Ares had set out at dawn, having returned his pokemon to their pokeballs with the exception of Lucario and Mew, the latter for the obvious reason, while the former just didn't like being in his pokeball. He would if he had to, but Lucario preferred to stay out in case something happened.
Now all packed, Ares looked once more at the map, his fingers tracing over where he was and where he needed to go to reach Pewter City. He wanted to move out while most of the pokemon were sleeping so he could travel as far as he could before they were becoming active.
Having found his way back to the road, Ares once again activated the wheels on his shoes and skated forward, enjoying the fresh morning air. It woke him up completely, making him feel refreshed and ready for the day. Lucario seemed to think so as well as he enjoyed moving about, pushing off more strongly with each step, increasing his speed at a quick pace.
Apparently Ares wasn't the only one who had thought to move out soon, as he saw the trainer with the Raticate who had duped him the day before. The trainer recognised him as well as he paled frighteningly so. He quickly bowed, yelling his apology.
"I'M SORRY! I didn't know what to do and I wasn't thinking. I didn't even mean to involve you like that. I'm very sorry!"
Ares looked the boy over once, noticing he had experienced the worst of it. His clothes were riddles with holes, on his arms clear wounds from the Beedrills attack, a faint purple coloration along the puncture wounds. Poisoning huh? Fortunately the human body had a bit of resistantance to poison, otherwise it might be a whole different story. Still, he needed to seek help at the nearest hospital as soon as possible. Poisoning was no joke. His Raticate wasn't looking so healthy either. Luckily it wasn't poisoned, or else he would be in deeper trouble than he already was.
"I understand. You're lucky we were strong enough to stop the Beedrill chasing us. Any other new trainer wouldn't be so lucky. Make sure it doesn't happen again, or you would have a death on your hands. Dealing with the authorities would then be the least of your problems."
Ares said, dead serious as he eyed the sorry boy. The other trainer was the same age as him, but he looked a lot more pitiful.
Still, that didn't stop him from the following action.
Holding out his hand, Ares waited for the boy to react, who just looked dumbfounded at Ares.
"I dealt with a great deal of your mess. Another trainer would be much worse off had you done this to them. Beedrill are highly aggressive, while they also tend to hold grudges. Even if I fended them off, they will surely attack both you and me when we enter their sight again. Seeing as that I got the short end of the stick, it should be normal to ask for compensation. You owe me one."
The boy fumbled around his clothes, crying silently as he handed Ares a few hundred pokedollars.
The boys shoulders slumped down in depression, stuffing his wallet back in his backpack. It was his own fault for dragging another trainer into his problems. Compensating the trainer for the trouble he caused was the least he could do, even if it decreased his already low funds. He just hoped he could afford a place to sleep.
Sighing, Ares handed him two antidotes, one meant for pokemon and the other for humans. The boy looked stunned at Ares, not expecting to get something when he was the one who blundered up.
"It isn't a lot, being of rather low quality, but it should help you until you reach the pokemon center."
The trainer thanked him sincerely, tears once more in his eyes which he furiously wiped away. The Raticate seemed to appreciate it as well, as it began to thank Lucario and Ares as well. If snapping his sharp fangs repeatedly counted as that.
"I hope you learned from this."
Ares said before he moved on. He could already see Pewter City and he was planning on going there as soon as he could. He wanted to take a shower desperately, as the water from the river wasn't as warm as he had hoped. Don't even mention feeling as clean as he wanted to.
The other trainer nodded, watching Ares as the latter skated towards Pewter city.
Ares increased his speed again, flashing down the small slopes, arriving in town in but a moment.
He could already see the pokemon center. It wasn't difficult to miss as it had the words Pokemon Center on it, as well as a giant, red, Pokeball sign that would light up during the night.
Dusting of the sand and leaves that had gotten stuck on his clothes and hair, Ares entered the pokemon center. Behind the desk was a pink haired lady who had a Chansey as her partner pokemon. Ares walked to the front desk, handing his pokeballs to the woman.
"Welcome to the pokemon center. I am Nurse Joy. How can I help you?"
"Hi Nurse Joy. Could you take a look at my pokemon? They need a check up, especially the little ones."
Nurse joy nodded, handing the pokeballs to Chansey, as the latter motioned Lucario to follow her. Lucario needed to be looked over as well, as there would always be some small injuries pokemon received without knowing. The free check up didn't hurt Lucario either, as it was a moment of relaxation for the pokemon treated, like a free spa treatment.
Nodding towards Lucario, Ares gestured for him to follow. Lucario followed obediently after Chansey, humming softly in a happy tune to get treated, while Ares began to talk with Nurse Joy again.
"I would also like to register for the Pokémon League."
"But of course. Your pokedex please."
Ares handed his Rotom phone to Nurse Joy, who quickly did her work. A pokedex was the ID of a professor certified trainer. Not all trainers had a pokedex, but all of them had an ID on them, which was necessary to enter the pokemon league. His Rotom phone served as his, as it served as a pokedex as well. It didn't even take long, as Nurse Joy handed back the Rotom phone along with a silver badge case. She also began to explain how the Pokemon League Tournament, also known as the Indigo Plateau Conference, worked.
"To participate, Trainers need to gather eight badges from gym leaders around Kanto. These gym leaders are trainers recognised by the League and have permission to test the skills of trainers. If the gym leaders are defeated or if the trainer earns the recognition of the gym leader, the trainer receives a badge. The badge indicate the aptitude and strenght of a trainer, so don't be surprised when they use stronger pokemon against you the more badges you have. The Indigo Plateau Conference is held on specific dates yearly, so make sure you have collected your badges by then to participate."
Ares opened the badge case, seeing eight empty spots where the badges could rest.
"There is also a mission center, created for trainers that are short of money or for people who need the help of trainers. Civilians put up requests for trainers to accomplish. This can range from chasing away caterpie from gardens, finding missing pokemon to catching or sudueing pokemon. A reward is put up so the trainer can receive money or items from the mission giver. Businesses and the league also put up requests if there is a need."
Nurse Joy took out a poster, on which a ranking pyramid was shown.
"The difficulty of the quests depends on how many badges you have. The difficulty ranks from one to eight, corresponding to the amount of badges needed. Defeating strong rampaging pokemon requires a higher count of badges for the trainer to accept the quest, starting at rank E, which corresponds to having one badge. The requirements for the mission also change depending on the situation. If a quest takes place on waterbodies like the lake or the sea, a water pokemon is required. Each region has their own ranking system, meaning your badges from this region won't be counted for your rank at another region. You will need to collect badges there to increase your rank again."
"As for the ranking in the Kanto region, it is as such. Rank E is for one badge. Rank D is when a trainer has two to three badges. Rank C for four to five. Rank B six to seven. Rank A is for eight badges and finally we have rank S for those who become Elite level trainers, which is reserved for those who made it past the semi finals of the Indigo Plateau Conference. If you go beyond that, there is the Champion level trainer, which has challenged and defeated the Elite four. If you manage to beat the Champion, you will still be recorded as a champion level trainer, even if you decline champion seat."
Ares nodded, interested in this quest concept. As far a he knew, this was recently new, not even having been implemented for more than a few years.
"I also want to add, that if trainers battle against each other, the losing side has to pay the winning side money. This is a rule to spark rivalry between trainers and increase experience. It is only implemented if both parties accept the concept of prize money, if not there aren't any penalties, nor is there a need to pay the asked prize. Accepting a battle will need to be recorded on the pokedex, which will validate the battle. If any problems arise, the trainers are able to report it to the nearest pokemon center or gym."
"Thank you Nurse Joy, for the information."
"Oh no need for the thanks. This is part of my job after all."
Nurse Joy smiled, happy to help him. Just when they were finished talking, soft footsteps notified them of Chansey return, along with Lucario and Ares's pokeballs. Lucario stretched his arms, more relaxed than he had previously been. The check-up surely did him some good.
"Everything is in order and your pokemon are as healthy as can be."
Ares thanked Nurse Joy as he put his pokeballs away. He rented a room to stay in for the night. He would challenge the Pewter city gym tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. For now he would stock up on some supplies, items that would help his pokemon in training and some evolution stones, if they were on sale here. He needed one for Pichu when she evolved into a Pikachu. If not, there was always the Black market, though he would have to carefully look for the entrance. There were always people on the lookout for customers. While the police didn't approve of the black market, as long as the items sold weren't illegal, they wouldn't bat a blind eye to it.
Besides that, he needed to buy a flashlight, as he would be traveling through Mt. Moon after this and some repels would be handy as well in case he encountered swarms of pokemon. His pokemon were strong, but they were no match for swarms of pokemon that could form stampedes and overrun him. Maybe Lucario would be able to, but not without the rest of his pokemon being a liability. He wanted to increase their experience, so it wouldn't be profitable if Lucario needed to take care of it and scare all the pokemon away. Better safe than sorry.
Leaving the pokemon center, he walked through the city, carefully looking for any places that might be a cover or secret entrance to the Black market hidden in Pewter city. Almost every city had one, along with the middlemen who scouted possible customers. There should be a middle man for the black market here as well.
He walked around for hours, up to the point he was going through the alleys and was stopped by an old lady. She trembled slightly as her joints cracked with a few movements, her old bones sitting down on a small crate.
"Are you looking for something, young man? I saw you looking around for a while now."
Ares looked over the lady with a scrutinous gaze, but didn't see anything off about her.
"I'm looking for a market, Ma'am. The regular shops don't sell any good quality evolution stones."
The old lady nodded.
"I see, I see. Poor lad."
She reached out her hand, the bone thin fingers clenching in a grabbing motion, clearly wanting something.
A bit suspicious about this situation, he handed the old lady a decent sum of money. The old ladies demeanor changed a bit as she began to cackle and count the money.
"Not bad. I'll introduce you to someone I know."
Without another word, she motions to the shadows, from which a younger man appeared. The man looked him over once and handed him a black card with an electronic screen. He left soon after to leave the two of them alone. Looking it over, Ares noticed a silver prism star on the upper right corner. The old lady smirked, revealing a much more luxurious card of her own, one that had golden frames on the edges.
Taking out a pokeball of her own, an Alakazam appeared.
"Better put away that pokemon of your, boy. There are enough prying eyes that don't shy away from stealing it."
She cackled.
Putting away Lucario in his pokeball, Ares wanted to question the old lady some more.
Before Ares could even say something, they disappeared from the alley, appearing somewhere inside a building.
Ares hurriedly looked around, only to find the old lady missing.
Sighing at the mess he got himself into, he noticed all the little stands on the side, spreading from inside the building trailing far along the back. It was bustling and loud, showing the demand for the wares was high.
"I guess we made it to the black market."
Ares chuckled a bit nervously. If only he had Lucario at his side, he might feel a bit more at ease. Too bad Lucario stood out too much.
He walked further, only to be stopped a little in front of him by a group of men clad in black cloaks, their faces hidden behind masks. They ranged from a crying clowns mask to a brightly smiling Skitty mask.
Without any words, the men gave him a black cloak and a mask. The mask he got was a simple white mask that covered the upper part of his face. The lower half he didn't need to worry about, as his shawl would hide it.
"Enjoy your stay, dear guest."
They said in choir, handing him a small leaflet.
Looking it over casually, he nodded at what he read.
There were a few house rules noted in the leaflet.
[Keep your identity hidden, as the privacy of those coming is valued]
[Battles are strictly prohibited, at the cost of your pokemon and/or your life]
[Money must be paid in advance, the product must always be given after the transaction. Flaws with the quality, damages, defective items or other issues about the product can be discussed in front of the house master, to avoid future predicaments.]
[Scamming is strictly prohibited. If discovered, people involved will be banned from the venue for life.]
[Those wo break the rules will be punished. We leave the content of the punishment up to your imagination...]
Those were the most important rules noted.
Tucking the leaflet away, Ares walked further into the building, glancing over the products he saw.
The item range varied with each booth he passed. There were evolutionary stones, only those of the highest grades, rare pokemon, pokemon carcasses for sale as pokemon food, items such as reaper cloths, and pokemon food manuals.
There were a lot more items, but those were the ones Ares noticed first.
It wasn't a surprise the price for pokemon was relatively high as well, as only rather rare pokemon were sold.
None he wanted though.
Buying the things he needed, as well as the necessary evolutionary stones Eevee and Pichu would need, Ares walked to one of the exits. There, another person in black was waiting again, with at his side a psychic pokemon.
Leaving the black market behind, Ares returned to the pokemon center to take a nice rest.