Pokémon: Generation By Generation

CHAPTER 14: [Auction House]

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"Serious? You're giving this to me?"

I asked, flabbergasted, as I stared at the black ticket that Alvin handed over.

I decided to hang out with the boys today; it's been a while since we went out for a movie. And besides, I think I needed the break. I've been grinding Fire Red for a hot minute; I needed to touch some grass.

So here we are, sitting in a Starbucks after the movie. It was meh, 6 out of 10. The production was good; it's just that the plot was horrid, and it wasn't his taste in movies. The popcorn was good, though.

Darren, who was sitting next to me, looked over my shoulder and gave a whistle.

"Oh, you got an extra ticket for the auction too? Nice!"

Our country's well-kept secret that only the wealthy know about. The Black Night. An auction house that bought and sold high-grade items and Pokémon eggs that had high growth potential.

This was definitely not a thing in my original world; I hadn't learned about all this—auction houses, item grades and Pokémon growth potential—until one of them brought it up during school times, which prompted a bunch of questions.

From my understanding, item grades varied based on their effectiveness. Example, a Black Belt, which usually gave a flat 10-20% increase to Fighting-type moves when held by a Pokémon in the games, now differed from reality.

In real life, a Black Belt now had grade levels.

Starting from the lowest to the highest grade, a D-rank Black Belt is the lower-than-average one out of the bunch, giving about a 5-8% increase.

Meanwhile, going up by one grade, a C-rank Black Belt would provide the average increase, 9-11%.

A B-rank Black Belt would have a 13-15% increase.

An A-rank Black Belt gives about 18-20%.

And finally, S-rank, where its Black Belt variant gives the highest amount of its percentage increase, along with a unique addition that is random. Perhaps it may give the Pokémon in question extra stat boosts, new moves, or even control over Aura. It is truly random.

Of course, these increases vary depending on the item in question, since there were more categories when it came to items like Evolution Items, Battle Items, General Items, etc., but a 3% increase per grade can be roughly expected. Items can be assessed through certified examiners from the official Pokémon Association, but as always, it'll cost money to get it assessed and certified.

As for Pokémon growth potential, it's... complicated, to say the least.

Alvin, who handed the black ticket to the Black Night auction house, simply shrugged.

"Mother really wanted Joseph to come; it had been a year since you visited home. I'll hand over your plane ticket once my dad's secretary purchases everyone's. Don't worry, your parents already gave their permission."

Hearing that made me frown slightly.

"Hold on, I'll pay for my own ticket—"

"Oh, would you look at that, first-class tickets to Kuala Lumpur. Would be a shame if I had to toss this away just because someone wanted to buy his own—"

"Fuck you... Give my thanks to Miss Davers."

"Sure."

Looking at the ticket closer, I noted that there was a date and time for the event, with my seat number. VIP seats, huh? Having a lot of money sure is nice.

"And I assume you two are going as well?"

I asked, to which Derrick nodded, showing a picture of their tickets from his phone as Darren sighed, slumping his shoulders.

"Dad's friend is one of the co-owners organizing the whole thing. Honestly, it's getting a bit tedious, having to go to one every three months."

"But the things that Dad bought for his Pokémon were of good quality, though. The A-rank Fire Gem from a few years back is still being used to this day by Volcarona."

"Nothing Dragon-type has been on sale recently though. But this time I'll finally get a Dragon-type Pokémon Egg; I'm calling it now."

"You just jinxed yourself, you know that? Everything you proclaim will not always happen."

"What? Take that back; I'm a god at predictions!"

"That's bull, and you know it; you miss every skill shot on Ezreal when I play Support."

"Why you—!"

As the two started bickering again, Alvin sent me further details regarding the auction through a text message.

"The flight is next Friday afternoon; the auction starts on Saturday night. Then, we'll take a plane back here before school begins on Monday."

I nodded, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Seriously, thanks, man."

He rolled his eyes as he glanced to the side.

"If you really want to thank someone, thank Mother instead."

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(C-Crack!)

M-My spine!

"Mphhh!"

"Oh, dear, you haven't visited in so long! How are you? You look healthy, but one cannot be too sure! Calypso, be a dear and check if he's in the pink of health, would you?"

"Laaaa~"

Currently, I was busy trying to not let my spine be shattered by the tight constraint hug from the sea serpent Pokémon that coiled around my body. I tried tapping the Milotic's body that hung around me, trying to convey my message, but Calypso misunderstood my intentions as she started tightening her hold on me, giving out a beautiful "Laaa!"

"Mother, I'd prefer if my friend doesn't get paralyzed from the neck down from his spine breaking."

Alvin sighed as he started pulling Calypso away from my body, to which she obeyed as she uncoiled her scaly body, giving my spine a moment to rest.

"Alvin, you know Calypso would never!"

As I massaged my spine, a pink aura surrounded my body as I could feel the pain slowly dissipate into nothing. I glanced over at Ms. Danver's other Pokémon, Audino, whose eyes glowed the same hue of pink.

"Thanks for the Heal Pulse, Panacea."

"Dino, dino~"

The Hearing Pokémon gave a gentle smile as the pain finally stopped hurting. I rolled my shoulder for good measure, and sure enough, the Heal Pulse did its work. Hmm, maybe I should get a Pokémon that can heal for my family and emergencies; it would make life much easier.

I should write that down. But I had to show my manners.

"And Mr. Danver?"

"Mmh, my husband's currently busy with more paperwork. The Pokéblock manufacturing company that creates our store's Pokéblocks has decided to increase the costs while reducing the size of the consumer's Pokéblocks. So unfortunately, he can't join us due to this emergency."

"Uh, sorry to hear that."

But instead of looking grim, his wife had a brimming smile.

"Oh, this is, in fact, good news! They seemed to have been too complacent in their quality and our company's policies, so this mistake will give us the advantage to push for more incentives, lest they'd rather get hit by a massive lawsuit! As the legendary Pokémon Trainer Sun Tzu said, "Never interrupt your opponent while he is in the middle of making a mistake.""

Huh. Business sure is cutthroat and scary; good thing I took another course, I'd be eaten alive otherwise.

"And speaking about business, I heard from Alvin here that you're planning on attending the official Pokémon Association's International Trainer Academy alongside my boy. That's great! My Alvin won’t be lonely while striving to complete his diploma, but I find the admission fee quite outrageous. Will your family be able to cover such high costs? Remember, we’re here to help anytime; just give us a call, and we can sort it out!"

At the side, I could hear Alvin sighing as he slapped his face with his palm, dragging it downwards.

"Mother, that's incredibly insensitive and disrespectful."

I couldn’t help but smile faintly. Hah. She’s exactly the same as I remembered. Most people would find her words cutting or intrusive, but to me, they were nothing out of the ordinary. I wasn’t embarrassed in the slightest by her bluntness or by my family’s situation. On the contrary, I was proud. My parents worked tirelessly to put food on the table for me and my sister, and I carried that fact with no shame.

I don't shy away regarding the topic, so all of my friends and their families know of our situation. Even before I transmigrated into this world filled with Pokemon, Mr. and Ms. Danver had always expressed their unhesitating desires to fund my future. Darren's and Derrick's families were the same as well.

"It's alright, Ms. Danver. I've already covered it, but thanks for the chance."

"What a good child. Calypso, give him another hug for how cute he is!"

"Laaaa~"

W-Wait, good girl, but not the spine again—!

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We had to take a secret route to get into the auction house. From what Ms. Danver explained, the auction house location on the ticket was just a disguise, while the real auction house where things would be held was somewhere further away, as there had been break-ins in the past.

We had to wear blindfolds and noise-canceling headphones and temporarily hand over the Pokémon that we brought to the event, all while sitting in a designated limousine, so it was quite nerve-racking, to say the least.

But 30 minutes of long silence later, we could finally take them off and retrieve our Pokémon once we reached a rather inconspicuous location, which made me breathe a sigh of relief. I didn't even know I had such fears; the thought of my Pokémon being away from me for a period of time without any prior warnings—that's good to know beforehand.

A few minutes of procedures and identity verification later, we were let into the normal-looking building, where a large double door stood. With a nod after some noise from a device in their ears rang, the Machokes manning the doors pushed them open.

"Very dark" was the first thought that came through my mind. If not for the lights at the side, I wouldn't be able to see anything in the large stadium-sized area in front of me.

Since the Danver family had experience traversing the auction house, I followed along as they moved to an area where there were a lot of large boxes with openings that acted as windows; it looked strictly for VIP families only.

Entering one of the boxes, Ms. Danver locked the door behind us. "For more privacy," she explained. As for Darren and Derrick and their family, they have their own viewing box, though the twins said that they'll come around when there's time. I nodded along and took a seat next to Alvin, who started scrolling through Instagram to kill time.

I decided to release Bolt from her Pokéball since she'd been cooped up in there for over an hour, after asking permission from Ms. Danver. Releasing her with a quick toss of her Pokéball, a white flash flickered before Bolt landed gracefully on my lap, giving out a cry as she rubbed her face on my clothes.

I, in turn, patted her fur as I relaxed. Did you know that petting a Pikachu has electrotherapy properties? Very comforting.

Ms. Danver had already had her share of Bolt yesterday, when they met before the plane took off. Safe to say that Bolt now had a fear of being smothered to death, something that I could relate to since I've always experienced such life-or-death situations every time my friends' family meets me.

Gradually, the lights around us began to fade, one by one, until the entire hall was filled with darkness; it had the same energy as that moment in a movie theater when the advertisements end and the real movie is about to begin.

A hush swept through the crowd as a man strode confidently onto the center of the vast stage, his face concealed beneath a comically oversized Mudkip mask that covered nearly his entire face. Taking a mic, a bright light shone on the stage as he gave a bow.

"Everyone! Welcome back to the Black Night! We have some very interesting items this quarter, and I'm sure all of you Pokémon Trainers, competitive and casual, will love them as much as we at Black Night did while processing them!"

The crowd started clapping as the emcee gestured to the auction staff members. A second later, a rather beautiful foreigner wearing a risque Lopunny-themed bunny suit that leaves nothing to the imagination sauntered towards the emcee with a tray in her hand.

Briefly glancing over at Ms. Danver, I'd expect her to freak out about the nudity, but she simply watched silently without a word.

Nice. I mentally saved the image before coughing in my fist.

Ahem. Moving on.

In the tray held a rather small item with a card beside it, but looking at it closer with provided binoculars, courtesy of the auction house, I had to whistle in surprise as I recognized what the item was instantly.

The crystal itself was cut into a sharp rhombus shape, with delicate bands of what appeared to be real gold coiled securely around it, holding the gem firmly in place. From the tip of the amulet hung a strap that made it easy to carry or wear.

"A Clear Amulet?"

It's a held item that prevents the holder from having its stats lowered by other Pokémon's moves and abilities in the games. But in reality, it was more of a special charm that allows the holder to not be intimidated or scared, which was in line with its game's counterpart, as most stat-lowering Pokémon moves in reality were psychological attacks.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Clear Amulet discovered by an anonymous seller deep within the frigid ruins of Russian soil! After thorough assessment, this remarkable held item has been awarded the grade of B+, a mere step away from reaching the distinguished rank of A!"

Murmurs rippled through the hall as the crowd broke into discussion.

Personally, it's a niche item that only exists for the sake of competitive Pokémon Battles. Though it was useful, the stat lowering immunity wasn't something to scoff at; there were setup moves or abilities that could do the same thing, and all the while there exist far better held items that one can equip.

"We will start the bidding with a reasonable start... 8,000 Pokédollars! Bidders, place your bids using the tablets provided on each seat!"

I almost choked on my own saliva at the amount.

8 thousand for a niche held item? Crazy! And it seemed like Ms. Danver had the same idea, as she gave a dragging sigh.

"Everyone knows that the products at the start of an auction aren't the best to build suspense, yet people are still bidding for such items."

She muttered as the bid started to skyrocket to 12,000 Pokédollars. Eventually, the item was sold to Bidder No. 723 at 12,400 Pokédollars, which was mind-boggling. I quickly brought out my phone and did some research... Looks like the going rate for Clear Amulets of similar grade hovered right around that range. In fact, weaker versions often sold for just as much.

The victorious bidder let out a laugh as he dropped back into his seat, with his fellow bidders leaning in with nods and handshakes, offering their congratulations, while a ripple of envious glances followed him from across the room.

I glanced at the itinerary that the auction house provided; there were far more items than I expected being auctioned. I rested in my seat as I tried to get as comfortable as I could.

This was going to be a long night.