In a spacious room, Aaron gazed at the high-ranking members of Team Rocket appearing before him, so nervous he didn't dare breathe heavily.
'Instructor Viper, Dr. Fuji, Executive Ariana, and even Boss Giovanni... they've all appeared!'
"Aaron, you say you discovered traces of Mew in Viridian Forest?" Instructor Viper asked.
"Y-yes!" Aaron dropped to one knee, pulled out his phone, and said respectfully, "I even took a photo."
"Hmm." Instructor Viper took the phone from him, examined the photo, and nodded. "It's real. No signs of digital editing."
He then handed it to Giovanni. After a few glances, Giovanni passed it to Dr. Fuji.
"Dr. Fuji, can you confirm if it's Mew?"
Dr. Fuji scrutinized the image and stated, "Based solely on the morphology of the Pokémon captured in this photo, there is at least a 90% probability that it is Mew."
"Ninety percent?" Giovanni looked toward a woman with a graceful figure. "Ariana?"
"The moment I received the notification, I dispatched personnel to surround the entire Viridian Forest. I've also implemented an aerial blockade to ensure not a single Pokémon escapes," Ariana replied.
"Mew is capable of turning invisible," Dr. Fuji reminded her.
"I am aware of that. We have already deployed the appropriate equipment. Mew will not escape."
"I have machines at my lab that can identify transformations. Take them with you as well."
"Understood," Ariana said. "Thank you, Dr. Fuji."
"Excellent." Giovanni slammed his hand on the desk and stood up. "Ariana, mobilize the personnel immediately. Search the Viridian Forest. Even if you have to dig three feet underground, find Mew for me!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Your name is Aaron, right? Well done. From now on, you are a Team Captain."
"Th-thank you, Boss Giovanni!" Aaron fell to the ground, weeping with gratitude. Achieving a triple promotion to Team Captain in one go felt like an unbelievable dream.
'Thank you, Mew, for appearing before me!'
...
While Team Rocket was mobilizing en masse to capture Mew, Jessie, James, and Meowth were beginning to execute their "Sabotage Special Training" plan.
"Should we let Aomori-sama know first?" James said hesitantly, holding a remote control.
"Aomori-sama is so powerful, he should be fine, right?" Jessie said, sounding uncertain.
Ever since they had unintentionally sabotaged Aomori during the Ho-Oh incident, they hadn't dared to contact him.
"I think we should say something, meow," Meowth added. "Aomori-sama is so good to us; he's always sending us food. If we hurt him, I'll feel guilty, meow."
"Meowth is right."
Seeing both Meowth and James looking at her, Jessie snapped, "What are you looking at me for? Am I the kind of person who repays kindness with enmity?"
"Hard to say."
"Maybe, meow."
Thump! Thump!
"You two!" Jessie gave them each a punch and said, "I'll go lead Aomori-sama away. You two make your move once he's far enough."
"Right."
Thus, Jessie disguised herself as a mailman and entered the Pokémon Center.
At this time, Ash was still training in the backyard of the Pokémon Center. Brock, Misty, and Aomori were watching, offering advice from time to time.
Jessie approached the backyard, pulled her hat low, and walked up to Aomori. "Excuse me, are you Aomori-san? There's a letter for you."
"Yes, I am." Aomori nodded, his eyes subtly scanning the "man" wrapped up so tightly in front of him.
To be honest, if he hadn't used his Mind's Eye to observe the Team Rocket trio's movements earlier, he would have found it hard to associate this man with Jessie. Her disguise skills weren't as clumsy as in the anime; at least, they weren't the type Ash and the others could easily see through.
"Here is your letter. Please sign for it." Jessie handed over a letter and a pen.
Aomori took them, signed his name, and handed the pen back.
"Thank you for your support. Please give us a five-star review, dear!" Seeing her mission accomplished, Jessie immediately made her getaway.
Beside him, Misty curiously poked her head over. "Aomori-san, who is the letter from? Could it be Sabrina?"
"There's no return address, I'm not sure." Aomori tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter. Inside was a single line of text: If you don't want your beloved woman to get hurt, come to the depths of Viridian Forest immediately, meow.
The sign-off was a cat's paw print.
"..."
'Meowth wrote this, right? Could it be any more obvious? Whatever, it saves me the trouble.' Aomori had already planned to find an excuse to leave; now he didn't have to stress about it.
In the next moment, his inner Oscar-winner took over, and his eyes grew deep and intense.
Misty, watching him, felt like she saw 4% shock, 3% worry, 2% urgency, 1% self-reproach, and 90% killing intent in his expression. She couldn't help but ask, "Aomori-san, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Aomori lowered his head and said, "I need to leave for a while. Please tell Ash and Brock for me. My apologies."
"No, no, it's okay! Your own business comes first." Misty shook her head. "If you need any help from us, just say the word. We'll do our best."
"Thank you, but it's not necessary for now." Aomori nodded to Misty and hurriedly turned to leave.
Misty watched his receding back, her heart filled with doubt and unease.
"How was it? Was it a success?" Jessie asked, changing back into her Team Rocket uniform.
"Yes, a huge success! Aomori-sama has already left the Pokémon Center looking very hurried." James watched Aomori through binoculars until he ran out of sight.
"So Aomori-sama really does have a beloved woman. Meowth actually guessed right."
"Of course, meow," Meowth said proudly. "My observations are never wrong."
"Stop talking nonsense and move already!" Jessie urged.
"Then witness my ultimate art!" James quickly pressed the button on the remote.
Boom!
After a series of earth-shattering explosions, a massive fireball rose into the night sky.
"Ash and the others should be very experienced in dealing with Team Rocket; I don't need to worry about them." Aomori smiled slightly as his body soared into the air. The Violet-Gold Knight Set instantly covered his entire body, and the heavy helmet completely hid his appearance.
After a month, Hunter K had returned. This time, his target was the massive evil organization entrenched in the Kanto and Johto regions—Team Rocket!
...
Night fell, but the Viridian Forest, which should have been silent, was now brightly lit.
In the sky, dozens of airships cast beams of light downward, illuminating the forest as if it were day. Even more small flying craft buzzed around, searching for Mew's trail.
On the ground, groups of Team Rocket members, flashlights and detection equipment in hand, walked side-by-side with their Pokémon, forming a net that contracted toward the center.
Team Rocket had laid an all-encompassing net in Viridian Forest. The moment Mew showed its head, it would face a fierce assault. Other Pokémon in the forest suffered collateral damage, being either captured or driven out.
"Is this for real?" Ditto hid in the shadows, watching Team Rocket's every move, feeling a bit jittery. "Aomori asking me to hold out until dawn is really asking too much of me."
The "Mew" from before was, naturally, the transformed Ditto. Following Aomori's orders, it had intentionally revealed its form as Mew in front of Team Rocket members. It just hadn't expected Team Rocket to take Mew so seriously, and it looked like their entire force had turned out.
Due to childhood trauma, Ditto still harbored some fear of Team Rocket. Seeing such a formation, it didn't even dare to show its face. Even if it stayed hidden, at this rate, Ditto would soon have nowhere to run.
"What should I do?" It looked at a nearby Oddish that was hiding out of fear, and an idea suddenly struck it.
...
"Be thorough! Don't let a single Pokémon escape!"
"Yes, sir!"
A Team Rocket member suddenly saw the grass rustling and immediately shouted, "We've got movement!"
"Arbok, go check it out."
"Chaaa!" Arbok quickly slithered into the grass and flushed out a bunch of panicked Oddish.
"Oh, it's just Oddish." They were about to relax when their leader shouted, "Wait! One of them is a transformation!"
"Could it be Mew?!" A thought flashed through everyone's mind: Are we about to score a huge achievement?
The leader who first made the discovery immediately sent out his Pokémon. "Go, Golem! Use Rollout and knock that Oddish back to its original form!"
Golem rolled forward, knocking the group of Oddish flying. Under their tense gaze, one of the Oddish transformed into a pink Pokémon. However, it was a squishy, jelly-like Pokémon, looking nothing like Mew.
"Tch, it's just a Ditto?" the leader said helplessly after checking repeatedly with his instruments.
"Capture it. Ditto still has research value."
"Yes, sir!"
A member threw a Poké Ball at the Ditto, only for it to be deflected by a red light.
"Huh? A Pokémon with a trainer? Strange, where is its trainer?" The leader was confused, but the priority now was finding Mew. He suppressed his doubt, put the Ditto into a cage, and reported the matter to his superiors.
"...Perhaps someone is in the Viridian Forest, a passing trainer?"
"Don't worry about it. If you encounter a trainer, just capture them."
"Yes, sir!"
Locked alone in a cage and placed in the back of a truck, Ditto finally breathed a sigh of relief. 'I'll wait until dawn to turn into Mew again. By then, Aomori should be on the scene.'
'But their gadgets are really something; they could actually tell I was transformed. Does that mean I'll be seen through if I turn into Mew?' Ditto thought for a moment before decisively giving up on thinking. 'Forget it, I'll let Aomori decide.'
It decided to just lie low.
...
In the tallest building in Viridian City, Giovanni sat in his top-floor office, waiting for good news from Viridian Forest.
"The moment Mew is found, I will deploy Mewtwo," Giovanni said, stroking the Persian lying at his feet. "I want to see which is stronger: the legendary beast we created with our own hands, or the one that has existed since ancient times."
In his heart, he already had the answer. Mewtwo was bound to be number one in the world! Once Mew was captured, he could mass-produce Mewtwos. From then on, the Legendary Birds and Ho-Oh would be nothing but trash; they would all have to bow before him, and the world would be in the palm of his hand.
After basking in his beautiful dream for a while, the phone rang. Giovanni's lips curled into a smile as he slowly picked up the receiver.
"Hello? Have you found Mew?"
"Boss, it's not Mew, it's Mewtwo! A mysterious person attacked the base, and Mewtwo escaped!"
"What?!" Giovanni stood up abruptly, his expression turning ugly.
...
Going back ten minutes, Aomori had taken on the appearance of Hunter K and headed for the Viridian Gym.
Under Aomori's "lure the tiger away from the mountain" strategy, Team Rocket had dispatched a large number of personnel to Viridian Forest. Now, there were only a dozen or so security guards and a group of researchers guarding the gym. Aomori easily evaded their eyes, jammed the cameras, and stood before Mewtwo.
"First time meeting you. I am Aomori."
"Is everything you said before true?" Mewtwo asked, staring at the human in front of him.
"If I were lying, you should be able to judge for yourself, right?" Aomori extended his right hand toward it and said sincerely, "Now, I officially invite you to go to another world. You don't have a goal in life, you don't know who you are, you don't know what to do, and you don't know the meaning of your existence, right?"
"Come to my world. I can give you all of that. In that world where Pokémon do not exist, you will be the ancestor of all Pokémon. Every Pokémon will be personally nurtured by you; you will not be alone. Growing and strengthening the Pokémon species will be the meaning of your existence and your mission. You are Mewtwo, and you will be the god in the hearts of all Pokémon!"
Hearing Aomori's impassioned speech, Mewtwo was deeply moved. It looked at its own hands and murmured, "Is this true? Is this really the meaning and mission of my existence?"
After learning the truth that it was created by humans, its heart had been filled with confusion.
"As long as you wish it, it is true." Aomori's voice whispered in its ear. "Choose. Do you want to stay here and exist for the sake of human ambition, or go to another world and fulfill your mission as a god?"
The answer to this question was all too obvious. Psychic energy erupted, and the mechanical armor on its body instantly shattered, revealing its true form.
Amid the blaring alarms, Mewtwo pointed at Aomori and said, "I don't want to stay here anyway. I'll go to your world, just as you said. If I find that you are deceiving me, I swear I will kill you!"
"Rest assured, I never lie." Aomori smiled slightly and extended his right hand toward it. "Come, let's shake hands to show we've formed a friendly alliance."
Mewtwo paused, then slowly extended its hand and gently touched Aomori's palm.
Aomori closed his fingers, gripped its hand, gave it a shake, and then let go. "From now on, I look forward to working with you."
"..." Mewtwo nodded slowly.
"Let's go."
When the security guards arrived, they saw only a gaping hole in the ceiling.