Chapter 65: To the Arena

Currently, the Quicksand Team's squads are set at ten members.

And the platoons led by executives are naturally also ten-member units.

But standing before Baimu, including himself, there were only eight squad leaders present.

Master Liu Ge's subordinates still weren't at full strength... Wasn't the pay supposed to be generous, with everyone flocking to join?

He still remembered the envious look on that veteran squad member's face back then; if the man wasn't faking it, there should have been plenty of people wanting to serve under Master Liu Ge.

Under these circumstances, still not being at full strength could only mean Master Liu Ge was truly very strict.

"Hello."

"Let's work together more in the future."

"You're too kind; I'm the one who's deeply honored."

"Compared to you, I'm nothing but a greenhorn. Please look after me."

Through Flobo's introduction, Baimu shook hands and made friendly conversation with the other six squad leaders.

Whatever thoughts the people on both sides harbored, they were all acting extremely polite at this moment.

Just as expected.

A reliable big brother's subordinates are all reliable people too. Under some other big brother, just being assigned to a lucrative territory alone would be enough to make some impatient, hot-tempered colleagues come out with sneering remarks.

Not like now, where regardless of any interest in the good locations, everyone could still show basic courtesy.

So Baimu acted very polite.

After getting acquainted with all his colleagues, he struck up another conversation with Flobo.

"Speaking of which, you definitely haven't toured the whole Iron Town, right? Let me show you a great place!"

"A great place?"

"Yes, you'll definitely be satisfied."

"Uh..." Seeing Flobo's you-know-what expression, he said, "Well, uh, I'm not really into places like casinos and bars..."

Flobo was taken aback by his coy attitude, then burst out laughing, clutching his belly.

"Hahahaha! What's a little brat thinking! I'm talking about a place for Trainers to battle! Hahahaha, you little punk who hasn't even grown any hair down there!"

Baimu felt the several heavy slaps landing on his back as the other laughed, feeling rather helpless.

He couldn't really be blamed for the misunderstanding—who told you to be so mysterious about it.

"Alright, back to business. You must be feeling that sitting around eating yourself out of house and home again, right?" Flobo wiped away the tears from laughing. "And do you feel that simple training alone isn't enough to improve your strength faster, but you can't find any opponents?"

Baimu nodded.

These past few days, he had almost always gone to the places he'd battled at before, but every single time found no one there, unable to have any Pokémon battles.

When wandering around other places, he also very rarely saw anyone battling.

It was as if the Sand Group's Trainers only knew how to indulge themselves and carouse every day, never knowing to improve themselves through battle—

Of course, this thought wasn't entirely wrong. Most Quicksand Team members lived extremely dissolute lives, taking each day as it came.

In the end, he was even thinking about going to the Neutral Underground City to find opponents to battle.

Who would have expected that just as he was sleepy, someone would bring him a pillow.

"Go to the Iron Arena!"

Flobo pointed out a clear path.

——

The Iron Arena.

Connected to the underground arena within the Underground City, it formed one of the largest forces in Iron Town.

Its boss, Silver Ape, was the strongest Trainer in town, bar none. And conveniently, his brother Silver Horse was the second strongest, in charge of the underground arena.

The two brothers could be said to be unstoppable forces in Iron Town—

Well.

Actually, these two rarely showed their faces normally. Not only did they have no thoughts of seizing other forces' territories, they didn't even have any thoughts of running for town mayor.

Which led to the Iron Town mayor being someone from Silibery City.

But undoubtedly, no one dared to provoke them.

And the two arenas under their names were rare neutral zones, provided for all Trainers to battle. Occasionally, they would even hold some tournaments with generous prizes, making them extremely popular.

"The lord of the arena..."

Baimu followed Flobo to the entrance of the Iron Arena, and upon seeing the magnificent, semi-circular, super-gigantic structure, his thoughts churned for a moment.

Unlike the Gyms set up in mainstream regions.

The places provided for Trainers to challenge in the Orei Region were basically all a special type of building called an Arena.

The boss of an Arena was essentially an alternative Gym Leader.

"In the past, the Orei Region basically used a two-versus-two battle format, but since connecting with the outside major regions, it changed to one-on-one singles."

Flobo introduced as they walked inside.

The latter responded, observing the surroundings.

The Iron Arena was very popular among the major forces. This could be seen from the dazzling array of team uniforms—not only the Quicksand Team and the Mad Dog Team, but other miscellaneous forces could also be seen here.

There were even quite a few Trainers without any faction affiliation, all on their own.

They were either from other towns, or came from extraordinary backgrounds with substantial family wealth.

Iron Town's upper-middle class and lower class were extremely divided. The upper-middle class could enjoy a high-tech environment in the center of Iron Town, while the lower class lived on the outskirts of Iron Town, accompanied by yellow sand and hot winds every day, struggling for food and warmth.

The culprit behind all this was undoubtedly the various forces.

Baimu was very clear about what kind of organization he belonged to—yakuza, violent gangs, criminal syndicates, just wearing a layer of clothing that would burst at the slightest poke.

"Register for entry."

Flobo brought him to the front desk to register.

The Iron Arena has no entry requirements at all—as long as you own a Pokémon, you can take part in Pokémon battles here.

The Pokémon Center inside was even better equipped than the one outside.

It also came with all sorts of services for Pokémon massages, buying Pokémon food, and even various merchandise.

It looked quite bustling.

Not long after.

Registration complete.

"From now on, just bring this card and you can come here to battle. The arena's system will randomly assign you opponents, and there are certain safety measures in place, so you don't need to worry about what happens whether you win or lose."

Flobo smiled. "Although Silver Ape basically doesn't bother with affairs, he really hates people causing trouble on his turf—even the mayor is no exception."

Baimu expressed his thanks profusely.

He wasn't completely ignorant about the arena, but it was located at the deepest part of Iron Town, and getting there meant passing through the territory of several other factions, so it wasn't somewhere he could just casually go in the past.

"Give it a try?"

Flobo raised an eyebrow at Baimu. "You came all this way, you can't just take a look and run, right? I'll wait for you here."

"…Fine."

The latter was actually somewhat eager to try as well.

Register at the front desk for a random battle.

He had thought he'd have to wait a while for an opponent, but no sooner had he finished registering than someone was leading him inside.

After passing through a dim, narrow metal tunnel, a rather enormous battle space appeared before him.

On the wall beside it, a large number was painted, showing its serial number.

Baimu looked up toward the opposite side and immediately spotted a thug with his forehead dyed in all colors of the rainbow, swaying back and forth on the other side, looking like he'd had one too many.

And the team uniform this person was wearing proved he was also a member of some faction.

"Yo yo yo yo—my opponent's here?, the defeated underling's here?, strutting his way over, yo yo yo yo—"

This guy suddenly started singing as if he were carrying a speaker and had his own BGM.

Baimu: "……???"