As the sun dipped toward the horizon, the feverish excitement of the mining competition gradually cooled.
Contestants gathered around the staff counters, submitting their findings for tallying. From time to time, gasps erupted from the crowd—clearly, a few people had struck it big.
Paul emerged as well, a heavy basket strapped to his back. Behind him, his Ursaring lugged two massive chunks of coal, each the size of three basketballs.
Bang!
The basket hit the ground.
"Please evaluate how many Poké Dollars these ores are worth."
His cold, detached tone immediately drew attention.
"Whoa—this kid dug up a lot."
"Yeah… with this amount, he might actually take first place!"
"Ursa!" Ursaring clapped its paws proudly.
"Hmph. Getting smug over this much is way too early," Paul scoffed, recalling Ursaring without another word.
Moments later, the results were in.
"Current record holder announcement," Roark declared. "First place—Paul, with 186 kilograms of coal! There are eight minutes left until sunset. Does anyone else wish to submit their haul?"
Paul froze for a second—this was an unexpected but welcome surprise.
He stepped forward. "Gym Leader Roark, I'd like to challenge the Gym after this."
"Paul, right?" Roark nodded. "A match is fine—but my Pokémon were injured in a battle yesterday and haven't fully recovered. It's also getting late. How about tomorrow?"
"…Injured in a battle?" Paul's brows furrowed. For some reason, Peter's earlier words in the mine echoed in his head, sending a jolt through him.
Before he could ask more, a tall figure appeared in the distance—dragging a basket overflowing with coal.
Peter trudged forward, sweat pouring down his face, steps heavy and uneven.
He hadn't realized how much he'd mined until now. When he pulled everything out of his system inventory at the tunnel entrance, the basket nearly couldn't hold it all.
Unlike certain legendary rookies who could lift absurd weights with one hand, Peter and Buneary simply didn't have that kind of raw power. He'd had to stop and rest repeatedly, pushing himself inch by inch.
Thankfully, he made it back before the competition ended.
"Damn… that guy's impressive too."
"Yeah… and his partner's just a cute little bunny—how did he mine that much?"
Murmurs rippled through the crowd as they stared in disbelief.
"Sorry, Gym Leader Roark," Peter said, wiping his brow and catching his breath. "Can I still submit these?"
"You can," Roark replied, then paused. "But Peter… did you and Buneary really dig all of this?"
"Heh… just got lucky," Peter replied with a grin, offering no further explanation.
The coal was weighed.
Roark raised an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid, Peter… your final total is 183 kilograms. Just a bit less than Paul's 186."
"Tch. Using a Pokémon like Buneary in a competition like this is just stupid," Paul said coldly.
In his eyes, Peter's results were nothing but luck. If he'd brought a power-type Pokémon, first place might have changed hands entirely.
"Mi-kyu!"
Buneary bristled instantly, ears curling as she dropped into a fighting stance—only to be gently held back by Peter.
"Looks like no one else is submitting," Roark began. "Then the final champion is—"
"Wait."
Roark stopped mid-sentence.
Peter scratched his nose and slowly pulled out a gray-brown stone from his bag.
"Uh… if we add this, would it change the result?"
The moment that color appeared, Roark's eyes widened. The surrounding contestants surged forward.
"A fossil?!"
"Someone actually dug up a fossil?!!"
"Holy—absolute holy—!"
Roark cradled the stone like a priceless treasure. "This shape… this coloration… this level of preservation… It's an exceptionally complete Helix Fossil!"
"Uh—so," Peter asked, glancing sideways at Paul, "can we announce the results now?"
Paul turned away without a word, clearly furious.
"I hereby declare," Roark announced loudly, "the champion of this year's Mining Competition is—Peter of Goldenrod City! Prize money: two hundred thousand Poké Dollars!"
"Mi-kyu~!"
Buneary hopped onto Peter's shoulder, proudly extending her tiny paw—praise me! written all over her face.
"Alright, alright~ Open wide."
Peter chuckled, ruffling her head and popping a Pokéblock straight into her mouth.
With his fingers now wet, Peter rubbed them against Buneary's cheek, earning an indignant squeak.
"Oh, right—can I sell the rest of these?" Peter asked.
Roark nodded. "Come with me."
…
In the end, between the coal and the fossil, Peter earned four hundred thousand Poké Dollars. Add the champion's prize, and his balance skyrocketed.
"Whew… financial crisis averted, for now," Peter sighed in relief.
Between long-term training plans and maintaining the Dream Space, his monthly expenses exceeded one million Poké Dollars. This haul barely covered the pressure—but it bought him time.
Of course, he could sell the set of Evolution Stones Whitney had given him for hundreds of millions—but things hadn't been desperate enough to go that far yet.
"Little one," Peter murmured, gently rubbing the Pokémon Egg, "once you're born, that's another huge expense for me~"
Today's victory had been thanks to the egg's help. Without it, the championship would've slipped through his fingers.
In a way… the little one had given him a cheat code.
"Hmm~"
The egg pulsed faintly, warmth and telepathic affection flowing into Peter's mind.
"Haha… I really want to meet you too."
Talking softly to the egg, Peter made his way to the Oreburgh Arena.
He planned to promote to Bronze Rank here.
Back in Jubilife City, he'd already secured an eight-win streak. Two more victories would do it.
The arena's layout was familiar. Peter registered for two 1v1 matches with practiced ease.
This time, matchmaking was fast—less than five minutes before his name was called.
The moment he stepped onto the battlefield, he froze.
His opponent wasn't just anyone.
It was Paul.
Peter broke into a grin. "Yo—small world."
"Tch. You're everywhere," Paul muttered, rolling his eyes before throwing a Poké Ball. "Go—Chimchar!"
"Buneary, let's go!"
[Chimchar lv25 (Intermediate)]
[Buneary lv23 (Intermediate)]
Paul paused when he saw Peter's choice.
This scene… it felt eerily familiar—just like that dream from days ago.
"Fire Spin!" Paul ordered instantly, aiming to restrict Buneary's mobility.
"Hu-ha!"
Chimchar roared, flames spiraling outward to form a fiery ring around Buneary.
Peter smiled faintly. "Tricks like that won't work on me."
"Splash."
"…!"
The battle had only just begun.
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