Eichi took out two Evolution Stones from his backpack and handed them to Amelie.
"Amelie, do you need Evolution Stones? I can sell them to you."
Amelie was shocked. "These two stones… you traded them from the Beedrill colony?"
Her eyes widened. "Your luck is unbelievable!"
Eichi scratched his head. "I guess I really got lucky."
Amelie sighed silently. Then she picked up the two stones and examined them carefully.
"These are both high-quality," she said after a moment. "They've reached the peak of Intermediate Evolution Stones."
"They're almost at the Advanced level. I'll give you 700,000p for each."
Seeing Eichi hesitate, she continued, "But you should know, while they're close to Advanced grade, they're still not quite there."
"The gap is huge. Advanced Evolution Stones start at a million or more."
"Right now, the market price for an Advanced Evolution Stone has skyrocketed to tens of millions, but no one's willing to sell."
Eichi nodded. "Alright, 700,000p each it is."
Once he agreed, Amelie asked for his League Card to transfer the payment.
"I've only ever seen three Advanced Evolution Stones in my life," she said as she worked. "One was sold at a top-tier auction, a Fire Stone that went for fifty million."
"Even though its actual value is around a million, it's just too rare."
Adding the 300,000p from the honey and 1.4 million from the two stones, Eichi earned a total of 1.7 million.
Amelie took out a small machine from her drawer, similar to a credit card terminal, inserted her card, and typed in Eichi's card number on the keypad.
After transferring the money, Eichi didn't leave immediately. He looked at Amelie and said seriously, "Amelie, I want to learn about Breeding."
Amelie wasn't surprised. She had expected this from him for a long time.
This wasn't like the bits and pieces of knowledge he had learned at the Pokémon Day Care. This time, he would be learning systematically, starting from the basics.
There was a lot to study, and it wouldn't be easy.
But Eichi was confident. He believed he could do it.
Amelie smiled knowingly. "I knew you'd want to study Breeding eventually, so I've already prepared something for you."
She reached into her small bag and pulled out more than a dozen books.
"These are the books I used when I studied Breeding. I've made notes inside. They'll help you a lot."
"However, they only cover knowledge up to the Beginner Breeder level. To learn Intermediate Breeding, you'll need to go to Silver Academy."
Eichi was touched. "Thank you, Amelie. You're always so kind to me."
Amelie blushed slightly. "Enough of that! I'm your big sister, remember?"
"This is my gift for you."
She handed him back his League Card after finishing the transfer.
Eichi took it, chatted with her a bit more, then left.
He headed to the Johto Department Store and took the elevator straight to the sixth floor.
Now that he had money, he wanted to buy TM Discs for Beedrill.
When the elevator doors opened, rows of shelves filled with TM Discs came into view.
A smiling saleswoman approached him. "Hello, what kind of TM are you looking for?"
"I'd like to see the ones Beedrill can learn," Eichi replied.
"Of course. Please follow me." She gestured ahead and continued as they walked, "We have many that Beedrill can use. Is this your first time here?"
"Yes," Eichi said.
"Then your Beedrill must have evolved recently?"
When he nodded, she said, "Alright. I recommend seven TMs: Double Team, Brick Break, Aerial Ace, Toxic, Bind, Swords Dance, and Hidden Power."
Eichi thought for a moment. "Alright, let me take a look."
The saleswoman led him to a shelf and pulled out one disc from the second row.
"Double Team, 50,000p."
Description: The user quickly moves to create illusory copies, confusing the opponent and raising its evasiveness.
Then she showed him Toxic, Brick Break, Swords Dance, Aerial Ace, Bind, and Hidden Power.
Eichi thought carefully. He didn't need too many moves for now, just something to improve Beedrill's offense.
After some thought, he chose Double Team, Brick Break, and Hidden Power.
Brick Break: The user attacks with a swift, powerful chop. It can also shatter Reflect and Light Screen.
Hidden Power: The move's type varies depending on the Pokémon using it.
Double Team cost 50,000p, Brick Break cost 100,000p, and Hidden Power cost 120,000p, totaling 270,000p.
Eichi asked the saleswoman to pack them.
He also bought a TM Player, which cost another 20,000p.
TM Discs were pure high-tech marvels. They stored a move's data, which Pokémon could learn through the player.
The TM Player was a rectangular device. Pressing a switch opened a circular slot where the disc could be inserted.
Two cables extended from the top. One end connected to the device; the other had a round attachment that fit onto the Pokémon's head.
Each TM Disc could only be used once before breaking.
However, the success rate was extremely high—about 99%.
After the packaging was done, Eichi paid and thanked the saleswoman.
"Come again anytime!" she said cheerfully as he left.
The TMs were expensive. The ones Eichi bought were considered cheap; powerful moves like Hyper Beam or Fire Blast cost hundreds of thousands, even millions.
Since it was still early, he decided to train Beedrill for a while so it could learn the new moves tomorrow.
He went to a small grove nearby. It was quiet there.
Just as Eichi was about to start warm-ups for Beedrill, a blue figure jumped out from the bushes.
Beedrill immediately flew in front of him, ready to defend.
Eichi squinted. It was the same Heracross from yesterday, holding something in its arms.
A Pokémon Egg!
Heracross gently placed the egg on the ground.
"Herah, herah," it said slowly. "Take… care of it… train it… well."
Then it spread its wings and flew away.
Eichi stood frozen. "Heracross just gave me a Pokémon Egg?"
Was yesterday's battle… a test of my training ability?
He picked up the egg, lost in thought.
The shell was light green with faint cloud patterns, warm to the touch. Beedrill buzzed curiously beside him.
Eichi smiled. "You were like this once too, when I first found you."