Pokémon Breeder's Story

Chapter 32: Selling a Pokémon Egg

"Which Pokémon is it?" Leaf asked, his face full of anticipation. Was it the charming and cute Dratini, the hard-headed Bagon, or the well-behaved and sensible Axew?

"It's Trapinch," Kenji introduced. "The Pokémon in this egg is called Trapinch."

"Trapinch?" Leaf's eyes widened. Trapinch... that doesn't sound anything like a dragon!

"Before it evolves, Trapinch is a Ground-type Pokémon," Kenji explained. "You might not be familiar with that name, but if I use the name of its evolved form, I think you might have heard of it."

"What is it?"

"Flygon, the mystic Pokémon that can whip up terrifying sandstorms."

Flygon... An image of a battle he had once seen at the Ever Grande Conference immediately surfaced in Leaf's mind. In that battle, one of the competitors used a Flygon. It flapped its wings, whipping up a terrifying sandstorm to attack its opponent. It was a very powerful Pokémon.

"After evolving into Flygon, Trapinch's typing changes from Ground to Dragon/Ground. It can also learn powerful Dragon-type moves like Dragon Claw, Dragon Breath, and Dragon Dance."

As he spoke, Kenji glanced at the egg's information.

[Trapinch Egg: A Pokémon egg that can hatch a Ground-type Pokémon, Trapinch.]

[Health: Healthy]

[Father: Flygon (Elite-level)]

[Mother: Flygon (Gym Leader-level)]

The father was Elite-level and the mother was Gym Leader-level. It was safe to say this egg had a great deal of potential.

"So, what do you think? Do you want to choose it as your starter Pokémon?" Kenji asked.

Leaf hesitated. Although Flygon was a Dragon-type Pokémon, there was a big difference between it and the dragons he had imagined... After a moment of hesitation, Leaf couldn't help but ask again, "Are there any other Dragon-type Pokémon here?"

"Unfortunately, no," Kenji said, shaking his head. "However, there are many Pokémon that are suitable for new trainers to raise. Hmm... let me introduce some to you!"

"Please do!" Leaf said.

Kenji smiled and then looked at another Pokémon egg, saying, "A Wurmple egg. A Pokémon called Wurmple can hatch from it. Its final evolutions are Beautifly and Dustox. They are Bug-type Pokémon."

As everyone knows, Bug-type Pokémon grow very quickly, making them perfect for new trainers. This allows a new trainer to gain a certain level of battle strength very quickly. For example, imagine two trainers starting their journeys, one with a Wurmple and one with a Dratini. By the time the Wurmple has evolved into its final form of Beautifly and cleared several gyms, the Dratini might not have even evolved into a Dragonair yet.

Although the two aren't comparable in the late game, if raised with care, even the weakest Bug-type Pokémon has a chance of defeating a powerful Dragonite. Furthermore, by having battle strength early on, a trainer can use that power to capture slow-growing Dragon-type Pokémon.

Wurmple, a Pokémon that can be encountered in the grass and forests along the road, very common... Leaf was hesitant. Personally, he was a little afraid of Bug-type Pokémon.

Seeing his expression, Kenji understood. He continued by recommending the next Pokémon.

"What about Oddish?"

Compared to other Pokémon, raising a Grass-type is not only fast, but also very resource-efficient because most of them only need sunlight, water, and soil to survive. For trainers from poor families who don't have much money, it's an excellent choice.

Leaf became even more conflicted.

Kenji smiled and didn't rush him. For someone with choice paralysis, picking one Pokémon out of twenty to be your starter was indeed a very difficult task. Kenji introduced a few more Pokémon to Leaf, but Leaf still couldn't make up his mind.

This is so hard, it's really so hard to choose!

Leaf was incredibly conflicted. The image of the powerful Flygon from that battle flashed through his mind. Gritting his teeth, Leaf finally made a decision.

"I've decided! I'll choose Trapinch!" Rounding up, Flygon is still a dragon!

"In that case, this little one will be in your care from now on." Kenji handed the Trapinch egg to Leaf.

Trapinch live in arid deserts and are not easy to encounter, so they can be considered an uncommon Pokémon. Taking into account its capture difficulty and rarity, plus the incubation and care fees, a normal breeding center would sell one for about 100,000 Pokédollars. Converted to RMB, that was about five to six thousand. Not cheap, but not too expensive either.

Given that these eggs were not bred by his center and he hadn't spent any resources or money on them, Kenji decided to sell this batch of eggs at a 20% discount. He first explained the situation to Leaf, then said, "So, you only need to pay 80,000 Pokédollars."

"Thank you so much!" Leaf's face was filled with gratitude. He had brought 200,000 Pokédollars with him this time. Although it wasn't a lot, every penny saved counted.

After paying, Leaf couldn't wait to take the egg home. Kenji quickly stopped him and reminded him, "The Trapinch will hatch in about two weeks. Because my shop has just opened, I haven't prepared any incubators yet, so you'll need to go to the Pokémon Mart in town to buy one yourself. Incubators are very cheap, they don't cost much."

"I know, thank you very much!" Leaf said his thanks, then took the Trapinch egg and sped away on his bicycle.

Seeing that the breeding center had finally sold its first egg, Kenji couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. Only by earning money could he afford to raise more Pokémon. Being able to sell Pokémon eggs meant that from this day forward, his breeding center was officially on the right track.

Although the Pokémon world was generally a utopia, some unwritten rules still existed. For example, even at breeding centers, the rarer and more unusual the Pokémon egg, the more expensive it was. It wasn't just their rarity, but also the high difficulty in obtaining them, that made their prices far exceed those of common Pokémon found on the roadside. It was precisely because of this that illegal organizations like Pokémon Hunters emerged, because the value of rare Pokémon was simply too high. Breeding centers could be considered the only places in the entire Pokémon world where you could legally buy and sell young Pokémon and Pokémon eggs.

Kenji pulled his thoughts back and looked at the batch of eggs before him. His gaze finally settled on one of them.

[Castform Egg: A Pokémon egg that can hatch a Normal-type Pokémon, Castform.]

[Health: Healthy]

[Father: Castform (Elite-level)]

[Mother: Castform (Elite-level)]

[Hatching Progress: 15/23 days]

The breeding center was currently in need of a Water-type Pokémon to water the herb garden and berry orchard. Castform, which could change the weather and make it rain, was perfect for the job.

In that case, I'll keep the Castform from this egg for myself!