After ten rounds of evolving and devolving Gastly, Reiji finally had a complete set of numbers: its potential had increased by 6.1 points, while its level had dropped by 10.2.
Not only did 0.8 never show up again in those ten trials, even 0.7 was appearing less and less.
From these fourteen data sets, he had every reason to suspect that as Gastly's potential kept rising, the boost it gained from evolution would eventually slow to a crawl and stop.
He still didn't know where that ceiling was, or where a Pokémon's own limits truly lay.
But he was sure of one thing now: this Gastly had Champion-level potential. From here on, it was all about slow, careful polishing.
Gastly needed its level back up before he could continue the next stage of experiments. With Life Energy Pokéblocks and poison on tap, it should be able to gain roughly two levels a day.
It was a pity Gastly didn't have the Gluttony ability. That one could help a Pokémon digest more efficiently and squeeze more energy out of every bite.
From the perspective of energy conservation, energy neither appears out of thin air nor vanishes into nothing. It only changes form or moves from one body to another; throughout the transfer or transformation, the total amount stays the same.
So from that angle, Gastly's "lost" levels hadn't disappeared. The energy that should have gone into experience had simply been diverted to pay the cost of raising its potential.
Other Pokémon were different. They usually gained both potential and levels when they evolved. That was probably because whenever they evolved, he stuffed them full of good stuff—high-end food and energy crystals like stones and gems—and all of that was digested into power during evolution.
Gastly's fourteen evolution data sets didn't include any of that, so there was nothing to compare against.
The Life Energy Pokéblocks it ate just now clearly weren't doing anything once it devolved. Either Gastly couldn't properly digest Pokéblocks while devolving, or the energy content of the blocks was simply too low—so low that whatever tiny gain they gave to level or potential was drowned out inside the data and never showed up.
He'd only been recording to one decimal place. Anything past the first digit after the decimal he didn't bother to write down. If the fluctuation wouldn't exceed 0.1, there was no point in tracking it.
Judging from this, the energy from the Pokéblocks hadn't even nudged the numbers by 0.1. If he wanted to see real movement, he'd need to bring in Ghost Gems… maybe even Dusk Stones. Anything that carried Ghost-type energy was worth letting Gastly try.
Let Gastly evolve while digesting the Ghost-type power inside these stones, then use evolution to feed that energy back into its potential and level. That way, raising its potential wouldn't need to cannibalize its levels.
Once he had the idea, he acted immediately.
He recalled the Gastly that was now suffering from indigestion. It had eaten too many Life Energy Pokéblocks and hadn't finished digesting them yet; right now it was completely stuffed.
After taking Gastly back into its Poké Ball, he picked up the empty Pokéblock boxes and finally realized Gastly had already eaten two and a half boxes—twenty-five blocks in total.
A real glutton. It didn't stop until it physically couldn't eat any more. Just how hungry had this Gastly been?
While waiting for Gastly to digest its Pokéblocks, he recalled Poliwhirl and Scyther as well, then had Ditto transform into the face he'd used on his earlier shopping run. He stepped outside, recalled Kingler, then went down to the villa courtyard, mounted Pelipper, and flew back toward the big city he'd just come from.
He didn't have a choice. In this little town you could forget about finding Ghost Gems, never mind Dusk Stones. If his theory worked, he'd need a lot of Ghost Gems.
Those were much cheaper than Dusk Stones. Both were loaded with Ghost-type energy, but you could evolve a Pokémon with a Dusk Stone; Ghost Gems couldn't do that.
He'd always suspected that Ghost Gems might be the raw ore that Dusk Stones came from. Once a Ghost Gem absorbed enough Ghost-type energy, maybe it would transform into a Dusk Stone.
A Ghost Gem might go for a few hundred thousand Pokédollars at most, but a Dusk Stone was another story.
Kinnow City's department store sold mid-grade Water Stones for three and a half million Pokédollars. Considering how many Water-type Pokémon there were around Kinnow Island, demand was high, so the price was, too.
Dusk Stones evolved Ghost-types and were at least as scarce as Moon Stones and the like. In Reiji's view, the starting price for one of those had to be at least two million— and that was for a low-grade stone.
A mid-grade Dusk Stone would be no less than four million to start.
As for a high-grade Dusk Stone? He had no idea. He'd never even seen one. Not even on Kinnow Island had he come across that level of stock.
Back at the department store, he went straight to the same greasy fat guy as before. When the fatty saw him, he nearly jumped out of his skin, sweat beading on his forehead. He'd clearly already imagined the crime scene.
"Sir, w-what brings you back?" the fat manager asked, rubbing his hands together, a smile plastered on his face while his heart hammered away. They'd only parted ways that morning. Could there really be a problem with that batch of goods?
There shouldn't be. He'd personally overseen the packing. How could there be an issue? Even if one or two boxes were bad, hadn't he thrown in ten extra as freebies? What, did the entire shipment go bad?
"A huge deal. Ten million. Interested?" Reiji cut to the chase. He was very satisfied with how much the man was sweating. Fear was good. If the guy was scared, this deal would go exactly the way Reiji wanted.
Chains like this one usually handled everything—Pokémon food, Pokémon items, the works.
"T-ten million?" The fat manager swallowed hard and secretly exhaled in relief.
He'd nearly been scared to death when this guy suddenly walked back in. Sure, ten million Pokédollars was great money, but deals of that size were scary too. He was afraid he'd make the money and not live long enough to spend it.
"A ten-million deal, and I want twenty percent off," Reiji said, raising his hand and making an eight with his fingers. "You give me 20% off and I'll spend the full ten million. No discount, no deal."
"M-may I ask what you're looking to buy, sir?" Once the manager confirmed Reiji was here to talk business, he straightened his collar and puffed out his chest. He was the store manager, after all.
Reiji just crook his finger. The manager's chubby face immediately folded itself into a servile smile as he waddled over and leaned down, waiting obediently for Reiji to whisper in his ear.
"I want anything tied to Ghost-type energy. Ghost Gems, Dusk Stones—things like that."
"Sir, do you have any requirements on quality for this batch?" The fat manager dabbed away the sweat on his cheek and silently cursed. Everything this dangerous man wanted was the sort of thing that could shorten your lifespan.
Life Energy Pokéblocks were one thing. Ten kilos of poisonous sludge was already scary enough. Now he wanted Ghost-type goods too. Just touching this stuff felt like it shaved years off your life, and the fat man wanted to keep his body—and its fat—intact for a few more years.
"Of course I want the best. You know what I mean." Reiji shot him a look, letting the man read between the lines. He was sure the fatty would get it.
"Haha, I understand, I understand." The manager smiled so hard his round face creased like a blooming chrysanthemum—warm, bright, and… nauseating.
Reiji almost couldn't take it. The guy was too greasy. His hair shone like oil, and when he smiled, beads of sweat squeezed out from between his folds of fat. If they hadn't told him it was sweat, he would've thought it was literal grease.
If he didn't have a persona to maintain, he'd have slapped the guy already—no, scratch that, he didn't want to touch something that disgusting. Greasy was bad enough; greasy and a scammy merchant on top of that?
He'd been burned by people like this in his previous life. He had no love for merchants, especially oily ones who hid behind fake smiles.
"All right, go get it ready. I want the goods in front of me in half an hour," Reiji said, waving him away and putting some distance between himself and all that oil. He wandered off into the aisles, ready to kill time while the man pulled stock.
"Sir, you're a VIP. We can't possibly make you wait half an hour. I guarantee the stock will be here in ten minutes," the manager promised, then turned and murmured orders to the black-stockinged shop girls behind him. "You, take our VIP to a private room and work his shoulders. You, make some tea. You, bring fruit. If the three of you take good care of him, you all get bonuses…"
"Got it, manager," the three attendants said. They immediately led Reiji to a private box—one massaged his shoulders, another kneaded his legs, and the third hand-fed him fruit. The only thing left was for Reiji to sit on someone's lap.
The whole scene made him feel a bit out of place. In his previous life he'd been a broke wage slave. When had he ever enjoyed treatment like this?
So this was how rich people lived. No wonder so many couldn't resist the lure of sugar-coated bullets. He could see it now.
If he lived like this every day, he really would lose all drive. He'd just flop harder than he ever had in either of his lives—like an ironing board that had been pressed flat.
Right now that was impossible. He didn't have the strength or status. He still couldn't afford to lie down. His goal hadn't changed: become an Elite Four–class Trainer first, then talk about taking it easy.
Still, he didn't feel the slightest guilt about enjoying ten minutes of this treatment. He was about to drop ten million. What was ten minutes, really?
This was all that damn fatty's fault. He'd said half an hour, and the manager had slashed his waiting time by two-thirds. Reiji swore he'd get those missing twenty minutes back from him later.
Ten minutes later, the fat manager came back lugging a big gift box.
"Sir, sorry to keep you waiting. I've brought the goods you wanted."
"I want to inspect the stock. You three, out," Reiji said as he stood up, brushing aside the grape the shop girl was about to pop into his mouth, and waved for the attendants to leave. He needed to have a proper talk with this greasy man.
Once they were gone, the manager opened the gift box, revealing Ghost Gems, Dusk Stones, and Spell Tags inside. He pointed them out one by one as he introduced them. "These are all the Ghost-type energy items we have in stock, sir."
"The stock looks decent. My mood, on the other hand, is not," Reiji said, shaking his head as he planted one foot on the wooden table, leaning back into the sofa and staring at the manager through half-lidded eyes. His face was expressionless.
"S-sir, if there's anything wrong with how we received you, please tell me directly," the fat man stammered. He'd thought this deal would go smoothly. He hadn't expected this mysterious customer to suddenly sour, and he had no idea what he'd done wrong. Was it the "service" just now?
In truth, he'd guessed half right.
"Ten minutes, huh? Great. Wonderful. I never said ten minutes. But you just had to speak up for me, didn't you? Cut it down to ten on my behalf?" Reiji's smile wasn't a smile at all. "Should I be thanking you for helping me 'save time'?"
He was shaking the man down. He needed to seize the initiative in this negotiation. Otherwise, once they got to haggling, the fatty would think he was easy to push around and start climbing all over him.
"T-this…" The manager's hands were trembling so badly he couldn't even pull out a handkerchief. He scrambled to his feet instead and used the spotless sleeve of his brand-new white suit to wipe his cold sweat, then bent at the waist and apologized. "Sir, if you're dissatisfied, those girls can… spend the night in your room…"
"Heh. You think I need you to find me women? Or you think I'm the kind of guy who can't get them myself?" Reiji snapped, kicking over the teacup on the table.
The crash made the fatty flinch, his knees nearly giving out beneath him.
Once Reiji felt he'd scared the man enough, it was time to reel it back in. He picked up one of the Dusk Stones from the box, and his "panel" instantly scanned its purity.
[Dusk Stone: A mysterious stone that allows certain Pokémon to evolve (Purity 46.12%)]
"The stone's middling at best. It's not even high-grade. What's the asking price?" Reiji put the Dusk Stone down after checking its purity. It was a solid mid-grade stone, leaning toward the high end of that bracket.
Among mid-grade evolution stones, it was actually a pretty good piece. But anything short of high-grade was still trash in his eyes.
"Th-this Dusk Stone is priced at s-s-…" The manager glanced up, saw that not-quite-smile on Reiji's lips, and the "six million" that had been on the tip of his tongue stuck there. His breathing turned heavy and labored. His hands clenched together so tightly his knuckles went white.
In the end, he steeled himself, fingernails biting into his palms so the pain could force him to calm down. Only then did he manage to force the price out. "Four million, sir. That's my absolute limit—and that's with your discount already included…"
"Heh. I'm not being too hard on you, am I?" Reiji chuckled, setting the stone back down as he thought of the Water Stones in Kinnow City.
Mid-grade stones like that fluctuated wildly in price. Three to seven million Pokédollars was the usual range.
Anything above seven million and no one would bother buying a mid-grade Water Stone. If you were going to spend that much, you might as well save up for a high-grade one. A high-grade evolution stone under ten million was basically an act of charity. Normally, they were "name your price" items—no amount of money helped if you didn't have the right connections.
"No, sir. As long as you're satisfied, that's all that matters," the fat manager said quickly. Seeing Reiji actually smiling—not that cold, mocking smirk from earlier—he knew the matter was finally past.
That Dusk Stone's lowest listed price in the system was five million. Even with a member discount it would only go down to four-point-seven-five. The rest he'd just eat by trimming his own commission. A few creative adjustments on the paperwork and he'd make it work.
Thank goodness he'd thrown out that "discount" early. If he'd let Reiji stack another 20% off four million, he'd be paying out of his underwear. Looked like he'd have to push a lot more "recommended add-ons" in this deal if he didn't want to end up in the red…
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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