As Giovanni's assistant, True Bird knew better than anyone just how precious Giovanni's time really was.
He finally hung up the phone.
Giovanni hadn't reacted yet, but Assistant True Bird was the first to let out a breath of relief.
Seeing the increasingly thick smile on Giovanni's face, True Bird really couldn't hold it in anymore and couldn't help but remind him:
"Leader, the time..."
Giovanni lowered his head to glance at his watch and let out a wry chuckle.
"It's fine. He's a good seedling, and quite capable too. I got excited when I saw a good prospect."
With that, he picked up his suit.
Put it on in a rather domineering and stylish way.
In his mind.
What surfaced was the scene from when he was still young: even though his mother, back then, was already the Leader of what counted as an underground organization but still not a very large Rocket Team, he had instead thrown himself into the League, pestering those League bigwigs of the time over and over, constantly seeking answers.
"He really is similar..."
...
Celestial Crown Mountain.
Natsuhiko, who had just hung up the communicator, stood silently at the edge of the cliff, replaying in his mind what he'd discussed with Giovanni.
From every elder, he had absorbed quite a lot of experience.
But none of them had explained things as directly as Giovanni.
Not that they weren't serious or thorough in their teaching, but only Giovanni's explanations were precise enough.
Because Giovanni had really used his Beedrill as a reference sample to explain things to Natsuhiko.
Even though Natsuhiko only mentioned that he had an Insect-type Pokémon and hadn't specifically revealed it was Beedrill, Giovanni still used his Beedrill as the reference.
Giovanni possessed the Power of the Eternal Plate, so some of his methods didn't apply to Natsuhiko and his Beedrill, but there was still a lot worth borrowing.
And it was precisely because of this that Natsuhiko felt as if a fog had suddenly lifted from his mind.
From one example, he could infer many others.
After fully understanding the issues Beedrill faced in improvement and training, and then combining the teachings of the other few with his other Pokémon, Natsuhiko gradually gained some ideas and direction.
Maybe.
After Giovanni retires, going to a Pokemon Academy to be a teacher would be a pretty good choice.
Because if you're going to teach, you have to first thoroughly digest everything yourself.
And Giovanni was without a doubt the one among the people Natsuhiko had consulted who had digested some of this knowledge the most thoroughly.
His strength was not just because he had endless resources stacked beneath him.
Otherwise.
Take the Leaders of Magma Team, Ocean Team, Plasma Team—people like Flarepine, Archie, Ghetsis. The resources they had might not match Giovanni's, but if you're talking about resources targeted at specific Pokémon, they were roughly on the same level.
So why hadn't they managed to raise a few particularly outstanding Pokémon?
Not to mention anything on par with Beedrill—just in Natsuhiko's view, they didn't even have anything on par with the Nidoking and Nidoqueen Giovanni had sent out earlier.
Natsuhiko let out a long breath.
He had gained knowledge.
But he had also accepted trouble.
...
...
One month later.
In the Hearthome City black market, Natsuhiko looked rather headache-stricken at the three in front of him.
Oh.
No.
It was two people plus one cat.
The famous Rocket Team trio!
The bunch who were shouting about "a white hole, a white tomorrow is waiting for us."
When Natsuhiko heard the assignment Giovanni had for him, he truly wanted to refuse from the bottom of his heart.
He never would've thought Giovanni would dump these three onto him.
Nor had he expected.
Before the Little Idiot even started his journey, this trio had already begun making "waves" within Rocket Team.
"Sir! Rocket Team rookie, Musashi!"
"James!"
"Meowth! Reporting to you! Meow~"
Sitting in the chair, Natsuhiko pressed at his temple.
These three, who had "special privileges" within Rocket Team, weren't people Natsuhiko could just casually brush off.
"You guys..."
"Honored Officer! We will definitely help you seize the Sinnoh Region and open up new territory for Rocket Team!" Musashi was the most excited.
When Boss Sakaki said he was sending them to assist a cadre working alone in the field, they were thrilled.
What was this?
This was Boss Sakaki's trust!
Natsuhiko: "..."
Including them, even counting himself, Rocket Team only had four—oh, three and a half—people in Sinnoh.
And they wanted to "seize Sinnoh"...
Right now, what Natsuhiko wanted most was to call Professor Oak.
To ask just how old the Little Idiot was this year, and when he was going to start his journey.
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PS: Another damn Valentine's Day! Get up and party! 11k~~ begging for monthly votes~