Upon entering the conference room, Eichi saw several teachers and Director Yanagi busy at work.
In addition to the teachers and leaders, upperclassmen were also present. Everyone stood in separate groups; Eichi and his fellow first-years gathered together.
Eichi scanned the room. The first things that caught his eye were several silver metal cases sitting on the tables.
He didn't know what was inside, but judging by the exterior alone, these cases were clearly not simple.
The others had obviously noticed the metal cases as well. Although they didn't know the contents, they all stared at them with intense longing.
This exchange tournament was extremely important to Silver Academy. Since they had secured a victory and brought glory to the school, the academy was definitely not going to treat them poorly.
Once most of the people had arrived, Director Yanagi sat at the podium and said, "Since everyone is here, let us begin."
Everyone quieted down, their hearts racing with excitement. Most eyes remained fixed on the metal cases.
Seeing this, Director Yanagi smiled and began, "I called you all here today to distribute the rewards for this competition."
"In this exchange tournament, there were four matches: three regular matches and one additional match."
"Among them, the third-year grade lost one match, the second-year grade had one draw, and the first-year grade won one match."
After Director Yanagi finished speaking, he glanced at the third-year students.
Only three people from the third-year grade had come; they were the ones who had won their individual matches.
As soon as Director Yanagi mentioned them, the three lowered their heads, looking quite embarrassed.
Next, Director Yanagi looked toward the first-year students. Tetsu and the others wore expressions of pride.
Tetsu whispered excitedly to Eichi, "Eichi, what do you think the academy will reward us with? They've kept it so well-hidden this time, very mysterious."
"Well, our contribution was significant," Eichi replied. "The academy won't mistreat us."
Director Yanagi continued, "Now, I will explain the rewards."
"Starting with the third-years. Because the third-year grade lost to Indigo Academy's third-years, there is no group award."
"However, we promised before the match that even if victory wasn't achieved, everyone would receive credit rewards."
"Therefore, every third-year student is rewarded with 1,000 credits."
"Students who won their individual matches are each rewarded with 3,000 credits and three bottles of Stat Boosters."
As soon as Director Yanagi finished, the room was filled with shock. Stat Boosters?
The academy intended to reward them with Stat Boosters?
At Director Yanagi's signal, several teachers opened the metal cases. Once opened, rows of bottles were revealed, neatly arranged inside.
The bottles looked similar to beverage containers but felt much more high-end, and they were a full size smaller than ordinary drink bottles.
They were about the size of a canned Wang Wang drink, and the colors of the caps varied.
"Eichi, did I see that right? It's actually Stat Boosters!" Tetsu said to Eichi with immense excitement. "The academy is being too generous!"
"They're actually willing to use Stat Boosters to reward us. These things are priceless and impossible to find on the market!"
Never mind the others; Eichi himself was staring at the rows of Stat Boosters with an excited gaze.
Stat Boosters, as the name implied, were used to enhance a specific base stat of a Pokémon.
Furthermore, it wasn't a temporary boost but a permanent increase. This was incredibly important for a Pokémon.
Moreover, they were effective for Pokémon at any stage.
A single bottle of this stuff started at 100,000p on the market.
Even so, supply couldn't meet demand. Even if they appeared in a supermarket, they would be snatched up instantly.
On the black market, a single bottle started at 200,000p, and the price was still rising since rare items are expensive.
Looking at the several large cases of Stat Boosters on the table, Eichi was truly stunned by the academy's grand gesture.
Eichi was practically salivating. A single Pokémon could use a maximum of five bottles for any one specific stat booster.
After five bottles, there would be no further effect. However, there were six types of Stat Boosters, meaning a Pokémon could use a total of 30 Stat Boosters in its lifetime.
To be honest, Eichi felt the urge to hijack all the Stat Boosters here; the temptation was simply too great.
Sato and Konan were also quite excited. With their family backgrounds, they could certainly collect enough Stat Boosters for a few Pokémon.
However, they had more than just a few Pokémon, so their supply of Stat Boosters was never enough.
Thus, the Stat Boosters rewarded by the academy were extremely useful to them as well.
The three third-year students were ecstatic upon hearing the rewards.
This reward was fantastic. They couldn't help but feel sorry for the classmates who didn't come. If those people knew the reward was Stat Boosters, they would have fought to the death to win.
One by one, they stepped forward to Director Yanagi. A teacher handed a certificate of merit to each student.
There are actually certificates? How embarrassing!
The Stat Boosters were chosen by the students themselves, with the selection order based on ranking.
However, Eichi noted that there were plenty of Stat Boosters; there would be more than enough for everyone to choose from.
They quickly made their selections, and then Director Yanagi began to announce the next set:
"Next is the second-year grade. Since it was a draw, there is no group award, but we will add 3,000 credits to everyone's total."
"Those who won their matches receive the same: 3,000 credits and three bottles of Stat Boosters."
"Those who had a draw also receive a reward: two bottles of Stat Boosters."
Upon hearing that those with draws also received rewards, the faces of the second-years lit up.
Everyone happily went to collect their rewards. Tetsu and the other first-years were also excited and expectant; it would be their turn soon.
Not only had they won, but they had won two matches, so their rewards would only be greater.
Once the second-years finished collecting their rewards, it was finally the first-years' turn.
Everyone looked at Director Yanagi with anticipation, and the Director did not waste any time.
He continued, "For the first-year students, having won a match, the group award is 3,000 credits per person, plus eligibility to select a Pokémon from the Pokémon Breeding Center's incubation room."
Upon hearing this reward, all the first-years became excited. Eichi had heard from upperclassmen before that every Pokémon in the academy's incubation room had at least an Excellent talent grade.
This reward was incredibly tempting. Even for people like Sato, collecting a Pokémon with Excellent talent required a massive expenditure of financial and material resources.
Director Yanagi continued, "For the tournament, students who had a draw receive two bottles of Stat Boosters each, with no additional credits."
"Students who won receive 3,000 credits and three bottles of Stat Boosters each."
"Furthermore, for the additional match, each person receives another 3,000 credits and three bottles of Stat Boosters."
As soon as he said this, the second and third-year seniors looked at Eichi and the others with looks of pure envy.