Chapter 71: Star Up! Ekans!
Professional-level battles cost ten thousand Pokédollars, Elite-level cost fifty thousand, Gym Leader-level cost one hundred thousand, Elite Four-level cost two hundred thousand, and Champion-level cost five hundred thousand.
That was Kenji's target.
As for the 66th floor and above, that was the Battle Tower Challenge.
To put it plainly, it was a win-streak challenge.
The entry fee for a single attempt was five million Pokédollars. For every win-streak milestone, there was a corresponding reward.
The 100-win reward was rumored to be a choice of one of three items: an S-Rank potential Pokémon egg, a Mega Bangle, or a random Mega Stone.
Any one of these three items was something money couldn't buy.
However, the difficulty of the Battle Tower Challenge was astonishing. In all the years since the tower was built, the number of people who had actually achieved a 100-win streak could be counted on one hand.
Kenji was interested, but with his current strength, going there would just be throwing money away. He could wait until his strength had increased before taking on the challenge.
Kenji took the elevator and went straight to the 38th floor.
When he got off, an electronic screen by the elevator bank indicated this was the "Elite-level 1v1 Battle Zone."
Battle types were divided into 1v1, 3v3, 6v6, and 6v6 Double Battles.
Seeing he was in the right place, Kenji walked inside.
He was immediately greeted by a staff member. Under their guidance, Kenji verified his identity, registered the Pokémon he would be using, and paid the fee. He was then led to a waiting area to be assigned a match.
Unsurprisingly, the Pokémon Kenji chose to deploy was Beedrill.
He had no choice. Right now, Beedrill was his only Pokémon to have reached the Elite-level. He had to rely on this one bug to carry the heavy burden of earning Gold.
As this was the place where 80% of Metropolis's trainers gathered, a match was arranged for him in no time.
Kenji went to his designated battlefield and took his position.
Although Beedrill was only level 54—decidedly average in the Elite bracket—its extremely high move proficiency, combined with its monstrously high base stats, allowed it to plow through the competition.
In just four hours, he had achieved a clean sweep of fourteen victories.
At fifty thousand Pokédollars per match, fourteen matches was 700,000 Pokédollars. It was a nice boost to Kenji's depleted wallet.
On top of that, thanks to the Gold from [Spoils of War], the fourteen battles had earned him 2,700 Gold and one [Chain Vest] component.
At this rate, he could earn a "little Neeko" every two days. A 4-Star Larvitar didn't seem like such a distant goal after all.
Not to mention, [Spoils of War] still had a chance to drop a "little Neeko" directly.
After so many battles, even though Kenji had the medical staff heal Beedrill a few times, the mental fatigue was unavoidable.
He left the Battle Tower and checked the time. It was getting late, so he headed back to the villa.
The next day, the tournament continued.
After yesterday's matches, the number of contestants had been sharply reduced to 122.
To Kenji's surprise, he was in the first group to battle today, which saved him the time of waiting around.
His opponent wasn't weak. The three Pokémon he sent out were Rhyhorn, Tauros, and Blastoise.
Of the three, only the Blastoise had reached the Elite-level.
Gyarados easily handled the first two Pokémon. As for the final Blastoise, Kenji sent out Beedrill and resolved the match with ease.
After finishing his match, Kenji didn't have time to stick around and watch the other battles. He left the colosseum immediately.
His destination was clear: he was heading straight for the academy's Breeding House.
Metropolis Academy had its own internal Breeding Houses, and they were even divided by type, with eighteen different facilities.
Kenji's destination, naturally, was the Poison-type Breeding House.
Though it was called a "Breeding House," each one was actually the size of a massive farm. The only difference was that instead of raising pigs or cows, they raised Pokémon.
"Welcome to the Poison Breeding House! What kind of Pokémon are you looking for? We have 90% of all Poison-types here, all with guaranteed potential."
A staff member enthusiastically greeted Kenji the moment he walked in.
Kenji touched his nose and coughed, asking, "By any chance... do you sell any Pokémon with no guaranteed potential?"
"Come again??" The staff member was stunned, not quite understanding what Kenji meant.
Logically, when a trainer picks a Pokémon, the most important factor is potential. The same resources invested in an F-Rank Pokémon versus a D-Rank one would yield completely different results.
But for Kenji, this logic didn't apply.
His goal on this trip wasn't to find a Pokémon to train; it was to find Star Up materials for Ekans.
The staff member, after a moment, finally seemed to understand. He nodded. "We do. Follow me."
The staffer led Kenji toward the back of the facility, asking him what kind of Pokémon he was looking for on the way.
Soon, they were deep inside the Breeding House.
"Right, this fenced-off area contains all the Pokémon with unqualified potential. Once they're past their infant stage, they'll be released into the wild far away from the city. If you want one, they're 25,000 Pokédollars each," the staffer said, pointing to an area enclosed by a chain-link fence.
Kenji's mouth twitched, feeling like the staffer's pricing was a subtle jab at him.
He paid it no mind and followed the staffer inside.
The area was full of Pokémon infants, so they weren't particularly aggressive. Still, for safety, the staff member released an Ariados to walk beside them.
Kenji scanned the area. The potentials were universally F-Rank, with the highest not exceeding D-Rank.
In the outside world, D-Rank potential was already considered acceptable and met the standard for being sold in a Pokémon shop.
But clearly, at Metropolis Academy, any Pokémon below C-Rank was not considered worth raising.
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