"No."
"It's not Mewtwo."
Terrance used his psychic power to carefully probe the psychic power gathering within the dark clouds in the sky and the psychic power of the Trainer who had been rescued. Suddenly, he noticed some subtle differences.
Although the two psychic powers were very similar…
"But compared to Mewtwo's psychic power, this psychic power is much gentler. Yet who could possibly have psychic power on par with Mewtwo's… unless…"
Terrance began scanning the area, trying to spot the Pokémon. If nothing unexpected had happened, Mew should already be here.
Flying over the sea, Terrance headed toward New Island while searching for Mew's trace.
At this time, three Trainers had already crossed the sea and successfully arrived at the castle on New Island.
With Castform's secret assistance, Ash and his group also reached New Island without encountering any major obstacles.
Recalling Castform and watching Ash's group being led into the castle by Nurse Joy, Terrance remained silent high above.
"So James and the others are here as well."
At the same time, Terrance also noticed the three members of Team Rocket clinging to wooden stakes, hiding themselves so as not to be discovered.
The three of Team Rocket were having the same idea as Terrance, planning to sneak in quietly.
Thus, they only started climbing up slowly after Ash was led in by the gatekeeper Nurse Joy, fretting over how exactly they were going to get inside.
"How are we supposed to get into this castle now…" James muttered, lying near one of the castle's fences.
"We can only go in through the exit…" Jessie declared with resolve.
"Where's the exit?" Meowth asked.
"Over there." Jessie pointed toward the sewer drain.
Realizing Jessie planned to crawl in through the sewer, James and Meowth's expression changed. Meowth immediately cried out, "No way, meow!"
"Stop complaining!" Jessie shouted.
As the three argued, a pink figure with a puzzled expression fluttered around them, observing them with interest.
This pink figure was none other than the Mythical Pokémon Mew, said to possess the genetic codes of all Pokémon.
"Found you!" A voice fell from above. Terrance and Gallade appeared swiftly at the spot where Mew had just been, but in the next instant, Mew vanished completely, leaving Terrance lunging at empty air.
Invisible?
Terrance frowned. This shouldn't be Teleport. Yet when he activated his meditation method to channel his psychic power to observe, he found no trace of Mew at all.
It had clearly been right here just now… and now he couldn't sense it anymore. It fled so quickly.
As Terrance sighed helplessly, a startled voice rang out: "You're… you're the one who saved Meowth and the others back in Acapulco City…"
Meowth covered his mouth with one paw, the other pointing at Terrance in shock.
"Terrance…" James exclaimed.
Six years ago, back when James was still a young master in Hearthome City of the Sinnoh region, he had met Terrance at the Pokémon Cooking House and became friends.
Six years later, Terrance had become a Gym Leader, a Top Coordinator, basking in glory, while James had joined the underground organization Team Rocket. The drastic change in identity meant that when they had last met in Acapulco City, James hadn't even dared speak much to Terrance and had simply fled.
"This is our second time meeting in Kanto, isn't it, James?" Terrance said with a faint smile.
"But Terrance, why are you here…" James asked in surprise.
"For it." Terrance looked toward the castle, speaking seriously. "James, this place is dangerous. You'd better leave as soon as possible."
"I'm grateful you saved us, but…" Jessie spoke up unhappily, "If we leave now, how are we supposed to catch Pokémon?"
"Jessie!!" James hurriedly covered Jessie's mouth.
"Mmmph… pfft."
Breaking free of James, Jessie became even more annoyed. "We're running out of time. Let's go."
"Through the sewer?" Terrance looked at them and said helplessly, "Forget it. Since you insist on going in, then come with me."
Terrance gave Gallade some instructions. Right now they really couldn't afford to waste time. Who knew what the situation inside had already turned into.
"If you're going in, then hold on to me," Terrance said, and then, without paying James and the others any further attention, put his hand on Gallade.
The three members of Team Rocket hesitated for a moment, then quickly crowded close as well.
The next instant, the three of them and Meowth appeared inside the castle, in a pitch-black corridor.
"Let's go," Terrance called, beckoning Team Rocket's trio.
Terrance's behavior left James more and more unable to understand. Not only had James himself changed greatly, Terrance's changes were beyond his imagination.
His impression of Terrance had stayed back before he ran away from home. As for Terrance's many honors now, he had only learned of them after that Acapulco incident.
"What kind of place is this, meow…" Meowth tiptoed down the passage, glancing nervously at the high-tech equipment around them.
"Laboratory." Terrance gave Meowth a look and said, "This entire New Island is one of Team Rocket's research bases."
"Our research base?!!" James, Jessie, and Meowth were shocked at the news, never having imagined such a possibility.
They had no idea about this, and at the same time they remembered, if New Island was one of Team Rocket's research bases, then what was this banquet about?!
"But not anymore. It's become the residence of the owner of the invitations," Terrance continued. But before he could finish speaking, an automatic door beside them suddenly slid open.
"This is…" Terrance frowned and stepped in first.
"Hey, wait!!" James, Jessie, and Meowth followed closely behind.
Compared to outside and the other rooms, this one's equipment was far more advanced. Terrance's expression changed. Looking at the many incubation pods inside, and the several Pokémon within them, he immediately understood what this place was.
This was where Team Rocket researched cloning technology. All these machines were cloning devices.
Team Rocket's trio wandered the room blankly, staring around. At that moment, Jessie accidentally pressed something, and a computer-like machine immediately glowed faintly, displaying densely packed data.
At the same time, a faint electronic voice appeared.
Hearing the voice, the group gathered around.
"Everyone, this is a machine for cloning Pokémon."
As the words fell, an image appeared on the screen of the huge machine present in the room.
"Currently, this Pokémon-manufacturing machine requires a sample."
The next moment, something unexpected happened. A mechanical arm shot out and grabbed Meowth from the side, throwing him onto a moving conveyor belt. By the time Meowth and the others reacted, James had leapt over and scooped Meowth up, but the machine still managed to pull out three of Meowth's whiskers.
"A part of the body is enough as well," the electronic voice said. On the screen, the three whiskers were displayed, then gradually transformed into Meowth's form.
Then, within seconds, an incubation pod instantly produced a Meowth infant. But rather than an infant, it was almost identical to Meowth in form. Apart from not yet waking up, there was hardly any difference from Meowth at all.
"This kind of technology…" Terrance's brow furrowed tightly. Even in the precious genetic secret techniques Master Victor had given him, there was no record of such incredible technology, and this cloning speed was simply far too fast.
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