CHAPTER 65

“Mm, Arceus, this milkshake is good,” I said, feeling bliss. I grabbed a mouthful of fries, appreciating the sweet and salty flavors mixed together.

“Ugh, do you have to eat on the bed?” Pauline asked with a grimace. “How barbaric.”

“The battle tired me out and made me hungry,” I said. “Now buzz off.”

She clicked her tongue. “Whatever. It’s not my bed. Cece can deal with a dirty bed.”

“Don’t you have maids cleaning this place every day anyway? Don’t be such a grinch,” I said.

“You’ll get fat,” The girl said, hitting my leg with her foot.

“I don’t gain weight,” I retorted, hitting her back. “Stop disturbing me, I might choke.”

“Of course, you don’t,” Pauline rolled her eyes. “And who says I don’t want you to choke?”

“Legendaries! Please stop bickering, I can’t even hear myself think,” Emilia exclaimed.

After Denzel’s battle, the entire group had gone to Cecilia’s apartment, but people had started to split up. The boys had gone back to their hotel rooms, and Denzel was crashing at Louis’ place. I was starting to feel bad about having reserved that Pokemon Center room with how little I was using it, but it wasn’t like the place was even close to being full. Plus, there were plenty in the city.

“Cece, Grace is being annoying and messing up the bed!” Pauline yelled.

“I’m being clean! You just have it out for me.”

“I just want to watch videos in peace…” Emilia whined.

The result was that the girls had decided to all stay together for a spontaneous sleepover, and three of us were already in bed even with how early it still was. I had hoped that it would just be Cecilia and me again, but it was nice to spend more time with friends too. Like I had promised myself before, I was on a Pokemon training break, for at least a week!

Alright, maybe five— three days. Yeah, three days would do the trick. Plus, all of my Pokemon were so beaten up I’d only be able to pick them up tomorrow. They had fought so well. Even thinking back on the battle made me grin uncontrollably. Even now, it was still sinking in. It was like another person had fought it, but it was me. I was the one who made Gardenia use Sunflora’s Solar Beam.

“Check it out,” Pauline said, pointing her phone at me. “Your thread’s blowing up.”

I closed my eyes. “Nope, don’t want to see it. I checked it out earlier today, right after Denzel’s battle, and it gave me anxiety. Too many eyes on me all at once.”

“You can run, but you can’t hide,” Pauline continued. “But I get it. The spotlight can be a terrifying thing the first time it shines on you.”

“Denzel’s giddy about it, though,” I said. “I haven’t even looked at my Poketch since. Just seeing the notification makes my heart jump.”

“I’m back,” Cece said, carrying a cup of tea. She sat at the foot of the bed, right below my feet.

Okay, now my heart really jumped.

“This little gremlin is munching away in your bed,” Pauline narced.

“I told her it was fine,” She said. “Emi ate some biscuits in there earlier.”

“Don’t bring me into this, I’m innocent,” Emilia quickly said. She was watching a video of some contest going on tonight in Hearthome.

Pauline rolled her eyes. “Emi knows how to eat gracefully, unlike someone.”

“Whatever, I’m done anyway,” I said as obnoxiously as humanly possible. “I don’t know how you guys dealt with this devil before I came into the picture. I’m the only one who can control her—”

Pauline threw a pillow at me.

We continued talking and joking around for a few hours, and eventually, we were ready to go to sleep. The next gym battle was Louis’, and it was the day after tomorrow. Apparently, they had taken so long to sign up for the gym that they’d go an entire day after us, but I didn’t mind. I was on top of the world, and nothing would be able to contain that feeling. Then, it’d be Cece’s turn, then Justin, Pauline, and finally, the next day, Emilia.

“What’s that noise?” Pauline groaned. “Ugh, get your arm off of me,” She continued, pushing my arm away.

“Sorry, I move around a lot in my sleep,” I lied.

“I think someone’s knocking on the door,” Emi said.

“At this hour?” Cecilia complained before unlatching herself from my arm.

Right, that was a thing I still needed to get used to. It looked like Cece was incredibly cuddly when sleeping, getting so close to me for two nights. It probably didn’t mean anything, so I needed to not get any ideas.

“This better be important,” She continued, rubbing her eyes before getting up.

“I’ll come with,” I quickly spoke.

“Don’t come back!” Pauline yelled.

We quickly made our way toward the door, and Cece looked through the peephole.

“It’s Denzel,” She said.

“Oh? Open it.”

She opened the door and my best friend barged in.

“Holy shit,” He started. “Grace, have you checked your phone tonight?”

“What? No?” I answered, tilting my head. “Is this about the forums?”

“No, it’s even better,” Denzel grinned. “A company wants to sponsor us.”

——

I yawned as Denzel carefully read the email he had gotten in the middle of the living room. It was odd, seeing him this excited and hyper this late at night, but I couldn’t blame him. Even I was feeling enthusiastic. Sponsors were the difference between truly professional trainers and the rest. Almost every trainer at the top was sponsored by some company or multiple. Cece herself was sponsored by a few big names, including Louis’ dad, although I had never seen her wear any kind of brand when she battled in official tournaments or gym battles, but maybe that was a special clause in her contract. For the rest, trainers were usually paid to wear uniforms containing branding logos, or just wear their clothes in battle if you were talking about a clothing brand. Justin, for example, wore a shirt with the Pherzen logo during his battle with Roark. Pauline always wore clothes from her mother’s clothing brand, although that wasn’t their primary business.

Then, at the very top level of Pokemon training, companies worked with trainers to create personalized merchandise for them and split the profits, but that was only for people who consistently got eight badges and got to the Conference consistently. The Conference was a much more publicized event than a normal gym battle, so I guessed that companies didn’t want to bother creating merch for people who couldn’t get there. Craig Goodwill, for example, was someone who sold a lot of stuff. Clothing, pins, stickers, Salamence plushies with his little brand on them because hell, Salamance in Sinnoh was practically synonymous with the man, not unlike Cynthia and Garchomp.

Either way, the point was, companies wanted their logo or product on you so they could advertise themselves to the millions of people that watched gym battles and Pokemon tournaments. In exchange, they’d pay you a certain sum. Some contracts were monthly payments, and others were per appearance in gym battles or official city or League-run tournaments. Some even gave you some gifts and goodie bags containing vitamins, TMs, Ultra Balls, or other Pokemon-related products. Hell, even Coordinators had sponsors for their Pokemon Contests.

“...business proposition tomorrow at 8:30 am,” Denzel said. “By Retani Industries.”

“And you say they sent this to me too?” I asked. “How did you know?”

“They want both of us. Check your phone.”

I hurriedly scrolled through my email, and the exact same message was there.

“Retani Industries?” Cecilia asked. “I’m not too familiar with the business world of Sinnoh.”

Emilia sprung up. “They’re a mid-sized tech company that’s been getting their toes wet into marketing via Pokemon battles recently. They’re trying to become a competitor to the Poketch Company, but they’re a tough nut to crack. They basically have a monopoly over Sinnoh’s entire phone business, so Retani’s market share is pretty small.”

“Around nine percent, no?” Pauline said.

“No, seven. They went down this quarter after the new Poketch was released,” Emilia answered.

“Well, we only have two badges, so it’d make sense to start small,” I said.

Denzel nodded excitedly. “I can’t believe this is happening already,” He grinned. “This is going to be awesome.”

“So awesome that you’ll wake up in time?” I snarked.

My friend raised his hands. “You have my word.”

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“Before you go, Denzel,” Pauline started. “Don’t sign anything before coming back and consulting us. Usually, you’d have a lawyer present before signing a contract—”

“Well, Retani will have their lawyers there, that’s for sure,” Emilia interrupted.

“I meant them,” She nodded at us. “But it’s not like trainers can afford those. I’d offer to buy you one, but I believe Emi and my advice will be more than enough.”

“Fair,” I said. “We’ll leave after hearing their terms. Can we like, take a picture of it to show you?”

“Pfft,” Emilia waved her hand dismissively. “Any company worth their while will have the contract be dozens of pages at least.”

“Correct. There are clauses, clauses within clauses, like, a hundred conditions to dismiss it, ways to force you into staying locked in—” Pauline rambled.

“Alright,” Denzel said, deflating slightly. “Can we bring you the contract itself? The paper version of it, I mean?”

“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Pauline said. “If they tell you no, then they’re not worth your while. Their phones are shit anyway. They just look good.”

“Aren’t we supposed to like their phones if we’re being sponsored by them?” I asked.

“Oh, Grace, you poor summer child,” Pauline said. “You’re in it for the money, not the product. No one cares what they’re sponsored by if the pay is good.”

——

Denzel yawned as we stepped in front of the nondescript building. We were twenty minutes early, but we figured it’d be better to make a good impression.

“Ready?” He said.

“I’m nervous,” I said before blowing a raspberry. “But fuck it, let’s go.”

We entered the building and stepped into the elevator to the third floor, like the email had told us. I was squirming in place, curious to learn what the contract would be about. The message hadn’t specified it at all, only telling us that they were interested in a meeting to make a deal, the address, and the time. When the elevator doors opened, we heard many voices coming from one of the rooms. Denzel and I looked at each other and stepped into the hallway. We turned a corner, and a man in a business suit was standing in front of the door.

“Ah,” He smiled. “Mr. Williams and Ms. Pastel, I presume?” The man asked.

“Yeah, that’s us,” My friend answered.

“May I have your trainer ID?” He asked. We handed them to him and he gave them back quickly. “Thank you, they’ll be with you shortly.”

The man knocked on the door, and I awkwardly stood in front of the room, fidgeting nervously. It sounded like there were a lot of people in there. I thought it would only be a few. I was getting overwhelmed before even getting in the room. Around five minutes later, a man with a trimmed goatee and his hair slicked back opened the door and flashed us a smile. He was younger than I thought he would be.

“Ms. Pastel, Mr. Williams,” He said, shaking our hands. The handshake was firm, almost painful. “I’m Mr. Hayes, the one who scouted you for Retani Industries. Come in.”

Denzel greeted him, but I was silent as we stepped inside the room. Twelve businessmen and women, all in suits, were all sitting on a long, glass table, discussing things with each other, but they stopped when we entered the room and welcomed us in.

“Again, good morning,” Mr. Hayes said. “Please sit wherever you’d like.”

I sat near the end of the table, and Denzel settled in next to me.

“I suppose I’ll start, then,” He continued. “Retani Industries has been exploring avenues into trainer-based marketing, and we believe two up-and-coming trainers like you are the perfect fit. We watched your battle, and we thought you were terrific out there,” He said before pointing at every person in the room and introducing them. Most of them were negotiators, but a few were also professional marketers and economists. “Finally, these two, Ms. Graham and Mr. Perry, are our lawyers. If you sign, the contract will be legally binding.”

We nodded.

“Great,” He smiled. “Jonathan, the contract?” He asked, and the pudgy man handed him a stack of clipped papers. There were more pages than Pauline had even imagined. “Let me go over the big picture. No one wants to read a document this long, right?” Mr. Hayes said, eliciting a few chuckles from his colleagues. “First, you’ll need to use one of our phones— the newest model, free of charge, obviously.”

“Good publicity,” One of the marketers said.

Mr. Hayes nodded. “The model is flashy and unique, unlike Poketches, and they’re very eye-catching. Here’s one,” He said, pulling the device from his pocket. “We call it the Crystal Next, and it’ll be reaching the shelves in the next few weeks.”

I stared at the device in awe. It was extremely thin and rectangular.

“Looks great, right?” Hayes said. “More powerful, more data, better camera, what’s not to like? The Poketch started as a watch, and they still haven’t gotten out of that rigid design choice, even if they make phones now. Our product is clearly superior in every way,” He continued. “Next, we’ll want you to have the phone visible during your gym battles or any tournament you participate in, official or otherwise. We can give you a clip that you can put it on and then attach to your belt—”

“Like Pokeballs!” One of the women said with a wide smile.

“Yes, exactly like your Pokeballs. Third, you won’t be allowed to be seen with other phones, or at least in public, and you won’t be able to badmouth our products. That one should be pretty self-explanatory,” Mr. Hayes said, flipping through the contract. “And the boring part’s almost over!” He said, causing more laughs. “Following me so far?”

“Yeah,” Denzel said. I just nodded.

“Lastly, you’ll need to appear in television ads if we can get a hold of you when you stay in cities to promote our products,” Mr. Hayes said. “Nothing too demanding, just a few lines to memorize.”

He paused and looked at us excitedly.

“Now, let’s get to the good stuff. In exchange, you’ll get paid fifty thousand Pokedollars per month—”

My eyes bulged. Fifty thousand? I’d be able to buy so much with that.

“—You’ll be given a TM of your choice every month as well, as long as the price is below one hundred and fifty thousand Pokedollars, and obviously, you’ll get free access to any new phones coming out.”

Mr. Hayes paused, looking at us.

“That’s it?” Denzel asked.

“Yeah. I’d say it’s a good deal,” He answered with a smile.

“Um, it sounds great, actually,” My friend said. “But can we, um, consult someone before signing? I’d like to get their input.”

A sudden feeling of tension appeared in the room. “Why?” Hayes asked. “If you have any questions, you can always ask one of us. Here,” He said, handing Denzel the contract. “Read the fine print.”

“I believe you, I just want to be sure,” Denzel said.

Mr. Hayes sighed. “Fine, I suppose you can leave. Hurry though, the clock is ticking, and we have other people we’re offering this to.”

Denzel and I quickly left the room with a copy of the contract and hurried back to the hotel by tram.

“It sounded good, right?” Denzel asked. “I mean, it’s even better than what I thought it’d be. With that amount of money, I’d be able to buy a lot.”

“It did, but like you said, better be sure,” I said. “The whole atmosphere kind of creeped me out. They were so giddy and smiley about everything.”

“I know, right?” He said. “That lady that said ‘like Pokeballs’? So dramatic, it’s like she was speaking to a toddler and trying to excite him with a shiny toy.”

“Probably wanted to appear relatable,” I guessed.

“Well that didn’t work, it just made me cringe.”

We stepped into the tram and then made our way to the hotel. When we knocked, Emilia opened the door right away, like she’d been waiting for us.

“Got the contract?” She asked.

“Good morning to you too,” Denzel said before pulling it out of his bag. “Here.”

She snatched it out of his hands and sat down at the kitchen island. Pauline quickly joined her, along with Cece, and we just watched like two idiots. After a few minutes, Emilia groaned.

“Arceus, what is this thing?” Pauline said. “First of all, they’re ripping you off.”

“Ripping us off?” I exclaimed. “But that’s so much money—”

“It is right now,” Emilia said, crossing her arms. “But what happens when you get three badges? Then five. Then you get to the conference? You’d still be paid fifty thousand Pokedollars per month.”

“Can’t we just renegotiate then?” Denzel asked.

“No, the contract specifically locks you into that salary,” Emilia explained. “No matter how famous or good you get, you’ll be paid the same. Fifty thousand Pokedollars is pennies at the top. ”

“The TM part of the contract is actually relatively decent, though,” Cece said.

“That’s how they lure you if you’re halfway decent at reading between the lines. Companies love using a bunch of complicated jargon they think teenagers won’t understand and lure them with shiny things to make them sign anyway,” Pauline said. “The ads they want you to star in? There’s a quota that’s way too high to be sustainable for a trainer who’s always traveling.”

“They said it wouldn’t be too demanding,” Denzel frowned.

“How many ads can you make about a phone?” I asked.

“It doesn’t say phones, it says products,” Cecilia specified.

“Right, they don’t only make phones. They’re a tech company. They have their hands in everything,” Emi nodded.

My eyes widened. That was right, Mr. Hayes did say products and not phones when talking about the ads, so he hadn’t even lied. We just hadn’t caught onto it.

“Shit…” I muttered.

“Arceus…” Emilia kept muttering as she licked her finger, switched the pages, and traced her finger over a line. “Getting out of this contract is nigh impossible if you sign it. You’re not even allowed to retire until you turn twenty-two. You’d have to be irreparably crippled or dead.”

“So they were scamming us?” Denzel asked. “Fuck this, man,” He swore, pacing around the room.

It was all starting to make sense now. The big, fake smiles, the infantilizing tone, and the focus on the perks of the sponsor instead of the obligations. They’d been trying to put us in a disadvantageous contract.

“You wouldn’t be the first trainer to be pulled into some bullshit contract, it happens all the time,” Pauline said. “Usually, it’s less obvious than this. These people are amateurs.”

“That might be because it’s their first foray into this business,” Cece said. “They probably thought that teenagers— which this occupation is full of— would be an easy mark.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “We’re not signing.”

“Yeah, there’s no way I’m doing that,” Denzel groaned. “I was so excited too…”

“Other opportunities will come around,” Cece said, comforting him. “Don’t worry too much.”

“They said they had other kids they were trying to negotiate with,” I frowned. “Does that mean they’ll get pulled into this?”

“Probably,” Pauline shrugged in an uncaring manner.

“That’s probably why they didn’t fight that hard to make us stay,” Denzel guessed. “They knew that no matter what we decided, they’d have someone else line up to take their deal.”

“Trainers get very desperate for money,” Emilia said. “It’s a shame, but that’s life. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Can we warn them somehow? Like, with a forum post, or something? If I’m getting somewhat famous, I’d like to at least use it for good,” I said.

“Good idea,” Cecilia said. “I’ll help you draft your statement.”

“Knock yourselves out,” Pauline shrugged. “I’m going out to train with Justin and Louis.”

I ignored Pauline’s innate selfishness, since I knew it was something I’d never change her mind about, and quickly grabbed my Poketch. Cece helped me put out a professional-sounding post, and I did my best to ignore the thousands of notifications on my profile. I had befriended these people out of the goodness of my heart and through our experiences together, but I’d be lying if I said that having rich, business-savvy friends wasn’t a huge advantage in our line of work. Without them, Denzel and I would have gotten too excited and signed the contract for sure.

Thank fucking Arceus, we hadn’t.