Maria's eyes widened slightly. "You?" she said. "You're the first rookie? You don't look like much."
Outwardly, her expression was dismissive. Internally, she reassessed him.
Talented. Decent face. Carries himself too casually.Her gaze hardened. Still a pervert.
Alex showed no reaction to the insult. "That's unfortunate," he said evenly. "Being underestimated usually leads to disappointment."
Maria scoffed.
Alex continued, "Let's settle it properly. We'll bet on the rookie tournament. Stakes can be discussed."
She raised an eyebrow. "And what do you want if you win?"
"A date."
Her expression turned cold instantly. "A date?" she snapped. "Why would I agree to something like that? Do you think I'm stupid?"
Alex didn't flinch. "You're misunderstanding. I'm not proposing anything intimate. Just time. One day. Public. No contact unless permitted. I want the opportunity to correct your impression of me."
Maria laughed sharply. "You expect me to believe that? Men who talk like you usually know exactly what they're doing."
"That's fine," Alex replied. "You don't need to believe me. Just evaluate the risk."
She studied him for a moment longer than necessary.
Finally, she said, "If you win, fine. One date. If you lose, you owe me a favor."
Alex nodded. "Agreed."
Maria turned away, already losing interest. "Don't get ahead of yourself. You won't win."
His Zubat looks strong, she thought. But Ekans knows Rock Slide. And its growth rate is exceptional.She glanced at her Pokémon briefly. I just have to be careful not to expose too much. Attention from higher-ranked members would be troublesome.
"Good," Alex said. "Then the bet stands."
"See you in the tournament," Maria replied flatly.
She moved off with Ekans, quickly finding an empty training area and beginning her drills.
Alex watched her leave—not openly, not obsessively. His expression remained unchanged.
Something about her registered differently. Not affection. Not infatuation. Simply… interest. Sharp enough to linger.
After a short while, he turned away and headed toward the public dining hall.
Alex entered the public dining hall and was immediately greeted by Lars, who was currently surrounded by 3 rookies on the floor. The rookies had cuts all over their bodies, and blood was coming out of their ears.
Lars is a Team Rocket member because he conquered his Pokémon. Accordingly, he is a rank higher than the rookies who do not have a Pokémon yet. So he has the right to attack the rookies as long as he has a justifiable reason. Of course, if Instructor Lisa finds the reason to be insufficient, she can carry out a directed punishment. That is why Team Rocket members with a high rank do not usually do this unless it is worth the risk.
The public dining hall has CCTV cameras everywhere so that you can easily find out who made the first move. Only idiots or people who do not know the rules would cause trouble here.
Alex asked, "Hey, what happened here?"
Lars replied angrily, "These fukers dared to threaten me with my mother. Fortunately, these idiots did that in this room. Otherwise, I can hardly justify killing them."
Alex, who saw a corpse for the first time, had a hard time not throwing up. But he managed to suppress it. Alex thought about different things, like if it was such a smart idea to join Team Rocket. But he quickly dismissed this thought. Sooner or later, he must be able to kill, too. If he is not able to kill, it will not be long before he is dead. Especially in an organization like Team Rocket. Although he thought that after his first murder, he would be emotionally wounded, he has to do it. But he didn't want to think about these things anymore at this moment.
Then instructor Lisa came along with Team Rocket soldiers. She had the Team Rocket soldiers dispose of the bodies and called a couple of Team Rocket Lackey to clean up the place.
After that, she grabbed lars and brought him out of the public dining hall like a prisoner. Probably investigating whether Lars was the active party in this incident.
Alex looked confused in the direction where Lars was being pulled and thought, "Within a few minutes, I fell for someone first time in my life and saw a corpse. After I signed up for Team Rocket, only crazy things are happening."