When he arrived quietly in Viridian City, in Kanto, the sky was already dark, which made it easier to remain hidden.
His identity was now special and attracted a great deal of attention. If anyone discovered that he had arrived in secret, it would cause problems.
But thanks to the barrier ability of the question mark-shaped Unown, as long as he did not wish to be detected, it was practically impossible to find him.
He entered the Team Rocket base in Viridian City with familiar ease.
As soon as he stepped inside, he noticed that it had changed greatly compared to his previous visits.
To begin with, security had more than doubled.
Thanks to his identity as a Team Rocket Executive, he encountered no problems entering.
Inside, security had also increased drastically.
Guards stood every few steps.
This was Team Rocket's headquarters, where Giovanni and many high-ranking officials were located. And yet security was still so strict?
Cain frowned as he walked toward Giovanni's office.
There was undoubtedly a reason for this.
He had some guesses: either there was an important enemy outside, or there was something extremely valuable inside.
In front of Giovanni's office, two men in black uniforms with stern expressions guarded the door.
From their aura, they were elite soldiers of Team Rocket.
This was part of Team Rocket's hidden strength.
If they truly wanted to defeat the League with only a few Executives, it would be impossible. Clearly, they possessed hidden forces.
Had even those forces been mobilized?
As he walked, Cain became more and more surprised.
Knock knock—
Under the gaze of the two guards, Cain knocked on the door of Giovanni's office.
"Come in!" A deep and magnetic voice came from inside; it was Giovanni's voice.
Cain opened the door and entered directly. He saw Giovanni seated in his office chair, stroking that familiar Persian. It was the first time he had seen Giovanni not working, as if he were specifically waiting for someone.
Upon seeing Cain enter, a rare smile appeared on Giovanni's face.
"So it really was you, Cain. I had already assumed you would return before tonight," Giovanni said with a smile.
So he had been waiting.
Cain entered the office, and the door was promptly closed by the two guards.
Upon reaching Giovanni's desk, Cain placed his right hand over his chest and gave a slight bow.
"Boss!"
Although he no longer used the one-knee kneeling salute, that was because, with Cain's current strength and status, it was no longer necessary.
"Sit." Giovanni extended a hand toward him, indicating that he should sit and talk.
Cain obeyed and sat on the familiar sofa.
"I just watched your broadcast. So this is Mega Evolution... truly something extraordinary," Giovanni said with restrained excitement as he slowly stood up and walked to the sofa near Cain.
A smile appeared on Cain's face. He directly took a Key Stone from his pocket, placed it on the small table in front of the sofa, and gently pushed it toward Giovanni as he said respectfully:
"This is the Key Stone, one of the necessary items for Mega Evolution. By combining it with a Mega Stone, Mega Evolution can be performed directly!"
Upon seeing the Key Stone that Cain pushed toward him, even someone of Giovanni's status showed slight astonishment.
With just the Key Stone and the Mega Stone Cain had mentioned, one could allow a Pokémon to Mega Evolve and thus complete another transformation in strength.
While the entire world was now searching for Mega Stones, he already had a complete set in his hands. And most importantly, that set belonged to Beedrill.
Beedrill!
Throughout the entire world, including many within Team Rocket, and even among quite a few of Giovanni's own confidants, no one knew that Giovanni possessed a Beedrill, much less that his true main Pokémon was actually Beedrill.
But the stone Cain had sent was Beedrill's Mega Stone. This proved that he truly knew quite a number of hidden secrets.
Giovanni took the Key Stone into his hand and examined it carefully.
At first glance, aside from its somewhat peculiar color, it did not possess many obvious special characteristics. Precisely because of this, no one had discovered Mega Evolution until now.
"Then I will accept it. After all, it is a sign of your consideration, Cain. But I am quite curious about how you knew that I have a Beedrill. You should know that my Beedrill has not appeared for many years."
"Outside, everyone now calls me Giovanni of the Earth, an expert in Ground-type Pokémon."
Giovanni observed the Key Stone for a moment, marveling at it, before directly voicing his doubt.
Unconsciously, as Cain's strength had increased, he had already reached a certain degree of equality when speaking with Giovanni.
In reality, only someone as magnanimous as Giovanni could reach this point. Setting other matters aside, just the fact that Cain's Team Heaven showed signs of separating from Team Rocket was something that an ordinary person would never tolerate.
Although the current Team Heaven still had a considerable gap in strength compared to Team Rocket, it was still a massive underground organization that spanned an entire region. Absorbing such an organization was practically equivalent to absorbing a region.
However, Giovanni's way of thinking was different from that of ordinary people. His vision was more advanced, and furthermore, what he pursued now did not lie in that aspect.
In fact, if Giovanni had truly wanted to invade the Hoenn region with full force, even if Team Magma and Team Aqua had resisted with everything they had, would Team Rocket really have been unable to enter?
Frankly speaking, with Team Rocket's capability to contend with the Kanto League at that time, they were not something that Team Magma and Team Aqua — who could only hide to avoid being eliminated by the Hoenn League — could stop.
So, if Team Rocket did not enter Hoenn, it was not because they could not, but because they did not want to.
Now, the Hoenn region had transitioned from the era of Team Magma and Team Aqua into the era of Team Heaven. Although many within Team Heaven more or less wished to separate from Team Rocket, Cain himself did not think that way at all.
At the very least, for now, certain Team Rocket missions could still reach the Hoenn region and be completed by Team Heaven. That alone was already far better than before.
Upon hearing Giovanni's question, Cain thought for a moment.
"This subordinate also heard it through certain channels."
Upon hearing that, Giovanni frowned.
"Oh? Heard it through certain channels? Who? The people of the Sacred Church? Or more precisely, that mysterious bishop of the Sacred Church?"
Cain was stunned. The bishop of the Sacred Church? Could he possibly have some connection with Giovanni?
(End of Chapter)