High Price and Heading to the Black Market Store (In Commemoration of the First Bonus Chapter for a Donation)

High-quality Fire Stones were absolutely the hottest of hot commodities.

Tetsuya had only idly browsed the Pokemon Forum for a minute when his Pokemon Watch began chiming nonstop, notifying him that offers were being sent through the backend.

Although Tetsuya had been prepared, he was still shocked.

Seeing the 99+ message notification directly in his trade backend, Tetsuya was a little stunned.

Frowning, Tetsuya felt that something was off.

After all, even if high-quality Fire Stones were rare, there shouldn't have been this many people wanting to buy one—or rather, there shouldn't have been this many rich people.

Tetsuya opened the backend, and his face darkened. Sure enough.

"10 million plus a Charcoal with a 10% effect. Trade?" (Offer attached)

"20 million, can't go any higher, bro." (Offer attached)

Tetsuya took a deep breath and decisively added several words to his listing title—Clowns, get lost!!!

He also set a minimum price of 28 million for the trade. He had still suffered from his lack of experience.

Rubbing his temples with a headache, Tetsuya walked over to the trading computer desk and began looking through the offers.

The League system had automatically used the minimum price he had just set as a filtering condition. Tetsuya refreshed the backend, and there were twelve messages. Now these were normal offers.

"30 million cash." "35 million cash." "32 million + 3 million worth of Choco Berries." "33 million + 2 million worth of Candlewood Berries."

Tetsuya eliminated the lower offers one by one, leaving only the three highest bids.

They were: "45 million cash." "42 million cash + 3 million worth of Choco Berries." "43 million + 2 million worth of Candlewood Berries."

Choco Berries were Berries used to raise Fire-type Pokemon. They could increase the intensity of Fire Energy within Fire-type Pokemon. Candlewood Berries worked similarly, except they were for Electric-type Pokemon.

There were also Thousand Fragrance Berries for Water types, Loquat Berries for Grass types, and so on. These were fairly common resources exchanged among Elite Trainers, collectively known as Energy Fruit.

Their production was not low, but it still fell far short of demand.

As for higher-tier Berries, they were rare fruits such as Sand Scale Berries and Dragon Fire Berries that could improve a Pokemon's abilities. However, such fruits were often naturally produced only in the wild.

At least, Tetsuya had never heard of anyone being able to cultivate these rare Berries artificially.

The three offers were all worth the same amount—45 million. The key was which one to choose.

Tetsuya frowned and considered it for a moment before choosing the 45 million in cash.

After all, he still could not be sure what species his second Pokemon would be. He needed to go to the Black Market to pick out an individual with outstanding potential.

If he exchanged for training materials in advance and their types ended up being unsuitable later, he would need to trade them again. It was better to choose Alliance Coins directly; he could buy what he needed afterward anyway.

Besides, he would not need many Energy Fruits in the early stages of training, and storing them would be troublesome too.

When the time came, he could simply buy a small amount from the League Mall, even if the unit price was a little higher.

If he needed a large quantity, he could put out a purchase request at the Trade Center.

Tetsuya confirmed the transaction and handed the Fire Stone over to the League staff.

After a series of procedures, three hours later, the 44.55 million remaining after the guarantee fee was deducted quickly entered his account.

It normally would not have been this fast, since the other party still needed to confirm receipt.

Fortunately, however, the buyer was in neighboring Cerulean City. They had even spent an additional 10,000 Alliance Coins to request an express service.

As a result, the buyer confirmed receipt of the Fire Stone two hours later, and the money naturally reached Tetsuya's hands.

Tetsuya walked out of the Trade Center. Looking at the balance notification displayed on his Pokemon Watch, he could not suppress the smile at the corners of his lips.

His delight was practically overflowing. This was far more thrilling than yesterday's 2.2 million.

Across both lives, this was Tetsuya's first time having savings exceeding eight figures—and the first digit was not even a one.

Unfortunately, more than half of it was about to be spent.

Tetsuya slowly made his way toward the Black Market.

After finding a place to change into his usual black robe, Tetsuya began searching for his target.

The Black Market was mainly divided into two areas: the Stall Area and the Black Market Store. It was very easy to understand.

The former was mainly for independent Trainers selling items, just like Tetsuya had sold Butterfree. They only needed to pay the Black Market's stall fee to set up a stand.

The latter was where organized groups entrusted the Black Market with large-scale sales. In practice, it was a massive Pokemon Egg marketplace, merely divided into different sections and sales staff based on type.

The suppliers for the latter were either Great Families, Poacher Teams, or organizations like Team Rocket, selling their spoils in bulk in exchange for money or resources.

You might ask why the League did not clear them out. To be honest, Tetsuya had more than once suspected that the people in power behind the Black Markets in each region might be major figures themselves, and the League had no way to eradicate them completely.

So rather than half-heartedly clearing them out and causing chaos, it was better to let the Black Market develop normally with at least some order. As mentioned before, it could also give ordinary people at the bottom a faint and illusory opportunity.

Tetsuya first took a walk around the Stall Area. There were only four or five stalls selling Torchic, Elekid, or Pokemon Eggs from either species.

There were fewer than ten Pokemon in total between the two species—only eight—and none of them had particularly high potential.

Although they were hard to find, Tetsuya had no intention of using Pokemon with less than Champion potential as his main team members.

As a Transmigrator with a Cheat/System, Tetsuya's ambitions did not stop at becoming an Elite Trainer.

Tetsuya had set his standards: if it was an Elekid, it had to have Champion potential; if it was a Torchic, Quasi-Champion Level would be best.

After all, as a Starter Pokemon, Torchic was extremely popular.

Do not think Starter Pokemon was merely a label. These were Pokemon that the League had determined, through years of analysis, to be the most suitable for novice Trainers, and countless Trainers had proven that conclusion.

Where there was demand, there was supply. Besides, Elekid, whose only evolution in the open was Electabuzz, was not particularly popular.

By comparison, there were far more Torchic Eggs than Elekid Eggs in the Black Market.

Greater numbers meant a higher chance for a Bargain Hunt, so Tetsuya's standards naturally became higher as well.

Of the eight Pokemon in the Stall Area, six were Torchic, while the remaining two were Elekid. Their potential was only ordinary and Elite Level, respectively.

Tetsuya was not too disappointed. After all, high-potential Pokemon rarely appeared in the Stall Area.

The stall owners had merely obtained Pokemon or Pokemon Eggs by chance during their adventures and put them up for sale. Their potential came Without Any guarantee.

However, the Black Market Store was different.

Tetsuya headed to the right of the Stall Area, where there was a large gate. Dedicated personnel there verified the assets of those heading to the Black Market Store.

The basic requirement was to present a Savings Card containing at least 5 million Alliance Coins. Otherwise, entry was forbidden.

This screened people while also preventing too many from entering, which could lead to someone damaging a Pokemon Egg without having the money to compensate for it.

Although the Black Market would ultimately teach them what "reasonable" compensation meant, that would be rather troublesome.

So they simply verified assets first. Speaking of which, this was also Tetsuya's first time heading to the Black Market Store. He had no idea what it was like inside.

Tetsuya walked to the gate and took out the anonymous Savings Card he had prepared in advance, handing it to a Black Market staff member. The 10 million inside was more than enough for the asset verification.

The effects of some carry-type Berries had been altered a little; the names were mainly just borrowed.

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!!!

Bonus chapter for Patrick Star's Shorts' first donation!!!

Thanks to Patrick Star's Shorts for the 300 Qidian Coin donation.