Ye Mingcang was sure he hadn't seen wrong. He had to get it, he absolutely had to get it. Calm down. The Pokémon that made him so excited had the following data:
Duraludon (Egg), Ability: Light Metal, Dark Cyan (originally Blue), Egg Moves: Slash, Mirror Coat, Assurance.
...
A Duraludon with the Light Metal Ability, after evolving into Archaludon, will gain the Stamina Ability, which makes physical attackers increasingly ineffective. When a Pokémon with this Ability is attacked, its Defense will increase by one stage!
Moreover, Archaludon can be considered a pseudo-legendary. However, an early-blooming Duraludon like this was a bit of a pity for Ye Mingcang, as it missed an opportunity to improve its aptitude. Still, he was very satisfied to encounter such a Duraludon. After all, why ask for more!
Ye Mingcang subtly began to inquire about the prices. The Dark Cyan Elekid was 85,000,000, the Light Blue Tyrogue was 80,000,000, the Dark Cyan Fletchinder was 80,000,000, and the Light Blue Drilbur was 85,000,000.
Goodness, a Dark Cyan Pokémon with three evolution stages and a Light Blue Pokémon with two evolution stages were the same price. This pricing clearly indicated that the shop, or the people behind it, most likely knew that aptitude improvement was related to the number of evolutions!
Ye Mingcang casually asked, "How much is that Dark Cyan aptitude Duraludon egg?"
The shop assistant immediately stammered, hesitated for a long time, and then quoted a price of 300,000,000...
Ye Mingcang almost spat water in his face!! The Dark Cyan two-stage evolution Pokémon was priced at four times that of a Dark Cyan three-stage evolution Pokémon! No wonder it had been collecting dust in the corner, and no wonder the assistant was stammering.
Everyone pursues pseudo-legendaries not only because their individual values are strong, but also because their aptitudes are generally higher. Just look at Ye Mingcang's Beldum, which originally had a Deep Purple aptitude! Even after a significant drop, it was still Light Purple! Its aptitude was terrifyingly high. But even if you are a pseudo-legendary, if your aptitude doesn't keep up and your potential is capped, even a common regional bird could bully such a pseudo-legendary.
It's not that the Dark Cyan Duraludon was bad, but it was too expensive! The main reason was that Ye Mingcang didn't have enough money. Even with the money he had just made from selling Pokémon, he only had a "mere" 267,000,000. What's more, he still needed to buy treasures of related types to try and improve the Pokémon's aptitude during the egg's incubation process, and at the same time, verify his own conjecture!
"This Duraludon of yours is too expensive! It's been gathering dust in the warehouse for a long time, hasn't it?" Ye Mingcang asked, not giving up. In fact, he had already decided that if there was no other way, he would take Nidoking to Rock Mountain to catch Pokémon and sell them for money to buy this egg after Beldum finished its treatment in the healing tank. What others saw as a Dark Cyan Duraludon egg, he saw as Blue, a difference of two full grades!
"Customer, the price is indeed high, but you can haggle!"
"Hmm? Can you make the decision? Or do you need to call your supervisor?"
"Customer, what are you saying? I am the supervisor. Otherwise, how could I have brought you directly to this innermost area?"
"That makes sense. Well, 100,000,000, what do you think?"
"Customer, you're joking. For 100,000,000, it wouldn't be collecting dust anymore. How about 290,000,000?"
"Is there a difference between 290,000,000 and 300,000,000? I'm sincerely buying. How about 150,000,000?"
The supervisor thought to himself, I bought this egg for 150,000,000 and it's been here for over half a year. The interest alone is significant. Selling it for 150,000,000 would definitely be a loss for me!
"Customer, that's still too low. You've cut it in half. How about 260,000,000?"
Ye Mingcang saw a chance; he probably hadn't met anyone who wanted to buy this egg in a long time. "It's not that I don't want to buy it, it's just that I'm short on cash! I can't afford that much!"
"Customer, tell me honestly, how much are you willing to pay? If I can sell it to you, I will, and we can be friends."
"Look, how about 180,000,000? That's more than double the price of a Pokémon with the same aptitude, and it's all the money I have!"
The supervisor thought for a moment. This price shouldn't result in a loss, and selling it was better than getting scolded every quarter for it sitting here! Thinking this, the manager feigned great difficulty, as if making a huge decision, and replied, "Deal! Consider it making a friend. If you need to buy or sell anything in the future, remember to find me!"
Ye Mingcang was also quite the actor, immediately putting on a regretful expression, as if he had overpaid and lost hundreds of millions. But he still gritted his teeth, swiped his card, and decisively paid 180,000,000, then directly put the Pokémon egg and incubator into his backpack.
The supervisor was just curious, a moment ago this customer was complaining about the price, so why was he paying and packing so quickly? Never mind, no loss!
Ye Mingcang looked at the supervisor's expression, which suggested he hadn't lost anything, and inwardly bloomed with joy. You might not have lost, but I'll always make a killing!
Ye Mingcang still needed to buy treasures of the corresponding types, but he had said he was out of money, so he could only quietly switch to another shop.
He found another shop to buy various elemental energy gems. Ye Mingcang had already learned that energy gems typically cost 1,000,000 each on the black market, with Dragon and Psychic types being a bit more expensive, at 1,200,000-1,500,000 each.
Ye Mingcang bought one Ground Gem and one Poison Gem, preparing them for Nidoking, which should be enough for him to break through to Elite-level before setting off on his journey. He bought ten Steel and ten Flying-type energy gems, preparing to try using them during Rookidee's incubation. He bought twenty Dragon and twenty Steel-type energy gems, along with one Elite-level Dragon Scale and one Dragon Fang, preparing to help restore the Duraludon egg's aptitude. The total came out to be over budget. After Ye Mingcang's persistent persuasion for over half an hour, the shop owner finally allowed him to take all the aforementioned items for a package price of 80,000,000. The reason he didn't buy attribute gems for Beldum was that Beldum needed the power of origin, so attribute gems were not very useful. As for the Duraludon egg, still in egg form, the requirements for energy level were not high.
Ye Mingcang, who entered the black market with nearly 300,000,000, almost couldn't even afford the Braviary taxi fare when he left, nearly having to walk back to Xiaoshan City.
He returned to the base in a daze. Nidoking, with his energy gems, went off to train on his own. Ye Mingcang, on the other hand, lay directly in the healing tank, beginning to treat his illness—poverty—and then fell into a deep sleep.
Waking up the next day, he found Nidoking wasn't there, likely not having returned last night, probably preparing for his breakthrough. After greeting Beldum, who was almost smelling from soaking, Ye Mingcang ate compressed biscuits and headed to the training ground. There, Nidoking's aura gradually intensified. Nidoking pulled a handful of Energy Cubes from his spatial backpack, threw them into his mouth, then roared, "Nido!" to the sky. Energy ripples accompanied by layers of air current spread outwards, and Nidoking successfully broke through. Ye Mingcang looked up:
Pokémon: Nidoking
Gender: Male
Category: Drill Pokémon
Type: Poison/Ground
Ability: Sheer Force
Aptitude: Deep Blue
Level: 41, Elite-level
Held Item: Life Orb
Moves:
(Egg Moves) Confusion, Double-Edge, Thrash, Sucker Punch;
(Self-learned) Megahorn, Focus Energy, Glare, Poison Sting, Double Kick, Toxic, Poison Jab, Earth Power;
(TMs) Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Mega Punch, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Venoshock, Protect, Substitute, Earthquake, Thunder, Blizzard, Fire Blast, Hyper Beam, Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Rest, Brick Break, Throat Chop, Aura Sphere, Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes;
...
"Congratulations, old friend!"
"Nido! Nido!" (Thank you)
"I have something to do, so I'm leaving first. You adapt to your body. The day after tomorrow, you and I will go to Rock Mountain for some real combat!"
"Nido, Nido?" (Trainer, I always feel your intentions aren't pure)
"What bad intentions could I have! Your younger siblings need milk money, don't you have to work?"
"Nido, Nido!" (Go away, you're the Trainer!)
"Alright, I'm going! You just broke through, don't push yourself too hard!"
This time, Nidoking didn't speak. He raised his right claw, clenched into a fist, and then gave a thumbs-up, an expression that said, "You go, don't worry."
Ye Mingcang was dumbfounded. You're a Pokémon, who did you learn that from!!
Shaking his head, Ye Mingcang walked towards the base's laboratory. He wouldn't use the base's equipment to prevent his Pokémon's data from being stolen, just as he never went to a Pokémon Center. He also didn't need these instruments because his eyes were more accurate than any machine.
He took out the Duraludon egg's incubator and added the highest-grade nutrient solution. There was a lot of this stuff at the base, and getting it for free was great. Then he used a machine to grind the attribute gems into powder and began adding them to the nutrient solution in batches.
Perhaps because of the added attribute gem powder, the egg's absorption of the nutrient solution sped up considerably. The nutrient solution, originally estimated to last 12 hours, was absorbed in just 2 hours. Even so, it took Ye Mingcang nearly a full day to have the Duraludon egg absorb all the attribute gems in ten separate batches.
"Why do I feel like this egg is full, and then blowing bubbles? A post-coital cigarette? What a scummy egg!"
Looking at it again with his Data Eye at this moment:
Duraludon (Egg), Ability: Light Metal, Light Blue (recovering soon, originally Blue), Egg Moves: Slash, Mirror Coat, Assurance.
...
Indeed, the aptitude had improved. "Recovering soon" probably meant there was enough energy. So, Ye Mingcang ground all the Dragon Fang and Dragon Scale into powder and added them to the newly changed nutrient solution. He then activated the incubator's hatching function, which displayed "36h," meaning it would hatch in a day and a half. He estimated it could recover to Blue aptitude, but whether it could reach Deep Blue would be up to the Duraludon itself. After all, a Pokémon egg can only withstand a limited amount of energy, and Ye Mingcang didn't dare to add too much. The quantity he had purchased was mentioned in Dr. Fuji's material, making him once again marvel at the Rocket Team's top doctor.
Before he could Rest, Gu Ya's ID card suddenly lit up, indicating that the delivery had arrived. After exchanging all the items outside the base and casually giving Delibird a few Energy Cubes to send it on its way, Ye Mingcang returned to the base and locked it from the inside. He wouldn't dare let Delibird in, as it was also a Team Rockets member!
Looking at the Rookidee egg, the somewhat tired Ye Mingcang suddenly wasn't sleepy anymore! Had Lady Luck blessed him?!
"No, not Lady Luck, but Boss Sakaki. Because I ordered and read the Pokémon aptitude improvement data before choosing this egg, it was cheaper than the other two. This was a deliberate guide to make me buy it! And because of this information, this egg is now in my hands!"
At this moment, in the Data Eye, Rookidee's data was as follows:
Rookidee (Egg), Ability: Unnerve, Light Blue (originally Deep Blue), Egg Moves: Brave Bird, Tailwind, Defog, Roost
...
"Phew~" Ye Mingcang let out a deep breath. "I owe a huge favor, and another one. If I didn't absolutely have to leave these dangerous areas, I really wouldn't want to defect. Never mind, at worst, I'll tell Boss Sakaki that piece of information, and consider it repaying the favor. But not now, in a year, perhaps. I'll meet the boss over the phone when I leave."
"Is this Sakaki? What great courage, what great magnanimity. It seems he knows everything I've done in the base and has tacitly approved it, otherwise these things wouldn't have reached my hands. And yes, for all the base's resources to be used up at once, it would be strange if there wasn't a problem."