The shopkeeper was worldly-wise and immediately guessed that Xia Mu had something good.
The League officially restricted private transactions of many items, but allowed local shops to recycle them, with clearly defined recycling prices.
Upon learning that the recycling price for an evolution stone was 15,000 League Coins, Xia Mu couldn't help but mentally complain, "Damn, that's cheap!"
Clearly a capitalist monopoly.
However, for Xia Mu, this was at least a way to make money.
No matter how much the official price was for others, he could still profit 12,000 League Coins.
It was just a pity he couldn't sell too many, otherwise it would arouse suspicion.
Unless he traveled around, selling them at different friendly shops in different places.
Xia Mu pretended to rummage through his spatial backpack and took out Fire Stones he had purchased from the system shop.
After the shopkeeper inspected and confirmed that the Fire Stones' energy met the recycling standards, Xia Mu then bought various types of evolution stones from the system shop in one go:
5 Fire Stones, 10 Water Stones, and 9 Moon Stones.
Adding the Fire Stone already given to the shopkeeper, that's a total of 25 stones, costing 75,000 League Coins.
This was Xia Mu's limit; he only had enough League Coins left, with 1,500 remaining.
The original owner was indeed a rich second-generation, but he didn't have a proper understanding of money. He only knew that if he wanted something, he just needed to tell his parents, and he would get it without having to buy it himself.
Therefore, he only had about 80,000 to 90,000 League Coins in savings.
It was fortunate that the original owner had some money; otherwise, after Xia Mu transmigrated and leveled up with Growlithe and Riolu, he wouldn't even have money to buy healing items and energy cubes in the system shop.
"A total of 375,000 League Coins has been transferred to your account. Please check it, sir." After completing the transaction, the shopkeeper placed the evolution stones one by one into the safe and then had his subordinates take the box into the warehouse.
Xia Mu glanced at his phone's balance notification, smiled slightly, and nodded. "I've received it. If I find any more evolution stones next time, I'll definitely buy them back for you."
"Haha, that's great! Actually, you can buy other things from me too. Although I can't offer you a high price, we can complete the transaction in person, and even large amounts can be settled in cash," the shopkeeper said with a sly smile.
He said this simply to let Xia Mu know that if he wanted to make quick money, he was the one to go with.
It has to be said, he was very good at dealing with people, not even asking where the evolution stones came from.
Xia Mu could imagine that trainers and ordinary people alike on Round Island would often come to him to buy back things.
With a thought, Xia Mu tentatively asked, "I do have some things left, but I don't know if you can buy them back."
As soon as he said this, the shopkeeper became interested and asked, "You can just say so. Safety is guaranteed at the League Shop."
'Uh~' Xia Mu was a little embarrassed.
He wasn't worried about someone stealing his things; he was more worried about leaving evidence of his selling things.
"Comet fragments, do you buy them?"
Having hundreds of thousands of League Coins, Xia Mu wasn't worried at all.
He could just leave them in his storage space; he might need them later.
If he bought them, he could make a fortune and use it to buy Rare Candies and items to upgrade his Pokémon.
...
"Comet fragments? You have comet fragments?!"
The shopkeeper was shocked, his eyes filled with disbelief.
As the manager of a friendly shop, his experience and knowledge were naturally considerable; how could he not know what comet fragments were?
At this moment, the shopkeeper also realized that Xia Mu, despite his young age, was no ordinary person. He had
initially thought that Xia Mu producing 25 evolution stones was already incredibly impressive, suggesting a fortuitous encounter, but now it seemed he had underestimated him.
"Yes, I obtained them by chance a few days ago, so do you buy them here?" Xia Mu asked calmly.
After exchanging a glance, the shop manager nodded, signaling Xia Mu to wait a moment.
After instructing his subordinates to take over the counter duties, he led Xia Mu to the meeting room on the second floor.
Given the matter involved comet fragments, he had to be extremely cautious.
Xia Mu hadn't expected such a strong reaction; after all, comet fragments in the game were merely valuable items.
Although he had researched extensively last night, he hadn't realized comet fragments would be taken so seriously.
The shop manager said, "Let me reintroduce myself. You can call me Katsusuke, the head of the Yuujima City Friendship Store. Because it involves comet fragments, I can't determine their authenticity, so I need to have a certified researcher from the local area examine them. Would you be willing?"
Hearing Katsusuke's explanation, Xia Mu was truly surprised by how complicated things had become.
He could only nod in agreement.
The words had been spoken, the deed had been done, and he could only let things take their course.
However, he couldn't be so reckless in the future.
He needed to conduct more investigations, figuring out what could be sold openly and what required clandestine operations.
...
With Natsuki's consent, Kousuke quickly contacted the researcher stationed in Enoshima City.
Knowing it was a comet fragment, the researcher arrived at the Friendship Store in less than twenty minutes.
To Natsuki's utter surprise, he recognized the researcher.
The original owner wasn't a Pokémon Trainer, but that didn't mean she couldn't contact Pokémon researchers.
Most importantly, this researcher had been invited to a banquet hosted by her father and had even been entrusted by her father to try and overcome the original owner's fear of Pokémon.
This was the original owner's memory, and Natsuki, as a transmigrator, knew this person's identity even better.
Professor Uchigi.
In the original story, she was the Pokémon Professor of the Orange Islands, conducting research on Daikan Island for many years, and a longtime friend of Professor Oak.
In the Orange Islands storyline, Professor Uchigi discovered a strange GS Ball and asked Professor Oak for help in researching it, thus leading to a story about giving away the ball.
It was truly unexpected that Professor Uchigi was now a researcher stationed in Enoshima City.
"Hello, Professor Uchigi, long time no see," Natsuki greeted her proactively.
Pretending not to recognize him at this moment would be counterproductive.
Uchiki clearly recognized Natsuki as well, as he remembered him well.
Especially since he had recently spoken with Natsuki's father and learned about Natsuki's recent situation.
"I didn't expect it to be you, Natsuki. So, are you going to return the comet fragment to the League Shop?" Uchiki asked
gently, with a smile.
Natsuki nodded and replied, "Yes, I happened to get the comet fragment during training. I don't really need it."
"Hmm," Uchiki responded, not delving into the details.
Instead, he looked at the Growlithe and Riolu beside Natsuki.
Especially Riolu; after all, it wasn't a Pokémon found in the Kanto region or the Orange Islands. As a Pokémon research doctor, the allure of Pokémon was far greater than the comet fragment.
(End of Chapter)