At this moment, Zhang Lei Yuan, standing on the beach, murmured, “It’s time to prepare Xiao Heng’s gift for becoming a Trainer.”
Even his own apprentice, Qi Shu, received an S-rank Bug-type z-crystal when she became a Bug-type Gym Leader, let alone his own son.
In fact, ever since Lake Heart Island, Zhang Lei Yuan had been eyeing this cargo ship full of Steel-type Pokémon.
Although Zhang Heng gained a lot from this Lake Heart Island adventure, Zhang Lei Yuan's original plan was for Zhang Heng to capture a legendary Pokémon, giving him a head start over his peers.
Especially when he had already arrived in Central China, he received internal news that the convoy escorting Liziji had been robbed, and he knew his chance had come.
Since the potential transaction between the Alliance and the Water Blade Gang might be terminated, once the ocean-going cargo ship sets off, turning around its massive displacement is extremely difficult; not only is the rudder efficiency limited, but the ship's large inertia is also significant, and it would take some time for the horsepower to reach its original power level after a forced turn.
So, if he could intercept the cargo ship in advance, even if he couldn't take the entire ship, plundering the high-quality Pokémon on board would be enough.
“Charizard, how was your rest?”
Charizard stood up, its thick, powerful tail whipping up with a whooshing sound, like a scorching giant whip lashing the ground. With a loud “thwack,” its tail heavily slammed onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The flickering flames on its tail, shaken by the impact, scattered like tiny stars, resembling a group of fiery red Pokémon briefly dancing in the air before drifting down towards the sea. The moment the flames touched the cold seawater, a continuous “hissing” sound filled the air, and white steam rose like wisps of smoke.
“Woo-woo~”
Charizard then gave a thumbs-up to Zhang Lei Yuan, indicating that it had finished resting. Zhang Lei Yuan nodded and returned Pawmot to its Poké Ball.
“Thank you, Pawmot. Let’s go, Charizard!”
The man and the Pokémon were speeding towards the cargo ship.
… … … …
At the southernmost tip of Hua Country's South Sea territory, a huge ocean-going cargo ship was slowly sailing towards Hua Country's territorial waters.
This cargo ship was the central bargaining chip of this transaction; it was the cargo ship hijacked from Sakura Country.
On the deck of the Sakura Country ocean-going cargo ship, there was a team of fewer than ten people, mostly faces from Southeast Asian countries like Thousand Island Country and the Philippines, but interspersed among them were two Chinese faces.
They had received orders to work with their inside contacts to eliminate all other Hua Country Alliance members.
Since they had inside help, this operation should be foolproof; without exception, everyone looked relaxed, even chatting and laughing.
“Just thinking about killing Hua Country officials later makes me a little excited.”
“You brat, you must have been chased by Hua Country Alliance people so much that you’ve become psychologically warped.”
Hearing their conversation caused the others on deck to burst into laughter.
Except for the Team Leader standing at the very front of the deck, he always felt a vague unease. Beside him stood a Pokémon made of a ship’s rudder and anchor—Dhelmise.
The anchor part was entangled with seaweed; the rudder part had two gauges, the left one already broken, and the right one with a red pointer that looked like an eye. The upper right and lower left corners of the rudder were missing handles. Its main body was green algae.
Dhelmise’s algae covered the entire deck and bow of the cargo ship, controlling its forward trajectory.
According to the Pokédex, Dhelmise is a Ghost-type Pokémon that was reborn after seaweed drifting on the seabed absorbed parts of a shipwreck. It uses its seaweed to gather trash from the sea to sustain its body. Its chain-like green fragmented algae can extend for hundreds of meters, so controlling a cargo ship is not a problem.
The Team Leader spoke, “Everyone, focus. We’re about to enter Hua Country’s territorial waters.”
Those below started whispering again, the atmosphere relaxed and amicable.
“I wonder how many people the Hua Country Alliance sent, and how many inside contacts we have.”
“Who knows? Anyway, killing one breaks even, killing more is just revenge for my brothers who were arrested before.”
“What’s the rush? It’s 5 AM now, there are still two hours until the transaction time. We’ll know how many people there are then.”
“Team Leader, there’s a blaze of fire rapidly approaching us from ahead.”
Upon hearing this, everyone on deck looked towards the South Sea of Hua Country, where a dragon-shaped figure was rapidly approaching through the hazy sea mist.
“Is it an enemy attack from the Hua Country Alliance? Why is there only one person?”
As the distance gradually shortened, those on deck recognized the Pokémon with the blaze of fire.
“Is that a Charizard? Holy crap, I remember one Champion’s main Pokémon is a Charizard. Could it be the Hua country champion who came?”
“No, this is an Overlord-level Charizard. It shouldn’t be the Hua country champion’s one.”
The leader secretly thought, “Overlord Charizard? That must be the Zhang family’s helmsman who caused trouble on Lake Heart Island. Wasn’t he in Central China? How is he here?!”
He immediately ordered, “All hands, prepare for battle! Have the people in the cargo hold join in resisting the enemy. This person is neither friend nor foe; he’s a neutral force here to cause trouble.”
Immediately, a team of people emerged from the cargo hold. There were now no fewer than thirty combatants on the deck, all standing ready.
When the distance was less than a hundred meters, Zhang Lei Yuan leaped from the air, leaving Charizard’s back, and his body descended. But from the Poké Ball at his waist, a white flash appeared, revealing a bird Pokémon whose body was covered in black fur but whose chest and wings were a vibrant yellow—the Kilowattrel, known as the “little Zapdos”—which caught Zhang Lei Yuan’s falling body in mid-air.
And Charizard, freed from its burden, immediately accelerated sharply, reaching a point 50 meters in front of the cargo ship.
“Charizard, Mega Evolution.”
Zhang Lei Yuan pulled out an ite from somewhere, and a shining Charizard X ite hung around Charizard’s neck.
The two lights merged, forming a giant eggshell that enveloped Charizard.
Roar~
Charizard’s entire body was filled with extraordinary power. This power blackened its body and ignited scorching blue flames.
The light shattered, and from within emerged a Super Charizard X, its physique even more intimidatingly massive. The Overlord’s build made a regular Charizard X, which is only 1.7 meters tall, at least two and a half meters or more.
Its primary skin color became grayish-black, and from its lower jaw to the tip of its tail, it turned sky blue. Blue claw-like protrusions grew on the front and back of each shoulder.
“Hi, Surprise motherfu*k.”
Zhang Lei Yuan, fearing these Indonesian monkeys wouldn’t understand Chinese, even threw in an English opening line.