Chapter 328: Do You Believe in the Light?

The video continued playing.

New Island.

Outer perimeter of Team Rocket’s cloning laboratory.

Aurelia and Selene crouched inside a ventilation duct, their bodies wrapped in an extremely faint layer of blue psychic power that suppressed their presence as much as possible.

"Big Sis, what do you think Mewtwo looks like?"

Selene kept her voice low, her eyes glowing like two tiny light bulbs in the darkness.

"Do you think it’ll be even cuter than Mew?"

"I don’t know."

Aurelia spoke even more quietly.

"But Dad said Mewtwo isn’t an ordinary Pokémon. It has a consciousness of its own, so when we meet it, we need to be sincere."

"Obviously! I do business with sincerity!"

"Didn’t you just say you were going to abduct it?"

"An abduction from the heart is still sincere!"

Following the psychic map Sabrina had given them, the sisters turned left, took a right at the third intersection, continued straight ahead, and found the freight elevator.

Once they climbed inside, Selene pulled a pair of sunglasses and a soda can from her bag and presented them to Aurelia like priceless treasures.

"Big Sis, take these."

"When the elevator doors open, we’ll throw this outside!"

Aurelia accepted the can and examined it from both sides.

"What is this?"

"A custom flashbang!"

"Those three all-purpose employees from our company made it!"

Selene put on a pair of sunglasses herself.

"They said all you have to do is pull this tab, and three seconds later it’ll explode with a super-powerful flash!"

"Not only does it temporarily blind the enemy, it even comes with a special sound effect!"

Aurelia stared at the can in her hand.

Then she looked at Selene.

"A flashbang... with a special sound effect?"

"Yep, yep!"

"It only triggers randomly, though. I haven’t tested it myself yet!"

Selene proudly puffed out her chest.

"Big Sis, want to guess what they recorded?"

"I can’t."

Aurelia’s instincts told her it was absolutely nothing normal.

Ding—

The freight-elevator doors slowly opened.

Beyond them was an enormous spherical chamber.

At its very center stood a gigantic glass cultivation tank filled with pale-green liquid.

Floating curled up within the liquid was a figure.

Mewtwo.

More than a dozen researchers in white lab coats were busy operating various instruments around the tank.

The moment they heard the elevator open, every one of them turned to look.

Selene gave them an extraordinarily bright smile.

"Gentlemen..."

"Do you believe in the light?"

"?"

"It’s okay if you don’t."

Selene tossed the can inside.

"You will in a second."

The can struck the floor with a sharp metallic clang.

The next instant—

An eye-searing burst of white light exploded through the laboratory.

More than a dozen researchers were instantly blinded and disoriented.

Two wearing protective goggles barely managed to stay upright, stumbling backward with their hands over their eyes.

"I-Intruders!"

"Hit the alarm!"

Red emergency lights immediately began flashing throughout the laboratory.

Combined with the blinding white flashes—

The entire place suddenly looked like a massive DJ venue.

Selene was still pulling flashbangs from her bag one after another and tossing them inside.

"I told you!"

"You have to believe in the light!"

"Stop throwing them."

Aurelia hurriedly grabbed Selene by the wrist.

"Move, move! Before they recover!"

The sisters once again wrapped themselves in psychic power.

They shot straight through the group of researchers still standing stiffly in confusion and raced toward the central cultivation tank.

Mewtwo remained suspended within the pale-green liquid.

Its eyes were tightly closed.

A paper-thin membrane of golden light covered its entire body.

Selene pressed herself against the glass.

"Big Sis, look!"

"Its legs are so long!"

"This thing is definitely a supermodel among Legendary Pokémon!"

"Selene, be serious."

Aurelia placed one hand against the glass and released her psychic power, sensing Mewtwo’s condition.

Just then—

Mewtwo’s eyes snapped open.

Dark-golden pupils gleamed with flowing light, as though an entire galaxy had been swallowed into them.

The whole cultivation tank began shaking violently.

The green liquid bubbled furiously.

Every instrument in the laboratory tripped at the exact same moment.

Even the emergency lights began flickering with sharp bursts of static.

"Big Sis, get back!"

Selene grabbed Aurelia’s arm and leaped backward.

The next second—

The entire glass shell of the cultivation tank exploded.

Green fluid erupted in every direction like a fountain.

The researchers had barely recovered from the flashbangs when they finally staggered back to their feet only to get splashed directly in the face with cultivation fluid.

"I-It’s awake!"

"Did it break the tank itself?!"

"Incredible!"

"W-We did it..."

"We completed Mewtwo!"

As the shockwave from the shattered glass subsided—

Mewtwo slowly descended to the center of the laboratory.

Its feet landed atop the broken shards with faint crunching sounds.

Countless intricate golden patterns flowed across its skin.

They stretched from its neck all the way to its fingertips.

With every breath, faint golden particles drifted from its body.

[VIP Chat Group]

[Dawn]: Whoa! The instant that Pokémon opened its eyes, I got goosebumps all over!

[Asher]: Don’t be scared. Come here.

[Dawn]: Hubby... (?? ? ??)

[Diantha]: Oh my~ I’m feeling a little scared too. I think I need a hug from Hubby~

[Asher]: Sure. Everyone gets a hug.

[Daisy]:@Misty, learn from her.

[Misty]: ...

[Brock]: DAMN IT! I CAN’T LEARN THIS! I JUST CAN’T!!!

[Ash]: Brock, are you okay?

[Valerie]: Asher really does sound incredibly reassuring when he talks like that. No wonder he can charm so many completely different kinds of women.

[Raihan]: Seriously... The video was building such a tense atmosphere, and then one sentence from Asher completely ruined my ability to keep a straight face.

[Leon]: Don’t worry. I’ll keep a straight face for you this time.

[Bruno]: That Pokémon really does look a lot like Mew. Are those golden patterns on its body because of the golden liquid Asher poured into the tank last time?

[Lance]: What exactly is Team Rocket planning to do after creating something like this? Sigh... What a headache.

[Professor Birch]: Mew’s genetic material combined with Ultra Necrozma’s blood... Does Team Rocket truly believe they can control a Pokémon called Mewtwo after creating something like this?

[Professor Juniper]: Whatever happens, Mewtwo’s strength has almost certainly exceeded Team Rocket’s original design specifications. Ultra Necrozma’s blood was never part of their experiment, after all.

[Korrina]: I just hope Mewtwo doesn’t go berserk the instant it wakes up. Otherwise, Aurelia and Selene are going to be in serious trouble.

[Steven]: What’s there to worry about? Brother Asher definitely has a backup plan.

[Wallace]: Steven finally said something normal.

[Steven]: I’ve always been normal. You people simply fail to understand my art.

[Wallace]: Here we go again.

The video continued playing.

The viewpoint shifted to the helicopter over the waters outside New Island.

Steven hurriedly raised his binoculars.

Five minutes later—

Team Rocket helicopters finally appeared to the southwest.

"Brother Asher!"

"They’re here!"

Asher unscrewed his thermos and leisurely took a sip.

"Perfect timing."

"Nana."

"Hold them in place for me."

Sabrina’s cheeks visibly reddened at the nickname "Nana."

But she still obediently raised one hand and gently closed her fingers toward the distant helicopters.

...