Chapter 74: I Will Defeat You, Mamon!

What could it be?

Mamon watched Xiao Zhi with great interest. As the protagonist of the anime, although Xiao Zhi's strength in the early and middle stages wasn't all that great, his protagonist-level luck was maxed out.

That's right — I'm talking about legendary Pokémon-level luck!

Whether by chance or by necessity, every time Xiao Zhi traveled to a new region — whether in the TV series or the movies — he would almost always encounter that region's legendary and mythical Pokémon.

Whether their relationship was good or bad, he would definitely run into them.

But Xiao Zhi, who has only just set out on his journey — could he really be carrying a powerful aura that even Armored Mewtwo would take notice of?

Yes, of course he is!

Mamon immediately thought of one — the legendary Pokémon of the Kanto region, Ho-Oh!

This was the first legendary Pokémon Xiao Zhi happened to encounter on the very first day of his journey. If it's Ho-Oh, then it's not strange at all.

But now there's a problem — Xiao Zhi only saw Ho-Oh, he never actually made contact with it, so how could he carry Ho-Oh's aura on him?

But in an instant, Mamon immediately thought of something.

There is a way!

In "I Choose You!", the Xiao Zhi of that movie also set out on his journey with a reluctant Pikachu, was also "chased" by a flock of Spearow, also had his Pikachu suddenly power up, and also had Ho-Oh appear in the rainbow after the rain.

But the difference is, this parallel world's Xiao Zhi obtained a Rainbow Wing that Ho-Oh deliberately left behind.

The Rainbow Wing, also called the Rainbow Feather, is a treasure granted only to those chosen by Ho-Oh, and it represents that they are a candidate to become the Rainbow Hero.

As long as one can subsequently pass the trials of Ho-Oh's bodyguards — Entei, Suicune, and Raikou — they can formally become the Rainbow Hero and meet Ho-Oh at the place where the rainbow ends.

"The movie version of Xiao Zhi?" Mamon's gaze shifted subtly.

The Pokémon world does have a theory of parallel timelines, and parallel worlds truly do exist.

Logically speaking, the Xiao Zhi of the movie "I Choose You!" is vastly different from the TV-series Xiao Zhi.

Just the traveling companions alone are different — because the movie Xiao Zhi's companions aren't Misty and Brock.

And the biggest difference is that the movie Xiao Zhi's talent as a trainer is genuinely absurdly good — it truly uses the game-original Red's talent.

He hasn't even finished traveling through his first region, and Pikachu can already battle Ho-Oh. Although he probably lost in the end, at least for a short while they really did go back and forth?

And in the movie, there was none of that ridiculous plotline where Charizard disobeys and even "goes on strike" mid-battle. Instead, Xiao Zhi looked down on Pikachu and Charmander for being weak, though with Marshadow's help, Xiao Zhi quickly rediscovered his original heart.

"It should be the Rainbow Wing, no mistake about it. I just don't know…"

Mamon mused to himself — if it really is the movie Xiao Zhi's talent, then this is going to be very interesting.

"Mamon!"

But before Mamon could finish thinking, Xiao Zhi called out to Mamon with fighting spirit ablaze.

"?" Mamon tilted his head in confusion.

"Let's battle! I'm pretty strong too, you know!"

Xiao Zhi challenged Mamon without hesitation, his clear eyes now seeming to burn with a blazing, vigorous fire.

That was pure fighting spirit!

"Huh? Xiao Zhi?"

Misty and Brock were taken aback — battle Mamon? They'd definitely lose, right?

Although Xiao Zhi's strength among rookie trainers was indeed absurdly strong, Mamon was last year's Indigo League champion.

But the two of them immediately let it go — after all, this is Xiao Zhi.

"A battle? I'd also love to battle you, Xiao Zhi, and see what you're made of." Mamon couldn't help but chuckle at the words.

A big smile spread across Xiao Zhi's youthful face — he liked hearing that! Because it meant Mamon acknowledged him, didn't it?

"But not now. I still have things to do today. Let's schedule our battle for next time, how about it?"

Mamon said with a smile to Xiao Zhi. He really did have things to do next, and as for the battle with Xiao Zhi, he wasn't in any rush.

If it's the TV-series Xiao Zhi, he's basically a rookie right now — battling him wouldn't be any fun.

If it's the movie Xiao Zhi's talent, it'd be slightly more interesting, but only slightly. Better to let him grow for a while longer and then properly enjoy the fruits of raising him.

At the end of the day, Mamon's interest in the weak has always been small — he doesn't particularly enjoy bullying small fry.

"Huh? What a shame…"

Hearing this, Xiao Zhi's expression visibly fell, and his shoulders drooped.

"Nothing to be disappointed about, Xiao Zhi. If fate allows, we'll definitely meet again."

The corner of Mamon's mouth curved up.

"Until then, grow strong as fast as you can. My strength is no joke — when the time comes to battle, I hope you won't end up like some shorts-wearing kid on the roadside, getting casually crushed by my Pokémon."

Mamon made a vivid, colorful metaphor, leaving Misty and Brock both a bit embarrassed.

This sounds a bit… arrogant?

"Of course not! Mamon, I'm the man who's going to become a Pokémon Master in the future!" Xiao Zhi clenched his fist, his blood boiling with passion.

Be defeated like some random kid on the roadside? He didn't want an ending like that!

"We won't lose to you! Right, Pikachu?"

Not only that — he was going to defeat Mamon! Beat last year's Indigo League champion!

"Pika…chu?"

"Huh? Pikachu, speak up! Show some spirit!"

Although the trainer was brimming with fighting spirit, the electric mouse didn't seem to have been infected by Xiao Zhi's high emotions — it swallowed hard and peeked furtively at Armored Mewtwo.

"Oh? Looking full of spirit, are you? Then I'll be waiting for you."

The curve at the corner of Mamon's mouth grew wider. As expected, Xiao Zhi was a pretty interesting guy.

"Goodbye, Xiao Zhi. If you have time, you can go play at the game arcade over there. As long as you win enough tokens, you can exchange them for quite a few rare Pokémon."

"Let's go, Mewtwo."

Mewtwo bid farewell to the trio of Ash, Pikachu, and Bulbasaur, called out to the Armored Mewtwo, and turned to leave.

"An arcade?" Ash wore a thoughtful expression, pondering whether his wallet could withstand the cost.

Meanwhile, Mewtwo led the Armored Mewtwo to a civilian house, entered a secret door, and walked into an underground base.

However, what struck Mewtwo as quite strange was that the underground base was echoing with a low, grating alarm sound.

"Gladion, what's going on?"

Mewtwo quickly arrived at the main control room, where only Gladion was currently present, observing the surveillance feeds from every corner.

"Someone has infiltrated the base; Athena has taken people to search for them."

"Oh? That's bold."

Mewtwo raised an eyebrow; this underground base in Ula'ula City was one of Team Rocket's major, important bases in the Kanto region.

Therefore, the concealment measures were extremely thorough, and Team Rocket members had always been strictly guarding the entrances and exits; the difficulty of infiltrating was imaginable.

"In that case, Mewtwo, let's go find this little mouse too."

He didn't know if this 'little mouse' was male or female; if it were a girl...

Ps: The Ash in this book adopts the trainer talent of Ash from the movie "I Choose You!" In simple terms, this means a standard one-year Champion-level.

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(End of this chapter)