Giovanni hung the Incubator behind his back (Team Rocket uniforms had a place to hang an Incubator on the back) and fixed Nohara with a piercing stare.
Looking at Giovanni's scrawny frame, Nohara steeled himself and charged at him with a roar.
Although Giovanni had grown considerably stronger since his fight with Rattata, he was still much more slightly built than Nohara. In a head-on fight, Giovanni probably really would lose.
But Giovanni had the experience of two lifetimes behind him. Fighting a kid like this, he only needed to be more ruthless to scare him and gain the upper hand!
Not only that, he also needed to intimidate the others nearby. He had seen the looks in their eyes.
Did they really think he was a pushover anyone could bully?
He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Like a little Tauros gone berserk, Nohara charged at Giovanni.
Giovanni sidestepped, deftly avoiding Nohara's charge, and simultaneously threw a punch straight at the side of his face.
Bam! The punch landed with full force. The corner of Nohara's mouth split open instantly, blood slowly trickling down!
The pain only made Nohara angrier. He grabbed Giovanni's clothes with both hands and hurled him hard to the ground.
Then he moved to jump on Giovanni and pin him down.
At that moment, however, Giovanni suddenly raised his leg and kicked him in the groin.
Smack! Right in the balls!
Nohara's eyes nearly popped out. His face and neck flushed red, and he curled up like a boiled Clauncher.
The others nearby sucked in sharp breaths, involuntarily covering their crotches.
Giovanni took the opportunity to roll to his feet and rain down a barrage of punches and kicks, beating repeated screams out of Nohara.
But Nohara was tough enough to actually recover. Stronger than Giovanni, he turned the tables and pinned him to the ground.
"I'll kill you! I'm going to kill you!"
He punched Giovanni over and over, looking ready to beat him to death.
Giovanni could only cover his head and do his best to protect himself.
The boys around them watched the situation reverse. It seemed Giovanni had no chance of turning things around now.
"Next time he finds a Pokémon Egg, I get first dibs!"
"Why should you go first? I'm first."
It seemed that, in their eyes, Giovanni was already theirs for the taking!
But Giovanni was waiting for Nohara to exhaust his strength venting his anger.
As Nohara's strength gradually waned, Giovanni suddenly jerked his head up and smashed it hard into Nohara's vulnerable nose.
Crack! With a sharp snap, Nohara's nose caved in instantly. Blood gushed out, staining his face and the front of his clothes red.
He clutched his nose in agony, tears mixing with blood and blurring his vision.
His face bruised and swollen, Giovanni climbed off the ground, picked up an Incubator nearby, and aimed it at Nohara's head.
Nohara opened his eyes to the sight and begged Giovanni for mercy in terror:
"Wait, I was wrong! Boss, spare me! I don't want your Pokémon Egg anymore!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Giovanni smashed the Incubator down hard on Nohara's head.
Bam!
Once... twice... three times...
Until scarlet blood stained the ground red, and the Incubator was covered in flesh and blood.
Only after Nohara's body, his face mangled beyond recognition, twitched a few times and stopped moving did Giovanni casually toss the Incubator to the ground.
He coldly swept his gaze over the boys who had been watching, as well as the few who had arrived later.
Grabbing the white hair on Nohara's corpse, he dragged him aside and sat down on top of him.
He had already been nearly out of strength. He had forced himself to keep going and bludgeon Nohara to death only to intimidate those boys, to stop them from taking advantage of his plight and stealing his Pokémon Egg.
Seeing them no longer dare glance his way, pretending to be busy and trembling slightly with fear-
Giovanni knew his gamble had paid off!
In truth, his own hands were trembling involuntarily too, not just from exhaustion, but also because this was his first time killing someone.
Although he had seen plenty of dead people in the slums, killing someone for the first time felt completely different.
Giovanni felt every hair on his body stand on end. His body was a little cold, his empty stomach churned, and he instinctively wanted to retch.
But he held it all back.
"What a lunatic. It was just a Bug-type Pokémon Egg. Was that really necessary?"
"Yeah, aren't there plenty more here? It's not like he couldn't find another."
"Is he looking over here? He's not going to come kill me later, is he? I didn't say anything! Please don't come over!"
The nearby boys whispered among themselves, but every word reached Giovanni's ears.
Was that really necessary? Giovanni asked himself the same question.
But when he looked at the still-chaotic crowd, saw the blood flowing out from beneath their feet, and saw the bodies lying on the ground, trampled into bloody messes-
When he felt the Pokémon Egg rocking inside the Incubator behind him, along with the friendly awareness it conveyed-
Only then did Giovanni wipe the blood from his face. His wandering gaze gradually grew resolute, and he said in a low voice:
"It was! And it was worth it!"
This was Team Rocket. Murder was nothing out of the ordinary here.
If he could not even accept this much, he would only stagnate from here on. This was his chance to rise, and he would seize it.
As time passed, the first selection gradually drew to a close.
The trampling alone had left hundreds dead or injured, and the fighting over Eggs had injured many more. Although few had gone so far as to kill, some had, and probably more than a dozen people had been murdered.
Although those who died were in the minority, being injured was effectively the same as being disqualified.
Nearly all the Pokémon Eggs had been claimed. Even the Bug-type Pokémon Eggs over here had been taken, leaving none behind.
Quite a few people noticed Giovanni sitting on Nohara's corpse and recognized how ruthless he was.
Quite a few also took an interest in him.
If Giovanni had not tossed aside the Incubator he had used to bludgeon Nohara to death, probably no one would have dared pick it up in front of him.
In fact, Giovanni was rather busy now. After he was injured, that strange energy within him had started working again. He could see green light coursing through his body, healing his wounds.
This ability could also establish a connection with the Pokémon Egg he had returned to his arms. It could even work inside the Egg, helping it absorb more nutrient solution faster.
In short, this power was a good thing.
All these signs, coupled with the fact that he had only gained the ability after leaving Viridian Forest-
Giovanni pinched his cheek in disbelief. "Could it be the Viridian Force?!"
He looked again at the Bug-type Pokémon Egg in his arms and asked uncertainly:
"You wouldn't happen to be a Weedle, would you?"
The Pokémon Egg rocked, though what it meant was unclear.
Yet Giovanni felt as though he already had the answer. It really seemed almost certain!
He had even worried that he might run into Giovanni during this selection, so he had spent a long time watching the Bug-type, Ground-type, and Normal-type Eggs, afraid he would lose to him when the time came.
But now?
He placed his hand behind the Incubator and saw what he looked like with his hair cut short through it. His gaze gradually went blank.
So he was Giovanni all along!
Before you continue