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As Qing Wu was about to leave the trial base and return to the small cave he discovered yesterday, he suddenly saw a group of people standing in the distance, seemingly waiting for someone. The leader was the man who trained Arbok, Kuraki.
Qing Wu looked at Kuraki's snake-like eyes and his heart sank. Snakes are the most patient predators. They use their forked tongues to detect their prey in the air, silently approaching them before launching a fatal strike. Qing Wu couldn't help but shiver at Kuraki's gaze. He quickened his pace to leave the base. In Qing Wu's opinion, his Pokémon had not been fully trained yet. Now was not the time to battle this madman. Once this madman targeted him, he would have no peace.
Seeing Qing Wu walk out step by step, the sullen hostility in Kuraki's eyes grew stronger, and his face became paler. Kuraki crooked his little finger, and Arbok, understanding his intent, quickly slithered towards Qing Wu. Qing Wu heard the sound of a Pokémon crawling behind him and knew that Arbok had launched its attack.
Arbok opened its gaping maw, filled with a strong, foul-smelling gas. Qing Wu acted as if he had eyes in the back of his head, directly pulling out an oversized berry from his armband and turning to stuff it into Arbok's mouth. Arbok was suddenly stuffed with the berry, which got stuck in its throat, neither going down nor coming up. Qing Wu's action was not very damaging, but extremely insulting.
Kuraki's face turned even paler, and a trace of black blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. Finally, Arbok managed to bite the berry in half. Berry juice flowed from Arbok's mouth, dripping onto the ground. It turned out to be a Jaboca Berry, a fruit with extreme spiciness, so hot that Arbok's mouth swelled up like a sausage.
"You'd better take Arbok to the infirmary quickly. That was a Jaboca Berry," Qing Wu kindly reminded him. Kuraki's sullen gaze darted back and forth between Qing Wu and Arbok. Finally, Arbok's mouth swelled up like a sausage. Only then did Kuraki recall Arbok into its Poké Ball and, with his group, headed towards the infirmary.
"Clap, clap, clap," a figure hidden in the shadows clapped his hands. "I actually got to see such a good show." Qing Wu looked closely and saw it was Lan Ling.
"Qing Wu, you must be careful. Kuraki is a petty man. If he targets you, he will hound you to the death," Lan Ling said. "Moreover, you offended him so greatly. Oh, by the way, my name is Lan Ling. I hope you're still alive next time we meet." Lan Ling watched the big show and was in a very good mood. She hummed a little tune as she walked towards the exchange counter.
"So it was her." Qing Wu looked at the familiar face and remembered who Lan Ling was. This was a direct descendant of the future Athena, an Ice-type Psychic Elite. No wonder Qing Wu felt like he had seen her somewhere before. Qing Wu had met her a few times in his previous life, but at that time she had short hair, so Qing Wu didn't recognize her at first glance. This guy was also a famous femme fatale in Team Rocket. If she targeted you, she would scheme your death.
"Big Brother, I want to exchange some items," Lan Ling shouted, slapping down a card, making it seem as if the card contained millions of points.
In a corner of the base, in Team Rocket's head instructor's room, Instructor Frostwolf was sitting in his executive chair, smoking a cigar. Just then, the arrival of a cloaked figure broke Instructor Frostwolf's tranquility. The cloaked figure directly took a cigar from Instructor Frostwolf's precious collection, expertly clipped it, and lit it. Under Instructor Frostwolf's pained and distressed gaze, he sat directly opposite Instructor Frostwolf, crossed his legs, and said nothing.
The cloaked figure took a hard puff from the cigar, but choked on the smoke and coughed incessantly.
"You don't even smoke, yet you're smoking my expensive cigars. What a waste." Instructor Frostwolf finally couldn't hold back and broke the silence. "Why are you here?"
"Nothing much, Boss Giovanni sent me here for a vacation." The cloaked figure removed his hood, revealing a weathered face.
"Oh, you, a battle maniac, actually came here for a vacation? Has the sun risen from the west?" Instructor Frostwolf exclaimed, finding it very strange.
"Did the mission fail?" Instructor Frostwolf tentatively asked.
"The mission didn't fail, I just need to send my old partners off on their final journey." The cloaked figure's voice revealed a hint of helplessness.
"Indeed, they endured for so long, they couldn't hold on anymore. It was hard on them." Instructor Frostwolf said with a sigh. Life and death were the most common things in Team Rocket. This batch of the cloaked figure's Pokémon were the ones who had been with him the longest.
"Do you have any suitable Pokémon?" Instructor Frostwolf asked, then turned and opened a safe, taking out three Poké Balls from it. "These are three relatively strong Pokémon I've collected. Take them and train them, otherwise your position in the organization won't be secure." Although Instructor Frostwolf felt a pang of sadness, he still hardened his heart and pushed the Poké Balls towards the cloaked figure.
"No need, I still have backup Pokémon. Boss Giovanni told me to come here to clear my head and also to find a successor." The cloaked figure pushed the Poké Balls back to Instructor Frostwolf.
"To be honest, after all these years, I'm a bit tired too," the cloaked figure said helplessly. This batch of Pokémon were all carefully nurtured by the cloaked figure. After so many years, they were like father and son. He would send them off. Even a ruthless person like the cloaked figure felt his heart stir.
"The survival rate of this trial can be slightly relaxed. The organization has lost a lot of manpower recently," the cloaked figure said to Instructor Frostwolf. "These are Boss Giovanni's exact words," the cloaked figure added.
"I never thought that you, who are known as the God of Death in Team Rocket, would fall to such a state, Cang." Instructor Frostwolf said with some emotion. He then stood up and took two bottles of good wine from the wine cabinet.
"Drink?" Although Instructor Frostwolf was ruthless, he still retained a shred of humanity. "Are you still very sad this time? After all, you used to be such a kind person," Instructor Frostwolf couldn't help but advise.
"Numb." A single word, "numb," revealed Cang's bitterness. After all, he and his Pokémon had sacrificed too much for Team Rocket. He had already gone through several waves of Pokémon under him, all buried on Ghost Mountain on Trial Island. Cang felt increasingly powerless. It was time to find a successor.
"What exactly happened?" Instructor Frostwolf finally succumbed to his curiosity and asked. "When battling two Elite Trainers from the Alliance, I was ambushed by a hidden Poison-type Elite. All my Pokémon were poisoned."
"I originally thought that after returning to the base and getting an antidote, everything would be fine. But later, I found that my Pokémon started to show drowsiness."
"Then I gave all my Pokémon a physical examination, and the medical experts were helpless against this toxin."
"I've already told Boss Giovanni that I'm here to send my Pokémon off, so I'm treating this as a vacation and choosing some people," Cang said expressionlessly.
"I didn't expect that even you, a Poison and Dark-type Elite, couldn't cure this poison. That's truly rare." Although Instructor Frostwolf was joking, his face was grim. Even a Poison-type Elite couldn't cure it. How potent must that poison be?
"I don't know, this Elite is a new face. I also consulted Koga."
"Pfft," Cang directly bit off the cork from the wine bottle with his teeth, and took a large gulp of wine, swallowing it down.
"What did Koga say?" Instructor Frostwolf raised an eyebrow. If Koga was second in terms of poison usage in Team Rocket, then no one dared claim first.
"Koga couldn't do anything either. He believes it's a new type of toxin, and his medicine can only relieve it." "Thanks to him, my Pokémon were able to hold on for so long, giving their last bit of effort." It was a pity. Cang was saving his Pokémon at the last moment and didn't have time to train new Elite Pokémon. Without Elite Pokémon, Cang wouldn't command respect. Cang was destined to fall from grace and plummet into the abyss.
Cang sighed inwardly. One step at a time, I guess. Anyway, I've already thought about finding a successor.
"I need to sleep here for a while. I haven't rested in days. Whenever I open or close my eyes, I see my Pokémon trying their best to stay alive."
"They kept holding on, just so that I, their trainer, wouldn't feel sad." Two lines of murky tears flowed from Cang's eyes.
"Aren't you numb? This is very common in Team Rocket," Instructor Frostwolf asked, puzzled.
"Although I'm numb, the memories are vivid." Cang hadn't slept for several days straight and could only numb himself with alcohol. Cang rubbed his temples vigorously; his head was throbbing. He saw the will to survive in his Pokémon, a desire for their trainer to live better. This touched the softest part of Cang's heart.
Instructor Frostwolf did not look at Cang's eyes. If he had, he would have found that Cang had a death wish. "In Team Rocket, you can't have feelings for Pokémon. It's not your first day in Team Rocket," Instructor Frostwolf frowned. This Cang was Boss Giovanni's right-hand man, a strong person second only to Boss Giovanni. How could he be in such a sorry state?
"You haven't experienced it; you wouldn't understand," Cang said, downing the entire bottle of 55% liquor in one go. Cang casually tossed the empty bottle onto the ground, making a clanging sound.
"I need to sleep now," Cang said, sitting on the stool, wrapped in his black robe. He soon fell asleep, his snores rumbling like a collapsing mountain. "This bastard always treats my place like a bedroom whenever he comes here," Instructor Frostwolf muttered inwardly, yet he walked out of the office and gently closed the office door.