"Seventy million, Boss," Naoki answered. He'd checked the final bid while packing away their money, so the number was still fresh in his mind.
"Seventy million? You've gotta be kidding me!"
Reiji couldn't believe it. That Squirtle had sold for nearly as much as his Elite Four-tier Gyarados. The difference in strength was enormous, yet the prices were surprisingly close.
Naoki was used to Reiji's occasional outbursts by now, so he simply explained why the price wasn't as ridiculous as it sounded.
"Boss, that's a Water-type starter with a verified pedigree. One of its parents is confirmed to be Elite Four tier. If it were a Fire-type starter with an unknown background, you'd be lucky to get twenty or thirty million for it around here."
The Orange Archipelago was surrounded by water, and local demand played a major role in determining a Pokémon's value. Water-types were particularly desirable, while Fire-types were much harder to sell at a premium.
The auction continued as Reiji considered the explanation. Once the starter Pokémon had been sold, the organizers moved on to other valuable merchandise, including promising wild Pokémon and materials that could help powerful Pokémon break through to Elite Four tier.
Several of the items came from Elite Four-tier Bug-type Pokémon.
There was a pair of thick, battle-scarred horns shed by a Pinsir, the sharp arm blades of a Scyther, and a remarkably well-preserved horn taken from a Heracross. Each contained traces of the energy its former owner had accumulated.
The host introduced the Pinsir horns first.
"Our next lot is a pair of horns shed by an Elite Four-tier Pinsir! For anyone raising a Pinsir, these could be exactly what you need to help it reach Elite Four tier."
Pinsir wasn't an especially rare species, but plenty of Trainers specialized in raising it. That gave the horns a much broader market than their appearance might suggest.
"We'll start at twenty million! Minimum increments of five million!"
"Thirty million!"
"Thirty-five million!"
The bids came quickly, and before long, the price had climbed to forty million.
That was roughly what an ordinary starter Pokémon might cost, but the horns offered a different kind of value. A young starter still required years of training and substantial resources, while the right breakthrough material could potentially help an already powerful Pinsir advance to the next tier.
Of course, there was no guarantee of success. The horns were valuable, but they weren't some miraculous shortcut that would turn any Pinsir into an Elite Four-tier Pokémon.
Forty million was already pushing their value, particularly since Pinsir itself wasn't rare. Even so, the auction's wealthy audience made it possible to obtain a price that ordinary underground dealers might struggle to match.
The horns eventually sold for forty million, and the Scyther blades and Heracross horn followed.
Both attracted considerable interest from Bug-type specialists. Trainers who raised those species understood how difficult it could be to obtain suitable breakthrough materials, especially ones taken from Pokémon that had already reached Elite Four tier.
After several rounds of competitive bidding, the Scyther blades and Heracross horn each sold for around forty million as well.
Watching those sales gave Reiji an idea.
Maybe I could've gotten more for Gyarados if I'd sold it in pieces.
Dragon scales, fangs, and claws could all fetch impressive prices as training materials, although Gyarados didn't actually have claws. More importantly, the valuable reverse scale it had possessed was knocked loose during their earlier battle and was already among his spoils.
The Gyarados he'd sold had been missing that scale, yet someone had still paid eighty-five million for it.
For a Pokémon that was only considered a pseudo-dragon, that wasn't a bad deal at all.
Reiji was still considering the prices when the host introduced the next lot.
"Now, we have another item that should interest our Bug-type specialists! These are the twin stingers of an Elite Four-tier Beedrill, and they still contain some of its venom."
A pair of long, sharp stingers was displayed under the stage lights. Their surfaces gleamed as the host turned toward the audience and began explaining how they could be used.
"For Trainers raising Bug and Poison type Pokémon, this is an exceptional opportunity. Grind the stingers into powder and combine them with the appropriate breakthrough formula, and they can significantly improve your Pokémon's chances of reaching Elite Four tier."
She paused to let the information sink in.
"Even without the formula, consuming the powdered stingers can still provide benefits. We'll start at twenty million, with minimum increments of five million!"
"Another five million!"
"Ten million more!"
The first bids came from opposite ends of the hall, quickly drawing other buyers into the competition.
Reiji watched the stingers with considerably more interest than he'd shown in the previous Bug-type materials.
They were valuable in their own right, but what really caught his attention was the mention of a specialized breakthrough formula.
He already possessed a formula intended for raising Bug/Steel-type Pokémon such as Scizor. A comparable formula for Bug/Poison-type Pokémon would give him more options when training Pokémon and preparing them for breakthroughs.
Unfortunately, the formula wasn't included in the lot.
Still, the stingers themselves could be extremely useful for Accelgor.
Accelgor relied on its exceptional speed to keep opponents at a distance, constantly moving, harassing them, and wearing them down rather than attempting to overpower them directly. It was an effective strategy, but it worked much better when every successful attack posed a genuine threat.
Poison was one way to accomplish that.
Beedrill's stingers contained both Bug and Poison type energy, making them promising materials for helping Accelgor develop stronger poisoning techniques.
There was also the question of compatibility.
Although Accelgor wasn't a Poison-type, it was a Bug-type Pokémon, and Reiji believed it would handle venom derived from Beedrill more safely than toxins from completely different species.
Toxicroak's venom was far too potent for such an experiment. Gengar's toxins were similarly dangerous, and Accelgor's relatively fragile body might not survive consuming either one directly.
Reiji had previously relied on weaker toxins from Pokémon such as Spinarak and Butterfree, but Accelgor had grown much stronger since then. Those materials could no longer produce the results he wanted.
Beedrill's stingers offered a chance to move beyond that limitation.
By the time Reiji finished considering their usefulness, the bidding had already reached forty million.
He activated the speaker in his private box.
"Fifty million."
The sudden increase drew attention from across the hall. It was ten million above the current price and noticeably more than the previous Bug-type materials had fetched.
"Fifty million from our distinguished guest in Box 22!" the host announced. "Do we have anyone willing to go higher?"
She scanned the audience, inviting another bid, but the competition had abruptly stopped.
The buyers who'd been fighting over the stingers were apparently unwilling to spend another five million. However valuable the material was, fifty million exceeded what most of them were prepared to pay.
The host tried a few more times to revive the bidding, but nobody responded. Eventually, she brought down her gavel.
"Fifty million, sold! Congratulations to our guest in Box 22!"
"Bring them up," Reiji instructed through the speaker.
The staff carefully covered the stingers and placed their display case on a trolley before wheeling it toward the elevator. Reiji watched them leave the stage, satisfied that he'd secured a useful material for Accelgor.
While he waited for the stingers to arrive, the workers began preparing the next lot.
When Reiji saw what they were bringing out, his attention shifted immediately.
The new item was enormous, with an unusual black and yellow structure that looked almost like a natural beehive.
It was the preserved, hive-like body of an Elite Four-tier Vespiquen.
The remains appeared to be in remarkably good condition. There were no obvious signs of battle damage, suggesting that Vespiquen might have died naturally rather than being killed by another Pokémon or Trainer.
Traces of pale yellow honey still clung to the openings in its body, giving off a faint, distinctive fragrance.
"Ladies and gentlemen, take a look at this!" the host announced, gesturing toward the enormous structure. "What we have here is the preserved hive of an Elite Four-tier Vespiquen!"
She pointed toward the honey still visible inside.
"And that's not all. There's even honey left behind by Vespiquen itself!"
To demonstrate, she collected a little of the honey on her fingertip and tasted it, drawing plenty of appreciative looks from the men seated closest to the stage.
The honey had a delicate floral fragrance that gradually spread through the hall. Several buyers leaned forward with renewed interest, recognizing that the contents of the hive might be worth as much as the structure itself.
"Both the hive and the honey are extremely beneficial to Bug-type Pokémon approaching Elite Four tier," the host explained. "And honey produced by a Pokémon this powerful is particularly valuable. I'm sure our more experienced guests already understand what an opportunity this is!"
Reiji certainly did.
He'd never encountered the remains of an Elite Four-tier Vespiquen before, and the longer he examined the hive, the more interested he became.
Compared with Beedrill's stingers, this was an extraordinary source of Bug-type energy, particularly because so much honey had been preserved inside.
"Now, there's one special condition attached to this lot," the host continued. "The seller would prefer to exchange it for an Elite Four-tier item. Any item of that level will be considered."
She smiled as the buyers began discussing the unusual terms.
"However, if nobody can offer a suitable exchange, the seller is also willing to accept cash!"
Reiji leaned forward, studying the hive more carefully.
"Now that's something you don't see every day."
He'd traveled through plenty of dangerous places and collected more than his share of rare materials, but this was his first opportunity to acquire something left behind by an Elite Four-tier Vespiquen.
The stingers he'd just purchased were excellent materials, particularly for Accelgor's specific needs, but the two items served different purposes.
Beedrill had a relatively short lifespan, making it exceptionally difficult for the species to reach Elite Four tier. A Beedrill that managed to survive long enough to break through would have repeatedly pushed its body beyond its natural limits, accumulating considerable Bug and Poison type energy in its stingers.
That was why Reiji considered fifty million a reasonable price. He wasn't simply buying two sharp pieces of a deceased Pokémon. He was buying materials containing energy that few Beedrill ever managed to develop.
Vespiquen's hive offered something different.
Although the preserved body itself was valuable, the honey was the real prize. For Bug-type Pokémon, such a concentrated source of energy and nutrition could make an enormous difference during training, particularly when they were preparing to break through to Elite Four tier.
In the hands of the right Trainer, the honey alone could be worth an Elite Four-tier item.
Of course, Reiji wasn't suggesting that the hive was worth as much as a living Elite Four-tier Pokémon. A powerful Pokémon could continue fighting, growing, and producing value for its Trainer, while even the finest breakthrough material would eventually be used up.
Still, compared with a relatively ordinary Elite Four-tier Pokémon such as the Gyarados he'd just sold, the difference in value wasn't necessarily enormous.
That Gyarados had fetched eighty-five million, and Reiji wouldn't have been surprised if Vespiquen's remains attracted a similarly impressive offer.
He couldn't help smiling as he considered how many valuable items had appeared since the auction began.
Between the Pokémon he'd sold and the Beedrill stingers he'd purchased, the evening had already been worthwhile. Now an even more interesting Bug-type material had appeared, and the auction was showing no signs of running out of surprises.
For all his suspicions about the League's trap, Reiji was beginning to think coming here had been a very good decision.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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