bioinnovel Chapter 226 The Rockets' Invitation
Chapter 226 The Rockets' Invitation
Hoenn region, Team Rocket base.
Since the base in Petalburg Woods collapsed into ruins overnight, Lambda was sent to the Hoenn region in a time of crisis and began to rebuild a secret Team Rocket base.
Although they still have the Rocket Entertainment base to cover their tracks, the Rockets team itself is, after all, a shady business.
To prevent others from following the trail, it's best to have a base of operations operating covertly.
The new base was ultimately located in the city of Kanaz.
the reason is simple.
Kanazon City is the most bustling metropolis in the Hoenn region, while Team Rocket's headquarters are located in Saffron City, the most bustling city in the Kanto region.
Lambda wants to replicate the glory of headquarters.
Now, the headquarters is leaderless because Boss Banmu has not shown up for a long time.
Although Athena was in charge, something went wrong on the new island, and she had to go there personally to deal with it, so she was really overwhelmed.
The fact that Bishas could openly defy the organization's orders already speaks volumes.
The current headquarters is nothing more than a huge machine that is about to be scrapped.
Although it still looks impressive from the outside, and even a starved camel is bigger than a horse, it's only a matter of time before it collapses. As long as an earthquake strikes, it will crumble.
If I develop the Hoenn region, why can't I be the leader of Team Rocket?
Harboring ambitions to become the "next Team Rocket," Lambda ultimately decided to locate the base in Kanaz City for the sake of convenience in various plans and resource allocation.
However, as a renowned modern city, Kanaz still lacks something.
In case we are ever besieged, we need to produce enough food.
Yes, the Rockets are currently lacking in agricultural development.
Previously, Takagure's goal was to maximize the quality of his already high-quality honey and then use this ripple effect to drive the development of other agricultural products.
But now, Lambda has a better idea.
After the farming competition, Lambda learned more about the champion.
Only then did they realize that this young man named Fangzhou was actually the owner of the Pokémon Manor that Gao Shou had been trying to annex.
As a "peace lover" and someone who greatly admires Ark's talent, Lambda decides to send someone to contact Ark and try to win him over.
Of course, it couldn't be in the name of the Rockets.
The Rockets and the Ark already had a history of feuds.
It just so happened that he had set up a technology company as a front, invested in the farming competition, and Ark participated in the competition and won the championship, so it was a good time.
They decided to use this as an opportunity to try and attract Ark to join them.
Just then, Lambda's phone vibrated, and a new text message popped up.
Something's strange going on in Niijima. I have a bad feeling. Now that you've finished dealing with the Hoenn matter, please come over.
The signature is Athena.
Lambda glanced at it, curled his lip, and looked utterly disdainful.
Did Athena run into trouble on the new island?
The perfect time!
Athena is the most loyal to the leader of the four generals, and Lambda is dreaming of replacing the leader of the leader, so he naturally hopes that the other party will get into trouble.
Ideally, that artificial mythical beast would suddenly awaken, then blast Athena and the entire island into the sky with lightning speed, and finally go to Team Rocket headquarters and send the headquarters away as well.
Hey.
Lambda thought to herself with a smug look on her face, and gently wiggled the toes of her crossed legs.
The assistant next to him rolled his eyes discreetly, turned around and went out to meet the manor lord.
……
"LotoLoto! The phone's ringing!"
On this day, Fangzhou was bent over, busy in the field.
Rotom floated out of the house in a flash.
"It's Mr. Clint on the phone." Rotom spun around in the air.
Upon hearing this, Fangzhou immediately straightened up and strode towards Rotom.
On the other end of the phone, Clint's excited voice almost exploded from the receiver:
"Fangzhou, I have great news for you! We've successfully turned that gourd you brought over into a Pokémon item!"
A thought flashed through Fang Zhou's mind, and he quickly asked, "What does it look like? Let me see it."
Clint chuckled, a hint of smugness in his voice: "Its functionality is beyond your imagination. It's not convenient to talk about it over the phone, so come over here now."
Two minutes later, Fangzhou flipped himself onto the Salamence and patted its neck.
The Salamence roared, spread its wings, and soared into the sky with a gust of wind.
A single sword sheath swayed gently behind him.
It was only a few days old and full of curiosity about the world. As soon as it heard that Fangzhou was going out, it quickly followed and wanted to see everything.
Along the way, Fangzhou began to speculate about the effects of the gourd prop.
Could it be that carrying it will increase all attributes?
Or is it immune to damage of all attributes?
Arceus Gourd.
The more he thought about it, the more outrageous it seemed, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself.
The Salamence landed at the town entrance, and Ark jumped down, but sensed something different from usual.
In the past, when I came to town, I would always see people preparing for the next festival.
There was a lot of activity, like people practicing flying and observing celestial phenomena. But this time, the streets were quiet, and there were hardly any people working.
Fangzhou thought about it and roughly understood.
Judging by the time, the Prayer Festival is just five days away.
The Prayer Festival is more about people gathering together to pray and offer blessings. Although there are eating contests, it's ultimately about participation and doesn't require much preparation beforehand.
No wonder the town seems so peaceful.
The single sword sheath behind him made an excited "clanging" sound, and the sword tassel swung back and forth, clearly showing that he was very curious about everything around him.
The street signs, the passersby, and the aroma of food wafting from afar were all novel to it.
Fangzhou decided that once he got the item, he would take it to explore the surrounding area.
Stepping into the blacksmith's shop, Fangzhou immediately sensed that the atmosphere was completely different from usual.
The blacksmith shop used to be filled with the monotonous clanging of hammering metal, but now it's bustling with noise, a mix of lively discussions, laughter, and debates.
"ark!"
Upon seeing the Ark enter, Mr. Steel excitedly stood up from his chair and waved a palm-sized object in his hand.
The object was entirely bluish-green, with a smooth, mirror-like surface and faintly visible fine lines.
It was a gourd the size of a palm!
"You've finally arrived!"
"We spent several days crafting this gourd into a top-tier prop!"
He emphasized the word "top-notch" heavily, raising his chin slightly with a satisfied look on his face.
Fangzhou was stunned for a moment, his eyes fixed on the small gourd in Mr. Steel's hand, and he didn't react for a moment.
No, where's my huge gourd?
The gourd used to be as tall as a person, how come it's now only the size of a palm?
Seemingly understanding Fangzhou's confusion, Clint leaned over, patted Fangzhou on the shoulder, and grinned:
"Crafting props is a very profound and magical art. It's perfectly normal for the size of a prop to change after our series of processing steps. Less is more, after all!"
Fangzhou nodded as if he understood, then took the small gourd and weighed it in his hand.
The gourd feels warm and smooth to the touch, and is heavier than it looks, like a piece of carved jade. You can feel a faint energy gently pulsating in your palm.
"Okay," Fang Zhou looked up, "what exactly is the function of this tool?"
Mr. Steel stopped being mysterious and turned around to pick up a grayish-white stone from the workbench.
It was a hard rock, and the Ark also had one. It was a system reward obtained after capturing Cocodora, and it could enhance the power of Rock-type moves.
What does Mr. Steel want to do with this?
Mr. Steel placed the gourd and the hard stone side by side.
The moment the two came into contact, a faint sheen appeared on the surface of the gourd.
The luster was grayish-white, spreading from the bottom to the top of the gourd like ripples in water. Soon, the color of the entire gourd became darker and the texture became rougher, making it look almost exactly like the hard stone next to it.
Then, Mr. Steel beckoned Ark to the lawn outside.
This is where Clint usually tests the effects of his crafted props; wooden targets of varying thicknesses are scattered across the lawn.
Some were covered with pits and craters, while others were smashed to pieces, with wood chips scattered all over the ground.
Mr. Steel took a Poké Ball from his waist, pressed it lightly, and a flash of white light appeared, revealing a Geodude on the lawn.
It was grayish-brown all over, with a round body the size of a fist, two thick arms hanging at its sides, and stood there expressionless.
"Geosphere, use your skill on that target."
Mr. Steel pointed to the leftmost target.
Geodude raised its right arm, and a layer of earthy yellow light emanated from its arm.
It let out a low growl and threw a punch, sending an energy blast formed from rock fragments hurtling toward the target.
"Bang!"
The target shook violently, sending a few splinters flying, but it quickly regained its balance, leaving only a shallow dent on its surface.
Fang Zhou shook his head inwardly.
This Geodude isn't very good. It doesn't look high-level; it must have been captured recently.
Mr. Steel nodded, stepped forward, took a hard stone from his pocket, and placed it in the palm of Little Fist Stone's right hand.
The little geomancy gripped the stone tightly, the stone pressing against its rough skin.
"Try again."
Geodude raised his right arm again.
This time, a faint white light emanated from the hard stone, spreading like water from the palm of the small fist stone to its entire arm, eventually enveloping its whole body.
It let out a low growl and threw a punch.
The energy projectile was a full size larger than before, and it crashed into the target with a sharp whooshing sound.
"boom!"
The target that was still shaking exploded, sending splinters flying everywhere. The furthest piece flew five or six meters away and landed in the grass.
Hard rock can indeed boost the power of Rock-type Pokémon.
Fangzhou nodded, but he still didn't quite understand what Mr. Steel was going to do.
Mr. Steel took back the hard stone, and then first handed over the palm-sized gourd for the little fist stone to hold.
"Let's try one last time."
The little geode gripped the gourd, and then raised its right arm again.
He threw a punch.
An energy blast erupted from its fist, carrying almost the same power as before, and hurtled towards another target.
"boom!"
The target shattered into pieces under the attack of the small stone, sending wood chips flying and the fragments bouncing a few times on the lawn before coming to rest.
Fang Zhou's eyes widened suddenly.
He looked at the shattered target, then at the small green gourd in Geodude's hand, and then at Mr. Steel.
"The gourd's function... is the same as the hard stone from before?"
Fangzhou's voice was filled with disbelief, "It can also increase the power of Rock-type moves?"
Mr. Steel next to him laughed heartily, his wrinkles crinkling at the corners of his eyes.
"Not entirely! To be precise, the effect of your gourd is—replication."
"Copy?"
Fangzhou was stunned for a moment.
He knew that there was a Pokémon ability called "Copy" and a move called "Copy," but this was the first time he had heard that an item's effect could also be copied.
Mr. Steel nodded, took the gourd, twirled it between his fingertips, and looked on with admiration.
"That's why I say this gourd is so magical. Its effect is that whatever it touches, it gains that item's effect. Just now it touched a hard rock, and it became a hard rock; if you let it touch another item, it will become that item."
Fangzhou's eyes widened suddenly.
What item do you need to come into contact with to get its effect?
That's awesome!
that--
Arceus's Slate... is also a prop!
Can I borrow it for a bit?
If all else fails, those legendary Pokémon items, like the Gene Wedge or Rainbow Wing, are also an option...
But Fangzhou quickly calmed down, took a deep breath, and suppressed those unrealistic fantasies in his mind.
Such legendary resources are extremely difficult to replicate.
Even so, this gourd is already quite remarkable.
Mr. Steel gave a few special instructions, telling Ark to study it carefully after returning, as there might be some functions they hadn't discovered yet.
Clint also added some points of attention, such as that the gourd's copying effect has a time limit and will gradually fade after a period of time away from the contact object; and that only one item's effect can be copied at a time and cannot be stacked.
Fangzhou noted everything down, hung the gourd on his waist, patted it to make sure it was secure, and then took his leave.
Remounting his Salamence, the single-scabbard followed shakily behind. The Salamence spread its wings, took off, and flew towards the manor.
Back at the manor, Fangzhou jumped off the back of the flying dragon, steadied himself, and reached for the gourd at his waist.
My hand touched nothing.
Ok?
Fangzhou looked down.
His waist was empty; where the gourd used to hang, only a leather rope remained, its end swaying gently in the wind.
No, where's my gourd?
Fangzhou suddenly turned around, his gaze sweeping across the room, and met a single, perfectly clean and clear blue eye.
The single sword sheath floated in mid-air, its sheath slightly bulging, and its single blue eye narrowed, looking satisfied.
Clang!
ark:???!!!
"You...you ate my prop?!"