After booking two rooms at the Pokémon Center, Tetsuya had not forgotten about Jessie and handed one of the room keys to her.
"E-Eh… you're surprisingly generous…" Jessie said.
"It's not like I'm short on money. Still, I'd advise you to leave sooner rather than later. Just doing this isn't enough to meet Giovanni. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future," Tetsuya said.
"Un. As long as you help me meet Giovanni-sama, I'll leave," Jessie said as though it were only natural.
Tetsuya rolled his eyes.
"What kind of logic is that? Why should I help you?"
"Maa maa~ How about this? As long as you help me meet Giovanni-sama, I'll agree to do one thing for you…" Jessie said. After thinking for a moment, she added, "Of course, it absolutely can't harm Giovanni-sama's interests!"
"One isn't enough. Three!" Tetsuya said. It was actually a good deal. Three favors would allow him to keep Jessie firmly tied to his side.
"Three it is!" Jessie agreed.
"Swear an oath. If you break it, all your hair will fall out and never grow back!" Tetsuya said. He knew very well what Jessie cared about most.
Jessie immediately put on a horrified expression and instinctively touched her hair. Letting out a long sigh of relief, she muttered to herself, "Thank Arceusness it's still there…"
"Humph, that oath is way too cruel!" Jessie complained.
"That's exactly why you'll take it seriously," Tetsuya replied.
"I…"
Jessie continued to hesitate. On one side was the hair she treasured more than anything, and on the other was Giovanni-sama~, whom she admired above all else.
"If you're not going to swear it, then forget it. We'll go our separate ways here," Tetsuya said decisively.
Just as Tetsuya was about to leave, Jessie impulsively blurted out, "Fine, fine! I'll swear it! But only if you really help me meet Giovanni-sama!"
"Naturally."
Tetsuya stopped walking.
Jessie reluctantly swore, and Tetsuya finally felt reassured. Jessie was indeed an unpredictable person, and breaking her promises was nothing unusual. However, one thing was certain… she was not particularly well educated and was extremely superstitious!
Even without being reborn, Tetsuya already knew her personality fairly well. If she had possessed a better education, she would not have believed so firmly in things like Pokémon fortune-telling and horoscopes.
That was why a "vicious" oath like this could actually restrain her, especially one involving the hair she treasured above everything else. To Jessie, it was practically her life.
Tetsuya then went to the reception hall of Viridian Gym to schedule his challenge. The earliest available slot was already three days later. Naturally, he also had to register the three Pokémon he would use for the challenge.
After Tetsuya finished registering, Jessie followed closely behind him, clearly wanting to say something but hesitating. After all, borrowing Pokémon was one of the greatest taboos among Pokémon Trainers. Although she was usually fearless, she still understood that much.
"Um… well…"
Jessie stammered awkwardly.
Naturally, Tetsuya knew exactly what she was thinking. Since he had already promised to help her meet Giovanni, he would inevitably have to give something in return.
"If you've got something to say, just say it."
"Well… ahem! Since you've already agreed to help me meet Giovanni-sama, I think you could lend me a few Pokémon so I can register them too. That way I'll be able to meet Giovanni-sama without any problems!" Jessie said, trying to justify her request.
"…You aren't even listed as a Pokémon Trainer, are you? Can you even register?" Tetsuya asked. He was not entirely sure of Jessie's current situation.
"Aha! I have a Pokémon Nurse certificate, and I also have the right to participate in Gym challenges and League competitions. So you don't have to worry about that," Jessie replied.
Jessie looked rather pleased with herself. This time, Tetsuya had finally failed to see through her, and she felt she had regained some of her pride.
"All right then. I'll lend you three Pokémon so you can register. Just register Ditto, Beedrill, and Houndoom. When the time comes, I'll definitely let you use those three Pokémon."
Tetsuya said this because he already had a clear plan for his challenge against Giovanni. Skorupi was meant to gain battle experience, Weezing was meant to give Giovanni something unexpected, and Golurk was meant to amaze him. He had already decided on those three Pokémon.
In any case, even if Giovanni were tempted to obtain them, he wouldn't be able to. Setting aside the fact that the Rockets capable of defeating him could be counted on the fingers of one hand… or maybe two hands, Giovanni himself wouldn't take action just because of those Pokémon; and Tetsuya also had his psychic powers, along with Gengar in his shadow.
And to top it off, once Giovanni knew why he was there and who sent him, if Giovanni acts, it would be far too suspicious.
As for Jessie, she would not be using her own Pokémon at all. She could only let the three of them fight on their own. Ditto, Beedrill, and Houndoom were all highly experienced. If Giovanni held back, those three Pokémon would still be enough to give him a difficult battle. As a result, Jessie would certainly leave an impression on Giovanni as well.
Perhaps it might even speed up Jessie's entry into Team Rocket. To put it bluntly, although Viridian Gym was publicly an official Gym of the Indigo League, it was more accurately Giovanni's ideal place for selecting talented recruits.
Anyone wishing to compete in the Indigo League would naturally be drawn to Viridian Gym, the most prestigious Gym in Kanto. Giovanni could use those battles to evaluate the capacities of the Challengers. If someone had outstanding potential, he would naturally begin his underground operations, offering generous rewards to recruit them into Team Rocket and strengthen its core members.
"Thank you so much… I didn't expect you to agree so readily, Tetsuya. Don't worry. In the future, if you ask me to do those three things, even if I have to climb a mountain of Tyranitar nests or cross a sea of fire, I'll do them for you!"
After saying that, Jessie hurried off to register.
However, during that short time, Jessie's challenge had already been scheduled for the fourth day. She could not help feeling somewhat disappointed, regretting only that she had not made the request to Tetsuya sooner.
---◓---
The days spent waiting in Viridian City were rather uneventful. Tetsuya could only take his Pokémon to the courts in Viridian City's Central Park that were specially designated for Pokémon training and battles.
During that time, they inevitably encountered many Trainers looking for practice battles. As long as Skorupi was not too exhausted, Tetsuya always chose to send it into battle.
Facing all kinds of different Pokémon, Skorupi acquired a great deal of battle experience. After two consecutive days of battling, it had learned Bug Bite and Poison Fang. Both moves proved highly effective in battle.
Under Tetsuya's care, Skorupi steadily continued to grow stronger, and one day it would join the ranks of his main battlers.
On the third day, it was finally time for Tetsuya's scheduled challenge at Viridian Gym. Early that morning, Jessie had actually gotten up even earlier than he had. Even though her own battle would not take place until the following day, Tetsuya had already organized in his mind what he intended to discuss with Giovanni.
To be honest, in his previous life, someone of Giovanni's stature had never given him the opportunity to exchange more than a few words.
Someone at the level of a Gym Leader was not even worth Giovanni's attention. His power was enough to rival that of a Champion. Beedrill alone had defeated Lance's Dragonite, completely overturning people's reliance on "base stats".
A Beedrill with base stats of only 395 had actually defeated the pseudo-legendary Pokémon that the people of Kanto admired so deeply, Dragonite, whose base stats reached 600. Even the Legendary Birds, without their legendary powers, had lower base stats than Dragonite.
Giovanni had truly overturned the beliefs people held!