Midnight had come, but Roy stayed asleep. He planned to go to Professor Oak's lab instead of going to the Black market to sign in. He had one more sign-in for the Black Market and three more for Professor Oak's lab.
His siblings found it hard to sleep, especially his brother Lucian, who kept thinking about his potential Pokémon. Roy couldn't help but smile and chuckle a bit, seeing this.
Roy stretched and slowly closed his eyes before drifting off. The night settled in, and many Rattata could be seen going through trash around town. They are usually active during the day, primarily, but activity has picked up at night lately.
This nightly activity was usually reserved for the Alolan variant. The night passed calmly, but the black market was in an uproar over the online auction.
"I heard an important item appeared on the online auction. It has attracted the attention of Team Rocket's admins." A man wearing a shadowy cloak spoke.
"Team Rocket's Admins? This situation has caught the attention of the Leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni. I heard they've been gathering Pokémon and even transferring large amounts of money."
"That's not it; they have some serious competition. Some people are even participating to ensure that Team Rocket doesn't get this Master Ball."
Some people sighed; that was a genuine Master Ball! If they could have just one in their life, wouldn't they be able to catch any Pokémon?
Many people were preparing to watch the show. This didn't just attract people in Kanto, but also people from other regions. The Black Market was a worldwide app, so everyone knew about the auction.
In some regions, Charmander and other Pokémon were easier to acquire than in Kanto. One could say that a foreigner had the highest chance of winning the auction.
In any case, people were preparing the items needed for the auction. Many will unfortunately lose out, and their efforts will be for nothing.
Then next day rolled around, and as usual, his siblings were up between 7 and 9 a.m. in the morning. The kitchen was far livelier than usual, for obvious reasons.
Roy stayed asleep all the way to 10, but his siblings reserved his food for him.
"Haha, these three, they must have gone out to tell their friends about this news." How could Roy not know what they had gone to do?
Roy warmed up his breakfast before eating as usual. Afterward, he took a shower and groomed himself before leaving for Professor Oak's lab.
Professor Oak's lab was the same as usual. He muttered, "Sign in," the second he walked through the door. Once he heard the confirmatory ding, Roy quickly left the lab. He had seen some of those scientists and researchers gaze at him with strange or curious expressions.
Roy raced off. He heard someone call out to him, but Roy didn't heed the call and kept running away.
"What in the world is up with that kid? Is he shy or something? Why does he come inside, then leave soon after?"
All of them had these questions. Was this kid scheming something?
"If that kid comes again, we need to question him and not give him a chance to leave." One of the researchers frowned.
"We'll see next time. This kid is a little too suspicious, huh?" Many nodded, their hands occupied by a clipboard or some type of iPad.
Elsewhere, Roy had nearly arrived home before stopping on the pathway.
"Time to check my earnings, haha!" Roy grinned and previewed the panel's notification.
[Congratulations, you've received: Shiny Gem (x2)]
"Oh, a Shiny Gem? This isn't an item from the Pokémon games or show; that's for sure." Roy saw that the gem had many colors shimmering through it like a rainbow.
Of course, Roy checked the description.
Shiny Gem: A mysterious Gem that manipulates the genetic coding within a Pokémon. This turned a normal Pokémon into a shiny Pokémon, or a shiny Pokémon into a normal Pokémon.
"What? This is incredible! I can turn a Pokémon into a Shiny Pokémon!" Roy's expression was filled with shock. It wasn't as amazing as a Master Ball, but this was no doubt an unprecedented item!
"Perfect! I need to use this wisely." As for what Pokémon to use it on, Roy wasn't sure.
The Gems were already in his storage, so Roy just walked home afterward. Once he reached home, Roy found that the house was still vacant.
"Luna has the most friends; she has about 3 to 4 of them. She's really talkative sometimes; she must be rambling with her big-mouth friends as well."
Roy could almost imagine it and couldn't help but laugh. While he was home, he got back onto the online Black Market.
He found that he had many messages, which were 99+! Roy's eyes squinted; it didn't take a genius to understand why.
Most of the messages were filled with arrogant, entitled people. Roy blocked these people fast with a simple click.
However, some were asking if he had another Masterball. They were willing to pay 700 to 800 million up front for one. Some worried and couldn't gather the Pokémon he asked for on time, and were willing to pay, but needed more time to gather Roy's Pokémon trading requirements.
It would be a lie to say that he wasn't tempted by the hundreds of millions. However, Roy only wanted to sell one Master Ball; the Master Ball was just too rare.
As Roy was filtering out messages and blocking people, one message caught his attention.
Roy sat up with wide eyes and quickly messaged this guy. He told him he didn't have the money now, but would have it today at 2 or 2:30ish.
The man had the Magikarp linked in the message with its price, talent, tier, and gender. The Online Black Market had scanned it already.
-Asking Price: ₽5,000 | Would you like to purchase through Messenger? Yes / No?
"Hmm." Roy frowned. This Pokémon was Malnourished, but he was asking for ₽5,000?
"No way I'm paying ₽5,000!" Roy messaged again and began haggling the price down to ₽1,500. He explained that the Magikarp was malnourished and wasn't worth so much.
Both continued to haggle until they settled on ₽2,500.
"Old man tryna get one on me, not in your dream, buddy!" Roy looked at the messages and scoffed; this guy was too much, trying to sell him a malnourished fish.
Roy went on to search the market for Prism Apricots, Refined High-Purity Tumblestone, and Spectrum Alloy.
"Since I'm getting a Shiny Magikarp, I should prepare a Pokéball for it." Roy did a comparison of the actual market and Black Market.
"The Black Market has lower prices compared to the actual market. It seems someone has a network and is able to get it at a lower price." He didn't care about his connections or his suppliers; the price was lower, and he wanted it.
Roy made a list of things he needed to keep record on. This list was written in his Pokédex on a notepad of sorts. Afterward, Roy went to watch more Pokémon battles and learn more about Aptitude managing.
His Brother Troy came home at 12:18, his brother Lucian appeared at 12:28, and we were already getting ready to leave. However, Luna appeared at 12:40 as we were walking out of the door.
"Alright, let's go to the Mayor's Mansion." Troy smiled and said. Everyone nodded and began walking toward the Mayor's mansion.
They all arrived at 12:58. That's when they saw two men standing at the gate. Both men were wearing grey suits; they had black shades on and were quite tall.
"Hold it! Do you guys have an invitation?" One of the well-suited men simply asked.
"We have this." Roy handed the man the invitation. They kept the invitation after reading it and confirmed whether these 4 were a part of it.
A butler came out and escorted them into the mansion. Once inside, they arrived in a room with a total of 10 Pokéballs sitting on display. There were other teens there, and so was the Mayor, who came over to greet them.
"Welcome, Roy, Troy, Luna, and Lucian. Glad you guys could make it, this is something espeically prepare for you guys. You four will have first pick before everyone else."
The Mayor was 183 cm in height and was fairly muscular and tall. He had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and blonde hair. Kalaran usually favored Fighting and Psychic Pokémon as his goto. Despite this, the Mayor dressed professionally, as he wore a brilliant, sharp orange suit.
"What? We get first pick?" Luna was over the moon hearing this.
"Of course, you guys will. We'll be starting now, actually." Just as he said that, the last person arrived. In fact, most were Luna and Lucian's friends.
"Attention everyone, the screen coming down will explain everything! Afterward, you may pick your Pokémon in the order in which your name is called."
The screen showed the choices of Pokémon everyone could pick from. You only get one choice; if someone takes it, then it's gone.
Many people saw the video as it explained that every Pokémon had an aptitude of [Shallow Green]. This was the same Aptitude the Guilds were giving out recently, which was fairly good, and a lot better than what was normal.
It stated that every Pokémon was in a Pokéball, but you could change the Pokéball for a Luxury Ball, Premier Ball, Ultra Ball, Great Ball, or a Love Ball.
[]
1.) Oddish | 2.) Magby | 3.) Mankey | 4.) Geodude |5.) Vulpix |6.) Exeggcute | 7.) Staryu | 8.) Cubone | 9.) Pikachu | 10.) Abra |
Once the choices popped up, it showed their move pool and their evolutionary chain.
The Mayor stated that the four siblings would go pick first. The siblings had to pick who among them would go first.
Some random teens amongst the group of children grumbled at this.
"Luna, you go first." Roy pointed at her and said. She turned to look at everyone else, and they nodded.
She smiled and went up to the stage, and she gazed over her options. Roy had already suggested some really good options amongst them that were rarer. Not just that, they were good early and late in the region.
This was one of the hardest decisions for Luna. She really wanted Vulpix the most, but she also wanted Staryu, as it was the better option and was also cute.
Ultimately, she chose Staryu before leaving the stage. Next was between Lucian and Troy, who played a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who went up.
Troy won and immediately picked the Exeggcute as his first pick. Roy went up next and thought for a moment before choosing Magby. Though this was a bad option against Brock and Misty, he should be able to find another Pokémon later to combat these guys.
Now, it was Roy's time to pick his option.