Making Connections

Inside the Auction House:

"I would like to put these three pokemon for auction, I want them to be individually auctioned and not together," I said giving all three Green-grade pokemon. The best I had was a Magnemite with calm characteristic, I would have trained it if it had magnet pull as the ability.

I also have an electric type so I had to give up on it. Magnezone is great as a tank and special attacker but how do I put this? it is very stressful to raise one as it has a complicated evolution process and also has a four-time weakness towards ground moves. The food it needs is very costly to improve the grade and I don't think you can raise one if you are not very rich. Overall, Magnezone is also not exactly my type of pokemon. I like pokemon if they look more like beings than devices or objects.

For example Klinklang, Chandelure and Vanilluxe. These three pokemon also come under those categories, I won't train them even if you give me a blue potential one. I would think about it if they are the legendary violet grade. It's just my kind of stereotype, I am against training these pokemon so magnemite had to be sold.

The other two were Aipom and Paras, both were mid-green grade while Magnemite was high grade which makes it very valuable. You can literally train it to a mid-blue grade pokemon if you can find high-quality minerals and charge stone.

"Sir, are you sure you want to auction this High green grade Pokemon?" asked the appraiser in confusion. Normally, Blue grade pokemon are too rare and they only sell them once a year for the big auction. A high green grade is worthy of being the final item which is the main reason the appraiser wanted to make sure.

"Yes, go-ahead," I said which made the appraiser gleam in delight.

"Thank you, Mr RJ. Please take this VIP ticket for today's auction. I assure you that your info will not be leaked, the auction starts in two hours and you can wait inside,"

he said with respect.

"Ah, sure and also can I get the list of items and pokemon that are put up for auction?"

"Unfortunately no, Mr RJ. We can only reveal some normal items which you won't be interested in. I can give you the grade of pokemon that will be auctioned not the species," He said.

"Are there any good blue or high-grade green pokemon other than mine?" I asked in anticipation. I am not ready to train a new pokemon as I already have an egg but if there's something spicy then I can't miss it.

"Yes, there's a final one on the list but now, your pokemon also will be right up there."

"Oh!!!!! then I will be waiting. See you." I said and bid him goodbye. I walked out of the auction house to check for some Tm's.

I have 150k poke dollars which will be enough to buy some good moves. My main priority is Fletchinder, he needs special moves. So what I need is a flamethrower, Electrike needs some moves that can counter Ground types so Ice fang is what I will be looking for.

I went to the shop that specialises in attack moves, I looked over the list and they had like fifty different Tms,

Protect- 5000

Agility- 5000

Taunt- 5000

Will-O-Wisp- 5000

Rain Dance- 10,000

Sunny Day- 10,000

Rock Tomb- 20,000

.

.

Thunder Punch- 40,000

Brick Break- 40,000

Swords Dance- 40,000

.

.

Ice Fang- 60,000

Iron Tail- 70,000

.

.

Heat Wave- 80,000

Solar Beam- 80,000

'Holy shit!!!!!', I am so tempted to buy all of them. I got confused by the cost of Ice fang so I asked the owner and this was what he said,

"Ice, Dragon and Fairy moves are very rare so normally they cost a bomb."

I had 150k, Heatwave is a must, so 70k remains. Ice fang will be very useful for Electrike but swords dance helps both Fletchinder and Krokorok. Maybe I will come back and buy swords dance, I will buy an ice fang for now.

I came out of the Tm shop with a mere 10k, I can't imagine my life without the appraisal system. Being a trainer is so tough, I sold that many Pokemon and all I can buy with that money is two Tms.

I was walking towards the auction house as I had nothing to do but surprisingly I spotted someone very familiar. I am not completely sure but he looks like a younger version of the Hoenn region's Fighting-type gym leader.

He had blue spiky hair with blue eyes but what gave it away was his trademark goggles that stay on his forehead. Should I go and talk? I mean it is always good to make connections with the high class of the society but I don't know his character. He might be like the other arrogant nobles or maybe he is not from a noble house?

He was gazing at everything in awe as if this was his first time seeing the Black Market, just like me. He seemed to be at the same age as me, so it won't hurt to strike up a conversation. I walked towards him in a casual stride, he was standing in front of a pokeballs shop and luckily that was where my next stop was.

"First time here?" I asked frightening him.

"oh woahhh!!! you startled me for a second. Yeah, how did you know? and Do I know you?" he asked after calming down.

"You were looking at everything in wonder so it was easy to figure it out. It's my first time too, RJ and you are?" I asked in a fake enthusiastic tone.

"Oh great, my name is Brawly and nice to meet you," he said giving me a hand.

'What the hell? who gives away their real name in this kind of place?'

"Don't tell me that's your real name?" I asked putting up an act.

"Yeah, is there anything wrong?" he asked in confusion.

"No, there's nothing wrong with the name but why are you informing your name to others in this kind of place. I am a stranger, right? so at least make up a name or else you might get in trouble." I said explaining it to him.

"Oh!! I forgot. I am just used to it as no one dares to offend me. I overlooked the fact that I am no more in Hoenn. Anyways, it's not a big issue, the fact that you explained it to me means that you are a good guy right? So, are you here to buy pokeballs?" He asked side stepping so that I can look at the list of Pokeballs that are sold.

"Yeah, I wanted some rare ones for my Pokemon. What about you?" I asked.

"Nah!! just looking at the prices. I already have the best ones for my team, I am here for the auction to try my luck," he said shaking his head.

"That's great, I too am headed there. You can join me if you want, I have a VIP ticket which has the option of getting a tag along." I said inviting him.

"Oh, seriously? I asked for the VIP ticket but the counter guy told me it is not for sale. If it is not a bother then I will join you," he said in happiness.

"No problem, we will go after I buy these pokeballs," I said giving an affirmation.

I then looked through the prices, there were all types of pokeballs here including the costliest ultra balls. I wanted the luxury ball as they are on par with ultra balls in healing but the downside is that pokemon can easily break out of them. Luxury ball gives the Pokemon special treatment by changing the environment inside to the wish of Pokemon that stays.

It costs 3000 poke dollars which is cheaper than the ultra ball. Ultra ball is more secure but I don't care if my pokemon break out as I trust them. I bought three luxury balls immediately, I want to buy more for my future Pokemon but who made me piss poor?

"Luxury balls huh? you should love your Pokemon like family to buy those. I was just thinking whether to trust you or not but that move right there sold me out," said Brawly giving me a thumbs up.

"It's always right to be cautious about strangers so I don't mind. Let's go, there is one more hour before the auction starts, we can roam around until then." I said pocketing the pokeballs.

---------------------

An hour later:

I and Brawly were sitting in the VIP room enjoying our royal meal. Brawly seems oblivious to it but I was trying out all the delicacies. Thankfully, Pokemon are not allowed or else Krokorok would have gone on a rampage looking at these items.

"How did you get this VIP ticket?" asked Brawly while looking at the auction that's happening. Basic items were getting auctioned as the good ones come in the second and third rounds.

"I just put up a Pokemon for auction and they gave me the one time ticket," I said not hiding the information.

"You what???? Don't tell me you put a High-grade Green or Blue grade one?" he asked in desperation.

We talked about the reason for him coming to Kanto and the black market. (Except the Oak part. - author)

He is a nice guy but too straightforward for my liking. I mean I can understand that he did not have the requirement to be mindful or sneaky as he is from a reputable Breeder house. No one offends them or even dare to, I just gave some fake info and background about me as I don't trust people easily. I mean Oak said to me to be wary of Nobles and breeders before.

"Yeah, I put up a High-grade Green potential

Magnemite. Why? are you interested?" I asked.

"Of course, the main reason I came here was to find a pokemon that covers my other two Pokemons weakness," he said jumping from his couch.

---------------------

Brawly POV:

"You can just bid for it if you want. I can't take back the item as it is already up for auction. There's no other way." said RJ, I don't know why he is still wary of me as he did not even reveal his real name.

"Ah!!!! fine I will do that." I said and started thinking.

My two pokemon are Makuhita and Poliwhirl. The type that can cover both their weakness is steel, Poliwhirl turns into a fighting type and steel type can resist all his weaknesses except electric. If I can add a Magnezone to my main team then he can resist every type that a fighting type is weak to. Not to say a steel/electric can hit both flying and fairy types with super-effective moves. Later, I can add a bug or ghost type to complete the team.

Oh, man!!!! I need to get it no matter what. There can't be a better pokemon that fits my team right now. That old man can take care of all the costs that need to raise a Magnezone so not much to worry about. What wonders me is the fact that RJ put a high potential Pokemon for an auction, he said he is an orphan right? This guy is not a stupid type judging from the conversation we had and he is the same age as me.

The only conclusion is that RJ is either lying about being an orphan or is extremely talented and has a powerful team. I can't miss a good opportunity for a battle with a strong trainer, I need to ask him for a match.

"Yo RJ, let's have a Pokemon battle after this auction gets over," I asked him directly making him startle but he gained his composure in a second.

"Sure, let's do a two on two as you only have two pokemon," he said.

"Great, I am hyped up. I am gonna hit you like a huge wave so you better put your A-game." I said with a fighting stance.

RJ just looked at me and said with a smirk, "You have to force me to put up my A-game."

I directly realized that this guy is a terrific trainer as I can feel his confidence. I turned back towards the auction with a genuine unerasable smile on my face.

-------x Chapter End x---------

Note: I hope you guys are familiar with Brawly. He is in the Hoenn arc, you can check him out if you are not familiar. I liked his character a lot in the anime and thought it would be better to give him some character space in the novel. This arc will be a Kanto and Hoenn arc one, so look forward to it.

Jay's third name is RJ, R for Raven and J for Jay. Simple to understand so I hope you don't mind.