Finally, Ash sat back down under Misty and Brock's persuasion, and under Gardevoir's gentle comforting.
To be fair, Gardevoir hadn't suffered any harm in the end. Instead, she grew up healthy and strong, blessed with extraordinary aptitude and learning ability that far surpassed others of her species.
That was undoubtedly connected to the portion of Mewtwo's essence that Blaine had infused into her egg.
In other words, Gardevoir was not only unharmed, she had gained immense benefits from it.
Blaine's intentions back then were anything but kind, but the final outcome could not be denied.
Seeing Ash calm down a little, Blaine exhaled.
"Ash, you're still young, that's why your thoughts are so simple. Nothing in this world is perfect. It was a necessary price to stop that organization."
"Even if it wasn't a Pokémon egg… if I had been capable of withstanding Mewtwo's essence, then I would've used myself instead. Even if it meant sacrificing my old life, I would never have allowed Mewtwo to grow unchecked. Do you understand?"
Ash fell silent.
Blaine's meaning was clear: if stopping Mewtwo required his life, he would've given it without hesitation.His obsession with sealing away Mewtwo's power ran that deep.
"Is Mewtwo really that terrifying?" Misty asked quietly.
"Those who haven't witnessed Mewtwo with their own eyes cannot comprehend his strength," Blaine replied. "And what you would've seen back then was only his initial power. If I hadn't extracted his essence, Mewtwo would likely have stepped into the beyond legendary realm by now."
"Beyond the legendary realm…?" Ash murmured.
"The God Level."
Blaine said the words calmly, but they sent shockwaves through the group.
The God Level, the pinnacle tier of the Pokémon world. Most Pokémon could never even glimpse that height. It was said that only Legendary Pokémon had any chance of reaching it.
Among current Trainers, only Leon was rumored to possess a Pokémon that might have touched that realm, though nothing had ever been confirmed.
It was the ultimate dream level for every Trainer, the absolute peak of the pyramid.
If Mewtwo truly reached the God Level, the impact on the world would indeed be catastrophic. God Pokémon did exist, but a human-controlled God Pokémon? That had never occurred, not counting the uncertain case of Leon.
"Blaine, what is this organization you keep mentioning?" Brock finally asked after a long silence. "How do they have access to Mew's genes? How do they have such enormous financial resources? An organization with those two things can't possibly be ordinary. And why not ask the Alliance for help? With their power, they could suppress Mewtwo before he fully matures. They could even destroy that organization entirely."
If they couldn't handle it alone, why not seek assistance?
As a researcher and a Gym Leader, Blaine would certainly be taken seriously by the Alliance. With full support, no organization should've been able to escape eradication.
But Blaine only shook his head.
"If the Alliance could wipe them out, they would've done so long ago. Perhaps in the past, the Alliance allowed them to exist to maintain some balance between good and evil. But now, they have grown far beyond what the Alliance can easily destroy. You've heard of them before. That organization is… Team Rocket."
Team Rocket.
All three of them froze.
Of course they knew the name, after all, their entire journey had been plagued by Team Rocket's antics. They'd even dealt with Team Rocket just recently.
But the Team Rocket they knew… were basically clowns. Always appearing with dramatic flair and fleeing with even more drama. They had never succeeded in doing anything truly evil.
They were villains, but their actions… lacked any real sense of danger.
In the beginning, Ash had felt fear when he first encountered them, but now, seeing Jessie, James, and Meowth usually made him want to laugh more than worry.
Honestly, those three had unintentionally done more good than bad. Some of his Pokémon had been caught because of their interference.
Because they were so used to that bumbling trio claiming to be Team Rocket, they had forgotten just how enormous and dangerous Team Rocket truly was.
Not just in Kanto, Team Rocket had bases all over the world.A global criminal syndicate.
A cunning organization had countless hiding spots. Even with full power, the Alliance couldn't eliminate them without locating every base.
Only now, with Blaine's explanation, did they feel the crushing weight of the real Team Rocket.
Team Rocket was not a silly comedy act, they were one of the most dangerous criminal groups on the planet.
"So what's Mewtwo's situation now?" Ash asked tensely.
"And… what effects will injecting the essence have on Gardevoir? Also… why did I find Ralts's egg on Mt. Moon?"
Ash fired off the questions that weighed on his mind. These were the issues that truly mattered now.
The past couldn't be changed, handling the present was what mattered.
"I don't know Mewtwo's current condition," Blaine admitted, "but what's certain is that it will never reach the God Level. Without its essence, which is inside Gardevoir, Mewtwo will be permanently trapped at Champion level. Unless something restores that missing essence… such as acquiring Mew's true body."
As long as the essence remained within Gardevoir, Mewtwo would never be complete.
And without being complete, stepping into the God Level was impossible, no matter how many decades passed.
Blaine didn't know every requirement for reaching the God Level, but he knew one thing for sure: incompleteness equals failure.
"As for Gardevoir…" Blaine continued, turning his eyes toward her. "The fact that she hatched at all means she avoided the worst. But judging by her current strength, she hasn't awakened the power of Mewtwo's essence yet. Otherwise, she would not still be at this level."
"I injected the essence into her when she was still inside the Pokémon Egg. If that power is dormant even now, then it must be buried deep within her gene chain."
"To awaken it, she would need to evolve, but she's already reached her final evolution. So evolution isn't an option anymore. The only other method is for Mewtwo himself to extract that power and hand it over to her. But tell me…" Blaine paused, voice heavy with sarcasm. "Do you think Mewtwo would give that power to Gardevoir? Or return it to himself?"
Everyone froze. There was only one answer.
Of course Mewtwo would take back what originally belonged to him.
"If Mewtwo takes it back… what happens to Gardevoir?" Ash asked, his voice tight.
Even he could tell that ripping something out of Gardevoir's gene chain would have consequences.
Blaine fell silent for a long moment before speaking in a low voice.
"If the essence is removed and not used by Gardevoir, she will be permanently stuck at her current level. In severe cases… her lifespan may shorten drastically. She might not even live five more years."
Ash's breath hitched.
"And that's not the only issue," Blaine added grimly. "If Gardevoir is anywhere within fifty miles of Mewtwo, it will sense her immediately, because its essence is inside her. If Mewtwo senses her…"
Ash: !!!
Why didn't you say that earlier?!
Blaine didn't elaborate, but he didn't need to. Even a fool could imagine what would happen.
Mewtwo was not a gentle Pokémon. If it sensed the essence within Gardevoir, it would undoubtedly seize it by force.
Yes, the essence belonged to Mewtwo originally, but now it was intertwined with Gardevoir's life. How could Ash ever let it be taken?
From the moment Ash picked up Ralts's egg…he had unknowingly stepped into a conflict with Team Rocket and Mewtwo.
What a twisted fate indeed.
Ash rubbed his temples. Even he couldn't help feeling overwhelmed. Facing Mewtwo alone was manageable, so long as Mewtwo hadn't reached the God Level, Ash was confident he could stall it.
But confronting the entire Team Rocket underworld… that was another matter entirely.
He definitely needed Professor Oak's help.
"Gardevoir?" 'Ash… have I caused you trouble?'
"No," Ash said firmly, steadying himself. "You're my partner. Even if it costs me my life, I'll protect you." He smiled at her reassuringly.
A Trainer's duty was to keep his Pokémon from falling into fear or confusion.
If the sky fell, he would hold it up.
"Thank you for telling me all this, Blaine. One more question, can Gardevoir sense Mewtwo as well?"
"The same applies," Blaine nodded. "Within fifty miles, Gardevoir can sense Mewtwo's aura."
"Good. At least that gives us a warning system." Ash exhaled, finally hearing something useful.
Blaine continued softly, "Actually, at the beginning, I never believed Ralts's egg would hatch. I only meant to use it as a container for Mewtwo's essence. After that, I planned to load it into a teleportation machine and send it somewhere a thousand miles away. It didn't matter where it was."
"As long as the egg was teleported more than a hundred miles away from Mewtwo, even if it cracked and the essence leaked out, it wouldn't return to Mewtwo automatically, the distance would be too great. With time, that fragment of essence outside its body would eventually dissipate. And once that happened, Mewtwo would forever lose the possibility of reaching the God Level."
Ash fell silent.
He finally understood how Ralts came to exist. In truth… she had been an abandoned life.
Even though Blaine had done everything he could to stabilize the egg, he had never expected it to hatch. From the beginning, saving the egg had never been for the egg itself, it was merely to turn Ralts into a tool to restrain Mewtwo.
And when Blaine teleported the egg away with the spatial device, he didn't expect it to survive at all. With no incubation equipment, no nutrient fluids, and an environment far too harsh for a fragile, incomplete egg… it should have died in the wild.
If that had happened, Mewtwo would have been permanently crippled.
Mewtwo had clearly cast a massive psychological shadow over Blaine. His fear had driven him to such extremes, discarding an unborn Pokémon into the wilderness just to halt Mewtwo's growth. His heart had been ruthless enough to devise such a method.
Yet reality had defied his expectations.
Ralts hadn't perished. She had survived… hatched… and eventually evolved into Gardevoir.
Blaine could only sigh internally. He didn't know whether to call this outcome fortunate or tragic.
Fortunate, because a life that should have been extinguished had instead flourished. Tragic, because if Gardevoir were ever discovered by Mewtwo, her fate might be far too cruel to imagine…
"I've told you everything you wanted to know, Ash," Blaine said at last. "Take my advice, hand Gardevoir over to the Alliance. Under their protection, even if Team Rocket and Mewtwo come for her, they won't be able to touch her. But if they learn the essence is with you… then not only Gardevoir, but you might meet a very unfortunate end."
It was a sincere warning, and objectively speaking, the safest option.
But Ash shook his head without hesitation.
"Unless Gardevoir herself wants to leave, I will never abandon my Pokémon. Team Rocket, Mewtwo, whoever they are, if they dare come, they'll be the ones carried out on stretchers!"
Blaine sighed helplessly.
In his eyes, Ash was simply too young, too fiery, too untested.
He had been blessed with smooth sailing since the start of his journey. He had never truly tasted failure. And when reality finally taught him a harsh lesson… regret might come too late.
But before Blaine could say anything more...
'Ash said he'll protect me. And he will. Ash is incredible.'
A gentle yet resolute female voice echoed inside everyone's minds.
They all jumped in surprise before realizing.
Gardevoir was speaking via telepathy.
Normally she spoke aloud so Ash could interpret, but this time she wanted her feelings to reach everyone directly, especially Ash.
So she let her voice resonate in their hearts.