Chapter 22: New Companions

There are many underground cities beneath Huang Tie Town.

Among them are quite a few neutral ones, where many outside vendors peddle all manner of goods you can't find in Huang Tie Town itself; the buying and selling of Pokémon is only one of their main lines of business.

Otsuka seemed very familiar with the place, but he didn't take All Baimu to any secret little shop. Instead, he picked out a perfectly ordinary mid-sized store right in the middle of the bustling Pokémon-selling street.

"My dad is on pretty good terms with the boss here. The price probably won't be that cheap, but the quality is guaranteed not to be low either. And it's relatively 'clean' — not the kind that was snatched off someone. My Sandslash was bought from him."

Sandslash?

Facing Otsuka's easy chatter, All Baimu recalled that rather large pangolin Pokémon.

Build is admittedly not the key factor in measuring whether a Pokémon is strong, but within the same species, larger individuals are in most cases sturdier and more outstanding.

"Oh? A rare guest — Otsuka, you've got time today?"

A short, fat man, who had just finished talking with someone, spotted the two of them coming in and came over with a broad smile.

Otsuka replied, "Uncle Wan Shan, I specially brought you a big piece of business today. You've got new stock in, right?"

"Of course! When has your Uncle Wan Shan ever dropped the ball… This young man must be the buyer?" Uncle Wan Shan looked at All Baimu beside him.

The latter gave a slight nod. "Hello."

"Hahaha, how polite — I like young people like you." Uncle Wan Shan laughed heartily. "Are you planning to browse around first, or—"

"Just take us straight to the warehouse!" Otsuka hurriedly refused, then turned his head and explained in a low voice: the Pokémon displayed out front looked decent, but most of them were actually just for show.

All Baimu looked around, feeling as though he'd walked into a pet shop. Only, compared to the cats and dogs in his previous life that would bark nonstop the moment anyone walked in, half-asleep and dazed, most of the Pokémon here had far more alert eyes.

He pulled his gaze back.

In a flash, the two were led by Uncle Wan Shan to the back of the shop — a warehouse-like space. The latter opened the large 【light】 overhead, and from the many big cages wrapped in black cloth inside came immediately the sounds of banging and shouting.

"Hear that? Full of vim and vigor!"

Uncle Wan Wan chuckled, turned his head and said, "Young man, what are your requirements? Preferred type, acceptable price range."

"…What's the most expensive thing here?"

All Baimu shifted his gaze toward him. "May I ask?"

"Of course! We accept any business inquiry!"

Uncle Wan Shan took the lead and walked forward; the two followed behind and stopped in front of an enormous cage.

He lifted one corner of the cage's covering. All Baimu peered into the pitch-dark interior and suddenly saw a great big mouth reeking of sulfur slam toward him.

Boom!

The cage rocked.

All Baimu's expression didn't change. Inside was an Arcanine bristling with viciousness — its fluffy, golden-yellow soft fur and vivid tiger-stripe markings made it look exceedingly majestic and domineering.

"This Arcanine's level is no joke, so it goes for ten million!" Uncle Wan Shan cheerfully let the black cloth fall back down.

Ten million!

Even if Pokédollars are similar to yen, that figure is still extraordinary!

"…How about one million or so?" As All Baimu spoke, he glanced at Otsuka. Seeing that he was only a little surprised, not alarmed, and was calmly observing the Arcanine, All Baimu eased up slightly.

That guy actually being willing to lend that much — what a surprise.

Besides, his pocket probably had at least two million stuffed in it; otherwise he definitely wouldn't be this calm.

Uncle Wan Shan smiled, led the two to another spot. "In the one-million range, the choices are much wider. If you're asking for my personal recommendation…"

He lifted the black cloth, revealing a brown-skinned, red-striped large Diglett with what looked like a great big awl mounted on its forehead and extremely sharp claws.

"Excadrill! Level forty-three! It might be a bit of a handful to control, but this Pokémon is really something — the Sand Force ability lets it take it easy in the desert. It's very popular with you Quicksand Team folks!"

Uncle Wan Shan suddenly waved his hands dramatically:

"And it knows a whopping seventeen different moves — do you know about Take Down? Take Down! Very strong! Only one million four hundred thousand! A price that wouldn't cheat a child or an elder!"

All Baimu: "Level forty-three… do you have anything with a slightly lower level?"

"You prefer a lower level?"

Uncle Wan Shan looked at him in surprise. Most customers who came to buy wanted the stronger the better — the higher the level and the more moves, the more popular, and the higher the price climbed.

Those who asked for lower levels were the ones who liked raising them slowly themselves.

But to raise one to that level and have it learn that many moves — how much effort would that take… It wasn't that easy.

"I personally don't really recommend it, but since that's what you like…"

Uncle Wan Shan walked two meters forward, lifted a corner of the black cloth. "This kind of Pokémon, the most suitable for new trainers from other regions, should suit your taste."

All Baimu looked — inside was a blue-skinned, large Mudkip with a dumbfounded expression.

"Marshtomp, level twenty-one. Don't let its dopey look fool you — its build is excellent. Plenty of strength too, twenty centimeters over standard height, knows ten moves. A bit fewer, but among them are useful ones like Rock Slide and Water Pulse. Priced at six hundred twenty thousand."

Hmm… a Marshtomp for six hundred twenty thousand…

Seeing his expression unchanged, Uncle Wan Shan walked a little further and showed off other Pokémon.

One could only say this fellow had a gift of gab — many Pokémon were described by him in such over-the-top fashion that one felt like pulling out all one's money on the spot to buy them all. Unfortunately, each had more or less some hidden flaw.

For instance, the Excadrill, whose level was probably too high to handle; the Marshtomp, which needed frequent skin moisturizing and wasn't suited to the wilds around Huang Tie Town…

Of course, the most fundamental reason was still that feeling of being smitten — it just wasn't there.

He didn't want to settle. After all, this was a Pokémon he would spend the rest of his life with; if he could have one that suited him perfectly, that was best.

Otsuka watched him deliberating and was oddly reminded of his own tangled feelings when buying a Pokémon. He couldn't help feeling a bit nostalgic — except back then his budget hadn't been this generous.

A million, after all!

Even though he was the one paying, he still couldn't help feeling a lingering tremor.

At this moment.

All Baimu, who had been hanging his head in thought, suddenly raised it. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Otsuka's face was blank — he hadn't heard anything.

"No."

All Baimu suddenly walked toward a certain direction, and under Uncle Wan Shan's astonished gaze, pointed at a large iron cage. "What's the Pokémon inside? How much?"

"How did you… ah, you heard its voice."

Uncle Wan Shan pulled off the black cloth, revealing the strange creature inside that was slouched down, covered in pink fur in an oval shape, with an egg fitted onto its belly.

"Chansey, a Normal-type Pokémon, level thirty, with excellent healing abilities and quite rare—in other regions it's a dedicated aide at Pokémon Centers. Only I don't recommend you buy this one."

"Why not?"

"Because it's very unsuited for battle. When I took it over, it had already been returned twice, which proves it's almost impossible to put to use.

"As an ornamental pet Pokémon it'd be pretty good… but you're from the Quicksand Team, right? Competing next week?"

Uncle Wan Shan smiled mysteriously. "Buying a rare Pokémon that's not good for battle—the cost-performance ratio isn't high."

All Baimu looked into the large cage and met eyes with the faintly worried-looking Chansey.

"Lucky."

A few seconds later.

"This one. How much?" He knocked on the cage, startling the Chansey into hurriedly standing up, watching him in fear and unease.

Otsuka: "Eh? Wait a moment, shouldn't you think it over?"

"Think about what? I like its cry, and I need a Pokémon like this." All Baimu waved his hand.

Getting an unfamiliar Pokémon to drop its guard completely in just a few short days and let him command it at will was already extremely difficult—even Aron couldn't manage it—so he might as well consider other factors.

Besides, he had a rather special idea.

"Oh! How decisive! This Chansey itself is priced at one million one hundred thousand—don't think it's expensive, this is already very cheap! But I really admire a young man like you, so I'll give you a twenty percent discount—eight hundred eighty thousand will do!"

Uncle Wan Shan marveled as he pulled a calculator from his pocket, merrily tapping out simple multiplication and division. "Need anything else? Like dedicated Pokémon food, nutritional tablets, that sort of thing."

"No need. Otsuka, pay up!" All Baimu slapped Otsuka, who blankly pulled an envelope from his pocket and began counting out bills.

Over a million! Just like that, bought on the spot!

Otsuka even felt sorry for All Baimu. He'd assumed buying a Pokémon would cost at most around three hundred thousand, but the total was nearly hitting the million mark.

Fortunately his father had told him to bring a bit more.

Gripping the bills, he watched Uncle Wan Shan turn away to fetch something, and still wanted to try persuading him. "You won't be able to form any combat power like this. What'll you do on the day of the match? It's dangerous!"

"Would it not be dangerous if I did form combat power?" All Baimu turned his head and glanced at him. Seeing him left speechless, he looked back at Chansey. "Don't worry, I'll let you out right away."

"Lucky…"

Chansey placed its two little short hands in front of the egg on its belly, its expression not very cheerful. It was unclear how long it had been cooped up in this cramped cage, or what it had been through.

Not long after.

Uncle Wan Shan returned with a Poké Ball in hand, and in the other hand various receipts, Chansey's health examination report, and so on.

According to this short, fat merchant, selling sickly Pokémon was unethical, and he never did such a thing.

All Baimu took his word for it, used the Poké Ball to draw Chansey in, and gave it two light taps. "Don't worry, I won't mistreat you. Relax."

The two of them left the Pokémon shop.

"Is there anything else you want to buy? We have all sorts of things here. How about a game console?" Otsuka, as if he had a shopping addiction, kept pushing various goods on him.

All Baimu refused them one by one. What he most wanted to do right now was find a safe place and look at Chansey and the Pokémon Master Liu Ge had lent him.