Chapter 18: Merchant's Ally!
The list was fairly clear, but it was not as straightforward as the letter grading system. From what he could gather, the rankings ranged from the lowest to the highest.
They went as so.
______
-White, Gray, Black, (F-Realm)
-Shallow Bronze, Deep Bronze, True Bronze, (E-Realm)
-Shallow Silver, Deep Silver, Fine Silver, (D-Realm)
-Shallow Gold, Deep Gold, Pure Gold, (C-Realm)
-Shallow Platinum, Deep Platinum, Pure Platinum, (B-Realm)
-Shallow Diamond, White Diamond, Flawless Diamond, (A-Realm)
-Rainbow Diamond, (S-Realm)
'So this is the talent system this world uses as a gauge. It seems my Beldum's rank would be Deep Gold when converted into this world's system' Leon nodded and believed.
"You guys can test your Pokémon now." Leon turned to his siblings since they seemed eager to check their Pokémon.
"Alright, you can go first." Lars turned to Leona and said.
"Perfect! I want to see how talented my Swablu will be." Leona had seen the list and understood a bit. This was especially so when she saw the quote near the ranks.
White to Black were the lower ranks and the most common. Leona did the same as Leon and followed the instructions.
She found that her Swablu's talent was at Shallow Bronze. Lars did the same afterward, only to get the same results with his Electrike.
"This talent surpasses the standard, especially regarding wild Pokemon. I'd say you both got fortunate with this one." This was what Leon could see, he wasn't sure if it was true or not.
Leon had given these Pokemon to them on purpose, he wanted to give them the best Pokemon he could.
Many people had been watching from afar out of curiosity. This included the desk clerk, who was always curious about other people's Pokémon results. To them, it was one of the best things about working at or visiting this place.
Leon didn't need to check his Beldum to know its worldly rank, it would also draw unnecessary eyes. He had already made a mistake showing his shiny Beldum to the guards, but he hoped they wouldn't try anything funny.
Leona and Lars went to other machines to check different fields about their Pokémon.
What really excited Leon about coming here was the ongoing sale. People didn't care about this sale too much, but to Leon, it was exactly what he needed.
This sale offered a complete checkup and paperwork for Pokémon. While not mandatory for trainers, it was necessary to sell Pokemon for proof. This was to prevent things from going wrong.
Leon asked the desk clerk about it and he confirmed that it was true. He placed all of the Pokémon he wanted to sell on the counter for evaluation.
There were a total of nineteen Pokémon put up for a full evaluation. Leon paid the toll and went over to where his siblings were. Their full evaluation was going to take about an hour to complete.
Leon strolled around the first floor, there were very few people present. Other than his sister and brother, there were five other people.
This really made Leon contemplate his future and his own aspirations. There were Legendary Pokémon, such as Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, and the three Regis. Among these Pokémon, the Regis would certainly be the easiest to capture.
"Yes, I'll definitely capture these Pokémon." Leon was particularly fond of Groudon, who happened to be his favorite among the mentioned Pokémon.
'The Master ball, though. How was this item acquired in ruby and sapphire and the remakes?' Leon couldn't recall from memory, at least not at the moment.
'Oh, I remember now. They were in the desert. I believe this location was near routes 112 and 111 in the games.'
This was from the original ruby and sapphire games, however, the the remakes were different. Leon took the time to do some research previously and found that in real life, the desert was much larger than it appeared in the games.
"It's a little too large if you ask me. Transversing this place may be a bit tricky and dangerous, not to mention the crazy sandstorms that frequent the area."
Leon wasn't at this point in his life yet, but it was still something he had thought about.
Afterward, he sat on a bench, patiently waiting for time to pass. Today, his theory about aptitude was confirmed, so he gained some valuable insights.
Leona and Lars walked around the place before sitting next to him and chatting. They all planned to head to Merchant's Ally to sell these Pokémon.
They didn't wait long before Leon retrieved his Pokémon and the papers.
"Since some of the Pokémon were of the same species, we marked the Pokeballs." The middle-aged handed Leon the backpack of Pokéballs and papers.
Leon found that they were marked with numbers to align with the numbers on the papers. The papers displayed every Pokémon's details and most importantly, their blood samples.
This was to prevent a mix-up among the same species.
"Thank you!" Leon nodded with a smile before turning to leave with his siblings, who were excited themselves.
Leon knew a few things about Merchant's Ally. There would be people selling some items they may have stumbled upon, or they would sell berries they cultivated.
This was a town, so it wasn't exactly a small place. Once they arrived at Merchant Ally, crowds of people could be seen going in and out. This is a business street filled with people, and stalls are set up everywhere.
Leon knew the name Merchant's Ally was just a fancy name for it. This place wasn't worth such a exhaled name, and Leon believe that someone was being too arrogant by naming this place that.
Leon entered with his siblings, they all had excited expressions. In the past, there was no reason for them to come here as they didn't possess anything valuable. However, the situation had changed, and now they had something of value to sell.
"It's pretty hot out today, I think we should get an indoor stall to sell these Pokémon." The weather was completely different from yesterday.
"That would be nice, the weather is really hot today. I can't take this sun constantly beaming on me." Lars was completely on board with getting an indoor stall.
"It's settled then." As they walked down the ally street; Leon was analyzing every item his gaze met.
Leon could only sigh, he didn't see any items that would be useful to him. The siblings followed the advertisements for renting an indoor stall.
They came to a structure swarmed by a crowd. Inside the building, there were stalls arranged, and multiple spaces were available for lease.
Fortunately, when Leon entered the building, the owner was sitting behind a desk.
"We'd like to rent a stall for the day," Leon asked with a smile.
"That's fine. The charge for the day will be ₱50. Also, please choose one of the four remaining stalls to rent."
The price was relatively low for the current them, after all, Leon had ₱1,002 on him. After paying the fee, they chose a stall that was stationed on the top floor. The owner handed them a token with their booth number on it.
It was stall number Nine.
Leon planned to hold onto Poochyena and one of the highest-aptitude Pokémon. The group quickly went to their stall.
There was a display counter, which could show what he was selling. This also allowed him and his siblings exclusive access to these items.
"I'll start writing the advertising boards to hang up outside." Leona got to work right away, she used to write on these marker boards.
"Perfect, I'll place the Pokémon's Pokéballs on display." Leon nodded before turning to Lars. He gave Lars ₱500 to exchange for smaller bills in order to provide change to customers.
"Alright, I'll go to the owner downstairs to grab some change." Lars quickly left to complete this task.
"I'll make a list and place the items on display." Before doing this, Leon summoned Poochyena and Aron to stand guard. They were pretty much for intimidation purposes—just in case.
This procedure took Leon ten minutes to complete, but Lars had already returned with the change.
"The ones with the best talent will be sold at a higher price. How much do you plan to sell these Pokémon for?" Lars was curious, this was something Leon hadn't discussed with them.
Leon decided to sell the highest aptitude Pokémon for ₱5,000. This Pokemon was for the Taillow that had F++rank aptitude. Leon also decided to sell Electrike for a decently high price due to their species' rarity on the island.
He wrote out the list and their prices before showing it to Lars. At this point, Leon had returned after placing the advertisement boards.
"Wow, we'll make a lot if all of them are sold in one go." Leona checked the list and was excited.
"I hope they can all sell in one go." Leon took the list and taped it to the display glass.
Right as they were waiting for customers, the owner came to their lot.
"I heard you were selling Pokémon, right? At least, this is what I saw on your advertisement board."
"Correct, we are selling Pokémon." Leon nodded affirmatively.
"I'm guessing you have papers to prove a Pokémon's worth before being sold, correct?" The owner had to make sure that they were following these procedures, this wasn't a black market.
"Yes, here they are." Leon pulled them out and showed the owner without hesitation.
The owner evaluated them thoroughly and nodded; they were indeed the real deal.
"No one's sold Pokemon here before, so you guys are the first. I'll let you guys borrow this, but return it to me later."
The owner pulled out a device and handed it to Leon. He was confused since he didn't know what this tool was.
"It's a scanner, it can analyze a Pokémon's aptitude. This tool is expensive, so be careful with it." The owner demonstrated to Leon and his siblings how to use it, which was valuable for providing immediate proof and convincing the masses on the spot.
Leon thanked the owner for allowing them to use this tool before the owner left. Afterward, Leona placed the scanner on the table behind the counter. They all sat on chairs and waited for the customers to appear.
And sure enough, children and adults alike began to appear. They asked about the prices and Leon told them briefly before pointing to the paper on the glasspane.
Some people thought the prices were too high as expected. Some found it reasonable, but they left to retrieve the money as no one carried such an amount.
All of these adults were parents who saw this as a golden opportunity. The wise parent didn't question Leon and his siblings but paid attention to the sign and left immediately to retrieve the money.
From their time on the island, they had accumulated a sufficient amount of savings. The ferry would be here next month, this was a good opportunity to give their child a Pokémon.
"Damn it, these prices are too much, can you lower them?" A donut-hair-styled man said.
"No." Leon gave a simple reply. If they didn't want to pay for it then others will.
The taxes on this island were extraordinarily low, there was no way they didn't have some decent savings.
"You guys are a bunch of black-hearted salesmen!" Some of these adults were furious, but Leon didn't cave or bat an eye in the face of such outrage.
"If guys keep harassing us, then I'll have to get the owner." Lars sneered. He was well aware that these guys were just trying to lowball them because they were youths.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't so naive to fall for it. Lars was starting to catch on and sharpen at the presence of idiots.
These adults gritted their teeth; they were so angry that their faces turned from green to red. Leon had never seen such a scene before, but he remained indifferent.
"Do you accept cards? I have a card, so tell me where to swipe!" The donut hair styled man asked and said somewhat fiercely.
"Read the sign, we only accept cash." Leona frowned. These guys were inspecting the sign just recently, did they not know how to read?
Right as the man was about to explode in another road of slurs, a woman hurried over.
"I wish to purchase one Gray Grade Poochyena and one Gray Grade Electrike!"