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Seeing him agree, Zhou Ya's smile became even more enthusiastic. While saying things like "we're all family now," she escorted the two out.
Once they were further away, Huo Li sighed, remarking that this eldest daughter of the Zhou family truly lived up to her reputation as a businesswoman, and cautioned Li Xiang not to agree to anyone's requests easily, no matter how good the terms seemed.
Li Xiang naturally understood what Huo Li meant.
At first glance, Zhou Ya seemed to lose a million, but in reality, her tangible investment was pitifully small.
After all, all Pokémon-related logistical support costs within the club required additional fees.
She was merely providing an integrated platform for trainers to communicate and battle each other.
She called it a ten-year membership fee, but for the next six years, Li Xiang would spend most of his time in higher education.
By the time he graduated, he might not even stay in Qingcheng.
The total time he'd actually use the club wouldn't exceed two years, even at maximum estimate.
And what did she gain?
A gimmick.
A gimmick to attract external investment.
If Li Xiang truly achieved notable success in the future, even just having his name listed as an ordinary member of the Wintercrow Club could win it certain financial investments.
Furthermore, she also built goodwill with Li Xiang.
Even if he didn't meet expectations later, she wouldn't miss that little income.
In short, this concession wouldn't result in a loss for her no matter what.
However, Li Xiang wasn't really giving up anything either.
Whether Zhou Ya would suffer losses after raising funds in the future wasn't really his concern.
Speaking of which, the existence of clubs like this was really quite distorted.
On one hand, they connected many trainers. On the other hand, they had to maintain clear boundaries between those trainers.
Managing internal trainers, treating trainers as employees?
They'd probably like to, but that depended on whether the Association agreed.
The trainer profession, put nicely, was like being an otherworldly athlete, engaged in sports competition.
Put bluntly, they were armed individuals, and clubs that gathered large numbers of trainers under their banner were armed groups.
Semi-official ones were one thing, but private ones? What was that about?
If other regions hadn't opened this door first, and if nothing had happened for many years, and if higher-level trainers hadn't proposed it under the pretext of promoting the trainer industry, private clubs would never have been allowed.
...
After coming out, someone came up and asked what happened.
Huo Li chuckled, saying they just went to introduce themselves, nothing else.
No one pressed further after that.
Later, Huo Li asked Li Xiang if he wanted to look around on his own or have Huo Li show him around.
Li Xiang naturally chose the former.
He politely declined the battle invitations from the uncles and older uncles, found a corner, and tried to remove the shameless creature stubbornly clinging to his back.
'Little one, it's time to open your eyes and see the world!'
'...You've been here this long, how can you still hold on so tight? You're asking for trouble!'
'Loosen the grip a little! You're going to tear my clothes!'
Li Xiang tugged for a while but couldn't get it off. He had to contort his arm to reach inside his jacket and start tickling Honedge.
Once, twice.
Swoosh—
"Whoa~"
Seizing the moment Honedge was flustered and angry, Li Xiang quickly grabbed it off, pressing the emerging blade back in.
He startled a passing uncle.
"Sorry, sorry, newly acquired Pokémon, not very familiar with me yet."
Li Xiang smiled apologetically and hurried away.
Completely ignoring the dissatisfied Honedge, Li Xiang let its cloth wrap around his arm, held it in his hand facing forward, and wandered around the Wintercrow Club.
Afraid of being recognized, he even wore a face mask.
The place was huge. It was divided internally into many areas. There were battle zones, training zones, service zones, and even accommodation zones, recreational zones, etc.
The first three zones were undoubtedly the largest and most popular.
Crowds mostly gathered in these three places.
Inside, one could see all kinds of Pokémon and trainers of various ages and genders.
A wide assortment. All sorts of Pokémon rarely seen normally were there.
Reportedly, the Wintercrow Club had over 5,000 formal members, countless among them in the low, middle, and high tiers of the Great Ball rank.
There were even several dozen trainers at the Ultra Ball rank.
Moreover, not all of them were from academic backgrounds. There were traditional trainers too.
This excited Li Xiang; he felt he wouldn't be short on candy. He wished he had come two days earlier.
Those park battles were trash, a waste of time!
At the front desk of the arena.
Crowds of people stood in several lines, waiting for registration and court assignments.
The club's battle modes were divided into several types.
There were self-organized teams, club-assisted random assignments, and designated rank matching.
Similar to custom games, normal matches, and ranked matches in LOL.
After registering personal information and phone number at the front desk, if a battle court became available, one could go wait there.
If there was an opponent waiting, they would be matched directly.
"Hello... Sorry, are you over eighteen? We don't support minors participating in matches here. My apologies."
The female attendant, seeing Li Xiang's somewhat youthful face after he removed his mask, said with a smile.
Li Xiang said nothing, handing over the temporary membership card as Huo Li had instructed.
The attendant took it, glanced at the card, then looked at Li Xiang's eyes twice.
After placing the card on a sensor area and hearing a beep, she maintained her smile, handing the card and a tablet over, saying softly, "Hello, please register your personal information."
'Reliable, Uncle Huo.'
Li Xiang mentally gave him a thumbs-up, entering his personal information on the tablet.
Just basic stuff, like the Pokémon he owned, ID number, age, gender, etc.
There was a field for rank; Li Xiang left it blank.
"Okay, you've been registered. What are your battle preferences?"
"Single battle, three vs three. Rank challenge, PokéBall rank, tenth tier. Any available?"
Li Xiang picked the lowest rank, planning to climb slowly. No rush.
He remembered online also referred to the PokéBall rank as the Professional rank, symbolizing a threshold.
Average energy level around forty. Perfect opponents for Li Xiang.
"PokéBall rank, tenth tier..." The attendant operated the computer and quickly found several opponents matching Li Xiang's requirements.
Unfortunately, they were all currently in battles.
So, she assigned Li Xiang a court, handed him a token, and told him to wait in the court.
"If tenth tier isn't available, ninth to seventh tier are fine too. Thanks."
After saying this, Li Xiang took the token and left.
Inside the club, to get to the target court, one didn't need to walk or use transportation like before.
In a corner of the hall, there was a teleportation area. Handing the token to the Abra there, the Abra would use Teleport to send you to the target court.
"Please."
Li Xiang took his daily liberty of touching the Pokémon, stroking the Abra's head.
'Smooth, quite nice to the touch.'
The Honedge in his hand gave a look of disdain, as if saying 'I knew it.'
'Incineroar was right; this guy is never satisfied, always looking for the next one.'
'Player!'
Pfft!
"Abra~"
The Abra displeasedly pushed Li Xiang's hand away, with a "show some respect" expression.
"Hehe, don't be mad. Want some candy?"
Li Xiang laughed, taking out a normal triangular candy from his pocket and offering it.
The Abra looked at Li Xiang with its squinting eyes, full of contempt.
'This? You think you can bribe me with just a piece of candy? Hmm…. pretty sweet.'
The humanoid fox smacked its lips, finding the taste good.
'...Wait, work time, work time!'
"Abra!"
The Abra called out low, casually putting a ring around Li Xiang and sending him to his destination.
'Mustn't let the Kadabra supervisor see me snacking on the job.'
On the other side.
Li Xiang arrived in a fully enclosed indoor battle court.
No one else around, just two exit doors and a large observation window high above. Felt almost like a training room.
The area was a standard medium court. The walls and ceiling seemed made of composite materials. Extremely impact-resistant.
The ground, however, was ordinary sandy soil.
He hadn't experienced this kind of enclosed environment much, having mostly battled in open or semi-open areas.
Felt somewhat fresh.
He thought he might have to wait long for an opponent. Unexpectedly, within minutes, an opponent arrived.
A young man in his early twenties, who paused upon seeing Li Xiang in a mask.
"Bro, wearing a mask in here, aren't you stuffy?"
He said loudly, then squinted, "Don't think I've seen you before. New?"
Li Xiang nodded, replying, "I'm a bit pressed for time. Can we start quickly?"
"Sure, fine by me."
The man shrugged. He had wanted to ask Li Xiang's rank, since he was randomly matched.
Just then, a mechanical voice reading the rules came from the upper right, startling Li Xiang.
The sound came from a speaker on the ceiling.
"Haha, that's the Porygon electronic referee. It uses cameras to determine wins and losses."
The young man laughed, explaining to Li Xiang since he seemed unfamiliar.
'Porygon electronic referee? Another version of the Rotom drone?'
Li Xiang blinked, casually tossing Honedge aside. "Watch from the side, don't wander off."
Honedge wobbled slightly to show it heard.
Soon, the rules finished, and a sharp whistle sounded.
Two PokéBalls flew out.
Bang! Bang!
White light flashed!
Two Pokémon landed on the ground. On the opposite side, the landed Pokémon was primarily bright yellow with slight green patches, resembling a giant pitcher plant but with sharp eyes and a slender vine connected to the leaf on its head.
—The Grass/Poison-type Victreebel.
A fragrance spread around it.
Facing it, was the small, thin Riolu.
"Wow, that's big."
Li Xiang looked surprised at this Victreebel. The usual size was around 1.7 meters, but this one was at least two meters tall.
"Hehehe." The young man chuckled. "It's not just big. Sunny Day!"