Sato carefully browsed the redemption list. Skipping the first and second tiers, he opened the Pokemon redemption section for the third tier.
Charmander\Squirtle\Bulbasaur: 1,000 Game Coins
Totodile\Chikorita\Cyndaquil: 800 Game Coins
Eevee: 800 Game Coins
Abra: 500 Game Coins
Lapras: 500 Game Coins
Houndour: 300 Game Coins
Sneasel: 300 Game Coins
All the Pokemon on the third tier of the redemption list cost no more than 1,000 Game Coins. The Starter Pokemon from the Kanto and Johto Regions were prominently listed among them.
"Can I choose one on-site?" Seeing Sneasel and Houndour, Sato asked with interest.
"Which Pokemon would you like to redeem? I can take you to choose one in person!" A polite, well-mannered attendant approached and spoke in a gentle voice.
"Houndour and Sneasel. If you have Murkrow, take me to see those too."
"We have Murkrow as well. This way, please."
Upon entering the room specifically used for exchanging Pokemon prizes, they saw huge glass cases arranged in neat rows. One or more Pokemon of the same species lived in each case.
In the very center of the room, a thick glass case with who-knew-how-many layers of reinforcement held a lazy Larvitar, lying beneath an incandescent lamp with its eyes closed as it slept.
Before evolving, Larvitar did not have the Dark type, so Sato could not sense its talent through Dark Power.
He looked up at the glaring lights swaying from the ceiling and felt a trace of pity for the Larvitar. In such an environment, Larvitar had no chance of growing properly.
The attendant did not disturb Sato as he stood there. Anyone who entered this room would be drawn to Larvitar first.
"Sorry for the trouble!" Sato came back to himself, turned around, and gestured for the attendant to lead the way.
After walking a few steps, he first saw a group of Murkrow sitting in rows and obediently staying on branches. Dark Power activated, and all the emotional feedback was surprisingly identical. All ten Murkrow were Elite Level.
Sato secretly shook his head and pretended not to like them, asking the attendant to take him to see the Houndour and Sneasel. As expected, although none of the Pokemon being used as prizes had Normal Level talent, they were all merely Elite Level.
Converted into Pokemon Coins, spending 300,000 to buy a Houndour or Sneasel was a little expensive, but their talents were guaranteed, so there was no risk of being cheated.
Sato had to admit, Silph Game Corner really did care about its reputation!
"Did you not find anything you liked, sir?" Reading his expression, the attendant asked softly when Sato was preparing to leave.
"Yeah. Let's go back and exchange for something else." Sato pretended to be uninterested, imitating a child perfectly.
"I noticed that you seem to have a particular fondness for Dark-type Pokemon. The Game Corner recently acquired a batch of Dark-type Pokemon from other regions. Would you be interested in taking a look?"
"Other regions?" Pretending to be surprised, Sato nodded excitedly.
"This way, please." The attendant smiled faintly. It was relatively easy to serve a child like Sato, and saying a few extra words made it easier to successfully get him to exchange for prizes. They had performance requirements, after all.
The more prizes a player exchanged for at once, the lower the value of each individual prize would be, and the lower the Game Corner's costs would be. After all, some things were priceless because they could not be bought, while placing them on the redemption list was merely a gimmick.
Like the Larvitar in the glass case. It had already lived for more than thirty years, making it a thoroughly old Larvitar. It was truly pitiful.
Farther inside, the glass cases disappeared, replaced by many iron cages. Clearly, the Pokemon here had only just been delivered. They had yet to undergo initial taming or inspection.
Sato did not care about Pokemon that were not his companions. Thus, although he showed disgust on the surface, he felt little inwardly.
"This is the place. These Pokemon are Dark-type Pokemon captured in the Hoenn Region. Let me introduce them to you..."
"No need. I know them all." Sato impatiently waved his hand and silently used Dark Power to sense the sleeping Pokemon before him.
In fact, this batch only contained the three most common Dark-type Pokemon from the Hoenn Region: Poochyena, Carvanha, and Nuzleaf.
The three species had been placed in two iron cages and a large water tank respectively. They had all been knocked unconscious, clearly forming an "emergency shipment," and there were quite a lot of them.
There were roughly forty or fifty Poochyena, including seven or eight Mightyena. Sato guessed that they had probably captured an entire wild Mightyena pack.
Dark Power sent back its feedback. Four or five were Elite Level, while the rest were Normal Level. With his high standards, Sato immediately turned around and began sensing the Nuzleaf.
Poochyena was not a Pokemon Sato particularly favored. Unfortunately, among the more than thirty Nuzleaf, there were likewise none with talent above Elite Level.
"Huh?"
Sato's heart stirred. In the murky-looking water tank, a powerful wave of excitement suddenly came back to him. Its level had astonishingly reached Elite Four Level!
I struck gold!
Sato was wildly delighted. This would have been completely impossible ten years later. But now, the various regions had very little communication. Even in the Kanto Region, which was closest to Johto, many local Trainers still did not know that Dark-type Pokemon existed!
The Hoenn Region was even more out of the question. Even the Talent Analysis Machine West had given Sato only contained data on Pokemon from the Kanto and Johto Regions.
"How much does it cost to exchange for Carvanha?"
"Because it's a Pokemon from the Hoenn Region, the price isn't low. It costs 800 Game Coins each."
"That expensive? It costs as much as a Totodile. Carvanha are everywhere in the Hoenn Region, aren't they? They're about as common as Goldeen here, right?"
The attendant was somewhat surprised by the child's broad knowledge, but she patiently explained the difficulties of transportation, the challenges of caring for them, and so on.
Looking at the murky water tank whose bottom could not be seen, Sato could not help admiring the attendant's ability to lie with a straight face. Since he was only haggling for the sake of haggling, he reluctantly nodded, then instructed the attendant to fish the "pearl" out of the muddy water.
Holding the Carvanha with Elite Four Level Dark-type talent, Sato left the room completely satisfied.
After that, Sato did not hesitate and used all his Game Coins to exchange for Technical Machines.
Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Energy Ball, Brick Break, X-Scissor, Protect, Ice Beam, and Waterfall all cost 100 Game Coins each. Sato exchanged for one of each, except for Protect, of which he exchanged five.
Aerial Ace and Venoshock cost 80 Game Coins each, so he got one of each as well.
Finally, Sato bought two more boosting moves: Swords Dance and Rock Polish. Each cost 130 Game Coins.
Adding in the 800 Game Coins for Carvanha, Sato had only 18 Game Coins left. Since he would have to return tomorrow to scout the place, he decided to keep them.
These moves were distributed among the Pokemon that needed them most. Even the Carvanha he had yet to begin training received a share.
This time, Sato's entire team had truly upgraded from outdated equipment to top-of-the-line gear!
(The Pokemon data can be found in the related works section. I'm not padding the word count, really!)
Thanks to reader Satay Panda for the 500 Book Coin tip, thanks to reader Zhe Mo for the 100 Book Coin tip, and thanks to reader 150625130432197 for the 100 Book Coin tip!
Thank you all for your recommendation votes!
Little Moyan has already caught five Pokemon. I'll update the Pokemon data in a moment!!
Before you continue