Takeoff! (3k!)

The Black Market Staff took the Savings Card, inserted it into a machine, and returned it to Tetsuya after verifying it.

Tetsuya casually took it back and stepped through the doors of the Black Market Store.

Before him was a hall paved with white tiles. Beyond it stood a series of doors, each marked with a different elemental symbol.

Seeing Tetsuya enter, a Female Attendant waiting nearby stepped forward to ask.

"Hello, how may I assist you?"

Tetsuya swept his gaze over the provocatively dressed, curvaceous attendant. The heart of a thirty-something virgin lurched violently, but he quickly suppressed it.

After all, women would only slow down the speed at which he threw Poke Balls.

Tetsuya's voice came from beneath his black robe. "Where are the Elekid or Torchic eggs? Take me there."

The attendant bent slightly, revealing the white, rounded swell of her chest as she guided Tetsuya onward.

"As it happens, another customer is currently selecting Torchic eggs. Why don't you first head to the Elekid Egg storage room and choose a Pokemon Egg you like?"

Tetsuya gave a slight nod, signaling for her to lead the way.

The attendant brought Tetsuya through a door bearing a Lightning Symbol. Inside, the area was divided into small rooms.

Labels outside the rooms identified the various kinds of Pokemon Eggs within.

Before long, they reached the room containing Elekid eggs. The attendant used her Work Card to open the door.

Inside, Elekid eggs filled three entire shelves. However, the farther back the shelves were, the more sparsely the eggs were arranged.

"The three shelves correspond to Pokemon Eggs at three different price points," the attendant explained smoothly.

Seeing that Tetsuya did not stop her, she continued.

"Taking Elekid as an example, the three prices are 12 million, 15 million, and 18 million.

"The prices are determined by our Black Market's Aptitude Appraisers, who assess the potential aptitude of the Pokemon that may hatch from each egg. The higher the aptitude, the higher the price.

"The main criteria are the strength of both parents and the egg's overall condition.

"Of course, mistakes are not impossible. We can only guarantee that these Pokemon have at least Elite potential.

"There have been cases where customers bought the most expensive Pokemon Eggs, only for the hatched Pokemon to ultimately reach no higher than Elite.

"Likewise, there have been examples of customers purchasing eggs assessed as having the lowest aptitude, only for the hatched Pokemon to reach Champion level.

"I hope you find a Pokemon Egg you like. Please also take care not to damage any of the eggs."

After saying that, the attendant stepped aside and let Tetsuya inspect the eggs on his own.

After all, Trainers were strange when choosing Pokemon Eggs. Some would choose an egg simply because they liked its pattern, while others insisted on looking through every egg until they found one they claimed resonated with them.

There were all kinds of odd people, after all.

The attendant had long been trained for this. After explaining the basics, she only needed to stand silently beside the customer while they chose an egg, unless they tried to damage one or requested further explanations.

Otherwise, getting complaints and having her pay docked would be awful.

Ignoring the attendant standing nearby, Tetsuya secretly summoned Zero and began examining the first shelf.

Elite, Elite, Elite. A single glance showed nothing but Elite.

Tetsuya could not help sighing. You got what you paid for.

At the Stall Area, Elekid eggs had a standard price of 10 million, while Torchic eggs cost 20 million. They were somewhat cheaper.

However, not only were there fewer eggs in the stalls outside, their potential could never be this consistent. Most were rather poor.

He quickly finished scanning the first shelf. Apart from two or three Quasi-Elite Four eggs that stood out awkwardly, there were no surprises at all.

Tetsuya moved to the second shelf and began looking. Based on Zero's display, the Pokemon Eggs there were indeed much better than those on the first shelf.

At the very least, the proportion of eggs with Quasi-Elite Four potential had risen from 20% to 50%, though there were only around ten eggs in total.

Unfortunately, none had the Elite Four Level potential Tetsuya wanted.

When he reached the third shelf, only five eggs were on display.

Tetsuya quietly rejoiced. His luck was not bad. Of the five Pokemon Eggs, one had Elite potential, three had Quasi-Elite Four potential, and the last one possessed exactly Elite Four Level potential.

He briefly took malicious delight in the future misfortune of some unlucky Trainer who might spend the most money only to end up with an Elite-level Pokemon.

Tetsuya beckoned to the attendant and pointed at the egg with Elite Four potential. "Mark this one down first. Then take me to see the Torchic eggs."

The attendant took out a device and marked it. After confirming through her Walkie-talkie that no one was in the Torchic Egg room, she led Tetsuya out.

"Torchic eggs cost 22 million, 25 million, and 30 million respectively."

They soon arrived at the Torchic Egg room through another door. After briefly explaining the prices, the attendant retreated to the side and practically disappeared.

Torchic egg prices had a much wider spread. Compared to Elekid, high-aptitude Torchic were more appealing to most Trainers, and the market demand was there.

Following the same method as before, Tetsuya quickly scanned the first and second shelves. Sure enough, there were no surprises.

Although the aptitude appraisers of this world could not make judgments as accurately as Zero, they could still make rough assessments by taking various factors into account.

Tetsuya soon arrived before the third shelf.

There were twelve Torchic eggs on this third shelf, more than twice as many as on the Elekid side.

Tetsuya silently prayed for the Goddess of Fortune's—no, Jirachi's—blessing.

Although the basic mission had already been completed with an Elite Four Level Elekid, would it not be even better if there happened to be a superior Torchic?

Tetsuya scanned them one by one. Quasi-Elite Four, Quasi-Elite Four, Quasi-Elite Four, Champion, Quasi-Elite Four, Quasi-Elite Four.

There were no surprises until the tenth egg. There were merely two Champion-level eggs among them, which was roughly the same as the Elekid eggs in terms of probability. There were no Elite-potential eggs either.

Tetsuya was completely relaxed. The odds were simply too low. If a Pokemon Egg had even the slightest chance of possessing Quasi-Champion or Champion Potential, no one would choose to sell it. They would take a gamble themselves.

Even if they lost the gamble, they would still get a Champion-level Pokemon. There was no downside—indeed, they would make a killing.

The Black Market was not that amateurish.

Just as he was thinking that, he saw the eleventh egg. Tetsuya's eyes beneath the black robe contracted wildly, and his fist clenched tight.

He glanced at the final egg. Quasi-Elite Four. Trash. Then he pointed at the eleventh egg and told the attendant, "This one. Check out."

The attendant felt that Tetsuya's voice seemed different from before, but she could not tell how.

Hearing his request, she picked up the Walkie-talkie at her waist and spoke into it.

Very soon, another male attendant arrived carrying a specialized device for storing Pokemon Eggs.

Tetsuya watched as the other man carefully placed the Pokemon Egg into the device. Then, without hesitation, he handed the Female Attendant two anonymous Savings Cards, one holding 10 million and the other 20 million.

After the attendant confirmed the payment, the smile on her face became far more sincere. She had the male attendant place the Pokemon Egg into Tetsuya's Spatial Backpack.

The transaction was complete.

The Female Attendant escorted Tetsuya all the way out of the store, then happily returned to her team. She had earned 50,000 Alliance Coins from a single sale.

As for our Protagonist, Tetsuya, he left the Black Market at a pace that seemed slow but was actually fast. He found a place, removed his black robe, and tossed it into his backpack.

After making sure no one was following him, he immediately jogged all the way home.

Smack! The moment he entered his house and shut the front door, Tetsuya slapped himself.

Hissing, Tetsuya covered his face. It hurt. It was real.

Carefully, he took out the Torchic egg he had just bought and activated Zero to confirm it once more.

It was real. This Torchic egg actually possessed Champion Level potential.

Not even Quasi-Champion—it had jumped directly from Elite Four to Champion.

Tetsuya immediately performed a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spin on the spot and blasted off with the Armstrong Cannon.

He went wild around the living room like a husky for half an hour. Only after he had been muttering nonstop the entire time did Tetsuya finally manage to calm down.

He did not know how that appraiser had messed up, but he or she had to be an absolutely wonderful person.

He hoped that person lived to a hundred, Tetsuya prayed.

Put simply, the odds of Tetsuya encountering something like this were about the same as a lawyer suddenly showing up one day to tell you that you had inherited one billion in cash after taxes.

The level of shock was roughly equivalent to having that cash inheritance hauled directly in front of you on a truck.

(P.S.: Though one truck probably would not be enough.)

Tetsuya's hands trembled.

What? Zero could still possibly be wrong?

Get lost. Crawl as far away as possible. If anyone dared say that to Tetsuya right now, he would definitely curse them out.

Tetsuya took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

He tried to calm his emotions, which had yet to settle.

Calm down my ass! Tetsuya released Pidgeot and immediately began rubbing and kneading it.

Pidgeot thought it was being let out for a meal, only for its Trainer to grab it and begin tormenting its feathers.

Pidgeot was utterly despairing. Could its Trainer be crazy? It had been nearly two years, and it had never noticed before.

Half an hour later, Tetsuya was using a special comb to groom Pidgeot's feathers, chuckling all the while.

Pidgeot lay Lying on the Ground, enjoying its Trainer's service. Still, the occasional laughter from behind made its feathers stand on end.

After grooming Pidgeot, Tetsuya prepared its lunch as well and let it go play on its own.

Only now did Tetsuya recover a little. After all, this was simply too surprising.

What did Champion Potential mean? It meant that, as long as he had sufficient resources, Tetsuya could potentially possess a Champion Level Blaziken. With that alone, he could easily become a Champion and even challenge the Champion Level!

Although those resources would require at least a ten-figure sum, there was hope, was there not? And not a small amount of it, either.

Tetsuya felt like he was the chosen one. First, he had encountered a Pidgey egg with Champion potential, and now he had found a Torchic egg with Champion Potential.

He could practically be called the Goddess of Fortune's illegitimate son. Tetsuya swore that if he ever met Jirachi, he would definitely treat it to something delicious.

He took out his computer and, without even bothering to eat lunch, began frantically revising Torchic's juvenile training plan according to his own knowledge and Zero's analysis. With Torchic possessing Champion Level potential, the previous plan was somewhat unworthy of it.

Two hours later, at two in the afternoon, his ravenous stomach growled. Only then did Tetsuya put down the computer, having finished the revisions.

Tetsuya sent the revised plan to his watch, then entered the kitchen. As he prepared his lunch and afternoon tea, he reviewed the plan for omissions and potential issues.

The reason for choosing Torchic rather than Elekid had been explained fairly thoroughly. The key point was that the world's will had given the Protagonist a small cheat.

Simply put, not many people knew about Electivire. At least, that was the case for ordinary people.

Even for the upper class, using an item to evolve it was not especially worthwhile, and it could not Mega Evolve.

Therefore, no one would specifically breed Elekid eggs for sale. Torchic, however, was different.

Their average aptitude might have been similar, but the difference in their population base was far too great.

That was why finding a bargain among Torchic eggs was more reasonable instead.

Originally, I planned to insert a plotline where he went to the Hoenn Region to obtain a Torchic, but after thinking about it, there was no need at all, so I changed it. Does the Protagonist's Halo need to be reasonable? No, it does not.

Besides, Champion Potential is not as simple as it sounds. It will gradually become apparent later.

Also: thanks to Meng Ru Qian Ji for the 100 Qidian Coin tip.

Thanks to Yuelong for the 100 Qidian Coin tip.

Thanks to zZzzzzzzzzzz for the 100 Qidian Coin tip.

P.S.: The basis for future bonus chapters will probably be things like the cumulative number of Recommendation Tickets each week, cumulative Monthly Passes each month, total tips, and so on. There will be extra chapters whenever certain milestones are reached. Everything will be transparent, so do not worry. The reason for each bonus chapter will be clearly stated in the Author's Notes.

P.P.S.: I feel like if I rewrote the paragraph at the top a little, I could pad out another 200 words in the main text.

Please invest, bookmark, and recommend!!!