Elf: Who told him to be an investigator!

A sudden reversal.

This excited the surrounding middle-aged men, who couldn't help but burst into laughter and cheers.

"Wow—Brother's saddle-wielding soldier is truly, truly amazing! Absolutely outstanding!"

"Hahaha, Hyunta finally lost! He was the champion the last few times, but this time he didn't win! Hahaha—"

"A fantastic battle!"

The rough, passionate voices of the men in yellow miner's hats echoed continuously, and they all looked at Ze Shu with enthusiastic eyes.

On the field.

"Haoli!"

Xuan Tai stared blankly at Hao Li's collapsed, unconscious body, in disbelief.

He had thought that his enhanced Bursting Fist would land squarely, defeating his opponent's Komato soldier in one fell swoop. But to his surprise, it was his own Macho Might that ultimately fell.

"Hang in there?"

He murmured to himself, looking at the soldier opposite him who had been hit by his powerful punch but remained standing silently, seemingly unaffected, and a hint of admiration welled up in his eyes.

Hold on to the move.

It allows Pokémon to unleash their inner potential, enabling them to retain a sliver of stamina no matter how powerful the attack.

Thus, one lives towards death.

"Holding firm in dire straits, fighting with your back against the wall. Your bond with Pokémon is truly amazing!" Genta exclaimed, then rolled up his sleeves. "However, my Macho power is just as impressive!"

"I admit my trainer skill level was inferior to yours this time! But next time, you won't have it so easy to beat me!"

"You flatter me," Ze Shu said with a smile.

"Hahaha—it's rare to see Genta so humble, and he even utters such eloquent sentences!"

"Brother Zeshu, let's do it again! Let's have another battle!"

But faced with the invitation from the older men below.

Ze Shu slowly shook his head: "Never mind, my Pokémon have also suffered quite a few injuries."

He looked at the soldier with the dagger.

Although it still stood silently, like an unharmed Pokémon, it only had a sliver of strength left after the "Burst Punch" and the "Hold On" technique.

In this state, he could no longer allow the dagger-wielding soldiers to fight.

Since Ze Shu had said "Hold on," it faced the "Explosive Fist" that was four times stronger than its own without reservation, disregarding its own condition and executing Ze Shu's command completely and without the slightest error.

"Thank you, Komato Kogoro."

Ze Shu could only express his gratitude.

The soldier with the dagger still didn't react. Only something seemed to flicker slightly deep within his eyes, but it quickly vanished.

Nobody noticed.

"Now you should get some rest."

Ze Shu patted Komato Kobei, who was slowly walking back, and said softly.

Seeing this, the middle-aged men present were somewhat disappointed.

"Sigh...Aren't we going to fight anymore?"

"Seriously! Ze Shu's Pokémon is out of stamina, what's the point of fighting!"

"Yes, yes! They gave us a wonderful battle, which is already commendable!"

They paused for a moment, seemingly with regret, and then someone spoke.

"Then why not..."

"This championship title definitely belongs to Ze Shu!"

"Yes, yes! It has to be Brother Ze Shu!"

While Sawaki was checking the condition of the Komato soldiers, they quickly decided who would win the championship and shoved a homemade, somewhat crude black-gold trophy decorated with a lot of ores and carbon into Sawaki's hands.

Ze Shu was forced to hold the trophy, looking completely bewildered.

"Didn't you say you were going to beat all of you? This championship."

"Oh dear—there aren't that many rules! All you need is our approval! That guy Genta didn't beat all of us even in his previous championships!"

Hyunta scratched his head, chuckling sheepishly, "How could I possibly defeat everyone?"

Ze Shu was stunned.

Is it really that casual?

But then, without further ado, the group of middle-aged men announced:

"Hmph! The champion of this year's Black Gold Carbon Cup comes from, comes from—"

"Let's go to Masago Town," Sawaki said.

"Yes! It's Sawaki from Masago Town!!"

"Whoosh whoosh—"

The uncles cheered and struck various poses.

click-

As the camera shutter clicked, the photo was instantly produced.

This photo:

Against the backdrop of a bright and somewhat rugged mine tunnel, cheering men wearing miner's hats are scattered in various corners of the picture. They are either making funny faces, showing off their strength, or holding up their beer mugs and striking various poses.

Surrounded by them was Ze Shu, who was holding a trophy and grinning. Beside him stood Kobei Koto, expressionless and silent.

Of course, the adorable little head of the Ice Six-tailed Fox also quietly peeked out from between the collars of the Sawa Tree, turning into a white dot on the screen.

that's it.

In a lively and casual atmosphere, Ze Shu won his first championship trophy.

Black and gold carbon cup.

……

soon.

This small mine tunnel turned into a carnival.

Various kinds of pastries and beer were either tossed around or splashed, and the uncles sang and shouted songs that Ze Shu had never heard before but which were very powerful. They casually huddled together, and the smell of sweat and flying dirt mingled together, but no one cared.

Ze Shu simply drank his beer quietly, since the only water available here was beer.

Liuwei poked its head out from between the collars, took a bite, and immediately buried its face in Zeshu's chest with a bitter expression.

Ze Shu smiled, then looked at the group of middle-aged men in front of him, who seemed to be dancing wildly like demons.

"This...is it really okay to ignore it?"

"It's alright, this is just how we release our stress. We do this every time we have a competition," Xuan Tai said with a smile as he walked over. "After all, there aren't many entertainment options in Black Gold City."

Ze Shu nodded silently.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man put his arm around Ze Shu and said loudly, slurring his words, "Ze Shu, you're going to challenge the Black Gold Gym, right? Hahaha, with us protecting you, that guy Hyota definitely won't dare to make things difficult for you."

Piao Tai is the leader of the Black Gold Dojo.

"By the way, Ze Shu, how many badges have you obtained? With your strength, you're probably only missing the Black Gold City badge, right?"

Ze Shu paused for a moment, then said, "Um...actually..."

"My badge collection progress is currently at zero."

These words were spoken.

The uncles who had been singing noisily suddenly fell silent and looked at Ze Shu with strange expressions.

Soon, even louder laughter and noise erupted.

"No badges? Hahaha—then they don't need our protection anymore!"

"That guy, Hyota, is going to have a hard time!"

"Hahaha—I'm really looking forward to seeing Hyota's expression!"

Well known.

The gym leaders will adjust their strength based on the number of badges a challenger has.

And zero badges...

The older men could already imagine the scene of Hyota sending out a bunch of baby Pokémon, preparing to give them instructions, only to have them all slashed one by one by Sawaki's Ponytail Grunts.

"Brother Zeshu, we'll definitely come to watch your gym battle!"

"Yeah, yeah, we won't miss what Piao Tai looked like back then!"

Ze Shu: "..."

He was a little confused as he watched the middle-aged men quickly change their expressions and start laughing.

I thought about it for a moment.

He looked at the older man who was holding him and asked softly:

"Does Master Hyota usually make things difficult for challengers?"

He remembered that he also had a duty called "dojo inspector".