Pokemon: Bounty Hunter

Silas pondered for a while before deciding to store the Fire Stone away for now.

There was no need to rush into a decision immediately.

Whether he kept the Fire Stone to accelerate his future main team's growth and slowly saved up money to buy a Pokémon egg, or sold the Fire Stone to obtain a strong Pokémon right away and then gradually invested in its training, the difference wasn't too significant.

Right now, his top priority was increasing Pidgeotto's strength, at least until it evolved into Pidgeot.

With today's unexpected earnings, he could afford to invest in Pidgeotto's training.

Once Pidgeotto evolved into Pidgeot, Silas would be confident enough to take on harder C-rank missions—and maybe even challenge some B-rank missions.

At that point, raising his next Pokémon wouldn't be as financially stressful.

He could decide what to do with the Fire Stone later, since it would always be in high demand.

After securing the Fire Stone, Silas carefully placed it in the inner pocket of his jacket.

Such a valuable item was not something he dared leave in his home safe—who knew if a thief might break in?

Not to mention, wild Pokémon could also be a problem.

Pokémon like Meowth were exceptional thieves, skilled at stealing valuables.

With that settled, Silas opened his PokéGear, intending to spend some time before bed studying the Trainer Forum—not mindlessly browsing, but learning from shared battle experiences.

Many top-tier trainers uploaded their battle videos for younger trainers to study.

Of course, these videos were not free—their pricing depended on the trainer's rank.

To qualify for selling training footage, a trainer needed to possess at least three pseudo-Elite Level Pokémon.

Since watching videos was something he could do later, Silas decided to check the forum marketplace first.

At the top of the homepage, a pinned thread caught his eye:

"Rare Item Marketplace – Custom Offers Allowed."

It was a forum section where trainers sold valuable items—mostly held items.

Evolution Stones were rarely listed, and the ones that did appear were of noticeably lower quality than his Fire Stone.

As Silas habitually scrolled through the listings, his eyes suddenly lit up.

A newly posted sales thread read:

"Sharp Beak for Sale. No Trades. DM Offers. Clown Climb."

It was a Flying-type held item.

Silas was certain this listing hadn't been there a few days ago.

Checking the posting date, he saw it was just listed yesterday—and apparently still unsold.

He then examined the boost effect: 6% increase in Flying-type move power.

Silas frowned slightly—that explained why it hadn't sold yet.

Typically, move-boosting held items—such as Charcoal (Fire-type) or Miracle Seed (Grass-type)—provided a 5% to 20% increase in move power.

Their market value depended entirely on the strength of the boost.

Research had shown that most of these items granted at least a 10% increase—considered standard quality.

Only a small percentage fell below 10%, which were classified as flawed items.

This Sharp Beak, with only a 6% boost, was a rarity in the worst way.

In fact, Silas had never seen another one like it in his sixteen years of experience.

Still, rarity had its own benefits.

Silas relaxed his frown.

Even if this particular Sharp Beak wasn't highly desirable, its value wouldn't depreciate.

At worst, it would be harder to resell.

For now, giving it to Pidgeotto would still make it a little stronger—and every bit of power counted.

If necessary, he could always sell it later.

Had it been a higher-tier Sharp Beak, its price would've skyrocketed—and Silas wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway.

Glancing at the current offers, he saw that most bids hovered around 1.8 million Pokédollars.

Silas nodded slightly—that was about what he had expected.

For comparison, an 8% boost held item had previously sold for nearly 3 million Pokédollars.

It might seem ridiculously expensive, but a 10% boost item usually started at 8 million Pokédollars or more.

During shortages, their price could even exceed 10 million Pokédollars.

For highly valuable items like Dragon Fang or Twisted Spoon, prices would double under the same conditions.

Some might wonder why just a 2% difference in boost effect caused such a massive price gap.

It came down to battle effectiveness.

According to extensive research, standard-quality items provided a significant upgrade in move strength, while flawed items only offered a flat power boost.

To put it simply, imagine two held items:

One boosts move power by 8%, and the other by 10%.

If a Flying-type move originally had a base power of 60, the calculation would be:

8% boost → 60 × 1.08 = 64.8 power

10% boost → 60 × 1.1 = 66 power

At first glance, the difference seemed minor.

But in actual battles, even slight numerical advantages could determine victory or defeat.

A series of move clash experiments were conducted under controlled conditions to compare damage effects.

The tests included:

1. No held item vs. No held item → Moves completely canceled each other out.

2. No held item vs. 8% boost item → Moves completely canceled each other out.

3. No held item vs. 10% boost item → The 10% boost item allowed the move to deal slight damage.

4. 8% boost item vs. 10% boost item → The 10% boost item's move managed to break through and deal slight damage.

When they tested a 12% boost item against no held item and against the 8% boost item, the 12% boost item's move consistently dealt damage.

However, when the 12% boost item clashed against the 10% boost item, the remaining energy was minimal, causing virtually no damage.

The Mystery Behind the Data

These results were perplexing at first.

After further analysis, Pokémon researchers at Professor Oak's Lab in Pallet Town discovered that standard items not only increased damage but also enhanced the energy level of moves.

To put it in simpler terms, standard items altered the move's energy structure, allowing them to break through opposing attacks more effectively.

This was why, even though flawed items and standard items appeared similar on paper, in real battles, standard items had a significant advantage.

The difference between standard items was relatively small unless the percentage boost gap was extreme.

These findings were published in a research paper titled:

"On the Differences Between Standard and Flawed Move-Boosting Items" by a researcher at Professor Oak's Lab.

Silas didn't fully understand the science behind energy mechanics, but he grasped the key point:

Standard items were vastly superior to flawed ones, and their market value reflected this difference—they cost more than double the price.

Since he wasn't an energy researcher, he didn't dwell on the details.

Getting back to business, Silas sent a message to the seller with his offer.

He planned to spend 2 million Pokédollars while keeping an extra 400,000 Pokédollars as reserve funds.

Even though the Sharp Beak's effect wouldn't make much difference in battles against trained opponents, it would still be useful against wild Pokémon.

This would help Silas complete missions more efficiently and earn more money.

However, the seller's reply came almost immediately—and it made Silas's face turn black with frustration.

The message simply read:

"No"