"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Terran. If you ever have the chance to visit the Kanto Region and come to Pallet Town, I'll be happy to return the favor. I'll take my leave now."
With that, Gary turned to go.
"Wait a moment!"
Terran suddenly called out, stopping him in his tracks.
Gary paused and looked back, puzzled. Did this old man still have some hidden card up his sleeve?
"I have a Drilbur here, but its potential is uncertain," Terran said slowly. "I don't know if you'd be willing to exchange for it."
Yuko, standing nearby, looked just as confused. Even though her father currently managed the breeding house, she knew their stock well. There were only two Drilbur in the facility—one male and one female—and they were still being bred to try and produce more offspring. Where had a third one come from?
Uncertain potential?
Gary's interest sharpened immediately. If it was a Pokémon whose potential couldn't be seen, then it had to be at least Gym-level or higher.
This old man is sly. He waited until the very end to bring out the good stuff. If I didn't have the Eye of Insight, I might have actually been fooled by him. As the saying goes—the older the ginger, the spicier the taste.
"Let me see it first."
"Follow me."
Gary raised an eyebrow. If it was just about a Pokémon's potential, why did he need to follow Terran somewhere?
He didn't think too much about it and walked after Terran to a wooden building at the edge of the breeding compound. The temperature inside was constant and warm, carefully regulated, and Pokémon Eggs of various sizes and patterns were placed on padded shelves throughout the room.
"Isn't this an incubator?" Gary asked, puzzled.
"Yes. These facilities are the hatching rooms," Terran admitted.
"So that Drilbur hasn't even hatched yet?"
"That's right."
Terran walked over to a brown Pokémon Egg patterned with reddish-orange streaks and gestured toward it. "This is the Drilbur's Egg. It will hatch soon, but until then, its potential is unknown."
Gary's mouth twitched.
This old man really isn't simple. He's trying to trade me an unhatched Pokémon Egg. Who knows what kind of potential the Drilbur inside will have once it hatches? If it doesn't even have Gym-level potential, wouldn't I be taking a huge loss?
"Don't go silent on me. Listen to my explanation first," Terran said.
Gary curled his lips. Are you sure I'm not the one who'll be listening to your nonsense while you call it an explanation?
"Then please, Mr. Terran. Go ahead."
Gary still gave him face. If Terran couldn't come up with a convincing reason, Gary would leave immediately.
"I bought this Pokémon Egg at an auction," Terran began. "Its mother is an Elite-tier Excadrill, and its father is an Elite-tier Lucario. The child born from them is very likely to have Elite potential as well."
Gary was stunned for a moment.
What a strange combination. Lucario and Excadrill...
In terms of Egg Groups, both Pokémon belonged to the Field group, so they could indeed breed together. But the mental image of a Lucario and an Excadrill as a breeding pair was a little hard to picture.
"Do you have the auction certificate?" Gary asked.
If both parents truly had Elite potential, then the offspring would almost certainly be at least Gym-level. There was even a strong chance it would be Quasi-Elite or full Elite potential. That was a gamble worth considering.
"Wait a moment. I'll go find it."
Terran hurried out of the hatchery.
After almost a quarter of an hour, he returned slightly out of breath, an auction certificate in his hand.
Gary took it and examined it carefully. It was indeed an auction certificate issued by a regular, professional auction house. It included a photo of the Egg, the date and time of the auction, and the projected incubation cycle.
If he calculated the timing carefully, this Egg should hatch in about a week.
As long as the incubation time matched, he could confirm the certificate was authentic.
"The Unova Breeders' Association seal is right there on the bottom. It's definitely real," Terran pointed out.
"Alright. I agree to the exchange."
Gary didn't say anything more. He decided to gamble. Elite potential would be a clear win. If it turned out to be only Gym-level, then he could only blame his bad luck.
In reality, even Gym-level potential wasn't a complete loss. Gary had two Bronze Bottle Caps sitting in his space backpack, and since he hadn't found any Pokémon with Elite potential to use them on so far, those two Bottle Caps had never been put to use.
Yuko immediately fetched a portable incubator, carefully placed the Drilbur Egg inside, and handed it over to Gary.
Gary, in turn, took out the Peat Block and handed it to Terran, reminding him, "This Peat Block contains far more energy than an ordinary one. It's very likely that when an Ursaring evolves into Ursaluna using this, the resulting Pokémon's potential will increase by one tier. I'd recommend catching an Ursaring with high potential first before using it. Otherwise, it would be a waste."
"Oh, I understand."
Terran nodded.
He didn't even need to be told. He had already planned to find a high-potential Ursaring to breed and raise.
"Then I'll be going."
With the Drilbur Egg secured, Gary said his goodbyes, left Terran's breeding house, and rode his motorcycle back to Silvercrown Town.
"System, what Pokémon item was rewarded for this mission?"
[Garchompite — Mega Stone. When held by Garchomp, enables Mega Evolution into Mega Garchomp.]
"No way!"
After winning against Terran, Gary hadn't actually checked the item the system had given him. He hadn't realized it until now—and when he saw it, he was genuinely shocked. The system had randomly awarded him a Mega Stone, and it happened to be one he could actually use right away.
"System, use the Ground-type self-selected permanent TM to redeem Scorching Sands for me."
[Ding! Skill redemption successful.]
He had already won the Scorching Sands TM from Yuko earlier, but that one was single-use—it could only teach the move to one Pokémon. So he wasn't planning to use it just yet. By redeeming a permanent version from the system, he could now teach Scorching Sands to any compatible Pokémon as many times as he needed.
As for why he chose Scorching Sands instead of something stronger like Earth Power—Scorching Sands was a special Ground-type move that also carried a 30% chance to burn the target. While Earth Power had higher base power, Scorching Sands offered useful dual-typing utility, which Gary found more valuable in the long run.
Gary had thought it over and still felt Scorching Sands was the better pick.
Over the next several days, Gary decided to stay in Silvercrown Town. His main reason was to keep an eye on developments in Crown City.
As long as something happened in Crown City, Silvercrown Town would be among the first to find out. Gary could rush over immediately and see if there was a chance to capture Suicune and Raikou.
After checking into a hotel, Gary began training his Sinnoh team and checking on the Pokémon Egg's progress every day.
Five days passed. On the afternoon of the fifth day, the Egg in the incubator finally showed signs of hatching.
"The timing is right. So it really was genuine."
Seeing the Egg in the incubator beginning to glow, Gary quickly opened the lid and lifted the Egg out. His Pokémon, who had been training nearby, all gathered around to watch. It was the first time most of them had ever seen an Egg hatch.
The light from the Egg grew stronger and stronger. The shell trembled, hairline cracks spreading outward. Then, with a soft burst, the shell broke apart completely. As the glow faded, a small Drilbur was revealed in Gary's hands.