Sell It

At around eight that evening, Sato recalled the three well-rested little ones into their Poké Balls, brought along the windfall he needed to dispose of, and took a roundabout route toward the more remote suburbs.

Sato was already completely different from before. Changing his height was troublesome, but his face and build no longer resembled their original appearance.

With broad shoulders, a fat waist, and a short body, he looked every bit like a greasy uncle. Sato was quite satisfied with this. A child's body was too slight, making flaws in a disguise easy to spot, so he had no choice but to make himself look fatter.

The Underground Trading Market was not actually underground. It had been established in an abandoned factory in Jihua City. At night, the place instead became lively, with late-night food stalls and dance halls thriving while the trading area appeared cold and deserted.

Sato knew that everything outside was merely an illusion technique. After looking over the locations and signs of the temporary shops around him, he picked one and walked straight in.

There was no one inside the shop. The small door leading to the back was only just gently closed. After entering and walking a section down a completely dark path, he had arrived at the Underground Trading Market.

The Underground Trading Market had nothing to do with filth, disorder, or squalor. Bright neon lights illuminated the entire venue as if it were daytime.

The shops on both sides had no names. Sato chose a relatively secluded one and found that it was filled with all kinds of Pokemon Items. He could not tell their quality for the moment, but the quantity was enormous.

"Black Glasses?" Sato spotted a Pokemon Item with effects similar to a Spell Tag and couldn't help but become interested.

"Brother, Black Glasses increase the power of Dark-type moves. Interested?" The Boss was somewhat surprised. He was actually a young man of five or six years old, and he spoke with great enthusiasm.

"Boss, how much are you selling this thing for?" Sato asked with the crafty air of a greasy uncle, at the same time did not forget to inspect whether the Black Glasses had any damaged parts.

"One price: five hundred thousand League Coins." The young man did not care about Sato's expression at all and answered with complete certainty.

"Five hundred thousand? Are you robbing me? Who knows if this thing is even genuine!" Greasy Sato immediately began shouting, making a customer who had just been about to enter hesitate before turning around to find another shop.

"Y-You tell me! A rare Pokemon Item costs at least five hundred thousand, and these are rare Black Glasses! If Dark-type Pokemon weren't so scarce in Johto, I wouldn't be selling them this cheaply!"

Seeing the other party argue excitedly and question him loudly, Sato was no longer in a hurry. Five hundred thousand was indeed a low price, and precisely because it was low, it was suspicious.

What followed was a round of haggling. In the end, Sato discovered that the Black Glasses had a tiny chip on one corner. Seizing on that flaw, he ground the price down to four hundred and fifty thousand. That was the limit.

"Wrap it up for me. By the way, do you..." Sato said hesitantly as he transferred the money.

"What is it? Got any unwanted goods you need to clear out?" The young man smoothly picked up the thread. There were actually few people who came to the Underground Market to buy things; most came to sell.

"I do have some things I can't use anymore. Do you take Special Poké Balls and High-Grade Energy Cubes?"

"We do! Of course we do!"

Seeing that the timing was about right, Sato looked around again and pointed at the backpack behind him. The young man immediately understood and led him into a private negotiation room.

"Take a look. There are quite a lot of things inside. I didn't sort them because it was too much trouble."

"Sure thing. Leave it to me; you can just sit there." As he spoke, the young man took items out of the backpack.

A few minutes later, the young man clattered away at a calculator for a while before giving Sato a final number.

"Seven hundred and thirty thousand?" Sato rubbed his protruding belly and fell silent. He had roughly estimated the items to be worth around a million, but taking thirty percent was a matter of principle for the Black Market.

"Fine, but I'll add two more things. Give me one million." Sato pulled out two Pokédexes from somewhere and placed them on the table, his expression leaving no room for doubt.

"Pokédexes?" The young man's voice drifted as he suddenly did not dare face Sato directly. These were the truly troublesome items.

"What, you don't dare take them?"

"Take them? Of course I'll take them! One million in cash or by transfer?" Gritting his teeth, the young man directly swept the Pokédexes over.

To ordinary people, a Pokédex was just a machine. But to many Underground Organizations and private Research Institutes, it was an excellent research subject.

"Cash."

A transfer was impossible. It would leave too many traces. With a spatial backpack, even another million would be no trouble.

After taking the one million, Sato left without the slightest delay. A forest beneath the moonlit night was a great place for robbery.

The moment Sato left the bustling district outside, he discovered that at least three groups were following him. A trace of disdain rose at the corner of his mouth, and he released Zorua and Haunter.

Zorua transformed into his current appearance and dashed wildly toward the other side, startling a flock of Pidgey into flight.

Haunter laughed sinisterly and vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye. One of the groups had already unknowingly fallen under Hypnosis.

Only one group remained. Sato did not want to get tangled up with them either. The three little ones were still fairly weak and could not afford to show off; they needed to keep a low profile for now.

Besides, unless someone had to be killed, Sato did not want to stain his hands with too much blood in this life. After a few twists and turns, he shook them off. His escape skills were fully maxed out.

"Kuso!"

"Jiejiejiejie~"

"You've worked hard. You'll get an extra meal when we get back!" After recalling the two contributors into their Poké Balls, Sato made a circle and quietly returned to his room. After tidying up and feeding them a late-night meal, Sato quietly meditated for two hours, and dawn arrived.

He changed to a new backpack he had bought long ago and, like a Trainer who had just set out on his journey, made a large number of purchases in Jihua City before leisurely heading toward the next town.

After entering the forest again, Sato took out the three Poké Balls he had confiscated earlier. First, he released the only Normal Advanced Sandslash.

"Chii?"

When Sandslash did not see its owner and instead saw a stranger, it instinctively became wary.

"Your owner..." Sato did not make himself a target of hatred. He only said that its owner had died for unknown reasons, and that he was doing a good deed by releasing it.

"Chii..." Although Sandslash was confused, it could not help but look at the Poké Ball that had imprisoned it. Understanding, Sato tossed it over.

Crack!

With one Slash, the Poké Ball split into two. Sato found it somewhat strange. That middle-aged man had been so thoroughly evil, yet he did not have a single Pokemon that would defend him? He then released Victreebel, which also smashed its Poké Ball without hesitation and left. It was not until Fearow came out that things changed somewhat.

"Caw!" Fearow was exceptionally ferocious and gave Sato no chance to explain, lunging straight at him. Then... it was caught in a Poké Ball again.

After locking the Poké Ball shut, Sato decided to sell Fearow. As a rideable Pokemon, it was not particularly strong, but it was still worth a little more than Pokemon of the same level.