I am Giovanni

Chapter 78: Tools

"You're quite good, kid," Miyamoto said, not holding back her praise. "But to catch up to me, you still need to work harder."

"Then you must also continue to work hard, Executive Miyamoto," Giovanni replied with a slight smile. "If you stagnate, I really will surpass you."

Miyamoto patted the large horn of the Houndoom beside her and started walking towards the edge of the forest. "You've got a big mouth, kid," she said bluntly. "If I hadn't come, you would have died."

Giovanni recalled his Beedrill and Machop, nodded to Archer, and quickly followed. He was not disheartened by her mocking words. "But I didn't die, did I? That means I'm quite good, even if it's just luck."

Miyamoto, walking ahead, heard his words, and a slight smile played on her lips. "You really do talk big." She then picked up Gale's bloody backpack and spoke coldly, "But you should understand that this little bit of evidence isn't enough to affect Petrel."

Giovanni scratched his head, his eyes extremely cold. He knew Petrel was targeting all three of them, but he had shown direct killing intent towards him. Since they had become enemies, Giovanni could not possibly fail to retaliate.

"I know that," he said. "But since he attacked me..." He did not finish the rest of his sentence, but the faint killing intent conveyed everything.

Miyamoto turned her head slightly, a complex look in her eyes. She opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing.

Along the way, with the aura of her Elite Four-level Houndoom present, not a single wild Pokémon dared to appear. Once they were outside, she spoke to Giovanni and Archer. "You continue with your mission."

"Yes, ma'am!" they both nodded.

Without the fatal threat, simply catching some ordinary Pokémon was no pressure at all. By the time the moon hung high in the sky, they had already completed their mission and returned to the Viridian Base.

— — —

As night deepened, the scene shifted to Madame Boss's room. Her aura surging, she sat languidly on the sofa, calmly looking at the Poké Ball and bloody backpack on the table. "So, one of them died," she muttered.

On the sofa beside her sat Miyamoto, sitting up straight. She was silent for a long while before speaking. "Boss..."

"No need to say more," Madame Boss interrupted her, her voice indifferent. "You guessed correctly. I know everything."

Miyamoto became even more silent. So they were just tools meant to be discarded?

Madame Boss gently propped her chin on her hand and waved at the silent Miyamoto. "Go on. You're thinking too much. You just need to know that you are the person I trust the most."

"Yes, Boss," Miyamoto said, slowly standing up and walking out. As she opened the door, she saw Petrel standing outside.

"Miyamoto, what's wrong?" he asked with concern.

She looked up at him, her expression unreadable, then reverted to her previous demeanor. "What could be wrong with me?" she said with a straight face. "But you? You're in for a surprise."

"What are you talking about?" Petrel chuckled. "I didn't do anything. It's just that my subordinates like to overthink and do some unnecessary things."

"Your mouth is yours," Miyamoto snorted. "Say whatever you want." 

"If you're unhappy," Petrel called out to her, "when I come out later, I'll spar with you so you can vent your anger."

Miyamoto paused, then left without another word. Petrel watched her go, shook his head slightly, then knocked on the door and entered Madame Boss's room.

"Boss, you called for me?"

— — —

The next morning, Petrel was entrusted with an important mission by Madame Boss and left the Viridian Base. It was unknown how long he would be gone.

With Archer gathering intelligence for him, Giovanni naturally learned of this. "Boss," Archer asked with some curiosity after finishing his report, "was Petrel kicked out?"

"How could that be?" Giovanni shook his head. "What do you think an executive is? He just went to perform a mission. He'll be back soon."

"Then when he comes back," Archer said, a little worried, "won't he still play dirty tricks behind our backs?" Being targeted by a quasi-Elite Four level expert was not a good thing.

"That's why we need to get stronger quickly," Giovanni said with an indifferent smile.

Archer nodded quickly and clenched his fists. "Your subordinate will work hard!"

"I know," Giovanni said, patting his shoulder gently. "I trust you."

After capturing the Meowth, Giovanni finally had four Pokémon under his command. Though they were all at the intermediate level, Beedrill and Meowth had the strength to battle, and even defeat, advanced-level Pokémon.

And since their potential were the highest, they would be the first to break through to the next stage. Because its mother had been captured by Miyamoto, the Meowth now trained with a relentless passion, just to become stronger faster.

This, for now, was a good thing.

A normal trainer would worry about them overdrawing themselves, but with the power of Viridian, Giovanni did not have this concern. The Meowth's emotions even influenced the others. Their already active training was elevated to another level.

Beedrill did obstacle training, with Meowth guiding it, and it quickly got the hang of maneuvering through the dense forest. Machop and Nidorino, on the other hand, frantically exercised their bodies, building their overall strength.

"Alright," Giovanni called out to them. "Take a break." He walked over to the Meowth, who was still training without pause, placed his hand on its furry body, secretly stroked it once, and then said gently, "Don't push yourself too hard. We'll work hard together."