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CLATTER! CLATTER! CLATTER!
The moment Giovanni was defeated, there was a burst of rapid footsteps as a large group of Team Rocket members rushed in from the rear corridor.
Soon, Ash and the others were surrounded, with hostile eyes fixed upon them from all directions.
Seeing this scene, Gary and the others' expressions changed, and they wondered to themselves—was this guy unable to accept defeat? Would he resort to underhanded tactics after losing?
The three of them immediately became alert, but Ash, who was standing on the field, showed no signs of worry. Giovanni looked toward the field, having just recovered from his earlier excitement.
At that final moment, he had experienced a feeling he hadn't felt in many years. Although he had been defeated, it seemed this was the outcome he truly wanted.
He didn't feel disappointed at all. When Giovanni regained his composure from this exhilarating battle, he found that his subordinates had already rushed into the arena.
"Stand down!"
Recalling Rhydon with its Poké Ball, Giovanni placed his hands back into his pockets, regained his cold demeanor as the boss of Team Rocket, and spoke icily.
The Team Rocket members who had originally surrounded Ash and the others saw their boss's expression and, after noticing Giovanni's demeanor, stepped aside without uttering a word.
After seeing everyone around them move away, Misty and Brock breathed a sigh of relief, though they still looked at Giovanni with unfriendly expressions.
Although Ash had won the battle, there was still a problem—these people were Team Rocket.
They didn't know what Giovanni might do next, so figuring out what would happen now was a major concern.
Giovanni didn't say much. He walked toward Ash with his hands in his pockets, standing before him without saying a word, his eyes slightly closed as he remained silent.
After a moment, he turned around slightly to look at his subordinates behind him, seeming to have made a significant decision.
"Notify all branches that Team Rocket will be disbanded effective today!"
Finally, when Giovanni spoke, he said something that surprised everyone present.
"What? BOSS, this is—!" The subordinates were all stunned when they heard Giovanni's words, looking at each other in confusion.
"Also, tell the other members that they've worked hard all these years!" After saying this, a relaxed smile appeared on his normally stern face.
They had initially wanted to protest, but after hearing the words "worked hard," the members around him didn't know what to say.
The previous BOSS would never have said anything about their hard work, and after hearing this order from him, they felt somewhat emotional.
Giovanni ignored them, slowly turning around. He took out a blade-shaped Earth Badge from his pocket and handed it to Ash.
"Didn't you ask me whether I'm the boss of Team Rocket or the Gym Leader of Viridian? I'm now handing you this Badge in my capacity as a Gym Leader!"
"Ha! It was such an exciting battle that set my nerves on fire. Take this Badge and reach even greater heights!" Giovanni said with a smile while holding out the Badge.
"Thank you! Setting aside other factors, you are indeed an admirable person."
Seeing this, Ash accepted the Badge and responded at the same time.
Although he had said earlier that Giovanni could retire and he would let him go, Ash also knew that Giovanni wasn't someone who feared threats.
Ash was genuinely surprised that Giovanni had made this decision. Even though Giovanni didn't appear many times in the anime, he still maintained connections with Jessie and James throughout the subsequent storylines.
However, here he had announced that Team Rocket would be disbanded? This was something even Ash hadn't expected.
Could it be that his arrival had changed the plot? But thinking about it carefully, many things didn't seem to be developing according to the anime's storyline, such as the incident with the Legendary Birds in Rainbow City.
But regardless, this wasn't a bad thing.
On the contrary, from Rainbow City to Viridian City, after actually making contact and battling with him, Ash could somewhat sense what kind of person Giovanni was. He may have done many unforgivable things.
But his way of handling matters truly impressed Ash. As the boss of Team Rocket, even though Ash had said he would consider retiring if defeated, Giovanni was a villain himself and had no obligation to honor that agreement.
Moreover, when Ash had made that statement, he had thought it through and hadn't explicitly said Giovanni would retire if he lost.
What Giovanni was doing now, even as a villain, made him at least much better than many hypocrites.
"Ha! I feel honored to hear that from you!"
Giovanni also chuckled after hearing this. He had never lacked courage—otherwise, he wouldn't have formed Team Rocket to oppose the League.
"Well then, farewell!" Moments later, Ash, having finally obtained his last Badge, led his companions out of the Viridian City Gym.
Giovanni stood at the gym entrance, watching as the group departed, and simply waved slightly.
"Ash, is this really okay?" At that moment, Misty, who was walking beside Ash, carefully approached him and spoke.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked, puzzled.
"Well... don't we need to call the police?" Misty said with some concern.
"Why would we call the police? Didn't he say he's disbanding Team Rocket?"
"But... can we really believe what he said? And... he's done so many terrible things in the past. Can we just pretend nothing happened?" Misty couldn't help but argue.
In fact, Misty's concerns were valid. After all, the man's identity was what it was! They didn't know whether what he said was true or false.
Moreover, they had done so many things in the past, caused so many Pokémon to be harmed, and caused so many Trainers to be separated from their own Pokémon. Should all of that just be forgotten?
Not only Misty, but Brock thought the same way. Ash understood—it was like a murderous criminal who suddenly one day announced they were leaving that life behind.
But how could things be that simple? What about all the people they had hurt?
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