Pokémon: Join Team Rocket at the Beginning

Chapter 859 Bei Shang's Concerns

"As expected..."

After a long silence, Bei Shang finally spoke again: "Actually, I had this concern before, but I didn't expect you to confirm it today."

"You asked me before if I had found a way back, and I said no, but that's not the truth. In fact, according to my investigation, as long as you can re-enter the spacetime rift, you can travel through it again."

"However, such time travel cannot guarantee that I can return to the original time and space—it cannot even guarantee that I will travel to the future."

Yang Ming listened quietly, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists.

"Do you think I really don't want to go back?" Bei Shang became agitated. "In Raven City, there is my most cherished younger brother, Nanxia, ​​and my most beloved Battle Metro. If I could really go back, why would I stay here?"

"Well, of course, Guana is very beautiful, and I'm also reluctant to part with the Pearl Team. If I had to choose between Guana and Nansha, it would be a really difficult decision."

Yang Ming paused, his previously serious expression instantly becoming subtle. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but ultimately chose to swallow his words—his gaze drifting uncontrollably elsewhere.

"That's why I'm afraid to go back. I'm afraid that after crossing the time rift, I won't see the Unova I know. I'm even more afraid that I won't be able to find the time rift to return to in that wrong timeline. I've already lost my brother and the Battle Metro. If I lose the entire Pearl Team as well, that would be too tragic..."

Yang Ming remained silent; the predicament he faced was actually the same as that of Bei Shang.

In the modern world, he has a career he has painstakingly built, and people and Pokémon that he values. Unlike Bei Shang, he only lived in Xi Cui for a few days and doesn't have any deep feelings for this era, so he is bound to go back.

But what if the day of departure really comes, and he travels through a time rift only to find that the familiar people and things no longer exist?

Yang Ming's heart sank.

"Alright, stop thinking about it," Bei Shang took a deep breath, raised his hand and patted Yang Ming's shoulder with a heavy pat, as if to convey a certain determination. "Thinking about this kind of thing is useless. We should focus on the task at hand and deal with other things later."

Yang Ming nodded vigorously.

The glacial steps were quiet. The two searched the area for a long time but found nothing unusual.

Just as the two were about to go back, a black object caught their attention.

"This is...blood!"

Yang Ming stepped forward. The bloodstain had already congealed, its dark red color standing out starkly against the backdrop of this snow-covered world.

Bei Shang immediately crouched down, gently touched the edge of the bloodstain with his fingertip, and then sniffed it: "At least a day has passed. Judging from the shape and extent of the splatter... the injured creature was quite large."

Yang Ming looked around. Besides their own footprints, there were scattered animal tracks on the snow, stretching towards the distant rocky cliffs. His heart suddenly raced: "Could it be... a monstrous deer?!"

He was naturally very concerned about the whereabouts of the horned deer he had injured yesterday.

Bei Shang didn't answer immediately. Instead, he followed the direction of the footprints a few steps and parted a clump of withered grass bent under the weight of snow. Beneath the grass, a few strands of grayish-brown hairs clung to the thorns, trembling slightly in the wind.

“It’s the color of a monstrous deer’s fur.” Bei Shang’s voice lowered. “The bloodstains started here and then went all the way over there.”

The two followed the trail of blood and finally arrived at a grove of trees.

"The bloodstains disappear here; it seems we're too late."

Yang Ming was somewhat unwilling. The strange-horned deer exuded an evil aura, and he dared not be careless until he witnessed its death.

"Wait, what's that?!"

Near the last bloodstain, there was a faint footprint, which was hard to spot without careful observation.

"These are human footprints. It seems someone rescued the horned deer before us."

Yang Ming's expression turned solemn. It seemed that his deduction yesterday was correct; someone was secretly controlling this strange-horned deer.

The two searched the surrounding area again, but found that there were no more clues, so they left.

When they returned to Pearl Village, the others had already returned. Pearl Shell saw them and hurriedly came to greet them: "You're finally back! We made a major discovery in the cave on the south side. The missing villagers and hunters have been found."

"Found them?!" Yang Ming and Bei Shang exclaimed almost simultaneously. "Are they still alive?"

Zhubei's expression was somewhat complicated: "They are alive, but they are still in a coma because they haven't eaten for several days. Sister Guana is arranging for people to take care of them. If you want to ask them questions, you may have to wait a few days."

"By the way, did you find anything on the glacial terraces?"

"We found traces of the monstrous deer's blood and suspicious human footprints," Bei Shang reported briefly, "but we were beaten to it and couldn't track it down."

“That’s a real shame,” Zhubei sighed. “I was hoping to get revenge on it.”

After a while, with the return of the last team, Pearl Team's search came to a temporary end.

"No, why did you bring all this stuff again?" Looking at the huge pile of cut-up wild Pokémon meat behind Chi Ri, Yang Ming didn't know what to say.

“It would be a waste to leave this meat in the wild,” Chi Ri said matter-of-factly. “Although a day has passed, the meat hasn’t spoiled in the snow and ice. Apart from some of the meat showing signs of being eaten by wild Pokémon, it looks pretty good overall. It’s good to bring it back to improve everyone’s meals.”

"This meat is covered in the stench of skunks and tank skunks, how can you eat this?"

"Don't worry, our Pearl Team has a special way of processing meat to get rid of the stench," a team member reassured him. "The pure white permafrost is different from the Red Lotus Wetlands. Food here is very precious. We are overjoyed to have such a large reserve of food."

Seeing that even the Pearl Team members had said so, Yang Ming naturally had no objections.

Over the next few days, Zhubei continued to organize a search of the pure white permafrost, but to no avail. The strange antlered deer seemed to have vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

The villagers who had been unconscious gradually woke up under Guana's careful care.

However, the villagers' descriptions of what happened before they lost consciousness were the same as Zhubei's: they lost consciousness the moment they saw the antlers of the monstrous deer, and there were no new clues.

The investigation has now reached a stalemate.