The Fat Trial Participant's Provocation (Flowers, Collections, and Evaluation Tickets Requested)

"Qing Wu, what a coincidence." Lan Ling smiled naturally.

"What are you searching for?" Qing Wu asked calmly.

"A Green Quality Pokémon. I bought a map at the Exchange Office." Lan Ling waved the parchment in her hand.

Qing Wu glanced at it. It was Bellsprout again. The Exchange Office was clearly selling the same thing to multiple people.

"I've taken a fancy to a Water-type Pokémon, but it's extremely cunning. It has secretly slipped away from me several times." Lan Ling muttered.

"So I need a Grass-type Pokémon to help me catch it." Lan Ling stated her intentions directly.

"Then good luck." Just as Qing Wu was about to turn and leave, the Fat Trial Participant walked out of the forest.

When the Fat Trial Participant saw Qing Wu and Lan Ling chatting intimately, he looked at them jealously.

The Fat Trial Participant gritted his teeth. This was a goddess he had never even managed to approach, and now, for the first time, he had seen someone chatting so intimately with her!

Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. The thought of murder suddenly surfaced in the Fat Trial Participant's mind.

As Qing Wu turned to leave, his eyes happened to meet the gloomy, malicious gaze of the Fat Trial Participant.

Qing Wu had seen that kind of look many times during the trials.

It was especially common when people fought over resources. He often encountered such malicious gazes, so he immediately became vigilant.

Sure enough, he noticed that the Pointy-Mouthed Trial Participant was following behind him.

Qing Wu also took the opportunity to observe the Pointy-Mouthed Trial Participant's Pokémon. It was a Yellow Quality Koffing.

"Beep, beep, beep." The communicator rang.

The Fat Trial Participant had been unable to find any trace of the Green Quality Bellsprout for a long time. In anger, he kicked a tree trunk viciously.

The trunk shook violently, sending countless leaves fluttering down.

"Boss, I've tracked down that Trial Participant. He's resting against a tree trunk in a forest not far from us."

The Pointy-Mouthed Trial Participant's voice came through the communicator.

His voice was full of hesitation. He was afraid of offending a powerful person.

"Good, Skinny Monkey. Keep a close eye on him and report his location at all times." The Fat Trial Participant spoke viciously, his expression savage and fierce.

"But Boss, are you sure this is all right? He came first in this attack power test."

The Pointy-Mouthed Trial Participant sounded hesitant, afraid of offending a powerful person. He cautiously questioned the Fat Trial Participant.

"What are you afraid of? I asked my brother. That guy has no backing in Team Rocket. Just go ahead and do it."

"As for being first, he only used some cheap tricks. He's nothing worth mentioning." The Fat Trial Participant sneered.

"Boss." A Tall Youth beside the Fat Trial Participant, who wore a simple-minded smile, suddenly spoke. His Pokémon was a Meowth.

"Meowth seems to have caught the scent left behind by Bellsprout." The Tall Youth spoke.

His Meowth was sniffing the scent Bellsprout had left on the ground.

Meowth's body was trembling slightly, as though it were suffering from some illness.

"Don't worry, Boss. My Bellsprout hit that Bellsprout directly with Acid. It couldn't have gotten far."

A Short Trial Participant spoke with a grin.

The Fat Trial Participant became furious the moment he saw the Short Trial Participant.

"How many times have I told you? Use Acid less! Use Acid less!"

"Even the most precious Pokémon can be seriously injured by your Bellsprout that way."

"If that Bellsprout's quality has been damaged, I'll never forgive you." The Fat Trial Participant's furious face twisted like an enraged lion.

"Found it!" The Tall Youth pushed aside a patch of grass. Acid and green blood from Bellsprout's wounds were visible in the grass.

But after reaching a certain spot, the Acid and green blood suddenly stopped. Clearly, someone else had picked up the injured Bellsprout.

"This is infuriating!" The Fat Trial Participant's anger churned in his chest like a volcano about to erupt.

"Beep, beep, beep." The communicator continued ringing.

"Boss, if you don't come over soon, that kid is going to leave. Judging by his direction, he seems to be heading deeper into the forest."

"There are powerful wild Pokémon in there. Tracking him will become troublesome." Skinny Monkey hurriedly warned him.

"Fine. We'll go over right now." The Fat Trial Participant called out to the surrounding Trial Participants with a dark expression. They were going to cause trouble.

Qing Wu calmly walked forward, occasionally bending down to pick up purple mushrooms.

"The Hallucinogenic Mushrooms here have grown really well."

Qing Wu realized that perhaps because the Team Rocket Trial Base mostly issued Poison Pokémon, the Poison-type materials on Trial Island were exceptionally abundant.

Qing Wu sensed that the number of people following him had increased. Using the tree trunk as cover, he released Kecleon and Zubat.

"Keep your voice down. Don't let anyone discover you." Qing Wu whispered to Zubat.

Zubat understood immediately. It silently concealed its presence, like an assassin hidden in the shadows.

"Kecleon, you too. Disguise yourself as a rock and wait for my command." Qing Wu spoke to Kecleon.

Kecleon curled up its body, disguising itself as a motionless rock.

For Kecleon, which already possessed the Rock attribute, this was not difficult at all.

In the Pokémon World, Kecleon also hid beneath rocks.

Whenever someone broke the rocks apart, a startled Kecleon would crawl out of the ground.

Qing Wu found a place and sat down heavily. He took out the freshly picked Hallucinogenic Mushrooms and carefully collected their spores.

These spores had an extremely powerful hallucinogenic effect and could be used to create hallucinogenic poison.

They would have an unexpected effect when dealing with powerful wild Pokémon.

Before long, the Fat Trial Participant swaggered over. His Pokémon was actually a Spinarak.

It was one of the few Pokémon from the Johto Region found in Team Rocket. This Spinarak was considerably larger than ordinary Spinarak and exceptionally ferocious.

Because the distance was too great, Qing Wu could not use the system's power to scan the Pokémon's specific data.

However, judging by its size, Pokémon with larger bodies generally had better quality. Qing Wu therefore felt that the Fat Trial Participant's Pokémon was at least Yellow Quality.

The Tall Guy's Meowth was docilely nestled beside his feet. Qing Wu recognized this Tall Guy.

Although he currently kept a low profile and showed no signs of distinction, he would later rise to become a Team Rocket cadre standing alongside Qing Wu, second only to the Four Generals.

It was said that his ranking in this trial was not very high either. His main Pokémon, Meowth, was severely injured while saving him and died from its wounds after leaving Trial Island.

The Tall Guy and Meowth had an excellent relationship. After Meowth died, the Tall Guy became an extremely cold-blooded killing machine.

This Tall Guy was someone Qing Wu could recruit for now.

The Skinny Monkey standing behind the Fat Trial Participant used a Koffing. Qing Wu felt that Skinny Monkey looked somewhat familiar.

After carefully recognizing him, Qing Wu slapped his thigh. Wasn't this the idiot who had made Koffing self-destruct during the test?

"Brat, you offended me. Break both your arms and legs yourself, and I'll let you live." The Fat Trial Participant spoke arrogantly.

"Hah." Qing Wu looked at the Fat Trial Participant contemptuously.

Breaking both his arms and legs was no different from leaving him to die in the forest.

In the wilderness, where wild Pokémon were everywhere, injuries easily attracted bloodthirsty and vicious Pokémon.

Those Pokémon would slowly gnaw away at your limbs before biting through your throat while you were still terrified.

Qing Wu had seen that kind of fear in his previous life. It was a punishment Team Rocket used on traitors.

It was said that Team Rocket had a special Dark Department responsible for carrying out punishments, controlled by Sakaki.

The leaders of the Dark Department, Cang and Qiong, were twin brothers known as Team Rocket's Grim Reaper and Dream God.

"You all break your own arms, and I'll let you live." Qing Wu used the Fat Trial Participant's own words to provoke him.

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