Chapter 106: The King of Lazy Gluttony

After sending off Dr. Odagaki, Hu Yang pondered over what Slowpoke had just said. He had indeed once considered recruiting the trio from Team Rocket. Beyond the natural goodwill boost from the anime, he was particularly drawn to Meowth’s mechanical skills.

However, due to matters involving Gengar, he had set this idea aside and forgotten about it. Upon reflection, recruiting the Team Rocket trio to help investigate the Legendary Pokémon ruins was a viable plan. But was this world’s Team Rocket trio the same in personality and abilities as those from the anime?

Hu Yang was uncertain.

With this in mind, he returned to Slowpoke and asked, "Sage, what were the two humans and that Meowth like?"

Slowpoke replied, "I saw them learning beside me. That Meowth, who can speak human language, has a great talent for machine-making. The human woman will become an excellent elite breeder. And the human man... he will help your Magikarp evolve."

Hu Yang was speechless. His mind involuntarily replayed the iconic scenes of Kojirō (Jessie). Help his Magikarp evolve? How exactly?

Slowpoke wished to stay here. Besides taking care of the Pokémon in the ecological park, it simply did not enjoy fighting due to its high intelligence—a trait innate to the Slowpoke species. Even when captured by humans, Slowpoke often resisted commands and battles because it would daydream. Only a small number would fight earnestly for their trainers.

Thus, traveling trainers rarely captured Slowpoke or its evolution, Slowbro.

The decision to stay had been made after Slowpoke’s careful consideration. It foresaw a future where it would become an administrative staff member well-versed in human knowledge. After conversing with Slowpoke, Hu Yang finally decided to leave it behind to guard the rear.

He was in no hurry to make the Keystone Bracelet in Keina City. To facilitate communication after leaving, he purchased a video phone identical to those in Pokémon Centers from the department store and patiently taught Slowpoke how to use it.

Meanwhile, Gengar and the others trained with the rice cooker in the ecological park, while the Decidueye fished in the park’s waters. Hu Yang stayed with Slowpoke, teaching it essential knowledge about human society.

For example, how to lock doors, turn on the television, buy food, and adjust the ecological park’s temperature. The clever Slowpoke quickly mastered these skills. Seeing this, Hu Yang bought many educational video tapes designed to teach children literacy and gifted them to Slowpoke.

At night, staring at the video phone, Hu Yang suddenly remembered something he had forgotten. Oh no! He hadn’t replied to Brock’s message yet!

He took out his unassuming phone and, after some thought, sent Brock a text explaining that he had been in an area without signal, had just emerged and hadn’t seen the message, and that he hadn’t gone digging for stones lately—apologizing and so forth.

The message was sent, but it seemed to vanish into the void. Brock did not reply even by the next morning.

While Hu Yang was wondering if Brock had seen it, Gengar entered the room excitedly carrying a rice cooker.

“Hu Yang, I’ve learned it!” it exclaimed.

It had adjusted its Thunderbolt attack down to a stable ten volts, a faint glow of electricity shimmered in its palm as it plugged in the rice cooker. The cooking indicator light on the rice cooker immediately turned on.

Hu Yang grabbed a stopwatch to time it.

One minute... two minutes... five minutes... ten minutes passed, and the rice cooker worked steadily. The water inside began to boil, steam seeping from the lid’s edges.

“The water’s boiling,” Hu Yang praised.

“I’m the strongest Gengar in the world!” Gengar boasted proudly.

“Good job,” Hu Yang patted its head. “Time to move on to the next training.”

The next training was teaching Gengar the move: Flamethrower. Mastering the control over flame temperature and timing was a fundamental skill for any barbecue master.

Poor Gengar had no idea what awaited it in the future.

After adjusting the move, Hu Yang collapsed into bed. Gengar floated out excitedly to continue practicing.

...

Hu Yang stayed in Unshiro Town for only a week. If, as Slowpoke said, the Team Rocket trio could greatly aid him, he wanted to recruit them as soon as possible.

Therefore, he decided to postpone the trip to Keina City and first visit the Kanto region to check on the trio’s current situation.

However, when Hu Yang called for Magikarp at the ecological park, he encountered a problem.

During his stay, he had not kept his Pokémon in their Poké Balls. Ralts loved the human house and thus spent more time indoors. But Garchomp and Roserade preferred the outdoors, where there was more space to move. Magikarp, meanwhile, was left in the pond with Ancient Marowak, living among a group of fish that had lived for thousands of years.

“Magikarp, it’s time to go!” Hu Yang called by the lake.

Magikarp had been leisurely blowing bubbles in the water. At the call, it immediately darted underwater and buried its head in a clump of mud, hiding, thinking that way Hu Yang wouldn’t see it.

Hu Yang sighed.

Magikarp didn’t want to travel. Without water, it couldn’t leave its Poké Ball all day long. Where else was more comfortable than swimming in this lake?

Here, it had no predators, didn’t have to find food, and was surrounded by a group of like-minded old fish.

Magikarp no longer wanted to be a Magikarp; it wanted to be a lazy, good-for-nothing salted fish king.

It buried its head in the mud and stayed still, silently chanting: “You can’t see me, you can’t see me, you can’t see me.”

Hu Yang sighed helplessly. Fine, let this guy stay here as an ornamental fish. After all, when he first caught it, he had hoped to collect a shiny Magikarp.

Giving up on taking Magikarp along, and with Slowpoke staying behind, meant that for the trip to Kanto, Hu Yang would only have Roserade, Garchomp, Ralts, Gengar, and Decidueye with him.

Before leaving, Hu Yang said to Slowpoke, “Sage, why don’t you come with me? I’ll hire someone else to help take care here.”

Slowpoke simply looked at Gengar and Ralts and said, “They will keep you company. Don’t worry, I’ll wait here until you come back.”

“All right then,” Hu Yang nodded.

He decided to do as Ash did: every time he arrived in a new city, he would use the video phone at the Pokémon Center to contact Slowpoke.

With that plan set, he prepared to set off.