Chapter 77

The two walked side by side toward the market on the bottom floor.

The market area of the Saint Tenu was set up on the bottom deck, with a row of ventilation windows opened against the ship's side, the sea breeze pouring in to blow away the stuffiness of the enclosed space.

The stalls were lined up along the corridor, the shouting voices rose one after another—some selling fresh seafood, some peddling local snacks from various places, and some shops specifically displaying Pokémon-related merchandise, much livelier than imagined.

Huo La's gaze swept over the stalls one by one, seemingly indifferent, but actually paying close attention to something.

Passing by a snack stall, Xiao Gang picked up a pack of seaweed biscuits, muttering "Pikachu should like this"; walking to the breeding supplies store, he dived in directly, chatting with the boss about the formula for mineral feed.

Huo La took the opportunity to stop in front of a stall outside the store, his fingertips sliding over a bracelet made of shells, but the corner of his eye glanced toward a corner stall diagonally opposite.

That stall looked inconspicuous, the cloth curtain embroidered with a small "R" dark pattern—it was disguised by Team Rocket people.

The stall displayed some ordinary Pokémon toys, but was actually secretly peddling "enhancement potions" made by Team Rocket, specifically attracting those novice Trainers who wanted to take shortcuts.

"Huo La, come and see this!" Xiao Gang's voice came from the breeding store, carrying a bit of excitement, "The boss said this is a 'Sun Stone fragment' unique to the Orange Archipelago, mixed in feed and fed to Grass-type Pokémon, it can improve the efficiency of photosynthesis!"

Huo La withdrew his gaze, responded with an "Coming", and turned into the store.

Xiao Gang was holding a small jar of fragments shining with warm light, his eyes shining, looking just like he had discovered a treasure.

The boss added with a smile on the side: "This is good stuff, especially useful for Pokémon like Bulbasaur and Oddish, this is the last jar left on the ship."

"How much? I'll buy it." Huo La didn't wait for Xiao Gang to speak, and took out his money bag directly.

He knew Xiao Gang was always eager for these "rare breeding materials", just usually thinking about saving money, rarely encountering something he liked, so he had to take it down by the way.

Xiao Gang was stunned for a moment, then patted Huo La on the shoulder with a smile: "Thanks, Huo La, I'll match some new energy blocks for your Nidoqueen later, guaranteed to let it recover stamina faster."

"Don't be polite, these things end up being used by me anyway, it's only right for me to pay."

After paying, Xiao Gang carefully packed the Sun Stone fragments into the canvas bag, and pulled Huo La to visit a few more shops—picking some berries to replenish stamina for Zubat, choosing fine whetstones for Beedrill and Scyther to grind their forelimbs, the canvas bag soon bulged.

Huo La followed Xiao Gang the whole time, seemingly listening to the shouting of the stalls, but his gaze swept over every corner—what he was looking for wasn't breeding supplies, but the key character who "pitied" Kojiro in his memory.

Finally, in the most remote corner of the market, he saw the target.

It was a stall specifically selling Magikarp, the transparent fish tank was crowded with Magikarp flapping non-stop, their tails splashing water everywhere.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man wearing a white headband and a handlebar mustache, holding a golden Poké Ball, spitting everywhere while promoting to the young man in front of him: "Little brother, take a look at this quality! My Magikarp is a 'dragon among fish', if you raise it well, it can produce gold!"

The young man was Kojiro with navy blue short hair, holding a flapping Magikarp in his arms, his face full of conflict—clearly already moved by the stall owner.

"Still a step late." Huo La shook his head helplessly.

This was the "master of deception" in the Pokémon world, one of the nemeses of the Team Rocket trio—the Magikarp salesman.

It seems no matter how space-time changed, Kojiro couldn't escape the fate of being cheated.

He patted Xiao Gang's arm: "Xiao Gang, I'll go over there to see, you look around first." Xiao Gang was staring at a stall of colorful rock specimens with shining eyes, hearing this, he waved his hand without turning his head: "Go, go, don't buy useless things!"

After saying that, he turned to chat with the stall owner about "the nourishing effect of basalt on Onix scales".

Huo La walked quickly behind Kojiro and tapped his shoulder lightly with his fingertips.

Kojiro turned his head abruptly, seeing it was Huo La, he was so scared he almost jumped up, the Magikarp in his arms almost slipped out: "Li, little brat! Do you want to scare me to death!"

"Passing by, just happened to see you, say hello." Huo La said casually, but his gaze stuck to the Magikarp in Kojiro's arms.

The next second, the system interface popped up in front of him, clearly listing the data of this Magikarp:

Pokémon: Magikarp

Gender: Female

Level: Lv19

Aptitude: B

Status: Healthy

Nature: Slow

Attribute: Water

Ability: Swift Swim (In rain or heavy rain weather, speed ability becomes 2 times the original.)

Height: 0.9m

Weight: 9.4kg

Carried Item: None

Skills: Splash (Proficiency 87%), Tackle (Proficiency 21%), Dragon Rage (Proficiency 1%)

Improvement Count: 0

"Damn it... a Magikarp that knows Dragon Rage!" Huo La almost couldn't hold his expression, straight calling it outrageous in his heart.

In his impression, this kind of Magikarp that mastered Dragon-type skills was extremely rare, only a few had come out of the special breeding program at Celadon University, didn't expect Kojiro to bump into one by touching it casually.

What was even more exaggerated was the Lv19 level—no wonder in his past life Kojiro could evolve it into a Gyarados with one kick, this level had long met the evolution threshold.

"Why? Do you want to buy this Magikarp?" Huo La suppressed the shock in his heart, deliberately pretending to be indifferent and asked.

Seeing that he didn't mention other things, Kojiro breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a bitter face: "That uncle said, breeding device + Magikarp + golden Poké Ball, altogether three thousand. I'm struggling... three thousand is not a small amount."

"Oh~" Huo La reached out to him, "Let me see."

Kojiro hesitated for a moment, but still handed the Magikarp over carefully.

That Magikarp was quite honest, just flapped its tail lightly in Huo La's arms, didn't flap much.

Seeing this, the Magikarp salesman immediately leaned over, smiling until his eyes narrowed into a line: "This little brother is clearly a connoisseur! If you two buy it together, I'll give you a 20% discount! Altogether forty-eight thousand, absolutely worth it!"

"20% discount?" Huo La sneered, the mockery in his tone undisguised.

"Little brother thinks it's expensive?" The uncle was anxious, hurriedly added, "This is carefully bred 'Golden Magikarp', if you raise it well, it can really produce gold! Look at these scales, aren't they brighter than others?"

"Produce gold? Hehe." Huo La swept his eyes over the other Magikarp in the fish tank—the highest level was only Lv15, the aptitudes were all C or D, compared to the one in Kojiro's arms, it was simply a world of difference.

Must say, Kojiro's luck was truly good, touching a treasure blindly.

He held the Magikarp and walked to the edge of the fish tank, threw it back into the water casually: "If it were a golden-colored Magikarp, I might be interested. As for these... uncle, you'd better keep them as pets yourself."

After saying that, he turned and left.

"Hey! Don't go, little brother!" The Magikarp uncle was anxious, reached out to block, "Take another look! 30% discount! 30% discount is also fine!"

Huo La didn't stop his footsteps, instead reached out and tugged at Kojiro who was stunned beside him.

Kojiro understood instantly, hurriedly followed his pace, treating Huo La as a savior in his heart—he almost took out his wallet just now.

"Little brother! Little brother! You name a price! You say how much!" The Magikarp uncle chased for two steps, seeing Huo La was really going far away, finally anxious, shouted loudly.

Only then did Huo La stop his footsteps, turned his head and revealed a meaningful smile: "I don't want the golden Poké Ball and the incubator, just want this Magikarp. 500, sell if you sell, don't sell forget it."

After saying that, he turned and left, his footsteps didn't stop at all.

"500? You're robbing!" The uncle jumped in anger, but looking at Huo La's determined back, and looking at the ordinary-looking Magikarp in the fish tank, gritted his teeth—earning a little is better than nothing, better than smashing it in his hands.

"Sell! This little brother, I sell!"

Huo La paused his footsteps, the corners of his mouth curling into a successful smile.

He turned his head and gave Kojiro a look, Kojiro immediately took out his wallet and handed over 500. The Magikarp uncle took the money, his face almost wrinkled into a bitter melon, but still gritted his teeth and fished out that Lv19 Magikarp, stuffing it into an ordinary red and white Poké Ball.

Kojiro holding the Poké Ball, simply felt like he was dreaming: "500... just bought it?"

He almost spent three thousand buying a pile of waste just now, now thinking about it, he felt lingering fear.

"Otherwise what do you think? This uncle is a liar, but you have good luck, this Magikarp... counts as picking up a treasure." Huo La looked at the Poké Ball in his hand and opened his mouth, "Also remind you, don't kick it if you have nothing to do."

Kojiro hadn't reacted to what "picking up a treasure" and "kicking it" meant, when he saw Huo La had already turned and walked toward Xiao Gang's direction, muttering to himself: "Lv19 Magikarp that knows Dragon Rage... if it weren't for my goal of fishing for a Golden Magikarp, I would have taken it myself."