Chapter 140 Starting with an Instant Kill, Sweeping Through the Enemy
That evening, after talking with his parents for a long time, Xia Mu returned to his room alone.
With his family around, it wouldn't be appropriate for him and Sonia to sleep in the same room again.
His mother's advice was that he and Sonia weren't married yet. Although the world had developed to the point where men and women could freely choose their partners, some rules still needed to be followed.
In short, it was about respecting elders.
Especially since Sonia's grandmother, Mulan, was also there. If Xia Mu were to take Sonia away before the wedding, it would seem presumptuous.
Although Xia Mu had gained Mulan's approval, approval was one thing, but without a wedding ceremony, they should maintain their distance.
In short, if they weren't there, they wouldn't see or interfere with whatever Xia Mu and Sonia did.
But for a while, he had to restrain himself and absolutely not do anything excessive.
In his room, without Sonia by his side, Xia Mu suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
However, this was also a good opportunity. He needed to take advantage of the time to do some things, including properly training his Pokémon.
He didn't plan to use the same Pokémon in the Indigo League this time, so he needed to strengthen all his Pokémon again.
As for money, he still had nearly 300 million, which was more than enough.
While improving his Pokémon's strength, Xia Mu received calls from Jessie, James, and Meowth, and they arranged a meeting.
They had already arrived at Indigo Plateau to prepare.
One reason was to cheer Xia Mu on, and the other was that they had purchased and renovated a shop there half a month ago, and the shop was now open for business.
A few days ago, Xia Mu had taken Sonia to see it, and they were generally satisfied.
Now, he just needed to make a name for himself in the final battle, and then Jessie, James, and Meowth would promote it extensively. At that time, Energy Cubes would definitely become incredibly popular, and countless trainers would rush to buy them.
Who would refuse to use the same food for training Pokémon as the champion?
When it comes to marketing tactics, Musashi, Kojiro, and Meowth are unparalleled.
This is evident in the original work, showcasing their incredible abilities.
They appear as merchants during every League tournament, making a fortune.
In the shop's office, Natsuki nodded in satisfaction after listening to Musashi and Kojiro's work report.
"Actually, you don't need to be so tense with me. Just treat me like a friend. From the beginning, I haven't treated you as subordinates; otherwise, I wouldn't have entrusted you with so much authority," Natsuki said to them.
Hearing this, the two of them and Meowth all showed somewhat embarrassed expressions.
"Of course we know, but there still needs to be a hierarchy. You're the real boss, and we must show the same attitude, otherwise we'll overstep our bounds. Without rules, there's no order," Kojiro spoke first.
As expected of someone from a wealthy family, his language skills were impressive.
Natsuki could tell from Kojiro's demeanor that he was actually a very confident person, but his past experiences and his time as a Team Rocket member had gradually led him to despair.
Now that he's handling everything so efficiently, he's found a sense of purpose.
"Kojiro's right, you are the boss. If we don't even realize that, then you won't feel comfortable entrusting us with power anymore," Musashi said earnestly. Because of her new hairstyle, she looked even more mature.
"Meow Meow also wishes to continue being treated like this, but I also think that Boss, you need to have some authority of your own in the future." Meow Meow's words made Xia Mu open his mouth.
What they said was indeed correct.
Xia Mu unconsciously had a feeling that he was being molded into a top boss by them.
Having gained the absolute loyalty of the two people and the meow, Xia Mu was very happy.
"On the surface, we'll act as we normally would, but we don't need such rules in private." Xia Mu agreed with their words, but insisted on his own approach.
Winning people's hearts is not something that can be done once, but requires time to see the results.
Xia Mu's words also moved Musashi, Kojiro, and Meow Meow even more.
"Speaking of which, didn't Madonna come with us? I heard that you two were inseparable on Round Island." Xia Mu asked curiously.
He remembered that a few days ago, after Madonna was teleported back to Meow Meow, a lot of drama ensued.
Although Xia Mu hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he had heard about it from them.
"What's a girl doing out here? She'll only affect work efficiency! I'll have her stay in Round Island City, so she doesn't cause any trouble, meow." Meow tightened his suit, looking every bit the business boss.
As expected of Meow.
Natsuki had to give him a thumbs up.
Musashi and Kojiro, seeing Meow start showing off, were speechless for a moment, rubbing their foreheads.
Afterwards, Natsuki chatted with them about the upcoming arrangements before returning to the hotel to rest.
It was already late, and he couldn't wander around outside any longer.
Back at the hotel, Natsuki received a message from Sonia, exchanged a few playful words with her, and said goodnight.
...
In the blink of an eye.
The next morning.
As the Indigo League was about to open, fireworks lit up the sky above the arena.
Although they couldn't be seen during the day, the deafening explosions were announcing to everyone on the Indigo Plateau that the annual Indigo League was about to begin.
All the spectators entered the stands first, awaiting the upcoming Pokémon battles, while the trainers prepared in the waiting area of the arena.
Xia Mu should have been there too, but at the request of the League officials, specifically Chairman Damaranchi and Commander-in-Chief Yantie, Xia Mu was to be the last to appear and light the Indigo League's cauldron with his Moltres.
Xia Mu knew that the two elders were building momentum for him, letting more people know of his existence and allowing him to accumulate reputation more quickly.
Everything Blade did on Cinnabar Island was also to make Xia Mu's name more prominent.
However, Blade's abilities were limited, and he had already done a great job.
Now, the League Conference was providing that boost.
At 8:30 AM, the players entered the arena one after another, following the commentator's instructions. To ensure the cauldron was lit precisely at 9:00 AM, the entry time and the officials' speeches were timed perfectly.
Xia Mu actually felt a bit awkward.
Being watched by so many people would definitely make him uncomfortable.
But what was done was done, and he had no other choice.
He could only muster his courage. Since no one knew him, as long as he avoided making any mistakes or embarrassing moves, everything would be fine.
At the commentator's call, Xia Mu strolled out of the special passage.
His appearance silenced the entire arena; all eyes were on him until he reached the center of the arena.
"Go, Moltres." He tossed a High Ball into the air.
"Gah—Awooo!!!"
The next second, a loud cry resounded across the sky.
Moltres, like a soaring flame, bloomed in the sky above the arena, sacred and inviolable.
Countless media turned their cameras to film, the commentators shouted enthusiastically, and the passion of the entire audience was ignited. Countless people excitedly stood up, taking out their phones to record this unprecedented moment.
All the trainers also looked up at that god-like existence, and at the same time, they were even more incredulous about Xia Mu's existence.
A legendary Pokémon trainer.
Moltres's flames seemed to come alive, flying towards the sacred cauldron under Moltres's control.
Until the sacred cauldron was completely lit, Moltres flew into it, and the blazing sacred flame shocked everyone.
After finishing this operation, Xia Mu also breathed a sigh of relief, at least there was no mishap.
And for the time being, Moltres didn't need to go back to its Poké Ball. Xia Mu had also discussed with Chairman Damaranchi and Yantie that Moltres would stay on the sacred cauldron until the end of the competition.
...
The opening ceremony ended, and today's competition began.
Because this year's Indigo League had the largest number of participants, it would take four to five hours to complete the first round of preliminary selections.
Successfully completing the third round of preliminary selections in one day would be considered a success.
In fact, it was precisely because this year's Indigo League was held so hastily that the Silver League in the Johto region was much better organized.
It learned from the shortcomings of the Indigo League, especially Ash's entry into the top eight, which was hailed as the most exciting league.
Ash officially defeated Gary in the Silver League, although he lost to Ye Yue, the fight was incredibly intense.
Unlike later leagues, even when Ash achieved a higher ranking, the intensity wasn't what it used to be.
Sinnoh could have won, but then a seemingly overpowered trainer, Darkrai, appeared. Greninja
was a sure winner in that battle, but it ended in defeat...
Arriving at the waiting area, Xia Mu, being a fellow trainer participating in the competition, became everyone's focus.
Of course, Xia Mu didn't care.
During this time, several familiar trainers came over to greet Xia Mu.
When he was in charge of the Cinnabar City Gym, he faced numerous challenges, many of whom were participating in this year's Indigo League.
Xiao Mao and Xiao Zhi also chatted with Xia Mu for a while before stepping onto the battle stage when it was their turn to compete.
Unsurprisingly, both of them advanced.
In the original story, they had both successfully qualified during the first day of the preliminary rounds.
Then it was Xia Mu's turn to compete.
The battleground was rocky, and his opponent was a girl around eleven or twelve years old. He didn't quite catch her name and simply ignored it.
The preliminary rounds were a three-on-three format. In fact, for Xia Mu, even if his opponent used six Pokémon while he only used one, he could easily sweep the team.
For example, this girl's three Pokémon—Venusaur, Onix, and Golduck—
were quite good in terms of Pokémon level, strong, and all around level 40.
But facing Xia Mu, she had no choice but to retreat.
Xia Mu used Ninetales, originally planning a three-on-three battle, but it seemed pointless to waste time, so he opted for a one-on-three.
Ninetales had accompanied Xia Mu and Sonia on their wilderness exploration a few days prior, so Xia Mu had already raised its level to 70, adjusting its Individual Values (IVs) and Effort Values (EVs).
It was a level advantage, so even with a type disadvantage, it was fine.
After defeating the girl, Xia Mu learned that she was also a trainer from Pallet Town,
having traveled around the same time as Ash and Gary.
Achieving this was quite an accomplishment.
The girl was heartbroken by her crushing defeat, but she wasn't discouraged; instead, she looked forward to her revival match.
Indeed, after losing the first preliminaries, there was a revival match where the losers battled each other, and the winner advanced to the second round.
After the first match, Xia Mu left the backstage waiting area.
There was no need to waste all his time there; he could return in the afternoon when the second round of preliminaries began.
As for watching the games, Xia Mu wasn't really interested. Besides going to the stands to watch the show with Sonia, he didn't have much else to do.
He'd already glanced at the participants, and there weren't any powerful characters from the original series.
In his previous life, Xia Mu had read quite a few Pokémon novels, which heavily modified and enhanced the Indigo League, featuring all sorts of overpowered trainers that only appeared later in the series.
In reality, it wasn't that outrageous.
There were indeed strong trainers, but even the strongest were at most at the level of Little Sweet, Sora, and Seaman.
Staying beside Sonia, Xia Mu chatted and laughed with her.
This section of the stands was not only near the front, but dozens of seats had been reserved by the Xia family.
Because Xia Mu was there, some of his peers from the Xia family greeted him, especially the women, who showered him with compliments and fawned over him, almost like they were offering themselves up.
Xia Mu even thought that if he wanted, he could just take them to a hotel.
Family marriages were truly the most terrifying thing.
These women are all wealthy heiresses, seemingly unattainable, but in reality, they are just pawns in the hands of those in power.
Xia Mu learned about the situation from his parents last night.
The Xia family is vast; while the Kanto region is indeed their birthplace, it's only a part of it.
Xia Bo is one of the three powerful figures, but his jurisdiction is limited to the Kanto region, not extending to Hoenn or Sinnoh.
Other regions belong to different bloodlines, and these outstanding young women from these families are the children of directors managing the Xia family's various businesses. They are all being used as tools to actively approach Xia Mu.
He doesn't need to become the legal wife, but once a relationship is established, things change.
Xia Mu knows his parents are in a difficult position. Although they seem to control the entire Xia family business in the Kanto region, their actual power is limited. Many decisions require voting, and without Xia Bo's support and Yan Tie's covert manipulation, they would likely have lost all real power long ago.
Therefore, the current situation is that his parents also hope he can expand and strengthen the family business, Yan Tie is betting everything on him, and there's also Xia Bo…
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(End of this chapter)