Kakuna

Doctor Liangmu urged Giovanni:

"Come out quickly. Next, it needs to devour all the nutrients from these Bug-type Pokémon to become a true Bug King!"

Giovanni stroked Weedle's back and told it:

"Go on. Welcome your moment of becoming king."

Weedle nodded vigorously, then first crawled over to the Beedrill and dug out its poison sac.

The sounds of chewing and gnawing slowly rose as Giovanni slowly walked out.

When Doctor Liangmu saw Giovanni's injured arm and corroded palm, he hurriedly instructed Xiao Chuan:

"Go get some Antidote, then bandage his wounds."

Only after Xiao Chuan left did he say to Giovanni:

"How could you be so careless?"

Giovanni shook his head. "This is nothing. Just a minor injury."

Seeing that Giovanni was all right, Doctor Liangmu relaxed. "I never expected this Weedle of yours to surprise me! I'll have to examine its body thoroughly later."

Giovanni simply nodded. "Yes, it's really done well."

Just then, Xiao Chuan came over and first handed Giovanni a bottle of Antidote.

Then Xiao Chuan took a piece of gauze and wiped Giovanni's wounds, cleaning away the blood.

Afterward, Xiao Chuan put away the gauze and bandaged Giovanni's wounds again.

Giovanni also kept the remaining Antidote. "Let me have the leftover Antidote. I'll keep it in reserve."

Neither Doctor Liangmu nor even Xiao Chuan cared about a single bottle of Antidote.

Weedle's transformation took quite a while. Giovanni stayed outside all the way into the next day.

Even when Doctor Liangmu told him to rest, he refused to leave.

At last.

Covered in insect fluids and scraps of flesh, Weedle slowly crawled up to the glass door, its Poké Ball still held in its mouth.

It met Giovanni's gaze through the glass door, its body brimming with energy.

A faint aura emanated from its body!

Though it was clearly a Weedle, facing it felt like facing a battle-hardened Beedrill!

Seeing its questioning gaze, Giovanni smiled softly. "Evolve."

After receiving Giovanni's approval, Weedle opened its mouth and spat out a large amount of silk.

The silk completely enveloped it, forming a large white cocoon. Then the cocoon slowly condensed, finally forming a pale yellow pupa that looked extremely hard.

The pupa had a round head and triangular black eyes.

There were still traces of red and green on it, making it look rather distinctive.

Kakuna!

After evolving into Kakuna, Weedle doubled in size.

Likewise, during this fight to the death, its level had jumped by two.

Its potential had gone straight from light green to cyan.

And this was after absorbing only part of the energy. Once it absorbed all the energy and the day came for it to evolve into Beedrill...

Its potential might break through to blue, and its level would also rise several times in succession.

After evolving into Kakuna, it could no longer move as freely.

Giovanni opened the door and went inside, picked up the Poké Ball beside it, and pulled it out with some effort.

Kakuna's shell was indeed extremely hard, and its surface was quite warm, too, because the life inside was undergoing a transformation.

Giovanni said joyfully:

"This is great, Kakuna."

Kakuna rocked vigorously twice, just as it had back inside its Poké Ball, by way of answering Giovanni.

It was happy too, because it could feel itself growing stronger. This way, it could finally protect Giovanni.

As luck would have it, Doctor Liangmu returned just then. Upon seeing Kakuna, he hurried over to check its current condition.

"Both its potential and its body have improved dramatically. Once it gets through this stage, absorbs the energy completely, and evolves into Beedrill, it'll be even more extraordinary."

"I really misjudged it."

Giovanni recalled Kakuna into its Poké Ball. There was no helping it; having doubled in size, Kakuna was nearly a meter tall, making it awkward for him to carry.

He chuckled at Doctor Liangmu. "It's done well."

Doctor Liangmu was happy too. After all, this counted as completing his project. "Now you can finally get some proper rest, can't you?"

Giovanni nodded and thanked Doctor Liangmu. He also agreed to return once Kakuna evolved into Beedrill.

Only then did Giovanni finally go back to rest.

After waking up, Giovanni continued checking Kakuna's condition.

A normal Kakuna's transformation took two or three days at the fastest, or a week at the slowest.

Metapod was another matter. After all, there would be a classic example in the future.

As for Giovanni's Kakuna, it contained so much energy that fully absorbing it probably really wasn't something it could accomplish in a day or two.

Fortunately, it had a good owner. Giovanni could use Viridian Force to help it absorb the energy faster, greatly shortening the time needed.

But until Kakuna evolved, it wouldn't be able to train.

It couldn't even spar in Battle Class.

Because of the particular nature of Bug-type Pokémon, the Team Rocket members serving as teachers wouldn't give Giovanni a hard time over this.

After class.

Max ran over and asked Giovanni:

"Giovanni, did your Weedle evolve?"

Giovanni nodded. "Yes. There were some complications along the way, but it did evolve into Kakuna."

Max congratulated him happily. "Congratulations to both of you."

Giovanni simply nodded. "Thanks. It just won't be able to spar with Machop for a while."

"That's no problem. The two of us can still train," Max said, unbothered. But after saying that, he spoke to Giovanni with a somewhat secretive air:

"Have you heard about those guys? I mean, about how strong their Pokémon are."

Giovanni thought for a moment and guessed what Max was talking about. "I know. Why, has someone approached you recently too?"

Max didn't hide anything from Giovanni. He nodded. "Yes. A squad leader named Johnny approached me and even gave me quite a few resources."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Giovanni wasn't surprised. Max was quite strong, after all, so it was only natural that someone would take an interest in him.

Max hadn't expected this reaction from Giovanni. He asked in confusion, "Has someone approached you too?"

"How should I put it? You could say that." Giovanni smiled. He couldn't exactly tell Max that the person who had approached him was an executive, and that he hadn't gotten anything in the end.

That was what had led to him taking such a desperate risk afterward.

At that thought, Giovanni felt puzzled. Why had no one other than Aidos approached him?

Then he understood. With Aidos there, who else would dare approach Giovanni?

Max wasn't jealous of Giovanni either. "That makes sense. You're so strong, after all. Someone must have noticed you ages ago."

Giovanni shook his head and gave a couple of helpless chuckles.

Fortunately, even without relying on anyone else's power, he and Weedle had still managed it.

It was just that he had nearly died, and some of his secrets had been given away too.

He really had no control over his own circumstances!

Kakuna

Bug-type and Poison-type

Male

Potential: cyan

Ability: Shed Skin (In battle, at the end of each turn, it has a 1/3 chance of curing itself of any status condition other than fainting.)

Level: 11

Height: 0.9

Weight: 20 kg

Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot, Bug Bite, Harden

Egg Moves: none