Back to the Sand Group Dungeon.
Baimu was called to meet Cang Zhilang, the leader of the Sand Group.
He thought he was in for another beating, but once there, he saw the leader working out hard, with muscles that were comparable to Machamp and skilled builders. While lifting, he told Baimu that all previous promises had been fulfilled, and asked if he had thought about who to partner with.
Baimu said with Liu Ge.
And then he got kicked out.
Baimu was a bit confused. Was Liu Ge really that trustworthy? Didn't even use any pua talk techniques.
Oh well.
Who likes getting beaten for no reason?
Once outside, Baimu headed to the surface and visited the hospital to see Otsuka, who had just had surgery, and coincidentally saw his parents and sister outside the patient room.
Obviously, they didn't recognize him, so he just glanced inside a few times, saw Otsuka wrapped like a mummy, noted that the monitors showed no major issues, and then left.
Then he went back home.
Baimu released Lairon and Chansey to let them move freely and went to check his little safe.
In preparation for today's competition, his little safe shrunk considerably, leaving less than thirty thousand. Fortunately, the competition was a big hit; the money he had already gotten was three million.
"...I better keep this money on me, just in case."
He thought that keeping a large sum of money at home was too risky, especially with his name being known after the event, and he couldn't rule out a thief targeting him.
—— There are people in Pyrite Town who would risk anything for money.
Deposit it in the bank?
That didn't seem very reliable.
Baimu knew well that although Pyrite Town's only private bank was owned by the mayor, it often lacked credibility. Few underlings with any clout would take chances depositing money there.
However, the average townspeople were quite happy to entrust their money to the mayor for management.
In the end, it was better to keep it on him, or entrust someone to deposit it in the Pokémon Bank in Silicon City. That place was a bit more reliable, as the bank was run by people from other regions and was globally networked for easy access.
He found a place to store it and thought that once things settled down, he would seek out the third Pokémon to strengthen his team.
Suddenly.
"Grump!"
Lairon hurried into the bedroom, making a muffled sound to him.
Baimu, startled, asked, "What's wrong?"
Just as he spoke, Chansey walked in from outside, looking a bit shy, holding a large, smooth egg with its tiny hands.
Baimu's eyes widened, and he stammered, "You laid an egg!? No wait, is this your egg? Or, did you take this out from your tummy?"
"Lucky~"
Chansey nodded, placing the egg on the bed, looking happily at Baimu and Lairon.
This was a nutritious egg from its deep pink pouch. If its spirit was full and at its best, it could produce several a day, making them very nutritious and suitable for both humans and Pokémon.
Truth be told,
Chansey hadn't shared its eggs for a long time, not out of stinginess but because it knew that if it gave away the one it was holding, it wouldn't be able to make more.
Even Chansey couldn't explain why, but it had such a premonition.
But just now, Chansey realized it could lay eggs again, and upon initial attempts, found it to be true.
Regrettably, this scared a clueless Lairon out of its wits.
After communicating, Baimu explained Chansey's special ability to Lairon.
The latter breathed a sigh of relief, "Grump!"
It thought Chansey was going to have a baby, which scared the elf.
However, nutritious eggs... apparently, someone mentioned being malnourished and needing nourishment?
Lairon went to the bedside, sniffed the egg, and found its aroma enticing, different from other eggs it had seen, evoking a sense of "edible".
"Gru!"
It swallowed in anticipation.
Seeing this, Chansey immediately placed the egg in front of Lairon, indicating for it to eat.
Lairon eagerly opened its mouth, but just as it was about to eat, it held back and nudged the egg towards Baimu.
Good things are meant to be shared.
It was not one to hog food.
After some thought, Baimu smiled and proposed, "Let's not be polite. Since it's Chansey's kind gesture, let's fry it up later and we'll all share it."
"Grump!"
Lairon nodded, agreeing to share.
To their surprise, Chansey, thinking the eggs were insufficient, quickly pulled two more out from its pouch and placed them with the first one.
The production process was extremely magical, as the large eggs plumped up and formed in minutes.
Seeing Chansey still pulling out more, Baimu quickly intervened.
"Stop! That's enough! One each is plenty!"
While Chansey could lay eggs, it wasn't without cost, and such large eggs might not be finished all at once, which would be wasteful.
"Lucky!"
Chansey scratched its head shyly, realizing it had gotten a bit too excited.
Baimu picked up the three eggs, feeling elated.
When he first bought Chansey, he had contemplated this, considering that Lairon needed nourishment then.
But since Chansey hadn't given any, he just assumed it was not comfortable enough with him and left it at that.
Now, less than a week later,
his goal was achieved.
Baimu couldn't help but feel joyous, even more than getting his three million.
He lit the fire, heated the pan and poured in the oil.
While cooking, he chattered with the two Pokémon crowding around, "How well done do you like your eggs? Want some soft-boiled ones? I'm telling you, you can't mess up fried eggs even with your eyes closed—"
Ding dong!
The doorbell rang.
Three pairs of eyes simultaneously looked toward the door.
Baimu turned off the fire, went to the door, and peeked through the peephole, seeing a stranger—the insignia on their chest indicating a squad leader from the Sand Group.
"May I help you?"
He opened the door and asked with some confusion.
"Do you have a moment?" the person asked directly. "Prize money from the competition, the bonus shares, and squad leader-level benefits can all be claimed at the headquarters building. I came to inform you to go as soon as possible."
"Ah! Thank you!"
Baimu quickly expressed gratitude, taking out thirty thousand from his pocket with a smile and offering it, "Just a small token of appreciation for your trouble."
The person didn't even glance at it and said, "I'm also with Brother Liu Ge, no need. Our squad doesn't engage in these kinds of practices. Instead of that, how about lending a hand in future battles? I'll appreciate that more."
"Ah! My apologies!"
He retrieved the money, dashed back into the room to grab a nutritious egg, "Here, this is for you. It's nothing valuable, just a greeting gift."
"...Alright then."
The person looked at the nutritious egg, no longer refusing, and accepted it. "By the way, you didn't recognize me?"
Baimu paused, looked closely, then realized, "You're the one who delivered the Vibrava to me—"
"Yes, my name is Flop, and from now on, we'll be colleagues under Brother Liu Ge. Let's keep in touch between our squads," Flop nodded with a smile and then turned to leave.
A rare touch of humanity.
Baimu always thought the world of formal members was cold, validated by his experiences over the past week.
Never expected to meet such a good person.
Is it because he's risen up?
With a higher status, are there more good people around?
Baimu shut the door, wiggled his way back into the kitchen, "Sorry, Chansey, Lairon, we'll just share these two among us—"
The sentence stopped abruptly.
For on the table, the missing egg had somehow been replaced.
He couldn't help but glance at Chansey, who bashfully smiled.
"Lucky~"
"Grump!"
Lairon's eyes bent with delight.
Baimu gave a helpless grin.
"Alright, you little sly one. Now back to the topic, speaking of these soft-boiled eggs, I have to mention the soy sauce. Though I haven't tasted it here in Pyrite Town, let me just tell you that…"
The rambling voice continued in the cozy little kitchen, under the soft warm yellow light, for quite some time.
Heartwarming warmth flowed through it all.