Traps and Gifts

Team Rocket Special Training Camp.

East Gate—Underground Tunnel.

Inside a strange large vehicle with a massive drill mounted on its front.

Heiduo sat calmly among a group of veteran Team Rocket members. Around him, several Team Rocket members glared at him with ill intent.

"Hey! This isn't a place for a rookie like you! Get off!" A bald man barked at Heiduo in extreme annoyance.

Heiduo opened his eyes and said coldly, "Get lost!"

His indifferent attitude and contemptuous tone clearly stung the bald man. Enraged, the bald man immediately opened his Poké Ball.

Snap!

A gigantic stag beetle with a pair of enormous pincers on its head and a vicious-looking mouth stared unblinkingly at Heiduo.

[Pokémon: Pinsir/Gender: Male/Level: 31]

[Ability: Hyper Cutter/Type: Bug/Trainer: Guiye]

[Moves: Seismic Toss lv3/Brick Break lv3]

[X-Scissor lv3/Submission lv3/Bug Bite lv2]

Heiduo's pupils contracted slightly before returning to normal. Level 31—he could handle it!

He quietly reached for the Poké Ball at his waist, while saying calmly, "You want to make a move here? Go ahead and try! Let's see whether you die first, or I do!"

Just as Heiduo had said, if this guy dared attack him in such a cramped space, then once they damaged the vehicle beneath their feet, this guy would undoubtedly be blown to pieces!

The bald man named Guiye glared fiercely at Heiduo, but he did not dare give the order to attack.

After a long while, Guiye sneered. "Good kid! I'll remember you! Let's see if you can still smile when you get to Kanto!"

Once they reached Kanto, he could not directly attack Heiduo, but as long as he waited for Heiduo to go on a mission, there would naturally be plenty of ways to kill him!

A rookie actually dared mouth off to an old hand?

He was tired of living!

"Idiot!" Heiduo cursed without mercy. This man had wanted to send him to his death from the start; how could he possibly show someone like that any respect?

"You!"

Guiye's face turned liver-colored, but he did not dare act recklessly here. He recalled Pinsir and silently walked away.

Heiduo sneered. People who bullied the weak and feared the strong were everywhere, especially in a place like Team Rocket, where every kind of scum gathered.

He remained silent as he watched the hostility directed at him by the people around him.

Getting off was impossible. The moment he got off, he would die! There was no other viable path!

The convoy above them was bait meant to be sacrificed!

It was the rookies' funeral!

And beneath the training camp base lay countless explosives, waiting only for the fish to bite before detonating in a Shun! No one inside would survive!

More than half a month of life in Team Rocket had nearly made Heiduo forget that it was, in fact, an illegal organization.

He could not get off this vehicle even if it killed him!

Heiduo was certain of it, then recalled how he had ended up here.

It all went back to after he had gone shopping in the dormitory.

Heiduo removed the black Poké Ball that had appeared in the Poké Ball transfer device, his expression somewhat complicated.

He had truly underestimated Team Rocket's item storage system.

Compared to Pokémon, there were far too many items he could purchase through this system.

He turned to look at the compression backpack placed on the bed, which contained a large number of items he had bought.

The preparations were complete. His transaction points had been emptied, and now it was time to choose the path he should take!

Knock knock knock!

Urgent knocking drew Heiduo's attention.

Heiduo's expression turned wary in Shun's instant. At a time like this, could it be Serea coming to find him?

How should he face her? Turn himself in?

"Who is it?" Heiduo called out loudly, just to be safe.

A girl's voice came from outside the door.

"Big Brother Heiduo! Open the door, quick!"

It was Shuangye!

Heiduo froze for a moment, unable to guess why she had come. "What do you need?"

"Open the door! I have something important to tell you! Hurry!"

Shuangye sounded urgent, and her knocking grew even more violent.

Heiduo pondered for a while, then stood up. Without drawing attention to it, he placed the black Poké Ball into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. His right hand rested on Ekans's Poké Ball while his left opened the door.

Click.

The door opened inward, revealing an anxious-looking Shuangye. She entered Heiduo's room and closed the door behind her.

"What do you need?" Heiduo's expression became even more guarded.

Shuangye looked at Heiduo, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "Big Brother Heiduo, you can't go to the East Gate!"

"Why not?"

Heiduo's heart raced, and he was nearly ready to press the Poké Ball's switch.

"It's a trap! A trap meant to lure in League police and internal traitors!" Shuangye said seriously. "And there are a huge number of explosives buried beneath our feet! Staying here means certain death too!

"You have to leave through the underground passage! That's the right escape route!"

Heiduo was shaken. He had never expected the escape route that Squad Captain Lan had gathered them to explain earlier to be a trap waiting for the police!

Did that not mean that every Team Rocket rookie present at the time was meant to be a sacrifice in this trap?

Fuck!

People's hearts were truly unfathomable!

Heiduo looked at Shuangye, suspicion rising within him. What if Shuangye was lying?

And how had she learned what Squad Captain Lan said at the time? Shuangye's name had not even been there!

"I can't talk anymore! I still need to find Sister Serea and Ori! Those two are missing! Don't forget! Take the underground passage!"

Shuangye gave Heiduo no time to ask questions. The moment she finished speaking, she opened the door and ran off.

Heiduo stood stunned. By the time he chased after her, Shuangye had already disappeared.

"This..."

According to Shuangye, the paths available to him had narrowed to only two in Shun's instant.

But it seemed too late to seek out Serea now. This young lady connected to the Pokémon League was probably thinking of how to wipe out all the Team Rocket members at once!

"Looks like this is the only way."

Heiduo tightened the backpack on his shoulders and headed toward the East Gate.

"Hey! This isn't a place a rookie like you can come!"

At the entrance to a lounge, two Team Rocket members stood on either side, blocking Heiduo with their hands.

The method for distinguishing rookies from veterans was simple. Rookie uniforms were dark gray, with an R insignia on the right side of the chest.

Veterans, on the other hand, wore pitch-black uniforms with a large R emblazoned across their chests.

Only after the assessment period ended and he graduated from the special training camp would he qualify to wear the pure black uniform.

Heiduo paid no attention to their vicious expressions and smiled faintly. "Seniors, let's not beat around the bush. If you don't let me through today, I'll tell everyone the secret inside."

The two Team Rocket grunts exchanged glances. One of them chuckled. "This is Captain Hank's lounge. Go ahead, tell them! Be my guest! A secret, huh?"

The two of them burst into laughter.

Heiduo smiled. "Fine! Since you said so, I'll tell everyone that there's an underground tunnel in this room. We rookies are all being sent to the East Gate to die, while the veterans can survive by stepping over our corpses!"

"Go tell them! Let's see who believes you!" the Team Rocket grunt said dismissively, though Heiduo could see the panic he could not hide.

"Fine! You said it. When they investigate later, you won't be able to escape responsibility either!"

Heiduo turned around, pretending to leave.

The Team Rocket grunt watched Heiduo's retreating back, his face twisting. If Heiduo succeeded, he would definitely die.

He pressed a hand to the Poké Ball at his waist, intending to ambush Heiduo and knock him straight to the ground.

"Wait!"

The lounge door swung open, and a thin figure stopped both Heiduo from leaving and the Team Rocket grunt from releasing his Pokémon.

Not far away, Heiduo let out the breath he had been holding, but his hand remained on his Poké Ball.

He was not naive enough to lower his guard just because of one sentence.

"Captain Hank!"

The two Team Rocket grunts gathered around the man as if they had found their backbone.

Heiduo turned around and silently watched Hank.

"You really are just like Lan said—a kid with a brain."

Hank looked at Heiduo and smiled strangely.

Squad Captain Lan?

Heiduo suppressed his surprise and said, "I don't understand what you mean."

"It doesn't matter whether you understand. Come here!" Hank beckoned to Heiduo. Seeing his wary expression, Hank laughed. "No need to be so nervous. I'm not going to do anything to you."

Hearing that, Heiduo hesitated for two seconds before slowly walking up to Hank.

Hank did not care about Heiduo's distrustful gaze and removed a Poké Ball from his waist.

Heiduo was startled and immediately prepared to call out Ekans.

"Are you really that scared?" Hank said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, as he held the Poké Ball out before Heiduo.

"This is the bet Hank placed on you."

Hank stuffed the Poké Ball into the arms of the unmoving Heiduo. "He told me that if you managed to find this place, then it would be yours.

"I've been waiting for you!"

What was going on?

Heiduo held the Poké Ball, his expression dark and unreadable. Could it be that the body he now occupied had some connection to Lan?

Did Lan know him?

Why had Lan placed a bet on him?

And what about that earlier remark that Ekans was not worthy of him?

Heiduo's thoughts were in disarray, but Hank had already grown impatient and directly pulled him into the lounge.

"Go on! Find a spot and sit wherever you like!"

There was a pitch-black hole in the lounge wall, its depths impossible to see.

Heiduo glanced back at Hank, then walked inside without hesitation.

This was a path to survival. He could not possibly give it up.

[Pokémon: Elekid/Gender: Male/Level: 5]

[Ability: Static/Type: Electric/Status: Panicked]

[Additional Attributes: 0/Friendship: 70]

[Moves: Quick Attack lv1/Thunder Shock lv1]

[Fire Punch lv1/Ice Punch lv1]

It had been born with two of the farmer's three punches!

Under the scrutiny of everyone around him, Heiduo looked somewhat dazed.

If he had still suspected that the Pokémon in the ball was a trap set by Hank, then after seeing its level, he understood that Hank's words were probably true.

Because according to the Pokémon League's energy rating system, levels one through five were levels only held by baby Pokémon less than a month old.

It was completely different from games, where levels increased as the map progressed.