Golden Finger (Seeking Flowers, Seeking Collections, Seeking Evaluation Tickets)

Thunder roared and lightning flashed as a fierce gale raged, trees swaying violently in the wind and rain, many uprooted entirely by the storm.

Inside a small cave that barely offered shelter from the elements, Qing Wu sat in a corner, his clothes torn and tattered.

In his left hand, he held a sharpened branch; in his right, wood shavings as he rubbed them together to spark a flame.

After much effort, he finally coaxed out a tiny spark, which quickly caught the shavings and grew into a flame the size of a bean.

Qing Wu carefully transferred the flame to a pile of stacked branches, where layers of dried leaves sat atop them. The flame soon swelled into a roaring campfire, and only then did Qing Wu let out a breath of relief.

The flickering firelight cast shadows across the young man's face.

With mixed emotions, Qing Wu looked down at the weak Kecleon nestled against him.

Under the dancing flames, Kecleon's body gleamed with a silvery luster as it curled tightly into a ball.

Qing Wu's hands were blistered from the friction of starting the fire.

He gently touched the creature before him, as if Kecleon were a rare treasure.

His hand slowly traced along its silver-lit back, and as he did, tears welled up in his eyes, pooling into large droplets.

One by one, crystal-clear tears spilled from the young man's eyes, rolling down his gaunt cheeks and landing on the small creature's back—each drop heavy with guilt.

Feeling the rough texture of the creature's back beneath his fingers, sensing the familiar, tangible reality, the young man choked up and let out a soft, heavy sigh.

"I never thought I'd be reborn again," Qing Wu said flatly.

He looked up at the sky split by lightning and thunder, feeling the howling wind outside, with only the faint campfire illuminating the pitch-black world.

Everything felt like it had happened just yesterday, as a flood of memories surged into Qing Wu's mind.

He remembered now why this scene was so familiar—this was when he first arrived at Team Rocket's Trial Island.

Qing Wu had originally been the owner of a Nurturing House in the Hoenn Region, which was on the verge of bankruptcy due to poor management.

He had resolutely traveled from Hoenn to the Kanto Region with his Kecleon, hoping to introduce Pokémon unique to Kanto. But when he disembarked from the ship, he was ambushed by Team Rocket and became a Trial Participant they had captured.

This island was where Team Rocket trained their Trial Participants; those who passed the trials became full-fledged Team Rocket members.

In his past life, Qing Wu had successfully passed the Trial Participant assessment, joined Team Rocket, and climbed the ranks through merit to become an executive second only to the Four Generals, hailed as Team Rocket's rising star.

If not for the failure of his final mission infiltrating Team Aqua, Qing Wu might have been promoted to Fifth General by a delighted Leader Sakaki after completing that task, becoming part of Team Rocket's high command.

"Where did the leak come from?" Qing Wu was still baffled. His disguise couldn't have been flawed, and during the mission, he had kept a low profile to avoid any slip-ups.

"Besides Boss Sakaki, no one knew my true identity," Qing Wu said, deeply frustrated.

Now, the storm grew even fiercer, with rain drifting into the cave's entrance.

This made Kecleon, who already disliked rain, curl up even tighter. Qing Wu struggled to move himself and Kecleon deeper into the cave.

Breathing heavily, Qing Wu lay down in the cave's depths, using a branch in his left hand to occasionally stir the fire, lest the precious flames be extinguished by the rain.

He looked at his hands—calloused from years of hard labor, bony from prolonged hunger.

His hands were nothing but skin over bones and protruding veins.

A month of Team Rocket's training camp had made him taste every bitterness of life and see every shade of human cruelty.

Qing Wu had hidden his long-owned Pokémon, Kecleon, and together they had scrimped and starved through those harsh days, successfully passing Team Rocket's knowledge assessment.

After passing, he had only recently been assigned a Pokémon raised by Team Rocket.

"Archie!!!" Qing Wu gritted his teeth, clenching his hands so tightly that sharp stones embedded in his palms.

The jagged rocks cut into his flesh, and blood dripped drop by drop onto the cave floor.

Soon, a small pool of blood stained the ground.

Just then, Kecleon, nestled beside Qing Wu, woke up, catching the scent of blood from its trainer. It weakly opened its eyes.

Seeing its injured trainer, large tears seemed to fall from Kecleon's eyes.

It lamented its own weakness, its frail body, hating that it couldn't protect its trainer or ease his burdens!!!

Feeling the small creature stir beside him, Qing Wu turned and saw Kecleon awake, and the gloom in his heart instantly lifted by half.

Kecleon's awakening snapped Qing Wu back from his memories to the present, and he gave it a faint smile.

Kecleon was Qing Wu's first Pokémon, the one that had grown alongside him.

Qing Wu stroked Kecleon's rough, grainy surface, his heart filled with guilt.

He knew it was because of the lack of good ore that Kecleon's development had stagnated, leaving it malnourished.

A normal Kecleon's surface was very smooth, gleaming with a bright silver luster like polished metal.

Qing Wu's Kecleon, by contrast, was dull and lackluster.

"Kecleon, it's so good to see you again!" A heavy stone finally lifted from Qing Wu's heart.

Kecleon had been Qing Wu's sturdiest shield when he was surrounded by the Three Heavenly Kings.

Even battered and bruised, Kecleon had guarded Qing Wu, carving out an escape route for him.

Until the very last moment, Aggron stood unwaveringly before him, shielding him from wind and rain.

If Team Aqua and the League hadn't joined forces, ambushing him with the League's Champion-level trainers and sending in Pokémon with type advantages, Qing Wu was confident that after securing Groudon and Kyogre's Primal Reversion gems, he could have escaped with full force.

Qing Wu never expected that after enduring such a grueling battle, he would meet his end in this situation.

Lost in his memories, Qing Wu didn't notice the patterns of Groudon and Kyogre, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, flashing across the back of his hand.

Before crossing into the Pokémon World, Qing Wu had been a modern-day Pokémon expert, able to recite the plot of the Pokémon manga from memory, even knowing every species from the latest Galar Region.

But Qing Wu didn't master every Pokémon's traits—after all, this wasn't a manga, but a real Pokémon World. Still, he wasn't omniscient.

A Trainer's cultivation was a key method to aid a Pokémon's growth. Qing Wu endured much hardship, apprenticed under several Breeding Masters, and eventually became a seasoned Pokémon Breeding Master.

In his past life, after taking many wrong turns, Qing Wu fought his way up and finally broke through to become a Champion-level Trainer.

"Kecleon, in this life, I'll raise you with even more care, helping you break through the Champion bottleneck. Together, we'll see higher vistas and become the kings of this world."

Qing Wu stroked Kecleon's rough exterior, speaking gently.

"Huga." Kecleon felt the warmth of Qing Wu's hand and let out a comfortable cry.

"Too bad I didn't go back to the moment I was caught." If he had, Qing Wu was one hundred percent sure he could have escaped Team Rocket's pursuit before being captured.

Qing Wu sighed regretfully, returning to his dark moment. He yearned for the light.

As soon as Qing Wu arrived in the Kanto Region, he was captured and taken to Team Rocket's sunless underground base, where brutal training and study began.

Rare Pokémon species and valuable Pokémon items were all knowledge they had to master.

Only those who passed the knowledge exam could become Trial Participants and enter the next round. Those who failed were secretly disposed of.

Now, it was Qing Wu's first day at the Uninhabited Island Trial Base. Team Rocket had just distributed the Pokémon.

In Qing Wu's hand was a Poké Ball containing a vicious, bloodthirsty Zubat.

Qing Wu started with two Pokémon—this might be his greatest asset.

But now, his greatest assets were one gravely injured and one untamed and rebellious.

In his past life, Qing Wu failed to tame the Zubat, and it escaped.

Team Rocket's initial Pokémon were just these few: Ekans, Koffing, Muk, Zubat, Geodude, Meowth, Tentacruel.

Team Rocket had ill intentions—none of the distributed Pokémon were tamed. They were all deliberately chosen for their wild nature and given to the Trial Participants.

If a Trial Participant wasn't fully confident, they'd better not open the Poké Ball.

Often, the moment these Pokémon were released, they would attack their Trainer.

They would use all their strength to kill their Trainer and escape into the wild.

In Qing Wu's memory, many Trial Participants entered the next round—about four hundred or so. Only those who passed the trial could become official Team Rocket members.

But many Trial Participants got stuck at the taming stage. Those who successfully tamed their Pokémon rarely exceeded half.

Those who failed to tame their Pokémon, even if they survived, became Team Rocket's lowest menial laborers, never allowed to leave the base.

But more often, those who failed were left to rot in the wild, their bodies torn apart by powerful wild Pokémon.

The Trial Participants who successfully tamed their Pokémon and survived were assigned to various Team Rocket squads based on their final trial rankings.

The first-place winner of this trial would receive a precious Blue Pokémon.

The first-place winner also got a massive resource advantage, hailed as Team Rocket's lucky one.

In his past life's trial, Qing Wu's Zubat flew away, and Kecleon was gravely injured.

Qing Wu didn't achieve a good rank, so he lived a miserable life, lingering at the bottom until he seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn things around.

Now, Qing Wu stared at the vicious Zubat struggling fiercely inside the Poké Ball, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.

"If only the system that collected all that data had come back with me."

Qing Wu sighed. In his past life, it was a Golden Finger system bound to his mind that had propelled his rise.

This was Qing Wu's greatest secret from his past life, and the secret to his rapid advancement.

At first, the system Qing Wu obtained was a blank template. He seized research data from both the League and Team Rocket through various means.

Only then did he turn the Golden Finger system into a top-tier system capable of detecting Pokémon aptitude and analyzing breeding methods.

The system stored a vast amount of data, laying the foundation for Qing Wu to become a top Pokémon Breeder.

Through continuous improvement and refinement, the Golden Finger system became a mature system, containing various Poffin recipes Qing Wu had developed. It could scan a Pokémon's specific condition and automatically configure a matching Poffin recipe.

"System starting up." Suddenly, a mechanical voice echoed in Qing Wu's mind. His heart surged with joy, as if hearing the most heavenly sound.

"Indeed, I am favored by the heavens." Amid the raging storm, a brilliant smile mixed with flickering firelight spread across Qing Wu's handsome face.

His most powerful Golden Finger from his past life had returned with him.

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(Event time: April 29th to May 1st)