"Who is it?"
Tetsuya asked.
"Come eat breakfast." Catherine's voice came from outside the door.
"Okay."
Tetsuya got dressed and opened the door. Catherine was standing at the entrance with some breakfast snacks.
"Thank you." Tetsuya accepted the breakfast.
"Mm, no need. Eat first, I'll come back later." After saying that, Catherine returned to her room.
Tetsuya began brushing his teeth and washing his face. Looking at himself in the mirror and at the breakfast on the bedside table… 'This is what a normal person's life should be like!'
After breakfast, Tetsuya and Catherine went out for a walk.
"Sigh… in a place like this, we can't even properly train our Pokémon. How much longer are we going to stay?" Catherine asked.
"At most five days. At the very least, we need to earn enough for food expenses and learn about the current situation. In any case, we can't rush things right now."
After Tetsuya finished speaking, Catherine reluctantly nodded. In truth, he could understand her feelings. After surviving a great disaster, who would not want to return home first? Moreover, the upheaval within her family made her eager to investigate the truth.
The more things a person cared about, the more those concerns became the place where their heart belonged.
After returning to the hotel, Tetsuya turned on the tv and began watching News programs of all kinds.
It turned out that Pryce had voluntarily resigned from his Elite Four Position two years ago and had gone to jointly manage Mahogany Gym with Sheila.
Mahogany Town had also become the new economic center of northern Johto Region. After all, when someone at the Elite Four level stepped down to become a Gym Leader, countless Trainers would naturally make challenging him their first goal.
The population flow through Mahogany Town had become more than ten times what it had been a few years earlier, and the Pokémon Center had been expanded because of it.
Siegfried of the Dragon Tamer clan, the former Champion of Johto Region, had transferred to Kanto Region, where he had become the Dragon-type Elite Four. Together with his wife, the Grass-type Elite Four, they occupied two seats within Kanto's Elite Four.
Aoi Maiko, Johto Region's Grass-type Elite Four, had also resigned from her position for unknown reasons. Of course, Tetsuya knew very well that she had already joined Team Rocket. He could not help admiring Giovanni's personal charisma.
At present, Johto Region was suffering from a shortage of talent. As a result, Chuck of Cianwood Gym had been appointed as the Fighting-type Elite Four, while Howard of Goldenrod Gym had become the Normal-type Elite Four. Although both were among the best Gym Leaders, they still fell slightly short of true Elite Four standards. They had essentially been forced into the positions, and neither of them was fully confident in their own abilities.
Dark-type Elite Four Kurokawa Ryosuke and Poison Elite Four Hattori Tōkichi remained in office. Ryosuke had also failed to ascend to the Champion's throne. As a result, the position of Champion in Johto remained vacant.
The current situation was actually quite favorable for Tetsuya. First, Pryce had voluntarily resigned from his Elite Four Position, which was essentially a public declaration that he no longer wished to compete for power. As a result, his existence would no longer affect Ryosuke and Tōkichi.
Chuck and Howard were merely filling vacant Elite Four seats. During their tenure, they would certainly tread on thin ice and were unlikely to accomplish anything significant.
The League Council, however, was now becoming anxious. Johto was facing a generational gap. Among the younger generation, aside from Karen, no particularly dazzling rising stars had appeared.
Meanwhile, Lance, Lorelei, and Bruno of Kanto Region had already distinguished themselves throughout the various Leagues. In Hoenn, Steven and Wallace were advancing with unstoppable momentum. In Sinnoh, Cynthia, Flint, Caitlin, and Volkner were each capable of standing on their own.
As for Johto, no matter how one counted, there was only Karen. Naturally, this caused the members of the League Council to think of Tetsuya, the young boy who had defeated Caitlin during the Johto-Sinnoh exchange tournament.
However, when the League Council thought of Tetsuya and subsequently investigated him, they discovered that he seemed to have vanished from the face of the world. Naturally, they also dispatched people to conduct covert investigations. Although there was no direct evidence proving that it was the work of Ryosuke and his associates, there were always some clues to be found.
Many of Ryosuke's underground dealings over the years gradually came to light during the investigation. Although the League Council never openly pointed it out, there were always subtle hints. This was also the primary reason Ryosuke had failed to become Champion. His previous activities had also become much more restrained.
And now, Tetsuya could calmly face both Matsuba and Pryce. After all, he was now a pitiful person who had survived four and a half years of near-death suffering~
Pryce would only feel guilty toward him. As an Elite Four member, Tetsuya had solved Pryce's urgent problem, yet Pryce had failed to protect him. As for Matsuba, as Tetsuya's official "leader", his concern for him would be no less than Pryce's.
Four and a half years of hellish torment had brought him a brand-new spring!
Holding onto a trace of hope, Tetsuya borrowed the inn owner's computer and checked his identity records. As expected, he was now officially listed as a missing person. However, his status still showed him as an official pupil of Ecruteak Gym and a Pokémon Researcher. All assets under his name were temporarily being held in trust by Matsuba, the Gym Leader of Ecruteak Gym.
Agaiin, as expected, his identity could no longer be used, but his assets had not disappeared. Matsuba's character was still worthy of trust. Even if he had any selfish intentions, Pryce would never let him get away with it. Pryce was a man of unwavering integrity.
---◓---
That night, Tetsuya visited the Black Market. He had already abandoned the idea of selling Dragonair and Aerodactyl there. The Pokémon being sold in this Black Market were generally of a much lower level, and he had not seen any wealthy black market "bosses". There was simply no one willing to purchase Pokémon at such high prices.
It seemed he could only shift his target to auction houses. Although the price would be somewhat lower, at least it was guaranteed. He also urgently needed to sell these two Pokémon to obtain operating funds.
For two consecutive days, Tetsuya traveled among the major auction houses. Dragonair's and Aerodactyl's capabilities and levels were appraised, but he continued comparing offers. Even though he was eager to sell, he still maintained an attitude of "I can sell, but I don't have to."
The value of Dragonair spoke for itself. This was the pre-evolved form of Dragonite, Johto and Kanto's famous pseudo-legendary Pokémon. Its future potential was immeasurable.
As for this Aerodactyl, it was simply terrifying. Its rarity surpassed even those pseudo-legendary Pokémon. This was an extinct Pokémon. Raven had spent an enormous amount of resources to catch it. Its current level was also very high, making it worth as much as three or four pseudo-legendary Pokémon combined.
On the third day, Tetsuya sold Dragonair for 200k Pokédollars. With that amount of money, he had more than enough to return to Ecruteak City. Once auctioned, that same Dragonair would likely fetch at least 300k. Back when he attended the auction in M-City, a Gible had sold for 300k Pokédollars.
One had to remember that in Kanto and Johto, Dragonair was naturally far more popular than Gible!
However, no one had yet offered the price Tetsuya wanted for Aerodactyl. Because of time constraints, he did not plan to stay here much longer. Moreover, he had already thought of an excellent sales channel, one that would definitely allow him to sell it for an unexpectedly high price.