Under Satch's deliberate guidance, news spread like wildfire within Team Rocket that the boss was gravely ill and nearing death, thus urgently seeking a successor.
Although Satch had also mentioned that Giovanni had gone out to search for Ho-Oh, Xerneas, and other healing-type legendary Pokémon to help cure the boss.
But how easy is it to find legends, especially top-tier ones?
What if the boss kicks the bucket before Giovanni succeeds?
For a time, everyone within Team Rocket was in a state of panic.
Koga and Fuji, who had completed the Mewtwo project and were planning to completely withdraw from Team Rocket, were both stunned upon learning about this.
The two old men came to their shared hometown of Cinnabar Island, unable to resist discussing the matter.
Fuji: "Do you think this is true or false?"
Koga pondered for a long while before replying, "Regardless of whether it's true or false, at least it's certain that Giovanni has a son."
Fuji paused for a moment, then said, "To be honest, if it's true, then this is the best time to eradicate Team Rocket."
"Hey! What are you saying?"
Koga's expression suddenly changed.
"Isn't it so?"
Fuji said, "Finding legendary Pokémon is easier said than done. Back then, Team Rocket spent so much effort and only found a fossilized eyelash with Mew's DNA. If Giovanni can't hold on until Joker brings back Ho-Oh or Lugia, and the League takes action at this time, plus with Su Sheng's assistance, Team Rocket might really be—"
"Stop talking. We have nothing to do with Team Rocket anymore, and I won't spread your words."
Koga knew that, compared to himself, his old friend couldn't stand Team Rocket's actions even more.
That's why he had such thoughts.
In fact, if Giovanni was really terminally ill and the League seized the opportunity, and then Su Sheng delivered a fatal blow, Team Rocket might really become history.
But the problem is that his old friend didn't know that Su Sheng and Joker were the same person!
Therefore, this plan would naturally not succeed.
In any case, Koga hoped that his old friend, like himself, would pretend that the past in Team Rocket never existed.
From now on, everyone would go their own way and not interfere with each other.
Seeing that Koga was determined not to support him, Fuji could only extinguish this thought in his heart.
After all, he didn't have Koga's ability, being a top researcher and also possessing the strength of a veteran Elite Four member.
He was completely mediocre in Pokémon battles, and he also had a granddaughter.
Without complete certainty, it's better not to mess around.
After a brief period of silence, Fuji brought up one last topic related to Team Rocket—"Who do you think is most likely to take the opportunity to rebel?"
Koga and his old friend looked at each other, and five seconds later, the two men in their sixties shouted out the same name in unison—Zanzibar!
While Team Rocket was in a state of chaos,
Su Sheng had already arrived in Kanto.
Because Professor Oak contacted him, saying that a very talented young scientist in Kanto had recently developed a groundbreaking invention.
But it still had flaws, and he hoped that Su Sheng could come and help improve it.
This young man was named "Bill" and was a graduate of Celadon University.
He invited Su Sheng over to ask him to help improve his invention—the Pokémon Teleportation System!
Bill's seaside lighthouse in the suburbs of Cerulean City.
"This is really amazing."
Su Sheng praised, "With this, Pokémon can be teleported at any time, and the changes it brings to the research community are no less than the Pokédex."
"No, no, Dr. Su Sheng, the Pokédex you invented is a necessity for every new trainer embarking on an adventure."
Bill's words were a bit slurred when he saw his idol.
Knock knock~
A knock suddenly sounded.
"Who is it?"
Bill shouted at the door.
The person outside was silent for a long time, and just when Bill thought it was a child's prank and didn't plan to pay attention, a response finally came:
"...Professor Oak, introduced me."
Su Sheng tilted his head slightly.
This voice sounds a bit familiar.
Bill opened the door, and a boy around 10 years old, just reaching the minimum age for a new trainer, stood expressionlessly at the door.
When he saw Su Sheng in the room, a strange light flashed in the boy's eyes under his baseball cap.
At this time, Bill had already called out the other party's name, "Oh, you're Red, right? Right, I remember, Professor Oak told me that you would come over in the last two days."
Red nodded, barely suppressing the urge to challenge Su Sheng, and lifted the corner of his coat, revealing the fully packed Poké Balls hanging on his belt, at least 20 of them.
That's right, these were all Pokémon that Professor Oak entrusted him to capture.
Whenever a trainer from Pallet Town set out, Professor Oak would entrust them to capture more wild Pokémon to provide him with research subjects.
But there was a very troublesome thing, that is, once you capture too many, it becomes very troublesome to take care of them.
Not to mention anything else, just carrying a dozen or twenty Pokémon on you.
You can't even solve their food for a day.
Originally, after Red finished the Vermilion Gym, he wanted to return to Pallet Town to put all the Pokémon except the main force back to Professor Oak, but Professor Oak said on the phone that there was a researcher in Cerulean City who invented a machine that could teleport Pokémon thousands of miles away.
He told him to help teleport them over with the machine, and there was no need to make a special trip back to Pallet Town.
That's why Red came here.
Bill then turned on the video call function on the teleporter, and Professor Oak's kind face appeared in the center of the screen.
"Oh! Bill, you called me, which means the teleporter is complete, right? Oh, Red and Su Sheng are also there!"
As Professor Oak spoke, the soup splashed on the screen.
Bill said speechlessly, "Professor, turn on the teleport button on the teleporter, I will send Red's Pokémon to you now."
After fiddling for a while, only the last three Poké Balls were left on Red, and all the others were sent back to Professor Oak's lab.
"Amazing."
Red also rarely took the initiative to express his emotion.
This thing is too convenient.
"Really! It's just like Hoopa's ability!"
At this moment, a small figure窜out from behind Su Sheng, startling Bill and Red.
Who else could it be but Hoopa Unbound!?
"This, is this the rumored Hoopa? The one who transferred hundreds of thousands of residents of Lilypad Island to Kalos in one go during the Lilypad Island incident half a year ago..."
Bill looked exaggerated.
At that time, Hoopa's reputation was very famous, after all, without her, at least half of the hundreds of thousands of people on Lilypad Island would be gone.
"Hee hee~ Someone recognized Hoopa again, Hoopa is really awesome~"
Hoopa Unbound proudly puffed out his chest.
Speaking, seemingly to satisfy the fans, Little Hoopa showed off a hand on the spot, took off the golden ring on his right corner and gently tossed it up, and reached into it with his short hand.
Suddenly, a golden ring appeared next to Professor Oak on the screen, and a small short hand emerged from it, directly scooping up the cup noodles in Professor Oak's hand.
"Ah! My noodles!"
Professor Oak exclaimed.
Red and Bill were dumbfounded.
Even more exaggerated than the rumors.
"Does Su Sheng want to eat?"
Little Hoopa handed the noodles with only a few strands left to Su Sheng.
"No need."
Su Sheng said unhappily.
Who wants the old man's leftovers.
"Okay."
Hoopa threw the noodles back to Professor Oak's lab again.
"Now that the teleporter is complete, then we will take a step first."
Su Sheng waved his hand and prepared to leave.
He came to Kanto this time not only to help Bill complete the teleporter, but also for other things.
At this time, Red moved one step towards the door, blocking Su Sheng.
"Please———· fight me."
Red said as if he was not used to speaking.
Red, who just became a new trainer this year, can be said to have grown up listening to Su Sheng's series of stories.
Although not like Blue, Serena and the others, their worship of Su Sheng is comparable to Hinamori Momo's worship of Aizen Sosuke.
But there are also some expectations in it.
In addition, as a future existence that was evaluated by Professor Oak as a "person of battle".
How could he not challenge him when he met the number one in the league?
Oh right, saying that Su Sheng is "the number one in the league" rather than "the number one in the world", of course, is because there is another one.
Su Sheng glanced at the three Poké Balls left on Red's belt and smiled lightly: "Your team doesn't seem to be complete yet."
"I'm not afraid of failure."
Today Red's vocabulary should be as much as a normal week.
Of course, he knew that with his current abilities, it was impossible to win against the man in front of him.
But, as a person of battle, meeting a stronger opponent will only make him more excited.
Regardless of winning or losing.
"...？I'm quite free recently, so let's have a fight."
Su Sheng finally did not refuse Red.
After all, what reason is there to refuse to beat the other party before the future master-level trainer grows up?
Of course, even if Red grows to the Silver Mountain Great Demon King at his peak, he is still not afraid.
The two came to the strait outside the lighthouse, and Bill said excitedly:
"Oh, unexpected things have happened, in that case, let me——"
"Let me be the referee for this battle!"
Before Bill finished speaking, a delicate girl's voice intervened.
The three of them looked in the direction of the voice.
I saw a girl with waist-length hair, although only about 10 years old like Red, but wearing tight sportswear and leather boots, jumping and running over.
Such a dress worn on a 10-year-old girl, most of the time will give people a sense of disharmony that children wear adult clothes.
But it seemed unexpectedly suitable for her.
"Who, who are you?"
Bill asked woodenly.
"Hello everyone, I'm Blue, just call me 'Little Blue'."
Little Blue winked at the three of them, obviously still young, but her words and actions revealed a hint of charm, "A new trainer who just got the initial Pokémon from Professor Oak, is your fellow villager, Red~"
Red frowned slightly.
Pallet Town?
That's not right, I know everyone in Pallet Town who is the same age or similar to me, and there is no such person.
And her appearance and personality are so conspicuous, I have no reason not to know her.
Seemingly seeing Red's confusion, Little Blue took the initiative to explain: "I left Pallet Town because of an accident when I was a child, and I just came back recently, so it's normal that you don't know me~"
It seems that he knows about Pryce's death, so he dares to appear in the sun.
Su Sheng thought inwardly.
In the original plot, although Little Blue escaped from Pryce with Silver early on.
But after all, he was holding the Silver Wing and the Rainbow Wing.
In order to avoid the pursuit of Pryce and his subordinates, he has been afraid to expose himself in public, and even if there are compelling circumstances, he mostly uses Ditto's ability to disguise himself.
But now, Pryce is already dead.
She naturally doesn't need to hide her identity.
Analyzing from Little Blue's words just now, she should have returned to her hometown of Pallet Town, reunited with her parents, and also obtained her own initial Pokémon, instead of stealing it like in the original book.
"...Can it start?"
Red did not answer Little Blue, but continued to focus his attention on Su Sheng.
There is no woman in my heart, and the pitching is naturally divine.
"Um."
Su Sheng nodded, suddenly remembered something and asked Little Blue:
"Little Blue, which one did you choose as your initial partner?"
"I'm not a kid, I have a very good figure."
Little Blue put her right hand behind her head, bowed her body slightly forward, and made a gesture to show off her figure.
I have to say, she is only 10 years old, but she is developing really well, maybe even stronger than Diantha.
Even if she doesn't reach the terrifying level of Lorelei in the future, she should be able to compete with Malva.
"But Dr. Su Sheng, don't fall in love with me, compared to you, I prefer your brother a little bit~"
Little Blue smiled playfully and straightened her body again.
The alliance news explained the Lilypad Island incident as the Rocket Team and the Masked Man biting each other, and then the Rocket Team won narrowly and the Masked Man died.
At that time, Little Blue, who was still hiding her name and lurking in the underground world for fear of Pryce's pursuit, was pleasantly surprised but did not immediately believe it after learning about this.
After all, she knew too well how terrible the Masked Man was.
Later, Little Blue went to Sinnoh to investigate and confirmed that the Masked Man was really dead.
Then he returned to his parents with peace of mind.
And for Joker, who killed the Masked Man, Little Blue naturally had a good impression.
In fact, the reason why she took the initiative to approach Su Sheng was to see if she could get on the line with Joker through Su Sheng.
I want to say "thank you" to that person.
Su Sheng:
This, is this a Marnie second?
"Hehe~ I'm not teasing you, the partner I chose is this child."
Little Blue smiled playfully and threw out a Poké Ball.
A energetic Squirtle jumped out, and was hugged by Little Blue in the next second.
"I named it 'Little Turtle', how about it? Is it cute?"
Little Blue looked doting.
Su Sheng was speechless for the second time.
He had already seen Red's team lineup through the Poké Ball just now.
The initial partners of the Pallet Town Rainbow Team should be Red·Charmander, Blue·Squirtle, Green·Squirtle.
Su Sheng said this, this is not right?
According to the name distribution, shouldn't it be Red Charmander, Blue Bulbasaur, Green Squirtle?
However, whether it is Blue or Green, their iconic Pokémon are Blastoise.
Damn it, doesn't my Bulbasaur deserve some respect?
Only Red getting a Bulbasaur in the manga somewhat salvaged Ivysaur's reputation.
But Red using Venusaur and Blue using Charizard feels even stranger.
"Then, I shall be the referee," Blue shouted, running between the two.
"Now beginning, the 3V3 battle between Alola League Champion Dr. Su Sheng and Red from Pallet Town."
"The match is over when one side has all three Pokémon unable to battle."
"Now—battle start."
Whether it's a Gym challenge or an Elite Four challenge,
even if it's not explicitly stated, the Gym Leader or Elite Four member usually sends out their partner first.
This allows the challenger to adjust their team based on the opponent's Pokémon.
However, just as Su Sheng reached for his belt, Red took one of his remaining three Poké Balls and threw it forcefully.
The Poké Ball flew open, and a flash of white light appeared.
A small dinosaur-like Pokémon with flames burning at the end of its tail excitedly raised its head and spat out a flame.
The evolved form of Kanto starter Pokémon Charmander—Charmeleon!
"The initial Pokémon he received from Professor Oak has already evolved? Well, it's not surprising, since he started his journey two months earlier than me," Blue shrugged.
"This guy, he's making the first move against the League Champion?"
Masaki was shocked by Red's boldness.
How dare you make the first move!?
"Then, I choose you, Kartana."
Su Sheng, who was a step behind, couldn't help but smile.
The deep blue, net-patterned Ultra Ball opened, drawing an arc in the air.
As its name suggests, Kartana, resembling paper, with a height of only about thirty centimeters, floated lightly in the air, swaying in the wind.
"What's that Pokémon? It, it looks so weird——-"
Blue and Masaki exclaimed in unison.
Seeing this, Red couldn't help but take out his Pokédex.
In fact, he uses the Pokédex far less than his younger brother Ash. After years of studying, he knows the Pokémon information of Kanto and Johto by heart.
But this is the first time he's seen this.
"Kartana, the Draw Sword Pokémon, one of the Ultra Beasts, a Grass and Steel type Pokémon, possesses a body as thin as paper and can transform into a blade that cuts through anything."
The AI's explanation came from Red's Pokédex.
Hearing this, Blue stated, "Grass and Steel? Four times weak to Fire, Mr. Su Sheng is really holding back."
Red frowned slightly upon hearing this.
He would rather Su Sheng defeat him instantly than fight him with such a mindset.
"Don't misunderstand, Red, I'm not deliberately letting you win. I planned to use him from the start," Su Sheng said calmly, "And you better not underestimate this guy just because of his type."
Hearing this, Red immediately abandoned those messy thoughts.
After a brief observation, Red decisively commanded, "Smokescreen."
Charmeleon opened its mouth and released black smoke, enveloping the strait.
"Is he trying to interfere with Kartana's vision first?" Blue shouted.
"Swift!"
Red's voice rang out again from within the black mist. Suddenly, a dozen golden stars, shimmering with light, attacked Kartana floating in the air like bullets from the left side.
"Did he go to the left?" Blue and Masaki thought to themselves.
Facing the incoming Normal-type skill,
Shiny Kartana remained completely unmoved, tilting its head slightly to allow the Swift to almost graze the back of its head.
However, the Swift that was avoided suddenly made a 180° turn and continued to fall towards Kartana from the right.
Like Magical Leaf, a skill that has a 100% hit rate in the game, Swift has a tracking effect.
"Flamethrower!"
Red suddenly increased the volume of his command.
"Attacking from both sides?" Hearing Red's command, Blue subconsciously thought.
After all, the Swift just now was launched from the left.
However, the next second, to Blue and Masaki's surprise, the Flamethrower was fired from below Kartana.
Wh, what's going on?!
The Swift just now did come from the left!
Why is Charmeleon under Kartana again?
"He used Swift's tracking ability," Su Sheng saw through it at a glance.
After releasing "Smokescreen," Charmeleon actually ran directly below Kartana.
Then, he released Swift to his left, and then used Swift's "automatic navigation" ability to make a 90" turn.
Creating the illusion that Charmeleon was somewhere directly below Kartana.
It must be said, Red's mind as a battle enthusiast is really sharp.
Even if the overall gap is too large, he can still surprise you.
