Chapter 14: Crushed Hopes and Unspoken Rules

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Sato put on his new recruit uniform and neatly arranged the three sets of uniforms on his bed. Before leaving, he took a last look at this room, which marked the starting point of his journey as a trainer, then pushed the door open and stepped out.

As soon as Sato exited his room, his striking Rocket Team recruit uniform immediately caught the attention of other recruits walking in the hallway. They all wore expressions of shock and envy.

"You—you've already captured a Pokémon? What's your starter Pokémon?" a male Rocket Team recruit approached, looking dazed as he asked Sato, his eyes filled with disbelief.

After the male recruit asked his question, the other Rocket Team recruits in the hallway looked at Sato with eager expressions, hoping for a satisfactory answer.

"Yes, as you can see, I've officially advanced to a Rocket Team Grunt. As for my starter Pokémon, it's a Zubat," Sato answered candidly, without hiding anything in response to their simple questions.

"A Zubat, huh? Bro, my chosen Pokémon is also a Zubat! Can you tell me how you captured it? Please!"

"My starter Pokémon is also a Zubat. Please tell me how you captured yours!"

Upon hearing that Sato's starter Pokémon was a Zubat, two nearby Rocket Team recruits showed expressions of delight and immediately approached him, looking at Sato with flattering faces.

Unfortunately, in response to the flattery from these two men, who were obviously several years older than him, Sato's expression remained unchanged, maintaining his usual poker face.

"Sure, I can tell you, but what are you willing to pay for that information?" Sato replied expressionlessly.

As soon as he said this, the flattery on the faces of the two male recruits vanished, replaced by a hint of annoyance as they glared at Sato. However, they didn't say anything and silently stepped aside.

Seeing the change in their expressions, Sato shook his head internally, choosing not to say anything, and continued walking toward the stairs.

"Come on, we're all recruits from the same batch; we should help each other out. Please help us!" At that moment, a tall and sturdy male Rocket Team recruit blocked Sato's path, looking at him with a sheepish smile.

Meanwhile, some other Rocket Team recruits behind Sato skillfully surrounded him, cutting off his escape route. Among them, the two male recruits who had asked Sato for help with capturing Zubat wore sly smiles.

"Heh, you think just because I've recently captured a Pokémon, I'm easy to bully, huh? Don't make me say it again. Step aside. I'm your superior now, and if you dare offend me, I have the right to deal with you," Sato said, a faint cold smile appearing on his face as he observed their actions.

In the next moment, Sato opened the Poké Ball he had been holding, releasing the Zubat inside.

A beam of white light shot up into the air from the opened Poké Ball. When the light faded, Zubat flew into the air and obediently landed on Sato's right shoulder.

Seeing Sato's words and watching the Zubat land so submissively on him, the recruits surrounding Sato immediately showed panic on their faces. They had long witnessed the power of Pokémon, which was not something they could match with mere human strength.

The tall male Rocket Team recruit who had stepped forward was now sweating profusely. Initially, he hadn't perceived Sato as a threat due to his slender build, but when their eyes met, with Sato's chillingly calm gaze, the tall recruit suddenly felt like a clown.

Seeing that the tall recruit seemed intimidated by Zubat, Sato gently patted the Pokémon on his shoulder and stepped past the recruit, who stood frozen like a sweating statue, continuing toward the stairs.

"Thud!" The moment Sato walked past him, the recruit surprisingly knelt down before Sato.

"I beg you, please help me! My starter Pokémon is an Ekans, and those damn guys have tricked me out of all of my points! I really have no way out; I don't want to be a janitor or the like! Please, help me!" The tall recruit pleaded as he knelt before Sato.

Sato was taken aback by the recruit's actions, and the other Rocket Team members present showed expressions of frustration and helplessness.

Clearly, many of the new recruits were sharp enough to seek help from the veterans, but it was also evident that most had not chosen to capture Pokémon through their own efforts like Sato; instead, they wanted to rely entirely on outside help. In the end, they were tricked by the seasoned veterans who sat comfortably in their positions, losing their precious points in various deceitful ways.

The outcome for those who lost their points was naturally tragic. After losing such a crucial resource, their chances of capturing a Pokémon plummeted to nearly zero.

"I sympathize with your plight, but I'm really sorry. I'm just a new recruit who has only just advanced. I can't possibly break the unspoken rules for you. If you want help, you must pay the price; you know that very well. Why make this difficult for me?" Sato shot a deep glance at the tall male recruit, said this, and turned to walk down the stairs.

Rules are essential, and this new recruit test clearly had it's own regulations. Although not explicitly stated, Sato, with his rich life experience from his past, understood the unspoken rules all too well.

This recruit test was a feast, specifically designed not only to reward the veterans with points, but also to weed out the careless and unsuitable newcomers who were essentially mere sacrifices in this banquet. This organisation had a dog eat dog environment and nobody would go out of their way to look out for you, especially since most people made it here through their own efforts and hard work.

Now that Sato had advanced to become an official member of the Rocket Team, he automatically qualified to participate in this feast, meaning he had to adhere to it's rules. Otherwise, he would inevitably face hostility from other Rocket Team members who were also a part of this feast.

After all, cutting off someone's means of making a living is akin to killing their parents—it's a serious offense. Sato, who was just starting on the path of a trainer, could not afford to make such a careless mistake, and beyond a hint of sympathy, he felt more disdain toward these recruits who were strangers to him.

What did this minor setback even amount to? It wasn't as if he had hit rock bottom in life, lost a loved one, or been pushed into a dead end; he was merely assigned to menial work, not completely without hope.

Upon hearing Sato's response, the tall male recruit showed a hint of shame and deep despair on his face. As he watched Sato walk away, he opened his mouth to speak, but by the time Sato disappeared at the stairwell, he had not uttered a word.

This was no one else's fault; if blame were to be assigned, it was due to his own naivety. How could the Rocket Team be a charitable organization?

In this environment of the survival of the fittest, not a single individual who survived was simple-minded. Those naive recruits had already perished under the harsh system of the Rocket Team.