Alakazam, use psycho cut on Charizard. Lucian commanded, inwardly feeling that the battle had once again, turned into the same as his Bronzong against that Garchomp.

"Shadow claw," Cynthia commanded, as Charizard's claws got engulfed with ghostly fumes, the very antithesis of psychic power before it slammed said claws head-on into the incoming psychic barrage.

"End it. Use blast burn."

The fire-type let out a furious roar, before slamming its forelimb into the ground, literally uprooting the entire arena, as rocks and liquid magma were pulled out of the ground, the hellish flames ascending upward al across the battleground, allowing no place where Alakazam could stay unaffected from its unbridled fury.

After the smoke receded, only a single draconic creature remained standing in whatever remained of the battle arena. A wounded and completely unconscious Alakazam, now devolved back into its natural form, lay fallen on one of the rock boulders.

Silence pervaded the stadium for a while.

"Alakazam is unable to battle. The winner is Charizard." The commentator whispered, his voice slowly gaining strength. "And with that, CYNTHIA has solidified her position as the Sinnoh Champion!"

Said the champion turned towards Lucian, who seemed completely exhausted, and was staring back at her as if seeing her for the first time. Then, the corner of the man's lips twisted into a content smile, as he nodded at her. It was as if, a misty glass between them had dropped, and now the man was realizing something that he had missed spotting in the first place.

No words were said, and yet, something far more precious was admitted.

And Cynthia smiled back.

☠-☠-☠-☠-☠-☠

[ Back in Lavender Tower ]

Buried Alive was pissed as it found the human boy to be missing.

Through Butch's memories, Buried Alive knew that the human was using a special crystal that was made naturally when the bodies of dark-type Pokemon are fossiled for thousands of years under the pressure and heat of underwater volcanoes hence these crystals were rare. So rare that only a hundred people in the entire world knew of their existence.

These crystals could cover the body of anyone touching it in a veil of dark type energy effectively making them invisible to ghosts.

Buried Alive had a sadistic smile as he let out a bellowed laugh that showed traces of insanity echoed through the halls.

Hide, Hide like the prey you are. I'll enjoy hunting you down.

☠-☠-☠-☠-☠-☠

Austin couldn't help but shudder as he felt chills down his spine as he heard the insane laughter of Buried Alive.

( ~ Crack ~ )

( ~ Boom ~ )

Under the command of Buried Alive, the white hand began thrashing about causing destruction where ever it hit.

Austin and Pikachu hopped onto Scizor's back as they flew out of the room at high speeds.

Austin had given an explicit command.

Find Marowak.

While Scizor and Pikachu were confused at their Trainer's decision of action but they didn't question him as they knew their trainer wouldn't give them a command that would get them into danger.

Munna meanwhile had figured out what Austin was trying to do.

Buried Alive would more than likely target marowak and her son and use them as hostages to flush them out.

{ Munna, can you think of a way to get some help from that haunter? }

{ I can but that would alert that thing. }

{ What if we distract buried alive? Could you then contact Haunter telepathically? }

{ Yes but you have to distract the thing long enough for me to establish a telepathic connection. }

{ How long ? }

{ 1 minute }

{ ..... }

{ Trainer, are we going to be ok? }

{ Don't worry Munna, we will be fine. Just think of this as a bad dream. }

{ That's called a nightmare }

{ ( ~ Chuckle ~ ) I wasn't aware. }

{ Hehehe }

{ Munna, can you tell Scizor and Pikachu my plan? }

{ I am all ears }

{ You don't have any ears, Munna }

{ .... }

{ .... }

{ That's cringe }

{ Just tell them my plan! }

Austin said with a frown as he clicked on his Pokedex.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

[ Lavender Tower - Hidden Burrow ]

Cubone closed his eyes as he tried to block all the sound of the rampage of the white hand.

Holding his mother's club, Cubone hugged it tightly as he gazed upon his mother who was on the lookout for any kind of danger.

Marowak looked at the ceiling that was shaking.

Was that human boy, alright?

What had happened to those kind of pokemon?

☠-☠-☠-☠-☠-☠

[ Team Rocket Headquarters. Viridian City.]

The sockets slowly expanded outward with a hiss, as the plugs moved out, allowing the robotic armor built around him free to move ahead, disturbing or worse, damaging the ultra-expensive supercomputing machinery behind him. He didn't even need to shake his finger, not even by an infinitesimal trace amount. Instead, his eyes suddenly opened, revealing the bright icy fire within them, as the armor plunged into action, the wires built around his person, one that was directly connected to his secondary spinal cord, shining brightly as raw energy, not just psychic but raw, undifferentiated power flowed through them, activating the other functions of the armor. A lesser entity would have thought of the suit as a crutch, something that should only be used for a handicap. A lesser entity would also have thought it better to rely on one's power and ability, instead of enhancements.

Mewtwo was not a lesser entity.

He levitated himself upward, not caring to even show the slightest movement, as he teleported. There was no bright light to follow it, and no sudden electromagnetic interference registered in the equipment all around. His teleportation, if the ability could even be called that, was simply too fast, too powerful, and too effective to be measured by these… rudimentary machines.

And then he appeared, right in the command base, where his partner was sitting in the shadows, listening to lesser men and women report to him. A red-haired human woman was addressing his partner, while a masked man standing next to him stood silently.

"I understand what you ask for, Ariana," Boss replied. "Nevertheless, it must begin immediately."

"Boss, even if we were to conduct Phase 4, it would pose a significant risk to our men and pokémon. They could die-"

"That's what they do."Mewtwo's cold, unassuming voice, created by his psychic self, flooded into the chamber, as everyone turned around (and paled, naturally), seeing him floating right there.

He smirked. It felt good to know that these humans knew their place, even if they understood that he was working with them.

"Mewtwo." The man in the shadows called out, "please do not antagonize them. Pierce, Ariana. Leave us. I have some important issues to address right now."

The two Executives nodded their heads, before quickly leaving the command base, almost akin to how pests run away, in presence of their natural predator.

At least Giovanni shares those qualities, despite his status as a human.