Chapter 130: Alakazam: White-haired monkey, you’ve done well!

Damn it!

Lance's face turned serious in an instant. "No way. Something this dangerous must absolutely not be researched. If that kind of thing were in the hands of a dangerous person like you, it would be a catastrophe for the League."

"You don't really think I'm more dangerous than those villains, do you?"

It was the same old question: why is it acceptable for villains to use such things, but not me? If that's the case, then I'll just become a villain!

Lance nodded firmly. "Yes, you are even more dangerous than those villains."

He suddenly felt a wave of regret. Just looking at this recovered beam booster made it clear how talented Zhu Suihan was in the field of research. He was hit by a sudden, heavy sense of guilt. If Zhu Suihan started wandering around using such weapons and gave those villainous members inspiration, would he himself be considered the absolute ultimate mastermind behind the scenes?

*Am I the outlaw here?*

*The hell with you.*

Zhu Suihan couldn't be bothered with this redhead who had such a slight misunderstanding of him and began to ponder the ideas the other had provided.

Weapons useful against both humans and Pokémon were most commonly seen as petrification guns; in Zhu Suihan's memory, the earliest appearance seemed to be in the original series. Or, looking further ahead, perhaps the petrification light wave used by the villain chasing the red and blue planes in Ash's farewell in the *Journeys* series. Well, since they were weapons, those turned into statues by Pokémon energy didn't count. In the *Special* manga, Red and the other Pokédex holders were collectively petrified, and in the movie, Ash physically withstood the battle fluctuations of Mewtwo and Mew, ending up as a statue. One could only say that the battle records of Pokédex holders were truly tough; it was unlikely anyone else could withstand such torture.

"Let's take an example. Do you know about Taser stun guns?"

Zhu Suihan explained the principle of a Taser to Lance, then told him that as long as one solved the issues of battery capacity and output power, it wouldn't just be humans—even Pokémon could be electrocuted and flipped over.

"Based on the principle of a stun gun, you could actually have things like ice rays. During a wild battle, you could backhand pull out a gun and hit the opponent with it; the effect would be absolutely great."

As for the petrification gun, he couldn't figure out the principle yet. If he could use elemental energy as a starting point, the difficulty of research would likely be lower. The most outrageous unique skill was probably the type used by Sabrina's ice dolls—even Red had to honestly go to Mt. Silver to soak in the hot springs to nurse his body.

"Make a high-capacity battery that can store different elemental energies simultaneously, and use top-quality elemental resources to forge the gun body." Zhu Suihan stroked his chin. "That way, my first shot could be a freeze ray, and as long as I flip a switch connected to the battery, the next shot could be an electric shock."

"I could probably also set up a completely random mode, allowing the gun body to draw elemental energy from the battery at total random. That way, even I wouldn't know what kind of ray would come next, and the enemy definitely wouldn't be able to react."

Lance's voice suddenly grew loud. "Stop, stop, stop!"

How could you have already figured out the logic behind it!

Just a moment ago, my guilt was merely heavy, but now that I've heard you out, I feel like I've become an accomplice! He certainly didn't want the League to send a team of elite G-Men to Blackthorn City to arrest him! Just thinking about Zhu Suihan's logic made Lance shudder. He could make the range of a recovery beam so long; the range of a pure weapon would surely be even more outrageous. He asked himself, if he were secretly targeted by Zhu Suihan, even if he maintained basic vigilance in the wild, he would definitely not be able to hold up after being hit with something like that.

This guy was too dangerous!

"Oh, it's just an idea, don't get excited. Actually, I have another type in my hand right now..."

"That's enough, that's enough, I don't want to hear it." Lance decisively cut him off. "Look down there, we've arrived in Saffron City. If you want to go find your pen pal, go now. We'll pick a place to meet up later."

He had to go look at the scenery and watch some passionate trainer battles to clear his mind. He absolutely could not be led astray by Zhu Suihan! The redhead began to self-hypnotize, forcibly ridding himself of the mental pollution caused by Zhu Suihan. *Lance, you are the future hope of the Dragon-type clan; you must keep yourself upright! You must never be corrupted by the crooked wind and evil spirits coming from this white-haired guy!*

One hour later—

Lance, who was sipping a drink and contemplating life, saw Zhu Suihan at the meeting point, looking even more refreshed and full of spirit.

"I thought you and your pen pal would be chatting for a long time, maybe even grab a meal to deepen your bond." Zhu Suihan took out an energy block and put it in his mouth.

"I told you, it's a charging station, not a pen pal. I don't think they would want to keep me for a meal."

"Let's go. Let's try to make it to Viridian Forest to camp today."

In the distance, the famous Saffron City Psychic Gym—from the management staff down to the apprentice challengers—was all eerily quiet. It seemed that ever since a white-haired guy walked in and then walked back out, the gym's atmosphere had turned into what it was now. Even the newly initiated psychic apprentices could feel the terrible pressure lingering over the gym.

*That white-haired guy seemed to be looking for Gym Leader Sabrina... Could it be that the Gym Leader was defeated in a Pokémon battle?!*

Inside the gym, Sabrina was sprawled across a table in the reception room with disheveled hair. Beside her, Alakazam walked over holding a tray with a cup of black tea and a plate of snacks.

"That hateful monkey!" Sabrina gritted her teeth. "He actually dared to come to my door and provoke me!"

Alakazam placed the hot tea and snacks on the table and took two steps back, silent, with no intention of picking up Sabrina's topic. But in truth, he really wanted to say that the white-haired guy didn't act like a human at all!

"Alakazam!" Sabrina looked at the Mega Stone in her bag, her mind flooded once again with that "please use your full power against me" look from the white-haired monkey, and she instantly felt an unprecedented fighting spirit igniting in her heart.

"I thought I had been working hard enough during this time, but it's not enough!" Sabrina gritted her teeth. "After we finish helping the Boss with the Viridian Festival, we have to work even harder!"

Alakazam nodded silently. "Alaka."

Sabrina tucked her hair back with one hand and picked up the black tea with the other, taking a sip. "I want fruit, and bring more high-calorie snacks."

"Alaka."

Alakazam used Teleport to reach the kitchen, his thoughts and expressions finally free from suppression. A clever, cunning fox face broke into the look of a fool.

*Hard to control the corners of my mouth? Then I won't control them. Today, I'm going to laugh! White-haired monkey, you've done well!*

Alakazam had witnessed Sabrina's outrageous psychic talent continue to rise, growing from a heaven-sent prodigy of the Psychic-type into a monster. In their past lives, whether in wild battles or standard matches, Sabrina had always been the one with the advantage. Except for when she faced someone like Giovanni, where both the human and the Pokémon were even more terrifying monsters, she rarely suffered. But after Sabrina became the Gym Leader of Saffron City, that spirit of striving seemed to have vanished.

Relying on her psychic powers and her own strength, not to mention dominating everywhere, at the very least, there were no obstacles in Sabrina's personal world or life. She was invincible; it was lonely at the top. Even though she was at the age where she should have been forging ahead, Sabrina no longer had the desire to work hard, and only when encountering people and things beyond her expectations, like Zhu Suihan, would she occasionally develop a bit of curiosity. And even those things basically never exceeded Sabrina's ability to predict the future. Once the curiosity was lost, the process would repeat. As the saying goes, if you walk by the river often, you're bound to get your shoes wet; how can you call yourself a qualified angler if you've never had a blank day?

And then, Sabrina took a hit, and she suffered at the hands of a certain monkey several times in a row. This reignited her competitive spirit, and she decided to once again meticulously develop her psychic powers and train her and her Pokémon's strength. This time, it was even more egregious—the guy had come straight to the Saffron City Gym and provoked her face-to-face, demanding she use her full power against him. When had Sabrina ever suffered such indignity? Of course, she accepted the challenge without hesitation! And then, she was defeated at the speed of light.

And so, Sabrina's long-dormant competitive spirit was completely ignited. *If I can make Zhu Suihan show a painful expression using my psychic powers, that counts as success!*

Alakazam placed what Sabrina wanted on the tray and suppressed his feelings, adjusting his demeanor. Although his trainer had been drained again, his basic skill of peeking into minds had not been lost. If Sabrina were to discover that he was a deeply hidden, ultimate double agent, Alakazam felt he wouldn't be able to sleep well for the next three months. He might even be sent off to the Pokémon Academy with a simple, "If you like him so much, why don't you just go find him?"

After confirming he was once again a serious-looking fox face, the true PR director of the Rocket Group, he used Teleport to leave the kitchen. To be honest, he wished Zhu Suihan would come by every few days!

"Suihan, we've reached the border of Viridian Forest. Have you looked at the map for the festival in the invitation?" Lance opened the invitation to indicate. "Inside are the safe routes planned out by the Rocket Group and Viridian City."

"If you want something a bit more exciting, I can also take you on those unconventional routes."

Unconventional routes meant places infested with highly dangerous Pokémon. If you ran into those aggressive guys, they wouldn't care if you were human or Pokémon—they'd just want to fight you first! Moreover, there was a small chance of running into randomly spawning poachers, whether in groups or acting alone, all searching for the "Viridian Treasure hidden somewhere by Giovanni."

"Sure, that sounds exciting. Lapras and Milcery will like it."

Just as Zhu Suihan put his hand on his incense burner, Lance jumped. *Wait, that burner is definitely Suihan's space-bag.*

*Taking the unconventional route, and then this guy starts pulling things out... and thinking back to what he said earlier about having a finished weapon in his hands...*

*Is it an energy storage container filled with massive amounts of Fire-type energy, or some other kind of endlessly toxic dangerous good?!*

"I suddenly changed my mind. Since it's your first time in Viridian Forest, we should just take the normal route. We'll take our time and enjoy the scenery of Viridian Forest with you and your partners."

"Uh, that works too. You're basically half a local." Zhu Suihan nodded. After all, it was indeed his first time in Viridian Forest, and it was better to listen to the advice of a local like Lance, who possessed the Viridian Bloodline.

Seeing the white-haired man's hand leave the incense burner, Lance inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that his observation of details had improved. *As expected of me! Once again, I've nipped potential evil in the bud!*