After Aiden defeated Will, Apollo, and the clone Moltres, the crisis in Ecruteak City naturally came to an end.
With Deoxys unleashing its Psychic powers and knocking out every remaining Team Rocket member—
The Team Rocket base in Ecruteak City was completely destroyed.
"Aiden, this time, we really owe you."
Hearing Lorelei's gratitude and seeing the beautiful smile on her face while wearing his jacket, Aiden merely waved his hand.
Soon afterward, Morty and Officer Jenny also stepped forward to thank him.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Aiden finally spoke.
"Team Rocket has successfully developed cloned Legendary Pokémon."
"The Moltres we just fought wasn't a true Legendary Pokémon."
"It was a biological weapon."
"An artificial Pokémon."
The moment those words left his mouth, everyone present changed expressions.
"T-That's impossible!"
"Team Rocket's biotechnology has reached that level already?"
"If they can mass-produce things like that…"
"Wouldn't even ordinary Elite Four members be helpless against them?"
Seeing the worry on everyone's faces, Aiden continued calmly.
"Although these biological weapons are powerful, creating them obviously requires an enormous amount of resources."
"There's no way Team Rocket has enough money to give every executive a Legendary Pokémon."
"Lambda was also one of Team Rocket's Four Generals, and he didn't have one."
"So the production cost of the cloned Legendary Birds must be extremely high."
"It won't become a situation where every Team Rocket member gets their own Legendary Pokémon."
Only after hearing that explanation did everyone finally relax.
Afterward, Morty and Officer Jenny remained behind to handle the aftermath in Ecruteak City.
Meanwhile—
Aiden departed alongside Lorelei and headed toward Bruno's location.
…
By the time they arrived, however, Bruno had already successfully withdrawn.
Although several of his Pokémon had fallen during the battle—
Facing only Ariana alone, Bruno had still managed to escape.
At the very least, he hadn't died under Zapdos's attacks.
After reuniting with Bruno, Aiden and Lorelei immediately led him back toward the Team Rocket base.
Unfortunately—
In the short time they had been gone, Ariana had already evacuated all the base's data, resources, and personnel.
Nothing important remained.
"It was Mewtwo."
Aiden narrowed his eyes.
"Otherwise, they couldn't have transferred everything that quickly."
Indeed.
Once Mewtwo entered the battlefield, Team Rocket's mobility reached an entirely different level.
Although the Pokémon League had destroyed five Team Rocket bases at the beginning thanks to superior intelligence and the element of surprise—
Their progress had effectively stopped afterward.
As for Will—
Aiden had transformed him into a doll and stored him inside the System Space.
Once the war ended, he could simply hand him over to Lance for judgment.
"Let's go."
"We'll return to Mt. Silver and wait for Lance's report."
…
At the same time—
Viridian City.
After arriving with the elite forces of the Kanto Pokémon League, Champion Lance finally reached Team Rocket's headquarters.
The moment he arrived—
He encountered Team Rocket's upper leadership directly.
Truthfully speaking—
Among all villainous organizations, Team Rocket's overall strength was unmatched.
Neither Team Magma.
Nor Team Aqua.
Nor Team Galactic.
Nor Team Plasma.
None of them could compare.
Just one of Team Rocket's Four Generals already possessed power beyond what those organizations could normally handle.
And beyond the Four Generals—
There were still the Three Executives.
The Three Beasts.
And numerous elite operatives.
Every one of them possessed at least Elite Four-level strength.
Even then—
That still wasn't the full extent of Team Rocket's power.
After recapturing Mewtwo, Giovanni had spent years in hiding.
Using the cloning technology originally developed for Mewtwo, he had successfully created additional Legendary Bird clones.
And those clones had been entrusted only to his most loyal followers.
In Giovanni's eyes—
Only executives who commanded Legendary Pokémon truly qualified as his trusted confidants.
"Report, Boss."
"Apollo's life signal has disappeared."
"Clone Moltres Unit One has also ceased all vital activity."
For the first time, Giovanni's expression changed.
Apollo.
Ariana.
The Three Beasts.
These five individuals were his true confidants.
Among all Team Rocket executives, only those five possessed Legendary Pokémon.
Now—
Their strongest member had died immediately.
How could Giovanni not feel the loss?
His expression darkened.
"Who did it?"
The subordinate immediately projected Apollo's final combat footage.
As one of Team Rocket's core executives, Apollo always carried monitoring equipment capable of transmitting combat data directly back to headquarters.
Everything from his missions to his final battle had been recorded.
The footage began playing.
At first, Apollo and Will completely suppressed Lorelei.
Victory appeared inevitable.
Then—
Aiden Flint appeared.
And the entire battlefield changed.
The moment Giovanni saw Deoxys, however, his expression gradually returned to normal.
"Deoxys."
"Then it makes sense."
"It was only an executive."
"It's unfortunate, but acceptable."
"Still…"
"Team Rocket will remember this debt."
As Giovanni murmured those words, another report arrived.
Champion Lance had personally led League forces to Team Rocket's Viridian City headquarters.
Giovanni immediately smiled coldly.
"Send the Three Beasts."
"Lance has become far too arrogant."
…
Meanwhile—
Outside Team Rocket Headquarters.
Riding atop his Dragonite, Lance arrived at the entrance of the hidden base.
"Hmph."
"So it was hidden here."
The location appeared to be nothing more than a garbage processing facility.
On the surface, all of Viridian City's waste was transported there.
In reality—
It was one of Team Rocket's primary headquarters.
No wonder nobody had discovered it.
The most dangerous place truly was the safest place.
Team Rocket's strategy had been remarkably effective.
Just as Lance prepared to lead his forces inside—
Three figures appeared before him.
The Three Beasts.
Giovanni's most trusted warriors.
Chakra.
Sird.
Orca.
Each one had been personally trained by Giovanni.
None were weaker than Ariana.
Every one of them possessed Champion-level strength.
Facing Lance, Chakra stepped forward first.
"The Champion of the Kanto Pokémon League?"
"You think you can destroy Team Rocket?"
"Ridiculous."
"Go!"
"Articuno!"
A flash of white light appeared.
A violent Articuno with pitch-black eyes materialized before Lance.
Yet that wasn't all.
After Chakra released Articuno, Sird and Orca smiled coldly and tossed out their own Dark Balls.
The next moment—
Zapdos.
Moltres.
Both appeared beside Articuno.
Three cloned Legendary Birds.
Three terrifying biological weapons.
Together, they surrounded Lance and the elite forces of the Kanto Pokémon League.
A cruel smile appeared on Sird's face.
"Champion Lance."
"Since you came here…"
"Don't bother leaving."
…
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