Lairon's Territory

"Three of them, four million in total."

After Flobo sat down, he named his price. Seeing that Baimu merely poured him some water without responding, he added, "That's already a very fair price. They may all be fully evolved and look fairly capable in battle, but they've taken drugs..."

"So their value is fundamentally slashed. I understand."

Baimu nodded, sighing faintly to himself.

Buying and selling Pokémon was common in other regions too, but hearing a specific "value" placed on a Pokémon still made him somewhat uncomfortable.

"I'd better pass. Sorry for the trouble, but please thank that person for their kindness on my behalf. Keeping them would be better for me," he said with apparent sincerity.

"Someone already reserved them?"

"No. I just don't want to sell them."

"..."

Flobo stared intently at his face, carefully judging whether he was trying to raise the price. Once he realized that probably was not the case, he tapped the tabletop with his knuckles. "...I know you may think you aren't short on money right now, but honestly, ten million isn't all that much."

"It looks like a lot at first, but it won't last long. And you killed their trainers, so it won't be easy to make them accept you. Are you planning to keep them boarded forever? That's no small expense!"

Just as he said, ten million had seemed like an unimaginable fortune when Baimu first got it, but once he started spending it, it really did not feel like much.

Living poor and living rich were two entirely different states. Baimu hoped to enter the latter.

He still had at least two mouths to feed.

"And I heard you haven't chosen your third Pokémon yet. Four million is enough for you to pick out some Pokémon that are both strong and full of potential."

Flobo tried to persuade him again. "Pokémon that have taken drugs tend to be mentally unstable. Even if you truly tame them, they'll only disappoint you. Besides, suddenly taking on three more at once will be difficult for you to handle."

To be fair, what this man said was tempting. Unfortunately, Baimu truly did not want to sell those three pitiful Pokémon.

So Baimu shook his head again.

Flobo fell silent and took a sip from his glass. "..."

Baimu had assumed that if they could not reach an agreement by this point, the other man would leave. Unexpectedly, after pausing for a moment, Flobo asked again,

"Can I hear what you plan to do with them?"

"Of course." Baimu knew there was no need to hide something like this. Even if he did not say anything, word would get out sooner or later. "I plan to find a few trustworthy people among my subordinates later and let them adopt them."

"...Adopt them?"

"Yeah. You could consider it an employee benefit? Selling them is out of the question."

"..."

Flobo looked at Baimu rather strangely. "My client offered four million and you refused, but you're giving them to your underlings for free?"

"You could put it that way."

He calmly accepted the man's gaze. Whether Flobo thought he was brain-dead or mocked him for being hypocritical, it did not matter.

Flobo stood up, his expression becoming incomparably complicated for a moment before he let out a deep sigh.

"My apologies. Pretend I was never here."

"Don't say that. I know you meant well. Thanks for making the trip," Baimu said as he saw him out. Only after closing the door did he let out a breath.

Four million. Honestly, it was incredibly tempting.

He had almost agreed.

Money really could change a person beyond recognition.

He shook his head, woke up Lairon and Chansey, and prepared to move house.

During that time, Cheng Hong and a group of old brothers from Azure Iridium Street came over to help him.

"Once our training course is over, we're planning to follow you. What do you think?"

Cheng Hong carried a box on his shoulder and looked at Baimu eagerly.

The others also unconsciously turned their attention toward him or pricked up their ears to listen.

"What do you mean, what do I think? Who else could I choose but you guys?" Baimu asked with a smile. "Quit looking so pitiful. It's disgusting, okay? We all grew up together. Just because someone makes it out doesn't mean they should turn their back on everyone else, right?"

The former Baimu, who had neither father nor mother, had grown up on the charity of his neighbors before the age of ten. They were one of the few lights in his life. Moreover, everyone had banded together from the start to resist "tyranny," so they already had a certain degree of understanding.

Baimu did not think anyone could be more reliable than them when it came to loyalty and trust.

Of course, having money could corrupt people, but would strangers not be corrupted too? There was no difference. Everyone present had been subjected to Shibata's attempts to drive them apart with money and power, so they had at least some experience resisting corruption.

Hearing his words, Cheng Hong and the others unconsciously relaxed, all breaking into bright smiles.

Baimu had risen far too quickly. In the blink of an eye, he had become someone they had to look up to, and they could not help feeling uneasy whenever they spoke with him.

But fortunately.

He was still the same as before—quiet with words, but deeply loyal.

The group began chattering away.

"If Baimu's territory gets assigned around Azure Iridium Street, Mom and the others won't have to work so hard anymore."

"Idiot! That place is so poor. Of course he should get assigned somewhere with money to be made! Just collecting from those dance halls and pachinko parlors would make you rich in a day! Once you bring money home, your mom won't have to work so hard either!"

"Hahahaha!"

The young people, barely in their twenties at most, laughed heartily, their words full of hopes for the future.

The new house.

A square, two-story building with a pale yellow exterior.

It was full of the style of a self-built home in a countryside village or small town from Baimu's previous life, yet it came with a fairly large backyard. There was even a simple Battle Arena in the yard.

There was even a tree.

For Baimu and Lairon, that was quite a pleasant surprise.

It was not far from the Sand Group's egg-shaped headquarters, yet there were few people nearby. The houses were spaced apart as well, ensuring each resident's privacy.

No wonder they said becoming a Squad Leader was like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.

The improvement in living standards was enormous.

Baimu grumbled inwardly, then discovered that although the two-story building looked old and plain on the outside, its interior decorations were quite nice.

It was probably the hard work of the previous owner.

Thinking so, he held a small celebration in the new house with his colleagues.

While Cheng Hong and the others went to their training course, the saplings and potted plants Lairon had been eagerly awaiting also arrived.

The deliveryman had brought a Sandshrew with him. After confirming with Baimu where to plant them, he ordered it to dig holes in the ground before transplanting the saplings.

Lairon excitedly tried to go help, but only settled down after its trainer knocked it on the forehead.

"Here's the care manual. Please come again!"

The deliveryman left.

"A care manual... I should be able to keep them alive, right? I kept this one alive." Baimu flipped through it—he could not understand it—but then glanced at the tree that had already been there.

It seemed possible.

But.

Would these two trees compete for nutrients?

He looked worriedly at the trees, which stood ten meters apart. This was his first time raising something like this, so he had no idea what he was doing.

"Fertilizer, rich soil... Hey, calm down, will you? Stop snorting like a pig!"

Baimu pushed away Lairon's large head as it leaned closer and curled his lip. "You want to read it, but can you even understand it? I can't understand it either! Pokémon writing is way too hard."

Lairon did not care what its trainer thought. It began running circles around the backyard, venting the energy it had nowhere to release whenever it got excited.

It ran while letting out muffled roars.

"Gudo! Gu!"

Chansey was utterly baffled by it.

Baimu did not understand what was going on with it either, until a voice rang out.

"Oh? Looks like your Lairon has taken your backyard as its territory."

The visitor was Flobo again.

"Uh... what makes you say that?"

Baimu found this man a little strange. Did he have nothing better to do all day than keep coming here? Or did he have some other motive...

"Lairon are Pokémon that are used to establishing territories and possess a strong territorial instinct. In the wild, they usually choose mountains containing iron ore and delicious spring water, but Pyrite Town does not offer those conditions, so it lowered its standards."

Seeing the wariness in Baimu's eyes, Flobo sighed. "Brother, I'm still here because of what happened this morning. I can't help it. I was born to work myself to the bone, running errands and passing messages for people every day."

"...You're a Squad Leader, at least."

"So what if I'm a Squad Leader? In the eyes of the big shots, I'm not worth shit. If they tell me to go personally, what am I supposed to do?" Flobo looked faintly pleading. "Can we at least talk it over?"

Baimu: "..."

He had always felt that something was off about this man. He did not know exactly what it was yet, but for the sake of testing him, he decided to agree.

Otherwise, if the other man got upset and went from acting openly to working in the shadows, secretly causing trouble would become a real headache.