Elf: Rewriting the script, starting with Black Stocking Hanako

Jiang Chuan, holding a Poké Ball, walked briskly through the corridor and headed straight for Professor Oak's main research lab.

As I approached the main research lab, Professor Oak was sitting at his desk, a large stack of paper documents spread out in front of him. To his left, an old computer screen was lit up, displaying a dense array of waveforms. He was flipping through the documents with his left hand and scribbling something with a pen in his right, oblivious to the ink smudges on his white lab coat cuff.

Jiang Chuan raised his hand and knocked twice on the door frame.

"Doctor, are you busy?"

Professor Oak didn't turn his head, but simply raised his left hand and waved it behind him, clearly meaning—be quiet, I'm calculating data. Jiang Chuan didn't urge him either, and leaned against the door to wait.

About half a minute later, Professor Oak finished writing the last line of data, put his pen on the table, and then turned around.

"Huh? Why are you back again? Weren't you just going to the backyard to see the elves?"

Jiang Chuan walked in, casually pulled up a chair from the side and sat down, placing the Poké Ball containing the Seadra on the table.

"I was watching in the backyard, and I saw that my black seahorse had evolved."

When Professor Oak mentioned the shiny Horsea, his eyes lit up, and the fatigue on his face seemed to disappear. "That kid really works very hard and evolves very quickly."

"That's why I came to find you." Jiang Chuan leaned back and tapped the Poké Ball on the table with his finger. "I'll use the switch to move it up a bit more."

Professor Oak was taken aback at first, then realized what was happening and sat up straight.

"Wait a minute, you mean…" He glanced down at the Poké Ball, then looked up at Jiang Chuan, his eyes filled with confirmation, "Seadra? To trade and evolve? That means it's going to evolve into Kingdra?"

"right."

Professor Oak jumped up from his chair, his movement so fast that the swivel chair behind him slid backward a great distance.

"Good lad! Evolving Seadra into Kingdra is easy enough with all the other conditions, but the dragon scale requirement alone is enough to trip up a lot of people. When did you get it?"

As he spoke, he walked towards Jiang Chuan, his expression a mixture of excitement and curiosity, like an old man who had just heard that his neighbor's child had gotten a perfect score on a test.

"You got your hands on dragon scales? Those are incredibly hard to find; they're extremely rare on the market, and finding them in the wild is practically like winning the lottery. Where did you get them? They must have cost a fortune!"

Jiang Chuan smiled, but didn't rush to answer. He rummaged in his backpack and took out the sealed box.

The moment the box was opened, the laboratory lights fell on the dragon scales, making the warm, lustrous sheen on their surface seem to come alive, flowing slowly. The scales weren't large, but their exceptional quality was immediately apparent; the serrations along the edges were neat, and the entire scale was translucent, without a single impurity.

Professor Oak took the box, held it up to his eyes, and examined it carefully for a few seconds under the light.

"Hmm, not bad, the quality is quite good."

He nodded, his tone carrying the certainty of a professional scholar, and then looked at it twice more.

"This dragon scale of yours is of a higher quality than any I've ever seen before. Its energy is contained, and its surface patterns are clear. If you give it to a Sea Thorn Dragon, the resulting Thorn Dragon King will definitely have outstanding attribute growth. It's more than one level stronger than the ordinary scales on the market."

He put the box back on the table, his gaze towards Jiang Chuan becoming even more fervent.

"This thing must have taken a lot of effort, right? Or rather, a lot of money?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chuan's lips suddenly curled up.

He leaned forward slightly, one hand resting on the edge of the table, the other stroking his chin, a look on his face that made Professor Oak instinctively wary. That smile was so obvious, it was practically written all over his face with malice.

"Oh?" Jiang Chuan raised an eyebrow, drawing out his words. "Is Professor Oak going to be considerate of his junior and reimburse me or something?"

Professor Oak's expression changed, and his body reacted faster than his brain. He pushed off with his heels and took a big step back, as if he were dodging some dangerous object.

"Get lost! Don't give me that crap!"

He held one hand in front of him and pointed at Jiang Chuan with the other, his expression a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

"I knew you weren't laughing like that! You're eyeing this poor old man's allowance again? Huh?"

Jiang Chuan just smiled and didn't reply, just stared at him.

Professor Oak got even more excited, spread his hands, and began to complain.

"Jiang Chuan, Jiang Chuan, tell me yourself, have I ever mistreated those elves I left with?"

He counted them one by one on his fingers.

"Those three Gastly guys sleep during the day and make a ruckus at night. I kindly took them in, and they almost ripped the roof off my research lab. I had no choice but to create a separate playroom for them, cramming it with a bunch of toys and gadgets for their entertainment—it all cost money!"

"And that Jigglypuff!"

Professor Oak's expression changed again as he spoke, as if he had recalled some terrible memory, and his voice rose by half an octave.

"One day, I had two scholars here for an exchange! The moment it opened its mouth, everyone in the research institute, including the elves, collapsed! Those two scholars slept all afternoon, and when they woke up, they thought there was something wrong with the soup in the restaurant!"

Jiang Chuan couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"And then?"

"And then?" Professor Oak blew on his beard. "What else could I do? I could only convert the storage room into a karaoke room, install soundproofing, and set up fake audience figures. You think that iridescent soundproof glass was cheap? Huh? I paid for it myself!"

He became increasingly aggrieved as he spoke, and his voice grew louder and louder.

"And those Tauros! Last time they got all excited and completely ransacked my backyard lawn! Re-laying the turf cost me a fortune! Now I have to spend so much more money on yard maintenance every month! And I haven't even asked you for that yet!"

At this point, Professor Oak slapped his thigh, his expression turning one of deep sorrow and indignation.

"I've never spent this much money on my own son! And you, you expect me to reimburse you for the Dragon Scales? You're always swindling and cheating this poor old man, don't you have a conscience?"

Jiang Chuan laughed until his stomach hurt, and quickly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay, Doctor, calm down, calm down. I was just joking."

But Professor Oak wasn't about to let him off so easily. He pointed at him, his face turning red.

"A joke? Every time you make a joke, you manage to sneak something out of me! Now, whenever I see you laugh, I instinctively instinctively clutch my wallet!"

"I didn't call that a scam, I called it a fair allocation of resources," Jiang Chuan said seriously, his expression as innocent as could be. "Besides, didn't you say yourself that my scales are of high quality? Won't the ability data from the future King Thorn Dragon be helpful for your research? Your money was well spent!"

"Worth it? What do you mean, worth it?!" Professor Oak laughed and scolded. "So, I'm paying you to raise your Pokémon, and I'm supposed to thank you? Does that even sound like human language?"

As he spoke, he shook his head, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

"They even reimburse the cost of dragon scales. I don't think I spent that much money raising my son."

Jiang Chuan responded quickly, not even waiting for Professor Oak to finish speaking.

"Professor Oak, is calling someone 'Dad' really that valuable? How about this, if you reimburse me, I'll call you 'Dad' a hundred times."

Professor Oak was taken aback for a moment, then laughed even harder and waved his hands repeatedly.

"Get lost! You brat, you're trying to fool me again! A hundred times? If you call out even once, I'll lose a year of my lifespan! Do you think this is some kind of good thing?"

He glared at Jiang Chuan, trying to put on a serious expression, but the smile on his face was impossible to hide.

"Do the math yourself, how old are you? Is it reasonable for you to call someone my age 'dad'? Is it appropriate? You're about the same age as Xiao Mao, if you really do this, wouldn't Xiao Mao have to call you 'uncle'?"

Professor Oak started laughing so hard that his white coat was shaking.

Jiang Chuan smiled and didn't continue, but this topic stirred up Professor Oak's mind again.

As he smiled, his gaze fell on Jiang Chuan. Looking at that young and flamboyant face, a rather complicated emotion suddenly welled up in his heart.

This kid is actually pretty good.

His eye for capturing Pokémon is exceptional; he catches one rare Pokémon after another, providing a wealth of valuable data for his research. His ability to train Pokémon is also unparalleled; in such a short time, his team is already quite impressive, and he can even acquire rare items like Dragon Scales.

This kid is sure to shine in the league in the future.

Professor Oak truly liked it.

Although his earlier comment about "calling him dad" was a joke, he honestly admitted that he would be more than happy to have a closer relationship with Jiang Chuan. Who wouldn't want such a promising talent? Sometimes when he attended academic seminars at the Alliance and listened to those old guys bragging about their young protégés, he, Ōmu Yukinari, had to admit that he was indeed envious.

He has trained many trainers, but Jiang Chuan is the first one he truly wants to consider as family.

Pity.

Professor Oak sighed softly.

Adopting a godson is truly outrageous.

Aside from the age difference, the crucial point is that there's also Gary in between. If Jiang Chuan were to be recruited, the entire family hierarchy would be thrown into chaos. Gary already dislikes Jiang Chuan and is determined to beat him at the Indigo League. If he were to say to Gary, "Come here, this is your Uncle Jiang Chuan," he's afraid Gary would smash his Poké Ball in his face right then and there.

Professor Oak shuddered at the thought of that scene and quickly shook his head to banish the idea.

Forget it, the timing isn't right, and we can't force a relationship.

Let's talk about it another time.

…………

At that moment, in a mountainous area, under a waterfall, Shigeru, who was undergoing Blastoise training, suddenly sneezed several times.

Xiao Mao touched his nose and looked up at the sky: "Why am I suddenly sneezing? Did training Blastoise to fire its cannon these past few days give me a cold?"

Xiao Mao shook his head: "No, no, I have to train even if I have a cold. I can't lose to Jiang Chuan at the Quartz Tournament."

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

Inside the research institute, Professor Oak's mind was racing with a series of thoughts, and his expression kept changing.

Jiang Chuan sat opposite Professor Oak, already used to his tendency to zone out, and didn't urge him. He just leaned back in his chair, idly spinning a Poké Ball with his fingers.

His knuckles pressed against the metal button, the ball spinning in his palm, making a slight rubbing sound.

"PhD?"

Professor Oak snapped out of his reverie and glanced at Jiang Chuan.

"Alright, stop joking. Give me the Seadra, and I'll help you with the trade evolution."

"Okay."

The two walked to the switchboard one after the other.

Jiang Chuan placed the Shiny Seadra's Poké Ball into the left slot and the Dragon Scale into the item slot in the middle of the machine.

Professor Oak stood in front of the control panel, tapped a few keys, and the data for Seadra appeared on the screen.

"You know the rules of trade evolution," Professor Oak said without turning his head. "During the evolution process, the Pokémon's consciousness will resonate with the dragon scales, thereby activating the Dragon-type potential that has been suppressed within it. There won't be any danger, so don't worry."

Jiang Chuan nodded.

Professor Oak pressed the start button.

The switch hummed, a low electrical hum accompanied by a soft white light emanating from the slot. The Poké Ball trembled slightly, and the Seadra inside appeared and disappeared in the light.

Jiangchuan released a waveguide.

He could sense that the Seadra's aura was undergoing a dramatic change, like a river suddenly having a new tributary injected into it, the frequency of the entire aura rising. The gentle waves that originally belonged to water-type spirits were being pulled apart to both sides by some ancient and sharper force.

He was very familiar with that power.

Dragon type.

A few seconds later, the light reached its peak, illuminating the entire laboratory.

Professor Oak squinted, a smile playing on his lips.

"It's done."

After the light faded, the Poké Ball lay quietly in the groove. Jiang Chuan stepped forward and picked it up. The surface of the ball was still slightly warm, and it throbbed slightly, like a heartbeat.

He walked to the open space next to him, flicked his wrist, and released the elf.

"Come forth, King Thorn Dragon."

A flash of white light appeared.

A figure far longer and larger than a sea drake landed on the floor in the somewhat cramped laboratory. The cool, refreshing aura of the sea silently spread, adding a damp, salty smell to the air.

Its shimmering silver-white body was more than a size larger than before, with a slender yet powerful physique. Its chest and abdomen were covered with layers of overlapping armor plates, like ancient dragon scale armor. The most striking feature was the newly added dragon horns on its head, which branched into two forks extending backward, with sharp lines and a faint golden glow.

With a gentle flick of its tail, it pushed an empty chair half a meter away.

This is no longer the little guy who used to swim leisurely in the pond.

What stood before me was clearly a real sea dragon.

"It's so beautiful."

Professor Oak stood by the control panel, his eyes fixed on the shiny Kingdra, like a connoisseur seeing a priceless treasure, his eyes shining brighter than the machine itself.

"That color! Those horns! This level of luster, Jiang Chuan, your Shiny Seadra evolved into the King Spikeridged Dragon, if not unique in the League, it's certainly one of a kind."

Jiang Chuan didn't say anything; he was also quite shocked.

The Sea Dragon King seemed to sense the changes in its body and slowly turned its head to look at him. Its eyes had changed; the Sea Dragon King's eyes used to be a soft blue, but now they had a faint golden luster, exuding something akin to a dragon's might—cold and majestic, yet with a hint of probing as it looked at him.

Jiang Chuan stepped forward and extended a hand.

Kingdra lowered his head, his snout gently touching his palm, warm with the salty taste of seawater, more composed and powerful than when he was Seadra.

"Goodness." Jiang Chuan laughed, patting its smooth neck. "It's really not easy for it to grow from a tiny little thing to where it is now."

Kingdra let out a deep roar, like the sound of sea breeze passing through rocks, both light and deep, which made the whole room tremble slightly.

Professor Oak quickly warned, "Don't let it use its abilities here! I have a lot of stuff in this lab; if the water cannon goes off, it'll all be ruined!"

"No," Jiang Chuan said with a smile, patting the Thorn Dragon King. "It understands."

Kingdra was indeed very restrained. He didn't even flick his tail. He just floated quietly in place, his body rising and falling slightly, as if he were suspended in the deep sea.

Jiang Chuan took two steps back, focused his mind, and locked his gaze on the Thorn Dragon King. With a thought, he began to check the Thorn Dragon King's stats.