Hard Enough

“Solar Beam!” Ash shouted. He pointed, and Bulbasaur unleashed a Solar Beam into the Nidoking that stood in their way.

Nidoking tried to resist, only to be blown off his feet.

“Nice one Ash!” Forrest called as he sent Beldum and his Graveler after a pair of pokemon each.

Overhead Aerodactyl, or as Forrest called it, Don, swept past, snapping his jaw upon another pokemon before hurling it away as it made another sweep of the street.

“Double back at the end of the street, Don!” Forrest called.

Don snorted in contempt, and Ash was surprised when Aerodactyl actually followed the command, harrying the trainers and pokemon still attacking Ash’s group.

Onix shifted and defended their group with a groan when a cluster of pokemon got too close. Misty and her water pokemon moved up to back up Onix and waved Ash and Forrest to follow them.

“Take ‘em!” shouted a voice from the side, causing Ash to twitch, arm raising to direct Pikachu, only to find it wasn’t needed.

Misty’s Tentacool, Psyduck, Horsea, and Wartortle all worked together to defend the group from an ambush of Team Rocket pokemon lunging out of an alleyway.

“You’re not getting us like that!” Misy snarled, her pokemon releasing a torrent of water to knock the pokemon back.

“Hahaha! Way to go, little lass!” shouted a boisterous voice.

Ash turned to find a highly tanned man standing next to a girl who looked like she should be attending or teaching at Poketech Academy. Around them, a group of powerful-looking pokemon were out.

The aqua-haired teen waved his hand, and his pokemon leapt into action. Only one remained near the pair.

Ash raised his pokedex out of habit.

“Hariyama, the arm thrust pokemon. This pokemon practices its straight arm slaps in any number of locations. One hit of the powerful pokemon's openhanded straight arm punches could snap a telephone pole in two!” said Ash’s pokedex in a robotic tone.

Forrest groaned. “You really need to update your pokedex, Ash.” He then turned to the older teen. “Brawly… right?”

“Yup! Nice to see you, little man!” said Brawly. The teen swept his gaze up and down the street. He grinned and nodded his head. "Alright, this street is clear!”

Ash stiffened. “What! There are still…” Ash whirled around only to gape as he realised that Brawly and the girl’s pokemon had dismantled everyone on the street. Don the Aerodactyl was giving begrudging looks of appreciation to a Machamp, and Misty was blinking slowly.

“They were so fast!” she said in a dazed manner.

Brawly laughed. “Haha! Yeah! Roxy’s and my pokemon work pretty well together!”

Roxy sighed. “We do have a good synergy Brawly, yes.”

Charmeleon, who’d been tangling with a Machoke himself, glowered at a Medicham who seemed to be ignoring him. Don shrieked something, and Charmeleon snapped his head up. “Char!” growled the fire type.

Don turned his attention and waved his wings, rising in the air to tease Charmeleon.

Charmeleon shot a tongue of flame at the flying pokemon.

“Ah! Charmeleon! Cool it! That’s Brock’s pokemon! He’s on our side!” Ash said.

Charmeleon huffed and Forrest stepped up. “You too Don! I know you like to tease pokemon but Chameleon's the wrong pokemon to—”

Anything else Forrest had been about to say was disrupted as a loud boom rocked the street.

Ash snapped his head up to follow where the sound had come from, only to have his jaw drop as a powerful beam exploded out the side of the Silph Co. Tower.

“That’s a Hyper Beam!” Forrest said. He then gulped loudly as the beam didn’t die off after a few seconds. “A really powerful Hyper Beam!”

“There are people fighting up there?” Misty said, only to gasp. “Look out, there’s some falling debris!”

Forrest stiffened, before he and Ash pointed upwards. “Knock it away with Gust/Whirlwind!” they said.

For Ash, Pidgeotto and Butterfree rose up to knock away the falling building. Forrest could only enlist Don, who thankfully reacted straight away, knocking the threat clear.

The group sighed in relief when the debris was knocked into the building, where it fell in close onto a rooftop where no one would be hurt. Ash looked up at the hole that had been blown out of the tower.

“Who’s that pokemon?” he said, raising his pokedex as he saw something hovering near the edge. It sort of looked like it was holding someone…

“Unknown. There is no entry in the database for this pokemon. Please keep the pokedex fixed on said pokemon, but be aware of escape routes should this pokemon be deemed dangerous!” chimed the pokedex.

Ash blinked in surprise. He’d never had a pokemon cause that reaction with his pokedex before!

Forrest stared upwards. “Who’s that the pokemon is holding? Don! Get up there to—”

Once more, Forrest was cut off, and even though Don started to soar upwards, a white light shot up into the sky before vanishing.

Then something passed through Ash, and he found himself shifting as his mind felt serenity sweep over him.

Without knowing why, he simply knew that all would be well.

Ash felt something stirring within him; a feeling was growing from…. Somewhere. It was something that he’d never felt before.

Was this the thing that Forrest sometimes talked about when he was sitting atop Onix’s head?

Was this… aura?

It wasn’t a bad feeling. It felt good. It felt right. It felt like a soft blanket being wrapped around him after a hard day of training, with all of his pokemon around him sharing a campfire with Forrest and Misty.

The few Rocket Grunts around that had been corralled by Brawly’s pokemon stirred and moved to run. “We need to get out of here!” “There are eyes! They’re watching us!” “I never did it! Other people made me do it!” they screamed as they tried to push through Brawly’s pokemon.

For their efforts, they were knocked unconscious.

Ash turned to the older teen, only to find him looking back at the stadium.

Ash licked his lips. “W-what is going on?”

Brawly smirked. “Something sick!”

Ash looked around for someone throwing up. If they were close he didn’t want to get caught in the splash. Gary already teased him enough!

Brawly caught his confusion and barked a laugh. “That means something cool! Ah man, kids!” he said with a shake of his head before returning to looking at the stadium. “I think that’s Sabrina who’s doing something.”

Misty tilted her head. “How are we feeling that all the way out here? We’re blocks away from the stadium!”

Brawly grinned. “I have no idea!” he said, turning to Forrest. “You’ve known her longer, right, little man?”

Forrest chuckled. “I guess… Sabrina’s just that strong?” he said slowly.

Misty shot the stadium another look before shaking her head. “Well! Good for her I guess, but we need to keep moving to clear up Team Rocket!”

They moved down the street towards Silph Tower only to find Gary, of all people, already there and being thanked by a group of men in lab coats.

His cheerleaders looked exhausted, while Gary barely looked winded. A girl stood next to him, looking amused as they had their hands shaken. At her side, a strong-looking Raticate stood guard.

Ash stepped forward only to pause when he recognised Gym Leader Erika moving into the Silph Tower with a red-haired girl, Police Officer Jenny and a group of men in police outfits.

A broad-looking woman with pink hair and a crazy amount of tattoos over her arms was patrolling around the sides of the building with a variety of bug pokemon.

Gary turned, and his pleased expression turned smug. “Well, well, well! I thought I smelled something! You’re a little late to the party, Ashy boy!”

The girl next to Gary sighed and turned. “Oh great, I finally get to meet your boyfriend!”

“Ash/Gary is not my boyfriend!” shouted Gary/Ash at the girl. The Raticate merely started twitching in a manner that Ash just knew meant it was laughing.

The girl grinned as Misty laughed. Gary and Ash shared a look of commiseration.

Girls just didn’t get what it meant to have a rival!

“Little sister!” squealed a trio of girls and it was Ash’s turn to smirk as Misty’s sisters swarmed her. A minute later they turned their attention onto Forrest for some reason.

Another boy wandered up and started talking with the Raticate girl he seemed to know.

Ash looked around. “What are we supposed to do now?” he said with a tilt of his head. He scratched his chest, feeling at the strange sensation he’d from before slowly fade away.

Gary looked around. “Mr Mime’s?” he suggested. Ash liked the sound of that.

“Last one there is a rotten Exeggutor!” Ash said as he started running down the street. Misty shouted something after him, that Ash would later realise was directions, but he was too busy beating Gary to care about such things.

“Yeessss!” screamed Yolanda and Suzie at the television as Sabrina reached for the sky, glowing with power.

Cindy had her twin by the throat, shaking him back and forth as she stared at the screen. “She’s doing a magical girl transformation! She’s doing it! She’s going to transform!” she screamed as Sabrina’s hair wafted into the air on an ethereal wind.

Flint reached out and took Cindy’s hands off Tommy; he’d started to turn blue with how hard she was grabbing him.

He should have chastised her for it, but he was too caught up in watching Sabrina on the screen holding up a very familiar gem. Brock had always been rather circumspect about why he’d been so interested in that gem.

He had mentioned having it made up for jewellery for Sabrina, but to see her wearing it as a ring?

Well, he and the older girls had all assumed Brock had proposed before noticing it was on the wrong finger. Yolanda had been very upset.

That was gone now as Sabrina unleashed what had to be her Ace.

Everyone in the room could only watch in awe as Sabrina’s Alakazam evolved again.

A third evolution!

Flint had heard rumours… but to see it was true?

Two were thought to be the extent of what was possible! Was this what the captain who guarded the foundry had done with his Steelix? Or the old Cerulean Gym Leader had pulled off once against the Hoenn navy?

What would this pokemon be called?

Multiple spoons hovered behind the newly evolved pokemon in a display of power, and Munchlax waved his hands at the spoons.

Salvadore laughed, and Flint shot him a look. “What did he say?”

“He said that pokemon has got to be the best at eating ice cream, with all those spoons.”

Flint shook his head. Ice cream, indeed.

He stopped laughing when the unnamed pokemon unleashed a Psybeam that rivalled the Hyper Beam that the Farigiraf had used earlier. It didn’t miss either, despite the enemy Alakazam teleporting away. Instead, it redirected the beams until it caught Alakazam and then blasted it for all it was worth.

In one hit, Sabrina blew away her foe, a foe Flint had seen use Recover while Sabrina had done what she needed to for this evolution.

In one hit, this new pokemon had ended any threat Will possessed.

Will seemed to know this and had to be goaded into continuing the fight, something the fans were extremely thankful for. A pokemon like this might not be seen again for a long while, and people might not be willing to challenge Sabrina, knowing this was her strongest pokemon.

Not unless they were dark or bug-type specialists, perhaps.

Sabrina proceeded to wipe the floor with both the Jynx and the Espeon.

Watching the Jynx go down for the second time raised a round of cheers from his family. While it wasn't right to be vindictive, that pokemon had cost Brock his shot at victory.

Flint could only claim to be human.

When Espeon fell, Eevee gave a little whimper. Tommy and Billy both patted the little pokemon. “It’s okay Eevee! Sabrina’s Espeon is still okay, and it was the good one! That Espeon was… evil!” said Tommy.

Flint coughed. “It wasn’t evil, and neither is Will. He’s just… a very morally dark person, alright? Let’s not go calling others evil like that.”

Tommy shared a look with the others in a manner that let Flint know he’d heard what Flint had said. He nodded and then shared another glance with his brothers. Flint turned away, uncertain if he’d gotten the message through. It felt more like Tommy would simply not say Will was evil when Flint might overhear him.

Then again, a child's mind would probably only accept simple solutions. Will had fought Brock and used distasteful methods; therefore, he was evil.

Flint decided not to force the issue and instead turned to see the girls all dancing around.

“She won! She won! She won!” they chanted, moving back and forth in front of the television. “She’s the strongest Psychic!” they shouted before forming a conga line with Nanny Grav at the back.

When they’d made six laps around the loungeroom, Tilly and Suzie started to yawn, and Flint rose.

“Alright! Youngest kids! It’s time for bed!” he said, scooping up Billy and Tilly. “Next eldest, you get ten more minutes, and then I’m calling you to start brushing your teeth!” he said as he carried the kids to the bathroom.

As he left, he heard Suzie speak up. “So, when is Sabrina going to be our actual big sister?”

Yolanda sighed. “When Brock stops being so rock-headed!”

“Awwww, that’s going to be never!” whined Suzie. She then huffed. “We’re just going to have to make sure it happens faster!”

Flint laughed at that, more than a little amused as his children began to plot how to help along Brock’s love life.

“Gym Leader Sabrina! Do you care to comment on the battle? Much of your style appears to borrow tactics from Gym Leader Brock’s style! With the reveal of two never before seen pokemon and how you whipped around your opponent’s pokemon! Also the use of Dig!”

Sabrina smiled at the reporter. “You’d be correct; a lot of tonight’s tactics were derived from watching Brock’s match against Will. He did a lot of things correctly, and while he did not have the result he wanted, they were still good tactics. Dig appears to be a weakness that Will’s Alakazam possesses, and it is something I was able to use to evade Espeon being entrapped.”

“Brock has done a lot of research into the methods of evolution, and he gave me the initial direction I needed to look for my Girafarig to evolve. As for Alakazam? His evolution is exceptional and was also something Brock has been involved in. He was the one to inform me that Alakazam was capable of ‘Mega-evolution’.”

A few people blinked in surprise. Sabrina allowed herself a smile. That was the most words they’d heard from her during a press conference to date, and they were momentarily put off balance.

Another reporter stood. “What is Mega-evolution? This has never been seen before!”

Sabrina shook her head. “It has in fact been seen before, but the information surrounding it has been suppressed for valid reasons. It is not something that can be undertaken lightly, and relies heavily upon the bond you have with your pokemon.”

“Is that why you said it was the power of friendship?” one reporter said as they checked their notes.

Sabrina blinked, and a small dusting of pink came across her cheeks. “Oh, I said that aloud back then?”

“As well as mentally projecting it! Everyone in the stadium… felt it?” he said, tilting his head to the side like a curious Growlithe.

“My apologies; I was caught up in the moment,” Sabrina said contritely.

A few people shifted. “It… was,” the man started to say, only to shake his head. “It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever experienced before, actually… I never realised you could feel things like that,” murmured a man.

Sabrina blinked slowly. “Ah, sometimes it can become a bit overwhelming; actually, it is only recently that I’ve been working on developing my resistance to larger crowds.”

“Is this why you didn’t have many appearances outside your gym until a few months ago?”

Sabrina merely inclined her head.

A man in sparkling clothes stood and waved his hand, and Sabrina turned her attention to him. “Ricardo, Life Channel, your defeat of Will, was it at all romantically motivated?”

Sabrina blinked slowly. “I have been looking forward to facing him ever since seeing how he fought Brock, yes,” she said neutrally.

Another rose. “Does it bother you that this match, while denying Will a lot of Ace points due to your lower ranking, doesn’t mean much technically? Will could still advance and earn the right to take a place on the Elite Four.”

Sabrina tossed her head. “I doubt anyone would take him seriously if he were to continue pressing his claims.”

A murmur broke out through the crowd, and Sabrina’s gaze sharpened, knowing that Will must have said something. “What has he said?” she asked, cutting through the murmurs.

A reporter licked his lips. “He’s claiming that there was interference with the match and has lobbied to have the match stricken from the Ace record due to the disruption of Team Rocket’s attack upon Saffron… he is also claiming that you were negligent in your duties… as Gym Leader.”

Sabrina stared at the man who had spoken, and he wilted.

Sabrina eventually broke her gaze with a huff. “It seems Will is the sort of trainer that cannot accept a poor result or failure. And I never received any notification asking for my assistance, formally or otherwise. By the time I was made aware of the situation, it had been resolved thanks to Gym Leaders from surrounding regions.”

“More power of friendship?” the man said snarkily.

Sabrina’s eyes glowed. “Precisely,” she said, unnerving the man into being silent for the rest of the press conference.

“As to Will’s future chances? Would the people of Indigo accept him, knowing that he will only ever be second in strength to me?” This caused a round of chuckles, and Sabrina smiled proudly.

It took a few moments but eventually, someone else rose to ask a question. “Sabrina, what are you thinking of your new title as —”

"The Mistress of Mega-evolution?” said the reporter before the television switched off.

Silence filled the boardroom.

Steven Stone frowned. This was not something he’d anticipated. He turned to his expert. “I thought we had complete control of all of the Mega Stones?”

The man shifted in his seat. “It appears that there are more sites; the process by which Megastones are formed is as yet… unknown. We have theories, but they are just that. Theories.”

The man dabbed at his forehead to staunch the sweat pouring down it. “Until today, I would have dismissed any claims of Mega-evolution occuring outside of Hoenn. Many of the rumours were unsubstantiated, and older residents of Kanto even discredited them when they were asked.”

Another of the board members snorted, and Steven turned his attention to the man. “You have something to say?”

“It is obvious to me that the local residents were denying the Mega-evolution ever occurred, to protect a local secret. It may be possible that the Cerulean sisters have a pokemon in their possession that is currently capable of Mega-evolution; their Grandfather’s Gyarados. They might be smarter than many give them credit for.”

Steven drummed his fingers. “I’ve only met their youngest sister and she did seem dedicated... It is possible they are more than meets the eye. Their performances might be masking skills more in line with our Contests, but that wouldn’t make them any less capable.” Steven waved a hand. “Update their threat profile.”

An aide to the side began to do just that on a computer as Steven laced his fingers together. “I’ve had the mastery of Mega-evolution stolen from me. I think I want to claim it back. My match against Drake, bring it forward, and then schedule in other matches for the weeks following it. I will bring out the other Mega-stones to make it clear who people need to call the Master of Mega-evolution.”

A woman cleared her throat. “That… may be seen as a threat, sir, an escalation if you would.”

Steven waved his hand. “No, we’ll let it be known in certain circles that we’re willing to sell. Megastones will be the big ticket items that everyone needs to go the distance for. We’re the only ones set up to sell them. We’ll earn more than just money, of course; we’ll earn ourselves allies by being reasonable.”

“We would also be able to secure rights and exclusivity for a number of sites if we created enough interest,” said the Head of Marketing. This met a chorus of agreement, and then the discussion turned to how to optimise the release of Megastones, and which should and shouldn’t be released.

Steven drummed the table in thought as they talked, and an idea occurred to him. “Place a team on observing Flint from Pewter. I’ve spoken with him a number of times, and he possesses an advanced knowledge of Geology. He has also travelled far afield. He might enable Brock, or indeed grant Indigo itself, more insight into where Mega Stones can be found. If that is the case, I want to know what is going on and what links can be derived from any insights Flint has.”

He turned to another member of the board. “What is the progress of our acquisition of Mt Moon?”

“It remains a nature preserve... Any land on the mountain not controlled by the Rangers is currently owned by… Hard Rock Industries, a trust company that is owned by Brock.”

Steven merely nodded, not at all surprised. “Well, that's not a complete loss; we’ll have to shift our focus away from Mt Moon for now. What of acquisitions in Sevii or the Orange Islands?” he inquired, moving the board meeting along.

When everything was said and done, Steven hadn’t lost out on anything except public acknowledgement of his discovery. Instead Sabrina would be heralded as the Mistress of Mega-evolution.

Steven dismissed his board members with a wave and they scuttled out, knowing that he was less than pleased.

He undid his cravat and the sleeves of his shirt. Then he grabbed the chair he’d been sitting in and he flung it into the window.

A few minutes later he stepped out, his hair ruffled and his shirt untucked. His secretary turned and took in his appearance. “Sir?” she said, her tone carefully neutral.

“Call for a cleaning crew, there’s a mess in there,” he said, not acknowledging the ruined boardroom as he walked down the hall. “Hold my calls, I find myself needing time to settle my nerves.” he paused. “Who is available for dinner from my list?” he said.

“Fifi sir,” his secretary said.

“Make a booking and have my bedroom cleaned while I am out,” he said, his mind lingering on the recent setbacks even as he moved on. He would need a response to Sabrina’s reveal.

How to do it? Perhaps more product releases?

“Also sir, Silph Co. stock is expected to plummet with the recent event,” said his secretary.

Steven paused. “Hoh?” Perhaps he might have some room to make some aggressive acquisitions. “Buy out stock options now and prepare to buy up Silph Co. stock en masse when it is low. We might have room to perform a takeover,” said Steven.

And just like that, he felt like things were back on track.

President Boris walked through the rubble of what used to be the floor two levels down from his office. They said they’d found memos of his schedule in the wind as far as Celadon City with how destructive the fight had turned out to be last night.

“See if we can’t sue the League for the destruction caused to our office space,” said Boris with a sniff.

“Uhm, about that sir!” said his aide.

“Jot it down, woman!” he snarled, only to walk through the rubble and tap aside another piece to reveal flattened server banks. “Also, see if we can claim intellectual property insurance payouts. The shareholders will need a big win to remain satisfied…”

Boris paused. “Actually, new memo,” he said waving a hand for his aide to write down what he dictated to her. “We will see if I can’t get a larger interest in the company, the markets will be open and I want to buy up every share I can, as the fools try to flee what they think will be a sinking ship!”

“Uhm… that will be problematic. The former Vice President is buying up what he can, our sources say,” said the Aide. “Chances are that the price may hold up.”

“Damn that man!” Boris started rubbing his chin. He’d been a thorn in his side for too long. He’d need to take further steps to—

“Ahem!” said a deep voice.

President Boris blinked, turning to find his diminutive aide being towered over by a giant of a man in overalls. The President blinked. “Ah, you’re from the building company, yes?”

“No,” said the man with a dark smirk.

President Boris frowned. “Then what are you doing on my property?”

“Serving you,” said the man, handing over a stack of forms that Boris had no choice but to take.

He glanced at them only to turn white. “These are!!! You!? No! You can’t do this to me!”

“I can in fact do this, and it is my duty and pleasure to inform you that the building codes are taken very strictly for any structure over two storeys. Silph Tower, as a skyscraper, also housed more than three hundred employees on average each day, resulting in further codes requiring them to be met. None of these were issues previously, but then you had extensions built.”

Boris felt his heart drop through the ground as the giant of a man loomed over him. “Codes you didn’t meet and in fact, lied about meeting with your insurance company. Your insurance is therefore void, and your reckless endangerment of the good employees, and indeed anyone that walked within a kilometre of your building, is now going to be a matter for the courts. You will attend or be found in contempt,” the man said.

“Have a nice day,” he said, turning and sauntering off like he hadn’t just ruined Boris.

The president clutched at the papers. How had they known? He should have been able to blame the League’s heavyhandedness, and now… he was doomed to be unable to recoup from this!

So caught up in his misery, the President never saw the small form watching from the shadows dart away, her fist pumping in victory.

Lance stood before the press, camera flashes going off that he’d long since grown used to as Champion.

“I am here today to sign into official Indigo law the passing of my first Executive Order for the Indigo regions. With the brazen assaults of Team Rocket in the past few months, we no longer have a simple criminal organisation but a terrorist organisation that only cares about their agenda!”

Lance let his gaze sweep the room, staring into numerous cameras before he continued, his hand raised as if to forestall an argument that was not coming from any of the reporters.

“They have impacted us in a way that can only be attributed to a terrorist group. I am declaring open bounties on any Team Rocket facility discovered and passed along. Team Rocket members are to be given little to no mercy, and certain protections are now waived due to their organisation's actions.”

Lance considered his notes for a moment to give anyone watching a moment to process what he’d just said. “Any Team Rocket member that turns themselves in and gives actionable information will be given special consideration before the hammer of the League comes down upon you!” he said, glowering at the cameras.

“Team Rocket’s days are numbered! Mark my words!” he said.

He then allowed himself a smile. “To improve our police’s response, I am adding a Second Executive Order with the formation of the G-men that will now cover all of Indigo and have superseding authority. Any police officer will be directly under them and will be required to assist the G-men. This will further streamline the capture and effectiveness of what used to be a limited task force. The powers and—”

Lance held back his smile as he laid out his dream. It wouldn’t do for the world to know how pleased he was to expand the powers of the G-men.

Sadly, the nature of politics meant that disasters were just further opportunities.

He planned to make the most of this latest Team Rocket blunder.

Thanks to them, he now had a reason that the public could accept, as he worked to build a better world.

“RAGH!” roared Giovanni as he hurled his glass into the far wall, where it exploded. He scowled after it and stormed over to his cabinet, where he poured himself a glass of Shuckle port

He swallowed it down, and the sweet flavours helped to calm his rage.

The plan had been… well, not perfect. In fact, it was much more brutish than usual. He sighed. It wasn’t his best work.

But… He’d seen the prize to end all prizes. The Masterball! The data to create the Masterball! Even better! He could use the moment to secure a humbling for one of the thorns in his side!

He’d tried for multiple objectives… and now he had none of his objectives.

He’d wanted Will to advance, but through crook or hook, he didn’t care. Will’s advancement was a secondary goal.

The primary goal was always the Masterball.

Giovanni took another drink of the Shuckle port.

The world had changed. They’d gotten soft. Weak. And nothing exemplified that more than the current political climate.

Silph Co. didn’t understand what they had on their hands. He’d been forced to sit on the knowledge that Fiore of all nations was exerting pressure on Indigo to get concessions. The greatest advance in pokeballs ever and a levelling field for humanity was going to be destroyed!

The Masterball would secure humanity against the wilds of the pokeworld forever!

And Silph Co. was going to give it up due to political pressure!

He’d had agents securing information on Silph Co. for years! They’d had the technicians for the pokeballs infiltrated, only for things to rapidly shift when the Masterball was created as a concept. It had seemed overkill at the time—a pie-in-the-sky plan.

Silph Co. had made a prototype Masterball, an ungainly thing, coloured gold and silver, that had been deployed in the field once.

They’d captured a Legendary pokemon without it putting up a fight.

Not that the League knew that; they thought that the data Silph Co. used to claim the title of Masterball was simply based on the capture rates of some study where a single Masterball had been reused over and over without breaking from being put through capture and release processes.

They had done that, but they’d also captured something else. Something more.

A true Legendary pokemon!

The prototype, known as the GS ball, had been stolen from the Silph Co. testing site only for other agencies to intercept the agent.

To this day, Giovanni didn’t know who had the GS ball or which Legendary had been captured.

In the furore of multiple agencies attempting to secure the prize, the researcher, the testing site, and the GS ball itself had gone up in smoke, both literally and metaphorically.

What was known was that the prototype Masterball worked.

It was only then that Silph Co. committed itself to the continued creation of the project, still unsure of the depths of what they’d created.

He’d tried to slip more technicians and researchers into the development process but hadn’t been able to get anyone! Silph Co. had further increased their security. He’d only been able to learn about the project as it advanced thanks to the marketing division of Silph Co.

Those updates had allowed them a look into what was going on within Silph Co.

Giovanni thought he could have waited. It had been a sure thing! Eventually, they’d sell, and he had money, power, and favours ready to spend such that it wouldn’t even be a cost for the chance at capturing a Legendary properly! Adding another alongside Mewtwo was a goal. If he got in first he could guarantee his, and Team Rocket’s supremacy!

And then Fiore had been discovered.

The useless sops that had been the joke of the past war, dictating terms of their reintegration!

How Indigo had won the war only to lose, Giovanni could not understand. Giovanni hadn’t ever thought the weakness of the current League would be something that annoyed him. That very same weakness had been something he’d exploited for years!

With Fiore coming back into the fold, they’d secured demands that no Masterball be created when they entered the international scene.

Giovanni had been at a loss.

They’d had none of the design data, none of the names of the actual researchers, and nothing beyond that the Masterball was being created this month to be able to act on.

He knew that Silph Co. had no choice but to have it done now.

With Fiore’s demands, any further Masterballs would have to pass through jungles of red tape, given how the League was capitulating to Fiore.

And then a chance fell into his lap.

A disgruntled researcher had been picked up by one of his Agents and been passed along to an Executive who’d forwarded a plan to Giovanni. They’d had an in, a gaping hole in the security of Silph Co. But only for a limited window of time.

They’d workshopped a plan.

It had been daring and bold, and it could have achieved so much!

And now it, like the last attempt at the GS ball, had left him holding nothing but ashes.

He’d tried for too much. He could—

The door swished open and Giovanni stood, his hand tapping his pokeball to disgorge Persian who glowered as Madame Bossue and her damnable Gardevoir sauntered in.

Giovanni sat. So, it was not to be a violent takeover attempt, then, but rather a soft poison apple?

Giovanni didn’t let himself smile. His mother wanted to retake control of Team Rocket.

Well, this might have been a blow to the Indigo branch of Team Rocket, but Giovanni had more plans. Perhaps… He began to toy with a new plan, one that would be but a facade.

His mother smiled as the door closed.

Giovanni glowered outwardly even as he smirked mentally. He’d learnt everything she had to teach and would lead her right where he needed. He prepared to make her dance to a fake tune, all the while planning how to rise again, stronger than ever before.

Team Rocket would use this disaster.

In a darkened room, a three-digit hand rose and twisted in front of a face that belonged to no human.

Mewtwo considered its hand.

It had a hand.

It had a hand, and it had memories that weren’t its own.

It didn’t understand how to process these memories.

They were strange and foreign.

Its training suggested that it expunge the memories from its mind.

And yet…

It couldn’t bring itself to.

It had felt emotions.

To a mind unused to such things, they were wild, painful, and … wonderful.

They added so much to life, making it more vibrant.

How strange.

Mewtwo had not considered itself empty before… but now it felt the hollow within its being like never before.

It had known it was there but now Mewtwo had the words and thoughts to better understand the hole where nothing seemed to fit.

How perplexing.

Mewtwo tapped its fingers together, copying the beat of a song that a boy had once hummed to a girl as they walked along on their journey.

It rather liked that memory. But should it get rid of them?

It continued to tap away idly.

No.

Not yet.

This would require more consideration.

Much more consideration.

It hadn’t had the troubles of thought and emotion before…

But that didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

Mewtwo looked up and began to ponder itself and its situation.

And slowly, chains began to corrode within its mind.