"I want to learn… your aura power."
Mewtwo said it like it was nothing, dropping a bomb right away.
The first thing out of his mouth was that he wanted to learn how to use aura.
He knew exactly why Grey was so strong.
It was because Grey had aura power.
That strength let Grey fight on a level comparable to Elite Four–level Pokémon.
At the very least, he had an Elite Four-level baseline.
Most human bodies were fragile, after all.
People who could take an Explosion point-blank, eat a Flamethrower to the face, fall from the sky, and walk away without a scratch were extremely rare.
Not everyone was some kind of superman.
And Mewtwo wanted to learn how to control aura.
If he could do that, his disguise and his fighting ability would improve at a terrifying speed.
Maybe even Kanto's Fighting-type Elite Four, Bruno, would end up kneeling at his feet.
And once Bruno was beaten… next would be that "Riolu."
Thought after thought flashed through Mewtwo's mind. Since he couldn't beat Riolu in psychic power, if he gained Grey's fighting techniques, maybe he could finally win.
It wasn't the first time Mewtwo had thought that.
Riolu was like a nightmare—something he could never get out of his head.
Mew… Mewtwo…
And the moment he thought about how his own name basically sounded like "Riolu…two," Mewtwo's anger surged again.
He didn't want to be "two."
If he was going to be anything, he was going to be the one who surpassed the original—No. 1.
"No problem. But I have to say this first: not every Pokémon can master aura. Aside from Lucario and humans, it's extremely difficult for other species to truly grasp aura."
Grey looked troubled as he explained just how hard it was. "There are so many people in this world, but trainers who understand aura as deeply as I do are… you could count them on one hand."
"So with a 'master instructor' like me, you understand how rare that is, right?"
Grey smiled calmly after saying it.
Mewtwo fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly. "Fine. I'll tell you first. But after that, you have to teach me how to use aura."
"No problem. If I say I'll do it, I'll do it. I never scam people."
Grey wagged a finger and patted his chest.
He definitely wouldn't do something like that.
"Alright. Then I'll share the memory with you."
Mewtwo closed his eyes. Psychic power surged and gently spread over Grey and Riolu.
The memory began to flow, and time rewound to half an hour earlier.
…
…
On the outskirts of Celadon City, on the main road leading to Saffron City.
Inside the transport vehicle, the chill of a metal seat seeped through thin prison clothing and into the bone.
Colress's hands were bound with nylon rope, twisted at an awkward angle. Red abrasions had already formed around his wrists.
The scenery outside the window blurred backward. Every kilometer pushed him closer to a pit he'd never crawl out of.
"How about a deal, Gym Leader Giovanni?"
Colress kept his voice low, but the urgency still bled through.
Behind his lenses, his eyes locked onto Giovanni in the front seat, trying to catch even the smallest sign of wavering in that rigid, upright silhouette.
The vehicle jolted over a speed bump, and Colress's forehead slammed into the front barrier.
The tiny sting made him realize something with sudden clarity.
Once they reached that steel prison built on the Indigo Plateau, his world-changing research would be sealed in evidence bags and left to rot forever.
"I have Team Plasma's core genetic blueprint…"
Colress's lips nearly pressed against the bulletproof glass, his breath fogging the road signs outside. "And I have formulas that let ordinary Pokémon break past their base stat limits…"
"Mr. Colress, you're a prisoner right now. And I'm a Gym Leader under the Kanto League. Trying to bribe me in a situation like this… you must be joking."
Giovanni stared ahead as he spoke.
Colress's offer hit Giovanni's heart like a stone dropped into deep water—ripples spreading, then quickly smoothing back into stillness.
Breaking past base stat limits?
Giovanni sneered internally. He'd tossed that idea into the trash heap over a decade ago.
What kind of real visionary would be satisfied with modifying mediocrity?
What he wanted was to forge a myth from nothing—he wanted a lifeform born in a laboratory to possess power rivaling Mew…
No.
Power that surpassed Mew.
In the rearview mirror, Colress looked pathetic. Giovanni's mouth tightened almost imperceptibly.
These fools would never understand.
While others were still obsessing over how to strengthen Pokémon, he had already achieved something world-shattering.
Mewtwo's very existence was the greatest proof of his ambition.
In that body fused from the strongest genes flowed not only pure battle instinct, but Giovanni's mad declaration that he would rewrite the rules of the world.
After Giovanni's blunt rejection, Colress's chest heaved violently. Condensation smeared across his lenses, blurring his vision—but not the resentment boiling in his eyes.
"What a joke… No! If Genesect had been able to use its true power, this wouldn't have happened…"
The blueprint of Genesect was still vividly clear in his mind—equations that perfectly fused three-hundred-million-year-old genetic material with modern particle cannons. It should have rewritten Pokémon evolution itself.
And yet it got taken down by a Riolu.
To anyone who didn't know better, it would look like Genesect was just some ordinary Bug-type Pokémon.
But Colress was certain: his Genesect had Champion-level strength.
And thinking back on it made Grey and that Riolu feel deeply wrong to him.
One of them slapped away a Beheeyem that was close to Champion-level.
The other crossed species boundaries, used Fire Blast, and instantly erased a Champion-level Genesect.
What were they, exactly?!
Colress tilted his head back. The black ceiling of the vehicle felt like the future he could no longer see.
No matter the price, if it got him out of this, he would do anything—be a slave, be a dog—whatever it took.
Screeech!
The vehicle suddenly swerved, flinging Colress into the cold metal wall.
"Hahaha…"
The pain in his forehead made Colress laugh out loud.
Inside the sealed cabin, the laugh sounded especially harsh.
How absurd.
He could bring an ancient extinct giant insect back to life… yet couldn't win even a single chance for himself.
A micro drive in the pocket of his lab coat jabbed against his ribs—inside was research data that could overturn the entire field…
Team Rocket's classified data.
Was it really going to rot in a prison cell along with him?
His nails dug into his palm as Colress stared out through the filthy window at the sky.
In that moment, he wished he could be like the cannon on Genesect's back—blast open the chains of fate itself.
"Human… do you want freedom?"
A voice suddenly rang inside Colress's mind.
His pupils snapped wide.
Had his cheat old man finally shown up?!
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