"Oh!?"
Nathan retrieved the Pokédex from his backpack.
After flipping through it for over ten minutes, he finally found out what kind of Pokémon egg this was.
Flabébé!
A miniature Pokémon species that stood at less than ten centimeters tall.
However, the Flabébé eggs shown in the Pokédex were all a solid color—whereas the one he had was multicolored and iridescent.
Staring at the illustration of Flabébé in the Pokédex, Nathan couldn't help but feel it wasn't really a Pokémon suited for him.
If he raised it for battle, it wouldn't be a good fit.
If he didn't raise it… well, this was still an egg gifted by Volcarona, after all.
Suddenly, a name popped into Nathan's mind: Lily!
Come to think of it—he had gone abroad. Shouldn't he at least bring back a gift for his girlfriend?
Now that he had this Pokémon egg, he believed Lily would definitely like it.
After all, girls were often powerless against cute things.
"Volcarona, would it be alright if I gave this egg to someone I like?"
Even though he wanted to give it away, Nathan still considered Volcarona's feelings.
If Volcarona didn't want him to, he wouldn't give it away.
After all, whether it was raising one Pokémon or many, he'd still be training them.
"Vol~"
Volcarona chirped in delight and nodded its approval.
Seeing how happy Volcarona was to agree, Nathan carefully stored the Flabébé egg away.
Just as he tucked it safely into his bag, the sound of rushing water came closer and closer.
Following the direction of the noise, Nathan spotted a familiar figure—a Dynamax Gyarados!
"Holy crap, why is that thing here?!"
Nathan stared in shock at the enormous Gyarados.
Could it be that Samuel had provoked it again?
But as the Gyarados swam closer, Nathan realized that there was someone standing on its head.
No—on second glance, it was a Pokémon.
"Mewtwo!?"
Nathan exclaimed in surprise.
How had it only been a single day since he sent Mewtwo off, and this guy already brought the Gyarados here?
Hearing the noise, Kelly and the others came outside to see what was going on.
The moment they saw the Dynamax Gyarados, Captian Burks panicked.
"Don't worry. My Pokémon is on its head."
Nathan pointed to Mewtwo perched atop the Gyarados.
Only then did the others notice—there really was a Pokémon sitting on its head.
"Mewtwo, why did you bring this guy here?"
Nathan activated his Viridian Power and asked mentally.
"He wanted to follow me,"
Mewtwo replied, pointing at the massive creature beneath him.
----------------
Nathan looked at the Gyarados, speechless.
What was this monster doing tagging along with Mewtwo of all people?
If Mewtwo were a trainer, that'd be one thing—but Mewtwo wasn't even a trainer!
"Are you the trainer of the boss?"
At that moment, Gyarados suddenly spoke up telepathically.
Nathan nodded, still unsure what the giant creature was trying to get at.
"Then… can I follow you?"
Gyarados asked again, seeing Nathan's nod.
Nathan immediately shook his head.
No way. This guy was huge—if he took him in, he'd eat him into bankruptcy.
Volcarona could already eat ten pokeblocks in one sitting—this guy could probably devour a thousand, if not more.
And with a body nearly a hundred meters long, there was no way he could let it loose in a city.
"Mind telling me why you're following Mewtwo?"
Nathan asked, genuinely curious.
"He's strong! He tossed me back and forth just with brute force. Why wouldn't I follow him?"
Gyarados said matter-of-factly.
Nathan had no words for this.
Wasn't the usual thing to do after getting beaten… to train and try to get revenge?
Why was this guy trying to become Mewtwo's lackey instead?
Although Nathan said no out loud, he was secretly tempted.
After all, a Gyarados that had grown to this size might only be found in the vast ocean.
The ocean was huge—there might even be bigger Pokémon out there.
By contrast, it was nearly impossible for a Pokémon this large to exist on land.
There were just too many people.
If such a rare Dynamax Pokémon ever appeared on land, it wouldn't take long before someone caught it.
"Wow~ a Gyarados this massive comes straight to your doorstep and you don't even want it?"
Evelyn pouted with jealousy.
A nearly hundred-meter Dynamax Gyarados just shows up to be captured, and Nathan didn't want it?
It just confirmed one thing:
Normal people and monsters like Nathan simply couldn't be compared.
Gyarados glanced between Nathan and Evelyn… and resolutely shook its head.
He wanted to follow Nathan because of Mewtwo.
What would he gain by following Evelyn?
"Ugh…"
Evelyn felt deeply rejected.
Seeing that she actually wanted to capture the Gyarados, Nathan figured he might as well help her out.
After all, she was his teammate and business partner.
It could count as a gift—a gesture of goodwill.
And besides, he already had more than enough Pokémon.
"Gyarados, I'm not going to take you in—but if you follow her, you'll still get to see Mewtwo regularly."
"Of course, it's up to you. But if you don't go with her, it could be years before you ever see Mewtwo again."
Nathan tried to reason with him.
Evelyn looked at Nathan with gratitude—she hadn't expected him to actually help her out like that.
She then turned her hopeful eyes to Gyarados, blinking brightly.
"And there'll be delicious food too~!"
Nathan added with a smirk, pouring fuel on the fire.
"…Alright, I'll follow her."
Gyarados nodded, agreeing to the proposal.
Evelyn jumped up in excitement.
She sprinted into the cabin to retrieve a Poké Ball and rushed back to capture Gyarados.
Gyarados was very cooperative and entered the ball with no resistance.
Only… less than a minute later, the ball popped open, and Gyarados burst right back out.
"Can I get a different Poké Ball? This one's… uncomfortable."
Gyarados looked at Evelyn and asked earnestly.
Now that put Evelyn in a bind.
All her Poké Balls were the same—and she had already bought the best model on the market.
If she wanted something even better, it wouldn't just be about money anymore.
Seeing the opportunity, Nathan smelled business.
Maybe others couldn't get better Poké Balls—but he could.
Other kinds of Poké Balls? He could buy them by the hundreds or thousands if the money was right.
"How about I sell you one?"
Nathan offered tentatively.
Evelyn looked at him suspiciously.
Could Nathan really have a Poké Ball that special?
"You just tell me what kind of Poké Ball you want. I've got them all.
World-class Poké Balls worth billions? If you want one—I can provide it."
Nathan said confidently.
After all, anything related to Pokémon could be found in his system store.
Evelyn hesitated for a moment, then bit her lip and asked:
"How much for a world-class Poké Ball?"
"Ten billion."
"…Goodbye."
Evelyn turned around immediately to go discuss things with Gyarados.
No way—her family might be rich, but not that rich.
Ten billion PokéCoins?!
Even with her business partnership with Nathan, she hadn't earned that much yet.
"Hey now, you went straight for the most expensive Poké Ball.
Even I can't afford to use those—do you think you can?"
Nathan hurried to stop her.
This was a deal walking into his lap—he couldn't let it go.
The system was already a money sink—if he didn't earn some cash off others, how could he afford the good stuff?
"Fine, just give me a Poké Ball that suits Gyarados.
If the price is reasonable, I'll buy it."
Evelyn crossed her arms, not easily fooled.
Her face clearly said: I'm not someone you can scam that easily.
Nathan felt a flicker of guilt—but only a flicker.
"Top-grade Dive Ball. Fifteen million PokéCoins."
Nathan glanced at the Dive Ball listed in the system store for five million—and quoted triple.
"Deal. I'll transfer the money when we get back. Where's the Dive Ball?"
Fifteen million for a Poké Ball might sound expensive, but Evelyn felt it was worth it.
Even if Nathan was ripping her off a little, it wasn't a loss.
She wouldn't have caught the Gyarados without his help, anyway.
Nathan walked into the cabin and pretended to dig around.
In reality, he just bought the ball directly from the system store.
He handed the Dive Ball to Evelyn and happily began calculating the profits in his mental piggy bank.
(End of Chapter)