บท 27: Striaton City Auction Prelude
Next-Day Morning:
After yesterday's testing with Munna, I am feeling more excited than ever. To think Gastly is a huge Jackpot!! The reflect-type move can temporarily give me abilities as long as Gastly reflects the pokemon type.
The sad part, for now, is that Gastly can only use it four times. But, I am not that worried. As long as she evolves or enters the next stage, the four-time limit can be increased.
Today, there is a huge auction coming up, and am looking forward to Snorunt going big. A female Snorunt is much more expensive than a male counterpart because of the rare Ghost-type possibility and also breeding capability.
The best part is that many nobles might visit the Auction House. Considering that the ice type gives the charm ability, most female nobles will want to buy the talented Snorunt. Froslass is a powerful rare ghost type that fits perfectly for Female trainers. Also, these nobles have a lot of pride so they might go on a bidding war to show off their wealth.
I am expecting nothing less than 30 million for Snorunt. If we have provided a Dawn Stone then the whole Snorunt plus Dawn stone combo would go for a higher price. But it is what it is, can't dwell on something I don't have but hopefully, I can get some good items in the auction.
[Breakfast Done!! Let's go] said Elekid snapping me out of my thoughts while munching a Pecha berry.
"Ok! but today you have to behave well. We might get killed if you offend someone higher in status," I said carefully explaining the consequences.
"Elekidd Kidd," he said assuring me that he would behave.
I nodded at him and looked at Gastly who is gracefully sipping some fresh blood.
[Can't get over this well-balanced rich spicy flavor, how about you get me this type of blood every day?] she asked licking her lips.
I was too happy with her moveset, so I bought her some Advanced stage Seviper blood.
"The harder you train the richer the rewards, the same goes for Elekid," I said not rejecting her suggestion.
Although it will cost me a lot, I have enough to feed them well. One thing I will never slack off is the rich treatment I give to my pokemon.
'After today's auction, I might become wealthy again,' I thought grinning to myself.
As I was dreaming about the auction, I suddenly remembered something and stared at Gastly,
"Today, you will stay in the Pokeball instead of sleeping in my shadow. The Auction house is very strictly guarded, they can easily detect the pokemon that are hidden," I said making Gastly raise her eyes.
[Huh? No! why does he get to go and not me?] she asked pointing at the smirking Elekid.
"I am not rejecting you, I am just requesting you to stay inside the Pokeball until we get to the VIP room. After going inside, I will immediately release you," I said trying to come to a compromise.
She still seemed to be upset but regrettably nodded. Gastly is still 2 weeks old so behaves like a child, she always competes with Elekid in all things. This has been happening for the last three days and not sure if it will last forever. But I will have to come up with a peaceful solution or else it will only get worse.
'Internal competition is good until they both know when to not cross the line,' I thought and returned Gastly to the Pokeball. I then looked at my cocky Elekid and said,
"Let's go!"
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30 minutes later:
Ethan asked me to wait outside the Academy gate so that he can pick me up.
'It has already been 15 minutes past the meet time,' I thought folding my hands.
[Ohhh!! Dad what's that?] said Elekid immediately nudging my pants while pointing at a huge four-wheeled carriage that was coming towards us.
"Stri" "Stri" "Stri" "Dash" "Dash" "Dash"
I was stunned in place while looking at the pokemon pulling the carriage. A total of 6 horse Pokemon ran in two columns, three on each side. Rapidash and Zabstrika were used to pull the lightweight wooden carriage.
'No!! this doesn't look like a mere normal carriage, this is almost a mini house,' I thought looking at the humongous boat-shaped structure that was on four wheels. The whole cart was brown with golden linings on the top surface of the windows. (Image in comments)
On the top of the Carriage stood a huge blue flag with two crossed Samurott swords, at the bottom of the emblem is a White embroidery etching that read "The Frost Family".
The four-wheeled mini-house stood directly in front of us. Elekid and I had our mouths open as we stood there in a daze.
"Arthur? Arthur!!!!" called a familiar voice which brought me out of shock and also complain about the shameless display of wealth.
I looked to the left window from where the voice came and spotted Ethan waving at me.
"Hurry up!! get in" he said pointing at the door.
"Ye.... Yes," I said while picking the 'still in a daze' Elekid.
I got into the Carriage and Ethan asked me to take a seat. I looked at the spacious interior and realized how big the gap is between a Knight and Duke.
"Isn't this an Overkill?" I asked pointing at the whole carriage.
"Overkill? This? No!! not even close," he said swaying his hands.
He then leaned back and said,
"This is just my carriage, my father is already near the Auction hall. You should have seen that one, even I gasped in shock."
"Your father? Do you mean Duke Daemon Frost? Why is he here?" I asked in confusion as Ethan himself knew about the auction three weeks ago.
"He is here to check up on me. It's been more than three months since he saw me so it's like a family meeting," he smiled in joy.
"Ohhh!! will my presence be a nuisance?" I asked. I did not want to get in between their reunion.
"No! Not at all. Dad is interested to see you," he stated making me startled.
"Me? why?" I asked back adjusting my posture. The carriage while moving was a bit bumpy due to the uneven road.
"No reason, My Butler informed him about you being one of my close friends. So, he just wanted to see for himself," he said while smirking.
I nodded at that and looked out of the window thinking about the Great King Class Trainer Daemon Frost. As far as I know, he is a Water-type specialist. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of a man he is.
.
.
.
.
.
After 10 minutes:
Several tiny bungalows started to appear in my view as we move closer to the city. The academy is on the outskirts so there are barely any people around.
As we move forward, more and more people started to appear. I could spot shops and busy markets. It felt like the crowd has a life of its own. There were vibrant clothes all around making it seem like a festival. As the carriage passed each building, I could also see people whisper and chatter glancing at the emblem on top of Ethan's carriage.
All the hustle around might be due to the auction. Common people are always curious about the high class, so whenever nobles gather, you could see the civilians encircling to gossip. While Nobles display their pride and arrogance, civilians display jealousy and longing.
I closed the window and turned towards the napping Ethan,
"How big of a deal is this auction? I mean how many other Noble families come here?" I asked in curiosity.
"I am not sure either, this is my first time here. But I remember dad telling me that many Nobles use this as a pre-established place to meet every year. So I presume almost all nobles including the Royal family might come," he said lazily without opening his eyes.
I raised my eyes at that but I am not surprised at the fact that Ethan did not attend this kind of gathering. But if the Royal family attends then the items for the auction might be rare and huge.
As I was thinking, the Carriage was moving at a fast pace, and gradually slowed down. Ethan too noticed it and looked at me,
"Ok! what you need to do is 'follow me'. Don't look at anyone, especially do not make eye contact with any noble in curiosity. There are plenty of stupid idiots amongst the nobles who like to engage in conflicts, students in the royal academy are the ones with common sense so don't try to be as nonchalant as you are in the academy," he advised in detail, making me nod in understanding.
Elekid was already sleeping as he felt bored sitting ideally in the carriage. I returned him to the Pokeball while Ethan did the same with his Munna.
The carriage came to a stop and the driver rang a bell to indicate that we have arrived at the destination. I cracked my knuckles and got down.
The moment I got down, I saw a huge queue lined up. All the people around were staring at me and whispering, I suddenly realized that the commotion was due to the fact that I got down from the Frost family carriage.
I immediately moved to the side while welcoming Ethan out. I made sure that it felt like I was Ethan's bodyguard but the whispers only got louder.
"That's him!!!"
"The monster who killed his..... you know...."
"Yes, I too heard about it too....."
"I heard he can kill anyone with just a look..."
"How is here? I thought he never attends events..."
All kinds of things were blurted out in quiet voices. I saw Ethan's face with concern but to my surprise, he did not seem to care. But deep inside I felt guilty because I was the one who brought him here. I never thought it would be this bad.
"Don't care about them, I have heard these insults more than a thousand times now, at this point it's just a routine," he said walking ahead.
I sighed for a second and quietly followed him. The Auction Hall was a huge building with a lot of pillars at the entrance. It's painted in white and resembled the White House from Earth. The ground floor is for the crowd to watch and the first floor is the place where bidders seat.
The tickets are very expensive yet the commoners spend their earnings to see the upper class. It's a kind of entertainment for them as this only happens once a year. It also seems like we are a bit late, all the nobles are already inside waiting for the auction to start.
Every common folk just made way for us. Even the guards at the front did not ask for the ticket, they greeted Ethan with respect and showed him the way to the VIP box. It seems like Duke Daemon already arranged everything.
We went up the large circular stairs following the fully equipped guards. After a minute-long walk, the guard stopped in front of a room and said,
"Lord Frost is inside and this will be the young master's VIP room. Lunch will be arranged on the third floor after the first part of the Auction," he said bowing in respect.
"Third floor? you mean all Nobles gather for eating?" asked Ethan raising his brows.
"Yes, Master Ethan. The two-hour Lunch break is for everyone to interact," he said explaining the details.
"Hmm, ok you can leave," said Ethan while giving him a Gold coin.
"Thank you, Master Ethan," the guard said in happiness and walked away.
I gulped my saliva in expectation while Ethan opened the metal door of the room,
"Click.... kreeeee"
Ethan immediately spotted a middle-aged man who almost looked like a carved sculpture. He had neat combed whitish silver hair with a defined jaw. His skin was as clear as water and his aura was very regal. I would even mistake him to be a huge star if not for medieval clothes, The Commander of the Royal army, and the King class Duke of the kingdom, Daemon Frost.
He noticed the door opening and immediately smiled at Ethan with his full teeth visible.
"Ethan!! Finally!! how have you been? you seem a bit skinny. Are you eating well? Is the University treating you well? how is your sleep?", a series of questions were spewed out in the span of three seconds.
"Father!" exclaimed Ethan and hugged tightly in joy. I was surprised at how close they were,
'Ethan is expressive son huh? that's new...' I thought silently watching the drama unfold.
Duke Daemon patted Ethan's back in comfort and turned towards me. He looked at me with a sharp and gentle gaze,
"Arthur?? How long has it been? I am sorry for your father's demise and couldn't make it due to my commitments. How have you been?" he asked in a gentle tone making me flabbergasted.
'The fuck? Did I ever meet him? Was it before my transmigration?' I thought as multiple questions ran across my mind.
Understanding my stupid confusion he continued,
"So I assume Ethan never mentioned the past? That's fine, take a seat now..... The auction would start in 5 minutes. We can talk about the details as we go along," he said pointing towards the couch in front of the huge transparent glass, which is directly pointed towards the elevated center stage.
"Ye....Yes, Thank you, Lord Frost,"
I mechanically nod at him forgetting the ethic and walked towards the seat while gazing at Ethan's smiling face for answers.
---------Chapter End--------
Note:
I have not decided what the third Pokemon might be. But I have some pokemon in mind so I will put a poll with the Pokemon pictures in the comments. One of the pokemon with the top 2 highest likes would be selected.
The poll will be the next chapter, so don't forget to like the Pokemon you want from the choices.
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