Only after Nidoran♂ submitted did Giovanni let go of him.
Nidoran♂ hurriedly wriggled away from Giovanni. His whole body hurt so much.
At the same time, he had actually kept a trick up his sleeve. If Giovanni died from the poison, then to hell with submitting.
Especially when he saw that Giovanni's palm and body had already turned black.
Even the pain in his body seemed to ease a little.
Nidoran♂ would never be a slave!
But when he saw Giovanni take an Antidote from his pocket and drink it, instantly clearing the poison from his body...
He was utterly stunned.
He was so angry that he nearly dropped dead on the spot.
After all, his own injuries were far from light.
Giovanni touched the blood on his body, which had turned red again, and looked at Nidoran♂ bleeding nonstop on the floor. He said coldly, "I know you haven't fully submitted to me yet, but if you don't want to die, you'll have to listen to me!"
Giovanni raised a hand and pointed at Kakuna beside him, saying:
"See him? Once he evolves, you'll battle him. If you win, I'll let you go. If you lose, you'll behave yourself and be my Pokémon!"
Although Nidoran♂ sensed that Kakuna was strong, he would never admit defeat. Besides, this was his chance to regain his freedom.
He gave a low growl. "Woof!"
He seemed to have reached an understanding with Giovanni.
Only then did Giovanni lower his guard, though he did not put away his dagger.
Giovanni asked him, "Can you still stand? Forget it if you can't."
At those words, Nidoran♂ forced himself to his feet. "Woof!"
The little fellow was just like a stubborn puppy.
Giovanni did not use Viridian Force to help him recover. He did not trust this Nidoran♂ yet.
That would have to happen little by little.
He tentatively had Nidoran♂ perform a few movements according to his commands.
Giovanni knocked on the door, and the Team Rocket member outside opened it in some surprise.
How long had it been? Could this kid already be unable to hold out?
When he saw Giovanni covered in blood, he became even more certain of that idea. "Since you've come out early, I'll mark you down as a failure! You know the consequences, don't you?"
As he spoke, he moved to release his Pokémon.
But Giovanni said, "Who said I failed? I've already tamed my new Pokémon."
Naturally, the Team Rocket member refused to believe him. "How is that possible? Wild Pokémon are extraordinarily fierce. It's barely been any time at all. Even we need some time to manage it."
"It would take you kids a while just to work up the nerve to open the ball, wouldn't it?"
It was just as he said.
The other youths were still afraid to even open their Poké Balls, let alone tame what was inside.
Giovanni had indeed been a little too fast, making it rather difficult to believe.
But Giovanni pointed inside and said:
"If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
Seeing Giovanni so confident, the Team Rocket member began to waver.
To be thorough, he still went inside for a look.
Since he was responsible for watching the rooms in this section, he naturally had Giovanni's information and knew that Kakuna was his previous Pokémon.
That meant the new Pokémon could only be that Nidoran♂ covered in wounds.
"What...?"
Giovanni called directly to Nidoran♂:
"Nidoran♂, sit!"
Although Nidoran♂ was somewhat reluctant, when he saw the dagger Giovanni still held, he could only obediently comply.
Giovanni continued giving him commands. "Get up, then use Poison Sting on the wall!"
Nidoran♂ helplessly stood and spat a string of poison needles at the wall.
Clink, clink, clink!
The series of sounds shattered the Team Rocket member's doubts.
"Return, Nidoran♂, Kakuna!"
Nidoran♂ already had trouble moving, so Giovanni raised his hand and recalled both Nidoran♂ and Kakuna, then asked the Team Rocket member, "Well?"
With that, the Team Rocket member truly believed that Giovanni had subdued this Nidoran♂.
He put a check mark on the form and told Giovanni:
"You're really something, kid. All right, you can go."
"Thank you." Giovanni nodded, turned, and left. Drops of blood fell from his sleeve, yet his expression remained unchanged.
Behind him, the Team Rocket member clicked his tongue in admiration. "That kid really is ruthless."
Given Giovanni's relationship with Doctor Liangmu, getting his wounds bandaged at the infirmary was no problem at all. Doctor Liangmu even took it upon himself to treat Nidoran♂.
Giovanni also asked him for another bottle of Antidote, just in case.
He had learned his lesson!
Doctor Liangmu examined Nidoran♂ carefully, then said to Giovanni:
"This little fellow was caught in the wild, wasn't he? Honestly, the boss just has to put you all through hell."
"Yes." Giovanni did not particularly mind. He was not the only one taking risks; everyone else was taking the same risks as him.
Giovanni could count himself lucky.
Some of the others even encountered fully evolved Pokémon.
After half a day had passed, some of the youths had begun releasing the Pokémon in their Poké Balls.
Those lucky enough to encounter a gentle one might tame it straight away, while those a little less fortunate merely had to resort to a few methods.
But when some of the youths saw a fully evolved Pokémon, they were utterly stunned.
Barring any surprises, this would probably be the last Pokémon they ever faced.
As for whether they could tame that fully evolved Pokémon...
What a joke. Did he really think he was the protagonist?
Only trainers at Gym-level or above had the ability to tame fully evolved Pokémon.
These youths taming one? They could forget about it.
So the final outcome was merely to become food alongside their Pokémon, eventually turning into dung.
Lastly, taming their Pokémon also took them a very long time.
Whether they could tame them at all was another matter. Fortunately, Giovanni no longer had that concern.
Since he had subdued Nidoran♂, he also needed to collect his food.
Hera was somewhat surprised when she saw Giovanni. "Oh, brat, you're here already?"
Since the resources all went through her, finding out whether Giovanni was still alive could hardly have been easier if she wanted to know.
The same went for their progress at every stage, because those Pokémon had also been taken from her.
She was simply a little surprised that Giovanni had subdued his Pokémon so quickly.
Giovanni had guessed all this too, so he merely gave a faint smile. "Just luck."
Hera only gave Giovanni a long look. "You really are special, brat."
Then she checked the information on her computer and became even more surprised.
"Your Kakuna hasn't evolved yet, has he? How did you subdue that Nidoran♂?"
Giovanni slowly drew the dagger from his waist. "With this. When it comes down to it, I have you to thank."
Hera raised an eyebrow, then laughed heartily twice. "You're an interesting little brat! I really hope you'll be the final winner!"
Nidoran♂ Poison-type Male Potential: yellow Ability: Poison Point (when hit by a contact move, has a 30% chance of poisoning the opponent.) Level: 10 Height: 0.5 m Weight: 9 kg Moves: Leer, Poison Sting, Peck, Focus Energy Egg Moves: none
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