Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 97: Pokémon Black Market

After winding through the forest and eventually arriving at the foot of a mountain, he pointed at two men in suits standing at the base. "The Pokémon black market is right under their feet."

"Under their feet?" Rio was puzzled. Though it was the foot of a mountain, he didn’t see any entrance.

Just then, another person wearing a mask emerged from the other side of the forest and greeted the two men. The ground behind them suddenly rumbled, and an entrance opened up from below.

Well—it really is under their feet. Hidden well enough that most people wouldn’t find it. Rio raised an eyebrow and put on his Charmander mask, which the thug had told him to bring on the way over.

"Bro... I don’t think I’ll go in," the bandana thug said nervously.

Rio waved him off casually, letting him do as he pleased. The thug looked relieved and bolted.

A moment later, Rio entered the underground black market alone, wearing his mask.

Inside, there were many vendors and visitors. Unlike the masked visitors, the vendors showed their faces openly. After wandering for a bit, a young man without a mask approached him—seemingly a staff member.

"Sir, is this your first time here? Would you like a tour? Only one hundred League coins," the young man offered.

Rio nodded, not bothering to pretend he was a regular. If someone could tell at a glance that he was new, they had their ways—pretending otherwise would only make him look foolish. Besides, one hundred coins was pocket change. He’d just made eighty thousand from those Cycling Road thugs. He was loaded.

Soon, the young man explained the black market’s layout and sections. The market had four floors.

The first floor specialized in Pokémon items—evolution stones like Fire Stones and Thunder Stones were common, and even rare Ancient Crowns occasionally appeared for auction.

The second floor was for Pokémon trading. Rare Pokémon and region-exclusive species could often be found here, and sometimes even pseudo-legendary offspring like Dragonair or Larvitar would appear—though those would be sent to the auction floor rather than sold at a fixed price.

The third floor was the auction house, where expensive items and Pokémon were bid on—often worth over a million. Occasionally, clues about legendary Pokémon would surface. The young man mentioned that the most expensive sale ever was a Latios, which went for a staggering eighty million League coins.

Probably a non-legendary variant, Rio thought. In his mind, true legendary Pokémon should start at a billion. Eighty million? That must have been a weaker member of the species. Still, even a weak one starting at tens of millions made sense—it was about status and prestige. Just revealing it would make everyone tremble.

Are those hunters going after a legendary Raikou? Rio thought, reminded of his upcoming mission. If it turned out to be a non-legendary Raikou, he’d still want to catch it, but he’d feel a bit cheated. That was human nature—if there was something better, you’d want that instead.

Back to the matter at hand. The fourth floor was the underground arena, a place for gamblers—and the very place where Charizard had once been held.

"Ravian, take me to the second floor. I need to buy some Electric-type Pokémon," Rio said after the tour.

"Right this way, sir," the young man nodded and led the way. His name was Aconite.

Soon, Rio arrived at the second-floor Pokémon trading area, where he could see many Pokémon locked in special cages. Even cute ones like Eevee and Ralts could be spotted, all pitifully confined.

Rio looked at them and sighed. He couldn’t deny feeling a twinge of sympathy. But he wasn’t a savior—he couldn’t save every person or Pokémon that moved his heart. If he tried, he’d exhaust himself first. So after a moment, he locked that sympathy away.

Every man for himself. He had to focus on his own mission.

"Boss, could you put these aside for me? I’ll pay for everything together at the front desk after I’ve picked out the rest," Rio said a few minutes later, pointing at a cage containing a Magnemite, a Pikachu, and an Elekid.

"Of course, of course—I’ll mark them down for you right away!" The vendor beamed. He’d landed a big spender today.

Seeing the vendor agree, Rio moved on to the next stall in search of more Electric-types. Before long, he found several more caged Electric-types, repeated the process—asked the price, reserved them all, and said he’d pay together later.

Behind him, the young guide Aconite was curious but didn’t ask questions, simply following along. They went from stall to stall, reserving Electric-type Pokémon at each one, and Rio waved his hand to confirm each purchase after hearing the price.

What Rio didn’t know was that at the same time, a person wearing a Tyranitar mask had appeared at one of the vendors he had just visited.