Another week passed, and the journey continued, drawing closer to Cerulean City.
Some good things had happened these past few days.
For example, Persian, which had finally reached the Gym Leader Level, leveled up once. It was the first Pokémon Giovanni had personally nurtured to break through to the Gym Leader Level.
In addition, Haunter, which had the lowest level but currently the best aptitude, leveled up twice, reaching Level 37, and learned the Sucker Punch move.
After Giovanni absorbed the accumulated energy within it, Dugtrio also leveled up twice and learned the Fissure move.
However, Giovanni's eyes flickered as he looked at Machoke and Haunter.
If possible, he might need to prepare for the research on trade evolution in advance.
However, this point seemed impossible with the current technology of Team Rocket and the Pokémon World. Giovanni only had a vague idea.
As for the principle of trade evolution, Giovanni guessed that it might be due to the confusion of positive and negative energy during the trade, which led to a mutation in the Pokémon's internal energy, thus causing evolution.
This point still required research.
Cerulean City was an opportunity this time. He needed to see if there was a chance to trick a few excellent Researchers for Team Rocket.
Alternatively, he planned to present this idea to Professor Oak. If he could help, this difficulty would be quickly overcome.
He just didn't know if Professor Oak had time.
After all, given how busy this Champion was, he really didn't have time.
So, this would have to be seen upon arrival.
Life in the wild was monotonous. Fortunately, Giovanni had restocked supplies in Pewter City, so he didn't have to worry about going hungry.
Giovanni sat on a stone stool, a burning bonfire in front of him. Several thick branches were propped over it, and on the branches were several Pidgey and Rattata that had been stripped of their fur.
These were caught by Persian. It had recently become a bit picky and started to prefer cooked food.
Of course, it would only eat after it had cooled down.
At this moment, it had gone hunting again because it felt that this much wasn't enough for it.
Moreover, there were several big eaters lurking, ready to snatch everything if they opened their mouths.
Giovanni watched the crackling bonfire and murmured, "Persian has been gone for half a day, why hasn't it returned yet?"
From the shadow at his feet, Haunter slowly poked out its head, indicating if he needed it to go check.
Giovanni irritably patted it, "What are you thinking? If a Gym Leader Level Pokémon gets into trouble, do you need to help it?"
Haunter nodded, "Kek."
Then it slowly retreated back into Giovanni's shadow, acting as a guard, a guard in the shadows.
After a long while, Giovanni raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look in one direction, "What kind of guy did this little fellow bring back?"
As Giovanni's words fell, Persian appeared from the adjacent forest. It moved through the trees, carrying a humanoid figure in its mouth.
However, the energy fluctuations within the figure were extremely low, and coupled with Persian's movements, the constant jostling almost knocked out its last breath.
Splat!
Moreover, when Persian reached Giovanni, it let go of its mouth without a hint of hesitation.
It stepped over the guy and came before Giovanni, rubbing against his leg.
Giovanni dotingly rubbed Persian's face, "You little fellow, did you bring this back as an extra meal for Haunter?"
As soon as Giovanni said this, Haunter, from the shadow at his feet, specifically poked out its head, looked at the fallen guy, and licked its mouth with its tongue.
"Meow." Persian turned its head to glance at the guy behind it and growled softly at Giovanni.
Giovanni naturally understood that Persian certainly didn't bring this over as an extra meal for Haunter; he was just making a joke.
However, if this guy really died, he wouldn't mind giving Haunter an extra meal.
It seemed Arceus was blessing him, or perhaps he sensed that if he didn't come alive now, he would truly become someone else's food.
"Save me." The person whispered, coughing twice.
Giovanni frowned and slowly walked over, looking down at the guy at his feet.
Watching the slowly dimming green eyes, he pondered for a moment, then slowly crouched down and placed his hand on him.
It wasn't Giovanni being a kind heart; rather, his sixth sense and Power of Viridian were telling him that this person seemed very useful to him.
A faint green glow appeared, and the person's breathing began to stabilize, pulled back from the brink of death.
The person was pulled back from the spirit world, but the body's hunger remained, "Water... food."
Giovanni didn't do it himself; he just instructed Haunter, "Haunter, get him some water and food, and feed him."
Haunter reluctantly flew out, pulling out a bottle of water and a piece of bread.
However, because this person currently couldn't eat on his own,
It could only chew the food and water and feed it to the guy in front of it little by little.
To be honest, it was a bit jarring to watch, until a peaceful expression appeared on the person's face.
Only then did it turn its head and directly burrow into Giovanni's shadow.
Today, it lost its first kiss, and to a dirty human, alas.
Then, under Giovanni's surprised gaze,
This guy, even though he was rescued by Giovanni and Haunter, should still have been depleted and would need several days to recover.
After eating the bread and drinking the water, the withered energy in his body instantly swelled, and the person directly leaped up from the ground, completely refreshed.
"I'm alive!"
Giovanni looked at this strange guy, his feet involuntarily retreating two steps.
However, the person suddenly turned to look at Giovanni, with immense fervor in his eyes, "Benefactor, you saved me, didn't you?"
He touched his lips, his eyes filled with immense gratitude, "To save me like this! How can I repay this kindness?"
He slid forward and knelt before Giovanni with such speed that Giovanni couldn't even dodge, and he directly embraced Giovanni's leg.
In front of the bonfire, hugging and embracing.
This action, this scene, was truly a bit jarring.
"Let go of me." Several veins instantly popped on Giovanni's forehead. He somewhat regretted saving this guy. He shouldn't have trusted any sixth sense or Power of Viridian.
He now just wanted to crush the guy in front of him.
Fortunately, just as Giovanni was about to completely erupt in anger and murderous intent,
The person let go of Giovanni and, with a sudden move, directly embraced Persian, "You were the one who just saved me from the forest, right? I remember, Persian, thank you so much!"
Persian was startled at first, then raised its paw and slapped the person, sending him flying.
The person fell headfirst to the ground, and several Poké Balls rolled out from his waist.
[A/N: I'm sorry for the late upload but we just had our feasibility study done last week and final exams yesterday, I hope you can understand.]