Evolution

Different kinds of stalls lined up in the underground of the building. Each stall has different items mixed together like a regular market. Folker then approached a stall with a middle-aged man on the stall.

"I would like to buy two high-grade Metal Coats, one high-grade Magnet, and one high-grade Black Belt" Folker said calmly as he looked at the middle-aged man.

Metal Coat is an item that can be held by Pokemon. It boosts the Steel-type moves by 20%. It is also a requirement for Scyther to evolve into a Scizor.

However, not all Scythers holding a metal coat would evolve into a Scizor. To evolve, they need the energy from the trading machine that allows them to evolve into a Scizor.

There are also a few kinds of Pokemon that sometimes need the trading machine to evolve, like Gengar and Alakazam. However, these Pokemon would usually end up weaker than the Gengars and Alakazams that were able to evolve on their own.

"I also need a Beedrill heart, and two Steelix eyes" Folker added.

These are items that can only be bought at the Black Market. The Alliance enforces a strict regulation with regards to items like these since it could endanger the lives of Pokemon.

The Alliance itself allowed the Black Market to exist as long as they don't challenge the bottomline of the Alliance. After all, how could the Elite four and the Gym Leaders stand as strong as they are without connections to the dark side of the world?

These organs are nutritious food for Pokemon. There's a reason why most wild Pokemon are carnivorous. However, these organs need to be carefully gutted in order for it to be in its most nutritious state.

This is where the Black Market comes in.

"You are a newbie here in the Black Market, aren't you?" the middle-aged man said as he eyed Folker.

"How did you know?" Folker replied with surprise on his face.

"Only newbies would enter the Black Market through the elevator. There's a secret passage near the sewers. Here's a map" the middle-aged man said and handed over a map to Folker.

"Don't worry about it, though. I guarantee the passage is clean and tidy. Otherwise, this place would stink!" the middle-aged man assured Folker as he smiled.

"Thank you, mister! The next time I come back here, unless you don't have the items I'm looking for, I'll make sure to choose your stall" Folker thanked the middle aged man.

Folker then left the underground black market through the elevator and went outside the building.

...

Pokemon Center

At this time, on the training field of the Pokemon center, a young man wearing a blue vest stood as he held a metal cylinder in his hands.

In front of him is a figure of a green mantis-like Pokemon with scythe blades as limbs and insect wings on its back.

"Scyther!"

The figure let out an excited cry as it looked at the high-grade Metal coat on the young man's hands.

"Looks like someone is excited to evolve" Folker laughed as he looked at Scyther's figure. He then gave the Metal Coat to Scyther and held the item.

To maximize the effects of held items, it's not as simple as just holding an item. Pokemon are peculiar creatures and have the ability to resonate with the energy of held items to boost their strength.

In addition, each Pokemon can only resonate one held item at a time. Of course, Pokemon would still be able to hold more than one held item but only the item that resonated with the Pokemon will have effects.

Looking at Scyther's figure, Folker is confident that Scyther would be able to evolve without the trading machine. He has seen for himself the strength of Scyther and its fearsome personality.

It's been more than a year since Scyther trained with Folker. It should be ready to evolve by now.

A few moments later, white light suddenly started to emerge from Scyther's chest. It instantly spread all over Scyther's body.

The surrounding trainers in the field looked at Scyther's figure as their eyes lit up.

"Look, it's evolving!" a young trainer said as he looked at Scyther's evolution process.

"No matter how many times I look at it, the evolution process is still as amazing as ever" another figure said while looking at the evolving Pokemon in awe.

The whole evolution process lasted for about 12 seconds before the white light gradually dimmed down and disappeared from the evolving pokemon's body. Scyther's evolution process is successful!

At this time, a bipedal, insectoid Pokémon with a red, metallic exoskeleton let out a sharp cry. It has gray, retractable forewings and hind wings with simple, curved venation. Its rounded head has three blunt horns extending above its forehead and eyes with dark yellow pupils.

Its thin, black neck connects to a black, teardrop-shaped patch on its thorax. It has broad shoulders and thin, segmented arms ending in large, round pincers, which make up a third of its body weight. It has a large, rounded abdomen with three black, chevron-shaped stripes extending from its waist down its front. Its legs are defined by large hip joints, thin thighs, and wide calves, and its feet end in a clawed toe on each side.

"Scizor!"

"You look amazing, Scyther!" Folker said as he gazed at his starter pokemon's figure.

"No, it should be Scizor now" Folker corrected himself and rubbed his chin for a while.

'Hmmm, it's quite annoying to suddenly start calling you Scizor when I'm already used to calling you Scyther. I should give you names' Folker muttered while looking at his Pokemon.

He then reached for his pockets and grabbed two Pokeballs. He called out Riolu and Magnemite from their Pokeball.

Two figures appeared and let out a sharp cry.

"Magnemite"

"Riolu!"

They looked at the new figure in front of Folker. Suddenly, their eyes lit up as they realized who this Pokemon is.

"Alright. I've decided! From now on, I'll call you Scythe!" Folker said as he pointed at Scizor's figure.

"Riolu will be Luca and Magnemite will be Magnet" Folker said as he pointed at Riolu and Magnemite's figure respectively.