After defeating his opponent, Kuroba didn’t leave.
Instead, he wandered around the Pokémon Center’s battle facilities with Corphish beside him, watching the other Trainers fight.
“Corphish, getting stronger isn’t just about piling up battle experience. You also need to learn from what other people do well. Watch more Pokémon battles. It’ll be good for you.”
“Cor! Cor!”
Corphish nodded with an extremely serious expression, whether it actually understood him or not.
Meanwhile, back in the Pokémon Center lobby, Nurse Joy was watching the security footage from Kuroba’s battlefield.
“He defeated his opponent in just two exchanges… Is that Corphish’s Ability Adaptability?”
It wasn’t particularly difficult to guess from appearances alone.
Corphish could normally possess Hyper Cutter, Shell Armor, or its Hidden Ability, Adaptability.
Pokémon with the first two Abilities often showed subtle physical differences.
A Corphish with Hyper Cutter might have noticeably stronger pincers, while one with Shell Armor might possess a harder, smoother-looking shell.
Kuroba’s Corphish showed neither of those obvious traits.
That left one likely answer—Adaptability.
Hyper Cutter: The Pokémon’s proud, powerful pincers prevent its Attack stat from being lowered.
Shell Armor: A hard shell protects the Pokémon from critical hits.
Adaptability: Powers up moves of the same type as the Pokémon.
By the time noon approached, Kuroba had once again eaten lunch at the Pokémon Center.
Honestly, he felt like he could live here forever.
Food, drinks, and lodging were all free.
There was practically nothing to worry about.
“All right. Time to find out how I can earn League Points.”
Kuroba approached a self-service terminal, inserted his identity card, and began browsing.
He quickly discovered that League Points could only be obtained by completing missions issued through the League.
Mission No.
56557586565
Requirement: Collect toxins, poison sacs, poison threads, poisonous needles, and similar materials from various Poison-type Pokémon.
Reward: 10,000-200,000 Poké Dollars, subject to professional appraisal.
Price negotiable.
Long-term acquisition.
Mission No.
85835883669
Requirement: Purchase request for a high-quality Taillow.
Must possess at least one inherited move.
Reward: 150,000-200,000 Poké Dollars.
Price negotiable.
Mission No.
55033669523
Requirement: Protect a Berry farm outside the city from wild Pokémon.
Applicant must be a strong Trainer with at least one Pokémon above level 30; Flying-type or bird Pokémon preferred.
Reward: 30,000 Poké Dollars or an equivalent value in Berries.
After looking through the listings, Kuroba realized the missions were divided into two categories.
The first kind could be accepted by anyone, and the rewards were usually paid in Poké Dollars.
Judging by the way they were posted, most of them were probably private commissions.
The League merely acted as the platform and intermediary.
After all, League law required transactions involving Pokémon and Pokémon-related materials to be reviewed and regulated.
The second category was different.
Only Trainers directly affiliated with the League could accept those missions, and the rewards were generally League Points.
From the wording, they were most likely official League commissions.
Mission No.
36738626856
Requirement: Cooperate with the police to clear a Wurmple colony near the main road on the outskirts of Petalburg Woods.
Reward: 10-200 League Points.
Status: Long-term mission.
Mission No.
18286868655
Requirement: Long-term purchase of high-quality Evolution stones and high-quality Pokémon items.
Materials will be professionally appraised.
Reward: League Points based on quality.
Status: Long-term mission.
Mission No.
35738583387
Requirement: Long-term acquisition of topographical maps of Petalburg Woods.
Submitted maps will be compared and verified by machine.
Reward: League Points based on the value of the information.
Status: Long-term mission.
Kuroba thought for quite a while.
Missions that paid League Points were generally troublesome and time-consuming.
In the end, he accepted the mapping mission.
At the same time, he picked up several missions that paid ordinary Poké Dollars.
“I was planning to train my Pokémon inside Petalburg Woods anyway. I might as well complete a few missions while I’m there.”
He was also curious about how Corphish would perform on land compared with battles at sea.
Wild battles were ultimately much more direct—and much more dangerous—than controlled matches on an indoor battlefield.
Kuroba accepted three missions in total.
Besides the Petalburg Woods mapping mission, which paid League Points, he accepted the poison-material collection mission and the request for a Taillow.
Three missions were also the maximum he was currently allowed to accept at once.
Of course, one might wonder why he didn’t simply memorize several additional mission requirements, collect the requested items first, then submit his current missions and accept the others afterward.
That would certainly be more convenient.
But other Trainers weren’t idiots either.
That trick might work for long-term collection requests, but a mission asking for something specific like a Taillow could be accepted by somebody else at any moment.
By the time Kuroba returned, the commission might already be gone.
“I need to buy wilderness-survival equipment first.”
Kuroba didn’t immediately set out after accepting the missions.
Surviving in the wild wasn’t a game.
He needed to prepare properly.
“Perfect. I still have a batch of Pokéblocks I haven’t sold.”
He opened his Pokédex and searched for shops that purchased Pokéblocks.
Unfortunately, he quickly discovered a frustrating reality.
Most legitimate stores already had long-term partnerships with established Pokémon Breeders.
Unless a Pokéblock had an unusual or specialized effect, they generally weren’t interested in buying from outsiders.
“Your Pokéblocks are certainly good quality,” one shopkeeper told him, “but their effects are too basic. They either restore stamina or accelerate growth.”
“We already have a long-term supplier, so we aren’t looking to purchase from outside Breeders.”
Kuroba walked out of yet another store with a dark expression.
He had heard almost the same answer several times already.
“Do I seriously have to sell them through the black market again?”
He hadn’t expected that on practically his first day living openly on the mainland, he would already need to deal with the black market.
Places like that had almost no real order, and simply entering one carried a degree of danger.
“Looks like producing too many Pokéblocks of the same type isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
In the end, Kuroba decided to go anyway.
Black markets were hidden, but there were several ways to find them.
Besides getting an introduction from someone already involved in the underground, the easiest method was simply to ask local street thugs.
Petty criminals and drifters tended to be remarkably well informed about that sort of thing.
“I’ll give you two hundred Poké Dollars. Take me to the black market.”
Kuroba entered a dim alley and found a homeless man sleeping against the wall.
The man happily agreed.
At the same time, a greedy thought crossed his mind.
“This kid’s wrapped up so tightly I can’t see his face, but he sounds young. Maybe I can squeeze a little more money out of him afterward…”
Kuroba noticed the man’s eyes darting around and immediately understood what he was thinking.
Without a word, he released Corphish.
“Cor! Cor!”
Corphish swung its pincers through the air with enough force to produce a sharp whistle.
People who lived in the gray areas of society tended to respect strength far more than kindness.
If you didn’t want to be treated as easy prey, you had to show enough power to make people think twice.
Kuroba had spent more than a year learning beside Madam Meta.
He understood that lesson perfectly.
The homeless man immediately realized that Kuroba wasn’t someone he could casually bully.
His attitude became much more obedient, and he led the way without causing any trouble.
Once Kuroba brought his Pokéblocks to the black market, they proved extremely popular.
The selling price was even ten to twenty percent higher than what legitimate stores in the city would normally offer as a purchase price.
As Kuroba prepared to leave, the shopkeeper enthusiastically called after him.
“Honored Breeder, if you have more Pokéblocks to sell in the future, please consider our shop first! I promise we’ll give you the highest price!”
Kuroba merely nodded without saying much.
He didn’t linger in the black market.
“At this point, I have more than a million Poké Dollars on me again. It’s probably time to buy a Spatial Bag.”
Madam Meta had previously given him one million Poké Dollars, but practicing Pokéblock production had burned through a considerable portion of that money.
Even so, Kuroba’s finances were still healthy.
And now that he could reliably produce Pokéblocks, he had a stable way to make more.
Kuroba entered a large shopping complex and began buying without restraint.
Luxury Balls?
Bought.
A Spatial Bag?
Bought.
A multifunction folding bicycle?
Bought.
A multifunction wilderness tent?
Definitely bought.
When he finally emerged from the commercial building, Kuroba looked down at the beautifully made membership card in his hand and sighed.
“Devon Corporation really is something else. I spent almost a million League Dollars and only qualified for their lowest-level membership card.”
Still, he wasn’t short on money anymore.
Now that he could consistently produce Pokéblocks, there was no reason to skimp on the environment and resources he provided for his Pokémon.
If he was going to raise them, he intended to give them the best conditions he could afford.
You can join my P.
@.
T.
R.
3.
0.
N to get access to 50 additional chapters!
/Meegoatbaa Whether you join as a free or paid member, you’ll also get access to 2 extra chapters.