Beedrill's terrifying strength

And Beedrill's slaughter continued.

Beedrill's patterned, transparent wings were like sharp blades. Every beat brought a piercing whistle as they sliced through the air, leaving silver trails.

Beedrill was terrifyingly fast.

Lian Xiu shouted to the Mankey Beedrill had set its sights on, "Mankey, Fury Swipes!"

Mankey roared, its arms only just beginning to move.

"Fury Attack!"

Giovanni's voice rang out, and Beedrill swung its two lance-like stingers over and over, leaving trails of afterimages.

Pfft, pfft...

A torrent of blood followed the barrage of attacks!

As Mankey fell, riddled with holes, its corpse broke into pieces. Lian Xiu slumped to the ground in despair. Beside him, Meowth had just succumbed to the poison and collapsed as well.

Faced with the Pokémon's frenzied attacks!

Giovanni called to Beedrill:

"Beedrill, String Shot! Harden!"

Beedrill sprayed strands of silk, blocking all the moves that were easy to stop.

Then it raised its twin stingers, which gleamed with a metallic sheen, and blocked the attacks that followed or dodged them with incredible speed.

Some foolish boys tried to kill Giovanni first.

But when they turned their heads, Beedrill had already appeared before them, swinging its bloodstained stingers.

Some were impaled; others clutched their throats, blood flowing between their fingers as they fell to the ground in despair. In the end, they could only embrace death, all life gone!

Giovanni's voice was like the whisper of death. Every time it rang out, Pokémon and boys died. "String Shot, Poison Sting, Fury Attack, Fury Cutter!"

The Pokémon and boys fled in terror, throwing themselves against the sealed doors, pounding on them, crying for help and wailing!

Mutilated corpses and great quantities of crimson blood stained the training ground blood-red, painting ominous patterns.

Several wretched, mutilated corpses lay at the doors.

The wings on Beedrill's back vibrated. Its body and stingers were stained red with blood and covered in chunks of flesh.

Whether its red eyes had been stained by blood or something else had happened, they were redder than before.

Another shrill scream rang out as Beedrill sliced the Butterfree crouching on the ground, which had never dared to attack, clean in half.

Its pleas for mercy did not soften Beedrill's heart at all, just as the boys' pleas had not shaken Giovanni in the slightest.

Beedrill pried out an insect sac, opened its mouth, and swallowed it.

A trace of brutality appeared in its eyes as it turned to look at the only ones left on the field, Machop and Max, brimming with murderous intent.

Because they had trained together before, it had not attacked the two of them earlier.

But now!

Giovanni suddenly called to Beedrill:

"Come back, Beedrill. There's no hurry."

The murderous intent in Beedrill's eyes faded, and it returned to Giovanni's side.

The disheveled Max stood opposite Giovanni, who did not have a single drop of blood on his clothes.

The wounded, bloodied Machop faced Beedrill, which looked like a demonic god bathed in blood!

Max forced a smile. "Beedrill really is strong. Machop probably still isn't a match for it. Did you deliberately wait until today?"

Giovanni shook his head. "No. It could have been even stronger, but it came out early."

"You're still just as special! Ever since you were the first to hatch Weedle, I thought you were amazing." Max chuckled, a little relief appearing in his eyes.

After a moment of silence, he spoke to Giovanni in a trembling voice:

"I'm no match for you, but I really don't want to die."

Giovanni nodded. "I know. But you understand too-none of this is something you or I can choose! If there's anything to blame, it's that we don't have the power to choose everything."

Tears glimmered at the corners of Max's eyes. "Yeah!"

His burly body relaxed a little as he slowly sat on the ground, picked up a dagger, and waved it in his hand. "Actually, I didn't finish what I was saying before. I'd thought that once I joined the Saffron Gym, I could give my little brother a good life... He's always looked up to me... I was too ashamed to go home."

"He may still be a little squirt, but he's actually more talented than me. I used to knock him down a peg all the time so he wouldn't get too proud."

As he said this, a rare look of embarrassment appeared on his face.

But he soon composed himself, and his face once again wore an earnest smile.

"Later, I ran into Mother on the street. She told me to be her son. At the time, I thought she was crazy."

"But Mother helped me send a hundred thousand Pokémon Coins home. That should be enough for my family to live on, and maybe it could even let my little brother become an apprentice at Saffron City's Gym."

"So I don't hate Mother. I'm talking a bit too much. Don't get annoyed."

Giovanni shook his head, not minding this little bit of time. "It's fine. You're a very good older brother."

Max smiled at Giovanni and spoke as though joking with him:

"If you get the chance, go knock him down a peg for me. Don't let him get too proud! Tell him you're my brother! That I told you to teach him a lesson."

"Make sure you tell him I'm even stronger than you! That way, he'll work even harder!"

"If he asks where I am, tell him he isn't strong enough yet and doesn't deserve to know."

Giovanni saw that Max had made up his mind, so he nodded. "If I get the chance, I will."

Max continued, "I originally wanted to fight you one more time and have you kill me yourself.

"That way, you'd be more wary of this world, and you'd be more like the future leader of a criminal organization."

He looked at Giovanni's eyes and cold face, which had remained unchanged from beginning to end, and spoke with some envy and heartache:

"But I realized you don't need that. You're far stronger than any of us! You fit the part better than any of us."

He stroked the battered Machop beside him, his eyes very gentle and his voice reluctant to part. "And if that happened, Machop might fight you to the death. I know that if it did, you'd kill it without hesitation."

"I want it to live."

He suddenly recalled Machop into its Poké Ball before it could even react.

The Poké Ball shook constantly, because Machop understood what Max was about to do and was struggling.

Max locked the Poké Ball and tossed it to Giovanni, because only by doing this would Giovanni spare Machop's life.

Giovanni raised a hand and caught Machop's Poké Ball, while Max raised his hand and plunged the dagger into his chest. The intense pain twisted his face somewhat, but there was more relief than anything else.

Someone like him was not suited to Team Rocket. Even if he did not die today, he would die someday.

Thud!

His body toppled to the ground, but there was a smile on his lips.

Giovanni did not go over and make some sentimental display. He simply said quietly:

"From today on, I'll keep going for you as well."

"I, Giovanni, will be undefeated!"

Beedrill

Bug-type and Poison-type

Male

Potential: Blue

Ability: Swarm (When a Pokémon with Swarm is badly injured and low on stamina, the power of its Bug-type moves increases.)

Level: 17

Height: 1.49 m

Weight: 50 kg

Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot, Bug Bite, Harden, Fury Attack, Fury Cutter, Sharpen

Egg Moves: None