Officially joining Team Rocket

Miyamoto and Giovanni Rika gave a few more instructions before leaving.

The four hundred or so youths were divided into more than a dozen groups and led away separately to be entered into Team Rocket's records, while their identities were also checked for discrepancies.

At this point, Team Rocket had not infiltrated the League to the extent that even members of the Elite Four were its secret agents, but hacking into the League's systems was no problem.

If any of the remaining four hundred or so youths had suspicious identities, they would be killed on the spot.

Giovanni had no idea whether there were any among them. After all, with over four hundred youths, he could not even recognize all their faces.

Besides, that was not something he should concern himself with now. All he had to do was give his all to become Team Rocket's young master, eventually become its leader, and reign supreme.

"Name, age, and the general location of your previous residence," a Team Rocket member seated behind a desk asked Giovanni, who stood before him.

Giovanni concealed nothing. He had no choice now, either.

"Name: Giovanni. Age: fourteen. I used to live at the Viridian City Fourth Orphanage. I currently have no fixed residence."

After writing a few things down, the Team Rocket member raised his head in surprise and clicked his tongue in wonder. "Interesting kid. Your name is actually the same as the Boss's surname."

Giovanni replied quite naturally:

"There's nothing particularly unusual about that, is there, sir? There are so many people in the world. Even having the exact same name would be perfectly normal."

The Team Rocket member nodded.

"True enough. Wait a moment."

He typed away on the somewhat outdated computer, and soon Giovanni's full information appeared on the screen, along with a photograph of him at the orphanage as a child.

Giovanni bore no resentment toward the orphanage that had taken him in.

Although they had thrown him out a few years ago, he might have died long ago without that orphanage.

After his appearance was compared against the photograph, Giovanni passed the background check without trouble, had his photograph officially taken for Team Rocket's records, and became a member.

Still, he would have to wait until the selection ended, on the day he became Team Rocket's young master, to become a full-fledged member.

After handing Giovanni a brand-new ID card, the Team Rocket member continued:

"This is your ID card. Your number is on it. Head that way, and someone will guide you."

Giovanni took the ID card and glanced at the photograph and number on it. "The photo's pretty good, but this number, 9527... why does it seem a little familiar?"

Time waited for no one, so Giovanni did not dwell on it and soon walked out.

Not long after he left, however, something went wrong with one of the people behind him. Whether that person belonged to the League or another faction was unknown.

In short, he had walked in and been carried out. Death was probably all that awaited him.

Giovanni paid no mind to any of this. After he went outside,

sure enough, a Team Rocket member with a purple mohawk, who looked as though he had a military background, was waiting for him. "Number 9527, Giovanni, right? My name is Axin. Come with me."

Giovanni was a little puzzled, because the youths nearby who had been directly ahead of him had formed another line, while his situation seemed somewhat different.

Another thing was that each of them held a Poké Ball, presumably so they could catch Pokémon later.

Axin seemed to notice Giovanni's confusion and explained, "You're different from them. Haven't you already hatched your Pokémon Egg and passed the second stage of selection?"

Giovanni nodded. "Yes."

Axin continued:

"So you need to collect the food your Pokémon needs. You'll also be staying in a single room like us full members, rather than sharing with anyone else."

Only then did Giovanni understand.

"I see. Sorry for the trouble, then, Sir Axin."

Although Axin enjoyed the courtesy, he waved his hands repeatedly. "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. Any of you could become the young master, or even the new Boss, in the future. I'm just an ordinary Team Rocket member. I don't deserve that title."

Seeing his reaction, Giovanni did not insist. After all, not everyone was like Giovanni and unconcerned with such things.

If someone petty became the young master, they really might make life difficult for them later. Caution kept the ship afloat.

With Axin leading the way, Giovanni soon reached the place where Pokémon Food was distributed. The person in charge was a voluptuous, sultry beauty.

Just the sight of her from behind made a man's blood surge and his Caterpie feel the urge to evolve.

Her status apparently was not low, either, because even Axin had to bow his head in greeting upon seeing her.

"Lady Hera."

Giovanni followed his example and bowed his head.

Hera slowly turned around. Sure enough, she looked sultry and sexy, her large, glistening eyes utterly captivating. "Mm, what is it?"

Axin stepped forward to explain:

"Well, this is one of the selection participants... He's already completed the second stage ahead of time, so according to the rules, he can collect Pokémon Food and the corresponding resources early."

Indeed, this did not apply only to Giovanni.

If anyone else's chosen Pokémon Egg hatched within those fourteen days, they could also collect Pokémon Food and resources early.

That would put them several steps ahead of the others, and the gap would widen in the future.

Of course, this depended on the hatched Pokémon having very good potential. Pokémon with good potential would progress relatively faster and could reach higher levels.

And the higher their level, the slower their improvement would become. At that point, potential would be what mattered.

Weedle's potential was already quite good among ordinary Trainers' Pokémon, but if he wanted to reach higher and grow stronger, Weedle would need better potential.

Fortunately, every time a Pokémon evolved, there was a chance to improve its potential. It simply required some special resources and treasures.

Although he could not obtain treasures like that right now,

if Giovanni's guess was correct, his Viridian Force should be able to help improve Weedle's potential. He still needed to test it, though.

For now, he would take things one step at a time.

After hearing Axin's explanation, Hera approached with light, graceful steps and leaned forward slightly, revealing a swath of snowy skin that left Axin's mouth dry.

She looked at Giovanni with interest. "How interesting. I think I remember you. You're the kid the Boss and Miyamoto picked up in Viridian Forest, aren't you?"

"I heard you killed a Pokémon in hand-to-hand combat back then. Is that true?"

Giovanni answered without letting his gaze wander, "That's right, but it was only an ordinary Rattata, and I was extremely lucky."

The way Giovanni kept his gaze from wandering made Hera like him a little more.

"At your age and with your build, killing a Rattata was already a miracle. And now you're actually the first to hatch a Pokémon Egg."

She teased Giovanni:

"You aren't going to become our young master, are you? Our future Boss?"

Although Giovanni was very confident about that, he would not let it go to his head.

If he relied on his name alone without working hard or fighting for it, Giovanni might truly end up buried in history, becoming someone else's stepping stone.

"Nothing is settled yet. I don't know, but I'll give it everything I have!"

P.S. Fourth update. I should be able to sign the contract today. Tomorrow, this book will be promoted through my old book, and I should be able to read the reviews too. Dear readers, click the little button below so I can see how many of you there are.