The next day, the weather was clear and the sun was shining brightly.
After a good night's sleep, Basalt and Drilbur were both refreshed and full of energy. Although it was a weekend, to win the selection tournant, neither Basalt nor Drilbur dared to sleep in. They got up early, finished breakfast, and started their training.
Under the effect of the Gravity Machine, Drilbur ran two laps around the open space as a warm-up, then demonstrated all the moves it had mastered before once again dedicating its energy to the developnt of the move "Dig."
This was the top priority at the mont.
Whirrrr~
As Drilbur beca more and more proficient at controlling its Ground-type power to soften the soil, its digging thod also changed dramatically.
Previously, Drilbur would just use its claws like shovels to dig. But after using its elental energy to soften the soil and reduce the difficulty of digging, it now began to hold its claws together vertically and spin its body, transforming into a "drill" and advancing rapidly through the earth.
When a Drilbur evolves into an Excadrill, the claws on its hands and the top of its head beco steel-plated. When its head and claws are brought together, it truly becos a drill. This drill-style digging thod was likely unique to the Drilbur species and was very distinctive.
"This… seems like it could be seamlessly connected with Rapid Spin to form a continuous combo, right?"
Watching Drilbur's digging starting motion, Basalt stroked his chin and fell into deep thought. Moreover, this spiral drill posture could also be used in the future when Drilbur learns the move "Horn Drill." Since the starting posture and motion were exactly the sa, with a little training, they could achieve a seamless transition.
First, use Rapid Spin to charge forward. If it misses, there's no need to stop; just dive headfirst into the ground and use Dig to continue the attack.
Since Rapid Spin itself had a defensive function, if Drilbur could eliminate the interval between switching moves, not only would its attack efficiency increase significantly, but the opening during that interval would also be erased. It was a true win-win.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! With a trainer like who has a genius idea every day, it's hard for my little mole not to get stronger." A slight smile played on Basalt's lips, quite pleased with himself.
Ring-ring-ring!
Just as Basalt and Drilbur were training enthusiastically, his Pokédex rang again.
"Doesn't this look like the number of that scamr from last night?" Basalt looked at the number. It seed a little familiar, but he couldn't be 100% sure. With no other choice, he still pressed the answer button.
"Student Basalt, I really am the person in charge of the fashion brand J&L…"
Before Jack could finish speaking, Basalt hung up the phone again.
"Are scamrs these days all this persistent? Or are they just targeting ? Do I look that easy to fool?" Basalt felt like he was being targeted. So annoying!
But not even five seconds later, the other party called again. This ti, Basalt was truly angry. He imdiately rejected the call and added the number to his block list. You think I'm a Hello Kitty just because I'm not roaring?
Unfortunately, blocking the number was useless. A minute later, another unknown number called.
"What the hell! Is there no end to this!" Basalt was furious. He picked up the phone, ready to curse, but the other end quickly said, "Student Basalt, I'm not a scamr. Please let finish speaking…"
"If I let you finish, will you stop harassing after that?" Basalt suppressed the urge to swear and said, word by word.
"Yes! Let finish. If you don't agree to cooperate, I will never harass you again."
"Then speak. I'm listening." Basalt put the phone on speaker and picked his ear with his little finger, his face full of impatience. He wanted to see what kind of flowers this damn scamr could talk up.
"Student Basalt, first of all, I want to say that I really am the person in charge of the fashion brand J&L, not a scamr. This is actually very easy to verify. You just have to search for my information and photos online, and then et in person, and you'll know."
Jack's attitude was very sincere, but Basalt was unimpressed. Fake webpages and fake information can be made online with a little money. You think I'm really a high school student, that easy to fool?
"Secondly, I feel that your image and charisma are a perfect fit for our brand, and I sincerely want to invite you to be our J&L brand's official critic. As long as you wear our J&L brand clothing in this selection tournant, we can give you compensation."
"Compensation? And before I get the compensation, I need to pay a deposit, right?" Basalt sneered. I've seen through your kind of scam tactics long ago. You might be able to fool kids and the elderly, but you want to fool ? Dream on! I've studied calculus; my IQ is very high, okay?
"A deposit?" Jack was baffled when he heard this, but after thinking about it, he seed to understand what Basalt ant and quickly explained, "Student Basalt, I'm really not a scamr. You have to believe !"
"How about this: I'll transfer 10,000 Pokédollars to you first as a cooperation deposit. We can talk face to face. If you don't want to cooperate, you can just return the deposit to ."
"You'll transfer money to first?" Basalt was slightly stunned, but he was still more suspicious than anything else. He sneered, "Fine, transfer it to then. I'll et you when I receive the money. The account number is…"
"Okay, please wait a mont." After noting down the account number, Jack hung up the phone.
While Basalt was still in a daze, a sum of money was indeed transferred to his account. He opened it and saw an incoming transfer of 10,000 Pokédollars.
What the hell! Is this a new type of scam?
Still not convinced, Basalt went to his balance page and saw that it showed a balance of 50,000 Pokédollars, which ant that the 10,000 had indeed arrived in his account. This couldn't be faked!
"What the heck! Was everything he just said true?" Basalt blinked, still finding it a little hard to believe.
Am I… about to enter the fashion world? Has my handsoness already been recognized by the fashion circle? So I'm a celebrity in the making?
Ring-ring-ring. The phone rang again. After answering, Jack said with a smile, "Student Basalt, have you received the deposit? Now, can we talk face to face?"
…
In the business district surrounding the Pokémon Departnt Store, inside the J&L Fashion Brand Store No. 1, Basalt sat upright on the sofa, his face full of apology. He said awkwardly, "Mr. Jack, I'm really sorry about earlier."
A Leavanny served two cups of coffee. Jack took a sip and said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "It's fine. It's good for a high school student to have so sense of precaution."
Just now you were calling a 'damn scamr,' but now that you've received the deposit, you know to call 'Mr. Jack'?
However, while sipping his coffee, he took a mont to size Basalt up properly. He found that he seed to be even more handso in person, and also had a bit of a goofy charm.
Basalt didn't know what to say, so he could only continue to play dumb and smile to avoid embarrassnt.
"Forget it. Let's talk about the brand critic matter," Jack said, not wanting to dwell on the unpleasantness. He got straight to the point.
"Please speak. I'm listening." Basalt's gaze sharpened, and he sat up straight, his face serious.
"A brand critic is a type of cooperation between an artist and a brand. The job is to help promote the brand. You are one of the top thirty-two contestants in this year's Seaside County High School Elite Selection Tournant. I hope that starting from the main tournant, you will wear our J&L clothing for every match…" Jack explained his idea eloquently.
To put it bluntly, starting from the main tournant, the following matches would not only have over a thousand spectators at the venue but would also be broadcast live, with countless viewers watching online. Basalt wearing J&L during his matches would be an advertisent for the brand.
Basalt nodded, waiting for him to continue. He understood the principle. The main thing was the compensation.
If the pay is right, the clothes will be worn to threads. It's not shaful to make money.
As Drilbur grew, Basalt felt the importance of resources more and more deeply. Take Type Gems, for example. Before, when Drilbur had gem fragnts to eat, its Ground-type developnt was very easy, with small improvents every day. But after the gem fragnts were used up, this rate of growth instantly slowed down to less than half of what it was before, which left both the little mole and Basalt feeling quite down.
But Basalt had also looked into the price of Type Gems. At a price of 100,000 Pokédollars, he really couldn't afford it. This made Basalt realize once again: every powerful Pokémon is built on a mountain of countless resources. Fortunately, Drilbur still had the Smooth Rock Crystal… at least it could hold out for a while.
"Since this is a selection tournant, the compensation for the official critic this ti will be on a tiered, cumulative basis. It will mainly depend on the number of tis you appear in the competition and your performance."
"If you only appear once and stop at the top thirty-two, then our compensation is 10,000. If you enter the top sixteen and appear twice, our appearance fee for the second ti will be 20,000. And so on, top eight is 30,000, top four is 50,000, and the finals is 100,000."
"If you can win the championship, we will give you an additional bonus of 140,000 Pokédollars. That's 10k 20k 30k 50k 100k 140k, for a total of 350,000."
After saying it all in one breath, Jack leaned back against the sofa.
"350,000?"
Basalt's breathing quickened, and his mouth felt dry. This fortune was 7 tis what he had at his wealthiest!
"That's right. Win the championship, and you get a reward of 350,000," Jack nodded. Although 350,000 Pokédollars was a lot, for a boss like him with a monthly turnover in the millions, it wasn't a huge sum. The key was, the 350,000 reward was for the champion. Could Basalt beco the champion of this competition? Jack himself was skeptical. He was interested in Basalt's handso looks and charisma. As for his strength, he had no idea, only that he was from Second High. And Second High was nothing compared to First High.
This was also the reason he adopted the tiered system. For every ti you appear and give my brand more exposure, I'll give you a one-ti compensation. It was very reasonable.
"Will I have to sign so very thick contract?" Basalt's gaze sharpened. This was his last worry. If Jack took out a very thick contract with a lot of clauses he couldn't understand, he would turn around and walk away. He couldn't afford to get into trouble.
"As for the contract, if you want to sign one, I can have soone draw it up. If you don't want to sign, we can just pay in installnts. For every milestone you achieve, we'll pay you once. The 10,000 Pokédollar deposit just now will serve as your appearance fee for the first match."
Jack knew Basalt's worries, so he didn't make things difficult for him. Besides, he wasn't afraid of Basalt running off with his money.
"Then let's not sign a contract. We'll do installnt paynts. Just write a description when you make the transfer," Basalt said, looking at Jack. He felt that this probably wasn't a scam.
"No problem. Since we've reached an agreent, let's go pick out the clothes for the competition now. Don't worry, everything is a free gift from . No charge." Jack glanced at Basalt and laughed heartily.
Hearing this, Basalt's cheeks instantly turned red.
"By the way, Mr. Jack, what is your Leavanny's ability?"
Suddenly, Basalt changed the subject, fixing his gaze on the Leavanny.
"My Leavanny's ability? It's Swarm. Why do you ask?" Jack was baffled, not knowing what Basalt ant by this.
"Oh, it's Swarm. Then never mind."
Basalt shook his head and began to follow Jack to pick out the clothes.
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