… We need to get a better paying part-time job. Going up in the ranks is supposed to get us better money per task?
Once we get a few badges we might get some sponsors from big brands maybe? Official battles like gym matches and tournaments seem pretty high profile and very public. We probably won't gain much attention at all for getting one badge since it just seems like a test to make sure we have a heartbeat and can command our team, but maybe -combined with the fact that as a Mezagoza student we're more likely on average to make it to the Conference- if we get a second badge early enough we might get some offers?
At that point though I can't imagine the offers would be very good, not good enough for Mariana at least. Class president and second best battler in the special ops best of the best class from the exclusive Mesagoza Academy? I'd say we shouldn't go for any of the low hanging sponsorships if they pop up around the second badge level. That's probably just the desperate or the lowballers throwing scraps out.
Now, if we start blasting through gyms trying to keep up with Nemona I think a few of the bigger guys might sit up and pay attention. If we get our third badge as of FE2 and get our fourth before FE3 for example, we might get the savvy sponsor looking our way if they see someone with obvious talent. Nemona's rich too so we don't even have to worry about them looking towards the only other student in our year better than us.
Downside of a sponsorship is that our sponsor would probably have demands or expectations of us, like appear in a certain number of tournaments in a certain annual timeframe, or earn a specific number of badges, or whatever. Also don't do anything to damage their own reputation which could be limiting if we ever join a rebellion or be exposed as a member of a sinister conspiracy.
Hmm.
We shouldn't take that cash for granted though. The specter of Student Loans haunts us around every corner.
I don't
think student loans will be that bad? There are multiple ways to clear it that seem likely.
To summarize a lot of mathematical and economic concepts you don't understand, you owe the Paldean Government a nice tidy sum of 1,000,000 Pokedollars for the three years of your enrollment in the Academy. There are multiple ways to see it waived of course. Becoming a Champion Rank Trainer (lol) sees around 90% of it waived. Joining the Paldean League at around the 6-8 Badge Level sees half of it waived. There's also something about "valourous or meritorious service to the Empire" that would see the full debt cleared, but you highly doubt that will ever be relevant for you.
Champion rank is doable. Maybe. Sure, Nemona is this year and the protagonists of Scarlet and Violet are next year, but maybe our third??? Assuming Kieran doesn't decide to do a foreign exchange year at least... but anyways, in that case we only have to pay 100,000 and that's very doable. Do a few jobs, win a few tournaments, sell some treasure maybe, whatever. We can literally take off almost a tenth of our total debt right now if we want to. Imagine what we can earn in the future.
As for more doable options, there's always joining the League, although that would bring rise to the bootlicker allegations I'm sure. That means paying 500,000, which isn't great. But at least we'll have job security. This is my least preferred option unless becoming a Knight counts. Because I like the idea of Dame Mariana.
There's also "valourous or meritorious service to the Empire", which I'm sure will never come up. I mean, doing something like stopping a sinister conspiracy, saving a major city from rampaging pokemon or other hostile forces, or maybe even dealing with a legendary pokemon? When are the chances of
that ever happening? In a Pokemon/Kiseki crossover setting? Psshaw.
Edit: fucking GreNinja's.
