“Mr. Giovanni, if we don’t evacuate soon, Lance will arrive!” his assistant urged, trying to persuade Giovanni to temporarily give up his confrontation with Red.

“Heh! Do you think that arrogant young man, Lance, can contend with me?” Giovanni said disdainfully, his eyes gradually burning with battle intent. “This kid… he’s actually getting my blood pumping.”

The cramped office couldn’t accommodate the battle of four Pokémon. In no time, the ceiling was torn open, transforming the top-floor office into a vast battleground open to the sky.

“Charizard, use Flamethrower! Gyarados, use Ice Fang!”

With the sky as their battleground, Charizard flapped its massive wings to gain the upper hand, spewing scorching flames from its mouth. Below, the Blood-Red Gyarados opened its gaping maw, its icy teeth biting fiercely at Nidoking.

“Nidoqueen, use Water Pulse! Nidoking, use Thunderbolt!” Giovanni calmly commanded.

The scorching flames were swallowed by the Water Pulse, evaporating into a cloud of mist that was quickly dissipated by the wind whipping through the ruined office. Under Nidoking’s Thunderbolt attack, the Blood-Red Gyarados was forced to transform into its ‘Evil Dragon Form’, trying to counteract the super-effective move as much as possible.

“The power of that Water Pulse is unreasonable,” Red mused, his eyes narrowing. “Could Nidoqueen’s ability be…?” His tone was speculative, but his mind had already locked onto the answer.

“Sheer Force. That is Nidoqueen’s ability. It can increase the effect of moves like Water Pulse by a full thirty percent,” Giovanni said lightly, not bothering to hide his Pokémon’s data. This was his confidence as a powerful trainer.

(Sheer Force: The power of attacking moves with additional effects is increased by 30%, but these moves’ additional effects no longer activate.)

“Then I no longer need to test you,” Red said calmly, slowly pulling down his hat. His visible left eye gradually turned a chilling crimson, and a terrifying aura instantly covered the entire field. The four Pokémon affected by it changed simultaneously.

“Battle Intent… truly an excellent young man. It makes me nostalgic for your naivete when you first came to the Viridian Gym,” Giovanni reminisced as a verdant aura began to appear around him. This energy covered both Nidoking and Nidoqueen, not only neutralizing the pressure of Red’s Battle Intent but also gradually healing their injuries.

This was the Viridian Power that Giovanni once possessed.

“An aura triggered by Viridian Power?” Red said, his own Viridian Power uncontrollably resonating with Giovanni’s.

“Indeed. You also received the blessing of Viridian Forest. No wonder I vaguely sensed its power from you,” Giovanni revealed with an ‘I knew it’ expression. “A holder of Viridian Power can sense the presence of others like them. Even if my own is gradually fading, sensing a kindred spirit is still easy.”

“I also didn’t expect that the young man who once received the blessing of Viridian Forest would now become the leader of Team Rocket, aiding evil. Truly, time spares no one,” Red scoffed. Viridian Power should have been a gift for kind-hearted humans, but the current Giovanni had deviated from his youthful path, causing the power within him to become unstable.

“Hahahaha! Kid, do you know why I chose to forgive you again and again?” Giovanni laughed, covering his face, then looked at Red coldly. “Because I see my younger self in you—just as ignorant and just as arrogant! And now, I’m going to crush that blind confidence of yours completely!”

At Giovanni’s command, Nidoking quickly used Double Kick, hitting the Blood-Red Gyarados. Because of the previous Thunderbolt, the Gyarados didn’t change its form in time and was struck by the full force of the move, taking considerable damage.

“Dragon Rush!”

Charizard, flapping its wings, roared and plummeted from above, covered in a purple-gold draconic might, transforming into a giant energy dragon that devoured everything in its path.

“Nidoqueen, use Iron Tail!” Giovanni said calmly.

Nidoqueen leaped with force, swinging its tail, which burst with white light, sideways toward Charizard. But Charizard’s Dragon Rush was not something that could be easily resisted. After a brief struggle, Nidoqueen was the first to fail, crashing to the ground. Meanwhile, Nidoking, battling the Blood-Red Gyarados, had its arm fiercely bitten when the Gyarados willingly endured a Double Kick to land its own attack. Its right arm was frozen by the Gyarados’s chilling teeth, and then it was knocked away with a powerful Aqua Tail.

“It seems these two Pokémon alone can’t stop you for now,” Giovanni said, recalling Nidoking and Nidoqueen. “The reason I released my Viridian Power was to tell you one thing: the one battling you now is not Team Rocket’s leader, Giovanni. It’s Giovanni, the Pokémon Trainer.”

Then, witnessed by everyone, Giovanni slowly tossed an Ultra Ball he had already prepared.

A white light dissipated, and a Beedrill appeared, moving with lightning speed behind the Blood-Red Gyarados and using X-Scissor to forcibly push the massive sea serpent back several meters.

Charizard, seeing its companion injured, became enraged, using Flamethrower to try and defeat the Beedrill.

“Drill Run!” Giovanni commanded.

Beedrill quickly flapped its wings, spinning itself like a steel drill to pierce through the flames. It then delivered a fatal strike to Charizard’s neck, temporarily cutting off its breath.

“Charizard, Gyarados, come back first!” Red recalled his two Pokémon. Just as the President of Silph Co. thought the situation was lost and despairingly prepared to sign the unequal contract, Red threw another Poké Ball.

“I’m counting on you, Beedrill!”

“What?!” the President of Silph Co. and Giovanni’s assistant exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Red to also send out a Beedrill.

“It seems that Beedrill has grown quite a bit,” Giovanni said with a slight surprise. As a Beedrill trainer himself, he could naturally see that Red had undergone significant changes.

“The bond between me and my Beedrill will never lose to yours, Giovanni!” Red stated firmly, synchronizing his Battle Intent with his partner as a terrifying pressure erupted completely.

“I am pleased with your growth. You truly are the young man I acknowledged,” Giovanni said with a hint of excitement. “Yes! Yes, only you can get my blood pumping like this, Red from Pallet Town!”

The Viridian Power disappeared from Giovanni’s side, replaced by another, even more powerful aura.

“This is a new power I comprehended after losing my Viridian Power, an aura even more potent than the last… Earth Power!” Giovanni slowly explained. “Compared to Viridian Power, which requires acknowledgment, Earth Power is more suitable for me now.”

If Battle Intent unleashes a trainer’s will to fight and Viridian Power is the embodiment of unwavering belief, then the Earth Power Giovanni now radiated was something else entirely. It was an insurmountable peak, an absolute pressure that threatened to crush any who dared to stand against him.

“Is this why you are known as ‘Giovanni of the Earth’?” Red said seriously. “You truly are an unfathomable opponent.” As a user of Battle Intent, he understood that the power emanating from Giovanni was of the highest tier.

(End of Chapter)

***

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