Xiao Yan brought Xiao Lan to his hotel suite...
"Xiao Yan, why did you bring a pretty lady back? Is she your girlfriend?" Faced with a question like that from Xiao Lan, the emotionally savvy Xiao Yan naturally chose to remain silent.
"Xiao Lan, stay here and play with this lady. I need to go out for a bit, but I'll be back soon. Don't wander off before I get back, okay?"
"Then bring me back a souvenir!"
"Got it. Wait for me." With that, Xiao Yan headed out.
"Xiao Yan, please come back safely," Xiao Lan said, gazing worriedly at the silent doorway.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Xiao Yan took down a Team Rocket member in seconds, then stripped the man of his clothes and put them on.
With the guard dog out of the way, it was time to enter headquarters. Team Rocket's headquarters was a high-tech tower. Clutching the Poké Ball in his hand, Xiao Yan slowly walked inside.
"Hi, everyone. I'm new here," Xiao Yan told the Team Rocket personnel, dressed in their uniform.
"You look pretty young. What's your name?" asked one of the more cautious-looking Team Rocket members, staring at his face.
"My name's Mark."
The Team Rocket members immediately backed away from Xiao Yan and released the Pokémon from their Poké Balls. Knowing he could no longer keep up the lie, Xiao Yan sent out his own Pokémon too.
"Dragonite, Wing Attack!" A Dragonite nearly forty meters long filled the first floor of Team Rocket's headquarters. Dragonite beat its wings, whipping up an enormous whirlwind. Every human and Pokémon except Xiao Yan and Dragonite was sent staggering and tumbling by the tremendous wind. The first floor looked as though a typhoon had swept through it, leaving a scene of utter devastation.
"I don't like fighting them one at a time. Dragonite, take me straight to the top floor."
Riding Dragonite, Xiao Yan flew outside through the entrance and shot upward. Just as he was nearing the top floor, an Electric-type attack came out of a window and struck Dragonite. Dragonite was paralyzed, its wings unable to move, and both it and Xiao Yan began to fall. Xiao Yan recalled Dragonite, then nimbly leaped through one of the building's windows.
"Who goes there?" A Team Rocket member approached Xiao Yan with a Magnemite, and Xiao Yan immediately sent out his Pokémon.
"Flamethrower!" Charmeleon spat a jet of flame from its mouth, knocking Magnemite out in an instant. After gaining experience, Charmeleon was enveloped in white light. Its body kept changing within the glow, and several seconds later, the light faded, revealing a powerfully built Charizard before everyone. The remaining Team Rocket members immediately cleared a path of their own accord, letting Xiao Yan continue onward.
At last, he reached the top floor. There was a room at the end of the corridor. Xiao Yan walked up to its door, swallowed, then nervously turned the handle.
Once inside, Xiao Yan swept his gaze around the room, his eyes landing on a middle-aged man. The man radiated an intense killing intent, his piercing eyes fixed on Xiao Yan in the doorway. Xiao Yan's heart immediately began pounding. Fear consumed his body and mind, and sweat kept pouring out. He knew this man was different from the Team Rocket grunts outside. He was immensely powerful.
Giovanni rose from the sofa and walked toward Xiao Yan, one step at a time.
"Kid, the adults are conducting an important deal. Children shouldn't interfere."
Xiao Yan fearfully took several steps back. The middle-aged man before him suddenly took out a Poké Ball, and a Nidoqueen roughly ten meters tall appeared in front of Xiao Yan. The terror gripping his heart left him unable to move.
"Hmph! I won't go easy on you just because you're a child. Nidoqueen, finish him off." Upon hearing her trainer's command, Nidoqueen charged at Xiao Yan, intent on killing him.
Is this what the fear of death feels like...? Xiao Yan instinctively closed his eyes.
"..."
Several seconds later, Xiao Yan opened his eyes and saw Charizard standing in front of him, blocking Nidoqueen's attack for him.
"Charizard..." Nidoqueen retreated to the middle-aged man's side, preparing her next attack.
"Nidoqueen, Mega Punch!"
Charizard looked back at its trainer, waiting for his command. But Xiao Yan's face was deathly pale, his whole body trembling, and he still gave no order. As Nidoqueen's fist came swinging toward it, Charizard stepped aside, letting the punch miss. The next second, an enormous tail suddenly whipped toward Charizard and sent it flying.
Only then did Xiao Yan realize that Charizard was lying in a heap of broken masonry because of his mistake. He felt deeply ashamed.
"A rare Charizard, wasted on a trainer like this."
The middle-aged man recalled his Pokémon and was about to turn and leave when a Team Rocket member hurried in to report something to him.
After hearing the report, the middle-aged man's expression changed dramatically. He turned to look at the pale-faced boy beside him.
"Kid, you took down most of the people in headquarters all by yourself?!" The boy ignored him, simply staring at Charizard in shame.
"How about this? Join Team Rocket, and we'll wipe the slate clean regarding the hunt for your friend. I'll give you a position second only to mine-the second-highest rank. You'll earn five million a month, and I'll throw in fifty Master Balls, products of Team Rocket's latest technology. Interested?"
Before you continue