Pokémon: Join Team Rocket at the Beginning

"Turn around."

The lingering tone, soft and gentle, seemed to carry moisture into his ears. Yang Ming felt his ears burning at an uncontrollable speed.

He took a deep breath, finally tearing his face away from the pine wood grain and turning to Zhu Bei—then his gaze settled steadily on the air above her shoulders.

"Don't keep looking away," Zhu Bei scolded playfully. "I'm a girl who has already completed my coming-of-age ceremony, so of course I know the difference between men and women. Look, I'm wrapped in a bath towel."

"That's good, that's good." Yang Ming breathed a sigh of relief and only then dared to look her in the eye.

“I’ve already heard from that uncle named Chi Ri that you’re investigating the strange-horned deer, so I’d like to do my part as well.”

"I am, after all, the leader of the Pearl Team. Just tell me if you need anything, and I will do my best to help."

Yang Ming was somewhat surprised, not expecting this girl he had only known for a day to be so loyal, and his heart warmed instantly.

“Alright, since Chief Pearl has said so, then I won’t stand on ceremony,” Yang Ming said. “I hope the Pearl Team can cooperate with me in searching for that monstrous antler deer. Chi Ri and I didn’t pursue it before, partly because we didn’t have enough manpower, and partly because we are not locals of Xicui and are not familiar with the environment here. In order to prevent getting lost during the pursuit, we did not act rashly.”

“But your Pearl Team are locals, not only are there many of you, but you are also familiar with the environment. If you can send your team to conduct a thorough search of the pure white permafrost, you should be able to find something.”

"Of course, after all, several villagers have gone missing, and it is the Pearl Team's duty to find them."

Zhu Bei nodded vigorously, her wet hair brushing against her smooth shoulders: "Besides, we are very familiar with the mountains and caves in this area. Tomorrow morning I will gather some of the team's capable hunters and trackers to search for the traces of that monstrous deer."

Yang Ming nodded slightly: "Although that horned deer has been severely injured by me and Chi Ri, it should be unable to fight anymore. However, you should still be careful of its horns when you are tracking it. There are two eyes on those horns, which can hypnotize humans and Pokémon."

Yang Ming gave him a few more detailed instructions before he felt relieved.

"By the way, I'm new here and don't know much about this place. Could Chief Zhubei answer some of my questions?"

"Ask away, I'll answer you as long as I know the answer," Zhu Bei stretched out her legs, her fair little feet dangling in the pool, creating ripples. "But you always call me 'Chief Zhu Bei,' isn't that a bit too formal? Just call me Zhu Bei from now on."

Yang Ming didn't seem to care much about the form of address and simply nodded in agreement, "Okay, Zhubei."

He sat down on the edge of the bath, maintaining a proper distance, his gaze fixed on the rising steam in the water, his expression becoming serious: "I wonder if your Pearl Team has ever seen a kind of stone slab with some incomprehensible writing on it."

As Yang Ming spoke, he gestured to indicate the size of the Arceus Slab.

“Stone slabs… yes, there are. There are seventeen stone slabs in total, and each one is a different color. However, I heard that there are no words on the stone slabs.” Zhu Bei said without hesitation.

"I see..."

Yang Ming pondered to himself that, judging from the pearl shell's words, the stone tablets of Arceus during the Washing Green period should not have been broken. Each stone tablet was intact, and there was no situation like in modern times where stone tablets are broken into thousands of fragments, and each fragment turns into a "stone tablet".

Furthermore, the stone slabs from the Washing Green era have no inscriptions, which is different from modern stone slabs. Could it be that these inscriptions were added later?

The only thing that remains the same as in modern times is the eighteenth stone slab—the Clear Stone Slab—which also disappeared during the Washing Jade Era.

"So where are these stone slabs now? I didn't see them in the Pearl Settlement." Yang Ming pressed.

"These stone tablets have all been sent to Team Galactic in Obsidian Plains. I heard that an old man named Magamu wants to study them," Zhubei replied. "I also heard that those stone tablets come from an even more ancient era and are related to the Sinnoh Grandmaster?"

"Great Master Sinnoh?"

“It’s Lord Palkia, the creator god who created the Emerald Garden,” a look of reverence appeared on Pearl’s face. “Our Pearl Team worships Lord Palkia. He governs space and is the creator of this land. And those stone tablets are said to be ancient relics that existed before Lord Palkia was born.”

Yang Ming's heart skipped a beat. In modern times, although the general public still knows very little about Arceus, at least the League's top brass and historians know about this 'thousand-armed god'. But in the era of the Green Wash, people seem to only know Palkia and Dialga. Even a powerful force like Team Pearl, its leader only knows of Palkia's existence.

"I heard there's an organization called the Vajra Team in Xicui. What do they believe in?"

"Dialga, the one Team Kong idolizes, the so-called 'Pokémon that controls time'?" Zhubei curled her lip, her tone carrying a hint of youthful defiance. "Those guys actually think time is more important than space, it's utterly stupid!"

"Besides, that King Kong team leader is a shady guy, he doesn't seem reliable at all, he's nowhere near as good as you!"

"Huh? Why are you suddenly competing with me?"

Zhu Bei raised her chin matter-of-factly, water droplets sliding down her jawline: "Because you look reliable, and you even saved me. You're both handsome and reliable. That guy named Gang Shi has no redeeming qualities other than being good-looking."

"You don't have to belittle him like that..." Yang Ming thought to himself.

“Oh right, I lost my flute after we went out this time,” Zhubei suddenly remembered something, her eyes dimming slightly. “That was the ‘Flute of Divine Harmony’ that Sister Guana gave me when I became the leader of the Pearl Team. It’s the symbol of the leader of the Pearl Team. How could I have lost it…”

"The Divine Flute?!" Yang Ming exclaimed excitedly. "Can you describe its exact shape to me?"

“It’s a white flute, about this long,” Zhubei gestured with her hand, about an arm’s length. “It has some wavy patterns engraved on it, which are said to be the mark left by Lord Palukia. When you play it, the sound will travel very far, as if it is echoing in space.”

"However, ordinary people cannot blow it, not even Sister Guana. Currently, I am the only one in the Pearl Team who can use it."