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When I arrived at the Oceanic Museum, there was indeed no one at the entrance.
Chris entered and paid an admission fee of 50 pokedollars. Inside, there were displays of marine water quality, soil, and sand samples, as well as informative exhibits on model ships and the ocean.
Among the models, Chris recognized a ship called the "S.S. Anne."
In addition to the expected exhibits, there were things that seemed out of place. On the first floor, Trainers dressed in Team Aqua uniforms were scattered throughout.
However, they merely admired the exhibits and did not stop Chris from entering. They even watched as Chris made his way to the second floor.
Upstairs, Captain Stern was examining his collection.
"Hello, Captain Stern," Chris said. "Here is the custom part you ordered from Devon Corporation. President Stone asked me to deliver it."
"Perfect timing, I was just waiting for it," Captain Stern replied.
Suddenly, two members of Team Aqua appeared from the first floor.
"We've been waiting for you! Hand over the parts!" one of them demanded.
Captain Stern quickly stepped behind Chris. "I'll leave this to you!" he said, clearly relying on Chris.
Chris: ?
Chris couldn't help but wonder if Captain Stern and President Stone were related.
Without further hesitation, the scene shifted outside the museum.
Five minutes later, Chris had defeated the two Team Aqua members one by one.
Their Pokémon were only at level 13, not even strong enough to level up Chris's Makuhita.
The two members retreated, and soon after, Archie, the leader of Team Aqua, arrived on the second floor. He glanced at his defeated subordinates.
"Worthless! Defeated by a mere child!" Archie scolded.
He then turned his attention to Chris.
"Who are you? Why are you interfering?" Archie asked. "No matter your reason, human or Pokémon, everything exists because of the sea. Our mission is to expand it. So, I warn you, stay out of our way! Remember that!"
With those words, Archie turned and left.
"Impressive work!" Captain Stern said, stepping forward. "You actually defeated Team Aqua's members."
"Oh, by the way, I need to begin my undersea exploration as soon as possible!" Stern said as he took the parts from Chris and hurried downstairs.
After Captain Stern left, Chris descended from the second floor.
Back on the first floor, aside from the ticket attendant, only one remaining Team Aqua member was still there, looking around nervously.
"Hey, you! Don't hit me! I'll give you something, just spare me!" the Team Aqua member pleaded, throwing Chris a TM.
It was... Thief!
"Finally got it!" Chris's eyes lit up.
Thief: Power 60. If the attacker has no held item, they can steal the opponent's held item in battle. Items stolen from wild Pokémon are kept permanently.
According to Chris's plan, the leader of his item-hunting team needed to know the move Thief.
With a Pokémon that knew Thief and five others with the Pickup ability, Chris could maximize his item-gathering potential.
Now, his team configuration was complete!
After teaching Thief to his Frogadier and making him the team's leader, Chris went straight to the nearest patch of grass to test the move.
Slateport City is located along Route 110.
To the right of the museum entrance, there was a bike path that could only be accessed with a bicycle.
On the left, there was a grassy area.
Chris began pacing through the grass.
In half an hour, Chris had a good idea of the Pokémon that could be found there: Zigzagoon, Poochyena, Oddish, Wingull, Electrike, Plusle, Minun, and Gulpin.
But it took Chris more than two hours to determine what items these Pokémon were carrying.
He also came to realize an important truth:
The lower the probability of a Pokémon carrying an item, the higher the value of that item. Conversely, the higher the probability, the lower the item's value.
For instance, Zigzagoon has at least a 50% chance of carrying an Oran Berry, and Poochyena has a 50% chance of carrying a Pecha Berry. Wingull also has a 50% chance of carrying a pretty feather.
Pretty feathers, while decorative, aren't worth much in the real world. Their price doesn't even compare to Oran Berries.
Chris ended up stealing over 20 items from Oddish, all of which were called "Absorb Bulb."
Absorb Bulb: When the Pokémon holding this item is hit by a Water-type move, its Special Attack increases.
Unlike common items that directly boost move power, Absorb Bulbs are rarer but highly situational, which means not many Trainers use them. Chris found the market price for Absorb Bulbs was around 50,000 pokedollars each.
It took almost 20 more encounters with Plusle and Minun to steal an item called "Cell Battery."
This item functions similarly to the Absorb Bulb.
Cell Battery: When the Pokémon holding this item is hit by an Electric-type move, its Attack increases.
The effects are nearly identical, but one boosts stats when hit by Water-type moves and the other when hit by Electric-type moves.
Out of all the Pokémon Chris encountered, two stood out: Electrike and Gulpin.
Electrike, despite Chris stealing from over 30 of them, didn't yield a single item.
This made Chris suspect that either the items Electrike carried were too rare, or perhaps Electrike simply didn't carry any items at all. He figured that even if Electrike did have an item, it probably wasn't anything special.
Gulpin, on the other hand, was the opposite of Electrike. While Electrike carried nothing, Gulpin had two possible items.
There was a 50% chance of stealing an Oran Berry, and less than a 5% chance of stealing an item called "Big Pearl." Like the pretty feathers, Big Pearls don't have any battle attributes and can only be sold.
But unlike the pretty feathers, Big Pearls are worth much more.
In the Pokémon world, Pearls of significant size can be produced, so they aren't just from ordinary creatures.
Chris discovered that only three Pokémon species can produce Big Pearls: Shellder, Clamperl, and Gulpin, along with its evolution, Swalot. Each Pokémon produces different types of pearls, with Shellder and Cloyster producing smaller, more frequent Pearls.
Clamperl, however, produces medium-sized Pearls in various colors, known for their excellent quality. Some of these Pearls even carry a faint scent of the ocean, making Clamperl's Pearls the most valuable.
Gulpin's Pearls, on the other hand, are known for their size, and their price depends entirely on how large they are. Overseas, there's even a Big Pearl the size of a grinding wheel, housed in a museum as a national treasure. Its auction price once reached one billion pokedollars.
While browsing, Chris stumbled upon a professional Pearl trading platform.
After comparing the size of the Big Pearl he'd just stolen from Gulpin, Chris realized that Pearls of similar size had been sold for 140,000 pokedollars.
Not counting the smaller finds like Oran Berries, Chris had a substantial haul.
In just two hours, Chris had stolen 30 Absorb Bulbs (worth 30,000 each), 30 Cell Batteries (worth 30,000 each), and one Big Pearl (worth 140,000), bringing his total earnings to 200,000 pokedollars.
If he continued hunting for items for ten hours a day, he could make over a million pokedollars daily, and 30 million in a month.
Compared to his previous monthly income of one million, his new method of earning had increased his income by 30 times!