Although Layered Peaks Gym had no actual dress code, and a Breeder's daily work rarely called for a white lab coat, the eggs Nova had brought back were already here, waiting to be tested.
The testing device looked like a large MRI machine. Four Breeders stood around it, discussing the readings as they came in.
Nova asked questions whenever something confused him, and Director Howard answered every one of them without holding anything back.
By now, everyone in Layered Peaks Gym, from the newest recruit to the senior staff, knew that this closed door disciple of "Withered Earth" was very likely to become the next Gym Leader. Nova's standing here was close to that of a crown prince, and mid ranking staff like Howard were more than happy to build a good relationship with him early.
From Howard's explanation, Nova learned the machine was called an Energy Field Detector. It could pick up the faint energy given off by a Pokémon egg and use that reading to estimate the egg's aptitude.
Every Pokémon egg, it turned out, was a tightly packed bundle of energy that constantly gave off a weak signal. Experienced Breeders had always judged aptitude by sensing this energy themselves, and technology had finally caught up enough to measure it with a machine.
Looking at the first reading, Howard guessed the egg would turn out to be Elite Four Level. Even for a Gym as wealthy as Layered Peaks, that was a rare and valuable find.
Nova had planned the order carefully. He pulled out two eggs marked with Purple Talent first, wanting to make a strong first impression.
Sure enough, both eggs tested at Elite Four Level, and Nova straightened his back proudly in front of the two older men.
"Who still thinks my eggs came from the black market? Speak up!"
"Who could even buy two Purple Talent eggs on the black market? Say something!"
Gilbert Armstrong could not stop grinning. The better the goods Nova brought home, the more it proved his strength as a Trainer, and the sooner he might grow strong enough to take over Layered Peaks Gym. As for the triple price Gilbert had promised him, what was that compared to training an heir worth trusting with his life's work?
Besides, knowing Nova, whatever money he earned would go straight back into his Pokémon anyway.
Mort Cotterill had once told Gilbert that back when Nova earned two hundred league coins a day, he would spend only twenty on himself, hand thirty to Aresdra Cortana for living expenses, and pour the remaining one hundred and fifty straight into feeding his Nidorino.
Still, having little money and reaching real prosperity were two very different things.
The full value of what Nova had brought back this time hadn't been calculated yet, but Gilbert guessed the boy would earn at least five million league coins from him. At the rate his Pokémon ate, he probably wouldn't be able to spend it all anytime soon.
Maybe it's time to raise the training intensity for this kid, Gilbert thought.
While Gilbert calculated in his head, Nova was doing some quiet math of his own.
Gilbert didn't know the exact value of everything yet, but Nova had a rough idea.
An ordinary Trapinch egg usually sold for around sixty thousand league coins, but that was before appraisal. To Nova, the egg market felt a lot like the jade trade he remembered from his past life. An unappraised egg was like an uncut stone; its price stayed low until someone confirmed what was inside.
Once appraised, a Trapinch egg with Superior aptitude could climb to around one hundred and twenty thousand. An Elite Four Level egg was like cutting into that stone and finding solid Imperial Green inside, the kind of find that belonged at auction, worth at least five hundred thousand by a conservative guess.
These numbers, of course, applied only to Trapinch eggs. Prices for other species would rise or fall depending on rarity and battle potential.
Even counting just the eggs, Nova figured he could bring in around ten million league coins from this batch alone.
Add in his martial uncle's promise to buy everything else from the desert at triple market price, and that added another thirty million.
Thirty million. Thirty whole million.
Enough to live comfortably for a long time.
This is it, he thought. This time I've really made it.
And that wasn't even counting the Rhydon and its group, or his Onix companion with a talent for Dig.
As long as he kept digging into this "gold mine" that was Layered Peaks Gym, whatever came out of it would end up in Nova's pocket.
Once all sixty seven eggs had passed through the machine and the numbers were tallied, even Gilbert struggled to stay composed. Sixty eggs came back with Gym Leader aptitude, and seven with Elite Four Level. Not a single one tested below Professional Aptitude.
By this point, Gilbert was convinced Nova had truly struck gold, that he'd stumbled onto the nest of an Elite Four Level Flygon.
And clearly, this Flygon didn't just practice careful breeding, it also believed in having plenty of offspring. What other explanation was there for so many high quality eggs from one nest?
With this many Trapinch to raise, Layered Peaks Gym could build a formidable Flygon squad within a few years, one strong enough to serve as a core unit in any major conflict.
Gilbert's gaze lingered on Nova a little differently now. Could this orphan boy actually be some kind of chosen one?
Nova had gone out, run straight into a Level 68 Rhydon, and caught an entire Rhyhorn group with it. Then he'd found the entrance to a newly discovered Hisui Secret Realm, and on top of that, raided the nest of an Elite Four Level Flygon.
No ordinary person had luck like that.
Still, remembering the story of the famous trainer Syndicate, who once found a Master Ball inside a broken old treasure chest, Gilbert felt a little better. People destined for great things always seemed to carry a bit of extraordinary luck with them. Next to catching a Legendary Pokémon with a Master Ball, what Nova had found really wasn't so unbelievable after all. If a Master Ball ever went up for auction, thirty to fifty million league coins wouldn't even be enough to get through the door.
Out of everything Nova had brought home, the most valuable single find was without question the Level 68 Rhydon. Given a suitable Protector for a Link Evolution, it had every chance of becoming the main ace of an Elite Trainer.