Outside the arena.
As the group stepped out of the transport container, they were greeted by Ayana herself, who actually wore a rare smile on her face.
They exchanged glances, realizing they had truly survived the brutal ordeal. Their bodies instinctively relaxed, and genuine smiles began to break through their fatigue. After all, by any metric, this was a rare and resounding victory. Team Snagem wouldn't mistreat their heroes; a bright future seemed to be waiting for them.
"You did very well."
Ayana directed her primary praise toward Kashiwagi, clapping her right hand heavily onto his shoulder with an "I knew you had it in you" expression.
His performance had undoubtedly brought honor to Team Snagem. Not only had he crushed Team Snarl's arrogance, but he had also, to some extent, swayed the entire tide of the final victory.
"Thank you for your praise, ma'am," Kashiwagi replied with a respectful nod, drawing envious stares from those around him.
Aside from Ayana and a cadre of Team Snagem logistics staff, the arena exit was crowded with members from other organizations. They pointed and whispered at the survivors, with most eyes locked onto Kashiwagi, displaying a variety of complex expressions.
It was certain that after today, Kashiwagi's name would circulate within the circles of Pyrite Town. While it wouldn't bring him global fame, he had at least transitioned from a nameless grunt to a figure who was "somebody" in this town.
Of course, Kashiwagi himself wasn't particularly interested in the fame. Making a name for oneself was the dream of many bottom-tier thugs, but it had nothing to do with his own goals. Besides, "the tall poppy gets cut down"—drawing too much attention was rarely a good thing.
I'll need to keep a low profile for the next few months, he thought as he followed the group back to the base to let the medical staff check on him and his Pokémon.
During the check-up, he learned that Watari had luckily survived. He, along with several other severely injured members, had been evacuated back to headquarters early.
However, including Otsuka, there were only six wounded survivors. Combined with the five who had just walked out...
Fifteen had gone in; six hours later, only eleven remained. Four young men and women in the prime of their lives had lost them forever in that barren wasteland.
The medical staff spoke of this with no real sadness. Instead, they excitedly described the casualties on Team Snarl's side—rumor had it they only had eight survivors left.
Have they seen so many deaths from gang violence that they've become completely numb? Kashiwagi remained silent.
Half an hour later.
Team Snarl sent representatives to reclaim their Pokémon and discuss the return of the Snagem Pokémon they had captured.
"Hmm?" Kashiwagi looked at the logistics officer who notified him, a bit bewildered. "They have our Pokémon?"
Hadn't all the Snarl members been taken out? Their Pokémon should be in the hands of the other four teammates!
"Yes," the officer nodded, seemingly sensing his confusion. He lowered his voice to explain: "Before the team-up function was unlocked, some Snarl members used their own Pokémon to fly out the Poké Balls they had scavenged from our people. There were even some who realized they were about to lose and gave their Poké Balls to their Pokémon, ordering them to flee. Of course, our side did the same."
Whoa.
Kashiwagi was stunned. He truly hadn't expected such a "pro-gamer move" like sending out spoils of war early. After all, every Poké Ball Ken had looted was still on his body, not a single one missing.
Did that guy not trust the people outside? Or was he just that confident in himself?
Following the officer, Kashiwagi entered a large tent.
Inside, a long table sat in the center. The Team Snarl representatives and the four other Snagem survivors sat on opposite sides, having clearly been waiting for a while. At the far end were several unfamiliar faces, one of whom wore an insignia identifying him as a Team Snagem Squad Leader.
Strangely, there was also a Drone Rotom here, its lens pointed at everyone.
Monitoring? Or is this being broadcasted too?
Kashiwagi looked curiously at the Rotom. His arrival immediately drew glares of undisguised hostility from the Snarl members. Their faces were etched with hatred and resentment, looking as if they wanted to kill him on the spot.
He sat down nonchalantly. If looks could kill, he'd have been hacked into a thousand pieces by now. But as it stood, it was nothing more than the "howls of losers."
The reclamation process was simple: exchange, or bid and counter-bid.
First, both sides revealed the enemy Poké Balls they held. Team Snarl produced twelve, the four Snagem survivors produced eighteen, and Kashiwagi silently pulled out nine.
"Why are there only nine!? Wait... where are Ken's Pokémon!"
A Snarl member slammed his hands on the table and stood up, shouting, "What kind of game are you playing?"
Kashiwagi spread his hands. "Location unknown."
His flippant gesture instantly triggered the Snarl members' nerves.
"Bullshit!"
"You're asking for it! Don't think winning with cheap tricks means you can act tough! I'll kill you!"
They began shouting insults and looked ready to brawl until a man sitting at the head of the table intervened.
"Silence!"
The man slammed the table hard, the loud bang drowning out the shouting. "Don't waste time. If they're gone, they're gone!"
Kashiwagi glanced at the man, noting he wore a business suit rather than a team uniform.
An organizer for the tournament?
The man's words carried weight. The Snarl members quickly quieted down, though they continued to glare at Kashiwagi. One hissed through gritted teeth, "I want to exchange!"
"Agreed," said one of the Snagem teammates who had been quiet until now.
Exchanging Pokémon was literal—one for one. Generally, those who were close to a defeated member would choose to exchange to get their friend's Pokémon back. In most cases, exchanges were more common than buying and selling.
Kashiwagi watched with surprise as his teammates traded twelve Snarl Pokémon to get twelve of their own back. Some of those were likely the Pokémon of deceased teammates—they were actually trading for them rather than abandoning them...
Why? To return them to the families of the dead? Or to get them back just to sell them internally for a higher profit? After all, the official scrap-recovery price is usually much lower.
He desperately hoped it was the former, as that would imply at least a shred of humanity.
Once the exchanges were finished, the Snarl members began bidding for the remaining Pokémon.
Among them, Kashiwagi had three Pokémon he had already agreed to sell for a total of 300,000. The one who came to reclaim those for Huowu was a chubby girl wearing glasses.
"Here."
He didn't hesitate, sliding the three Poké Balls over and taking the 300,000 Poké Dollars laid out on the table.
This transaction drew everyone's attention. Several Snarl members looked suspiciously at the chubby girl, scaring her into quickly blurting out that it was Huowu's deal and that Kashiwagi's promise had been broadcast on the big screen for everyone to see.
He actually kept his word!
Now, everyone in the tent looked at Kashiwagi with an odd expression. In Pyrite Town, where most people's moral compasses were highly "flexible," someone who was actually "true to his word" was a bizarre anomaly.
Kashiwagi's expression remained calm. The more one lived in this mire, the more important it was to hold onto one's self-imposed boundaries. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before you were silently and completely assimilated by the filth.
Huowu had genuinely helped him; there was no need to break a promise over 600,000. If he did that, how would he be any different from Ken, who had been completely warped by money?
Of course, the remaining six weren't going to be sold cheap.
After a round of bidding and haggling, Kashiwagi successfully sold them for a total of 2.7 million Poké Dollars. In other words, each was worth 450,000.
They're really shelling out! he thought, clicking his tongue in surprise.
He wasn't interested in how much his teammates were making. He silently began to calculate his own guaranteed earnings from this competition.
Four livestream donation payouts: 550,000, 2.4 million, 1.56 million, and 5.38 million. Kashiwagi's 30% cut came to 2,967,000. Adding the money from selling the Pokémon brought it to over 5.96 million. Then, adding the bounty for defeating four enemies (at least 100,000 each) brought it to over 6.36 million.
He still had twelve of his teammates' Pokémon. Excluding Otsuka's three and the three from the deceased member, he could sell the remaining six for a "friendship price" of 200,000 each.
The grand total: 7,567,000 Poké Dollars!
And that didn't even include the prize money for winning.
Holy crap!
In one single event, he had become staggeringly, explosively rich! Kashiwagi stared at the imaginary numbers in his mind. The pauper had turned into a millionaire overnight!