The Value of Money

The next day.

Cheng Hong came looking for him.

The young man had only suffered some cuts and bruises; a day of rest would be enough. When he entered, he found Baimu playing catch with a Poké Ball alongside Aron.

"Huh? You two are already getting along so well?" He was a little surprised. He had seen Aron's resistance to Poké Balls before.

Baimu did not respond, silently watching Cheng Hong proudly open a Poké Ball.

In a flash of white light,

a Pokémon landed on the floor.

It was a strange creature with a black rocky sphere for a body, a pale yellow hexagonal hole at its center, a long thin rock protruding from its head, and stone legs.

Having arrived somewhere unfamiliar, it seemed frightened and trembled nonstop.

"Roggenrola... It suits you quite well."

"Not bad, right? It's very well-behaved!"

Cheng Hong chuckled as he picked it up. "By the way, Baimu, when are you going to pick out your Pokémon? If you wait any longer, all the good ones will be gone."

"I'm not picking one. I'll take the cash instead."

Baimu shook his head.

Now that Aron had become his partner, he needed to help it recover from its malnutrition. He also needed to get used to raising a Pokémon.

Raising a Pokémon for real was nothing like in the games. Anyone who had kept a pet knew how troublesome it could be, and training one into a capable fighter was even harder.

Many half-baked Quicksand Team members simply could not raise Pokémon properly. They often chose to replace the ones they had and never seriously trained them, constantly swapping them out like buying new magic artifacts in a cultivation novel.

This phenomenon was common throughout Pyrite Town and even the entire Orre region. As a result, Pokémon that were strong right after being caught were always particularly expensive.

Some Pokémon that trainers from other regions considered rare but not especially strong were not nearly as popular. Even with high price tags, few people bought them.

"Taking the cash... That makes sense. You already have Aron."

Cheng Hong nodded and went on to talk about their colleagues.

The three people they had rescued were more seriously injured and might be bedridden for ten days or even half a month. Of the others who had failed to regroup with them on the first day, only one had passed the assessment.

Unfortunately, he was practically crippled after getting out and was currently lying in bed recovering.

Six people had passed on the first day.

That was undoubtedly a tremendous help to their little group.

"Hopefully the next few days go this smoothly too."

Cheng Hong sighed.

"Yeah."

Baimu nodded, watching Aron interact with Roggenrola as he casually toyed with the Poké Ball in his hand.

The night before, they had shared their troubles with each other. Their progress had been slow due to the language barrier, but it had also brought them closer. Unfortunately, when it came to its goal, Aron had been unable to give him an answer.

Or perhaps it had given him one, and he simply had not understood... Hopefully, he would get an answer someday.

In the blink of an eye,

the four days of assessments had passed.

Aside from a small accident on the first day, the following days had been unusually peaceful, and more people passed.

Some from Baimu's little group who had taken part later also completed the assessment. As for Shibata's group, he was not sure.

In the end, nearly a hundred people stood out and crossed the threshold into becoming official members, accounting for a quarter of all participants. It looked like a lot at first glance, but many of them had taken the assessment multiple times before finally passing.

Therefore, Hugo, the current acting leader, was not satisfied with the result.

The Quicksand Team had only a little over 2,800 subordinates—official members in total. In Pyrite Town, with its population of nearly a million, they were but a drop in the ocean. If they could not bring in enough fresh blood, they would forever remain a second-rate force.

And they would never be able to develop any further.

However, that anxiety did not affect those who had passed. To many, becoming an official member was no different from ascending to the heavens in a single step, representing the end of their hard days.

They had every reason to be happy.

--

The day he was discharged from the hospital,

Baimu was packing his things with Aron when there came a sudden knock at the door.

"You're Baimu?"

The visitor met his gaze and looked him over on his own. "You've got a decent build. You pass. Report to the Sand Group tomorrow. Bring those colleagues of yours too—anyone who can make it had better show up."

With that, he did not give Baimu a chance to reply before turning and leaving.

"...It's nothing."

He shook his head at the confused Aron.

The Quicksand Team was similarly riddled with factions. Within the combat division alone, beneath the boss at the very top were the Sand, Crystal, and Stone Groups, each led by one of the three highest-ranking executives.

The top executive commanding the Sand Group was a hulking man over two meters tall. Outsiders said he was forthright and easygoing, handled matters carelessly, and hated dragging things out. He was supposedly considerate toward his subordinates and a decent leader.

Hopefully, the rumors were true.

Baimu knew he had no right to choose. Only the special operations group within the Quicksand Team could work independently like James and Jessie, but every one of them had been raised within the organization from childhood.

The fact that the other party had come to him personally was already a sign of sincerity.

After packing up,

Baimu left the hospital with Aron and went straight to the Quicksand Team building to register his identity and collect the items issued to official members.

The clerk assisting him looked at Aron with slight surprise. He rarely saw a grunt who already had a Pokémon before claiming one.

After all, most people who could obtain one directly would not think much of the ones being offered.

"Please exchange my Pokémon reward for financial assistance. That should be possible, right?"

"Huh? Ah! Yes, it is!"

Baimu's words snapped the clerk back to his senses, and he hurriedly nodded.

After some processing,

Baimu received 100,000 PokéDollars and left contentedly with Aron.

The Pokémon the Quicksand Team provided to new members were usually only Roggenrola and Geodude. Occasionally, there would be Wooper, Sandshrew, and the like. Although the species varied, their prices were roughly the same.

It was worth mentioning that the PokéDollar used in Orre was worth roughly the same as the Japanese yen. A Poké Ball cost 200, while a Soda Pop cost 300.

Most prices were fairly normal. Only Pokémon, which had to be imported, were worth far more than in other regions—especially in Pyrite Town. Prices were slightly lower in the coastal Gateon Port and Silicon Beryllium City, the largest city.

"Our food budget has gone up again~"

Baimu smiled and waved the cash at Aron.

"Guh!"

Aron raised its head and happily replied.

Copper Milling Street.

This was where the Quicksand Team assigned apartments to its subordinates: three-and-a-half-story concrete buildings with large patches of weathering across their dark gray cement exteriors. There were no landscaping facilities in sight, and the roads were run-down as well.

However, the infrastructure here—water pipes, sewers, electrical systems, and the like—was far better than the prefab housing on Azure Iridium Street where he had once lived.

It was probably sturdier too, considering it had to bear the weight of Pokémon.

Baimu liked this place very much, and it had nothing to do with the facilities. It was simply because he could see all kinds of Pokémon playing everywhere.

Near his old residence, there had only been people. It had left him wondering many times whether he had truly come to the Pokémon world at all.

"Baimu! Want to go out for a meal together tonight? Everyone wants to thank you, and we're planning to celebrate too."

Cheng Hong said with a beaming smile, carrying several large bags.

"Sure. Just let me know the location."

Baimu nodded. The Quicksand Team's underlings were only slightly elevated among the lowest ranks, but even the highest-ranking executives needed to stick together.

But socializing... he was the worst at dealing with that.

He did not know whether it had been arranged deliberately, but the places assigned to their group were all quite close. Cheng Hong was two doors down, and the rest were not much farther away.

Had that person from earlier arranged it?

He wondered if he could get detailed information about Shigaki from him—his family background, friends, backers, Pokémon, and so on.

"Let's start setting up our new home!"

"Guh!"

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