Elf: Rewriting the script, starting with Black Stocking Hanako

Early the next morning.

The sun was still shining brightly.

On their private beach, Hanako and Kasumi, dressed in refreshing summer clothes, are enjoying breakfast under a parasol.

"Jiang Chuan, are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Xiaoxia asked with some concern, biting into her toast.

Hanako also looked at Jiangchuan, her eyes full of concern.

Jiang Chuan finished the last sip of coffee and put the cup down.

"No need." He stood up. "It's nothing. You all just stay here and enjoy your vacation."

He walked over to the two women and ruffled their hair.

"If there's any fun place, I'll take you there when I get back."

Jiang Chuan didn't tell the two where he was going because the danger was unknown, so he left them to enjoy the beach.

Jiang Chuan gave a few more instructions and then left the private beach.

...........................

Rampurch City Pier.

Jiang Chuan rented a small speedboat.

"Go to the area near the construction site of the Sea Paradise amusement park," he told the boatman.

The boatman, a dark-skinned middle-aged man, hesitated upon hearing this: "Young man, things haven't been peaceful over there lately. I heard there was an accident at the construction site, and all work has been suspended."

"I know," Jiang Chuan said calmly. "I'll just take a stroll around the area, but I won't enter the restricted area."

The boatman glanced at Jiang Chuan, then at the Poké Ball at his waist, and said nothing more.

"Alright, hold on tight."

The speedboat started up, cutting through the azure sea, and headed northeast.

The sea breeze was refreshing, carrying a salty and damp scent.

About twenty minutes later, a massive complex of buildings on the sea came into view.

Those were platforms and supports erected in the shallow sea area, originally intended to be a seaside amusement park. But now, the construction site is quiet, with no sound of machinery operating.

"Stop! You can't go any further!"

Several patrol boats blocked their way.

Several men in security uniforms and two men in blue overalls, who looked like they were from the engineering team, were sitting on the boat.

Jiang Chuan signaled to the boatman to stop.

"Hey buddy, this is a restricted area now," a security guard shouted. "Construction zone, no unauthorized personnel allowed."

Jiang Chuan stood up and pointed to the quiet construction site in the distance: "It looks like construction has stopped?"

A man in overalls looked grim: "Work is temporarily suspended. There are some... technical issues to address."

"What's the problem?" Jiang Chuan asked. "I heard it's related to jellyfish?"

The men's expressions changed.

"What do you do? How did you find out?" The man in overalls looked at Jiang Chuan warily.

"That's what the people at the docks said," Jiang Chuan said without changing his expression. "So it really was the agate jellyfish causing trouble?"

The security guards exchanged glances.

The first one to speak sighed, "I don't know, I don't know, let's go, let's go."

Jiang Chuan nodded.

It seems the situation is more serious than we thought.

"Okay, I won't go in," he said. "I'll just look around from the outside."

"It's dangerous outside too." The man in overalls shook his head. "You'd better go back quickly."

Jiang Chuan did not insist any further.

He gestured to the boatman: "Return to port."

The speedboat turned around and headed back the way it came.

...........................

After sailing for about a nautical mile, Jiang Chuan asked the boatman to stop.

"Wait here for me a moment," he said.

The boatman asked in confusion, "Young man, what are you doing?"

Jiang Chuan didn't answer, but directly took out two Poké Balls.

"Come out, Pidgeotto, Squirtle!"

A flash of white light.

A Pidgey, already quite large, appeared above the speedboat, its wings flapping and creating a gust of wind.

Squirtle landed on the speedboat deck and patted its shell, saying, "Squirtle!" (Leave it to me, Master!)

The boatman was startled: "This, this is..."

"Do me a favor," Jiang Chuan said to Pidgeotto and Squirtle, "Go scout out that construction site. Pidgeotto, observe from the air, and Squirtle, you dive over and see what's going on underwater."

He paused.

"The key points are the number and distribution of agate jellyfish, and what they are doing. Be careful, and evacuate immediately if there is any danger."

Pidgey let out a long cry, flapped its wings and soared into the sky, quickly becoming a tiny dot in the air.

Squirtle saluted and said, "Squirtle, Squirtle!" (Mission accomplished!)

After saying that, it jumped into the sea with a splash and nimbly dived down.

The boatman stared in disbelief: "Young man, are you an investigator from the Alliance?"

Jiang Chuan sat on the edge of the speedboat, his eyes fixed on the distant buildings.

I guess so.

........................

Twenty minutes later.

Pidgey was the first to return.

It landed on the edge of the speedboat, called out to Jiang Chuan a few times, and gestured with its wings.

Through the sensing of waveguide power and long-term tacit understanding, Jiang Chuan roughly understood.

"Construction has completely stopped."

"There weren't many workers on the construction site, but there were more than a dozen small boats on the sea, with people on board carrying fishing nets, long poles, and other tools, as if they were catching something..."

"There are many agate jellyfish, distributed around the building's support structure. The small boats dare not approach, only moving along the edges..."

Jiang Chuan stroked his chin.

It seems the engineers wanted to remove the jellyfish, but the results were unsatisfactory.

The jellyfish is a social Pokémon, and once it forms a group, its fighting power should not be underestimated. Moreover, this is the ocean, their home ground.

"Squirtle hasn't come back yet?" Jiang Chuan looked at the sea.

Another ten minutes passed.

There was still no sign of the blue tortoise shell.

Jiang Chuan frowned.

Not right.

Although Squirtle is a bit of a braggart, he's very serious when it comes to missions. He'll return as soon as he says he'll finish his investigation and won't delay without a valid reason.

unless……

"Pidgey, fly a little higher and see where Squirtle is," Jiang Chuan ordered.

Pidgey took off again.

It circled in the air a few times, then suddenly let out a sharp cry!

At the same time, Jiang Chuan's wave-guiding power sensed the chaotic fluctuations in the distance!

"Boatman, head that way! Quickly!" Jiang Chuan pointed southeast.

Although the boatman didn't understand why, he still started the speedboat.

After traveling at full speed for a few minutes, the sea view came into view.

"Jenny—!!"

Squirtle is swimming desperately!

Behind it, seven or eight purple, jellyfish-shaped Pokémon with red agate-like headdresses were hot on its heels!

Agate jellyfish!

They waved their tentacles, constantly shooting out fine water guns and poison needles!

As Squirtle fled, it retreated into its shell to avoid being hit. Its shell was already covered in purple venom, and its movements were noticeably slower.

"So many!" The boatman turned pale with fright. "Brother, let's run!"

Jiang Chuan ignored him.

He stood up and ordered the pibblers, "Scatter them!"

Pidgey swooped down, its wings flapping, and several transparent air blades shot out.

Puff puff!

The sea surface was cut open, and the sharp air blades struck the water surface in front of the agate waters with precision, stirring up a large splash!

The pursuing agate jellyfish were startled and paused in their movements.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Squirtle swam desperately to the speedboat, and Jiang Chuan scooped it up.

"Jenny...Jenny..." Jenny the turtle lay paralyzed on the deck, panting heavily, its shell still corroding with venom.

Jiang Chuan immediately took out the antidote spray and sprayed it on the tortoise shell a few times.

The purple venom was neutralized, and Squirtle finally recovered.

Meanwhile, the agate jellyfish were floating on the surface of the sea, staring intently at the speedboat with their red eyes.

Especially after seeing Jiang Chuan, a human, they became even more agitated, waving their tentacles even more violently.

But they seemed somewhat wary of the birds.

This Pidgey is much larger than its kind and has a very imposing presence; its air blades just now demonstrated their power.

After a few seconds of standoff, one of the larger agate jellyfish let out a low call.

The remaining jellyfish slowly sank and disappeared beneath the surface of the sea.

But they didn't go far.

Jiangchuan's waveguides could sense that they were still lingering in the nearby waters, full of hostility.

"Jenny! Jenny, Jenny!!"

Squirtle then jumped up, pointed in the direction where the jellyfish had disappeared, and shouted angrily.

That basically means: If my little brother weren't here, I would have had my brothers gang up on you and beat you up in no time!

Jiang Chuan chuckled and ruffled its hair. "Alright, alright, I know you're tough. Tell me, what happened? Why were you being chased and beaten?"

Squirtle then calmed down and began to explain with exaggerated gestures.

Through the power of waveguides, Jiang Chuan understood what had happened.

It turns out that after Squirtle dived underwater into the construction area, it discovered that at least a hundred agate jellyfish had gathered there.

They wrapped their tentacles around the building's support structure, as if protecting something.

Squirtle tried to communicate with them; after all, it was a Water-type Pokémon and could transmit simple information underwater through water vibrations.

At first, the agate jellyfish were just wary, but did not attack.

But things changed when Squirtle accidentally revealed that he was a "human trainer's Pokémon".

The jellyfish instantly became enraged and launched an attack!

Squirtle tried to run away, but was still chased by seven or eight turtles all the way.

"Jenny...Jenny Jenny!" (We were having a good chat! It's all their fault for being so hot-tempered! If my underlings were here, they wouldn't have the chance to be so arrogant!)

Squirtle was still indignant.

Jiang Chuan fell into deep thought.

It seems these agate jellyfish hate humans to the extreme.

They even consider water-type Pokémon captured by humans as enemies.

This is a difficult situation.

He originally wanted to see if he could communicate with them to understand the cause of the jellyfish riots and then find a solution.

But now it seems that the other party is not giving us a chance to communicate at all.

"Brother, let's hurry!" the boatman's voice trembled. "Those jellyfish might call more of their companions..."

Jiang Chuan nodded.

It's definitely time to withdraw.

However, just as the speedboat was preparing to turn around...

Suddenly, a small, dark blue head appeared on the sea surface beside them.

It was a black seahorse.

But its condition is terrible.

It had multiple abrasions on its body, tears in its tail fin, and even a piece of its signature trumpet-shaped mouth was torn.

After it surfaced, it mumbled a few words.

If Jiang Chuan hadn't possessed waveguide abilities, he wouldn't have known about the distress message it was sending.

Then it seemed to have exhausted its strength, its eyes half-closed, and its body began to sink.

Jiang Chuan's eyes narrowed.

This black seahorse...

In the original storyline, it seems that Xiaoxia captured an injured seahorse in Lampulchi?

Could this be it?

"Squirtle, rescue it!" Jiang Chuan immediately ordered.

It jumped into the water and quickly lifted the unconscious seahorse out of the water.

Jiang Chuan checked the seahorse's injuries.

"They are all superficial injuries, but there has been a significant blood loss, so they need to be treated as soon as possible."

He looked up at the boatman and said, "Hurry up."

"Okay, okay!"

The speedboat sped toward the coastline of Lampurch.