Su Sheng stood up and pretended to look around, making sure no one was around, then leaned close to Lorelei's ear and whispered:
"Can this be our little secret?"
The tingling sensation in her ear made Lorelei's skin crawl. She shifted uncomfortably and whispered:
"You… you speak first."
"I'm not lying to you. I haven't been experimenting on Pokémon."
Su Sheng's serious expression made it impossible to tell if he was lying, and that was indeed the case.
"Nonsense, I just asked Professor Oak. To complete such an invention, it's absolutely…"
Su Sheng interrupted, "I have been experimenting, but the materials I used weren't Pokémon."
"How is that possible? If not Pokémon, then what—Huh!?"
Halfway through her sentence, Lorelei finally realized what he meant. Her expression froze as if she was being strangled.
If not Pokémon, then what else could it be?
Could it be…
Lorelei thought of a possibility, her mouth gradually forming an "O" shape.
Su Sheng glanced around again, making sure no one was watching, and continued to whisper to Lorelei:
"Lorelei, Elite Four, did you know? Actually, human bloodline factors—oh, to put it in terms you can understand—in our world, human genes and Pokémon genes have a high degree of compatibility. It's even possible for humans and Pokémon to produce offspring."
"That Steven Stone brought a man named Aaron, wasn't he able to use powers similar to Pokémon?"
Su Sheng wasn't lying about this either.
It's said that there was once a human called the 'Aura Guardian' who could even launch Aura Spheres like Lucario.
This proves that human bloodline factors are highly similar to Pokémon.
"In other words, humans—at least the humans in this world—can also be used as materials for Pokémon products."
Lorelei's mouth had widened from a lowercase 'o' to an uppercase 'O'.
"You… you actually did that?"
Although Lorelei's words sounded like a moral condemnation, she was actually just shocked.
"Don't worry, the people I use as materials are all scumbags who deserve the death penalty, but the Pokémon League law doesn't have the death penalty."
Su Sheng spread his hands.
"Lorelei, Elite Four, don't you have similar ideas to me? These guys are just wasting taxpayer money in the League prison. It's better to give them to me to invent something useful for the people and Pokémon of this world."
"The mainstream academia uses Rattata and Pidgey for experiments, mainly because these Pokémon have nasty personalities and are highly dangerous, so the scientific community likes to use them as test subjects. Isn't that similar to what I'm doing?"
"And although Rattata and Arbok are indeed more dangerous compared to other docile Pokémon, how bad can they be? At most, they attack passing humans and steal their food. But the people I use have committed crimes that deserve a life sentence. I think my method is much gentler than the League's."
After speaking, Su Sheng extended his hands to Lorelei.
"Lorelei, Elite Four, arrest me if you want. Anyway, I don't think I'm wrong."
Lorelei was completely stunned.
Of course, she wasn't stunned that Su Sheng used people as materials, but that Su Sheng dared to do it.
In fact, as early as when Lorelei was working within the League and learned that the scientific community was experimenting on Pokémon, she had raised objections to the higher-ups.
At the time, she was refuted by the higher-ups, "If we don't experiment on them, where do the medicines you use on your travels come from?"
Lorelei was rendered speechless.
Because she also used medicine when she traveled, wound medicine for treating Pokémon's injuries, antidote for detoxification, paralysis heal for paralysis…
It can be said that Lorelei herself was also a beneficiary.
She wasn't qualified to raise objections.
Later, when Lorelei started fighting criminals as an Elite Four of the Indigo League, she also suggested to Chairman Goodshow that since these people were just wasting food anyway, why not use them to…
At the time, she was severely reprimanded by Chairman Goodshow.
He criticized Lorelei for being too cruel.
At the time, Lorelei was very unconvinced.
Wasn't it cruel to experiment on Pokémon?
However, Lorelei still endured it.
Chairman Goodshow, the League's president, had already spoken. What else could she do?
However, Lorelei never expected that what she had always wanted to do but couldn't achieve had already been done by someone else, and perfectly!
Even to the point of being able to change the world!
At this moment, Lorelei's gaze towards Su Sheng had changed from the indifference of ten minutes ago to admiration, and even a bit of fanaticism.
Looking at Su Sheng's outstretched hand, Lorelei impulsively grasped it, apologizing from the bottom of her heart:
"I'm sorry, Dr. Su Sheng, I misunderstood you."
Seeing Lorelei bowing her head, Su Sheng also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The reason he dared to say this was because he understood Lorelei's personality.
Lorelei at this stage could be said to be a slightly gentler version of Lance.
She absolutely couldn't tolerate any behavior that harmed Pokémon.
And she certainly didn't like the idea of experimenting on Pokémon.
But she also knew that in order to develop, this was a necessary sacrifice, so she could only turn a blind eye.
But at this moment, a scientist emerged who didn't use Pokémon, but instead used the criminals she hated the most as materials.
Lorelei was almost shouting, "You, are, my, god!"
"It's nothing, I also like Pokémon very much."
Su Sheng told the truth.
Besides having habits left over from his previous life, he also had a genuine love for Pokémon.
Having experienced the betrayal of Vegapunk's clone and reaching the later stages of the One Piece storyline, where new characters he didn't recognize appeared one after another,
Su Sheng really felt like everyone was an undercover agent.
But Pokémon were different.
Once they acknowledged you, it was absolutely impossible for them to betray you.
Although there were also Rattata, Arbok, and Pidgey who were used as guinea pigs by the scientific community because of their bad tempers,
Su Sheng still preferred to use scumbags.
After all, as he had said to Lorelei, how bad could Pokémon be?
Once humans become bad, it's truly unimaginable.
"But Dr. Su Sheng…"
Lorelei was about to speak again, but Su Sheng interrupted, "I've already told you my biggest secret, so don't be so polite. Just call me by my name."
Lorelei smiled, "Then… Sheng, don't call me 'Elite Four' either. Just call me by my name."
Although he was tired of beauties in his previous life, Su Sheng was briefly stunned for half a second when Lorelei smiled.
She truly deserved to be the biggest thunder in the Pokémon world.
After they smiled at each other, Lorelei asked again, "But to research so many things, you must need a lot of… um, materials, right? Sheng, where do you get them from…"
Su Sheng showed an embarrassed expression again, "This… it's a bit hard to believe, but I 'get' them from some people…"
Lorelei heard this and guessed a thing or two.
She figured it was probably Team Rocket or Team Shadow, those criminal organizations.
Lorelei said caringly:
"Sheng, stay away from those scum organizations in the future. If you want materials, I'll get them for you. Getting too close to those people is like playing with fire. Promise me, okay?"
Lorelei hated people who had dirty dealings with evil organizations, such as those tycoons and some councilors within the League.
But Su Sheng was different. He had to deal with those scum organizations in order to not harm Pokémon.
It was so pitiful.
She had to protect this kind young man.
Su Sheng blinked. He felt like he had fooled her.
Oh well.
Gaining Lorelei's favor was something that many transmigrators dreamed of.
The author's previous protagonists hadn't even managed to do that, right?
During the subsequent flight, Lorelei sat next to Su Sheng.
She felt that Su Sheng had it too hard and carried too much.
She should talk to him more.
Originally, Chairman Goodshow, Agatha, and others hadn't paid attention to the two of them.
But seeing Lorelei constantly starting topics, the old people, as well as Lance and Bruno, two of her colleagues, were dumbfounded.
Wha, what's going on?
Seeing this scene, Chairman Goodshow immediately recalled the behavior of Lysandre, who wanted to use Lusamine to seduce Su Sheng, and couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.
Lysandre, you're still too young.
Don't you know that cuteness is worthless in the face of sexiness?
……
……
During the few hours of the flight from Unova to Johto,
Su Sheng wasn't bored because he was chatting with Lorelei.
And although the others were ostensibly doing their own things, in reality, they were all perked up like Buneary, wanting to hear what the two of them were saying.
"How interesting, this is the first time I've seen Lorelei be so proactive."
Agatha said with great interest.
As a genius who was widely favored by the League from the moment she debuted, if others wanted to communicate with Lorelei, they would have to start the conversation and try to please her.
She had never seen Lorelei be so enthusiastic.
"What do you think, old friend? Lance."
Agatha maliciously raised her eyebrows at Lance.
"Boring."
Lance crossed his arms and turned his face to the other side.
Lance and Lorelei had also known each other for ten years.
Even their experiences of obtaining their first Pokémon were very similar.
Lance discovered a Dratini that had fallen ill in a river polluted by factory wastewater.
Lorelei also discovered a Seel in a sewage pond that had been artificially polluted.
However, their similar experiences didn't lead to any signs of them breaking through in that direction.
One of the reasons might be that Lance, like Seto Kaiba, wasn't interested in women. He was "dragon-sexual."
"Hehe~ Sheng, we're almost at Azalea Town. Be careful on the way. Oh, right, do you want Lorelei to accompany you for a stroll?~"
Chairman Goodshow smiled, the wrinkles on his face squeezed together.
If Su Sheng and Lorelei could get together, then it would be much easier to lure him over from Alola.
"Chairman!"
Before Su Sheng could answer, his secretary suddenly walked over quickly and bowed.
Chairman Goodshow waved his hand and said, "Just say it. Everyone here is family."
The secretary nodded and said, "Two of Team Shadow and Joker's companions are fighting like dogs in Ilex Forest."
Su Sheng instantly became a huh.
Thousands of words summed up into one "Huh?"
And compared to shock, Lance's face showed more elation.
"So he really did return to Johto!"
In his opinion, Joker's lair was originally in Johto.
It was very normal for him to return to Johto after causing trouble in Unova.
Lorelei and the others had the same idea and asked Chairman Goodshow's secretary:
"Is it Team Rocket and Team Shadow fighting? How many people are on both sides?"
In Lorelei's opinion, it was not surprising for the two largest criminal organizations in Kanto and Johto to clash.
"Team Shadow has about 20 people, led by Team Shadow's chief scientist, Ariana, and Executive Gorigan. Team Rocket… seems to only have two, Joker's companions, Masked Woman and Psychic Fatty."
Hearing the secretary's name for Blaine, Su Sheng almost couldn't help but laugh.
"Joker isn't there?"
Lance frowned.
"It's also possible that the Gym Leader of Azalea Gym, Bugsy, didn't see him. In short, Gym Leader Bugsy contacted us and said that he couldn't stop these two groups with his own strength and hoped that we would send reinforcements."
"What are we waiting for? Go to Azalea Town immediately!"
Lance shouted.
Chairman Goodshow nodded and said to Su Sheng:
"Sorry, Sheng, we'll take you back later."
"It's okay."
Su Sheng also wanted to see what was going on.
Weren't Petrel and Ariana supposed to be catching Kurt?
How did they get involved with Team Shadow again?
……
The plane didn't take long to fly over Ilex Forest in western Azalea Town.
The pilot's voice came from the speakers:
"Everyone, Azalea Town doesn't have an airport and cannot land. The nearest airport is Violet Airport in Violet City, which is…"
"No need."
Before the pilot could finish speaking, Lance suddenly got up from his seat and walked to the cabin door.
"Stand back."
Lance reminded everyone before opening the door.
Whoosh—
The high-altitude turbulence rushed into the cabin, causing Lance's cape to flutter wildly.
The next second, Lance jumped down and shouted into the strong wind, "Dragonite!"
The obese Dragonite jumped out of the Poké Ball on its own, carrying its master and flying into the forest.
Watching Lance's back disappear, Su Sheng said that he deserved to be the number one show-off in the Pokémon world.
"Tsk, I knew I should have captured a Flying-type Pokémon."
However, after sighing, Su Sheng immediately muttered to himself.
He hadn't rushed to capture a Flying-type Pokémon because he could use a wingsuit for normal actions.
Now it was troublesome.
"Are you going too?"
Lorelei walked up and asked.
Su Sheng gave the perfect reason in a second, nodding and saying:
"Yes, we haven't cracked the move that Joker used to defeat Elite Four Lance before. If he goes like this, he'll probably suffer another loss. If I can see Joker's battle with my own eyes, I might be able to discover some clues."
Chairman Goodshow and the others suddenly understood.
He truly deserved to be a strategist!
"Let's go then, we'll go together."
Lorelei stepped forward quickly against the strong wind, the turbulence blowing her beautiful hair wildly.
Su Sheng, who was just about to ask Sister Kun for a parachute, was a little confused.
In his memory, whether in games or comics, Lorelei didn't have a Flying-type partner.
"Jynx."
Lorelei called out softly.
A Jynx with sausage lips jumped out of Lorelei's Poké Ball on its own.
The next second, Jynx raised its hands slightly.
A light blue light enveloped Su Sheng, Lorelei, and Jynx itself.
Lorelei's hair, which was originally scattered by the wind, immediately stabilized.
It was as if a barrier was isolating the strong wind.
"Let's go."
Lorelei tidied her messy bangs and gave the order to her Jynx.
Immediately, the two of them and Jynx were lifted by an invisible somersault cloud, descending vertically towards the forest below as if riding an elevator.
"I forgot about this move."
Su Sheng slapped his forehead.
He was really smart one moment and muddleheaded the next.
He forgot that Psychic-type Pokémon can achieve flight by enveloping themselves in psychic power. Mewtwo and Mew love to play like this, don't they?
Speaking of which, Su Sheng remembered a world-famous painting again.
Well, don't let Old Gu see it.
"Lorelei, call Champion Lance and tell him not to rush so fast, be careful of getting tricked by Joker again."
Su Sheng said to Lorelei.
Well, the real purpose was to prevent Lance from joining the battle, so that Grimsley and Siebold wouldn't accidentally reveal their flaws.
Moreover, this reason was flawless, and Lorelei immediately took out her phone to call Lance.
To be honest, Lance was very unhappy when he first heard this reason.
But when he heard Su Sheng say, "Do you want to lose to him again?" on the other end of the phone, he suppressed his anger.
"As expected of you, you can actually persuade him."
After hanging up the phone, Lorelei smiled slightly at Su Sheng.
She herself didn't realize that she was smiling more and more in front of Su Sheng.
"Just telling the truth, after all, Champion Lance doesn't want to lose to Joker three times in a row, right?"
Su Sheng shrugged.
Lorelei had a "won't laugh unless I can't help it" expression, "Actually, he's already lost three times. The first time they met two years ago, Lance actually lost, but the media…"
"Hey!"
Lance arrived on his Dragonite at this time, his face dark.
Damn it, he just came back and heard Lorelei talking about his dark history.
Although Lance wasn't someone who couldn't afford to lose, you didn't have to tell everyone about my dark history, right?
Lorelei said that I didn't tell everyone, I just told him.
After successfully landing in Pinwheel Forest, Su Sheng said:
"Champion Lance, please use your Flying-type Pokémon to scout Joker and Shadow's location from the air. The commotion when these guys fight must be huge."
Lance had no objection, but reminded him when throwing the Poké Ball, "It's the Dragon Tamers."
While the two's attention was diverted by the Flying-type Pokémon, Su Sheng quietly threw two Poké Balls into the nearby bushes.
In less than five minutes, Lance's Aerodactyl let out a shriek from high in the sky.
Found them!
"Let's go!"
Lance shouted.
"Let's go."
Lorelei turned to look at Su Sheng.
Su Sheng nodded and followed.
What the two running ahead didn't know was that because Grimsley had already sent the location sharing, his two Pokémon had arrived in advance.
……
……
In less than two minutes, the three had arrived at the periphery of the battlefield.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
More than a dozen Pokémon were fighting in the center of the devastated forest.
Grimsley's shout suddenly rang out:
"I never thought that the leading tycoon of the Unova region would be mixed up with Shadow."
Lance and Lorelei's expressions changed at the same time.
Su Sheng gestured for the two to squat down.
The three squatted behind the bushes, peering through the trees.
Through a small hole, Lance was surprised to find that standing behind the Shadow member in the white uniform was.
Kukui, the Unova tycoon who had worked together during the Illusory Forest operation a few days ago, next to him was his lackey Grings and a group of subordinates.
Mixed up with Shadow?
Lance's face darkened upon hearing Grimsley's words.
He was already used to the connection between chaebols and criminal organizations.
But he still hated it.
Su Sheng's attention, however, was focused on Dr. Elina, Shadow's chief scientist, whom he had met once two years ago… and the Machoke next to her.
Gordie, a high-ranking executive of Shadow, an A-class wanted criminal by the League.
Of course, the reason Su Sheng was paying attention to him wasn't because of how strong he was, but because… this guy looked really abstract, with bulging muscles, long arms almost reaching the ground, and a pair of short legs, he was simply a shaved gorilla.
Then, Gordie shouted with a not-so-clever expression:
"You guys are here to steal Celebi too! ?"
Celebi!?
Lance and Lorelei's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.
