"Boom!"
A forest of hardened vines erupted from beneath the floor, completely swallowing the immobilized Rhyperior.
Thick smoke rolled through the arena, blocking everyone's view. With Hardened Plants being a quadruple-effective Grass-type attack, even Rhyperior's notoriously tough armor would hardly withstand such force.
As the smoke dispersed, the scene left everyone stunned.
Rhyperior, nearly three meters tall, had its rocky plates pierced clean through by those thorn-covered vines. What had once been solid stone armor now resembled cracked pottery riddled with holes.
Even fragile plants, when infused with overwhelming life force, could grow into something that pierced steel.
Rhyperior's face twisted in agony. It was still conscious, but its arms, torso, and legs were impaled. Even if it managed to break free, it clearly no longer had the strength to continue battling.
Giovanni's expression hardened. No wonder Lorelei had been pushed back despite her overwhelming level advantage, Ash's Pokémon simply operated outside conventional logic. To be engulfed by two consecutive Hardened Plant waves and skewered like this… even he had been caught flat off guard.
A single moment's hesitation in battle could decide everything. And this time, that moment had cost Rhyperior dearly. Even if Giovanni had reacted a fraction sooner, the most he could've done was delay the inevitable.
"Szzzt—!"
The vines retreated all at once, pulling free from Rhyperior's body with sickening squelches. Blood sprayed across the battlefield, and the gaping wounds continued to spill fresh, bright red streams.
Ash frowned. "Rhyperior can't fight anymore. Call it back before it dies."
Under normal circumstances, Ash would never push a battle this far. But today wasn't normal. This battle wasn't just about a Gym Badge, it concerned his own fate, and the fate of countless people and Pokémon across the world.
If half of Team Rocket disappeared, the number of people who would no longer lose Pokémon to theft, cruelty, or exploitation would be immeasurable. Ash couldn't afford mercy here.
Giovanni lowered his gaze slightly… then spoke in an icy, emotionless tone:
"Rock Wrecker."
Rhyperior's expression twisted in pain, but its arms still came together, trembling violently as it gathered every last bit of strength it had left. A dense mass of Rock-type energy condensed between its palms, far too quickly given its condition.
The instant the boulder formed, Rhyperior's body nearly gave out. Its face drained of color, and the blood now pooling beneath it spread rapidly across the floor.
Ash's expression changed.
"Giovanni! Stop! Rhyperior can't continue, recall it!"
"Whether it can fight is not for you to decide," Giovanni replied coldly. "As long as it's still conscious and standing, it will fight."
There was no emotion in his voice, not even cruelty, just the cold logic of a man viewing Pokémon as expendable tools.
A Rhyperior meant nothing to him. Only his true main forces were treated with any value. This Rhyperior was merely a resource, useful only if it won. And if it died? Then it simply wasn't worth training in the first place.
"Damn it, Venusaur! Hardened Plant, form a barrier!"
Venusaur roared, outraged at the way Giovanni was treating his own partner. He wanted to skewer Giovanni instead, but restraint, timing, and the battle's rules held him in place. All he could do was stop Rhyperior quickly.
A wall of thick, thorn-covered vines surged upward, weaving together into a massive shield before Venusaur.
"ROOOAR!!"
Rhyperior let out one last tortured cry and hurled Rock Wrecker with all its remaining strength. The massive boulder tore through the air like a falling meteor, grinding across the Gym floor and cracking it with brute force as it smashed into Venusaur's barrier.
"BOOOOOOM!"
The collision detonated like a cannon blast. The huge boulder slammed into the woven wall of vines, the sharp thorns punching deeply into its surface. Chunks of stone flew in every direction… but the Rock Wrecker kept pushing forward, grinding inch by inch into the barrier.
Vines snapped. Rocks shattered. Both techniques devoured their user's stamina at an alarming rate.
It became a contest of raw endurance, whose energy would collapse first?
Giovanni watched silently, calculating. Despite its injuries, Rhyperior's attack power still surpassed Venusaur's. In a pure clash of force, he expected Rock Wrecker to prevail.
However, even if Rhyperior managed to overpower Venusaur in this clash, it wouldn't matter, once the attack ended, Rhyperior would have no strength left, while Venusaur was still completely unharmed. Even a direct hit from Rock Wrecker wouldn't be enough to bring Venusaur down. Giovanni was destined to lose this round.
But Giovanni didn't care about winning the first battle. What bothered him was that a Rhyperior had been beaten into a crippled state by a Venusaur. It was humiliating.
Still, battles are decided by the final outcome. As long as he won the entire match, who would care how ugly the first round looked?
Unfortunately for Giovanni, the way he was about to lose was even uglier than he imagined.
The Rock Wrecker kept grinding through the hardened vines, but more and more green thorns sprouted from the ground, endlessly reinforcing the barrier. No matter how much Rhyperior's attack smashed through, it couldn't break past Venusaur's domain.
The stalemate continued for over ten seconds. Eventually, the thorns began to give way, Venusaur simply couldn't produce them fast enough to match Rock Wrecker's destruction rate.
Just as the boulder shrank to the size of a barrel and finally burst through the last layer of vines, dozens of spinning razor leaves tore through the air.
Razor Leaf.
The volley of gleaming blades smashed into the weakened Rock Wrecker, slicing it apart like paper.
The boulder exploded into gravel, and before Venusaur even counterattacked, Rhyperior collapsed.
The Rock Wrecker had drained every last drop of its strength. Once it fired the attack, its body finally gave out, and it fell into unconsciousness, completely unable to continue.
Giovanni recalled Rhyperior without so much as a flicker of emotion, then tossed the Poké Ball aside like garbage.
"Useless thing. You couldn't even beat a High level opponent."
"What are you doing?!"
Ash's face darkened instantly. "That's your Pokémon!"
Giovanni didn't even look at him.
"My Pokémon? Don't be absurd. He's just a reserve unit. If he had performed well, he might've earned a place among my main force. But since he failed… he'll be disposed of and sent to the labs. That's all he's worth."
Ash clenched his fists so tightly they trembled. Rage surged through him, more intense than anything Team Rocket's trio had ever made him feel. Jessie, James, and Meowth at least showed affection for Pokémon. This man… this man saw them as tools to use and discard.
This man was the disease rotting the world from underneath.And Ash was going to end it.
"You've won the first match," Giovanni said coldly, flicking a green metal badge toward him. "Here. Your reward."
Ash caught the badge. The Viridian Gym's Green Badge. The eighth one. He didn't like receiving anything from Giovanni, but completing his badge collection here meant he wouldn't waste weeks traveling around Kanto again. He needed every minute he could get to train for what came next.
"I've fulfilled the role of Gym Leader," Giovanni continued. "Now… the true battle begins. This time, I stand before you as the leader of Team Rocket."
His lips curled into a chilling grin.
"You have eight badges, don't you? After you join Team Rocket, you'll enter the Indigo Plateau and win the championship. And then… you'll reveal yourself, standing on the Champion's stage, as one of my agents."
Giovanni laughed, low and vicious.
"I can already imagine the look on the League's face. It will be glorious."
From the very beginning, Giovanni had already planned everything. Even if Ash really joined Team Rocket, he would still force him to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference. And when Ash won the championship and then publicly revealed his identity as a Rocket member, the look on the League officials' faces would surely be priceless.
As for Ash's identity leaking early?
Impossible. Other than the people in this room, who else could ever guess that Ash Ketchum would willingly join Team Rocket? And if Ash lost, did Giovanni truly think he would let everyone present walk out alive? There was no chance of that.
What Giovanni didn't know, however, was that the pinhole camera on Ash's collar had been capturing everything from the beginning. Even if there were only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of Ash joining Team Rocket, the moment Giovanni let him leave, Agatha and Lorelei would intercept him and bring him straight back to the League. Giovanni's perfect plan existed only in his imagination.
But all of that depended on one question, Would Ash lose?
That answer rested entirely on Giovanni's final choice of Pokémon.
"My second Pokémon is… go, Mewtwo."
With a small gesture, Giovanni sent the floating, machine-bound Pokémon onto the battlefield.
Mewtwo drifted forward in eerie silence. Giovanni then disengaged most of the restraints, releasing Mewtwo's strength to the initial Champion tier. Any further, and even Giovanni wouldn't be able to control it, this was the absolute limit of what he could handle.
The moment Mewtwo appeared, the faces of the three watching outside the barrier tightened. Misty and Brock had already learned from Ash that the mechanical Pokémon from earlier was Mewtwo, so they weren't surprised, but Gary…
Gary had no idea.
He had heard Giovanni say "Mewtwo," watched the Pokémon float out, and instantly felt his heart sink.
Wait… I was fighting Mewtwo just now?!
He didn't know exactly what Mewtwo looked like, nor its origins, but Blaine's description had left a deep impression: a monster whose power made Champion-class Pokémon look like helpless children.
Gary had even once joked that with his current strength, the only way he'd ever encounter Mewtwo was if fate wanted him dead.
And yet…
This morning, he had casually mocked Giovanni. And Giovanni's response… was to send Mewtwo at him.
Now everything made sense.
No wonder that Pokémon crushed all three of his Pokémon without even moving a single step. No wonder he felt such overwhelming dread simply standing near it.
Giovanni wasn't just vengeful. He was vindictive to a level worthy of poetry.
Gary's face turned completely pale.
"Damn it… Giovanni, you're a psychopath!"