Chapter 345: Acquiring the Blade & New Opportunity (Bonus Chapter)

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"650 million PokeDollars! A distinguished guest in the VIP section has placed a bid of 650 million PokeDollars! Is there anyone willing to go higher?"

Just as Mina was about to bring down the gavel, a voice announcing a new bid rang in her ears like heavenly music. Her hand froze mid-air, the small wooden hammer hovering in place.

She instinctively turned toward the source of the voice, and upon seeing who it was, she immediately flashed a charming smile.

The unexpected bid filled Mina with joy, as the heavy weight in her heart was finally lifted. She cast a grateful glance toward the VIP suite where the bid had come from.

Despite maintaining her composure, Mina still held onto a sliver of hope—though slim—that someone would raise the price even further for this precious auction item.

However, much to her disappointment, the atmosphere remained utterly still. The remaining clear-headed bidders had no intention of competing further.

Many even shot glances of pity at the VIP suite that had placed the latest bid, as if looking at someone foolishly throwing away money.

A resounding "Bang!" echoed through the auction hall.

Seeing no further bids, Mina could only bring down the gavel with a hint of helplessness. She dared not attempt the risky move of having a shill raise the bid again.

Although the final price was far below expectations, it was still better than having the item go unsold.

"Phew, just in time. Otherwise, I would've lost my chance to obtain this precious blade and the incredible opportunity to absorb the primal power of a Legendary Pokémon."

Watching Mina finally conclude the auction, Sato felt the tension leave his body. Beneath his mask, a satisfied smile spread across his face.

Moments earlier, he had received a message on his communicator, confirming that his enchanted spoon had been successfully sold—for a staggering price of 1.8 billion PokeDollars.

With that sum secured, Sato had confidently placed his final bid and successfully won the invaluable blade.

"1.8 billion PokeDollars… My god, I seriously underestimated the value of that ancient spoon. Then again, it makes sense. No ordinary people attend high-level auctions—someone must have figured out its secret. Hopefully, the buyer isn't someone with ill intentions. If they use it as a terrifying secret weapon, things could get really bad…"

After securing the blade, Sato's thoughts drifted back to the enchanted spoon. That spoon, which contained a sealed entity of terrifying power, was like a ticking time bomb.

While it had brought him an immense fortune, he couldn't shake off a lingering worry—what if that time bomb eventually went off?

If that happened, as someone who had knowingly withheld information from the League, he would bear some degree of responsibility.

Just as Sato was lost in thought about the potential consequences of selling the enchanted spoon, a knock came at his door. After a brief exchange, he learned that the auction staff had arrived to deliver his prize.

A minute later, the very same blade that had rested on the auction stage was now in his room, securely stored inside a luxurious black case.

Sato did not immediately attempt to extract the two gemstones embedded in the blade, which contained traces of the power of two Legendary Pokémon.

Instead, he simply followed the staff's suggestion, put on a pair of tinted glasses, and verified the authenticity of the blade. Satisfied, he stored both the weapon and its case into his spatial equipment.

With that settled, he returned to calmly watching the ongoing auction. Only about a fifth of the items in the mid-tier auction had been sold so far—the event was far from over.

Even after spending a substantial sum on the blade, Sato still had around 1.43 billion PokeDollars remaining. He had plenty of capital left to continue bidding.

Wanting to liven up the atmosphere, Mina—who had just dodged a disaster—quickly presented another highly anticipated item as soon as the auction of Argus' warblade concluded.

The seventh auction item was a thick book, a collection of insights on raising Grass-type Pokémon. Titled Fujita's Insights, it was authored by Fujita Hidero, a once-renowned Elite Four-level trainer from Kanto.

What made Fujita Hidero especially admirable was that he had been born a commoner and never joined any organizations throughout his life.

Through sheer effort alone, he had risen to the rank of an Elite Four-level trainer.

Team Rocket vouched for the book's authenticity, swearing that it had no duplicates or copies—it was a true, complete original.

Even though most bidders knew that Team Rocket's so-called "credibility guarantee" was utterly meaningless, they still displayed great enthusiasm for the book.

After all, what is the most valuable thing in the world aside from life itself? The answer, of course, is knowledge.

In the Pokémon world, any knowledge related to Pokémon training was considered priceless—worth spending vast sums to acquire.

Even Sato found himself deeply interested in the book, his gaze burning with curiosity as he stared at the well-lit auction stage.

The previously stagnant atmosphere reignited with excitement as anticipation filled the room.

"This book represents Fujita Hidero's lifetime of research and insights, so I won't waste time explaining its value. The starting bid is 600 million PokeDollars, with increments no lower than 10 million PokeDollars per bid."

Seeing the renewed energy in the auction hall, Mina was elated. She raised the microphone and announced the bidding terms loudly.

Before long, an intense bidding war broke out. Eventually, the book penned by the Elite Four-level trainer was sold to a mysterious bidder for a whopping 1.6 billion PokeDollars.

The buyer was extremely cautious. Immediately after winning the bid, they left the auction venue, accompanied by several masked individuals in black attire.

With the seventh item successfully auctioned off, Mina continued to ride the momentum and quickly sold off the next eight auction items—though they were relatively less precious.

Among them, Sato successfully acquired two TMs: Taunt and Safeguard, for a total of 130 million PokeDollars.

Then, when the auction reached the sixteenth item, the event reached another peak.

"I'm sure many of the esteemed trainers here have considered raising a Ghost-type Pokémon. However, it's well known that Ghost-types are difficult to train, and due to various concerns, most of you have given up on the idea.

But today, your chance has arrived!

A distinguished client recently consigned some incredibly rare treasures to us—items that will make training Ghost-type Pokémon significantly easier. Feast your eyes on these three extraordinary artifacts, all of which are exceptionally rare life-energy collectors. With these, you can nurture your Ghost-type Pokémon with peace of mind."

Having successfully sold nine high-priced items in a row, Mina had fully regained her confidence. Smiling brightly, she pulled off the red cloth covering the next auction items and made her grand announcement.

The moment the cloth was lifted, three jade-green artifacts were revealed under the auction stage's bright lights.

The items consisted of a jade hairpin, a jade ring, and a jade pendant. Under the watchful eyes of the audience, faint green energy occasionally rippled across the meticulously carved surfaces of the jade pieces, giving them an air of deep mystery.