Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
-----------------
Faced with the sensation of being surrounded by a pack of wolves, Sato remained utterly unafraid.
In his eyes, these so-called wolves were nothing more than young cubs just growing their first fangs. He couldn't sense any real threat from them.
Thus, Sato simply paid a little attention to his surroundings.
Then, after shooting a glance filled with murderous intent at a nearby Team Rocket member who had been glaring at him with hostile eyes, he continued strolling casually along the harbor pier as if nothing had happened.
Sato, after all, was now a true top-tier Elite Trainer—one who had seen plenty of blood, had experienced life-and-death moments, and had once stood toe-to-toe with the terrifying Nightmare God itself.
On most days, he kept himself restrained and composed, which allowed him to seem harmless. But once he had murderous intent in his heart, the dangerous aura he carried from his experiences was impossible to hide.
So, being stared at by Sato with eyes full of murderous intent? That was definitely not a pleasant experience.
The Team Rocket member who had been on the receiving end of that gaze immediately felt like he'd fallen into an icy trench. A chilling dread surged up within him, leaving his entire body cold and his heart clenched, not even daring to make a sound.
By the time he came back to his senses, he was already drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
When he looked again at Sato—who was now walking away—his eyes were full of fear. Not daring to provoke him further, he turned around and fled in the opposite direction, scampering off like a terrified rat.
And flee he did—straight out of Pallet Town's harbor pier. He didn't even look back as he continued running, having been been scared witless.
Naturally, the act of Sato driving off a Team Rocket member with just a glare didn't go unnoticed by the others who had been eyeing him covetously in the shadows.
Those individuals immediately felt a chill down their spines. They all realized that they might've just encountered someone extremely dangerous. Some hurriedly averted their gaze, others quickly slipped away—none dared to spy on Sato any longer.
For a time, all the hostile eyes around Sato vanished completely.
The ship ticket Daisy had given Sato was for the 11 PM departure. At the moment, it was only about 11 in the morning, so Sato had plenty of time to spare.
The first thing Sato did after arriving at the harbor was eat. Giovanni had generously rewarded him with 100,000 Points (worth 100 million PokeDollars on the market), and with his original savings of over 400 million, Sato was now quite wealthy.
And to celebrate Pichu's birth, as well as his victory that morning against Daisy Oak, Sato headed straight for the largest and most luxurious restaurant on the harbor.
After a hearty celebration and meal with his Pokémon, during which he spent a whopping 200,000 PokeDollars, Sato left the restaurant under the beaming smile of the owner. Before he left, the owner even gifted him some local specialties.
"Tired already? If you're sleepy, go back into your Pokéball and rest."
As Sato wandered the streets near the harbor after his meal, he noticed the Pichu on his shoulder yawning non-stop. He gently patted the little guy's adorable head and spoke to him.
The little guy had played wildly during the celebration with the other Pokémon and had clearly bonded well with both Sato and the rest of the team. That made Sato feel his money had been well spent.
But as a newborn, after all that excitement, he was now completely exhausted and drifting into sleep.
"Pi-chuu~"
Even so, Pichu clearly disliked going into his Pokéball. He shook his head, gave another yawn, let out a soft cry, and then curled up on Sato's shoulder and fell asleep.
"You little rascal... Sleeping outside like this, you're gonna catch a cold. Better go in."
Seeing this, Sato gently nudged Pichu with his finger. Finding that he was already fast asleep, Sato took out a Luxury Ball and returned Pichu inside.
Then, Sato stepped into a nearby clothing store. When he came back out, he had already changed into the outfit of a completely different-looking Trainer.
His next destination was the black market in this area. He had to be careful—not allowing something like what had happened with Pichu earlier to expose his identity again.
The reason Sato was visiting the black market this time was mainly for little Pichu. He intended to gather all the ingredients needed to make a basic version of the Pikachu line's specialized Pokémon food.
As a rodent Pokémon, Pichu had an extremely fast growth cycle—comparable to, if not surpassing, that of the Rattata line.
According to a guidebook Sato had on raising Pokémon from the Pikachu family, Pichu would exit the infant stage in about three days and then enter a rapid growth phase.
This rapid growth phase typically lasted around a week, after which Pichu would transition into stable developmental maturity.
Yes, in roughly ten days, Pichu would be ready for battle.
So, to properly nurture Pichu, Sato needed to seize the opportunity to provide him with the best resources during this critical growth phase—so his Pichu could gain an advantage from the very start and outpace others of his kind.
Wherever there are people and interests, there will be a market. The black market is merely an extension of the regular one. So long as there's a regular market in an area, a black market is bound to exist as well.
As someone who had frequented black markets many times before, Sato naturally knew exactly how to quickly find the local one.
After wandering aimlessly through a few nearby streets, he arrived at a quiet alleyway and stepped into a run-down tavern that looked like it was doing terrible business.
From observing the nearby foot traffic, Sato had noticed several Team Rocket members and some rather shady individuals entering the tavern and reemerging less than a minute later.
So Sato was quite certain that this seemingly desolate tavern was a contact point for the local underground forces. He figured he could find what he was looking for inside.
However, places like these only did business with known faces. As an outsider with no introduction, charging in on his own would usually only get him carried out.
Sure enough, the moment Sato stepped inside, this unfamiliar face was "warmly welcomed" by the tavern's burly "waiters" and several of the "regulars."
Unfortunately for them, Sato was no ordinary guest. He wasn't just some troublesome pushover.
Soon after, a chorus of crack, bang, smash! erupted from behind the now-closed tavern doors.
A few minutes later, Sato walked out unscathed with his Arbok beside him. Accompanying them was a fat man with a forced smile on his swollen, pig-like face.
That man was the tavern's ostensible owner. At the moment, his face was so bruised and bloated that he looked like a stuffed pig trying to grin.
Back inside the tavern, the "waiters" and "regulars" who had jumped Sato without provocation were now sprawled across the floor, bruised and battered. Alongside them lay seven or eight rather high-level Pokémon, equally defeated.