Four wins in four matches. Such a record wasn't unheard of, but Sato was now the youngest person to ever achieve it.
So, Sato became famous.
…Very famous.
The upside was that in every match going forward, more and more people would place bets on him.
Naturally, as long as he kept winning, his profit share would also increase enough to make people envious.
As for money, Sato wasn't too concerned at the moment. After all, his main goal in participating was to train his Pokémon.
But he wouldn't turn down such generous rewards either. During a chat with Juan, Sato also realized that if he wanted to build a Gym that truly stood out, money was absolutely essential.
Relying solely on the annual subsidies from the League would only cover basic operations. To grow and thrive, a Gym Leader had to come up with their own ideas.
So that's why some sold stones, others sold perfume, some did water ballet, and even opened hot spring resorts. If it could be imagined, Gym Leaders had done it.
After all, a city's Gym Leader held a status equal to that of the mayor, with high autonomy. Starting a side business wasn't difficult at all.
Of course, fame also came with downsides, especially for someone as handsome as Sato.
…On a cruise ship with such a closed environment, it wasn't hard to figure out where Sato lived.
---
Another clear and sunny morning. By 9 AM, the sunlight had already streamed through the glass and was shining directly on Mark's butt. In a daze, he began to hear a steady stream of noise in his ears.
"Open the door! Open the door!"
---
"Open up! Open the door! Open the door!"
---
"Don't just hide in there without making a sound. I know you're in! If you've got the guts to win four matches in a row, then have the guts to open this door!"
---
Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!
---
'Not gonna lie… it did have some rhythm.' But… it was ruining his sweet sleep.
'My god!'
Mark shot up furiously, rubbed the crust from his eyes, and with bedhead and a scowl, stomped toward the door.
The living room was completely quiet. Only the knocking persisted, asserting its presence with unmatched determination.
From the looks of it, Sato and Joseph had clearly gone out. Otherwise, Mark wouldn't have been the one getting woken up.
Scratching his messy hair, Mark -dressed in big boxer shorts and flip-flops- angrily twisted the doorknob. He'd already prepared his first line: "What kind of psycho knocks at this hour?"
Then the door opened...
"Hello, ladies~ Can I help you?"
Mark looked out and saw over a dozen stunning girls, each with a different style, standing at the door and instantly switched his tone.
"Excuse me... um... is contestant No. 66 staying here?" asked the small girl standing at the front. She was the shortest of the group, and everyone had worried she wouldn't see clearly when the door opened, so they let her do the knocking.
Who could've guessed that her knocking would create rhythm, bring flair, and even spawn freestyle!
When Mark realized they weren't looking for him, he was devastated. "What do you want with him?"
Sure, they weren't there for him… 'but chatting wasn't a crime, right?' Mark thought to himself hopefully.
"Is 66 really here? We're his fans! Can we go in and meet him?" The girl group's tiny representative asked excitedly.
Seeing how eager she was, Mark was about to step aside and let them in. But when he looked up and saw the dozen fiery-eyed stares…
Nope!
Mark instinctively refused… but couldn't think of a good reason why.
However, when he noticed those intense gazes quickly turning hostile, he had a sudden flash of inspiration.
"The guy you're looking for… No. 66, he's not here. He went out!"
"Gone out? We've been here since early morning! We've been knocking for over an hour and no one's come out. You're lying!" came a mature woman's voice. Mark looked around but couldn't figure out who had spoken.
"Number 66 goes out to train really early every day. That's why he's so strong. Don't you all agree?"
Mark didn't know why, but he just didn't want to let these people in. A room shared by three guys wasn't a place girls could just waltz into!
"Are you telling the truth?" This time it was a queenly voice, and again, Mark couldn't tell who it belonged to.
"Of course! Look at me, I clearly just woke up. Since I came to open the door, obviously there's no one else in the room."
After much back-and-forth, Sato's dozen or so fangirls finally gave up. Upon hearing he was off training, they chatted excitedly for a while before heading off to the Pokémon training room as a group.
During the whole process, as Mark leaned on the door, he heard all kinds of voices: loli, shota, even deep old-man tones…
'Wow. What kind of monsters were Sato's fans? Definitely not to be messed with!'
Mark rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and decided to go back to bed for another round of sleep to calm his nerves.
---
Meanwhile, Sato and Joseph, who hadn't returned for quite a while, clearly hadn't just gone out for morning training.
The two had left at 7 AM, and after spending just one hour in the training room, they were politely invited by two men in suits to an office even bigger than their three-bedroom suite.
"Truly a talented young man. I'm the captain of the S.S. Maria, my name is Dafu. I apologize for having my men bring you here so abruptly. I hope we haven't caused any trouble."
'You don't hit a smiling man.' Sato looked at the neatly dressed older man in front of him; he didn't look like a ship captain at all.
Where was the scruffy beard? The beer belly? At the very least, he should've had an eye patch or a big golden hook!
"And what does Captain Dafu need from me?"
"Hahaha, no rush, no rush! I just wanted to get to know some outstanding young talents like yourselves..."
The suited captain Dafu launched into a long-winded speech, quoting history and rambling endlessly, never getting to the point, as if he truly just wanted to make acquaintances.
'What a load of nonsense.'
Though Sato was growing impatient inside, he reminded himself they were still aboard this man's ship, so he played along, nodding occasionally and pretending to be bright-eyed and excited.
Joseph had even more patience than Sato, and his acting was flawless. Watching him, Sato almost thought he'd really been convinced.
After about half an hour, Dafu finally stopped his speech. Seeing the two of them still looking eager and attentive, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Sato, you're so young and already this strong. Training must be tough, huh?"
"Not really. My Pokémon work hard."
"Er… then your daily expenses must be quite high?" Dafu was thrown off, but quickly adjusted and continued with gentle probing.
"Not too bad. The Pokémon work hard, so their strength improves pretty quickly."
"Then… then… wouldn't you want to provide even better conditions and training for such hardworking partners?"
Dafu was starting to lose his temper. This kid just wouldn't play along.
"Of course I would! Definitely." Sato nodded obediently, knowing when to stop resisting. By now, he had a pretty good idea why Dafu had called him here.
Market manipulation.
Sato's four consecutive wins hadn't just shocked the betting crowd… the organizers had noticed him too.
And now, how to maximize profit was the next thing on their agenda.