Kay began thinking carefully about the situation. Something didn't make sense; why hadn't Alakazam just teleported them straight to the tournament base? Why take the extra step with Exeggutor first?
After analyzing it for a few moments, Kay came to a possible answer.
'Maybe… the distance between the island and the tournament base is just too large,' he thought.
'Alakazam needed to save its Psychic-type energy and focus more. So instead of using all its power to teleport us directly, they first used Exeggutor to bring us to a closer location. Then Alakazam teleported us from there to the base.'
As Kay was thinking about this theory, a loud sound interrupted his thoughts. The big metal door in front of the players slowly began to open. Everyone turned their attention toward it.
From behind the door, a familiar figure appeared; the mysterious man wearing the Marowak mask.
He walked calmly toward the group of players. His steps were slow and confident. As he got closer, he began clapping his hands with a smile hidden behind the bone mask.
"Congratulations," the Marowak-masked man said in a deep voice. "You are the last players who survived those difficult games and made it through to this point."
Kay took a glance around him. Including himself, there were only ten players standing here.
That meant out of all the 36 players who started the tournament, only ten had made it to the fourth game. The competition was getting tougher.
The Marowak man continued, "As you are the best players remaining, the organizers of the tournament have decided to give you a gift."
When he said that, all the players stretched their necks slightly, showing their interest and curiosity. Their eyes widened, waiting eagerly for the reward to be revealed.
Kay knew from experience how useful gifts from the tournament organizers could be. In the previous game, the special reward had helped many players avoid elimination. So, this time, the gift might be even more valuable.
The Marowak man then added, "First, you should know that you will have four full days before the next game begins. During this time, your Pokémon will have the chance to rest and recover. They will be in their best shape when the next game starts."
He stopped speaking for a moment.
But Kay wasn't fooled. He knew that this little break wasn't the true gift. There had to be something more, something greater.
As the players began whispering to each other, curious and excited, the Marowak man cleared his throat and coughed to get their attention back. Everyone went silent.
Then he continued, "As for the gift... you will now have access to a special store. This store contains many rare and powerful items; items that can help you in the next stages of the tournament and can help your Pokémons improve further."
Just as he said that, one player raised his hand. "But… how are we supposed to buy anything? You took all our belongings when we first entered the tournament. We don't have any money."
The other players all nodded in agreement. Kay nodded as well, thinking the same thing. What was the point of a store if they had no money to spend?
The Marowak man answered calmly, "You cannot buy items in this store with real money. Instead, you will use a special currency called TentaDollar, the official currency of this tournament."
"Each one of you would receive a certain amount of TentaDollars that you can spend freely in the store," he added.
Then his voice became a bit more serious.
"But you must know that not everyone will receive the same amount. The number of TentaDollars you get depends on your performance and ranking. The higher your ranking, the more TentaDollars you will receive."
He then pointed above them at the large blank screen on the wall and said, "In a few minutes, your rankings will appear on the television above."
The players all looked up, waiting for the screen to light up. Tension and curiosity filled the air. Everyone wanted to know their ranking.
While all the players were waiting for the ranking to appear on the screen in front of them, the Marowak-masked man spoke again.
"You should know," he said, "that the ranking you'll see was chosen by the tournament organizers. They watched the performance of each one of you closely."
When Kay heard that, he nodded to himself. He had already guessed this before; there were people watching their actions during the games. But now it was confirmed.
Still, Kay also knew that there were moments when he couldn't be watched, like when he had entered Rotom's secret room.
That place was sealed off for a long time, so even the organizers might not have been able to see what happened inside. He kept that thought quietly in his mind.
A few minutes later, the screen above them turned on, and the rankings started to appear, one by one, from the lowest to the highest.
Kay's name showed up in sixth place.
The trainer of the powerful Scyther was ranked first.
The trainer of Cubone, Kay's target in the third game, was second.
Kay looked at the rankings calmly. "Being sixth out of the ten last players standing… that's not bad," he thought.
Then, beside each player's name, a new column appeared. There was a number next to a small golden octopus head symbol. Kay quickly realized what it meant.
"That must be the amount of TentaDollars each player gets, just like the Marowak man said."
He read the numbers carefully:
1st place received 5000 TentaDollars
2nd place got 3500 TentaDollars
3rd place had 2000 TentaDollars
Then the fourth place received 1500, and from there, the amount dropped by 100 for each rank.
Since Kay was in sixth place, the number written next to his name was 1300 TentaDollars.
The Marowak man spoke again. "The numbers shown next to your names are the amount of TentaDollars you will each receive. The octopus head symbol you see is the official mark of the TentaDollar currency."
As he finished speaking, several people wearing Cubone masks entered the room. Each of them was holding small cards that looked like credit or bank cards.
They started handing one to each player.
Kay accepted his card and looked at it closely. It was completely black with a shiny, golden octopus head in the top left corner. There were no numbers, no writing, nothing else on the surface.
'This doesn't look like a normal bank card at all,' Kay thought.
After everyone received their cards, the Marowak man continued, "The store will open tomorrow. Today, you should focus only on letting your Pokémons rest and recover."
He paused for a second, then added, "In about an hour, a group of doctors will come to check on your Pokémons."
Just before anyone could ask whether it would cost anything, he quickly added, "And yes, it's completely free."
Then he looked at the players and asked, "Any questions?"
But without giving anyone the chance to answer, he added, "No? Good. See you later."
And just like that, without waiting for any reactions or questions, the Marowak man turned around and walked through the big door he had entered from. The heavy door closed slowly behind him.
See you in the next chapter...
Drop some Power Stones to help me stay motivated...