Enzo stood absolutely still as the air in the room seemed to thicken with a suffocating, oily pressure that he could almost taste on the back of his throat, while his vision was completely overtaken by a violent strobe of red and black system warnings that blurred the reality in front of him.
[ SYSTEM WARNING]
CAUTION: Target has been in prolonged contact with Entity [DARKRAI].
WARNING: Extremely high levels of nightmare residue detected.
He felt the blood drain from his face, and his heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped bird because the man standing right in front of him, his most powerful backer and the king of the underworld, was currently radiating the unmistakable signature of the most terrifying nightmare Pokémon in existence. Enzo had always viewed Giovanni as the ultimate safety net, the one man who could handle any disaster, but seeing those crimson alerts made him realize that even the strongest pillar could be cracked.
Giovanni noticed the sudden shift in Enzo's demeanor and the way his knuckles had turned white as he gripped his jacket. The Boss simply let out a small, smooth chuckle as he walked around the massive mahogany desk to stand directly in front of his subordinate with an air of absolute authority.
"You look absolutely exhausted, Enzo, but I suppose that is to be expected from the relentless rhythm of these last few days, and I heard there was a bit of a problem with the Madame in Cerulean." Giovanni spoke with a surprisingly calm and commanding voice that didn't match the terrifying warnings still flashing on Enzo's screen.
"It has already been completely resolved, Boss." Enzo managed to reply with a steady voice, forcing himself to maintain eye contact despite the chaotic red alerts still flashing in the corner of his eye.
"I expected as much from you, and I must say congratulations on your performance in the tournament, since winning was only half of the achievement." Giovanni continued as his Level 85 Persian let out a low, vibrating purr at his feet. "The way you created your public persona for the League and manipulated the public into being fascinated by Dark-types was a stroke of marketing genius that allowed Team Rocket to make a fortune from the sudden spike in sales for Dark-type species."
"Thank you, Boss." Enzo said with a steady nod.
"But what truly stood out to me was your execution in Pallet Town, from the flawless alibi you created to the public promise you made to the victims. You have given yourself a legitimate reason to move into the Hoenn region without a single soul in the League or the public suspecting our true intentions, and in the process, you completed the diversion mission with the bonus of weakening the Kanto League's biggest cancer." Giovanni added with a look of genuine approval in his eyes.
Giovanni stopped in front of a massive, gold-leafed frame that contained an ancient, dark oil painting depicting the original chaos of the world where humans were nothing but tiny, terrified specks beneath the towering silhouettes of primordial beings.
"Tell me, Enzo, do you like art?" Giovanni asked without turning around.
"I wouldn't exactly call myself an expert, Boss," Enzo replied while his eyes flickered nervously between the painting and the red system alerts.
"Then tell me what you see in this painting."
Enzo looked at the aggressive brushstrokes of the burning cities and the god-like figures hidden within the thick smoke. "I see history and chaos."
Giovanni smiled and nodded slowly before saying
"I see an unbalanced connection between chaos and order. Humans used to hide in caves, Enzo. We were prey, and we lived only because the world allowed us to live. Today, we live the way we do because the balance of those two sides has finally leveled out." Giovanni smiled and nodded slowly before noticing that Enzo was still acting strangely tense. "I want you to take that box on the desk as a gift for Viper, and you may open it to see what is inside."
Enzo looked at the desk and approached the resting box. He discreetly pushed his psychic powers forward to scan the object for any hidden traps, and upon confirming it was completely safe, he lifted the lid. The severed head of George stared blankly back at him from inside the box. Enzo froze in absolute shock.
"After you warned Nero about George, you showed us that you are a person of trust we can count on, so I believe it is the right time to tell you my plans for the future." Giovanni did not give Enzo a single second to process the gruesome sight.
Enzo looked from the box back to Giovanni as his mind raced to put the pieces together. If Giovanni had killed George, he clearly was not working for Darkrai or helping the nightmare entity in any way. He remembered receiving the same system warning on the day he saved Viper, and the truth suddenly washed over him. Giovanni was not under Darkrai's influence at all, he had simply been exposed to a massive amount of nightmare energy because he had personally fought and killed George. The suffocating stress crushing Enzo's chest immediately vanished.
"I am sure you have already heard whispers about the new project." Giovanni continued smoothly.
"Everything I know is that it requires Mew's DNA." Enzo replied carefully while playing dumb.
"This initiative is called Project Mewtwo, and the plan is to create a way for us to have the absolute power of a Legendary Pokémon on our side." Giovanni nodded in confirmation.
"But what exactly is our objective, and why do we need something with that much catastrophic power?" Enzo asked.
"The objective has been and always will be the same: to maintain the balance. Like the people in that painting, I refuse to let humans live in a cave afraid." Giovanni answered with a deadly serious and sincere expression. "Two years ago, Darkrai approached me in a dream. It offered me the throne of the world and promised me that every region would bow to the Rocket R, and that I would be the first human in history to wield the true power of a god."
Giovanni's eyes grew distant as they reflected the ancient, painted fire.
"But its fatal mistake was not understanding why I built this organization. We are not fanatics like Team Aqua or Magma chasing a world of water or dust. We are the counterweight. We are the ones who maintain the balance when the League's 'order' becomes a cage for the weak. A world ruled only by Team Rocket has no balance. So, I rejected it."
Enzo felt a surge of genuine awe and shock because rejecting a god while standing in the center of its power required an almost inhuman level of willpower. "But why did you have to reject that power entirely?"
"You probably do not know this because it is not common knowledge, but it is impossible to catch True Legendaries. Even the Master Ball prototype from Silph Co. is not enough to hold them." Giovanni looked back at Enzo.
Enzo knew that the impossibility of catching them was an absolute fact. "So does that mean George just had a minor legendary Darkrai?"
"It is complicated, but no. Many legendary Pokémon want nothing to do with humans and prefer not to be bothered, but when they do want to interact with us, they mostly choose to use Vessels." Giovanni explained while the shadows in the room seemed to stretch and dance around him. "They interact with our reality by choosing a human anchor they can inhabit to manifest their god-like strength. When a True Legendary makes a link with a human, it is not a relationship of trainer and Pokémon, but a complete merging of existences where the human gains the ability to physically transform and manifest the Pokémon's true form through their own flesh."
Enzo felt a cold shiver run violently down his spine as he imagined a human being suddenly erupting into the physical form of a legendary god.
"The Vessel can use the Pokémon's powers as if they were their own, but it is a parasitic bond that slowly erodes the host's consciousness from the inside out. As time passes, the human's temperament begins to warp, and their thoughts are replaced by the alien desires of the legend until the original person is completely erased, leaving only a god wearing a human skin to walk among us. When that mask can contain the Pokémon no more, they revert back to their original appearance or find a new vessel." Giovanni warned with a much darker tone.
Enzo was deeply horrified. If George was in reality Darkrai, it was an absolute miracle that Viper had survived their encounter, but the worst news by far was that the nightmare god now knew about Enzo's existence.
"Boss, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did you get this information?" Enzo asked cautiously.
"A few years ago, the Shadow Unit had three executives consisting of Nero and his two brothers. During a Shadow Unit mission, one of the brothers was gravely injured, and Nero begged a Legendary Pokémon to save him. The Pokémon formed a link with the wounded brother and healed him, and in the beginning, he was completely unstoppable. He barely even used his own Pokémon because his powers were so overwhelmingly strong that it defied all reason. But as time passed, his mind began to change until he became entirely unrecognizable, and one day he simply ceased to be Nero's brother." Giovanni answered solemnly.
Enzo stood paralyzed in shock. He had never known Nero had brothers, let alone that one of them had been completely consumed as a Vessel.
"Did his other brother die as well?" Enzo asked.
"No, but he was heavily affected by the tragedy and decided to move away. He currently serves as our primary bridge to the Alola League." Giovanni explained.
Enzo was mentally reeling from the realization that Team Rocket had a direct bridge into Alola. "And what happened to the Darkrai that inhabited George's body?"
"Even though they are unfathomably powerful, Legendary Pokémon are not completely immortal, and Darkrai is a perfect example of this. True Legendaries can have children with other Pokémon to create Minor Legendaries, while others, like the Regis, release fragments of their bodies over their lifetimes to create Minor Legendaries of their own. Then there are cases like Darkrai, who does not lay eggs but instead divides himself among several humans. Whenever he consumes a human soul, he creates a Minor Legendary. When I defeated George, his Darkrai died, and because of that death, another Minor Darkrai ascended to become the new True Legendary."
Enzo realized with a sinking feeling that the true Darkrai would always exist out there somewhere as long as there were Minor Legendaries left in the world to take its place.
"What do we do now?" Enzo asked while looking intently at the Boss.
"Now I recuperate my strength while you receive your rewards, and together we make a way for Team Rocket to defeat Darkrai." Giovanni smiled faintly.
"Through Project Mewtwo?" Enzo ignored the mention of a reward and asked with a deadly serious expression.
Giovanni simply nodded in response.
Enzo thought back to his past life and remembered that Project Mewtwo had ultimately failed. Thanks to that failure, Giovanni had lost his composure and started shooting wildly in every direction. Perhaps after the project collapsed, Giovanni had desperately sought the power of any True Legendary and sent everyone on suicide missions just to protect himself from Darkrai. Enzo knew the original project was destined to fail, but this time, he was here to actively help and change the outcome.
"Boss, if we are truly going to create this Pokémon, I have something that might help." Enzo reached into his pocket and pulled out his TR Device. "Porygon-Z, transfer all the data we stole from Professor Oak's research lab directly to that computer."
Giovanni's eyes widened in genuine shock as the files began populating his terminal. "You managed to steal all of his data?"
"Yes, all thanks to Porygon-Z." Enzo confirmed confidently.
Giovanni actually laughed out loud, which was an incredibly rare sound in this office. "Enzo, you truly never cease to surprise me. I was going to give you this box for the success of your Pallet Town plan, but it seems you are going to have to give me some more time to find another reward because this information is completely priceless to us."
Enzo accepted the small box Giovanni handed him. He checked inside, felt a wave of pleasant surprise at the contents, safely stored it away, and thanked the Boss.
"I think this data alone might not be enough for Project Mewtwo. Do you happen to have any contacts in the Orre region?" Enzo asked thoughtfully.
"We currently have a squad from Ariana's faction infiltrating Cipher over there." Giovanni looked slightly confused by the sudden pivot.
"I have reason to believe that Cipher is researching artificial ways to subdue Pokémon, and if they succeed, they might find a way to control a Legendary without the need for a human Vessel." Enzo shifted his tone strictly to business.
"I have heard whispers of their Shadow project, though my reports indicated they were only working with standard species. But if you believe they are aiming higher, then we cannot ignore it." Giovanni replied thoughtfully.
"They are likely hiding their true progress to avoid international scrutiny, and I think it would be wise to have a stronger presence there," Enzo suggested.
"I will have them investigate your claims immediately, and if there is a lead that requires a more direct touch, I will put you in direct contact with her to lead the mission." Giovanni revealed with a predatory smile.
Enzo nodded in agreement and respectfully asked if there was anything else required of him.
"Nero mentioned that you had business to take care of in Galar. Take this." Giovanni handed over another small cardboard box.
Enzo looked inside and immediately understood its immense value.
"Now that you are a celebrity, you will need to use that to accomplish what you want in Galar. It was created by Professor Sebastian and is incredibly rare because it is still in development. It was woven using Ditto cells, meaning not even other Pokémon will be able to distinguish that you have a disguise on your face." Giovanni explained.
Enzo was absolutely thrilled because this mask would grant him complete freedom to operate in the shadows, and he thanked his Boss profusely.
"And by the way, release your thesis on the Fairy-types right now. I heard that Oak is planning to announce something soon to gain reputation with the League and the public, and I intend to completely smother his moment in the spotlight with your new discovery." Giovanni commanded.
"Consider it done." Enzo smiled sharply.
"Now you can go. After you come back from Galar, come straight here because I want to have a discussion with you regarding our future plans." Giovanni stated.
As Enzo stood to leave, Giovanni gave him one final, chilling warning that echoed through the lightless room.
"And Enzo, based on the way you first interacted with me today and the fact that you warned Nero about George, it is clear that you can somehow sense when someone has had contact with Darkrai. Do not tell anyone about that ability. Once they know you can sense it, you are no longer safe. If you ever encounter someone you suspect is becoming a Vessel, do not engage them alone, contact me or Nero immediately."
Enzo nodded solemnly and exited the office. He found Nero still standing as an immovable shadow in the hallway, and as the heavy metal doors clicked shut behind him, Enzo looked at the executive with a profound new understanding of the agonizing grief hidden behind that expressionless mask.