"Legendary Pokémon?" Jessie thought for a moment before answering, "Team Rocket controls Mewtwo, Suicune, Entei, Raikou, and Deoxys... Team Magma has Groudon, and Team Aqua has Kyogre... Team Galactic possesses Dialga and Palkia... As for Team Plasma and Team Flare... we don't know what they have..."
It seemed that all the villainous organizations in this world had achieved their original goals.
Caleb pondered silently before asking, "Any news about Mew?"
Jessie shook her head, "Giovanni considered searching for Mew after the war ended, but we don't know if he succeeded."
Meowth added, "Because by then, we were already imprisoned here, nyaa."
"What about Ho-Oh?"
Jessie: "There have been people assigned to search for it in the Johto region, but it seems they haven't found it either."
Hearing this, Caleb had a rough idea of the situation. He then asked the most critical question: "What about Arceus?"
"We don't know," Jessie shook her head, "The Sinnoh region is too far from here. We don't have much information about what's happening there."
Caleb frowned. The world had deteriorated to this extent. Even if Arceus were in the deepest slumber, it should have sensed some changes by now.
Unless... something had already happened to it.
Just then, an intense surge of Psychic energy erupted nearby. A humanoid Pokémon clad in steel armor materialized out of thin air.
Team Rocket's trio immediately tensed up at the sight of the newcomer...
Mewtwo ignored them. Its gaze pierced through the steel visor, locking onto Caleb, who stood beside Dragonite.
>..Who... are you?..<
Its voice was cold yet filled with confusion.
Caleb wasn't sure how to answer. He himself didn't even understand why he had received the <100+ Mewtwo's Affinity> reward back then. Moreover, this Mewtwo was clearly not the same one he had encountered before.
When Caleb remained silent, Mewtwo grew visibly anxious. It raised its hand and clenched it slightly.
The armor covering its body began to creak and split apart, revealing its true form.
Caleb: "..."
He didn't know what had happened to this world's Mewtwo or why it obeyed Giovanni's commands.
After a moment of thought, he asked, "Would you kill me?"
Mewtwo paused before shaking its head firmly. It was absolutely certain that it had never met this human before in its entire existence. And yet... For some reason, it felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity and comfort from him, just like a weary bird returning to its nest.
"What if Giovanni ordered you to kill me?" Caleb maintained eye contact, his expression unchanging.
>..No..<
Mewtwo's voice echoed directly in his mind through telepathy.
"Can you tell me why you obey Giovanni?" Caleb asked.
This was the one thing he wanted to understand the most.
Logically, a Pokémon like Mewtwo, which had independent thought, human-like reasoning, and emotions, would never blindly follow orders.
Even in the Anime, the newly born Mewtwo had left Giovanni's side shortly after being taken to the Viridian Gym.
At this question, Mewtwo's expression, which had softened slightly, turned cold again.
It didn't speak. Instead, its eyes glowed blue as it reached out and touched Caleb's forehead, sharing its memories with him.
The scenes depicted humans oppressing Pokémon, enslaving them. The backdrop was a place Caleb knew well... It was Celadon City, where he had once lived.
Celadon City, seventy years ago...
He quickly pieced together what had happened. He looked at Mewtwo with a complicated expression and asked, "Did Giovanni show you these?"
Mewtwo nodded solemnly:
>..He promised me... that after everything was over, he would create a world where humans and Pokémon could coexist peacefully..<
Caleb spoke with difficulty, "And you believe he succeeded?"
Mewtwo stayed silent, but James slowly interjected, "If you're referring to abolishing the Trainer profession and forbidding civilians from interacting with Pokémon... then yes, Giovanni has indeed achieved that."
Using this pretext, Team Rocket monopolized the rare Pokémon resources of Kanto and Johto.
Under the oppressive policies that banned the Trainer profession and severed human-Pokémon bonds, public perception of Pokémon gradually shifted over time, until it became what it was today.
Wild Pokémon like Farfetch'd and Magikarp ended up as food on dining tables. Caterpie, Butterfree, Beedrill, and others were reduced to mere wild insects.
Caleb took a deep breath and asked, "Have you ever considered that what you saw... might have been deliberately shown to you by Giovanni?"
Mewtwo furrowed its brow, visibly confused.
"You were tricked, nyaa..." Meowth sighed, summarizing the situation. He glanced at the other Pokémon in the room and said, "Jessie may have a terrible temper, and James isn't exactly a good person, but they've always treated Pokémon well nyaa. Living with them... we've all been happy."
Arbok, Weezing, and the other Pokémon nodded in agreement.
"Meowth..." Jessie and James looked at Meowth with touched expressions.
Caleb eyed the futuristic smart bracelet on Jessie's wrist and asked, "Can you pull up any information about the Safari Zone? Videos, news articles. Anything will do."
"Safari Zone... Oh, you mean Paradise? Of course!" Jessie tapped on her bracelet, summoning a holographic display.
The screen showed Kanto's largest video platform, where content ranged from literature to... adult entertainment.
Soon, Jessie found a video related to the Paradise. In the footage, a man cradled a machine gun, grinning with delight.
The camera panned to show wild Pokémon fleeing in terror. Every gunshot was followed by a Pokémon collapsing.
*CRACK!*
Mewtwo's eyes blazed with fury. Its Psychic energy erupted violently, crushing the steel armor fragments on the ground into dust.
In the next instant, it vanished, leaving behind only shattered remnants of metal.
"Did it just go to confront Giovanni, nyaa?!" Meowth gasped, covering his mouth.
"Most likely," Caleb said after a brief silence.
'Pokémon are truly too naive...'
Giovanni, the leader of a criminal empire, had taken advantage of Mewtwo's inability to access the internet...
James voiced his concern, "Can Mewtwo defeat Deoxys?"
"It... probably can?" Jessie imagined the scenario, "Suicune, Entei, and Raikou are currently in Johto. The only opponents Mewtwo faces now are Deoxys."