"These thirty Berry trees are all Starf Berry trees?!"
Professor Oak walked up to Lu Chen, so shocked that even his voice changed pitch.
Lu Chen nodded calmly.
"Yeah. I read online that Starf Berries were worth a lot, so I planted some."
The corner of Professor Oak's mouth twitched.
Although Professor Oak had previously told himself that nothing Lu Chen did would surprise him anymore.
Clearly, however, Professor Oak had overestimated his own psychological threshold.
"But these are Starf Berries!"
"The king of Berries, which no one has successfully cultivated in nearly a hundred years! You... you just grew them like that..."
While Professor Oak was still marveling at how Lu Chen had managed to grow Starf Berries.
Brock, meanwhile, had already decided to make an enthusiastic purchase.
"Starf Berries are essential for making top-grade Psychic- and Steel-type Pokéblocks!"
Brock had already moved right up to Lu Chen, his usually narrowed eyes opened extraordinarily wide and shining with startling brightness.
"And because they can't be cultivated artificially, their price has always stayed sky-high."
"Whenever even one occasionally appears on the market, all the major powers fight tooth and nail for it!"
Brock swallowed and looked at Lu Chen, sounding somewhat embarrassed yet eager.
"Mr. Lu Chen, could I buy a batch of Starf Berries?"
Brock was the Gym Leader of a Rock-type Gym.
But Rock and Steel went hand in hand.
As top-grade Berries for both Steel and Psychic types, Starf Berries were definitely in high demand.
Lu Chen glanced at Brock without rushing to answer.
Lu Chen's gaze fell on the Starf Berries hanging thick on the branches in the field.
Thirty trees.
Every one was laden with fruit.
Lu Chen waved a hand at Brock, then stood up and picked up a bamboo basket from the corner.
"Let's talk once I've finished picking the fruit."
Lu Chen headed into the field with Gabite.
The branches of the Starf Berry trees were already bent under the weight of their fruit, with heavy Starf Berries hanging from every branch.
The fruit resembled star fruit, shaped like five-pointed stars, their skins gleaming silver-white and shimmering faintly in the sunlight.
Gabite walked beneath the first tree and looked up at all the fruit, swishing its tail gently.
"Go ahead and pick them." Lu Chen patted its back.
"Be careful not to damage the branches."
Gabite nodded and carefully extended its finlike forelimbs, plucking Starf Berries from the branches one by one and placing them gently in the bamboo basket.
Its movements were even more meticulous than Lu Chen had expected, and it checked every Berry it picked for damage.
It set the bruised ones aside and put the intact ones into the basket.
After working hard to tend these Starf Berries for three months, Gabite had achieved almost perfect control over its strength.
After all, growing Berries was delicate work. With the strength Gabite and the others possessed, a single careless move could snap those slender branches.
By the time they finished picking one tree, the bamboo basket was full.
Lu Chen switched to a second basket.
Gabite kept picking.
They picked the thirty trees from afternoon until dusk.
The setting sun dyed the entire farm orange-red, and the Starf Berries glowed warmly in its lingering light.
The last Berry dropped into the basket.
Lu Chen crouched down and counted.
"About a hundred in the first batch."
Lu Chen paused and silently did the math.
Based on Lu Chen's past experience, one planting of Starf Berries could yield three harvests.
That meant he could harvest roughly three hundred Starf Berries in total over the next few days.
And the current online purchase price for a single Starf Berry was as high as a million.
Yet Lu Chen had spent only seven hundred thousand buying the seeds for these Starf Berries.
Now, selling just one Starf Berry would be enough for Lu Chen to recover all his costs.
The remaining two hundred and ninety-nine would be pure profit!
Lu Chen's mouth slowly spread into a grin.
Even at a million each, three hundred Berries would come to three hundred million.
Three hundred million.
With that money, he could not only arrange the very best care for Aerodactyl and the others, but also upgrade all the farm's equipment again.
He would even have plenty left to save.
There was his financial security for retirement, right there.
"Hehehe~"
Lu Chen couldn't help laughing aloud.
Everyone present, people and Pokémon alike, froze.
Ash's eyes widened, Delia's mouth hung open, and even Professor Oak wore an odd smile.
This was the first time they had seen such an expression on Lu Chen, who was always so calm about everything.
The Lu Chen who normally looked so composed, who wouldn't blink even if the sky fell.
Was now crouching beside a bamboo basket, holding a Starf Berry and grinning like a fox that had stolen a chicken.
Sensing the gazes around him, Lu Chen quickly wiped the grin off his face, cleared his throat, and stood up.
Lu Chen looked at Brock, his usual nonchalant expression restored.
"How many are you planning to buy? I can give you a discount. A million per Starf Berry. How does that sound?"
Ash and Misty both sucked in a sharp breath.
"A... a million?!"
Ash pointed at the silver-white fruit in the baskets, his voice trembling.
"One of these ordinary-looking Berries costs a million?!"
Misty held a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beat a little faster.
Even Gary fell silent for a few seconds before murmuring in amazement:
"No wonder they're called the king of Berries."
But to Lu Chen's surprise, Brock narrowed his eyes, began reining in his excitement, and started thinking it over carefully.
After all, Starf Berries had outstanding effects, and a price as high as a million certainly lived up to their reputation as the king of Berries.
After careful consideration, Brock shook his head.
"A million is the price for the occasional one found in the wild. Scarcity drives up value."
Brock's expression was serious, and his tone regained the professionalism of a Gym Leader and expert Pokémon Breeder.
"If you release these three hundred Starf Berries all at once, their price is bound to plummet."
"The most I can offer is five hundred thousand each, and that's already an exceptional premium. Other top-grade Berries in good condition generally only go for a little over ten thousand each."
Lu Chen couldn't help freezing for a moment at Brock's counteroffer.
"The price will plummet..."
Lu Chen slapped his forehead and couldn't help thinking, Crap.
After spending so long on the super-ancient battlefield, Lu Chen had completely forgotten about things like market economics and the internet.
In that era, good things were good things. The strong took them, and the weak could get lost.
There was no such thing as supply and demand or price fluctuations.
Lu Chen quickly did the calculations in his head.
No matter how valuable Starf Berries were, only around two hundred changed hands on the market each year.
Dumping Lu Chen's three hundred Starf Berries onto the market at once really would cause prices to crash.
Scarcity drove up value. That principle held true in any era.
Lu Chen sighed helplessly.
"All right. Five hundred thousand it is."
Lu Chen sold ten to Brock.
Professor Oak also came over and bought three, saying he wanted to take them back for research.
He spent the money readily enough. After all, Professor Oak was never short of funding.
"Seven million five hundred thousand altogether." Brock transferred the money on the spot, and Professor Oak paid as well.
With seven million five hundred thousand in hand, Lu Chen was still just a little short of his projected three hundred million in earnings.
Still, he wouldn't have to worry about ordinary expenses for a while.
But he still needed to find a buyer for the remaining two hundred-plus Starf Berries.
For the moment, Lu Chen really couldn't think of a filthy-rich buyer who could take over two hundred Starf Berries off his hands in one go.
Except... that one person.
Lu Chen couldn't help thinking of the Hoenn Region's former Champion, a top Trainer who specialized in Steel-type Pokémon.
Steven!
And Steven wasn't just a Champion. He was also a fabulously wealthy young heir backed by a top financial conglomerate.
With Steven's wealth, never mind two hundred-plus Berries-even another two hundred wouldn't make him bat an eye.
However, with the Pokémon League Conference approaching, Lu Chen decided to set the matter aside for now.
Once the Pokémon League Conference ended, he would head to the Hoenn Region to talk to Steven.