Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

Moltres!

One of the three legendary birds—Moltres!

Cain's eyes were fixed on the Poké Ball on the platform, less than half a meter away from Archer.

He couldn't believe Team Rocket had prepared such a surprise. Now he understood why so many major figures had attended the auction.

Even compared to a pseudo-legendary or the Dratini with the move Extreme Speed, this Pokémon was on another level.

Moltres was known as a third-tier legendary, but no one should underestimate it because of that title.

Although its base stats didn't surpass those of pseudo-legendaries, this type of Pokémon couldn't be measured by numbers alone.

Cain admitted he was surprised.

Team Rocket had made a masterful move!

No wonder one of the four generals, Archer, was personally presenting the auction.

Cain activated his system to scan the data of the Pokémon inside the Poké Ball.

Pokémon: Moltres (Light Purple)

Gender: Genderless

Level: 58

Type: Fire + Flying

Ability: Pressure

Held Item: None

Egg Moves: None

Basic Moves: Wing Attack, Ember, Fire Spin, Agility, Endure, Ancient Power, Flamethrower, Safeguard, Air Slash, Sunny Day

Learned Moves: Tailwind, Heat Wave, Snore, Laser Focus, Sky Attack, Defog

TM Moves: None

A Moltres with quasi-elite strength.

No wonder they had managed to capture it.

But who had been responsible for this capture?

And most surprising of all—they were willing to sell it at auction!

"Looks like most of the attendees came for this Moltres," Cain thought as he leaned back in his seat.

Although he was surprised, the truth was that he didn't have much interest in this Pokémon.

It was powerful, yes, but also a difficult Pokémon to train at this stage of its development.

Without a detailed training method, raising this Moltres would be a trial-and-error process that would consume too much time.

And, considering the current situation, its price wouldn't be low.

Surely, many were already prepared to bid.

Also, this wasn't a Moltres with a divine role. Although its quality was Light Purple, it would probably be more valuable for Cain to invest in his Pupitar or other Pokémon.

All he could do now was sit and enjoy the show.

"I'm sure I don't need to explain what kind of Pokémon Moltres is," Archer said firmly. "This specimen was captured in the crater of an active volcano and was the only Pokémon present in the area. Therefore, there's no risk of involving the legendary Moltres."

There was more than one Moltres in the world, just like with Articuno and Zapdos.

They weren't exclusive to Kanto; they could be found in various regions.

In fact, several trainers owned these Pokémon.

For example, Noland from the Battle Factory had an Articuno.

Surely there were other trainers with Moltres or Zapdos.

"Furthermore, Team Rocket has already evaluated the quality of this Moltres," Archer continued. "Its potential surpasses elite level and has been classified as a Pokémon with Champion-level quality. You can rest assured its value is unquestionable."

The Light Purple quality.

In Team Rocket, this was the standard for a Pokémon with the potential to reach Champion level.

In the world of trainers, these were known as "Champion-quality" Pokémon.

Archer displayed the evaluation certificates and the Pokémon's stats on a giant screen for all attendees to see.

"The starting price is one billion Pokédollars. Each bid must increase by at least 10 million. Let the auction begin!"

One billion Pokédollars!

An astronomical price.

But no one doubted that Moltres was worth it.

While most of the attendees were still shocked by the price, the true magnates were already bidding.

No one had come without the intention to buy.

"One and a half billion," someone announced, raising the bid by half a billion in one go.

"Two billion."

The second bidder raised the figure without hesitation.

The bids were coming from the private boxes, where the most influential figures sat.

Those in the common seating area could only watch.

"Two and a half billion."

The numbers kept rising.

Cain, calm, watched the show without flinching.

There was no clear limit to the value of this Moltres.

If this auction had been more private, maybe three billion would have been the ceiling.

But at this annual event, with so many interested buyers, the price could only go up.

Soon, it reached five billion.

The bidders began to slow down.

That was a ridiculous number.

Cain thought that with that amount of money, he could reach the Elite Four level without problems.

He was capable of using those resources far more efficiently, while many others couldn't make the most of them like he could.

The final bidding was fierce, and many people even started arguing with each other.

The names of certain factions were shouted openly.

The Drako family already knew about it in advance.

What surprised Cain was that the Stone family also sent people.

It was hard to tell whether Steven had come with them, but probably not—otherwise, Steven would've been the most suitable person for this mission, not Cain.

There were other organizations aside from those.

For example, the largest conglomerate in the Kanto region—Silph Co.

Silph Co. was the world leader in Pokémon manufacturing technology, and the most commonly used Poké Balls were made by them.

Their financial resources were by no means inferior to those of the Stone family.

There were also many families with great strength and background.

What Cain didn't expect was that, in the end, the one who won the Moltres auction wasn't Silph Co., nor the Stone Family, nor the Drako Family.

The winner was from the Berlitz family of the Sinnoh region.

A family with two hundred years of history. Although there were no extremely powerful trainers among its members, the main members of the family were all renowned scholars in the field of Pokémon research.

Everyone in their family was a genius with a brain.

Their connections extended not only throughout the Sinnoh region, but also into other regions.

The final transaction price for this Moltres was five and a half billion!

A figure that defied logic.

But for the Berlitz family, this purchase was just one more step in their research on legendary Pokémon.

Their real ultimate goal was Rayquaza.

(End of Chapter)