Nephew? More like an illegitimate child, no?
Ritsuki muttered to himself.
A kid who popped out of nowhere, and Giovanni gifted him a house, along with all this bizarre equipnt...
Ritsuki seriously suspected that Stephen was the result of one of Giovanni's past indiscretions during so adventurous outing. Perhaps Giovanni had only recently discovered him and, to make ands, was lavishing him with gifts.
Rich people's imaginations truly knew no bounds.
"Ahem—this is Mr. Ritsuki, president of Sandslash Real Estate," Giovanni coughed, steering the conversation.
"His daughter is about your age."
Ritsuki smiled warmly.
"Stephen-kun, you should visit our ho soti. I'll introduce you to her."
Internally, Ritsuki was now 99% convinced that Stephen was Giovanni's illegitimate child.
Even though Ritsuki was a renowned tycoon in the Johto region, he couldn't compare to Giovanni—the most powerful gym leader in the Kanto League. If his daughter could connect with Giovanni's son, wouldn't that be a straight shot to the top?
"Is she pretty?"
Stephen asked reflexively.
It was a primal response, ingrained in male DNA. Stephen was no celibate protagonist dragged through endless Chapters without romance.
Both Giovanni and Ritsuki froze for a mont.
Well, that was... realistic.
"Haha! Don't worry, my daughter has perfectly inherited the best genes from and her late mother," Ritsuki said with a hearty laugh, breaking the silence.
What he feared most was Stephen showing no interest.
Giovanni chuckled too.
"Hey, isn't it a bit early for a ten-year-old to think about these things?"
Stephen shrugged.
He wanted to retort: Do you even know how many girls Ash Ketchum has wooed by the age of ten?
If his heart wasn't solely devoted to Pikachu, Delia might have been a grandmother by 35.
But considering that Ash was likely still in diapers—or possibly not even talking—during this ti period, Stephen let it slide.
After a few more pleasantries, Ritsuki left with his staff, promising to arrange a al with Giovanni later.
anwhile, the Machoke Moving Company workers helped set up the basic facilities. Stephen could hardly wait to begin his research journey in the Pokémon world.
...
"Don't worry, Umbreon, this won't hurt... huh?"
As Stephen prepared to draw so blood from Umbreon to examine her condition, he noticed multiple bruises and signs of impact trauma on her body.
When he had carried her to bed yesterday, these injuries weren't there.
"What happened? Did sothing occur while I was out?"
Stephen's expression darkened.
Could there have been an intruder?
"Umm... umm..."
Umbreon avoided his gaze, lowering her head and shaking it gently.
"...Fine, if you don't want to talk, you don't have to."
After a mont of silence, Stephen decided not to press her further. But even if she wanted to explain, the language barrier would have made it nearly impossible.
This highlighted the importance of a Pokémon like owth. Just being able to communicate equally with humans and Pokémon could have made Team Rocket's trio wealthy beyond belief.
Why they remained broke was a mystery Stephen couldn't fathom.
Stephen began examining Umbreon's condition thoroughly. Once he confird she was not seriously hurt, he finally relaxed.
"Uncle, why don't you bring out your Pokémon too?"
Stephen suggested.
"For what?"
Giovanni asked, instinctively wary.
"Just Umbreon isn't enough for my research, right? You've got plenty of Pokémon, don't you?"
Stephen replied with a mischievous grin.
Giovanni rolled his eyes but eventually relented. Since Stephen only wanted to draw so blood, there wasn't much reason to object.
He released his signature Pokémon, including Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and even his ace, Beedrill.
The already familiar Nidoking was cooperative, but as Stephen approached Beedrill with a syringe, the champion-level Pokémon instinctively radiated killing intent toward him.
"Umbree!"
Umbreon imdiately leaped off the examination table, baring her teeth and growling at the much stronger Pokémon—a real case of the fearless young challenging the mighty.
"Easy, Beedrill. He's on our side," Giovanni reassured his Pokémon, calming the tension.
Watching Stephen draw blood from Beedrill, Giovanni couldn't help but feel a twinge of surprise.
"Not many people can stay this calm under Beedrill's killing intent," he remarked.
"You get used to it," Stephen replied nonchalantly.
Compared to the sheer intimidation of the Conqueror's Haki in One Piece, your little killing intent isn't worth much.
Stephen sared the blood samples onto slides and placed them under a microscope.
"Now this... this is fascinating," he murmured, a grin of excitent spreading across his face.
It was the sa kind of grin you'd see on soone discovering treasure.
"What's so interesting?"
Giovanni asked out of curiosity, though this wasn't his area of expertise.
"Eevee's DNA reminds of a species I once studied..."
Stephen explained how Eevee's genetic structure was incredibly unstable, allowing it to adapt to environntal changes and integrate with its surroundings. This was likely why Eevee had so many evolutionary paths.
It reminded him of the Lunarian race he had studied previously—the sa race as King from the Beast Pirates in One Piece.
Lunarians were called a godly race, with unmatched adaptability that allowed them to survive in extre environnts and integrate with various genetic materials.
Stephen thought of Vegapunk's experints, which led to the creation of Seraphim—cloned Lunarians with genetic material from the Warlords of the Sea.
The adaptability of Eevee's DNA bore striking similarities.
Moreover, it made Stephen think of Pokémon capable of changing forms and attributes, such as Deoxys, Silvally, and even Arceus.
Could Eevee have untapped potential in this area?
Excited by the possibilities, Stephen stopped talking and focused on manipulating his equipnt, occasionally jotting down notes.
"Where did this kid even learn all this?"
Giovanni wondered as he watched in amazent.
From Stephen's proficiency, he looked no less skilled than the scientists Giovanni kept in Rocket Team's secret labs.
And what did he an by studying before?
At what age?
Was he conducting research in the womb?
Years later in the future, when Giovanni recounted his experiences with Stephen, he often began with this line:
"This was my first eting with the one known as the 'A Brain with 500 Years Ahead of His Ti'... the greatest mind of our era."
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