Goomy

The taxi soon pulled up beside a magnificent building. The moment he stepped out, thunderous cheers could already be heard from outside the arena.

"You can hear it from this far away? How many people must be inside?!"

To be honest, it was Ye Lan's first time preparing to battle in front of so many spectators. It would have been a lie to say he was not nervous.

Still, there would be even more spectators at the provincial tournament, with full television coverage as well. This counted as getting used to it in advance.

Though it was called a battle arena, the building itself stood a full seven stories tall. Each floor was nearly the size of a standard stadium from his previous life. Ye Lan could hardly imagine just how wealthy the owner of Jindu Battle Arena was.

When he arrived at the reception desk in the first-floor lobby, the young receptionist spoke in a gentle voice. "Are you here to buy tickets to watch the matches, or to register as a participant?"

"Hello, my name is Ye Lan. I'm here to see Manager Lin."

There was no melodramatic scene from a wish-fulfillment novel. The staff at a battle arena like this all had excellent professional standards.

"Please wait a moment. I'll call to confirm."

Before long, a moderately built man in a tailored suit emerged from the elevator.

Not only did he sport a conspicuous slicked-back hairstyle, but unlike Liu Yan, Manager Lin came out of the elevator with a broad smile plastered across his face. He was clearly someone skilled at handling people.

"You're Ye Lan, right? Liu Yan already told me about your situation. Come with me first." Without waiting for Ye Lan's reply, he turned and led the way.

"Each floor of our battle arena serves a different group, ranging from professional Trainers down to intermediate Trainers. The second floor is for intermediate Trainer battles."

Manager Lin introduced the place as he walked ahead, soon bringing Ye Lan to a private office on the second floor.

"Have a seat."

After making Ye Lan a cup of tea, Manager Lin sat on the sofa opposite him. The smile on his face faded considerably.

Seeing this, Ye Lan understood that the warm introduction earlier had merely been politeness. Now they were getting to business.

"Our Jindu Battle Arena is the largest battle arena in Jindu and enjoys a certain reputation throughout the province. Although Liu Yan referred you here, so we won't charge you an entry fee, if you compete frequently and keep losing, even as the manager of the intermediate division, I'll be put in a difficult position."

"I won't make things difficult for you, Manager Lin. If that really happens, I'll leave on my own," Ye Lan replied calmly.

He was not angered by the other man's words, which seemed to look down on him. On the contrary, Ye Lan felt relieved by his attitude.

Even with his connection to Liu Yan, there was no reason for the man to help him unconditionally at the expense of his own work.

It was no easy matter to establish oneself in such a large battle arena.

If the other man had truly acted utterly selfless, Ye Lan would have suspected he had some ulterior motive.

Apparently satisfied with Ye Lan's answer, Manager Lin's smile returned. He reached beneath the table, took out a metal box, and pushed it toward Ye Lan.

"This is a wristband exclusively for members of our battle arena. Once it reads your membership card information, it'll notify you of your battle times. It will also display the items available for exchange with battle points."

"I've already arranged a room for you. Someone will take you there shortly."

After explaining everything, Manager Lin tactfully showed Ye Lan out of the office.

A staff member had already been waiting outside and led Ye Lan toward his room.

Along the way, the staff member treated Ye Lan with great respect. This made him realize that staying inside the battle arena likely required a certain level of authority.

He swiped his card through the slot on the door. With a ding, it opened, and the interior layout suited Ye Lan's tastes perfectly.

The overall decor was rather simple, but every necessary facility was present. There was even a display screen opposite the bed, currently showing matches being held on the second floor.

After briefly unpacking, Ye Lan dropped onto the bed and began examining the transparent smart wristband in his hand.

He put it on his wrist and lightly tapped it with his membership card. In an instant, an electronic synthesized voice sounded throughout the room, startling him.

[Member: Ye Lan. Card login successful!]

As particles of light spread from the wristband, they formed a display screen in front of Ye Lan.

As his finger moved, the projected interface moved with it, creating a series of interactive controls.

Ye Lan was amazed by the sight. He had not expected technology to have developed to this extent after Pokémon had integrated into the world.

"Found it!"

After studying it for a while, Ye Lan found the point exchange interface and began browsing through its items one by one.

"Fire Stone, Leaf Stone, Focus Sash... Oh? There's even a Moss Rock!"

The exchange list contained not only all kinds of items and Evolution stones, but also quite a few Pokémon Eggs from various starter Pokémon.

At the very bottom, one point could even be exchanged for 1,000 yuan.

However, almost no one would do that. At the battle arena, one point was worth nearly 2,500 yuan.

Each battle entry ticket cost around 1,500 yuan, varying according to the number of participants that day. It could be used continuously until the participant was defeated.

In the intermediate division, winning one match earned 0.5 points. In other words, three wins would earn back the entry fee, while the remaining points could be saved and used to exchange for rare items at prices lower than market value.

This was the core business model that kept drawing people to compete at the battle arena.

"This is... a Goomy Egg?!" As he continued browsing, Ye Lan saw a Pokémon Egg with a stock count of only one on the exchange list, and shock appeared on his face.

As the first form of Kalos's pseudo-legendary Goodra, it was practically incapable of fighting and was hailed as "the weakest Dragon-type Pokémon."

Yet after evolving into its final form, its strength increased dramatically. In particular, Hisuian Goodra was a dual Dragon- and Steel-type Pokémon. If it also had the Sap Sipper Ability, it would possess nine resistances and two immunities. Combined with its exceptional defenses and HP, it was absurdly tanky.

After Dynamaxing, Goodra's Defense would increase further, making it one of the few pseudo-legendaries suited to being a wall.

But in the XY&Z anime, Ash's Goodra first drew with Shota's Slurpuff. Since Slurpuff was a Fairy type and Dragon types were weak to Fairy types, that was barely acceptable.

Yet in its later battle against Alain's Bisharp, it was hit by Guillotine, a move with only 30% accuracy, and instantly knocked out in one blow, ending its League Conference run with the miserable record of one draw and one loss.

Combined with Goodra's rather unremarkable looks among pseudo-legendaries, it had once had very little presence.

Its strength, however, was still perfectly solid. That idiot Ash simply had no idea how to use it!

After counting the zeros following Goomy's price, Ye Lan swallowed.

Fortunately, he could not catch it anyway. Even if he exchanged for it, he could only sell it for money, so he quickly got over it.

It was definitely not because he simply could not afford it!

Besides Pokémon items and Pokémon Eggs, Pokémon food could also be exchanged through the wristband.

Half a point could cover a full day's meals. Snivy's food expenses had doubled again, though at least the food was unlimited for the day.

This was a benefit only members could enjoy.

After steadying himself, he prepared dinner for Snivy, took a shower, and lay down on the bed to rest.

Starting tomorrow, he would have far less time for free training. More of his time would be spent gaining practical experience through battles while earning points.

"Snivy, isn't it lonely training all by yourself? As long as you work hard in battle, you'll have a new companion soon!"

"Snivy?"

"You'll be the big sister before long!"

That was right. Ye Lan had set his sights on the Moss Rock in the exchange list. It was usually difficult to find on the market, unlike the far more common Leaf Stone.

The power radiated by a Moss Rock could not only assist Snivy's training, but also induce another Pokémon to evolve!

Thinking of how adorable his next Pokémon would be, Ye Lan was so excited that he kept tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

"Snivy~"

Snivy looked at Ye Lan wriggling nonstop on the bed and felt even more disdainful.

Trainers really were all jerks!