Yozora turned his head and saw a chubby boy, around twelve or thirteen, dressed head-to-toe in designer brands.
"How much are you buying for?" Yozora asked curiously.
"Fifteen hundred per token!" the boy declared with certainty.
Yozora blinked. Fifteen hundred per token?By the prize exchange rate, a single token was worth about a thousand.
This kid was actually buying them for fifteen hundred each—definitely throwing money around like it was nothing.
"How many do you want to buy?" Yozora pressed.
"All of them! However many you've got, I'll take them all!" the chubby boy puffed out his chest, putting on an air of extravagance.
With his brand-name outfit alone worth several million, Yozora guessed this kid had to be from a wealthy family.
"I don't get it," Yozora asked in puzzlement, "why are you buying up all these tokens? If you're really that rich, wouldn't it be easier to just buy the prizes directly from the mall? Everything here—including Pokémon Eggs—is for sale in the mall too."
The boy nodded slightly. "Yeah, most of them are. But look closely—see the first-place prize? That one isn't."
Yozora froze, turning to the prize list—
First Place Prize: Dratini Egg. Requires 100,000 tokens.
One hundred thousand tokens meant spending ten billion in the mall to acquire them. A Dratini Egg with Champion potential usually went for about one billion at market value.
But even then, there was no guarantee of availability.
Indeed, the mall didn't sell Dratini Eggs outright.
At this realization, Yozora couldn't help but chuckle.
This mall owner was sly—putting a Dratini Egg in the prize corner.
At fifteen hundred per token, a hundred thousand tokens would mean spending 1.5 billion. This rich kid's family clearly had deep pockets, and he was determined to get his hands on that Dratini Egg no matter the cost.
"To exchange for the Dratini Egg, you'll need a hundred thousand tokens. How many have you got right now?" Yozora asked.
The boy hesitated, glancing at him cautiously before replying, "A little over twenty thousand."
Yozora was taken aback. "That's still a long way off, isn't it?"
"Mind your own business. I'll collect them slowly—sooner or later I'll have enough."
The chubby boy rolled his eyes at him. "Anyway, enough about me. How many tokens do you have right now?"
"Over two thousand," Yozora answered truthfully.
The boy nodded. "Good. I'll take them all."
"No."
Yozora shook his head. "If I sell you everything, I won't be able to battle here anymore. I'm not done having fun yet. I'll sell you a thousand for now. When I'm ready to leave, I'll sell the rest."
"Deal!" The boy nodded eagerly, thrilled that Yozora would keep earning tokens for him.
Soon, the transaction was complete. Yozora's tokens dropped by a thousand, while his account balance shot up by 1.5 million.
Tch tch, money really was easy to make this way.
Unfortunately, his dream of reaching a hundred million was still far, far away.
That night, Yozora found a hotel near the department store. Early the next morning, he headed back again.
Like the seasoned gamblers, he didn't spend a cent on the lower floors, heading straight for the top level.
For three straight days, Yozora lingered on the top floor. Using Honedge in every battle, he won almost all of them, only losing twice—and those were because Honedge ran out of stamina.
Through this nonstop training, Honedge finally evolved into Doublade on the third evening.
[Pokémon]: Doublade[Type]: Steel + Ghost[Abilities]: No Guard + Huge Power + Light Metal[Level]: Commander-tier (Initial Stage)[Potential]: Pseudo-legendary[Moves]: Shadow Sneak, Aerial Ace, Night Slash, Sacred Sword, Swords Dance, Iron Defense, Autotomize, Metal Sound
[Description]: A pseudo-king Pokémon. Before unsheathing, it possesses strong defense; once unsheathed, it wields overwhelming offense. By absorbing the power of darkness, it will one day ascend into a true King Pokémon.
After evolving, Doublade didn't change much—except that one sword became two.
The blades crossed each other, with a small shield strapped to their backs to hold the scabbards together. Of course, the shield could only hold the sheaths. Once drawn, both blades could move freely.
Each sword hilt had a ribbon tied to it.
Honedge's ribbon was blue. After evolving, Doublade's ribbons had turned purple.
These ribbons were, in fact, their arms.
Honedge had only one ribbon, one arm.
Doublade had two ribbons, two arms.
When unsheathed, those ribbons would carry the scabbards around, ready to sheathe at any time.
After evolving, Doublade had reached the Commander-tier's initial stage, becoming Yozora's second-strongest Pokémon, just behind Beedrill.
And with only a Dusk Stone, it could evolve once more into the true King Pokémon—Aegislash.
Yozora already had a mid-grade Dusk Stone prepared, but there was no rush.
For now, Doublade needed more training.
On the fourth day, Yozora returned to the top floor of the department store. With Doublade, sweeping through opponents was almost effortless.
Not only had its strength and endurance increased, but even Sacred Sword could be used repeatedly without overtaxing it.
By the fifth day, Yozora practically had no opponents left.
He had become infamous.
Everyone knew about his unbeatable Doublade. Nobody dared challenge him anymore.
That afternoon, after lunch, Yozora returned to the top floor one last time. He was planning to leave soon anyway.
But before leaving, he needed to settle his tokens.
He was just about to look for the chubby boy to trade with when he unexpectedly ran into a very familiar figure—
"Finish it off, sweetheart! Use Take Down!"
The flamboyant voice caught Yozora's attention. He turned and saw an Arcanine pouncing on its opponent's Pokémon, knocking it down and winning the battle.
"Gary Oak?" Yozora froze.
Handsome features, tall build, flamboyant tone—who else but Gary, the Arcanine's Trainer?
"Hahaha! You're way too weak! Challenging me? You're a million years too early!" Gary laughed loudly after his win, pointing at his opponent and scolding him mercilessly.
The very picture of a spoiled young master flaunting himself.
"Gary, Gary, he's the best! Gary, Gary, he's the strongest!"
Behind him, his squad of cheerleaders began their performance. The defeated Trainer collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he questioned his very existence.
"Tch, useless. Get off the stage and make room for my next prey!" Gary sneered, then quickly spotted Yozora standing not far away.
"Yozora? You're here too? Perfect—battle me!" Gary called out excitedly.
From childhood until now, Gary had never once beaten Yozora. Yet every time he challenged him, he brimmed with confidence, convinced that this would finally be the time.
This time was no exception.
Judging from the eager grin on his face, he was already dreaming of thrashing Yozora.
Even though, without fail, it was always him who got thrashed instead.
Yozora chuckled and walked forward. He had just been worrying about the lack of opponents to earn tokens from, and here Gary showed up. Truly, the heavens were looking out for him.
"Yozora, I don't care how many tokens you've got. You definitely don't have as many as me. So let's go all-in!"
"We'll battle three-on-three! Each side gets one switch during the match. And of course—your Beedrill is banned!" Gary rattled off the rules in one breath.
He didn't forget to add that last restriction.
After all, he'd been stomped by Beedrill his whole life. He knew perfectly well just how terrifying Beedrill was.
"Three-on-three? No problem!" Yozora nodded. He had half-expected Gary to demand a full six-on-six battle.
That would have been a bit troublesome. Machop and Geodude weren't battle-ready yet, and Magikarp was a nonstarter.
If it really had been six-on-six without Beedrill, Yozora might even have needed to swap out some Pokémon.
But three-on-three? That was no issue at all.
Whether it was Golduck, Doublade, or Pidgeot, any of them had the strength to hold their own.
"Go Yozora! You can do it! That guy's sitting on more than ten thousand tokens—win them all from him!"
From the sidelines, the chubby boy cheered excitedly.
Yozora twitched at the corner of his mouth, turning to look at Gary with a wry expression.
Over ten thousand tokens… That meant Gary had blown through over a billion in one go.
Damn it… I knew this guy was rich, but this is just insane…
Yozora couldn't help a pang of envy. But Gary stood there, full of swagger, utterly unconcerned.
"Alright, Yozora, the match starts now! My first sweetheart is Arcanine. Send out your Pokémon!"
Arrogant as always—even in such a high-stakes battle, Gary revealed his first Pokémon without hesitation.
That was basically handing Yozora a counter for free.
[Arcanine]: Senior Peak Stage. Potential: Quasi–Elite Four.
One glance at Arcanine's stats, and Yozora's heart skipped a beat. Not bad, Gary. You really do have some firepower.
Elite peak, with condensed aura—this was a true peak Elite, no exaggeration.
Gary wasn't just some spoiled rich kid. He had both money and strength.
"But since you're handing me a counter, don't blame me for taking advantage." Yozora smirked and tossed out a Poké Ball.
"Golduck, let's go!"
"Golduck!"
The stylish, shiny Golduck appeared in a flash of light. Its rare coloration and sharp look instantly drew gasps from the crowd.
"Whoa—a shiny Golduck?!"
The entire audience buzzed in shock. Even Gary's pupils contracted as he stared at Yozora, a flash of envy crossing his eyes.
He was rich—filthy rich—but shiny Pokémon couldn't be bought with money alone.
(End of Chapter)