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"Ha! If you're here as a Gym Leader, then I'm here to earn my Badge. But if you're here as the Boss of Team Rocket, then I'm here to take you down on behalf of all the Pokémon you've harmed!"
Ash slowly raised his head with a slight smile on his face, and his tone was filled with confidence.
Giovanni, who was standing in front of the platform with his back to Ash, was momentarily stunned when he heard this. His subordinates around him also snapped out of their daze and looked angry, but since the Boss hadn't said anything, they didn't dare act rashly.
"Ha ha ha ha!!!"
Listening to Ash's bold declaration, Giovanni didn't seem angry at all. Instead, his laughter was the only sound that could be heard echoing through the massive Gym.
While Giovanni was laughing to himself, another figure walked in through the corridor—it was Gary, who had already challenged the Gym earlier.
When Gary entered, the burst of laughter paused briefly, but only for a moment before continuing.
Although Gary had already completed his challenge, since he had arrived with Ash's group, the guards outside hadn't stopped him. Moreover, Gary was the first person to earn a Badge since Viridian Gym had opened.
However, as Gary walked in at that moment, he happened to see the laughing figure turn around. He had heard this voice before—it belonged to the person who had accepted his challenge earlier.
But when the person fully turned around, even Gary showed a surprised expression.
During their previous battle, he hadn't recognized that the voice belonged to Giovanni, because Giovanni had remained in shadow throughout their entire match.
"Giovanni?! Why is he here?" Gary immediately became alert when he saw who it was.
"This is Team Rocket's base of operations—it's their Gym!" Misty and Brock walked up beside Gary and explained.
"What?!"
Gary never expected that this Pokémon League-certified Viridian Gym would actually be Team Rocket's headquarters. Ash frowned as he looked ahead.
However, at that moment, Giovanni didn't seem to care about Gary's sudden intrusion. It was as if he hadn't even noticed, and he half-turned to look at Ash while still maintaining that sinister smile on his lips.
"So... which identity would you prefer me to be?"
"It doesn't matter to me. I don't care who my opponent is. But if you lose to a kid like me, you shouldn't have the nerve to talk about conquering the world anymore, right?" At that moment, Ash spoke these words with a sneer on his face.
"Hmm!!" Giovanni paused slightly after hearing those words, and a scene from long ago appeared in his mind involuntarily.
"If you can't even defeat me, then you have no right to talk about conquering the world!" Someone had once said those exact words to him before he founded Team Rocket.
Looking at the young man standing before him now, Giovanni seemed to see an overlap with his own younger self from the past.
"Hahaha! You're absolutely right. I can't claim to conquer the world without defeating you first! People like you are far too much of an obstacle."
"Are you afraid? Why don't you just retire from being a Gym Leader? I'll let you walk away."
What Ash said at that moment could only be described as incredibly bold and arrogant, and the Team Rocket members nearby could barely stand to listen.
But looking at their Boss's expression, he didn't seem upset at all. Instead, he appeared to have encountered something that genuinely pleased him.
"Retire? If you can defeat me, I'll consider it. Now then, are you ready?" Not only was Giovanni not angry, but what he said next even surprised his own subordinates.
"Of course!"
"That's Oak's grandson over there! Although he's arrogant, his strength is indeed superior to the other Trainers who came to challenge me!" Giovanni said, turning his head slightly and glancing at Gary standing behind Ash.
"What do you mean by that?" Gary listened carefully. Although it seemed like praise, he still detected a hint of contempt in those words.
"Even though you're Oak's grandson, I faced you simply as a Gym Leader..."
After Giovanni finished speaking, he placed the Poké Ball in his hand into a slot on the table in front of him. Then the six Poké Balls on the table began to sink down.
After a moment, a platform rose back up. This time, there were no longer six Poké Balls—instead, only four Poké Balls sat on the platform.
But these were completely different from the ordinary Poké Balls from before. The four Poké Balls on the platform now consisted of two Great Balls with their distinctive red and blue coloring on a white background, and two Ultra Balls with their yellow and black pattern on a white background.
As Trainers, everyone could identify them at a glance—two Great Balls and two Ultra Balls.
"But if it's you, that's a completely different matter!"
At that moment, the smile finally disappeared from Giovanni's face. He turned his head slightly to look at Ash with an expressionless gaze.
He reached out and picked up the four Poké Balls from the platform, then turned around slowly. However, his heart wasn't calm at all.
"It's this feeling again. It was the same when I encountered him at the Silph Company. Why would I treat such a young kid as a true rival? Let's use this battle to find out."
"I'll use these four from my special reserve to make you surrender!" Holding four different Poké Balls in his hands, Giovanni's eyes showed unprecedented focus and seriousness.
Ash didn't react much, but Gary, standing in the back, felt turmoil rising in his heart as he listened.
At the same time, rage began building inside him. In other words, Giovanni hadn't used his full strength when battling him, right?
Or rather, in Giovanni's eyes, Gary wasn't on the same level as Ash, right?
There was no doubt that Gary, who had always been proud, felt insulted by Giovanni's approach. It made him feel incredibly frustrated.
But Gary wasn't impulsive. Since this was the case, he wanted to see just how strong Giovanni's so-called full strength really was. He also wanted to see what made Ash different from himself. He clenched his fists and stared intently at the two people on the field.
"Here are the rules: I will use four Pokémon. You can use as many Pokémon as you want! Whoever runs out of Pokémon first loses!"
At that moment, Giovanni's eyes gleamed with intensity as he exuded an astonishing aura. He had set the number of his own Pokémon, but placed no limit on how many his opponent could use. Only a Trainer like Giovanni would have the confidence to establish such a rule.