Chapter 53: Outdoor Live Stream
In the following days, Justin gained a completely new understanding of the term "trainer."
During this period, the young man experienced too many firsts...
He witnessed for the first time a trainer who could easily subdue Pokémon with his bare hands;
He saw for the first time a human actually catching a "Wing Attack" with his bare hands;
He learned for the first time that when Pokémon follow a trainer to learn combat skills, the Pokémon, not the human, are the ones in danger...
In short, during this period, he felt like he had opened the door to a new world.
But even with such a powerful mentor, after nearly two months in the youth training camp, Justin still had to start considering working part-time.
Arthur was in the same boat.
He had been working on deciphering the energy block formula, but it was still early, and he hadn't achieved any results yet. This meant that even though he avoided the cost of courses, he still had to bear a considerable expense for the daily energy meals.
After all, the energy blocks of this era used mostly industrially synthesized energy crystals, proteins, and various nutrients, while two hundred years ago, people mainly relied on pure natural tree fruits and meat to feed Pokémon.
The gap between these two was a bit too wide, and he hadn't figured it out yet.
Since he started giving Froakie extra training every day, the demand for energy blocks had been increasing day by day.
In less than two months in the youth training camp, Arthur found that the loan amount on his payment app was completely used up, and he only had a pitiful 0.23 left in his WeChat balance...
Helplessly, he had to contact Eleanor Vance.
By now, he increasingly realized: although Pokémon competition in this era was a popular sport at the amateur level, the financial demands skyrocketed as you climbed higher!
No wonder Uncle William, whom he met at the Golden Autumn Cup, was so experienced in working part-time.
When the video call connected, Eleanor Vance's expression was a knowing smile, as if she had been expecting his call.
"Yo, finally willing to contact your big sister? What did I tell you? You'd come crawling back to me for commercial deals sooner or later. So, have you been following my instructions and managing your Star Blog?"
Faced with Eleanor Vance's teasing, Arthur could only obediently say yes.
When he first signed the contract, he tried to set some ground rules with Eleanor Vance, hoping that the agency's jobs wouldn't be too demanding and wouldn't interfere with his training time. Looking back now, he was too naive back then...
Now it wasn't about the jobs encroaching on his time.
It was that if he didn't get a commercial deal soon, he wouldn't be able to repay his loan on his payment app.
"But you're in luck, kid. There's a project coming up. Even if you hadn't called, I was planning to contact you tonight."
"What project?"
"An outdoor live stream project, exploring a nature reserve. We can discuss the details when we meet this weekend."
"Alright."
The youth training camp didn't technically have days off. There were coaches at the base every day, and the training facilities were available for use at any time.
However, there were no trainer courses on weekend mornings, and if you were lazy enough, all the free time could be considered a break...
On this day, Arthur, for the first time since becoming a trainer, didn't use the training facilities for training on the weekend. Instead, he went out to a cafe to meet his long-lost manager, Eleanor Vance.
Even though he had entered the professional youth training camp, his internet celebrity contract was still valid. Because youth training camp trainees didn't have a contractual relationship with the club. Only after becoming a formal professional player would they sign a contract with the club.
So during the youth training camp, trainees' live streams, endorsements, and even participation in amateur leagues were unrestricted.
And now, what Eleanor Vance wanted to discuss with Arthur was an outdoor live stream project.
After listening to her explanation, Arthur had a general understanding.
"This outdoor live stream will be an exploration?"
"Yes, there will be some danger involved, so the streamers participating need to have a certain level of outdoor survival and self-defense skills. It's best if your Pokémon are also quite strong, so I recommended you."
Eleanor Vance had seen Arthur physically subdue Pokémon at the sanctuary, and he grew up in Moonwhisper Mountain, so she assumed he would be familiar with wilderness survival. He was a perfect fit for the requirements.
However, out of a sense of responsibility, she still added, "Of course, you can cancel at any time if you don't agree. After all, there are some risks."
But Arthur didn't care about the danger at all.
"Danger is nothing. How much is the pay?"
"..."
Eleanor Vance couldn't help but think he was too realistic for his age...
"The initial base pay won't be high, only 600 per day. But 30% of the revenue from the online auction of all the items you find during the exploration will go to your commission."
Arthur was taken aback.
He didn't expect this kind of model.
After all, live online auctions were a marketing method he had never even heard of in his time.
"So the main income depends on what we find during the exploration?"
"Yes."
"Then tell me more about this exploration."
In the previous video call, Eleanor Vance mentioned that the exploration area was a nature reserve. According to the information Arthur had previously found, these areas were supposed to be off-limits to humans.
"The exploration location isn't far from here, it's the outer sea at the mouth of the Skyspire River, including three nearby offshore islands. This area was one of the first batches of reserves designated for Pokémon two hundred years ago. It has been almost impossible for humans to enter, but in recent years, it has opened up for barter trade. And a week ago, it was confirmed that it will be temporarily open soon, hence this outdoor live stream exploration."
"Barter trade? Temporary open? What do you mean?"
Arthur quickly realized that his knowledge was once again falling behind.
Eleanor Vance sighed in exasperation.
But she was used to it.
After a bit of explanation, Arthur finally understood some things.
First of all, in this world, nature reserves are entirely owned by Pokémon. This wasn't just a figure of speech. Once an area was designated as a reserve, neither resources nor space could be used by humans. Even air routes for planes and shipping lanes for ferries had to strictly avoid these areas.
But after two hundred years of reconciliation, the relationship between humans and Pokémon was much better than it was when the reserves were first established. So, gradually, some reserves made changes.
For example, Pokémon in some areas would open up a small area outside the reserve to trade goods with humans. This was barter trade.
In recent years, more and more reserves even set aside a short period each year to open the area to humans, in exchange for more industrial products from the human world.
After all, many Pokémon in this world have high intelligence. They also have a desire for entertainment, and human products are undeniably attractive in that regard.
And the area being opened this time was an offshore reserve near Skyspire Province.
This was undoubtedly a cause for celebration for the locals.
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