Chapter 191: Genesect, My Resurrection! The Black Dragon Has Arrived!
"What a nuisance."
Colress sighed, waved a hand at his subordinates to deal with this young man, and turned toward the lab. Since the base had been compromised, there was no point staying — time to pack up his research data and move.
He'd barely finished turning around when two loud crashes rang out behind him, followed by alarmed shouts from his subordinates.
He looked back. Both the Golbat and Raticate his people had sent out were already down.
"No point struggling. These opponents are a bit beneath me, honestly. Would you mind coming quietly, Researcher?"
Drayton's tone stayed its usual lazy drawl, Aurorus and Dragonite positioned on either side of him, the pair of them radiating quiet power.
"I see. No ordinary trainer, then." Colress narrowed his eyes slightly, but the corner of his mouth had begun to lift. His hand moved unhurriedly to his jacket pocket, producing an Ultra Ball. "Might I ask your name, young man?"
"Drayton. Currently a student at Blueberry Academy."
Drayton studied Colress with a hint of interest.
"And you're actually planning to fight me? I'd advise against it — feels like a waste of time."
"A student, of all things. Which means the so-called elite members of Team Plasma can't even match a student. Rather embarrassing for them."
Colress's voice stayed level throughout.
"Don't worry — this won't disappoint you. My subject only awakened recently. Consider yourself test data."
Colress released the ball. A Pokémon of singular, strange design descended onto the floor before him.
"What's that?" Drayton's brow furrowed, taking in the purple, armored creature.
It stood upright on two legs — a massive insectoid form encased in metallic purple armor, the most distinctive feature being the enormous cannon mounted squarely on its back.
"Genesect. That's its name."
Colress stood behind it, an unhurried smile settled on his face as he offered the introduction.
"An insect Pokémon that existed three hundred million years ago. In that era, it was feared as the apex predator of its time. I brought it back."
"Not just back — you modified it."
Drayton's expression had gone serious. He could feel it — a thick, oppressive pressure radiating off the creature called Genesect.
This thing is strong.
And it made no sense for an ancient Pokémon to look like this. The high-tech armor aesthetic, the cannon on its back — none of that belonged to anything that had lived three hundred million years ago.
"You noticed. Correct — I modified it. Enhanced its combat capability. Rather perfect, if I do say so."
Colress's expression carried the particular satisfaction of a craftsman proud of his work.
"So a Team Plasma researcher really is just like the rest of Team Plasma." Drayton's voice turned cold.
"That sort of comment does make things difficult for me." Colress shook his head.
"Science is extraordinary, and Pokémon even more so. My research has always centered on one question: how do we help Pokémon reach their fullest potential? Genesect is an expression of exactly that."
His tone stayed serene throughout.
"I modified them. But they're stronger now, aren't they? I gave them a second life, and I made them more powerful than they'd ever been in the ancient world — helped them become more than what they were. If anything, they should be thanking me."
"You're awfully good at talking yourself into things. Should I be impressed?"
Drayton's laugh came out short and cold.
"Forcibly modifying Pokémon is a serious crime."
"Correct. Which is why the League's been hunting me for some time." Colress nodded, entirely untroubled.
The use and development of banned weaponry applied to Pokémon, along with the unauthorized modification of Pokémon themselves — those were the charges that had earned him the designation "Dark Scientist" and landed him on the League's most-wanted list. And they were also, indirectly, the reason he'd ended up with Team Plasma. Ghetsis had given him resources and freedom. That was all the arrangement required.
"In any case, pleasant conversation aside — your strength is considerable. You'll do nicely as a benchmark test for Genesect's combat data."
Colress had no interest in continuing the back-and-forth. Some firsthand performance data was genuinely useful at this stage. The revival work had been a success for some time now, but live combat trials were still largely untested.
The base's Plasma grunts hadn't been remotely qualified to serve as experimental subjects.
"Catching you would be worth a serious amount of merit, I imagine." Drayton's expression had gone properly serious.
"Presumably," Colress said, unruffled. "Though you'd have to manage it first."
The area had, by this point, become a full battlefield.
As a mid-to-large base, the headcount had been substantial — Skyla's group, thirty-plus students strong, had been facing an opposition of at least fifty or sixty Plasma members.
Fortunately, the Blueberry contingent's average ability level was markedly higher, particularly Drayton and the rest of Blueberry's Elite Four, along with the top-ten ranked students.
The tide had been gradually turning in their favor, the fighting spreading outward as the limited interior space couldn't contain the scale — stray attacks punching through walls and sections of the structure outright.
"Lively down there."
Mammon took another small sip of juice, watching the battle below in a detached, comfortable sort of way.
Plasma members were being trussed up and corralled in rows. Here and there, students with depleted Pokémon sat out resentfully, drafted into sentry duty.
"I knew I should have brought more potions."
"Tell me about it. My merit count, gone— (crying.jpg)"
"It's those dirty lowlifes' fault for using Golbat to go straight for me personally — if my Pokémon hadn't been protecting me, they wouldn't have worn out!"
Groups of students chatted energetically, trading blow-by-blow accounts of their recent fights, buzzing with the kind of excitement that only comes from something genuinely new.
This kind of assignment, apparently, was an entirely different experience from tournament battling. Completely wild.
"Send someone to collect these Plasma members."
Mammon lifted the communicator and gave the order. A few Rocket elites in civilian clothes rolled up in pickup trucks not long after, loading the bound and secured Plasma grunts into the flatbeds and hauling them off.
Hardly practical to leave them for Looker, after all. The whole operation would have been for nothing.
"Base is mostly cleared. Let's see—"
Mammon did a rough count of the captured members. He'd done his homework beforehand — the base was estimated at sixty-odd personnel. Fifty-one had already been loaded out. Ten or so left.
And one very important exception: Colress.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact. Aurorus launched from somewhere inside the building like a fired cannonball, crashing to the ground with a pained roar.
"Is that Drayton's Aurorus?"
Skyla blinked, having just put down her own Plasma opponent, startled by the sudden appearance of a clearly battered Aurorus she recognized as Drayton's.
A Dragonite came shooting out after it, Drayton riding on its back.
"Drayton, what happened?"
Skyla called out to him immediately, noting the unusual expression on his face.
"There's a researcher inside. Genuinely strong."
Drayton glanced at the badly injured Aurorus, his voice dropping lower.
"You can't match him?" Skyla's brow furrowed.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Unhurried footsteps crossed the broken entrance. Through the shattered warehouse doors, the blond scientist walked out at an easy pace.
Three hundred million years' worth of apex predator drifted in disc form beside him.
"Hm. Everyone here is an enemy, I see." Colress surveyed the scene with hands in his pockets, voice perfectly conversational. His white coat remained immaculate.
Looking at him, nothing about his appearance suggested he was one of the Unova League's most wanted.
"Colress!"
Mammon watched the young researcher, the curve of his mouth pulling upward.
This was, genuinely, the main reason he'd come to this base in the first place.
The secondary Black 2/White 2 Plasma antagonist — a scientist by primary role, but one whose personal trainer strength still sat at Champion-tier. Colress's raw talent was difficult to overstate, even by the standards of the entire Pokémon world. The man had built technology capable of controlling Kyurem. That was a benchmark that spoke for itself.
Police sirens wailed, distant and getting closer.
Several squad cars pulled up, and Looker and Elesa stepped out.
"Oh, Looker arrived." Salvatore blinked.
"We're getting the signal from Mr. Mammon — he's telling us to pull back." Skyla checked her buzzing phone, hesitated briefly, then started organizing the students around her.
It had been established clearly beforehand: in the field, follow orders.
"Looker and her people aren't going to handle him either," Drayton said, brow creasing. He'd felt Colress's actual strength firsthand.
"It's fine — Mr. Mammon will deal with it. He said anyone who wants to stay can stay. Let's go, Drayton." Skyla, though, had full confidence in Mammon.
"Have the others fall back. We stay to back Looker's people up."
Drayton made the call without hesitation. Skyla didn't argue — she sent the rest of the students ahead.
Colress watched them go without making any move to stop them.
Of course Ghetsis sent people. He checked the time with mild displeasure. He'd been assured backup was coming, but there was still no sign of it, and his research data in the lab hadn't been properly packed yet.
"That man is—" Looker had approached quickly, and the instant she spotted Colress, recognition crossed her face. "The Dark Scientist — Colress!"
Elesa's brow furrowed slightly, eyes moving over him.
"And who are you all?" Looker glanced over Drayton's group, puzzled.
"Blueberry Academy students. We, um, happened to find this Plasma base." Skyla gave an apologetic smile.
"That was reckless! What if you'd gotten hurt?!"
"Sorry, sorry." Skyla pressed both hands together, bowing slightly, posture impeccably contrite.
Drayton and the others exchanged glances. Skyla being perfectly cute and apologetic about something she'd done on purpose was an impressive skill. Not surprising from someone who specialized in Fairy-types, really.
"These young people had good intentions helping out." Elesa spoke up, turning to Looker. "Let's not belabor it. The priority right now is taking down the dangerous individual in front of us."
"You're right. I just don't want them getting hurt next time." Looker relented, voice worn.
"Heads up, Looker — this one's genuinely powerful. Worth requesting Elite Four backup if anyone's close by." Drayton offered the warning plainly.
"Evil will always answer to justice in the end. And with Elesa here, we don't need to worry." Looker's expression was resolute.
She'd never had any data on Colress's personal trainer ability — no one had, including Team Plasma itself. Ghetsis, for all his scheming, didn't actually know what Colress was capable of in a direct fight.
"..." Drayton went quiet. He gave Elesa a measured look.
As a world-famous model, Elesa was tall, striking, exceptional by any aesthetic standard. But fighting an evil organization wasn't a beauty contest.
He had serious doubts about whether Elesa could handle Colress. He doubted it even more about himself, and he'd already fought Colress.
Saying that out loud right now, though, would be terrible for morale.
"Colress — surrender!"
Looker's voice was clear and firm with authority.
"Could we not?" Colress said, in a tone of mild inconvenience. "I genuinely have no interest in fighting you. My pickup should be here any moment. Why don't you engage with them instead?"
"You can say that from inside a holding cell."
Every officer released their Pokémon at once. Elesa's own ace, Zebstrika, stepped forward.
Colress pressed his lips together, sighed, and directed Genesect to engage.
The Pokémon shifted forms — collapsing from disc shape back into its full insectoid body, landing heavily before him.
Drayton and the others naturally moved to support Looker's side.
Ten-plus against one. Advantage is obvious. This should be fine.
And then—
"As I said. I didn't want to fight you."
Colress shook his head, resigned, surveying the Pokémon strewn across the ground in various states of defeat. Genesect itself bore little more than some surface marks.
"How — how is it this strong?!"
Salvatore stared at Genesect, frozen, genuinely stunned.
"Champion-tier..." Elesa's expression was grave, her pale face tight. She hadn't expected anything close to this.
On her side, only Drayton's primary Pokémon had managed to land anything meaningful. Everyone else's attacks had barely registered. Meanwhile, Genesect's high-tech beam cannon had swept wide arcs through the opposition, taking out multiple targets per volley.
"Skyla, Drayton — fall back. Get clear. Something's coming, and I'll take it from here."
Skyla's phone buzzed.
"Mammon says pull back," she said quietly to Drayton. "He's taking over."
"He'll be okay?" Drayton wasn't entirely sold.
"Mr. Mammon is incredibly strong — don't worry. Let's go." Skyla was perfectly confident.
The group slipped away quietly. Looker noticed, but didn't stop them.
Honestly, the thought of retreating herself had been crossing her own mind.
Above, unnoticed until now, the previously clear sky had begun to darken. Black clouds were rolling in — and through them, arcs of blue lightning flickered continuously.
"So that's who it is." Colress looked up, the corner of his mouth lifting in faint amusement.
Thunderclouds like that. He didn't need more than a moment's thought.
The Black Dragon. Zekrom.
So Ghetsis had deemed him worth sending his trump card to retrieve. Fitting, really. His talent was genuinely indispensable to the man's plans.
Colress allowed himself a small, private smile — and his peripheral vision caught movement.
A black-haired young man in black clothing, two young women on either side of him, walking unhurriedly in his direction.
Who's that?
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