A flash of white light passed, and Eternatus was withdrawn into the Pokéball by Flint.
The people below the stage were completely dumbfounded.
Almost every single person had a somewhat abnormal look in their eyes when staring at Flint.
That Pokémon had already completed six boosts and was still at full health, and you're still willing to pull it back?
And judging from the trend in the previous two rounds, the Pokémon in this round would definitely be even more disgusting.
"No wonder Flint is a Elite Four, really ruthless and merciless."
"This is insane, not only does he have so many tricks, he doesn't even know how to show pity to a girl."
"Good grief, if they put me in the Sinnoh region, even if they gave me money I wouldn't want to be a villain, the Elite Fours there are too brutal!"
"Hahahaha, you guys can stay stunned all you want. I already withdrew my registration. Ten course credits? I can make them up by skipping class for four years anyway."
———
They were stunned, and Marina was even more stunned.
Right now she regretted being the first one on stage.
Not only did she have to face Stealth Rocks and double-layered Toxic Spikes, she also had to face other unknown terrors.
At this moment, another flash of white light appeared, and a golden glow instantly enveloped the entire arena.
Clatter~
With every step Boss Gholdengo took, the little chest behind him made a crisp clattering sound.
You could tell just by that sound, this was a very wealthy Gholdengo.
Seeing Gholdengo appear, Tauros immediately stepped in front of its trainer alertly.
Even though it knew that Pokémon in the arena wouldn't attack the Trainer, Tauros was still cautious to the extreme.
At the very least, it must not let its girl cry.
Gholdengo awkwardly scratched the back of his head, looking over Tauros and landing his gaze on Marina.
Her emotions were already a bit more stable now, but it was still clear that her eyes were a little red.
She had almost been driven to tears by that little Eternatus and Nihilego.
Gholdengo smacked his lips. Instead of attacking Tauros, he skillfully took the little chest to his front and pulled out four gold coins.
["Here~"]
Gholdengo stretched out his hand toward Tauros, letting Tauros receive the coins.
Tauros froze solid.
Clatter~
Gholdengo gave the honest Tauros a deep bow before explaining, 'This stuff can buy food, can buy your girl a dress, and can buy energy cubes too. Consider it medical expenses for the four of you!'
Tauros's eyes lit up and it gave a loud "Moo," trotting happily over to Gholdengo and holding the four gold coins in its mouth.
'Even the poison doesn't feel painful anymore!'
'Girl, gold coins~'
Tauros placed the gold coins into Marina's hand, leaving its back completely exposed to Gholdengo.
The moment it received the coin, it suddenly felt that Gholdengo was someone highly trustworthy.
How could a person like that do a sneak attack?
With three question marks symbolizing the move Nasty Plot floating over his head, Gholdengo smiled as he watched Tauros hand the money to its girl.
'Such a well-behaved Pokémon, how could I bear to sneak attack?'
'But since I've got nothing else to do… you guys won't mind me using a boosting move, right?'
'They won't mind at all!'
Feeling the weight of the gold coins in her hand, Marina completely ignored Gholdengo using a boosting move right beside her.
She couldn't win anyway.
More importantly, this Gholdengo was too loaded.
Normal Gholdengo's gold coins also circulated in the market, but those coins were very light.
But this Gholdengo was different, his gold coins weighed a full 5–10 grams.
Selling these few gold coins would be enough to feed her Pokémon for several days.
'This beating… was totally worth it.'
"Tauros, since he gave us so much money, and we can't remove these Toxic Spikes anyway and absolutely can't win…
how about…"
"Moo!"
Seeing her hesitate to speak, Tauros gave her a knowing look, turned around, and firmly walked toward Gholdengo.
'Don't worry, master. Even if you didn't say it, I, old bull, would never take money for nothing.'
'Let's fight, Boss Gholdengo. Please don't hold back!'
Gholdengo nodded with a calm expression and lightly waved his right hand.
A massive wave of gold coins appeared out of thin air and rained down onto Tauros.
With the buffs from a few Nasty Plot stacks, Gholdengo forcefully one-shotted Tauros despite the type disadvantage.
The Gold Rush coins quickly returned to the chest behind Gholdengo, while the four gold coins in Marina's hand didn't move at all.
Carmine raised her megaphone, ["Junior Marina has lost to Axel in this match. Her ranking drops by one place. Axel's ranking rises to No. 97 in Blueberry Academy."]
While Carmine was speaking, Flint waved at Marina and briefly explained the misunderstanding just now.
He had no choice, he was also worried everyone would run away.
Even though the principal said Axel could challenge any student at will, as a proper Elite Four he couldn't just chase students around with Infernape for battles, could he?
Watching Marina actually walk off the arena with gold coins in hand and getting a one-on-one critique from Flint, the students in the plaza were completely shocked.
"Wait, this is allowed?"
"Holy crap, Elite Four Flint is too refined. He even gives medical expenses after a fight."
"Flint is amazing. Boss Gholdengo is generous!"
"Who was it just now that said they were withdrawing? Hurry up and quit, if you don't I'm looking down on you!"
"Hahaha, someone go find that guy who withdrew. Not only did he lose the medical expenses and the one-on-one commentary, he also wasted his four-year truancy privilege!"
A guy holding a bug net slapped his roommate's arm hard, "Bro, why aren't you smiling?"
"When we team up in ranked later I swear I'll tell Third and Fourth so they can laugh as well."
The roommate raised his head slightly, but still couldn't hold back two streams of tears.
"Because… you already found the guy who withdrew. Also, don't invite me to ranked anymore… I'm going to class from now on."
———
In the days that followed, with Flint helping to fight on his behalf, Axel was completely relaxed.
Iono had clearly been to the Unova region many times before, so she was very familiar with the terrain near Blueberry Academy. With Gardevoir and the others, she went sightseeing.
And in order to help Infernape grow better, Flint was also relieved to temporarily leave Infernape with Axel.
"Axel, over there is the most famous structure in the Unova region, Dragonspiral Tower!"
Iono wore a loose yellow jacket today. Her fair legs were fully exposed in front of Axel.
Under her wide sleeves, she tightly held Axel's hand, her fingers constantly teasing the palm of his hand.
"According to the legends of Unova, the Dragonspiral Tower is where the mythical Dragon appeared long ago."
Looking at the black-and-white building in front of him, Axel slightly nodded.
"Indeed. It's said that long ago the two princes of Unova had a conflict. The legendary Unova Dragon God split into two because of it. One became the Black Dragon of ideals, and the other became the White Dragon of reality, causing the Unova region to be torn apart."
"And the Dragonspiral Tower here is where they eventually settled the dispute."
"The two princes shook hands and reconciled, and both the Black Dragon and White Dragon disappeared."
"From that point on, Dragonspiral Tower carried the legend of the Dragon God."
Hearing Axel's words, Iono turned her head in surprise. In her admiring gaze there was even more appreciation.
"Axel, you actually know that much?"
"You should be a science popularization streamer, you'd definitely make a ton of money."
Axel really wanted to say that he wasn't short on money for the time being, but thinking of Iono's own wealth, he sighed in the end.
"Ahem! Actually… money isn't everything…"
"Right, money isn't everything, well said, brother," Before Axel could finish, a man in white clothes suddenly appeared beside Axel, enthusiastically patting Axel on the shoulder.
"Brother, you look so imposing, and your Gardevoir is wearing such expensive accessories, you must be a rich Trainer. But you have to understand… the will of a Pokémon might not be to follow humans."
"No matter how much money you spend on your Pokémon, she might still not enjoy being by your side."
Axel turned around, a Plasma Team cultist was speaking passionately.
Axel: "..."
'Your new boss doesn't even dare show up in front of me right now, and you still dare come here to con me?'
"Gyarados, go!"