**Chapter 7: Night Walk on the Black Market**

As the evening twilight rose in all directions, the sky was pale, and a bright moon peeked from the far corner of the mountains, shining softly, casting light upon people's faces.

Although the scenery was beautiful, Kane was in no mood to enjoy it, riding his bicycle toward the largest Pokémon market in Ecruteak City.

The so-called Pokémon Market, also known as the black market, is where Pokémon are sold differently from regular breeding centers. Nearly all of the Pokémon here are captured or looted by Pokémon hunters.

The merchants here buy Pokémon from the hunters and sell them to those in need. The Pokémon sold here are usually stronger than the "greenhouse-raised" Pokémon from breeding houses, but they are also much more expensive.

This Pokémon sales market in Ecruteak City is second only to the one in Goldenrod City, and nearly all types of Pokémon are clearly priced based on their strength. There is no bargaining allowed.

Even though the prices are high, the demand is still greater than the supply, as anyone who travels needs a Pokémon for protection—unless they have enough confidence in their ability to fight Pokémon barehanded.

Kane, who was familiar with the roads of Ecruteak City, soon arrived at the market.

The market opens at 6 p.m. and closes at 2 a.m. every day, following local rules since this type of trade isn't something to be done in broad daylight.

Entering the market, it was packed with people and very lively, with hundreds of merchants large and small.

Some merchants were introducing and selling Pokémon to customers.

Some shouted, promoting their Pokémon for sale that day.

There were also customers browsing for their preferred Pokémon, and live demonstrations of skills were a common practice.

Kane took a general tour to understand the prices and found that they were quite similar to what they were in his previous life.

The price of Pokémon is divided into five factors:

1. **Regional Differences**: This is the Johto region, so Pokémon from here are easier to get and therefore cheaper. Kanto Pokémon, being closer, are priced a little higher, and those from Hoenn and Sinnoh regions are higher still. Over the last seven or eight years, no Pokémon from Kalos or Alola have appeared in the market—mainly because they are too far away, and few are willing to take the risk considering the balance between profit, freight, and danger.

2. **Form**: Pokémon that have already evolved are naturally priced higher than unevolved ones. However, fully evolved Pokémon that are too aggressive are rare, as their prices are too high for most to afford, and they may be too difficult to tame. Many buyers avoid Pokémon that might hurt them, so these types gradually disappear from the market.

3. **Potential**: This refers to the Pokémon's final evolution and its base stats, which are key factors in determining price.

4. **Rarity**: Common Pokémon like Caterpie and Weedle are priced lower than rarer Pokémon like Cyndaquil.

5. **Abilities**: This depends on the number of skills a Pokémon knows and whether it has any unique abilities.

6. **Evolution Difficulty**: Pokémon that need special conditions to evolve are usually harder to sell. For example, Magikarp and Feebas have a low market value because of the difficulty of evolving them, and they might die before evolving.

According to the Pokémon native to Johto, the prices can be roughly divided into five tiers:

- **Tier 1**: Pokémon with a final evolution base stat total (BST) of 540 or higher. These Pokémon are extremely rare and don't usually appear in the regular sales market, only at large auctions.

- **Tier 2**: Pokémon with a final evolution BST between 500 and 540. Their price is more than 40,000 Pokédollars. These are often in short supply because they mainly consist of starter Pokémon, which are monopolized by the League and given to their own affiliated trainers.

- **Tier 3**: Pokémon with a final evolution BST between 450 and 500. These are priced between 20,000 and 40,000 Pokédollars and are commonly purchased by wealthier families for their children.

- **Tier 4**: Pokémon with a final evolution BST between 400 and 450. Prices range from 10,000 to 20,000 Pokédollars.

- **Tier 5**: Pokémon with a final evolution BST below 400. Prices are usually under 10,000 Pokédollars, and they are mainly sold to the average trainer.

While base stats aren't everything when it comes to raising a Pokémon, the market still uses them to set prices. If a trainer thinks they can see the hidden potential of a Pokémon, they are welcome to choose for themselves.

If someone feels the Pokémon's abilities don't match its base stats, they can simply choose not to buy it. No one will force them. And if you believe you can raise a Beedrill like Giovanni did and have it replace Dragonite, you could make a fortune by buying a Weedle.

Just remember: in this market, Pokémon are commodities, nothing more.

These prices reflect most situations, but exceptions exist. For example, a Magikarp is cheap because it rarely evolves into Gyarados. Only an evolved Gyarados would be worth over 40,000 Pokédollars.

After getting a general sense of the prices, Kane needed to go home to compile a statistic.

As he was about to leave the market, a vendor was exasperated, lowering the price of a Ditto from 5,000 to 3,000.

"It's been three days and it still hasn't sold. I'm taking a huge loss," the vendor grumbled at the Ditto in the cage.

In truth, the vendor couldn't be blamed. Dittos are hard to sell. First, its base stat total is only 288, which is quite low. Most of its abilities are soft, and aside from transforming into the opponent during battle, it doesn't have much use. Plus, for a trainer to use Ditto well, they must be proficient in all types of Pokémon moves and attributes—something few can manage.

However, Ditto's hidden ability, "Imposter," allows it to transform into objects, and in a few years, the notorious "Thousand Faces Man = Brodie" would use a Ditto to commit large-scale crimes, escaping from authorities time and again. however Such Dittos, are very rare.

This particular Ditto, seemingly fed up with the vendor's insults, transformed into a Growlithe.

Kane sneered. 

The fact that it could transform so freely showed that this Ditto was no ordinary one—it had the hidden ability "Imposter."

"Boss, I'll take this Ditto," Kane said as he approached.

The vendor was overjoyed to finally have a customer, and Ditto quickly reverted to its original form.

It was clear this Ditto had been mistreated here, looking listless and as if it hadn't eaten in at least a day.