"No, he's not the one."
"From the moment he released that Scizor, I was certain he wasn't the man I was looking for," Hagen said, shaking his head and completely abandoning his previous hostility.
"The primary components of that Scizor's steel armor are Meteorite Iron and Ultra-Pure Steel, with only traces of Mana-Repellent and Ghost Iron," Hagen noted, his eyes easily dissecting the alloy's composition.
"But it contains Mana-Repellent and Ghost Iron!" Blaze argued. "That proves he's the one who stole the Heart of Steel! As far as I know, those two materials are currently only produced at the Indigo Plateau Prison."
Blaze stared at Hagen in disbelief, grumbling internally. What's wrong with this guy now? A complete 180-degree turn? He's slapping his own face faster than a Pidgeot's wingbeat.
"Scizor is a Bug/Steel type, extremely vulnerable to heat," Hagen explained professionally. "Ghost Iron and Mana-Repellent are the absolute best materials for its armor. If he were the thief who stole the Heart of Steel, he would have a massive stockpile of those raw materials. Why would he choose to use mostly Ultra-Pure Steel and Meteorite Iron instead? It makes no sense."
"Could it be that he evolved the Scizor before he stole the Heart of Steel?" Blaze suggested.
"Blaze, I am not just a Steel-type Elite Four member," Hagen said with absolute confidence. "I am a researcher and a specialist in the cultivation of Steel Pokémon. I can tell a Pokémon's state and its evolution timeline at a glance. That Scizor evolved recently. The possibility you mentioned doesn't exist."
Hagen snorted, as if mocking Blaze's intelligence. "A trainer with a mountain of Ghost Iron—which effectively counters Fire-type moves—wouldn't settle for common alloys. Using his brain, even a child could see Feng Che isn't the thief."
Blaze felt insulted by Hagen's tone. He decided he wouldn't speak to Hagen for the rest of the day. Wasn't this the same guy who was dead certain five minutes ago? He forgot his own accusations pretty fast.
If Feng Che knew Hagen had cleared him based on this logic, he would have laughed out loud. Hagen didn't realize that Feng Che's knowledge of Pokémon cultivation far exceeded his own. While Ghost Iron provides high defense, its extreme weight severely hampers a Scizor's natural agility. Since Feng Che had used a Bug Crystal during evolution, he had no need for heavy, cumbersome armor.
Seeing that Blue's Scyther had reached its physical limit, Feng Che decided to end it before the Pokémon suffered permanent injury.
"Scizor, use a standard Bullet Punch."
No one in the audience saw the move. There was a sudden crack, and Scyther was sent flying across the arena, crashing into the ground. Its eyes were tightly shut; it was out cold.
"Look at Scizor... there's not even a dent where Scyther was drilling!" "Where did that defense come from?" "Scyther spent all that time attacking just to hit a brick wall."
"Return, Scyther," Blue said with a sigh of frustration. "Go, Golduck!"
Feng Che recalled Scizor and sent out Flygon.
"Golduck, Hydro Pump!" Blue commanded.
Flygon spread its wings and dodged with ease. However, the water column suddenly curved mid-air, striking Flygon from behind.
"I see. Golduck is using its psychic power to guide the water," Feng Che noted, his own extrasensory perception picking up the trick. This Golduck was on par with the one he had given Sabrina.
"Stir up the shifting sands, Flygon!"
"Strange," Blue muttered. "Flygon is a Ground-type, but it's taking these Hydro Pumps like they're nothing. It's not even flinching."
Team Rocket Headquarters
Giovanni was watching the live feed. "That Flygon is impressive. It's clearly undergone specialized resistance training against Water-type moves. Its resilience is top-tier."
"Feng Che's strength is now very close to the Three Executives," Giovanni thought. "Once he's the Viridian Gym Leader, I can start assigning him high-level missions. Perhaps as a sleeper agent in another region."
Indigo Plateau Arena
"That Flygon is already at the Peak-Elite (Pseudo-King) level," Blaze remarked to Hagen, forgetting his vow of silence. "It won't be long before it officially enters the Elite Four tier."
"True," Hagen nodded. "But being an Elite Four member isn't as free as being a high-level Gym Leader. Sometimes, I feel like I fell into a pit when I took this job."
"Responsibility is a heavy burden," Blaze sighed.
On the field, Flygon summoned a massive Sandstorm that began to turn the arena into a desert. It vanished into the swirling dust, making it Flygon's home turf.
"Golduck, use your psychic power to locate it, then fire!"
Golduck knelt, pressing its claws to the sand to sense vibrations. It fired a Hydro Pump that split into a thousand "water arrows," peppering the sandstorm. But there was no response. Flygon was simply letting the attacks pass.
"Don't panic! Create a Psychic Storm! Blow the sand away and force it out!" Blue shouted.
Blue's Golduck surged with blue energy, but the sand began to spin faster than the Pokémon's control.
"Golduck, get out of there!" Blue yelled, but it was too late. Golduck lost its footing and was sucked into a massive sinkhole.
"A Sand Tomb!" Blue realized. "It set a trap!"
"Exactly," Feng Che explained. "Flygon's lineage comes from Trapinch. They wait under the sand for prey to fall in. It's instinctual."
Golduck let out a cry as it was dragged down, but it used Teleport at the last second to escape to higher ground.
Suddenly, Flygon roared and burst from the sand. The desert itself seemed to come alive under its command, lunging at the duck. Golduck unleashed a massive wave of psychic energy from the red gem on its forehead, blasting the approaching sand away.
"Flygon, Stone Edge!"
Flygon let out a melodic, singing roar. Jagged stones rose from the sand, hovering around it before launching like missiles. As they reached Golduck, they stopped dead in mid-air—held by psychic force—and were flung back at Flygon.
"Flygon, Bug Buzz!"
Flygon opened its mouth and unleashed a sonic vibration. The sound waves rattled Golduck's brain, causing it to lose its concentration. The returned stones fell harmlessly to the ground, and blood began to trickle from Golduck's nose—it was suffering from a psychic backlash.
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