Faced with a predicament.
The Gambler did not agonize over it for nearly as long as Baimu had expected.
After a few attempts showed that he truly had no talent for raising Pokémon, he took the problem to Team Rocket.
[You believe that even if good luck won you a few Badges, it could not have caused such a stir. Team Rocket must be pulling strings behind the scenes.]
[You understand that whatever Team Rocket wants, you now have more leverage to negotiate with them.]
Well, damn!
Negotiate with Team Rocket!
Baimu was almost impressed. How many ordinary people had the nerve for that? Not everyone had watched the Team Rocket trio's antics as often as he had.
The organization had lurked in Kanto for years, intent on expanding beyond it. Its members had never been saints.
And Giovanni was nothing like the comic figure Meowth imagined him to be...
Had Giovanni already risen to power in this era?
As Baimu pondered that, someone in the scene suddenly threw a sack over the Gambler's head.
Then came the beating.
A brutal one.
[You did not expect Team Rocket to react so fiercely. With no way to resist their attacks, you can only endure them in silence.]
Even in the Pokémon World, fifty-seven was an awkward age.
He lacked a younger man's stamina, but he could still take a beating. His bones were not as fragile as those of someone in their seventies or eighties.
In short.
The Gambler endured the beating Team Rocket gave him as a warning not to get greedy.
[You hear them agree to your request. Fighting through the pain all over your body, you manage a smile.]
"Hmm..."
Baimu's expression grew complicated.
Interrogations and beatings were common in Orre, but seeing them in a main-series region