Chapter 114

"So what now?" asked Alex.

"Nothing much. I will stay in Viridian City or in Pallet Town, just in case. You should go on to challenge the Gym circuit like you originally intended. Leave Team Rocket and its affairs for the adults to worry about" said Blue waving his hand.

Alex nodded. He took the last few sips of his coffee, and said, "I will be leaving then. Until next time"

Blue waved his hand, and Alex walked out of the Blue Blossom cafe.

He then looked at a message left to him by Professor Oak. His carry limit had been officially raised to 8 Pokemon. The time was 11. While he could still cross the Viridian Forest now, Alex decided to spend the day in Viridian City preparing, and leave the next day early morning instead.

He decided instead to just roam around Viridian City instead for the day. The open markets in the city were of all sorts of things from the Viridian Forest at bargain prices was a destination he wanted to check. He could also check the surrounding areas to see if he could find a suitable Pokemon.

"Come out Abra," said Alex as he let Abra out of its Pokeball. Abra spawned in front of him, opened its sleepy eyes, and looked at him. After a few seconds of not hearing anything, it closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

Young Pokemon in the Baby stage needed lots of attention am company. Hence, Alex frequently let Abra and Nidoran put of their Pokeballs and carried them around, whenever possible.

Abra had a collar attached around its neck. The collar had an item attached to it that would prevent teleportation.

Abra had the natural ability to teleport from birth. But they couldn't control it very well initially. Also, due to the strain the immense Psychic powers had on its small frame, it spent most of its time sleeping.

It would sometimes randomly teleport itself when it was sleeping. Hence, the collar around its neck to prevent teleportation was necessary. Alex had read many incidents of trainers losing their Abra because it teleported itself in its sleep when they had let it out of its Pokeball, never to be seen again.

Due to this habit of random teleportation while sleeping, Abra never lived in groups. Most Abra were solitary, teleporting themselves to food sources when awake, and randomly selecting a place to sleep. If they are frightened by some external stimulus while sleeping, or generally startled after being exposed to some sudden sounds, they would instantly teleport away.

But Abra fully could control Psychic Powers at a certain level. They could control their teleport, communicate in human speech, and also could get started with the many applications of Psychic powers in this world, like fortune telling and divination. But to do this, they had to spend a long time without evolving and slowly gain control of their immense Psychic powers. Hence, the collar also had an Everstone attached. Allowing Abra to evolve after it had fully grasped its powers would be beneficial to it in the long run.

Alex walked around the market, looking at all the stuff out there, all while receiving envious stares from the passersby. While primarily Psychic Pokemon like Abra were not rare, they were especially difficult to control. Having exceptional intelligence, they would be unwilling to stay and listen to trainers whom they did not like. Hence, the approval and possession of such Pokemon were a big deal.

Alex did not find anything noteworthy in most of the stalls he browsed. But up ahead, there seemed to be a stall packed with people. Curious, Alex walked closer to investigate.

"These have got be fake right?" he heard a man say to another one beside him.

"They look real. But why would someone sell it in a stall like this? The department store would buy it if it is real" replied the man.

"Excuse me. What are you guys talking about?" asked Alex.

"Black Belts. They are in hot demand right now, and there are always people capitalizing on it during this occasion every year. But they mostly set it up in the department stores up north. They may take some commission, but it's much safer, and people will always buy because they know that those that passed the department store's tests are genuine" said the man.

"This guy seems to be selling genuine Black Belts, and they seem reasonably priced. But there is still doubt about its authenticity. Hence, I don't recommend you buy them" said the other.

Alex thanked the two helpful men and feeling curious decided to squeeze into the front to see what was going on.

Black Belts were a special held item that could increase the power of Fighting type moves.

Its manufacturing method was known only to a select few, and it was manufactured and distributed by the Alliance. Alex had read some files in the Oak Corall that to make a Black Belt, the skin of a particular Pokemon had to be harvested, processed, made into belts, and further baptised by Fighting type energy to hold the function that they do.

Depending upon the materials and process used to manufacture it, they could be of different quality. Some low class Black Belts only had an effect on Novie stage Pokemon. But very high class Black Belts even had an effect on Champion stage Pokemon.

Alex looked at the stall to see a middle aged man dressed in a martial gi, with four Black Belts laid in front of him. All of the Black Belts seemed to be at least of the Elite rank.

"How much for these Balck Belts?" asked Alex interested.

While he didn't have a Fighting type Pokemon, he probably would catch one. And a Balck Belt of the Elite stage would be the perfect held item for it.

The middle aged man in the gi opened his eyes, looked at Alex, and indifferently said, "Again, Not for Sale"