Pokemon: The Legendary Trainer

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After Sato browsed through all the Technical Machines available on the dark web sales platform, he gained a general understanding of the pricing there.

He noticed that the TMs sold on this dark web platform—secretly operated by the Goldenrod Department Store—were quite expensive, averaging at least 20% more than those found on the black market.

However, Sato didn't mind this much. In fact, the steep prices made him feel more at ease about the platform's security.

After all, buying from the black market always came with risks. The League could crack down at any moment, and he constantly had to be cautious to avoid getting ripped off by shady dealers inside.

Worse still, even when he took such risks, there was no guarantee he'd actually find what he was looking for. It was like having money with nowhere to spend it.

Although the prices on the Goldenrod Department Store's dark web were a bit higher, the level of safety offered was unbeatable.

Given the store's massive resources, its management wasn't foolish enough to compromise their business's reputation just for "a bit of money" from some transaction.

Moreover, the platform had a wide variety of items. Aside from TMs, there were all kinds of rare goods not commonly seen. As long as you had enough PokéDollars, everything was up for grabs.

Another feature that pleased Sato was that this platform offered a free trade system.

As long as users paid the transaction fee, Goldenrod Department Store would act as a trusted intermediary, ensuring both parties completed the deal smoothly.

Clearly, the platform was very well-managed. Its reputation was solid, and many customers were willing to sell valuable but unused items there in exchange for what they actually needed.

This was a real eye-opener for Sato.

The free trade zone was filled with treasures rarely seen in the outside world—from rare Pokémon item synthesis materials to eggs of pseudo-legendary Pokémon—everything was available.

Sato even saw someone offering a feather from the Legendary Ho-Oh, and in exchange, they wanted a Lugia feather.

Looking at the page filled with such treasures, Sato was beyond tempted—he wanted to buy them all.

But putting everything else aside, one item in particular caught his attention: a 50g chunk of Toxic Essence being sold by a mysterious seller.

This chunk was large—50 grams—which meant the seller had basically collected half the core materials needed to craft the Poison-type sacred item, Black Sludge.

Previously, Sato had obtained around 25g of Toxic Essence from a Muk on a deserted island near Cinnabar Island. Later, on his journey to a mysterious island, he traded with Tanya and acquired another 30g.

If he could now obtain this 50g from the dark web, he would have more than enough Toxic Essence to craft a full Black Sludge.

What was Black Sludge, exactly? Essentially, it was a Poison-type exclusive version of Leftovers, and its healing rate per turn was even better than Leftovers.

More importantly, Black Sludge contained highly refined Poison-type energy. It significantly enhanced a Poison-type Pokémon's physical development and toxin refinement.

Right now, the only held item Sato had was a nearly broken Life Orb. If he could obtain a Black Sludge, Nidoking's combat effectiveness wouldn't drop much even without the Life Orb.

In fact, if Nidoking carried it long-term, the benefits might even exceed those of the Life Orb.

But what gave Sato a headache was that most treasures in the free trade zone were listed for barter—very few were available for direct purchase with money.

And the seller of this 50g of Toxic Essence also insisted on bartering.

When Sato saw the item the seller wanted in exchange, he couldn't help but mentally curse, "Is this guy insane?"

The seller—a clearly greedy individual—had the audacity to demand materials shed from a Fire-type Legendary Pokémon. It was an outrageously steep request.

Never mind how rare those items were—just encountering a Fire-type Legendary was already near impossible for a normal person.

And even if someone got the chance, to obtain a part of its body meant they had to fight it—usually against a Pokémon with strength equivalent to a Pseudo Champion or Champion tier. The danger was off the charts.

Winning would be hard enough; losing would almost certainly mean death. You don't mess with a Legendary lightly. Cross one, and you'd better be ready to die.

Naturally, this ludicrous demand from the Toxic Essence seller triggered backlash from Poison-specialist trainers. The message board under the listing was full of anonymous buyers flaming the seller, but the mysterious trader stayed firm and refused to change his terms.

"Hmph. What a tease. Hope you get torched by a Fire-type Legendary soon,"

Sato muttered bitterly as he anonymously left a few insults on the message board.

...….

Meanwhile, far from Goldenrod City, high in the sky, a red-afro trainer riding a Charizard suddenly sneezed loudly for no apparent reason.

Thankfully, Charizard had quick reflexes and caught the trainer with its tail—otherwise, he might've been flung off mid-flight.

"Why is my nose so itchy all of a sudden? Hehe, must be that hot chick from the town yesterday missing me. Charizard, speed up! Let's get back to the town before dark. I'll treat you to your favorite grilled steak."

The red-afro trainer rubbed his nose with his index finger, smirked cockily, and spoke to Charizard with a smug look.

Charizard clearly had no interest in the first half of the sentence, but the second half made it quite happy. It flapped its wings vigorously and flew off toward a nearby smoking volcano.

...….

After careful consideration, Sato went ahead and purchased eight TMs from the Goldenrod Department Store's dark web platform—ones that were in stock and suitable for Nidoking:

Fire Punch

Thunder Punch

Ice Punch

Flamethrower

Sludge Bomb

Shadow Ball

Poison Tail

Iron Tail

The total cost for these came to nearly 40 million PokéDollars.

This was easily Sato's biggest investment in Nidoking to date.