CHAPTER 190
The Game Corner was legal to all, both trainers and civilians, and the stories of how people came out of there rich overnight were always the loudest. Denzel adjusted his belt, twisting it around as he hummed. He didn't know how they kept their reputation so clean online and through word of mouth, but he also knew of the endless stories about people losing all of their life savings after a streak of terrible judgment and luck. Nobody forced them to play. Hell, there were even disclaimers all over the website that said to only gamble with what you could afford to lose, but just like saying smoking kills on cigarette advertisements, that didn't stop people from fucking up their lives.
Denzel thought himself above such irresponsibilities until he began to study the games at the game corner. He clenched and unclenched a fist as he heard an excited knock on his door. Grace and Cecilia were currently on their date and would most likely be joined at the hip the entire time they were in Veilstone. Emilia and Pauline had helped them get ready, but they were catching up together and making up for lost time in the former's room— and he couldn't help but wonder why the hell it was so difficult to bear this time around when he'd been fine with it in Hearthome. Louis and Maeve were out training and had signed up for their gym battle against Maylene today. Justin was gone.
Denzel stared at his hands and ran a finger over his palms. They were rough from traveling in the wild for so long. Tiny scars from cuts, calluses under his fingers, small marks from his nails that he'd gotten over the last months from clenching his damn fists too much. Denzel knew his list to be a flaw. A flaw that had held Sylvi back in fear because of how much he had obsessed with it, and yet he could not stop. Not when he was this close. He wanted to throw himself into work and distract himself from this petty sense of lacking that he felt. A Dratini would fit, it would fit so damn well.
"You've got this," he told himself. "You're the fucking man."
"Are you asleep? Open the door!"
More knocks. Denzel had almost forgotten that she had been waiting, still. He stood up and cracked his fingers as he stepped toward the door. Mira was waiting for him there, her hands on her hips.
"Finally. Damn, you look nervous. Are you alright?"
"Obviously not. I'm terrified I'm about to throw everything I've made away because I won't be able to stop myself."
"Are you ready, at least?" she asked.
"Yeah. I've done as much as I could to prepare. I have some sort of plan, and I'll try to stop if I lose more than one hundred grand. What about you?" Denzel asked.
"I'm putting it all on one spin."
"What— what the fuck?" he scoffed. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Not at all. I know the odds are ridiculously against me and it'll probably backfire, but could you imagine if it didn't?" She smirked. "Tonight, I'll dare to dream."
"Remind me to never take any financial advice from you," he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
Mira was strange. There was a certain focus and intelligence behind her mindness, or at least that's what Denzel thought when he looked into her eyes. She wasn't as hyper as usual, which was also strange, but she looked fine other than that. He didn't exactly know how to approach her.
"By the way, I'm going to have company tonight," she said. "I didn't want to, but it's out of my hands."
"Who is it? A friend?"
"No. It's Carlos," she said, pointing outside of the Pokemon Center.
League Trainers were easy to spot. Their uniforms were absolutely iconic, with a mix of orange and brown that looked thick enough to stop a knife. Denzel nearly jumped when he got close enough to see the man's face. Half of it was completely molten, the deformation going down to his neck like he'd been dumped into a jar of Acid. Unlike Grace's red and malformed burns, his were deeper and the scar left him only with a layer of skin thin enough to see the muscle below. He was missing half of his hair and an eye as well, and Denzel could see down the dark cavity, a fact that made him want to lurch. One-eyed people usually wore an eyepatch, but this League Trainer didn't care about the stares he attracted. Scars were common, but they were almost never that horrible, because people usually died when they'd gotten hit with something that bad.
"That's the League Trainer who was assigned to me," Mira shrugged. "He's started to actually show up and shadow me to stop me from doing reckless things. Carlos, meet Denzel."
"Uh, good evening, I guess. Nice to meet you," Denzel said, opting to focus on the normal half of the man's face.
Carlos' eye fixated on Denzel. "Likewise."
"He's not very talkative, except when he yells at me," she said. "We're going to the Game Corner, Carlos. Surely that's allowed."
"Go ahead. I'll follow."
"Don't mind him, by the way. We can just talk normally," Mira said.
They began their trek toward the center of the city, where the Game Corner was located. It would take them a while to get there on foot. All of Denzel's savings added up to 943,932 Pokedollars, an astronomical sum by his old standards. All of the donations from his streams, videos and the money from his sponsors had added up to this. He had enough for a Shiny Stone, and he would still do if he lost 100,000, which was his limit for the night.
He needed five million flat for a Dratini. In other words, he needed to make slightly more than five times his current amount of money to win. Back in Hearthome, when he had come to a decision about getting a Dratini, Denzel had figured that he'd be able to play it safe. Bet a little amount at a time and slowly get to that sum, but he couldn't. Not unless he planned to spend the next month in Veilstone holed up in the Game Corner at all times of day and night. Denzel didn't want to win everything in one night like Mira did, but he certainly didn't want to spend more time in the Game Corner than out of it. He still had to train for Maylene, study the effects of Aura, challenge trainers more powerful than he was and make content.
"How're things going anyway?" He asked, trying to distract himself. "Heard you were learning a bunch of different stuff like coding."
"Making good progress, but it'd take me the entire year to make a Porygon," she shrugged. "It isn't like normal coding where you can just steal someone else's. You've got to make them unique, at least if you want them to have free will and be sentient."
"I thought they were all sentient?"
"Of course not. How do you think the government can pump out thousand of them at a time? They're still all trained to do different things— some Porygon protect against hacks while others keep your PC clear of viruses better than any antivirus could do. That's why making em is still expensive. I don't want a machine though, I want the real thing, which the Game Corner has."
Denzel grunted with a nod. "I didn't know any of that. Interesting."
"It's not just interesting, it's fascinating. My uncle used to talk to me all about them and how he was sure that something called Rotom existed that could do as much work as a thousand non-sentient Porygon combined. I still don't know if he was crazy or not."
He slowed down slightly at the mention of Charon. Denzel wasn't exactly sure how the hell to approach the topic, so he veered away for now.
"You know, I heard you and Grace are fighting," he said. "She wants to mend things, you know?"
"She does? Damn, she really is nice," Mira snorted. "Has she given what I said some thought, at least?"
"I don't even know what you fought about."
"Ah. Never mind, then, ignore that. You know, I'll probably just apologize and that'll be that," Mira shrugged, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Then we can pretend it was nothing and that we were just being silly."
"That bit of sarcasm wasn't lost on me."
A heavy silence settled between the two of them. Damn, this was hard. Denzel didn't know how to even interact with her any longer, and the scarred man looming tall behind them didn't make things any easier. Being so close to her uncle really had done a number on her.
"How are your romantic prospects?" She said. Denzel flinched at the question. "Come on, a question for a question."
"I'm not in love with anyone."
"Oh, sure you aren't. You can vent to me, you know? I might not look like it, but I'm trustworthy! I'm into Chasey, so I know what it feels like for things to be hopeless— not that your situation is anywhere as hopeless as mine. Yours is just awkward."
"Wait, you actually like Chase? I thought that was a joke."
Mira sighed. "We'd make a shit pair, wouldn't we? Do you want to know why?"
The teenager nodded.
"Because he's the only one who doesn't walk around eggshells when he talks to me. He speaks his mind, and he speaks it freely. The only ones I can get that from these days are my Pokemon and, well, Carlos over here."
"Glad to be of service," the League Trainer said.
"Thank you, Carlos. You're the best!" Mira cheered. "You'd be better if you let me go wherever I wanted, though."
"You'll die."
"I don't think I'd die. Get captured, probably, but I wouldn't die right away. The League is using me, Cecilia and Grace as bait, after all, so why not fulfill my role?" She said. "I think what worries you most, Carlos, is Charon sweet talking me into betraying the League. I have a Haunter that I recently figured out how to evolve and a Kadabra and Kirlia on the cusp of evolving too. I might only have four badges, but I wouldn't be that easy to deal with."
Denzel's hair stood up, and for a moment— just a single moment, he felt like he was looking at a stranger, not a friend. It was gone just as fast as it came, but when Denzel turned toward Carlos, the man's terrifying face hadn't changed.
"Where did you find out?" The League Trainer asked, his face completely still.
"About Haunty's evolution?" She asked, turning around to walk backwards. "Cynthia, of course. Who else? We had a few conversations after the Darkest Day."
"Ah," he grunted.
"Don't worry, I won't actually do it or tell anyone. It was a lot more horrifying than I thought," she shivered. "I couldn't imagine doing that to anyone."
Denzel was completely out of the loop, and he hated it. Cecilia had told him about how she'd spoken to Cynthia on multiple occasions in Solaceon, but she refused to tell him anything beyond the fact that they'd talked about Spiritomb. Grace had also apparently done so, although he knew nothing about that. To learn that Mira had as well? He supposed that made sense. All three of them were in the LTIP after all, but he couldn't imagine an evolution method that made even Mira pale. Denzel felt his nails slightly dig at his palm. To reveal such information to a trainer with four badges, Cynthia must have thought all three to be important in some way beyond them just being targets for Team Galactic.
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"Come on, don't look at me like that. I was just showing how ludicrous Carlos was being. I'd never join Team Galactic after they brainwashed my uncle. Not in a million years," she whispered with her jaw clenched.
That statement made Denzel relax slightly, but he hated being out of the loop like this. It was as if he could only peek past a curtain, unable to see what was going on deeper inside of the house. He knew nothing, and Mira knew almost everything, or at least that's what it felt like.
"Say, Mira," Denzel hesitantly began. "Grace told me that you used to snoop around, hoping to gather information about Team Galactic, but what is your plan?"
"That was the original goal," Mira said after a short pause. "The goal now— or at least before Carlos started stalking me— was to get kidnapped in hopes of talking to Charon."
Denzel's face fell. "You can't convince him to come back, Mira. Even if you did, the League—"
"I know that, Denzel. I'm not stupid, despite what some people may think," she hissed. "I just have different priorities. I want to talk to him no matter what, and the contents of that conversation are very personal. Only Kirlia knows about it."
"People don't think you're stupid," Denzel shook his head.
"They do. Or wait, stupid is the wrong word. Unhinged, maybe? Carlos, what do you think?"
"Unhinged is a good one," he nodded. "You give your own life no value."
"I do, actually, which is very new for me. The problem is that this is more important to me. So long as I fulfill my goal, I don't care about the rest."
Denzel saw the Game Corner's lights before he saw the actual building. Bright, neon blue and pink that attracted humans like moths to a flame. A large crown logo adorned the top of the building and was surrounded by the words GAME on one side and CORNER on the other. A tall Obstagoon loomed in front of the building, smelling and staring intently at anyone going in. Mira had asked Denzel to potentially use some 'fairy bullshit,' as she called it, to affect their luck, but they wouldn't have been the first people to think of that. Obstagoon here would find any Pokemon-related cheats and wouldn't let you in if he smelled anything wrong. The line was long, just like every night, so they got into the file. Denzel couldn't help but notice another, quicker VIP line that wealthy-looking people went through without Obstagoon there to stop them.
"Mira, do you know how the hell do you get through there? I didn't find anything about it in my research."
"I'm not sure, I couldn't really find anywhere to buy a VIP pass or anything of the sort when I went inside to check things out," she answered. "There's a VIP-only area downstairs though, so it definitely exists."
Denzel's eyes narrowed. He was suspicious, but there wasn't much he could do except maybe ask around when he made it inside. After twenty minutes, they made it through the queue and Carlos said he'd wait for them outside. The Game Corner was carpeted in red as far as the eye could see with fancy lotuses etched onto the fiber. Legions of people that looked more like mindless drones constantly pressed a single button at the slot machines, barely blinking or moving as they watched their savings go down without a single reaction. Denzel never got the appeal of slots. Sure, the house always won no matter what game he'd play, but there was no way in hell he was going to leave it all to chance. Everything here was just so bright and golden. The soft sound of slot machines left his ears as they continued deeper. A large crown logo was etched into the center of the carpet where people lounged about in couches with drinks in their hands.
In the back of the establishment was the service counter that let you exchange your Pokedollars for coins, the currency in this place, along with rewards.
"Eyes on the prize," Mira whispered.
Denzel's eyes snapped to where she was pointing, and he couldn't help but feel goosebumps when he looked at the large egg labeled DRATINI encased in transparent glass and sitting on a luxurious red pillow. There were more eggs in the back of the casino, and they were supposed to hatch any day now. He swore that he saw it shake. A bar hugged the reward and exchange counter closely, selling all kinds of drinks. The entire casino was designed to make money, Denzel noted. To make it to the service counter, they had to walk through every game, both Pokemon-themed and normal, and if someone ever wanted to grab a drink or go to the bathroom, they'd have to walk by the one place that let them exchange more coins.
Just one more spin, Denzel mused. A saying that had no doubt ruined thousands of lives and would ruin a thousand more. The irony of the incredible amount of PSAs telling people to be safe with their money wasn't lost on Denzel as they strode toward the counter. 10,000 Pokedollars were worth 500 coins, so Denzel spent 100,000 to get 5000 coins. They were stored on an application on his Poketch, and he was surprised to see that he could even buy them on there. That was cruel.
In total, he'd need 250,000 coins to get to the five million Pokedollars he needed for Dratini. Starting from 5000 was a pitiful sum, but the more coins he made, the more he'd be able to bet and win. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, he was hoping that his growth would be exponential, but he had no illusions. Denzel knew that this would be a long and grueling process.
The teen nearly bumped into a Kadabra that curiously twirled his mustache at him. It was one of the many psychics that patrolled the Game Corner, making sure that absolutely no cheating was taking place.
"Well, good luck to you," Mira clapped his back. "I'm off to spin. What are you going to do?"
Denzel licked his lips, and his throat felt incredibly dry. Now that the moment was here, sweat dripped down his arms as he nervously clenched a fist. All of the games were rigged in the Game Corner's favor. Slots, Blackjack, Poker, Pokemon Roulette, Random Battle (that was way more biased than its equivalent at the arcade and almost impossible to win), Type Dice… he might win once or twice, but winning enough to reach five million Pokedollars? That was a pipe dream. There had once been a game called Voltorb Flip years ago, but it had closed a few days after opening because of how easy it was to win, and the casino actually started to lose money.
But there was one thing Denzel was good at, and that was battling. The Game Corner had a second floor where people could place bets on future battles that would take place hours or days from now. It would be slower, but it would also be safer.
"Upstairs," he finally answered.
The two went their separate ways and Denzel climbed up the long set of stairs. Before even starting to bet, he wanted to ask around about this… VIP business. While downstairs was full of civilians, mostly older people, upstairs was full of young trainers as he was, hoping to make it big on bets from battling. He couldn't blame them. After all, he was doing the same thing they were, hoping to use his expertise to win money. The problem was that these battles were organized by the Game Corner and sometimes had… unlikely resolutions.
Case in point, he heard a series of collective groans from trainers fixated on a giant television screen fixed to the wall. A Buizel had just somehow won against Grotle, and a lot of people had just lost money. These battles were rigged beyond a shadow of a doubt, but there was no way to really prove it. Denzel scanned the room until he found what he was looking for. A tall, brunette girl looking all smug when everyone else had lost their last bets.
"Made a lot of money?" He asked her. Not a bad way to start a conversation. People liked to brag and talk about themselves, especially when they'd just proved their superiority over the rest of their peers.
"You bet," she snorted as she stared at her phone. Denzel caught a glimpse of her number of coins. It was 146,402. "I knew the outcome of that battle was way too obvious and took a risk. Glad that it paid off."
"You come to this place often?" He asked. "I'm new around here. Just made it to Veilstone."
"Really? Where are you from?"
"Twinleaf."
"Holy shit! You're from the boonies?" She laughed. "Is it true that you have no running water there?"
Denzel bore with her and entertained her questions for now. She had a lot of money, meaning that she frequented the Game Corner a lot. He'd asked her about it to keep the conversation going, of course. Denzel was good with people, and he needed to leverage his skill if he was going to get himself a Dratini.
"I guess all that stuff they say about Twinleaf ain't true," she said. "I hope I wasn't insensitive or anything."
"I don't blame you for thinking all that stuff," he waved a hand. "I've heard worse. You're okay. You look confident. You know your way around here, don't you?" He said with a bright smile. "What's your name?"
"Ashley. Yours?"
"Denzel Williams."
"That rings a bell," she said. "I've heard your name somewhere."
"Maybe."
"Anyway, I do come here often. I've been here for a month, but I keep losing to Maylene. At first, I just wanted to pass the time, but I've gotten kind of hooked on this battle betting thing. I always bet a little at a time, but I win a lot more than I lose."
"Interesting. Is there a trick to it?"
"Why should I tell you?" She said. "What's in it for me?"
"Well, you've already revealed that you bet on the underdog in a battle that looks obvious, like this one," he shrugged.
"True, but it doesn't always work. The Game Corner mixes it up, or they wouldn't make any money."
"Do you value badges?" He asked.
"I mean, duh. I've got three, so I'm not doing too hot. I don't think I'll make the Conference this year."
Denzel sighed internally. This was… annoying, but he could get something out of this. The problem was that he hated to use his fame to get what he wanted, but at this point, he was too determined to get Dratini to stop.
"I have four badges and I'm on my way to five very soon," he said. "Look up my name."
Ashley acquiesced, and the more she scrolled, the more red and embarrassed she got. She was nearly hyperventilating by the time she was done.
"I am so sorry about all that stuff I said about Twinleaf," she hurriedly said. "I didn't mean any of it!"
"I already said it was fine, don't worry. I can train up your team if you help me out here. I'm not asking for you to hold my hand or anything, but just introduce me to this place and the system. And also, I'd like to know if you've heard anything about the VIP area downstairs?"
"Downstairs? Only the bigwigs go there, I don't know much about it. You won't find any trainers there," she said. "You can't buy your way in either. They're friends or partners with the owners, so you should just give up while you're ahead. There are rumors that auctions take place for rare Pokemon downstairs, but that's the extent of my knowledge."
He didn't like the sound of that. If there's one thing Solaceon had taught him, it was to distrust closed-off societies like the Hunters or this one. He made a note to tell Carlos about it later, but he doubted the man would care.
"Fine, I'll keep my nose out of it," he smiled. "But are we on for the deal? Train you up, you give me advice on this?"
"You seem set on something. What's your goal?"
"Dratini," he declared.
"Me too!" She grinned. "I'm almost there."
He already knew that from snooping, but he acted surprised nonetheless.
"You knew that already, didn't you? You're terrible at acting."
"Yeah, sorry. I might have looked at your phone earlier," he awkwardly said and scratched his head.
"Okay, if you're going to help me beat Maylene… follow me."
She pulled him by the wrist toward one of the unfrequented corners of the rooms. The large TV screen turned off and began displaying a timer. The next battle would be in an hour between two people called Ahmed and Sally using a Fearow against a Staravia. They probably took place at those intervals if he had to guess. That meant that there were twenty-four battles per day… yeah, there was the opportunity to make a lot, but also lose a lot. He needed to bet slowly, just like Ashley was doing.
"There are no easy ways to know who's going to win each battle, but there are ways to be better at it. The key to winning is to know who is fighting, not the Pokemon they're using. Those all belong to the Game Corner. See, the guy with the Grotle, Kendrick, he has this tell when he's going in a battle that he's going to throw. To put it simply, he looks pissed. They say that it's a part of his persona, but there's a difference between acting pissed and being pissed, you feel me? That's why you've always got to wait until the last five minutes to place bets. That's when they show up on the screen."
Denzel nodded, absorbing as much information as he could. Grace would be better at this than he'd be.
"So the first step is to know the trainers. There are forty of them in total, but they never use the same Pokemon. Not all of them are as obvious as poor Kendrick, but when he's battling? That's when you know to go big and make money."
"Does everyone know this?"
"Not everyone. A few people," she whispered. "There have been trainers sacked in the past for being too obvious, so don't expect Kendrick to be here for long. You've got to squeeze everything out of him while you can."
"When does he fight?"
"Not every day. Like I said, there are a lot of trainers. I can share my notes about them, but I have more tips. Bullshit results tend to happen at night because that's when the Game Corner's at max capacity. During the day, a lot of the battles go as you'd expect, but that also means they're a lot more equal. No type advantages, and the Pokemon are close in strength. People tend to think that it's lower risk, but the risk is actually higher. It's easy when you know someone's going to throw the battle. Anyway, how much money do you have right now?"
"Five thousand coins."
"Okay, let me tell you about Ahmed and Sally. I don't know much about them, so it'd be better to look at the Pokemon they're using…"
Denzel was glad he had someone to guide him, but as Ashley spoke, he began to wonder how she was stuck at three badges if she was so good at figuring out who would win in battles. It soon dawned on him that knowing was different than actually doing. No matter how much knowledge you had, it wasn't worth anything if you couldn't apply it in your own battles.
Denzel would keep his end of the deal and make sure she beat Maylene.
—
In the end, he'd stayed for six battles. He and Ashley had both won four of those bets and lost two, and he was currently at 11,000 coins. Not bad for his first day, but he would need to start betting in larger numbers sooner rather than later. There was a limited supply of eggs, after all. Meanwhile, Ashley expected to get her Dratini in a day or two bar any catastrophic series of bets. She was close, but some days she lost more than she made, which was why she'd been hovering around 150,000 coins for the past week. Her team was small, but solid, with a Luxio, a Wingull and a Swadloon. He could definitely work with this. He bid his new friend goodbye and tried to look for Mira. He found her at the reward counter and waved, but what he saw made him freeze.
Denzel nearly passed out when he saw the new Pokeball on Mira's belt.
Sometimes, one spin with everything on the line was all it took, and unlike most people that got that lucky, she'd been smart enough to take the money and get the fuck out.