It would be a lie to say that Blaine was not surprised. He had also received the message about Cain's extraordinary promotion to deputy leader of Team Rocket, but he did not expect that the young man who had once only seemed somewhat impressive to him — and nothing more — would take a single step and become the deputy leader of Team Rocket.
This was Team Rocket, a massive underground force that spanned two major regions, Kanto and Johto. Its power was so great that neither the Kanto League nor the Johto League could confront it individually.
And under such circumstances, Cain had become the deputy leader of Team Rocket, a position second only to Giovanni and above everyone else. How could Blaine not be shocked?
Of course, Blaine had been far too busy with his research and had not seen the video of Cain facing the three members of the Sacred Church; otherwise, he would not have been so surprised.
Back then, when Cain fought those three members of the Sacred Church, although he had used his main Pokémon, he had not employed any particular strategy.
It should be known that Cain had become famous in the Hoenn region as the Sandstorm Elite Four precisely because of his sandstorm tactics. But in that battle, he did not use them, which proved that he still had room to improve.
If someone knew that Cain's current Darkrai, after recovering its strength, had directly broken through the second barrier of the Champion level, they would probably swallow hard.
After all, possessing that level of strength after Mega Evolution and possessing it without needing Mega Evolution were very different things.
"Doctor Blaine, there is no need to be so polite." Cain smiled and waved his hand, not putting on airs as the deputy leader.
Blaine also let out a small sigh of relief. After all, in the past he had tried to scheme against Cain, although Cain had dismantled all of his plans.
Now he truly feared that Cain might want to target him. Although he had Giovanni backing him and was not afraid, having someone focus on you like that was never a good thing.
"Very well, Blaine, show us your masterpiece," Giovanni said, gesturing with his hand.
As soon as his masterpiece was mentioned, Blaine stopped thinking about everything else. A burning look appeared in his eyes, as if he had recalled something extraordinary.
"Yes!"
With that, he took the lead, activating one mechanism after another in the laboratory, and entered an even more hidden area within the already concealed lab.
As soon as they entered, they saw more researchers dressed in white coats. All of them were moving back and forth with various objects in their hands or bent over machines, recording all kinds of data. It was an incredibly lively place.
After passing those researchers, the first thing that appeared before their eyes was an enormous green glass enclosure — or rather, a transparent enclosure that appeared green because of the color of the liquid inside it.
A nutrient tank!
A nutrient tank used to cultivate clones. Small bubbles rose inside it, but that was not the important part.
Because inside it was a white mass curled in on itself, with all kinds of tubes connected to its body, floating silently within the tank without moving.
When Cain saw it, he could no longer look away.
A trace of fervor also appeared in the eyes of both Blaine and Giovanni.
Team Rocket's great retreat, their avoidance of the League's blade, the massive investment of resources, and the day-and-night dedication of an enormous number of scientific personnel... all of it had been for this Pokémon.
Although it was not the Mew that Team Rocket had always pursued, Giovanni had named it "Mewtwo." The meaning was obvious: he hoped it would become an existence that surpassed Mew.
Cain slowly walked up to the enormous nutrient tank. Observing it up close, he could see it much more clearly.
At that moment, Mewtwo was already nearly fully formed, and it was almost identical to the Mewtwo Cain remembered.
Under his interference, the number and types of Pokémon involved in the genetic fusion with Mew's DNA had undoubtedly undergone many changes. But in the end, the Mewtwo produced still had exactly the appearance Cain knew.
Although it could be said that Mew's DNA was the genetic origin of all Pokémon and could fuse with most genes of other Pokémon, for a Mewtwo with this appearance to ultimately be born... was that not also a kind of inevitable destiny?
Perhaps Mewtwo simply had to be born. Only not by nature's design, but rather, one of the functions of Team Rocket's existence was precisely to bring Mewtwo into the world.
Thinking about it carefully sent chills down one's spine.
Every time Cain came into contact with things of this level, he felt as though he had touched something crucial. But it was like a fleeting inspiration: it flashed for a moment and disappeared. Whenever he tried to grasp it, it slipped away silently. No matter how much he tried to recall it afterward, he could never recover that same feeling again.
Looking inside the nutrient tank, at Mewtwo.
In appearance, it still retained to some extent the shadow of Mew. After all, it existed as a clone of Mew.
It had been created as a Pokémon specialized for combat, designed with the objective of being the ultimate weapon, so many parts of its body differed considerably from Mew's.
Its form resembled a mixture between a feline-like animal and a human, as well as a Roswell extraterrestrial. Its entire body was silver-white in color, while its tail and abdomen were purple. From the center of its back extended a bundle of external nerves — or perhaps an external circulatory system — up to the back of its neck. Curled up, it did not appear very large, but Cain estimated that if it stood upright, it would be approximately the same height as a normal person.
In fact, in the original work, a Pokémon like Mewtwo possessed a deeply contradictory heart and thoughts. On one hand, it detested humans; on the other, it was attracted to the beauty that also existed within them.
(End of Chapter)