The Genius Scientist Who Crosses Over Twice

A few days later.

"Stay still, little kitty, just a bit more…"

In the seaside cottage, Victor was drawing blood from Giovanni's Meowth.

Spoiled by Giovanni, Meowth almost wanted to strike this jerk with a single "slash" to take him down.

As the mascot of Team Rocket, Meowth usually strutted about, pampered and babied, but in just a few short days, it felt like this guy had nearly drained him dry!

"Don't get angry, don't get angry. Today should be the last time, barring any accidents." 

Victor reassured.

"Have you achieved any results?" Giovanni asked, taking a sip of coffee and glancing over.

"It still needs some time, but the research has indeed hit a bottleneck," Victor replied, placing Meowth's blood into a test tube, diluting it in preparation for the next round of study, and continued, "But the things we can study from blood are, in the end, only research. Ultimately, the purpose of research is practice, but…"

As he said this, Victor looked toward the beach where tourists flowed in and out, each accompanied by various Pokémon.

Hearing "practice," Giovanni understood what Victor was hesitating about.

"Isn't the outskirts full of them? Should I call someone to help you catch some? Or just buy them directly from a pet store? It might cost a bit more, but they're less aggressive that way."

Using real specimens for experiments!

Giovanni might not understand it himself, but he was quite familiar with the concept.

His base had a bunch of scientists specifically doing this sort of work.

Among them, the two most distinguished ones were the scientists named Blaine and Fuji.

I wonder how Victor compares to these two?

"Or… you could also buy them from specific places." 

Giovanni added.

The places he referred to were, of course, the black market!

There, you could find many things that weren't available on the market, like the delicious meat of a Farfetch'd, the crafts made from the skulls of Cubone loved by the wealthy, a Slowbro's tail, and so on! 

Naturally, it also included various Pokémon.

However, compared to the pet stores, it was nearly impossible to get excellent Pokémon from the black market. 

Those were all tortured nearly to death.

Yet the prices were often very low, making them quite suitable as test subjects.

"Aw～aw～"

At that moment, a Delibird flew to the window sill of the cottage and tapped on the glass.

Victor walked over and opened the window. The Delibird rummaged through the bag it was carrying and pulled out a small parcel, handing it over along with a pen. 

Then it took out a receipt and pointed to the signature section.

The meaning was clear—please sign here.

Yes, this was something Victor had bought online.

Seeing Victor momentarily silent, Giovanni couldn't help but smile.

"Still just a ten-year-old kid, have you become soft-hearted?"

After signing, Victor gently patted the fluffy head of the Delibird, scratching its chin.

The deliveryman let out a joyful "aw～aw～," its eyes squinting with pleasure.

"I'm not a good person, but at least I'm a human."

Victor walked back to the lab calmly and opened the package.

Inside were three evolution stones discovered by the Pokémon academia— 

the Fire Stone, Water Stone, and Thunder Stone! 

"That's truly surprising. You told me you started doing tech research a long time ago. Did you really not experiment with anything like Rattata before this?" 

In Giovanni's worldview, a Rattata was equivalent to "lab rat."

"I generally use scum for experiments."

Mention of this topic made Victor involuntarily recall joyful moments from his past life.

In the pirate world, "lab rats" were absolutely in no short supply.

Those million-bounty pirates were practically his toys.

And Victor's favorites were the Celestial Dragons. 

Whenever he saw those self-righteous pigs, high and mighty in their daily lives, lying in the lab with his own treasures sliced off and placed on nearby plates.

Their expressions… sublime!

The original plan was to use Ivankov's version of Shonen Angel to turn him into a woman and then toss her into the underwater prison to be shown off to the world.

Hopefully, there will be another chance in the future. 

Plus, he wanted to research if the Kozuki clan had any succubus traits.

It was ridiculous how utterly useless they were while still managing to bewilder the people of Wano like living aphrodisiacs.

"Scum…"

Giovanni blinked.

Why did it feel like this kid was cursing him?

"Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this program for a news update."

At that moment, a female host suddenly appeared on the television, holding a script.

"Recently, the league's A-rank wanted criminal, Pokémon Hunter Anders, was spotted near New Bark Town by trainers. Citizens of the Johto region are urged to remain vigilant and immediately call the police if this person is observed…" 

Beside the host, a wanted poster appeared.

It showed a man around 40, with a scruffy beard and a sinister appearance.

Giovanni's pupils shifted slightly, but his tone remained calm as always.

"Anders, a A-rank wanted criminal of the league, often lurks in the outskirts of small towns, waiting for fresh trainers who've just received their first Pokémon to leave home and step into adventure before striking to snatch away their newly acquired Pokémon…"

"Oh, so this guy has quite the business mind." 

Victor couldn't help but laugh.

Strangely enough, looking at this guy's photo, he resembled a scheming rat.

But he was surprisingly intelligent.

Choosing to operate in large cities like Goldenrod or Cianwood, even if he targeted kids, he might hit a snag.

After all, what if the robbed kid happened to be the nephew of some Elite Four member or the daughter of a wealthy tycoon? Wouldn't that spell disaster for him?

In contrast, targeting places like New Bark Town or Azalea Town was much easier.

There really weren't many second-generation officials or wealthy heirs in those areas, right?

Wait, it suddenly hit him that this guy's rise to fame was a bit similar to his own.

When he first crossed over, wasn't he bullying little kids to snatch snacks for meals?

Um… okay, maybe he didn't start as lowly as that.

After all, how could the value of snacks compare to Pokémon?

"This guy has been active in Johto for many years, and it's only now that his trail has been discovered. The league has been developing in recent years, but their efficiency seems to have made no progress." 

Giovanni sneered.

He seemed to have forgotten that he's still a gym leader under the league's banner.

"Ha, isn't that lab rat coming?" 

Victor suddenly chuckled.

Giovanni paused, "Oh~ do you mean…"

"What's wrong, old man? Do you have a problem?" 

Victor retorted.

Giovanni's eyes flashed with hesitation for less than half a second before he smiled again.

"Of course not, it's just that I'm a bit worried about your safety. After all, facing such heinous criminals is completely different from the kind of battles trainers face."

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