Pokémon Era: Starting as a Team Rocket

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After descending from the volcano, he returned directly to the forest. When Qingwu arrived at the rock cave secretly built by Aron, Arbok had already left.

Qingwu was now near the volcano, and to return to the Team Rocket training base, it would take a full four to five hours. If Qingwu were to directly ride Zubat, he could save half the time, but then Zubat would lose its combat capability.

Qingwu walked on the forest path. The path Qingwu had opened up a few days ago was now overgrown with dense weeds. Zubat once again cleared the way with Air Slash. Qingwu, returning to the Team Rocket training base this time, probably wouldn't come out for a while.

Torchic's Pokémon Egg needed materials to hatch, Zubat needed materials to evolve, Aron needed rarer iron ore to increase its body strength, and Squirtle needed high-grade energy cubes. So, trainers are truly always either spending money or on their way to spending money. Pokémon cultivation, Pokémon aptitude, Pokémon evolution potions—which one doesn't burn through cash?

Qingwu stepped on a branch with a snap, wiping away a bead of sweat. There were quite a few Bug-type Pokémon in the forest, especially the extremely irritable Pinsir (also called Heracross). Zubat had just repelled a wave of them. Now, Zubat was leading the way, Qingwu was in the middle, and Aron was at the very back for defense.

With Zubat and Aron's double protection, Qingwu basically didn't worry about safety. If he really couldn't win, he would just escape with Zubat.

Wild Pokémon attacked one after another. After repelling Pinsir, they encountered a Beedrill ambush. However, Zubat and Aron were already very familiar with Beedrill. Aron directly stomped its feet and unleashed Rock Blast. Before Beedrill even got close to Qingwu, it was repelled by Aron. Aron proudly raised its small head.

After special training, the forest was no longer an obstacle for Zubat but had become Zubat's joyful paradise. Relying on its ultrasonic detection, Zubat could easily avoid obstacles. With the Tailwind status effect, Zubat's speed became incredibly fast. Often, some Pokémon hadn't even peeked out before seeing a flash of white light, and then they would fall into darkness, unconscious.

"Looks like I need to get you some equipment that can adjust your weight," Qingwu muttered, stroking his chin, watching Zubat fly effortlessly. "After all, although Aron weighs 60kg, Aron also considers Zubat, flying and stopping occasionally, so it can't achieve a good weight training effect," Qingwu continued to think.

Zubat, who was fighting fiercely, suddenly felt a cold shiver (σ(っд;)っ(ˉ▽ˉ;)... It felt Qingwu's immense malice and wondered what he would use to train it next.

Zubat rapidly weaved through the trees, appearing and disappearing like a ghost. Many Pokémon couldn't even poke their heads out. As long as Zubat deemed them a threat to Qingwu, it would flap its wings and attack directly. Many Pokémon were thus ambushed and knocked out on the ground. Qingwu also watched Zubat's experience increase rapidly.

As more and more Pokémon were defeated, Zubat and Aron both exuded a strong killing aura. Many Pokémon were even scared and fled in a panic at first sight. So, the closer Qingwu got to the Team Rocket training base, the fewer Pokémon he encountered. Most of the Pokémon were scared away by Zubat. With a large number of "guinea pigs" to practice on, Zubat's combat skills became increasingly proficient, and its control over energy became more refined, particularly in the use of flying energy.

Qingwu now held the highly poisonous Gloom in his hand. After concocting some materials, he could create a potion that would develop Zubat's Poison-type energy, significantly increasing Zubat's control over Poison-type energy, allowing it to excel in both flying and Poison types.

Qingwu walked for another hour before returning to the vicinity of the cave where he had previously stayed with leiming.

"Finally back here. How about we rest in the cave for a while?" Qingwu said to Zubat and Aron. The cave was extremely secluded and had sweet spring water. Qingwu's canteen water had been completely consumed at the volcano, so Qingwu planned to replenish some water in the cave and rest for a while.

Qingwu smelled a faint scent of blood from afar. The closer he got to the cave, the stronger the scent.

"Who is it?" A low voice came from the cave entrance. The person inside had clearly heard footsteps.

"leiming, I didn't expect you to have even tamed a Spinarak!" Qingwu smiled. His sharp eyes naturally saw leiming's arrangement: transparent silk threads hanging at the cave entrance. This Spinarak cleverly used photosynthesis to hide its silk, making it look like an ordinary cave entrance, but it was actually a trap. These silk threads were specially spun by Spinarak, possessing super strong stickiness. Small Pokémon that touched Spinarak's silk would get increasingly entangled. Meowth was hidden in the shadows, and even Manectric was ambushed nearby, vigilantly watching outside.

"It's the leader, Spinarak, retract your silk," leiming's hoarse voice came from inside the cave.

After Spinarak retracted its silk, Qingwu walked in and saw leiming lying pale on the bed. leiming's abdomen had a very deep wound, which was sewn up with Spinarak's silk. There was still a lot of blood seeping from the wound. Vivillon was continuously using Grassy Terrain, trying to heal leiming's wound, but with little effect.

Qingwu frowned and said, "How did this happen? And your four Pokémon are all like this."

"It was Fatty, he joined a team and used the entire team's strength to hunt me down. And I was betrayed by a former friend, my location exposed, and eventually, I was slashed open by a Scyther. I barely escaped here," leiming said with a helpless, bitter smile on his pale face. "That was my old friend of over ten years. I never thought he would betray me just like that. He even cried and told me that he wanted to live, so he had to sacrifice me." leiming felt very bitter. That was a friend he had known for over ten years, practically since birth.

"One injury in exchange for seeing a person clearly. That's a good deal. Don't forget, Team Rocket teaches us to always be wary of others," Qingwu said, looking at leiming's wound. "Your injury looks very serious, but that Scyther only cut your epidermis. He went easy on you; someone doesn't want you to die." Qingwu took out a potion from his backpack.

"How could that be? Doesn't he hate good-for-nothings like me the most?" leiming couldn't believe it. He felt his perception had been overturned. His best friend wanted him dead, and someone he had a bad relationship with wanted him alive.

"Some people have sharp tongues but soft hearts. Some people pretend to be your best buddy but stab you in the back. But ultimately, the one who saves you might not be someone you've helped, but those you've overlooked. Be careful, bear the pain," Qingwu said, scooping out the potion and applying a layer on leiming's stomach. leiming immediately felt a burning pain and almost curled up like a cooked shrimp.

"Bear with it. This medicine works very well. But the fact that you managed to catch Spinarak and resolve its inner conflict, I actually think highly of you." Qingwu glanced at Spinarak. From its nervous reaction to leiming, it seemed that Spinarak truly acknowledged its trainer from the bottom of its heart.