Team Rocket.
It was a criminal organization that had taken root in the Kanto and Johto Regions. However, despite how much ruckus this group had caused in the respective regions, nothing had been revealed about the leader of this organization.
The only thing known to the world was the identities of their four infamous executives, as well as the three sergeants.
In an unknown location, a man strode through a metallic corridor, his footsteps echoing softly against the steel walls. He appeared to be in his late twenties, fair-skinned, with sharp teal eyes and spiked aquamarine hair that caught the cold overhead lights.
He wore a white long-sleeved shirt hung neatly over a black undershirt, the Team Rocket insignia stamped near his right sleeve. A dark belt cut across the stark white of his trousers, matched only by the polished shoes that carried him forward with purpose.
Everything about him, from his posture to his measured pace, spoke of discipline and authority.
The automatic glass doors parted with a muted hiss, and Archer stepped inside.
"Archer. You're late."
The voice was deep, measured, and carried effortlessly across the room.
At the far end, a black-haired man sat with his back turned, his gaze fixed on the sprawling cityscape beyond the floor-to-ceiling window. The lights below flickered like a living constellation.
"Sir." Archer's reply was immediate, edged with disciplined respect.
Silence followed, and at length, the seated man spoke again. "How did your assignment unfold?"
"It proceeded according to plan… with one complication."
"Oh?"
"One of our grunts, posing as a League-authorized trainer, successfully lured Justin Salvania to the designated sector of Viridian Forest. The boy resisted longer than anticipated." Archer's tone remained clinical. "He deployed three Pokémon: a Pignite, a Drilbur, and a Deino. All were unusually well trained, especially the dragon-type."
The man by the window said nothing.
"Our operatives eventually neutralized the target," Archer continued. "However, the Deino escaped."
There was a faint shift in the posture of the black-haired man. "Was it pursued?"
"Yes. Five grunts were dispatched."
"And?"
"They were later discovered dead. Along with their Pokémon."
That drew a reaction, a slight tilt of the head. "Identities of the attackers?"
"Unknown, sir. No surviving witnesses. No usable evidence."
The room fell silent once more, the city lights blinking far below. And finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the black-haired man spoke once more. "The Deino's escape is irrelevant."
Archer remained still.
"What matters," the man continued, his voice cool and unwavering, "is that the League and Interpol are now preoccupied with Viridian Forest. Their attention is diverted… exactly as required."
"Yes, sir."
"And the primary operation?"
"As expected, the League is monitoring all of our executives, including me. Even speculation of our involvement would trigger immediate intervention." Archer straightened subtly. "Therefore, I deployed Cliff, one of the three sergeants. His record indicates reliability."
Cliff, along with Sierra and Arlo, was one of the three sergeants who handled missions Team Rocket deemed the most important. Before them, there were the three beasts, but the trio had been sent to Orre for a mission that was just as important.
Once the humans had messed with the legendaries of that region and tried to control them for themselves. As a result, the whole of Orre was turned into a graveyard where even grass did not grow.
It was a region that had long been declared dead by the league and was now infested by criminals who were being pursued by Interpol and had nowhere else to go. Life in that region was nothing short of hell.
But recently, a few rumours had reached the ears of Team Rocket...about a special kind of Pokémon that were much stronger and crueller than their counterparts.
"Ensure that Cliff understands the consequences of failure."
"I will, sir."
The man's fingers tapped once against the armrest.
"Capturing that Pokémon is desirable. But the true objective remains unchanged." His tone hardened. "The DNA sample takes precedence. No deviations. No excuses."
"Understood."
"Anything further?"
"Our Kalos network has confirmed the reports concerning Professor Sycamore's research. The files have already been transmitted to you."
A brief pause.
"…Then begin acquisition protocols for the two artifacts."
"I'll assemble a dedicated unit."
"See that you do."
The conversation ended not with dismissal, but with a subtle gesture. The man's hand drifted downward, absently stroking the Persian resting beside his chair.
Archer needed no further instruction; he turned and left without another word.
Alone, the black-haired man withdrew a small crystal from his pocket. Suspended within it, a delicate helix shimmered faintly under the ambient light. He rolled it slowly between his fingers.
Mega Evolution.
The world believed it to be an emerging discovery, a frontier barely understood by the league.
'How amusing.'
Long before Sycamore's research ever surfaced, fragments of that power had already been claimed. Proof lay in the stone resting in his palm.
Beedrillite.
A deceptively small stone, unremarkable to the untrained eye, yet capable of unlocking a phenomenon that defied the accepted boundaries of Pokémon biology.
When paired with a Key Stone, it enabled Mega Evolution, a transformation not of simple enhancement, but of violent, temporary ascension. It was a state in which a Pokémon's latent potential was forcibly drawn out, condensed, and magnified beyond what its natural form could safely sustain.
The implications of such power were staggering.
Mega Evolution did not merely strengthen a Pokémon. It rewrote the rules governing its capabilities. Speed, durability, offensive output, every measurable attribute surged to levels that conventional training could never hope to achieve. Battle instincts sharpened, abilities mutated, and in some cases, even a Pokémon's temperament shifted under the strain of the process.
It was evolution accelerated through external force, and the results were as unstable as they were extraordinary.
Even conservative observations suggested that Mega Evolution elevated a Pokémon into a combat category entirely its own. When applied to individuals already tempered by elite-level training, the amplification produced creatures whose destructive capacity rivalled entities once thought untouchable.
Lesser legendaries and the Guardian deities.
These titles that had once inspired awe now invited comparison, yet the stone itself was only half of the equation.
Mega Evolution was not a mechanical trigger, nor a guaranteed formula. It was deeply, almost disturbingly dependent on the bond between trainer and Pokémon. Emotional synchronization, mutual trust, and shared intent were intangible factors that dictated the stability and intensity of the transformation.
Two trainers could wield identical Mega Stones and achieve vastly different outcomes.
For some, the power plateaued.
For others, it spiralled.
No credible research had ever established a definitive upper limit; that uncertainty alone made the phenomenon terrifying.
He had acquired only two Mega Stones to date, each through circumstances so improbable they bordered on fate itself. Such artifacts were vanishingly rare, scattered remnants of a forgotten history few truly understood. And yet, those who stood at the summit of the world's power structure, Champions and Elite Four members, possessed them as though they were mere instruments.
Standard equipment.
Which led to an unsettling, almost heretical conclusion.
The Pokémon revealed in official matches, televised battles, and League-sanctioned events, even the WCC, were not always the pinnacle of a Champion's strength. They were representations, carefully selected to maintain spectacle, tradition, and perhaps most importantly… restraint.
Symbols rather than weapons.
However, the true monsters remained unseen.
And as strong as it was, Mega Evolution demanded a brutal price. The energy required to sustain the transformation was immense, draining both Pokémon and trainer with merciless efficiency. Bodies trembled under the stress, minds wavered, and once the state collapsed, even the most resilient combatants were left severely weakened.
Recovery was not optional.
It was survival.
He had heard of a few cases which had led to the demise of both the Pokémon and its trainer.
Days of exhaustion were common, and weeks were not unheard of.
So, for ordinary trainers, Mega Evolution was a desperate gamble, a decisive surge of power reserved for moments of absolute necessity.
But the Champions…
His fingers tightened slightly around the stone.
...Those beings no longer adhered to such limitations.
They had crossed a threshold where Mega Evolution was not an activated state but a sustained condition. Their Pokémon did not struggle against the transformation's recoil. They did not collapse beneath its burden.
They endured.
Indefinitely.
They had achieved something far greater...permanent Mega Evolution.
A theoretical impossibility, according to Sycamore's research, yet whispered about in circles that trafficked in truths the League would never acknowledge. A state where the distinction between base form and Mega form ceased to exist, replaced by something far more dangerous:
A Pokémon whose enhanced state had become its natural one.
No energy collapse. No temporal restriction. No visible cost.
Only power.
Unrelenting, monstrous power.
And soon, Mega Evolution would no longer remain buried in obscurity.
Within months, half a year at most, the Pokémon Leagues of the world would unveil it to the public. They would dress it as a breakthrough, a marvel of human-Pokémon synergy, perhaps even parade their Champions to demonstrate its brilliance.
The world would watch in awe, blind to what such power would truly unleash.
He allowed himself a faint, knowing smile.
'Times are about to change.'
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[Author's Note]:
[1]: Interludes are stories that have an impact on the series but are not directly part of Daemon's own journey. Sometimes, they might even be the POV of other people to better explain the story or add depth to it. They might not be directly following Daemon, but have an impact on the overall world in some way or form. These might also be used to share some info which might otherwise seem like an info dump in the main chapters.
[2]: Hope you guys enjoyed this side story and also the information shared in the process of it.
[3]: Since I don't want to disturb your reading in the main story, I will use the end of these Interludes to discuss a few things as well as create Polls for various voting.
[4]: Please drop a comment if you have any suggestions and a Review.
If you guys have any suggestions about a Pokémon you want to see, something to happen or anything of the sort, maybe even how I can improve my writing for a better experience, let me know, and I will try my best.
And please, please, please, write me some good reviews as well as GIVE ME POWER STONES so my book can reach more people.
I do not plan to make a Patreon or something, so please shower me with your precious STONES at least.
Thank you for reading!
See you guys in the next Interlude!