Ding!
As the elevator reached the twelfth floor, Shiro strode straight toward his own room.
Only after shutting the door behind him and sinking into the armchair with his eyes closed for a moment did he finally feel a sliver of safety.
But there was no time to rest. He quickly slipped off his backpack and took out all of his Poké Balls.
The Gym Challenge would officially begin the day after tomorrow. Although he wasn't sure how the company would arrange things, time was running short. It was already five in the afternoon, and dusk was approaching. He had to use the rest of today to sort through his loot, feed his Pokémon, and take care of some basic needs like eating.
Shiro unpacked everything one by one, placing them next to the Poké Balls and starting his count.
A Water Stone, traded from the Binacle tribe using Pokéblocks. It was only of intermediate-quality, but still worth several hundred thousand Pokédollars.
A wild Seismitoad, Lv40. Peak Advanced-level, with the Swift Swim ability. It could also fetch several hundred thousand.
A newly caught Pokémon: Bewear, Gym-level.
A Larvesta egg, along with a guide on how to raise Bug-types.
A bunch of other low level Pokémon.
And finally, two Unown with Psychic-type abilities.
"Hmm..." Shiro thought for a bit, then picked up the notebook from Dalton about Bug-type Pokémon breeding.
He'd just skimmed a few pages in the wild to verify its authenticity, but now he needed to read it carefully and find the part about Larvesta... Dalton might have looked rough, but his notes were surprisingly well-organized.
Soon, Shiro found the section on Larvesta at the back of the notebook.
[I've searched through every channel and reviewed all the material I could find about Larvesta and Volcarona. Larvesta is a rare Fire/Bug dual-type Pokémon. Logically, Bug and Fire should be highly incompatible, but in Larvesta's body, the two types blend perfectly…I've figured it out! The reason Volcarona is so powerful... Fire is its core energy! The Bug-type is just its physical form!]
Shiro's eyes narrowed as he kept on reading.
[To speed up the hatching of a Larvesta egg, it's best to find a Pokémon with the Flame Body ability. Unfortunately, this Larvesta doesn't have Flame Body. If it did, the hatching process could be much faster.]
[The key to raising a Volcarona lies in its Fire-typing. This is, in fact, a high-potential Fire-type Pokémon, and the Bug typing is secondary. To accelerate its development, a large quantity of Fire-type resources is essential.]
[I bought five Fire Stones in total, costing more than 8 million Pokédollars. Grinding them into powder and applying it to the egg's surface yielded noticeable results. The red glow inside the egg intensified significantly. Good quality Charcoal is also a must. I used it to build a nest tailored for Larvesta's hatching, combined with Fire Stone powder...]
"Charcoal, Fire Stones…" muttering to himself, Shiro recalled the perfect-quality Fire Stone he had previously reserved for Growlithe.
But that stone was already promised to the dog, no way it could be wasted on helping Larvesta grow.
Fortunately, he still had a good amount of spending money left for the month. Maybe he could "freeload" a dozen Fire Stones?
With that idea in mind, Shiro stuffed all his belongings into his backpack, then left his room and headed for the elevator.
Perfect chance to make a trip to the black market and stock up on everything he needed.
* * *
Ding!
The elevator stopped at the fifteenth floor. Stepping onto the soft red carpet, Shiro glanced at each door until he spotted one glowing with a green light. Without hesitation, he pushed it open and walked in.
"Whew~ welcome back, Mr. Shiro."
A black market merchant sat behind a low, polished mahogany table, turning his head with enthusiasm to greet him. If it weren't for the shadowy hood obscuring the guy's face, Shiro might've mistaken it for the feeling of coming home.
Every black market merchant seemed to recognize him. According to Marvin, it had been the same for him. These people all knew who he was.
'Could it be that these psychics were linked through some kind of shared mental network?'
Shiro guessed, but the black market merchant in front of him remained silent the entire time, completely different from before, when they would often read his thoughts and even offer suggestions.
"Hey?" He waved his hand lightly in front of the cloaked merchant.
"You don't need to test me. I can see you." The merchant's tone sounded like he was amused. "But I can't hear your thoughts anymore. It seems your mental power has increased significantly?"
Significant increase?
Shiro immediately thought of all the psychic training he'd been doing lately. Could it be from that?
Just then, Unown A's voice rang out in his head:
'Do you really think that bit of training made such a huge improvement? I'm the one who set up a psychic protection barrier in your brain. Otherwise, what if you started randomly thinking about us and gave everything away?'
'Come on… I wouldn't do that.'
Shiro still had some confidence in himself. He usually forgot anything he shouldn't be thinking about, or focused on money and business instead.
"Do you need anything? You can just tell me directly." the cloaked merchant spoke at that moment.
Shiro snapped out of his conversation with A and asked, "How much of my monthly allowance do I have left?"
"Hmm..." The merchant paused, then said, "Since you just completed a mission, and including the bonus reward, your available balance is sixty million Pokédollars. What would you like to purchase?"
'Sixty million? That much?'
Shiro couldn't quite remember how much he had left before, but since there was still sixty million now, he replied, "Do you have any Fire Stones?"
"Fire Stones?" The merchant looked puzzled. "Didn't you already buy a perfect-quality Fire Stone before?"
Shiro didn't feel like explaining. He simply said, "I still need more. A lot more. How many does your black market have?"
The cloaked merchant fell silent. He hadn't expected a customer to ask something like that. Still, doing his job, he scanned with his psychic ability and responded. "There are over a hundred basic-quality Fire Stones, fifty-seven intermediate ones, and twelve advanced ones. The only perfect-quality Fire Stone we had was taken by you last time."
"Alright..." Shiro pondered for a while and said, "Give me thirty intermediate-quality Fire Stones and six advanced ones. How much will that be?"
"Are you... restocking for a shop?" the merchant couldn't help but question.
Thirty-six evolution stones? Who would buy that many Fire Stones just like that? Was he collecting them? Planning to resell?
The merchant added, "Our black market prices are definitely higher than the outside. We mark up anywhere from twenty to fifty percent. The advantage lies in safety, wide availability, and good service. If you're planning to resell, it won't work."
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