Victor was momentarily aghast at the sudden attack. But just as quickly, his expression recovered into a casual smirk as a dark haze encompassed his person and shielded against the Psybeam.

  “My, oh my… That wasn’t very nice of you, Aquarium Girl. Is this treason, perhaps?”

  ‘Victor’ straightened his posture, the hunch on his back replaced by an almost restrained air of arrogance.

  “Who are you and what have you done with Victor?” Nina glowered, followed by half a dozen Ace Trainers that vaulted over the railing behind her.

  Nina had thoroughly learned her lesson after her last near death experience and a pleading round of lectures from both her mom and uncle. So she would be remiss to not seek help from the blockade of law enforcement personnel this time around.

  “Victor? Victor?!” The man laughed, his amusement gradually transitioning into a cackle as the tone of his voice shifted to a higher, more effeminate pitch.

  With a flashing series of lights, the Ace trainers surrounding Nina summoned their respective Pokemon onto the field; Jolteon, Absol, Alakazam, Typhlosion, Meganium and so on… each of them uber rare Pokemon in their own right. But more notably, they were compact enough to fit within the confined office space.

  When it came to a group battle, numbers had no meaning if they were just going to get in each other’s way. And it was clear that the Ace Trainers were accustomed to a certain level of teamwork. Nina already had Espy and Azzy by her side so she refrained from crowding the space as well.

  Schlep.

  The impostor wrenched at their face, followed by a disturbingly moist sound and an amorphous blob thrown onto the floor. One that gradually morphed from the disembodied face of Victor the Viridian Gym Leader to that of a featureless Ditto.

  “Ariana…” said Nick, the Ace Trainer who Nina previously met near Union Cave. “Right-hand woman and favored mistress of Giovanni.”

  And indeed, standing in the faux Gym Leader's stead was a mature, red-haired beauty, smothered in make up and visible crow's feet adorning the corners of her eyes.

  “Also suspected to be Silver's mother.” If the theories from Nina's past life were to be believed.

  “Ahhh… Finally, FREEDOM! Do you have any idea how exhausting it was to play the role of that buffoon all these years?!”

  Nina frowned at the implication of the woman’s words while a series of high speed exchanges took place within her mind — Nick’s Alakazam had invited the girl to link in to their Psychic network.

  At the same time, the members of the Ace Corp shuffled, each of them moving into more tactical positioning to better encircle the lone Rocket Executive.

  “Now, now, boys and girls… No need to be so brash.”

  With a wave of her hand, the haze of Dark Type Energy dissipated and converged to form the vulpin silhouette of a sinister looking Zoroark. But more worryingly, hidden amidst the Illusion were also the previously incapacitated figures of numerous Rocket grunts, now unbound and surrounding Nina and her entourage. Including Petrel, the purple-haired delinquent whom she last saw in the meeting room.

  Then, with another gesture from Ariana, all of the grunts produced in their hands a familiar looking headpiece — one adorned with pieces of jet black crystals.

  Nina hissed. “Forced Mega Machines…”

  “Haha! What a rustic name. No doubt the Doctor would be reeling if he ever heard you refer to his babies with such uncouth nomenclature.” Ariana’s smile widened as she met every single hostile gaze directed towards her. “But you’re not wrong. No doubt you’re very familiar with these little curios by this point. Though I will have to warn you, the ones we have on hand are much more refined versions of the toy that moron Noboru used.”

  The woman chuckled. “What a greedy little Lechonk he was. No one told him, by the way, that the device we gave him was a killswitch. If ever he were to find himself in need of it, the Mega Crown — that’s our name for it, much more elegant, don’t you think? — will seal his mind and kill him alongside that poor Charizard. Or at least, it was supposed to.”

  With a clap, Ariana’s subordinates released their Pokemon one by one, each embedded with a black crystal antenna on their skull, just like Noboru’s Charizard way back when.

  “Now then, each of you are exceptional Pokemon Trainers in your own right. Surely I don’t have to spell out the consequences of having such a large-scale Mega battle in the center of a populated city?”

  Nina and the Ace Trainers grinded their teeth in frustration. Ariana was right, even on the off chance that they were strong enough to suppress so many Mega Pokemon, pseudo or not, the aftermath would be disastrous.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “What do you want, Ariana?” Nina growled. “And was Victor just a made up character all along? I find it hard to believe that you were able to bamboozle the League and Sabrina of all people for so long.”

  The girl was stalling for time. It was very obvious that she was stalling for time. Yet, for whatever inexplicable reason, Ariana played along with a smirk. “Is this just the irresistible need to monologue that all villains possess or is there more to it?”

  “It’s really not that difficult. All I had to do was play the fool and make a social pariah out of myself. Oh you should have seen your faces, everytime I deliberately made some sort of inappropriate remark or volunteered an idiotic plan. It’s funny how quickly everyone dismisses a fool, don’t you think?” The woman snorted.

  “As for Sabrina… That hack could hardly compare to this precious darling of mine.” Ariana cooed as she gently caressed the luscious red mane of her Zoroark, a mysterious looking black spiraled sphere in her off hand.

  “Is that… a Dark Ball?” Nina vaguely recalled the object, a fragmented childhood memory from the Celebi film.

  “But I have to say, Aquarium Girl. Quite naughty of you to cripple so many of my subordinates. And you call yourselves the good guys… How ironic. Victor did exist, by the way. Once upon a time. An incompetent fool who sought to inherit the boss’s legacy as a Gym Leader. Needless to say, we disposed of him easily enough.”

  “Victor had a family.” Nina frowned. “What about his wife and children? Are they imposters too?”

  “Haha! Oh no, not at all. My subordinates had a lot of fun taking their turns with that ignorant vase of a housewife. And she was none the wiser, even after all these years.” Ariana sneered in disdain. “We did make good use of her though, the mind altering experiments we conducted using her children were quite productive. A pity the most promising Exeggcute of the bunch got away…”

  “Silver…”

  Ariana jolted, seemingly taken aback by Nina’s knowledge. “Oh my, has Elm become a bit of a gossip in his age? Tsk, tsk. How inappropriate. Even a Rattata deserves their privacy. But yes, we conditioned that boy to believe that Giovanni was his father. Filled him full of hatred and resentment towards the League. But unfortunately, we might have been a bit too zealous in our prodding — ended up breaking him and fragmenting his memories. The hatred he was supposed to have reserved for Indigo turned towards us instead.”

  The heinous bitch feigned a sniffle. “And to think that he even forgot about dear old mommy… Oh how it breaks my heart. A good thing though, else he would have exposed us ages ago.”

  Nina could almost hear her teeth cracking under strain, blood dribbling from her tightly clenched fist. The Ace Trainer around her were equally disturbed, their Psychic network more abuzz than ever, trying to find a solution to this predicament. Already, there had been several secret messages sent to their backup, telling them to quickly evacuate the city’s populace in the event that the situation escalated to a clash between Mega Pokemon.

  “Now then, you’re probably wondering why I’m even telling you all of this.” Ariana continued, haughty as ever. But just as abruptly, her gaze hardened and the woman took on a more serious look.

  “And what I want has always been the same — I want what Giovanni wants.” She pointed at Nina’s chest. “And what he wants from you, girl, is whatever relic that Mew bestowed upon you.”

  Nina sneered. “And what makes you think I’ll give it up so easily?”

  “Ha! A stubborn little brat, just like he said you were. Have you forgotten, girl? That we still have the Radio Tower hostage? All it takes is a signal from me and my colleagues will initiate the broadcast. And forget what I said about destroying the Radio Tower earlier. Do you honestly think that we wouldn’t have a backup in place? And even if that wasn’t the case, have you forgotten about our army of Mega Pokemon? I would argue that this is a more immediate threat, don’t you think so?”

  “You’re bluffing! I’ve seen what that device does to its wearer. The fact that neither you nor Petrel have one in your hands is proof enough. You wouldn’t dare sacrifice so many of your members just to spite us! And besides, there’s no guarantee you’ll keep your word after getting what you want anyway. Don’t forget, the League still has Giovanni in custody!”

  Tough luck trying to extract any sort of leniency from the League after today’s events. Especially if Team Rocket’s actions resulted in mass casualties.

  Ariana’s face twisted in amusement. “Oh, you poor, naive child… You’re not entirely wrong. But don’t believe for a second that no one here is willing to sacrifice themselves for Team Rocket’s revival. As for Giovanni…” The woman cackled.

  “Do you think I was chatting with you for leisure? Just as you were stalling for time, so was I! The ‘Victor’ that showed up in front of you wasn’t the only one. While you lot were blindly fumbling around in the dark, Team Rocket had long since infiltrated the League’s inner circle.” She cackled.

  “Sabrina’s probably been turned into paste now as we speak, thanks to the other ‘Victor’ who volunteered to escort Giovanni with her earlier. Even among the members of Team Rocket, Archer’s the most devout to the cause. And I have no doubts that he will succeed in freeing his messiah, even at the cost of his life! Victor, oh Victor… How you truly live up to your name on this day! Hahaha!!!”

  Nina groaned, torn by indecision.

  “Don’t give in,” came a voice inside her head — Gwen, one of the other Ace Trainers accompanying her. “Whatever it is she wants. If it has to do with a Mythical Pokemon, then it’s bound to cause more harm than good in the long run. Just trust in the League, the Blackthorns are dealing with the Lake of Rage as we speak.”

  “But what about the pseudo Megas?”

  “That… Let’s just hope you were right in calling their bluff and that we’re fast enough to get the city evacuated in time.”

  The girl let out a mental sigh in response. “That’s not good enough and you know it!”

  “Nina, no!”

  But despite the protest, the girl had already fished the Mew Gem out of her blouse. “I want all of you to leave the city after this. No more games!”

  With a curt gesture, a concentrated attack from Team Rocket's Pokemon shattered the glass panes surrounding the floor into sparkling shards. “Oh don’t you worry, every second I waste here with your ilk is a second lost basking in the Boss’ embrace. You have my word.”

  “Nina!” Gwen burst forth to grab hold of her wrist, causing Nina to wince in pain. The young woman was surprisingly strong underneath her lean frame.

  “Urgh… trust me. I know what I’m doing! Team Rocket won’t be able to abuse Mew’s powers. No matter what!” She leveled a severe glare at the Ace, in an attempt to convey her earnest resolve.

  Gwen frowned in doubt, but ultimately loosened her grip with a scoff.

  “Thanks…” Nina whispered, undid the clasp of her necklace and tossed it over to Ariana.

  “A wise choice…” The Rocket woman let out a toothy grin as she beheld the pink gemstone underneath the lamplight. All the while, basking in the Aura of the Mythical Pokemon as proof of its authenticity.

  Then, just as abruptly, Ariana and the rest of her goons broke out into a sprint, jumped out the office window and onto their respective Flyers.

  “Hold it! You’re not getting away that easily!” Nick the Ace Trainer roared and furiously gave chase, prompting his peers to do the same.

  The only ones left behind were a dazed Nina and the disapproving Gwen, looking mighty nonplussed by the girl’s decision.

  The older girl snorted. “I hope you won’t come to regret this.”

  Nina looked back at her companion with a smug little grin. “Oh don’t worry, I won’t…” She said, then reached into the frills of her skirt to produce another gem. One that looked identical to the one that she had just handed over but free from the confines of her necklace.

  “The good old switcheroo eh? Hahahaha!!!” The young Ace Trainer guffawed, but Nina just continued smiling without a response.

  It wasn’t a switch, more like a curse of binding. The Mew Gem would always return to Nina, until its purpose was fulfilled. But she didn't need to know that.

  “Let’s just hope that bitch doesn’t realise she got bamboozled until it’s too late.”