Chapter 62- Oak (Complete)

My first sight was Lance, looking much different from the man I had faced a month ago. He was relaxed, leaning back in a chair and nursing a cup of something warm as he spoke with Cynthia, the champion of Sinnoh. As our eyes met, I was forced to join the legion of people who had proclaimed her to be the most beautiful woman they had ever seen. She smiled at me before turning back to her conversation with the Champion of Indigo.

I moved on from them and walked deeper into the lounge. Oak had dropped me here to socialize with my new teammates and said he had some things to work through. The only other people in the lounge were Steven and Wallace of Hoenn. The blue-haired former champion conversed in whispers with his green-haired compatriot. I walked forward and hovered at the edge of their awareness, waiting for them to recognize me and invite me in. Of course, that ended up happening in no time as Steven looked up at me and, wearing an obviously faked expression of shock on his face, invited me to join in with them.

"Steven Stone, Steel-type Master, former Champion of Hoenn," he said in introduction, and Wallace followed suit, as if either of these men had a need to introduce themselves to anyone who hadn't been living under a rock for the last two decades. Even before becoming champion, Wallace was a famed trainer who was well on his way to climbing to the pinnacle of both trainer routes in Sinnoh.

"Wallace Mikuri, Water-type Master, Champion of Hoenn," he said, copying Steven's format, eliciting a grunt from the Steel-type Master. I just smiled at them and followed suit.

"Donnell Oak, not yet a Pokémon Master, trainer of Kanto," I said, getting a chuckle from Wallace for the terrible joke and a smile from Steven.

"Not yet a Pokémon Master. From what I've seen of your team, you more than qualify," Steven said, giving me a look, asking a silent question.

"No Conference League, unfortunately. One of the requirements to apply for mastery in Kanto is a first-place finish in the domestic league and a Tier-1 badge from all eight of the major gym leaders," I said, answering the unasked question he had led me towards. The fact that gym badges existed in tiers did not matter to most people. In fact, most people did not even know about it. There were three tiers. Tier-3 badges were the most commonly known, acquired by defeating a gym leader in their chosen challenge. Tier-2 badges were something different. A trainer could only acquire one after spending some time training under the gym leader and satisfying them of their competence and ability. It was more difficult to acquire than the previous tier simply because most gyms were picky about who they accepted as trainers, and beyond that, getting a Tier-2 badge often required years spent at the feet of the gym leader. It was only a common choice among those who either sought to be gym leaders themselves or were content with being gym trainers for the rest of their careers. Few, if any, trainers ever managed to get more than one of those badges. The third tier was the most difficult to acquire and also carried the most prestige of the bunch. It involved full six-on-six combat with the gym leader's personal team. Basically, it was a test of strength, and to get one, you had to prove yourself more powerful than the gym leader in question. Considering gym leaders were stronger than 99% of the population, it was no wonder that the only Pokémon Masters Kanto could boast of were either gym leaders themselves or elite trainers.

"I see. I see indeed. I've heard a lot about you, Donnell Oak," Steven said while pointing to the third seat, and Wallace let out a yawn before reclining further in his own chair. I sprawled myself in mine, just luxuriating in the comfort. I loved the forest, but some things could not be replicated by the best forest tech out there. One of them was the feeling of a soft couch after a stressful day. I concluded that I would definitely be buying one of these for the clearing if my plans to turn it into a permanent residence ended up working out.

"This legendary psychic we are to face. Word is you have faced it before. Tell us about it," Steven asked, leaning in, and Wallace dropped his pretense of comfort and disinterest as he watched me with shark-like eyes. I was reminded of who these two men were and what they sought to accomplish here. We were going to kill a god.

"He is something else. I've never fought the one we are to face, but I have faced off against lesser versions, and what I have to say is simple. They fight like gods. Their psychic power is something else. They have a shield around their bodies that can only be overwhelmed by continuous bombardment from powerful attacks. They can enter your mind with the ease of a finger slipping through a glove. They also possess a strange ability to use moves you'd never expect a psychic to be capable of…"

"All that was true of the lesser gods. Now, multiply that by a hundred, and you'd get the scale at which the one we're sending you to fight works," Giovanni interrupted me as he walked into the room. I scowled at him for the interruption, but I just nodded when the champions gave me questioning glances. It was only when I heard shuffling behind me that I realized Lance and Cynthia had been paying attention to the conversation between me and the Hoenn Champions.

"How did you beat them?" Cynthia asked, and I shook my head to prevent my head from getting fogged up by that smile of hers.

"Not easily. Every shield must be broken through. Their natural telekinesis must be overwhelmed. The most surefire way of doing it is to gang up on it with multiple powerful Pokémon and good teamwork between all the Pokémon," I said, and they all nodded, seemingly hanging on to my every word.

"One thing I've noticed is that the psychics seem to abide by some code of honor. It never really tried to hammer through my psychic shields or even attack me personally, no matter how bad things got," I said, and Giovanni replied to the question I didn't even know I was asking.

"Yes. We coded in some simple directives into their DNA when making the false gods. One of which being an aversion to harming humans," Giovanni said, and Steven interjected.

"This one has laid waste to entire regions," he pointed out, scowling at the terrorist. I almost smiled at seeing someone focus on Giovanni and calling out his bullshit.

"Programming can fail. I suspect there was some error in the consciousness encoded in this one that made it cannibalistic and allowed it to ignore a base directive like the one it's been given," he said, eliciting glares from most of the room.

"Do we even realistically stand any chance?" Wallace asked the question on all our minds, and Oak answered it as he walked in.

"Of course we do. Things might sound overwhelming, but we do have our own advantages. Firstly, our enemy is incomplete. It was created in the earlier days of the experiments and has a more unstable body. It should have already broken down on its own, but we suspect that cannibalizing so many of its own kind has given it some longevity. However, from our models and the data Giovanni has so generously given us access to, it needs to complete the piece of DNA that spawned it to have any chance of a stable form. That's what I suspect it has been doing for so long, searching for the last pieces of DNA from the original legendary Pokémon," Oak said, eliciting looks of confusion from most of the room. Giovanni attempted to explain what he had said in a more digestible format for those who lacked the context to understand.

"We created the false gods from a shard of DNA left behind by the creator of all Pokémon," Cynthia sucked in a sharp breath at that, and the glare she speared Giovanni with had me shifting in my chair, trying to get as far from the terrorist as I could without making it obvious. The Sinnoh Champion looked nothing less than murderous as she stared at him.

"You would tamper with, nay, you would adulterate something so sacred?" she asked in shock and no small degree of offense.

"Yes, we would. The first champion of Indigo, when he completed the circuit, had his entire team of powerful Pokémon barely strong enough to destroy a city by working together. The weakest Pokémon on the main teams of anyone in this room could accomplish such a feat singlehandedly and with ease. Pokémon are growing more powerful as time passes. What happens when they realize themselves to be far superior to us? What happens when the Pokémon decide they no longer need their trainers? We built a weapon of last resort to confirm humanity's place at the top of the food chain," he said, not backing down from the pissed-off champion. I silently applauded the bravery while leaning even further away from him.

Cynthia looked pissed. Not pissed, apoplectic. Lance placed a hand on her shoulder before gesturing for Giovanni to continue his story. I guess even Lance could realize that the debate wasn't what we needed at this point.

"Our first attempts were nothing to write home about. We tried to build humans that could bridge the gap and wield the power of Pokémon themselves. When we saw limited success with that, we decided to take it a few steps further and create a Pokémon strong enough to subdue all the others but genetically predisposed to obey humans. That was the goal of the project, and we first of all saw some limited success. The early versions were powerful and unstable. When we managed to crack stability, we lost some of the power. You fought one of the lesser ones in our gym battle, Donnell," he said, turning to me at the last bit. I just scowled, uncomfortable with the familiarity with which the terrorist addressed me.

"We kept going, and eventually, we succeeded. Or we thought we did. The perfect specimen. With the power, stability, and obedience we needed. Of course, it was as I beheld my crowning achievement that our problem made itself known. It appeared from nowhere. It was only until much later that I found out that one of my partners had kept an earlier specimen for his own private study, and that same specimen had escaped, killing him in the process." He took a deep breath then, and I guessed the partner was Blaine.

"When that specimen appeared before me, I was too shocked to interfere. Our perfect specimen was killed in seconds and consumed in an even shorter time. That was what made me investigate. There were 24 false gods out and about at the beginning of the year. All of them have been consumed by this one in an effort to stabilize itself, but it isn't enough. My partner had theorized attempting to stabilize the one he had with genetic material from later versions, but he concluded he'd need much more DNA than what we had available. Simply put, this false god is done for. This Tournament of Power is nothing more than an attempt to go down with a blaze. I say we put it down ourselves," Giovanni said, and we all looked at each other, understanding the situation.

"Okay, even if it's weaker than it portrays, what stops it from just snapping our necks the moment we confront it?" Steven asked, taking the duty of asking the hard-hitting questions.

New part

"How do you think we can converse here without drawing his notice? How do you think we managed to control the false gods when we first started creating them? Team Rocket developed the necessary technology to control the false gods while we were still creating the first 10. Most of that technology will not work on this particular one, as it surpasses the power metrics we theorized. However, we still have some tools that will work," Giovanni said, puffing out his chest as if Team Rocket was our savior. I suppressed the desire to remind him that his team had singlehandedly created the problem they were now solving.

"What kind of technology is it? What do we have?" Lance asked, visibly bothered by the question. I understood his concern. A man whose strength surpassed his enemies was now forced to humble himself for the greater good. Working in a team and using technology against Pokémon were likely things Lance had little experience with.

"We have collars. These collars will prevent the false god's influence from reaching your minds. We also have rods that can limit its teleportation. Placing four of them in a square will create a barrier that prevents it from teleporting out of a specific location. It will also restrict its teleportation within that area," I nodded as Giovanni explained the technology we would use to combat an actual god. When he didn't continue, I blurted out before I could stop myself, "Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all, but don't worry. The team we have here will be more than enough to take down the false god once we rob it of those two advantages. Champion Lance has acquired a weapon that will prove useful against this Pokémon," Lance seemed to revel in the compliment before turning to me, "I cannot thank you enough for helping me evolve Dragapult, Donnell Oak. When I finally put an end to this scourge, rest assured that your assistance played a part in making it possible." Cynthia coughed behind him, and he quickly corrected himself, "We. When we defeat it." She smiled behind him, while Steven and Wallace exchanged a look before bursting into laughter. I was probably missing some context for the joke. After they finished laughing, I turned to Oak.

"So when do we move?" I asked, eager to put an end to this particular Pokémon. The fight would undoubtedly be one for the ages.

"We move when we are ready. We must come up with several strategies and formations, as well as familiarize ourselves with our roles in this mission," he said, and I nodded in agreement. My best guess was that my role probably wouldn't be to fight Mewtwo directly. I was still weak. The thought made me clench my fists.

"Is there a place where I can train my team?" I asked, and Oak smiled and nodded before leading me to a training ground within the bunker. As we walked, he explained some ground rules to me. "As I mentioned earlier, you cannot mention our enemy's name. The technology in this bunker shields us from his view, but using his name might break that protection. When you train, try to keep your Pokémon's attacks as controlled as possible. If you can, focus on physical combat training only. The bunker is fortified, but it cannot withstand the kind of attacks you are capable of easily unleashing." I nodded in understanding.

"Lastly, this is a Team Rocket hideout. You may encounter people with whom you have a troubled history. You must not attack them," he said, and I instantly got the message.

"The poacher is here, isn't he?" I asked.

"Yes, he is. But I ask that you exercise patience. Giovanni has promised to hand him over to you once we complete our mission. Don't jeopardize everything we're working towards here for revenge that can easily be postponed," he said, and I struggled to contain my anger. It was easy for him to say. Very easy for him to say. However, discretion prevailed over valor. I would find the poacher when we didn't have a psychotic legendary Pokémon looming over our heads. When that time came, he would be fair game. The entirety of Team Rocket would be fair game, and I honestly couldn't wait.

I nodded at Oak, and he nodded back before opening one of the doors. He entered a code, and the doors swung open as we walked in. I took in the training room with a smile.

XXXXXX

Gai, Broly, and Snorlax went through kata after kata. They were the most powerful fighters on the team, so I had to ensure their skills matched their power. As always, Snorlax lagged a bit behind, but he was improving day by day. Igneel flew around the top area of the training grounds at extreme speeds. He was becoming better and better at managing himself with the flame jetpacks, which increased his speed. His psychic awareness was noteworthy now. Ino's training was the most demanding of the entire team. She was our best hope at countering Mewtwo's telekinesis, so we had to ensure her power reached its full potential within the time we had. 

Tsunade practiced her healing and mastery of the Fairy type. I recruited her primarily as a healer, and that would be her role during this mission. Kenpachi, another key member for the upcoming battle, unleashed one Dark-type attack after another. His mastery of the element needed to be unparalleled. I wasn't foolish enough to assume that something as basic as type advantage would be enough to defeat a Pokémon like Mewtwo, but I hoped it would give us some hope of closing the gap. Kisame continued honing her ice control skills. It almost felt like she was acquiring a secondary typing as her skills improved over time.

When I heard a cough in the background, I turned and found myself face to face with the two Champions from Indigo and Sinnoh. Lance coughed again before stepping forward and extending his hand for me to shake. "Thank you for helping with Dragapult, and I apologize for creating the impression that I was going to arrest you. In my defense, we needed you to believe you had everything to lose to ensure you fought at your fullest."

"You weren't?" I asked, still stuck on the first part of his statement.

"No, I wasn't. Agatha and I were never close. I apologize for the deception, and I know that what happened to her was not your fault. I saw the fear in your eyes when that Pokémon came after you. You thought it would kill you. The body can lie, the mouth can lie, but the eyes? They never lie, and a dragon can read them better than any language. So yes, I believe you. Besides, Agatha was already dead when she encountered you."

I looked at him in shock at that revelation.

"Yes, an autopsy of her body revealed that her organs had wasted away weeks before your fight. What we could determine is that whatever fought you in the forest, it wasn't Agatha. The black mass that was expelled from her body is evidence of that. We don't know what happened to her yet, but what we do know is that you are innocent."

"So, my arrest?" I asked.

"It was a power play from the League President. There seems to be some conflict between him and your father that I am not aware of. When I became Champion, I made a conscious decision not to involve myself in such grudges, so I can't say for sure either way." Lance's words hit home, and I scowled. It was all politics. I had foolishly expected something different. I had thought it was the result of an ignorant and misguided justice system. Knowing that it stemmed from corruption made it harder for me to simply accept what had happened as something that just happens.

"I understand," I muttered through gritted teeth. Sensing that I no longer wanted to discuss the topic, Cynthia spoke up next.

"Your team is intriguing. We were discussing among ourselves in the lounge and decided to offer you some training assistance." She extended the offer, and I instantly became cautious. In my experience, help was never free. I wondered what they might want from me.

"We're bored," Lance interjected, seemingly aware of the suspicion I harbored towards them. "We can't train our own teams here because any meaningful training would cause too much destruction in this bunker. So, your team provides an outlet for our restless energy."

Phrased in that way, I was more inclined to accept their help. Cynthia smiled at me, and Lance simply nodded as they approached. Cynthia sought out Broly and Kenpachi, while Lance focused on Gai. I almost inquired about the other Champions when a flash of light caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I turned and saw Steven Stone and Wallace Mikuri. Steven tapped my shoulder as he passed by me and headed straight for Ino. Wallace, on the other hand, went to Kisame. I shook my head, wearing a smile. If anything made this situation worthwhile, it was seeing my Pokémon receive attention from trainers of Champion caliber. Even just five minutes with them would likely yield numerous benefits in the short and long term. This was going to be good.

A/N: Thoroughly in the endgame. How'd the chapter come along?