NOVEL WEB Chapter 158 – Scyther
The Electric-type breeding center wasn't lacking visitors because of disinterest — it was just more expensive.
You could see it from the egg prices alone: Electric-type eggs were pricier than Grass-type ones.
There weren't any eggs below 500,000 Pokédollars. Even the blind box eggs started at that price.
Most of the eggs had pale yellow or dark yellow patterns on their shells.
Among the most popular baby Electric-types here were Pichu, Elekid, Mareep, Electrike, Plusle and Minun...
Aside from Magnemite, which didn't sell well on the market, every other common Electric-type Pokémon was in high demand here.
Voltorb wasn't being sold — too prone to self-destruct, making it a liability. Only the main branch's breeding facility carried that species.
The store layout was similar to the other breeding centers. Baby Pokémon with potential ranging from 20 to the low 30s were kept in one zone.
Those with over 40 potential and inherited moves were kept in another zone, and the rare, store-treasured babies with over 50 potential were in a separate section.
After all, there weren't many high-potential Pokémon here. They mostly came from the same group of pseudo-Elite four parent Pokémon, so their offspring were easy to identify.
But the prices for Electric-types? Significantly higher than Grass-types.
Each zone's prices were more than a million higher than their Grass-type counterparts, and the store-treasured Pokémon had even passed the 10 million mark.
And Reiji figured the prices could go even higher — once Elekid's third-stage evolution was discovered, or once Mareep and Electrike's Mega Evolutions were revealed.
If those were unlocked, even 10 million wouldn't be enough to buy high-potential Elekid, Mareep, or Electrike.
Mareep's Mega Evolution, after all, turned it into an Electric/Dragon-type — a proper Electric Dragon.
And then there were Electivire and Manectric — especially Electivire. One look at its hulking frame told you it was an incredibly powerful Electric-type.
After casually browsing through the Electric-type breeding center, Reiji moved on to the Fighting-type center.
This one felt less like a breeding facility and more like a gym, with actual battle arenas inside.
The prices of Fighting-type Pokémon eggs were right up there with Electric-types.
This was largely due to a local culture of fighting tournaments — separate from standard Pokémon battles.
Whether it was underground arenas or official rings, the city's residents and Trainers were deeply invested in Fighting matches. That's what drove the prices of Fighting-type babies so high.
Despite lacking a type advantage like Electric-types had here, Fighting-types still managed to be just as expensive — if not more.
Apparently, to promote growth and wring every drop out of the battle culture, the city's officials had fully embraced Fighting tournaments.
Reiji wondered if Contest culture had caught on yet. If it had, that'd probably be next on their list.
After browsing the Fighting center, Reiji left. The babies here were all pricey, with the most expensive being Meditite — a dual Fighting/Psychic-type.
Other babies available were Mankey, Machop and Tyrogue.
The evolved forms included Primeape, Poliwrath, Machoke, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Hitmontop, Blaziken, and Medicham.
Heracross, despite its secondary Fighting typing, wasn't here — likely because it leaned more toward Bug-type.
Still, what surprised Reiji was seeing Poliwrath and Blaziken here — both Pokémon that only gained the Fighting type after evolving.
So it wasn't that Poliwag was weak, it was just that Water Stones were expensive. This shop only had one Poliwrath, and it clearly specialized in Fighting-style matches.
If someone only cared about Fighting tournaments, they'd be willing to evolve a Poliwag with a Water Stone just for the role.
Strangely, Reiji didn't spot Infernape, Lucario, Toxicroak, or Gallade — all very strong Fighting-types.
Probably because they hadn't spread to this region yet — they were all from the Sinnoh region.
Once those Pokémon arrived, especially with Infernape's Blaze, Lucario's Aura, Gallade's Psychic prowess, and Toxicroak's Poison typing...
They'd absolutely flatten every other Fighting-type here.
After leaving the Fighting-type breeding center, three more were left. Reiji made his way to the Flying-type center, filled with nothing but Flying-types.
Flying-types were the fifth most popular Pokémon category here, after Electric, Fighting, Grass, and Water.
In the Orange Archipelago — with its many islands — Flying-types made for fast, convenient transportation between them.
Top sellers in the shop included Pidgey, Wingull, and Togepi.
The first two were useful both for transport and battle.
Pidgeot was the most beloved among Flying-types — not just for its power, but for how cool it looked. Riding on one gave off a very flashy vibe, which appealed to young Trainers.
Pidgey was also the most expensive in the shop — especially the store-treasured Pidgey.
Togepi, on the other hand, was purely a pet. Not that it couldn't battle, but its buyers usually weren't interested in battling.
It was popular among wealthy women — just like other cute Pokémon such as Eevee, Pichu, Plusle, Minun, Jigglypuff, Psyduck...
Other options like Spearow, Murkrow, Taillow, and Hoothoot were available too.
However, there were no Zubat — perhaps because of their Poison-type risk.
Gligar, which could only glide and was weak to Water, Farfetch'd which could only fly short distances, and Doduo which couldn't fly at all — those were all being sold here.
Most of the buyers weren't looking for transportation though — they were seeking battle-capable Flying-types.
Prices here were roughly on par with Water-types, and again, most Flying-types were sold primarily as transport Pokémon.
After leaving the Flying-type breeding center, two more remained: Normal-types and Bug-types.
The Normal-type center had babies like Rattata, Meowth, Farfetch'd, Doduo, Lickitung, Tauros, Eevee, Igglybuff, Smeargle, and Skitty.
Most of the Pokémon here fell into two categories: pets and battle companions.
Wealthy ladies tended to favor Meowth, Lickitung, Eevee, Igglybuff, Smeargle, and Skitty.
These cute-looking Pokémon sold for high prices — even rivaling Grass-types.
Meanwhile, Rattata, Farfetch'd, Doduo, and Tauros could be bought at Water-type baby prices.
Leaving the Normal-type center, Reiji entered the final shop — a Bug-type breeding house.
The most popular Bug-type babies here were Scyther, Heracross, and Pinsir.
Why? Simple — those three looked the coolest. Even Wurmple and Caterpie had appealing designs.
Thanks to just those three, Bug-type baby prices were pushed all the way up to Grass-type levels.
Insects and arthropods — the eternal fascination of young boys. Reiji had always loved Scyther in his past life and dreamed of catching one.
He never got the chance then, but now that he was in this world — of course he'd catch one eventually. Scyther was just too cool.
Especially once it evolved into Scizor — that striking red armor? Unmatched style.
Still, now wasn't the time. He hadn't settled down yet. That would have to wait.
Also missing from the shop were Poisonous Bug-types like Weedle, Spinarak, and Venonat — probably removed to avoid any danger to children.
Grass-types like Oddish and Bellsprout, while technically Poison-type as well, had likely had that trait "removed." Otherwise, they wouldn't be on sale.
After leaving the Bug-type breeding center, Reiji had finally finished his tour of all seven shops and found a place to sit and catch his breath.
He'd seen a massive amount of information today — definitely needed time to sort through it all.
Strangely, he hadn't seen a single ugly Pokémon baby — but that made sense. These were all meant for sale, after all. If they were too hideous, no one would buy them.
From the prices in these seven shops, Reiji had gotten a pretty clear picture of local Pokémon market values.
If he had to rank them, it would go something like this:
Electric = Fighting > Grass = Bug = Normal > Water = Flying
[End of Chapter]
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