Torterra was poisoned, Gloom's combat power was limited, and Meganium could not hold out alone. With Aoi Maiko's death, Tetsuya could now completely control these three Pokémon. What he needed to do now was retrieve their Poké Balls from her body.
At this moment, Cherubi, the Pokémon that had protected Maiko, was lying on top of her corpse. "Spinarak, make it move."
Spinarak on his shoulder used Poison Sting, firing it toward Cherubi. However, Cherubi seemed to have lost all awareness, allowing the dense barrage of Poison Stings to strike its body.
Tetsuya was also extremely surprised, but he could clearly sense Cherubi's vitality. Just as he was about to approach, Cherubi's entire body emitted a dazzling white light!
Tetsuya's heart trembled at the sight. Cherubi was drawing out all the energy in its body to use something like Self-Destruct, preparing to take him down with it!
The reason this Cherubi had been able to serve as Maiko's personal "bodyguard" was undoubtedly because it was utterly loyal to her. Now that Maiko was dead, it seemed determined to follow its Trainer in death.
Cherubi was powerful. If it drew out all of its energy to self-destruct, everything within a half kilometer radius would inevitably suffer. Tetsuya did not dare hesitate for even a moment and immediately recalled all of his Pokémon.
Fortunately, Ditto had Transformed into Golurk. Tetsuya sat on Ditto's shoulder, and they took flight!
Just as they burst out of the forest…
...Boooooom!!!
With a tremendous explosion, dust billowed across the ground, and trees were directly blasted away. The devastation spiraled completely out of control. Tetsuya looked down below, unable to make out anything clearly.
Although everything within a half kilometer radius had been razed to the ground, debris from the explosion obstructed his view. With no other choice, he could only wait patiently.
At this moment, precisely, a Pidgeot flew over from the distance with someone riding on its back. Although Tetsuya could not make out the person's face, he had already guessed that it was Ezaki.
Sure enough!
"...tsuya! Tetsuya! I've had such a hard time finding you!" As Pidgeot drew closer, Ezaki kept shouting.
Only when he reached Tetsuya did he stop.
"So! Did you find anything?" Ezaki asked.
"Mm, look." Tetsuya pointed toward the forest below, where the scene was in complete chaos.
"Eh…? What is this?" Ezaki asked in confusion.
"That Jynx, the culprit, Aoi Maiko, committed suicide out of fear of punishment," Tetsuya said.
Ezaki revealed an almost horrified expression, but there was nothing he could say. He fell silent…
Only after the dust settled did all the debris finally return to the ground.
Tetsuya and Ezaki descended. Not a single intact body could be seen anymore, including those of the three Pokémon. Tetsuya found it extremely regrettable…
An enormous fortune had been destroyed by a single Cherubi!
Ezaki photographed the scene as evidence and made a record of it, which could also be considered an accomplishment.
Naturally, Tetsuya also needed to take photographs as evidence, though his were meant for Giovanni. Giovanni would never easily trust anyone. He only believed in facts.
---◓---
After leaving the forest, Tetsuya parted ways with Ezaki. He could consider his revenge complete, and he now had an explanation for Giovanni as well.
Given Giovanni's generosity and Team Rocket's current severe shortage of "talent", the compensation for this matter would certainly be considerable.
Near the Safari Zone was a town that was also quite prosperous. All kinds of Trainers gathered here, from both sides of the law.
The Safari Zone was an open area specifically established by the Indigo League for local Pokémon Trainers to catch Pokémon.
Any Trainer registered in the Kanto Region could enter the Safari Zone with their Pokédex. They were given only thirty Safari Balls, so theoretically, they could catch at most thirty Pokémon.
As the saying went, "no one got up early without profit to be made", so a large number of Pokémon merchants had gathered here.
Among the thirty Pokémon captured by Pokémon Trainers, there were bound to be some they were not satisfied with. These Pokémon would be exchanged for cash to raise the Pokémon in their possession worth raising, while the merchants would also traffic these Pokémon to other regions.
Once they reached other regions, some Pokémon unique to Kanto would become very rare, even a mouse like Pikachu that could be seen everywhere in Kanto…
This place also had the largest Pokémon exchange center in all of Kanto, where perhaps they could trade for a Pokémon they were satisfied with.
Tetsuya found a place to stay, sent the photographs he had taken to Archer, and told him the news that Aoi Maiko was dead.
Archer soon connected a video call with Tetsuya.
On the screen, Archer was standing, while seated in the main seat was none other than Team Rocket's boss… Giovanni!
[As I expected, you're a promising young Trainer, Tetsuya. You helped eliminate a traitor from Team Rocket, so your compensation certainly won't be small. But… I still hope you'll join Team Rocket] Giovanni said without revealing any emotion.
"…I think this kind of relationship between us works very well. I hope you will keep me in mind whenever you have another job in the future. As long as the compensation is reasonable, I'll leave the amount for this one up to you."
Tetsuya had long been prepared for Giovanni's invitation. Now that Tetsuya "knew" Giovanni's identity, if he handled this poorly and made Giovanni feel that he might "betray" him, his situation would become dangerous.
More than being dangerous, Tetsuya simply doesn't want to spend years of his life constantly looking over his shoulder. As for eradicating Team Rocket… it's not that it would be impossible with time in this life, but for him, it's unnecessary. It's just not worth the effort.
Tetsuya did not want to join Team Rocket and live under someone else's roof, losing his freedom. This "agreement" could instead make Giovanni "trust" him, while also providing Tetsuya a significant source of funds, killing two Pidgey with one Rock Throw.
[…Since you're so insistent, I won't force you. I hope we can continue maintaining this kind of "relationship".] Giovanni hung up after speaking.
"…"
Tetsuya also let out a sigh. Giovanni's final words could be considered a warning to him. After all, Tetsuya had rejected his invitation right in front of his subordinate.
For someone who wanted to conquer the world, that was indeed quite embarrassing.
After all, Giovanni had failed to "conquer" even a small Magikarp like Tetsuya. That would probably leave him with at least a slight sense of frustration. However, for the current Giovanni, controlling Tetsuya would still be effortless.
'Or at least, that's what he needs to be led to believe…'
---◓---
Soon, another one million appeared in his account, naturally transferred by Giovanni. The relationship between Tetsuya and Giovanni could now be considered intertwined. It was both necessary and unavoidable.
Tetsuya could rely on Giovanni for funding, while Giovanni could also use this to gain leverage over Tetsuya. Even if Tetsuya later took a position in the League, he would not go looking for trouble with Team Rocket.
It's just that Tetsuya really didn't care. There were ways to deal with the League, a superficial reasons can be "had no other choice… he was acting as a spy for Pryce, etc.". In short, it was nothing more than an illusion meant to keep Giovanni from taking drastic measures.
---◓---
The awkward situation with Giovanni had finally been resolved smoothly. Most importantly, Tetsuya had also avenged the grudge from years ago.
As for Hattori Tōkichi and Kurokawa Ryosuke, he naturally would not let them off either. Unless those two were eliminated, it would also be extremely difficult for him to make his way within the Johto League.
Now, because there were particularly many local Trainers here in Kanto, the Pokémon Center was completely packed. Tetsuya's Pokémon all needed treatment, but Nurse Joy was too busy to attend to them, and local Trainers had to be given priority. With no other choice, he could only rest for the night first and then return to Sunnytown to receive treatment.