Most likely, the major underground forces of each region would unite with the local Leagues to repel any outsider, ensuring that Team Rocket would gain absolutely nothing.
If the current Team Rocket had already fully secured its position across all regions, capable of deploying large forces whenever it wished, then today Giovanni would undoubtedly have come to join forces with Kael to destroy the League, and afterward the two of them would have decided between themselves who would take control of the Pokémon world.
Unfortunately, during these past years, Team Rocket had focused all its attention on the creation of Mewtwo and had not paid as much attention to the other regions.
Moreover, according to Giovanni's plan, instead of directly destroying the League headquarters, it suited him better to allow it to continue existing for the time being.
But fundamentally, the most important factor was the pride and confidence now swelling within Giovanni.
The successful birth of Mewtwo, and the tests he had conducted afterward to understand its potential and strength, had caused his confidence to expand to an almost invincible level.
Already being a person full of ambition, and now seeing that he possessed the ability to defeat the League head-on, why would he need the help of the Sacred Church?
The Sacred Church had not only infiltrated spies within the League, but also within Team Rocket, even beside Giovanni himself. And that was precisely what irritated Giovanni the most.
Kael had always remained hidden in the shadows, while he and the League were exposed in the light. Using the knowledge he had of both sides, he had planted his people at will both around Giovanni and within the League itself.
Giovanni and Kael had once been close friends, to the point of seeming inseparable. They knew each other far too well — their personalities, their traits, even what they liked, everything was understood with absolute clarity.
If one had to make a comparison to describe what kind of relationship existed between Giovanni and Kael... it would be very similar to the current relationship between Cain and Steven.
At a glance, the resemblance was striking.
Cain and the Giovanni of that time were very similar: both had identities within Team Rocket, both concealed their true identities in order to enter the League, displayed talent, received the League's attention, were cultivated as key figures, and carried great expectations.
Steven, on the other hand, resembled the Kael of that time: both were legitimate sons of great families and future heirs, only that one belonged to the Drako family of Johto and the other to the Stone family of Hoenn.
Only, the path Giovanni and Kael chose was different from that of Cain and Steven.
But the relationship between Giovanni and Kael, just like that of Cain and Steven, was that of true friends.
"Kael, the two of us... it's been decades since we last fought, hasn't it? Ever since you disappeared in the Space-Time Continent, I never stopped searching for you. I knew that with your capability, it was impossible for you to have died in that damned place," Giovanni said with an expression full of nostalgia.
It was the first time Cain had ever seen the always serious leader of Team Rocket speak like this.
If any of his subordinates had been present, they probably would have thought this could not possibly be their boss.
A trace of melancholy also appeared on Kael's face. He nodded and said, "Yes... only I did not expect you to come here to stop me. Before, I contacted you to ask whether you wanted to join me against the League, and you said you did not want to. I did not insist. I just did not expect that in the end you would come to prevent me."
Among those present, he also knew Magnus, but what Magnus meant to him was completely different from what Giovanni meant.
"I have not come to stop you. I have only come to tell this League that I, Giovanni, have returned. That Team Rocket has returned! That they should prepare to accept my challenge!"
"Only, upon seeing you, I could not help but feel the urge to move my hands a little," Giovanni said with a smile on his face.
Hearing this, Kael slowly shook his head, his expression helpless.
"So typical of you. You are capable of lying without leaving the slightest crack. If I did not know you well, I might even believe you."
Giovanni shrugged.
"Then there is not much more to say. Let me see how strong you have become over these years — whether you have truly improved."
As soon as his words fell, beneath the black visor of Mewtwo's helmet, which until then had not moved at all, two red lights lit up. Its body vanished in a flash and charged directly toward Kael.
Mega Latios and Mega Latias, who were standing guard beside Kael, changed expressions. At the very instant Mewtwo moved, they acted as well.
In front of Kael, they immediately condensed a psychic barrier.
They did not know much about this Pokémon called Mewtwo, nor did they clearly understand how strong it truly was. So for now, they chose to defend first and observe its real power.
All that could be seen was Mewtwo, clad in its glossy black armor, tracing a lightning-like line through the air, carrying a psychic force powerful enough to almost tear space itself, and crashing without hesitation into the psychic barrier formed by Mega Latios and Mega Latias.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion echoed throughout Mt. Silver. The chaotic and dense psychic power burst wildly outward from the point of impact, causing many weaker Pokémon and trainers below to roll their eyes back and collapse unconscious.
The members of the Sacred Church endured somewhat better, since almost all of them possessed some psychic ability and their resistance was considerably higher, but on the League's side a large number of trainers fell all at once.
Cain raised a psychic barrier in front of himself and felt that chaotic and disordered psychic power brush against his shield. He could clearly perceive the energy contained within it.
Just the shockwave of a collision had already caused such damage. It was truly terrifying.
Only one thought came to mind: was this really not Mewtwo?
Magnus, who stood beside Cain, also sensed what was happening below. Narrowing his eyes, he ordered several of his Pokémon — those that still retained relatively fewer injuries — to descend toward the battlefield below.
With his intervention, the pressure on the League's side was sharply reduced.
However, most of his attention remained fixed on the sky. That first clash between Giovanni and Kael had been nothing more than a mutual test.
(End of chapter)