Upon hearing Yuga's words, the sleazy man felt a bit embarrassed. He knew that Pokémon like Magikarp and Feebas, which had difficult evolutions, were not easy to sell at a decent price even if they had high-potential stats.
"Although Feebas is hard to evolve, once it becomes a Milotic, you'll make a fortune," the man tried to convince Yuga. After all, several of the Feebas he had were of green potential, and he didn't want to sell them off as ordinary Pokémon. That would be heart-wrenching.
While the man was speaking, Yuga suddenly heard the voice of the system in his mind.
[ Congratulations, Host, for triggering the mission: Transformation. ]
[ Mission Name: Transformation ]
[ Description: As a Pokémon Nursery owner, how can you back down when faced with a challenge? Evolve a Feebas into Milotic and let it undergo a transformation. ]
[ Reward: Water-type Pokémon Universal Pokéblock Formula, Beauty Increase Pokéblock Formula. ]
Yuga hadn't expected the system to suddenly issue a task at this moment, and the rewards for the task were quite generous—two types of Pokéblock formulas.
While Yuga might not be able to cultivate multiple Milotic, evolving just one was certainly within his capabilities. During his previous adventure with Robert, he had obtained a Prism Scale among the treasures they found. Robert already had a Milotic due to Feebas evolving, so he didn't choose the Prism Scale. Instead, Yuga ended up with it, and now it was coming in handy.
With a group of Feebas right in front of him, Yuga was feeling a bit excited!
"Uncle, the fact that Feebas can evolve into Milotic is common knowledge around the world. You don't need to use that excuse to deceive me. If you truly have a method to evolve Feebas into Milotic, I'd be willing to pay a bit more even if it's more expensive."
Although Yuga was determined to acquire those Feebas with green potential, he still needed to negotiate the price with this sleazy man.
Hearing Yuga's words, the man grew anxious and quickly said, "Among these Feebas I have, several are of green potential. If you choose one of them, you'll make a profit. These are green potential Pokémon!"
All the Feebas in his group looked the same. He couldn't even remember which ones had green potential. The reason he was saying this was to persuade Yuga to buy more, hoping that by purchasing more, Yuga's chances of choosing one with green potential would increase.
He wanted to use these few Feebas with green potential to sell off the numerous ordinary-potential Feebas at the same time.
Unfortunately, he had no idea who he was dealing with at the moment.
In fact, Yuga found the sleazy man quite admirable. While Feebas weren't extremely rare, they were still scarcer compared to Magikarp. Yet this man had managed to acquire a whole group, and many of them were green potential, showing that he did have some skills.
"Do you know that Pokémon with green potential in the market typically range from 300,000 to 600,000 Pokédollars? Although Feebas is priced lower, selling them for around 100,000 each is reasonable. Here's my offer: I see that we're getting along well, so for each Feebas you pick, I'll sell it to you for 10,000. If you choose one with green potential, you'll recoup your costs immediately and even make a small profit. What do you think? Want to give it a try?"
In order to convince Yuga to buy his Feebas, the sleazy man had put a lot of effort into this. He did have Feebas with green potential, but they only totaled six, whereas there were nearly a hundred with ordinary potential. If he sold them all, he would certainly make a profit.
You see, under normal circumstances, no one would buy Feebas with ordinary potential. Is it really worth all this effort just to cultivate a Feebas with ordinary potential into a Milotic? Why bother? Instead of doing that, one could invest time into raising a normally talented Pokémon.
"Really?" Yuga feigned surprise, as though he had really gained an advantage.
"Of course, of course! I definitely won't deceive you." Seeing Yuga's reaction, the sleazy man happily affirmed.
"Alright then, I'll pick a few." Yuga walked up to the water tank and pretended to observe the Feebas.
In the end, while Yuga was pretending to choose, the sleazy man didn't realize that all his Feebas with green potential had already been picked by Yuga.
To avoid raising suspicion, Yuga deliberately chose four more, making it a total of ten, just in case the sleazy man became suspicious.
Yuga wasn't worried that the man would be suspicious afterward since it was uncertain whether they would meet again in the future. His main concern was to prevent immediate suspicion.
Yuga felt no psychological pressure in tricking the sleazy man; after all, he himself was somewhat of a schemer.
As for the four Feebas with ordinary potential that Yuga picked, he planned to evolve them all into Milotic. After all, the system had rewarded him with Pokéblock formulas to increase beauty. Trying them out was a good idea, and having multiple Milotic in his Pokémon Garden would be pleasing to the eye.
Although the sleazy man was a shady character, he was experienced in the proper procedures for selling Pokémon as stipulated by the League. It was clear he was an old hand in the business world.
Transferring 100,000 Pokédollars to the man and capturing his ten Feebas in Poké Balls, Yuga quietly asked the man, "Uncle, do you really only have this much inventory? Do you have any other good items?"
Feeling like he had just made a good profit, the man was in a good mood. After hearing Yuga's question, he whispered, "Of course I have good items, but it depends on whether you're willing to pay the price."
Seeing a potential deal, Yuga grinned and said, "Money is not an issue. Do I look like someone who's short on funds? But I'll have to see the potential of your goods!"
"Follow me." With that, the man held Yuga's hand and led him to the cargo area of his large truck, closing the door behind them.
Once they were inside, the man turned on a light, illuminating the previously dim cargo area.
Truly living up to his reputation as the Magikarp King, the cargo area was filled with numerous tanks containing vibrant red Magikarp. Remarkably, they appeared healthy, but all of them were of ordinary potential.
"I must say, Uncle, is your place solely dedicated to breeding Magikarp?" Observing the abundance of Magikarp, Yuga expressed his surprise.
"You guessed it right! Our family indeed specializes in breeding Magikarp." The man smiled.
In the world of Pokémon, even after the establishment of the Pokémon League, some small kingdoms remained independently governed. Although these kingdoms were quite small, often no larger than an ordinary city in the League, they still adhered to traditional governance methods.
The man's family was once responsible for breeding Magikarp exclusively for a certain small kingdom. The ruler of that kingdom was enamored with the power of Gyarados and sought a way to rapidly evolve Magikarp. This led to the birth of the man's family business.
Unfortunately, the family's efforts to find a method were in vain. Despite spending vast amounts of resources, they were eventually abandoned by the kingdom.
Nowadays, the man's family had relocated from that kingdom and had become a simple Magikarp merchant, who doesn't even have the qualification to establish a daycare within the League's jurisdiction.
Although Yuga found it odd that someone was exclusively breeding Magikarp, he didn't inquire further since it wasn't particularly relevant to him.