Chapter 42: Psychic Assault

Lucius had every reason to be extremely cautious when dealing with Giovanni.

As the most popular and influential villainous boss in Pokémon history, Giovanni's true power in this real-world setting remained a mystery to Lucius.

In the original storyline, there was a powerful villainous alliance known as Team Rainbow Rocket, which united the leaders of past evil organizations, including Maxie of Team Magma, Archie of Team Aqua, Cyrus of Team Galactic, Ghetsis of Team Plasma, and Lysandre of Team Flare.

And the supreme leader of this alliance? Giovanni himself.

While Lucius had grown considerably stronger, he was far from invincible—especially after experiencing firsthand the purifying power of Sacred Fire at the Cerulean City Police Headquarters. That incident made him even more aware of the sheer strength of this world's top-tier combatants. When dealing with someone of Giovanni's caliber, extreme caution was necessary.

Lucius shifted his focus back to Archer:

Host: Archer

Species: Human

Type: Normal

Ability: Composed

HP: 390

Strength: 9

Defense: 8

Special Attack: 1

Special Defense: 7

Speed: 10

Occupation: Rocket Executive, Head of Johto Division, Level 64 Pokémon Trainer

Skills: Advanced Management, High-Level Finance, Pokémon Nutrition Expertise, Dark-Type Pokémon Training Techniques, Poison-Type Pokémon Training Techniques, etc.

Since Lucius had suppressed the virus's mutagenic influence, his physical attributes hadn't improved significantly. If he had allowed the virus to enhance his body, inevitable side effects such as graying or greening skin, changes in eye color, or even the development of an exoskeletal shell would have occurred.

From Archer's memories, Lucius also discovered that the protective energy membrane surrounding him was, in fact, an item imbued with the move Safeguard.

This move shielded the user from status conditions like Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Hypnosis.

Due to the high cost of materials required to store the Safeguard move, such items were rare on the market and typically only available to the wealthy elite.

Of course, for someone like Archer, acquiring them in bulk was a non-issue.

As Lucius browsed through Archer's memories, he couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

As expected of a high-ranking member of a criminal syndicate—his mind was filled with unspeakable secrets.

Take, for instance, the Rattata that Archer had mentioned earlier to the old man.

As Ophelia had suspected, these unfortunate creatures were merely disposable pawns in Team Rocket's collaboration with the Syndicate for ruins exploration.

Officially, this operation was a joint archaeological venture between Silph Co. and the Onando Research Institute. In reality, it was a covert partnership between Team Rocket and the Syndicate to exploit the ruins' resources.

But Team Rocket being Team Rocket—how could they ever cooperate fairly? Betrayal and backstabbing were their true expertise.

Under Archer's command, the Rattata were brainwashed and injected with a newly developed chemical compound engineered by Team Rocket.

This compound remained dormant under normal conditions, but once a Rattata sustained an injury and activated its Guts ability, its body would secrete massive amounts of norepinephrine, which in turn would react violently with the chemical.

As a result, the Rattata would experience extreme neurological disarray and begin secreting a deadly toxin.

This compound was specifically designed to exploit the Guts ability of Rattata, ensuring that the dosage triggered the reaction at just the right moment.

During the ruins expedition, the Rattata, driven to madness, would launch indiscriminate attacks on any non-Rattata lifeforms. Team Rocket, having anticipated this, would remain largely unscathed, while the unsuspecting Syndicate members would be caught off guard by the sudden outbreak of aggression.

Of course, Team Rocket never expected the Rattata to decimate the Syndicate. Their goal was simply to create enough chaos and inflict minor casualties. If push came to shove, Team Rocket agents could always step in and finish the job themselves.

Beyond this immediate mission, Archer's memories contained details of nearly all A-rank and above Team Rocket bases, including their precise locations and structural layouts. He also had full knowledge of the personnel distribution of every base, except for Giovanni's Special Operations Unit.

It was clear that Giovanni held Archer in high regard, entrusting him with significant authority.

Judging by the sheer power under Archer's command, if he were to launch an all-out attack, he could seize control of a non-major city within a single day.

Of course, such a reckless, all-or-nothing action would never be taken. Even if it were considered, it would have to be approved by Giovanni first.

What surprised Lucius even more was that Archer actually knew the exact location of "X Laboratory."

As expected from one of the top five most powerful figures within Team Rocket. At this point, Team Rocket was practically transparent to him.

Hahaha, with Team Rocket's resources, forget about forming a ten-person organization—expanding to a hundred or even two hundred members would be effortless.

Lucius remained hidden within Archer's body, patiently waiting for him to finish his conversation with the old man.

Working late into the night—no wonder the truly powerful are always the hardest workers.

The moment the old man finished his report and left the office, Lucius seized the perfect opportunity to activate his ability:

"Mental Corruption."

Unlike before, where he had merely established a subtle psychic link, this time, Lucius amplified the intensity of his ability. The Emperor Strain extended up Archer's spine and directly invaded his brain.

Although it couldn't function like the NE-α parasite from Resident Evil, which could alter the host's brain circuitry by consuming their bone marrow to achieve complete control, it was still more than sufficient for what he intended to do next.

Archer's expression changed dramatically as he suddenly felt a drum-like pounding inside his skull. His blood surged, and it felt as if his head was about to explode.

"Ah…" Archer's face turned pale as he clutched his forehead in agony. "What… what's happening to me?"

Lucius could sense that Archer believed he was under attack by a Psychic-type Pokémon.

In reality, however, it was the Emperor Strain aggressively invading his consciousness, causing an extreme surge in brain activity.

Unlike Ophelia, Lucius had no intention of showing any mercy to a high-ranking leader of a criminal syndicate like Archer. While he suppressed the physical mutations, he had no such restraint when it came to dominating Archer's mind.

"Paralysis."

Active Skill 3 - Paralysis: Depending on the level of infection, it can induce paralysis in the infected host, lasting anywhere from 1 to ∞ seconds. The Emperor Strain can lift this condition at will.

Lucius activated the Paralysis skill. Archer, still clutching his head in pain, suddenly stiffened. With a loud thud, he collapsed onto the floor.

Lucius couldn't afford to let Archer make too much noise before he was finished. He didn't want to alert the people outside.

There was no slow erosion this time. Instead, Lucius's consciousness surged forward like a tidal wave, crashing into Archer's mind.

"Who are you?!" Archer's will roared in defiance. He could feel another presence attempting to take over his body. "What do you want?! Stop this at once!"

As expected of someone who had reached the threshold of the Elite Four level—his willpower was far more resilient than that of ordinary people. Lucius could feel Archer resisting with every ounce of his strength.

"Heh… Mr. Archer, just rest easy. I'll take good care of everything for you."

With that, Lucius activated his skill once more:

"Paralysis."

The same ability—but this time, it targeted Archer's brain directly…

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