"I can't take your money," Lin Shou said, pushing back the 1,000 Alliance Coins the older man had tried to give him. "I'm actually here to practice my observation skills. How about this—we cooperate. You just wait for my signal to throw the Poké Ball, and I guarantee you'll take first place."
"This… is so embarrassing." The man's tone shifted from irritation to respect. In his eyes, the young man before him was clearly a master. Handing him a measly thousand coins suddenly felt insulting, so he tucked the money back into his wallet.
"Little brother, you're right—that amount is an insult to you. How about this: when I win first place, I'll cover your entire stay here. You can stay as many days as you want, on me."
The offer was too good to refuse, so Lin Shou agreed immediately.
"Let's go. I think there are more Pokémon over there," he said, checking his system map. No need for him to hunt lone stragglers or stay away from crowded areas this time. Instead, he guided his new partner straight to the densest clusters of wild Pokémon.
"Alright, brother—let's go!" The man dropped all pretenses and released his full team: six Pokémon, all averaging around level 20, each clearly well-trained with no expense spared.
As they walked, a question popped into Lin Shou's mind. "Your Pokémon are all top-notch. Why even bother catching more here? Wouldn't it be easier to buy what you want from the market?"
The older man froze, then gave Lin Shou a strange look before laughing. "Brother, this your first time here?"
"How'd you know?"
"Heh, every newcomer falls for the same trick. Let me explain. The hotel hides a lot of… interesting rules."
"What do you mean?"
"We use regular Poké Balls here. For every Pokémon you catch and then release, the hotel refunds you 200 Alliance Coins."
"Wait—seriously?"
Lin Shou's mind worked fast. That meant each successful catch netted around 80 coins' profit. Not huge, but enough incentive to keep guests from abandoning weak Pokémon after leaving.
And in this world, people couldn't see exact HP values unless they had special equipment or were highly skilled, which meant most players wasted plenty of Poké Balls misjudging a Pokémon's condition. For almost everyone except him, the most they'd get was a free catch at best.
Plus, there was a daily cap on Poké Ball purchases—so the hotel stayed profitable no matter what.
The man leaned in conspiratorially. "Want to hear something even better?"
Lin Shou nodded.
"You think you can just take a caught Pokémon home? Wrong. You have to pay 200 Coins for the privilege."
"…What?!" Lin Shou was genuinely stunned.
From the rooms to the Poké Balls to the buy-back and resale system, the hotel had created a flawless money loop. He almost admired it—this was scam artistry at its peak. If he ever met the owner, he'd love to trade notes.
And thinking back to the Meowth the man had caught earlier, it all clicked—this was a trained con-artist Pokémon, probably in on the scheme. Maybe the reserve Pokémon had a deal with the hotel. The thought made him shiver.
"…Terrifying," he muttered.
From then on, the division of labor was clear: the older man commanded his Pokémon for damage, while Lin Shou delivered the finishing blow and timed the perfect Poké Ball throw. By the time Lin Shou noticed, he had quietly reached Level 9.
They'd caught 43 Pokémon together before the man finally ran out of Poké Balls.
"Brother, I've never lost to anyone before today. You've opened my eyes. Your timing is perfect—how can those idiots I bet against even compete?" the man said with a flushed face.
[Defeated Pokémon: 59/200]
One morning's work and Lin Shou had already met his daily quota—amazing progress.
"I've still got one Poké Ball left," Lin Shou offered. "Let's catch one more. Just in case."
The man tried to refuse, but his hand betrayed him and snatched the ball without hesitation. Feeling slightly guilty, he rummaged in his bag.
"Here—this luxury ball is hotel-issued. Worth 3,000 Coins, sold for 5,000. Take it in exchange, or I'll be offended."
Knowing the man wasn't short on cash, Lin Shou accepted without fuss.
"Alright—let's get our last one!"
[Defeated Pokémon: 60/200]
The man's bet with his friends lasted the entire day, but with their quota done, he insisted on taking Lin Shou out for lunch. Lin Shou, not wanting to waste the afternoon, made an excuse and exchanged contact info instead.
"It's a deal, brother. Tonight—biggest private room on the second floor. If you don't come, you're disrespecting me!"
"Don't worry—I'll be there."
Once free, Lin Shou noticed his pace had slowed considerably without his partner. The morning's teamwork had been so efficient it made solo hunting feel tedious. By sunset, he'd only managed to find 13 more suitable targets.
And because many people had seen him working with the older man earlier, he decided to put on a show—fighting weaker Pokémon in front of an audience, drawing curious stares.
Before long, a rumor began to spread: a mysterious young man was hunting for the perfect partner Pokémon, refusing to throw a Poké Ball unless the target met his mysterious standards. Some thought he was just too poor to afford Poké Balls—until they saw the gleaming luxury ball on his belt. That shut them up.
[Defeated Pokémon: 75/200]
After finishing off two more, Lin Shou decided to call it a day—his HP had dropped to half, after all.
Just then, his phone rang.
"Brother! I'm in the biggest private room on the second floor—get over here! Hurry!"
Judging from his tone, the older man had clearly won his bet.
And Lin Shou? He was already wondering how to make tomorrow's grind even more efficient.