Pokemon: With Title System

Chapter 46 Call Me the Slot Machine Sage

"Whoa! Another 777!"

"He's definitely cheating, right?"

"I hereby dub him the Slot Machine Sage!"

As Asahi once again hit 777, cheers erupted throughout the game corner.

No one could believe it. Even after switching machines, his winning streak remained completely unaffected.

How should they put it? Most of the people playing slot machines here had lost a considerable amount of money over time. Watching the game corner lose tokens now was somehow more satisfying than actually winning themselves.

At this point, the entire game corner had transformed into a crowd of spectators, all eager to see just how much Asahi could rake in.

The game corner staff, meanwhile, stood on the sidelines with bitter expressions.

Throughout this time, they had tried countless methods: requesting Asahi to switch machines, placing Psychic-type Pokémon and technicians nearby to monitor him, and even dismantling one of the slot machines on-site while he played to inspect it thoroughly.

But all the evidence pointed to a single, almost absurd conclusion:

Asahi wasn't cheating!

Because he wasn't breaking any rules, they had no legitimate reason to stop him—unless, of course, they were willing to destroy the reputation that their Rainbow Game Corner had built over the years.

If this were just an ordinary game corner, perhaps they could risk such an action. But given that their "investors" were the infamous Team Rocket, no one dared make that call without explicit instructions from above.

"Boss, are we really not going to stop him? He's been at it all morning!" one of the technicians finally asked, unable to hold back any longer.

If Asahi kept winning like this, the game corner's quarterly profits wouldn't just vanish—they might even end up in the negatives!

Given Team Rocket's urgent need for funding right now, and the game corner's role as a critical source of revenue, falling short on their quota this month could spell disaster for the staff.

The suited security chief standing by the monitors was also on edge. "What can I do? Walk up to him and sic a Pokémon on him in front of all these witnesses? Get a grip and start using your brain!"

The staff fell silent, though their minds buzzed with mutinous thoughts.

Sure, the boss said to use their brains, but even he hadn't come up with a solution—just standing there and watching helplessly!

Still, there was one tiny sliver of good news: the slot machines in the hall were almost entirely drained of tokens. No matter how lucky Asahi was, there wouldn't be much left for him to win soon enough.

...

Asahi casually pressed the button on the slot machine. Once again, the screen lit up with 777—but this time, no tokens spilled out of the machine.

"Out of tokens?"

This wasn't the first time he'd encountered this issue.

Asahi stood up, preparing to switch to another machine. But after scanning the area, he realized that every other slot machine had been marked with a "Pending Refill" sign.

Apparently, someone couldn't afford to keep playing anymore.

Asahi gestured to a nearby attendant. "What kind of game corner runs out of tokens? Don't you restock these machines?"

The attendant forced a stiff smile but refused to respond.

Seeing this, Asahi knew they weren't going to refill the machines for him.

Still, he glanced at the neatly arranged boxes of tokens that Green had stacked onto a pushcart beside them and decided that he'd done enough for now.

After all, this was already a massive loss for Team Rocket. As bait, it would more than suffice.

The trap was set—all he needed to do now was wait for Team Rocket to take the bait themselves.

With this in mind, Asahi didn't press the issue further. Instead, he casually grabbed a handful of tokens and tossed them at the attendant, then turned to Green.

"Alright, let's head to the prize exchange counter."

The attendant looked at the handful of tokens in their hand, stunned. They'd never seen someone tip them tokens before.

Meanwhile, the crowd of spectators, who had been getting a little drowsy from watching Asahi play all morning, perked up instantly.

Finally, the most exciting part was about to begin.

...

At the exchange counter, Asahi and Green unloaded the mountain of tokens onto the desk. Box after box was placed onto the counter until the weight caused it to creak and groan.

"Cash these in!" Asahi said simply.

The staff member behind the counter stared, wide-eyed, at the small mountain of tokens in front of them.

"S-Sure!"

With trembling hands, they handed Asahi a prize catalog.

Glancing through the selection of prizes, Asahi began marking his choices without hesitation.

"Ultra Balls, 100 tokens each? I'll take 200."

"Antidotes? Too basic. Give me Full Restores—150 tokens per bottle? I'll take 100."

"Charcoal to boost Fire-type moves? 1,000 tokens apiece? Alright, give me five! What, you only have two in stock? Fine, I'll take those two first."

"What's this? No stock on Mystic Water? Why bother listing it, then?"

"And this—an imported Acro Bike from Hoenn, only one available per customer? What kind of nonsense is that? How are two people supposed to share one bike? I'll take one for myself and one for my girlfriend!"

He turned to Green, playing along with their fake couple routine. "What do you think, honey? Anything else you want?"

Green was momentarily stunned, but she quickly played along. "Um, I'll take a few items for now. But don't forget, we came here on a mission!"

The surrounding spectators watched in disbelief as the two continued exchanging tokens for prizes.

Most of them had spent years gambling at the game corner, agonizing over every token and carefully calculating which prizes gave the best value for their money.

But now they were watching Asahi clear out the prize counter like he was stocking up inventory.

Was this guy here to shop wholesale?!

Meanwhile, the staff worked frantically to fetch the items Asahi had ordered, repeatedly running back and forth between the counter and the storeroom.

Eventually, Asahi even went into the storeroom himself to select items.

In the game corner's surveillance room, the security chief watched this unfold through the monitors, feeling as though he might vomit blood.

All of this—every last prize—belonged to Team Rocket!

He clutched a Poké Ball tightly, itching to unleash its contents on Asahi. But with so many witnesses around, he had no choice but to endure.

"Let him gloat for now! The moment he steps out of this game corner, I'll show him what happens to people who mess with Team Rocket's money!"

His eyes gleamed with malice as he whispered instructions to his subordinates.

Team Rocket wouldn't let anyone leave Rainbow City unscathed after a stunt like this.

If they did, the name "Team Rocket" wouldn't be worth writing anymore.

...