"Unbelievably annoying!"
Kael slammed his palm down on the laptop keyboard, then leaned hard back into his recliner. It felt as if someone were deliberately working against him.
He had spent a full two hours combing through every major trading platform and auction site online. Prism Scales were undeniably rare, but not nonexistent. Kael had even found records of past transactions on several large marketplaces. And just moments ago, a tiny, low-traffic auction site had held an online auction—one that happened to include a single Prism Scale among the items.
The auction site's IP traced back to the Hoenn Region, and according to the listing, the dazzling, iridescent scale had been discovered by chance that very morning by an ordinary fisherman while casting his nets off the coast near Sootopolis City. Unaware of its true value, the man's son casually uploaded it to the auction site.
3,000,000 Pokédollars
Three million—snapped up instantly with a buyout.
Seeing the result on the screen, Kael was furious. But there was nothing he could do. When someone had the money and went straight for the buyout, there was no arguing with it.
The fisherman's son had no idea what the multicolored scale actually was, nor what it could be used for. He only thought it looked pretty and might attract collectors online. That was why the starting bid had been a mere 30,000 Pokédollars.
Online auctions, however, had a rule that differed from real-world ones: the buyout rule. A rule designed specifically for the wealthy—allowing them to pay one hundred times the starting price and instantly claim the item.
Once Kael calmed down, his rationality returned. He pulled the keyboard back in front of him and inserted a USB drive from the desk into the laptop.
"Let's see who this big spender really is."
His hacking skills had never been lacking. The USB drive was filled with programs Kael had written over the years. Whenever he wanted to verify a hypothesis but lacked crucial data, he would sometimes resort to infiltrating a research institute's mainframe to obtain the information he needed.
He had discovered that this world's hacking technology was still in its infancy. Network security clearly hadn't been taken very seriously by the regional Leagues. Of course, he didn't dare act completely without restraint. When he was short on money, Kael could have sold classified data from major research labs to underground organizations for a massive payout. It would have been fast money—but if anything went wrong, the consequences were far beyond what he could bear.
If you can't change the rules of the world, then adapt to them.
The IP address originated from the Hoenn Region.
Kael watched as the red marker representing Hoenn flashed repeatedly on his screen. After locking onto the general region, he began narrowing it down to the exact city…
The trace finally stopped at one place:
Sootopolis City.
Sootopolis Gym.
"So it's him."
Kael's lips curled slightly into a knowing smile. He opened the Hoenn League's official website. Dominating the homepage was a striking portrait—a man beautiful almost to an excessive degree. Turquoise hair, matching turquoise eyes, dressed in a perfectly tailored white suit, a black cape billowing behind him.
As the face of the Hoenn League's homepage, this man's identity was anything but ordinary.
Wallace.
Former Gym Leader of Sootopolis City.
In January of last year, he had become the Champion of the Hoenn Region, the symbolic figure standing at the pinnacle of the region.
There were four Elite Four members—but only one Champion. Only the strongest trainer of a region could claim that title and become its living emblem.
The new Hoenn Champion, Wallace, was an unusual figure. He hadn't risen through the ranks as a traditional Pokémon Trainer, but as a Pokémon Coordinator—and not just any coordinator, but a master among them.
In theory, Coordinators specialized in commanding Pokémon to perform elegant, visually stunning techniques, highlighting either refined artistry or a Pokémon's natural beauty. Pokémon Contests were, in essence, performance-based competitions. As a result, many people believed Coordinators were far inferior to Trainers in actual combat—flashy, decorative, and impractical.
Yet it was precisely such a Coordinator who had become a regional Champion.
Kael remembered clearly how much of a stir it had caused when Wallace's promotion was announced the previous year.
Wallace was said to be close friends with the former Hoenn Champion, Steven Stone. Rumors circulating online claimed the two had once fought a private 6-on-6 battle, in which Wallace—despite being a Coordinator—had emerged victorious. Supposedly shaken by the loss, Steven Stone relinquished the Champion's title to his friend.
Of course, those were only rumors. Whether they were true or not, Kael neither knew nor cared.
Someone with no traditional Trainer background, no experience as an Elite Four member, yet able to leap straight to the position of Hoenn Champion—there was only one explanation.
Wallace was unfathomably deep…
or the power backing him was.
This was not an opponent to provoke.
Kael immediately abandoned the idea of planting a destructive virus in the Champion's main system. The wrath of a Hoenn Champion was not something a mere bronze-rank bounty hunter could afford to face.
Still, interest had to be collected.
Kael quietly copied a large cache of classified videos and documents from the other party's computer, erased every trace of his intrusion, and then cleanly severed the connection.