It wasn't that Icarus was unwanted. In fact, several families had tried to recruit him after the tournament.
The problem was that every family interested in him was weaker than the three major powers, and their strongest members were only Superior-level Trainers.
Since Icarus himself looked down on those smaller families, he politely declined all of their offers.
Later that evening, he specifically had Luna wait for them at the Gym entrance.
Tonight's auction was also being held inside the Gym, making it the perfect opportunity for her to officially meet Airi and Stone.
At around 7:10 PM, when Icarus and the others arrived at the Gym entrance, they immediately spotted a beautiful woman with a pure face and voluptuous figure anxiously looking around.
Fortunately, an armband from the medical department was tied around her sleeve, making it obvious she was internal Gym staff.
Otherwise, with her appearance alone, she probably would have already been surrounded by admirers.
"Master~"
The moment Luna spotted Icarus, she immediately ran over happily, her chest bouncing noticeably as she moved.
Crack~
Icarus swore he could practically hear the hearts of nearby men shattering.
"So she's already someone else's maid…"
"These rich people are too much…"
"Sigh… look at her, then look at the wife waiting for me at home…"
Since Luna hadn't lowered her voice at all, the surrounding crowd heard that sweet, syrupy "Master~" loud and clear.
Envy and jealousy instantly spread through the area.
"Mhm, Luna, why are you waiting out here so early? Didn't the auction start at 7:30?"
Icarus casually ruffled her hair and asked curiously.
"Master~ Since you placed third in the tournament, the Gym arranged a private VIP room for you at tonight's auction. I was worried you didn't know and might go sit in the normal seats, so I came early to wait for you."
As she explained, Luna deliberately emphasized the words "third place."
She was a smart woman.
From the very beginning, she had intentionally been telling everyone nearby two things:
She already belonged to someone.
Her master was the third-place genius of this year's tournament.
After Icarus accepted her last night, he had also instructed her to resign from the Pokémon Center.
So today she was wearing her own clothes—a light white dress with a ribbon tied around the waist, perfectly accentuating her mature curves.
If not for the medical armband acting as temporary protection, she would have drawn even more attention.
"So he's the biggest dark horse this year…"
"I heard he only became a Trainer a year ago!"
"That beauty is his maid? Never mind then…"
"Top three in only one year… what about in a few more years?"
The surrounding crowd quickly withdrew their gazes.
Even those who still secretly glanced at Luna no longer dared to stare openly.
"There's a VIP room perk too? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Hearing this, Icarus scratched his head in confusion.
"Cough~ Previous third-place winners didn't get one. But apparently your Naturally Extraordinary talent attracted the attention of the Gym's higher-ups, so they specially arranged one for you."
Luna proudly puffed out her chest while explaining loudly.
The moment the crowd heard the words "Naturally Extraordinary," even the lingering gazes completely disappeared.
"Then I really should thank the Gym. Come, let me introduce everyone properly.
These are my teammates, Airi and Stone.
Airi, Stone, this is the maid I told you about before—Luna."
After thanking the Gym, Icarus stepped aside and introduced them.
"Sister Airi, Brother Stone, my name is Luna. From now on, I'll be Master Icarus's maid. Please take care of me."
After the introduction, Luna immediately lowered herself respectfully and bowed deeply.
"Uh… there's no need to be so formal. Hello, I'm Airi."
Originally, Airi had been somewhat hostile toward this suddenly appearing maid.
But seeing Luna proactively lower her posture softened her attitude considerably.
"Mhm, hello. I'm Stone."
Stone's greeting remained as straightforward as ever.
"Alright, let's head inside. Luna, lead the way."
After the brief introductions, the group followed Luna toward the VIP room.
The so-called VIP room wasn't actually very luxurious.
It was simply a private area on the second floor with several comfortable sofas.
Its real purpose was prestige.
Not long afterward, the annual year-end auction officially began.
A beautiful auctioneer first warmed up the atmosphere.
Although the opening items were decent, they were clearly inferior compared to the auctions in Pewter City.
Neither Icarus, Airi, nor Stone showed much interest.
Still, every item sold successfully.
After all, even if these things didn't matter to them anymore, low-level cultivation manuals and Pokémon eggs with inherited moves were still extremely attractive to ordinary Trainers.
Soon, an item that genuinely interested Stone finally appeared.
A common mid-tier treasure: the Hard Stone.
It could slightly enhance the power of Rock-type moves.
Icarus guessed the raw materials likely came from deep inside Diglett's Cave, since this kind of ore usually formed only in underground cave systems.
After several rounds of bidding, Stone finally purchased it for 750,000.
According to normal market prices, it should have cost around 650,000.
But scarcity always drove prices higher.
Aoki Town lacked proper item craftsmen, meaning all raw materials had to be transported to larger cities for processing before being sold back.
Naturally, the price rose accordingly.
After this item, the atmosphere at the auction became noticeably more heated.
Then came the item Icarus had been waiting for:
Psychic Contract Scrolls.
Unfortunately, they were not sold individually.
They were auctioned in sets of five.
Starting bid: 500,000.
While technically cheaper per scroll, it still annoyed Icarus greatly.
He wasn't building a faction or organization. Having five of them was honestly excessive.
"Sigh… whatever. I'll use them eventually."
Feeling Luna obediently massaging his shoulders from behind, he finally raised the bidding paddle.
"600,000!"
But this price obviously wasn't enough to scare away the major families.
The price quickly climbed to 700,000.
After all, every family secretly cultivated loyal followers or handled shady business behind the scenes.
These contract scrolls were never useless to them.
Even though they were only created by mid-tier Superior Psychic Pokémon and their effects only worked up to mid-tier Superior rank, that was already more than enough for most families in Aoki Town.
After all, even Superior-level retainers were rare outside the three major powers.
"1,000,000!"
In the end, Icarus spent a full million to secure the five Psychic Contract Scrolls.
Honestly, it felt a little painful.
These scrolls were single-use items and required complete cooperation from the contracted party.
One million was enough to buy a top-grade Evolution Stone.
And after using one on Luna, the remaining four would just sit unused for now.
He still needed to spend more money training her too.
Still, after thinking about it carefully, he felt it was worth it.
During these past few months, Luna had already served him extremely well.
And if she could fully manage the team's logistics, just the savings on daily Pokémon food expenses alone—around 7,000 to 8,000 per day—would pay the cost back within half a year.
Of course, if he hadn't made such huge profits from betting today, he definitely wouldn't have spent one million so casually.
After the contract scrolls, the next auction items shocked Icarus.
Because the following manuals were actually human cultivation techniques.
"Golden Edge Manual."
"Evergreen Manual."
"Thick Earth Manual."
Three Martial Artist cultivation manuals appeared consecutively.
According to the auctioneer, these were advanced follow-up techniques for the Body Tempering Art.
Not only could they accelerate cultivation speed, but they could also infuse the user's aura with elemental properties.
For example:
Golden Edge Manual gave aura metallic sharpness.
Evergreen Manual focused on vitality and recovery.
Thick Earth Manual strengthened defense and stability.
The smaller families below the major factions instantly went crazy bidding over them.
For many declining families, their original cultivation inheritances had already been lost.
Even if some remained, they often weren't suitable for every descendant.
Naturally, they couldn't miss this rare opportunity.
Icarus even had Stone bid briefly on the Thick Earth Manual, since it seemed extremely suitable for him.
Unfortunately, the price skyrocketed too quickly, forcing them to give up.
Even the cheapest cultivation manual sold for nearly a million.
That completely exceeded their expectations.
After all, even Pokémon training manuals inside Team Rocket only cost around 600 to 700 contribution points.
And one contribution point was roughly equal to 1,000 Pokédollars.
In other words, a full Pokémon cultivation guide often cost less than these human techniques.
However, when the next water-type cultivation method—the Ripple Technique—appeared, Icarus firmly insisted that Airi buy it for 1.1 million.
Her cultivation speed with the Pure Yuan Manual was simply too slow.
According to Icarus's theory, matching attributes should significantly improve efficiency.
Technically, Airi could already exchange her Alliance Merit Points for the higher-level Water Spirit Manual.
She had enough points.
But after careful thought, she gave up on the idea.
The Gym controlled nearly everything in Aoki Town.
If a previously forgotten manual suddenly appeared in her possession, it would definitely attract suspicion.
And given her hatred toward the Arai Gym, drawing attention now was too dangerous.
It would be safer to wait until they traveled to larger cities later.
At the very least, obtaining one in Cerulean City shouldn't be difficult.
After purchasing the Ripple Technique, none of them participated much in the following manual auctions.
At this moment, Airi was already completely absorbed in studying her newly purchased technique.
Then the auctioneer smiled brightly and announced the next segment.
"Thank you all for your enthusiastic participation! The manual section has officially ended.
Next up…
The Pokémon Youngling Session!
This time, not only do we have rare Pokémon from distant cities, but even Pokémon from other regions!"
The atmosphere instantly exploded with excitement.
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