146 Chapter 146

"Yes, well I do apologize for that, again," Giovanni huffed and stepped up to me and looked down into my eyes with dark, stone cold eyes, "Greetings, you most likely already know who I am as well, but I am Giovanni the Gym Leader of this city, it's a pleasure to meet a young rising star like yourself, a resident of our own Viridian City no less."

How did one speak with no inflection in their voice at all, but still sound like a smug prick at the same time?

That was quite the skill, I'd like to learn that.

Also, I may be reading too much into it, but as he said 'viridian city', his eyes flickered to Oak and Cerise, as if…claiming me? Was he calling first dibs?

"Yeah, nice to meet you too, I'm a big fan," I gave him a lazy smile and hid any emotion, "So what brings you here to meet little old me?" I cut straight to the point.

all the while, I wondered. What if I punched him out right now and exposed him as the leader of Team Rocket?

…No, too dangerous with too many variable. Even assuming they did believe me, they'd ask how I knew. And beyond that, Team Rocket were a powerful organization, I'd be painting a target on my back and making myself a clear enemy rather than a potential target.

Giovanni nodded, "I will be blunt, you have already made your stance on the Aerodactyl clear, but what of the others?" he asked, "Name your price."

Sell the only living breeding capable fossil pokemon in existence to the leader of Team Rocket? As if mate.

Pull the other one.

"Not for sale," I shrugged, "And I don't really plan on breeding them any time soon, they're a lot more skittish than Aerodactyl, so I'm planning on giving them some time to adapt to the world and humans first."

I'm also not selling him fuck all either, because unlike Lance, there is absolutely no way this guy would honour a deal not to breed them himself.

Giovanni's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, and if I wasn't looking him dead in the face, I would have missed it, "Are you sure?" he asked, "I can offer a lot. Not just money, but TM's, rare pokemon, the best facilities for training, even endorsement and the usage of my name as protection that would ward off even the likes of Team Rocket, they wouldn't dare mess with you if you are under my protection."

That actually almost sounded like a threat rather than an offer. It was all in the body language he had, his stone cold gaze and his clipped tone.

I bared my teeth in a feral smirk, "I'm already well prepared for the likes of them if they try anything," I replied, "I've already had a few run ins with them you see, and I'm not a big fan. Let me tell you something, when it comes to Team Rocket or thieves in general, I've trained my pokemon to kill on sight. Even if I'm not around, the second some goon from Team Rocket shows up anywhere near my pokemon, they're going to start firing off their strongest attacks and rip them to shreds."

I stepped forward and into the older mans personal space, he was a lot taller than me and a bit broader, but it was him that almost took a step back before he caught himself, "And if they do manage to steal any of my pokemon, their goons are all over the place," I spoke, voice frigid and transitioning into a whisper, "It'll be easy to get my hands on one or two of them, and they'll sing like a Pidove I'm sure when I start smashing their fingers and toes with a hammer or ripping their teeth out. It won't take me long to find their bases of operation if I really want to, and then I'll go in and I'll kill every single one of them I come across, take every pokemon they have for myself, over and over until I finally get to their boss and then I'll rip his spine out with my bare hands and beat him to death with it."

As I spoke, after each word, Giovanni's mouth hung lower and lower bit by bit until for a split moment, as I finished, he was outright gaping at me.

He composed himself after just a second, but it was enough to see the chink in his armour and I stepped back with a shrug, crossing my arms behind my head, "In the end, if they want to steal from me they're going to have to commit quite the force even if it's just for pokemon not in my current party," I 'mused' aloud, "And if they attempt to do so, they'll soon learn just how much there is for them to lose in the process."

"Well now…you are quite prepared then, I see I was worrying over nothing. I apologize for overstepping my bounds," Giovanni coughed, "Still…is there no way I can convince you to part with any of those pokemon? I have long since wanted pokemon such as those for myself, a childhood dream you could say even."

And he was quick to change the topic back to the fossil pokemon and not Team Rocket. I wonder what he's thinking right now? I mean, I basically just threatened to rip his spine out and beat him to death with it. He probably also thinks it was just a broad term to an unknown person.

But I know exactly who he is. And if any of my pokemon do get stolen by Team Rocket, my first stop is Viridian City gym, where I'll lay in wait for him, ambush him and make good on my threats.

I don't plan on making an enemy of Team Rocket if I can help it, but if push comes to shove I'll go full nuclear on them.

I will literally torture him to death and then decapitate him. And then when I systematically start busting up Team Rocket bases, I'll carry his head around with me as a trophy to intimidate them with.

I will burn their entire organization to the ground if they touch a single scale, hair, leaf or whatever on any of my pokemon and take everything they have for myself.

And on top of that, Giovanni is probably already well aware of who I am after I caught Aerodactyl and the others and came onto his radar. So he's probably already seen that video Todd Snapp took of me fighting with Gyarados and Dragonite and knows I'm well capable of ripping his spine out with my bare hands.

I'd have to legally change my name to Jord Wick after it, but I'd do it for sure with a god damn smile on my face.

"Sorry, no can do," I shrugged his words off, "Though, if you don't care about them being capable of breeding, I did find a ton of fossils when I was down in the cavern where they were living."

"Hoh?" Giovanni's eyes lit up, "Though not as amazing as the living versions, a fossil that can be revived is still mighty rare. Just how many is a ton?"

"A bit over sixty," I replied, "No Aerodactyl fossil among them, which was kinda weird I admit, but there was a bunch of Omanyte, Omastar, Kabuto and Kabutops fossils."

"I see," Giovanni cupped his chin, before nodding, "Once more, name your price."

"A million a piece," I crossed my arms, "I'll even do you a solid and give you a deal, all of them for sixty million and the best TM your gym gives out."

Giovanni stared at him for a moment, before grinning widely, "Deal."

Heh, nice.

I could have probably got a couple of rare pokemon like Tyranitar or Garchomp from this, or even a couple of starters. But, I already know where to catch a wild Tyranitar here in Kanto, and I know where a few Gible are in Sinnoh.