Silas had no interest in gambling.
He had only come to the Game Corner out of curiosity.
With a few game coins in his hand, he randomly tried a couple of machines. As expected, in less than ten minutes he had already lost all his coins.
Silas shrugged and casually walked toward the exchange board in the lobby.
He had to admit that this Game Corner, which was now officially managed by the Pokémon League, truly possessed an impressive amount of resources.
Looking at the top three prizes, Silas couldn't help taking a sharp breath.
________________________________
Third Prize
The third prize was an exceptionally talented Torchic.
The exchange list even displayed detailed information about the Pokémon.
This Torchic possessed:
Hidden Ability: Speed Boost
Five inherited moves
The moves listed were:
Slash
Feather Dance
Counter
Flame Charge
(one additional inherited move)
Aside from Feather Dance, which was somewhat situational, the other inherited moves were all very practical.
This meant the Torchic had excellent breeding lineage.
Additionally, its energy control ability was specially marked as outstanding, showing that its natural talent was strong and not merely inherited from its parents.
________________________________
Second Prize
The second reward was an extremely rare Pokémon.
A species once considered comparable to pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
Zorua.
Even though very little information was provided, those three letters alone were enough to drive most trainers crazy.
Silas was no exception.
After all, he specialized in Dark-type Pokémon.
Zorua's signature ability:
Illusion
was what made it so famous.
It could transform into any human or Pokémon, and the realism of its disguise far surpassed that of Ditto.
Ditto required training to imitate things accurately.But Zorua could create perfect illusions purely through instinct and natural talent.
Silas pressed his lips together.
The number of zeros in the exchange price immediately killed his enthusiasm.
"I just caught Sandile. Training five Pokémon already puts pressure on my wallet… The sixth Pokémon can wait."
Silas reluctantly glanced once more at the Zorua image on the screen.
___________________________________
First Prize
The first prize was even more outrageous.
A pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
In the Hoenn region, besides Metagross, the other pseudo-legendary was:
Salamence.
The prize offered was its baby form-Bagon.
The price displayed above it had so many zeros that Silas couldn't even count them.
Converted into PokéDollars, the value was roughly:
3 billion PokéDollars.
According to the information Silas had seen in the Petalburg Gym archives, the normal market value of a pseudo-legendary Pokémon was about 1.5 billion PokéDollars.
'I thought Team Rocket selling a pseudo-legendary for two billion was outrageous… but this place is even worse.'
The worst part was that no information about the Bagon's aptitude was provided.
Which meant the quality was completely random.
Anyone with common sense knew the truth:
If someone actually exchanged for it, the Bagon given would almost certainly be the lowest-quality individual in the entire breeding pool.
In reality, this prize was likely just a display item used to attract customers.
The Game Corner had been operating for nearly ten years.
No one had ever exchanged for the pseudo-legendary prize.
Even the top three prizes had been redeemed only a handful of times.
The only known record online happened two years ago.
Someone successfully exchanged the third prize, obtaining a high-quality Mudkip.
Rumor had it that a wealthy collector immediately offered 20 million PokéDollars to buy that Mudkip.
Considering that a normal League-issued starter Pokémon cost around 2 million PokéDollars, the price had increased tenfold.
This showed how extraordinary that Mudkip's potential must have been.
....
Aside from the top three rewards, the top 100 prizes were also extremely valuable to trainers.
They included rare held items such as:
Everstone
Wide Lens
Light Clay
Toxic Orb
There were also rare Pokémon that were difficult to obtain in the wild, such as:
Ralts
Trapinch
Swablu
Riolu
....
Silas eventually spent a small amount of coins to exchange for a Torchic plush doll as a souvenir.
The advertisement claimed the plush used real Torchic feathers.
Whether that was true or not, nobody knew. But it did feel pleasantly warm to the touch.
....
After leaving the Game Corner, Silas finally felt peace return to his ears.
The loud music and constant noise inside were clearly designed to stimulate gamblers.
Walking along Mauville's bustling streets and observing the rows of shops, Silas couldn't help admiring the city's development.
"I wonder what kind of person Gym Leader Wattson is… the one who proposed this massive city reconstruction."
Online, Wattson was often described as:
"The cheerful electric uncle."
What Silas didn't know was that at this very moment, that same cheerful old man was located in a special power plant outside Mauville City.
This facility was known as:
New Mauville.
Originally, it had been planned as the main power supply for Mauville City.But the project had been suddenly halted by Wattson himself.
The reason he gave was that the construction would damage the surrounding Pokémon ecosystem.
.....
Inside a dim power generator room…
A Pokémon resembling a saber-toothed tiger lay weakly in the corner.It had golden fur, powerful limbs, and sharp fangs.
A black steel mask covered its forehead, nose, and mouth, with an X-shaped crest beneath it.
Its pale blue tail resembled a lightning bolt, ending in a spark-shaped tip. Even in its weakened state, it still looked majestic.
Creak…
The half-open iron door slowly opened.
Wattson-normally known as the carefree "Electric Grandpa" walked inside with a worried expression.
He knelt beside the Pokémon and gently stroked its golden fur.
"My old friend… it seems they've discovered your whereabouts again."
"You can't stay here much longer."
The wounded Pokémon let out a weak cry and gently licked Wattson's large hand in response.
"I'm sorry… I don't even understand what's happening to the League anymore."
"Corruption is spreading everywhere. Dark forces are stirring. The League itself is divided into factions."
"Lord Ho-Oh hasn't appeared for many years… and the League is full of hidden conflicts."
"And now… even you, my friend… I can't protect."
When the Pokémon heard the name Ho-Oh, it suddenly became agitated.
Crackling lightning began to flicker across its body. At that moment, the wind slowly pushed the door open.
A beam of sunlight illuminated the dark room,revealing the Pokémon's true identity.
One of the legendary Sacred Beasts.
A guardian of Ho-Oh.
The Pokémon said to descend alongside thunder itself.
Raikou.
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