I am Giovanni

Chapter 33: The Cocoon

"Come out quickly!" Dr. Ryoki urged Giovanni. "It needs to devour the nutrients from the fallen to truly ascend!"

Giovanni stroked Weedle's back. "Go," he said softly. "Embrace this moment."

Weedle nodded vigorously. It first crawled to the corpse of the Beedrill and began to consume its rival's poison sac. The sound of chewing and gnawing filled the chamber as Giovanni slowly walked out.

When Dr. Ryoki saw Giovanni's injured arm and corroded palm, he quickly instructed his student, "Kawatada, get the Antidote, then bandage his wound." After Kawatada left, he turned to Giovanni. "How could you be so careless?"

"It's nothing," Giovanni said, shaking his head.

Seeing that he was truly alright, Dr. Ryoki finally relaxed. "I didn't expect your Weedle to give me such a surprise! I'll have to thoroughly examine its body later."

"Yes," Giovanni said with a hint of pride. "It is very promising."

Just then, Kawatada returned and handed Giovanni a bottle of Antidote. He then took a piece of gauze, carefully cleaned the blood from the wound, and re-bandaged it.

"Give me the rest of the Antidote," Giovanni said. "I'll keep it as a spare." A single bottle was insignificant to them, and they readily agreed.

Weedle's transformation took a long time. Giovanni waited outside the chamber until the next day, refusing to leave even when Dr. Ryoki told him to go and rest.

Finally, a figure emerged from the chamber. It was Weedle, its body covered in gore, its Poké Ball held gently in its mouth. It crawled to the glass door and looked at Giovanni, its body brimming with a new, powerful energy. Though it was still a Weedle, it now carried the presence of a battle-hardened Pokémon.

Seeing its questioning gaze, Giovanni smiled faintly. "Evolve."

With its master's blessing, Weedle opened its mouth and spewed a massive amount of String Shot, completely enveloping itself. The silk formed a large white cocoon, which then slowly solidified into a pale yellow, incredibly hard pupa. It was a Kakuna. But this one was unique, with faint reddish and greenish hues shimmering across its shell.

After evolving, its size had doubled. The life-or-death struggle had also pushed its level up by two. Most importantly, its innate potential had made a huge leap, strengthening significantly. And this was only after absorbing a fraction of the energy from the fallen. By the time it evolved into a Beedrill, its potential would be even greater.

Giovanni opened the door and went inside. He picked up the Poké Ball nearby, then, with some effort, lifted the Kakuna. It was surprisingly heavy, and its shell was warm to the touch from the life transforming within.

"This is great, Kakuna," he said joyfully.

The Kakuna shook vigorously, just as it did in its Poké Ball, as if responding to him. It was happy. It could feel itself getting stronger. Now, it could finally protect its master.

Dr. Ryoki returned at that moment and, upon seeing the Kakuna, rushed over to examine it. "Its aptitude and body have both made a significant leap! Once it fully absorbs the energy and evolves into a Beedrill, it will be truly incredible. I completely misjudged it."

Giovanni recalled the Kakuna into its Poké Ball. Nearly a meter tall, it was too large and cumbersome to carry around. "It is very promising," he said with a smile.

"Indeed!" Dr. Ryoki was ecstatic; his project was a success. "Now you can finally get some rest."

Giovanni nodded, thanked the doctor, and made an agreement to visit again once his partner evolved into a Beedrill. Only then did he truly go back to rest.

A normal Kakuna's transformation takes a few days, a week at most. But Giovanni's contained so much energy that it would likely take much longer to fully absorb it all. Fortunately, it had a good trainer. Giovanni could use the power of Viridian to help it accelerate the process.

But until it evolved, training was impossible. Even sparring in battle class was out of the question. Thankfully, due to the unique nature of Bug-type evolutions, the instructors wouldn't make an issue of it.

After class the next day, Katsu ran over. "Giovanni, did your Weedle evolve?"

"Yes," Giovanni nodded. "Though the process was... difficult, it evolved into a Kakuna."

"Congratulations!" Katsu said happily.

"Thanks," Giovanni replied. "But it means I won't be able to spar with your Machop for a while."

"That's no problem, we can still train together," Katsu said nonchalantly. Then, he leaned in conspiratorially. "Do you know about the others? I mean, their Pokémon's strength."

Giovanni thought for a moment. "I know. Has someone been looking for you recently, too?"

Katsu nodded. "Yes. A Captain named Mondo approached me. Gave me a lot of resources."

"Isn't that great?" Giovanni wasn't surprised. Katsu's strength was obvious; it was normal for him to be noticed.

Katsu looked at him with doubt. "Have you been approached, too?"

"Something like that," Giovanni said with a wry smile. He couldn't tell Katsu that the person who had approached him was an executive, and that he'd ended up with nothing, forcing him down a much riskier path.

Thinking about it, he was puzzled as to why no one else had tried to recruit him after Petrel— then he understood. With an executive like Petrel showing interest, who would dare to interfere?

"No wonder," Katsu said, not at all jealous. "You're so powerful, you must have been noticed early on."

Giovanni just shook his head with a helpless laugh. Even without a sponsor's help, he and his partner had succeeded. They had just almost died in the process, and a few of his secrets had been revealed. It felt like things were spiraling out of his control.