-050- Expansion of the Golden Friday Club

After finishing tidying up the tea set in the courtyard, Tong Si prepared to head to the Golden Sun Club.

He hailed a Windspeed Dog cab and once again experienced the sensation of flying like the wind.

“If only I could tame a Windspeed Dog as a mount, that would be quite enjoyable,” Tong Si mused after getting out.

Unfortunately, Windspeed Dogs are not so easily tamed.

Ordinary Growlithes are typically standard partners for Pokémon police officers.

Windspeed Dogs are bred in large numbers by the Speed Industry.

Wild Growlithes and Windspeed Dogs are rare.

Even purchasing an egg is difficult; Growlithe eggs are seldom available on the market, and acquiring one requires connections.

Upon arriving at the building that housed the Golden Sun Club, Tong Si noticed a red banner outside with the word “Construction” written on it.

“Has construction started?” he murmured, then proceeded upstairs.

From the second floor onward, the entire space had become a construction site.

The small blackboard outside, adorned with Eevee doodles, was still there, as was the display board with Tong Si and Electabuzz’s photo, standing out front.

Pushing open the club’s glass doors, Tong Si saw a crowd of trainers inside.

Compared to previous visits, the club was especially busy today.

“Tong Si!” Zhang Shanji spotted him from afar and hurried over.

“Tong Si, I’ve finally been looking forward to your arrival. Our members have been asking every day when you would come,” Zhang Shanji said, patting Tong Si’s shoulder like someone who had waited a long time.

“Well, here I am. By the way, Brother Shanji, what’s going on outside?” Tong Si asked, pointing to the construction sign.

“Oh, the sign? Didn’t you win the title of Best Rookie on behalf of the club? The higher-ups allocated a huge sum, so I took over all five floors of this building. From now on, the entire building is Golden Sun Club territory.”

Tong Si was stunned by Zhang Shanji’s words.

“The funds allocated from above were that much?”

“Of course not. I invested all my savings, even my wife’s dowry, took out some extra loans, and only then managed to lease so many units and claim the whole building. Of course, it’s only rented—I couldn’t afford to buy it!” Zhang Shanji shrugged, speaking lightly, but his burden was clearly heavy.

If the club were to close, he would not only be penniless but also saddled with massive debt.

“You really do have guts, Brother Shanji. No wonder you’re a businessman!” Tong Si joked.

Businessmen have always been known for their sharp instincts.

If a single move is mistaken, everything could be lost.

Looking at the current situation, it seemed Zhang Shanji had gambled wisely.

A few days ago, on the messaging app, Zhang Shanji had told Tong Si that after Tong Si won Best Rookie, the club’s membership was soaring daily, now more than ten times what it used to be.

At this moment, Golden Sun Club had surpassed the Star Sun Club and was on par with the Moon Sun Club.

If the trend continued, Golden Sun Club would soon overtake the Day Sun Club, becoming the club with the most members in Jiahua City.

Every club’s membership card could be used in other clubs, but the discounts varied.

If you signed up at your home club, all the free services aside, you received the best discounts on paid services.

The exact discount depended on the card you chose.

For example, as a Black Card holder, Tong Si enjoyed free access to all paid services and a 50% discount on club merchandise.

Black Card holders were rare; for the best regular deal, a Red Card offered free paid services and 40% off merchandise.

The standard annual card provided a 30% discount.

But at other clubs, the annual card only gave a 12% discount, the Red Card an 20% discount, and paid services weren’t free.

Black Cards were only valid at the issuing club.

This was the competitive model among the four clubs.

Free services were free everywhere, but for paid services, only your home club granted the best deals.

“Tong Si! Tong Si’s here…”

“It’s really Tong Si himself! My idol!”

“Brother Tong, I’m your uninvited ten-year fan—want to fence?”

“…”

As Tong Si entered, many trainers crowded around him.

His three performances in the Rookie King Tournament and the United League had been truly spectacular.

All these rookie trainers had become his fans.

Apart from the original members of Golden Sun Club, most were drawn by Tong Si’s reputation.

They simply wanted to see him in person.

“You… don’t need to be so enthusiastic,” Tong Si said, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as he was surrounded.

He hadn’t expected his popularity at Golden Sun Club to be so high.

“Brother Tong, I want to challenge you! I want to understand my shortcomings.”

“Brother Tong, I want to challenge you too—I want to learn more about Pokémon battles.”

“Brother Tong! I also want to see the gap between myself and the city’s rookie top tier.”

“Ah Tong… I want to fence~”

“…”

“Out!” Tong Si said.

He could accept the requests from the first few fans—they simply wanted a Pokémon match.

Tong Si had come to the club to earn points anyway.

But fencing? What was that about? Stirring up trouble?

With a crowd of fans in tow, he arrived at a standard battle arena.

Tong Si stepped onto one platform and had the fans line up to take turns on the opposite platform.

“Come on, Eevee!”

That’s right, the first Pokémon Tong Si sent out was Eevee.

Back at home, Eevee had made it clear that it too wanted to battle.

All the Pokémon in the courtyard had been trained to obey Tong Si, including the Runaway Trio, the Carlu Duo, and the Lotad and Barboach in the pond.

All seven Pokémon were now Eevee’s little followers.

Eevee found it dull and wanted more battles.

Electabuzz was out of the question—Eevee knew the gap between them, so Tong Si brought it to the club for matches.

“Ee-vee~” Eevee hopped onto the stage, even acting coy.

Though it hadn’t learned the move Charm or Attract, Eevee’s act was quite convincing.

The rookie trainers watching couldn't resist the urge to pet it.

It was simply too adorable!

Soon, the first daring challenger took the stage.

“Brother Tong, I’m your true fan—go easy on me,” he said timidly, sending out a Shroomish, a birthday gift from his parents.

Shroomish had ordinary aptitude, level ten.

Eevee defeated Shroomish in just ten seconds.

Fortunately, Shroomish had the Poison Heal ability, so Eevee didn’t suffer any status effects.

Next, a succession of trainers stepped up.

Eevee won ten matches in a row with ease.

...(To be continued)