Chapter 136: Money Pit
After seeing Applin off, Bai Feng asked Pidove, "Do you know where Drilbur went?"
"Coo coo coo~" Yes, follow me.
Pidove nodded and flew out of Bai Feng's arms to lead the way.
Led by Pidove, Bai Feng walked out of the Courtyard and found Drilbur spacing out in a Valley in the Back Mountain.
Drilbur was lying on the Grassland, staring blankly at a Frosmoth dancing gracefully on the Grassland in the distance.
Many places near Wyndon have very low temperatures, so many Frosmoth that like low temperatures inhabit the surrounding areas.
"Drilbur!" Bai Feng called out to the spacing-out Drilbur.
Drilbur suddenly turned its Head upon hearing the sound. Seeing that it was Bai Feng, its expression was downcast. The thought of still owing Bai Feng an A-Grade Fruit Tree made the entire Pokémon feel terrible.
"Are you thinking of Home?" Bai Feng asked.
Drilbur nodded slightly. It truly, truly missed its Hometown, its family and Friends there.
Bai Feng patted its Head to comfort it, saying, "We've already arrived in the Galar Region. Maybe we can find out News about your Hometown soon."
Drilbur didn't show much happiness upon hearing Bai Feng's words. The Galar Region is so vast, and it couldn't describe the Location or characteristics of its Hometown. How could finding it be easy?
Sigh~()
Just then, Bai Feng suddenly had an idea.
"That's right!!! You can watch more Videos introducing the Natural Scenery or Tourism of the Galar Region. Maybe your Hometown will appear in these Videos.
You can't describe it, but you'll surely recognize it when you see it, right?"
Hearing Bai Feng's words, Drilbur's eyes lit up. Yes, that was a great idea! Its eyes sparkled as it looked at Bai Feng.
So, it immediately urged Bai Feng to help it find some such Videos.
Bai Feng didn't delay. After taking Drilbur back to the Villa, he immediately used the Computer to search for a large Quantity of Videos introducing the Natural Scenery of the Galar Region for Drilbur to watch slowly.
In the morning, Bai Feng and the others still had to go out, but Drilbur wanted to seize the Time to find Clues related to its Hometown, so it voluntarily asked to stay Home and watch Videos.
Bai Feng naturally had no Opinion. Fu La Da Li also thoughtfully found an Indeedee to help Drilbur, as Drilbur, being a Wild Pokémon, was still too unfamiliar with a magical Item like a Computer.
This Indeedee was the manager of all the Pokémon in this Villa and could help Drilbur solve Problems well.
After arranging things for Drilbur, Bai Feng and Fu La Da Li took a Flying Taxi together and left the Villa District.
What Bai Feng and Fu La Da Li were going to attend today was a warm-up Activity held before the Auction.
Many important figures were coming to this Auction. Some, like Fu La Da Li, arrived early. To prevent these people from getting bored after arriving in Wyndon, the Auction organizers arranged warm-up Activities.
Such Activities would be held for seven days before the Auction began. Bai Feng and Fu La Da Li arrived in Wyndon relatively late, and this Activity was already on its fifth day.
The Admission Ticket for this Activity was not available to just anyone; only those officially invited to the Auction could get one.
Bai Feng followed Fu La Da Li all the way to the Foothills of a Snow Mountain. There was a Town here, and the warm-up Activity was held in this Town.
This truly looked like a sufficiently low-key place!
There were quite a few Snow Mountains like this near Wyndon. The Mountains weren't high or large in area, but due to the special Climate and terrain, they had Snow Cover year-round, forming a unique Region landscape.
Upon reaching the Town, the Flying Taxi stopped at the Doorway of a Hotel with the two of them. Fu La Da Li showed the Admission Ticket in his hand to the Doorman of the Hotel, and the other party immediately knew what to do.
Led by the Doorman, Fu La Da Li and Bai Feng were taken to the End of the Corridor on the first floor of the Hotel. There was an inconspicuous Door at the End of the Corridor.
After opening the Door, the Doorman bowed and said to Bai Feng and Fu La Da Li, "I wish the two distinguished Customers a pleasant Time." Saying this, he made a "please" gesture.
The two nodded at the Doorman and then stepped through the Door.
The Environment inside the Door was initially dim, but as Bai Feng and their Footsteps sounded, strange-shaped Chandeliers lit up on the Ceiling above their Heads.
Bai Feng and Fu La Da Li looked closely and realized that these Chandeliers were all Chandelure.
Fu La Da Li scoffed, "They really know how to be mysterious."
Bai Feng nodded, he thought so too. It wasn't a Haunted House, after all.
The Corridor led downwards. After walking through a winding circular Corridor, the view before Bai Feng and the others suddenly opened up. What appeared before them was a brightly lit and luxurious Hall.
The men and women in the Hall were dressed elaborately, chatting and laughing with each other, presenting a harmonious scene.
It turned out that this was an Underground Entertainment Facility specifically for the entertainment of the wealthy, a legendary Gray Area.
If it were the former Fu La Da Li, he would definitely not come to such a place, but as he gradually came to terms with some of the unavoidable darkness in this World, he slowly stopped rejecting these places.
If he were still like before, his Career would not have developed to its current scale.
There were many projects in this Underground Entertainment Facility, the most famous of which was the Casino. In addition to conventional Gambling methods, there was also Pokemon Competition where people could place bets.
The Rules of this type of Gambling were very simple: before the Match, you placed bets on the two sides participating in the Battle on the Grounds. If the side you bet on won, you would receive a Cash Prize.
The Quantity of Cash Prize received was related to the amount you bet and the Odds of the Match at the Time.
Most of the people who came here to participate in Pokemon Competition were not official Trainers from the League, but often Bounty Hunters, Adventurers seeking excitement, Speculators who desperately needed Money but had no Connections... Those who came to watch the Competition were usually wealthy people who liked to seek excitement.
The Battle scenes in this type of Pokemon Competition were usually quite violent.
However, there was one point: no lives would be lost here, and Pokémon would not be allowed to be killed. This was the bottom line.
The Reason why this place was a Gray Area and not a black area was precisely this. If it weren't for this, the League would not be able to turn a blind eye to this place.
Fu La Da Li also knew that the person supporting the existence of this place was the current Galar League Chairman, Rose (Luo Zi). It was by relying on this place that Rose (Luo Zi) was able to secretly gather a large amount of Connections and then make Macro Cosmos bigger and stronger.
Behind the birth of any massive Conglomerate, it was impossible to be completely clean. Fu La Da Li had felt this particularly deeply in the past two years.
Fu La Da Li took Bai Feng around here a few times. Bai Feng's feeling was "just okay". Although Opulence was evident everywhere, he didn't find it very interesting.
Seeing that Bai Feng was not interested in the entertainment facilities here, Fu La Da Li asked, "Do you want to go to the Pokemon Arena to take a look? The Pokemon Battle there might interest you."
Bai Feng nodded and said, "Let's go take a look then."
Upon hearing this, Fu La Da Li waved to a waiter not far away. When the waiter approached, he said, "Arrange a Private Room in the Arena for us."
The waiter said respectfully, "Okay, please follow me, honored Customers."
Led by the waiter, Bai Feng and the others quickly arrived at the Doorway of a very wide and magnificent Door. Even before entering, the two could hear deafening cheers coming from inside.
Fu La Da Li was a VIP Customer, so he was led through the VIP Area by the waiter and did not encounter other Customers.
Upon reaching the VIP Area, the waiter respectfully withdrew. Finally, guided by a beautiful Miss, Bai Feng and the others arrived at the Private Room specially prepared for VIP Customers.
"If the two Customers need anything, you can directly press the Button on the table." After leaving this sentence, the beautiful Miss politely exited the VIP Private Room and closed the Door very gently.
The VIP Room was very spacious, living up to its name. The table was filled with Fruits, Pastries, and Drinks. There was even a Catalog from which orders could be placed at any Time, listing everything edible, drinkable, and playable.
You could even order pretty Misses and young men to accompany you.
Of course, the upright Bai Feng and Fu La Da Li would definitely not order this service!
|'-')
After the two sat down in the Private Room, they looked at the Battle outside.
In front of the Private Room was a huge glass Wall, offering a very wide view. You could see outside from inside, but you couldn't see inside from outside.
On both sides of the glass Wall were large electronic Screens, very large, occupying the entire Wall on both sides.
After scanning the Room Interior, Fu La Da Li released several of his Pokémon: Pyroar, Mienshao, Honchkrow, etc.
He was also a Pokemon Battle enthusiast, but he was usually too Busy, so he could only treat it as a Hobby. If he was going to watch a Pokemon Battle, his Pokémon naturally had to watch too.
Seeing this, Bai Feng also released several of his Pokémon. Although his Quantity of Pokémon was slightly more than Fu La Da Li's, they were not large in size and did not take up as much space as Fu La Da Li's Pokémon.
However, the Private Room was originally large, so even if Bai Feng and the others released a few more Pokémon, it wouldn't feel crowded (excluding Snorlax and the like).
"You guys be good and don't cause trouble, or you'll go back into your Pokeballs," Bai Feng warned his Pokémon.
"Chika~"
"Aybo~"
"Kikoku~"
...
The Pokémon nodded in agreement.
Fu La Da Li looked at Bai Feng's lively Pokémon and said, "Two years ago, I saw Chikorita, Larvitar, and the others in their Initial Form. Why haven't they Evolved yet? Is there something wrong with their Bodies?"
Upon hearing Fu La Da Li say they had Problems, the Pokémon immediately turned their Heads and glared at him in unison, making Fu La Da Li laugh heartily.
Bai Feng also smiled and explained, "They are all very healthy. It's just that I gave them Everstones. I'm not a proper Trainer, so they don't need to rush to Evolve."
"That makes sense," Fu La Da Li said, suddenly enlightened.
After some playful banter, Bai Feng and the others began watching the Matches in the Arena.
The appearance of this Arena was somewhat Similar to an ancient Colosseum, but it was also equipped with a large amount of Modern technology. Such an Arena, who knows how much it cost to build!
The Colosseum was not a single, unified Battlefield. Its area was very large, so it was divided into dozens of smaller Battlefields of different sizes and Environments.
Based on the number of victories achieved by the participants, the Matches were also divided into different Levels. The higher the Level of the Match, the closer it was to the center of the entire Colosseum.
VIPs in the Private Room could choose which Level of Match they wanted to watch through the Computer on the table, and the large electronic Screens in the Private Room would immediately display a comprehensive Livestream of the Match on that Grounds.
The large Screens on the Private Room Walls were very advanced. When playing the Battle in the Arena, they gave a feeling of being immersed in the Scene.
The Match Levels here were divided into Beginner Level, Normal Level, Elite Level, and Gym Leader Level.
After choosing for a while, Fu La Da Li finally selected a Gym Leader Level Match. The Battle Scene immediately appeared on the large Screen in the Private Room.
This Match had already reached its climax Stage, pitting a Centiskorch against a Grapploct, with the Centiskorch having the upper hand.
This Centiskorch's Ability should be Flash Fire. It used the Move Blaze Abyss to turn the entire Grounds into a Sea of Fire.
It moved quickly through the Sea of Fire, bathing in the Flame, with Flame Light constantly flickering on its Body. That was the sign of its Fire Type Moves increasing in Power.
Grapploct continuously fired Octazooka, trying to extinguish the Sea of Fire on the Grounds, but the Power of the Flame around Centiskorch grew stronger and stronger, eventually even scorching the Ink sprayed by Grapploct.
Finally, Grapploct lost due to lack of Stamina!
After watching this Match, Fu La Da Li smiled and looked at Bai Feng, asking, "Do you want to try participating?"
"Huh?" Bai Feng looked puzzled. "Customers can also participate in Battles?"
"Sure!" Fu La Da Li answered with Certainty. "The Rules here are that the Customer's wishes are paramount. Of course, Customers can participate in Matches if they want to. This Situation happens quite often."
Some Customers felt that just watching from the Arena Outskirts wasn't exciting enough, wasn't stimulating enough, so they would personally enter the Arena. They didn't care about winning or losing, as long as they were happy.
Fu La Da Li flipped through a page of the Catalog on the Computer and said to Bai Feng, "Look, there's a Cash Prize if you win! Besides that, you can also choose many Items that Pokémon can use as Rewards for winning the Match.
However, the higher the selected Cash Prize, or the more precious the Item, the stronger the opponent the organizers will arrange for you."
Bai Feng leaned over to look and was immediately stunned by the records listed there. The Cash Prize for some Matches could be as high as tens of millions.
In addition, rare Pokémon, Pokémon Items, everything was available. Even Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon young, and Starter Pokémon from various Regions could be chosen as Rewards, as long as you could win!
This place truly was a genuine Money Pit!
Of course, personnel not affiliated with the Arena who participate in Challenges must pay a certain Deposit. If you lose the Match, that Deposit goes directly to the Arena!
Contestants who have signed a contract with the Arena earn Cash Prizes by accumulating victory counts. The more victories they have, the more Reward they will ultimately receive from the Arena.
Furthermore, if a Customer like Bai Feng participated in a Match and ultimately lost to a Contestant affiliated with the Arena, that Contestant would receive a certain Proportion of the Cut from the Deposit Bai Feng paid.
(End of Chapter)