Chapter 46: The Atmosphere Suddenly Became Awkward...

"Little Blue...?!"

Ash blurted out.

Hearing this, Blue lowered his head slightly and squinted at Ash as if looking at a stranger. Then, he put on a surprised expression and mocked, "Oh, well, if it isn't the boy who was late on his very first day of departure? Let me think, what was his name again? Ah... Little Loser, right?"

Ash immediately grew unhappy, nearly lunging forward to unleash the signature Pallet Town brawler punches.

At that moment, a Team Rocket grunt disguised as a sailor walked up and scolded, "Hey, hey, hey! Illegal boarding! You have three seconds to jump down, or I'm calling the police."

If just anyone could board the ship so freely, how were they supposed to precisely target the wealthy and enjoy a smooth kidnapping?

"Hmph, this young master's handsome face alone is enough to board any ship... Uh, but since you lack such poor taste..."

Seeing that the sailor had already drawn a stun baton, Blue changed his tone and hurriedly fished out a ticket.

Paying no mind to the stares of the people around him, Blue leaped downward, quite dashingly recalling his Wartortle mid-air.

"This young master is truly a superior being!"

Ash and his companions: "..."

He didn't look like a superior being at all; he looked like a complete sucker.

Afterward, Blue looked at Ash and the others, swept his gaze slightly across the crowd, and asked in confusion, "Huh? Where is that stupid woman?"

Just as Ash was about to answer, Blue suddenly burst into wild laughter, his tongue even vibrating continuously in the air.

"Could she be blocking the entrance for me? That is hilarious, hahahahaha!!"

The trio: "..."

For a moment, Ash didn't really know how to refute that.

Leaf—defeated again and again, with no room left for failure.

...

"Achoo!"

At the entrance ticket booth, Leaf, who was carrying a large shovel, suddenly sneezed into the empty air.

"Damn it, has that flea still not arrived?!"

She stomped her feet in anger, watching with eager eyes as the stream of people gradually boarded the ship.

The luxurious aura of the upper crust drifting from the ship made her palms itch with impatience, and her hatred for Blue multiplied by several tons.

*No way, I can keep this up all day long!*

...

Two hours passed. It was already noon, and she still hadn't seen the flea.

...

Another two hours passed. It was now afternoon, and she still hadn't seen the flea.

...

Two more hours passed. It was late afternoon, and the sun was about to set, but she still hadn't seen the flea...

Leaf showed faint signs of going mad.

Finally, even the Team Rocket ticket checker couldn't stand it anymore. With a forced, ugly smile, he asked, "Hehe, no one else is boarding, young lady. Are you still going to board? The gate is closing in a few minutes..."

"Wait!"

She had already waited for eight hours; she wasn't going to give up with just a few minutes left.

That flea must have spotted her from afar and was probably hiding nearby, spying on her while waiting to sneak onto the big ship at the very last second.

Just then, a nearby bush rustled.

"Hmph, hiding over there, are you?"

Leaf's aura instantly reached its peak, and her large shovel swung down with lightning speed, smashing into it with tremendous force!

*Clang-bang!!*

A heavy metallic impact rang out—she had hit her target!

"Wuu..."

The next moment, a Pokémon completely entangled in blue vines and wearing something resembling a red shoe rolled out from the bush.

With a single sweep of the shovel, the wild Tangela was unable to battle.

"Nice trick! You actually used a Tangela to distract my attention and thought you could sneak aboard while I was distracted? You're thinking too simply!"

Hearing movement beside her again, Leaf fiercely swept her large shovel backward, executing a full 180-degree windmill swing.

*Whoosh, whoosh, swish...!*

It stopped just half an inch away from a person's face.

Ticket checker: "?!"

*Pant, pant, pant.*

He was just a Team Rocket underground garage-tier grunt—did working as a ticket collector carry mortal danger?!

"Hmph, as expected of a flea, still testing my bottom line..."

Having entered battle mode, Leaf's brain was racing at lightning speed, taking in everything within a radius of dozens of meters.

Sand, bushes, flowing water, air currents...

...

"Beep, beep, beep..."

Leaf's PokéDex suddenly rang with a call alert.

She tapped the screen with her finger, but her gaze remained vigilantly sweeping around her surroundings.

*Is he planning to use a phone call to distract my attention and sneak aboard?*

*Hmph, for a flea's intelligence, that's actually quite impressive.*

However, the next moment, Ash's voice came through the PokéDex.

"Hey, hey, hey! We were having a party just now and forgot to notify you. That guy Blue sneaked on from the back this morning. You should come up soon too; we're about to start the sailing banquet!"

Leaf: "?!"

*Snap!*

Under her immense strength, the large shovel snapped in half...

Two streams of hot tears slowly fell from the corners of her eyes...

The world was truly unfair to her...

...

...

At dusk, following Leaf's final boarding, the S.A. Anne pulled in its gangplank and officially set sail.

The ballroom.

This was a magnificent and resplendent hall, vast enough to accommodate nearly a thousand guests.

Right now, orchestral music played softly here. Everyone was dressed in stiff, formal attire, looking refined, gentle, and embodying the epitome of high society.

To be frank, without wearing a tailcoat and holding a champagne flute, one didn't even have to look at this chapter.

Banquet socializing has always been the workplace of the upper crust, which made Ash and his friends look somewhat out of place.

The VIP guests on the ship this time were mostly wealthy people of high net worth. Kidnapping them and extorting their fortunes was the primary purpose of Team Rocket's team-building activity.

Of course, there were also some formidable young Trainers. Their rare, unevolved Pokémon with extraordinary potential were also among Team Rocket's targets.

"Welcome everyone to the S.A. Anne's seven-day ocean voyage! I hope you all have a pleasant trip."

An elderly man wearing a tailcoat and a transparent round-rimmed monocle on one eye was hosting the event on stage.

He babbled on with a bunch of polite clichés.

The crowd below applauded accordingly.

Ash couldn't understand a word anyway and was busy gorging himself on food alongside Pikachu.

"These people are so stupid; none of them are eating."

"Pikachu, let's eat more! The more you eat, the healthier you get!"

"Pika-pika, munch, munch..."

...

"Next, we would like to invite our special guest speaker, Professor Oak's grandson, Mr. Blue!"

On the high stage, the elderly host suddenly handed the microphone over to a spiky-haired youth.

And the latter showed not a hint of stage fright, even standing on the stage before a thousand guests. Instead, he grew increasingly arrogant and spirited.

His expression was smug, and his attitude was extremely overbearing.

"Hello everyone, I am Blue from Pallet Town, the strongest Trainer of the future! Hahahaha!!"

Facing a crowd of a thousand, he was still bouncing around with boundless energy.

"Pfft..."

Ash spat out the meat in his mouth and stared at the stage in shock.

*How on earth did this guy sneak up here?!*

*Isn't he being way too arrogant? Aren't you afraid of getting beaten up by a mob when you act like this?*

Ash began to harbor silent doubts. In his memories, Blue was arrogant, sure, but he still had a brain.

On the stage, Blue was still throwing his head back and laughing wildly.

He completely resembled a swaggering sucker, prompting the crowd below to break into applause and cheers.

Everyone present belonged to the upper crust and possessed discernment; at a glance, they could tell this youth was merely a sucker riding on the coattails of his grandfather's glory—nothing special.

However, Professor Oak's reputation commanded respect, so no one openly sneered at him.

...

"Blue, aren't you going overboard?"

At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed inside Blue's mind while he was on stage.

The tone was steady and calm—it was Green's voice.

"Big Brother Green, you've never been a second-generation rich kid. You have to be this arrogant to play the part."

Although Blue was still throwing his head back and laughing outwardly, inside his mind, he was incomparably steady.

*He was acting.*

Blue had discovered days ago that this ship was a trap set by Team Rocket.

Yet, he had boarded anyway.

Combating evil forces was the bounden duty of every Trainer, and this instead stirred up Blue's fierce fighting spirit.

However, since the enemy was in the dark and he was in the light, it was better to pretend to be a brainless second-generation heir to catch the enemy off guard.

"Big Brother Green, I'll carry you through this. Just watch my play."

Blue boasted internally.

Green: "..."

*Aren't I a second-generation rich kid too...?!*

...

...

Meanwhile, in a corner of the banquet hall.

Just as everyone was watching the stage, struggling to keep a straight face and offering forced smiles, a short-haired man displayed a rather appreciative smile.

This man had short cyan hair and his hands clasped behind his back. Judging by his age, he looked a few years older than Ash and the others.

His expression was refined, as if everything was under his control. Dressed in an elegant tailcoat, he cut the picture of a true aristocrat.

"As expected of Professor Oak's grandson. He intentionally puts on this facade, but the corners of his eyes never stop observing everything at the banquet."

He praised.

If there was one place that served as the best observation point, it was undoubtedly the stage under the watchful eyes of everyone.

Yet the next moment, a cold, fierce light flashed deep within the cyan-haired man's pupils.

With a hint of disdain, he looked toward the spiky-haired youth still acting arrogantly on the high stage.

"Hmph, but his acting is quite amateurish. A genius who hasn't matured is completely meaningless."

"So, Boss, should we take him out first..."

Behind him, a flunky in a tailcoat hurriedly inquired.

"No need, just a brat. This team-building activity cannot afford any mistakes..."

"Yes, Boss."

The subordinate nodded, his movements respectful.

Clearly, this cyan-haired man held a high position.

"Oh, and Boss, two other Trainers from Pallet Town also boarded the ship this time..."

Hearing this, the cyan-haired man frowned slightly.

Although Pallet Town hadn't produced any famous Trainers in recent years, Professor Oak alone was enough to make him take things seriously.

And now, Professor Oak's grandson didn't seem like an ordinary brat...

What about the other two?

Always cautious, he looked in the direction his subordinate was pointing.

It was a boy dressed rather poorly, wearing a baseball cap that was a promotional giveaway from their company a year ago.

On the table beside him sat a plump electrical mouse.

"Such a fat electric mouse," the cyan-haired man blurted out.

For some reason, at that moment, the boy also raised his head and met his gaze from afar.

*I... I can't read through him?!*

This mutual gaze caused the cyan-haired man's expression to change drastically on the spot, drawing in a sharp breath of cold air.

He failed to see a single trace of worldly sophistication or hidden schemes on the boy's face.

*This is the most flawless camouflage!*

*Has he reached the pinnacle of simplicity, returning to his true, unadorned nature?!*

*So young, yet so terrifying?!*

However, since they had already made eye contact, he couldn't just look away now.

Thus, the cyan-haired man forced himself to calm down, squeezed out a professional fake smile, put on an elegant expression, raised his champagne flute, and slowly walked over.

His identity hadn't been exposed yet; he had to hold steady.

...

"Damn, why is this guy's hair so flashy?"

However, that wasn't what Ash was actually thinking at the moment.

Before long, the cyan-haired man walked up to him with a professional fake smile and greeted him.

"Hello, my name is Atlas. I'm a Trainer from the Johto region, currently on a journey to improve my Pokémon battles..."

The cyan-haired man introduced himself with elegance.

Ash hurriedly wiped his hands, about to offer a greeting in return.

At that moment, the device at Ash's waist suddenly vibrated mysteriously.

Then came a familiar mechanical voice.

"Beep. Target identified. Atlas: real name unknown, codename Apollo, core executive of Team Rocket, Boss Giovanni's trusted aide, General Manager of Silph Company, and one of the future successors of Team Rocket as a major multinational enterprise."

The PokéDex automatically broadcasted.

Apollo: "..."

Ash: "..."

As the words fell, both of their gazes locked onto each other.

The atmosphere instantly plunged into awkwardness...

---

*(Two chapters updated. The tribulation is over, my foundation is ruined, I need likes and recommendations to recover...)*

*(Fun fact: Apollo is the final boss of the Gold and Silver games.)*