It was worth mentioning that the Dratini Professor Oak had gifted to Gary also possessed a Hidden Ability.
However, Dratini's Hidden Ability wasn't Multiscale. That only manifested after evolving into Dragonite— even Dragonair didn't have it.
Sigh… Gary's had that Dratini since he was seven. So many years have passed, and yet, when is it ever going to evolve? Yozora couldn't help feeling helpless.
For the first time, he found himself genuinely concerned about someone else's Pokémon.
The hardest step was Dratini's first evolution. Once it became Dragonair, evolving into Dragonite was actually easier.
By rights, Gary had raised it for years now. Its foundation should be deep. Add in the countless challenges Gary had faced on his journey, surely by now it was about ready to evolve?
At least, that was what Yozora thought.
Still, there was no way he could put all his hopes on Gary's Dratini alone.
On the road, he would naturally keep an eye out for Dragonite—and for trainers who owned them.
"But compared to Multiscale, Mega Evolution is the true trump card!"
Yozora knew that with the bond he shared with Beedrill, they had already long surpassed the requirements for Mega Evolution. The only thing missing was the stone itself.
The Key Stone wasn't expensive.
In fact, when you bought a Mega Stone, the seller usually gave you a Key Stone for free, and even crafted it into a matching accessory—whether necklace, ring, or even glasses.
The problem was… Mega Stones were outrageously expensive. The starting price was one hundred million.
After all, Mega Evolution represented the pinnacle of power in this world. That threshold was set in stone. Ordinary folk—before even worrying about bonds with their Pokémon—would first have to figure out how to earn a hundred million Pokédollars.
Currently, Yozora's savings totaled around four to five million, plus one flawless Thunder Stone.
That flawless Thunder Stone had a market price between ten and fifteen million. Yozora had no intention of using it himself; he planned to sell it.
But even so, he was still a long, long way from his hundred-million goal.
And Mega Stones weren't just expensive. Often, they weren't even available—sometimes, even with the money, you couldn't buy one.
In short, this wasn't something he could rush. He could only take it step by step.
Upon arriving in Saffron City, Yozora checked the signpost and headed toward the Department Store.
As he passed a clothing shop—pop!—Golduck suddenly released itself from its Poké Ball.
"What's wrong, Golduck?" Yozora asked with a smile.
"Golduck~" It pointed toward the clothing store.
Yozora blinked. "You want to try on clothes?"
Dressing up Pokémon was a common pastime. Many trainers, especially Coordinators, were passionate about it.
Yozora, however, had never cared for such frivolity. To him, strength was what mattered most.
But to his surprise, Golduck had taken the initiative.
Sure enough, it nodded eagerly again.
"…Alright, if that's what you want, then I guess I can't say no." Yozora chuckled, leading Golduck into the shop.
Since Golduck stood upright, it could wear human clothes without issue.
Hands shoved in his pockets, Yozora followed quietly behind, leaving every choice to Golduck's preferences.
In the end, Golduck chose a plaid short-sleeved shirt—the same style Professor Oak often wore—a pair of black board shorts, and a pair of black sunglasses.
Because Pokémon outfits were tailored for their forms, the shorts even had a hole in the back for Golduck's tail.
"Golduck!"
Wearing the sunglasses, shirt unbuttoned, and tail poking through its shorts, Golduck looked for all the world like some street punk.
Admiring itself in the mirror, it nodded in satisfaction, encouraged by the applause and praise of the female store clerk.
"Sir, would you like to pick out a matching outfit for yourself? Wearing the same style as your Golduck will really boost your bond!" the clerk coaxed.
"Eh? I'd rather not…" Yozora rolled his eyes. Lady, your boss must pay you well for this nonsense.
But when he turned to decline, Golduck was staring at him with pleading eyes.
Yozora sighed deeply. The words stuck in his throat. At last, he nodded.
"Excellent choice, sir. Thank you for shopping with us~~~" Ding! Just like that, over ten thousand Pokédollars vanished from his account.
Yozora winced. His usual outfits cost barely a few hundred!
Under the clerk's overly cheerful farewell, Yozora and Golduck left in matching attire. Of course, Yozora wore shoes, and his shirt buttons were actually fastened.
Even so, he felt extremely self-conscious walking down the street.
Sure, Professor Oak often dressed like this. But Oak's age and presence carried a natural sense of simplicity that made such clothes look dignified.
Yozora, however, felt he couldn't pull it off. He blushed with embarrassment the whole way.
To make matters worse…
Because of their matching look, they drew constant attention. Passersby turned to stare, and several young women even giggled openly.
At last, Yozora couldn't take it anymore. He recalled Golduck and stuffed away the sunglasses.
Saffron City—Department Store.
As expected of the region's largest shopping center, it had everything: daily goods, trainer gear, and endless supplies for Pokémon.
Yozora first purchased three medium-grade evolution stones: a Fire Stone, a Thunder Stone, and an Ice Stone. He had them strung together into a necklace for Machop to wear, so it could absorb their energy day and night, hastening the development of its "Farmer's Triple Punch."
Then—
"That's… Beedrill's Mega Stone!"
In the Mega Stone section, each stone type was displayed separately. When Yozora spotted Beedrillite, his whole body trembled.
He hadn't expected to actually see one.
But the price tag read 125 million. With a bitter smile, he walked away, instead stocking up on high-grade ingredients and healing sprays before heading to checkout.
The total came to 3.15 million. In return, he received 315 golden tokens—plastic coins, about the size of a standard coin.
"What's this?" Yozora asked the clerk.
"Sir, for every ten thousand spent here at Saffron Department Store, you receive one token. You can bring them to our prize exchange on the top floor," she explained sweetly.
"Thank you."
Nodding, Yozora pocketed the tokens and made his way upstairs.
The prize area was far larger—and livelier—than he'd imagined, resembling a giant plaza.
Across the square, numerous battle stages had been set up.
At the moment, countless trainers were fighting on those platforms, each surrounded by cheering spectators.
"…Wait. Isn't this supposed to be the prize exchange? Why does it look more like a battle arena?" Yozora muttered, bewildered.
"The prize booths are over there."
A blonde young man in street clothes pointed the way, then smirked. "As for these arenas, they're actually betting stages. Trainers use their tokens as wagers—win, and you get more tokens to trade for better prizes. Pretty smart, right?"
"So that's how it works."
Yozora nodded lightly, separating from the youth as he turned his attention to the so-called betting arenas.
Though the plaza held countless stages, they were divided into three main zones: the One-Token Zone, the Ten-Token Zone, and the Hundred-Token Zone.
In the One-Token Zone, trainers usually wagered one or two tokens. Most competitors were rookies, or even children under fifteen who hadn't yet officially registered as trainers.
In this world, one had to be fifteen to register as a licensed trainer. Non-trainers weren't allowed to catch Pokémon.
Even so, there was nothing wrong with children raising Pokémon gifted to them by family.
Gary, for example, had started raising his Dratini at age seven. No issue there. Yozora and Red, also at seven, had respectively bonded with a Weedle and a Poliwag—not captured, but Pokémon that had followed them of their own will. Perfectly fine.
…
In the Ten-Token Zone, the wagers rose to ten tokens apiece, and the trainers' strength was noticeably higher.
In the Hundred-Token Zone, each match started at one hundred tokens, though trainers could raise the stakes further by mutual agreement. Since all betting was voluntary, no one could force another's hand.
Without hesitation, Yozora walked straight toward the Hundred-Token Zone.
"Nice work, Nidoking! Use Horn Attack!"
A purple-haired boy shouted, and his Nidoking immediately brought down the opponent's Flareon.
As expected from the Hundred-Token Zone, the battles here featured fully evolved Pokémon, and the overall match quality was far higher than that of the One-Token or Ten-Token Zones.
The spectators here were also far more numerous than in the previous zones.
Of course, while both the Nidoking and the Flareon were fully evolved, they had been evolved using Evolution Stones rather than natural training.
In other words, having the money to buy Evolution Stones allowed a trainer to field fully evolved Pokémon—but that didn't necessarily reflect true strength.
"Next challenger!"
The trainer who had used Flareon slunk off the stage, while the purple-haired boy smiled proudly, surveying the surrounding area.
For a moment, no one stepped forward.
After all, in the Hundred-Token Zone, the crowd mostly consisted of spectators. Trainers with real strength were few, and none were reckless enough to challenge blindly.
Tokens, though technically given as a bonus for purchases, weren't trivial here. One hundred tokens required spending roughly one million Pokédollars. In that sense, they were quite valuable.
No one could afford to lose them casually.
Seeing that no one came forward, Yozora decisively walked onto the stage.
"Oh? So it's you next? I'm Tian Yuan. What's your name?"
"Yozora," he replied, exchanging names with the purple-haired boy.
Tian Yuan nodded and smiled. "Alright then, Yozora. Send out your Pokémon. It'll be a one-on-one match—I'll be using this Nidoking again!"
…
…
(End of Chapter)