After Auron Vale transferred the money to Jace Rowan, he stopped paying attention to that side of things. He sat quietly for a while, let his mind settle, and then prepared to start making Pokéblocks that could raise a Pokémon's aptitude.
He had three sets of materials in total, though he had no idea how many successful batches he would end up with.
This time, Auron set up three Pokéblock Makers.
After all, crafting even a single batch took ages; with three sets of materials ready, he might as well run all three at once.
He began with the first set. Following the steps, he completed the preliminary work one by one, then came the waiting phase.
While he waited, he started on the second set.
Just like that, all three were prepped and running. The only thing left was to let time do its work—about two days, by his estimate. Auron had already set timers; when they went off, he would just collect the results.
…
Two days flew by.
In that time, he had not only bought up a large number of Key Stones but, after sending some to Lu Xingguo, he quietly kept more than half for himself.
Jace had also left his number with those merchants. If more came in later, they could sell to him directly.
In a way, this counted as an investment.
Once the conditions for Mega Evolution were made public, Mega Stones and Key Stones would absolutely become the hottest commodities around.
They were going for three hundred thousand each right now. When it came time to sell… heh, three hundred thousand would be the least of it.
When the timers were nearly due, Auron went to his study and stood in front of the three Pokéblock Makers. He drew a deep breath to ease his nerves.
He waited a little longer. When the alarm he'd set finally rang—
Auron cut the power, then reached out and lifted the lid of the first machine.
The moment he saw nothing but a heap of ash inside, his heart lurched.
"Crap. The first one failed. The other two used the same method as the first—don't tell me they all failed?"
Auron let out a gloomy breath and flopped to the floor, not holding out much hope for the remaining two.
They'd all been done the same way. If the first had failed, how could the rest succeed?
"Rrring—"
The second alarm soon chimed, and Auron flipped open the second lid.
"Huh?"
He stared, surprised, at the pale pink Pokéblock sitting in the machine. A thought flickered through his mind.
Type: Sublime Pokéblock
Quality: Excellent
Effect: 60% chance to raise a Pokémon's aptitude by one tier.
Auron's eyes brightened. No restriction? That meant even a Snorlax with golden aptitude could use it?
He immediately shook the thought away.
No one knew what lay above golden aptitude. If there was nothing higher, using it would just be a waste.
Better to stick to the plan—give it to Golbat first. When he obtained more materials and could make more of these later, then he'd try it on something higher.
Auron gave his head a quick shake, forced himself to calm down, and waited for the third machine to finish.
He was already going over the steps in his mind, comparing the first and second attempts. Had there been any operational differences?
After a silent stretch of thought, a hazy idea began to take shape. All he needed now was for the third result to confirm his guess.
"Rrring—"
The alarm for the third machine went off soon after.
Auron couldn't wait—he popped the lid.
Inside lay another mound of sooty black ash.
Now his temples throbbed. That didn't make sense.
If there had been differences between the first and second attempts, then with the experience of those two, the third should have been even better. Why had it still failed? It just didn't add up.
He stared, crestfallen, at the ash in the two failed machines, feeling more than a little dejected.
So much time and effort, and only one successful batch.
"Ah… forget it. One is better than none. At least one worked."
Auron looked up at the time. Twelve minutes to noon.
"I'll have Golbat use it on the dot. Scientific research says the odds of winning spike at exact times."
He muttered to himself, then left the study and went to his bedroom.
Ignoring the Snorlax sprawled across the big bed, Auron went to the window and whistled, calling Golbat back.
With one minute left, Auron carefully picked up the Sublime Pokéblock. He stood before Golbat and brought the block to its mouth.
"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
The instant the countdown hit zero, Auron loosened his fingers, and the Pokéblock dropped into Golbat's mouth.
Golbat had just moved to bite down when, unexpectedly, the Pokéblock melted on contact—turning into a liquid that slid down its throat like a stream.
After a moment, Auron asked, a bit tense, "Golbat, feel anything?"
Golbat blinked, dazed, and took stock of itself. It realized—
Its body felt sturdier for no reason, its thoughts a shade clearer, and there were other, subtler changes it couldn't quite name.
Golbat seemed to understand what Auron had just fed it.
It raised its head, eyes brimming with tears, and gazed at Auron, deeply moved.
Auron froze, suddenly nervous. "Huh? Golbat, why do you look like you're about to cry? Are you feeling sick?"
Golbat shook its head. A milky-white glow then sheathed its entire body.
Auron's heart leapt. Was Golbat about to evolve? That meant the aptitude boost had worked.
In a short while, the white light faded, and a bat with four wings hovered before him.
Compared with its Golbat stage, Crobat's wings weren't as massive, but they looked far more agile.
The body also lacked the bulky look of its previous form. Although Crobat was larger overall after evolving, it somehow seemed leaner than it had as a Golbat.
Auron smiled and held out his hand to Crobat.
"Crobat, I'm in your care."
Crobat extended a small wing, and Auron clasped it.
Looking at the newly evolved Crobat, Auron triggered his data visualization.
Pokémon: Crobat
Sex: Female
Type: Poison, Flying
Ability: Infiltrator (Allows attacks to bypass the target's barriers and Substitute.)
Aptitude: Red
Basic Moves: Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish, Mean Look, Poison Fang, Swift, Confuse Ray, Shadow Ball, Taunt, Screech, Quick Guard, Nasty Plot, Sludge Bomb, Double Team, Rain Dance, Tailwind, Toxic, Screech, Bite, Air Cutter
Egg Moves: Cross Poison, Air Slash, Pursuit
Only after reading Crobat's info did Auron smack his forehead with his free left hand.
He'd been so focused on whether the Pokéblock would work for Golbat that he'd completely forgotten he could check aptitude directly.
"Ka—"
At that moment, Snorlax stirred. The glow from the evolution had flashed across its eyes, waking it, and it lifted its head to see what was shining.
As soon as it opened its eyes, it caught sight of Crobat—fresh from evolving and still clasping Auron's hand.
Letting out a delighted cry, Snorlax clambered down from the bed and scooped Crobat into a hug.
Crobat lifted a wing and patted the little Snorlax's shoulder (it had wanted to pat its head, but Snorlax was just too tall to reach).
After a brief squeeze, the two Pokémon let go. Still, Snorlax stared at its big sister's new look with open wonder.
Its happy gaze stayed glued to Crobat, until she started to feel a little embarrassed under the attention.
Thankfully, that was when Charmander trotted in from the hall, breathing hard. Whatever pout it had been wearing vanished the instant it saw Crobat—surprise wiped its face clean.
(End of chapter)