Pokémon: Join Team Rocket at the Beginning

Chi Ri was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke.

"So you've been investigating this all along."

It's not a question, it's a statement.

Yang Ming leaned back against the edge of the pool, and the ripples gradually subsided. He did not deny it.

"I wouldn't call it an investigation; I just don't want to be surrounded by mysteries, especially potentially deadly ones."

Chi Ri looked at him.

"You think killing one Sachi will bring you closer to the truth about that person?"

"No," Yang Ming answered decisively. "But if there's one less person to do things for him, he'll have to put in more effort. Is that enough? No. Should we do it or not? We still have to do it."

Chi Ri didn't reply.

Only the low hum of the circulating water remained in the bathhouse. The steam still rose, but it was as if there was a layer between them—those lingering thoughts had not been carried away by the hot spring water, but had simply sunk to a deeper level for the time being.

After a while, Chi Ri's voice came from the other side of the mist, even slower than before.

"You just said that you are just a minor character."

Yang Ming did not move.

"But what you are doing is something the league has never done before."

“There are many things the alliance can’t do,” Yang Ming said calmly. “Besides, this isn’t for their sake.”

"What was the purpose of that?"

Yang Ming did not answer immediately.

Amidst the rising steam, he lowered his gaze to his hands, which were not submerged in water. His knuckles were clearly defined, and scars were faintly visible. These hands had carried away enemies, and they had carried away comrades.

"I just don't want to hand over my fate to others."

His voice was not loud, and could even be described as calm.

Chi Ri did not ask any further questions.

In the mist, the two figures remained silent, like two rocks facing each other across the water.

After a long while, the blazing sun moved slightly.

"I understand."

He stood up, the sound of rushing water filling the air. He draped a towel over his shoulder, his expression hidden by the blazing sun.

“When I worked with Sachi before, I did notice some details, but because there were too many things to do during the Battle of Tianguan Mountain, I forgot about them all.”

I'll tell you when I remember.

He stood up, the sound of rushing water filling the air. He draped a towel over his shoulder, his expression hidden by the blazing sun.

Yang Ming did not respond, nor did he try to stop him.

"By the way, you never told me in the end who this 'Miss Fenglu' that Bei Shang mentioned is to you?"

Yang Ming's face darkened instantly.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask!"

…………

"Tsk, I didn't expect this madman to actually care about other people's gossip." Yang Ming muttered to himself as he looked into the empty fog, then buried his face in the water again.

Now he's trapped in the Green, and until he finds a way back, nothing matters—not the Wind and Dew, not his business in Alola, not even the Pokémon and relationships he left behind in the modern world.

Therefore, Yang Ming decided to stop thinking about these things and focus all his energy on the "important matters" at hand.

Just then, the sound of light footsteps came from outside.

"Did you leave something here?" Yang Ming turned around impatiently. At this time, only Chi Ri Hui would be back.

But when he saw the other person clearly, he froze.

The sun that stands beyond the fog is not the blazing sun.

The person who arrived was a head shorter than Chi Ri, slender, with fair skin, and wrapped in a thin bath towel. It seemed that he had also come to soak in the hot spring.

"Miss Pearl Pearl?!"

Zhu Bei didn't move or make a sound. She stood at the edge of the mist, like someone who had stepped out of a dream he shouldn't have been in.

Yang Ming thought he might have been soaking in the bath for too long and was hallucinating. How could pearl shells possibly appear in a men's bath?

"What? Aren't you welcoming me?" Zhubei tilted her head. "This is a mixed-gender bathhouse, so there's nothing strange about me being here, is there?"

Yang Ming practically sprang out of the water, the movement so violent that it splashed water everywhere, before awkwardly retreating back inside, wrapped in a bath towel.

"Damn it, why didn't you say so sooner?!"

……

"It's so comfortable!"

Zhu Bei stretched out her body, soaking in the hot spring with a satisfied sigh. Steam climbed up her hair, condensing into fine droplets, and her cheeks quickly flushed a light pink.

Yang Ming stood frozen on the other side of the pool, his back pressed against the pool wall, looking just like a lobster cornered.

He stared intently at the pine wood grain on the opposite wall, as if it were engraved with some earth-shattering scripture.

—No, why would a mixed-use bathhouse be located in a pearl settlement?

—No, how could the pearl shell have gotten in there?

—That's not right, how did this person get here?

Three cars were racing side-by-side in his mind, and none of them could stop.

"you……"

"Ok?"

"How could you..."

"What's wrong with me?"

Yang Ming took a deep breath, turned his face to the side, and finally managed to fix his gaze on the water surface at least three meters away from Zhu Bei.

What are you doing here?

Zhu Bei rested her arms on the edge of the pool, gazing up at the sunlight filtering through the courtyard. Mist lingered on her jawline, making her seem to glow.

“Of course I came to see you,” Zhubei said. “Mr. Chiri is outside. He told me you were here.”

Yang Ming: "..."

So that person knew before they left.

Not only did they know, they deliberately kept quiet.

He closed his eyes and mentally cursed Chi Ri from head to toe, settling all the old scores before and after the battle at Tianguan Mountain.

“I’ve already heard from Sister Guana that it’s been ten days since I was controlled by the Deer,” Zhubei whispered. “If you hadn’t saved me, I probably would never have come back.”

Yang Ming remained silent. After living as "wild men" in the wild for a few days, he began to doubt that he had become detached from human society. Meanwhile, Zhu Bei, who had been hypnotized for ten days, not only did not eat, but was also unable to take a bath. For a girl who loved cleanliness, this was hellish torture.

The thought had barely crossed Yang Ming's mind when he noticed the water ripple slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her moving closer to him—no, she was just reaching for the wooden spoon on the edge of the pool.

He immediately looked away and continued to stare at the pine wood grain.

"What are you hiding from?"

Pearl's voice suddenly drew closer.

"I didn't dodge."

"Then why are you staring over there? Is that piece of wood over there more interesting than me?"

Yang Ming felt that his blood pressure was rising at an unhealthy rate.

“Miss Zhubei,” he tried to keep his tone steady, “even if this is a public bathhouse, I am a man and you are a woman, maintaining a distance of more than three meters between us is the most basic respect for each other.”

"But isn't a bathhouse a place for everyone to relax together?"

"That's not the right way to relax!"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a slight disturbance on the surface of the water.

Zhu Bei didn't come over, but she held out the wooden spoon and gently poked his shoulder with the handle.

"are you angry?"

Yang Ming closed his eyes.

"No."

"Then turn around."

"..."