stable, though it requires an immense amount of psychic materials to reach maturity."
Giovanni's face was stone. "Speed it up. The League is purging our sleeper agents. Soon, it will be all-out war. I need a Pokémon that can suppress the entire League by itself. Your family is under our protection, Fuji. Do not disappoint me."
The Jirachi Ruins.
Feng Che's trio reached the final guardian point. In the center of the room lay the skeleton of an Ekans that had clearly been killed by a massive psychic blunt-force trauma. A Yellow Gem floated above a pedestal.
"The guardian is already dead?" Alice asked, surprised.
"Don't move, Alice!" Feng Che barked. "That Ekans wasn't the guardian. It was an intruder that got killed by the guardian."
He pointed to the skull of the snake, which was crushed inward. He then looked at the ancient mural on the wall. "Tianchen, read those glyphs."
Tianchen adjusted his glasses. "It says: 'I hide before your very eyes. When you find my shadow, I shall appear and form a pact of symbiosis.'"
Feng Che pulled out his flashlight, scanning the wall carefully. He noticed something off. Among the thousands of ancient, weathered characters, one specific letter—the letter 'A'—was perfectly pristine, untouched by the dampness of the ruins.
"Found you. Unown, come out!"
A blue light erupted from the wall as a flat, letter-shaped Pokémon detached itself and floated into the air. It was an Unown in the shape of the letter 'A'.
Pokémon: True Unown (A) Potential: [NOT DISPLAYED] Level: [NOT DISPLAYED] Evaluation: A Pokémon with unique capabilities. CATCH IT! CATCH IT! CATCH IT! DO NOT LET IT ESCAPE!
Feng Che had never seen the system react like this. In the game, Unown were common filler Pokémon. But this one... it had a faint, shifting black luster.
Suddenly, the Unown released a flash of light so blinding it drew tears from their eyes. By the time Feng Che's vision returned, the Unown was gone. Or so he thought—he felt a faint warmth on the back of his hand. Looking down, he saw nothing, but the "symbiosis" mentioned in the mural echoed in his mind.
"Forget it, it's gone," Tianchen said, grabbing the Yellow Gem. "We have all three. It's time."
Feng Che quickly stuffed the Ekans skeleton into his bracelet (habitual looting) and grabbed the gem. "Teleport," they whispered in unison.
The Inner Altar.
They materialized in a chamber filled with massive, glowing purple-red crystals—solidified psychic energy.
"Thousands of years of accumulation," Tianchen marveled. "This altar has been vacuuming natural energy for eons."
"The Nine-Star Alignment is almost here," Feng Che said, his heart racing.
Tianchen looked at them solemnly. "Sit atop the altar. I'm going to share the Starry Sky Meditation technique with you. If you can channel the celestial energy through this method, you will awaken. But be warned—if your body can't contain the energy, you will die."
Feng Che sat down, closing his eyes as the mental images of the meditation technique flooded his mind. He wasn't backing down. This was his path to the top.
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