Shortly after Cole and Lysandre entered the VIP box, the auction officially began.
As bells rang out, spotlights illuminated the auction stage. A beautiful woman in a red qipao walked slowly onto the stage and into the center of the lights.
Holding a silk fan that partially covered her face, she spoke softly, "Welcome, everyone, for taking time from your busy schedules to attend this auction. I am Scarlet, your auctioneer for today."
Though Scarlet's face was partially concealed, her charm wasn't diminished in the slightest. Many of the lecherous old men in the audience couldn't help but gulp just from hearing her voice.
This woman was no ordinary person — she had been involved with major auction houses for years, knew countless important figures, and had overseen numerous auctions. Her sales always achieved high volumes with rarely any unsold items.
The fact that the organizers had managed to invite her showed they really went all out.
"Well, enough small talk." Scarlet gave a gentle laugh and finally moved the fan away from her face, revealing stunning features.
Many in the audience felt their hearts skip a beat when they saw her face.
Beautiful!
Her face was indeed beautiful, but Cole thought it was just okay. The most beautiful person he'd ever seen was Kiara, and even Diantha's face was more pleasant to look at than this woman's.
"I declare this auction officially open!" As Scarlet gently tapped her gavel, the auction began in earnest, "Now, please welcome our first item."
As an object covered in red cloth was carried onto the auction stage, the spotlights that had been focused on the beautiful woman shifted to illuminate the auction item.
"Everyone, please look." Scarlet said as she carefully removed the red cloth, revealing a massive oil painting.
The painting depicted a beautiful young woman wearing an elaborate dress and a jeweled crown, with a knight holding a shield and sword standing beside her.
The knight's expression was determined, though his gaze toward the young woman revealed hints of restrained affection.
"This is a portrait from over a thousand years ago of a royal princess from Kalos. Our appraisers have verified it as 100% authentic. It has tremendous collector's value, and it's said there's a tragic love story behind it."
Scarlet carefully detailed the painting's history and background to the bidders, telling the tragic love story between the princess and her knight. Many emotional bidders in the audience were moved to tears.
One had to admit, she knew how to create buzz — whether the legend was true or not remained to be verified.
"The starting price for this painting is P$300,000. Those interested may start bidding."
As soon as Scarlet finished speaking, bids started coming in.
"P$310,000!"
"P$320,000!"
...
"P$500,000!"
...
In the end, the painting sold for P$620,000 to a wealthy lady who still had tears glistening in her eyes — clearly still caught up in the story Scarlet had just told.
After the painting, various precious items appeared on stage one after another — gems, porcelain, necklaces, antiques and so on — each selling for higher prices than the last.
"Next up for auction is a rare Pokémon egg. If there are any trainers present, you won't want to miss this!" Scarlet said playfully.
Of course there were trainers present, quite a few of them, so as soon as she finished speaking, many people sat up straight.
Cole couldn't help but crane his neck too, though not because he wanted to bid on the egg — he was just curious about what kind it was.
"Are you interested in this Pokémon egg?" Lysandre asked when he saw the young man craning his neck to look.
The VIP room here was similar to the one they had been in at the Pokémon Arena earlier — there was a glass wall in front that provided a full view of the auction floor.
Electronic screens were mounted on the left and right walls, showing close-up views of the items being auctioned.
"No, no, no." Cole shook his head repeatedly, "I don't even know what would hatch from that egg, how could I be interested? Besides, I don't need any more Pokémon — I'm just a bit curious."
Lysandre nodded without further questions and turned his attention back to the auction item.
The Pokémon egg was housed in an ornate incubator and carefully carried onto the auction stage by staff.
Cole wanted to complain: all this fancy decoration was just excessive packaging — an incubator is still just an incubator no matter how ornately decorated!
Through the transparent incubator, he could see the egg's true appearance — a bright red Pokémon egg with scattered black markings and flame patterns swirling across its shell.
Cole admitted: his experience was limited; he didn't recognize it.
Identifying unknown Pokémon eggs usually requires experts, since they come in countless colors and patterns that can look very similar to each other.
Scarlet then explained, "This is a Charcadet egg from the distant Paldea region. It's a very rare Pokémon, uncommon even in Paldea itself."
She went on to detail information about Charcadet — its type, potential abilities after hatching, powerful moves it could learn, what it would evolve into, evolution requirements, and so on. She covered every detail thoroughly.
"The starting price for this Charcadet egg is P$800,000, with minimum bid increments of P$100,000!"
Sure enough, as soon as Scarlet finished speaking, trainers began bidding frantically.
"P$900,000!"
"P$1,000,000!"
...
"P$1,700,000!"
"P$1,800,000!"
...
Competition for the egg was fierce, and it eventually sold for P$3,000,000 to Blaine, the Gym Leader of Cinnabar Gym in Kanto.
Seeing Cole's wide eyes, Lysandre thought he was interested in Charcadet and said, "You could have bid just now too. Why didn't you?"
Cole quickly shook his head, "I'd have to be crazy to spend 3 million on an egg."
"It's just an egg — boiling it wouldn't make it special."
What followed seemed to be the trainer-specific portion, with various trainer items being brought on stage — held items, high-purity evolution stones, rare Pokémon, and so on.
Lysandre bought one or two held items his Pokémon could use. The prices varied, but he didn't seem concerned about that.
The auction continued.
"Next up for auction is a set of items used for Pokémon special training." At Scarlet's signal, staff brought out a tray covered with red cloth, "Everyone, please look!"
She pulled off the red cloth as spotlights illuminated the tray, revealing six neatly arranged items: a bracelet, a belt, a pair of glasses, a band, an anklet, and a weight.
"These six items are called the Power Bracer, Power Belt, Power Lens, Power Band, Power Anklet, and Power Weight. When Pokémon wear these items during training, they achieve twice the results with half the effort.
For example, with the Power Bracer, a Pokémon's attack power gets better training. With the Power Belt, a Pokémon's defense gets better training. And with the Power Lens, a Pokémon's special attack gets better training..."
She explained the functions of the six items one by one, listing their various benefits.
The Power Band helps Pokémon better train their special defense during training, the Power Anklet helps Pokémon better train their speed, and the Power Weight helps Pokémon better train their stamina.
In short, each item had its own extraordinary use.
"These six items are the latest masterpiece from Master Pa-Pawer, who reportedly spent two whole years completing them. This auction is their first public debut, so you absolutely mustn't miss out!" Scarlet announced excitedly.
The Master Pa-Pawer she mentioned was a renowned item craftsman in the Pokémon world. Every item he created was the cream of the crop — some couldn't be bought even with money, while others had waiting lists too long to join.
"Pa-Pawer" was just his public alias; very few people knew his real name.
Upon hearing Master Pa-Pawer's name, many trainers began stirring with excitement, including Cole, who had his eye on this set of special training items.
At this point, Scarlet announced, "The starting price for this set is P$1,000,000, with minimum bid increments of P$100,000! Bidding starts now!"
As soon as Scarlet finished speaking, people immediately began bidding.
"P$1,100,000!"
"P$1,200,000!"
"P$1,300,000!"
"P$1,400,000!"
...
"P$3,000,000!"
...
"P$5,000,000!"
...
The price was skyrocketing, making Cole's heart race. Master Pa-Pawer's reputation was really something else! This was practically highway robbery.
"P$7,000,000!"
...
"P$8,000,000!"
...
"P$9,000,000!"
The bidding continued, and as it looked like it would break P$10,000,000, Cole could only sigh inwardly.
Ah~ Better give up. Though these items are good, they're not meant for me!
However, at that moment, Daisy snatched the bidding device from his hand and swiftly entered "P$10,000,000"!
Then, the large screen behind Scarlet clearly displayed that VIP Box 112 had bid 10 million — Box 112 was where Cole's group was seated.
"P$10,000,000 from Box 112! Any higher bids?" Scarlet announced excitedly.
Cole was stunned by his mother's actions.
"Mom, are you crazy?! Where are we going to get that kind of money?"
He only had access to about 30 million in total funds. Using 10 million at once to buy items — how would he compete for the S-class berry tree? What about the orchard's operating expenses and cash flow?
Faced with his questioning, Daisy just waved her hand dismissively, with an attitude of "don't worry about it", and continued bidding.
The price kept climbing.
Daisy: P$11,000,000
Daisy: P$12,000,000
Daisy: P$13,000,000
...
Whenever a round number came up, she would bid without hesitation. Her lavish spending made Cole wonder if his mother had been possessed by something.
He dove forward, hugging her legs, pleading, "Mom, please stop! Forget it, I don't want those things anymore!"
At this point, Daisy, while entering 15 million into the bidding device, looked at him and said, "But I need them. I want that Power Lens."
Cole: ...
"15 million going once, 15 million going twice! Any more bids? Such precious and useful items won't come again once they're gone. No more bids? Alright, 15 million going thrice — sold! These items belong to our distinguished guests in Box 112!"
With Scarlet's final words, everything was settled. A set of training equipment had just taken half of Cole's fortune.
Cole: (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)
He sat on the floor hugging Daisy's legs, looking completely lifeless.
"Money... money... my precious money!"
"Hahaha..." At this point, Lysandre finally couldn't hold back his laughter.
Cole shot him a fierce glare. Can't you see how miserable I am? And you're laughing! Do you have any humanity? Are we even friends?
"Hahaha..."
His expression had Lysandre and Daisy both laughing heartily.
Daisy, still laughing, opened her phone and showed Cole the storage account screen.
He looked. The account showed 30 million.
"What's wrong? It's just 30 million, which will soon be all gone!"
Daisy pushed the phone closer to his face.
"Garde~ Garde~ Garde~" — Look again, look again.
Cole replied irritably, "Will looking make the money multiply?"
Daisy covered her mouth and laughed, "Look first, maybe it will."
He glanced at the account balance. It's just 30... wait, am I seeing things? Why does it look like there's an extra zero?
300 million?
Count again... still 300 million? Count once more... still 300 million.
Finally realizing something was off, Cole suddenly looked up at his mom.
"300 million?"
"Garde~" — That's right!
"Really 300 million?"
"Garde~" — Of course it's real.
"What happened?" Cole asked, bewildered, "How did 30 million become 300 million?"
So Daisy told him about how she had invested all his assets.
Cole jumped up from the floor excitedly, hugged her, and planted a big kiss on her cheek.
Mmwah!
"Mom, you're the best! I love you so much!"
'Geez, how embarrassing!' Daisy thought as she wiped the kiss from her face.
✲✲✲
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