I am Giovanni

Chapter 68: Skirmish

After the Ursaring was taken down, the Nidorino was ecstatic. It stomped on the massive bear's body, looked up at the sky, and roared, "Nido!"

"Alright, that's enough," Giovanni said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. It was indeed a rare feat for his team, all in their level 20s, to defeat a Pokémon over level 30.

The Ursaring's carcass was rich in energy, beneficial to his Pokémon. He gave his Beedrill instructions, and it immediately set about taking out all the necessary parts. The three Pokémon then divided the spoils, their mouths full of fresh blood.

The energy they gained was substantial. There were benefits to being in the wild, but this raw energy was also volatile. If an ordinary Pokémon were to consume too much of it, it would hinder their long-term growth, making them more irritable and violent— but Giovanni had the power of Viridian. Solving this side effect was simply too easy.

If his team could deal with an Ursaring, then another team could as well. Sure enough, the sound of complaints rang out from a short distance away.

"Where's that damned Meowth?! I'm going to kill it and skin it!"

"Damn it! How dare it trick us and steal the berries I finally found!"

The incompetent complaints seemed to annoy one person. "Shut up! Instead of complaining, hurry up and find it!"

The others immediately went quiet. Giovanni's ears twitched; the voice seemed familiar. It wasn't until the person speaking appeared that he remembered. Though he was wearing a mask, his physique and the Wartortle beside him were the best proof.

It was Arui. He had just been thinking about his two rivals, and now one of them had appeared. It was truly interesting.

When Giovanni discovered Arui, Arui's squad also discovered Giovanni, who hadn't had time to leave.

"Kid, which squad are you from?" one of the grunts asked, his eyes greedily eyeing the string of Poké Balls on Giovanni's waist. Each one represented another Pokémon.

The squad leader of this team spoke rudely. "Looks like you've had a full harvest. How about sharing a few with us?"

Upon hearing this, Giovanni's eyes immediately grew colder. Just as the squad leader finished speaking, a sharp-eyed grunt saw the Ursaring's corpse behind Giovanni, as well as his three blood-soaked Pokémon. "Captain, look over there."

The squad leader followed his gaze. Though he was a bit wary, he was a captain, after all. They had just killed an Ursaring themselves; this was nothing. "What's there to be afraid of?" he said arrogantly. "He's just one person with three Pokémon. What can he possibly do?"

"Captain, you're right," his men echoed.

Unlike them, Arui, upon seeing the boy in the Meowth mask, his physique, his eyes, and the Beedrill... he instantly guessed his identity, just as Giovanni had recognized him. "Giovanni!"

This startled the squad leader and his men. "Who?"

Arui's face beneath his mask was somewhat distorted and sinister. "It's that Giovanni."

At Arui's reminder, the squad leader and his men immediately showed deep malice. "So it's him. Arui, you're truly lucky. This saves us some trouble. Take this opportunity!"

"Yes!" Arui grinned, his voice sinister. "Don't you agree, my 'brother'?"

Giovanni's eyes grew colder and colder, but he did not act. He wasn't a fool. One against seven? Acting now would be courting death.

"Full power Poison Sting!" he shouted to his Beedrill and Nidorino. They instantly moved, a barrage of needles flying out, overwhelming Arui and his squad. Giovanni didn't care if this move killed a few of them; he only knew that if he didn't run now, he wouldn't have another chance.

He recalled Nidorino and Machop and ran, with Beedrill assisting him from behind.

"Bastard! Courting death!" angry roars erupted from behind them. "Chase him! Kill him!"

One Pokémon after another was released, chasing after Giovanni. Arui pursued relentlessly, but he didn't notice that the squad leader behind him threw out a Poké Ball. A Sandslash emerged and, seizing the opportunity, burrowed into the ground.

"Mud-Slap! Poison Sting!" shouts continued to ring out from behind. With Beedrill's assistance, and in the dense forest, Giovanni luckily managed to widen the distance between them— but it was getting smaller and smaller.

"I can only gamble!" Giovanni gritted his teeth and plunged headfirst into the depths of Viridian Forest. With the power of Viridian, he could detect the positions of the wild Pokémon, allowing him to avoid them. As for the people behind him, if they weren't afraid of death, he wanted to see if they had the guts to follow.

Indeed, after going a certain distance deeper, the grunts chasing him realized something was wrong. "Yamaguchi, this brat doesn't care about his own life!" one of them shouted.

The squad leader, Yamaguchi, was also afraid of death. Unless one was a Gym Leader-level trainer, going into the depths of Viridian Forest was seeking death. His current strength was clearly insufficient.

However, Arui didn't care. Perhaps it was the recklessness of youth. His mind was now entirely focused on eliminating Giovanni, this powerful rival. "Why aren't you chasing?! Hurry up, or he'll get away again!"

"Arui, you don't understand," Yamaguchi explained patiently. "The deeper we go, the stronger the Pokémon become. This brat ran in in a hurry; he's definitely not coming back."

But Arui was unwilling. He needed to see Giovanni die with his own eyes before he could rest assured. He continued forward. "No. I won't stop until I see it. Go, come with me!"