After listening to Drake's explanation, Sato was completely stunned.
For a moment, it felt as though he were dreaming. Everything suddenly seemed unreal. The unexpected, enormous reward had fallen into his lap so suddenly that it left him dazed.
"Th-this... this gift is far too valuable. I... I don't even know how to thank you."
The thought of obtaining a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary Pokémon without having to go to great lengths to find one was enough to shake even someone with Sato's composure. Overcome with excitement, he stammered out his thanks to Drake.
Seeing Sato's excited expression, Drake finally felt relieved.
He was now convinced that Sato was simply a somewhat mature young man with tremendous potential. With proper guidance, he could one day become another pillar supporting the League.
"Take good care of Bagon. But remember this: right now, Bagon only represents potential. It doesn't mean you're guaranteed to raise an outstanding Salamence. Following the conventional path is merely the minimum expectation. I hope you'll raise Bagon into something even more exceptional."
With that, Drake gently placed the Bagon he had been holding into Sato's arms and spoke earnestly.
"Yes. I'll definitely raise her well."
"Please take care of me from now on, Bagon."
Sato quickly accepted Bagon, nodding excitedly before greeting her with a warm smile.
Bagon had already learned that she would not be sent back, and she was absolutely delighted.
Seeing Sato greet her, she immediately responded in her own unique way.
"Ah~~"
The next second—
"Aaagh!!"
Sato let out a miserable scream as Bagon suddenly broke free from his arms and happily chomped down on his head.
...….
Two days later, Sato was discharged from the hospital.
During those two days, Steven and the others whom Sato had rescued came to visit him one after another.
Naturally, Sato also received considerable rewards from each of them.
Among them, however, no one was more generous than Steven.
Unlike Drake, the heir to the Devon Corporation and the Hoenn League Champion did not present Sato with a Beldum—a pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
Instead, he gave Sato something he lacked far more.
Income-producing business assets.
At the end of the day, Sato's greatest weakness had always been a lack of resources.
More specifically...
He lacked money.
And he lacked reliable channels through which to purchase rare Pokémon training resources.
Steven himself owned a vast number of high-quality businesses. Every single day, those enterprises generated enormous wealth while continuously acquiring rare Pokémon training materials for him.
Now, Steven transferred shares of several of those premium businesses into Sato's name.
Among them was the Pokémon Day Care that had recently been built along Route 117.
Because of Steven's transfer of ownership, Sato had quietly become the true majority shareholder of the Day Care.
His ownership stake reached an astonishing 70%.
In truth, the Pokémon Day Care had already been completed while Sato was carrying out his mission in the desert.
As one of its shareholders, Sato had originally intended to attend the grand opening, but the ruins expedition had reached a critical stage at the time, forcing him to miss it.
The top-tier Pokémon Breeder Takeda Jiro had indeed lived up to his reputation.
Even before construction had finished, he successfully invited Steven to serve as the guest of honor at the opening ceremony, using Steven's presence to generate enormous publicity online.
Combined with the fact that both Takeda Jiro and his wife were elite Pokémon Breeders whose work consistently produced exceptionally well-raised Pokémon, the newly established Day Care on Route 117 quickly became famous throughout the Hoenn region.
According to Steven, this highly profitable Pokémon Day Care was intended to serve as Sato's permanent headquarters for raising and housing his Pokémon.
Besides the Pokémon Day Care, Steven also transferred ownership of several other premium assets.
These included:
An orchard located near Fortree City.Two commercial office buildings in downtown Slateport City.A share in a private harbor located in Lilycove City.
The orchard near Fortree City contained a large variety of Berry trees.
After years of Steven's careful management, it had become the third-largest Berry supplier in Fortree City, generating no less than 5 million PokéDollars in profit every month.
According to Steven, however, the orchard's greatest treasure wasn't the Berry trees themselves.
It was the fully equipped Pokémon food processing factory located inside...
...along with an exceptionally skilled Pokémon food master.
In the future, whenever Sato wanted custom-made Pokémon food tailored specifically for his own Pokémon, he could simply commission this master to prepare it.
All Sato needed to provide were the necessary raw ingredients.
Then came the two commercial buildings in downtown Slateport City.
These were, in Steven's own words, the two hens that truly laid golden eggs.
According to Steven, the rental income from those two buildings alone would provide Sato with 20 million PokéDollars every month.
With those buildings as a steady source of income, Sato would never again need to run around desperately searching for money.
Instead, he could devote himself entirely to training his Pokémon.
As for the final gift—
Steven's share in the private harbor at Lilycove City—
that was something even more valuable.
It was an entrance ticket.
Lilycove City was the port with the most active smuggling operations in the entire Hoenn region. Every day, enormous quantities of rare Pokémon training resources passed through its docks.
Now that Sato owned a share of Steven's private harbor, Steven had effectively introduced him into that exclusive smuggling network.
From this point onward, Sato possessed the qualifications to legally purchase and sell goods circulating through those underground channels.
It had to be said...
Steven had considered everything with incredible care.
Altogether, he had given Sato four extraordinary gifts. Every single one addressed the most pressing needs of an ordinary Trainer.
The Pokémon Day Care gave Sato a permanent headquarters for raising his Pokémon.
The orchard ensured he would never again have to worry about producing high-quality Pokémon food.
The two commercial buildings completely solved his financial problems.
And most importantly...
The private harbor share solved the single greatest obstacle he had always faced… his inability to obtain rare Pokémon training resources through reliable channels.
From now on, he would never again have to worry about having money but nowhere to spend it.
These were all things Sato had desperately needed for a long time.
Among them, he had only managed to make some preliminary arrangements regarding the Pokémon Day Care.
As for the other three, he simply hadn't had the time or ability to acquire them himself.
To Sato, the high-quality business assets Steven had given him were nothing less than timely help in his hour of greatest need.
With these four invaluable foundations supporting him, Sato felt more confident than ever about the road that awaited him after becoming an Elite Four-level Trainer.