Reiji was only there to watch the matches for fun. He had no interest in fighting for some meaningless title like "strongest of a given type," so he headed over to the open-match section instead. You could bet on those matches too.
Unfortunately, he couldn't bet on himself. The organizers had probably closed that loophole to stop strong trainers from wrecking the system. He could still ask someone else to place the bet for him, but that would require a partner he could trust. Right now, he didn't have one.
In truth, betting was allowed in the first three formats too, especially the ring-defense matches and the strongest-type challenge. The longer someone's win streak got, the higher the odds climbed.
Still, Reiji hadn't come here to make money. He only wanted to test Croagunk, Golbat, and Marshtomp first. Gengar was out of the question. A hidden trump card was supposed to stay hidden.
Since this place operated outside the law, he was still unsure whether to let Marshtomp fight at all. A starter Pokémon drew attention. If someone took notice, that could turn into trouble fast.
Better to deal with that if it happened. Thinking too far ahead wouldn't help. More than anything, he wanted Croagunk to get some real combat experience. It was close to evolving, and so was Hanhan. Both of them looked ready within the next few days.
At first, though, he couldn't quite figure out how the "open matches" worked. After watching for a while, he finally understood.
The rule was simple: there weren't any.
Any trainer who wanted a fight could step up. The referee worked for the organizers. The battle format was crude—both sides sent out a Pokémon, both attacked, and the match went on until one trainer admitted defeat. Recalling your Pokémon in the middle counted as surrender too.
The organizers never entered the arena themselves, no matter the format. But they controlled the board, set the odds, and took their cut either way. No matter what happened, the house didn't lose.
The open-match area only had two battlefields. It had clearly been set up as a side attraction, a place for trainers to fight for fun.
There were plenty of arenas like this on the ship's open-air decks above. Down here, though, it wasn't the main draw. People could still bet on these matches, but the money probably didn't compare to the bigger events.
After watching several bouts, Reiji noticed one field sitting empty. No one was stepping up to challenge. He turned to one of the masked men beside him, held out a cigarette, and asked, "Smoke?"
"No." The man looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Who casually struck up conversations down here?
Reiji lowered the cigarette and asked, "I've been watching for a while. That guy's offering one million Pokédollars a match, so why isn't anyone taking him up on it?"
"Oh, that." The masked man gave a quiet snort. "He's one of the local rich brats. Has some connection to the people running this black market. Even if he loses, he refuses to pay. Ordinary trainers don't dare mess with him."
Reiji blinked. "Seriously? And nobody stops him?"
"He only pulls that stunt here. Get burned once and you learn. Just stay away from them. Over at the fight tournament, the sponsor matches, and the strongest-type challenge, he doesn't dare try anything. He behaves himself there."
"I see."
That made sense. If you got cheated in a random side match, you took the loss and learned the lesson. Just remember who not to touch next time.
But the other events were this place's real business. Those were built to pull crowds and money in for the organizers, so there was no way they'd let some spoiled brat ruin the rules there. Besides, he probably wasn't strong enough to play in those leagues anyway.
Of course, the organizers likely had their own trainers ready to snipe anyone defending the ring for too long. But as long as they never admitted it, officially it didn't exist. Everyone could see it, and nobody could prove a thing. The organizers would deny to the end that the matches were being manipulated.
Once he understood that much, Reiji asked, "How many are there?"
"Not many. The brat, the two at his side, and the lackeys behind him. As long as you don't provoke them, nothing happens."
"Thanks."
Reiji thanked the stranger and looked back at the rich brat, who was stomping around in frustration. His reputation was so rotten that even after raising the wager to one million, he still couldn't get a challenger. After cursing under his breath, he finally stormed off.
Only then did people start going back up to the field. The betting restarted too, but this time the numbers dropped hard. Most matches were back to the usual hundred-thousand-Pokédollar stakes.
Watching it made Reiji itch to get in there himself. After a Pinsir beat a Victreebel, he stepped forward.
"One hundred thousand a match," Pinsir's trainer said. He only gave Reiji a brief glance through the mask, named the price, and said nothing else.
"Done."
Reiji tossed the money to the referee. The referee didn't have much real power here, but he did hold the stakes, and every now and then he stepped in to keep the match from turning into complete nonsense. If something truly went wrong, he was still the person you could complain to.
"Please recall Pinsir and prepare for the next round," the referee said after checking the money.
"No need." Pinsir's trainer shook his head, clearly full of himself. The message was obvious—he wasn't even going to switch. If Reiji got a free advantage, so be it.
"Challenger, send out your Pokémon. The match is about to begin."
The referee sounded completely unsurprised. He had seen too many trainers like this—too arrogant to know when to be careful.
"Go, Golbat."
Since the other side insisted on keeping Pinsir in, Reiji changed his plan on the spot. Croagunk could wait. He would use Golbat to test the water instead.
Golbat was already in the thirties now, strong enough to count as a top Elite-tier fighter. What it lacked was real battle experience. That made Pinsir the perfect target.
"Golbat?" Pinsir's trainer's face darkened instantly. He clearly hadn't expected Reiji to be this shameless and send out a Flying-type to hard-counter his Bug-type.
"Begin!"
The referee only smiled and called the match. He had already offered the man a chance to reset. What happened now was his own fault.
"Pinsir, Harden!"
The trainer wanted to boost Pinsir's physical defense first. He had finally realized the fight was going to be rough.
"Golbat, Hypnosis."
Reiji smiled. The other man had waited too long. By the time he thought about defense, the window had already closed.
Golbat fixed its eyes on Pinsir below and released a wave of sleep-inducing power.
"Not good—Pinsir, Dig!"
Pinsir leapt and burrowed into the dirt, vanishing underground before the Hypnosis could hit.
The battlefield here was covered with soil, so weaker Ground-type moves were allowed. But high-impact attacks like Earthquake were banned outright.
That made perfect sense. They were inside the hull of a cruise ship. Shake the floor hard enough down here, and you might end up shaking the whole vessel apart.
"Golbat, watch out. It's coming up from below—"
"Now! Pinsir, Seismic Toss!"
With a crash of dirt and stone, Pinsir burst up behind Golbat and lunged, trying to grab it midair for a Seismic Toss.
But Golbat's echolocation had already picked up every movement underground. One light beat of its wings was enough to slip cleanly out of Pinsir's reach.
"Golbat, Air Cutter!"
Golbat wheeled around and slashed its wings through the air, launching a flurry of cutting wind blades at Pinsir while it still had no way to change direction.
Air Cutter was a special attack. Pinsir hadn't boosted its special defense, so the blades tore straight through it. Moments later, it crashed to the ground and blacked out.
"Pinsir?" Its trainer clenched his jaw and recalled it.
In the end, that loss was entirely his own fault. The referee had given him the chance to switch, and he had refused.
Pinsir was already at a disadvantage against a Flying-type. It had also just fought Victreebel. Add in the weakness, and there had never been much hope to begin with. Losing was only a matter of time.
"One more."
The Pinsir trainer threw down another hundred thousand. He clearly couldn't let it end there. If he walked away after that humiliation, he probably wouldn't sleep tonight.
"Fine."
Reiji left the money with the referee and recalled Golbat.
Laughter broke out from the crowd at once.
"Serves him right!"
"Where did that idiot come from? He really thought he was unbeatable?"
"He kept Pinsir in against a Flying-type. If you lose like that, you deserve it."
The whole audience was laughing at the Pinsir trainer now. He had lost a match because of his own arrogance, and now his opponent was playing it safe. There would be no second free mistake.
The man's face burned. He clearly wanted to leave, but pride pinned him in place. The last match had to be fought, and this time he had to win. The money was already down.
"Place your bets! I'm putting mine on the Golbat trainer."
"Same here. This one's too good not to throw a few tens of thousands on."
As the noise built, the fight drew a real crowd. More people started betting on the two of them, and the organizers finally began paying attention to their match.
"Both trainers, send out your Pokémon," the referee said, raising a hand.
"Go, Pidgeot!"
"Go, Golbat!"
Yes, Reiji sent out Golbat again.
After getting punished with Pinsir, the other trainer was guaranteed to answer with a Flying-type to save face. Reiji expected that and stuck with Golbat. Even if it turned into a grinding battle, he could wear the other side down.
That was one of the advantages Flying-types had. Most of the time, the cleanest answer to a Flying-type was another Flying-type. If you didn't have one, it was often hard to even touch them. In a way, it was a read.
"Pidgeot versus Golbat? Pidgeot's got the edge."
"Against a bird like that, unless you bring out something like Charizard, most Flying-types are going to have a bad time."
The crowd immediately started weighing the matchup. Everyone here was a trainer. Even from a quick look, they could read a lot.
"Pidgeot, Quick Attack and tear it apart!"
The Pinsir trainer was still furious. He didn't even wait for the referee this time before launching the attack.
Reiji gave a silent laugh. The man had lost his cool.
"Golbat, wait for your opening and hit it with Poison Fang."
Golbat narrowed its eyes and bared its fangs, almost mocking the incoming Pidgeot.
As Pidgeot closed in, Golbat used Quick Attack as well and flashed straight onto its back, catching it completely off guard.
With two Flying-types of similar level, and both naturally fast, battles like this usually dragged on for a while before a winner emerged.
But Golbat had a faster way to end it.
The moment it landed on Pidgeot's back, it opened its jaws and bit down hard on the base of Pidgeot's wing.
"Pidgeot, Steel Wing!"
"Too late."
Reiji smiled. The other trainer should have opened with Tailwind or Agility before going in. Instead, he let anger rush him.
Once Golbat landed Poison Fang, Pidgeot was finished. Reiji had absolute confidence in Golbat's venom.
Pidgeot reacted at last and knocked Golbat away with Steel Wing, but the bitten wing suddenly erupted with pain. It dropped out of the air and slammed into the ground, unable to fly again.
"Get Pidgeot treated. If you wait any longer, it could be crippled."
Reiji had no grudge against the man, so he gave him the warning anyway.
The trainer looked down and froze. The feathers around Pidgeot's wound had already turned dark purple-black, and the discoloration was still spreading.
That left no room for hesitation. He recalled Pidgeot and left the field without another word.
The crowd erupted.
"That Golbat's poison is insane. One bite, and Pidgeot couldn't even stay airborne."
"Yeah. A Pidgeot that hunts Arbok shouldn't have that little poison resistance."
"Then the only answer is that Golbat's venom is just too strong."
Listening to the talk around him, Reiji let out a quiet sigh. Of course Golbat's poison was strong. It had come out of a Team Rocket experiment.
He had already removed two poison sacs from Golbat just to keep its toxicity under control. Before that operation, its venom had been even worse than Croagunk's. It didn't really cause ordinary poisoning at all—once it landed, it went straight to badly poisoned.
After another win, Reiji recalled Golbat and stayed on the field to wait for the next challenger. If no one came, he'd just return tomorrow.
His goal tonight had been to sharpen Croagunk. Instead, Golbat had ended up fighting twice in a row. That part, at least, he hadn't expected.
He only had to wait half a minute before another masked trainer stepped forward. Without saying a word, the man tossed a hundred thousand to the referee.
"Both trainers, send out your Pokémon."
Two Poké Balls opened at the same time.
At last, Croagunk was stepping onto the field.
And on the other side, their new opponent sent out an Electric-type Pokémon.
It was Magneton.
An Electric-type was certainly a good answer if Reiji had sent out Golbat again.
Too bad for him—Reiji hadn't.
[End of chapter]
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