Champion Qing Lu's Pokémon are all very powerful. Of these six Pokémon, aside from the Pidgeot, the other six have base stats over 500, making them all popular Pokémon and well worth raising.
With this team, winning the Indigo League Championship is more than enough.
"Squirtle, let's head back."
Xiao Mao took out his mountain bike, placed Squirtle on the handlebars, and rode away.
As Xiao Mao neared the entrance of Viridian City, a layer of dark clouds suddenly covered the sky.
BOOM!!
A bolt of lightning cracked through the dark clouds.
Xiao Mao stopped abruptly and looked back towards Pallet Town.
"That idiot Xiao Zhi should be fine, right?" Xiao Mao worried.
Though he knew Xiao Zhi was an extraordinary newbie, he couldn't help but sweat for him seeing such terrifying power of nature.
But this was also part of Pikachu's growth journey. The reason Xiao Zhi's Pikachu was so strong was partly because of this lightning baptism.
Viridian City Pokémon Center.
"Guest, every Pokémon in our care will receive the best treatment. You can rest assured leaving your Pokémon here," Nurse Joy introduced enthusiastically.
Viridian City isn't just any ordinary city. It's incredibly developed, even compared to other cities in the Kanto region. The neighboring Pallet Town is the most developed town in the Kanto region because of its benefits.
But Viridian City's prosperity is largely due to Team Rocket. They financed the development of Viridian City to better disguise themselves.
The strongest Gym in the Kanto region is the Viridian Gym.
Team Rocket boss, Giovanni, even serves as the Gym Leader himself.
"I wonder if Mewtwo has awakened yet?" Xiao Mao thought to himself.
Mewtwo has already been created by Team Rocket, but it's been in a perpetual slumber. Following the plot, Mewtwo should awaken around three months before the Indigo League commences.
Based on the timeline, it's about three months from now.
In the original plot, Xiao Mao even personally experienced Mewtwo's power, being defeated by it in a one-sided match.
Xiao Mao wasn't interested in eliminating Team Rocket. He tried to avoid provoking them as much as possible.
Even though Xiao Mao is Professor Oak's grandson, he doesn't have the power to go against a behemoth like Team Rocket.
After all, Team Rocket has existed since Professor Oak was young, operating for decades. Its foundation is deeply rooted and its influence spread across the Kanto and Johto regions. They even have branches in other regions.
To eliminate such a massive organization, the Kanto Alliance would need to completely reshuffle the cards in the Kanto region. Otherwise, it would be impossible to eradicate them completely.
Right now, Xiao Mao worries that the system will assign him a mission when he challenges the Viridian Gym. Should he challenge the Gym or refuse the mission?
He definitely can't beat Mewtwo.
Even in its slumber, Team Rocket's Mewtwo's strength is consistently increasing. Upon awakening, it already possesses champion-level strength.
When it was tested under Giovanni, Mewtwo's power reached pseudo-legendary level.
By the time the Mewtwo Returns arc happens, Mewtwo has already reached Legendary level.
Only when Mewtwo reaches Legendary level can the Legendary Pokémon, Mew, sense its existence.
"It's all too early for me to worry about this. I should focus on becoming a trainer. It's much better to live freely," Xiao Mao didn't really care about it.
Pokémon are inherently magical beings. Xiao Mao is well aware of the existence of Arceus and how human capabilities are far from reaching that level.
If all of humanity were to oppose Arceus, they would probably only be able to defeat one of its avatars.
......!
Morning.
At 8:30, Xiao Mao left home to visit Viridian City's largest Pokémon Department Store.
The Pokémon Department Store sells everything related to Pokémon. Now that Xiao Mao has two Pokémon, he needs to replenish his supplies and purchase evolution stones.
He not only needs to buy a Leaf Stone for Exeggcute but also a Fire Stone because his mission requires him to capture a Growlithe.
Even in the Kanto region, Growlithe is a rare Pokémon.
Wild Growlithe and Arcanine are difficult to encounter in the wild. They are basically monopolized by the International Police Organization.
The black market does sell them, but with Xiao Mao's current identity, it's not suitable for him to buy things from the black market.
After all, being Professor Oak's grandson, going to the black market to buy Pokémon is against the law.
Under the laws of this world, rare Pokémon are prohibited from being sold or captured. Only trainers recognized by the Alliance are allowed to capture them in the wild.
The Alliance can't effectively manage the rare Pokémon in the wild, so it's better for them to be taken care of by trainers after being captured.
But Xiao Mao isn't worried about this. He's Professor Oak's grandson. He can totally use Professor Oak's connections to obtain an Arcanine from the police station.
Though Growlithe is monopolized, the police station still allows trainers to adopt Arcanine, but ordinary trainers rarely get them. Xiao Mao has this convenience.
However, even if Xiao Mao can get an Arcanine from the police station, he can only get a male Arcanine.
The female Arcanine is used for breeding and tightly controlled by the International Police Organization. They won't sell them.
Standing at the entrance of the Pokémon Department Store, Xiao Mao saw two wanted posters on the bulletin board before entering.
The wanted posters have two photos, only showing the bodies of two people, not their faces. However, it can be identified that they are a man and a woman. It can be seen that the woman has pink hair.
"Team Rocket...!"
Xiao Mao recognized them as the Team Rocket trio at a glance.
However, the Officer Jenny in Viridian City is really irresponsible. If you want to put out a wanted poster, at least put up a photo of the target's face.
Who can recognize them by just their bodies?
【Ding! Mission Released: Prevent Xiao Zhi's Pikachu from destroying the Viridian City Pokémon Center. / Mission Reward: 10 Low-Grade Wonderous Candy!】
"This...!"
Xiao Mao was planning to intervene in Xiao Zhi's affairs, but the system has already issued a mission.
10 Wonderous Candy is a good deal, let's do it!
Based on the timeline, Xiao Zhi should already be at the Viridian City Pokémon Center and Pikachu is receiving treatment.
Because Pikachu was severely injured and under emergency treatment, it continued until night. Team Rocket appeared at night.
"Then I'll go there tonight." Xiao Mao decided to go and check tonight. It doesn't matter if he doesn't complete the mission, he'll just miss out on the reward.
After parking his Windmill Mountain bike, Xiao Mao entered the Pokémon Department Store.
Following the staff's instructions, he went to the third floor of the Pokémon Department Store, where evolution items are sold.
"Handsome young man, what kind of evolution stones are you looking for? We have a wide variety of evolution stones here," the saleswoman saw Xiao Mao's handsome face and immediately stepped forward to introduce him.