After returning Weedle to its Poké Ball, Giovanni tried to ditate, hoping to better understand the power within him, but he couldn't grasp it at all. It was like trying to see in a pitch-black room.
However, he didn't let it frustrate him. One step at a ti, he reminded himself.
Night fell. For the first ti in his mory, Giovanni lay down on a soft, clean bed, and for the first ti, he slept until he woke up naturally.
But it was not a peaceful sleep. The killing had followed him into his dreams. He saw faces twisted in terror. Then the dream warped, and he was killing countless others, standing atop a mountain of corpses in a sea of blood, his hands stained crimson.
He was jolted awake the next morning by the sharp, regular ring of the doorbell.
He got up, his body stiff, and opened the door— a Team Rocket grunt stood outside with a small cart. He checked a list on a clipboard.
"Number 9527, correct? This is your food for the day, and the food for your Pokémon."
Giovanni took the neatly packaged als and nodded his thanks. The grunt didn't linger, simply moving on to his next delivery.
Closing the door, Giovanni took a mont to let the reality of his situation sink in. He washed his face, then carefully placed Weedle's portion of food in a clean bowl. He took out the Poké Ball and released his partner.
"Wee..."
The little Pokémon erged and, instead of rushing to the food, imdiately crawled over and rubbed against Giovanni's leg, careful to keep its venomous horn away from his skin. Giovanni smiled, feeling as if he had an affectionate, clingy puppy. A very deadly puppy.
"Good morning, Weedle." He greeted his partner, then pointed to the food bowl. "Go on, eat up. We have so simple training to do today."
Weedle didn't know what "training" ant, but it understood "eat." It happily crawled over and began to devour its al. Watching it eat with such relish, Giovanni felt his own hunger stir, and he started on his own breakfast. The food provided by Team Rocket was surprisingly good—healthy, delicious, and free. A luxury he would never take for granted.
After they finished eating, Giovanni let Weedle digest for a while, checking its condition. The little Pokémon's muscles and energy levels were already much stronger than the day before. This early stage of a Pokémon's life was when they grew the fastest, making it a critical ti to develop combat awareness and lay a strong foundation.
He decided not to use the power of Viridian just yet. The best ti to replenish nutrition and energy was after training, when the body was exhausted and could absorb it most effectively. Besides, Giovanni needed to train his own body to strengthen his connection to that power. Before, he barely had enough food to survive, let alone train. Now, he had no excuse.
To create so space, he began moving the furniture in the living room, piling the tables, chairs, and sofa against one wall. By the ti he was done, the small warm-up had left him exhausted and drenched in sweat. Weedle had tried to "help," nudging a table leg with its head, but its tiny body could do little. Giovanni praised it anyway, not wanting to dampen its enthusiasm. The little Pokémon's eyes narrowed in happiness.
"Hah..." Giovanni took a deep breath. The room was ready. It was ti for formal training.
Physical strength was crucial for both humans and Pokémon. He began by crawling around the cleared space, with Weedle eagerly following him. After just a few minutes, Weedle was still full of energy, but Giovanni was panting, his lungs burning. An ordinary human's stamina couldn't compare to a Pokémon's, and Giovanni's malnourished body was weaker than most.
He collapsed onto the floor, his uniform completely soaked. Weedle stopped when he did, but Giovanni waved it on. "Don't worry about . Keep going."
Freed from his slow pace, Weedle zipped around the room, even crawling effortlessly up the walls and across the ceiling.
Giovanni watched with a bitter smile. "It's really who's holding us back."
He rested, then started doing push-ups. He managed three before his arms gave out. He was so weak, it was pathetic. Weedle, anwhile, was still energetically circling the ceiling.
Not wanting to overdo it on the first day, he called Weedle down to rest. He beckoned it over, placed his hands on its body, and activated the power of Viridian. A gentle green light enveloped them.
Just as he'd theorized, using the power after physical training was far more effective. He could feel the energy being absorbed much more efficiently, repairing muscle fiber and reinforcing Weedle's core strength, with no risk of post-training fatigue.
By the ti he was finished, it was noon. Both of them needed to replenish their energy. He was pleased to find the lunch delivery was still perfectly warm. As he ate, he could feel the power of Viridian helping his own body digest, efficiently transferring energy to his tired muscles and reactivating his cells.
After another short rest, the training began. Weedle currently knew two moves: Poison Sting and String Shot. It would learn Bug Bite eventually, but it was likely to evolve into a Kakuna first.
After evolving, its mobility and combat effectiveness would be drastically reduced. It was said that Kakuna could only use Harden. However, Giovanni vaguely rembered seeing one use Poison Sting in a battle once. It was uncertain, but sothing to hope for.
For now, the focus was on improving the speed and accuracy of Poison Sting. Its power was already sufficient; with Weedle's potent, diet-enhanced venom, even a scratch would be debilitating.
He placed a chair at the far end of the room. "Alright, Weedle," he instructed. "I want you to hit that chair. As many tis as you can, as fast as you can."
Though confused, Weedle obeyed without question. The master must have his reasons.
Hiss. Hiss. Hiss.
A volley of sharp, poisonous needles shot from the horn on Weedle's head, each one striking the chair with a sharp thwack.
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