Yamaguchi's loyalty was not to Arui. The squad leader had been saved by a Captain nad Ank—the thinner one who had been in Petrel's room.
Because of Mada Boss's command, even if Ank had ten tis the courage, he wouldn't dare let anything happen to Arui directly.
After saving Arui's life from a previous "accident", Ank had assigned so of his own n— Yamaguchi and the rest, to follow Arui and "help" him complete his missions.
In reality, he was hedging his bets, seizing the opportunity to gain control over a potential successor.
This was why Arui had so confidently threatened Yamaguchi earlier— but Arui, blinded by his own ambition, only saw the pursuit. He didn't see the questioning gazes his followers were now directing at their squad leader.
"Why go to such unnecessary lengths?" Yamaguchi's face was grim, his eyes cold as he watched Arui's retreating figure. "How could a brat like this possibly lead Team Rocket to its peak?"
The others exchanged glances, surprised. Captain Yamaguchi, who usually obeyed Arui implicitly, had completely changed his attitude. "Then, Captain? What should we do?"
"Follow him," Yamaguchi snorted. "If we encounter a Pokémon we can't defeat, we retreat. Let him die with that Giovanni brat."
"Yes, sir!" the others nodded in agreent, continuing the pursuit.
Arui, completely unaware of the conspiracy behind him, continued to chase Giovanni. He saw Yamaguchi and the others following and just scoffed. No matter how much they try to curry favor, they'll only ever be my underlings.
— — —
Up ahead, Giovanni was still fleeing. Just as he was about to slow down, he discovered that they were still chasing him as if their lives depended on it. He was getting annoyed. He had to constantly be on the lookout for powerful wild Pokémon while also worrying about the pursuers behind him. They, on the other hand, just had to chase.
His brows were tightly furrowed, but then he saw a bouncing figure on a large tree in the distance. His eyebrows raised— it was that owth.
What a coincidence! It had a lot of guts to venture this deep into the forest. Everything started because of it. It shouldn't get off easy.
He imdiately ran towards it. "Beedrill, go! Find it!"
As they got close, Beedrill carried him into the air, flying up behind the owth. When the clever cat sensed sothing was wrong, its ears twitched. It turned its head and imdiately bristled. Why is this human impossible to shake off? Wasn't it just two berries and a Rattata?
It angrily cried out at Giovanni, "owth!" then flicked its tail, using Swift again. Beedrill, however, was ready this ti. It used Poison Sting to block the attack, then let out a proud Bug Buzz.
The owth was stunned; it hadn't expected Beedrill to get its revenge so quickly— but now wasn't the ti to dwell on that. It had to deal with this annoying human.
It twitched its ears again and saw Arui and his squad pursuing from behind. It hadn't expected Giovanni to lead his troubles here. It was furious.
The pursuers also spotted it. "It's that owth!"
"What a coincidence! Let's get rid of it too!"
"I'm going to skin it!"
"I'll turn it into a at bun!"1
The owth saw that things were going badly and imdiately turned to run— but Giovanni didn't give it the chance. "Just follow it!" he shouted to his Beedrill. "Don't let it get away! Use String Shot!"
Beedrill was fully prepared. It spat a stream of silk that stuck perfectly to the owth's back, creating a long tether. The cat's escape speed instantly slowed. It frantically swept its tail, trying to get rid of the sticky thread, but underestimated its toughness. It roared furiously at Giovanni.
"Don't bla for tricking you; you tricked first," Giovanni said without a shred of embarrassnt. He felt it was already quite generous that he hadn't just killed it.
The owth hadn't expected him to be so shaless— but with pursuers hot on its heels, it had no choice but to accept defeat. Seeing them getting closer, Giovanni gritted his teeth and asked the owth,
"You're most familiar with this forest. Are there any powerful Pokémon nearby? Ones that can stop those guys behind us? It's best if they can ambush them. Isn't that what you're good at?"
When the owth heard this, its ears imdiately perked up, a sly glint in its eyes. It cried out to Giovanni twice, then darted off in a new direction. Beedrill, carrying Giovanni, had no choice but to follow.
"Be careful," Giovanni quietly told his partner. "This one is cunning. Don't let it trick us." Beedrill nodded, not letting down its guard.
After fleeing for a while longer, they arrived at an open area. The trees here were scattered and broken, as if struck down by so imnse force. The surrounding rocks and land also showed signs of heavy damage.
The owth, who had been running, suddenly leaped onto a huge rock and shook its head at Giovanni, signaling sothing.
This little guy is truly mischievous, Giovanni thought, his eyes twinkling. It could even find this place. He smiled slightly and had Beedrill land on the sa large rock, keeping so distance from the owth.
They, who had been frantically fleeing, now looked as if they were waiting for sothing. The owth, in particular, had its head raised, a hint of pure arrogance in its posture.
— — —
T/N : 5 well constructed reviews (not counting the previous ones) and I'll grace all of you with 3 additional chapters.
where I'm from, we have this running gag where cat at is used to make siopao (at bun) and rat at is used to make siomai (dim sum dumplings)
so I added it here
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