Wanderer of the Pokémon World

Chapter 270: Think Xiu, Think!

Daisy looked at Xiu, the afternoon sun backlighting her, making her features indistinct. "If you really did this for yourself," she said, her tone teasing, "you wouldn't have Abra, Scizor, or Happiny with you. You wouldn't even care for Xiaochun."

"You see them as a burden," Xiu replied, standing up suddenly. Daisy looked surprised. He continued, "But in my opinion, they are my pillars. If it weren't for them, I might not be here, let alone sitting here chatting and laughing with you."

"Maybe," Daisy said, her gaze shifting to the distance.

After a few seconds, she spoke again, as if to herself. "I was born with the ability to communicate with Pokémon. Grandpa said it was a talent in our family, but neither Grandpa, my parents, nor Gary have this ability.

It makes me… special." She paused. "After learning about my abilities, my parents were very secretive about me. I was even raised by a nanny and then sent to school."

"Not everyone has such insight," Xiu commented. " Fear of the unknown is human nature, especially when children show extraordinary behavior."

"Then why aren't you afraid?" Daisy turned, looking at him directly.

"That's nothing. I can talk to Pokémon too," Xiu chuckled. His experiences from his past life made him quick to accept strange phenomena. In a world with Pokémon, anything was possible.

"You're using Abra's telepathy," Daisy pointed out, a little exasperated.

Xiu didn't want to dwell on it. He glanced around. "Where's Gary? I didn't see him come out today." Gary usually followed Daisy around.

"He went to play at Mrs. Ketchum's house next door."

"You mean Ash, right?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Xiu said. "Just a little curious why Gary and Ash are playing together." He found the image of the arrogant Gary playing with anyone, let alone Ash, rather amusing. Gary was a genius, but his emotional intelligence was… lacking.

"There aren't many people willing to play with Gary at school," Daisy explained. "In the past, Gary was willing to come here because the kids here would play with him."

"Why?" Xiu asked. He'd wanted to ask before but hadn't dared with Professor Oak around.

"Because he's too smart," Daisy said. "He can learn a semester's worth of courses in just a few days. He skips grades so often he's barely in class for half a month.

No classmates dare to approach him, or maybe he just doesn't interact with them." She added, "More importantly, teachers and other adults always mention Grandpa when they talk about him." Daisy imitated their tone, "'Gary is so smart; he deserves to be Professor Oak's grandson.'"

Xiu thought for a moment. "There's more to it than that, right?"

"Yes," Daisy's tone became heavy. "Some of them can't stand Gary being better than them, so they make up all kinds of rumors against him."

"I guessed as much," Xiu said with a knowing smile. "Some people are always like that. They can't stand others being better than themselves, so they find excuses to drag them down." His past life had taught him much about jealousy.

"Gary thinks it's Grandpa's fault," Daisy sighed, "so he doesn't have a good relationship with him. As Grandpa's assistant, you were naturally implicated. But he has no ill intentions towards you, really."

"I can see that," Xiu said. It explained Gary's inexplicable hostility. He didn't care; other people's opinions didn't affect him.

"He's still young," Daisy said. "He'll understand these things when he grows up."

"You're a good sister," Xiu commented.

Nightfall. Oak Research Institute.

Professor Oak hadn't returned, and there was no news. Xiu sat in front of the computer in the living room, staring blankly at the screen.

There are some things I don't understand. Why did Team Rocket launch this beast tide? Capturing Viridian City would be useless; it would be a ruin by then. I don't believe Team Rocket would be willing to rebuild it, nor would the Alliance allow them to occupy it after such a loss.

Unless, Xiu's thoughts sharpened, Team Rocket's target is neither Viridian Forest nor Viridian City. What if they don't care about the city's situation at all?

He knew he couldn't think like an ordinary person. He was probably the only one who knew Giovanni's ambitions and the true horror of Mewtwo.

He'd investigated Team Rocket before and even read some files and records— an organization like Team Rocket doesn't need many elites. It was structured more like a company.

In fact, one could buy into Team Rocket: pay for training, receive a Pokémon, and join, regardless of passing any tests. But why would capable individuals stay and allow themselves to be exploited? Wouldn't becoming a Hunter be better?

So, Team Rocket isn't a pyramid. The grunts at the bottom were easily recruited and quickly deployed. They work for the company and the higher-ups collect the money.

There was no real middle class, just a vast bottom tier supporting a small elite. Most of these grunts were small fry, no match for regular Alliance personnel in a one-on-one fight and often relied on numbers.

The fact that Nurse Joy's limited forces in Viridian City could resist them showed the difference between grunts and a regular army. Besides, they weren't a reputable organization; they didn't need a good reputation, and their personnel were expendable. This was why Xiu had never considered them a major threat.

But now it's different. Mewtwo is in Team Rocket's hands. This meant they had the ability to transform and optimize their own structure. Their influence on the world would inevitably expand.

If Team Rocket could recreate the events Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon… Xiu shook his head, dismissing those unrealistic thoughts.

From Team Rocket's perspective, after the Viridian City incident, it's likely not many of their local assets survived Head Nurse Joy's revenge.

However, it's also true to some extent that the loss of Viridian City had little direct impact on Team Rocket's core operations.

This means their true objective must lie elsewhere.