"Feng Che, you're treating your battle with me like some sort of game, aren't you?"
"Our match isn't over yet, and you haven't even become the leader of the Dragon Clan. What right do you have to put on airs and declare new clan laws in front of me?"
"Going strictly by generational hierarchy, you still have to call me Great-Great-Grandfather!" the Second Elder barked, shamelessly hiding behind his advanced age.
"I don't have an ancestor who betrays their heritage like you. The moment you instigated chaos within the clan, you became a criminal to the Dragon Clan," Feng Che countered, cutting the old man down.
"You must be completely desperate to act as someone's elder. I'm sure plenty of people in your faction have been eager to ride your coattails. Forget 'Great-Great-Grandfather'—I bet they'd happily call you 'Old Progenitor' if you wanted."
"What's wrong? Did you want me to say it just for a good laugh?"
Feng Che's sharp retort left the Second Elder completely speechless.
His face turned a mottled ash-grey as he spat, "What a silver-tongued brat. Let's see if your good fortune can carry you through the second round."
"Go, Golem!"
The Second Elder deployed an Alolan Golem, a Rock- and Electric-type Pokémon.
The Alolan variant of Golem possessed short forelegs with only two claws, matching the two-toed structure of its feet. Black, stone-like ridges protruded significantly above its eyes and across its upper lip. A dense accumulation of magnetic iron sand clung heavily to its chest, forming a growth that closely resembled a thick beard.
Its back featured a prominent structure akin to an electromagnetic railgun: a short, central black stone pillar flanked by two larger stone towers, their inward-facing surfaces embedded with orderly geometric crystals of golden-orange tourmaline. Because these massive back formations could not be retracted into its body, an Alolan Golem was entirely incapable of curling into a ball to roll.
An Alolan Golem could launch electrically charged boulders that paralyzed on contact, though it could not fire them in rapid succession. On occasion, it would even launch Geodude as live ammunition.
This particular Alolan Golem was gargantuan, resembling a small mountain ridge. Its stone hide was webbed with glowing, bluish-black runes identical to those found on Kyurem. Furthermore, over a dozen Alolan Geodude floated hovering directly above its back.
Alolan Geodude were deep grey, their crowns and eyebrows adorned with thick, wire-like tufts of black iron filaments. Due to the intense magnetic charge of their stone bodies, fine iron ore particles clung tightly to their frames in dense clusters.
"This is the ultimate Alolan Golem—created by splicing Zekrom's cellular tissue into its body, a breakthrough bought with the sacrifice of over a thousand Alolan Golem," the Second Elder reminisced aloud, a chilling lack of empathy in his voice, as if the thousands of lost lives meant absolutely nothing to him.
"The Geodude clinging to its back are sub-clones it naturally buds off."
"Zekrom's genetic material is extraordinarily volatile. Injecting its cells directly into a standard Golem causes them to instantly combust from the sheer energy, turning into brilliant, short-lived fireworks."
"It took painstaking trial and error, incrementally raising the dosage of Zekrom's genes, to finally yield this single victor out of more than a thousand specimens."
Looking down at the creature engineered from its own stolen cells, Zekrom felt a profound sense of disgust.
Arcing currents of pure electricity surged violently from Zekrom's chassis, cleanly vaporizing a boulder the size of a hillside into a wisp of blue smoke.
If Feng Che hadn't explicitly agreed to duel this old fossil, I would have dropped a lightning strike and charred his entire faction to cinders by now, Zekrom grumbled internally. This is utterly revolting.
Utterly indignant, Zekrom hurled a few more warning bolts into the bedrock before launching itself high into the sky to stay clear.
"Lord Zekrom is furious!"
"Well, obviously. It basically just found out it has a bunch of mutant accidental children. If I were a god, I'd find it revolting too."
"Just wait. Zekrom is definitely going to settle the score with the Second Elder once this is over. Who knows if the old man can even survive a single direct hit."
The members of the Dragon Clan murmured, entirely empathizing with Zekrom's immense displeasure.
The Alolan Golem stood as a soulless puppet, its self-awareness completely hollowed out, reacting only to the verbal inputs of the Second Elder.
"Feng Che, it is best to put this Pokémon out of its misery. Death is the only true kindness left for it," Mewtwo communicated via telepathy, letting out a long, heavy sigh. "It is completely beyond saving. I can still hear its soul weeping inside its mind."
It was the first time in Mewtwo's existence that it felt such an intense, burning hatred for humanity's cruelty.
"Don't worry. I will grant it its final salvation," Feng Che replied silently.
"Go, Venusaur!"
"Incineroar, draw the thermal energy of the magma back into your body."
Incineroar slammed both paws onto the earth. The churning, glowing magma rapidly cooled before everyone's eyes, solidifying into dark, reflective volcanic rock. Letting out a massive, rumbling burp, a stray ember of blazing white fire drifted out from its jaws, sinking back into its chest. Feeling thoroughly warmed and energized, Incineroar vanished into a beam of red light, returning to its Poké Ball to rest.
Feng Che brought out his Venusaur. To safeguard against any unforeseen variables, he had securely fastened a Life Orb amidst the thick petals of the Seed Pokémon's massive flower.
"Excellent. I am going to tear your Pokémon apart piece by piece, and show you the true depth of my power," the Second Elder sneered. "Alolan Golem, use Rock Blast!"
Blinding arcs of electricity crackled wildly across Alolan Golem's form. The magnetic shockwaves radiated outward, ripping massive chunks of bedrock from the ground and suspending them high in the air.
Venusaur instantly felt its body grow immensely heavy, its thick legs sinking deep into the stone floor.
"This Alolan Golem can manipulate gravity?"
"No, strictly speaking, it is utilizing localized high-intensity magnetism to simulate a localized gravitational field," Feng Che corrected coldly.
Clap, clap, clap.
"Impressive, Elite Four Feng Che. To think you discerned the unique capability of my creation so quickly," the Second Elder cheered dryly, clapping his hands.
"However..." His tone turned sharp and mocking. "Even if you've figured out its trick, what can you actually do about it? Alolan Golem, crush that Venusaur flat with those massive boulders!"
The Second Elder's eyes gleamed with pure malice, silently mocking Feng Che for his foolishness in sending out a Grass-type against a specialized magnetic powerhouse.
Alolan Golem channeled its electrical currents directly into the bedrock, triggering a violent tremor that shook the cavern. Massive formations of solid stone erupted from the earth.
"Surprised? The subterranean layers of the Dragon's Den happen to contain an incredibly dense deposit of iron ore," the Second Elder boasted loudly. "With this iron deposit at its disposal, my Alolan Golem is utterly invincible here!"
An enormous slab of iron ore—several times larger than Alolan Golem itself—surged up from the floor, hurtling downward with enough momentum to completely crush Venusaur into the earth.
"Venusaur!"
Feng Che funneled every ounce of his Viridian Force directly into Venusaur. The Pokémon's form swelled exponentially, shifting and expanding into Gigantamax Venusaur.
Countless thick, muscular vines burst from the ground behind the Gigantamax Pokémon, weaving together in midair to form the shape of a gargantuan, thousand-handed Buddha.
The titanic wooden hands slammed against the descending mass of iron ore, halting its descent. Even in its Gigantamax form, Venusaur strained under the immense weight, the wooden construct sinking visibly under the pressure.
Violent arcs of lightning crackled across the iron formation, scorching several of the wooden hands into blackened charcoal. Yet, an even greater tide of fresh vines erupted forward, wrapping around the massive stone to hold the line.