"Saturday, Team Rocket, S.S. Anne?"
Li Xuan rubbed his chin, recalling the plot from his previous life.
The S.S. Anne was a luxury cruise ship that sailed the world, but as everyone knew, these fancy liners never completed their routes safely.
In the Pokémon anime, the S.S. Anne blew up just two days into its voyage.
And the masterminds? Team Rocket.
In the original story, the culprits were Team Rocket's trio—Jessie, James, and Meowth.
If this timeline followed the same bumbling trio, Li Xuan figured he could handle it alone.
But here's the problem.
This timeline clearly diverged from the original. Legends like Green and Red—battle icons—were already here!
In a world like this, would Giovanni really entrust the S.S. Anne job to those three stooges?
Li Xuan wasn't sure. He looked at Sabrina. "Team Rocket's planning something on the S.S. Anne this Saturday. Wanna help stop them?"
"Nope."
Sabrina's answer was firm.
Li Xuan: "…"
Seeing his resentful expression, Sabrina pointed to the ruins of the Saffron Gym a few hundred meters away, then to the Fighting Dojo beneath their feet. "The gym needs rebuilding. If you're gone, I'll have to guard the dojo and Saffron City."
"There's Bu Miao, right? Let her be the acting Gym Leader."
Li Xuan threw out his go-to receptionist as a solution.
"You're saying she should handle the front desk, coaching, refereeing, and act as Gym Leader while you're away?"
Sabrina's sharp glance made Li Xuan squirm.
"Alright, that's a bit much for her."
Li Xuan scratched his cheek, doubling down on his resolve to recruit apprentices for the dojo.
For now, the dojo had enough hands—Sabrina, whose gym was in ruins, could hold the fort.
But once the Saffron Gym was rebuilt and he had to travel long-term, what then?
He couldn't expect Bu Miao to do everything.
That's not how you shear a Wooloo!
So, apprentices were a must.
Ideally, the kind who'd pay him to work there…
Ahem, he wasn't some evil capitalist. He'd treat apprentices like family, of course.
"Forget it, I'll ask the big shots in the group chat."
Seeing no progress with Sabrina, Li Xuan posted the issue to his private chat group.
He'd created the group on his way back, with members Red, Green, and Mustard.
[Li Xuan: Team Rocket's up to something on the S.S. Anne this Saturday. Not sure if it's a prank. Any thoughts, big shots? I'm short on manpower. Picture.jpg]
[Green: What's that? Sabrina's crashing with you, right? Why not ask her?]
[Li Xuan: Saffron Gym's trashed, and my dojo has no apprentices. She's gotta stay to watch the dojo and Saffron City.]
[Green: …Fair. I'm stuck with Red at Mt. Silver, but we'll see if we can swing by to hold things down.]
[Red: ^_^]
[Mustard: S.S. Anne Route.jpg]
[Mustard: The second region's first stop is my Isle of Armor. If nothing goes wrong, you could hop on the S.S. Anne and meet me there, young Li Xuan.]
[Li Xuan: Cool. Hope nothing goes wrong. Catch you then.]
Li Xuan rubbed his temples, sensing the three weren't taking it too seriously.
Johto Region, Mt. Silver
"Green, if you wanna go, go. I've got this."
Red, perched on Charizard's back, stared into Mt. Silver's depths. Noticing Green's odd expression, he spoke up.
"Nah."
Green shook his head, gazing down below with a heavy tone. "We'll deal with this first."
A crack echoed from below.
Blue ripples spread, and a spatial rift slowly appeared…
"Red, it's time!"
"Yeah."
Galar Region, Isle of Armor
"Getting old and useless, eh…"
Mustard stood by a phone, chuckling self-deprecatingly into the receiver.
"Old pal, we're from the same era. Don't hide stuff—spill it."
A gruff voice came from the other end.
"I like talking straight with you, Dama. Kanto's S.S. Anne is setting sail soon, right? I've got a bad feeling about it."
Mustard stroked his beard, speaking deliberately.
"You heard about it too?"
Dama sounded slightly surprised. "We've already got people lined up in Kanto. Just worried Team Rocket's playing a double game."
"Saffron City?"
Mustard asked.
"Yup."
[Today's check-in location: Back Alley]
The next morning.
Staring at three distinctly evolved Pokémon, Li Xuan fell into thought.
His three Tyrogue had evolved.
Overnight, while practicing moves in their sleep.
That was the system's insane power.
Every night, it trained Pokémon in their dreams.
The experience converted into real gains upon waking.
Though the Tyrogue were long ready to evolve level-wise, their sudden evolution still surprised him.
But this was good.
It gave him more tactical options for challengers.
Yesterday, it was just Tyrogue spamming Fake Out and Infernape one-shotting foes.
"Ralts!"
Ralts scampered to Li Xuan, waving its arms excitedly.
"What's up?"
Li Xuan scooped up Ralts, seeing it point to the dojo's kitchen. Thinking it was hungry, he asked, "Want breakfast?"
"Ralts!"
Ralts shook its head, squeezing toward the kitchen, mimicking eating, then flapping its arms like wings.
"Oh, you mean the food's gone missing?"
"Ralts!"
Ralts nodded.
"What the?!"
Li Xuan perched Ralts on his head, recalled his four dojo Pokémon, and rushed to the kitchen.
The fridge door was wide open!
As Ralts said, the food was gone.
All of it!
"My fridge was fully stocked yesterday!"
Li Xuan's anger skyrocketed.
Stealing food was one thing, but eating everything?
That was his take on the thief.
"What's wrong?"
Sabrina, woken by Li Xuan's outburst, rubbed her eyes. Her thin nightgown clung to her, perfectly accentuating her figure.
Her long legs were on full display, but Li Xuan was too distracted to notice.
"There's a food thief!"
Li Xuan pointed at the fridge.
This was too much!
Sabrina looked at the fridge, seeing its barren interior, and fell silent.
If Li Xuan hadn't stuffed it with Berries and Moomoo Milk yesterday, she'd have thought it was always this empty.
"Ralts!"
Ralts pointed to the window.
Whoosh~
A cold breeze blew in, chilling Li Xuan's heart.
"No way, I'm catching that thief!"