Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

Not to mention that the crime of illegally hunting wild Pokémon isn't serious, Team Rocket also had valid points to make—

Is it wrong for me to capture Pokémon that we created ourselves?

As for sending them back to Yuanling Island to do hard labor... the island doesn't need to support so many idle people, or rather, good-for-nothings.

After racking his brains for a long time, Xia Chen finally came up with a good arrangement.

A few months ago, Dante, on behalf of the Galar Alliance, gifted me an island, which is currently completely abandoned. It's a good opportunity to send them there to reclaim it.

As for the issue of custody, that's even easier to solve. As long as Wuji Taina wanders around the island for a while, no fool should be willing to try to escape.

Aside from these human prisoners, the biggest gain from this operation was these two legendary elves.

Xia Chen looked at Zapdos and Moltres, who were once high and mighty but were now trembling on the ground, and stroked his chin.

He asked curiously, "Tsk, what benefits did Sakaki promise you that made you follow him so devotedly?"

Xia Chen absolutely did not believe that Giovanni had conquered the two legendary Pokémon entirely through his personal charm.

This isn't a novel, where some kingly aura instantly subdues legendary elves.

Xia Chen guessed that, most likely, just like with Mewtwo, the Rockets had also developed some kind of control or restriction mechanism.

Sure enough, Zapdos pitifully began to complain.

…………

It was pretty much exactly what Xia Chen had guessed.

Zapdos had lived in an abandoned power plant for decades, but was captured by Team Rocket using a very sturdy insulation device.

Given the arrogance of the legendary elves, even if they are captured, they can never be subdued without gaining their approval.

But who exactly are the Rockets?

After years of trying to get Zapdos to "accept" them by developing a series of restrictive items specifically designed for it, they finally managed to force Zapdos to "accept" them.

Moltres's experience was also very similar.

Xia Chen learned from Sabrina that Giovanni had three more of these legendary Pokémon: Regirock, Regice, and Registeel.

However, they lack intelligence and are relatively slow in action, so they generally do not participate in field missions.

"I understand. It seems that helping the Rockets do bad things wasn't your intention either."

Xia Chen crossed his arms and said thoughtfully.

Zapdos and Moltres nodded hastily, indicating that this was indeed the case, their eyes shining with hope.

This guy seems like a good person. Could it be that I can finally regain my freedom?

"What kind of looks are those?"

Xia Chen retorted, "Does being a good person mean you have to bear the consequences of your mistakes? Even if you were forced into it, it doesn't change the fact that you made a mistake!"

His righteous words even made Zapdos and Moltres feel inexplicably ashamed.

After thinking for a while, Xia Chen delivered his final verdict.

"In order to punish you for the bad things you have done, I have decided to subject you to a period of labor reform!"

"Zetzart, your modification task is to go to Spirit Island and generate electricity for ten years... no, twenty years! Moltres, you'll go to another island to provide power, also for twenty years!"

Zapdos and Moltres' expressions instantly fell, never expecting that they would fall into the tiger's den after just escaping the wolf pack.

They weren't stupid; they naturally understood that although this guy was shamelessly talking about labor reform, he was actually just doing things for him!

Thinking of this, they looked at Xia Chen with a hint of disdain. They hadn't expected this guy, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, to look so much like that gloomy-faced fellow, Sakaki!

Facing the disdainful gazes of the two legendary elves, Xia Chen said without any shame, "What, do you have some complaints?"

Before he could finish speaking, Guleton and Deoxys behind him immediately activated their Conqueror's Haki, and the powerful sense of oppression instantly materialized.

Under the crushing force of the giant hand, Zapdos and Moltres could only manage a forced smile to express their satisfaction.

In the end, both legendary spirits agreed to Xia Chen's arrangement and became the "guardian beasts" of his two islands.

With that, Mewtwo left, the two birds bowed their heads, and Team Rocket surrendered en masse.

This unexpected incident ended in a perfect victory for Xia Chen.

…………

At this moment, the dawn on the horizon had already broken the deep silence of the day.

Xia Chen stood up, stretched, and patted his red shoulder.

"I'm leaving now. I'm going to catch up on some sleep in a nearby city."

Crimson nodded immediately, "I'll go too."

Xia Chen smiled, and from the excited look in his eyes, it was clear that a Pokémon battle was inevitable after he woke up.

He then looked at Nancy and Lt. Surge and asked politely, "Do you want to come together? It's fine if you want to go straight back to Guandu."

The two dared not refuse the invitation from the new boss. What if Xia Chen made a mistake and asked Deoxys to turn them into idiots again?

Who knows if he's the kind of weirdo who'd actually eat if you told him to?

The other henchmen also silently put away their spirits and obediently followed behind Xia Chen.

To be precise, these are not their Pokémon, but rather Pokémon from Team Rocket's "Pokémon Bank," which they have built through various means such as stealing, poaching, and breeding.

This time, they also captured most of these elite Pokémon, even those at the Gym Leader level, which dealt a heavy blow to Team Rocket.

Soon, the group arrived at the Pokémon Center in Tiannan City, near the forest, and took a nap.

Xia Chen woke up at noon, picked up his Rotom phone from beside the bed and glanced at it; it was not yet noon.

He estimated that he had only slept for a little over five hours, but Xia Chen's mental state was still quite good.

That's the advantage of having superpowers; as long as you get more than four hours of deep sleep each day, you can fully meet the needs of a whole day's activities.

Apart from Sabrina, who is also a superpowered individual, everyone else who experienced a terrifying night is still asleep.

Xia Chen ran into Naz, who was having lunch at the Pokémon Center's cafeteria. He got some food and naturally sat down opposite her.

"May I ask why you joined Team Rocket?"

Xia Chen asked a question that he had always been curious about very directly.

Sabrina is beautiful, has a high talent for trainers, and is a one-in-a-million genius psychic.

Why would someone like that join the Rockets?

Nazi remained silent, then looked up at Xia Chen and uttered two words, "Boring."

Xia Chen chuckled awkwardly twice. "You're not saying my question is boring, are you?"

Naza pursed her lips, a barely restrained smile playing on her lips, then shook her head and said, "No, it's because I'm bored."

Xia Chen shrugged. Although the reason was somewhat casual, it was quite in line with Nazi's character.

Because Sabrina gained superpowers at a very young age, she has an extremely strange personality and even turned her mother into a doll.

Compared to that kind of Naz, she was already very kind in this world.

…………

Even so, Xia Chen couldn't help but complain, "I really don't understand why all of you superpowered people are so strange."

The reason for saying "all" is that Xia Chen is familiar with another superpowered person, Gadriya, who is also arrogant and doesn't even bother to look at anyone who hasn't gained her approval.

However, this Superpowered Queen's life trajectory is more normal. She is about the same age as Sabrina and is already the Unova Champion.

Why should I mention you?

Naza looked at Xia Chen strangely, "Aren't you a superpowered person too?"

Xia Chen was taken aback, as if he did subconsciously separate himself from the group of superpowered individuals.

"Am I... atypical superpowered person?"

Sabrina shrugged and replied, "So, is it possible that you're actually an outlier among superpowered individuals?"

Xia Chen seemed to be deep in thought.

Upon closer analysis, people like Cattleya and Sabrina, who awakened their superpowers at a very young age, share a common trait—

From a young age, they were treated as an oddball by their friends and even their parents.

Of course, this excludes protagonists of comedic manga like Saiki Kusuo.

In a normal worldview, most people would subconsciously choose to keep their distance from such people with superpowers, or even ostracize and fear them.

Childhood is the most formative time for personality development. Growing up in such an environment, it's perfectly normal for superpowered individuals like Cattleya and Sabrina to have eccentric personalities.

Perhaps, losing normal human emotions is a price to pay for gaining powerful superpowers...

Not necessarily, or perhaps Naz and Gadriya simply don't care about these things?

While she was lost in thought, Naz wiped her mouth and got up to leave.

Considering her current situation, she politely said, "I'm done eating, you can continue eating."

Then, she went to the food pick-up area and packed some food and energy cubes, probably to take back to her elves.

Looking at the profile picture she carefully selected, Xia Chen smiled slightly.

Even an oddball like Sabrina's feelings for the elves remain pure and sincere.

After quickly shoveling down a few bites of rice, Xia Chen got up, packed some food, and returned to his room.

…………

The battle at dawn was so exhausting that Crimson and the others didn't wake up until evening.

Xia Chen called Chrissy over from Zhijiang and asked her to help arrange for these Team Rocket remnants to do hard labor on his unnamed Galar Island.

I also handed Zapdos and Moltres over to her, telling her to take them back and train them properly.

Even though Chrissy had experienced the Battle of Gugai and was considered a worldly person, she was still taken aback by Xia Chen's extravagant spending.

It's quite something for an ordinary person to be handed over two legendary Pokémon without a second thought.

Fortunately, Chrissy had been with Xia Chen for so long that she had a pretty good mental fortitude, and after adjusting herself, she accepted the mission.

Maslow and Natsume also left the East and returned to the Rockets shortly afterward.