Pokémon: Global Invasion

Chapter 11: Pokémon Club

"Huh?"

"What's going on here?"

Ryoma blinked in confusion as he walked into what was once the internet café.

What met his eyes were various battle arenas drawn on the ground, resembling the battle arenas he remembered—those that looked like basketball courts, featuring a center designed as a half-white, half-red Poké Ball.

It was clear that this setup also originated from the Pokémon Research Institute within the Secret Realm, blending the two worlds and allowing many cultures to intertwine.

"It seems the internet café has started to transform!"

"With Pokémon integrating into society now, Pokémon battles have long become the most popular competitive activity; it's no wonder the internet café was struggling in business."

Ryoma thought to himself and soon accepted the fact that the Pokémon Club had replaced the internet café.

After all, in public areas of the city, Pokémon were not allowed to be released freely, let alone participate in Pokémon battles.

Thus, the Pokémon Club was born to provide a venue for those who loved Pokémon battles, making it naturally popular.

He soon found himself standing in front of a layout map of the Pokémon Club. The original internet café had three floors: a basement and two upper levels, offering various entertainment options like a gym, pool hall, and internet café.

Now, the former underground gym had been converted into a Pokémon Training Room, the pool hall had become Free Battle Arenas, and the top-floor internet café was transformed into a Pokémon Battling Stage!

As he glanced around, he quickly spotted the price list for the Pokémon Club. The rates for using the Pokémon Training Room were 100 yen per hour, while the overnight rate after 10 PM was 300 yen. If you wanted to hire a specialized Pokémon trainer, additional fees would apply.

The pricing model for the Pokémon Training Room was quite similar to that of the internet café, except the rates had increased more than tenfold!

Looking at the fees for the Free Battle Club, the pricing structure was similar to that of the pool hall, charging 50 yen per match based on the number of battles in the Free Battle Arenas.

Finally, the Pokémon Battling Stage was quite intriguing.

If you entered as a spectator, the fee was just 10 yen per hour.

However, if you wanted to participate in the Pokémon tournament, you had to pay a registration fee of 100 yen. If you could defeat the champion, you would get your registration fee back and become the new champion. After that, you just needed to defeat challengers to collect their registration fees!

In addition, if you managed to defeat the first-round champion arranged by the Pokémon Club, you would also receive a bonus of 10,000 yen for successfully defeating them!

Finally, if you successfully defended your title for ten matches, you would be rewarded with 100,000 yen from the club!

"As long as I defeat the club champion, I can earn 10,000 yen, and defending my title for ten matches means 100,000 yen?" Ryoma instantly became interested.

After a moment's hesitation, he decisively chose to register for the Battle Arena; after all, it was only 100 yen. It was worth a try and would also serve to test Sandshrew's training progress.

"Dear Trainer, you are the fifth challenger in the new round of the Battle Arena. Please proceed to the contestant area and wait for your battle."

After Ryoma submitted his battle application and paid the entry fee, the staff handed him a small tag and led him to the contestant area.

Entering the venue, Ryoma looked around and found that the Battle Arena resembled a basketball court, filled with spectators in the stands, waving flags and cheering for their favorite Trainers.

Perhaps due to the low admission price of only 10 yen per hour, the venue was packed, accommodating over a thousand viewers for the matches.

Calculating the potential earnings, the Pokémon Club was making tens of thousands of yen each hour, which was undoubtedly a huge profit!

Even though winning against the champion could earn over 10,000 yen in prize money, and successfully defending the title would net 100,000 yen, the Pokémon Club was likely profiting even more!

At that moment in the Battle Arena, a Scyther was engaged in a fierce battle with a Tauros. Their repeated collisions elevated the atmosphere to new heights!

In the end, the champion Scyther gained the upper hand, using a series of successive slicing moves to knock Tauros down to the ground, concluding what appeared to be an evenly matched battle!

"Success! The champion has successfully defended their title!"

"Next, we will have a ten-minute break, after which we will welcome the new challengers!"

With the host's excited voice, the atmosphere in the entire club became electrified, and cheers echoed throughout!

"What a strong Scyther!"

"If Sandshrew faces that guy, the chances of winning are almost zero!"

As Ryoma watched the Scyther waving to the audience in gratitude, his expression turned somewhat grim.

While this Scyther was only moderately trained, its flying ability made it a significant nemesis for his Ground-type Sandshrew.

After all, Sandshrew could currently only use Rollout as its attack move, and if the opponent flew high into the air, Sandshrew wouldn't be able to land a hit.

"I hope I encounter a non-flying opponent," Ryoma thought anxiously.

Before long, the ten-minute break came to an end. Amid the enthusiastic cheers from the crowd, a muscular man in a yellow outfit stepped forward—he was the champion of this round, Raiden!

"Raiden?"

Upon hearing the host announce the champion's nickname, Ryoma felt a surge of excitement.

From the name alone, he could tell that this champion likely used Electric-type Pokémon, which would work to his advantage as a Ground-type trainer!

Sure enough, under Ryoma's expectant gaze, Raiden released a large Electabuzz, and immediately, electric currents crackled through the air, sizzling loudly!

"It's Electabuzz!"

"Raiden has released his Electabuzz!"

After Electabuzz appeared, the host excitedly shouted again, further energizing the crowd.

"Electabuzz? This is really unfortunate."

While some were happy, others wore frowns of worry. Ryoma was pleased, while the other challengers looked disheartened. It was clear their Pokémon were at a disadvantage against Electabuzz, leaving them with little chance to win.

Soon, under the host's announcement, the next round of battles officially began. The first challenger's Pokémon was a Flying-type Pidgeotto.

Upon seeing its opponent, Raiden immediately laughed and commanded Electabuzz to unleash a Thunderbolt, instantly knocking out the challenger!