Know him?
Oh, I know him all too well.
Staring at Giovanni in front of him, August suddenly felt like he had terrible luck when it came to Mt. Moon.
Last time he was here, he had somehow gotten dragged into a Team Rocket incident.
And now, on his return trip, things had escalated—he had run straight into the boss of Team Rocket himself.
Even though his guard was up, August maintained a calm facade, showing only a hint of surprise.
“Giovanni, the Gym Leader of Viridian City? Of course, I recognize you. I just didn’t expect to run into you here.”
Blue nodded as well. “Shouldn’t you be at the Viridian Gym?”
Since she was accompanying August in evaluating Kanto’s Gym Leaders, she had done her research on them beforehand.
The man before them was none other than Giovanni, the Earth Master, an exceptionally powerful Gym Leader.
Clearly, Blue was unaware of Giovanni’s true identity as the leader of Team Rocket.
Otherwise, she never would have asked such a casual question.
Giovanni put on a look of realization, then smiled warmly.
“I was getting a little bored at the Gym, so I decided to take a walk and train my Pokémon.”
As he spoke, he casually spun a Poké Ball in his hand.
Watching that motion, August nearly called out Gardevoir on the spot and teleported himself and Blue the hell out of there.
But he held himself back.
Keep up the act. Just keep acting.
Even though August was mentally screaming, he had to admit—Giovanni’s acting skills were top-tier.
If he hadn’t already known Giovanni’s real identity, he probably wouldn’t have suspected a thing.
And there was no way Giovanni was just here to “take a stroll” and “train his Pokémon.”
Sure enough, in the very next moment, Giovanni asked,
“You two are new Trainers, I assume? Just now, I overheard a Hiker saying he ran into some strong Trainers. That must’ve been you two, right?”
His gaze lingered on Marshtomp, which stood beside August, looking as clueless as ever.
August couldn’t figure out Giovanni’s intentions.
But since Giovanni hadn’t immediately attacked and was instead making small talk, it meant there was no immediate danger—at least for now.
So, August decided to play along as if he knew nothing.
“We’re hardly new Trainers.”
“Forgot to introduce myself—I’m August, and this is my companion, Blue.”
“Oh?” Giovanni acted like he was thinking. “August… That name sounds familiar.”
“Ah, right… I heard from a friend in the League that the official Gym Examiner for this round of assessments is named August. Must be a coincidence.”
August: “…”
And who exactly is this ‘friend’ of yours?
His role as a Gym Examiner wasn’t exactly a secret, but it hadn’t been widely publicized either.
Only a handful of people should have known—Elite Four members, the officials at Cerulean Gym, the review committee, and the League Council members…
The Elite Four wouldn’t have leaked anything.
If Giovanni had an informant among the Cerulean Gym staff or the review team, that would be bad, but still manageable.
But if he had spies within the League Council…
Well, let’s just say I don’t even know how to describe my feelings right now.
August quickly adjusted his expression and put on a smug look.
“Oh? Giovanni, you’ve heard of me? Coincidence? Of course not. The Gym Examiner you’re talking about is me.”
“Actually, I used to be a Ranger as well.”
These were all publicly available facts—Giovanni would know them anyway. So, August openly admitted it, reinforcing his image as someone “honest” and “open.”
The real secret was his involvement with the International Police.
Giovanni looked suitably surprised.
“You’re quite accomplished for someone so young. At your age, I was still wandering around Viridian Forest.”
As he spoke, his expression turned nostalgic.
You should’ve been an actor instead of a crime boss.
August was unimpressed by the performance but played along flawlessly.
“You flatter me, Giovanni.”
The two of them continued exchanging polite words—one exaggerating his praise, the other feigning modesty.
The atmosphere was surprisingly cordial.
In fact, it was too cordial.
Blue, watching from the side, began to feel something was off.
Why was August acting so strangely around Giovanni?
Wait… could it be that August is a Giovanni fan?!
She recalled that Giovanni had written The Principles of Earth, an in-depth analysis of Ground-type Pokémon strategy, which was considered a masterpiece among Ground-type specialists.
But August mostly used Flying-types.
And as for Ground-types…
She glanced at Marshtomp, who was staring off into space as if contemplating the mysteries of the universe.
But Marshtomp had just evolved!
Blue couldn’t make sense of it, but she kept her thoughts to herself, planning to ask August later.
Meanwhile, August had grown tired of exchanging meaningless pleasantries.
He took the initiative to say, “Where are you headed, Giovanni? I’m on my way to Pewter Gym for an assessment…”
In other words, I’d like to leave now. Can we wrap this up?
But either Giovanni didn’t catch the hint, or he deliberately ignored it.
“Pewter Gym? Perfect timing—I was planning to return to Viridian City to prepare for my own Gym assessment. We’re heading in the same direction. Why not travel together?”
“…Of course, I don’t mind.” August enthusiastically accepted.
Just as August was bracing himself for a long, tension-filled journey with Giovanni—
A thunderous noise suddenly echoed from a nearby mining tunnel.
The noise was immediately followed by the frantic shouts of Trainers.
“Run for it!”
“The Pokémon are going berserk!”
“Someone, help!”
August looked over.
A group of Trainers was fleeing in panic, their Pokémon barely keeping up.
Chasing after them was a horde of Geodude, led by a massive Graveler, all charging straight toward August and Giovanni’s location.
An accident? Or a test?
If Giovanni weren’t here, August might have assumed this was just a random wild Pokémon outbreak.
But with Giovanni here…
He had to consider other possibilities.
Still, whether it was an accident or a test—
He was more than prepared to handle it.
He reached out and stopped Blue, who was about to grab a Poké Ball.
“I’ll take care of this.”
Then, without hesitation, he tossed his own Poké Ball.
Flash!
A beam of light shot out, and Gardevoir appeared in the tunnel.
Standing behind him, Giovanni also reached for a Poké Ball.
But the moment he saw August’s shiny Gardevoir—
Something flickered in his eyes.
—
This is a fan translation of 人在实教，一之濑你会后悔的 by 作者：白良. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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