Elf: Rewriting the script, starting with Black Stocking Hanako

Jiang Chuan looked at Professor Oak's smiling face, which resembled a sunflower, and couldn't help but laugh along.

"I haven't caught any new Pokémon lately, but I've got all eight badges."

He patted the badge box clipped to his waist, his tone carrying a hint of travel-weary ease.

"The last one, from the Viridian Dojo, just won it."

Professor Oak's eyes lit up, and he almost jumped up on the spot.

"Viridian Gym? That's a high-level gym! Good job, kid!"

He circled Jiang Chuan twice, looking him up and down as if to make sure he hadn't misheard. His gaze was as intense as a searchlight, making Jiang Chuan feel a little uncomfortable.

"TrueNew Town has finally made something of itself this year!"

Professor Oak slapped Jiang Chuan on the back again, almost making him vomit the milk he had just drunk.

"If you and Gary both collect eight badges, your tickets to the Indigo League are practically guaranteed. Then, with two Pallet Town trainers standing on the field, I'll be so proud!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, pacing back and forth at the door with his hands on his hips, muttering to himself.

"This year, four newcomers set off from Pallet Town. They were quite promising at the beginning, getting two or three badges quite easily. But later, as the difficulty of the gyms increased and there were more troubles along the way, those two kids gradually fell behind."

"Right now, one is stuck with four, and the other is stuck with five."

"There are only two months left until the Indigo League. Even if they suddenly have a big performance tomorrow and collect all the badges, there won't be time for targeted training, and the team won't be ready in time. To put it bluntly, Pallet Town's reputation at the league this year depends on you and Blue."

Professor Oak sighed, but quickly cheered up, looking at Jiang Chuan with great satisfaction in his eyes.

"You're back just in time."

Jiang Chuan smiled and glanced into the research institute.

"Where's Xiao Mao? Knowing his personality, shouldn't he have rushed out to confront me as soon as he heard I was back? Why is it so quiet today? There's not a soul in sight."

Professor Oak waved his hand, looking somewhat helpless.

"That kid came back a couple of days ago. He locked himself in his room and stayed there for two whole days, not responding to anyone calling him. I thought something had happened to him, but then he suddenly opened the door yesterday and was like a completely different person, his eyes were practically blazing with fire."

Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

"He said he's going to start super training, and that he's determined to surpass you at the Indigo League." Professor Oak looked at Jiang Chuan with a slight smile. "He also specifically asked me to pass on a message to you."

"What did you say?"

He said that if he were to meet you at the Quartz Conference, he would defeat you without mercy.

Jiang Chuan was taken aback for a moment after hearing this, then burst out laughing.

"Okay, I received it."

It seems that Gary was quite shaken by Mewtwo during that trip to the Viridian Gym.

But young people are young people; after a couple of days of being bored, they reignited their passion.

"Professor Oak, could you please tell Gary that I'm also practicing extra. We'll see who's the best at the tournament, so don't let me leave you too far behind."

Professor Oak burst into laughter, his belly shaking with mirth.

"Alright! Alright! I love watching you two battle! That's what trainers should be like!"

He smiled, then his gaze suddenly drifted and landed on Jiang Chuan, and the smile on his lips slowly became somewhat subtle.

He thought to himself that his own grandson was good in every way—talented, quick-witted, and handsome. But compared to Jiang Chuan in front of him, he always seemed to lack something.

Professor Oak couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong with it.

It could be that ruthlessness that comes from the bone, or it could be that effortless composure.

If Jiang Chuan were also my grandson, or if we had some other connection, then I could brag to those old guys next time I attend the seminar…

Professor Oak was lost in thought, his expression shifting as he imagined something, a smile growing wider on his lips.

Jiang Chuan stood to the side, watching this renowned top scholar of the alliance grinning foolishly by himself, and his lips twitched.

"Professor Oak?"

no response.

"PhD?"

Still no response.

"Professor Oak! You're drooling!"

"Huh? Oh! Oh!"

Professor Oak snapped back to reality and instinctively raised his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth. It was indeed a little damp. His face flushed slightly, he coughed twice, and then, pretending nothing was wrong, straightened the collar of his white coat.

"Hey, didn't you want to see the elves? Go ahead, they're all in the back."

Jiang Chuan smiled and shook his head, too lazy to expose him.

He turned and walked into the research institute, his steps light and quick.

He had walked this corridor many times; the walls were white, the floor tiles light gray, and the walls were covered with anatomical diagrams and ecological photographs of various elves. Sunlight streamed in through a glass window on one side, dividing the corridor into long strips of light and shadow.

He walked through the corridor, turned the corner, and headed towards the pond area in the backyard.

Suddenly, three familiar waveguide fluctuations came from the right front.

Jiang Chuan paused in his steps.

The three waveguides drifted erratically, seemingly out of nowhere. He sensed they were within a few meters, but when he looked, there was nothing there; not a single person was in sight.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Okay, old friend.

Jiang Chuan didn't expose him and continued walking forward, even deliberately slowing down his pace to match the rhythm of the three waveguides.

He hadn't walked two steps when he suddenly turned his head.

There was nothing behind him.

He turned back.

"Wow!"

Three ghostly faces suddenly appeared and were stuck to the tip of his nose. They had bluish-gray skin, mouths that stretched to their ears, and pairs of bright, round eyes, less than ten centimeters away from him.

Jiang Chuan possessed the power of wave guidance, so he naturally already knew the location of these three guys. However, in order not to spoil the fun, Jiang Chuan instinctively leaned back and took half a step back, his shoulder hitting the wall with a dull thud.

He clutched his chest, looking at the three purple ghosts in front of him who were laughing so hard they were doubled over.

"You three little bastards, trying to scare me to death?"

Gengar laughed the loudest, its mouth wide open, its belly heaving, its whole body spinning in mid-air. The two Gastly were even more exaggerated, their laughter appearing and disappearing like a holographic projection with an unstable signal.

But the look of fright on Jiang Chuan's face lasted for less than two seconds before he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He stretched out his fist and gently tapped Gengar's round head.

"Well done, you guys, you've learned how to ambush."

Gengar didn't dodge; instead, it nudged his fist with its head, its eyes narrowing into slits as it laughed.

Jiang Chuan glanced at the two Gastly again. They had already come up to him, circling around him, their bodies passing through his arms and shoulders, bringing a cool, refreshing sensation.

These three guys were clearly bored in the research institute and wanted to scare someone who came in. They didn't expect it to be their own master, so they decided to give him a "big scare package" on a whim.

"Alright, alright, stop rubbing. If you keep doing that, my clothes will get static electricity."

Jiang Chuan smiled and tried to push them away a little, but he missed. Gastly's body passed through his palm, leaving only a slightly cool spot on his hand.

Gengar patted its chest smugly, as if to say: Aren't we awesome?

"Impressive! So elusive, it's impossible to defend against."

Jiang Chuan complimented him a couple of times, then waved his hand.

"Alright, go play by yourself. I'm going to check on the other Pokémon in the back. I'll come back and play with you all."

The three brothers exchanged a glance, let out a burst of giggles, and then one by one passed through the wall and disappeared at the end of the corridor. The last one was a Gengar, half of its body already embedded in the wall, and it even turned back to stick its tongue out at Jiangchuan.

Jiang Chuan laughed and scolded, "That little rascal."

He continued walking towards the backyard.

He hadn't gone far when he turned a corner and suddenly stopped.

This room is quite interesting.

To be precise, the house to his left is quite interesting.

The exterior walls had been renovated, with a large stained-glass panel installed, allowing colorful lights to stream in and making the corridor walls look like a dance hall. A string of gaudy little light bulbs hung from the door frames, flashing intermittently.

Jiang Chuan leaned closer to look, and the scene inside was reflected in the glass.

Good guy.

A small karaoke room.

Standing in the very center of the room was his little pink devil—Jigglypuff.

Professor Oak really went all out.

Jiang Chuan pressed his face close to the glass and looked carefully inside.

Fat Ding was facing a standing microphone, his two little arms holding the microphone, singing with complete absorption. The curly hair on his head trembled, his blue eyes were tightly closed, his cheeks were chubby and round, and a sweet, happy smile hung on the corners of his mouth.

A row of "spectators" surrounded it.

At first glance, Jiang Chuan thought they were other elves from the research institute. But upon closer inspection, the audience members were motionless, their eyes glazed over, and their postures stiff; something just didn't seem right.

He released his aura perception, and sure enough, there was no aura fluctuation at all on the row of "elves" in front of him.

"It turned out to be a fake."

Jiang Chuan understood.

These are probably some kind of simulation props that Professor Oak brought over, or model dolls equipped with sensors. Anyway, they're just there for Jigglypuff to use as an audience, letting Jigglypuff experience a concert.

Jiang Chuan watched all this, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up.

One can imagine that the commotion Jigglypuff caused when it first came back and held its "concert" must have given Professor Oak quite a hard time.

Professor Oak really dotes on it, even building it a soundproof room and providing it with fake audience members.

"Professor Oak, thank you for your hard work."

Jiang Chuan silently lit a candle for Professor Oak in his heart.

He intended to push the door open and go in, but seeing that Jigglypuff was singing so intently, the whole Pokémon was completely absorbed in its own song, not even opening its eyes, and its tail was swaying to the rhythm.

Jiang Chuan smiled and withdrew his hand from the doorknob.

"Okay, you can sing slowly. I'll go take a walk and come back to find you in a bit."

He tiptoed away and continued walking deeper into the backyard.

The institute's backyard is quite large, divided into several areas. There's a grassy activity area, a rock climbing area, and a fairly large pond.

Jiang Chuan went to the rocky area first.

As I approached, I saw a massive, armored Tyrannosaurus Rex lying on the ground sunbathing.

Its gray-black carapace gleamed with a metallic sheen in the sunlight, and the drill-like horn on its head pointed diagonally towards the sky. The rough breaths exhaled from its nostrils blew the sand and soil on the ground into the air.

A small creature crouched nearby—an ammonite.

The bluish-gray shell coiled in circles, with several tentacles extending from the opening, slowly fiddling with something on the ground.

Jiang Chuan took a few steps closer, but before he could speak, the Ironclad Tyrannosaurus Rex had already caught his scent.

The enormous head suddenly lifted up, and its pair of fierce little eyes lit up instantly upon recognizing the newcomer.

It growled and got up from the ground, its four thick, short legs thumping as it trotted toward Jiang Chuan.

Its weight was like a small tank when it was moving, and the vibrations made the small stones next to it jump up.

Jiang Chuan's eyes widened: "Hey, hey, hey, brake!"

Before he could finish speaking, the armored tyrannosaurus suddenly stopped, coming to a halt just half a meter in front of him. The wind it generated whipped Jiang Chuan's hair back.

It lowered its head and gently rubbed its thick horn against Jiang Chuan's shoulder.

"Missing me?"

Jiang Chuan chuckled and patted its rough shell, then glanced back at the ammonite that was still slowly crawling on the ground.

"You're still so slow."

The ammonite raised a tentacle and shook it gently, as if to say hello.

Jiang Chuan crouched down and stretched out his hand. The ammonite placed its tentacles on his palm; they were cool, soft, and slightly damp.

"Okay, I'm relieved to see that you all seem to be in good spirits."

The armored tyrannosaurus roared and nudged him again with its horn, very gently, as if afraid of hurting him.

After settling the two guys in, Jiang Chuan turned and walked towards the pond.

The pond wasn't large, but the water was very clear. A few water lilies floated on the surface, their purple petals half-open. Morning light shone on the water, creating shimmering golden waves, and the shadows of several water spirits appeared and disappeared beneath the surface.

Jiang Chuan spotted the two he was looking for at a glance.

Giant pincers crab.

It was tiny, no bigger than the palm of your hand, lying in the shallow water by the shore, its two pincers opening and closing, and bubbles coming out of its mouth.

Jiang Chuan approached and squatted down. The giant crab immediately sensed him, turned its body to the side, and opened its eyes to look at him.

"Little one, have you been eating well lately?"

Jiang Chuan stretched out his finger and gently tapped it twice on its shell. The giant crab raised its small pincers and clamped his fingertip with a force as light as an ant's trap.

"It's still this small."

Jiang Chuan's voice carried a hint of heartache. Professor Oak had told him that the reason this giant crab was so unusually small was likely due to congenital malnutrition. The professor hadn't subjected it to intensive training, but instead had carefully nurtured it, yet it was still pitifully small.

He scooped it out of the water and placed it in his palm. The large crab lay there obediently, its eyes darting around.

"It's okay, take your time. When I have time, I'll find you something good to nourish you."

He gently placed the large crab back into the water and shifted his gaze to the other side of the pond.

In slightly deeper waters, a silvery-white figure was swimming gracefully—it was a sea serpent.

The familiar waveguide told Jiang Chuan that this was indeed his own shimmering black seahorse.

"It actually evolved."

Horsea, a Pokémon that evolves quickly and requires little experience, is well-suited for places like research labs where resources can be continuously obtained—it was indeed the right choice.

Jiang Chuan pulled a sealed small box out of his system inventory.

Inside the box was a crystal-clear scale, its surface shimmering with a warm luster, its edges serrated, and as thin as a cicada's wing—a dragon scale.

This was obtained from a previous quest. I gave the other piece to Xiaoxia to help her Seadra evolve.

Now that his Shiny Horsea has also evolved, he can finally put his remaining Dragon Scale to good use.

Jiang Chuan recalled his Shiny Seadra and excitedly headed back towards Professor Oak's lab...