Chapter 300: The Prototype of League Cards
As soon as they got the call from the Commander, the Team Rocket Trio rushed to Yuhong City.
Teacher Lu met them at a restaurant near the city.
By the time he arrived, the table was already stacked with empty plates.
“Nom nom!!” The trio were still scarfing down food.
Lu Ye couldn’t help but ask,
“You guys... things been that bad lately?”
At the mention of it, the trio’s eyes welled up.
“All the funds we made from our last stall went into building an upgraded robot... but it got blown up by that brat again, meow.”
“And we also borrowed a bunch of funds in advance...” James finally managed to swallow his curry rice and sighed, “So we’ve been cutting every corner just to get by…”
“Meow, that fried chicken was my order!” Jessie shoved Meowth’s cheek.
“What’s the big deal, meow? It’s on the Commander anyway!”
According to the trio, they currently had no good way to make money.
So their only operating budget came from Jessie doing extras work, James doing magic tricks, and Meowth jumping through fire hoops. The scene was enough to break anyone’s heart. Lu Ye felt a pang of sympathy.
“Well then, get yourselves some honest jobs. Once you’ve made enough money, you can catch as many Pikachu as you want.”
“But it’s not just any Pikachu,” James murmured, eyes flashing. “It’s that special one…”
He didn’t even get to finish the sentence before he yelled,
“Hey, Jessie! That’s my curry rice!”
Jessie’s cheeks puffed like a hamster’s, still stained with curry sauce. “Meowth was doing the same thing!”
Lu Ye sighed and waved his hand. “Boss, three more sets, please.”
“Coming right up, bro.”
Eyes misty, the trio chimed in unison, “Thanks, Commander!”
Lu Ye felt complicated.
So this is what it feels like… to have your own wool sheared for once.
He gave a dry chuckle.
“Maybe this is what they mean by: ‘The hunter becomes the hunted’?”
“Alright, the reason I called you guys here is to give you a legit way to earn some funds.”
Lu Ye took out a schematic and handed it to the trio.
“This is your booth. I filed the application for you personally.”
“For now, let’s set the Pikachu thing aside. Your job for the next while is to run this stall at the P1 Grand Prix… Aim to climb out of poverty and get rich!”
The trio blinked blankly for a while.
Not only did he treat them to a meal, now he was solving their financial crisis…
This—this is what a true Team Rocket mentor looks like!
“Don’t worry!” Jessie snatched the schematic with a smack, full of fiery determination. “We’ll turn this booth into an empire!”
“Yeah! Once we earn enough, we’ll offer it to the Commander as our thanks!” James clenched his fist.
“And the leftover money, hehe…” Meowth rubbed his paws together. “That’s when we build the robot and finally catch Pikachu, meow!”
“Feels awesome!”
So in the end… it is still about catching Pikachu?
Lu Ye silently looked to the sky.
Honestly, it felt like these three were single-handedly driving Kanto’s GDP...
But he didn’t interrupt their fantasy, and simply waved it off.
“As for what you sell, figure it out yourselves.”
“I’m a participant in the tournament too, so don’t expose me.”
Rather than setting direction for them, Lu Ye figured it was better to let them be.
With a booth and a legit job, maybe… just maybe, they really could become tycoons.
“Leave it to us!”
…
Stepping out of the restaurant, Lu Ye fell into thought.
“They’re totally maxed out on money-making skills… So why are they always this broke when I see them?”
Maybe they’re like me.
Earning decent cash, but always borrowing more than they make?
He sighed, feeling an odd sense of kinship with the trio.
In fact, with their abilities, they might be pulling in more sales than that con artist Blue...
Once the Commander gave the order, Team Rocket kicked into gear.
That same afternoon, a somewhat unusual booth popped up, manned by their staff.
In the group chat, Blue sent over a video and whistled,
“This vendor is raking it in!”
“What are they selling?” Lorelei asked curiously. “I was thinking of checking it out myself.”
“I stopped by earlier. They’re selling character cards of the participants—kind of like Teacher Lu’s PTCG cards,” said Brock.
“Huh? Isn’t that just personal info on the competitors?” Gold blinked. “You can actually sell that?”
“Well, a lot of that info is public on the official site,” said Misty, sending over a pic. “But people can be lazy... Cards make it way more accessible.”
Lu Ye clicked the pic Misty shared.
The cards looked similar to PTCG cards, but weren’t quite the same.
They were a modded version made by James and company.
If anything… they were similar to the popular League Cards in Galar.
Curious, Lu Ye searched the tournament forums for discussion around the trio’s booth.
“Check it out! Pulled this from that booth!”
“Why is my card only R-rank?!”
“Yesss! I got ‘Masked Royal’!”
Among the known character cards, there was one of a heavyweight-class water expert from Sinnoh named Yoshinori—a bare-chested muscle monk wearing a mask, nicknamed “Torrent Masked Hero.” His card was SR-rank, and his signature Pokémon was Poliwrath.
Then there was an SSR-rank card: another heavyweight-class fighter, The Masked Royal from Alola.
But Teacher Lu knew the truth behind that one.
It was actually Professor Kukui from Alola.
“Didn’t expect the Professor to join the tournament too,” Lu Ye muttered.
On second thought, it made sense.
Kukui’s Incineroar was among the fiercest fighters around.
The trio’s sales results surprised Lu Ye in a good way.
“They’re actually pretty damn good at this.”
He rubbed his chin, thinking hard.
“Should I… let them handle the task of making PTCG Trainer Cards?”
So far, PTCG only had Pokémon Cards.
The only Trainer Card ever made was a Cynthia prototype that was never released.
If he let them make Trainer Cards…
They could relieve Jasmine’s workload and get formally brought onboard as staff.
And if this succeeded, the whole Galar League Card thing would be irrelevant.
From another angle, this could be the trio’s ticket back to employment.
“I’m doomed.”
In the chat group, Blue held her head and groaned,
“Sales are definitely falling short today!”
Because the Rocket Trio was hogging the spotlight, even scammer-extraordinaire Blue was caught off guard.
Her Clefairy dolls and Max Potions might have to wait until next time.
Silver: “How much short?”
Blue: “Huh?”
Silver glanced at the remaining balance. Hmm… he could probably buy it all himself.
“We can wait until tomorrow,” Lorelei smiled. “It’s not like we need to sell out today.”
“True,” Blue nodded with a grin.
“Let’s wait till Teacher Lu wins the championship and have him be my spokesperson!”
Lu Ye looked up at the sky.
It’s not that I won’t endorse you…
But at this rate, the other booths might all be out of business before that day even comes…
…
“Making Trainer Cards for PTCG?”
When Teacher Lu brought it up, the trio was stunned.
“Re—Really?!” James lit up. “Our version can really go legit?!”
Lu Ye nodded and glanced at the cards on the table. “Who drew these?”
With all the times they’d faked things convincingly on TV, these bootleg cards were actually pretty convincing.
“James did, meow.” Meowth wagged his tail, grinning. “He used to study Western painting back in the day.”
“Wow, not bad, James!” Jessie slapped him on the back.
“Ahh, it’s not that good…” James scratched his head, embarrassed.
“I believe in you guys.” Lu Ye handed him Oleana’s postcard and smiled,
“Once the base designs are done, call this number. She’ll help you with publishing.”
“L-Leave it to me!” James thumped his chest excitedly.
Yes! Never thought I’d be making cards for PTCG one day!
He looked blissful, like his life had just peaked.
“Your bottle cap collection is crying,” Jessie said coldly.
“They’re lying in the trash, accusing you of betrayal,” Meowth added, flashlight under his chin.
“Shut up, you two!”
“Well then, I’m leaving this task to you guys. No need to worry about Pikachu for now.”
Lu Ye picked up a card from the table. “Also, I’m taking this one.”
“No problem!” James grinned, then suddenly froze as if struck by lightning.
“W-Wait! That’s—!”
“Our very first UR card!”
“I put so much effort into that drawing…”
Watching the Commander walk away, James fell to his knees, face gray as ash.
“Alright, alright, let’s get to work.”
Jessie and Meowth each dragged one of his legs.
“Can’t let the Commander down!”
Not far away—
Lu Ye looked down at the card in his hand and nodded slightly.
The card featured a handsome, striking Trainer—capturing about a tenth of Teacher Lu’s real charm.
“Only a UR card could do justice to my character card!”
He slipped it into his chest pocket, chuckling.
“Sirfetch’d, time for the next match!”
“Quack?! =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧̣̥̇)”
No escaping this day, huh?
Sirfetch’d let out a quiet sigh, his gaze sharp.
Fine then… time to show them what a slacker can really do!