"Arbok, get ready for battle." Kuraki soothed the restless Ekans.
"Don't be anxious, Ekans. You'll always be my cutest little darling. Hurry up and evolve. Hurry up and show off your brave form."
A sick smile appeared on Kuraki's face.
Blondie knew that this was the real Kuraki. Kuraki was unsmiling and disliked interacting with others. In front of outsiders, he always presented himself as a cold young man.
But even Blondie had to admit that Kuraki was a genius Trainer.
Basically, every Trial Participant Kuraki recruited was won over by his powerful battle instincts as a Trainer.
The Waltz Dancer of Serpentine Pokémon—that was Kuraki's nickname. Obsessed with snake Pokémon, he could accurately name the characteristics and aptitude of any serpentine Pokémon.
"Keep a close eye on Lan Ling's side. They're the Trial Participant group second only to ours." Kuraki's eyes shone like black onyx.
Kuraki's guess was correct. Lone Trial Participants were nothing to fear. The most important thing now was to weaken the strength of the Trial Participants who had formed groups.
"Arbok, you're my trump card." A sickly look appeared on Kuraki's pale face.
Arbok opened its huge mouth. Venom dripped from its fangs onto the ground, making a sizzling sound.
"This is our second gathering." Lan Ling spoke to the Trial Participants gathered around her.
"We're now competing with Kuraki's team for the final slots. But there's one thing we need to pay attention to: We have to absorb those lone Trial Participants."
"We'll win through numbers, but be careful not to let Kuraki's team counterattack." Lan Ling's strategy was different. She wanted to recruit the Trial Participants wandering outside the groups.
Moreover, Lan Ling's Trial Participant group was mainly made up of women.
"Understood, Leader. Our Ice Rose Group will faithfully carry out your orders." Lan Ling was quite skilled at winning people over, and the members of the Trial group dropped to one knee one after another.
In his previous life, Lan Ling had also established the Ice Rose Group and won the final Trial. After receiving Athena's support and promotion, she had ultimately risen smoothly through the ranks.
At the training grounds, inside the gravity chamber, Kecleon had undergone a full day of continuous training. Even under �-times gravity, it could move about freely with ease, which greatly comforted Qing Wu.
Actually, what Qing Wu wanted even more was for Kecleon to condense Rock energy inside the gravity chamber and train the Rock Blast technique.
However, Qing Wu still didn't dare take that risk. What if the condensed rocks smashed the entire gravity chamber?
This gravity chamber had cost several million.
Wouldn't it be better for Qing Wu to keep those millions for buying Pokémon and resources?
As for Zubat, under Qing Wu's requirements, it had endured a full thirteen minutes and six seconds under the sweeping force of �-level winds, which had already surprised Qing Wu greatly.
"It's a shame we're about to gather. Otherwise, we could've stayed a while longer." Qing Wu still had points in hand. At worst, he could exchange the Green Quality Bellsprout for points.
However, Qing Wu had made up his mind to explore the entire Trial Island, so he wouldn't be using the training grounds for training again in the short term.
Qing Wu walked onto the plaza, found a spot to sit down, and secretly observed the participants who might prove advantageous.
There were clearly far fewer people on the plaza than before. Team Rocket's Trial was truly brutal.
Just then, Leiming also returned. He brought Meowth over and sat down beside Qing Wu.
"Boss, I've already captured that Beautifly. I now have four main Pokémon." Leiming quietly spoke to Qing Wu.
"Unless absolutely necessary, it's best not to bring out that Spinarak." Qing Wu reminded Leiming.
"I understand, Boss. Oh, right, Boss, I saw Fat Brother. He actually escaped back to the base, and he even has an Ekans that looks extremely fierce." Leiming suddenly remembered something and told Qing Wu.
"He's just a clown, nothing to fear. You already have four Pokémon, so you need to learn how to fight as a team. He only has one Ekans right now. There's nothing to fear." Speak of the devil, and he appeared.
Fat Brother appeared in the plaza with his vicious Ekans, glaring fiercely at Qing Wu. He looked as though he wanted to swallow Qing Wu whole.
Qing Wu ignored Fat Brother's savage gaze and instead turned his attention to the black-robed figure who had suddenly appeared.
The black-robed figure was like a venomous snake, watching all the Trial Participants in the plaza.
An overwhelming, peerless aura swept over them. Almost everyone who fell under the black-robed figure's gaze felt as though they had been plunged into an icy cavern.
When the black-robed figure's gaze landed directly on Qing Wu, he immediately felt his scalp prickle, and his entire body became unable to move.
Cold sweat soaked Qing Wu's back. One second, two seconds, three seconds...
The black-robed figure stared at Qing Wu for a full five seconds before turning away. In the end, as though he had lost interest, he dropped heavily into Coach Frostwolf's seat and closed his eyes.
Almost everyone let out a sigh of relief after the black-robed figure closed his eyes. Based on the experience of his previous life, Qing Wu judged that this man was extremely dangerous.
Even when Qing Wu had faced the Three Heavenly Kings' encirclement in his previous life, he had never experienced cold sweat pouring down his body and adrenaline surging so wildly.
This man had at least the strength of a High-Rank Heavenly King, or even a Peak Heavenly King. Qing Wu could also release a Heavenly King's aura, but it was nowhere near as terrifying as this man's.
Just now, Qing Wu had felt as though he had been targeted by an ancient, savage god.
None of the Trial Participants present dared breathe heavily, afraid that they might disturb this god of slaughter.
"That's strange. This person never appeared in my previous life." Qing Wu remembered clearly that throughout Team Rocket's entire Trial, this person had never appeared from beginning to end. Where had things gone wrong?
A deviation in his memories also meant that Qing Wu's rebirth was like the wind produced by a small butterfly flapping its wings. It might have affected the entire world.
Just then, Kuraki's Trial team also appeared. Almost all the surviving Trial Participants had arrived.
Qing Wu swept his eyes across the entire plaza. There were roughly a hundred people, exactly half as many as last time.
The Trial Participants were divided into roughly seven or eight groups. The largest were Kuraki's and Lan Ling's teams, each with more than twenty people.
Aside from the groups, Qing Wu also saw the famous lone wolves from his previous life.
All of those lone wolves survived until the end of the Trial. They later became elite members of Team Rocket.
Soon after, Coach Frostwolf appeared with Team Rocket's members.
"The second test begins now. To increase the difficulty, this robot's movement speed will be increased several times. Your Pokémon will only receive a score if they accurately hit the area on the robot's stomach."
"So, Team Rocket rookies, use every ounce of strength you have—for the sake of your pitiful little lives. All right, the assessment begins. We'll follow the rankings from the previous assessment." Coach Frostwolf waved his hand grandly.
Before you continue