As the scenery before Aiden shifted and he arrived inside Team Rocket Headquarters, a shocking sight unfolded before his eyes.
Giovanni was slumped in a chair.
His entire body was limp.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
At the same time, the room was filled with machinery and countless cultivation tanks.
Inside those tanks floated naked teenage boys and girls.
In the side story The Birth of Mewtwo, it had once been mentioned that Team Rocket had experimented with cloning humans in order to verify the diversity of cloned lifeforms, kidnapping large numbers of youths for biological experiments.
And now—
The tanks surrounding him contained exactly those cloned bodies.
Among them, Aiden even saw someone who looked exactly like Giovanni.
"Absolutely insane."
Cursing inwardly, Aiden scanned Giovanni's body with his psychic power.
After confirming that there were no signs of life remaining, he turned around and left the facility with Deoxys.
"This headquarters…"
"The cloning technology…"
"The artificial Pokémon research…"
"It's better if none of it ever falls into the hands of the Pokémon League."
"Otherwise, it will only create endless trouble."
After all—
Who could guarantee that dragon slayers would never become dragons themselves?
Aiden, Lance, Lorelei, and the others might not abuse such technology.
But if that knowledge remained?
Wouldn't countless mad scientists try to pursue it?
To prevent its spread, Aiden combined his tremendous psychic power with Deoxys's abilities as he exited the headquarters.
The entire Team Rocket base exploded.
A pillar of fire shot into the sky.
Everyone still fighting on the battlefield immediately understood what it meant.
The war was over.
Team Rocket had lost.
At the same time, after destroying the headquarters, Aiden used his psychic power to awaken Lance, Brandon, and Noland.
When Lance opened his eyes and saw the headquarters engulfed in flames, shock filled his face.
"Aiden!"
"Thank you for saving me."
"What happened to Giovanni?"
Hearing the question, Aiden sighed softly.
"You all saw what was inside that facility, didn't you?"
The moment those words were spoken, even seasoned veterans like Lance and Brandon changed expressions.
Because no matter how many battles they had witnessed, normal people still possessed a basic moral bottom line.
Team Rocket did not.
They conducted horrific biological experiments on humans and Pokémon alike.
Failures were discarded and destroyed.
It was a betrayal of both humanity and Pokémon.
Such an organization deserved to be erased.
"I destroyed the headquarters."
"Giovanni is dead."
"However…"
"I found multiple cloning chambers containing bodies that looked exactly like him."
Aiden looked toward Lance.
"Based on your understanding of Giovanni…"
"Was the one who fought us truly the original?"
Lance's eyes widened.
Now that Aiden mentioned it, something felt off.
Had Giovanni really died?
The man was too cunning.
Too calculating.
Still…
Both Mewtwo and Deoxys had been left behind.
Surely everything was over now?
After Giovanni left, Aiden had sent Deoxys to follow him personally.
Deoxys had witnessed Giovanni's death with its own eyes.
If that had truly been the original Giovanni, then he was undoubtedly dead.
Yet that peculiar cultivation tank still left Aiden with an uneasy feeling.
Regardless of the truth, however—
Whether Giovanni was truly dead or not—
With Aiden's help, the Pokémon League had won the most important battle.
At the same time, every spy hidden within the League had been exposed and captured.
As a result, the Kanto Pokémon League would regain its vitality and move toward a brighter future.
Now, only the battles on the outer battlefield remained.
But the outcome had already been decided.
...
Meanwhile, on Ash's side of the battlefield—
With Giovanni's death and the explosion of Team Rocket Headquarters, the Legendary Birds under Team Rocket's control were finally suppressed completely.
Seeing the towering flames in the distance, the Three Beasts collapsed to the ground as though they had lost their souls.
Without orders, the cloned Legendary Birds were defeated by Ash and the others.
Within just half an hour—
Athena.
Sird.
Orm.
Chakram.
Team Rocket's four remaining top executives were all captured alive.
At long last, the war against Team Rocket had come to an end.
"It's finally over."
Lance looked toward Agatha.
"Agatha, I'd like you to temporarily serve as the new Viridian Gym Leader."
"Otherwise, there won't be anyone reliable left to oversee such an important place."
Agatha smiled and nodded.
No matter what, she had devoted her entire life to the Pokémon League.
The stronger and healthier the League became, the happier she was.
Although the League had paid a tremendous price during this war, the outcome was ultimately a good one.
After the war ended, Aiden also bid farewell to Lance, Lorelei, and the others.
Having accomplished his mission, he intended to leave quietly.
Seeing that he was preparing to go, Lorelei smiled.
"There's still a victory celebration."
"Without you, none of this would have been possible."
"And if Team Rocket's headquarters hadn't been destroyed, the League executives would definitely have wanted to obtain that research."
"If that happened…"
"The entire world might change."
As Lorelei tried to persuade him to stay, Sabrina, Daisy, and the others joined in as well.
Even Lance spoke up.
"Aiden."
"This victory belongs to you more than anyone."
"Let us properly thank you."
Unable to refuse everyone's enthusiasm, Aiden finally agreed and returned to the Silver Conference Headquarters.
During a break, his consciousness entered the System Space.
There, he saw the black meteor-like crystal that still emitted faint dark light.
And nearby—
Mewtwo, who had recovered a portion of its strength.
Looking at the two Legendary Pokémon, Aiden smiled.
This journey's greatest reward—
Had undoubtedly been Mewtwo.
Back when it served Team Rocket, it had been nothing more than a living weapon.
But under Aiden's care—
It could finally live freely.
After all, other Legendary Pokémon still had their own species.
Their own kin.
But Mewtwo?
In the entire world—
There was only one.
"Oh right."
"Mewtwo also has two special Mega Evolutions."
"Mega Mewtwo X."
"And Mega Mewtwo Y."
"It's just a pity that I don't have its Mega Stones yet."
"Otherwise…"
"With Mega Evolution activated…"
"I wonder just how powerful it would become."
...
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