Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

Tetsuya strolled toward the ship, and as soon as he entered the cabin, a waiter approached him.

"Hello Mr. Tetsuya Tamaki, you are holding a VIP room ticket for our St. Anne, located on the fourth deck with the best viewing position."

Would you like me to show you around the entire facility of the St. Anne?

"I'd appreciate it if you could give me a brief introduction," Tetsuya said with a slight smile to the waiter.

"Yes, it's my pleasure. Please follow me." The waiter bowed slightly to show his respect and gestured with his right hand as he walked forward.

"The entire deck of the St. Anne is divided into 6 levels, with the second level being ordinary rooms and the fourth level being VIP rooms."

The first floor, where we are currently located, mainly contains various entertainment facilities, from left to right: an arcade, a theater, a bar, a library, a gym, a hot spring bath, a card room, and an all-day buffet restaurant.

The outer deck area features an open swimming pool and water park.

The third and fifth floors are for trainers to battle and train, but they are only open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. They are closed during the rest of the time to allow guests to rest and for the facilities to be cleaned. We appreciate your understanding.

The sixth floor is a semi-open banquet venue, open only to VIP room guests like yourself and a small number of regular room guests, on the second and third nights after the Saint Anne's departure. You will be notified by someone at that time.

Each floor also has its own supporting infrastructure. If you have any needs or questions, you can ask the staff for help at any time.

As Tetsuya walked towards the room, the waiter gave Tetsuya a brief introduction to the structure of the St. Anne's ship, as requested.

It truly lives up to its reputation as a luxury cruise ship; all the facilities are top-notch.

As we approached the room, the waiter bowed slightly. "This is your room. You can enter simply by swiping your ID card; it's linked to your account."

If you have no other needs, I will take my leave now.

"Okay, thank you very much. I'm all set." Tetsuya took out his ID card from his backpack, swiped it on the access card, opened the door, and went inside.

"Have a pleasant journey on the St. Anne," the steward said goodbye and went back to his work.

Tetsuya walked into the room, raising an eyebrow.

The view is from the transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, which offer a panoramic view of the boundless sea and the beautiful sunset.

"Ah~ that feels so good."

Tetsuya sighed, threw his backpack on the bed, and lay down on the soft sofa.

I opened the refrigerator next to me, took out a can of drink, and drank it. Anyway, it was included in the ticket price, so I didn't have to pay for it myself.

"It's even a commemorative edition packaging. Rich people are really something else." After taking a look, I realized it was three times more expensive than the regular version of the same drink. I couldn't help but marvel at how the lives of the rich are so luxurious that you can't even imagine them.

As for drinking more expensive red wine?

Tetsuya said that he is just an ordinary person, and drinking expensive beverages is already his limit. He really can't drink red wine.

It's important to understand that in this world, fruits specifically designed for human consumption are very difficult to grow, and the price of a bottle of red wine is simply unaffordable for the average person.

"No, I can't be so dejected." After lying there for nearly ten minutes, Tetsuya struggled to stand up.

"I'll take a shower first. My back and waist are aching from driving this electric scooter all the way. Maybe I should sell it and get a new one. It's not very comfortable." Stretching his aching body, Tetsuya walked towards the bathroom.

Pushing open the door, I exclaimed, "Wow, do rich people even use their bathrooms like this?"

Chapter 44: Raising a Pokémon Leads to Bankruptcy

At the far end of the bathroom, there was a single hot spring bath, next to which was a shower room, and outside that was a double bathtub.

These aren't the key points, since even higher-end resort hotels have this configuration.

The key is the color of the entire bathroom, which is golden yellow, the kind of golden yellow that comes with gold.

Tetsuya checked and found that everything inside was gold-plated. Although gold is not considered precious in this world and is not usually used as an equivalent in exchange, it would still be a considerable expense if all the rooms were done like this.

This kind of gaudy gold decoration is really blinding at first glance; it's too glaring.

Looking around, I noticed that the toiletries on the side were all top-tier brands from the Pokémon world, which was quite in line with the style of this place.

I took off my clothes and stepped into the hot spring pool, slowly sat down, and felt simply wonderful.

The perfectly warm water washed away his fatigue, allowing Tetsuya to relax completely.

I turned on the TV in front of me and started watching a program.

"Therefore, the power of a move depends not only on the amount of energy it can hold, but also on the Pokémon's own energy level and proficiency. A Pokémon with just energy isn't enough; trainers must always be mindful of this during training..."

Tetsuya listened to Professor Oak's science lecture on TV and his mind wandered.

Unfortunately, none of my three Pokémon are the type that like water, otherwise I could have let them relax a bit too.

Pidge is an option, but it's too big and inconvenient to clean.

The strong chicken and the stone ball will probably only be able to enjoy a sand bath. The strong chicken is okay, soaking in the hot spring will only make it a little uncomfortable, but if it were the stone ball, it would be half dead.

I stretched and sighed. This is truly the ideal life.

Unfortunately, my own money is far from enough to support this ideal.

During this period, including the 200 million that Xiao Gang gave me in advance, I have earned about 1800 million Alliance Coins.

However, a large sum of money was spent on training the Pokémon.

The Mighty Chicken broke through to Elite level in a month, and the training cost increased significantly, costing approximately 300 million.

It can be said that it only took four months to train it to the elite level. The shortened time was not only due to its Gundam champion potential, but also largely due to the effect of spending money.

Furthermore, Tetsuya calculated that if he continued using the current method, he would need to spend at least 1000 million to break through to level 40.

Not to mention what happened afterward.

As for Pidgeot, I've only used 150 million this month, which is within my planned limit, since my progress isn't as fast as that of a Powerful Chicken.

The bulk of this month's expenses were still on the Stone Balls. The infancy period also cost around 350 million yen. The key point is that the expenses for the next ten days were something Tetsuya really didn't expect.

Because of the unique nature of the Stone Golem, Zero's training plan was to frantically replenish and accumulate energy before evolution, while also feeding it special rocks to change its physical characteristics.

By absorbing special rocks over a long period of time and in large quantities, the Stone Balls' resistance to various attributes and the hardness of their bodies are further enhanced.

Both of these costs are not small. The ten days of Zhe alone cost about 2 million yen, and that was only because of the supply channels and 50% discount from Nibi Dojo.

Otherwise, some rare rocks would be impossible to find for sale, and even if someone did, they wouldn't be this cheap.

Moreover, as the stone pellets grow, the cost of these special rocks will only increase, not decrease.

Roughly calculated, just reaching the evolution stage would probably cost around 1500 million, not to mention the need to further strengthen the character at that time.

Basically, the cost of Stone Golem is about the same as that of Roborock, since their evolved sizes are different.

These days, raising Pokémon is definitely an expensive business, Tetsuya thought with a wry smile, realizing that raising one Pokémon would bankrupt him.

Fortunately, as his own strength continued to increase, making money became relatively easier.

However, ordinary people shouldn't think that they can quickly improve the strength of their Pokémon by simply throwing money at it. It's only because Tetsuya has a complete training program that he dares to do this.

Otherwise, it's very likely that the 1000 million invested will be wasted.

Therefore, there are many reasons that prevent ordinary trainers from becoming stronger and changing their lives. In addition to poverty, there are also limitations such as the aptitude of their Pokémon, the way they advance, and even the methods of training their Pokémon.

The remaining 800 million I have can last me a while. If I win a championship in this competition, becoming rich overnight is not just a dream.

After all, charcoal with a 10% effect is not too bad, it's only around 1000 million.

The key is that evolution stone that allows you to choose any attribute. You should know that some evolution stones with special attributes are very rare and expensive.

This means that the three evolved brothers from Stom Town can be given away as rewards at will, after all, they are wealthy people who made their fortune by mining evolution stones.

Tetsuya let out a soft breath and stood up.

"I need to get my hair cut sometime, or maybe get a new hairstyle, like a wolf tail."

After wiping his body, Tetsuya stood in front of the mirror admiring his own physique as this thought flashed through his mind.

After all, he had been busy with missions and training Pokémon for the past six months, and spent the rest of his time studying and watching videos. He simply didn't have time to get a haircut.

So his hair looked slightly messy.

Fortunately, he takes a shower and washes his hair every morning and evening, otherwise people who don't know him might think his Pidgey lives on his head.

Stepping out of the bathroom, Tetsuya picked up the phone and called for service.

"Hello, how can I help you?" a clear female voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Give my three Pokémon a massage and a clean: Pidgeot, Combusken, and Rockruff."

"Yes, sir, someone will come to your room to collect it shortly."

The whole process takes about three hours. It's dinner time now, so you can start eating now. We will notify you when the service ends via your watch later.

You are free to choose when we return the Poké Ball.

"Okay, thank you." "You're welcome, have a pleasant trip."

Zhe also hung up the phone decisively.

This is also part of the VIP room service that the waiter mentioned earlier. I just checked, and it involves hiring several high-level breeders at a high price to provide this service.

Although Tetsuya often does it himself, he comes here to enjoy himself, so why not occasionally delegate it to someone else, especially since room service is free?

"Beep beep~! Beep~ woo!"

As the ship's horn sounded, the Saint Anne slowly started moving.

I stretched and realized I'm now officially on a semi-vacation, so I can put aside training and making money through missions.

"Knock knock!" A male voice rang out with a knock on the door, "Hello sir, this is your room service."

He quickly put on his clothes, took the three miniature luxury balls, opened the door, and handed them to the waiter who came to collect them.

I casually inquired whether the buffet restaurant on the first floor was open for dining, and the waiter, of course, gave me an affirmative answer.

Tetsuya easily walked downstairs to prepare for his first dinner.

Chapter 45 The Opponent Appears

"Tsk, they really know how to spend money."

While thinking this, Tetsuya didn't stop what he was doing, putting the beef and several lobsters onto the plate.

Yes, there are ordinary animals living in the Pokémon world, but their numbers are pitifully small.

Generally speaking, people eat scientifically synthesized food, which is basically no different from natural food in terms of taste and texture.

However, the restaurants here clearly state that they use farmed, natural ingredients, not synthetic ones.

Tetsuya felt that there was no need for the St. Anne to joke about this; a connoisseur could still tell the difference between the two.

It's important to understand that natural ingredients are not only scarce but also expensive, and farming cannot be done on a large scale, as if it's against the rules of the world.

The cost of ingredients alone is estimated to be tens of millions of dollars per day, and the St. Anne's is a year-round circumnavigation ship.

The cost is considerable.

I took a bite, and there was indeed no difference in taste and texture, but it gave me a feeling of freedom and freshness.

It might also be the smell of money.

As Tetsuya slowly savored the taste of nature, a shadow enveloped the light in front of him.

"Hello, this is Tetsuya Tamaki, trainer of Pewter Gym."

Looking up, he saw a boy who looked about his age, with long purple hair and wearing a brownish-red shirt, greeting him with a plate.

"Why is it that every time I encounter characters from my past life's anime, it's like this? Zhang Wei's destiny is the toilet, so is my destiny the restaurant?"

Tetsuya internally complained, but forced a smile onto his face.

"Hello, Rai-shi, the trainer from Cerulean Gym."

"Haha, I thought you didn't recognize me. You don't mind me sitting here, do you?"

"I don't mind at all, not at all."

Tetsuya was screaming inwardly, "How can they all be exactly the same?" But to maintain his friendly attitude, he put on a very happy face.

Lei Si sat down naturally. "Let me reintroduce myself. I am Lei Si from Veilstone City in the Sinnoh region. I am currently on my first year of travel in the Kanto region. I am here to represent the Cerulean Gym in this competition."

"Tetsuya Tamaki, from Tokiwa City in the Kanto region, is also on his first trip and is representing Pewter Gym in this competition."

Tetsuya ate his lobster and gave a casual reply.

Lei Si didn't feel embarrassed at all and started eating naturally: "Speaking of which, we are quite destined to meet. There were only four non-heirs participating, and we just happened to run into each other."