The first au item was a -grade Pokémon egg. Although Julian didn't win the bid, it successfully sparked the i of the au attendees.

  Even Julian himself felt a bit intrigued. As the sed au item was brought onto the stage, he put his phone bato his pocket.

  "The sed au item is the five-year ownership rights to five intermediate-tier and twelve begiier Secret Realms in Rockwell City. Here are the details for each realm."

  After the aueer finished speaking, attendants distributed the dots to every guest.

  "Esteemed guests, please review the materials. The bidding will begin in ten minutes." The aueer announced.

  A total of seventee Realms were up for au.

  The dots only provided a general overview—if they tained detailed information, ten minutes wouldn't be enough to read through them.

  In Drakoria, private ownership of beginner- and intermediate-tier Secret Realms ermitted. Only Advaier Secret Realms and above were trolled by the gover.

  Owning a beginner- or intermediate-tier Secret Realm was one of the most reliable ways for a family to establish wealth and influence—provided that the Secret Realm hadn't already been exploited for many years.

  After ten mihe bidding began.

  In the end, a family from Rockwell City secured the five-year ownership rights to all seventee Realms for 50 billion.

  (T/N: Not in "Dolrs" for anyone who still didn't know)

  As more au items were presehe atmosphere of the au heated up.

  Some guests argued fiercely over items, their faces flushed with excitement. Others deliberately pced high bids to frustrate their rivals—only to overextend themselves and suffer losses in the process.

  Soon, it was time for the twelfth au item.

  "This is the personal training manual of a Grass-type Elite ranked 86th on the Elite Leaderboard. The notes detail the training process for Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur."

  "These notes were signed directly by the Elite himself, so you don't have to worry about their authenticity."

  The moment those words were spoken, the audience's eyes lit up with excitement—especially those who specialized in Grass-type Pokémon.

  Even if two trainers had the same Pokémon with the same potential, why did one grow stronger faster thaher?

  The key difference was irainihods. A good trainihod could signifitly accelerate a Pokémon's growth.

  Most prestigious families had urainihods specialized for certain Pokémon or Pokémon types—These exclusive methods were often the foundation of their family's success.

  Thus, such trainihods were never shared—Unless:

  - The owner was in desperate need of money, or

  - They had discovered an eveer method.

  Although this Elite was only ranked 86th, it was important to remember that the Elite Leaderboard only had 100 spots in total.

  And this ranking system was determined by the Elite Challenge held every four years, making it a highly credible measure of a trainer's strength.

  The leaderboard dated once every four years.

  Although the au only offered training notes for the Bulbasaur lihey were still insights from a Grass-type Elite Trainer—a rare and valuable resource.

  This kind of knowledge was hard to e by.

  Even rass-type Elite Trainers would be tempted to bid—as cross-refereng different trainihods could lead to new insights and improvements.

  In the end, the training notes were sold for a price of 12 billion.

  One had to admit—trainers really were rich. They didn't even know how useful the notes actually were, yet someone was willing to pay over 10 billion for them.

  Oher hand, this also meant that trainers burhrough money fast.

  Take this Elite, for example—If he had enough funds, he wouldn't have sold his own training notes in the first pce.

  For many trainers, the speed at which they earned money was directly tied to how fast they spent it—and sometimes, they spent even faster than they earned.

  The au tinued:

  - The 20th au item.

  - Then the 23rd.

  - Theh.

  Wheh au item was brought out, Julian's i was finally piqued.

  The aueer announced:

  "The 27th au item is a Green potential Hohis is a Pokémon historically trolled by the royal family of Gallia. We were only able to obtain this ohrough 'special els.'"

  "Although this Honedge is only Green-grade, its rarity is still extremely high. And as of now, no Honedge has ever been officially recorded in Drakoria."

  "Owning this Pokémon would make you the very first Drakorian traio possess a Honedge!"

  The aueer's words were all facts—there was no exaggeration.

  Honedge was indeed exclusive to the royal family, where it served as their symbol. Even within Gallia, only royal family members were allowed to own one.

  For an ordinary traio obtain a Honedge? Impossible—uhey were personally aowledged by the royal family.

  And for fn trainers? That was nothing more than a dream.

  Even fn govers had tried to iate with the Gallian royal family. No matter how high a price they offered, Gallia refused to give up even a single Honedge.

  Drakoria had also attempted to buy one officially, but their request was ftly rejected. Because of this, even the Walker family—the number oeel-type family in Drakoria—did not own a single Honedge.

  Yet now, a Honedge had appeared at this au. There was no doubt—this Pokémon had been acquired through illegal means.

  It just so happehat a royal family member had vanished during a Secret Realm expedition not long ago. Their eeam had been wiped out, and the i made headlines for a while.

  Now, seeing this Honedge on au… It was highly likely that it had once beloo that missing royal.

  After all, this Honedge was already Level 33. It could have been caught in a Secret Realm,

  but between "stealing one from a Secret Realm" and "killing a royal and taking it", the tter seemed far more likely.

  This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Because every Gallian royal owned a Hohey had bee prime targets for certain unscrupulous individuals.

  "Alright, let's get straight to it—starting bid: 10 billion."

  The aueer's voice echoed through the hall. But—

  Silence.

  Not a single bid ced.

  Even though Honedge was incredibly rare, this one was still just a Green-grade Pokémon at its core.

  Spending 10 billion on a Green-grade Pokémon? Ridiculous.

  Even a Green-grade pseudo-legendary Dragon-type would sell for around the same prid that was far more valuable.

  But the real problem wasn't just its grade. Oneone revealed ownership of this Pokémon, they would immediately bee a target for the Gallian royal family's wrath. Unless you were strong enough, owning this Honedge was a death sentence.

  If it had been a breeding pair—a male and female—there might have been a profitable opportunity to breed more and make back the cost.

  But with just ohe risks outweighed the bes.

  Just as the aueer began to worry that the item would be withdrawo ck of bids—Julian's voice rang out from Box #8.

  "10 billion"

  The aueer sighed in relief—but nobody else followed up. In the end, Julian won the Honedge for the price of 10 billion.

  Among all the attendees, Julian was the only one who could afford to take the risk. His family backgrou the Gallian royal family wouldn't dare make a move against him.

  Even if they tried to strike from the shadows, they risked getting killed iurn.

  Worse still—if they angered John Walker, he might just decide to take a stroll through their capital—or pay an ued visit to one of their major cities.

  Ohe payment rocessed, the Poké Ball taining Honedge was delivered to Julian. And—This Poké Ball was the kind specially used by the Gallian royal family.

  They hadn't even bothered to switch Poké Balls before selling it, firming Julian's suspi.

  *****

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