August and Blue made their way toward the slot machines.

  The same casino attendant from earlier approached them again, his face beaming with enthusiasm. “Finally decided to try out Cedon Game Corner’s signature slot machines? Believe me, it’s an absolutely thrilling game!”

  “This month alone, we’ve already had two jackpot winners! One of them even exchanged their winnings for a rare Porygon! There are plenty of valuable prizes up for grabs—don’t miss out!”

  However, just as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man suddenly shot up from his seat nearby, roaring angrily:

  “These damn machines only take money in, never pay out! What jackpot? It’s all a scam!”

  “I spent fifty thousand yen and lost every single coin!”

  “R.N.M., give me my money back!”

  The man’s outburst immediately drew the attention of many people in the casino. Pyers stopped what they were doing and turned to watch.

  August and Blue also turned their gaze toward the attendant, who had just been enthusiastically promoting the slot machines.

  The attendant’s face stiffened with embarrassment—he hadn’t expected something like this to happen!

  At that moment, the enraged man finally lost patience. He grabbed a nearby chair, raising it to smash the slot machine in front of him.

  But before he could strike—

  A purple blur shot across the floor.

  Whoosh!

  An Arbok coiled around the man’s body in an instant, its fangs glinting ominously as its forked tongue flickered. Its predatory gaze locked onto him.

  "Gulp..."

  The middle-aged man swallowed hard. His body, tense with rage just moments ago, turned rigid with fear.

  “We understand your frustration over today’s bad luck,” a man in a bck suit said as he stepped forward, his tone ced with polite warning. “But please, refrain from damaging Cedon Game Corner’s property.”

  “Arbok, release our valued guest.”

  Following his command, Arbok reluctantly loosened its grip and slithered away.

  As soon as he was freed, the man realized his back was drenched in cold sweat. Not daring to utter another word, he bolted out of the casino at full speed.

  Watching the scene unfold, August narrowed his eyes slightly.

  An Arbok… and this kind of behavior…

  It has to be Team Rocket.

  He had already suspected that the Game Corner was part of Team Rocket’s operations, but he hadn’t expected them to be this btant—pcing their own members in security roles. Were they really not afraid of the Pokémon League tracing this back to them?

  Or rather… were they so confident that they couldn’t be touched?

  As August pondered this, the casino attendant quickly tried to smooth things over.

  “This was just an unfortunate incident! Occasionally, troublemakers cause disturbances, and removing them is simply part of ensuring a better gaming experience for everyone. Please don’t take it to heart.”

  August and Blue exchanged a gnce. They decided to probe further, so August deliberately responded in a skeptical tone.

  “I understand removing troublemakers, but you could’ve just had a few guys escort him out. The way your security guard used his Pokémon on a person so effortlessly… it’s like he’s done it plenty of times before. Kind of makes me nervous about pying here.”

  “Y-You misunderstand!” The attendant floundered. “That was just a necessary measure for handling aggressive guests.”

  He had no idea where the boss found such an intimidating security chief. Now he was stuck trying to expin away a situation he wasn’t prepared for.

  August, of course, knew the Game Corner’s response was technically reasonable.

  But that wasn’t the point—he wanted to stir up trouble.

  “Really? I don’t buy it! What if I win a jackpot ter? Would you guys threaten me into handing it over? A weak, newbie Trainer like me wouldn’t stand a chance, would I?”

  Blue chimed in, pying along. “Exactly! Who’s to say you won’t try to scare us into forfeiting our winnings?”

  Their conversation carried through the casino, reaching the ears of other customers.

  Wait… that actually makes sense.

  Several guests hesitated, exchanging wary gnces. Some even stood up, clearly debating whether they should leave.

  The attendant started to panic. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead—he had never encountered a situation like this before and had no idea how to handle it. Desperately, he gnced at the suited man for help.

  Unlike the flustered attendant, the man in the suit remained composed. Calmly, he addressed the room:

  “There is absolutely no need for concern. As the Head of Security for Cedon Game Corner, I assure you—so long as guests follow our casino’s rules, we will never take action against them.”

  “Our establishment has been running in Cedon City for many years, with a proven track record of fair prize payouts.”

  “I personally guarantee that no matter how much you win, Cedon Game Corner will honor every reward.”

  As he spoke, he even recalled Arbok into its Poké Ball, emphasizing that his intervention had been solely for dealing with the troublemaker.

  Reassured by his composed expnation, the hesitant customers gradually sat back down.

  Just like that, the small crisis August had incited was quietly defused.

  August clicked his tongue in mild disappointment.

  He had deliberately provoked the staff, hoping they would sh out. If they had taken the bait, he had at least a dozen ways to expose them as Team Rocket members.

  Unfortunately, they didn’t fall for it.

  But August wasn’t too concerned.

  They’ve already shown a weakness.

  No rush… I’ll py along for now.

  After the incident settled, August and Blue finally took their seats in front of the slot machines.

  The attendant, having realized how much trouble August could stir up, wisely chose to keep his mouth shut—too afraid that any further interaction might spark another disaster.

  August didn’t mind.

  Opening the token box, he turned to Blue. “Why don’t you go first?”

  Since he had just made a scene, Team Rocket would likely rig the machines against him even more.

  Judging by how easily Blue had won prizes at the cw machine earlier, she clearly had better luck than him. It made sense to let her try first.

  “Sure!”

  Blue was more than eager to py. Growing up in Masked Man’s base had made her childhood strict and regimented. Despite being here for a mission, she was genuinely enjoying herself.

  After briefly studying the simple mechanics, Blue inserted three tokens and pulled the lever.

  The reels spun—

  Pikachu. Cherry. Seven.

  A buzzer sounded, signaling a loss.

  But Blue wasn’t deterred. She kept pying…

  Ten rounds ter, thirty tokens gone—

  She had only won a single small prize, barely recouping eight tokens. The payout rate was downright miserable.

  Clearly, Blue’s luck in slots wasn’t as impressive as her cw machine skills.

  And just like that… she lost all interest in the game.

  “This is boring. Your turn.” Blue shoved the machine over to August.

  “You sure? Doesn’t matter if you lose everything,” August said nonchantly.

  Winning or losing wasn’t the point—he just needed to burn through his tokens quickly so he could approach the counter and locate Team Rocket’s base entrance.

  “No thanks.” Blue shook her head.

  Even if the money didn’t matter, losing over and over just wasn’t fun.

  She had already won a pile of plushies earlier—that was enough to keep her satisfied. No point in ruining her good mood.

  “Alright then…” Seeing that she was serious, August didn’t insist.

  Still, continuously feeding coins into the machine would be a pain.

  Luckily, Cedon Game Corner had a solution for that.

  August called over the attendant and had his remaining four thousand tokens converted into digital credits.

  Now, all he had to do was press a button.

  Casually, he pulled the lever.

  And then—

  To August’s astonishment—

  777.

  The three sevens locked into pce.

  Beep beep beep!

  The machine lit up, arms bred, and the token dispenser started spewing out coins in a relentless cascade.

  ---

  T/N: i need that luck