Chapter 7: The Black Market

"I have a strange stone in my possession."

When Xia Yu saw this private message, he was immediately intrigued. The mysterious seller's ID was "Crazy August," and a photo was attached below. It showed a small stone emitting a dazzling light.

"A Key Stone?!"

Xia Yu never expected his luck to be this good. Within just a single day, he had encountered a Key Stone online. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he began to haggle with Crazy August.

"This stone is very beautiful. Where did you find it?" Xia Yu asked.

"It's an heirloom," Crazy August replied. "Do you want it?"

"I do," Xia Yu replied. "What's the price?"

Crazy August: "Hmm... I don't really know what the going rate is. Why don't you make an offer? If it's reasonable, I'll sell it."

Xia Yu: "Fifty, shipping included."

Crazy August: "That's too cheap! This stone is so pretty; it should be at least 500."

A smile appeared on Xia Yu's face. He wanted to agree to the price immediately, but he knew that if he didn't haggle, it would surely arouse suspicion. "500 is too expensive. 100 at most."

Crazy August: "No way. Look at how beautiful the color of this stone is. Big brother, my girlfriend's birthday is coming up, and I want to buy her a necklace. I'm a student and have no money. Can we just do 500?"

Xia Yu: "I'm a student too, and my family doesn't have much money."

Crazy August: "480, I can't go any lower than that."

...

After going back and forth for a long time, they finally settled on a price of 399. To be safe, Xia Yu specifically asked Crazy August to take another photo of the stone.

After finishing all this, Xia Yu looked at the 300,000 in his account and had other ideas. He decided to take a trip to the Starlight City black market tonight.

With so much money, he could pick up many good items in the black market, especially since he had his system cheat, which was enough for him to find treasures others missed. The only thing he needed to worry about was his own safety.

He had been to the Starlight City black market once before with Xia Luo. With his older brother, a quasi-Elite level trainer, there, safety was not an issue. But this time, heading to the black market alone, he naturally had to consider security.

"I'll bring Dad's Scizor."

...

As night fell, Xia Yu ate dinner and headed toward the Starlight City black market with his father's Scizor and Golisopod. Originally, he only planned to bring the Scizor, but for safety's sake, he borrowed the Golisopod from his father as well.

The Scizor's strength was average, only at the Leader level, while the Golisopod was powerful and considered one of his father's main Pokémon, possessing Gym Leader-level strength. In a fourth or fifth-tier small city like Starlight City, that was considered a formidable Pokémon.

The underground black market of Starlight City was located on the bar street in the old town, a place where young people gathered, filled with scantily clad young men and women drinking and venting.

Xia Yu put on a set of black clothes, wore a mask, walked into the bar named "Night Star," and headed straight for the second basement level.

The first basement was a proper bar, while the second basement was the underground black market. Many good items often appeared there, and a monthly auction was held where strange and rare treasures surfaced.

When he came last time, Xia Luo mentioned that the bar had a very strong background; the major shareholder was the Li family of Starlight City, and their own Xia family also held a stake in the bar, receiving significant dividends every year.

The Li family could be considered a local powerhouse in Starlight City, having almost monopolized the entire city's Pokémon Daycare and Energy Cube industries. They were already incredibly wealthy.

However, the Li family had been on a slight decline in recent years. The older generation of Elite-level trainers was aging, their strength clearly waning, and the middle generation had only produced one Gym Leader-level trainer—and one without an official gym at that.

This had increased the pressure on the Li family; after all, they had numerous industries, and without sufficient strength, they might be targeted one day. Therefore, the Li family was now desperate, throwing resources wildly at the younger generation. Whether it was the main branch or a collateral one, as long as you had talent, they would cultivate you.

The Li family urgently needed a trainer above the Gym Leader level, and if they could produce an Elite-level trainer, that would be even better.

Because of this, the Li family had expressed the idea of a marriage alliance to Xia Luo more than once, offering an extremely generous dowry. Their goal was singular: to have Xia Luo, the youngest quasi-Elite trainer, become a son-in-law of the Li family. With Xia Luo's aptitude, becoming a Fire-type Elite trainer in the future was almost a certainty.

However, Xia Luo refused without a second thought. He had a childhood sweetheart he had grown up with, and their bond was excellent. As for material conditions, the proud and arrogant Xia Luo firmly believed that once he became an Elite-level trainer, everything else would be a non-issue.

...

Today happened to be the day of the auction. When Xia Yu arrived at the entrance to the second basement, he was immediately stopped by two thugs in suits guarding the door. After a brief search, he was allowed in.

Entering the second basement, his field of vision widened. Both sides of the street were filled with small stalls selling all kinds of things. Xia Yu walked and looked, hoping to find some hidden gems.

He stopped in front of a stall selling Pokémon eggs and used the system to identify their potential.

Regrettably, there were no Pokémon with Elite-level potential or higher among the eggs. Xia Yu had been mentally prepared for this; if Pokémon with Elite-level potential were so easy to find, he wouldn't have gone years without a starter.

After passing through the Pokémon egg area, Xia Yu reached the Pokémon section, which was divided into two categories: young Pokémon and adult Pokémon.

The adult Pokémon were all chained and locked in cages, looking thin and emaciated from hunger.

These adult Pokémon were generally fed only once a day to control their stamina and prevent them from being too aggressive.

"Machamp..."

"Marowak..."

The combat power and potential of these Pokémon were generally low, with the strongest being only at the quasi-Leader level.

Passing through the adult Pokémon area, Xia Yu arrived at the young Pokémon area. This area had the highest number of Pokémon. Most of the young Pokémon that ended up here had poor potential, were underdeveloped, or were rare Pokémon with defects.

Just as he walked into this area, his eyes lit up.

[Ralts]
Gender: Male
Type: Psychic, Fairy
Potential: Leader
Combat Power: Rare
Ability: Telepathy
Moves: Growl, Disarming Voice, Double Team, Confusion, Hypnosis, Draining Kiss, Teleport, Mean Look, Flash

He had gotten off to a good start. The first Pokémon was of Leader-level potential, which gave Xia Yu a bit more expectation. Perhaps he could really find a Pokémon with Elite-level potential here.

"Young man, looking to pick out a Pokémon?" the masked stall owner said. "This Ralts is quite good, and its final evolution, Gardevoir, is exceptionally beautiful."

The owner gave a lewd laugh as he spoke.