A meteorite flashed across the ozone layer of the Pokémon Planet. The Rayquaza inhabiting the ozone layer noticed it immediately. They usually took it upon themselves to clear away relatively large meteorites.
Calling it "clearing away" wasn't quite accurate; thinking of it as food was much more fitting.
The first to arrive was a green Rayquaza resembling a Caterpie. Its eyes fixed on a rock too small to even be called a meteorite, yet the energy contained within it was intensely alluring.
The Rayquaza didn't swallow it right away, simply because it wasn't confident it could digest it—after all, it had only been born a short while ago.
Suddenly, a very deep vibration echoed through the ozone layer. An abyss-like color abruptly appeared, its body significantly larger than the newly arrived Rayquaza.
A black Rayquaza—a shiny legendary Pokémon. Among an already scarce population of legendary Pokémon, calling them rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns was putting it mildly.
The black-lustrous Rayquaza was the embodiment of nobility, and the embodiment of strength!
It had originally planned to keep it as a collection, in case it might come in handy one day, but now that looked doubtful.
"I found this first, big guy, could you do me a favor?"
The "Caterpie" roared loudly.
With white pupils unlike a normal Rayquaza, this black Rayquaza's eyes leaned toward a blend of gray and purple.
It raised its grayish-purple gaze proudly, looking down with utter disdain at the newborn little fellow.
Since talking was out of the question, choosing to flee was not something a legendary Pokémon would do; its pride did not allow it.
It instantly prepared for battle, executing an extreme dive to close the distance, then gathered energy in its mouth to form a colorful, dragon-shaped radiance.
Ascension—the signature move exclusive to Rayquaza!
The black Rayquaza looked on with mild interest at this junior. After all, a newly born Rayquaza couldn't possibly master such a technique without innate talent.
It was just too green—its power was scattered, its control lacking, all flash and no substance.
Having silently finished its critique, it gave its massive dragon skull a slight shake.
Just as the attack was about to land, the Rayquaza instantly gathered a Hyper Beam, breaking the Ascension in one concentrated point.
Roar—!
Using the roar to shake off the recoil stiffness of the Hyper Beam, it instantly generated an intense wave of oppression that caused the "Caterpie" to think of retreating.
Soon, wanting to show it what a true Ascension looked like, the black Rayquaza chose to draw upon the power within its organ of the firmament.
Accompanied by eerie shifts in the weather and a flash of seven-colored light, Mega Evolution was complete.
The horns on its head grew longer, and scimitar-like blades sprouted beside its massive maw. Long ribbons of light materialized from the horns and blade areas. Its domineering appearance and power-filled physique filled even the opposing "Caterpie" with envy.
While the "Caterpie" stood stunned, an even more massive Ascension came hurtling toward it, far too fast to react to or dodge.
The black Rayquaza had no intention of killing a little one of its own kind, so the force that actually struck the "Caterpie" wasn't much.
It wasn't much, but that didn't mean there was no damage at all; besides, it had only just been born, so a little bleeding and the like was entirely normal.
As luck would have had it, a drop of the legendary Pokémon's blood dripped onto the meteorite where Chen Ming lay.
Neither Rayquaza noticed that minor interlude.
With the ownership of the meteorite decided, the "Caterpie" struck a pose it considered extremely dashing and flew off.
With the junior gone, the black Rayquaza didn't care where it headed. It cancelled its Mega Evolution and floated straight over to the meteorite. Maintained by its power, the rock naturally didn't plummet straight down.
Its grayish-purple pupils stared fixedly at the food stained with the thin blood of its kin, feeling extremely depressed. "Hmph (︶^︶)? How am I supposed to eat this?"
Just as it closed its eyes and braced itself to swallow it down, it suddenly sensed an energy not weaker than its own—and a familiar one at that, perhaps even stronger?
It tilted its pitch-black head, its expression full of confusion.
Could this be a gift from an acquaintance? Should it taste it?
That thought was just a fleeting fancy—none of those acquaintances of its were ever that kind-hearted. Whatever, just let the thing drop down wherever.
It circled the meteorite several times, the more it thought about it the angrier it got—food right at its lips and it couldn't eat it.
In a flash, it swooped above the meteorite, treated the rock like a ball, swatted it down with a sweep of its tail, and departed in style.
If Chen Ming had any consciousness left, no matter how good his manners were, he would have cursed a blue streak: *I really thank your great-grandfather.*
The descent was extremely fast, hot enough to start sparking fire.
Thanks to the boost from Rayquaza, the temperature was nearly ten thousand degrees, and the speed was unimaginably fast.
It plunged rapidly into the ocean depths. The immense high temperature and impact created a colossal reaction with the sea, and a violent shockwave echoed across a ten-kilometer radius of the ocean.
Fortunately, the crash site was in a remote stretch of sea, so the impact was minimal.
Mew, who was playing in the ocean, was startled by the sound and hurried over with a curious look on its face.
Due to the massive impact, all the surrounding Pokémon had fled to take shelter.
Mew!
Circling the meteorite, Mew let out a series of calls, as if it had encountered something wonderfully novel.
After playing with it for a while, it used psychic power to lift the meteorite, brought it out of the water, and headed for the nearest island.
The island was lush and green, bearing no trace of human presence whatsoever; everything appeared completely pristine.
It left the meteorite right in the center of the island to sit alongside its other collectibles.
Another uncounted span of years passed, and the vitality on the island seemed to increase. Primitive people, drifting in from parts unknown, discovered the prosperity of this island.
They brought their clansmen and migrated there, quickly forming the earliest civilization. Back then, humans and Pokémon were still in a hostile state, and very few Pokémon could coexist peacefully with humans.
Mew, living on the island, was curious about these newly appeared lives and would occasionally drop by to tease them. Sometimes, when they ran out of food, it would even bestow some tree fruit upon them.
As these appearances grew more frequent, the humans who spotted Mew naturally recorded the encounters. Because of Mew's benevolence toward humans, they naturally came to revere it as a totem to be worshipped.
Drawing upon the memories of several generations, they even carved stone slates to better worship Mew.
Ancient writings recorded Mew's benevolent deeds one by one—though, naturally, those playful pranks were omitted from the text.
Meanwhile, "Chen Ming" remained buried in Mew's collection, gathering dust as it lay peacefully and quietly.
As the tribe prospered, the people were able to explore further afield, and it wasn't long before they found Mew's dwelling place.
Mew didn't mind this at all; instead, it covered its mouth with its little hands and let out a few cheerful, happy mews.
Everything related to Mew was properly and carefully preserved by the people.
As for Mew, it chose to leave this place—after all, it had already explored every corner of these islands, and checking out somewhere new sounded nice.
Times changed. Following Mew's departure, the people on the island continued to live their lives just as before, but unfortunately, the moods of nature are always fickle.
Having suffered through numerous disasters, the people's once-glorious tribe marched toward its end, leaving behind only crumbling walls and shattered ruins.
The meteorite containing Chen Ming lay safely at the center of the ruins. Lacking people to wipe it clean, wild moss grew aggressively all over it.
Mew, having played outside for a very long time, suddenly thought of the island where it had once stayed and felt the urge to go back and take a look. Thinking it, it did it.
***
An expedition team, tracking down historical legends, landed on the island. As they walked, they chatted about legends of Mew.
The phantom Pokémon, Mew, possessed mysterious powers—such as causing floods, making barren lands fertile, and separating people—and many legends were passed down about it.
Was it an angel or a demon, or did it simply act on its own whims?
It had eternal life, or so the story went...
Yet it should have been extinct by now.
However, recently there had been many reports claiming, "I saw Mew."
None of it had been verified, and not a single genuine photograph existed.
Indeed.
...
The group stood before a stone slate carved with the image of Mew. In front of the slate stood broken stone pillars; even in their fractured state, they still firmly supported the resting meteorite.
"It's Mew."
One of them said, looking at the carving.
Before anyone else could speak, a figure resembling the engraving flashed past. The group hurriedly turned around, but found nothing.
Back inside the camp:
The person who had uncovered the precious artifact spoke up, "Look, this is our discovery this time—a Mew eyelash fossil, and—"
"And what?"
"A meteorite material that cannot be cut or crushed by any instrument, yet tests show it contains an unknown energy."
The leader leaned against a wooden desk, eyes burning as he stared at the eyelash fossil.
"A part of Mew's body and something related to Mew?"
"It appears so."
"Hurry and take it back to the research institute! If this really is a fossil of Mew, we should be able to create the strongest Pokémon!"
Everything proceeded smoothly. The items sent back arrived without incident, save for the addition of a strange rock.
Based on the expedition team's findings, the researchers at the institute began studying the newly discovered fossil and the meteorite.
Through precise instrument analysis, countless Pokémon genes were detected on the eyelash fossil.
Progress on the meteorite side was not nearly as smooth; aside from detecting abundant energy, they discovered nothing at all.
All attempts to intervene and guide the energy within the meteorite failed, so it was subsequently shelved, as researching Mew's genes was far more important.
The experiments continued. A year or two passed; all the genes were essentially analyzed, and the laboratory equipment was upgraded to newer models.
As the experiments progressed and the research results were confirmed, Giovanni of Team Rocket poured even larger funds into the project to create the strongest Pokémon, and the cloning phase officially began.
First, they began encoding from a single Pokémon gene, imbuing it into a physical body, and storing it in a nutrient medium.
At the very beginning, things did not go smoothly. Once implanted into the flesh, the genes would begin to riot, followed by genetic collapse manifesting in the physical body, leading to experimental failure.
Giovanni looked expressionlessly at the reports submitted day after day. The person delivering the report was terrified, knowing they had wasted an enormous amount of resources.
His thumb tapped lightly against the wooden desk, the crisp sound growing increasingly terrifying.
"Interesting, very interesting. Increase the intensity of the experiments; I hope you won't let me down."
Giovanni spun his chair around to turn his back on the petitioner, stroking a Meowth resting in his lap. The Meowth wore an expression of supreme comfort—clearly, it was thoroughly enjoying the petting.
Carrying Giovanni's words back with them, the researchers gathered their focus, working around the clock. More test subjects were delivered, and they prepared to experiment on living creatures.
Soon, the vast underground syndicate hidden within the Kanto region—Team Rocket—became thoroughly active, completely drawing the attention of Pokémon G-Man Archer, who had been investigating them all along.
Inside a research facility hidden by Team Rocket on a secluded island, the experiments finally made a breakthrough. The destructive effects caused by gene recombination had been greatly reduced.
But this was not enough. To create a Pokémon that surpassed Mew, this was far from enough; they needed to proceed to the next step: multi-gene fusion and recombination experiments.
As the experiments advanced further, the demand for living Pokémon subjects could easily be imagined.
With Giovanni having seen the experimental results, his desire and ambition to capture powerful Pokémon had grown dozens of times over—that went without saying.