"Sorry for the trouble, Miss Wicke."
Several hours later, Su Sheng said to Wicke, the branch manager of the Aether Foundation who came from Alola to replace Zao Bo.
"Don't mention it. If it weren't for you, the president's family might have…"
Wicke shook her head, indicating that Su Sheng didn't need to take it to heart, and then looked at the girl soaking in the nutrient tank, whose left hand had been replaced by a dragon arm, and whose upper body was covered with blue-black dragon scales.
"But… I didn't expect that in such a short period of time, Asheng, you've researched something amazing again."
Wicke came this time to transport Xijiana and the treatment pod to Alola.
Today, Su Sheng and the others were going to Vermilion City, Kanto, to trade with Pryce.
Not only for Zorua, but also for Swablu.
"Phew…"
After seeing off Wicke and Xijiana, who was still in a deep coma, Yishu took a deep breath, rubbed his head, and complained:
"Although I like excitement, haven't I been overstimulated lately? I want to relax occasionally."
Even as Su Sheng's number one fun-seeker, Yishu had been feeling physically and mentally exhausted recently.
One big event after another, one wave not yet settled, another rises.
He had just dealt with Koutai, that idiot who could predict the future, and before he could even warm his seat, he had to face the master-level Pryce!
"Stop complaining. If it weren't for Asheng, do you think you could have fought Steven Stone to a 4-6 split?"
Lihua couldn't help but kick Yishu.
Yishu curled his lips, "I'm just complaining, and it wasn't 4-6, it was 6-4. I had the upper hand in that battle."
After packing up, the three boarded the most recent flight from Cianwood City, Johto, to Vermilion City, Kanto.
Sitting by the window, Su Sheng looked at the blue sky and sea of clouds outside without saying a word.
He was wondering whether to tell Giovanni that Silver had been kidnapped by Pryce.
After thinking about it all the way, Su Sheng decided to pretend he didn't know for the time being.
Giovanni without legendary support was honestly no match for Pryce.
Even if Giovanni was at the peak of the champion level, and even one foot into the master level in the later stages.
But in the end, he wasn't a master level.
In the original story, after Giovanni knew the truth, he definitely wanted to take revenge on Pryce, but unfortunately, it never happened.
As for whether Giovanni wanted revenge, Su Sheng thought he definitely did.
Unfortunately, the two mythical beasts that Giovanni once possessed, Mewtwo and Deoxys, were not by his side at the time.
In the end, he could only swallow this bitter pill silently.
Unlike the nearly ten-hour long-distance flight from Unova to Johto.
Kanto and Johto were only separated by Mount Silver.
It took less than two hours for Su Sheng and the others to set foot on the land of Vermilion City.
"Master Su Sheng, this way."
The three had just come out of the airport hall when they heard an unusually sharp voice, much like the eunuchs in Su Sheng's previous life's costume dramas.
Su Sheng looked up and saw a woman with pale skin like a vampire, with long and narrow phoenix eyes, who tried hard to make out that she shouldn't have a 'handle'.
"This humble one is Saki, a newcomer who just joined Team Rocket. I am here on Lord Giovanni's orders to welcome Lord Su Sheng."
Saki's voice gave Yishu behind him goosebumps.
Su Sheng looked at the other party twice, didn't say much, nodded, got into the car with Saki, and rushed to the Vermilion Gym.
"Is Pryce here yet?"
Su Sheng had already remembered who this so-called "newcomer" was, but now he didn't have the extra mind to think about other things.
The transaction with Pryce was related to the safety of his two companions.
"Not yet. It's a good opportunity for Lord Su Sheng to discuss countermeasures with Lord Giovanni during this time."
Saki, who was driving, responded.
In order to prevent accidents, Giovanni could be said to have recalled all the elite combat forces of Team Rocket's branches in various parts of the Kanto region.
He was afraid that if Pryce tore his face, if the two sides fought, they could rely on the number to find flaws.
And Saki, as a newcomer who had just joined, was originally not qualified to participate in this operation.
But her strength was so outstanding that Giovanni exceptionally promoted her to join the operation.
Soon, the backstage studio of the Vermilion Gym.
"Come on, Asheng."
Giovanni was not sitting on that unchanging boss chair, but on the sofa next to the coffee table, and raised his hand to signal Su Sheng to sit down too.
Su Sheng glanced at the Team Rocket Executives standing behind Giovanni, as well as the future Team Rocket Trio, namely Saki, who looked like a vampire, whose name always made Su Sheng think of the short Chakra from the Naruto film set next door, and Ouka, who was burly and had a somewhat simple and honest temperament.
Just as Saki said in the car before, Giovanni had really called all the high-end combat power of the organization.
There were four more, probably to avoid suspicion from the Alliance. After thinking about it, he still didn't let them come.
"The purpose of this operation is ultimately just a transaction. No one can take action unless absolutely necessary."
Su Sheng rarely showed such a serious expression.
After all, the current Pryce was not only a master level, but also not an ordinary master level, but a master level with a legend.
And who knew if Lugia had also been subdued by him besides Ho-Oh.
That would be even more impossible to fight.
"I really didn't expect that the most low-key Gym Leader in the Johto region would actually be a powerhouse above the champion level. He's even better at hiding than Lord Giovanni."
Lance complained, touching his chin.
"It is said that Drake was instantly killed, but the Alliance didn't report it at all. Hehe~ They also feel ashamed."
Athena said with a wicked smile.
Apollo, the leader of the Executives, remembered something and asked:
"Speaking of which, Lord Sheng, you said in the phone call with the BOSS that Pryce also has a legendary Pokémon, right?"
"Yes, so no one is allowed to act rashly until the last moment."
Su Sheng said calmly.
Apollo nodded when he heard this, and then said:
"In that case, BOSS, can our Team Rocket also trade with him to get the cells of the legendary Pokémon in Pryce's hands and integrate them into the [Mewtwo Project]?"
After thinking for a while, Giovanni said to Su Sheng:
"Asheng, do you think it's feasible?"
Integrate Ho-Oh's cells into Mewtwo's body.
Giovanni's proposal stunned Su Sheng for a moment.
What would it be like if the fire-type + flying-type Ho-Oh's cells combined with Mewtwo?
A red Mewtwo? Or a Mewtwo with wings?
Just thinking about it is eye-catching.
"It's not very realistic. Ho-Oh is definitely a first-level legend. Needless to say, Pryce values him very much, and Pryce is not a money-loving person. I don't think Team Rocket can come up with a bargaining chip that will move him."
Su Sheng shook his head.
You must know that Pryce kidnapped your son, and he still has to guard against you taking revenge on him. How could he help you strengthen yourself?
"It's a pity… But it's rare for you to come here, Asheng. Let's also learn about the progress of the [Mewtwo Project]. With your assistance, I think we can definitely create an artificial Pokémon stronger than Mew."
Saying that, Giovanni gave Apollo a gesture.
Apollo nodded, walked to the wall behind Giovanni's desk, and knocked.
The wall opened by itself, and behind it was actually an elevator!
Before long, Apollo came back and handed a USB flash drive to Su Sheng.
At this time, Giovanni's secretary, Matori, rushed into the office in a panic.
"Lord Giovanni! Pryce is here!"
In an instant, the faces of everyone present changed drastically.
Giovanni decisively said: "Everyone, stand by. Only I and Asheng will go."
……
In the empty Vermilion Gym battle arena, a Delibird pushed Pryce's wheelchair with its short hands and stopped in the center of the field.
"I came alone, but you prepared such a big battle… Is the largest criminal organization in Kanto so timid?"
Pryce lightly rested his hands on the back of the Swinub in his arms, his tone was calm, but his eyes, narrowed into a thin line, revealed a faint hint of mockery.
He had been careless before and didn't notice Swablu's sneak attack.
He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Although the gym in front of him seemed empty.
But with a little perception, Pryce discovered that in the dark corners and behind the walls around the gym.
There were fully arranged "axemen"!
Su Sheng, standing on the second floor with Giovanni, sighed inwardly, "Good guy."
Before the fight even started, he had already taken out two master-level Pokémon.
Giovanni stood up and smiled: "Please don't blame us for being cautious. After all, you may be the strongest trainer of this era."
"Heh… Let's skip the boring greetings."
Pryce indifferently raised his hand slightly.
The Delibird behind him, who was helping to push the wheelchair, rummaged through its big tail that looked like a pocket and took out an ice sculpture from it.
No!
To be precise, it was a Zorua frozen into an ice sculpture!
"You bastard!"
Lihua almost couldn't help but take action.
He actually turned Zorua into this!
Su Sheng also had a dark face.
Pryce said calmly: "Its ability is too tricky. It can even deceive me and Ho-Oh. I did it just in case."
Saying that, the Delibird put its hand on the top of the Zorua's head in its ice sculpture state, and in less than two seconds, it absorbed the ice breath, allowing Zorua to return to its original state.
[Asheng!]
A long-lost telepathic voice rang in Su Sheng's mind.
Zorua wanted to pounce on him, but the Delibird stretched out its hand and firmly twisted the scruff of its neck.
"Glacier?"
Pryce questioned in a cold voice.
Su Sheng took out the Poké Ball that Swablu had stolen from Pryce before.
He threw it out gently.
A relatively petite Lapras landed in front of Pryce.
Seeing Su Sheng directly release Lapras, Giovanni was stunned for a moment.
He felt that Su Sheng shouldn't have returned the bargaining chip so easily.
What if Pryce went back on his word?
"Hoo woo~"
As soon as Glacier landed, it couldn't wait to run back to Pryce's side.
Although Su Sheng didn't abuse it or anything, because it had experienced the pain of losing its parents, and Pryce had always protected it like a flower in an ivory tower.
This Lapras named "Glacier" had always had poor stress resistance. It could be said that it was frightened these three days.
Fortunately, what Giovanni was worried about didn't happen.
After Glacier returned, the Delibird immediately let go of Zorua.
[Asheng!]
Zorua walked with its short legs and threw itself into Su Sheng's arms.
"Sorry, my fault."
Su Sheng took the initiative to apologize.
Although it was an unexpected accident, if he hadn't let Zorua impersonate Joker, it wouldn't have happened.
Zorua shook its head and buried its head in Su Sheng's arms again and rubbed against him.
Su Sheng put Zorua on his shoulder and threw Glacier's Poké Ball back to Pryce.
"Then we're even, right?"
Pryce said, giving the Delibird a look.
The Delibird put its two short hands on the wheelchair again and prepared to take its master away.
"Wait a minute."
Su Sheng stopped Pryce from leaving with an Erlang hand.
Then, under Pryce's slightly curious gaze, Su Sheng opened another Poké Ball.
Seeing the Swablu lying in Su Sheng's arms, which was much smaller than its peers, Giovanni looked sideways slightly, "Is that… Asheng's new partner?"
"Its condition doesn't seem very good."
Even if Pryce wasn't a medical professional, he could see Swablu's problem.
When it first flew out, it was a little difficult to even maintain its flying state. Its wings fluttered and it fell into Su Sheng's arms.
Anyone who wasn't blind could see how bad its physical condition was.
"Can I borrow your old man's Ho-Oh? Ho-Oh's healing power can even revive Pokémon that have just died. I think it's no problem to treat this child."
Su Sheng got straight to the point.
Hearing this, Pryce was stunned for two seconds, and then the corners of his mouth curled up in an imperceptible arc.
It was really like someone sending him a pillow when he was just about to fall asleep.
On the way here, he was still thinking about what tricks to use to force Su Sheng to work for him.
He didn't expect the other party to take the initiative to send him a bargaining chip.
But the next second, Pryce thought of another question——
If he took out Ho-Oh now and helped Su Sheng's Swablu cure its stubborn illness, what would this kid do if he went back on his word or didn't put in the effort in the future?
After all, according to Pryce's observation, Su Sheng was very dissatisfied with his kidnapping of Zorua.
Even if he let Ho-Oh heal that Swablu that was about to die.
If Su Sheng directly said "Sorry, I can't do it" when he was doing things later.
Then he seemed to only be able to suffer a dumb loss.
Pryce fell into a brief silence.
After two minutes, when Su Sheng was a little impatient, Pryce finally spoke again:
"Let me think about it. I'll give you a reply tomorrow morning."
After saying that, Pryce had the Delibird help push the wheelchair and left the Vermilion Gym.
"What is this old immortal planning?"
Lihua walked to Su Sheng's side, looking at Pryce's receding figure with an unkind expression.
"Do we really still have to get involved with him? I think we should stay as far away from him as possible."
Yishu also expressed his opinion.
Su Sheng shook his head, looking at the weak Swablu.
Excluding Xerneas from the Kalos region, Ho-Oh should be the strongest healer in the Pokémon world.
Although Xerneas can be regarded as the softest-hearted of the mythical beasts, if you ask her to save someone, she will definitely help you nine times out of ten.
But the problem is that there is no time for that now.
What's more, maybe Xerneas is still in "tree" form and is sleeping soundly in some forest.
Swablu's condition can't be delayed.
He can only place his hopes on Ho-Oh.
……
……
After leaving the Vermilion Gym, Pryce found a corner seat in a small teahouse, ordered a cup of tea, and told the waiter not to disturb him.
Originally, he wasn't a Gym Leader with the fame of someone like Wallace from Hoenn or Elesa from Unova.
Sitting here, he didn't attract anyone's attention.
After taking a sip of tea, Pryce took out an Ultra Ball and placed it in front of the teacup. Through the translucent ball cover, one could vaguely see the Pokémon inside—Ho-Oh!
"I have something to tell you," Pryce said slowly.
Ho-Oh didn't reply with telepathy, but simply raised its eyes slightly to meet Pryce's gaze.
"That Swablu of Su Sheng's, I plan to save it."
Hearing Pryce's words, a glimmer of light rose in Ho-Oh's originally dim eyes.
It seemed that this human who had captured it still had some compassion.
However, the next second, Pryce changed his tone and said, "But, don't heal her all at once."
Ho-Oh: ???
Pryce's words completely baffled Ho-Oh.
You want me to heal her, but you're telling me not to heal her completely at once.
What, what do you mean?
Pryce continued, "If she's healed all at once, that kid will easily slack off. So, you don't need to heal that Swablu immediately, just prevent her condition from worsening. Wait until that kid helps me capture Celebi, then you can perform a complete treatment."
After hearing Pryce's words, Ho-Oh was completely dumbfounded.
It understood what he meant.
Pryce felt that if the Swablu was healed all at once, he would have no means to control Su Sheng.
So, Pryce's chosen method was to have Ho-Oh keep the Swablu alive, just enough to prevent her from dying.
During this period, Su Sheng had to find ways to help Pryce successfully capture Celebi.
Then, a radical cure would be performed on the Swablu.
In this way, Pryce could use this point to perfectly control Su Sheng.
This was a bit like the villain's trick in martial arts novels to control his subordinates.
First, give the subordinates poison, and then give the antidote.
But this antidote cannot completely detoxify at once, it can only relieve the toxicity for a period of time so you won't die.
Then, you get medicine once for each task you complete, achieving the goal of controlling you for a long time.
Ho-Oh was speechless.
You, you're too despicable, aren't you?
Having been captured by Pryce for several years, Ho-Oh also had some understanding of this person.
To be honest, Pryce was not the trainer that Ho-Oh favored.
What Ho-Oh liked was the kind like Naruto, who would forgive you even if you killed my parents... uh, okay, that's a bit much to say.
At least it's the type like Ash in the future, with a pure heart.
Pryce had absolutely nothing to do with this type of trainer.
But helplessly, Pryce was too strong.
So, Ho-Oh had been observing him, hoping to "transform" Pryce into the way it wanted.
However, until today, Ho-Oh was disheartened.
Although everything Pryce did was for that Lapras, that was nothing.
The key was that for this purpose, he completely regarded the lives of other people and other Pokémon as worthless.
This was what Ho-Oh could not tolerate.
However, at this moment, Pryce was completely immersed in the ecstasy of being able to completely control Su Sheng, and the joy of seemingly being able to reunite his Ice and the two Lapras who had passed away.
He completely didn't notice the change in Ho-Oh's eyes.
……
……
The next day, Pryce once again, with the help of Delibird, rode his wheelchair to Viridian Gym.
"Just do as we said yesterday, understand, Ho-Oh?"
Pryce lowered his head and said to Ho-Oh in the Ultra Ball.
At this moment, he had three guardian deities protecting him.
Delibird, Swinub, Ho-Oh.
Just as he had said before, he wouldn't care even if the entire Team Rocket came together.
However, the imagined answer did not enter his mind through telepathy.
Not only that, but the Ultra Ball also began to vibrate uncontrollably, causing Pryce's expression to change slightly.
Crack!
The next second, cracks appeared on the Ultra Ball's shell, and it was broken from the inside.
A dazzling sun rose into the sky.
The Lord of Sacred Fire opened its two semi-circular wings, forming a spherical shape.
The majestic and heavy pressure enveloped the entire Viridian City, as if the sky had two suns.
Ho-Oh, descends after breaking the ball!
"Hoo——"
Ho-Oh looked down at this powerful trainer who had been with it for several years.
And Pryce at this moment had also regained his composure, raising his head and staring expressionlessly at Ho-Oh in the sky.
"Are you going to betray me?"
Just a reminder to everyone, Zinnia and the Zinnia who has already appeared are not the same person. The latter is the former's clan sister or senior sister. She did not officially appear in the original book, and died before the plot began due to the Devon Corporation and the Pokémon League's Rayquaza capture plan. She only exists in memories and has appeared in silhouette but not her real face.
By the way, writing the plot before Ash's era is very brain-consuming. Many stories have to be thought up by myself. Thank you all for taking the time to watch.
