Thunder boomed and lightning flashed as fierce winds raged. Trees swayed in the storm, and many were uprooted.
Inside a small cave that could barely shield one from the wind and rain.
Qing Wu sat to one side of the cave in clothes that had been torn to shreds.
He held a sharpened branch in his left hand and rubbed wood shavings against it with his right to start a fire.
After much effort, Qing Wu finally produced a spark. It quickly caught the wood shavings, forming a flame the size of a bean.
Qing Wu carefully transferred the flame to a pile of neatly stacked branches.
The branches were covered with layers of dried leaves. The flame soon became a roaring bonfire, and only then did Qing Wu let out a sigh of relief.
The swaying bonfire illuminated the boy's face.
Qing Wu looked at the weak Kecleon nestled against him with complicated emotions.
In the flickering firelight, Kecleon's body shone with a silvery luster as it curled tightly into a ball.
Qing Wu's hands had developed several large blisters from rubbing the wood to start the fire.
Qing Wu carefully stroked the creature before him, as though Kecleon were a priceless treasure.
His hand slowly caressed Kecleon's silvery back. As he stroked it, his eyes filled with tears, and large drops gathered in their corners.
Crystal-clear tears continuously spilled from the boy's eyes and rolled down his gaunt cheeks onto the little creature's back. Every drop was filled with guilt.
As he stroked the creature's rough back and felt the familiar, tangible sensation against his hand, the boy choked up before gently exhaling a breath of stale air.
"I never thought I'd be reborn," Qing Wu said calmly.
He looked up at the sky, where lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and felt the fierce wind raging outside. Only the faint bonfire illuminated this dark, ink-like world.
Everything felt as though it had happened yesterday. A flood of memories surged into Qing Wu's mind.
Qing Wu remembered why the scene before him seemed so familiar. This was when he had first arrived at Team Rocket's Trial Island.
Qing Wu had originally been the owner of a Nurturing House in the Hoenn Region, but the business had faced closure due to poor management.
Qing Wu had resolutely traveled with Kecleon from the Hoenn Region to the Kanto Region, hoping to introduce Pokémon unique to Kanto. Unexpectedly, he had been ambushed by Team Rocket while disembarking and had become a Trial Participant seized by Team Rocket.
This island was where Team Rocket trained Trial Participants. Those who passed the assessment would become official members of Team Rocket.
In his previous life, Qing Wu had successfully passed the Trial Participant assessment and joined Team Rocket. After earning merit all the way up, he had become an executive second only to the Four Generals and had been known as Team Rocket's rising star.
If his mission to infiltrate Team Aqua had not failed, Leader Sakaki, delighted by his performance, might have promoted him to Fifth General after he completed the mission, making him part of Team Rocket's upper echelon.
"Where exactly did the information leak?" Qing Wu was still puzzled. His disguise could not possibly have failed, and he had kept a low profile while carrying out the mission to avoid making any mistakes.
"Other than Boss Sakaki, no one knew my true identity." Qing Wu was extremely depressed.
The storm grew even more violent, and quite a bit of rain began blowing into the mouth of the cave.
Kecleon, which already disliked rain, curled up even more tightly. Qing Wu struggled to move himself and Kecleon deeper into the cave.
Panting heavily, Qing Wu collapsed at the back of the cave. He held a branch in his left hand and occasionally stirred the bonfire to keep the hard-won flames from being extinguished by the rain.
Qing Wu looked at his hands. Years of labor had covered them in calluses, while prolonged hunger had left him emaciated.
Apart from skin, all that could be seen on his hands were bones and protruding veins.
A month of intensive training with Team Rocket had made him suffer every hardship in the world and see the darkest side of humanity.
Qing Wu had hidden the Pokémon he had possessed from the beginning, Kecleon. He and Kecleon had scrimped and gone hungry for a long time, finally making it through those difficult days together and successfully completing Team Rocket's knowledge assessment.
Only after passing the knowledge assessment had Qing Wu recently been assigned a Pokémon raised by Team Rocket.
"Archie!" Qing Wu gritted his teeth and clenched his hands tightly. The sharp stone in his palm dug deeply into his flesh.
The sharp stone even cut open Qing Wu's palm, and drops of blood fell onto the cave floor.
A pool of blood soon formed on the ground.
Just then, Kecleon, nestled against Qing Wu, awoke. Smelling the blood emanating from its Trainer, it weakly opened its eyes.
Seeing its injured Trainer, tears seemed to gather in Kecleon's large eyes.
It lamented its own weakness and its frail body. It hated that it could not protect its Trainer or ease his worries!
Qing Wu felt the little creature beside him move slightly. When he turned his head and saw that Kecleon had awakened, much of the gloom in his heart immediately dispersed.
Kecleon's awakening instantly pulled Qing Wu back from his memories into reality. He gave Kecleon a faint smile.
Kecleon was Qing Wu's first Pokémon, and the Pokémon that had accompanied him as he grew.
Qing Wu stroked Kecleon's rough, grainy surface, his heart filled with guilt.
Qing Wu knew that Kecleon's delayed development and malnutrition were caused by the lack of quality ore.
A normal Kecleon's surface was extremely smooth, shining with a bright white luster like metallic silver.
Qing Wu's Kecleon, however, was somewhat dull and lusterless.
"Kecleon, it's wonderful to see you again!" At last, the heavy stone in Qing Wu's heart fell away.
When Qing Wu was surrounded by the Three Heavenly Kings, Kecleon had become his strongest shield.
Even covered in wounds, Kecleon had guarded Qing Wu and carved out an escape route for him.
Until the very last moment, Aggron had stood fearlessly in front of him, shielding him from the wind and rain.
If Team Aqua and the League had not joined forces, ambushed him with the League's Elite Four, and sent out Pokémon with type advantages, Qing Wu was confident that after obtaining Groudon's and Kyogre's Primal Reversion gems, he could have escaped with all his strength.
Qing Wu had never expected that, after enduring such a difficult battle, he would ultimately be defeated under those circumstances.
Lost in his memories, Qing Wu failed to notice that the images of Groudon, Kyogre, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire had flashed across the backs of his hands.
Before crossing over into the Pokémon World, Qing Wu had been a seasoned Pokémon expert in the modern world. He knew the plots of Pokémon manga so well that he could recite them backward. Even the newest Pokémon from the Galar Region were familiar to him.
However, Qing Wu did not know the abilities of every Pokémon. After all, this was not a Pokémon manga but a real Pokémon World. Besides, he was not a jack-of-all-trades.
A Trainer's nurturing was a crucial method of assisting a Pokémon's growth. Qing Wu had suffered greatly and apprenticed himself to several Breeding Masters before becoming a seasoned Pokémon Breeding Master.
In his previous life, after taking many detours, Qing Wu had fought his way forward and eventually broken through to become an Elite Four member.
"Kecleon, in this life, I'll raise you even more carefully and help you break through the Elite Four bottleneck. We'll work hard together, see even greater sights, and become the champions of this world."
Qing Wu stroked Kecleon's rough exterior and spoke gently.
"Huga." Feeling the warmth of Qing Wu's palm, Kecleon let out a comfortable cry.
"It's a shame I didn't return to the moment I was first captured." If he had returned to that time, Qing Wu would have been one hundred percent certain he could escape Team Rocket's pursuit before being caught.
Qing Wu sighed regretfully. He had still returned to the darkest moment, while he longed for the light.
As soon as Qing Wu arrived in the Kanto Region, he was captured and taken to Team Rocket's lightless underground base, where he underwent brutal training and study.
The species of rare Pokémon and all kinds of valuable Pokémon items were knowledge they needed to master.
Only after passing the knowledge assessment would they have a chance to become Trial Participants and enter the next round of testing. Those who failed the knowledge assessment would be secretly dealt with.
This was the first day Qing Wu had arrived at the Uninhabited Island Trial Base. Team Rocket had just finished assigning Pokémon.
Qing Wu held a Poké Ball containing a savage, bloodthirsty Zubat.
Qing Wu had started with two Pokémon. This might have been his greatest asset.
Unfortunately, his greatest assets were now one seriously injured and the other rebellious and not yet tamed.
In his previous life, Qing Wu had failed to tame Zubat, allowing it to escape.
Team Rocket only had a few kinds of starter Pokémon: Ekans, Koffing, Muk, Zubat, Geodude, Meowth, and Tentacruel.
Team Rocket had bad intentions as well. None of the Pokémon they assigned had been tamed. They had deliberately selected highly feral Pokémon to distribute to the Trial Participants.
Unless they were absolutely certain, Trial Participants were best advised not to open their Poké Balls.
Often, the moment these Pokémon were released from their Poké Balls, they would attack their Trainers.
They would use all their strength to kill their Trainers before fleeing into the wild.
According to Qing Wu's memories, more than four hundred Trial Participants had advanced to the next round. Only after passing the trial could they become official members of Team Rocket.
However, many Trial Participants became stuck at the stage of taming their Pokémon. Those who successfully tamed their Pokémon generally amounted to no more than half.
Even if they survived, Trial Participants who failed to tame their Pokémon would become Team Rocket's lowest-ranking servants, forbidden from leaving the Team Rocket base for the rest of their lives.
More of those who failed to tame their Pokémon, however, were left dead in the wilderness, their bodies torn to pieces by powerful wild Pokémon.
The Trial Participants who truly succeeded in taming their Pokémon and survived would be assigned directly to various Team Rocket squads according to their final rankings.
The first-place participant in this trial would receive a precious Blue Pokémon.
The first-place participant would also receive a great deal of preferential resources and be hailed as Team Rocket's lucky one.
In his previous life's trial, Qing Wu's Zubat had flown away, while Kecleon had been seriously injured.
Qing Wu had failed to achieve a good ranking, so his life had been extremely miserable. He had languished at the bottom until encountering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that allowed him to rise again.
At this moment, Qing Wu stared at the savage Zubat struggling desperately inside the Poké Ball in his hand, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"If only the system that collected all that data had returned with me."
Qing Wu sighed. In his previous life, he had risen precisely because he obtained a Golden Finger system bound to his mind.
This had been Qing Wu's greatest secret in his previous life, as well as the secret behind his rapid advancement.
At first, the system Qing Wu obtained had been a blank template. Through various means, he had seized Pokémon research data from the League and Team Rocket.
Only then had he transformed the Golden Finger system into an advanced system capable of detecting Pokémon aptitude and analyzing Pokémon nurturing.
The system stored an enormous amount of data, laying the foundation for Qing Wu to become a top Pokémon Breeder.
After Qing Wu's constant improvements and refinements, the Golden Finger system had become fully mature. It contained the various Poffin recipes he had developed and could scan a Pokémon to obtain its exact condition, then automatically formulate a Poffin recipe suited to it.
"System startup initiated." Suddenly, a mechanical voice appeared in Qing Wu's mind. His heart leaped with joy, as though he had heard the music of heaven.
"As expected, I've been favored by the heavens!" Amid the fierce wind and rain, a brilliant smile blended with the swaying firelight across Qing Wu's handsome face.
The strongest Golden Finger from his previous life had returned with him.
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