Chapter 90

In Huo La's room at the port Pokémon Center.

Huo La, Brock, and Bilan sat in a triangle—two Pokémon eggs with different colors lay quietly in the open suitcase on the table.

"I've already had someone identify them." Huo La broke the silence first, his fingertips pointing at the eggs in the suitcase, "This one with water wave patterns is a Lotad egg, and the one with rock luster is an Aron egg. As for this Salandit egg in the incubator, I've already decided to let it become my partner, so I won't share it."

"Then these two are for me?" Bilan's eyes lit up, her body leaned forward, clearly having no interest in the Salandit egg, her gaze glued to the two eggs in the suitcase.

"You wish." Huo La sneered, closing half of the suitcase lid, "You can only pick one of these two, don't even think about taking them all."

"Why?!" Bilan exploded instantly, slapping the table and standing up, "I provided the information, even if it's split equally according to effort, I should get one and a half!"

"Just because I took the firepower, and you just hid in the back and picked up the bargain." Huo La looked up at her, his tone carrying a bit of teasing, "Besides, you still owe me money that you haven't paid back."

"You..." At the mention of "owing money," Bilan's arrogance instantly deflated like a balloon pricked by a needle.

Not to mention the old debts, even the ferry money for chasing to the port this time was something she had to ask Professor Oak for with a thick skin, otherwise she would really have to walk to Saffron City.

She sat back in the chair dejectedly, muttering: "It's just a little money..."

"Alright, stop talking nonsense." Huo La pushed the suitcase toward her, "You pick first, pick quickly and decide."

Bilan gave a fierce "humph," her gaze turning back and forth on the two eggs—Lotad is Water-type, just right to match her Squirtle; Aron is Steel-type, although its defense is strong, it is too resource-intensive to cultivate.

After hesitating for a moment, she still carefully picked up the Lotad egg with water wave patterns and held it tightly in her arms.

Seeing her finish picking, Huo La immediately closed the suitcase, picked it up and stuffed it at his feet, his movements so fast that he was afraid she would go back on her word.

Bilan looked at his "protecting food" appearance, so angry that her teeth itched, just as she remembered something, she spread her hands and leaned over again: "That... lend me some more money, I want to stay at the Pokémon Center, and I have to buy an incubator."

"Damn, the old debt hasn't been cleared, and you want to borrow a new one?" Huo La refused without thinking, "No, not lending!"

"You!" Bilan slapped the table violently again, just about to explode, Brock stood up from the side, ready to be a peacemaker.

"However, there is a profitable business right now." Huo La changed the subject, speaking slowly, "If done well, not only can you pay off your debt, but you can also earn a sum, do you want to join in?"

"Making money?" Bilan's anger was instantly suppressed, her eyes lit up again, and she immediately sat back in the chair, her tone even softening a bit, "What business? Is it reliable?"

Huo La roughly explained Granny's reward, the cause and effect of the destruction of the jellyfish habitat, and his plan to "solve the problem for the jellyfish."

After Bilan finished listening, she stared at Huo La and Brock for a long time, and suddenly asked: "How to split the money? I want half!"

"Half? Why don't you go rob the Pokémon Bank?" Huo La rolled his eyes, "At most 100,000, not a penny more."

"No! At least one-third! That's a one million reward, 100,000 is too little!"

"150,000, not a penny more."

"250,000! No talk if it's less!"

"155,000."

"... I've already conceded 50,000, and you only added 5,000?!" Bilan completely exploded, slapping the table again, shaking the incubator on the table.

Huo La spread his hands: "A mosquito is meat no matter how small, it's not bad to have money to earn."

Brock looked at the two who were red-faced from arguing, shook his head helplessly, and raised his voice: "Alright! The money hasn't arrived yet, whether the reward can be obtained is not certain, what's the point of arguing now?"

These words were like a basin of cold water, instantly extinguishing the anger of the two.

Huo La and Bilan looked at each other, each "humph"ed, turned their heads and stopped looking at each other.

"The top priority is to implement the plan." Brock saw this and struck while the iron was hot, starting to assign tasks, "Bilan, you go contact Professor Oak and ask him if there is any data about the jellyfish group in the port; Huo La, go find Professor Oak according to your plan; I will go to the fishermen in the port to inquire about the situation and feel out the activity rules of the jellyfish group."

"Okay, let's do it this way." Huo La agreed first.

Bilan stood up, holding the Lotad egg and walking out the door, just as she grasped the doorknob, she suddenly retreated.

She placed the egg gently on the table, pushed it to Huo La, her tone awkward: "You help me take care of it first, I'll come to you to get it later."

"Taking care is fine, but you have to pay." Huo La raised his eyebrows.

"You stop it!" Bilan glared at him, "How much is that Aron egg worth, do you think I don't know? It can sell for at least 200,000 on the black market! Before, it counts as me owing you 5,000, even if I only take 'half', you still have to pay me back! Now letting you help look after the egg is considered cheap for you!"

Huo La thought about it, it seemed to be the truth, so he didn't argue anymore, waved his hand: "Alright, hurry up and go, don't delay things."

After Bilan went out, Huo La picked up the suitcase at his feet, took out the Salandit incubator from his backpack, and pushed it to Brock together with the Lotad egg on the side, his tone sincere: "Please, Brock. The Salandit and Lotad eggs will trouble you to take care of, after all, your breeding knowledge is better than ours. As for this Aron egg..." He paused, "Consider it as a reward for you taking care of them until they hatch."

Brock looked at the three heavy eggs in front of him, just about to ask something, but Huo La's voice had already sounded first: "Brock, don't worry, although the source of these three eggs is not bright, it absolutely does not violate the League law. When the eggs hatch, I will contact Professor Oak, he will help handle the subsequent registration procedures, and there will be no trouble."

Brock looked at Huo La's serious appearance and finally sighed, not asking any more questions.

Huo La gave away such a rare Steel-type Pokémon egg as soon as he said so, which was clearly sincere trust in him.

He reached out and touched the eggshell gently, smiling helplessly: "Since you've said so, can I still refuse? Don't worry, I will take good care of them."

Huo La nodded, his gaze swept over the room, as if he suddenly remembered something, took out the room key from his pocket, and placed it gently on the corner of the table in front of Brock: "I'll go to the front desk to open another room, you wait for Bilan to come back later, and give her the key."

He paused, his tone carrying a bit of unnatural awkwardness: "A girl, always sleeping in the rest area of the Pokémon Center, what does it look like."

As soon as the words fell, without waiting for Brock's response, he turned and walked out of the room quickly, even his back revealing a bit of haste of "don't talk to me more about this."

Brock picked up the key on the table, looked at Huo La's back disappearing at the end of the corridor, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but hook into a shallow smile.

He shook his head lightly, muttering in his heart: "Clearly it's good intentions, but he has to pretend to be impatient, really a cute and face-saving young man."

He looked down at the three eggs on the table, his fingertips brushing gently over the texture of the Aron egg, and glanced at the Salandit egg with phosphorus patterns in the incubator, his eyes becoming increasingly firm: "Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of you."