"Hm? What is it?"
His mother turned around to ask.
Auron stared at the information displayed for the egg before him, somewhat puzzled. Logically speaking, an egg containing this particular Pokémon shouldn't be here.
Pokémon: Larvesta
Gender: Female
Type: Bug / Fire
Ability: Swarm (When this Pokémon's HP drops below a certain level, the power of Bug-type moves increases.)
Potential: Red
Base Moves: Ember, String Shot
Egg Moves: Harden, Absorb, Thrash
"Is this egg also from a pseudo-legendary?"
His mother excitedly jogged over to ask. But upon seeing the cloud-like patterns on the egg, she spoke with confusion.
"Hm? Pale green and red patterns? What pseudo-legendary has an egg like this? I've been selling Pokémon Eggs for years—don't try to fool me."
Seeing his mother's suspicious gaze, Auron smiled wryly and explained.
"This isn't a pseudo-legendary egg. It's a Larvesta."
Auron whispered into his mother's ear.
His mother was shocked. "A Larvesta?!"
"Keep your voice down!"
Auron quickly covered his mother's mouth, looking around to make sure no one had noticed. Only then did he continue.
"Yeah, Larvesta. I didn't expect to find one here either."
After having her mouth covered, his mother gradually calmed down. She shook her head, signaling Auron to let go. After shooting him a glare, she continued speaking.
"It's not impossible. A while back, a new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon opened up in the Meng Autonomous Region. The dungeon's master was a Volcarona. So theoretically, it's quite possible."
Auron nodded thoughtfully. When she put it that way, it made sense.
Although there weren't many Volcarona in the world—most of them were concentrated in the African continent, with only a few scattered elsewhere—
Within Dragon Nation's borders, there were virtually no Volcarona to be found. Even the nation's Fire-type Elite Four member didn't have one on their team. That was why Larvesta was extremely rare in Dragon Nation.
"Quick, pick it up! What are you waiting for?"
His mother's eyes gleamed as she bumped Auron with her shoulder, gesturing with her lips for him to hurry and cradle the egg before someone else snatched it.
"Oh, okay."
Lost in thought, Auron was jostled by his mother and instinctively did as she said.
"Uh, Mom, we're the only two people in this section. No one's going to steal it."
Only after picking up the egg did Auron come back to his senses. He addressed his mother helplessly.
His mother shot him a look. "What if?"
Then she walked ahead, cradling her own egg.
"Let's go. It's getting really late. We need to get home."
Following behind her, Auron grumbled internally.
Oh, so NOW you realize it's late. If I hadn't said anything, you'd still be browsing.
After the two of them finished paying, mother and son each carried an egg as they headed home. The rest of the eggs they'd selected would be delivered together in a few days, as they'd already arranged.
Along the way, his mother hugged her egg happily and asked Auron:
"Auron, how much do you think a pseudo-legendary egg and a Larvesta egg can sell for? Tsk, tsk. Thanks to you, Mommy's going to make a fortune this time. Haha!"
Auron found it amusing to see the dollar signs practically flashing in his mother's eyes.
This mother of his really did love money to an extraordinary degree.
But strangely enough, she seemed to enjoy the process of making money rather than the money itself. After all, even though she was the one earning it, most of the family's money was actually held by his father.
"Mom, want me to find you two customers? We could sell these directly."
"Sure!"
His mother agreed without a second thought. She knew the two customers Auron would find were probably his two classmates, but she didn't mind. Selling to anyone was still selling—worst case, she'd give them a one percent discount.
Auron wanted to pull out his phone and make the calls right away, but with the egg in his arms, he couldn't free a hand.
After trying a few times and realizing he really couldn't hold the egg steady with just one hand, he made a helpless little face at his mother.
"No can do. I'll call when we get home."
"That's fine. I'm not in a rush."
The two continued walking, their laughter occasionally ringing out along the way.
The journey home wasn't very long. By the time they arrived, Grandmother Liu Xiangjun had almost finished preparing dinner.
Seeing this, his mother quickly set down the egg and hurried into the kitchen to help Grandmother Liu with the final preparations.
During the meal, his mother was still complaining about how useless his father's Aura ability was, while boasting about how much money Auron had helped her make today with his Aura.
His father smiled at his mother, then looked at Auron with pride. Of course a father would be happy to see his son doing well. Somehow, the rice in his bowl tasted even better.
After dinner, Auron went to the backyard and played with his Pokémon for a while before remembering to call Jace and Tim.
Auron petted Elekid's head while watching Charmeleon and Clawitzer arm-wrestle. He decided to call Jace first.
"Hello? Want a Larvesta egg?"
"Hell yeah! Holy crap, where are you— Ow!"
"Hm? What happened?"
"Children shouldn't use such language!"
Auron had been about to ask what was going on when he heard Jace's grandmother's voice through the phone.
"Uh, sorry Grandma. It won't happen again."
Jace gave his grandmother a well-practiced apology, then excitedly returned to the phone.
"What the— I mean, wow, a Larvesta egg? Where'd you get that? I want it! Definitely want it!"
"Alright, come to my place tomorrow to pick it up. But remember to bring money. It'll cost about the same as a pseudo-legendary egg."
Auron smiled as he spoke. Actually, a Larvesta egg should theoretically be even more expensive in Dragon Nation due to its rarity.
Moreover, if they were selling to a Dragon Nation Elite Four member or anyone building a Sun team, the price might even exceed that of a pseudo-legendary egg. After all, Fire-types didn't have any pseudo-legendaries.
After hanging up, Jace looked pitifully at his grandmother.
Seeing his expression, Jace's grandmother laughed and waved her hand generously.
"Don't worry, my dear grandson. Grandma will pay for it. Go ahead and do what you need to do."
"Thank you, Grandma! You're the best!"
Jace cheered happily. Under his grandmother's loving gaze, he danced around the living room.
After ending the call with Jace, Auron consoled Charmeleon—who had just lost the arm-wrestling match—before calling Tim.
"Hello, Tim. Quick question—did you get your Deino yet?"
"Yeah, I did. It's already hatched. Didn't you see my social media post?"
Tim asked with confusion. He was pretty sure he'd posted about it.
"Uh, no. I've been so busy lately I've barely touched my phone."
"Alright then. Why do you ask?"
"My mom went egg shopping today and also picked out a Deino egg. I was thinking if you hadn't gotten yours yet, I could give you this one instead of the other. I've still got my eye on that Silver Bottle Cap, you know."
Auron joked with a grin.
"A Silver Bottle Cap? Sure, I'll bring you one when I come to Shangjing. No problem."
Auron: ???