12.30 p.m,
S.S. Anne, Dining Room,
The buffet service on S.S Anne is available 24 hours a day. And currently, it was nearing lunchtime. The waiters had just finished setting up the tables for the incoming passengers.
Ash and his two friends clearly couldn't afford the expensive S.S. Anne tickets. Although their family had given them some money for their journey, they obviously couldn't just spend it on pointless stuff like a cruise holiday.
Fortunately, or was it, unfortunately?
Either way, Ash, Misty, and Brock got the opportunity to board the ship after two kind schoolgirls offered them free tickets. Unbeknown to them, the two schoolgirls were actually Jessie and James in disguise. This was part of a Team Rocket plot to steal the Pokemon of all trainers on board.
The three of them gathered around a table filled with all kinds of food. Then they each piled the food on their plate and began to stuff their faces, causing the other tourists to move away from their table in embarrassment.
"Yum! It's delicious!" Ash said with his mouth full of food.
"Good afternoon, everyone. You guys look like you're having a good time."
At this moment, a man walked up to their table, followed by a woman. It was the gentleman who had just fought against Ash.
"Pardon my manners. I'm Blaise from Saffron City," he lifted his hat slightly.
Then, he hugged his female companion's waist and said, "This is my girlfriend, Roselle."
Ash stopped eating after hearing the man's voice, and he stood in front of the man in confusion while holding a chicken drumstick in both hands.
"Ah! You're the man that I won just now!"
Ash pointed to the man with his half-eaten chicken drumstick in recognition.
"Cough," Ash's words made the gentleman cough in embarrassment.
Then, he glanced around and quietly said, "It's a draw!"
"Fine. It's a draw. But my Butterfree will definitely win if we fight again!" Ash bragged.
Although Ash's words sounded irritating, Blaise still remained calm as a gentleman.
"Actually, your Butterfree is quite extraordinary," the man praised, ignoring Ash's boast.
"That's true. I have never seen such a powerful Butterfree," The lady standing next to him backed up his words.
"Hehehe. She's beautiful~"
Brock had been fascinated by the older woman's beauty for quite a while. His cheeks flushed pink as the sandwich in his hand fell to the floor without his realization.
"Brock! Wake up!" Misty waved her hand in front of Brock several times to wake him up from his daydream, but it was useless. It looked like he wasn't going to snap out of it anytime soon.
"Haa! Why did I decide to follow these two idiots?" Misty facepalm.
One was a blockhead who only knew about Pokemon battle. While the other guy instantly became an airhead whenever he saw a beautiful older woman.
'Ah! I can't stand it!' Misty shouted in her mind.
...
"Thanks!"
Ash's eyes lit up with joy after hearing someone else praising his Pokemon. It was tantamount to admitting his ability as a Pokemon trainer.
"I put a lot of work into raising-" Ash started to talk about his experiences in raising Butterfree.
"What do you think of my Raticate?" Blaise interrupted Ash's talk.
Ash nodded and said, "It is quite strong too!"
"Nice! Now, it will be much easier for us to talk."
He then bent slightly forward and whispered to Ash. "How about we trade our Pokemon?"
"Trade?" Ash seemed a little confused after hearing the gentleman's words.
"A trade is a process in which a trainer sends one of their Pokemon to another Trainer in exchange for one of their Pokemon."
Gentleman Blaise noticed that Ash was still confused even after his explanation. Then, he patted Ash's shoulder and said, "When two people find that they each like the other Pokemon, they trade! It's quite a common practice everywhere!"
"Friends who traded their Pokemon with each other made their friendship grow deeper and continue to spread wide. Trading and making new friends is the best thing about having a Pokemon. That's how friendship gets to spread all around the world," he spread his arms wide.
"Wow!" Ash said admiringly.
Blaise's girlfriend, Roselle, also stepped forward and happily said, "Friendship is wonderful, isn't it?"
'Yeah! Yeah! Why don't you and I start a friendship right now,' Brock thought, agreeing with the woman's words.
"Hey, Brock! Should I trade?" Ash asked for Brock's opinion, who he believes is much more mature in dealing with this thing.
"Oh yeah! You got to trade! Everybody should trade! Let's start trading!" Brock replied.
Unfortunately for Ash, Brock was still in his daydreaming phase. As a result, he unknowingly prompted Ash to agree with Blaise's request.
...
"A person who likes to trade their Pokemon is actually worthy of talking about friendship?" A sarcastic voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
Hisoka folded his arms as he looked at Ash, who was a bit hesitant, and said, "Kid, that Butterfree should have been with you since it was a Caterpie. To it, you are its family, a partner that you used to fight with side by side. Are you going to give it to a stranger now?"
'To it, you are its family.'
Hisoka's word rang in Ash's mind.
Realizing his mistake, Ash shook his head fiercely and said, "Yes. Butterfree is my family. I won't trade it for any Pokemon."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Blaise. But I won't trade my Pokemon," he took a step back and said determinedly.
"What a pity," Blaise wasn't disappointed after hearing Ash's refusal. Moreover, Pokemon trading was just a hobby to him.
Then, Blaise turned around and looked at the uninvited guest, who had interrupted them just now.
"Pokemon is just a communication tool for humans. What's more, trading Pokemon with each other can deepen the friendship between two people. Isn't this much better?" he said in a deep voice.
"Well, that must be the reason why you are a rookie when it comes to Pokemon battles," Hisoka said bluntly.
"What did you say?" The gentleman clenched his cane tightly. Hisoka's words just now made him angry. He was basically insulting him to his face.
Then Blasie sharply said, "If that is the case, why don't we have a Pokemon battle to see who's right and wrong?"
Hisoka cracked his hands and coldly smiled, "Bring it on."
...
"Everyone, please be quiet!"
A shout suddenly rang in the dining hall.
After that, everyone looked to the front stage, where the shout was coming from, and saw Captain Iron standing on a high platform, holding a mic.
Captain Iron took some time to let everyone settle down first before saying, "I have important news to tell everyone. We are officially planning to hold a Pokemon competition. The rule of this competition is a one-on-one match."
"And there will be many prizes in this competition courtesy of the sponsors. Right now, I want to invite the biggest sponsor of this competition to speak. Please welcome Mr. Matthias!"
"Wow! This is awesome!"
"Great! I want to participate!"
...
Everyone started to applause as Matthias slowly walked onto the stage. There were even a few people loudly whistling in their excitement.
Most of the passengers on board the S.S. Anne were trainers. Nobody would refuse a Pokemon competition. The popularity of a Pokemon battle is a hundred times more popular than the FIFA World Cup back on Earth. Moreover, it would be an exciting experience for them during this cruise.
Matthias took the microphone from Captain Iron and said, "First of all, I am grateful to Captain Iron for allowing this tournament. Now, I know everyone must be curious about the prize, right? Don't worry, it's not going to be cheap, that's for sure."
Everyone laughed after hearing his joke. Being able to board S.S. Anne indicates that many of them weren't poor. Except for special cases such as Hisoka, Ash, and his group, everyone doesn't care for this little bit of money. At least the prize for the tournament must be good, right? If not, why would they try their best?
Clap!
Clap!
Matthias clapped his hand twice.
A few moments later, a girl in a strapless red chiffon dress came out from the back curtain holding a tray covered with red cloth.
'Hmmm?' Hisoka raised his brow, recognizing her face.
It was Maggie, the stewardess he talked to in the morning just now. She calmly walked to the front, swaying her hips slightly with each step, keeping her eyes on everyone, and saw Hisoka's figure among the crowd. Then, she raised a small smile as Hisoka nodded to her.
Seeing that the prizes of this competition were brought out, everyone couldn't help but stare at the covered tray intently. Each and everyone one of them was curious about the prize. After hearing that it was jointly sponsored by the S.S. Anne management and several people, they already had a high expectation for it.
Matthias then slowly raised the cloth under everyone's expectant gaze, revealing a sky-blue Pokemon egg with a circle of black lines running in the middle. The next item was a teardrop necklace placed in front of the Pokemon egg.
"I think everyone wanted to know about the origin of this Pokemon egg, right?" Matthias tapped the egg with a serious look on his face, making everyone think that it was some kind of precious Pokemon.
Is it a Dratini?
Is it a Larvitar?
Is it an Arceus? (An: LOL)
All kinds of thoughts filled everyone's minds as their eyes sparkled in anticipation.
"I'm sorry, but I don't actually know what kind of Pokemon is inside this egg," Matthias poured cold water on everyone.
"A Pokemon breeder should know that hatching a Pokemon is full of uncertainty. Unfortunately, you can't really tell the breed of a Pokemon just by relying on the egg color and appearance. Unless you already know which Pokemon laid those eggs. There is a natural genetic lock inside the egg that prevented any kind of X-rays passing through the shell," he explained.
"But there's one thing that I can tell you about this egg," Matthias suddenly raised a finger, reviving everyone's curiosity.
He looked into everyone's eyes and slowly said, "This Pokemon egg is not from Kanto or Johto region. It actually came from the distant Sinnoh region. So no matter what kind of Pokemon hatches from this egg, it must be something that you have never seen before. I can promise you this."
After listening to his explanation, there was an uproar at the scene. Everyone was excited about participating in the Pokemon competition now. Moreover, the prize was an unknown Pokemon from outside the region. There was also a slight chance it may be a rare Pokemon.
"Pfft..." In the backstage area, Ryoichi was holding back his laughter as tears started to flow from his eyes after hearing Matthias's spiel.
"Haa, the Chief is really good at fooling people," he wiped his tears.
What Matthias said just now was all true. The egg will hatch an unknown Pokemon, but it was only unknown to the people living in Kanto and Johto.
In fact, the egg was accidentally found in a bird's nest on Mount Coronet when they were working with Sinnoh Officers last time. Therefore, the Pokemon to hatch from the egg was likely to be a Starly.
Starly is a native bird Pokemon in the Sinnoh region. It is quite similar to the native Pidgey in the Kanto and Johto region. Most of all, their population is quite large. Thus, it is a commonly seen Pokemon, just like Pidgey.
…
"As for the second prize!" Matthias picked up the delicate teardrop necklace and said with a smile, "Sorry ladies, this is not meant for women. This necklace is a Mystic Water. It is a type-enhancing item that can boost the power of Water-type moves."
If the last unknown Pokemon egg wasn't enough for the trainers to really try their best in the competition, then this teardrop-shaped gem was the final push to clear out the hesitation in their minds.
The type-enhancing items that can enhance the power of a Pokemon attack are the hard currency in the trading market. For example, Charcoal can boost Fire-type attacks, Miracle Seed can boost Grass-type attacks, Never-Melt Ice can boost Ice-type attacks, Dragon Fang can boost Dragon-type attacks, and so on.
Among them, the Dragon Fang, which enhances the power of the Dragon-type moves, is the most expensive. Once Dragon Fang appears in the market, it will be usually bought by the Dragon Tamer clan at a high price.
Dragon Tamer clan is a secret society of Dragon Tamers that worships Dragon-type Pokemon. An ancient clan that has been passed down for hundreds of years, one can only imagine the large amount of wealth that they accumulated over the years. Ordinary trainers can't even compete with them, let alone covet the Dragon Fang.
And large financial groups that were richer than the Dragon Tamer clan didn't want to offend this powerful clan for such a trivial matter. So the majority of Dragon Fang in the market had always been monopolized by them, resulting in this weird situation of the item's current high price but no supply.
...