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If you had to describe Evergreen's current mood in three words, they would be: utterly fed up.
Most people will probably have experienced something like this at some point in their lives: when the first half of a carefully planned scheme goes smoothly, and you feel like everything is falling perfectly into place.
Then, for no apparent reason, the second half suddenly spirals out of control, leaving you confused and unable to fix it. You are forced to take things one step at a time.
That was exactly Evergreen's situation. In less than a week, he had gone from feeling full of confidence to feeling anxious when the hurricane rains began, and now he is gritting his teeth and muddying through one step at a time.
"Evergreen, can you get the research materials we need or not? It's already been fifteen days since you promised us."
A thin, white-haired old man in glasses snapped at Evergreen in dissatisfaction.
With his back to the old man, Evergreen struggled to suppress the urge to turn around and punch him. He took a few deep breaths, then turned back with a forced smile.
Like a customer service operator, he explained just how severe the current weather conditions were and assured the old man that his subordinates were doing everything they could to retrieve the items the higher-ups wanted from Oreburgh City.
Within the Hodgepodge Organization, even among the leadership, there were clear differences in seniority and status. Young leaders like Evergreen were seen by the older ones as nothing more than capable subordinates.
The old leader shot Evergreen a disdainful glance, turned away irritably, and, before leaving, mocked him for his poor preparation and criticized the quality of the temporary lodging.
Evergreen kept smiling until the old man left. Then he gestured for his subordinates to leave and shut the door behind them.
Evergreen put on his gloves and walked to a corner of the room, where he began hammering a punching bag with a furious barrage of blows. Unsatisfied, he started kicking it too.
"Have you lost your mind? Are you going to let me rest or not?!"
From the second floor, Mira threw down a plastic cup and leaned out of the window, her face still sleepy and groggy.
Evergreen ignored her and continued to vent his frustration on the punching bag. After washing quickly, Mira jumped down from the second floor. Watching Evergreen grind his teeth in anger, she yawned.
"They made more demands again?"
Evergreen shot her a look, ripped off his gloves, and threw them to the ground.
"Why don't these old fossils just die already?!"
"They want the best of everything. Do they think this is their own home?"
"Do they even realize how hard it is to transport the items on their list in this weather? One mistake and the Pokémon League's watchdogs will be all over us. What on earth are they thinking?!"
Mira shrugged.
"There's nothing we can do. They're stuck here with nowhere to go until the meeting ends. They arrived in the first group and have been bored out of their minds ever since. With nothing to do, of course they'll complain. Taking it out on you is only natural."
"Whose side are you on?!" Evergreen roared in frustration.
Mira didn't care. "Obviously yours. I'm just analyzing their mindset for you. Let them carry on as they are for a few more days. Once the hurricane has passed and the meeting has started, they won't matter anymore."
Her words finally eased Evergreen's mood a little. He understood that those who aimed to achieve great things had to endure. Besides, there was no point arguing with people who would soon be dead.
Although the plan had been delayed, the decision to hold the meeting remained unchanged, which reassured Evergreen.
With all the leaders gathered at this base, a new chapter for the Hodgepodge organization was about to begin.
Evergreen sat down to calm himself and noticed Mira opening a webpage on her computer and searching for information about a tournament. Curious, he leaned over to take a look.
"The round of 32 advancing to 16 starts tomorrow. Do you think Luther can keep advancing?" Mira asked with a smile.
Evergreen felt a wave of disgust the moment he heard the name Luther.
Stuck inside the underground base, he didn't have many ways to pass the time. Fortunately, the tournament had just begun, so he had been watching the matches.
Evergreen had been hoping from the preliminary rounds onwards that Luther would be eliminated as soon as possible. He was eager to see Luther leave in defeat, completely dejected.
But instead, Luther rode a smooth wave of momentum all the way through the preliminaries. For some inexplicable reason, he even became a popular contender.
Opening the forum discussion boards and seeing thread after thread praising Luther made Evergreen feel deeply uncomfortable.
"He's nothing special. If I went up there, I could do the same. And don't be fooled; he may look like an honest Pokémon Trainer on the surface, but he's disgusting behind the scenes."
Evergreen didn't dare say too much himself. To avoid being recognized, he had members of the Hodgepodge Organization send out those comments for him.
Originally, he wanted to see if anyone else disliked Luther as much as he did. However, after logging in with another account, he found that his previous comment had already received dozens of replies.
Some people sarcastically suggested pinning his comment to show their appreciation.
Others mockingly suggested deleting it.
The replies were filled with passive-aggressive ridicule, tearing Evergreen to shreds. Despite forum rules prohibiting direct personal attacks, netizens still "politely" sent their regards to Evergreen's non-existent family.
From that moment on, Evergreen never opened Luther's discussion thread again and stopped checking the tournament forums altogether.
"Feeling jealous?" Mira asked.
Evergreen snorted disdainfully. "Me? Jealous of Luther?"
"A beautiful girlfriend and decent luck, he caught Cynthia's attention and has gradually built a reputation. Now he's one of the most talked-about contestants in this tournament. After it ends, he'll probably gain some recognition across the Sinnoh region and maybe even have a shot at entering the higher ranks of the Pokémon League. No matter how you look at it, Luther's already a winner in life. If it were me, I'd be jealous too," Mira shrugged.
Evergreen let out a cold laugh. "You don't actually think my strength is inferior to Luther's, do you?"
"If you were stronger than Luther, you wouldn't have joined the Hodgepodge Organization and ended up like this. The reason the Pokémon League rejected you was simple: you were too weak to train."
"You are jealous of Luther. You're jealous because he's more successful than you. He chose the right path. He has everything you don't have, and you can no longer hope to obtain it."
"Compared to him, we're just maggots crawling in the dark, scheming in places where the light can't reach. He's like a rising sun, so dazzling that we can't look at him directly. We can't raise our heads to face him, so we lower them and use our mouths to belittle him. That's how we find comfort, how we convince ourselves that we're still human and reassure ourselves that even maggots have a future."
Evergreen suddenly grabbed Mira by the collar, glaring at her viciously.
Everyone has things they don't want to talk about, like wounds. The moment they're exposed, even the slightest touch can make them bleed again.
But Mira was immune to his glare. Her eyes were filled with mockery.
"You're panicking. Which means I'm right."
"We're both maggots that can't stand in the light. You hate him because he's better, luckier, and stronger than you."
Evergreen's lips trembled and the muscles in his face twitched constantly. It was clear that he was struggling to suppress his emotions.
"Get out!"
He released Mira's collar and flung his hand towards the door.
Mira let out a cold chuckle and walked out with her laptop.
Evergreen, left behind, put his gloves back on and continued pounding the punching bag as if fighting an endless battle.
(End of Chapter)
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