"Maa~~~~"
Seeing Ash, Misdreavus let out a weak, powerless cry. The sound dragged out long, filled with heavy drowsiness.
Then.
"Burp——"
Misdreavus, completely lacking any dignity, let out a loud belch.
This Beedrill was not stingy in the slightest.
However much Misdreavus could eat, it would bring out that much.
Misdreavus attempted to float up and pounce on Ash, but after moving just a little, it gave up due to the heaviness of its belly. It could only continue to lie paralyzed on Beedrill's poison stinger, using its eyes to express grievance and ask for help.
Misdreavus had eaten too much.
It was a bit uncomfortable.
It could fly, but flying was uncomfortable.
Moreover, Misdreavus was getting a bit too familiar; she felt that this Beedrill seemed quite easy to get along with.
—W-What is this situation?
Ash and Erika looked at each other, the tense atmosphere instantly diluted by more than half by this comical scene.
They had envisioned scenes of Misdreavus being tortured, imprisoned, or even injured.
But they never expected that it would be 'sent' back because it had eaten too much?
"It seems my old partner has taken quite good care of your Misdreavus." Giovanni's voice carried a trace of imperceptible amusement.
He glanced at the Beedrill standing like a loyal guard.
"It seems to like this little fellow very much, bringing out its own treasured Pokéblocks to treat it."
"Obviously, your Misdreavus couldn't withstand the temptation."
Beedrill slowly extended its poison stinger toward Ash, its movements revealing a 'gentleness' completely distinct from its outward appearance.
Misdreavus slid like a puddle of dark green jelly into Ash's hurriedly outstretched hands. It felt heavy in his hands—indeed, it had gained quite a bit of weight.
Ash: Just how much did you eat?
"Maima..."
*[It was so delicious... just... burp... a bit too much...]
Misdreavus nuzzled against Ash's chest, letting out satisfied yet pained whimpers.
These Pokéblocks were Team Rocket's special supply, belonging to the cutting edge of the cutting edge on a global scale.
This thoroughly confirmed Giovanni's statement.
Not only was it not mistreated, but it had also lived a bit too well.
Erika looked at Misdreavus, who was paralyzed in a ball in Ash's arms and obviously just needed to digest its food.
Then she looked at Giovanni opposite them, whose aura remained powerful but who acted as if nothing had happened. For a moment, she didn't know how to react.
All the previous tension, worry, and life-or-death calculations turned into an extremely absurd feeling at this moment.
Erika seemed to understand the choices of her peers a little bit.
Team Rocket is Team Rocket.
Giovanni is Giovanni.
The two cannot be conflated.
Then...
Erika: No!
Erika: I can't think like that!
Erika: If even I think like that, it's over!
Ash held the heavy, warm Misdreavus, feeling that it was indeed just overfed and unharmed, and the large stone hanging in his heart finally fell.
He looked up at Giovanni, his mood complex.
"Thanks for the treat," was all Ash could say.
Aside from this, he really didn't know how to respond to this bizarre situation.
Giovanni smiled noncommittally, leaning back into his chair and resuming that unfathomable appearance.
"Partner, take that thing out," Giovanni suddenly said, clearly addressing Beedrill.
"..." The silent Beedrill suddenly thrust the large needle in its hand toward the air.
And the large needle on Beedrill's arm disappeared into the air, as if it had pierced through space itself.
"!!!" Erika's eyes widened. If she wasn't mistaken, that was [Secret Power].
[Secret Power] could be used to create spaces, and it could also be used for combat.
But a storage space?
...The difficulty level is a bit too high, isn't it!
This was undoubtedly an extremely high-end, high-end, high-end... usage.
When Beedrill pulled the needle back out, a small box was resting on top of it.
Beedrill handed the small box to Giovanni.
"Is this fate?" Giovanni gazed at the box, then suddenly threw it in Ash's direction.
"?" Although a bit confused, Ash still caught the box.
"Open it." Giovanni wanted to confirm something.
"?" Although somewhat puzzled, Ash did not refuse.
He handed the Misdreavus in his arms to Erika, then opened the box.
Inside the box was a gray-white feather.
"???" Erika looked at the feather, not understanding the situation.
"Tsk tsk?" Misdreavus could only sense an extremely deep and grand aura from the feather, but didn't know what it was.
"This is?" Ash picked up the feather. In the next moment, the gray-white feather emitted a seven-colored rainbow light.
It turned into a colorful feather.
"!!!" Ash felt he knew what this was.
It was Ho-Oh's Rainbow Wing!
But how could this thing be in Giovanni's hands?
And why did Giovanni give it to him?
Ash couldn't understand Giovanni's thoughts.
"Just as I thought..." Giovanni confirmed his thoughts.
—The changed me will not be chosen by the gods.
—If there is no place for me in the future seen by the gods.
—Then I will go and pioneer a world that belongs to my future.
The Giovanni who was once a Bug Catcher had obtained this feather.
And on the day he lost the Viridian Power, this feather also lost its brilliance.
Out of some commemoration for his past self, Giovanni had not conducted any destructive research on this feather.
How should one put it?
Giovanni felt that if his past self appeared in front of his current self... they would probably fight each other.
I kill myself?
Laughs.*
But that was no longer important.
Giovanni waved his hand, as if shooing away insignificant dust. "Leave with your Pokémon."
"Celadon City... still has many interesting places. I look forward to your performance."
This was undoubtedly a dismissal.
Erika immediately grabbed Ash's arm and whispered, "Let's go."
She didn't want to stay in front of this man for a moment longer. Tonight's experience was too bizarre; she needed to calm down immediately and review everything.
Reviewing might not necessarily lead to any conclusion.
After all, the level Giovanni operated on was clearly a large cut above Erika's.
The problems Giovanni considered were perhaps only understandable at the level of Professor Oak.
After all, Professor Oak had also once pursued Ho-Oh.
But let alone obtaining this feather like Giovanni...
Professor Oak hadn't even touched Ho-Oh's shadow.
In the end, he could only conclude that as long as Ho-Oh didn't wish it, no one could see it.
Of course, this was constrained by the premise that Professor Oak acted only as an explorer.
Professor Oak did not use overly violent methods to search for Ho-Oh, but simply searched like a traveler.
Ash nodded, held the limp Misdreavus, followed Erika, and quickly left the room that was still permeated with invisible pressure.
The chubby manager scrambled and crawled behind them, hurriedly closing the heavy wooden door as if to shut away all the terror inside.
...He had finally found a suitable excuse to leave.
—Boss!
—I'll close the door for you!
The chubby manager thought to himself.
Only when they returned to the noisy, clamorous main hall of the Game Corner, surrounded by dazzling lights and the cauldron of human voices, did Erika let out a long breath, feeling like she had floated back to the surface from the deep sea.
She looked at the Misdreavus in her arms, who was still whimpering from overeating, and couldn't help but rub her brow.
"What on earth... just happened?"
Erika muttered to herself.
What exactly did Giovanni come here for?
She didn't understand at all!
And what was that feather?
She didn't understand that either!
Erika could only tell it was no ordinary item.
Ash lowered his head to look at Misdreavus in Erika's hands, also not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
He gently poked Misdreavus's bulging little belly, earning a dissatisfied mumble—"Tsk tsk!"
"Perhaps..." Ash raised his head, gazing at the neon-flashing nightscape outside the Game Corner, recalling Giovanni's profound eyes and that final meaningful sentence, "...This is just the beginning."
This incident couldn't really be blamed on Misdreavus.
After all, who could have imagined Giovanni would suddenly appear here?
This was the trouble with a hybrid world.
High-level monsters and low-level monsters shared the same map.
You step out the door casually—you might encounter a Level 5 Rattata, or you might encounter a Level 50 Garchomp... encountering a Level 80 Beedrill isn't impossible either.
And the distance between them might be just a single wall.
The big boss won't wait in the Demon King's castle for the hero to come knocking; instead, he will roam all over the map.
The crisis had been resolved in an unexpected way.
But Giovanni's appearance and the "expectation" he left behind were like a seed buried on Ash's path forward.
Ash knew... his intersection with Team Rocket, with this underground king, would definitely not end here.
And next time, there might not be such a "relaxed" ending.
After all, Team Rocket was Team Rocket.
Giovanni himself didn't care about the behavioral atmosphere of Team Rocket itself... but other Team Rocket members and Executives might not be the same.
Ash tightened his hold on the Misdreavus in his arms, feeling this regained weight, and his gaze became even more determined.
No matter what, he would keep moving forward.
"Someday—"
"The one sitting there will be me."
Become stronger!
He must become even stronger!
Rather than—being eighteen that year, standing like a minion.
Just then.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu's voice suddenly appeared, and then it darted to Ash's side.
"Sorry, partner... I made you worry." Ash recognized Pikachu at a glance.
It was just that tonight was truly unexpected.
Theoretically speaking, following Erika meant one could walk sideways in Celadon City.
So when Ash and Erika came out to play games, they didn't think too much about it.
Who the hell knew they would crash right into Giovanni, damn it?
Ash looked at Misdreavus...
Well, even a ghost wouldn't know.
Theoretically speaking, all Team Rocket bases had the possibility of spawning Giovanni.
But in reality, specifically which day he would spawn was a question even a ghost wouldn't know.
"Pika?" Pikachu didn't see anything wrong with Ash or Erika; the only thing it could see was that Misdreavus had eaten too much.
But... if Misdreavus just ate too much, why did it feel danger before?
"Partner, something unexpected happened. Let's talk about it slowly when we get back tonight..." Ash didn't intend to hide it from Pikachu, but Giovanni's business wasn't suitable for open discussion.
"Pika pika~" Hearing Ash say this, Pikachu didn't think too much and climbed directly onto Ash's shoulder.
It was originally training at the Celadon Gym.
While training, it felt something was wrong, that Ash was in danger.
This was a connection of minds between a Trainer and Pokémon, a sixth sense from the unseen.
But this feeling was vague; it was impossible to know clearly what specifically happened.
"Sigh... anyway, I hope you keep this a secret, Ash. Don't speak of this matter to anyone." If possible, Erika didn't want to have any direct conflict with Giovanni at all.
Even knowing clearly that the Game Corner was a Team Rocket base, she hadn't rooted this place out, which showed the reason.
Keeping these guys under her eyelids was better than letting them run around everywhere.
Team Rocket would never give up the Game Corner industry.
Giovanni himself certainly didn't lack money; his goal was the entire world.
But Team Rocket lacked money.
Did you really think Team Rocket didn't need to pay its members' salaries?
Otherwise, where would those welfare benefits come from?
Ridiculous.
"I understand, Miss Erika..." Ash nodded, touching the box placed inside his clothes.
Ho-Oh's feather was truly something extraordinary.
And this thing couldn't just be left lying around.
After all, this was a gift from Giovanni; the significance was immense.
____
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